WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY TIME

CHAPTER 4

Parker flung himself into his grandfather's outstretched arms, "Hey little man!"

They engaged into a mini conversation while the whole group caught up. Cadence and Seeley hugged their parents and then their brother before turning to the group to do introductions.

"Mom, Dad, Tristan these are my friends." He pointed towards Angela and Hodgins first and introduced them, then Sweets, and finally Bones.

"Please everyone, call me Julie." Booth's mom said as she embraced everyone, and when she embraced Bones, she added, "I've heard so much about you, it's an honor to meet you."

"Thank you for inviting us on this trip." She added still shocked from the greeting the woman hand warmly cast upon these people she had never met.

Booth's dad stepped forward, "And call me Austin. We're glad you could all make it" his dad didn't embrace them but he wasn't necessarily cold just more reserved than his wife.

Tristan smiled, "No wonder Seeley spends so much time working." He said looking back and forth from Angela to Bones.

Angela giggled, and Bones looked confused, "I think it would be because of all the crime."

Angela stepped forward to save her friend, "It's nice to meet you Tristan, I'm wondering how we're going to keep all of you Booth's straight."

"Well at least you'll be getting us in increments, four today…seven tomorrow" He laughed realizing just how big his family really was.

"Well" Julie said, "We were thinking that after you all got settled we could head out on a short hike."

"Sounds good" Seeley said.

Cadence reached over for the extra tent she had bought and began to set up a few feet away from the group. Seeley walked over to help her pitch the tent down. As he grabbed a peg from her she smiled at him, "So it took Tristan about two seconds to hit on them."

"He held out longer than I thought." Seeley smiled at her.

--*--

With Julie's help everyone set down their stuff, "I hope you guys don't mind that we made the sleeping arrangements for you."

"No of course not." Angela said following the women.

"We set this tent up for you two." Julie walked them over to a dark blue tent and opened the flap by slowly unzipping it.

"Thank you" Bones said.

"If you girls needs anything at all, I'll be in the tent right next to you." Julie said smiling, as they set their bags down. "When you girls are ready come on out"

After they had everything settled Bones and Angela stepped out of the tent and made sure to zip it up. Brennan glanced the area looking for Booth and was shocked to see him fighting with his sister, physically fighting. "Booth!' She yelled as she made her way forward. Why wasn't anyone stopping him, she never thought he would so such a thing, this wasn't like Booth at all.

Julie stepped forward blocking Brennan's path, "Dear, don't worry about it, they're just playing around." Julie turned and watched her children and pointed to them before continuing, "Look neither of them are actually landing a punch, and trust me they could both do some damage if they wanted." Brennan watched and saw that both their faces were adorned with big smiles. It shocked her that this was actually a form of play for them.

Austin wore a small smile as he greeted the women, "If you notice Seeley and Cadence fight very much in the same manner, they have the same jab, uppercut, hook, and stance."

"Why is that?" Bones asked the older man before her.

"Seeley's the one that taught her how to fight." Austin said with a soft chuckle as he approached his children.

Booth had noticed a small group formed around them, "We have an audience now."

"Wanna kick it up a notch?" Cadence asked him.

Seeley let out a light chuckle, "Bring it on, tiny"

Cadence laughed and jabbed him gently in the ribs, as they continued to sprawl for a few minutes both being wary not to actually hit one another. Then Seeley rushed at her and put her in a headlock, "Now apologize."

"Never!" Cadence struggled beneath her brother.

"Come on!" Seeley laughed as he messed up her hair with his free hand, "Say it! Say 'Sorry Seeley, I was wrong'"

Before Seeley knew what happened he was flipped onto the ground before him softly, "That's what happens when you're talking too much smack to actually lay it down!"

Tristan started laughing and clapping followed by the rest of the group, "Now you can't say anything about the last time she landed one on me!" He helped Seeley up off the ground,

"You must be getting old Seel." Austin said patting his son on his back.

"Nice job" Booth said encouragingly, putting his arm around his sister, "Next time I wont go so easy on you."

Cadence laughed and smacked his stomach, which he clenched up immediately, "Sorry didn't mean to show you up in front of your bones lady." She whispered as she wrenched herself free from his arms and skipped over to Lance and began running through some safety tips for the hike they were about to begin.

Bones approached Booth as his sister sauntered off, "You do that often?"

"No, it's been a while, but we all slap box every now and then." Booth looked down at her, "What do you think of them so far? Not too terrifying are they?"

"I wasn't scared Booth!" She objected to his statement

"Nervous then." Seeley corrected himself.

"They're really nice." She answered shortly.

"Dad!" Parker said running to his father, "Uncle Tristan said we can make s'mores later."

"Well what would a camping trip without s'mores be?" He scooped the boy up into his arms.

"What are s'mores?" Brennan asked.

"You don't know what s'mores are Dr. Bones??" Parker asked completely shocked.

"No."

"They're awesome, I'll show you how to make them later." Parker said excited

Seeley set him on the ground, "That would be nice of you buddy"

Parker ran off and jumped on his aunt's back who had been sitting on a log talking to Lance. When she felt the weight on her back she flipped the boy over so he was on her lap and began to tickle him.

Seeley smiled widely as he watched the interaction. He tuned to his partner and swung his arm around her, "Ready for a hike?"

"I'm always prepared Booth."

Seeley smiled at her response and chuckled as they made their way back to the group. Seeley dropped his arm from her shoulder when he noticed his sister and Lance watching him intently.

"Alright, let's get started" Austin said pulling his pack over his shoulders.

"Park, you have your canteen?" Seeley asked his son who simple showed it to him in response.

Austin was the first one onto the purple trail, while the group followed.

--*--

A/N: So they met the parent's… nothing too crazy, yet! Hope you enjoyed.

Please keep the feedback coming I really appreciate it!