A/N: Happy Independence Day!
The chapters in this story are written as inspiration strikes, so they won't be in chronological order.
This chapter is based on something that happened to one of my relatives.
The words I used are travel, memories, and complicated, and the holiday is National Aviation Day, which is August 19.
It was a bright blue summer day in August, and the Los Angeles airport was bustling with activity as crowds of passengers hurried to find the correct concourse for their flight's departure or made their way towards the baggage claim areas.
Puffing out a sigh, Brennan sat back in her seat at her gate's waiting area. It seemed that everyone at the airport was going somewhere…everyone except for the people who were supposed to be flying to Washington, DC that afternoon. Their flight had been delayed three hours because of flight crew staffing issues as well as some unexpected mechanical problems with their scheduled aircraft.
She reached over to gently rub Hank's back as he snored softly, sprawled out comfortably on the seats next to her. Even though he was only three, he'd managed to handle the long plane to California, as well as the long wait to return home, without much trouble. He was a happy child, easily entertained and quite adaptable when faced with new situations. She smiled to herself as a humorous thought occurred to her. When it came to traveling, with its unexpected misadventures, unforeseen complications, and petty nuisances, in many ways this small child was much easier to deal with than his father.
She stole a glance at her mate, and was surprised to find that at the moment he didn't seem irritable or annoyed in the slightest. Normally under circumstances that involved aimless waiting for an extended period of time, he'd become frustrated, and that frustration often led to his uttering expletives and other colorful language that small children didn't need to hear. This afternoon, however, he was content to read his newspaper and work the crossword puzzle…with no cross words involved.
Clearing her throat, she nudged him with her elbow. "I find it ironic that our flight is delayed on National Aviation Day."
"Hmm?" Shrugging, he gave her a smile. "Oh…yeah, well, I guess there's nothing we can do about it, right? After all, I'd rather make sure they fix the mechanical issues now, while the plane is on the ground, so we don't have any problems while we're in the air…"
"Very true." She tilted her head to one side as she studied him. "However, I find it surprising that you're so…calm…in the face of this obstacle."
"Well, this is really no big deal…as far as I can tell, it's just a little glitch, and we'll be home soon enough." He chuckled as he folded his newspaper and put it aside. "Anyway, my Pops always said that complications are what make the best memories on a trip…you know, like when you have to take a detour and end up seeing something you didn't know you wanted to see or the famous restaurant you want to visit is closed and you somehow find some cool little out of the way place that serves the perfect slice of apple pie. That kind of stuff is what makes traveling fun."
"I suppose so. Serendipity can often be fun when it happens on a journey and it allows you to find an unexpected treasure." She grimaced slightly as Hank stirred in his sleep. "I guess I'm used to my travel itineraries for book tours being outlined in a precise fashion, so I sometimes find even minor changes in my schedule to be unsettling."
"Yeah, I get that…and sometimes I do feel grumpy if I'm stuck in an airport and I want to get home to see you guys after being gone for a couple of days." He reached over to hold her hand. "But right now, we don't have to be anywhere at a certain time and we don't have to catch a connecting flight, okay? I'm here at the airport with my family after having a great time in Los Angeles, and, to be honest, I'm not all that anxious to go back to work. Besides, pretty soon Christine will need to be back at school, so our days will be more hectic with all her activities. We might as well enjoy this quiet time while we have it, right?"
"You're correct…even though we have to wait, being with you this way is very pleasant. Because I was so busy on this trip, I feel as if I didn't get enough time with you and our children while we were here in Los Angeles.," Brennan said softly. "I had to spend more time than expected collaborating with the producer, the director, and the screenwriter as they made adjustments to the adaptation of my novel before they could make it into a movie. Some of their ideas for changes in the plot were truly outrageous…"
"Yeah, I know, and that's aggravating, but we worked it out so we still got to do a lot of fun stuff, too, and we got to spend some family time together without worrying about being called out to look at some gross remains. I've enjoyed that break from the stress of work."
"As have I."
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a plaintive whine. "Mommy, I'm bored!"
Brennan raised an eyebrow at her daughter's complaint. "Christine, a child as intelligent as you are should be able to find something to occupy time so as to avoid boredom. Have you read all the books we downloaded on your tablet?"
The little girl nodded solemnly. "I read all of them at least three times…and I've rewatched all my videos, too."
Undeterred, Brennan continued. "Why don't you use your imagination and draw some pictures using the art application that Aunt Angela has put on the tablet?"
"My 'magination is tired, Mommy! I can't think of anything to draw!"
Sighing softly, Brennan nodded. "Well, perhaps now would be a good time to talk about why large planes can fly through the air. After all, it is National Aviation Day…"
Hoping to avoid an incredibly boring physics lesson, Booth patted his wife's knee. "C'mon, Bones…Christine has been really good while we've been waiting for our flight. Anyway, she probably needs a break from her tablet, okay?" He winked at his little girl as he handed her an apple. "I know…how about I tell you a story?"
"Okay." She sat on her father's knee and nestled next to him before taking a bite of her snack. "What kind of story is it?"
"It's a funny story, but it's true!" He laughed at her surprise. "Are you ready?"
The little girl wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Uh huh…"
"Okay, here we go. Many years ago, me and Mommy took a trip to London, England…"
Christine's lower lip protruded in a pout. "How come I didn't get to go?"
"Well…like I said, it was many years ago, and you weren't born yet, okay?"
"Oh…"
"Anyway, I guess Mommy forgot that I'd traveled some while I was in the Army so she made sure to tell me about the very best way to pack my suitcase and my carry-on bag, especially when we got ready to come home…I had lots of souvenirs to bring back…"
"Booth!," Brennan protested. "You make it sound like I was being a bossy know-it-all…"
"What? Of course not! I know you were just trying to help me out." He laughed at her slight scowl. "Anyway, Mommy gave me lots of instructions on how to pack my bags, and it was hard to follow all of them, but I finally managed it. We had an interesting two weeks in London…"
"Why was it interesting?," Christine asked innocently.
"A lot of stuff happened…" Booth paused slightly as he remembered solving a couple of murders in England while on that trip. "...but that's not the point. The point is that after two weeks we flew back to the US and landed at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, and then we had to go through customs, which is where they make sure you're not bringing in bad stuff into the country…"
Christine's brow furrowed so that she looked exactly like her mother. "What kind of bad stuff?"
"Oh…you know…dragons and magic wands and stuff like that…" Hearing Brennan clear her throat in annoyance, he hurriedly continued. "Anyway, I got through with the customs check with no problems, and I was standing around, waiting for your mom, when suddenly all these flashing lights and really loud sirens went off and all sorts of police officers were running towards one of the customs counters. I couldn't imagine what had happened, so I went to find Mommy, to make sure she was okay."
Christine regarded him with a curious smile. "Where was she?"
"She was about to be arrested by a customs agent because he'd found some unknown goop in the small front pocket of her carry-on bag! It was sticky and black and it smelled yucky, so he thought it was some sort of biological hazard that she was bringing into the country to hurt somebody!"
Turning to her mother, Christine giggled. "But it wasn't anything bad, was it?"
"Of course not! We figured out later that I'd been in a hurry to board the plane when we left for London, so I had put my banana in that little pocket and then forgot about it for two weeks. I'm not sure why we couldn't smell it as it spoiled…but we didn't, and it just sat there in the dark, rotting away…"
"So did Mommy get 'rested?"
"Nah…of course not. I couldn't let Mommy get arrested, right?" Booth grinned at Brennan, who smiled sheepishly at him. "I showed the agent my FBI badge and told him that Dr. Brennan was conducting an experiment for the federal government about the rate of decay of different fruits. I guess he believed us, because after giving Mommy a stern warning, he let us go."
Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Christine shook her head. "I don't think I'd like to find a rotten banana in my suitcase! I guess that means I should let Mommy carry the snacks if we go on a trip."
"That's probably a wise choice." Brennan tousled Christine's hair. "I'll make sure to do a better job taking care of bananas in the future."
A voice suddenly came over the airport's intercom. "Attention: Passengers on American Flight 781, nonstop service to Washington, DC…thank you for your patience. Our replacement jet has arrived, our flight crew has checked in, and we anticipate boarding will begin in approximately 20 minutes. Please return to the gate area as quickly as possible so we can depart without further delay…"
Booth nodded as he picked up his newspaper. "Looks like we're gonna make it home today after all." He winked at Christine. "You'd better take care of your apple scraps, Sweetheart. We don't need to find any more nasty surprises in our luggage, right?"
Gathering up the scraps, Christine ran to put them in a nearby trash can. "You're right, Daddy. I don't want anything icky in my bag!"
"Good." Booth grinned at Brennan as she gently roused Hank from his nap. "I don't think we need any more surprises on this trip."
Oooooooooo
It was late that same evening as Booth sat on the edge of his bed, untying his shoes and removing his socks. He smiled as his wife entered their bedroom. "I bet those kids were tired…"
"I'm certain they both fell asleep within five minutes of getting into their beds." She stifled a yawn. "I don't know why, but I'm tired, too, even though I didn't really do anything today…"
"Well, sometimes waiting around for something to happen can be harder than actually doing something." Booth pulled off his tee shirt and stepped out of his jeans. "Anyway, we're home, right? We don't have to do anything tomorrow, so we can just relax…"
"We don't have to do anything except laundry and grocery shopping…," Brennan giggled. She quickly tossed aside her clothes and stretched out on their bed. "Although those things can be done later in the day. I think we can relax this evening and then sleep in tomorrow." She gave him a sly wink. "What do you think?"
"I think I have a brilliant wife…" He crawled into bed and put his arms around her. "Hmm…very relaxing…"
"Booth…"
"Yeah?"
"Do you have any good memories of our trip to London?"
"Well…there were those two cute female police officers…"
She pretended to glare at him. "I mean about London itself. We didn't really get to see a lot of the city, and we didn't visit much of the countryside, either…"
"True…"
"And I think the children will soon be old enough to handle a long flight to Europe."
"So…you think we need to plan a trip to the UK, right? Like within the next few years?"
"Maybe so. What do you think? Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Yeah, I think so…" He chuckled as he pulled her close. "As long as we don't bring any bananas…"
Thanks for reading. If you have time to review, I'd appreciate it. Laura.
