AN: This chapter has more substance. Continue reading...

Booth stops in the doorway of the kitchen and watches his partner finger the blanket now resting on his son's shoulders as they sit in front of the brightly lit Christmas tree. He must have gone to get it; I know I put that away.

"This is a nice blanket, Parker. It's really soft," she says.

"It was my daddy's! He gave it to me cause it's my family," Parker tells her matter-of-factly.

"I don't think I understand," she tells him, and Booth sees her face contort in the confused expression she usually wears when someone makes a pop culture reference.

"It was my daddy's daddy's daddy's blanket! And that's a lot of daddies! I get to have it so that when my daddy's not there, I can hug my blanket and pretend!" He watches his son squeeze the blanket close to his body and his eyes start to water. "Then, I'll feel safe like I do when Daddy's here!" He gives Bones a triumphant smile.

"Well, your Daddy must love you a lot to give you something that special! You're very lucky!" Brennan gives him a great big smile.

"Yeah, I'm gonna share it with him if he starts to miss his Daddy," his son replies and then slaps his hand over his mouth. Booth cocks his head, unsure of what his son didn't mean to say.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Bones. I know your daddy's busy and can't see you on Christmas. I didn't want to say anything cause I didn't want you rememember and be sad," his son tells her.

"Oh no, that's okay, Parker. You didn't make me sad," she says, putting her arm around his shoulder. "You've made me really happy today, actually. I haven't had this much fun in a while."

"Really?" His little boy asks with a quiver, tucking his head against his chest.

"Yep! You and your dad have made this day really special for me and I don't think you could do anything to make me sad today," she lifts his chin with her hand and looks him the eyes. "Okay?"

He nods, wrapping his arms around her neck, and Booth tears up again. When did I get so goddamned emotional? Buck up, man.

"Hey, hey, what's going on in here? You making a move on my partner, mister?" He teases his son.

"Don't be silly, Daddy. She's old!" Parker tells him as he takes his eggnog out of his father's hand.

Booth's eyes widen as Bones lets out a huge laugh, standing upright. "Well, I am old, but not as old as your dad," she retorts, reaching out for her eggnog.

"Sorry Bones. We're working on manners," he says, giving his son a pointed stare.

"Booth, he's five. To him, six is old. Its fine," she tells him, sitting herself down on the couch. "Come on, let's open some presents!"

Parker lets out of squeal of glee, slamming his eggnog cup down on the coffee table and quickly grabbing a present from under the tree. "Can I open this one Dr. Bones?" He asks, holding out a large rectangular package.

"Absolutely. You can open all but the small one over on the left. That one's your Daddy's," she says.

Parker nods happily and begins tearing at the wrapping paper.

"You weren't lying. They are all for Parker," he says to her with an amused smile.

"All but one. I told you that," she replies, her eyes never wavering from the child unwrapping his gift.

"I thought you were joking."

"Why would I be joking?"

"Sometimes, you and I, we joke. Crazy, I know, but from time to time, it's been known to happen," he teases and she rolls her eyes and smacks him on the arm.

"Ouch, Bones," he feigns hurt, rubbing his arm for good measure. "Where did you find a store open on Christmas anyway?"

"WOW! Daddy, look at this dinosaur! It's the T-rex! I don't have a T-rex! This is cool!" Parker exclaims, pulling the rest of the dinosaur out of the box.

"Neat buddy. What do you say?" Booth asks trying to make sure his partner realizes he was being serious about the 'working on manners' thing.

"Booth, saying 'thank you' after every gift would be redundant and take an eternity. Can't he just say a collective 'thank you' at the end?"

"I don't know what that means, Dr. Bones," Parker says and Booth bites his lip to keep from laughing.

He watches his partner close her eyes and grin before turning to his son. "That's my line!"

Booth chuckles as Parker furrows his brows. "It's nothing son," he explains. "It just means you can say a really really big thank you at the end, so you don't have to say it every time, okay?" Parker nods enthusiastically and quickly grabs another present. Booth turns to give a look to his partner and he finds her eyes already on him. She gives him an amused smile and he could swear he saw a little something more in her eyes. Just a glimmer, but it was there. He saw it and his heart immediately swells with pride.

"Look daddy! Ice Age 2! Remember when we saw that?"

"I remember, buddy. That was a funny movie."

"I like Manny. Dr. Bones, do you have mannys at the Jerr—Jeff—Jett – at the museum where you work?" Booth smiles as his son stumbles over the institution's name. He doesn't blame him. It's a mouth-full.

"Mannys?" She asks, giving Booth a look of confusion.

"Mammoths," he replies.

"Oh! Sure we have mammoths. In the natural history section. Maybe you could come by one day and we could go see them."

Parker's face immediately lights up. "COOL!" He says, putting the DVD down, and grabbing another present out from underneath the tree.

"Many stores were open til noon today, Booth. And I can be quite persuasive when I want to be," she tells him, answering his previous question.

"As evidenced by the eggnog debacle," he kids.

"DADDY! It's a dinosaur book!" Parker exclaims.

"Oh! That book is a very special book, Parker. Look on the inside." Bones explains. The boy quickly opens the book to the inside of the front cover.

"Its got writing on it!"

"Come over here and I'll read it to you," she says, waving him over. He trots over, pulling himself on to the couch between her and his father, and holds the book out in front of him, open.

"It says, 'To Temperance on Her 6th Birthday: Because I hope you always want to learn more. Love mommy. Because dinosaurs are really cool! Love daddy," she reads, her finger following the words on the page.

Booth's eyes widen in shock.

"Who's Temprest?" Parker asks, looking up at Bones.

"Temperance. That's me. You see, when I was your age, I loved dinosaurs a lot too. So my parents gave me this book to read so I could learn more about them! Your daddy told me you love dinosaurs, so I thought you might like to have it," she explains.

"Bones, are you sure about this?" Booth questions. Its probably one of the only pieces of her childhood she has left and she wants to give it to his son. The little boy who colors in his books and rips the pages out.

"Absolutely! This has great information about dinosaurs! Some of it has been proven false now because it's a little old, but the basics are still sound," she says, smiling at Parker.

"Bones, you should really keep this, it's from your parents and you –" Booth tries to convince her, but she cuts him off with a wave of her hand.

"Booth, I want Parker to have it," she tells him, her eyes revealing how uncertain she already was about the gift, and he wasn't helping. So, he gives her a small smile and nods.

"Don't worry, Dr. Bones. You can come over and read it anytime you want!" Parker says, leaning up to hug her. "This is my favorite," he whispers as only a five year old could whisper, which is practically shouting, and Booth notices his partner's eyes water.

"Parker, why don't you open another present? You've only got a million," he says in a light voice, trying to remove the gravity from the room.

"Okay!" Parker bounds down off the couch, carefully placing the book on the coffee table and then pulling out another present.

Booth stares at his partner with a new found appreciation. I didn't think it was possible to love her any more but I do. At this second, I love her more than I did five minutes ago.

She gives him a weak smile, her eyes locking with his, and he's positive this time. She's trying to tell me something, I can feel it. There's something there. He gives her grin as he scoots closer to her on the couch, their thighs brushing, and his arm snaking around her on the back of the couch. He'd never dared to hope that she might feel the same way about him. He never wanted to be so optimistic, but now he can't help himself. She might feel the same. His smile widens from his thoughts, and then immediately dissipates.

"Daddy, I got a keyboard!"

Booth groans. "Great Bones, something that makes a lot of noise. Thanks so much!"

She chuckles beside him. "Music has many beneficial effects on a child's intellectual and creative processes".

"But you didn't get it for the 'beneficial effects'," he air quotes. "You got it to annoy me."

She turns to look at him with a blank expression. "Well, of course I did. What kind of partner would I be if I didn't annoy you?"

"One who could have a gun?" He responds with equal blankness and she smacks him in the stomach.

"OW! Reason number two why you don't get a gun! You're too violent!" He exclaims, poking her side, and standing from the couch.

"And that, my son," he says, bending over to take the boy's face in his hands, "is going to your mother's house."

I buy noisy gifts for my niece all the time and they go directly to mommy's house. Anyway, hope you enjoyed these two chapters. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but as I told many of you, employment really takes away from my writing time.

If you get a sec, please review. If not, I'm so psyched about previous reviews, I won't take any offense! I'll keep writin':)