Antonia pulled from the hug with her father and looked into his eyes, smiling at him as he gave her a happy smile. "What?" She asked. "I missed you." She laughed.
"I guess you did." He laughed a little and looked toward Temperance. "Did you guys talk?" He asked, knowing that his wife's concern had been weighing on her mind for weeks. The first two months seemed full of calm and excitement, but as the cases and phone calls increased, so did her worry about Antonia's well being.
"We talked." Antonia nodded. She turned to see Melody pushing into Aiden's legs, her hand firmly in his as she hid her gaze from Booth. "That's my daddy." She explained, watching Melody nod her head cautiously. "Why did she run?" She asked, looking to Aiden, her eyes moving between him and her father.
"Angela had the sketches up on the screen, and she had animated them. I didn't realize she was showing them to Booth, and when we came into the room, Melody saw them, and thought the suspects were in the room too." He said, watching Antonia nod her head.
"You were afraid?" Antonia signed, watching the little girl's head nod resolutely.
"Bad men." Melody signed, her lower lip pushing out to a sad little pout.
"You should never run from Aiden. He will protect you." Antonia said, watching the little girl's pout intensify. Antonia gave her a pointed look and gently pushed her lower lip with her fingertip. "No pouting." She said, giving the girl a pointed look. "No running, no screaming. Be polite." Antonia said, watching a scowl appear on the spirited girl's face, Antonia's eyebrow lifted, and could see Melody's lip curling to a slight smile. "Let's go see about the pictures, and then we will go to lunch?" She asked.
"Yes! Yes!" Melody signed enthusiastically, grabbing Antonia's hand as she started pulling her toward the lab again. Antonia laughed as she let the girl pull her, glancing back to her parents and Aiden.
"I guess we still have some work to do." She said, scanning her card. The door opened, and the four of them entered the lab together.
Antonia swung the little girl into her arms and watched as she looked over her shoulder at the other three adults following behind. Her eyes were wary on Booth and Temperance, but shined a little brighter when Aiden gave her a friendly wink. "Bean." She signed to him, watching as Antonia laughed.
"What did she say?" Booth asked as they stopped outside of Angela's office for a second.
"She said 'Bean'." Antonia explained. "That's what she calls Aiden, she says he's tall like a beanstalk." Antonia said, watching his ears turn red at the explanation as Booth let out a laugh. She tapped lightly on Angela's door.
Angela appeared at the door and gave her a concerned glance. "Hey. Sorry about that, we didn't realize she was coming in right then."
"It's fine." Antonia said. "Is it ready to go?" She asked. Angela opened the door, and they all came in together, Temperance getting another hug from her friend as she entered the room.
"Okay." Antonia said, setting the little girl to sit on the desk next to Angela, who had sat up on the edge and faced the 'screen'. Antonia watched as Booth, Temperance and Aiden gathered around. Antonia stood to the side as she watched the little girl look up at her intently. "Angela is going to show you pictures. They are just pictures. You have to tell us if they look like the bad men, okay?"
"I think that her reaction earlier was a pretty good indication that she did a good job with the sketches." Booth said, gaining a glare from her daughter. "I'm just saying." He said, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Your input is noted." Antonia snapped, a slight smirk on her face as she turned back to Melody. "Remember, just pictures. If you are scared, no screaming, no running. Close your eyes." She signed. "Understand?"
"Yes." Melody nodded, glancing to the screen, she swallowed hard as Antonia pulled a chair up to sit just below her.
"Okay, Ange. Suspect one." She said.
Angela picked up the controller, and a face appeared on the screen, followed by a body. There was no movement, but the image looked so lifelike. "How does it look?" Angela asked.
Antonia put her hand in the little girl's for a moment, watching as she stared at the screen with wide eyes. There was a bit of wetness in her gaze, but she stayed strong. She looked to Antonia and signed something, looking up at Angela.
"She says the sweatshirt was darker, and he had a small scar under his eye."
Angela did a couple adjustments, and Melody gasped, closing her eyes. Angela glanced to Antonia who nodded. Angela moved on to the next suspect, and Antonia tapped on Melody's fingertips, watching her open her eyes slightly to look down at Antonia, she watched Antonia for a moment. "Next man." She signed, nodding toward the picture that was put up. Melody looked up, whimpered and nodded her head, her hand now in Antonia's as they moved on to the third man. Melody nodded, and closed her eyes, and Antonia confirmed again.
"I think we're all set." Angela said, looking to Aiden, Booth, and Temperance. "I'll get these to Ace, and he can distribute." She stepped forward and placed her hand gently in the little girl's hand, waiting for her eyes to open. She did so slowly and watched Angela carefully. "Thank you." She signed, a smile on her lips as she gave Melody a playful poke on her nose, watching as the fear drained from her face, replaced with a lopsided smile.
"You're a brave girl." Antonia said to Melody, watching as the little girl watched her for a moment.
"I'm a hungry girl." She replied, watching the laughter in Antonia's eyes as she told everyone what she had said, and they all shared in her laughter.
Antonia and Aiden each held tightly to Melody's hands as they stepped up to the diner. Aiden ushered them both inside, and smiled as Antonia dropped a kiss on his cheek as she passed him. They stepped carefully to their table, where Aiden sat beside Melody, and Antonia sat across from them, so that she could talk with the little girl as they prepared to order. Melody picked up the menu from the table and hid her face behind it, pretending to read the items as Aiden grabbed Antonia's hand.
They looked up as the waitress stepped to their table, a curious look on her face as she looked toward the little girl. "Looks like we've got a new customer here." She smiled at the two of them and Melody peeked from behind the menu before hiding her face again.
"We'll be just a minute." Antonia said with a smile. "Aiden and I will have our usual."
"You got it." She said with a smile. "I'll be right back with your drinks." She said with a friendly smile, watching the dark blue eye that was looking around the menu before she left the table.
"Melody." Antonia signed as Aiden plucked the menu from her fingertips, watching as she reached for it in vain. He indicated that Antonia was talking to her, and her attention went to her.
"Do you want a cheeseburger?" Antonia asked, pointing to a photo on the menu, she smiled when the little girl nodded enthusiastically. "You got it." She smiled, indicating to the waitress that she could add another cheeseburger to their order. She looked to Aiden, her eyebrow lifting up to his curious glance. "What?"
"You didn't tell them?" Aiden asked, rubbing his finger over her empty ring finger, a bit humored by the surprise in her face, she seemed to sense that he was teasing her.
"I didn't tell them, no." She said, glancing to Melody and back to him. "They just got home, and Mom is already being weird about everything else. I'll just give her time."
"Where is the ring?" He asked, watching her hand as it rested on her throat beneath her shirt, she tugged the chain and he smiled when he saw it dangling against her pendant. "At least it's someplace safe." He smiled.
"I will protect it with my life." She said, looking up to see their lunch being delivered. The waitress placed the plates in front of them, and they each smiled and thanked her, watching as Melody grabbed the cheeseburger from her plate and took a very large bite, staring at the burger hungrily. "Okay." Antonia said, pulling the basket of fries toward her, she watched Melody's eyes become wider as she reached for the fries, fearing that Antonia was taking her food away, she reached for it. "Slow down." Antonia said, watching the impatient look on Melody's face. The girl took another large bite of the cheeseburger. She looked up at Aiden and sighed. "I talked to her social worker, apparently there were some feeding issues at the group home. The bigger kids would bully her food from her, because they knew she couldn't tell. Apparently, there were some days where she wouldn't be able to eat anything." She said it, trying not to look affected, but he could see the pain in her eyes. Melody grunted as she reached for the basket of fries, and scowled across at Antonia. "Promise, slower."
"I promise." Melody signed back, her scowl softening as Antonia moved the basket toward her, and she put the burger in beside the fries.
"I don't know, Tex. I've seen you and Grace eat burgers twice as fast as that." He said, laughing at her scowl. His phone rang and he held up his finger as he accepted the call. "Fitzgerald." He said, as suddenly his smile became brighter. He listened for several moments, his eyes rolling as he let out a 'mm' now and then.
"Fiona?" Antonia asked, laughing to herself as he nodded, rolling his eyes slightly.
"Well, did you put it back?" He asked, sighing as he laughed. "Fi? Fiona? Hey, chatterbox!" He said, laughing. "Yes, she's here. I don't know if she wants to talk to you."
"Hand it over." Antonia said, reaching for his phone. He shook his head as he handed it over. She smiled as she lifted the phone to her ear, an easy smile on her face. "Hey, Fi."
"Oh my goodness, Ant! Can you believe that we'll be there in two days? Two days! Can you believe it?" Fiona squealed excitedly.
"I know! I'm looking forward to seeing you soon." She smiled at Aiden, and smacked his hand when he reached across to steal one of her fries, her eyes moving to Melody, who watched her reaction to him taking her food with wide eyes. "See that? Nobody takes my food." She signed to Melody, who smiled and looked between the two of them again as Antonia listened to Fiona continue to gush about her impending trip.
"I think mom is nervous about meeting you, Ant. She says that she doesn't know anything about you. I try to tell her about you, but she says that she will decide herself. I don't really know what that means, but I know she'll like you. She just has to! You're my best friend in Washington D.C.!"
"I'm your best friend?" Antonia asked, glancing to Aiden as his jaw dropped, laughter in his eyes. "What about your Uncle Aiden?"
"Oh, he's okay. He's a boy though, and I think that sometimes he can be just a little bit too bossy." Fiona said honestly with a heavy sigh.
"He's too bossy?" Antonia laughed.
"Give me my phone back!" Aiden exclaimed, reaching for the phone, she turned away from him and continued to listen.
"Well, we have a lot of surprises for you here, kid. So we're looking forward to you getting here. I should go." Antonia said, watching Aiden wiggle his fingers for the phone to be returned.
"Okay, Ant. Be a good girl, and I'll see you Thursday!" Fiona said, smiling happily.
"You be a good girl too." She said, handing the phone back to Aiden.
"I am not bossy!" Aiden said into the line as he looked to Antonia and put the phone down. "She hung up." He said, looking across at Antonia as she plucked a fry from her basket.
"She must have gotten what she called for." Antonia shrugged with a smile, shoving the fry into her mouth, she giggled at his exasperated expression.