Friday night found Brennan sitting in her office typing up a report for the latest case she had finished from limbo. The sound of footsteps outside her office caused her to grow instantly alert, and her fingers paused on the keyboard as she looked to the door. A few seconds later, two familiar figures appeared. The smallest of them barreled toward her, jumping into her lap as he wrapped his arms around her. "Dr. Bones, I missed you!" Parker declared, hugging her tightly.
"I missed you, too, Park," she told him, returning the embrace. During the month that she and Booth had been together, Parker and Brennan had grown much closer. He thought she had the "coolest job ever," and he begged his father to take him to the Jeffersonian. He was even more impressed when she introduced him to the head of the dinosaur exhibit, a meeting he did not stop talking about for days afterwards. Despite Brennan's misgivings about her ability with children, Booth had found that she was wonderful with Parker. He worshipped her; his first question whenever Booth picked him up from his mother's was always about when they would see her. Booth only hoped that she could see how great she was with him.
Parker was the only one they had told about their relationship, and they were both surprised that he had managed to keep their secret so far. At six, Parker had a tendency to let things slip when he did not mean to. Still, they felt that he had a right to know about them, and so they had told him after having him promise to keep the information a secret. Parker seemed thrilled about the clandestine nature of their relationship and had eagerly agreed to keep the secret.
After a long hug, Brennan took her arms from around him and held up her right hand, fingers spread wide. "Distal phalanges," Parker recited carefully, pointing to her fingertips. Brennan had been attempting to teach him the names of all the bones in the body at his insistence. So far, they had completed the hand, wrist, and arm. "Middle phalanges. Proximal phalanges. Metacarpals. Trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate, pisiform, triquetrum, lunate, scaphoid." He looked up at her, and she confirmed the accuracy of his recitation with a nod. He smiled broadly and raised his own hand which she promptly high-fived, a gesture he had taught her.
"You're turning my son into a squint," Booth remarked, his tone and the wide grin on his face clearly betraying that he was far from annoyed with this fact.
"There's nothing wrong with learning," Brennan objected.
"I know, Bones. I'm teasing." Booth was sorely tempted to lean forward and kiss her, but he held himself back, knowing they were still at the Jeffersonian.
"We brought food, Dr. Bones!" Parker announced as Booth held up the white take-out bags. "It's Thai."
"That's excellent. I'm pretty hungry," Brennan said, saving and closing the report before locking her screen. Booth watched her, still smiling. He knew how much Brennan hated to stop while she was working, but she always seemed willing to drop whatever she was doing for Parker. He knew she would make a great mother.
"I haven't told you what happened in school this week," Parker said, leading her over to the couch where Booth already sat, spreading the food out on the coffee table. Parker sat beside his father, patting the seat beside him for Brennan to take.
Booth laughed. "Trust me, Bones, you'll like this story."
"On Wednesday, we were singing this song that Mrs. Patterson made us sing. I don't really like her much. But there was one part of it where it said that the finger bones were connected to the hand bones and that those were connected to the arm bones. I told her that wasn't true, I told her that there were no such things as finger bones, they were actually the phalanges which were connected to the metacarpals, and that there wasn't one hand bone or one arm bone. And I tried to tell her the real names, but she just told me that I should sing the song like she said and not try to show off. But I said that she shouldn't be teaching us the wrong thing, and then she got mad at me and put me in time out. But that was okay 'cuz while I was over there I came up with my own version of the song. Wanna hear?"
"Okay, Parker."
"The distal phalanges are connected to the. . . middle phalanges. The middle phalanges are connected to the. . . proximal phalanges. The proximal phalanges are connected to the. . . metacarpals. The metacarpals are connected to the. . . carpals." Here, he paused in his singing to explain. "I was going to use the actual names, but there were too many."
"It sounds better this way," Brennan assured him.
"The carpals are connected to the. . . radius and ulna. The radius and ulna are connected to the. . . humerus. Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones." As he continued the chorus, Brennan's eyes met Booth's over the top of his head. He chuckled and nodded.
"Yes, he really did. Mrs. Patterson was none too pleased with the incident. Evidently, she told Rebecca who informed her that it was my fault, so I got an earful today from both women. Rebecca thinks you're spending too much time with him."
"Am I?"
"Nah, she's just jealous. Parker loves you, and I love how good you are with him. I think it's great that you're spending so much time with him."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Are you listenin', Dr. Bones?" Parker inquired.
"Of course, Park." Brennan listened as he finished the song. He was silent for a few seconds before remarking, "Now you just have to teach me the rest of the bones, too, so I can finish writing the real song."
"Okay, Park, I'll do that."
"Promise?"
"Pinky swear." Brennan held out her finger to perform another gesture that Parker had taught her. As their fingers locked, Booth looked on proudly. He had never before let a woman he dated grow close to Parker; in fact, he had always tried to keep his love life separate from his relationship with his son. He did not want his son to grow too attached to any woman and then have to deal with the loss if the relationship did not last. But with Brennan, Booth was not at all worried about the bond that his son had formed. Because he knew their relationship would last a lifetime.
After they finished eating, Brennan and Parker started on the bones of the foot while Booth cleaned up the trash. Once he had dumped it, he watched his partner and son interact for a few minutes, smiling as Brennan tickled Parker's foot unexpectedly, causing the small boy to giggle. He could not believe she thought she was bad with children. After they had worked their way up to his ankle, Booth cleared his throat, and two sets of eyes turned to him. "We had a surprise for Bones, remember, Bub?" he reminded his son. Parker's eyes went wide.
"Oh, yeah! Come on, Dr. Bones, it's in the car!" He jumped up from the couch, grabbing her hand and tugging. Brennan laughed.
"Okay, Park, I'm coming," she said, standing. She looked to Booth, silently asking what the surprise was, but he simply shook his head, determined not to ruin the moment for her or his son.
Parker led her out of the building and into the parking structure, making his way inexorably to his father's SUV (the FBI had issued him a new one after the. . . unfortunate occurrence with his previous one). Booth followed slightly behind them, watching as Parker danced around in excitement. He unlocked the trunk and pulled out two aluminum boards. Confusion crossed Brennan's face.
"They're street luges, Dr. Bones," Parker explained.
"Street luges?"
"Yeah, you lay down on them and go down hills really fast and stuff."
Brennan looked to Booth for more information. "A buddy of mine used to work for LAPD. Evidently, street luging is fairly popular out there. He introduced me to it and loans me his boards sometimes. Basically, you just lay down on the board and put your feet there," Booth instructed, pointing. "And then you let yourself go. Lean to either side to steer it."
Brennan eyed the board warily as he handed it to her. "I don't know about this, Booth," she told him. "I'm not sure I can do it."
"You'll do fine," he assured her, placing a second board on the ground. "Trust me, it's a lot of fun."
"Yeah, Dr. Bones, it's really fun!" Parker exclaimed.
"Are you sure you can do it with your arm?" Brennan questioned.
"It'll be fine. I'll just lay it right here across my chest and not move it," Booth said, already sitting on the board. He motioned for Parker to join him, and the small boy eagerly clambered between his legs. Booth looked up at Brennan. "Come on, Bones, just give it a shot," he pleaded. Brennan sighed and placed her board on the ground beside his. "Okay. Remember, lean to turn. And you can usually lean further than you think," he told her, laying back. Parker lay on top of him, his small body covering his father's chest. Booth used his good hand to give the board a push to get it started before reaching up to grab Parker, holding him close as the board started to roll, picking up speed on the incline of the parking structure. "Remember to stay still, Parker. We don't want to have to bail out again," Booth told his son. Parker obediently stilled as they reached the bottom of the first row, and Booth leaned, turning the luge, careful to avoid the lone car which was still parked in the lot.
Brennan fell behind on the first hill, still unsure of what she was doing. When the luge began to pick up speed, she put her foot on the ground, slowing herself down somewhat. She watched Booth turn the first corner with practiced ease and took a deep breath. She could do this. It was simple physics.
She picked up her foot from the ground, allowing the luge to gain speed. When she came to the first turn, she banked hard to the right, remembering what Booth had said about always being able to turn more than you thought. She was rewarded as the luge moved smoothly around the turn, starting down the second row. She heard the laughter of the Booth boys in front of her, and she could not help but join in. Booth was right; it was fun. Speeding down the parking structure, feeling the air whoosh over her face, a childish euphoria that she had not felt in a long time overcame her, and she gave a loud, very un-Brennan-like whoop. She was not sure what brought on the sound, but it seemed appropriate at the time. During the time she had spent with Booth, she had found herself trying many things she never before would have considered attempting. Surprisingly, she had enjoyed most of them. His childish enthusiasm was often infectious, and she was laughing much more than she had in a long time.
Much too soon, she reached the end of the parking lot where Booth and Parker were already waiting, the street luge tucked under Booth's good arm. "Have fun?" he questioned, knowing the answer from the smile on her face.
"I did," she told him.
"Good. What do you say we race next time?" he asked.
Brennan did not even stop to consider. "You're on," she told him. His grin widened and Parker cheered as the three started up the stairs. Two months before, Brennan would have called the race a childish game and likely would have simply refused to participate. Now, however, she realized that some of the most worthwhile endeavors were those which did not have a clear point. In the end, it would not matter who won the race. What mattered was the smile on the small boy's face as he climbed on top of his father. What mattered was the laughter of the three people mingling together as they started down the first hill. What mattered was the way that Booth held tightly to Parker as they took the first turn, shifting slightly so that if something were to go wrong, the small boy would come out of the incident unharmed. What mattered were the two people in front of Brennan, two of the people who she cared most about in the world. What mattered was that they were happy and enjoying themselves and that she, too, was happy and relaxed. What mattered was that despite genetics, they were family.
