Wow thanks for the reviews and alerts on this story! This is a fun one to write, especially since this actually corresponds to the time frame of now. Thanks!

Chapter 4

Twenty minutes. That's how long they argued over the couch. Angela kept remarking how she never heard anyone beg for the couch to sleep on. Hodgins paced and threw up his arms every so often, Zach played with a thread on the couch, and Parker slept on Angela's lap.

"Booth, you have Parker. Sleep with him the couch is fine with me."

"You know what, fine. I'll take the bed, but when you are complaining about a backache you won't get a massage with these fingers." Booth emphasized his point with the wiggling of his fingers causing Brennan to break out into a smile.

"Booth I fall asleep at my desk, I think I can handle a couch."

Booth held up his hands. "Fine Bones. Whatever floats your boat. Now I'm going to take my son to the beach."

"But a boat staying afloat has to do with the—"

Booth was already in the kitchen. "It's a figure of speech Bones!"

Everyone decided on going to the beach for some afternoon sun. With all belongings in hand, they traversed the scorching hot sand to the safe swimming area that Zach had so enthusiastically demanded to go to. Despite it being a beautiful summer day, the beach was quite empty.

"Wow I thought there would be more people here," commented Angela as she helped set up the umbrella and towels.

"Most people are probably at work, like we should be," replied Brennan.

"Angela, are you complaining? No? Good. And Bones, it's called playing hooky. Learn to live a little once in a while." Then silently he continued to remove his shirt, apply some sunscreen and lay down to read a book. Brennan and Angela looked at him in disgust.

"What's his problem?" whispered Angela as she removed her iPod from a bag.

"Don't know, don't really care," replied Brennan. She too took out her iPod and lay down in the sun.

Parker ran to his father, standing in front of him nervous and unsure of his mood after his earlier outburst. "Daddy," he said tentatively.

"Yes Parker," replied Booth looking up from his book.

"Zach and Jack wanna show me how to build the awesomest sand castle. Can I go with them?"

"Sure bub. Just keep your hat on and don't leave them, okay?"

"'Kay Daddy." He bent down to kiss his father on the cheek. "Love you Daddy." Booth smiled and playfully shooed his son away. He watched Parker grab Zach's hand as they moved to an area with fewer people. Booth had just picked up his book when he noticed Brennan staring at him.

"What?"

She smiled. "You go from total jerk to loving father. It's...cute?"

"Me? Cute? No, I think there are better adjectives to describe this." He gestured to his body. Brennan pretended to look him over with confused look on her face.

"Maybe, I'd have to get my thesaurus and get a better word for wimpy, weak, feeble, jerk…the list goes on."

Booth feigned hurt. "Ouch Bones, that's not really nice."

"Life sucks."

"Now look who has the attitude problem?" teased Booth.

"Me," said Angela. "I'm trying to relax. I listen to enough of you bickering at the lab. Don't bring it to one of my favorite places please. If you're going to argue, go elsewhere. I was here first."

"Sorry Ange we'll behave," replied Brennan while sending Booth a stern look. He rolled his eyes and returned to the novel in his hand.

The group was quiet after the lecture from Angela until Zach returned with Parker. Parker got on his knees and began talking excitedly.

"Daddy! We builded the hugest sandcastle ever! It had windows and three levels and there was room for you and mommy and Dr. Brennan!" Booth smiled as he listened to every word that Parker said. Brennan looked up and noticed how Booth was instantly exited to see what Parker had to say. She knew how great a dad he was to Parker and how well he handled children.

"Hey everyone, it's getting closer to dinner. What do you say we head back for some barbeque?" questioned Booth.

….

Back at the beach house, smoke rose to the sky as Booth flipped the burgers and other meats on the grill. Hodgins walked around, lighting torches to prevent bugs from showing up as the sun was moving lower in the sky.

"Burgers will be ready in five," shouted Booth. "Come get them while they are hot!" As people lined up with appropriate buns in hand, Booth dished things out accordingly. When everyone was served, they sat down at the picnic table and continued chatting.

"Hey guys, I figured that after dinner we could go play Frisbee. I got a new one that lights up in the dark," suggested Hodgins. Everyone nodded in agreement.

When dinner was finished and paper goods were disposed of, they made their way back onto the beach. Zach had smuggled a telescope into the car and was off showing Parker some of the stars leaving the others to toss the Frisbee.

"Bren and Booth, fight for it!" shouted Angela.

"Angela, we're not going to fight over a piece of plastic," warned Brennan.

Booth stood next to her. "What, are you chicken Bones?" He started to cluck like a chicken. "Afraid you'll lose?" She just looked at him and practically dared him to do something.

"Throw the Frisbee Ange." The lit disk was bright in the setting sun and both of them took off after it. Booth's longer strides helped him get ahead but the nimble Brennan was able to keep up with him. Booth was reaching up for the disk but Brennan was able to piggyback over him to get the height she needed to grab it before him. She smiled triumphantly as she came down, but on the landing she rolled her ankle and collapsed to the sand.

"Ow, ow, ow, oh my god, ow, ow, ow, ow," she shouted through gritted teeth. Booth was immediately at her side.

"Don't move Bones," he warned. He took out his cell phone to use as a light on her ankle. He was that it was swollen and getting bigger. Hodgins and Angela caught up. "Jack, help me get her up. She needs to get to a hospital."

At the hospital, Booth sat beside Brennan as they waited to see a doctor. Hodgins, Angela, and Zach took Parker to the cafeteria to get a few drinks in an attempt to relieve the boredom. Brennan sat on the bed with her leg elevated as she looked past the curtain at the hustle and the bustle of the hospital. It was nine at night, yet the ER was filled with various maladies. Brennan had gone for X-rays an hour earlier and a nurse had given her painkillers, but they hadn't been visited recently. Booth sat in a chair beside her bed, leaning his arm against the bed. He was getting agitated due to the long wait.

He felt a poke on his shoulder and lazily turned around to find Brennan leaning forward.

"Bones, what the hell are you doing?" he asked tiredly.

"I'm so bored," she drawled out. "How long does it take?"

"Obviously a few hours." He sighed and switched arms to lean on. "Though I really wish the nurse would give me some of those meds you are on."

Just then, a young doctor appeared in front of the curtain, head bowed and perusing a chart. He looked up and smiled. "Ah, Temperance Brennan?" Brennan nodded. "I'm Doctor Geiger." He stepped forward and shook her head. He then turned to Booth. "And you are…"

"Special Agent Seeley Booth, her partner." The men shook hands while staring each other down. "Well Ms. Brennan."

"Doctor," corrected Booth and Brennan at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Okay then," said Geiger. "Doctor Brennan. There is no break, however there is a bad sprain. We'll wrap it and you should be fine in a week, but until then, you'll need to keep off of your feet."

"Oh no!" shouted Brennan. "I'm on vacation with my friends."

"Sorry Doctor Brennan." Geiger turned to Booth. "She'll need bed rest."

"Hey buddy, you can tell me all you want, but this is the most stubborn woman in the history of the earth."

The doctor made Brennan promise that she would stay off her feet for the next week. However, unbeknownst to the doctor, she was crossing her fingers behind her back.

"You do know how juvenile crossing the fingers is right?" questioned Booth as he assisted her out of the ER.

"Yeah well Parker has taught me a few tricks. You really should listen to kids sometimes. As uncontrollable as they may be, they possess a lot of knowledge and insight on the world that we as adults tend to miss."

"Right Bones, let's just get you into bed." Brennan looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh come on, did those drugs make you perverted or something?" Brennan giggled as she met the others in the car.

As Booth started the car to return to the beach house he shook his head at the eventful first day they had. He wondered what could go wrong next.