So I decided I needed to wrap up my current AU a little better. And I'm writing another story where Daddy Dearest, Joe Booth, plays an integral role, so I wanted to do a little explaining now because it didn't fit into the story. Hopefully this does the trick.
…also, I'm avoiding wrapping presents before I travel to my parent's house for the weekend. Heh. Happy Holidays, folks!
Epilogue
Kelly's fingers nimbly buttoned up her light blue oxford shirt. She observed herself in the mirror after she tucked it in to her dark gray pants and smiled. This was it. The first day of her new job. It had taken Brennan weeks to convince Kelly to take the job. She wasn't heavy-handed with it, but every time the two were together, Brennan would bring up a recent case the Jeffersonian counsel was working on. Even Booth was impressed by her suave tactic. And it had worked. It had peaked Kelly's curiosity about the position and she finally went in for an interview, securing the job.
She twisted her shoulder-length blonde hair into a bun and secured it with a claw clip.
"Hey." She saw Jeremy approaching in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around her waist and put his chin on her shoulder. He was dressed for work, wearing khakis and a polo shirt, but his hair was still wet from the shower and it tickled Kelly's cheek. "Do you want me to take a picture? You know, first day at a new school?"
"I haven't had my picture taken on the first day of school since I was 12 and living with Alice." Kelly laughed and turned around in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Then I think it's about time." He chuckled. "Grab your briefcase and I'll call Seeley and get him over for the obligatory sibling picture."
"Oh crap." She pushed against his chest and pulled out of the embrace. "Seeley wanted to meet me for breakfast before the big day." She frowned a little. "But I like being at your place. Breakfast always tastes so much better in bed."
"I like sending my girlfriend off with a complete and balanced meal." He laughed as he started out of the bedroom.
"Liability claims don't defend themselves! I must be strong and balanced." Kelly teased in response as she turned back to the mirror.
"You want a glass of orange juice before you head out?" He stopped in the doorway and turned around.
"Orange juice would be great." She smiled satisfactorily
*
17 year old Kelly Booth stood in front of her father's barber shop. The rotating red and white pole captivated her and the pulsating colors helped calm her uneasy nerves. In her hand, she grasped the papers she so desperately wanted her father to sign for her: papers that would allow her to go to college and turn her life around.
Swallowing her pride, she pushed open the glass door and was welcomed by a familiar jingle. Standing behind the chair in the far left corner, she saw a tall man with broad shoulders hunched over the back of a head of white hair. Her father straightened up, looking in the mirror while laughing with the man in his chair. She looked into the mirror and saw how his dark hair was flecked with gray and how the wrinkles around the eyes deceptively belonged to a man who still seemed cold and distant.
The man in the chair noticed her first.
"Joe!" The man called out suddenly. "Is that a ghost standing in your doorway?"
As soon as he spoke, Kelly was able to place his face. Mr. Hoag. A long-time family friend who's wife attended church with Alice and the younger Booths. Memories of Mr. Hoag were intertwined with Kelly's memories of all major church, school and family events for the past 17 years.
"Kelly." Joe said her name not with pleasure, but almost as a curse.
"Hi," Kelly stood there awkwardly. She hadn't planned this part of the conversation. "Dad."
"Pat," Joe slapped the shoulder of the man sitting in the chair. "You want to come back tomorrow for that shave?"
"That actually works perfectly for me, Joe." Gracefully, Mr. Hoag stood up. "Katherine wants me to stop by the grocery store before I go home anyway."
"Thanks, Pat." Joe shook the man's hand. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Mr. Hoag started towards the door and smiled as he walked past Kelly. Reassuringly, he placed his hand on Kelly's shoulder and leaned in and whispered, "It's good to see you again, Kelly."
"Good to see you too, Mr. Hoag." Kelly smiled genuinely as Mr. Hoag left the barber shop. She was left standing there by the doorway and her father stood his ground in the corner. He started pacing around the room as if mapping his territory.
"I thought we decided that you weren't going to come back." He said after a minute.
"We did." She nodded. He stopped pacing and looked directly at her. "I need something from you."
"Of course you do." He sighed and sat down in one of the waiting chairs. "Well?"
"I um," Kelly took a step into the shop. "I want to go to college." He eyed her suspiciously and she continued. "I don't know if you know, but I got my GED while at rehab and I've found a way to pay for community college in Virginia and I want to go."
"You needed to tell me this?" He rolled his eyes and Kelly suddenly felt rage boiling up within herself.
"I'm still only 17. I can't get in without your signature." She reminded him with sarcasm. "You're still my legal guardian."
"We've moved on, Kelly." He said after regarding her for a moment "You are not welcomed back in our house."
"I understand." She nodded.
"Seeley has moved on and you're not to go disturbing him. I don't want you pulling him back into your life." He pulled out a pair of reading glasses and pointed them accusatorily at Kelly.
"I won't." She stood up straight and held her ground.
"You'll be in Virginia?"
"Yes."
"Hand me the papers." He sighed and held out his hand, impatiently wiggling his fingers.
"You won't tell anyone?" She crossed the room cautiously and held out the papers for him and he took them roughly and looked them over.
"I most certainly will not." He confirmed as he signed his name with a flourish.
"I'll be 18 next year and I won't need you to do this." She reminded.
"Wonderful." He nodded and handed the papers back to Kelly. "Good luck, Kelly."
"Thanks, Dad." Kelly sighed with relief and started back towards the door. She stopped as she placed her hand on the door handle and turned back around to look at her father one last time. He was still sitting in the chair, his arm thrown lazily over the back and his legs linked ankle over knee. He looked so relaxed and confident, Kelly didn't know if the emotion within her was longing or hatred. Maybe, she admitted to herself uncomfortably, it was both. "Don't worry." She threw over her shoulder, "I won't be messing up your life again anytime soon."
"Take care, Munchkin." Joe Booth said softly as the bells started clanging and the door slammed shut.
Once outside, Kelly walked down the street for a few feet, but stopped when she almost ran into a familiar figure.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Hoag!" Kelly stepped back and smiled unapologetically.
"We missed you at Christmas this year." He put his hands on her shoulder to steady her.
"I uh," She shrugged.
"You were spending time with your mother." Mr. Hoag nodded in understanding. Kelly guessed that was what Alice and her father had told everyone.
"Exactly." Kelly smiled at Mr. Hoag. He was a nice man and she had never understood exactly why he was friends with her father.
"What are you doing these days, Kelly?" The man guided her to the bus stop a few feet away and they sat on the bench. "Moving back in with Alice and Joe?"
"Um, no." Kelly shook her head and looked down at the papers in her hand. "I'm actually going to college."
"Well, well," Mr. Hoag laughed. "Time sure does fly by."
"It sure does." Kelly agreed with a small smile and said to herself, "I wish time flying could be like ripping off a band aid." Mr. Hoag looked at her curiously and she felt compelled to explain. "I wish I could make it easier. Hurt less."
"Beginnings are scary, endings are sad." He smiled sadly off into the distance. "Most men around here drink away the middle and lose what's important to them. Kelly," He looked down at the teenager. "Don't ruin the middle. I'm a man at the end of my life, enjoying the sunset of my years, but I can say this: That middle part is what matters the most."
"I'm trying, Mr. Hoag." She had always respected the man who was her father's drinking buddy and close family friend, but she now saw a man past the prime of his life. She put her hand on his hand and looked up at him. "Can you make sure that Alice is taken care of?"
"Already done, Kelly." He laughed a little. "Seeley asked me the same thing. Come to think of it, so did Jared."
"She's special." Kelly nodded and stood up. "I need to get going. Thank you, Mr. Hoag."
"Kelly," He called out as she started walking down the sidewalk. She turned around and looked at him expectantly. "Just because you've been evicted," He started slowly, obviously knowing more than he was letting on. "Doesn't mean you don't have somewhere to go. Remember that."
With a slight nod, Kelly smiled at the man and turned around and started back down the sidewalk, knowing she may never see him again. Knowing that she would always have somewhere to go: up.
..fin…. again..