Here's the last chapter of my little story. Thank you so much for your kind reviews. They have been appreciated as I completed this challenge.
I'm going to mark this story as complete, but if inspiration strikes I may add another chapter or two in the future.
I know the dialogue from the episode in this story is incomplete, but it's being told from Parker's point of view, and he was still young. I hope you'll forgive the inaccuracies.
So...without further ado...
It was just a few days before Christmas, and time was growing short as Christine tried to get everything done in preparation for the holiday celebration. As she checked her list again, she sighed softly. They were expecting a houseful of company, and she was looking forward to seeing everyone, but still...she was beginning to feel the stress of the juggling of all of her holiday responsibilities.
However, she knew the stress would be worth it in the long run. It had been several years since everyone had been together for Christmas, and with her parents' advanced age...well, she didn't want to think about it, but they might not have many more chances to do this sort of thing again.
She smiled to herself as she sipped her coffee. It was nice to have a little calm before the storm. She'd done some of the meal preparation beforehand...the house was clean and decorated...all of the gifts had been purchased and were wrapped. There was nothing to do now but to wait for their guests to arrive…
Suddenly her peaceful morning was interrupted by the doorbell and the sound of feet pounding down the stairs. "Uncle Parker's here! Uncle Parker's here!" Max and Joy were all smiles as they greeted their relatives. "Hi, Aunt Meredith! Did you have a good trip? Did you bring us presents?"
"Okay, okay...at ease, munchkins!" Parker grinned as he gave Joy a hug and tousled Max's hair. "Let us get in the door, okay?" Laughing as he turned to his wife, he threw up his hands in surprise. "I guess I'm almost as popular as Santa Claus…"
"Perhaps, but don't let it go to your head, Love." Smiling as Christine came into the foyer to corral her children, Meredith gave her sister in law a hug. "Happy Christmas to you!"
As she took their coats, Christine giggled. "I'm sorry you were overwhelmed by the Welcome Committee, but they're excited to see you. How about a nice cup of tea?"
"Maybe Meri wants tea, but I could use a cup of coffee, if it isn't too much bother.", Parker said as he followed his sister into the kitchen . "I may have been married to an English girl for over 30 years, but that doesn't mean I have to drink tea!"
Meredith rolled her eyes at her husband's teasing. "A cup of tea would be nice, Christine...thank you." Sitting at the kitchen table, she took off her knit hat and ran her hand through her dark hair. "Brrr! It's cold out there…"
Parker nodded in agreement. "And it's supposed to get colder. I'm glad we took the train this morning...I'd hate to be out driving in this weather."
"I hope bad weather doesn't keep your boys from making it.", Christine fretted as she put a plate of Christmas cookies on the table. "After all our planning…I'd hate to have them miss this Christmas with Pops and Grammy."
"Ian has to do hospital rounds on Christmas Eve, but he's planning to take the early train from Pittsburgh on Christmas Day, so he'll be here for dinner." Meredith glanced at Parker and shrugged slightly. "He isn't sure how long he'll get to stay, though…it depends on who's admitted over Christmas, and he's on call, in case they need more help. He may have to leave early on the day after Christmas, but at least he'll be here for part of the holiday."
Picking up a frosted sugar cookie, Parker sighed softly. "Henry's the one I'm worried about. He's supposed to take a flight out of Buffalo after the early Mass on Christmas Eve, but the weather may be iffy, with possible lake effect snow. I'm hoping they'll have a travel window open up for the flight." He smiled at Christine. "I don't know how, but it seems he convinced Father Tinker to allow him to skip Midnight Mass this year."
Meredith raised an eyebrow at her husband. "I think it had to do your dad being elderly and a lifelong Catholic...and the fact that Henry is a born con artist…"
"Just what the Church needs…", Parker said dryly. "A con artist for God…"
They all laughed at that remark. Christine smiled as she looked through the pictures of her grown nephews on Parker's phone. While Ian had always been studious and introverted, his twin brother Henry was completely the opposite...happy go lucky and as friendly as a big puppy. He'd shocked everyone with his decision to enter the priesthood, but he'd been confident in his calling, and Ian was just as confident in his choice to be a surgeon.
"Well, as long as they're here for Christmas Dinner, that's what matters. I know it's hard to make plans with their schedules, and I hope everything works out, but if it doesn't, everyone will understand." Christine rose from the table to pour herself another cup of coffee. "Hank, Carla, and Brenna Jo are flying in from Brussels later today, so they'll be here for dinner tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing them…"
"Yeah, me, too...it's been at least three years since I've seen Hank." Parker grew pensive as he spoke of his younger brother. "I mean, the job with Google is a great fit for him...but I wish he was closer to home…" He patted his wife's hand. "I guess we may need to make another trip across the pond, right, Dearest?"
Meredith smiled at her husband as she chose a cookie. "I'd like that, Love...we could go see my sister in London and then head over to Brussels. Of course, it'll be easier to make more travel plans when you finally retire…"
Parker grinned at his sister's surprised expression. "Yep...two more years and I'm out for good. I've enjoyed teaching at the Academy, but...well, let's just say that I'm getting a little bit old to keep up with all those competitive young Turks. After all, I'm 58, and I've given the Coast Guard a lot of good years. I can probably find something else to do if I get bored, although I'm sure my wife will have lots of ideas on how I should use my spare time..."
"True. Well, I'm sure Hank would be happy to have you visit, Parker.." Chuckling softly, Christine pointed to the old photo album sitting on the kitchen counter. "Hey, remember me telling you about the book we found at Mom and Dad's old house? There are several pictures of you in there…"
"Really? Let me see…" Picking up the album, Parker brought it over to the table. "I bet you'll like this, Meri...there are probably some pictures you haven't seen before…" As he opened the front cover, he glanced at Christine. "We found a lot of pictures when we cleaned out Mom's house after she passed away...but I think Dad has some different ones…" He set it on the table so Meredith could look at the book as well. "Let's see here…"
"You were such a cute little boy, Parker.", Meredith cooed. "Look at that blond hair…and those dimples..."
Slightly embarrassed, Parker pretended to ignore his wife. "I just barely remember this...this is Sid. I had to meet Dad at Wong Fu's that Christmas because the lab was under quarantine. Sid had taken me to the lab to see Dad, and then Dad picked me up later at the restaurant. I was just a little guy, but I still remember getting that robot." He turned to another page. "Ah...this is it. This is what I was looking for…" He turned the book towards Meredith. "This was the Christmas when Dad and I had two Christmas trees…"
"Two trees? But Dad's always said his apartment was tiny…" Christine glanced at the picture of her brother and shrugged. "Where would he put up two trees?"
"Well...it's kind of a long story...but I guess you want to hear it anyway, right?" Seeing his sister nod, Parker took a deep breath. "Yeah, I thought so. Well, I was about seven years old at the time. I was supposed to go skiing with Mom and Brent in Vermont, but I didn't want to go…"
Meredith regarded him with surprise. "Why not? You love to ski…"
"You have to understand, Meri...my parents both loved me, even if they didn't particularly like each other. There were often times when making the visitation arrangements was contentious. They were both very determined to get their way, but Mom had legal custody of me, and sometimes she used that little detail to thwart Dad's plans." Parker sighed sadly as he glanced at his wife. "Dad often got the short end of the stick when it came to having me stay with him over Christmas. My mom would make plans, and expect my dad to work around them, and that was what had happened this time. She and her boyfriend were going to Vermont for Christmas and taking me with them, but I wanted to see my dad before he left for Africa…"
"Africa?", Christine interrupted with a giggle. "Dad's never been to Africa that I know of…"
"I know, but remember, I was only seven, okay? When I had lunch with him right before Christmas, I asked him if he was going to be all alone on Christmas Day, and he said no...that he was hanging out with his friends. Bones shook her head and said she was going to Peru, and Dad then said he was going with her. I distinctly remember asking him why he was going to Africa. Silly, right? Especially when you remember that now I teach computer navigation at the Coast Guard Academy. Anyway, Dad just went with it, and said yeah, they were going to Africa for Christmas…"
"I guess that makes sense.", Meredith commented with a chuckle. "I can imagine that your dad wouldn't want you to worry about him."
"He was trying to keep me from being unhappy, even if it was kind of a tall tale, but that's just Dad. However, I was still upset, and my mom had made it clear that she wasn't going to change her mind about the trip to Vermont, so I cooked up a plan…"
"A plan? You were only seven…" Christine rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously?"
"Yep. Here's what happened...I was out of school for the holidays, but my mom still had to work at the law firm. She had to finish up some paperwork before our trip, so she'd left me in the care of an elderly neighbor, Mrs. Anderson, on Christmas Eve. I asked Mrs. Anderson if I could walk to the park down the street from my house, but it was really cold and she didn't want to go with me. I convinced her I could go by myself, and finally she agreed. Anyway, I walked to the bus stop instead, paid the fare with my allowance money, and caught a ride to the city. When I got off the bus, I found a beat cop at the bus terminal and said I was lost and needed to find my dad at the FBI building…"
"Oh, my God! Parker!" Christine was shocked at her brother's admission. "So many things could've gone wrong! I bet you got in a lot of trouble when your mom found out…"
Shrugging, he grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well...Mom was irate, especially since she thought it was Dad's idea, until he convinced her otherwise." Seeing the question in his wife's expression, he nodded. "And yes, I got in a lot of trouble. I was grounded big time. My mother didn't let me go anywhere for months." Clearing his throat nervously, he ran his finger around the rim of his coffee cup. "But I thought you wanted to know about the two Christmas trees…"
"You're right, we do." Christine sipped her coffee. "So you were at the FBI…and you found Dad's office..."
"...And I asked Dad if we had a tree for Christmas, and he said we had two trees. I was as confused as you are, but we went down to the parking garage, and he had two trees tied on top of the SUV, and some ornaments and strings of lights in the backseat. I thought that was weird, so I asked him what was going on…"
Oooooooooo
The SUV made its way across the darkened city that evening as Booth explained his idea to Parker. "We're going to take one of those trees and make it a special gift to Dr. Bones tonight, okay? Then we'll go have some dinner and finish decorating our tree at home before we go to church."
Parker turned to his father in confusion. "Why doesn't she already have a tree?"
"Well, she thought she was going to be out of town, but I think her plans have changed. She's going to a Christmas party for her dad instead." Deciding it was time for another 'Christmas white lie', Booth glanced at his son. "The room where they're having the party is too small for a tree, but we're gonna surprise her…"
"Okay." Parker pressed his nose against the car's window. "That sounds like fun…"
"Yeah, I think so…" Booth grimaced slightly. He hoped he was doing the right thing...he hoped that he knew Brennan well enough to know that she'd show up to have Christmas with her dad and her brother's family instead of going on a dig somewhere in Peru. He knew she really was a kind, tender hearted woman…
It had started to snow as he pulled the SUV up to the gate of the prison. Booth kept the chatter going, hoping that Parker wouldn't realize where they were. Flashing his badge at the guard, he explained what he wanted to do. "I'm gonna park on the road outside the fence...down by Trailer B. We'll be back in 45 minutes or so…"
The guard's confusion was obvious. "Well, I guess that's okay, Agent Booth...although I don't know why you'd want to go down there...it's really dark…"
"Yeah, I know...that's kind of the point." Waving as he passed through the gate, they drove through the prison grounds until they got to the right spot.
"Okay, Buddy...here we are. Put your jacket on and come help your old man."
Parker jumped out of the SUV and danced around, trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue as his father untied the tree from the luggage rack. "What are we gonna do, Daddy? Why are we putting the tree here? No one can see it, can they? Where are we gonna plug it in?"
"Just hold on a minute…" Booth cut the string from the tree and shook it out a bit. "Okay...let's string the lights on it...that's right. Here...let's put these decorations on it...and some tinsel...brrr, it's cold. We need to hurry…"
Parker and Booth laughed as they hurriedly strung the light strands and then hung the shiny baubles on the tree's spreading branches. Rubbing his hands together, Booth made some final adjustments to the lights before starting the SUV and opening the hood. "Are you ready, Buddy?"
Parker nodded, excited about their gift for his favorite scientist. "Now what? Is she gonna come out and see it?"
"Naw...it's too cold for that. Hang on…" Booth pulled out his phone and hit speed dial, hoping that his Bones wasn't already on a flight to Peru. He prayed as the phone rang. "...please pick up...please pick up…"
"Booth?", she choked out.
"Merry Christmas! Are you okay?"
"Yes, of course...I've just had some of my father's Christmas cheer, that's all. Merry Christmas to you."
"Thanks. Hey, I've got something for ya…"
"But I don't have your gift with me...I didn't think I'd be seeing you this evening…"
"That's alright. We'll take care of that later. Go look out the window, okay?"
Booth waited impatiently until he saw the blind being raised. Taking the plugs of the cords, he used the car's battery to supply the necessary current, and the lights on the tree flickered to life.
"A tree!", Brennan exclaimed. "Hey, everybody...come look! We've got a tree…"
A group of smiling faces appeared at the window as Brennan waved at Booth and Parker.
"I love my gift, Booth. Merry Christmas, Booth…"
"Yeah, Bones...Merry Christmas to you, too…" Booth stared at the window, trying to ignore the way his heart was pounding as he saw her beautiful smile. He wanted to tell her everything he was feeling, but the words just wouldn't come out….
Oooooooooo
"We stood there for about fifteen or twenty minutes, out in the cold so they could look out the window and enjoy that tree. I remember jumping around to keep my feet warm…" Parker chuckled to himself as he sipped his coffee. "I was acting silly, I suppose, but Dad didn't seem to pay attention. He had this weird look on his face, almost like he was stunned or something, but I didn't think much of it at the time. I was more concerned about the tree. It was so pretty, and Bones was so pleased with it. Anyway, when it was time to go, we waved goodbye and shoved the tree in the back of the SUV so we could drive back to town. I was bouncing in my seat, talking away, happy that we'd taken our gift to Bones, you know? She had loved it, and I was so excited that I didn't notice that Dad was being really quiet for some reason, especially with it being Christmas Eve. We took the tree to one of those storefront missions for the homeless so they could enjoy it...I remember being so surprised when Dad gave the nuns a couple of hundred dollar bills, too, so they could give people a nice meal on Christmas Day, but he said it was no big deal...that people are supposed to do good for others at Christmas…"
"That sounds just like Dad." Christine smiled at her brother. "It sounds like you had a great time that night."
"Yeah, we did. It's one of my favorite memories of Dad." Parker sat quietly for a few seconds as he remembered that evening. "It wasn't until I was older that I realized why Dad was so distracted that night...and why he was acting the way he did...why he was so quiet and distracted..."
"I don't understand…" Christine grimaced slightly, confused at her brother's remark. "He was just happy that she was pleased with her gift, right? It's not like he was being weird about it..."
"He was happy...that's true, but there was something more to it...a lot more. I know now what he was feeling that evening." Parker reached over to clasp Meredith's hand. "I probably had the same look on my face the first time Meredith said she'd go out with me...and I'm sure Michael-Vincent looked at you the same way when he met you at the airport in California all those years ago, Sis." Realizing he wasn't making any sense, Parker cleared his throat. "Dad was already very much in love with Bones...the look on his face gave him away, although I was too young to know that. I guess he was overwhelmed with feelings that he'd tried to ignore for years, but the way she reacted to that tree...well, I think he would've done anything for her if it would make her as happy as that silly tree did. When a guy loves a woman like that, he'll do anything to make her smile...even if it means standing out in the cold for a half hour so she'll have a Christmas tree to enjoy with her family." Parker sighed softly. "He looked at her the same way on their wedding day. I was standing next to him when he first saw her coming down the aisle towards us, and he was in awe of her. It was the same thing…"
Christine brushed away a tear. "He still looks at her that way, Parker. Even after all those years together, the love still shines in his eyes when he looks at her…"
"Now I know why Parker is such a romantic, Christine. It seems he learned from the best." Meredith took her husband's hand and smiled as she raised her teacup in a toast. "To your mother and father and their amazing love story…"
"Hear, hear!", Parker said quietly, squeezing his wife's hand gently. He tried to take a sip of coffee but was interrupted by a commotion in the foyer. "Oh...someone's here. I bet it's Hank and Carla. C'mon, Meri...let's go say hello…"
Christine stayed behind the kitchen for a minute as her older brother went to greet their visitors, running her fingers once again along the album's worn cover.
So many memories had been stored in that book...memories of people that were still living and of those who'd gone on before them. Happy stories...melancholy stories...funny stories...stories about many different members of her parents' family, and about their many friends...evidence of how her parents' lives were so completely entwined together. All of those anecdotes were just small pieces of a 40 year old history...pieces that made up a large, fascinating picture of two lives well lived.
Smiling as she heard the happy chatter in the hall, she put her cup in sink and started another pot of coffee. She nodded to herself as she put more cookies on the plate and placed it on the table. Her family would be making many more memories this holiday, and perhaps they'd take a family picture that could be included in the book's tattered pages. And forty years from now, when her children looked through the album again, they'd know the story of how two people came together through love to make wonderful family.
To anyone else, the beat up old book would be nothing special, and yet, to her, it was a priceless treasure. The story of her parents' love had spanned decades, and it would be told for decades to come...all because of some dusty old album found on a forgotten closet shelf.
...But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
From Sonnet 18
William Shakespeare
Have a safe and blessed New Year. Laura