Chapter 32—Sport

"I can't believe I agreed to go to your parents' house for Thanksgiving," Brennan bemoaned from the passenger seat, where she was currently staring out the window at the passing trees.

"Bones, come on. It's just one weekend. And you promised Parker, remember?" Booth asked, glancing in the rearview mirror to check on his sleeping son.

"Yeah, you're right. What was I thinking?" she asked, lightly teasing him. There were worse places she could be spending the long weekend, although she had really been looking forward to catching up on some of the cases from Limbo.


"Hey, Bones," Booth stuck his head in the guest room where she was staying, "I'm going to play a game of football with my brother and some old friends. You want to come?"

"Sure," Brennan replied, looking at her partner in the mirror that was above the bureau, "Give me just a minute to get my shoes on and grab a jacket."

"Ok, I have to get Parker ready, so I'll meet you downstairs," he told her with a grin.

Downstairs, she found Booth fighting to get Parker in a jacket, while his brother stood impatiently by the door.

Twenty minutes later, the four climbed out of Booth's SUV at the local park and headed over toward a large group of men and what Brennan assumed to be their families.

"Hey there, Seeley! Jared! Long time no see!" a bunch of them called out to the approaching group.

When they finally reached the field where everyone was gathered, Brennan saw that the group indeed consisted of Booth's old friends with their wives or girlfriends, and their children. Parker immediately grabbed Brennan's hand at the sight of so many people, hiding behind Booth's large form, to Brennan's great dismay.

"Hey everyone," Booth and Jared greeted the group, hugging and shaking hands with a number of them.

"Who do you have with you?" a young blonde woman asked, looking at Brennan and Parker, who had remained back, away from the group.

Booth walked back over to them and with his hand on Brennan's lower back, led them towards the group. "This is my partner, Temperance Brennan, and this," Booth scooped Parker up into his arms, "is my son Parker."

The blonde woman stepped forward with an outstretched hand, which Brennan shook lightly. "I'm Jess," she introduced herself, gesturing to a man off to the side "and that's my husband Joe. Our two boys are running around here somewhere. It's nice to meet you; Seeley never brings anyone around these parts," she teased, a bright smile on her face.

The rest of the introductions passed in a flurry of handshakes, names, and how everyone was related to or acquainted with everyone else. It seemed as if they had all grown up together, and married within the group. Brennan didn't remember the majority of the names.

"We gunna get this game going?" one of the larger men asked, tossing his empty beer bottle towards the trash can.

"Yeah, let's go," the others agreed, heading out to the middle of the field and leaving the women and kids on the sideline to watch and gossip.

"You'll be fine," Booth assured Brennan, seeing the panic-stricken look on her face. "You've got Parker with you, and I promise none of the rest bite."

"Alright," Brennan replied reluctantly, watching him walk out to the middle of the field where they were choosing teams.

"Dr. Bones?" Parker asked, tugging on the sleeve of her sweatshirt, "Can I go play on the swings?"

"Sure," she told him, "Just make sure I can see you, alright?" There goes having Parker with me, Brennan thought to herself, trying not to worry about having to make small-talk with the wives and girlfriends.

Parker scurried off after a group of kids, heading toward the small playground next to the field that was still within her line of sight.

Keeping an eye on the playground, Brennan turned her attention back to the field where the men were lining up to start the game. Consequently, her attention was otherwise occupied when the blonde dropped down next to her, taking her completely by surprise.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya," the girl told her with a smile. "Just thought I'd come over and get to know you a little better."

"That's okay," Brennan turned to look at the woman, as well as over her shoulder to check on Parker. "Jess, right?"

"That's me," Jess replied, taking a moment to look over towards the playground behind her. "I thought Seeley wasn't with Parker's mom anymore."

"Oh, I'm not Parker's mother," Brennan explained, "just Booth's partner at work."

"Really?" the woman drawled out, making it completely obvious she didn't believe they were just partners.

"Yes, really. We just work together."

"Parker seems awfully attached to you," Jess observed, noticing Parker looking over toward the table every few minutes.

"He just gets shy around large groups of people he's never met," Brennan explained, looking at the woman, but keeping some of her attention on the playground where Parker was swinging.

"Those are my two," Jess told her, pointing to two small boys with sandy blonde hair on the slide. "They'll be seven in about a week. How old is Parker?"

"He's almost six," Brennan told her, not realizing she had actually known how old Parker was.

"So, Doctor Brennan," Jess started, emphasizing her title, "Can I get a little hint about what is going to happen in your next book?"

Brennan grinned at the woman's eagerness, looking like Parker or Booth when they were getting a present, or food. "Nope, no hints," she answered, "Booth would kill me if I told someone else something that he didn't know. And please call me Temperance, or Tempe."

"Alright then, Tempe, can I ask you about the relationship between Kathy and her extremely hot partner?" Jess asked, the mischievous glint in her eye reminding Brennan of Angela.

"You can ask, but I'm not promising I'll answer it," Brennan told her, smiling back.

"Do you draw on actual experience for their encounters, or is it all made up?" the woman asked, obviously trying for some details of her personal relationship with Booth.

Yelling on the field stopped Brennan from answering the question, as they turned their attention to see someone hunched over in pain, with the rest of the group surrounding him. Even from the distance, Brennan knew it was Booth. Jumping up, she ran to the circle, leaving Jess alone at the table.

"It always ends with someone getting hurt," Jess said, rolling her eyes and following Brennan toward the crowd.