Chapter 50 Moon
Booth knew that his Bones had loved star-gazing ever since Max had taken his small daughter out to their backyard after dark and settled in one of their reclining lawn chairs with her in his lap.
Her father had leaned back, pulling Tempe gently down onto his chest and pointed upward to the sky.
"Look up at the moon, Tempe. It's very big tonight. See that really bright star, honey? It's the North Star. It helped sailors find their way home out on the ocean far away from land. Now if you look there, there, and there, you'll see some other stars that make a pan like your mom cooks macaroni in. Can you see the handle? That's called 'the Big Dipper.' "
"Wow, Daddy, there are so many! How do you tell them apart?" the little girl had asked in wonder.
"Tempe, a long time ago, some wise men called astronomers named the stars and looked at the designs they made in the sky. They decided to sketch the pictures they form, and name those too. The pictures are called constellations, and they gave people a way to kind of organize the stars, like a big puzzle," her dad had explained.
One Christmas when he had enough money, Max had purchased a telescope using his teacher's discount. Rather than choosing a child's telescope, he had selected one with higher resolution so they could see the stars more clearly. Russ had never had the patience for this hobby, but Tempe loved it as much as he did.
It just so happened that when Booth was young, 5 or 6 years old, he guessed, his father had not yet been so haunted by memories and demons from Vietnam. He vividly remembered lying out in the grass on an old quilt with his dad, finding the man-in-the-moon's face and watching the stars. He'd had trouble visualizing the constellations, but his father had patiently calmed his frustrations, urged him to settle down and look around, and all of a sudden, Seeley saw them too.
Looking back, he marveled at the peaceful memory, so different from the painful abusive years that came shortly thereafter when his father started drinking more and more. Star-gazing was a past pleasure from childhood which he shared with Bones.
With Bone's birthday coming up again, Booth delightedly realized he'd found the perfect gift for his favorite scientific genius. He had been carefully socking away some money each payday for many months, and had finally saved enough to fulfill his goal of surprising her. Parker was spending the next weekend with them, so Booth texted his son about his plan. The boy was excited to shop for a telescope for Bones. It would be hard to say which Booth loved Temperance Brennan more. Different types of love, certainly, but equally intense.
The critical purchase made, Booth and Parker secreted the telescope in the garage behind a tarp. The two males baked a very respectable cake that Saturday afternoon while Brennan was communing with a skeletal World War I veteran at the Jeffersonian. When they heard her key turn in the front door, they raced each other to stand in the entry hall.
"Surprise!" they yelled at her in unison. Brennan dropped the messenger bag she had just slipped off her shoulder and jumped back a foot.
"Are you two trying to metaphorically shorten my lifespan from shock?" she inquired, frowning slightly.
"Nope, Bones, it's your birthday celebration!" Booth exclaimed with the glee of a five-year-old.
Parker took her arm and pulled her toward the dining table where balloons were tied to her chair.
Christine was already seated in her high chair, confused by the noise, but smiling nevertheless.
"We made your favorite spaghetti and sauce, and a chocolate cake!" Parker said proudly.
"And a nice ruffly green salad with grape tomatoes, shallots and croutons," added Booth, pulling out her chair.
The meal complete, Booth and son disappeared out the back door after demanding that Temperance
stay put and close her eyes. A few minutes later, they re-entered the dining room, carrying a lengthy
box between them, draped in the tarp.
"They don't make wrapping paper this big," said Booth, "so just pull that baby off!"
Brennan did so, and gasped in surprise. "Oh, Booth! Parker! How did you guess? I've wanted one of
these for years! They're quite expensive, and since I had access to the Jeffersonian's observatory, I never felt I could justify getting one for home." Happy tears glistened in her eyes.
Parker and Booth carefully assembled the telescope's base while Brennan dressed Christine for bed. She got an old quilt from the closet and descended the stairs with Christine in her arms, the quilt tucked against her chest. The family went out into the back yard; Parker carrying the base, his dad handling the delicate optical tube. Leaving the telescope components on the porch table, Booth took the quilt and spread it on the moon-lit grass.
The four of them stretched out on their backs, faces to the sky. Christine didn't comprehend what she was seeing, but the excitement of the others had her pointing all the same.
After 15 minutes, Booth carried his restless fussy tired toddler upstairs and tucked her into bed with a quick rendition of Good Night, Moon, her favorite lullaby, and the purple elephant which Bones still complained about as hopelessly inaccurate. He checked the night light, walked to the window, and gazed down at Brennan and his son. The two of them were both pointing upward, talking animatedly.
Once he was back downstairs, Booth moved the table to the edge of the porch and set up the telescope.
One look at Brennan's face made all the pie he had passed up at the diner worthwhile. He'd convinced her he was watching his weight, having learned as a kid that saving little amounts can accrue impressively over time.
He'd barely tightened the clamps to hold the optical tube in its clamps when she pressed her eye to the lense. "Oh, Booth….this is just….amazing….as good as I remember with Dad….just look at Venus, Parker!" And she moved away to let the boy take a look.
"Show him the moon's swiss cheese," Booth suggested playfully. Brennan turned around and gave him her best school-marm frown, then realized he was teasing her and kissed him instead.
"That's one of the best birthday gifts I've ever received. How long have you been planning this?"
"Oh, the better part of a year," Booth smiled, drawing her into a hug and rubbing her back gently.
"I'm so glad you like it."
"Dad, look, I found Mars!" Parker exclaimed. "We've been studying astronomy in science class and they are closer together right now than they've been since
September 2008 or will be again until October 2017," he informed them happily.
"You've been paying attention in class, huh, Bud? I'm proud of you," his dad smiled.
"Parker, I'm impressed, it's not easy to re-focus a telescope even if you move it only slightly," Brennan praised him.
"Our teacher borrowed a simulator from the University of Maryland and showed us how to track the planets. They have an observatory at College Park."
Okay, Parks, time to go inside. We can star gaze again tomorrow night since you have a school holiday on Monday," Booth told his son.
Later that night, entwined in Booth's strong arms, Brennan sighed deeply.
"Is that a sigh of satisfaction or distress?" Booth inquired gently.
"Happiness, Booth, so much satisfaction….thank you, it was a perfect birthday. I'm over the moon about my new telescope!" she said mischievously.
"Good one, Bones!" and he kissed her.