Aiden held tightly to Antonia's hand as they made it to the bottom of the stairs, the raucous conversation lulling just slightly as Antonia walked around the corner with him still attached to her hand, and headed toward the kitchen with him. "Hey, hey…" Someone said from the group of people talking near the couch. She turned to look to see Hodgins smiling at her. "You can't just sneak away without a hug."

She smiled, letting Aiden's hand go, she glanced to him and rolled her eyes playfully as he smiled and shook his head. "Hey, Uncle Bugs." She said, giving Hodgins a hug, he took a good look at the stitches on her forehead and made a face. "It's fine, I'm fine."

"Doctor B said you were recovering from exhaustion and dehydration. I haven't seen you at the lab in days. You never take time off." He said with a smile. "I worry about you."

"You don't have to worry about her." Angela said, giving Antonia a nudge. "She has her big strong FBI guy over there to keep her safe, huh sweetie?" She said, wiggling her eyebrows, they glanced to Aiden, who was talking with Temperance. Antonia gave Angela a knowing look and let a soft nervous sigh escape.

"He's okay." She smirked.

The doorbell rang, and Antonia took that as an opportunity to step away, glancing to the couch to see her sister sitting with JV, telling Ace and Rebecca a story, nobody else seemed to hear the doorbell except the twins. She glanced over at Aiden, and then went quickly to the door, trying to beat out her nephews as they reached for the doorknob. "Down, monsters." She said, laughing as they took off running in the opposite direction. She opened the door and sighed with a bit of irritation at her Uncle Jared standing on the other side.

"Hey, kid." He said with a smile as he walked inside the house without her stepping aside, noting the jovial atmosphere of the room, he also noted the slight scowl on Antonia's face.

"You don't even know my name, do you?" She said with a sarcastic smile, she closed the door behind him and started to walk away. He touched her arm and she turned sharply.

"Of course I know your name, Ant." He said with a glare. "I've made mistakes, you don't have to treat me like I'm a pariah."

"Breaking out the big words, huh Uncle Jared?" She said snarkily.

"Alright, alright." Booth said from behind his daughter. "Go on." He said nodding in the opposite direction. Booth shook his head at Antonia. She turned and walked toward Aiden.

"I still don't understand why she doesn't like me." Jared said, shrugging.

"Don't worry about Antonia. If Bones and I didn't want you here, we wouldn't have invited you."

Antonia approached Aiden and reached for his hand and started tugging him toward the kitchen. "Where are you dragging me?" He asked, following her out of the room into the quiet kitchen.

"I don't like crowded rooms, they make me uncomfortable." She said, sitting on the barstool, she started to spin herself in circles.

"So…"

"You don't have to go through the list every time I tell you something makes me feel uncomfortable. It's okay, I'm just feeling a little… quiet tonight." She said with a shrug.

"You? Quiet?" He asked, winking, he grabbed her leg to keep her from spinning, and he moved closer to her with a challenging expression. "That's a little different."

"You're lucky I remembered you have broken ribs." She teased, leaning forward, she captured his lips, moving away quickly as the door to the kitchen opened.

"So, this is where you're hiding?" JV said, stepping into the room, he caught Antonia's eye around Aiden. Aiden stepped aside, glancing to the other man.

"I'm not hiding, Goof. I'm just relaxing." She said, watching him as he leaned on the counter near her. "I heard you and Grace finally figured things out between you. What's it like being the rebound guy?" She teased.

JV held his hand out to shake Aiden's hand, grinning brightly as he moved close to Antonia to tease her, releasing Aiden's hand. "It's not bad. What's it like dating your father?" He whispered to her. He had no time to block it, and before he knew it, he was doubled over as Antonia's fist came out quick and hard, landing right in his stomach.

"Jesus, Ant!" He exclaimed. "Sucker punch!"

"Gotta tighten up those abs, Goof. Someone's going to hurt you." She winked, looking at Aiden who seemed a little concerned.

"Just wait." JV said with a laugh as he straightened out. "I'm going to kick your ass." He said.

"I'll wait." She said, watching as JV shook his head. "But you'll have to catch me." She said, standing up, she walked around the other side of the counter. "And you're not going to get far when you are carrying my sister's lazy ass everywhere."

"You're dead meat, Petrie dish!" He exclaimed as he started to run around the counter, only to have Antonia leap over it, onto the floor and out of the kitchen with JV right behind her.

After a moment or two, she came careening back into the kitchen and sat down on the barstool, spinning it around for a moment, a bright grin on her face. She caught Aiden's look of concern and grabbed his arm to stop her spinning. "He's like my baby brother." She shrugged, watching him nod slightly, she tilted her head. "That's not his first sucker punch, and it probably won't be his last."

After a moment, the door to the kitchen opened, and Booth walked inside, he didn't look amused. "Are you serious?" he asked, watching the sheepish look on her face as she tugged Aiden a bit to stand in front of her.

"Oh no, I'm not your human shield." He shook his head and looked between Booth and Antonia. "Nope, no way." He said, trying to move away, she stood up behind him. "I'll protect you from the bad guys, and bullets, and even the occasional sasquatch… but there's no way that I'm standing between you and your Dad. Nope."

"Sorry, Dad." She said, looking over Aiden's shoulder she watched her father's glare.

Suddenly the door to the kitchen opened, and Nate came sliding in on his socks. "Pops! Come quick! Daddy is finally here! It's time to open presents! Aunt Toni! FBI guy! Let's go! Chop, chop!" he said, turning quickly, he ran as fast as he could back out into the living room.

"That's all of the running that I want to see in this house, you got it?" Booth asked, pointing at his daughter, though his eyes were betraying him as he watched his daughter smile behind Aiden's shoulder. "Now get out there and start the Christmas carols so we can get a few gifts open, so that the boys have something to do while the adults eat." He said, watching Antonia nod, stepping out from behind Aiden. Booth then turned and walked out of the kitchen.

"Christmas carols?" Aiden asked, watching as Antonia smiled and leaned on the counter for a moment. "You guys sing Christmas carols?"

"They sing." She said shaking her head. "I play the piano." She said, taking his hand, she leaned up and kissed him. "You're the one that got yourself into this mess." She pulled him with her into the living room.

Once they stepped into the living room, it appeared that the conversation had calmed, and everyone was sitting around in various chairs chatting as the two little boys walked around handing gifts to everyone. Antonia walked around the remaining chair that was available, nodding to Aiden to sit, saying hello to everyone as she walked. She caught her mother's eyes as she passed Temperance, her mother touching her hand as she watched Antonia sit at the piano. She turned to JV, sitting with a smirk on his face next to her sister, and pointed at her eyes, and then to his. He laughed and made the same motion, as Grace laughed at both of them.

"Okay, everyone…" She said, as she started to play a song very quickly, as the boys looked up. "This is it, right? Jingle bells?"

"No! No!" Nate exclaimed, handing Parker a gift, he ran over to his Aunt and put his hands on her hands, as everyone watched her glance to him, and laugh. "Slower, Aunt Toni."

"Oh, slower?" She said, hitting one key at a time, as she watched him shake his head. "Is this right?"

"No, a little faster…." He giggled.

"How about this?" She asked, starting to play a classical piece, hearing the little boys start to chatter as they stepped over to her and stopped her again.

"No!" Luke laughed. "Jingle Bells!" He giggled.

"I don't understand…" She laughed. "Why don't you sing it to me, and it'll help refresh my memory."

"Dashing through the snow…." Nate started, turning around, his face turned red as he noticed everyone was watching him. "Come on, guys. Sing!"

Antonia started to play, picking up the tempo a bit, and soon everyone was singing. The gifts were handed out, and Antonia played carol after carol as she watched the little boys dance around. She turned to see Aiden singing along, his cheeks blushing when he was caught, he just shook his head and accepted a gift from Luke with a glance to her that indicated confusion. She shrugged and continued to play, moving onto the next song.

Once the gifts were handed out, and everyone sat eagerly awaiting to open them, Antonia turned in her seat and faced everyone else. She had a lightness about her now, a bright happiness that radiated from her as her eyes moved over her family members. Aiden caught sight of it, and she grinned, pointing a finger gun at him, she watched him glare, and point his own finger at her. Slowly, they dropped their 'weapons', completely oblivious of everyone else around them.

"Okay, okay." Booth said, trying to get everyone's attention. "First of all, thank you all for coming for our slightly delayed Christmas celebration. We don't have to talk about why it was delayed, that's in the past. Thank you everyone for your patience and your support for Bones and I, and our family." He said, his smile real, but the emotions behind it were quite serious. "Second…"

"Dad, can we just open the presents already? We want to get to dinner, we're starving!" Grace asked, as everyone laughed.

"Yeah, yeah… gifts." Booth said, sending his daughter a wink, as everyone started opening their gifts. "But I'm giving the toast at dinner!" He said to deaf ears, but for Temperance, who was watching him with a curious smile.