AN: Thank you guys so much for all your reviews. For some reason, I'm not getting email alerts anymore for reviews, so it's difficult for me to remember which ones I've responded too. So, if you didn't get a response, it was just an oversight and I do really appreciate your review!
AN 2: I earned my T rating again in this chapter...I used a bad word, TWICE! Also, I may have taken some monstrous liberties with the characters in this one, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. :)
"Bones, seriously, you're spoiling my son," Booth tells her after Parker finally finishes opening all of her presents, and sits surrounded in a mess of games, books and toys.
"Well, I didn't know what he liked, so I just bought him one of everything, just in case," she explains. "Seemed logical at the time."
Booth rolls his eyes at her.
"Dr. Bones, I love my presents. Thank you very much," Parker says, climbing into her lap and giving her a hug. Bones, now almost completely accustomed to the boy's affection, wraps her arms around his small body and squeezes.
"You're welcome, Parker. Merry Christmas." Booth watches the scene with pride. Not only did his son remember to say 'thank you' but his partner seemed totally comfortable hugging his child. This is a day to remember, that's for sure.
"Daddy, open your present!" Parker squeals, hopping off Bones' lap.
"Why don't you get it for him?" Bones tells him, and Booth can't help but notice that she scoots closer to him on the couch, turning her body to face him.
Parker dashes to the tree and scoops up the lone present, bringing it to his father.
"Thanks bud," Booth says, carefully pulling the present away from his son, and subtlety moving closer to his partner. "Let's see what it is!" He grins, tearing the paper off the gift, to reveal a small rectangular box.
He glances up at Bones and sees the ambivalence in her eyes. Catching her look, he gives her a wink, and removes the lid from the box.
"What is it, Daddy?" Parker asks, standing next to his father.
"It's a medallion," Booth replies, looking up at Bones.
"It's Saint George," Bones spits out, her pupils dilating out of nervousness, and her hands wringing in her lap. "Though he's strictly legend, religious historians believe he lived during the third and forth century. He was a tribune, then a count, and a member of the personal guard under Emperor Diocletian, who later because George was a Christian, had him --" Brennan pauses, glancing at Parker and adapting her statement to her audience, "sent away."
Booth smiles at her. She's getting pretty good at that.
"Who's that, Daddy?" Parker asks, clearly confused by Brennan's explanation.
Booth cocks his head, trying to remember what he knows. "It's Saint George. His cross was worn by the Crusaders, and now it's the national flag of England, who he's patron over. He's also the model of chivalry --"
"And the Patron Saint of knights," Bones cuts him off, looking Booth directly in the eye. Suddenly, he can't breathe. She removes the medallion from the box and holds it out. "I just thought you could have someone looking out for you, while you're looking out for me." Her cheeks blush as she says this.
And just like that, his eyes water again as he carefully takes the necklace out of her hand, their fingers brushing in the pass.
"Bones, I –" he struggles to find the words that would encompass all that he wants to say about this gift. He turns his body towards her fully, their knees touching, as he lays his arm across the back of the couch.
"Is it not appropriate?" He can hear the uncertainty in her voice and he melts.
"It's perfect," he tells her and she smiles, hesitantly laying her arm next to his, placing her hand on his bicep. Her blue eyes lock on his brown ones and almost subconsciously, Booth begins to lean in to his partner. To his surprise, she leans as well, and he starts to celebrate in his mind when the timer for the prime rib goes off.
"YAY! Dinner time!" Parker exclaims, running from the living room.
Booth leans back a little, the moment lost, but grins at his partner. "Bones, thank you. This is great," he says, putting the chain over his neck. "I can't believe you got me such a religious present."
She grins, her hand still resting on his arm. "Well, you're a believer. If you believe he can protect you, then I want him around, however illogical it may be," she replies, looking down at her free hand, fiddling with the couch cushion.
"Bones, you realize what this means, don't you?" Her head shoots up, and her eyes meet his. "You're putting faith in my faith!"
She shakes her head in silent laughter. "I guess I am," she tells him, their eyes still locked.
"You're aware that that's not entirely rational," he teases her.
"Am I not allowed to be irrational from time to time?" She teases back.
"Well, if you are, I hope it's always with me." He gives her his charm smile
"Otherwise, I might get myself into trouble," she kids.
"And then I'd have to save you, being your knight and all," he says arrogantly, jumping up from the couch.
He watches her roll her eyes and chuckles. "How did I know this was gonna go directly to your ego?"
"Hey, I can't help it if I'm your knight in shining armor!" He says, strutting into the kitchen. "Always riding in on my black FBI-issued steed to save the day!"
She follows him in, shaking her head. "There'll be no living with you after this."
"You move pretty fast, Bones, but okay. You can move in with me." He winks at her as he moves to the backdoor to retrieve his prime rib from the barbeque.
She immediately blushes and stumbles over her words, an act he find completely endearing. "That's not what I meant," she shouts as he moves out to the backyard to grab his meat. "I just simply meant working with you will be particularly difficult because your ego will be huge. "
He comes back into the kitchen, one hand balancing the cutting board, laden with prime rib, and the other shutting the door. "Huge? You're seriously underestimating how far I can take this whole 'knight' thing. We're talking an ego of immense proportions," he tells her, placing the prime rib on the counter.
"That's it, I'm taking it back," She tells him, reaching for the chain dangling around his neck. He grabs her wrist to stall her and ends up pulling her body flush against his. He finds her eyes and smiles, leaning his head in to finally kiss her.
"Daddy, I washed my hands! You didn't even have to tell me," Parker says, running into the kitchen. Booth immediately releases Bones' wrist as she takes a step back.
"Good boy!" Booth exclaims, distracted by the deep crimson color of Brennan's cheeks.
"Dr. Bones, I made this for you!" Parker produces a green homemade snowflake, handing it to her.
Booth watches as his partner stoops down to his son's level and smiles, taking the snowflake from his small hands. She stares at the snowflake. "I remember making these. Mine never looked like this," she says in a voice that tells her partner she's being completely serious. "Yours is so good, I think I'll put it on the door of my office, if you don't mind."
"Cool! And I can teach you how to make more, and then you can have all different colors on your door!" He tells her.
"That would be great! Thank you, Parker. It's the best Christmas present I've gotten so far!" She says, surprising Booth by initiating a hug with his son.
"Parker, because you decided to use your dishes as shovels in your new sandbox, I couldn't set your place when I did Dr. Bones' and mine, so why don't you take your plate and cup and set them in your spot?" Booth says, turning around and grabbing the plastic dinnerware from the dish strainer on the counter, and handing it to his son.
"Okay, Daddy!" He cheerily runs to the dining room.
"Pretty good, Bones." He applauds her as he begins to carve slices of the prime rib.
She lets out a sigh. "Booth, I get uncomfortable around children because I don't know how to talk to them, but Parker, he's receptive to me. He seems to understand that my knowledge of kid stuff is limited and he asks me questions that I might know the answer to. He makes me feel like I can't say anything wrong," she says, trying to explain to him what he already knows.
"He makes you feel comfortable?"
She nods. "And when I don't understand something, he explains it to me without judgment, I like that about kids. No judging."
"What do you mean?' He says, halting his carving.
"Nothing, Booth, never mind. I'm starving and so is your son, so let's 'drop'," she says, using air quotes around 'drop' and plastering a fake smile on her face.
Up goes the wall. Not this time.
Booth's mind wraps around the statement and comes to his own conclusion. "Sometimes I make you feel bad for not knowing something." And his heart breaks thinking he might have hurt her, the absolute last thing he ever wanted to do.
"It's not just you Booth. Everyone does it," she shrugs her shoulders. "It's okay. I'm used to it," she says, her fingers following the edge of the counter.
"No, it's not." He closes his eyes, frustrated with himself. He's supposed to tell her he loves her today and now, he finds out he's been hurting her all along. I'm such a dick. I've been hurting Bones since the day I met her. I hurt Cam our entire non-relationship. I'm such a dick.
"Booth," she says, dragging him from his thoughts. "People have been doing it all my life. I'm used to it." She places her hand on his shoulder. "You don't do it all the time, only when you're really frustrating with me. And I don't really mind when you do it. I figure it's a trade off. You save my life; you can judge me a little for my lack of knowledge about pop culture." She gives him a wide smile, pulling him into her eyes. "After all, everyone knows a good knight, is a judgmental one."
He closes his eyes again and shakes his head, only managing a weak smile. "I'm no knight," he says in a whisper.
"Daddy, I'm hungry!" Parker shouts from the dining room.
She quickly drops her arm and looks down. "You are to me," she replies quietly, grabbing Parker's plastic utensils from the counter behind him and walking out of the kitchen.
"You forgot these! How were you gonna eat without a fork and a spoon?" He hears her ask.
"With my hands!" Parker giggles.
"Sounds messy!" She replies, and his son giggles more.
He lets out a relieved sigh and continues to cut the prime rib. The plan's still on. She still needs to know. We can't possibly go back to the way things were before. Not after what I've seen today, the other side of Bones, that no one else gets to see. Not after what she's given me. Not after what she's told me.
"Daddy!" Parker yells again.
"Coming buddy," he says, hoisting three slabs of prime rib on to a platter and carrying them to the dining room.
"Here we go," he says, giving them a wide smile.
"Yay!" Parker claps, and Bones joins in.
"Thank you, thank you," Booth says, bowing dramatically.
"I'll get the rest, and we'll say grace. Then we can eat!"
"You need help, Booth?" Bones asks, standing from the table.
"Sit, Bones. You're a guest. Besides, ladies of the court don't set tables." He smiles cheekily at her as he walks back into the kitchen.
"What does that mean Dr. Bones?" He hears Parker ask.
"It means your dad is a –" She struggles to find a word to describe him.
"Poo-poo head?" Parker suggests.
"I'm not entirely certain I know what that means, but yes, a very big poo-poo head," she tells his son and he can't help himself. He breaks out into laughter as he carries the peas and mashed potatoes to the table, which earns him a pointed glare from his partner.
"All those PhDs, all that schooling, and you're letting my five year old teach you new words?" He teases her.
"Parker has a very good grasp on the English language. I expect his vocabulary to surpass yours in the next year." She gives him a rueful smile.
"You wound me," he says, placing his hand over his chest, as he moves back into the kitchen. He returns with the roll basket, the fruit salad, and a corked bottle of red wine. "Okay, now all we need is the aus jus and the horseradish, and we'll be ready," he says with a pleased smile and goes back into the kitchen.
"This is a lot of food," his partner comments. "Were you expecting more people?"
"No, just the three of us," he says, walking out of the kitchen and placing the accoutrements on the table.
"Booth, do you know the number of children that are starving in Sudan?" She begins to lecture him.
"Not now, Bones. It's time to say grace," he tells her, taking his place at the head of the table with his son on the right, and his love on the left.
"Where's Sudan, Daddy?" Parker asks.
"Africa. Let's say grace," he says quickly.
"Where's Africa?" Booth lets out a sigh of frustration and gives his partner a 'look what you started' glare.
"It's a land across the ocean, Parker. If your daddy has a map or a globe, I can show you after dinner, okay?" She explains and Parker nods enthusiastically.
"Can we say grace now, you two?" Booth says, faking an annoyed tone. They both nod and he smiles.
"Okay, hold hands." He sees Bones' startled look out of the corner of his eye but ignores it, instead grasping her hand and his son's. "Go ahead, Parker."
Parker gets on his knees in his chair to lean across the table. "Dr. Bones, you have to hold my hand." Booth notes her stricken expression, which she quickly tries to cover with a hesitant smile. She reaches her hand out to his son and Parker grabs hold of it, never even noticing her ambivalence about participating in the ritual.
"Thank you Lord for my presents and my food and all the good stuff that we got today. Thank you for letting Dr. Bones eat with us and please tell her mommy merry Christmas, if she's not too busy playing with the angels. Amen!" He finishes.
Booth and Bones stare at his son with similar looks of shock, dropping their hands.
"OH!" Parker exclaims, closing his eyes again. "Tell her thanks for my book too!" His eyes pop back open and he grins. "I've said all my 'thank yous' today, Daddy!"
Booth pulls himself out of his stunned silence to praise his son. "Good job, Parker. You're getting really good at that." He chances a glance at his partner and notices her still shocked expression.
"Well, lets get some food going here." He smiles at his son, before pulling the smallest piece of prime rib on to his plate, and beginning to cut it into small pieces.
"Thank you, Parker," He hears a small voice say. "It was really nice of you to include my mom in that," she tells him and Booth can hardly believe what he's hearing come out of his partner's mouth.
His son simply gives her the Booth charm smile and turns his attention back to his plate.
Give her time to regroup, he thinks to himself. "Alright, would you like some peas?"
"Yeah!" Parker shouts, raising his fists in the air.
"I think you may have the only child on the planet that actually likes vegetables. Good job, Booth," Brennan teases, fingering her silverware.
Booth spoons a helping of peas on to his son's plate, before turning to his partner. "Peas?"
"You don't need to serve me, Booth. I can do it myself."
"Yet, you haven't touched anything. So, I'll ask you again. Peas?"
She nods, but opens her to mouth to comment.
"Let me guess, something about alpha male tendencies?" He mocks as he pushes the peas aside to get her a slab of prime rib.
"Just give me some food, Booth."
"Yes ma'am."
"What's an alpha male?" Parker asks, popping a pea into his mouth.
"Your daddy." Bones replies with certainty.
Booth chuckles as he puts mashed potatoes on everyone's plates. "She secretly loves it," he whispers to his son, loud enough for his partner to hear.
He's completely surprised when she sticks her tongue out at him. "Bones! That wasn't very mature," he chastises, totally thrown off by this side of her personality.
"Your son taught me!" She says, pointing her finger at Parker.
"Did not!" Parker exclaims.
"Did too!" Bones antagonizes him by sticking her tongue out at him too.
"Well, Daddy taught me!"
"Who, me? I would never do something so immature and childish," Booth says, with mock indignation. Then, hiding his face with his hand, he sticks his tongue out at his son, so only the boy could see.
"Did you see that, Dr. Bones? He just stuck his tongue out at me!"
"I did not! How could you say that Parker?"
"You did too, Daddy! You saw it, right, Dr. Bones?"
"I didn't see it, but I believe you, Parker," she says, handing him a roll and then putting one on her plate and Booth's.
"Hah! Dr. Bones believes me!"
"Yeah, yeah, eat your food, mister. Turning Bones against me," Booth teases with a smile. This feels right. We feel like a family.
Now I just have to work on taking it from temporary to permanent.
His eyes meet Brennan's and she gives him a silly grin. She feels it too.
Booth's face forms his infamous smile as he reaches for the fruit salad. Thank God she feels it too.
So, what did you think? Let me know. I've had some votes for varying POV for a chapter? I kinda have an idea for a Parker chapter, but it would just be an interlude. Probably no real story development in that one, I imagine. I'd have to really think about a Brennan POV chapter. And you know how I feel about thinking...anywho, thoughts? I love your opinions! Let me know:)
FYI: Not a Catholic. My knowledge of Saint George is from a long ago history class and Encarta. Yeah, I know, the medallion thing's been done. But come on! Patron Saint of Knights? Had to use it! It's fluff gold!