Title: Small Favors
Rating: Pg-slight swearing, not in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the plot and that's pretty much it.
Chapter Two: Nightly rituals
Brennan was confused by the movie at hand, it had started at the beginning when a train arrived in the middle of a suburban street, picking up a young boy. With dancing waiters and climbing on the outside of the train, they reached a city in the arctic circle with the northern lights making shapes. To make it better, the movie was breaking every law of physics imaginable with small people flying a balloon with a large bag and taking off the star of the large tree.
To save herself from more confusion her cell phone rang. Standing up she left Parker watching the movie and walked into the kitchen.
"Brennan." She said quietly.
"Hey you." Came the voice of her partner. "How is it going?"
"Alright, we are watching a movie about a train." She said trying to not sound as confused as she felt.
"The Polar Express?" He questioned, a smile came to his lips. "You have no clue what is going on." It was a statement, not a question.
"No." she answered guiltily. "It doesn't make any sense at all, and it completely ignores any law of physics.. ."
With a slight chuckle he began to explain. "Its not about the law of physics, Bones. It's about the magic of Christmas."
"But there is no such thing. . .." She interrupted only to be interrupted by him.
"I know Bones, just don't analyze the movie, you'll give yourself a headache." He said softly.
"I'll try. Do you want to talk to Parker?" She conceded, with a slight sigh.
"Sure." He responded, she called to boy over and he excitedly took the phone from the doctor.
"Daddy!" He said.
"Hey Bub. What did you do today?" asked the father lovingly. Brennan watched the boy with interest, she could only hear his side of the conversation, yet she knew exactly what her partner said to him.
"At school I learned how to make snowflakes out of paper and how snow is made." Explained the boy in a rush.
"And how is that?" Booth participated in his excitement.
"Clouds get really cold and instead of rain snow comes out. Dr. Brennan said I was right. She also let me decorate her apartment for Christmas. Did you know she doesn't decorate for Christmas?" Booth bit his tongue, he had forgotten about Bone's thoughts about the holidays. He was going to owe her forever. "She made spaghetti and I've learned a whole bunch from her."
"Sounds like fun, Bub." Said Booth, breaking his thoughts of his partner.
"She explained where babies came from and how the dinosaurs disappeared. .. " Parker started and Booth felt his cheeks grow red, this talkativeness didn't come from his side of the family for sure.
"Parker, let me talk to Doctor Brennan for a second." He interrupted, a habit he was getting good at.
"Hello?" came her voice, he could tell it was full of embarrassment.
"He asked you where babies came from?" Knowing Bones, human reproduction wasn't a subject that she was comfortable talking about, let alone bring it up herself.
"Yes." She responded, he voice full of fake confidence. "Because someone named Jeff's mother was pregnant and some other woman fed him stories about cranes bringing babies, dropping them off at door steps."
"Its storks, Bones." He corrected, automatically. "What did you tell him?"
"That he was much to young to understand the complications of human reproduction and yes, babies do come from mommies tummies." She was flustered, Booth knew it. Her Ph.D. vocabulary on human anatomy suddenly turned into a five year old playing Operation. She, herself, could tell she was flustered, because she opted not to tell about the boy's examination of her midsection.
Booth started to laugh. "I'm sorry Bones, he can be overly blunt, like someone else I know." He teased. "I should've warned you."
"Yeah, just a little warning, next time." She retorted.
He was about to comment on the next time comment, but again bit his tongue. He realized that she was enjoying her time with his son, she was hoping for a next time. "Thanks Bones." Came his reply, catching her off guard.
She stumbled to form words, he made a mental note-the great Temperance Brennan was speechless- "Have you found a flight yet?" She changed the subject, again something she learned from Booth.
"No, all flights are canceled until tomorrow. The airlines are supposed to call me with the soonest flight out of here." He said, he was proud of his partner-slowly he was rubbing off on her.
"Do you have a place to stay for the night?" she asked worriedly, switching the phone to another ear, as if she was a teenaged girl.
"I've got a room for the night." He said. "I does come in handy, working for the FBI."
"Alright. Is there anything about this child I should know about, considering we are going to be room mates for awhile." She looked at the boy, who was listening with great interest, his smile grew wider.
"Bath time is in about ten minutes, Bedtime by eight thirty, there's no daycare tomorrow because its Christmas eve. . ."
"Excuse me? I've got a meeting with the director of who knows what, that Cam has so willingly bestowed on me. . ."
"On Christmas Eve?" questioned Booth.
"Its because she can't be there herself." retorted Bones, she disliked that woman. Booth knew it, and Cam knew that too.
"If you keep him in your office with his Game Boy, he won't move for hours. Just have Angela or Zack check up on him every once in awhile." Said Booth, his smile growing bigger.
"Fine." She huffed, then smiled. "I better get your son in the bath."
"Thanks Bones." He said, she handed the phone to Parker to say his goodbyes and then hung up the phone.
"Your dad said its bath time." The boy nodded, running to get his stuff. Realization hit her-she didn't know how to give a child a bath. Then an idea hit her, and she quickly dialed a number.
"Zack Addy." Said her assistant.
"Zack." She said in a rush. "I'm sorry to bother you. . ."
"Is something wrong, Dr. Brennan?" He asked worriedly. "Did we get a case?"
"No, I just need to ask you a question about giving a five year old a bath. I . . .I don't really know what to do. . ." She explained uncomfortably.
Zack was perplexed, and then a smile grew on his face. "Sure, Dr. Brennan. Five year olds are learning to be independent, that is why they start school at that age. Though they still rely on parents for guidance, especially the female figure because they are softer in nature. As for bathing a child-you need to be in the room, because five year olds can drown, the water should be about thirty one degree Celsius. Wash body, then hair, then dry." He explained, it helped coming from a big family.
"Oh." She said slowly. "Thanks Zack."
"Not a problem, Dr. Brennan." He said, they said their goodbyes and she sat her phone on the counter, grabbing a towel from the side closet.
She wandered into her bedroom to find Parker going through his bag, pulling out underwear and his night clothes. "Ready for a bath?" She asked.
He nodded his head and followed her into her bathroom. "Wow, your tub is huge!" he said as she started the tub.
"Yes it is. Do you want bubbles?" She asked, unsure that it was a proper question.
"Really? Daddy doesn't let me have bubbles, because he says its to womanly." He said, also unsure what to answer. "But I do want bubbles."
"I won't tell your dad, if you won't." She said, with a sly grin. "It'll be our secret."
The boy nodded and grinned that Booth charm smile, and started to take his clothes off. She helped him undress and placed him in the tub. He started to play with the bubbles and she sat on the toilet seat, listening to the giggling. Grabbing a handful of bubbles, she placed it on his head, causing him to shriek with laughter.
Grabbing her shampoo, she placed some of the pink contents into her hand and started to run it through his blond hair, the blond hair he had gotten from his mother-the only thing she could tell. For the boy only seeing his father once a week, they were almost identical. Even identical twins have some differences. She mused over the similarities of the father and son- the eyes, nose, his undeniable smile, his determination. The list could go on and on.
"I'm going to smell like a girl." He said, wrinkling his nose.
"That's ok, I'll still like you." She teased, having no clue where that came from. She washed out the shampoo from his hair and pulled the drain cover off. Parker stood up and she wrapped a towel around him, lifting him out of the bathtub. Setting him on the floor, she began to towel dry his hair. "Do you need help dressing?"
"Nope, I can do that myself." He said. She nodded and went back into her bedroom, changing into her night clothes. She over turned her covers and waited for Parker to come out of the bathroom. She could hear the sink running, brushing of teeth and the sink turning off.
He came back to the bedroom, and climbed into bed, with a yawn. "Tired?" She asked as he layed down. He nodded.
"Are we going to the museum tomorrow?" He asked.
"Yes, but I have to do some work first. Then I will give you the grand tour." She explained. He returned a tired smile.
She started to leave the room, a perfect opportunity to work on her latest novel when he called her name. "Dr. Brennan? Aren't you going to go to sleep?"
She couldn't resist his smile. "Alright." She turned the lights off and crawled into bed with the boy, who immediately layed his head on her chest, and his small hand resting on her abdomen. Surprisingly enough, she wasn't uncomfortable by the gesture, she placed her arm around him. Soon enough his breathing became rhythmic and soon she too fell asleep, the clock reading 9:01.