Chapter 11 Share

"Okay, Bones, we're off to the camp; we'll see you up there later with the kids!" Booth kissed his wife and strode out the door behind Hodgins.

"Bren, thanks so much for watching Michael Vincent this morning. I'm on my way to the farmers' market for salad fixings and vegetables. Having this surprise party at your camp is almost as good as being back home. Jack and Booth have got to pick up the meat for Dad's birthday dinner and the butcher shop is way out of DC."

"No problem, Ange, Christine is excited to have her favorite playmate here. Why do you have to go out of the city to procure meat for your father's celebratory meal?"

"Oh Bren, my dad's a Texan. He's got to have his manly meat. He loves venison and your neighbor up there got a white-tailed deer yesterday morning, so they've processed it and Jack reserved some venison steaks for tonight. When they're prepared right, they're the best tasting food on earth."

"Yes, I've bow-hunted a few times and the Eastern forest tribes ate deer as one of the staples of their diet," Brennan began.

Angela interrupted her gently, "Sweetie, I've must get going; Dad's plane is due in at 2. Michael, you behave this morning and don't give Aunt Tempe trouble at naptime. If you can't sleep, look at your bug book Daddy bought last week." She opened the front door and slipped out.

"Mommy, can I be 'scused? I ate all my oatmeal." Christine asked.

"Me too, Thanks for the toast, Aunt Tempe!" Michael grinned happily."

"That's fine. It looks like you both ate well."

Brennan inserted Christine's favorite Schoolhouse Rock disc into the CD player. She had found that their daughter enjoyed the catchy songs and was partially absorbing the lessons they presented. She remembered the songs from hearing them with Russ, and they brought a smile to her face as she cleared the breakfast dishes

Michael dumped his backpack of blocks, and Christine pulled out a puzzle. Brennan walked upstairs and down the hall to their bedrooms, emptying hampers into a basket as she went and came back down. She went into the laundry room, opened the washer, moved Booth's damp t-shirts to the dryer and started a new load of his colorful socks and her daughter's play clothes. Then back upstairs, she stripped Christine's bed of its rainbow-striped unicorn sheets.

Mommy, can we build a tent with my Froozzed blankie?" Christine yelled up to her mother.

"Yes, Christine, but please don't shout indoors! I'll set up the card table and you can drape these sheets over it before I wash them. They are lighter-weight than the blankets and won't obscure the sunlight, so your tent's not dark inside. And it's 'Frozen' not 'Frozed,' honey."

"I need a tent too," Michael declared.

Brennan looked at him over the load of sheets. "I only have one table, Michael Vincent. You can both inhabit this card table domicile quite easily," she told him.

Fifteen minutes later, Christine called to her mother again. "Can we have a 'nack, Mommy?"

Brennan pulled her hands out of the sink of lingerie she was washing, dried them, walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.

"Yes, you may. Not 'can.' And what happened to 'please'? Here, I cut up some strawberries and banana chunks for you. If you're careful, you may eat them in your tent." Brennan set a plastic bowl down in front of the two. You'll need to come to the table for drinks."

"Aihhheee, you got's more berries than me!" Michael complained. "I don't want just 'nanas!"

Brennan sighed. "Christine, Michael, climb out of there and let me show you something" she instructed the pair. The two kids clambered up onto the chairs by the small dinette table.

Brennan placed two paper plates alongside the bowl. She handed each child a plastic fork. "Now, Chrissy, since Michael is your guest, we'll let him go first."

"Michael, select a piece of fruit." He speared a strawberry.

"Now you, Christine." The little girl stuck her fork into a berry.

"Now you take turns till all the fruit in this bowl is on one of your two plates. That way you'll each have an equal number of fruit pieces. That is the equitable way to divide your snack. There is no need for you two to disagree with one another. Michael, I'm sure your mom has discussed with you the importance of sharing. Christine, you know your dad and I expect you to be fair with your playmates."

"Yes, Mommy."

"Sorry, Aunt Tempe."

The two kids dug into their fruit.

Christine turned a puzzled face to Brennan. "Mommy, what's 'eku-able' mean?"

A/N: I have to chuckle when I'm writing Brennan's dialogue talking to the kids. Since she she told Booth she doesn't believe in 'baby talking' to them, this is how I imagine she would sound.