Thanks again to Linda (1cosmicgirl) and Michelle (BlueMoonFan)!
V. The Eve in the Day
The mobile sung its lullaby, but the child was still lolling in her crib; blue eyes wide open.
"Don't you want to sleep?" Brennan whispered, rubbing her daughter's belly, and Christine held fast onto her purple elephant, shaking her little head.
"Christmas," she purred with heavy eyelids, blinking slowly.
"Christmas is tomorrow. When you wake up, and if you're very lucky, Santa would have visited."
"Santa..."
"Yes. Grandpa Max will come, Parker and great-grandpa Hank. Oh, and Angela, Hodgins and Michael."
"Michael."
"Yes. Do you want to play with Michael?"
Christine nodded tiredly, a big yawn splitting the little face. Brennan smiled, couldn't help but find her daughter precious and adorable. From downstairs, a loud crash was heard, followed by an unholy curse.
"That's Daddy with the tree. I should be down there helping him. Don't you want to sleep, Christine?"
"Noooo... Sing, Mommy."
"Sing? What song?"
"Snow!"
There were a lot of songs about snow, but ever since Christine had experienced her first real winter with snowmen and sleigh rides, Brennan knew exactly which song her little girl had in mind. And, with a sweet smile, she began to sing.
"The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful..."
The child blinked twice more, caressed by her mother's voice, and Brennan's lullaby filled the house with warmth as she sang a song about snow, about coziness and one winter day. The words left her lips, forming the well-known melody, but for the first time ever she was able to grasp the meaning of that song, could feel its joy deep down in her heart. Let it snow. A few minutes later, the child was asleep, and Brennan bent down carefully, kissing her daughter's soft head, inhaling her utterly familiar scent.
"Sleep tight, my love."
Tiptoeing out of the room, Brennan dimmed the light, finally heading downstairs, ready to face whatever disaster was waiting for her. Getting a tree on Christmas Eve was awfully late, still Booth had managed to bring home one stately fir. They had tinsel and Christmas lights, some of her parents' ornaments as well as some of the few that had survived his childhood. She had purchased some red glitter balls earlier this week, and all in all, they were prepared to decorate the tree. That was, if he survived putting it up in the first place.
"Booth?"
"Yeah, here."
His voice sounded rather weak, and as she rounded the corner, Brennan erupted in laughter. The tree was standing, but...
"Why are you wearing the fairy lights?"
He shrugged as well as possible in the restraints of the chain.
"Hell, I don't know. It sorta happened. Help me, Bones!"
Suppressing the giggles, she regarded him seriously.
"I don't know, maybe I should take a picture first."
"Not funny."
Raising her shoulders, she approached him gracefully.
"You know, it is a little bit funny. But since I'm a nice woman..."
Thirty minutes later, he was not only freed but the tree was decorated with bright ornaments and lights. Being parents to a very curious toddler, Booth and Brennan were smart enough to only decorate the upper half of the fir and leave the lower branches bare, and even though it looked a little bit lopsided, it was one gorgeous Christmas tree. The best they'd ever had. The first they'd ever had.
She went to the kitchen to pour two glasses of wine while he dimmed the light in the living room.
"Ready Bones?"
Padding back to him in slipper socks, she handed one glass over to him and he accepted it with a thankful nod.
"Yes, ready."
"Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"To appreciate the magic."
Her mouth opened to reveal her very own thoughts about the magic that was lying in fairy lights, but upon seeing his reverent face, she closed it again; closed it and closed her eyes.
"Yes, ready," she repeated, and he disappeared for one moment before his arm was back around her shoulder.
"Open your eyes."
And that's what she did. Blinking once, swallowing twice. Adjusting to the dim light, to the dazzling vision of their tree. There were Christmas lights, she knew that, she had put them there. The branches were curving under the weight of the ornaments, and a trace of fir needles was lingering in the air. It wasn't perfect, but... it was. A strange sense of pride washed over her, and Brennan experienced the sudden urge to fetch her pillow and sleep underneath their tree. The woman took a deep breath, as the girl she had once been stared in wonder.
"Beautiful," she whispered, and his gaze did not once leave her face.
"Yeah," he smiled, and then she turned around to him with big eyes, astonishment written all over her face.
"Our tree."
"Yes, Bones, our tree."
She swallowed hard against the sudden lump in her throat, and he observed her with adoring eyes.
"We did that," she finally whispered, and he pulled her tighter to his body, kissing the crown of her head.
"That's what parents should do, you now? Create magic."
"She will love it."
For one flicker of a moment, Booth thought about their little girl in her footsie PJs, bright eyes in the morning, her lips parted in amazement. A smile so boyish and carefree lit up his own face.
"Yeah, she will."
Young Temperance underneath the tree, young Temperance without Christmas, the African sun burning down on her on Christmas day, lockdown in the lab, a new family, mistletoe and hope. Two lines on a pregnancy test, a tiny girl that looked up at her with her very own eyes, the perfect warmth of strong arms around her at night. One life; one life that felt like many, as the Christmases of the past stepped aside, making room for something new, something so incredibly good.
"Booth..."
And he pulled her even closer, as her arms flew around his body, wine glasses be damned.
And he squeezed her lovingly, swaying her gently; wine glasses be damned.
His face buried in the crook of his neck, she breathed him in, fighting against dizziness and something else.
"So... this is Christmas?" she finally asked, her voice just a whisper in the big room, and he nodded fiercely.
"This is the beginning of it. The best is yet to come."
"What do we do now?"
Kissing her brow, he took a step back to look at her.
"Well, we could open a present. One is allowed on Christmas Eve."
Her lips curved up.
"Both a day and an eve... a Christmas miracle."
And his beam was her answer.
"You listened."
"I always do."
"You want one present, Bones?"
"Yes, please."
He gathered a few pillows, putting them around their tree, pulling her down. From their new position, the tree looked even brighter, even bigger, and the gift he put into her hands was small but heavy.
"What is it?"
"Well, there's only one way to find out."
"X-rays?"
"Nope, try again."
And she tugged at the wrapping paper, smiling almost shyly. After a few moments, a little ornament fell into her hands. It was sentimental and it wasn't. It was a gesture that tugged at her heart.
First Christmas together.
"Booth..."
He took her hand, fingers caressing her knuckles.
"To new traditions, Bones," he whispered, raising his glass.
"To new traditions," she repeated.
"Turn it around."
And on the backside, in tiny numbers, she could read "2005".
For the briefest fraction of a moment, her heart stopped.
A lung fungus, a party that had not been, forced togetherness. Still... it had been their first Christmas, a memory to cherish. And he knew it.
"I love it," she smiled after a while, putting it tenderly onto their tree, watching it dangling in the magic-y light.
Leaning in for a kiss, a kiss so soft.
"Your turn," she finally smiled, pointing at one present at his feet.
"That one?"
She nodded. He tore the paper apart and his jaw dropped.
"Bones..."
"I despise giving pets as Christmas gifts, but... I'd like to express my willingness to expand our family."
And her gaze fell to the dog bowl in his hands.
"With a dog named Gretzky."
His fingers traced the name engraved in the enamel bowl.
"A dog?"
His eyes brightened, as he regarded her so happily.
"You want to get a dog with me?"
Bowing her head, she lifted her hand.
"I'd like to get him from an animal shelter, of course, and we need a dog sitter, but... yes, Booth, a dog."
He nearly climbed on top of her in his attempt to take her into his arms, and she toppled into the pillows, taking him with her.
"A real dog? Gretzky?" he beamed, and she laughed out breathlessly.
"Yes, a real Gretzky."
And then he kissed her, simply because there weren't words to express what he felt and because it was Christmas. Her lips parted, as her body softened for him, and her arms locked around his back, pulling him on top of her. He was heavy, but the sensation was familiar, and like everything that was familiar and Booth, she loved it.
Big hands spanned her waist, lips caressed her neck, and, above them, their Christmas tree was sparkling. Making love underneath a Christmas tree... it might be over the top; a tad too mushy, a tad too Christmas-y. But she had never done it before, and neither had he, and when he peeled her out of her clothes; when he cupped her mound to feel her warmth, it wasn't mushy, it was real.
She responded with eagerness, freeing him from his own garments, desperate to feel him skin to skin. And then it was skin to skin...
A moan, a gasp. Fingers brushing over swollen heat, lips closing over taut nipples; teasing and giving.
She was swimming in a sea of feelings, but she wasn't alone, was never alone, because he was right there with her, his hips nudging her thighs apart, his naked body pressing her into the soft pillows. His lips were on hers, so intimately on hers, as he entered her body, sliding into her with a shudder, and shivers whispered down her spine, as her belly grew hot.
He was in her; so perfectly in her, as deep as no one else before him had ever been. Her body was humming, calling out to him, breasts aching to get his attention, and his attention they got, legs desperate to accommodate him.
He was home and light and every Christmas that had ever been.
Tomorrow would be full of friends and family and food and laughter. Next week, they might get a dog to expand their family. Sometime in May, she might be sitting in front of another pregnancy test, waiting once again for a second blue line to appear.
Life was a circle; but so was love.
From the very first "hello" over a few stolen kisses, down the heavy path of regret until finally, the sun had risen for them. Until they hadn't been able anymore to disentangle from each other.
And he was loving her; his body sliding in and out of her, moving within her, moving her. His thrusts perfect and deep, his palm cupping one breast, the other one cradling her face.
Loving her with body and soul and mind.
And he was hard; hard where she was soft, steel where she was silk. A perfect fit known from the beginning of time. Friction and pressure and heat. Her womanhood so snug around him; his body so anchored in hers.
He loved her, did love her, and was proving it. Over and over again. Until she began to fly and bodies weren't heavy anymore; until a wave of release and warmth washed over her, carrying her away on a soft cry; a cry that he swallowed, but then he was flying with her. His body coming undone in hers. Another gift; an ancient one. A gift that she accepted with more than a little grace.
Because she loved him. Even though it made no sense and couldn't be proved, she loved him.
And he loved her.
-BONES-
Then it was Christmas.
To be continued...
Thanks for following this story and merry Christmas!
Next one is a teeny tiny epilogue.