Chapter 5
The afternoon of the day after the funeral, the Will of Zach's parents were going to be read. Zach hadn't seemed overly fazed about it, but none of the other Squints were convinced. Zach had told them that, the day after Matt and Sam were both leaving to go back to their homes, and Zach was struggling with the fact that he would be primarily alone to cope with his grief of loosing his parents. No matter how much he tried to hide how upset he was, the others, even Bones, could see right through the act.
It had been mid afternoon when Hodgins' phone had rung. He had answered it quickly, after seeing from the caller ID that was shown in the screen that it was Zach that was calling him.
"Hey, Zach, how are you going?" The rest of the group had looked up as Hodgins had spoken, falling silent. They had all been at a restaurant, having some late lunch. Hodgins got to his feet, ignoring everyone else's questioning looks.
"Okay, stay there and I'll come and get you. I'm sure they didn't mean it Zach." Hodgins moved towards the door, pulling his car keys from his pocket as he walked. The squints watched as he opened the door and walked out of the restaurant, the door banging closed behind him.
"What was that about?" Cam asked, and Angela shrugged.
"I don't know, but he is telling me when he gets back."
"I'd say that Zach is upset about something, and ended up stranded somewhere, and Hodgins is going to go and get him."
"I was thinking the same thing," Booth said.
In the end, it was only half an hour later when Hodgins called and told the rest of the gang that he was back at the hotel room. The Squints all left the restaurant after that, and went back to the hotel they were staying at. They hurried to the room Hodgins and Angela were sharing, and knocked on the door. Hodgins quickly answered it.
"Thank-god you guys are here. I don't know what to do. This isn't science." He said. The gang entered the room, and Booth could swear that he heard a quick succession of thuds as the entire gang's mouths hit the floor. Zach was huddled on the couch, with Dani curled up beside him. Both of them were in tears. Dani was sobbing quietly into Zach's shoulder, and Zach had a distant, vacant expression on his face. Booth had only seen Zach with that look upon his face a couple of times, when Zach was thinking about what he saw in Iraq.
"Did he say what happened?" Sweets asked Hodgins.
"Apparently the older siblings aren't going to do a family thing over Christmas, and they dropped the bombshell to Zach and Dani at the reading of the Will. Apparently, one of them has already booked a family holiday to L.A. over Christmas. You all know what Christmas with his family meant to Zach, and Dani is only 19, and now it's like most of the surviving members of the family are abandoning them."
"That's so wrong. Who would hurt their younger brother and sister like this?" Angela said. Booth shook his head. The family that had once been so lovely and caring had fallen apart at the seams. He sidled a look at Bones, whose eyes had filled with tears. With a pang, he realised that the story was very similar to hers. He watched as Bones slowly walked across the room towards the younger pair. Zach blinked and met her eyes, his tear filled eyes reflecting in hers. She crouched in front of them, smiling reassuringly at Zach, before pulling him into a surprising hug. Zach's eyes snapped open in shock, but he didn't struggle against the contact. Dani watched, a tiny, forced smile upon her face, as her brother was embraced by his boss and mentor. He had told her so much about Dr. Temperance Brennan, and had even given her some of the Anthropologist's books for Christmas last year. It was good to see him being comforted by someone who he cared about, and who obviously cared about him. She blinked, her eyes welling up with tears again.
Bones looked at the girl who was sitting beside Zach, and saw herself there. Ridiculously young, still fighting to find her own place in the world, but having lost her parents, and being seemingly rejected by the majority of her older siblings. Although Dani was too old to have to worry about the pitfalls of the foster care system, there were many years of parental comfort that she would miss out on.
And in that moment, Bones realised that not only she, but the entire Squint squad (and Booth,) had been tied to the young teenager that sat before them, lost in a world of grief, and unable to escape without their help.
XO XO XO XO XO
Zach was sitting in his childhood bedroom, stretched out on his bed. It was night time, though it was not late. Downstairs, he could hear voices, and shuddered. Ever since he and Dani had arrived, their had been tentative attempts taken by all of them to begin the packing up of his parent's belongings, but now that the will had been read, and the time was rapidly approaching for the family to split up once more, The clearing had begun in earnest. They had all decided to sell the house, and divide the money up amongst them equally. Then, everything that had not been specifically mentioned in the will had to be sorted into different piles. One pile for each of Zach's siblings, and one for himself, one for other people that had been a part of his parents life, one for the op shop, and one for the rubbish. Zach had spent his entire day helping out, but now he just wanted some time to himself. A slight knock on the door blew those plans away.
"Yes?" Zach asked, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, Zach, I hope you weren't asleep?" Lizzie said, pushing the door open.
"No, I wasn't sleeping" Zach smiled at his elder sister. She meant well, but she was overdoing it with trying to mother her younger siblings.
"I just came up to give you this. We're almost done for the night now." She handed him a large album. Zach narrowed his eyes.
"I thought Dani would have wanted this?"
"She said straight out that she didn't want it, she has digital copies of everything in there anyway, so I should give it to you."
"Is she sure?"
"Yes, I know she is."
"Alright, thank-you Lizzie"
"Sweet dreams Zach" Zach watched Lizzie as she left the room, closing the door behind her, before looking at the album, running his fingers along the smooth surface of the book. He opened up the front cover and looked at the front page. His own baby photo was positioned there, along with a highly decorated piece of paper, stating his name, date of birth, time of birth and weight at birth. Beneath that, there was Dani's baby photo, with her own information.
Two years ago, Zach's mother had compiled together all of her children's photos into albums. Zach and Dani had shared an album, as had Steve and Matt, and Lizzie and Sam. His mother had decorated the albums, and then unveiled them to her children the next Christmas. Zach flicked through the album, smiling as he watched himself grow through the pages. He let out a sigh as he reached the last page. It had been added recently, as it featured photos from the day he got his Doctorate. He carefully closed the book, before sliding off his bed and leaving his room. He walked down the passage to Dani's bedroom door, knocking on it before pushing it open. Dani was kneeling on the floor in front of her open suitcase, carefully adding the things that she'd been given to the stuff that was already in there. Zach noticed how her fingers lingered on a couple of his mother's old jewellery cases as she slid them between the stacks of folded clothes.
"Hey Zach" she whispered.
"Hello," Zach replied, sitting down beside her.
"When do your friends go back?"
"The day after tomorrow, I'm leaving with them. You're leaving the next day, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am. Lizzie wanted to take me shopping for something."
"Oh," Zach suddenly felt as if there was nothing else to say.
"Lizzie has given you some of Mom's jewellery too. It's with the rest of your stuff."
"Why would she give me jewellery, it would be better for you or her to have it?"
"She's only being fair, Zach. All of the other boys got some too, to give to their wife."
"Sam isn't married."
"He will be at some point, and, regardless of how awkward you are, Zach, I'm sure someone will one day take one look at you and fall in love, and you will love with them too."
"The statistics of that happening are very slight, Dani" Zach commented, and Dani shot him a look, long used to her brother's comments.
"We'll see, Zach, We'll see."
