AN: First of all, the reviews from the last chapter were phenomenal. You guys are terrific. Second of all, this chapter is pretty much filler-time-line movement, no real plot advancement. But I wanted to give you something because I told you I would. Plus, work has suddenly become overwhelming and I don't know when I'll be able to update again. So, I wanted to leave you with a little fluff...enjoy!
"Booth, that was great," his partner tells him, pushing her chair back from the table. "I'm sufficiently satiated."
He silently laughs at her, pushing back from the table himself, and taking in a deep breath. He looks over at Parker and watches as he rolls off his chair.
"Parker!" His partner yells. "Are you alright?" She stands from her seat, placing her hands on the table to lean over and check on him.
"It's alright, Bones," he replies, placing his hand on top of one of hers. To his surprise, she doesn't even flinch. "He's 'dropping'." And with that, he rolls off his chair too, and hits the floor to lie next to his son.
He watches as Bones peers over the table at him and his son, lying on the ground, hands on their bellies. "It's tradition," he tells her. "We eat until we drop." The charm smile makes another appearance.
"Come on Dr. Bones!" Parker shouts from his spot on the floor, waving her over. She looks at his son skeptically before she walks around the table. Booth watches her struggle with comprehension as she carefully sits herself down on the other side of Parker.
"But, why?" She asks his son, tilting her head to one side.
"Because we're full!" He replies simply, tugging on her arm, pulling her to lie down next to him.
"Fullness is actually the increase of the hormone, leptin, released when food enters the gastrointestinal tract, mediated by the hypothalamus. Your stomach isn't really full, it's just satiated."
Booth smiles. "I don't know, Bones. Look at this belly," he lifts up his son's t-shirt. "This belly looks full to me," he says, tickling Parker.
"Stop it, Daddy!" Parker squeals out between giggles, pushing his hands away.
For a moment, everything is quiet while the trio lies on the floor, staring at the ceiling, reveling in the stupor that only absolute satiation can provide. Booth glances at Parker with paternal pride, and then looks over his head to his partner. To his surprise, she's looking at him too. She smiles widely at him and his heart skips a beat.
This is the best Christmas ever, he thinks.
"Dr. Bones, will you show me Africa now?" Parker asks, looking up at her.
"Sure, Parker," she replies with a smile.
"That's a good idea," Booth says, sitting up. "Parker, why don't you get the globe out of my office and bring it into the living room? Bones can show you where Africa is and show you all the places she's been." He turns his attention to his partner. "That'll take what? Four hours? Maybe five?" He gives her a wide grin, as she sits up.
"Hardly Booth. Maybe 30 minutes at the most," she says, finally looking at his face. "But you were being sarcastic, weren't you?" Her cheeks blush as she looks down, her hair falling like a curtain to cover her face.
Booth can't contain the itch he has to brush her hair back, so he reaches out his hand and tangles his fingers in her auburn locks, pushing them behind her right ear. Her blue eyes meet his and they draw him in. Like a tractor beam, he thinks.
"Daddy, if you kiss her, you'll get cooties," Parker whispers from his spot between them. Booth drops his hand from his partner's head and ruffles his son's hair.
"Go get the globe, bud." Parker quickly stands and runs out of the dining room.
Noticing the embarrassed look on his partner's face, Booth decides to ignore what his child said and move on. "I'm gonna clear the table," he says in a quiet voice. To his surprise, she places her hand in the crook of his elbow to stall him.
He turns to look at her and finds her face filled with concern. "We --" she stops. "I think –"
"Got it!" Parker shouts, returning from his quest.
"We'll talk later, Bones," Booth says, standing up, and offering her his hand. She nods but gives his hand a pointed glare. He smirks and shakes his head, lifting his hands up in mock surrender.
"Now, go finish what you started," He tells her as she stands and gently pushes her toward his son.
"Your son has a healthy interest in geography. That's a good thing, Booth," she tells him, walking over to Parker and taking the globe from his hand.
"He's also has a not so healthy interest in boogers and Sesame Street, so don't get too excited, Bones," he says with a smile.
Suddenly, her face lights up, her eyes widening as she looks down at Parker. "My favorite was Snuffleupagus," she tells him.
"Mine's Elmo!" Parker tells her with a silly smile and she nods.
"Bones, you know about Sesame Street?" He asks in amazement. She always finds a way to surprise me.
"I watched it when I was a kid," she tells him proudly, clearly pleased the she could relate to Parker on another level. Glancing down at his son, she jerks her head towards the living room.
"Bones?" He begins to pick up the plates from the table, stacking the dishes in his arms. She comes back through the doorway with the globe still in her hands and quirks her eyebrow. "Snuffie was always my favorite too," he tells her with his charm smile.
She smiles back at him. "Do you want my help?"
"No, no," he tells her, waving her off. "You go continue my son's eventual downfall into squint-dom."
"You should be so lucky," she says, walking out the door. He shakes his head at no one in particular, as he takes all he can carry and heads to the kitchen.
"Parker, how would you like a chemistry set for your birthday?" His partner asks, clearly antagonizing him.
"Yeah!" He exclaims.
Booth rolls his eyes at her as he walks by and into the kitchen. He sets the plates in the sink and lets out a sigh. What was she going to say?
He prays that it was something along the lines of what he's wanted to say all night long. But what if it wasn't?
He opens the dishwasher, as he flicks on the faucet to rinse the plates. I know she feels something. I've seen it in her eyes all night. Something is going on in that beautiful, brilliant head of hers.
Placing the plates in the dishwasher, he returns to the table to gather more dishes, catching bits and pieces of his partner and son's conversation as he passes them.
"What's a conitent?" asks his son.
"A continent is…" his partner trails off for a second, "a big mass of land." He chances a glance over at the duo and smiles at the sight of Bones sitting on the couch and Parker standing between her legs, both staring and pointing at the globe on the coffee table. "There are seven continents," she tells him. Booth gathers the rest of the dishes on the cutting board and heads to the kitchen.
"A long time ago there was a really big piece of land called Pangaea," he hears his partner saying as he passes. He stops.
"Pangaea, Bones?"
"Would you like to join our little geography lesson Booth?" She teases.
"I know what Pangaea is, Bones."
"Daaaaddy. Dr. Bones is teaching me stuff...be quiet," Parker tells him matter-of-factly.
"Okay, but I draw the line at words with more than four syllables," he tells them with a smile and proceeds to the kitchen.
As he goes to dump the excess food in the trashcan, he starts to think about Sudan and he decides to bag the leftovers instead. Maybe we'll have it for dinner tomorrow after Parker leaves. Bones seemed to like the mashed potatoes, she had two helpings. I'll have to remember that for next time.
He moves to the sink to rinse the rest of the dishes, when he realizes he's talking about the future as if it's already set. You still have to tell her, idiot.
He finishes loading the dishwasher and pours three small glasses of eggnog. One more glass won't hurt him.
"Daddy, I'm learning about the conitents!" Parker exclaims, as Booth moves into the living room, cautiously carrying the glasses of eggnog.
He sets the glasses on the coffee table and gives his partner a look, to which she simply shrugs and removes the globe from the table, and he smirks. "Well, how about you take a break from learning and we drink some eggnog and watch Charlie Brown?"
"Yeah!"
"Charlie Brown?" Bones asks, her brows furrowing in confusion.
"Yeah, you know, the Peanuts Gang?" Booth says, settling next to her.
"We always watch Charlie Brown, Dr. Bones, it's traditon!" Parker tells her, grabbing the DVD from the DVD rack and bringing it to his father.
"You can do it buddy," he tells his son. Parker smiles widely at the responsibility.
"You do this every year?" Bones asks, turning her head toward her partner.
"Well, I mean," Booth takes a deep breath and drapes his arm around the back of the couch, his hand gently brushing her shoulder. "This is the first year we've done it, but it will be a tradition!" He smiles at her and she shakes her head at him. "And we did drop after Thanksgiving dinner, didn't we bud?"
"Uh huh!" Parker returns to the couch and insinuates himself between Booth and Bones, but neither seem to mind, as Booth hands them their eggnog.
"You know that, after this, it's off to bed, right?" He tells his son.
"But Daaaaddy!"
"Paaaaaarrrker," Booth mocks him.
"I wanna stay up with you and Dr. Bones," Parker says, putting on a pout.
"Oh no, that's not going to work this time. I know your tricks, little man. I'll read you one story."
"Two stories!"
Booth pretends to think about this. "One story and I make pancakes in the morning. Deal?" He takes his arm off the back of the couch and holds out his hand.
"Deal!" Parker says triumphantly, shaking his father's hand and throwing himself back against the couch. Booth grins, grabbing the blanket from the other arm of the couch and draping it over the three of them with Bones' help. He returns his arm to the back of the couch, purposely placing his hand at her shoulder.
As the movie begins to play, Booth watches Brennan lean down and whisper something to Parker.
"Girls have 'em," Parker responds nonchalantly.
"Yes, but what are they?" Bones asks again, confusion coloring her expression.
Booth watches his son cock his head to one side and bite his lip. Then, as if coming to a decision, he whips his head around and looks at his father.
"Daddy, what are cooties?"
Parker and Bones look at him with hopeful expressions and he can't help but smile.
This is my family.
"Cooties, right, well…"
You see? Time has been wasted and nothing has happened. I promise you that the next chapter will involve THE TALK. So, don't back out now. It's coming, I swear:)