Clouds
A/N: This drabble is drivel. But it's cold, icy, windy, and snowy this morning, the roads are treacherous, and I'm anxious for warm weather. Usually by now, my part of the world is heading into balmy spring days, but not this year.
Booth leaned against the door, carefully balancing the too-numerous grocery sacks he held, and stretched his arm as far as he could. Curling his hand into a fist, he rapped his knuckles against the wood. "Bones, can you open the door, please? ….Christine, honey, open the door for Daddy … Anybody in there?" he called. Silence.
Sighing, Booth fished in his jeans pocket for the door key and let himself into the kitchen. He let the heavy sacks of food and produce slide to the floor. A movement outside the window caught his eye and he turned for a better look. His face lit up at what he saw on the back lawn.
Christine was lying in the grass, waving her arms and giggling. Stretched out next to her was Brennan, pointing at something overhead. She had a broad smile on her face.
Groceries temporarily forgotten, Booth walked out of the kitchen, through the family room, and opened the back door. "Hey, you two, what are you looking at out here? No wonder no one came to help me unload the car; you didn't hear my knocking."
"Oh, Daddy, look! There's a duck up there, flapping its wings. And a girl riding a pony!" Christine cried.
Brennan reached up and caught her husband's hand. "Here, Booth, come lie down with us and watch the clouds. I'll put the food away in a little while. What do you see up there?"
Booth grinned at her, squatted down and maneuvered his long legs to lie down on the grass so that Christine was between them. He shaded his eyes and peered at the brilliant blue sky overhead. It appeared to be filled with huge puffy wads of cotton. "My Gran used to buy big bags of that stuff to fill our sofa pillows. Jared and I laid on 'em to watch TV," Booth mused.
"Those are cumulus mediocris and congestus clouds, Booth," Brennan responded in her best professor voice. "They do resemble large clumps of cotton batting or polyester fiberfill."
"Mommy sounds like she used to when she was teaching college kids," Booth chuckled to Christine.
"No, Daddy, Mommy sounds like Mommy!" Christine objected.
"So, Booth, what do you see?" Brennan asked again.
Squinting up at the sky, Booth was silent for a few moments and then he pointed up. "Look, there's a big fish right there, and an archer over there!"
"Hmmm, so you think Orion traded his huge club for a hunting bow and came to have a look around in the daylight?" Brennan asked with a smile.
"I dunno, Bones, that's just what it looks like to me."
"Well, you two, why don't you conjecture about those clouds a little longer, and I'll go make us some lunch, perhaps some vegetable soup and a kale salad," Brennan suggested.
"Okay, Mommy, can I have a PBJ?"
"No, Christine, you may have peanut butter and honey. It's much healthier than jelly."
"We'll be in to help in a few, Bones. And, hey, don't stumble over the groceries. They're all over the middle of the floor!"