Since you guys were so amazing last chapter, here's an update for you :) I hope you all like it! I know I do, lol.
Once again: Kimmy, my right hand, my go to girl, my Bones soulmate...THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT YOU!
"Dr. Jack!" Parker shrieked as the entomologist strode casually into Brennan's office. "I brought the coolest thing for you from our trip!" He dove into his child sized back pack that carted his toys daily to and from the Jeffersonian.
The curly hair man laughed. "Can't wait to see it, little dude." He turned to his superior. "The body just arrived and oooh is it a good one. I need your okay before I can start collecting particulates. Cam already green lighted it."
Brennan's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know what that means, but from your enthusiasm I assume it's positive."
Before the man could explain the meaning behind his words, Parker scurried over and stood before him, holding a small plastic cup with a Hilton logo printed on the side. The circular opening was covered in a sheet of bathroom tissue that was secured down with pieces of scotch tape. "I found it!"
As the boy peeled back the paper, Jack peered inside to find a beetle, a leptinotarsa decemlineata to be exact, lying dead on its back. The scientist sent the file he carried on Brennan's desk. "Nice one!" He praised and reached inside with his gloved hand.
The second the bug was visible between his fingers, Brennan's nose scrunched in disgust. "Parker, how long have you had that?" She cringed to know how long he'd been hiding that surprise.
"Since we went to the zoo with the merry-go-round." He declared, beaming with pride. "I snuck it in my pocket."
Before a stern scolding could take place, Hodgins jumped into the conversation. "Little dude, I think you should stick to catching bugs when you're with me, alright? Every insect deserves the best environment and cargo short's pockets aren't the best place to keep them." The five year old pouted, but acknowledged the rule with a nod of his head.
Brennan let the innocent action slide and re-focused on the remains awaiting her. "Dr. Hodgins, could you please keep an eye on him while I do my initial examination?"
"Sure thing, Dr. B." Jack agreed, remembering an incident a few months back when Parker accidentally saw a rotting corpse on the forensic platform. From that moment on, it was an unspoken rule of the lab that whenever a fresh body came in, someone's sole mission was to keep the child as entertained as possible if he was present.
"Booth should arrive to pick him up soon." Brenna informed, slipping into her blue lab coat. She leaned down to the boy and kissed his head, buttoning her garment at the same time. "Be good for Dr. Jack, okay?"
"I will, Bones."
Brennan stilled and gazed at him with curious eyes as he tugged Jack towards the table where he'd been piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. His reply expertly caught her off guard. He hadn't referred to her with that moniker in almost two weeks. The nickname sounded foreign on his lips. She didn't move a muscle until Hodgins' voice broke her train of thought. "Dr. B, is something wrong?" His apprehensive voice asked.
"No." She faked a grin before pacing out of her office. "Everything is fine, Dr. Hodgins."
Forty-five minutes later, she returned to her sanctuary, pleased that she had already determined a cause of death for their newest victim. Her eyes darted to Parker who appeared to be learning a type of handshake from the entomologist.
"Alright, then you slap on both sides." Jack instructed while raising his right hand to tap both side of Parker's extended left. "Then knuckles." They bumped fists. "Then explode." Their fingers extend at the same time; the boy added a bomb like sound effect for emphasis.
"That was cool!" Parker marveled. "Can we do it again?"
"I think it's time we let Dr. Jack get back to work." Brennan spoke, announcing her presence.
Parker sucked his teeth. "Just a few more minutes, please?"
"No, she's right. I have goo to collect. We'll learn another one next time." Hodgins promised. "See ya." He exited the room, determined to mark the time of death before the work day ended.
Brennan took his place on the couch and looked down at the complete puzzle, impressed. She smiled, knowing how long he'd been working on the item that was two age ranges above where he was. "Why are you so quiet mommy?" Parker inquired, as he scooted into her lap. "Was that dead person gross?"
Brennan chuckled and turned him ninety degrees so she could look into his eyes as they talked. "You know I'm not going to answer that question…" Tapping him on the nose, she continued, "…but I do have one for you." She paused, unsure how to settle what was eating at her. He'd just called her mommy so that answered some of the questions she conjured while working. "Why did you call me Bones in front of Dr. Jack?"
His sudden downcast eyes told her it was something he'd knowingly done. "He doesn't know you're my mommy. He still thinks you're my Bones. I don't want him to think I'm silly if I call you mommy."
Brennan rubbed her hand over his unruly locks. She too had considered her fellow squints opinions. For the majority of her co-workers, she didn't care in the least what they thought. There were only a chosen few, Angela, Jack, and even Cam, who feelings she held in very high regard, but in that moment when her little boy voiced his similar concerns, she realized her emotions would forever take a back seat to his. "I don't believe Dr. Jack would ever think you were silly. You can call me mommy in front of other people whenever you're ready, alright baby? You can choose." Brennan rested her forehead against his. "As long as you know I'm always mommy when we're at home." She jokingly growled.
Her playfully stern voice made him laugh. "When it's family time?"
"Yes, when it's family time." She confirmed.
Just then, familiar footsteps made them both to look towards the doorway where the missing piece of their family came striding in. "There's my two favorite people." Booth greeted.
The three exchanged quick hellos and stories about their day. Parker told his father all about the bug he'd high jacked across state lines. Brennan explained, in a few carefully chosen words, her findings for their latest case.
The agent flipped his lucky poker chip. "That's great Bones, hopefully this one will be quick."
"You're always gunna call mommy Bones, aren't you daddy?" Parker asked out of the blue, staring fondly at his father.
Booth glanced at his partner, trying to find some clarification for the sudden question, but her eyes were focused on the child in her lap. "Yeah, bub, I guess I am. Why?"
Brennan could hear the range of his inquiry extend to her as well. "No reason." She answered.
Luckily, Parker' rumbling stomach easily changed the subject. "I'm hungry. Can we have pizza for dinner?"
"Actually, bub, we have to run to the grocery store. The kitchen needs re-stocking since we've been away." Booth told him while he picked up his son's bag. "We should get moving to beat the rush though."
Parker slipped off Brennan's knees allowing her to stand. "I just have to shut my computer down and we can go." She spoke, moving to her desk.
The FBI agent spun around as she sauntered past him. "You want to come?" He questioned, although a part of him wasn't sure if he should.
"I believe that part of my role as a parent is to monitor Parker's nutrition and over the years I've observed that you don't make healthy choices when it comes to what you eat. I worry you'll pass down those habits to him."
Booth wouldn't have dared to question her serious tone if it hadn't concerned his son. "I make perfectly fine choices about what I eat." He challenged.
Brennan stripped off her lab coat and draped it over the metal coat rack. She grabbed her laptop bag and approached her partner. Parker moved between them and took hold of both of their hands. The three maneuvered through the doorway in a single file line before spreading back out horizontally as they strolled through the lab. Parker picked his feet up. Booth and Brennan both tightened their hold on his hand and lifted slightly, allowing him to swing. He'd become very fond of doing that lately. Once he swayed once, Brennan continued their discussion. "Booth, your diet mostly consists of take out, coffee, and pie."
"So does yours, except for the pie." He argued.
"Quite the contrary, every meal that I cook at home is made with a variety of fresh, organic ingredients. Some I'd bet you've never even heard of, let alone tasted." She retorted as Parker stepped back, squeaking his sneakers on the chemical resistant vinyl lab floor, and let himself fall between them again.
"Yeah, yeah, just swing the kid, okay?"
(*)
The instant that the electric-powered door at the front of the supermarket slid open, Parker bolted inside and began tugging at the handle of a cart from the long line that waited just inside the door.
"Hold up, Buddy, I got it." Booth jogged to catch up, simultaneously pulling the cart free and ruffling his son's hair. He loved seeing him excited to go grocery shopping. Most people would have never guessed it about Seeley Booth, but ever since he was Parker's age he loved the supermarket. It must have had something to do with the limitless food possibilities.
As Brennan joined them, she pulled a crisply folded piece of paper from her purse.
"What is that?" Booth inquired whilst trying to grab the item in question from her hands. Brennan lifted her eyebrows. Surely Booth knew what a grocery list looked like.
"A few days ago I took the liberty of compiling a list containing a few items that I noticed were either completely depleted, or almost so, in your kitchen. I also added a couple of things that I remember I needed to restock in my own pantry…" Booth shook his head forcefully as she rambled on. This was not okay.
"Oh no, no, no, Bones." He said as he finally tugged the list away and quickly pocketed it. "Booth's do not use lists and since you are currently outnumbered two to one by Booths this piece of paper will be staying with me." He patted the aforementioned pocket to emphasize his last statement and Brennan, immediately reminded of the last time she had tried to retrieve something from his pocket, decided against rescuing her list.
Then, without giving Brennan the time to come up with a response, Booth turned the cart and headed past the line of registers and towards the first aisle.
Brennan huffed. There were multiple things that she could find wrong with Booth's argument yet as she watched her favorite little blonde mess of curls excitedly bounce around his Dad, every single one of those comebacks were wiped from her mind.
She spent the next half hour simply observing what it meant to grocery shop Booth style, she even refrained from suggesting healthier options and meals. Their ways were odd and, for the most part, illogical. Mainly though, and she would never have given Booth the benefit of knowing this, it was endearing.
To them, going through the aisles in order is unnecessary because you can simply wander around aimlessly as you think of products. Snack foods are immediately more appealing, to both Booth junior and senior, if they are in the shape of a cartoon character. When picking out produce the origin of the crop or differences in type are irrelevant, as long as it is the cheapest available price and free of blemishes it is a good buy. Booth even explained to her the apparent uselessness of a shopping list as he placed a loaf of bread into the cart.
"You don't need a list when you're shopping because if you really needed it, you'd remember it. If I can't remember it then that just means I must not have needed it as badly as I thought I did at first." Brennan tried to fight back the urge to lecture him but failed.
"Booth, that is completely illogical. A person's memory can be altered and distracted by a number of different catalysts and disturbances."
"I think Daddy's right, Mommy." Parker said, smiling. "It's like destiny for what we eat!"
Brennan gasped in fake horror. "Did you just do what I think you did?" She leaned over and picked up the now hysterically laughing boy. "You know what I told you! Daddy's ego gets bigger when we agree with him!" Brennan punctuated her statement by wiggling her fingers right in the spot on Parker's side that she knew was the most sensitive.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" Parker squeaked as he reacted to the relentless tickling. Brennan loved his laugh when he was being tickled. It was gleeful. Uninhibited. Yet she knew she had to stop so the little boy wouldn't cause a scene.
As soon as Parker's breathing became regular again he used his position in Brennan's arms to grab another loaf of bread off the shelf and throw it into the cart alongside the first one.
"I got some bread for you too, Mommy!"
Booth watched the loaf fall from his sons hand to the relatively stuffed cart with a half frown upon his mouth. "You know, Bones? It's kind of ridiculous that we buy two of everything."
Brennan tilted her head to the side. "We don't buy two of everything. The two of us have vastly different tastes in food. I prefer more organic and wholesome foods to be stocked on my shelves while you favor products full of ingredients that you cannot pronounce."
"Bones," Booth stared at her begrudgingly with the deep brown eyes that both he and Parker knew how to use so well. "You know what I mean. We eat virtually every meal together anyways. Think of the money we could be saving."
Brennan stared in the cart. She could see what Booth was talking about. Two loaves of bread. Two sets of Juicy Juice, juice box containers. Two gallons of milk, one skim and one two percent. Two boxes of Fruit by the Foot, the kind with the cheesy jokes that Parker loves on the wrappers. She had to admit, it did seem kind of superfluous. Booth noticed Brennan's nose start to scrunch towards her eyes and he knew she was thinking hard about what he said, but Booth quickly noticed something much more disconcerting.
"We have no desserts in this cart!" Booth yelped, alarmed at his discovery. Parker's jaw suddenly fell as his brain registered the obvious blasphemy that his father just exposed. He wiggled his body impatiently in Brennan's arms.
"Lemme down, Mommy, we have an emergency!" Brennan put Parker down and the instant that his little feet hit the ground he grabbed his father's hand and tried to pull his him towards the end of the aisle. Booth smiled at Brennan and then shot a smirk at Parker, who simply widened his eyes and whispered "Ice Cream, Daddy" like it was some secret that his mommy couldn't know.
Booth pretended to think about his son's proposition, while Parker was noticeably anxious because of the stalling. "Come on!" He drew out, giving another half-hearted tug on Booth's arm.
"Alright!" Booth exclaimed as he watched a grin instantly appear on Parker's face. "You think you can grab some cereal, Bones? It's the only other thing that I think we need. Park and I'll head to frozen foods and meet you at the front of the store?" He flashed a charm smile, feeling a silly need to have her stamp of approval for the ice cream.
"Fine. Can you please pick something with some nutritional value though? We are responsible for teaching Parker how to provide healthy and fulfilling sustenance for his growing body." Booth nodded to Brennan's stipulations before gripping his son's hand and heading towards their destination.
"And just because it says there is fruit topping or filling does not make it healthy! They are overly sugared and caramelized!" Brennan called after the boys as turned the corner. She knew it was useless, though. Not only had they been too far away to hear her pleadings but she knew her son, and she certainly knew his father, and neither of them were going to come back from an aisle full frozen treats with something she would consider nutritional.
Brennan reached the cereal aisle and paced down it, staring crossly at the countless boxes boasting the fact that they contained marshmallows and overly-sugared and colored oat bits. She knew that's what the Booth boys liked. Things that you could tell were unhealthy after eating only one spoonful.
Then out of the corner of her eye she spotted a couple boxes of Kashi brand cereal on the top shelf a couple feet away. If she was already looking forward to a night of dealing with their sugar rushes because of ice cream, then there was no harm in buying them a brand of cereal that would provide them with the vitamins and nutrients to healthily start their day.
She was obviously doing them a favor. She was saving them from themselves, Brennan convinced herself as she walked over to the cereal box she wanted.
She looked up and immediately gathered that her normal stature was going to be ineffective in this situation, so she pushed her weight onto the tips of her toes and reached as far up as she could. She was able to touch the box with her fingertips but the movement merely pushed it further away.
"Damn it." Brennan cursed as she rebalanced her weight to try and boost herself the extra inch she needed to get a good grip on the cereal box. But just before she went to launch herself up, she felt a large presence reaching over her to pull the obstinate box from the shelf.
"Here you go, honey. I got it for you." A strange voice came accompanied the big hand.
Brennan was immediately uneasy. She had yet to even look at her mysterious rescuer and she could already sense that this was not good.
She was used to men trying to pick her up and it didn't usually bother her, even when she had no intentions on agreeing to their advances. It just simply didn't feel right to her this time. Unfortunately though, if she wanted the cereal she had no real choice but to acknowledge the man who retrieved it for her.
"Thank you." Brennan said curtly as she grabbed the box and threw it in the seat of the cart, trying to escape as quickly as possible.
"What's your name?" He managed he ask in a deep drawl before Brennan could move away.
"I'm sorry. I'm sure you are a nice man, but I feel obligated to stop you before you even begin. I'm not in any place to be trading names with strange men in the supermarket." She stated plainly as she turned towards him.
"I'm not a strange man." He replied, with what Brennan recognized as what must've been an unsuccessful attempt at the charm smile that Booth had perfected. He then added a wink trying emphasize his already lacking allure. "You don't even know me."
Brennan smiled at the man with as much sympathy as she could muster. "And I'm not going to. Thank you for the cereal, though."
As the man dejectedly walked away, Brennan noticed two familiar shapes standing in the opening that the other man had just exited through. To her dismay, neither of the faces on these shapes seemed pleased and they were both focused on her.
As they walked, little hand in big hand, toward Brennan, Booth tried to overcome his frustration and break the ice.
"Hey, Bones, what's the hold…" But Parker wasn't going to let that happen.
"Mommy, who was that guy? I've never seen him before." Parker emphatically exclaimed. Yeah, Mommy, who was that guy, Booth thought, mentally agreeing with every word his son said.
When Brennan didn't answer immediately, Parker turned to Booth.
"Daddy, do you know that guy?" Booth tried to think of what to say. He didn't know what had happened, and to be honest, he was experiencing the exact same antagonism as his son.
"No, I don't but it's okay, buddy. Sometimes people like to be friendly to other people, even if they're strangers. You know how you like waving at people when we drive past them on the street?"
Parker nodded his head with glassy eyes.
"Well, it's just like that. You're being friendly and so was that man." Booth was frantic. He saw the look in Parker's eyes. He knew that he wasn't buying it.
"No, Daddy!" Parker yelled, the tears starting to spill out from his eyes and onto the roundness of his cheeks. "He was not being friendly and it's not okay! He winked and you said boys wink at girls they like! He was looking at Mommy like you look at Mommy! That's your smile for Mommy!"
Booth hissed and shot his eyes at Brennan looking for any sign of awkwardness but instead saw nothing but remorse. He was relieved that Brennan didn't notice what Parker was insinuating but found himself becoming angrier because the boy was right. That was his smile for Bones and even his son could recognize that. No one else is allowed to smile that smile. Especially not at her.
Parker had a sudden burst of confidence. "And Mommy was supposed to find us after we got the ice cream!" He let go of his father's hand and walked right up to Brennan, standing as tall as his little body could manage. "Why do you wanna talk to strangers instead of be with me and Daddy?"
"Parker, I don't." Brennan tried to explain, both stunned and devastated.
"Am I not good enough anymore? Is it 'cause I wanted ice cream because I can put it back!"
"Baby, shhhh." Brennan whimpered, falling to her knees and taking the distraught child in her arms. "You are the best little boy that I have ever met in my life. Better than almost all the bigger boys I've met too and I wouldn't trade you for anyone or anything in the entire world. I love you."
Parker sniffled. "Am I better than all the little girls too?"
"Oh, definitely." Brennan smiled, wiping away Parker's tears. "Are we okay, baby? I am very sorry that I made you upset. I couldn't reach the cereal and a very nice man noticed and helped me. All I was doing was saying thank you. Do you forgive me?"
"We're okay, Mommy. I understand. You can't not say thank you when somebody helps you, Daddy taught me that." Parker said, wrapping his tiny arms around Brennan's shoulders. Brennan smiled into Parker's shoulder but before she could relax into the hug, he pulled back and stared her very seriously in the eye. "Does this mean that we can still get the ice cream?"
Booth and Brennan instantaneously let out the worried breaths that they had been holding for the past five minutes."Of course, baby." Brennan laughed as she picked Parker up and balanced him on her hip.
"Good! Because Daddy picked one out that he said you would really, really like this time!"
(*)
It was late when the black sequoia rolled down empty D.C. streets. After dinner and dessert, Booth insisted on driving Brennan to her apartment, seeing as her car still sat in the Jeffersonian parking garage. The adults rode in silence while Parker snoozed in the backseat. Every few seconds the father would glance at Brennan in the passenger seat to find her in the same position every time: legs crossed, chin resting on her fist, staring out of the window. Her posture never shifted and he was desperate to know why.
"What's going on in that pretty head of yours, Bones?" He asked in a hushed tone, keeping his line of sight forward.
Brennan's eyes darted to the rearview mirror, giving her a clear view of Parker's peaceful face as he slept. His head was leaning against the side of his child seat, no doubt imprinting funny shaped mark on his forehead. She took a steadying breath before answering. "I'm worried about him, Booth. He keeps throwing these tantrums."
Booth re-adjusted his hold on the steering wheel. "I know, Bones, but he's five. Tantrums are what they do. Plus, that last one was kind of justified." He muttered those last few words so low that she almost didn't hear them.
"By what means?" She questioned.
He sighed. "What happened in the store…it wasn't like the other times when he has the nightmares or anything. It wasn't because of…her. When he saw that guy talking to you, he got scared."
Brennan leaned back against the head rest. "I wish he wasn't so afraid. I don't know what I can do to convince him that I won't leave." She looked desperately at her partner. "How do I make him understand that he's good enough?"
Booth pulled the car over to the side of the road. He flipped the shift into park and turned to look at her. "It's not your fault he feels that way, Bones. Rebecca damaged him when she took off. She forced that insecurity onto him. It won't be there forever, but for now all we can do is make sure he knows that we love him."
"I do."
He gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know you do, Bones." Booth extended his hand to rest on her cheek. He rubbed his thumb across apple of her cheek that was turning pinker by the second. "Parker will be okay. We'll make sure of it."
Brennan wanted to nod, but she was incapacitated by the warm sensations his hand brought to her skin. "There's still something I'm curious about." She whispered. His expression urged her on. "Why were you also upset?"
Booth pulled back. She almost whimpered at the loss of contact. He reached for the gear shift, intent on getting his mind back on driving, when her hand locked around his own, turning the tables and debilitating him. Unable to help himself, he turned his palm and laced his fingers through hers.
"I don't like seeing you with other guys." He confessed with his head hanging. "And don't say it's irrational because I know it is. I know you weren't interested and that he was just talking to you, but it doesn't matter. The idea of you with another man…I can't handle it, Bones."
Booth clenched his teeth together, anticipating a tongue lashing about anthropological this and that. Her response however, couldn't have shocked him anymore.
"I understand."
Booth almost gave himself whiplash his head snapped upward so quickly. "What?" He gasped.
Brennan chewed the inside of her cheek, contemplating what she was second from disclosing. For two years she'd been trying to convince herself that this feeling she had was foolish, but despite her hopeless attempts to ignore the emotion, over time it's simply strengthened. "I too feel uneasy when I see you with a member of the opposite sex, even when I'm aware that there are no romantic intentions." She paused, gazing down at their connected palms. "And I don't know what that means."
Booth raised their interlocked hand to his lips, kissing her fingers. "I think it means that Parker doesn't have to worry about anyone coming between his parents."
"I never realized that when I decided to commit myself to Parker, I committed myself to you as well." Brennan divulged as shivers ran down her spine every time his lips touched her. "I never realized how much I really wanted to be, how easily it would become the best part of my life."
"Bones…" Booth murmured, leaning towards her.
Brennan placed her other hand on his shoulder, stopping his movement. "I still don't have enough evidence to prove that a romantic entanglement is worth putting Parker in jeopardy." She spoke quickly. Before he could protest, she carried on, "But I can promise that I will reject any and all advances from other men."
Booth cupped her face with both hands. Brown eyes burned into blue. "I know that's a big step for you, Bones, but before you take another, I need you to be honest with you."
"You can tell me anything." Brennan encouraged.
"I know." He smiled before his face once again became stern. "I feel like you were trapped into this."
"This?"
"This." He waved his hand towards the backseat. "Parker, me, being there for us. I know you chose to be with him, Bones, but I don't want you to feel like that means you have to be with me."
Brennan was silent as she registered his words. He was wrong, but that wasn't the issue. He thought he was making her unhappy and that wasn't acceptable. "I've never felt an obligation to be with you, not as your partner or anything else." She unwaveringly affirmed.
Booth breathed deep as the anxiety left his body. "Thanks, Bones. That's, uh, really nice to hear."
"I don't know how much of myself I can give to someone, Booth, but I feel comfortable promising that however much that is, it will be yours."
The agent felt his stomach drop. Someday, at least a small part of her would be his. He never thought he'd heard sweeter words in his life. "Yeah?"
"Yes." She confirmed. "I don't believe there is anyone else, Booth." Brennan gathered her confidence and took a leap of faith saying her next words. "For either of us."
Booth's heart felt like it was going to explode from his chest. He grabbed both of her wrists so there would be no chance of her pushing him away, rocked forward and planted his lips directly on hers. She kissed him back for the smallest second before he pulled away to whisper against her mouth, "I've known that for a long time, Bones."
FIVE MONTHS EARLIER
Booth tapped his foot erratically against the linoleum floor of the Royal Diner to the tune of some song he had heard on the radio on the drive over. He wondered what was taking Brennan so long to get there. Sure, Parker wasn't the easiest kid to get moving but he listened to every word that came out of that woman's mouth like it was the word of God.
Not that Booth could blame him for that. It'd be hard not to.
He stared down at the half eaten piece of apple pie that sat deserted in front of him and thought about her. About Bones.
He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her in his life, how lucky Parker was to have her in his life. He didn't even want to think about where the two of them would have been had she not stepped in to help after Rebecca packed up and left. People always underestimated her when it came down to the heart area of things but Booth knew better. He knew what she was really capable of feeling and sacrificing.
Unfortunately, Booth had to cut his reverie short as he saw a woman slide out from a chair at the other end of the diner and swing her hips as she strode towards him. He knew that walk and he knew that glint beginning to form in her eye. He knew the kind of woman she was; blond, leggy and gorgeous with more sex appeal than she knew what to do with. She was exactly his type.
Well, she used to be his type.
As the woman got closer, he could smell her perfume. It was one of those scents that could be extremely sexy when you knew how to wear it, which this woman most certainly did not. Honestly, it just made him feel like he needed to sneeze.
By the time the unknown woman reached his table, Booth had stopped tapping his foot and did his best to look disinterested.
"Hey, I saw you sitting all by your lonesome over here…" She began but Booth was distracted because as he turned his head he saw exactly what he had been waiting for: Brennan and Parker across the street from the diner, talking animatedly and laughing. The second before they stepped onto the concrete he watched his partner cautiously take his child's hand in her own and check twice for oncoming traffic. My son and my Bones, he thought and smiled
"No thanks." He said to the woman, unsure if she had even asked a question that could be answered by that statement. But he didn't care, seeing as Brennan and Parker had finally appeared in the establishment's entrance. "I got all the company I need walking through the door."
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