Thanks for all the kind reviews. I'm glad you are enjoying this set of vignettes.

Written as a companion piece for yesterday's chapter. Sometimes a guy needs his grandfather to give him advice...

"Hi, Seeley." Michael-Vincent smiled as his son came in the front door. "How was your day?"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay, Dad? Just leave me alone." A sullen Seeley strode through the family room, raced up the stairs, and slammed his bedroom door.

Looking at his father in law with surprise as his son brushed past them, Michael-Vincent shook his head. "I wonder what that's all about. He's usually such a happy kid…"

"What is he...17 now?" Booth chuckled as he sipped his coffee. "I can tell you this much...one way or another, it's about a girl...especially since it's so close to Valentine's Day." Setting his mug down, the elderly man slowly rose from his chair. "I'll just go up and have a chat with him…no offense, okay, but he'll probably be more willing to talk to his old Pops instead of his dad right now. That's just the way kids are, you know?"

"Pops...you know you shouldn't be going up the stairs, right? Christine would kill me if she found out I let you do that. You might fall..." Michael-Vincent gave Booth an imploring look. "Please? Let me call Seeley down here to talk to you…"

"In the first place, it's not like you get to 'let' me do anything around here, alright? I can make it up those damn stairs if I want. I ain't a cripple, alright? It takes me a bit of time to go anywhere, that's all, and I ain't afraid of your wife, either. And secondly, if you make that kid come downstairs to talk to me in front of his old man, he won't say a damn word, you know? He'll pretend he can't hear a word I say, and we'll all end up angry. No, it'll mean more if I go up and talk to him. You just keep the younger ones out of the way, okay?"

Grabbing his cane, Booth made his way to the staircase before turning to his son in law. "Look, I know you're worried about me falling because I'm a little unsteady on my feet, and my knees ain't as good as they used to be. I get that. Why don't you follow me up quietly, okay? When we get to the top of the stairs, you can come back down…"

Relieved by the suggestion, Michael-Vincent quickly nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Pops. I appreciate it…"

"Yeah, no problem." He wore an ornery grin as he winked at the younger man. "I still ain't afraid of your wife, but I guess I should be more considerate of you, since you've got to live with her…and she's got her mother's temper..."

"Yeah, she does..." Grimacing as he looked up the stairwell, Michael-Vincent shrugged. "Whenever you're ready…"

Booth grabbed the railing and took a tentative first step. Satisfied that he could make it up the stairs, he nodded at his son in law. "Let's go."

The men made slow progress, but finally they were at the top of the staircase. "Okay, buddy.", Booth said. "I can take it from here. I'll tell Seeley he has to bring me back down…"

"I hope that works.", Michael-Vincent muttered to himself, knowing how stubborn his son could be. Seeing his father in law's impatience, he smiled slightly. "Whatever you say, Pops…"

Slowly making his way down the hall, Booth finally stood in front of his grandson's bedroom. Rapping on the door with his cane, he pushed it slightly ajar. "Mind if I come in?"

Really? Jesus...That's all I need right now...nosy family members. Sprawled out on the bed and staring at the ceiling, Seeley was tempted to tell his visitor to go away, but he adored his grandfather. I can't believe Pops came upstairs just to talk to me. I must be in deep shit... "I guess not."

"Good." Booth entered the room and sat down at the desk, crossing his arms over his chest. "Rough day?"

Sighing softly, the young man shrugged as he turned to the elderly man. "Yeah, you could say that." He sat up and ran his hand over his face. "Why are girls so hard to deal with, Pops?"

I knew it! Some little girl has broken his heart! "I dunno, son. I guess girls say the same thing about us guys, right? They think we're hard to deal with, too." Seeing a tentative smile from his grandson, Booth continued. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I don't know." Pausing for a few seconds, Seeley nodded slowly. "Maybe you can give me some advice. It looks like I've really, really fuc…I mean, I've really screwed things up bad." Seeley blushed a bit as he saw his grandfather's knowing smile. "So...you remember Beth?"

"You mean that cute little girlfriend of yours? Of course I remember her…"

"Well, she's not my girlfriend anymore…"

"Dammit...I'm sorry, son. Did she dump you?" Booth gave his grandson a sympathetic grin. "Oh well...there's plenty of fish in the sea…it'll take a while to get over her, but..."

"Um...actually...I broke up with her." Seeley rested his chin in his hands as he watched his grandfather's reaction. "I'd met this new girl at school...Jade...she's really pretty...and...um...I wanted to ask her out...but I was going with Beth...so I broke up with Beth. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I thought Beth was okay with it, too...she said we could still be friends...and she wants me to be happy...and I thought that was what I wanted, being with Jade...that it would make me happy..."

"I see." Booth bit his lip to keep from scolding his namesake. At least he isn't two timing Beth… "Is that it? You broke up with Beth and started dating a new girl?"

"No...not really." Seeley groaned as he lay back down on the bed. "So Jade and I went out a few times...and then I decided that I didn't like her after all. She's...not very smart...not like Beth is, anyway...and all she wants to do is drink beer and smoke weed. I can't do that kind of stuff, Pops...not with playing sports and all. I'd lose my chance at a scholarship if I got caught…and Mom and Dad would kill me..." Rolling onto his side, he continued. "So I broke up with Jade and decided to try to get Beth back…"

Booth sighed as he fidgeted with his cane. "But Beth has another fella now, doesn't she?"

"No...at least, I don't think so. I thought maybe Cody Billings had asked her out a couple of times, according to what my friend Eddie said, but I guess Beth turned him down. He's always had a thing for her...but I don't think she likes him that much. Anyway, it doesn't matter if she has a new guy or not, because she won't even talk to me now...she won't let me apologize...she won't respond to any of my messages…she's ignoring me." Seeley wiped away a tear as he continued in a choked whisper. "I went by the library today...the one where she works...hoping to talk to her, you know? To clear the air? But instead, she yelled at me in front of everybody. She said I should just leave her alone...that things are too weird between us now, and she doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore. What am I gonna do, Pops? I made a huge mistake breaking up with Beth..."

"Yeah, sounds like it.", Booth grunted. "You're right. You really screwed things up royally...you hurt her bad, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did...and now I'm paying for it. I mean, when she said she didn't want to have anything more to do with me, it was like getting kicked in the balls, you know? It hurt so damn bad…" Seeley swallowed hard to keep from sobbing. "I know there are other girls around school who'd be willing to go out with me if I needed a date, Pops, but I want Beth…"

Pursing his lips slightly as he thought over his grandson's problem, Booth glanced over at the boy. "I tell you what...I want you to go downstairs and get that old photo album your mom found and bring it up here, okay? Make it snappy…"

Somewhat confused, Seeley was downstairs and back in less than a minute, handing the large book to his grandfather. "Here…"

"Okay, pull up that chair and come sit next to me. I'm gonna tell you a story, but I need some visual aids." Booth opened the book to a page and pointed. "See this guy? This was my friend, Sweets. Your Grammy and I had gone to see him one day about a book he was writing about our partnership, and he kind of dared me to tell Grammy how I felt about her. See, we were supposedly just friends, me and her...but I wanted more, so I spilled my guts about it that night. I surprised the hell out of her...and it didn't go well at all. She thought I was forcing her to make a decision...it was like I backed her into a corner, and she panicked..."

"Um...well…that's too bad, Pops…but…", Seeley said, sighing impatiently. "...what's that got to do…with me?"

"Just hold on a second, okay?" Turning to another page, he pointed at another picture. "See this? This is your Grammy and me at an FBI function. Notice anything strange?"

"Hmmm…" Looking at his grandfather in surprise, the boy responded quickly. "You both have dates...that aren't each other."

"That's right. I hate that picture, but Grammy likes it for some reason...something about me in a tuxedo. Okay...look at these…" He turned to another page, showing Seeley a picture of his grandmother at the airport and of himself in his old Army uniform. "Grammy was getting ready to go to Mahulu, wherever the hell that is, on a dig, and I was going to Afghanistan to train soldiers. Things were too weird between us, and Grammy wanted to get away from me…so we tried to get as far apart from each other as possible."

"Oh." Nodding, Seeley thought he knew where the story was heading. "So did you get together when you got back from your trips? Did you realize you were meant to be together?"

Booth sighed softly. "Nope...not exactly." He wore a sad expression as he looked up from the album. "I'd met someone while I was overseas...a reporter, and I fell in love with her." Sniffling sadly, he shrugged. "Or at least I thought I loved her. She was really pretty...smart...bubbly...and I thought I was happy with her, but the truth was that I loved Grammy more. I was just too stupid to realize that, and I ended up hurting Grammy real bad…"

Completely caught off guard, his grandson stared at the elderly man in surprise. "But...I don't get it. If you hurt Grammy...how did you two end up getting married?"

"Well, remember what I said about me being stupid?" Seeing his grandson nod, Booth continued. "See, I asked the reporter...her name was Hannah...I asked her to marry me, and she turned me down cold. She said she wasn't the marrying kind, and that I should've known that. Well, as you can imagine...it was like…"

"A kick in the balls." Seeley smiled sadly. "And you were left without either one of them…"

"That's what I thought, but I was wrong. Me and your Grammy were still working together, okay? I mean, we'd always been friends, and we'd just hit a giant bump in the road, but she was still concerned about me, and she hung around until I could get over Hannah giving me the old heave-ho. She even got me a gift for Valentine's Day that year. Look…" Booth pointed to a small, grainy photograph. "That's us at the FBI's shooting range. I pulled this photo off the surveillance tape because I didn't ever want to forget what she'd done for me…"

Grimacing slightly, his grandson studied the picture. "What are those things?"

Booth laughed out loud. "Thompson machine guns. Your Grammy had 'borrowed' them from the Jeffersonian's Roaring Twenties exhibit and brought them to the range because she remembered that I'd always wanted to shoot a tommy gun. We had our own version of the St. Valentine's Day massacre right there at the range, and it was then that I knew we were gonna be alright between us."

Seeing his grandson's confusion, Booth patted his knee. "Here's the thing, son. I don't know if you and Beth are gonna get back together, okay? All I know is that the important thing is to take it slow, and let her know that you're willing to be her friend on her terms, okay? And if she decides she isn't interested, well...that's just the way it goes, and you'll have learned something about dealing with girls." Seeing Seeley's crestfallen face, Booth winked at him. "But you know what? If Beth is as smart as you say she is, I bet she'll be willing to be your friend...and things will only get better from there, okay?"

"I guess so." Seeley ran his hand over his eyes. "I just want Beth to talk to me again, you know? I miss her…"

"I know." Groaning softly, Booth pushed himself out of the chair. "Okay, buddy...I need you to help me get downstairs before your mom gets home. No reason for your dad to get into trouble on our account…"

"Yeah, Mom will give him hell...I mean, heck...if she finds out he let you come upstairs."

"What is it with this whole 'let me' do stuff? Enough of that shit…" Booth grinned at Seeley's gasp. "Your mom doesn't like salty language, either, does she?"

Taking his grandfather's arm as they eased down the steps, the teenager shook his head. "Nope. I gotta watch what I say…"

"Well, that's a lesson to remember, right? Watch what you say, and maybe you can stay out of trouble."

Helping his grandfather down the first step, Seeley grinned. "You're right. Thanks, Pops. I appreciate the advice."

"Anytime, son. Now...c'mon...let's hustle. Chop chop…"

If you have time to review, I'd appreciate it. Laura.