Aiden waited a moment as everyone just stared at him speechlessly, everyone except Fiona and Parker. "Looks like you are the only one that's happy to see me." He winked at the little girl, and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
"Dinner is ready, Uncle Aiden." Fiona said, giggling as he tickled her, and placed her to the ground.
"Aiden, what the …!" Booth started to exclaim.
"Booth!" Temperance interrupted, walking toward Aiden. "Aiden, what are you doing here?" She asked, her anxiety ramping up as she approached him. She reached up and took his face in her hands, looking into his eyes. "Where are the girls? They're okay, right? They're not with you are they?" She asked, touching his arm as she started to walk behind him, looking toward the door.
He reached for her arm and she stopped, watching him with wide, nervous eyes. "Ace is with them." He said, and he could physically see her calm at the sound of her partner's name.
"Christopher is at the house?" She whispered. "Why is Christopher at the house?" She asked, taking a step back, she continued to watch him for a moment.
"He had some things to straighten out with Tex, I mean Antonia." He said, shaking his head, a smile still on his lips. "They're all okay, they're okay." He said, watching as Temperance nodded her head. "I wouldn't have come back if they weren't okay. I promise." He said, watching Temperance nod. He paused and looked looking as everyone continued to stare at him. "I'm sorry I interrupted your dinner. I can come back later."
"No, Uncle Aiden, you can't go!" Fiona said, tears coming to her eyes, she grabbed hold of his hand and tugged him toward the dining room.
"He's not going anywhere." Booth said, nodding toward the dining room. "Grace, put another plate at the table. Let's go eat." He said, watching as Grace smiled and headed toward the kitchen as everyone else began to talk as they headed toward the dining room. Aiden stopped beside Booth for a moment at the door to the kitchen, and they exchanged a glance. "You have something for me?"
"Yeah, we can talk after dinner." He said, feeling Booth's hand on his shoulder. "I think we might have a break."
"I might have something for you too." He said. "After dinner."
Aiden nodded and pulled out his cell phone. He set it on the counter with everyone else's as if simply by habit, and walked into the dining room with Booth. Everyone was talking and finding their places, and Aiden felt a hand grab his. He looked down to see his niece looking up at him. "Hey, kid."
"You sit next to me, Uncle Aiden. I had Grace put your plate right there!" She said, pointing to a seat.
"Thank you." He said, winking at the little girl. He put his hand on Anna's shoulder and leaned down to her, catching her look of concern. "You okay?"
"I'm doing well." She smiled softly. "Are you okay? Where is Antonia?"
"She's still at the safe house. We can talk later, okay?" He nodded. "Lots to talk about." He said with a charming smile as he sat down and said hello to everyone. "I don't think we've met." He said, leaning over toward Nichols. "Agent Aiden Fitzgerald." He smiled.
Nichols looked at him with a nervous smile. He noticed Aiden's confidence and familiarity at the Booth house, and it seemingly unnerved him. "Agent Sam Nichols. I'm helping Booth with the case while Agent Harding is off." He nodded. "You were at the safe house with Antonia and the girl, right?"
"Melody." He corrected. "Yeah, Agent Harding is with the girls now. I have some work to do up here." He said shortly. He turned to Grace and Jack and smiled, leaning over to give the twins each a fist bump. "How are the wedding plans going, guys? It's getting here quickly."
Grace sighed, rolling her eyes, but still beaming. "It would be a lot easier if my maid of honor didn't disappear to a beach paradise." She said, laughing as Jack elbowed her slightly as she giggled.
"Rest assured, she's tried very hard not to have any fun, but feel free to call her up and distract her. It'll do her good." Aiden said smiling.
"Aiden?" Temperance said, gaining his attention to the end of the table as the food was served. "When did Christopher arrive at the house?"
"Bones, Ace is fine. Stop worrying so much about him." Booth chuckled, watching as his wife glared at him.
"He has been very much on edge lately, and I wanted to ensure that he is of sound mind. Something has been bothering him, and he hasn't been very receptive to talking about it." She said, scowling at her husband. "I just want to make sure that he is well."
"Ace arrived on Wednesday. He and Tex had a good talk, and I think they are both feeling better. He's been very helpful with Melody too. His background is unique, in that he can relate with her, making her more comfortable in communicating. Tex has been letting him look over her notes to see if we've missed anything, and it's allowed her to get some rest." He said, sharing a small smile with Temperance. "Ace and Melody seemed to have bonded well. She still calls him 'ape' though." He chuckled, listening to the chorus of laughter.
Grace looked across the table at him and signed. "Congratulations, by the way."
"Thank you." He signed back, smiling proudly as she glanced to Jack knowingly. "We are both very excited about the baby." He signed to her.
"Alright, you two." Temperance said, observing their conversation, she watched Grace and Aiden grab their forks as they started to eat, laughing across the table at one another.
"Aiden, you've learned sign language?" Anna asked, watching as he looked over toward her. There was a sparkle in his eyes that she had never seen.
"Melody is deaf." He said, watching her nod. "I've been slowly learning more each day from her. She's sharp and perceptive, and she can read lips, which is helpful for me, but she and Antonia communicate mostly in sign language. She's a remarkable little girl."
"I'm a remarkable little girl. Right, Uncle Aiden." Fiona said, nudging her uncle with her elbow, she watched him smile at her as everyone laughed.
"Of course you are." He said, kissing the top of her head. "I think that you and Melody will be very good friends. She's just about your age."
"But I don't know sign language." She said with a sigh.
"If Uncle Aiden can figure it out, I think a smart kid like you can figure it out." He said, watching her smile up at him before turning her attention to Booth.
"Are we gonna call Ant after dinner still, Pops? Just because Uncle Aiden is here, doesn't mean we can't call her, right?" Fiona asked, watching Booth's attention go to her.
"Sure, we can call Ant after dinner." He said, "I think Uncle Aiden wanted to do that anyway."
The dinner conversation was light and friendly, and Aiden relayed some of the stories from their time at the beach house, continuing to reassure Temperance that both Antonia and Ace were doing well. As dinner wrapped up, Aiden, Jack, and Parker stood to help with clearing the table while Nichols, Anna, Grace, and Temperance enjoyed a cup of coffee and visited.
Fiona worked her way to Booth's side, taking his hand. "Come on, Pops. We have to call Ant."
"You're so insistent." Booth teased her, though her serious expression showed him that she was not in the mood for niceties. She had a goal, and she was going to reach it. "Why don't you go play with the boys for a little bit, and I'll get the computer set up in the living room, so we can all talk to Ant."
"Okay." She smiled, as she skipped out of the room to find Nate and Luke.
Booth walked into the kitchen where Parker and Jack were loading the dishwasher, and Aiden was standing nearby wiping his hands on a towel as they all talked animatedly.
"Alright, Fitz. What do you have?" Booth said, watching as Aiden's eyes snapped to his.
"We'll need Grace." He said, reaching over to the counter, he grabbed his phone.
"Grace?"
"You'll see what I mean." He said with a smile. "It's a video of Melody. Grace can interpret. Antonia said that if you watch too, you'll know it when you see it." He rolled his eyes, watching as Booth chuckled and did the same. "I'll get the computer set up."
Temperance joined Booth, Nichols, Aiden, Grace and Fiona in the living room as Parker and Jack talked with Anna as they prepared dessert in the kitchen. Once settled in the living room, Booth, Grace, and Aiden settled on the couch as Fiona settled on the floor in front of the television, and Temperance stood behind them watching with Agent Nichols.
Aiden looked around at everyone as he set up the laptop and transferred some files from his phone to the computer, he hooked up the laptop to the television as he explained.
"Okay, so Ace had this idea of setting up a camera at random times, to let Melody play around on it. There's a monitor nearby, so she can see herself in the camera, and she seems to enjoy having it to play around with. Ace showed her how she can tell stories to it, and record them, play them back and stuff, and she has really taken to it. Ace thought that as she felt comfortable with it, she might start to communicate with the camera, and maybe we could get some information from her. I mean, we couldn't figure out how to talk to her about the trauma she experienced without making her upset." Aiden said with a sigh. "So we showed her how to the camera worked, how to record and play the videos. She liked to see herself on the monitors." He chuckled.
"They all do." Booth said with a bit of a laugh, though it was guarded. He remembered all too well when he had gone through the same thing with a young Antonia so many years earlier.
"Well, because she likes to see herself, you know, it started with a lot of grins, giggling and silly faces." He chuckled. He sighed slightly and looked around as he prepared one of the videos. "But it kind of developed into some story telling too." He said, glancing to Temperance who was watching diligently. "When Parker visited, he brought a bunch of books and toys. One of the books was a fluffy bunny book, or something." He shrugged.
"Oh…" Grace cooed as she nudged Booth. "Fluffy bunny was my favorite book ever."
"Oh God." Booth grumbled.
"Come on, Dad. You loved the fluffy bunny book." Grace teased.
"Well, that's where it comes in… Apparently, Melody's mom would read it to her, and would do it using sign language." He said as he looked for a video on the phone. He clicked on the one he was looking for, and it started with Antonia, pulling Melody into her lap, talking to her softly, as the little girl watched her and read her lips.
Temperance sighed and smiled lightly at her daughter being so motherly to the little girl, her voice soft and gentle.
Antonia shifted Melody on her lap, and the little girl glanced at the camera, making a face as Antonia let out a laugh. "That's enough, silly girl." She signed. "You're going to read me a story, remember?" Antonia signed, speaking aloud as well.
Aiden paused the video for a second. "Now, this is just the first time we tried to record it… she had read the story numerous times, but just watch her tell the story. Grace, you can interpret out loud what she's saying."
"Sure." Grace said, seemingly excited to be part of the process, she watched as Antonia held the book, and Melody looked at the pictures, and signed through the story. Grace read aloud every sign, and occasionally her brow would furrow as she read through it. She would occasionally glance to Aiden, who nodded knowingly. As the video completed, and Antonia closed the book, Aiden paused the video. Grace looked to him with a perplexed glance. "That's not how the story goes. Is this a different version of the book?"
"It's your copy of the book, Grace. There is no other version."
"There's no oak tree in the story." Booth said, running through the story in his mind. "And there are a few other added verses that didn't fit."
"Exactly." Aiden said as he smiled. "And when Antonia pointed them out to her, she became upset, told her that her mama told her the story, and she wasn't wrong. She tells it the exact same way, every single time."
"So you think that's a clue?" Nichols said from behind the couch, watching on in confusion. "That doesn't make any sense."
"It makes perfect sense." Aiden said, standing up. His tone had become defensive. "She remembers something, she doesn't even realize it."
"Yeah, but it's a kid's book, and she's just a kid. So she has an imagination, she made up new parts of the book." Nichols shrugged. "That doesn't mean anything."
"When a child makes up a story, Agent Nichols, seldom is it exactly the same time and again." Temperance chimed in. "Trust me, I've heard a lot of stories." She said, patting the heads of Nate and Luke as they sit perched on the edge of the couch watching the adults talk. "You're saying she never strays?"
"Not once." Aiden said. "There's always an oak tree, and a box with a surprise, and a cat with yellow, green eyes." Aiden said. "I just have a really strong feeling that this has something to do with these people that are after her. I can't really explain it. I wouldn't have left them there with Ace if I didn't think it was important." He said, watching as Temperance nodded her head.
"Can we call Ant now?" Fiona asked, her voice sounded slightly exasperated as she looked up from her spot on the floor.
"Hey, what happened to my sweet polite girl?" Aiden teased, watching her sigh.
"Please can we call Ant now?" She asked with the exact same amount of faux anguish in her voice.
"Yeah, yeah…" He said, rolling his eyes at the little girl, he typed in a code and a password, on the laptop in front of them, so that the camera would capture them. They waited a moment, and suddenly the screen appeared with Antonia sitting at the chair, seemingly out of breath. As soon as she saw Aiden, she gave him a brilliant smile.
"Hey there, beautiful." He said, listening to her light laughter float through the speakers.
"You made it." She grinned. "Hey everyone." She said, waving.
"Hi Ant!" Fiona exclaimed, jumping up, she blocked the camera with her face and made a kissy face at the camera.
"Fiona." She said with a happy sigh. "I miss you."
"I miss you, Ant! Mama is here too, she's in the other room. She is looking forward to meeting you!" Fiona smiled.
"I'm looking forward to meeting her too, sweetie. I hope you're behaving." She said, watching as Aiden shook his head and Fiona looked up at him with a surprised look.
"I'm being good, don't listen to him." She smiled.
"Hang on a second." Antonia said, signing to the side, she turned and lifted a little girl into her arms. She pointed to the screen, and as soon as Melody saw Aiden, she grinned, reaching for him in the screen, whimpering as she struggled against Antonia's hold.
"Hey, Shadow." He signed to her, she started to sign to him quickly, and he was having a hard time keeping up. Her eyes were determined and frustrated, and her signing was very punctuated.
"She said she misses you, and wants you to come back right now." Grace nudged him.
"Thanks." He laughed. "I miss you, Shadow." He signed to her, watching as her lip started to tremble. "Oh, please don't cry." He signed, his eyes moving to Antonia as she cuddled the little girl, shifting her in her arms as she promised her that Aiden would return soon.
"She had a hard time after you left today." Antonia said, holding Melody against her as she buried her head in her shoulder.
"I'm sorry." He said, feeling heavy in his chest for causing her pain. "I'll be with you guys soon." He smiled.
"It's alright, I think she's settling in well with her new best friend." She said, as Ace popped onto the screen. Antonia let out a laugh and gave him a little push as he grinned into the camera, and Melody reached for him. He held her in his arms and sat beside Antonia as Melody settled onto his lap.
"What's up, Doc?" He said, laughing at Booth's eyeroll.
"That is not funny, Christopher." Temperance sighed, listening to everyone laugh, and though she feigned an angry scowl, Booth could see the concern in her eyes begin to lift.
"You love it, and you know it." He said. "Everything is good here. Did you give them the message from Shadow?" Ace asked, watching as Aiden nodded.
"We're going to work on this from here, see if we can find the connection." Aiden replied glancing to Booth. "I'm going to be visiting CPS, and looking into the financials of some of the people that you mentioned."
Booth nodded. "Ace, we're going to be sending you a few other things tomorrow to look into. We might have some new clues." He said, placing his hand on Fiona's head as she looked up at him and grinned. Hopefully we can get this solved soon and get you guys home safe and sound."
"I want my partner back." Temperance said, scowling at the screen, she looked to Agent Nichols, who was just watching the screen, he glanced to Temperance. "No offense, Agent Nichols."
"None taken, Ma'am." He said, oblivious to Ace and Booth's snicker at the moniker she hated.
"I want mine back too." Antonia smiled, a bit of sadness in her demeanor.
"I'll call you tonight." Aiden said, watching Antonia nod. "I love you, Tex." He said, and signed.
"I love you, too." She sighed, "I love you guys too." She said, brightening a bit, she waved.
"Take good care of them, Ace." Temperance demanded, watching her partner nod his head.
"You got it, Doc. Later." He said, disconnecting the line, the screen went blank.
There were several moments of quiet as they all let the information that had been shared settle between them. Suddenly, Aiden stood up, and grinned. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for some dessert." He said, signing the same, he watched as Temperance smiled at him, her head shaking slightly. Everyone got up and began to file back into the dining room, chatting and talking as they went. Aiden noticed that Temperance was still watching him. "What?" He laughed.
"You have no idea how much that child has affected you, do you?" She said, reaching out to touch his hand, he tipped his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Your hands." She said, nodding toward them as she watched him look to her hands on his. "Even when she's not here, you're speaking with your hands." She said, squeezing his hands in hers for a moment. "Aiden, thank you for everything that you've done for Antonia. I don't think that I can remember ever seeing her this happy."
"She helps me be a better person." Aiden replied sincerely. "She's one of the bravest people that I know."
"Same here." She winked as she squeezed his hand. "Let's go get that dessert." She smiled as she tugged Aiden along with her, and they walked into the kitchen together.