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Snapshot: December 25, 2012
Booth snuck into the silence-ridden house as quietly as he could with a hundred and twenty pound thirteen year old boy on his shoulder, snoozing away after a particularly long midnight service.
Usually Booth would've woken Parker up but the boy had looked so peaceful and young that he didn't want to ruin that, especially since he'd been feeling so old lately, having a teenaged kid and well past his fortieth birthday. He figured if Parker could still appear young even at his age (and recently, his height) then so could Booth.
So, despite his aching back and feet, Booth carried the boy right upstairs to his bedroom and tucked him in, just like he used to, not even stopping to rid the boy of his church clothes (other than his tie and shoes).
When Parker was all tucked into bed, Booth leaned down and kissed his forehead, brushing away the blonde curls in his face and smiling as he turned on his side and crouched into a fetal position, unconsciously trying to warm himself with his own body heat.
"So fast." he murmured, before walking to the door and shutting off the lights. He spared one more glance at his almost-grown son, before shutting the door gently and making his way to the nursery where his baby girl slept. He opened the door gently and quietly tiptoed his way toward the crib, where she lay on her back, wrapped in that big purple blanket she loved, one arm around Popo (which she also adored).
Booth smiled down at his own little mini-Bones. Cristina looked so peaceful, with her soft auburn curls just covering her ears and one of her eyes and her bottom lip jutted out in a tiny pout, identical to his wife's. Booth thought nothing could look sweeter on a little girl. Gently, he leaned down and kissed his baby on the forehead, wishing her a soft, "Merry Christmas."
When he was certain that Cristina was safe and sound in her little crib, and that the heat was turned up the perfect amount, he left the room, smiling as she let out a soft sigh.
Then, he crept towards his room, entering so as not to wake Brennan. He undressed as quietly as possible and climbed in, trying not to move the bed so much under his weight, even though they'd bought one of those pediatric-type mattresses that was supposed to help with Booth's back and mold to their bodies so that it would be impossible to wake a sleeping partner.
Yet, somehow, Brennan's eyes shot opened as she recognized somebody's presence in the room.
"Booth?" she murmured. "Is that you?"
Booth smiled and wrapped one arm around her waist, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Yeah, Bones," he responded, "it's me."
Brennan snuggled closer into his embrace. "How did church go?" she asked, not sounding too interested, but more polite and tired.
"It was good. A bit long, though. Parks fell asleep."
"Well, it is well past his bedtime." Brennan pointed out, glancing pointedly at the clock, which read "3:47".
Booth groaned. "Ugh. Parker's gonna be up in about two hours, trying to get us to open presents with him."
"Why?" Brennan asked. "That's far too early to get up just to open a few gifts."
"A few? Bones, you practically put Santa out of business with all the gifts you bought him!"
"Yes, but for every gift I bought him or Cristina, I bought two and donated them to charity. Same with Michael, Hayley, and Emma. That's what I do every Christmas."
Booth smiled widely at her. "I love how you use your wealth so generously. Most people would just go out and buy themselves expensive things. They wouldn't even think twice about charity unless it made them look good."
"Well, that's just a plus, I guess." Brennan said, burying her face in his neck. "But I don't do it for publicity. There are actually children out there that need good homes and aren't receiving them. I should know."
Booth, noting the sad and wistful note in her voice, pulled her tighter against him, trying to comfort her. "I know how much you wish you could give them what you never had Bones, and I love how you're doing it, especially since you don't believe in all the 'mumbo-jumbo' about Jesus Christ and Mary."
"Everybody deserves Christmas, Booth." Brennan said, "Even Atheists. And especially children."
Booth's heart swelled for the woman in his arms and he leaned down to give her an earth-shattering, sweet, loving kiss, pulling back only when the need for air became apparent.
"What was that for?" she asked.
Booth smiled. "Just for being you, Bones." he said, as if it were the most simple thing in the world.
Brennan smiled. "Well, in that case, I'll just be me more often."
Booth gave a soft chuckle, and kissed her once more before resting his chin on the top of her head. "Good night, Bones. Merry Christmas."
Brennan relaxed in his embrace and found her eyelids getting heavier. "Merry Christmas, Booth. I love you."
Booth smiled in the dark. "Love you too, Bones." he said, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms tighter around her as he drifted into a deep sleep.
Booth was awoken approximately three hours later by a certain blonde-headed young man.
Parker stood at the side of his bed, a very alert Cristina in his arms, both bearing matching, excited smiles. "Dad! Dad! Wake up!" he exclaimed.
"No…" Booth moaned, burying his face into Brennan's hair. Brennan had also been awakened, but chose to feign sleep as long as possible, knowing that as soon as she left her nice, warm bed there would be no going back for the rest of the day.
"Come on, Dad!" Parker begged. "It's Christmas! And Crissy and I wanna see what Santa brought for us! Right, Crissy?" He looked down at his baby sister in his arms.
Crissy smiled adorably at Booth. "Santa!" she exclaimed.
Booth groaned. He couldn't even see her smile, but just imagining it there on her adorable little face, knowing the dimples were there as well, made him turn over in bed and glare at them both. "You are evil." he said to Parker.
"Thanks to your teaching." Brennan mumbled, turning over as well. "Now go. Face the consequences of your teaching. I'll be down as soon as I can find my robe." She rolled back over and closed her eyes.
Booth glared at her. "Mmhmm, and just in case," he pulled the blankets from on top of her and shoved them under the bed, much to her dismay.
"Booth!" she moaned, curling into herself and shivering violently.
Booth leaned over and kissed her. "Wouldn't want you falling to sleep, now, would we?"
Brennan growled in response.
"There'll be hot coffee waiting for you." he said, standing up and slipping into his slippers as he deposited the blankets onto a nearby chair, knowing that as soon as Brennan left the bed, she would most likely give up on sleep and do what she said.
He took Cristina into his own arms, kissing her chubby little cheek and wrapping her in his robe, which he threw on as well, so that only her head stuck out under his chin, while the rest of her tiny body was obscured by the dark blue terrycloth.
Booth leaned down to give Parker a kiss on the forehead before leading both children out of the room, speeding up a bit as he felt the first of three pillows hit him in the back of the head.
Once they were downstairs, Booth kept hold of both his children as he set the coffee maker and started it so that he could keep his promise to Brennan.
Then he carefully made his way to the living room, with a tray of hot cocoa and coffee and a few pieces of buttered toast, Parker holding Cristina this time.
Parker immediately ran to the tree, depositing Cristina in front of her mountain of gifts as he got ready to tear into his next to the towering Christmas tree.
"Don't even think about it." Booth said. "You have to wait for Bones. Have some toast, instead."
Parker gave him a puppy dog look, but Booth ignored it. He then nudged Cristina and gave her the sign for her own sad look.
Booth smiled at her attempt. "Sorry, Baby, but Daddy's more scared of Mommy than he finds you adorable."
Cristina's pout deepened and Booth felt himself wearing down. But he knew that Bones would tear him a new one if he let her miss the first present Cristina ever opened, so he called up to her that he had a coffee with her name on it.
Brennan appeared a few moments later, wrapped in Booth's spare robe, and her own slippers. She grabbed her coffee and sat next to Booth on the couch, her camera in her other hand.
Once she'd settled down, she looked over at where Parker and Cristina sat. Parker looked agonized while Cristina had that trained pout on her face. "Okay." she said. "Proceed." she lifted the camera and snapped a photo of Parker helping Cristina with her first gift and then letting her take over from there.
Soon Cristina was attacking her pile of gifts, not even looking to see what she got, but instead focusing on getting the paper off as quickly as possible.
She finished unwrapping much sooner than Parker and smiled proudly at her accomplishment, smiling wide for the camera as Brennan took a picture of her. When Parker was done, he too smiled for the camera, gaining a few solo shots and the some with Cristina pulled into his lap. They each held up their favorite gift in one, smiling brightly.
Brennan smiled widely when she snapped that picture and turned to Booth. "I told you she'd love the Chatty Cathy doll."
Booth grinned. "And I wholeheartedly agreed with you, didn't I?"
"No, you said that the doll was too old-fashioned for a child of the twenty-first century and I just proved you wrong." She stuck her tongue out and Booth leaned forward as if to bite it and she moved quickly back.
"Okay," he said, laughing and turning to Parker. "Parks, you clean up all the wrapping paper while Bones and I take our turns exchanging gifts."
Parker huffed out a sigh before standing up and going into the kitchen to retrieve a garbage bag. Meanwhile, Cristina seemed to have lost all her energy and was now snoozing with her new doll on the floor in front of the tree.
Brennan smiled softly at her, remembering a picture of herself at that age that used to hang in the hall in her old home back in Chicago, only Russ was sleeping right next to her, shielding her with one of his arms around her waist, as if telling her that he'd always be there.
But, psychology was pointless, especially in their case.
Brennan shook off her thoughts and turned to Booth with a smile when she saw he was already handing her a gift. "Merry Christmas, Bones." he said, handing her a small, rectangular silver box.
Brennan smiled and took the box, pulling her own out of her robe pocket and handing it to him. "Merry Christmas, Booth." she said, her smile seemingly wider than his.
Booth smiled at her, not looking down at the little green and red wrapped box. "You first." he said.
Brennan smiled and undid the little red ribbon on her gift and lifted the top, gasping when she saw the most beautiful necklace she'd ever seen. It was a small diamond-encrusted pendant, shaped like a skull on a delicate gold chain. The clasp on the back looked simple enough and more beautiful than words could describe. Tears instantly sprung to her eyes when she read a tiny inscription on the back of the skull.
"To my Bones. Love, your Booth." It was written in very tiny, elegant writing but she could easily read it and it made her heart swell.
"Thank you, Booth." she said. "I love it." She immediately put it on, fingering it gently, before turning back to him. "I feel a little bad now that yours is used."
Lifting an eyebrow in confusion, Booth unwrapped his little box, and lifted the lid, a smile slowly but joyously coming over his features as he looked up at her. "Really?" he asked.
Brennan nodded, allowing tears to roll down her cheek. "Yes. Really. Are you happy?"
Booth nodded, unable to speak, as the box dropped from his hands and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her lips to his in a loving kiss.
Parker walked in just as they started kissing and instead of his usual, 'Gross!' upon seeing them, he picked up the camera and slyly took a photo of the loving embrace, before noticing the box on the floor.
His eyes widened at the contents that had fallen out and he grinned, looking up at Brennan. "Bones, you're pregnant?"
Yay! Another baby for Bones! REVIEW!