A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reached the end! I had a lot of fun writing this story. It was different, challenging at times, but I'm glad I wrote it. Thank you for your support and your kind reviews. They were greatly appreciate! Until next time Bones fans! :-)

I stared anxiously at my small apartment. How was I supposed to fit six people in my small dining room? Why had I agreed to make Christmas dinner this year? At least, I had managed to clean everything. My latest case had left me with scattered files everywhere in the living room and my dishes had been tipping dangerously on the kitchen counter. Now that everything was put away, I could now concentrate on what I would be feeding all these visitors. My menu had been decided weeks ago; the ingredients sat in the fridge and in the freezer. All I needed now was to put them all together.

I took a few minutes to relax. I sat down on my couch and sighed. In the corner, my Christmas tree illuminated my dark living room. I smiled as I let my mind wander to tomorrow. My daughter had convinced me to dress up as Santa. My granddaughter, Faith, would be here, along with her father. I had also invited my sister and her husband who would be alone this year. Their children had decided to take a last-minute cruise for Christmas. My sister who was no longer in shape to take part of such a big trip had chosen to remain behind.

My thoughts turned to the Booth family: their first Christmas together in more than a decade. I wasn't sure what made me think of them. I hadn't seen them since Seeley's release from prison, the day where Jackson had finally snapped after all these years. I had left soon after. I wondered how they were doing. I had Seeley the name of a friend of mine who own a private investigation company and might have been interested in having a partner. I wondered if he had got in touch with him.

The sound of my cellphone brought me out of my reverie. I stared in amusement at the caller ID. It showed Christine's phone number. Chuckling at the irony of the situation, I answered the phone.

"Hi Jack, it's Christine. I was just calling to wish you Merry Christmas."

"Thank you and Merry Christmas to you too. How are you all doing?"

"We're doing well," she replied. "Dad is still in the halfway house but we're making arrangements for him to come live with me instead."

"What about your roommate?"

There was an awkward pause.

"She left."

I assumed I knew the reason why.

"Did your father find a job?" I asked, hoping she'd tell me he was now an investigator.

"Yeah, he's working as a waiter in a restaurant. He really doesn't like it! He calls it a hell-hole."

I tried to picture Seeley as a waiter and the image really didn't fit. I could understand why he didn't like the job. I asked her about his desire to turn to private investigation.

"They don't want to. They wanted him to get a steady job, pay his room, and everything. As soon as he's out though, he told me he'd give your friend a call. I don't think he'll stick around the restaurant much longer than he has to."

I couldn't argue with that.

"But are you sure your friend won't mind that my dad has a criminal record though?"

"Don't worry about it. If you want, I can tell him the whole story. I'm sure he will understand. He's seen enough criminals in his life to realize your dad isn't one."

"Thanks. I really appreciate this."

There was a small pause during which I fought the urge to ask about Jackson. Christine beat me to it.

"I'm sure you're wondering what happened to Jacskon."

"A little bit," I replied.

"Well I haven't spoken to him since he took off on us. I did see him once or twice around campus but he ignored me. I asked Megan how he was doing but she only said that Jackson is doing well and that we should just leave him alone. He wants to forget the whole thing. I think he blames himself for everything that happened."

"It's possible."

"But it's not," she argued. "We were kids. It couldn't have been his fault!"

"We know that, Christine. The only thing you can do is let him work this stuff out for myself."

Christine chuckled.

"That's what Dad said."

She paused.

"Megan said that her parents were paying to have DNA testing done on Jones to see if he really is Jackson's father. Personally, I don't think he is. But maybe if Jackson knows, he will feel better about the whole situation."

Though I was surprised by what I was hearing, I agreed with Christine. I didn't think Jones was Jackson's biological father either. However, to have a body exhumed just to do some DNA testing seemed legally impossible. I kept my thoughts to myself.

"Do you still speak to Megan?"

"Occasionally, when I run into her, but we mostly talk about our courses. We don't mention Jackson."

"Did you tell her truth?"

"Let's just say things came out after Jackson's outburst. I told her part of the story. She was shocked to learn that Angela wasn't my real name but she seemed to accept it. She says she'll never call me Christine though."

"Are you going to keep your fake name?"

"No. I'm in the process of changing back to my legal name. It's very difficult because of the situation."

Suddenly, I remembered Jackson's words about Christine's parents. I was immediately curious.

"Did your adoptive parents really did know the truth about what happened?"

"They didn't know the whole story. I was too young to realize it at the time but we were told different stories. Like I told you when we first met, we were told that the police were looking for my parents but they couldn't find them. However, they told my adoptive parents that my biological mother was dead and that my father was being sent to prison for murder. They gave them the stuff that was found in the car, mostly clothes, toys, but also…"

"The pictures," I said, cutting her off.

"Yes."

"So your parents had them all along?"

"Yes and Amanda is the one who sent them to me when I moved to North Carolina. We had a talk, her and me after Dad came out of jail. She said she didn't want me to know what my father had done because she, herself, didn't know the whole story. And she wanted me to have fond memories of my father, not one where he was a murderer. She didn't know that my real name wasn't Angela. She was surprised when I told her I wanted to be called Christine from now on."

Christine paused.

"She told me she felt guilty about keeping these pictures to herself for so many years. She said she sent them to me so I could have a souvenir of my real family."

"Did she know about the man in the picture? About Jones?"

"No, she hadn't even noticed. It was Jackson who pointed out that the man seemed to be in all the pictures. I thought it was weird and something told me that he held the key to the mystery. That's why I sent the pictures to Michael. I figured it was better to follow my instincts, even if it didn't turn out to lead somewhere."

"It makes sense. How did your mother react when you told her your father was coming to live with you?"

"She didn't say much. I think she fears that now that Dad is out of prison, I will just abandon them. I told her though I wouldn't turn my back on them. After all, they raised me, loved me, and took care of me all those years. They're part of my family."

"I'm happy to hear that."

"We're all spending Christmas together in my apartment. They're all here now, except for Dad and Parker."

In the background, I could hear people chattering.

"Parker will get here tomorrow morning. We're going to pick Dad up in Asheville and we'll stop by the cemetery to visit Mom at the same time. No one should be alone on Christmas."

I smiled at Christine's words. My heart went out to her. Christmas without her mother would probably be very difficult for her and her father.

"Enjoy your Christmas, Christine. You deserve it."

"Thank you. And thank you for everything! At least now I know what happened. Oh, before I forget! We buried Max beside Mom. And we managed to change the tombstone so it can have her real name on it. We had to pull many strings because the cemetery didn't want to let us. But last month, we managed to change it."

"That's really great! I'm happy to hear that."

The sound of the doorbell reached my ears. I apologized to Christine and informed her someone was at the door.

"No problem. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas. Say hi to your father for me."

"Will do."

We hung up. As I walked towards the door, I felt different. My conversation with Christine had tied up some of the loose ends of the case. I was relieved that all of them seemed happy with the ending and that all were moving on with their lives.

I opened the door to find John White standing at my front door. The man lived a few streets away from mine, in a building with a similar address. I laughed when I saw the envelope he was holding in his hands.

"They delivered it to the wrong address again," John said. "I figured this time I would bring it directly to you. It looks like a Christmas card."

The envelope was red. I figured he must be right. I thanked him for the personal delivery, he made one more comment about the quality of the postal service recently (Can't they read? It's not even the same name as the other things in my mailbox!), and we said goodbye. I closed the door behind me and looked down questioningly at the envelope in my hands. Who could be sending me a Christmas card? I mostly received them via email now, except for my sister's Christmas card which I had received in the mail a week earlier.

Curious, I opened it. Inside was in fact a card. I slowly pulled it out and flipped it around. I was surprised by what I saw. The top of the card was decorated by a picture. Six people posed for the camera, grinning happily at the lens. I recognized two of the people. Megan and Jackson smiled at me, surrounded by their parents and an older sibling, a man. Inside, a few words had been written sloppily. I smiled as I read them.

Merry Christmas Jack! Thank you for your help. I'm really sorry about my behavior. I am doing much better now.

Jackson

PS: He is not my biological father.