Rematches and Spinsters

A/N: Really not happy with the next couple chapters, but I've fiddled with it for months. Maybe a fresh perspective would help?

"We are the champions, my friends," sang Seeley at the end, standing and raising his arms in victory.

"Whatever. You're going down in baseball." Jared said, popping another game into the whatever-it-was. Only two could play that at a time, so Jared made a new scoreboard and people drifted away to wait their turn.

"So a reluctance to give up the driver's seat runs in the family?" she asked as they went upstairs. He grinned sheepishly.

"I don't know. I guess so."

"So what else are we going to do today?" he shrugged.

"There's Uncle Fred's."

"Another Booth?"

"He's not actually our uncle. He's my Dad's buddy from Vietnam. His REO. He has a place and we usually go up to see him when we get together. He's got a campsite and water sports and horses, all kinds of outdoorsy stuff. Hey, Mom." He called. She walked out of the kitchen.

"Please don't yell in the house, dumpling."

"Sorry, Mom. Are we going to Uncle Fred's?"

"Yes, after lunch." Tempe checked her watch. 9:00. Unbelievable.

"You want some help with the dishes?" he offered.

"No, sweetie, don't be silly. Go down and catch up with your father. Leave us girls alone." Alarm crossed his face and her mind, but his mother's soft, reasonable voice and sweet smile was nonetheless laced with an iron will. She took the dishtowel offered and he went back downstairs.

"So, you and my son work together?"

"Yes. Well, I work for the Jeffersonian. When the FBI needs a consult, he and I work together."

"Oh. That's lovely. So how long have you known Seeley?"

"About a year and a half."

"His father and I got married just after a year and a half. He was going off to Vietnam. I was terrified that he wouldn't come back, of course, but he thought if I was going to wait for him, I had better have a ring." She displayed her finger. The ring was gold with a small blue stone and two clear.

"It's – nice. Lovely."

"Yes, well, Seeley's never been married. I had hoped – but now he tells me she has a boyfriend. Rebecca was such a sweet girl. Nice family, too. Well, what's done is done. So have you ever been married?"

"No. I-,"

"You children are waiting so long to get married these days. How old are you?"

"Thirty-one."

"My word! Seeley was almost in middle school by the time I was thirty-one. An unmarried thirty-one year old was a spinster!"

"Mom, I'm gonna go to the market to get a few last-minute things and I'd like an extra pair of hands. You don't mind if I steal Tempe here, do you?"

"Oh, not at all, Lucy dear. Don't forget the corn."

"I won't, Mom." She promised, pulling on Tempe's arm.