Note: Thanks for all of the reviews! Time for the second prompt.
Prompt: Brennan, Booth, Christine: Trouble at daycare or Christine at the FBI or Christine at Hoover.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
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"Daddy?"
Booth turned his attention away from his computer and peered at the pig-tailed four year old lying on the floor, kicking her feet in the air.
"Yes, Christine?"
"I'm tired of coloring."
"We'll go home soon, honey." He picked up the stack of children's books Charlie had thoughtfully grabbed from a waiting room and handed them to his daughter. "Here, maybe you can read for a while."
Christine sighed, sounding as if she had the most difficult life she could imagine, while Booth turned back to his case file.
Thirty seconds later, she spoke again. "Daddy?"
This time, the reply was less patient. "Yes?"
"These are baby books. I'm not a baby."
"You can read the books or you can color, Christine. We'll go home as soon as I finish my work."
The young girl flopped into a sitting position and loudly turned the first page. A second later, she scoffed. "This elephant is blue. Elephants aren't blue."
It wasn't a remark that required a reply, so Booth deliberately kept his focus on his paperwork while his daughter muttered.
With his daughter somewhat entertained, Booth was able to make some progress. He had made it about halfway through the report he was writing before Christine exhausted the stack of books. She closed the last book and moved to stand patiently by his side until he turned to look at her.
"Daddy?"
"Yes", he said, for what felt like the hundredth time in the last hour, "What is it?"
"Is Parker at home?"
"No", Booth answered, "Parker is at hockey practice."
"Olivia at preschool says hockey is for boys, but I told her we don't believe in encouraging gender disparity."
He laughed despite himself. "Do you even know what that means?"
Her hands went to her hips and for a second he saw a glimpse of the woman she would one day be. "It means girls can play hockey, too."
Booth looked at the clock, then at the paperwork remaining on his desk, and stood, taking her hand. "We've talked about this before, Christine. This year, you're taking skating lessons. Next year you can play hockey." They walked down the hall to the vending machines, the young girl chattering all the while. He fished some coins out of his pocket and lifted her up so that she could feed them into the machine. She carefully pressed "A2" and a bag of pretzels tumbled to the bottom of the machine. A moment later, he pulled a bottle of orange juice out of the beverage machine and the two of them walked back to his office.
He opened the orange juice and pretzels as Christine dragged an extra chair over to the desk. She climbed up on it and knelt so that she could reach her snack. She ate quietly, watching with interest as he worked.
It didn't take long before she started talking again. "Daddy? Guess what."
"What?", he answered distractedly.
She remained quiet, waiting until he stopped typing and turned to look at her. "At Mommy's work, Uncle Jack has beetles. And Auntie Angela has face paints. They're really cool."
"I know, honey, but we don't have beetles or face paints here."
Dejected, she flopped down in the chair. "When will Mommy be home?"
"Two more sleeps, Christine."
As if on command, his cell phone rang. He hit the speaker phone button and said, "Hi, Bones." Across the desk, Christine straightened up and chirped, "Hi, Mommy!"
"Well, hello Christine." Brennan's voice filled with warmth at the sound of their daughter's voice. "Are you having fun with Daddy?"
Christine stood on the chair and leaned across the desk until she could snag the cell phone, dragging it so that it sat in front of her. "There are no beetles or face paints here. Just lots of people looking at computers."
Brennan chuckled. "I know, Christine. I hope you're being good."
"Yup", Christine answered. "Mommy, can I go back to daycare tomorrow?"
"I'm not sure", Brennan answered, "Remember how daycare was closed because a pipe broke? I'm not sure if they'll have it fixed by tomorrow."
"Daddy can fix it", Christine answered confidently. "I can help."
"That's very generous of you, Christine", her mother said, "But I'm confident that the Jeffersonian has hired some plumbers to fix the pipe."
"Well, tell them to hurry up", her daughter answered. "I miss Jenna and Michael and Megan. And baby Katherine, too. She's so cute."
"I'll tell them", Brennan promised solemnly. "I love you, Christine. Can I talk to your dad now?"
"OK." Christine slid the phone across the desk. In her enthusiasm, she overshot and the phone clattered to the phone. She scrambled off the chair and ran around the desk to pick it up. "I'm sorry, Mommy, I dropped you."
"I'm sure you didn't mean to. Just give me to Daddy, OK?"
Booth hit the button to take the phone off speaker phone and said, "Hey, Bones."
"Hi, Booth", she answered, "How are things going?"
"We're OK", he answered, "She colored for a while, and read some books, and we just finished a snack. I should be done soon and then we'll go home."
"I'm sorry, Booth", she replied, "I know this is an inconvenient time for me to be on my book tour."
"It's fine, Bones", he answered. "Just … hurry home. We miss you."
He could hear the smile in her voice. "I miss you too, Booth. I find I'm very much looking forward to coming home on Saturday."
On the floor, Christine was coloring a picture of a goalie, carefully outlining the net in a bright purple. "I'm looking forward to that, too, Bones. Can't wait."
"I have to go - my publisher is making extremely odd faces at me. I'll call you tonight. I love you."
"I love you too, Bones." The line went dead and he turned his attention back to his work.
He was down to the last case he needed to include in the report when there was a knock on his door. Charlie poked his head in and said, "I was just going down to the cafeteria – does anyone want to go for a walk?"
Christine looked up then hesitated, looking at Booth enquiringly. "You remember Charlie, Christine. Daddy's worked with him since before you were born. You can go for a walk with him if you want to."
The young girl scrambled to her feet. "Me, please. I want to go for a walk." Christine took Charlie's hand and they left Booth to his work.
Without his favorite distraction, Booth made short work of the rest of the report. By the time Christine returned, a suspicious chocolate milk smear around her lips, he had packed up and was ready to go.
As his daughter chattered happily about her new friend, he helped her pull on her jacket and zipped it up. They stepped into the elevator and she stood on her toes to press the button for the parking garage. Soon Christine was securely buckled in her car seat and they were on their way home.
By the time dinner was over, Christine was looking drowsy. Her bath woke her again, and, although she would have happily listened to stories all night, Booth drew the line at three. He listened to her prayers and kissed her goodnight, then made his way down the stairs to collapse on the couch.
As he reached for the remote, his phone rang.
"Booth?" She sounded distracted.
"Hey, Bones."
"Bad news." She gave a fleeting thought to cushioning the blow, but decided to jump right in. "Daycare is closed again tomorrow."
He didn't manage to stifle his groan, and she continued, "Dad's working again, but Angela says she's going to take the day off. She has agreed to watch Christine as well as her kids. Can you drop her off on the way to work?
"Yeah", he answered. "Thanks, Bones. There's only so much coloring she can do in a day."
"I'm sorry I can't be there", she replied.
"It's OK. Your book tour is important."
"Yes", she agreed, "but your job is important, too, and you already took yesterday off."
"Next time, you can take the time off", he said, enjoying the thought of the chaos that would result from Brennan taking days off of work to look after a healthy, energetic child who wanted nothing more than to see her friends.
"That would be fair", she answered doubtfully.
"50-50, that's the deal", he answered, rubbing it in just a little, "And since I got it this time ..."
"Right", she replied. "Next time, I'll stay with her. Have a good day tomorrow, and I'll see you on Saturday."
"Can't wait", he answered.
"Me either", she agreed. "And I'm sure daycare will be open again on Monday."
"Doesn't matter to me", Booth answered. "After all, next week is your turn."
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I'd love to hear what you think of this one. One more to go.
