A/N: several readers have asked about the different activities mentioned in this story. These are fictionalized accounts of real activities that vacationers can do around the Maryland sea shore. To find out more, look up Ocean City, Maryland to find a large array of fun things to do in the area.

If you have time to leave a review, I'd appreciate it. Laura.

Groaning softly, Brennan tried to untangle herself from her bed sheets. She reluctantly opened a sleepy eye to look at the clock on her nightstand. Six AM...it was still early. She rolled over to put her arm around her husband, but he wasn't in bed next to her. "Booth?"

"Yeah?" Dressed in only his boxers, he came to stand in the bathroom doorway. "What's up?"

"What are you doing? I miss you. Come back to bed." She gave him a sultry smirk. "I'm quite lonely…"

"Okay, okay...I'll be there in a minute." He disappeared back into the bathroom.

Her curiosity aroused, Brennan quietly got out of bed a few minutes later and walked over to the bathroom door. Leaning against the frame where he couldn't see her, she watched in amusement as her husband flexed his muscles at his reflection in the mirror.

His face was the picture of concentration as he flexed first one pectoral and then the other. He then made the wrestler's pose, bringing his arms forward in a he man position to check the muscles of his arms, shoulders, and neck. Straightening, he inhaled deeply and held his breath as he checked his abs. Gingerly rubbing the skin where it had pulled around the ugly gash on the lower right side of his body, he winced slightly. "Owww...dammit…"

"What's wrong, Booth? Is there a change in the pain level of your wound? Perhaps it's infected…" Brennan walked into the bathroom to inspect her husband's abdomen.

"No, it's not infected! I'm fine!" Annoyed at the idea that his wife had been spying on his morning ritual, Booth turned away from the mirror. "I was just surprised that it still hurts a little bit over the scar. I mean, it's been over six weeks..."

"True, but there was a lot of damage done by the gunshot and the silver nitrate you packed into the wound. It was an extensive injury, and the repair was very complicated." Reaching down to examine his injury, she was surprised when he pulled away from her. Inhaling softly, she pursed her lips. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, okay?" He quickly picked his tee shirt from the counter. "Hey, I think I'm gonna go fishing today…"

Hesitating slightly, Brennan reached out, putting her hand on his arm. "Booth...are you concerned about having a such large scar?" She stepped closer to him and smiled. "That's it, isn't it? You're concerned about how you look, aren't you? You're embarrassed..."

He ducked his head, unable to look his wife in the eyes. How did she know exactly how he felt? "No, I'm not…" He shook his head resolutely until he saw her gentle smile. "Well, yeah, maybe a little. I mean, I'm not a young guy anymore, and I'm beginning to look a little worse for wear...kinda rough around the edges, you know? I've got lots of dings and scars now, not to mention all the creases and wrinkles. I know that's normal, considering what all I've been through in my life, but still…"

She gently ran her finger over the bullet scar on his right shoulder before caressing his cheek. "Do you want to know what I see when I look at you, Booth? Besides my handsome husband, I mean." She laughed softly as he nodded. "Perhaps it's because I'm an author, but what I see when I look at the scars on your body is a story...the story of a man who cares deeply for others...a man who would do anything, including giving up his own life, to help someone who was in trouble. Several of your scars and wounds have come from times when you've tried to protect someone, or tried to save someone's life. Those scars show the world what a wonderful man you are, Booth. I'm sorry that your injuries have caused you so much pain, but I cherish the story they've left on your body, and I wouldn't change anything about them. You are truly a beautiful man in my eyes, Booth, and that will never change, no matter how many scars you acquire."

"Bones…", he whispered softly, pulling her close into an embrace and kissing the top of her head. "I love you so much…"

"I love you, too. Now, come here…" She took his hand and led him back to their bed. "I want you to come lie down for a few minutes. I want to hold your scars close to me…"

He grinned at his wife. "But I'm going fishing…"

"I'm sure there will still be fish in the ocean an hour from now…" She giggled as she wrapped her arms around him. "They can wait…"

Oooooooooo

Fortified by pancakes and his wife's loving attention, Booth went out to the garage to rummage through the fishing equipment. After finding just the right pole, a heavy knife, and some lures, he set them aside and walked back into the kitchen, where his wife was wiping the counter.

"Hey, Bones, I think I'm gonna go fish off a pier in Ocean City instead of surf casting from the beach out here. I think it'll be easier on me, and that way I can take Hank…"

"Are you sure you want to take Hank with you?" Brennan grimaced as she hung up her dishrag. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Booth. Won't he be in the way of all the other people who are fishing? It'll be crowded, and he might be standing behind someone and get hit with a hook, or he might fall through the railing and into the water…"

"I checked the place out the other day when I made the last snack run, okay? They've got fencing up under the railing, so he can't fall through. If there are a lot of people on the pier, we won't stay too long, but it's the middle of the week, so I don't think it'll be that crowded. I just thought it would be nice for me and him to do something together, you know, sort of man to man, and then maybe you and Christine could do some of those seashell crafts you were talking about last night without the little brother getting in the way and making a mess of your projects. You bought a lot of project materials at the store the other day, so you might as well use them." He leaned over to kiss her. "We'll only be gone a couple of hours. If it's too crowded on the pier, we can go play in the water for a while…hey, where are the kids, anyway?"

"They're watching cartoons. This is the first time since we've been here that they've had the television on. However, I'm sure if you suggest an outing, Hank will be delighted."

"Maybe I should take Christine, too. Do you think her feelings will be hurt if I don't ask her to come?" Booth poured himself a cup of coffee. "I think she'd like fishing...at least seeing all the different kinds of fish…"

"Perhaps you can take her some other time. I feel sure that if I tell her we're going to do crafts she'll be agreeable to staying home with me. She's quite creative, you know."

"True." Booth quickly finished his coffee and rinsed out his cup. "So we're going to the Dancing in the Sand party in town tonight, right?" He smirked at his wife. "I love the way you dance…"

Brennan put his cup in the dishwasher and then pulled her husband close. "I know you do, but perhaps we'll need to be discreet since we'll be in public. We can enjoy a more personal dance later, alright?"

Booth exhaled slowly, wondering if he could wait that long. "Sure thing, Bones." Glancing at his watch, he realized he was running out of time if he wanted to enjoy his fishing trip, so he went to find his kids in the family room. "Hey, Hank...go get your shoes on. Me and you are going fishing, Buddy."

"Fith? I wanna fith, Daddy…" Hank beamed at his father as he jumped up and down on the sofa. "Wanna catch a fith…gonna get my toos..." The little boy quickly ran to his bedroom to find his shoes.

"Can I go, too, Daddy?" Christine stuck out her bottom lip a bit as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why does Hank get to have all the fun?"

Booth sat on the couch next to his disappointed daughter. "Well, Sweetheart, here's the thing. It may be really crowded on the pier, and I'll need to watch Hank real close, so I wouldn't have time to help you with baiting your hook or to help you with your pole like I should." He tickled her a little bit as he continued. "But I think you and Mommy are gonna make some pretty things with all those sea shells you've collected, okay? I don't think Mommy likes fishing all that much, and I don't want to leave her here all by herself. She might get lonely, and we don't want that, do we?" Christine slowly shook her head. "Hey, you know what? Me and you can go fishing tomorrow if you still want to go, okay? And then it'll be Hank's turn to take care of Mommy."

"Promise?" Christine smiled up at her father. "We can go fishing tomorrow?"

"Well, I promise we'll go if the weather is nice, okay? If not tomorrow, then we'll go the next day." He pulled his little girl onto his lap, rubbing her arms gently. "I bet you're gonna have lots of fun with your crafts, Sweetheart. Mommy knows how to make all sorts of cool stuff, and she bought a ton of paint and glitter." He chuckled softly as he imagined how much glitter would be on the floor when he and Hank got back from fishing.

"Daddy! Go fith! Wanna go fith!" Hank came charging into the room with his shoes on the wrong feet, waving his hands in excitement. "C'mon, Daddy…wanna go."

"Just a minute, Buddy. Let's tell Mommy 'bye…" After fixing Hank's shoes, he took the little boy's hand and they walked into the kitchen. "Well, Bones, the men are gonna go try to catch us some dinner. See ya later."

"Have a good time. Make sure Hank wears plenty of sunscreen, Booth…"

"We'll be fine…" He grabbed their tackle, an empty cooler, and the tube of sunscreen, and soon they were off on an angling adventure.

Oooooooooo

As Booth had suspected, Northside Park wasn't very crowded in the middle of a Wednesday morning. He and his son walked through the park until they found the pier jutting out into the bay. "Okay, Hank, listen up. You have to be careful, alright? You can't go running off, because I might not see where you go. You gotta stand right here by me. Anyway, you're gonna wanna see the fish, right?" The little boy's head bobbed up and down enthusiastically.

"Good. Okay, c'mere." Picking up Hank, Booth put him up on a bench next to a bait station. "First, we're gonna make some bait." He pulled the away the newspaper wrapped around a fat mullet. "Bluefish like to eat this…"

"Eat that fith, Daddy?" Hank pointed to the bait. "I hungry."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised to hear that you're hungry. Here…" Booth handed him a small package of crackers. "We're not gonna eat this fish, Buddy. We're gonna use this fish to catch a bigger fish, okay?"

"Okay." Hank watched with interest as his father cleaned the mullet and cut it into 'bite' sized pieces. "What dat?" He pointed to some of the animal's internal organs. "Yucky."

Booth laughed out loud as he cleared the offal away. "I'm glad to hear you say that, son. I think me and you are gonna have to be the normal ones in our family, right?" Gathering up the bait and tackle, Booth smiled at Hank. "So now we're gonna go over here and throw the bait in the water…"

They walked out as far as they could on the pier, standing apart from the other fishermen so that Hank wouldn't bother them with his constant chatter. "Bird, Daddy! White bird…", the child squealed.

"That's a bird alright. Okay, now watch. I'm gonna put a piece of the bait fish on this hook, but I have to be careful, see, because the hook is sharp." Threading the bait on the barb, Booth held it up for Hank to look at. "Then we're gonna throw this hook out in the water and see if there's any hungry fish out there…"

"I hungry, Daddy. Eat fith?" Hank held up a piece of bait to show his father. "I wanna eat fith…"

"NO! Don't eat that!" Holding his rod in one hand, Booth tried to corral his mischievous son with the other. "Listen, Buddy, you gotta be careful. You can't eat everything you find lying around on the ground, okay?" Taking the bait from Hank, Booth put it up on the pier's railing where his son couldn't reach it as he muttered to himself. "Maybe Bones was right...maybe he's too young for this…"

"Fith, Daddy! Look!" Hank laughed as he pointed at some tiny silver fish congregating in the shallow water under the pier. "Catch the fith, Daddy!"

"Well, we need bigger ones than that, son...whoa! Daddy got a bite!" Grimacing as he yanked hard on the pole, Booth cranked the reel as fast as he could, tugging and pulling until he had his prize up over the railing. "Well, lookee there, Buddy! We got one!" Grinning happily, Booth took the hook out of the fish's mouth and put it in the cooler. "I think that's a keeper, too. Whadd'ya say, Hank? Wanna catch another one?"

"Yay! Catch another fith, Daddy!", Hank squealed.

Casting out again, it wasn't long until Booth had another bite. "Hank! Come help me pull this fish in!"

Putting Hank between himself and the railing, he showed the boy how to wrap his small hand on the reel's crank. "You turn that thing, and I'll pull." After some sharp tugs and a lot of 'help' from Hank, another bluefish was on the pier. "Good job! You're a good fisherman!"

Chattering excitedly, Hank bent down to stroke the squirming fish as it flopped around on the wooden decking. "My fith, Daddy. Wanna eat my fith."

"Maybe we can have him for dinner tonight or tomorrow. Hey, wanna try to catch another one?"

"Yeah, Daddy! More fith!"

After another hour, they had a total of five fish and many more great memories. "Okay, Hank, I think we've got enough fish for now. We gotta leave some for other folks to catch. Let's go get some lunch, and then we'll take our fish home to Mommy!"

Oooooooooo

"The anglers have returned!", Booth announced proudly as he dragged in the cooler loaded with their catch. "And we bring food!"

"We catched lotsa fith, Mama!" Hank laughed happily as he pulled on the cooler's lid. "Look!"

"Oh, my!" Pretending to be surprised at the sight of five large fish, she threw up her hands. "What will we do with all that meat?"

Booth rolled his eyes at his wife. "We'll have it for dinner a couple of nights, or we can freeze it and take it home. I mean, I know you won't eat it, but after I use my super secret recipe to cook it, the kids will love it." He held up a couple of fish and had Hank come to stand in front of him. "Hey, take our picture…"

Brennan smiled as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Good idea! Then we'll have something to put in our new frames!" She gestured toward the dining room table. "Look what we made while you were gone."

Three picture frames, encrusted with shells and what seemed to be several pounds of silver glitter, sat on several sheets of newspaper as they dried. "We made one for me, one for you, and one for Grandpa Max, right, Christine?"

"That's right. This one's yours, Daddy…" Christine pointed to a large rectangular frame that had a large shell in each corner and many smaller bits of shell along the sides. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." He hugged his giggling daughter as he admired it. "I can't wait to put it in my office. Thanks, Sweetheart."

"You're welcome, Daddy." She gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "You were right. I had a lot of fun doing crafts with Mommy."

"Oh." Booth pretended to pout a bit. "Does that mean that you don't wanna go fishing with me tomorrow? The bluefish are biting, and I want to catch some more."

"Bluefish? That's funny, Daddy. Is it like my book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish?"

"Well, I don't know about that. What do you think, Mommy?" Booth winked at his wife as she tried to clean up some glitter.

"I think we're going to have more fish than we know what to do with." Brennan stood with her hands on her hips. "I think the bluefish is different than the one in your book, Christine, but you can investigate that idea with your Daddy tomorrow on your fishing trip." Picking up a drowsy Hank, she tousled Christine's hair. "But for now, I'm saying it's resting time. We're going to be out late tonight, and I think we all need a nap, right, Daddy?"

Booth grinned as he twitched an eyebrow at his wife. "Whatever you say, Mommy. Whatever you say…"