Chapter 4-The Surprise

A/N: Alright, I tried to get this one up as soon as possible. Thank you for the reviews! Keep'em coming! :) Again, any critiques, comments, or ideas are welcome!

The door opened and they were greeted by Jared Booth's smiling face.

"Hey, little brother!" Booth greeted and the brothers gave each other a hug.

"Seeley, how've you been?" Jared asked.

"Good, great, actually" Booth answered, moving aside so Brennan and Christine could greet Jared.

"Hey, Tempe!" Jared said as he pulled Brennan in for a warm hug. Ever since Jared had helped rescue Booth from the Gravedigger, he and Brennan had stayed in touch and were on very good terms and so were the brothers.

"Jared, its been a while. You look good" she responded as they released and Jared bent down to pick up Christine.

"Hey, munchkin! How's my favorite niece?" Jared asked as he tickled the little girl. Her giggle alerted others in the house of the families presence.

"Uncle Jared, stop!" she squealed, giggling the whole time

Soon the hall was filled with Booth family members. Padme, Hank, and a few of Booth's aunts and uncles had come for the week, however, not all were staying in the house. Greetings were exchanged among all, but Booth and Brennan both noticed the absence of the owner of the house.

"Where's Mom, Jared?" Booth asked.

"You know how she is, Seel. She can't leave the kitchen until everything is ready."

"Alright, well, let's go in and say 'Hi', guys" Booth said, addressing Brennan and Christine. Christine ran ahead into the kitchen. Booth took Brennan's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze and together they walked into the kitchen. They walked into see Christine in her grandmother's arms.

"I've missed you, sweetheart. You need to come visit Grammy more often. You're getting so big!" said Marianne Booth.

"I missed you too, Grammy!"

Marianne put Christine down and the little girl ran off to play with her aunt and uncle.

"Hey, Mom, you look great" Booth said, letting go of Brennan's hand to approach his mother for a hug.

"Seeley, that little girl of yours is growing up too fast. It's good to have you home." Marianne turned to Brennan.

"Believe me, I know, Mom. Before we know it she'll be buying a prom dress" he responded, as he moved back to pull Brennan close to him, his arm around her shoulders, trying to offer comfort and also show his mother a united front.

"Temperance, looking beautiful as always. How are you, my dear?" she asked as she approached Brennan for a stiff hug.

"Oh, that's sweet, Marianne, thank you. I'm great. Your son treats me very well. You raised a good boy" Brennan responded sweetly, going back to Booth to settle into his side, her arm around his waist. He responded and snuggled her closer. Brennan couldn't help but emphasize their relationship, also trying to prove to Marianne that she wasn't going anywhere. Marianne tried to give her a smile, but it came off as more of a grimace.

"Yes, well, Seeley had always treated all the women he has been with well." The two women began to stare at each other, each willing the other one to break first, the whole time each with a bright, superficial grin plastered on their faces.

"Okay," Booth interjected, trying to break the tension, "Mom, isn't dinner ready?"

"Yes, dear, but we are still waiting on one more person." Booth and Brennan both noticed her expression looked, almost mischievious, like she had a secret no one else knew about.

"I didn't know anyone else was coming, Mom." Booth pressed.

"It's a surprise, dear. You'll see soon enough." Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the door bell rang and she scurried off to answer it. Booth and Brenna followed closely behind. In the hallway, hugging his mother, was someone hadn't seen or thought about in almost 20 years.

"Anna? What are you doing here?" Booth asked. Booth looked at the tall, blond standing in the foyer. She looked almost exactly as she had in highschool. Memories began to flash through his mind. Anna had been his first serious girlfriend. She was a cheerleader and he had been quarterback of their highschool.

"My parents decided to go on a cruise for Thanksgiving, leaving me here alone. Your mother was kind enough to invite me to spend the week with your family. You look great," she said, approaching him for a hug, "Can you believe it's been almost twenty years?" Booth hugged her back, amazed to be seeing his best childhood friend again after so long.

"No, I can't believe it's been so long. You look the same as you twenty years ago. Here, let me introduce you to my wife. This is Temperance Brennan" he said as he pulled Brennan in front of him so the two could meet. Brennan had been studying the woman while she and Booth had been playing catch up. She was beautiful and blonde, as was almost every girlfriend Booth had had before her. Brennan could remember her name being mentioned once or twice over the years.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. Booth has told me so much about you" Brennan lied, having learned from Booth about how to act in social situations. The two women shook hands, as Marianne announced it was time to sit down for dinner. Christine came running up to Brennan.

"Mommy, I'm hungry" she pleaded.

"Okay, baby, we are going to eat right now. This is Anna, a friend of Daddy's. Can you say 'Hi', Christine?"

"Hi" the little girl said shyly.

"Hi, Christine, it's nice to meet you." Anna smiled down at the little girl. Christine smiled and then skipped to the dinner table. Booth, Brennan, and Anna joined everyone at the table. Booth pulled both women's chairs out, much to Brennan's dismay and Marianne's excitement. At this point, Brennan had figured out that Marianne had brought Anna here, hoping that by the end of the week Brennan would be nothing but a bad memory. There was idle chit chat all throughout dinner, all of which was tame and surprisingly pleasant. That is, until Marianne decided to shake things up.

"I've gotta say, seeing Seeley and Anna at the same table is bringing back some good memories" Marianne said, taunting Brennan.

"Yeah," Jared said, "how long did you two date for an way? It seemed like forever."

"I think it was the last three years of highschool, if I'm remembering correctly" Anna responded.

"Yes, I think so too," Marianne said, "but you were friends long before that." Booth, aware of his wife's discomfort, sent his wife an apologetic look and rubbed her knee soothingly under the table. Brennan shoved his hand off, too uspet to be comforted. Instead she decided she would play along with Marianne's game.

"So, how did you two meet?" Brennan asked sweetly.

"Um, we were in the Catholic club in school together and we were in the same youth group in church" Anna responded, giving Brennan a fake smile. Brennan was quiet for a moment, in disbelief of the lengths Marianne had gone through to torment her.

"Of course you were," said Brennan in a frustrated huff, "if you'll excuse me, I need to get Christine ready for bed." And with that she got up from the table, picked up Christine, and dissappeared upstairs.

"I should go help. Sometimes Christine can be difficult to put down." He excused himself and got up from the table to follow Brennan upstairs, knowing his wife needing comforting.

"Oh, gosh, I hope she isn't upset to have me here" Anna said, trading a conspiratorial look with Marianne.

"Oh, goodness, well we certaintly wouldn't want that now, would we?" Marianne said, chuckling darkly, grinning from ear to ear. The others at the table had been carrying on their own conversations, completely oblivious to the drama that was unfolding right before their eyes.

A/N: Okay, so what do you think of Booth's mom? I would just like to say that I am not trying to portray her as evil, she just loves her son and wants what's best for him. However, she is obviously going about it the wrong way! Okay so let me know what you think! Coming up next: Booth comforts an upset Brennam, Booth confronts his mother, and Anna may make a play for Booth...