Thank you all so much for your reviews and alerts. I know I'm late updating...sorry about that. I hope you like this chapter :)
Chapter 15
The next day when Lance returned to school he found he was VERY happy to see Skye. It meant she was alive at least..and something had apparently happened for the good cos she wasn't wearing the dreaded skirt that was the bane of her life. She was wearing pants...not exactly the same as the skinny jeans most girls wore but an improvement judging by her smile.
"Nice threads." Lance said with a grin.
"Thanks." she said. "Not exactly jeans but hey...my Mom fought for me to be able to wear these and I appreciate it." And she did. In all of her twelve years she couldn't remember her Mom standing up to her Dad.
"You look cool." Lance said. "You get in trouble?"
"Yeah I thought my hand was gonna drop right off...lines from the bible...don't ask."
"I guess you're not allowed to hang anymore hey?"
"Not in the park and not where there's no supervision."she said. "When I'm not grounded anymore...they said I might be able to come over to your house if your folks are home."
"Wow!" Lance said. "I thought they'd hate me."
"They weren't thrilled...but I explained it was my fault. That I really did it and I told them why...I want to be normal..."
"And it helped?" Lance was really proud of Skye. It would've taken real courage to stand up to her Dad like that.
"Not a lot." she said with a giggle. "But...your Dad showing up and talking to my Dad and promising they would always keep us in there sight...that helped."
"Booth did that?" Lance said impressed. He didn't even realise that he didn't skip a beat when Skye referred to Booth as his Dad. He didn't realise himself that he was starting to think of him that way.
"He sure did." Skye said. "And then my Mom got all brave and told my Dad that they did it...they made me act out cos I was made to look different.
"Wow." Lance said. "Man I thought your Dad would be real mad for sure...like he'd lock you up forever mad..."
"Well I am grounded till the end of the week."
"Me too. Maybe you can come over next weekend." Skye grinned.
"That'd be good." she said. "What about you? You get in trouble?" Lance blushed. He was sure he had a sign on his forehead that said...'I got spanked' on it.
"Yeah." he said simply. "I have to tell you though if you come next weekend Parker'll be there..."
"Oh?"
"Yep...he's Booth's real son...he's eight and very annoying."
"Awww. I bet he's real cute."
"Yeah cute...that's what he is." Lance said sarcastically. Lance just knew that Parker would be like a dog with a bone if he even just got a little inkling that he'd been in trouble. He'd want to know why for only thing that he had in his favour was the fact that Bones and Booth wouldn't want Parker to know that he stole...
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"Shut up Parker!" Lance said grouchily the following Friday. He was still grounded and just like he thought would happen, Parker was on to it in a second.
"Come onnn Lance..." he begged. "Just tell me what you did and I'll leave you alone..." Lance put his head in his hands. There was no way he wanted Parker to find out about the last weekend. Lance rang Booth and after telling that Parker was bugging him he tossed the smaller boy the phone.
"Parker...leave Lance alone." Booth said after saying hi. After Parker was finished talking to his Dad he hung up and tossed the phone back to Lance. "Tattler." he said.
Parker begrudgingly walked away. He would have to leave it for a while at least. Well he'd leave it with Lance...his Dad hadn't said he had to leave Bones alone.
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Parker leaned on the Bone's office desk and watched as Bones tapped away while working on her latest book.
"Can I help you Parker?" she asked the small boy, stopping to turn and face him with a smile. She loved this little boy, there was so much of Booth written across his small handsome face.
"Maybe." he said with an impish grin.
"Okay..."
"Why's Lance grounded til Sunday?" he asked.
"Because he got into trouble." Bones said matter of factly.
"I KNOW he got in trouble... what I don't know is what for?" Bones looked the little boy in the eye. She didn't see any malice there...just curiosity, still it wasn't really his business.
"That...Parker would be Lance's business and maybe your Dad's." Parker had to stop and think. He was obviously gonna have to handle this exactly the right way.
"Ok. I get it." he said getting up to leave. "Dad's in charge. You wouldn't wanna go against him I guess." The hair stood up on the back of Bones neck.
"Hey." she said. "Your Dad and I are partners...equals." she said.
"Oh ok." Parker said with a smile... "If you say so."
"I do say so." Bones said. "And...I'm still not going to tell you what Lance did." she said suddenly finding herself giggling. "That was very clever of you Parker to try and trick my like that..." Parker sighed and rolled his eyes. "Not however clever enough..."
"Ok Bones." Parker said miserably.
"I have three doctorates." she whispered. Parker's eyes teared up.
"Your being mean." he said. Bones experienced a moment of panic. Had she really just taunted an eight year old child because she was smarter than him...?
"Oh Parker." she said awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I was just having a little joke with you." Parker started to cry a little harder and Bones felt like a complete heel.
"You don't trust me." he said with a sob.
"Oh Parker...I do...I do trust you. It's just that..." Parker wound himself up a little more.
"Parker if I tell you... you have to keep a secret and promise not to tease Lance." she said.
"I promise." Parker said, all signs of tears gone. Bones had a feeling she was not exactly doing the right thing but she did it anyway. Anything to make Parker feel better.
"Lance got into a little trouble with his new girlfriend." she said, sure that she was playing it down. Parker ears pricked up. Lance had a girlfriend? Ewww.
"What they do?" he asked.
"They..." Bones tried to think how much to tell him and she remembered how Booth liked to filter some information like the whole Christmas lie...apparently that was good for children. "They borrowed a couple of things from the store and...Booth wasn't very happy."
"I... bet." Parker said slowly with his eyes as wide as Bones had ever seen them. There was a sparkle in them that Bones was a little unsure of. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything...what if Parker found the whole thing exciting and copied... "But he got into trouble. BIG trouble."
"He get spanked even?" Parker asked, his big brown eyes full of childish curiosity.
"Uhhuh. Hard and on his bare bottom." Bones added helpfully to scare the child off stealing even more. She did that. In fact, Parker was speechless. Almost.
"Wow." he said. "Gotta go."
"Um where are you going?" Bones asked. "You're not going to tell Lance now are you...you promised?"
"Ok Bones." the child said as he hot footed up the stairs.
Bones went back to work, positive that the crisis had been averted. She didn't know why Booth stressed about handling things with the kids just so...all you needed was love, some discipline when necessary and a little honestly and everything would be fine.
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Lance was laying on his bed listening to his own thoughts and bouncing a ball off the ceiling when Parker burst through the door again.
"Get out." Lance said with a bored expression.
"Why?" Parker asked.
"Um...maybe because your annoying."
"Am not... anyway...I'm not gonna ask you anymore."
"Not gonna ask me what?" Lance said.
"What you got in trouble for?" Lance stopped bouncing the ball and sat up.
"Why?" he asked, with eyes filled with suspicion.
"No reason." Parker said. "I just don't wanna know about it anymore..."
"Uhhuh." Lance said. "What do you know you annoying little troll?"
"I am not a troll! Anyway your not so big...just because you have a..." Parker clapped a hand over his mouth like the action would actually suck back the words that has already slipped out.
"Just because I have a what?" Lance asked as he grabbed Parker's shirt and pulled him towards him.
"Nuthin...honest..." Parker said. "Bones didn't tell me nuthin." Lance rolled his eyes. Bones. He probably tricked her into it but still. Could you trust no one?
"Get out!" Lance said grabbing Parker's arm and towing him to the doorway. He left the room with the ejected tennant and ran down the stairs to Bones office.
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Bones was attempting to tie all the threads of the murder case together in her story when Lance hurtled through the door followed very closely by Parker. They were both pushing and shoving to get through the doorway first.
"Bones did you tell Parker?" Lance blurted out indignantly.
"I didn't tell... honest Bones!" Parker squeaked. "He kinda guessed." Bones was a little out of her depth... There was no black and white solution to this problem.
"Parker..." she started to say.
""Oh great!" Lance whined dramatically. Waving his long arms around for effect."So you did tell him!"
"Not exactly..." she tried to explain. "Parker felt that we didn't trust him." Lance scoffed.
"We DON'T BONES!" Lance said.
"Ok now you're being insolent Lance." Lance rolled his eyes and bobbled his head while he mimicked what had just been said.
"Now you're being insolent Lance." he said.
"Go up to your room Lance." she said. "You obviously need some time to cool down."
"Of course I do..." he spat. "It's always me..." He went to swipe Parker but the smaller boy ducked...
"No hitting." Bones said sternly. Parker stuck his tongue out at Lance. "And no tongue poking." Oh my...when was Booth coming home? she thought. She'd made a royal mess out of this that's for sure.
"Both of you stop." Bones pleaded desperately.
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Booth was on his way home wondering what they were gonna have for dinner and looking forward to seeing Parker. He'd had to follow something up at work so Rebecca had dropped Parker off after school. He smiled when he thought of Bones with the boys. What an amazing transformation she'd made to motherhood, especially when you consider how quickly it had been thrust on her. Booth was as proud as punch.
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"BOYS!" Bones shouted. "I mean it." Both boys completely ignored her and when went on wrestling around on her rug. "Somebody's going to get hurt." Just then her phone rang...
"What the hell's goin on there hon?" Ang said.
"The boys are fighting...Lance is angry at me and so he's trying to kill Parker...Parker seems to think that's funny and keeps taunting him..."
"Sounds like sibling rivalry." Ang said with a smile. "Where's Booth?"
"On his way home I hope."
At the key turning in the front door Bones breathed a sigh of relief. "He's here now." She said to Ang. Like magic both boys stopped wrestling and sat on Bone's sofa like a pair of angels. "Now they've stopped." she said her voice laced with relief.
"I just bet they have." Ang giggled.
"You're not gonna tell are you Bones?" Lance asked sweetly. "Cos then I'd know I couldn't trust you." Bones was slightly confused. She HAD already betrayed Lance's trust once... not on purpose but...she didn't want him to not trust her. Parker could see she was bending.
"Yeah Bones please?" he asked his curls bouncing around his angelic face like a halo. "No one wants a MOM they can't trust." And those words sealed the deal. Parker had almost called her Mom.
"Have to go Ang." she said quickly.
"Oh hon...you're not gonna fall for that blackmail are you?" Ang said. She sighed when she realised she was talking to herself.
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"Daddy!" Parker yelled when his Dad came through the door. He raced across the room and threw himself into his Dad's arms.
"Hey there Buddy." Booth said gathering the little boy in his arms for a big hug.
"Hey Daddy." he said sweetly. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Booth said. "Both of you." He walked over to Lance and pulled him into a side hug too. Bones quietly contemplated what to do...
"Hi Booth." she said. He crossed to her and kissed her.
"And I missed you too Bones." he grinned. "Everybody been good for Bones?" And there was the question.
"Have we Bones?" Both boys asked with big smiles. Bones smiled guiltily, she felt like she was the one in trouble.
"Yes." she said. "They've been fine." Probably just sibling rivalry like Ang had said, she told herself.
Parker and Lance shared a smile. Well at least they're getting along, she thought.
TBC