Sorry about the delay on this chapter!

I should have another one up later today.

Thanks for reading! R&R


The food was set out on the four person sized kitchen table in a buffet setting. There was a stack of plastic plated that resembled fine china at the end of the table and the Booth family attacked the food like they had been starving in the desert for weeks. There wasn't a dining room table so everyone chose seats in the living room in front of the television and talked lightly over running commercials and ESPN news about the game that had just been on.

After everyone had settled into seats on the couch or on the floor, the Booth family recognized that there was a stranger in their midst. An older man stopped his fork halfway to his mouth when he noticed Temperance sitting closely next to Booth on the overcrowded couch.

"Who are you?" he asked in a quizzical manner.

"Dad!" Seeley whined, mouth full of Baked Ziti.

The man looked at Booth and back at Brennan, "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude, it's just that you came out of nowhere."

Brennan laughed and swallowed a bite of green beans, "It's okay." She said wiping her face with her crumpled napkin, "I'm Temperance Brennan, Boo- Seeley's Partner from the Jeffersonian."

The man's eyes widened in recognition, "Right!" he said, shaking his head, "I should have recognized you from your picture on the books. But I have to say, you are much more attractive in person."

Brennan chuckled and looked at Booth who was rolling his eyes, "Thank you." She said scooping up more vegetables onto her fork.

"So you're the bone lady." Another man who was sitting next to Booth's father said, this one was younger and looked strikingly similar to Booth, but not nearly as ruggedly attractive, "I'm Jared." He said reaching his hand across the coffee table and shaking her hand. He retracted his hand and shoveled some turkey into his mouth and talked to her with his mouth half full, "Seeley's been a whiney brat all afternoon about you not wanting to come up with him."

She heard a loud exhale come from the man next to her and she turned to see Booth looking up at the ceiling which she presumed was him praying to God that the ridicule end soon, "I was not!" he said directing his stare at his brother, "Can we please try to not embarrass our family name in front of our guest by being rude and impolite?"

Jared laughed and took a sip of his soda, "Aw, come on Seel! You know I would never embarrass our family!" he said laughing, "I just love embarrassing you!"

Booth shook his head, "Next time you have a girl over, just wait. You'll regret this, mark my words." He said with a vicious smile.

"Don't worry Uncle Seel." A young girl said who was sitting on the floor next to Booth, "He'll be cryin' like a baby tomorrow when we kick is ass tomorrow at the park."

"SARAH JANE! LANGUAGE!" Aunt Eileen yelled from the other side of the room.

The entire Booth family with the exception of Jared laughed at the girl's remark. Mr. Booth was slapping his knee and almost lost his grip on his plate, "Eileen, you should know by this time that that kind of language is in the Booth genes." He directed his attention to the young girl and gave her a thumbs up, "You're officially initiated into the clan!" he said, to which the young girl beamed.

Jared scoffed, "Yeah, we were worried for a while that you may have been switched at birth. I'm still not convinced."

"Actually, language is a learned skill. There is no evidence to suggest that personality is passed through genetics at all." Temperance stated. The room quieted down and a few lingering gazes fell on her.

Booth chuckled, "So, how's the food Bones?"

She hesitantly looked at him and smiled, "Excellent, really." She turned her attention to Mrs. Booth, "You did a wonderful job."

The woman smiled kindly at her, "Thank you, dear." She said, "So tell us Temperance, are the cases from your books real?" she asked.

Brennan cleared her throat and looked at her plate, "Some of the details are based on true events, but overall they are completely fictional as well as all of the other events."

Mrs. Booth's shoulder's slumped slightly, "Oh. So, it's all fictional?" she asked.

Brennan smiled slightly to mask her discomfort, "Yes."

Booth cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with his napkin, "Mom, I'm pretty sure the last thing she wants to talk about is her book."

Brennan sharply turned her head to glare at him, "Booth!" she whispered, vehemently.

His eyes widened and he shoved another forkful of turkey into his mouth and Mr. Booth laughed out loud, drawing both of their attention, "Boppy would have loved her." He said through gasps of breath.

"Boppy?" Brennan said turning back to Booth who was smiling and swallowing.

"Boppy is our uncle." He said gesturing to Jared, "He and Dad were friends from back in the Marines."

"We were in the same unit and he was like a brother to me." Mr. Booth interrupted, "He's Seeley's godfather."

Brennan laughed and placed her plate down on the coffee table, "Why did you call him Boppy?" she asked, looking between the Booth men.

Jared wiped his hands and looked at his father, "Yeah, where did the name Boppy come from?"

Booth, his father and mother laughed. Seeley didn't have a recollection of where exactly the name had originated, but he had heard the story once or twice in the past and he knew that Brennan would find it amusing.

"When Seeley was two years old and Jared was on his way we had gotten Seeley one of those weighted clown balloons that you punch and they pop back up at you." His mother started.

Mr. Booth took over while still laughing, "The first time I showed it to him I punched it and it flew back upright and it scared him so badly he ran right to his mother's leg and hid his face in her skirt." He said shaking his head.

"Well," his mother interrupted, "He couldn't really run at the time, so he wobbled briskly towards me." She laughed.

Booth and Brennan both laughed as Mr. Booth explained further, "So, when we told Boppy about what happened he came over because he wanted to see Seeley do it in person. It really was quite funny."

"But when he punched the clown in the face that time, Seeley not only wobbled away but began to cry up a storm." Mrs. Booth explained.

Mr. Booth laughed, "He felt so awful about it, so he told Seeley to punch him in the nose like the clown."

"And when he did, Tony rocked back and popped up like the clown and Seeley laughed and laughed. It became their game and he became Boppy because Seeley would bop him in the nose." Mrs. Booth laughed.

Brennan laughed and looked at Booth, "I would have loved to see that; especially because I know first hand about your fear of clowns."

Jared laughed loudly, "You're afraid of clowns? Still?" he asked incredulously.

"No!" Seeley yelled at Jared, then turned to Brennan, "Bones, I am not afraid of clowns." He whispered.

"Ya know," Mrs. Booth said, "I think I have a tape of it upstairs somewhere." She said making her way over to the stairs.

Mr. Booth stopped her, "Don't go look for it right now, honey. We have some presents to open!" he said excitedly.

The four children in the room cheered. Booth looked over at Brennan and nudged her shoulder, "You okay?" he asked softly.

"This is not nearly as bad as I had thought it would be." She whispered back.

He smiled brightly at her, "I told you. They love you already. You had nothing to worry about."

She smiled at him and looked into his eyes, "I suppose your right."