AN: To all of those Americans out there, Happy Thanksgiving. Thus begins the season of giving, time to be nice to your fellow man and do good deeds so that Santa Max can bring you all the things you wish for this holiday season. To everyone else, Happy kickoff to the holiday season, and I hope that you also get everything you wish for this year. With that, please enjoy this chapter of my lovely Christmas tale. Please let me know what you think by hitting that little button after you read. Cheers!

Booth stood for a moment, stunned that Brennan could ever think that he didn't accept her beliefs in marriage and children. How could she think that it would hinder what he felt about her? He rushed for the door, struggling with the handle for a minute before flinging it open. He ran down the drive and watched as he got into her car. Shoot. Rushing alongside the car, he grabbed onto the handle of the driver's side door before she could back out of the driveway.

"Booth, let go of my car," she said, trying not to look at him. In the glare of a passing car's headlights, he caught sight of tear tracks on her cheeks. His stomach dropped at the thought that he'd made her cry.

"No Bones, not until you let me explain. You just surprised me, that's all. I don't think you're off-putting at all, okay? In fact I think you're one of the best people I know. There's nothing wrong with you or your beliefs." Brennan finally turned and met his gaze. As always, she was taken in by the emotions showing in his warm, brown eyes.

"So you don't think that it's a problem that I don't want to have children or get married?"

"No, why would I have a problem with that?"

"Well, you have a set of very traditional values. Obviously marriage and family is important to you, and I don't imagine that you'd be satisfied being involved with someone who didn't share your core set of beliefs." Both were still as they searched the other for answers to unasked questions. After a moment, Booth leaned in closer to Brennan to look her in the eyes.

"Are you saying that you want to be in a relationship with me?" He watched as her expression changed to resemble a deer caught in the headlights.

"I uh was merely trying to determine if my beliefs were you know, acceptable…"

"To me. You wanted to know if I thought you were off putting. I don't, so I'll ask again Temperance. Do you want to be in a relationship with me outside of the professional?"

"Can I get back to you on that Booth?"

"What? Can you… look Bones, you either do or don't want to do this, so which is it?"

"I don't know. Please Booth, let me think about it. Please." Booth sighed and moved away from the car. He ran a hand down over his face and sighed. Damn Max for getting into his head like this. Why did he think that Brennan would think he could offer her anything?

"Fine. Just think about it and let me know when you make up your mind." When their eyes met again, he knew instantly that she could see the hurt evident in his expression.

"Booth…"

"No, it's okay, I understand. I'll see you on Saturday. You still want to go with me and Parker to the exhibit, right?"

"Of course. I'll see you there I guess."

"Yeah." He stepped further away and watched as she drove off. Once she was out of sight, he cursed under his breath and kicked at a nearby rock. Damn Max for getting his hopes up about furthering his relationship with Bones. With a sigh, he went back in his house and picked up his beer. Maybe it was for the best. What could he contribute to a relationship with her anyway? He certainly wasn't as smart as she was, and definitely wasn't her type, if the usual stream of losers was any indication.

He took a swig of his beer and sat back on the couch. Nope, this was obviously something that wasn't supposed to happen. Max could try to play Santa all he wanted, but this was one guy who was going to lose his faith in the old man.

XxXxX

"You didn't give him an answer? Sweetie, what are you thinking?" Angela pushed a shopping cart down the aisles of the toy warehouse as Brennan looked over the list her father gave her.

"I was thinking that I needed to talk to someone about this first. What on earth is a Wii?"

"It's a game console sweetie. Actually it's quite fun to play, and why do you think that you need to talk to someone about this whole thing with Booth?"

"When you came to me after Hodgins asked you out, I told you that the workplace is rarely conducive to a romance. Just when I thought I was wrong, the two of you broke up. That certainly doesn't give me confidence that furthering my relationship with Booth would be a wise move. Can you grab a ticket for that console please?" Angela pulled the ticket and turned back to Brennan, her arms crossed.

"Sweetie, when has it ever been a good idea to base a relationship off of my past experiences? Kirk asked me to marry him, but I wouldn't."

"That was probably a good thing considering you were already married at the time."

"Which I didn't know about, thank you very much. I really did think that things would work out with Jack. I still am not sure what happened, but you and Booth, that's different. You've had something from day one. We all can see it."

"Our value systems are totally different, and that's not likely to change. I don't think that I can be what he needs."

"Why don't you let him make that decision sweetie?" Angela gave a gentle squeeze to Brennan's arm and smiled a bit sadly at her friend. Temperance sighed and crossed her arms, looking away from her friend.

"You're right, I just… ow." She looked down to see what had just collided with her legs. There at her feet was a little girl with big blue eyes and two ponytails. She looked on the verge of tears as her bottom lip began to quiver. Brennan bent down to help the little girl to her feet. "Hey, are you okay? You hit pretty hard, not hard enough to damage anything but I imagine that it still didn't feel good."

"I'm okay, thank you." The girl said, fighting valiantly to not cry. Brennan brushed the dirt off of the little girl's knees and appraised her. Recognition washed over her and she smiled.

"You're the little girl from the museum. Norah Grace, right?" Norah smiled at the recognition and cocked her head as she looked at Temperance.

"You're the pretty lady that Santa said has a pretty name." Brennan's eyebrows went up.

"He said that?"

"Uh-huh. What is your name?" Temperance looked at Angela. The artist just stood to the side, smiling as she watched the interaction.

"My name is Temperance Brennan." Norah smiled, her whole face lighting up as she did so.

"I like that. It is pretty, just like he said."

"Thank you Norah. Now, who are you here with? I think they're probably looking for you."

"I'm here with Miss Sylvia. She said I could be her helper today when she went shopping. That's the special job." Brennan took Norah's hand and turned to Angela.

"Ange, do you think you can get the rest of what's on the list? I'm going to see if I can find her guardian."

"Sure, of course sweetie. I'll meet you at the registers, okay?" Brennan smiled at her friend and headed off with Norah.

"Do you like Miss Sylvia," Brennan asked as she looked up and down the aisles with the little girl.

"Miss Sylvia's really nice. She makes my heart happy. I've lived with her ever since my momma died." Norah swung Brennan's hand a little as they walked and smiled up at her. Brennan couldn't help but smile back at her. She paused when she heard the frantic call of a name from the rows and rows of toys in the store. "That's Miss Sylvia."

"Well, I'm sure she's worried about you, so why don't we go find her, okay?"

"Okay Miss Temperance." Brennan's heart swelled a bit at the way the polite little girl addressed her. It reminded her a lot of Parker, even though he tended to call her Bones, emulating his father's behavior.

"Oh thank heavens, there you are dear heart. Why'd you run off like that?" Sylvia looked relieved as she dropped down to hug Norah Grace.

"I'm sorry Miss Sylvia, but I was looking for that star map."

"Don't run off like that! What if someone took you? I couldn't stand it if something like that happened to you." She hugged Norah once more and stood up, smiling at Temperance.

"Thank you so much for helping her." Brennan shook a proffered hand with a smile.

"You're welcome. I'm sure that it's hectic enough trying to keep track of all the kids you take care of."

"How did you know…"

"I'm Santa's daughter. I agreed to help him with the Christmas presents for the children you're fostering."

"Bless your heart, dear. That is the nicest thing that anyone's done for these kids in a long time, and I just want you to know how much it's appreciated."

"It's my pleasure."

"Well God has a special place in heaven for people like you and your father. Bless you and have a Merry Christmas." Brennan waved at Norah as the pair disappeared down one of the aisles of toys. Once they were gone, Brennan paused for a moment, lost in thought before tracking down the star map that Norah Grace wanted.

XxXxX

"Time for bed Dear heart," Sylvia said as she made her way into the girls' room that night. Five of the six girls were already tucked in and ready to sleep except for Norah. She was at the window, staring out at the clear night sky. "Come on Norah, it's bedtime."

Norah sighed and moved from the window, heading to the lower bunk that was her bed. Sylvia tucked the blankets in around her and swept the girl's auburn locks out of her face.

"Miss Sylvia, do you think that Santa will really get me what I want for Christmas?"

"I think that if he promised you he would get something, then he will. Did you put it on the list for him when he stopped by the other day?"

"No, I just said that I wanted a teddy bear. I told him what I really want when we saw him at the museum."

"Oh? And what was that dear?" Norah smiled and glanced once more toward the clear night sky.

"I said I wanted a family for Christmas, and you know what?" Sylvia looked alarmed at the news.

"What?"

"I'm gonna pray really hard so Miss Temperance will be my mommy."