So this chapter didn't go the way I wanted it to go, but oh well. I hope you like it :)
Jared staggers into the room, his hand holding onto the door to steady himself a little. His eyes are bloodshot, his hair, which he's grown out since his Navy days, is a bit greasy and messy, he's sporting a five-o'clock shadow and fresh black eye, and his shirt is wrinkled, stained, and buttoned out of order.
Christine, who's been talking to Hank, stops abruptly and turns her head towards the door. Her face lights up immediately when she realizes who the visitor is. She slips off the mattress and makes her way over to her uncle. "Uncle Jared! Hi." Before she reaches him, however, her mother intercepts and makes it to him faster. "Mommy, move, please. I wanna give Uncle Jared a hug. I haven't seen him in forever."
"Not now, Honey."
"But mommy!" Christine tries to get to Jared again, but her mother holds her back.
Brennan turns around, so her back is to her brother-in-law, and looks down at her daughter. "Mommy's just going to step outside and talk to Uncle Jared for a couple minutes. Why don't you tell your great-grandfather about how well you're doing in school?"
Christine smiles. "Okay." She skips back to the bed and climbs up, sitting between Hank's legs, her back against the footboard.
Parker just continues to stare, observing his stepmom's behavior and taking in his uncle's disheveled appearance. He realizes pretty quickly that something is wrong. "Bones, what's going on?"
Brennan gives him a pointed look. "Don't worry about it, Parker. Your father and I are handling this."
"But—."
"But nothing. I'll be right back."
"Is he drinking again?"
Brennan looks at the teenager and nods. "Your father believes so, yes. Just stay here, okay? Don't worry about it. Your father and I have this handled."
Parker nods and looks at Jared again, then back to Brennan. "Okay."
Brennan turns back to Jared and gives him a forceful shove out into the hallway, causing the man to stumble back. She follows him and shuts the door behind her.
Brennan purposely stands directly in front of the door and narrows her eyes. She waits a minute before she asks, "What are you doing here, Jared?"
Jared bites his bottom lip. "I'm here to see Pops. Seeley says he's dying. My big brother gave me this big speech about family and respect. Plus, I knew I'd regret not coming here. Seel made it sound like our grandfather's really sick, like if I didn't come now, I probably wouldn't be able to see him until the funeral."
She scrunches up her nose. Her brother-in-law reeks of sweat, alcohol, and another odor she can't quite pinpoint, though she's pretty sure it's pepperoni and sausage pizza. "When's the last time you showered, changed your clothes, or brushed your teeth?"
Jared runs his hand back through his hair and scrubs his stubble. "I don't remember—a couple days?"
"Are you drunk?"
"Nah, I'm not drunk." Jared stands up straighter. "I'm hungover, but I'm not drunk, there's a difference." He pauses. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go in that room and say hello to my grandfather." He takes a step forward, but she extends her arm, pressing her hand to his chest, stopping him from advancing any farther.
"You're not going in there in your current condition. I'm glad you realize that your brother was right and that you should have come and visit Hank, but what I do not and cannot understand is how you could even think showing up here, looking like this, was in any way respectful."
"No offense, but this is really none of your business."
"It's not?" Brennan asks, a bit of sarcasm shining through. "Last time I checked, the second I entered into a monogamous, long-term relationship with your brother, everything that involves the loosely defined term of family became my business." She pauses. "I care about him deeply and I also care about Hank. He rescued you from your abusive and alcoholic father, he tried to give you a better life, and now that he's dying, this is how you repay him? You show up hungover, reeking of booze, and with your shirt stained and buttoned incorrectly?"
"Listen, Tempe, I don't need a lecture from you too."
"Don't call me Tempe." She glances through the window and then looks back at Jared. "I'm not lecturing you, Jared. I'm telling you my honest opinion." She pauses. "You're not going in that room, not right now anyway."
"You can't tell me what I can and can't do. You're not my mom. I'm a grown man."
"When there are four innocent kids in that room, four kids that I'm currently responsible for, then I certainly can tell you what you can and can't do, and I'm telling you that you're not going in there right now." She pauses. "Maybe I should just call security. Let them handle it. I'm surprised they let you in."
"There's no need to make this a security issue. I'm just here to see Pops."
"Go home, Jared, take a shower, change your clothes, have a cup of coffee, and eat something, then come back. Booth and I will be gone by then. I'm not denying you a chance to say goodbye to Hank, but while my kids are in that room, there's no way I'm letting you in there."
He takes a step closer to her, invading her personal space completely, their bodies practically pressed together, and reaches behind her, resting his hand on the doorknob.
She flicks her eyes up to his and holds his gaze, neither looking away nor blinking. She allows him to turn the knob, but doesn't move from her post against the door.
"Move, Temperance."
She shakes her head. "I already told you that you're not going in there."
"I said, move, Temperance," he repeats, his voice louder and deeper.
"And I said, no."
He gives her a shove to the side before she can register what's happening, and then opens the door.
The shove wasn't all that powerful, but her ankle rolls as a result of it, subsequently causing her hip to crash into the edge of the table beside her against the wall and she loses her balance.
He's about to step into the room when he feels himself being pulled back by the collar of his shirt. The door slam shut in front of him, and the next thing he knows, he's being shoved up against the wall with his arm yanked back and pinned behind him. He turns his head to the side, getting a view of his brother's venomous glare. "Seeley, where have you been? Your wife is refusing to let me in to see Pops."
"Shut up, Jared." Booth glances at Brennan, who's still sitting on the floor. "Are you okay, Bones?"
She nods. "Yes, I'm fine."
Booth, despite not being satisfied by that blatant stretch of the truth, turns back to his brother and holds him against the wall.
"Whoa, big brother, relax. Like I was telling your wife, I'm not drunk, I'm hungover."
"Shut up, Jared." Booth yanks his brother's arm back a little farther. "I don't care if you're drunk, sober, or hungover, don't you ever touch her again, you hear me? Or you're a dead man." He releases him and steps back. "Go home. Shower, change your clothes, and take a nap. If you want to visit Pops, which you should, come back later when Bones and I aren't here, when our kids aren't here visiting." He gives his little brother one final push and watches him leave.
Booth walks over to Brennan and kneels down beside her. "You sure you're okay?"
Brennan nods. "Booth, I'm fine." She shifts, wincing slightly.
Booth stands up and holds out his hand. "C'mon."
She grabs his hand and uses him and the table top as leverage. It's not until she's upright and tries to balance her weight, that she realizes that she twisted her right ankle. She swallows hard and blinks as an intense shock of pain shoots up her leg. She leans back against the wall and looks up into her partner's eyes.
Booth kneels down again and lifts her right leg slightly, removing her shoe carefully, cringing when she sucks in air. He brushes his thumb over the tender flesh of her already swollen ankle and looks up at her.
"It's just a sprain. I'll be fine." She rubs her hip, feeling the throbbing pain from being shoved into the edge of the table.
"And your hip?"
"I'll have a bruise and it will probably be sore for a couple days, but I'm fine, Booth, really."
"I'm gonna kill him." He pauses. "What happened?"
"I refused to let him in the room, he told me to move and I didn't. He shoved me before I had a chance to react and I slammed into the edge of the table, my ankle rolled to the side, and I lost my balance."
"That's not what I'm asking, Bones. I saw that as I was running down the hallway."
"Oh." She pauses. "Jared just showed up and I took him out in the hall to talk to him in private. All there is to say is that I refused to let him in there to see Hank in his current state and he didn't like that."
He sighs. "Do you want to go home?"
"No. I want to go back in there, spend some time visiting with Hank, and then you, me, Christine, Parker, Dakota, and Henry are going to go trick-or-treating. Your brother may have spoiled a perfectly good day for you and me, but I'll be damned if I let him ruin this day for the kids."
He smiles and stands up. He leans into her and presses his lips hard against hers.
She responds quickly and grabs hold of his shirt, keeping him close to her. She smiles against his lips and an escaped moan echoes in his mouth.
He breaks the kiss and rests his hand against her cheek, skimming the pad of his thumb across her skin, getting rid of the tears. "Are you sure you're up to trick-or-treating? I mean, your ankle, your hip, can you even walk?"
She nods. "I'm fine."
"I can see that. I didn't ask if you were okay, Bones, I asked if you're alright to walk." He bends down and replaces her shoe, glancing up at her when she inhales sharply. "Bones."
She straightens, placing both feet firmly on the floor, and cautiously takes a step forward. She winces as she limps towards the door and opens it.
He quickly catches up to her, hooking his arm around hers. He leans in close and whispers as they pass the threshold, "Lean on me, I've got you. I'll be your crutch."