Not long after Booth's conversation with Mr. Brennan they pulled into the drive way of the little house. Tempe's eyes fluttered at the sound of tires on gravel and when she opened them and realized were they were she squealed excitedly, which woke everyone else up too.
"Whoz er?" Russ asked rubbing his eyes.
"No one silly were here." Tempe did a little dance in her seat and Russ rubbed his eyes again then looked around. "It looks different." He remarked.
"Yes kids there was a lot of new construction last year. We have some new neighbors." Mr. Brennan pointed to a little white house with pale blue shutters. There was a family of four sitting around the table out back talking with drinks.
After helping everyone out of the car Mr. Brennan went to greet the family. "Hi, I'm Max Brennan, we rent the house next door."
The father stood up. "Hi I'm Mark. This is My Wife Karen and our daughters Chelsea and Julie." The girls waved. The older one looked about 15 the younger one maybe Russ's age. "Well you're welcome to come over later we're having a little party with some friends down the street."
"Sure." Mr. Brennan smiled at the other man "Sounds like fun."
"Guys lets go claim rooms." Tempe whispered. "The grown ups always take the good ones."
"K" everyone else answered. Tempe pushed open the door and led everyone upstairs.
"I call the loft room for the girls." Tempe called as soon as they were up the steps. "Then I call the back bedroom for the boys." Russ replied. "That way you can't hear road noise."
Zach nodded in approval. "Kids?" Mr. Brenna called from down stairs. "Want to go for a quick ride around the bay before we unpack?"
"YES!!" everyone yelled back.
"Come on down and find a life jacket then."
After the stampede down the stairs everyone managed to find a life vest that fit them and they trooped out back. Mr. Brennan stopped at the shed by the water line. "Any one else want a ginger ale?" He asked.
"Me." Tempe Russ and Booth answered simultaneously.
"Sure. Here." He handed them out then helped each child onto the boat. Tempe sat up in the bow and Booth hurried to take the seat next to her. They pulled their legs up and lunged out on the seats. Russ took the second captains chair in the center of the boat and Angela Jack and Zach relaxed on the couch-like lounger across the back.
The whole way out of the lagoon Booth sipped his ginger ale hoping to god it would work. When they finally made it to open water Booth took several deep breaths and amazingly did not feel sick. He allowed himself to look around and take a few more breaths.
"Hey Tempe?" He yelled over the wind.
"Yeah?" She yelled back.
"This is fun!!" He laughed. She looked over and giggled.
"I know right?" Tempe pulled her hair out of the ponytail and let it fly loose behind her. "WHOOOOOOOO!!" She yelled out loud
'She looked pretty.' Booth thought looking at her.
They did a lap around the bay and then went back to unpack.
"When's Mom coming down?" Russ asked.
"Some time this after noon. She had to tie up some loose ends."
It took them about 3 hours to clean the house and another 2 to set everything up. By the time they were done, Mrs. Brennan had showed up and they decided to change and go meet the neighbors.
The party was fun. The small house was filled to its limits with the 2 families of 4 plus Tempe's group and her parents. The girls were nice and fun to play with. Their friends also had 2 girls named Lea and Heather, who were also 15. They sat and talked and didn't object to Tempe and Angela listening.
Not that they understood any of it. They kept making comments about people named House and Gibbs and Kevin and Jeremy. Tempe hoped she didn't end up strange like this.
They played guitar hero all night and went home around 1:30 AM. Zach fell asleep and had to be carried home by Mr. Brennan. He gently laid Zach down in one of the cots set up in the boys room and closed the door. Tempe and Angela laid awake for only about 10 minutes before they fall into a peaceful sleep.
Gibbs and House are references to other shows. Please RR.