Three Days Later- December 31st 3:00PM
Booth stepped into the house with a bag of groceries, his eyes scanning the living room as it came to rest on the young woman sitting on the couch. Dressed in pink sweatpants and an old t-shirt, Antonia sit where she had been sitting for the past three days when he came through the door, and where he had left her when he went to the store. She was staring at the television, a spoon sticking out of her mouth as she held a bowl of ice cream in her hand. Her hair was messy and unbrushed, and her feet were bare leaning against the edge of the coffee table. When she looked up and saw her father coming through the door, her feet dropped to the floor.
"Why are you still here?" He asked, walking toward the couch, he set the grocery bag on the coffee table after pushing a few things aside. "You don't even live here, why are you here?"
"Your couch is more comfortable than mine." She mumbled. "Mom buys better ice cream." She said, shoving another spoonful into her mouth, a bit of chocolate ice cream dribbled onto her lip, and she swiped it with her finger. "I'm still on vacation for another couple of days." She muttered around her ice cream. "Head injury." She said, tapping her forehead with her fingertip.
"I'll give you a head injury." Booth muttered. "You're making a mess." He said, pulling the bowl from her hand, she scooped the last spoonful and shoved it into her mouth as she glared at her father. "Go take a shower, everyone will be here soon, and you look like someone used a blender on your hair. Your mother is going to kill you if you got ice cream on her couch."
She stood up and dropped the spoon in the bowl that her father took from her, and peeked into the grocery bag. "It's fine, I'll just blame it on the twins." She said with a shrug.
"Speaking of the twins, where are they?" Booth asked, looking around.
"Oh, we're playing hide and seek." She said, pulling a package of carrots from the bag to look at them, she inspected them for a moment, she glanced at her father. "What?"
"How long ago did they hide?"
"Um, I don't know, twenty minutes ago?" She shrugged, dropping the carrots into the bag. She looked at the look on her father's face and a slow smile crept onto her lips as she shrugged again sheepishly. "They're very patient."
"I need to go finish putting dinner together. Your mom will be home with Grace in a half hour. Hodgins and Angela and Jack are coming, and your Uncle Jared might be here too, and Parker, Ace, and Rebecca." He said, turning toward the kitchen. "Please go get dressed."
"Christmas dinner on New Years Eve is highly over rated!" She exclaimed as he disappeared into the kitchen. She grumbled as she walked toward the stairs. Just as her foot hit the first step, the doorbell rang. She sighed and turned to the kitchen, then looked to the door. "I got it, Dad!" She called, reaching her hand up to her messy hair, she sighed. She swung open the door to find two very amused green eyes staring at her. He looked well rested, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, a warm winter coat draped over his shoulders. His arm was in a sling, but otherwise looked to be in one piece. She hadn't seen him since that day in the hospital.
In his arm he held a container and a small bag, his eyebrow lifted as he looked at Antonia, her beautifully disheveled self, standing before him. "Um.." She said, suddenly aware of how she looked, a deep crimson rose to her cheeks. And then as quickly as she had appeared, the door swung shut in Aiden's face. She quickly shot up the stairs as fast as she could.
Booth walked out of the kitchen, a towel in his hands as he looked toward the stairs, and then to the door. "Toni, who was at the door?" He asked, walking across the room, the doorbell rang again. "I don't know what I am going to do with her." He said, shaking his head. He opened the door, and immediately knew what had happened. He smiled and shook his head, ushering Aiden inside. "I'm sorry about that." He said, glancing toward the stairs. "She has a head injury, could be brain damage." He laughed.
"I heard that!" Her voice echoed from upstairs, the two men chuckled as he came inside.
"Doctor Brennan asked me to bring something for dinner. I told her I'd bring some dessert." He said with a smile, handing over the container in his hand. "It's pie." He shrugged. "Homemade cherry pie, my mother's recipe." He smiled.
"Fitz, you have my blessing." He said, nodding toward the kitchen.
"Blessing for what?" Aiden laughed, following after Booth.
"Anything you want, you got it." Booth laughed. "Come on in, I'm working on dinner." They stepped into the kitchen as suddenly a scream came from upstairs, possibly more of a yelp as the sound of small feet came pounding down the stairs, and the curly heads of Luke and Nate ran past Booth and Aiden, hiding behind the dining room table.
Booth and Aiden watched the two boys with a laugh. "What did you do to your Aunt Toni?" Booth asked.
"Luke was hiding in the bathtub." Nate laughed. "He jumped out at her when she was talking to herself in the mirror. She said a lot of booboo words." He said, glancing to Aiden. "Who are you again?" He asked, suddenly suspicious.
"This is Agent Fitzgerald, he works with Pops." Booth said, watching as the little boys nodded their heads, remembering him from his visit earlier in the month. "Now go on and find something to do, Bones will be home soon, so don't make a mess."
"Okay." Luke said, smiling as he took a step toward the door.
"And please don't terrorize Aunt Toni. She's had a rough week." Booth said, watching the mischievousness in their eyes.
"Yeah, a rough week of being a lazy bum!" Nate laughed.
"And don't you dare touch those Christmas gifts!" Booth exclaimed as the boys groaned and took off into the next room. "They've been dying to get their hands on those Christmas gifts." He said, watching Aiden sit in the barstool at the counter.
"I bet." He said, setting the small bag in his hand on the counter. "This is for Doctor Brennan, by the way." Aiden said, sliding the bag across the counter.
Booth looked inside and lifted an eyebrow, pulling a small box of fudge from the bag. He shook his head and smiled. "You, my friend… you are good." He nodded.
"I know she doesn't like pie." He shrugged.
"Who doesn't like pie?" The voice from the doorway asked as Temperance walked into the kitchen. Booth looked up and held up the box to her.
"You don't. What are you doing here? Where is Grace?" he asked, watching as she walked around the counter to Booth, she picked up the box of fudge and looked at him, then to Aiden.
"Jack is bringing her." She said, looking to Aiden. "You brought this for me?"
"A small token of gratitude to the hostess." Aiden said, accepting a smile from Temperance.
"He's a suck up." Booth said, nodding toward the container that held the pie. "He brought pie."
Temperance smiled and shook her head, watching Aiden's ears start to burn. "He does his research." She nodded gratefully, walking around the counter, she picked up the box and smiled at him. "Thank you, Aiden. It was very thoughtful."
"Thank you for inviting me to your family gathering, and visiting me in the hospital." He said with a nod.
"I understand it is difficult not to have family around. I hope that you're feeling better." She said, watching him nod gratefully. "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I should get ready for guests." She said with a smile. "Where is your daughter?" She asked Booth, walking toward the door to the kitchen.
"By now, probably fashioning a ladder together with sheets and blankets and climbing out of the bathroom window to escape." Booth shrugged, listening to Aiden laugh. "She's upstairs getting ready." He replied to Temperance's confused glance.
"I'll send her down." She said, and promptly turned and disappeared into the living room.