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Chapter 21

"I'm not happy with any of you." Booth said with his hands on his hips.

Bones, Lance and Parker were all standing in a line like three naughty kids outside the principal's office. They all had two things in common. Guilt and trepidation.

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Bones knew that Booth would be the most upset with her. She was the adult and she knew better than to leave the kids by themselves. Booth had asked her specifically not to do so and she'd ignored him.

She gave Lance a sideways glance of disapproval. She'd trusted him. Both of them. And he'd done the unthinkable, he'd taken that trust all the way up the stairs with Skye. He hadn't even given her or the position he'd left her in another thought. Of course she had gotten a little carried away with her writing. She looked over at Parker who was looking as nervous as Lance. For once she actually felt a little sorry for him. He'd tried to cover for them. For all of them and yet he was standing there in trouble too. Didn't seem fair really. But hey! She was standing there too. She was and adult, she really shouldn't be standing there with the children. She opened her mouth to tell Booth exactly that when he looked at her sternly and put a finger to his mouth to silence her. She had no idea why it rattled her but it did, and that nervous feeling was back in her tummy again.

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Booth was so upset with his family. They all seemed to think that rules didn't apply. He'd said specifically that the kids weren't to be left alone. Bones had said she heard him. She'd promised. He saw the look slide across her face and then he knew she was going to start with the justifications using big words that basically boiled down to him being wrong by asking her to not leave the kids alone. How HER breaking her promise was all his fault. Well it wasn't and he wasn't having it. Not this time.

"Boys pick a corner." he said. "Bones and I need to talk about something upstairs." Lance and Parker looked at each other with wide eyes before wandering to two different corners.

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That's more like it, Bones thought. They were going to talk upstairs like adults. She'd be able to make Booth understand that she was aware that she'd broken a promise, but that the request he'd made had been an unreasonable one.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Bones found herself propelled into the bedroom by her elbow.

"Booth!" she said with annoyance. Apparently he'd forgotten that she wasn't a suspect or a child that had disobeyed, because the hold he had on her was very reminiscent of either of those instances. "Stop it Booth!"

When they were both inside their bedroom he kicked the door shut. "You! Are in a LOT of trouble Bones." he said.

"Me?" Bones said with a crooked smile. "Booth I'm not a child."

"And yet, you keep joining the kids team."

"I don't know what that means Booth."

"What that means is that you keep undermining me." He wiggled his hand between the two of them. "WE are supposed to be the coaches, them managers, the ones in charge. The KIDS are the players. We tell them what to do and they do it."

"But Booth, I didn't agree with watching them all the time Booth. I didn't allow them to go upstairs! I just left them alone in the living room. I was ONLY one room away. I was only going to leave them for a short time."

"Uh huh. How'd that work out Bones?"

"It didn't really, but that's because LANCE and SKYE disobeyed me and went upstairs."

"Go figure that Bones." Booth said sarcastically. "Now where would they learn a thing like that?"

"I don't have to obey you Booth." Bones said with her hands on her hips. This wasn't her fault.

"I didn't say that you did Bones. But by telling them they didn't have to worry about what I said, and by breaking a promise that they heard you make, you told them that they didn't have to obey either."

"Oh." she said. "I didn't look at it that way, but it was a silly rule."

Booth shook his head. "That's it. I won't embarrass you by making you stand in the corner downstairs like the boys but you can stand in that corer over there." he said pointing to the far corner.

Bones giggled. "I'm not going to stand in the corner Booth. In fact I have no idea what standing in the corner even accomplishes." she said.

"Yes Bones you are. I've talked to you I've explained to you, I've been as patient as I can be. Now I'm going to use the hands on approach. You act like one of the kids then I'm going to treat you like one."

Bones wanted to argue but she found herself helped to the corner with a hard smack to her bottom.

"Booth!" she said rubbing the sting out of her bottom. "That hurt."

"Uh huh. Now stand in that corner and think about today. Think about what would have happened if Skye's Dad caught them upstairs and you in your office. Think about how you would feel if I broke a promise to you. If you told the kids not to do something and I went a head and told them they could do what they wanted. "

"I don't see Booth, how staring at paint is going to take any of that back." she said.

"Trust me. It will."

He shut the door and went back downstairs to deal with the boys.

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Bones moved out of the corner and sat on the bed. She didn't understand what just happened. She understood that Booth was upset and she could even concede that she may have been mistaken, leaving the kids alone. She certainly would not have wanted to face the preacher if he had caught them upstairs.

What were they doing upstairs anyway? She thought. They're too young to be having sexual intercourse. In some cultures perhaps but she was pretty sure that Lance was in no way ready yet for such a step. Her mind drifting that way did though make her cringe. That would have been bad. That would have been extremely bad. Still she should NOT have been sent to the corner like a small child. Really. She couldn't help that annoying feeling of nervousness though that made her feel slightly unwell. It was almost like her stomach was fluttering. Strange.

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Lance ran his bare toe along the floor and his head turned to look at Parker who was very quiet. He may even be crying, Lance thought. He tried to see.

"You ok Parks?" he asked quietly.

Parker nodded.

"I'm sorry you ended up in trouble." Lance whispered. "What you did was way cool."

Really?" Parker asked. His face lit up.

"Yeah! If you hadn't come up when you did Skye's Dad would have taken her away and stopped her from coming here ever again. You did good."

Parker grinned widely. "I didn't want my Dad to get in trouble either." he said. "Or Bones. I love you guys."

"You're not so bad." Lance said, his face flushing with embarrassment. He felt a little bad for how mean and impatient he'd been with Parker. "Sorry I said you couldn't play."

"That's ok. Sorry I kept bugging you. " Parker said. "It's just that being an only child sucks and I'm happy to have a big brother. I just wish sometimes you were happy to have a little brother.

"Man." Lance said. He felt like a heel. "Parks, I don't mind playing with you. In fact there's even times when I like it. But sometimes I just wanna be with my friends.

"Ok." Parker said sadly.

Lance chewed the inside of his cheek. Now he'd upset him again and he didn't mean to. "Parker what if every time you come I make time to play with just you. Special time.

"That'd be so great!" Parker said excitedly.

"But then you have to leave me alone when I say." Lance said seriously.

Parker looked at Lance and then nodded.

"I promise." he said with a nod of his curly head.

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Booth had been standing on the stairs out of sight. It was true that the boys should have been standing there silently but considering what they were talking about he let it pass, at least until they were finished. It seemed they may have finally found some kind of peace. His dilemma was who was who was to be punished and how. Parker had obviously been trying to help, but he shouldn't have been covering for Lance and Skye , for Bones or even for him. Still it wasn't as bad as what Lance had done. Lance had deliberately disobeyed him and then Bones too.

"Right Parker, Lance, front and centre." he said standing in the middle of the family room.

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"Um...Booth?" Lance said. "I don't think you should punish Parker. He was only trying to help all of us."

"I didn't want that man to come and yell at everyone." he said. "He would have stopped Skye from visiting Lance."

"How did you even know that anybody needed saving?" Booth asked curiously.

"I dunno. Bones was in charge." he said. "Bones is great Dad but I kinda thought she'd give in. She always gives in."

"Hmmm. But she wouldn't give in if you kids didn't badger her."

"I wasn't even here." Parker said.

"I know, which is why you aren't in as much trouble a sLance this time. But, you still shouldn't have covered for you brother."

"Ok." Parker said.

"Go upstairs and get your DS and bring it to me." Booth said seriously.

"Oh man!" Parker said.

"Go get it Parker. Two weeks. If you argue I can make it a month." Parker's eyes blinked several times before he shot up the stairs to retrieve the DS.

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"You do understand what you did was really silly and very wrong." Booth said.

"I know. I just, it's hard. Skye."

"Stop right there. You can't blame Skye. She may have pressured you but you have to make your own decisions Lance. We've been here and done this before."

Lance nodded. "I know. I'm sorry Booth. It won't happen again." he said.

"I know it wont." Booth beckoned Lance over. He bent the boy over the back of the sofa and yanked his jeans down, leaving his boxer shorts in place. He brought his hand down several times in a row.

"Ow. Ow. Ow." Lance yelped. "I'm sorry."

Booth's hand clapped off his wriggling behind several more times, making Lance squirm. He didn't even have a chance to yell or cry before his jeans were yanked back up. It was about the lightest spanking he'd ever gotten since he came to live with Bones and Booth and he was feeling elated. Sweet, he thought. His butt stung a bit but not half as bad as it would have been normally.

He stood and Booth gave him a hug and kissed the top of his head.

"You have to think things out properly Lance." he said.

"Oh I will." Lance said happily.

"You'll have plenty of time to think about the best way to go about that next time." Booth said. "Go pack up your Xbox from down here and the other one in your room, put them in the kitchen on the counter. You'll get them back in two weeks."

Lance's mouth dropped open, but before he ruined it for himself he closed it. He'd gotten off lightly and he knew it.

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Booth waited impatiently for the boys to bring down their games. As soon as he'd taken possession of them and put them on top of one of the kitchen cabinets, he sent each boy to their room to reflect on the days events and give him some alone time with Bones. It was time they cleared the air once and for all.

TBC