Chapter 2

Flashback to a few days earlier...

As soon as Booth entered the gym, it was easy to understand why Parker was so infatuated with the place. It was absolutely amazing! Eighteen-thousand square feet of fun, fun, fun is what he remembered reading off the gyms brochure. All this square footage encapsulated two, forty foot by forty foot size spring floors, four in-ground competitive trampolines, two large resi-pits, a forty-foot long trampoline, a large bouncy house inflatable plus tons of other equipment. Equipment he knew nothing about, but would definitely have fun exploring. He was like a kid in a candy store, frozen in place taking everything in, his senses over loaded with the anticipation.

Brennan read his face like a page in one of her books, "Remember you are here for Parker."

The sound of Bones voice broke him out of his daze, "What?"

"Your son, Parker, you remember him, right?" She managed some sarcasm.

Broken from his trance, he clapped then rubbed his hands together, "Yeah, yeah, right. Can you believe this place Bones? It's amazing! Why didn't they have anything like this when I was a kid?"

"I'm sure they did Booth, but your preconceived stereotypical notions of what is and what is not masculine kept you from seeking out an activity such as this."

Before Booth could respond he felt a tug on his shirt, "Dad, come on, I told you we were gonna be late, they already started and we still have to get ready."

"What do you mean, ready? Aren't we ready, already?"

"No, we have to take our shoes off." Parker pulled him toward some benches.

Once they found a vacant spot on the bench, they all sat down and started to remove their shoes. Parker was not happy when he saw his fathers socks, "Dad, you can't wear those socks."

"What do you mean, these are great socks," Booth lifted his foot up wiggling his toes, obviously proud of his socks.

"They have blue, brown and orange stripes. They're too silly," he whined. "Can you please take them off?"

Booth gave him a puzzled look.

Brennan chuckled, "I think he's embarrassed by your socks Booth."

"These are cool socks Parker," Booth defended.

Parker clasped his hands together pleading his case, "Please, please, with sugar on top. You can go barefoot like Dr. Bones and me."

"Noooo, Daddy doesn't do barefoot. It's either socks or nothing. Besides I wouldn't be a good dad if I didn't embarrass my son every now and again," he flashed a grin.

Parker, realizing he was trying to fight a losing battle, sighed loudly in frustration, crossed his arms, turned around, and stomped off to where the other kids had gathered to stretch.

"You enjoyed that," Brennan observed.

"Of course I did. You know when I was younger I never knew why my parents felt the need to always try and embarrass me. Now, having a son of my own, I get it. It's actually a lot of fun!"

Once all the shoes were neatly tucked under the bench Booth and Brennan stood up and headed over to the main floor where all the kids and their parents had gathered.

They joined the group just in time to hear a young woman with "Staff" written across the back of her shirt explaining the gym rules. Blah, blah, blah is all Booth managed to hear. He was too distracted thinking about how much fun he was going to have to listen to what the woman, or more accurately, teenager, was blabbing on about.

As soon as the rules had been sufficiently explained, the kids were released to go play.

"Daddy," Parker grabbed Booth's hand pulling him in a direction toward the back of the gym. "Come watch my bar routine."

"Okay, okay, we're coming. Why don't you head on back and we'll catch up?"

"Okay." Parker stopped his tugging and headed toward the bars.

As Booth watched his son run to his destination, he quickly surveyed the gym. He was looking for the easiest way to get back to Parkers location. Due to all the equipment, mats, and running kids, it would be like maneuvering through a land mine. Once he thought he found a clear path, he set on his way, with Brennan in tow.

They were half way across the gym when Booth stepped onto the 'blue mat of death'. At least that is how he refers to it now. As soon as he stepped onto the mat he knew he had made a huge mistake. He was taken by surprise when his foot, instead of hitting a solid surface like he thought, sunk down about a foot. Before he was able to make any corrections in his balance he found himself falling face first into the mat. If there had been judges around he would have received a ten for his perfect belly flop.

Brennan, truly concerned asked, "Booth, are you alright?"

Booth quickly tried to recover, hoping to avoid any further embarrassment, he was already to his feet and straightening out his clothes when he answered, "I'm fine Bones, but watch that mat, the first step is doozy."

Brennan, knowing of Booths embarrassment, tried to conceal her amusement.

Unfortunately, Parker, being a child, did not have the same control. "Oh, sorry Dad, that mat is very squishy. You have to watch your step." He barely got out before laughing at his father.

"Thanks for the warning Parker, maybe next time you could let me know before I manage to fall flat on my face," he smiled at his son.

"Are you still gonna come watch my bar routine?"

"Yes, once we maneuver around all this stuff. Any other mats or equipment I should steer clear of?"

"No, if you just walk across that blue carpet there," he pointed, "You should be fine."

"Okay, we're coming." Bones observed that Booth had not moved from the spot where he initially stood up.

Bones waited for Booth to look at her before she said anything, "You're afraid to move aren't you?"

"It's that obvious?"

That both laughed.

"You should be fine Booth, now that you know what you're dealing with. Just walk slowly with your arms out to the side to help with your balance."

He did as she instructed and cautiously made his way off the mat and toward the back of the gym. Once Booth and Bones made their way to the bar area, Parker quickly ran over and grabbed both their hands guiding them into position.

"Okay, you guys stand here, this will be the best place to view my routine." After making sure his Dad and Bones were in the right spot he ran over to the bar, quickly looked to make sure they were watching then flung himself around the bar. Following his mount onto the bar, he did a series of skills on top of the bar, before launching himself off to land on his feet. Booth, since it wasn't hockey, had no idea about what he had just witnessed and whether it was good or not. Parker might have just done the most amazing bar routine of his life, or his worst and Booth wouldn't have known the difference. Immediately following his dismount Parker asked his father what he thought.

"That…," searching for any words, "was great!" Booth hoped that came out as a fact and less of a question as he looked in Brennan's direction for help.

"That was an excellent job, Parker. Your form and technique were amazing!"

"Yeah, Parks. I was really impressed, especially when you spun around backwards on your hips and were still able to hang onto the bar. That looked hard, was it hard?"

"That's called a backhip circle. I just got it last week for the first time!"

"It looked great Parker," he said as he ruffled his son's hair. "Now what do you want to do next?"

"I want to show you my flip into the pit!" He said enthusiastically.

They all walked over to the pit together, Booth testing every mat before bearing his full weight on it.

Parker again guided them to where he thought they would have the best view.

"I have to go wait in line but this is where I want you to watch from."

Booth said, "Okay," then sat down on a low beam that had been right behind them to wait for his son's turn. "So I assume that is the pit," He pointed to the large rectangular shaped hole that was filled with multi-colored blocks in front of him.

"Yes, it's an in-ground free foam pit. It is approximately 6 feet deep and filled with thousands of twelve-inch square foam cubes. The blocks actually float on top of a trampoline bed at the bottom of the pit to provide more softness and give, thus protecting the athlete. It's used to help train new skills where the landing could initially prove harmful to the athlete."

"How do you know all that Bones?"

"It was in the gym's brochure, I read it while we were waiting in line to pay earlier."

Booth snapped his fingers, "Oh, wait, you know I have seen something like this before. On Rob Deerdek's Fantasy Factory."

"Is he a gymnast too?"

"No, he's a professional skate boarder. He does flips with his skate board off a ramp into a pit thingy that kind of looks just like this one, but way bigger. Now that's a fun sport to watch," he added.

"Skate Boarding is not a sport," she stated.

"Oh, it's definitely a sport," he defended.

"Booth by your very own definition it is not a sport. You said just last week in Sweets office that gymnastics was not a sport because it involved no offense or defense."

"Well, the skate boarder is the offense and the ramp is the defense." Booth proud of himself, "So, you see, skateboarding is a sport."

Then by that very same definition, gymnastics is a sport. The gymnast is the offense and… and… the beam," she pointed down on what they were currently sitting on, "is the defense."

"Okay. You…," he was thankfully cut off by Parker calling their names.

"Dad, Dr. Bones, watch!" Parker ran, punched the floor with two feet right in front of the pit throwing his torso down as he lifted his heals up over and his head. He completed the flip by lifting his torso back up as his feet descended back down, landing in a seated position in the pit.

As Parker climbed out of the pit toward Brennan and Booth he couldn't hide the excitement on his face. "Did you see? Did you see my flip?"

"Parker that was really good," he beamed with pride. Maybe his son actually had talent at this sport. "I'm so impressed by how high you flew into the air. Wasn't that a little scary?"

"No, Dad, it wasn't scary at all, it was fun!" Parker came over and sat down next to his dad, trying to catch his breath.

Booth had an idea, "You know what? I think I want to jump into that thing. It looks like a lot of fun."

"Booth, I don't think that would be very wise," Brennan warned.

"Why not, it's not like I plan on doing a flip or anything like that. Maybe just a little cannonball, like I used to do into the pool when I was a kid, for old-times sake."

"Yeah, Dad, that would be cool, I do cannon balls in there all the time," Parker added.

"See, Bones, Parker agrees," Booth made his case.

"Booth I am sure there is a reason why adults are not allowed in the pit. If I had to guess it would be because…," Booth cut her off.

Booth raised his hand up, "Bones, stop, you're going to ruin all the fun."

Brennan let out a large sigh, why did Booth always have to be so stubborn. Guess he'd just have to learn the hard way.

Booth got into position next to the pit, bent his knees and readied himself to jump.

"Wait Dad, you can't go yet. There's someone in there. The rule is one at a time; you have to wait until he's out."

"Okay, I can wait, he's almost out anyway." Well, several minutes passed and the kid was still in the pit refusing to budge. Booth grew increasingly more frustrated by the second. He wanted to jump in there and his patience was thinning. "Hey kid," he said to the unmoving child, "You going to stay in there all day or what? Maybe you could get out now?"

The child crossed his arms and yelled, "No!"

"Well I think it's time for you to get out so other people can jump in and have a little fun too."

"No."

Booth was beginning to think that no was the only word in this kids vocabulary. "Didn't your parents ever teach you to respect and obey your elders?"

"No." He said again with defiant eyes.

Booth was losing his patience quickly, but had a plan. "Did they ever tell you what lives under all those blocks?"

The wide-eyed child looked up at Booth, shyly shaking his head no. "Pit monsters. Pit monsters live in there, a whole family of them. That's why as soon as you get in you have to climb right out. If you're just sitting there, you know what they do?"

He shook his head no once more.

"They swim right up underneath you, open their mouths real wide," Booth spread his arms apart as far as they would go for added effect, "then swallow you whole." As he said those last words he sharply threw his arms together like a mouth closing over its prey.

Just like a dry sponge soaking up water the child absorbed every word Booth spilled from his mouth. A look of shock and horror crossed the child's face as he scrambled to get out of the pit.

Brennan looked at her partner in disbelief, "Booth, I cannot believe you just did that. That child couldn't have been more than five years old; you should be ashamed of yourself."

"What?" asked innocently, but added, "It worked, didn't it."

Booth assumed his earlier jumping stance. "Okay, here goes nothing. One, two, three, weeeeeee!" He jumped into the pit and immediately sunk to the bottom, only his head visible.

"Booth, did I just hear you say weeeeee?"

His answered muffled, "Yes I did Bones, sometimes you just need to let that inner child out to play!"

Brennan noticed one of the staff looking their way with a discerning look on her face. She looked to be about in her early twenties and definitely had the build of a former gymnast. She was a bit shorter and more petite than average, but had well-defined muscle mass. "Well Booth, there's a staff member over there that looks extremely annoyed. It might be best if you and your inner child get out now."

'Uh oh, too late,' Booth thought as he noticed the woman approach them. "Excuse me sir, but adults are not allowed on the equipment, only the children. I noticed you two earlier on the mat but decided not to say anything to you at that time. But now I hear you're scaring the children with stories of fantasy."

'See I told you so' was the look Brennan shot Booth.

"What," Booth replied, "It was one kid. Besides he wasn't following the rules either, because he refused to get out of the pit. Are you going to go have talk with him too?"

Ignoring Booth,"Sorry," Brennan apologized, "It won't happen again."

"If it does happen again, I will have to ask you to leave the gym."

She walked away not giving a second glance back.

"Booth, you need to get out of the pit now, before you get into more trouble."

"I'm trying Bones," Booth tried to move his limbs but had no luck. "I think I'm stuck!"

"I surmised that would be the outcome even before you jumped in. The size and density of the blocks, the depth of the pit, these are all indicators that this training aid was developed for use by children only and not by someone of your size and build. I tried telling you this, but apparently your inner child needed to escape."

"Bones, you're not helping."

Parker tried to help, "You just need to move around a bit to loosen the blocks so you can roll over onto your stomach to crawl out."

"He's correct Booth, you need to get off your back. A good analogy would be to compare you to a turtle stuck on its back. Once you roll over, you should have more control."

"Bones, if I could roll over I wouldn't be stuck, now would I?" Booth managed to free his arms then began throwing blocks everywhere in an attempt to dig himself out. Parker eventually jumped in to give his father a little extra help.

They finally stopped when Bones pointed out that by removing the surrounding blocks it had only caused Booth to sink deeper into the foam.

"Great, death by foam quicksand," he throw a block out of the pit in frustration.

Bones surveyed the gym for anything that might help Booth get out of his current predicament. She had an idea after seeing a folded mat, approximately three feet wide, two feet deep and ten inches thick. She grabbed the mat and threw it in next to Booth. "Here Booth, this should help you get better leverage."

After several attempts at pushing down on the mat so he could finally move his feet around he was able to make his escape. He managed to roll himself out and off to the side of the pit where he sat trying to catch his breath. As soon as he started to stand up, he noticed something was wrong, "My sock! The pit ate my sock!"

"That's not good Dad, I lost a sock in there a couple of weeks ago and still haven't found it."

"These are my favorite pair; we have to find that sock."

"Consider the loss of your sock punishment for your indiscretions." Brennan mocked.

"You're the one who gave me these socks Bones," he looked at Brennan before turning his attention toward his son, "Parker, buddy, could you please dig around in there for daddy and see if you can find his sock?"

"Sure Dad," Parker said as he jumped back into the hole they had just managed to escape from.

A few minutes later, after watching Parker disappear under the blocks a few times, his sock was discovered. Once he had placed it back on his foot, he wriggled his toes, happy the sock had been found. Other than a lot of pit fuzz stuck to it, it was no worse for wear.

"Dad, will you come watch me on the big long trampoline? I can do a flip off that too!"

"Parker, I think I'm going to go sit on the bench for a few minutes. I'm sure Bones would love to watch you though."

Brennan, seeing Booth was physically tired and probably just needed a minute to rest agreed, "I would love to watch your flip off the Tumbl Trak."

Once Bones and Parker headed off together, Booth stood up and headed over to the bench. Truth be told, the amount of work it had just taken him to escape that death trap had absolutely exhausted him. He needed a few minutes to rest, and time to get all the pit fuzz off his clothes and out of his hair. He suddenly sneezed. Not to mention his nose. He sneezed again.

Too be continued...