Chapter 34 Sex

Standing on the sidewalk in front of the school, Zach waited with his classmates for the daily 'maternal offspring vehicular retrieval' ritual, as his mother called it. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar silver-gray car parked across the street.

"Parker!" He exclaimed happily.

"Hi there, kid!" Parker clicked the button to unlock his car's rear passenger door.

"What are you doing here? Where's Rosa?"

His older brother grinned as Zach climbed into the back seat of Parker's Toyota Camry and fastened his seatbelt.

" Zach, apparently your sitter is ill and Dad asked me to pick you up from school and take you to Bones' lab. Christine has a talent show practice session til 5 this afternoon, right?"

"Yup, she does. I'm glad I get to go to the lab. Dr. Hodgins has some new spiders he said would hatch this week and he promised I could help feed 'em!"

"I remember being fascinated by those too, when I was your age. Hodgins is a very cool guy. Although I'm not sure I'd want to be Michael Vincent; there might be too much of a good thing growing up with insects in their house!"

"They rode in silence for a few minutes, and then Zach spoke hesitantly.

"Parker, can I ask you somethin'?"

"Sure, Zacko, what? You can ask me anything; if I don't know the answer, Bones will, for sure."

"What's sex?"

"Why do you ask, Zach? Hear something in the boys' bathroom?"

"Well, my science class is studyin' the body, and that's next."

"Sex?"

"Yeah, about how girls and boys are diff'rent, I think."

"In third grade?"

"Well, they changed me to a diff'rent class last month and that's where they're at in the book. I got 100% on my first science test yesterday. Some of the kids tease me 'cause I'm younger than them, but Mom says to egg-nor them."

"Yeah, sometimes that's a good idea when you're dealing with idiots."

"Oh, I don't think they're id-yuts. I just catch on to stuff real fast."

"Zach, I don't mean the kids who teased you are stupid. But they aren't very smart when it comes to knowing the right way to treat other people. Dad would probably call them 'boneheads' but that would earn him a lecture from Bones about using proper terminology instead of slang."

Parker considered his little brother's question for a moment. "You know what, Zach, I think you'd better ask Bones or Dad about this. It's kind of a complicated subject."

"Okay, I can do that," Zach said.

"Zach, I'll tell you this much. If you want to know the scientific details about something, ask Bones. She'll never treat you like a kid. She'll tell you the absolute truth, even if it's kind of strange or awkward. Dad, sometimes not so much. He gets embarrassed easily. He tries to sugar coat difficult things to make it easier for kids. He'll never steer you wrong, but sometimes, he thinks you need to be older to know about certain things. He used to say he'd tell me all about his time in the army when I had armpit hair. When I got older, I understood why. Some of the stuff he saw in the army wasn't very nice. But, if you want to know about a feeling or what you should do when you have a problem, or how to figure out what's the right thing to say, then Dad's the guy to ask. He'll always give you steer you right!" Parker assured his brother. "Hey, kiddo, you want to go get some ice cream before I drop you at the lab?"

ooooooooooooooooooo

After he'd dropped Zach off at the lab, Parker gave Bones a significant look she'd seen several times since he'd grown older. "Bones, you got a minute?"

"Sure, Parker, anytime, let's go get some coffee up in the lounge. Zach, get started on your homework before you bother Dr. Hodgins to see the spiders! Parker and I will be back in a few minutes."

Once they were seated on the couch with their coffee, Parker spoke softly so his voice wouldn't carry. "On the way over here from school, Zach asked me what sex is, and I told him he needed to talk to you."

"Oh, good grief, I knew advancing him two grades might cause some problems, but I didn't think it would happen this quickly," Brennan grimaced.

"Two grades? Wow!" Parker exclaimed.

"Yes, he has surpassed all his classmates to the point his teacher felt he'd be bored and lose interest in school. He's been reading since he was three and coming to the Jeffersonian's children's educational sessions for four years, so it's not surprising that he's more advanced than others his age," Bones said.

"Well, that, and he's got you for his mother, so the brains just keep on comin'!" Parker grinned at his step-mother fondly. "I know one thing, this would make Dad really uncomfortable. I told Zach he should ask you about it first, because you always told me the absolute truth."

Bones smiled at him. "Your dad just tries to protect his children. I think this is a subject we will both need to address with Zach. He doesn't need to know all the intricate biological details right now, but he does need a factual explanation and to understand to discuss this only within our family, not with his little acquaintances just yet," she mused.

"Yeah, that kind of a conversation over the third grade lunch table might cause a bit of a stir with the other parents!" Parker laughed.

"Thanks for letting me know about this privately, Parker. You are a good big brother to Christine and Zach. I and they are so very lucky to have you and your father in our lives."

"Bones, you know I feel the exact same way. I love Mom dearly, but you've always been special to me for nearly all of my life, and I love you too-a lot! I'm so glad you and Dad finally got together and gave me some siblings. Being the only child kinda sucks."

"True, Parker, I enjoyed having Russ around when I was young. If your dad and I had untangled our feelings earlier, Zach and Christine could be quite a bit older than they are. We made some mistakes with each other. But then, if we'd jumped into things too soon, who knows….?"

"Well, we're all very lucky that you finally got it right!"