Note: Thanks for the comments on the last one. And Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it.
What if: Brennan organized an Easter egg hunt for the kids?
AU? No
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It was a beautiful spring day, and the adults clustered on the porch as the children ran around the yard, searching for colourful, plastic eggs. Christine and Michael were having a competition to see who could find the most.
Well, actually, Christine was competing with Michael. Michael just smiled his sweet smile and let her do whatever she wanted, just like always.
Parker was holding hands with little Katherine, guiding her around the yard and being sure to let her feel the coolness of the damp dirt and the hardness of the smooth plastic. Occasionally, Christine's shrieks would stop for long enough that the adults could hear Parker and Katherine talking about the sound of the wind in the trees or the calls of the different birds.
Angela snuggled closer to her husband and tried to capture the moment, knowing that as her daughter grew, she'd have to face people and places that were far less friendly and accepting than the family they'd become.
When no one had found an egg in at least five minutes, they all traipsed inside and gathered around the kitchen table. The eggs were divvied up, and the kids started to open them.
The first egg contained a slip of paper with the word "Iridium" on it.
The second contained "Beryllium".
The rest of them contained Selenium, Phosphorus, muinimulA, Manganese, Carbon, Florine, and Tellurium.
The children exchanged glances, puzzled about why there was no candy in sight. In the silence, Parker barely managed to stop Katherine from eating one of the clues.
Angela nudged Hodgins and he stepped forward, clapping his hands and asking, "Can I help?"
He scooped up the papers and arranged them in front of him. "OK, these are elements. Well, most of them are, so let's see if we can figure out what they mean."
He grinned at the group and ruffled his daughter's hair. "It's a code. I love codes. Now let's see, these elements all have symbols. That might help." He glanced at Brennan and raised his eyebrows, hoping for a hint, but she was completely impassive, as if she didn't want to cheat by giving him any clues.
Hodgins continued said, "We'll start with symbols. We have … Ir, Be, Se, P, … not sure what muinimulA is … Mn, C, F, and Te. As he spoke, he wrote the appropriate symbol on the each scrap of paper. He pushed the identified symbols to Parker, saying, "See if you can arrange these so they make sense", and turned his attention back to the remaining word.
It only took a few seconds for him to realize the significance of the capital letter at the end of the word instead of the beginning, and he crowed, "Aluminum! But backwards, so La instead of Al." He shot a triumphant glance at Brennan, who remained impassive, and Booth, who shot him a thumbs up, and asked, "Any luck, Parker?"
The two of them huddled over the the clues, moving them around in the hope of making sense of them. After a few minutes, Christine tired of waiting and dragged the other kids off to see her Easter basket.
It took 25 minutes for Hodgins and Parker to assemble the letters into order – Be Se Mn Te F Ir P La C. "Basement fireplace!", Parker yelled.
Seconds later, the younger kids thundered into the room. "Did you figure it out?", Christine shouted, three steps ahead of Michael and Katherine.
Parker ruffled her hair. "Think so, Squirt. Let's check the fireplace downstairs."
He took Katherine's hand as the kids rushed to the stairs. As always, Christine was in the lead, with Michael close on her heels. The adults followed, and soon the whole group was gathered around the basket on the fireplace, divvying up bags of jelly beans and chocolate eggs.
Booth slung his arm across Brennan's shoulder. "Next year", he said, "I'm planning the egg hunt."
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Comments? Suggestions? Questions about what's up with Katherine? Tips on how to stop eating jelly beans before you feel sick? Drop me a line.