Chapter 42 Life
Booth and Brennan sat in the sunny yellow nursery watching their infant daughter in her white crib.
The baby seemed oblivious to her parents, absorbed in her own little world. "Not unlike her mother," Both chuckled to himself. When Temperance Brennan examines whatever skeleton has requested her undivided attention, her single-minded powers of concentration remind him of sunlight focused on grass through a magnifying glass. The heat becomes so intense, a fire ignites. Bones' dedicated search for clues rivals that of the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew, he thinks.
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Christine giggles in delight and distracts his reverie. She has recently discovered her toes and spends as much time as she can manage grabbing them in an attempt to taste them. Apparently toe a la mode or foot aperitif is the flavor of the month for discerning diners under the age of six months. Booth fondly remembers Parker at this age. He wasn't able to spend a lot of time with his son back then, but Rebecca had a three-hour evening law class one night a week and pressed him into service as Parker's babysitter. For once in his life before meeting Bones, Seeley Booth had lived up to his less than favorite first name. He was happy. Those three hours on Wednesday evening were the highlight of his week. No matter what conundrum he faced on the job, he'd find himself grinning whenever he thought about Parker. The two of them played, and read, and sang, and hugged, and did all manner of silly things. The feel of Parker's chubby little arms around his neck and his silky hair against Booth's cheek were the sweetest sensations on earth. These moments were less frequent than he wished, but the always eager but seldom satisfied young father treasured every one.
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And now, eleven years later, he was a father again, with the love of his life beside him, despite their unconventional mating bonds. Parker's babyhood had been wonderful, but this time was perfect. The three interminable months Bones was on the run with Christine had reinforced his awareness that childhood's miracles are fleeting. He meticulously filed each precious memory away as a snapshot emblazoned on his grateful mind and heart. Seeley Booth knew, from watching and listening to Pops, that the sunset years of life are spent recalling, reliving, and relishing the joys of one's past. And he was determined to insure he didn't miss a one. He smiled from ear to ear watching Christine's antics.
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Brennan's contemplation of her child's foot and finger play was a bit more analytical than her husband's. She carefully noted each accomplished milestone, each developmental stage conquered by her daughter. She cataloged them away, as memories, yes, but as achievements too. She loved Christine beyond reason, and was exuberantly relieved and proud that she and Booth had created such a sweet-natured, intelligent, adorable child.
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All her life, she had restrained her emotions, afraid of being hurt. She had pursued education as the only sure means of escape from the misery of lonely abandonment. She HAD to insure that she could provide for and take care of herself because she had no one else to rely on to accomplish this task. The people who were supposed to be caring for her were ignoring or mistreating her instead. There was no one invested in her life, its success or failure, its continuance. She could only count on herself. Years later, when she finally trusted Booth and herself enough to let herself admit to the attraction, the love, the irrefutable bond between them, her heart burst forth into light and sunshine, released from the shadows of uncertainty. She treasured each day with Booth, each hour with Christine, each moment with Parker because she had known the ache of no one. No one to care, no one to be there, no one to love.
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Her observation of Christine's play was more serious than Booth's but no less enjoyed. She loved this life she had now. She felt incredibly lucky, and well, if she admitted it to herself deep down inside, she felt blessed to have this life, this friend, this partner, this husband, this lover, this child. She could never have foreseen or predicted this life for herself, but she appreciated it beyond words. When she let herself relax, her unconscious smiles were body-deep, and Booth's favorite things to study when she was unaware of him watching. He would give his life for her and their child, he had resolutely vowed he would give her the life she had lacked as a girl, he would give his son and daughter the life he had dreamed of as a child.
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Booth and Brennan had once found a way to break the laws of physics, had once realized that they were one person with two essential halves. Together they were completed, apart they were fractured. Their life was perfect.