Chapter 39 Forever
A/N: Okay, so no Bones ownership here. I borrowed from Razztaztic's Roots and Wings universe a bit for this hiatus chapter. It's one of my favorite ways to get lost in Fan Fiction for a while.
"Mom didn't believe in forever," Christine remembered sadly as she straightened up from arranging the daisy bouquet in front of her parents' headstone
"No, but Dad did, enough for both of them, I think," stated Parker, his arm around her shoulder.
"From the wording on this stone, it sure looks like Grandpa Max did," Zach mused. " 'Christine Brennan, beloved mother to Russ and Temperance ~ Ruth Keenan, cherished wife of Max, friend through life, forever adored, missed always, together again for eternity.' "
"Yes, and Great-Grand-Pops certainly did. He always talked about Dad's Grams like she was right there beside him." Parker recalled.
"Well, I'd like to think that Mom and Dad are together, going on somewhere from now on. They loved each other so much, I just can't believe strong emotions and connections like that just fizzle out. Seems to me that the bond they shared, first as partners and friends, and later their romance and marriage vows, was such a significant linking that it will endure beyond their deaths," Christine ventured hopefully.
"From what I saw between them as a kid, and heard from Angela and Hodgins and their other friends, they were in love for years before either one ever said it out loud. They took so long to finally admit to themselves and each other what was so obvious to everyone else around them; that they were firmly, undeniably, inseparably in love with each other. Dad always said he wanted 30 or 40 or 50 years with her, that he knew, he just knew they were meant for each other. And once Bones was honest with herself, she felt the same way. If that kind of love doesn't last forever, nothing will," Parker told her. "I certainly feel that way about Josie."
"Remember Dad telling us that he asked Mom if she believed in Fate when they first met, and she told him that was ridiculous?" Christine asked her brothers. "If I didn't believe there was such a thing as fate from their experience, I sure did when I met Andrew. How else would I have run into the boy our parents saved all those years before Zach or I were even born? For me to have a chance encounter with 'baby Andy' while I was in college, it had to be Fate. We were both away from our homes and our paths had never crossed before. With me studying pre-med and science, and him already being an engineer, there wasn't much overlap there."
"Well, I'm going to be very disappointed if we aren't all reunited one of these days with them, somewhere, somehow!" Zach exclaimed. "So I don't care if Mom didn't buy it, I believe 'forever" is as real as love, and that's that! I don't even want to contemplate a universe where Petra and I can't hang out together for always!"
"It seems the three of us agree about this: This is one time, probably the only time in the history of the world, that Mom got it wrong!" Parker declared.
"Sure makes me feel better!" Christine told him.
"Me too," said Zach, as the three of them linked arms in an awkward triple embrace, and walked back to their cars.