Hey gang! I know, long time no coffee. Sorry about that – but hey, you're getting kinseyjo, NBI, and 5 Steamboats in the span of about 2 days. What more could a bunch of nutty fangirls ask for?
By the way, just a couple house-cleaning items: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, even if you find author's notes boring and think they're just us begging for affection, read mine. I usually put important stuff in them (especially if, hello, they're as long as this one). Some of you seem confused how this whole story came to be. I encourage you to go read Chapter 22 of SSJL's Stories from A Hat, followed by What We Deserve. This is a continuation of those stories and if you read them, this might start to make a whole lot more sense!!
Okay, I'll shut up. Enjoy! XOXO, K to the Jo
--
"What is it?" she hesitated to take the small silver band Booth had pulled from his pocket.
"It's not on fire, for one thing. Take it, Bones."
"What is it?" she repeated, reaching for the delicate ring with the bright pink stone.
"It's a mother's ring."
"Garnet?" she was confused. "Isn't that January?"
"Rhodolite is another June birthstone. I liked it better than the pearl. A little more unique and precious, like our daughter."
"It's beautiful," she breathed, sliding it on the ring finger of her left hand. Booth took her hand and placed a soft kiss on the cool surface of their daughter's birthstone.
"You don't have to wear it if you don't want to," he blushed.
"No, I'll wear it every day. And maybe when Katie's a little older, she can wear it as a birthstone ring."
"Maybe," he repeated softly.
Brennan cleared her throat. "I better go."
"Yeah." They moved slowly to her idling car, stopping by the door to embrace once more.
Booth handed her the baby and she pressed a kiss to Katie's soft cheek, lingering for a moment, rubbing the baby's back delicately. "I love you," she whispered against Katie's face, breathing in the clean baby smell. "Your mommy loves you, Katie Christine. Never, ever forget that."
--
"Hey, Dr. B," Brennan looked up at the sound of the nickname bestowed upon her by her students. Parker Kennedy stood in the doorway, his tangle of curls hanging in his face as always.
"Parker, hey. Let me get your lab write-up," Brennan swiveled in her chair and dug through the file cabinet in her small office. She located the file she had been hunting for and handed it across the desk. "Exceptional work, Parker. Your writing has improved tenfold since the beginning of the semester. I'm very proud of you."
"Thanks," Parker beamed at her praise, then immediately shifted gears. "Who's in the picture?" he pointed to the bookshelf behind Brennan.
Brennan smiled fondly, glancing over her shoulder at the photo on display. "That's my daughter, Katie, and her half-brother, who's name is actually also Parker."
"Good name, looks like a cool kid," the college-aged Parker grinned easily.
"He's a great kid. They both are."
"I didn't know you had kids."
"Um, Katie actually lives with her and Parker's dad in Washington, DC. It's a very unique situation," she didn't go into further detail with her student and hoped he'd drop it.
"Yeah? Me too. With my dad I mean. My mom split when my brother was like three and I was nine. Said she was done raising us and it was up to my dad now."
Brennan's stomach churned at Parker's honesty. How could someone do that to their child? That wasn't what she'd done to Katie… was it? "Well I happen to think you turned out pretty great," Brennan said.
Parker grinned again, shoving his curls off his forehead. "Thanks. I think so too. I worry about my little brother though, you know? I mean, my dad always tells us that my mom was such a great lady, and he loved her like crazy, but seriously? How great could she have been? We never got to see her, she never called us on our birthdays, you know? I mean I had lots of friends whose parents were just divorced, but they still got to see both parents. And it kinda sucks for my dad, because he loved her so much, but she didn't love him enough to stay with us? That's pretty fu-," Parker stopped himself with a pointed look from his professor, "messed up, right doc? But I guess. Whatever. She's been gone ten years and we've done okay."
Brennan contemplated Parker's story, the churning in her stomach now almost unbearable. But, she reasoned with herself, you and Booth decided. This was the plan. He'd raise Katie. By himself. You could be as involved or uninvolved as you wanted. From somewhere deep inside, another voice piped up. How is this different than what your parents did to you, Tempe? The original voice spoke up again. Because, there is a distinct difference between being dumped in foster care and being raised by a parent who loves you. But still, the second voice spoke, how does Katie know that? Booth tells her, but she's got to know this isn't a normal situation. Is she going to feel like Parker does someday?
"Doc? You okay?"
"Huh? Sorry, Park. You know, I know it's a crappy situation, but maybe your mom did what she thought was best for you guys."
"I guess, I dunno. I mean no matter how bad things were, I feel like what would have been best for us would be for her to be there."
Brennan took a second before she replied. "You know what, Parker? Sometimes even adults do pretty stupid things that seem like the right thing to do at the time they're doing them."
Parker nodded thoughtfully then shook his head with a grin. "I didn't mean to just 'word vomit' all over your desk. I guess I just started talking and the whole thing just fell out of my mouth."
"Word vomit, huh?" Brennan asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
"All the kids are sayin' it," Parker teased, rising from his position across from Brennan.
She grinned back at his teasing. "You know I'm always here. Whenever you need to… vomit," she shuddered.
"Thanks Dr. B. You're the best."
"You're welcome, Parker. Anytime. Now go study," she winked.
"Library, here I come," Parker waved as he headed out the door.
Watching her student retreat down the hall, Brennan had to wonder. Parker seemed like such a well-adjusted kid, but he was really torn up about his mom leaving. Was that because he was old enough to remember what she was like, or was that exactly what she was doing to Katie?
--
Brennan sifted through the large stack of mail her neighbor Mali had been collecting for her while she had been in Argentina on a dig. Bill, bill, bill, she paused. A large pink envelope postmarked DC. What could that be? She tore into the envelope and read the front of the enclosed card. "Happy First Mother's Day!" Her stomach sank to her shoes. No, Tempe. Do not be upset. Booth was just being… thoughtful. Damn him. She flipped open the card and read the rest of the generic Hallmark message, smiling gently when she saw how carefully Booth had printed "XOXO, Love, Katie" at the bottom.
She looked down at the two wallet-sized pictures and one five-by-seven sized picture that had fallen to the table. In hers, Katie wore a hot pink tee shirt that said "Daddy's Little Bug" on the front and a pair of jeans with little pink ladybugs on the cuffs. Her dark hair was in two pigtails that stuck straight off the top of her head, and she gave the camera a gummy grin, her bright blue eyes sparkling. In his, Parker was dressed in a blue-striped button down shirt and khaki pants, a shiny mouthful of braces straightening his teeth. In the photo of the two of them together, Parker lounged on his side and Katie sat in front of him, leaning forward a little, her chubby fingers splayed out on the soft carpet they sat on.
She flipped the pictures over and recognized Booth's block print: KATIE CHRISTINE 10 MOS, PARKER JAMES 11 YRS.
She glanced at the inside of the card to see his handwritten note: HEY BONES, THOUGHT YOU MIGHT WANT TO SEE PICS OF THE KIDS – THEY'RE GETTING SO BIG! KATIE'S TEETHING LIKE A CRAZY WOMAN, SHE'LL HAVE A MOUTHFUL BEFORE WE KNOW IT. SHE'S TOUGH THOUGH, JUST GIVE HER SOMETHING TO CHEW ON AND SHE'S GOOD TO GO. ) PARKER WON THE DISTRICT SCIENCE FAIR – SOMETHING HE REMEMBERED YOU TEACHING HIM ABOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM? IT WAS TOO COMPLEX FOR HIS OLD MAN, BUT BECCA AND I WERE REALLY PROUD – HE GOT HIS PICTURE IN THE POST AND EVERYTHING!
EVERYTHING ELSE IS GOOD HERE, YOUR SQUINTS MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY. ANGE TOLD ME SHE AND JACK WERE PLANNING A TRIP OUT THERE THIS SUMMER – BY THE WAY, YOUR BEST FRIEND IS ABOUT THE MOST GORGEOUS PREGNANT WOMAN I'VE EVER SEEN – BESIDES YOU OF COURSE. ) I GOT A PROMOTION LAST WEEK, LITTLE LESS FIELD TIME, BUT IF I'M HONEST IT HASN'T REALLY BEEN AS MUCH FUN SINCE YOU LEFT.
OH HEY! CAM'S PREGNANT TOO! I'M SURROUNDED BY CRAZY HORMONAL WOMEN! GOOD THING I DON'T SPEND AS MUCH TIME AT THE JEFFERSONIAN AS I USED TO. WHEN I DO HAVE FIELD WORK TO DO, ZACK IS A GREAT HELP. WHO KNEW WHEN JACK AND I SAID WE NEEDED TO GET THE KID A GIRLFRIEND WE ACTUALLY NEEDED TO GET HIM A BOYFRIEND? ) HE'S MELLOWED OUT QUITE A BIT, I THINK MARC HELPS WITH THAT.
OKAY, I'M GONNA CUT THIS SHORT BEFORE I START SOUNDING LIKE A GOSSIPY OLD HEN. ) I'LL GIVE THE KIDS KISSES FOR YOU. HOPE EVERYTHING IS GOING WELL. LOVE, BOOTH
She folded the letter back up and dropped onto the couch, curling her legs underneath her. She traced her fingertips over Katie's face, and then Parker's, barely noticing when a tear dripped down her cheek and hit the photo.