A/N: the words I used in this chapter are rainbow, plunge, and plead. The holiday is Grandparents Day, Sept.10.

Christine is in 8th grade in this chapter.

This chapter is longer than the previous ones but I had a lot to say. Part of the information about the grandparents comes from Bones episodes but some of it comes from other stories I've written.

Booth got out of his SUV and hurried into his home's foyer, anxious to get out of the rain. As he shook the moisture from his umbrella, he announced his arrival. "Hey, Bones? I'm home…"

"I'm in the kitchen…" came her reply.

"Hmm…something smells good." He grinned as he entered the kitchen and hugged his wife. Nuzzled her neck, he chuckled. "Something besides you, that is…"

"I decided that vegetable soup would be nice to have on such a damp day." She offered him a taste from the large ladle she was using to stir the bubbling concoction. "Here…see what you think…"

"Good stuff." He paused as he noticed that she seemed subdued. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

She turned away from him, hoping he wouldn't hear her sniffles. "It's silly, really…"

"Well, if it bothers you, then it's not silly, okay? So, c'mon…tell me what happened…"

She turned down the heat on the stove and then sat at the counter. "Christine has to do an English project at school this week." Chewing her lip slightly, Brennan focused on her nails. "Because National Grandparents Day is this coming weekend, she's supposed to write a story which introduces her grandparents to the class…you know, like how old they are, where they were born…what work they did as adults…interesting facts…things like that…and also what she learned from their examples…"

"Oh…" Booth's expression was grim. "I see…"

"When I picked her up from school yesterday, she said she's the only student in her class who doesn't have any living grandparents. She said she doesn't know what to write about them…and honestly, I'm afraid I wasn't much help in that regard." Brennan sighed softly. "I emailed her Language Arts teacher, Mr. Rice, this morning to briefly explain our situation, and he was very kind…very understanding. He said he'd give her an alternate assignment…like maybe allowing her to write about her aunts and uncles…but I'm not sure that's a viable option, either. In the first place, I'm not sure that topic is any better, since both of her uncles had a less than ideal past, and in the second place, I remember how it felt to be singled out in my classes because I didn't have any parents, and I don't want her to feel that way because she doesn't have any grandparents. I think she'll be uncomfortable if she has to do something different from everyone else."

"Yeah, I get that." Booth sat down next to Brennan and took her hand in his. "Doesn't she remember anything about Max? They spent a lot of time together when she was younger."

"I don't know…perhaps, but she didn't offer to share any of those memories with me. Maybe she thinks they would make me sad." Brennan wiped a tear from her cheek. "Anyway, I'm not sure writing about him is a good idea. After all, he was a criminal, and I also don't want to dredge up all of those frightening memories from when she and Hank were kidnapped. It was several years ago, but still…and besides, I'm not sure that incident would be appropriate for her to share with her classmates."

"Yeah, you're right…there's really no reason for her to relive all of that trauma." Nodding, Booth thought things over for a few seconds. "You know, maybe we should just talk to Christine and see what she says about the project."

Brennan gave him a pleading look. "Um…I suppose that's a good idea, but I'd rather you talk to her by yourself. I'm not sure I can maintain my composure long enough to do so…especially when I remember what happened to both of my parents."

"No problem." Rising from his stool, he got up to look out of the window over the kitchen sink. "In fact, now that it's stopped raining, I think it's the perfect time for that conversation." He glanced at the large pot of soup on the stove. "Can you hold dinner for about an hour? Me and Christine are goin' for a drive."

Brennan's brow furrowed in confusion. "A drive? Right now? I don't understand…"

He gave her a silly wink. "You know, occasionally it's a good thing to just take the plunge and agree with one of my ideas without asking all sorts of questions. After all, sometimes I really do know what I'm doing…"

Rolling her eyes, Brennan turned off the burner. "Fine…but if Hank becomes cranky because he's ravenously hungry when you two get home, there will be justice handed down…and not in your favor…"

"No big deal…just give the kid some crackers and let him watch Paw Patrol for a while, okay? Just think…you'll have some time all to yourself to read or something." Booth wrapped his arms around his wife and gave her a kiss. "Time enough to recharge before we hit the sack this evening, right?"

She tried to suppress a giggle. "We'll see…but you'd better get going, or we'll be eating dinner at 8:30."

"Okay." Booth jogged across the living room and called down the hallway. "Christine! C'mon…me and you are going for a drive!"

As she peeked out from her bedroom door, Christine was obviously surprised. "Isn't it kinda close to dinner time?"

"Yeah, maybe…that's why we need to get a move on."

Jumping up from the sofa, Hank tugged on his father's arm. "Can I go, too, Daddy?"

"Not this time, Sport…" Seeing Hank's pout, Booth tousled the little boy's hair. "Me and Christine have some stuff to do, but I tell you what…me and you can spend all day Saturday doing stuff together if you want…"

"Can we feed the ducks and go to the hardware store and get ice cream?"

"Yep…and maybe even more stuff if we have time." Booth grinned as he winked at Brennan. "And all you have to do is to be good while I'm gone, okay?" His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "I think if you ask Mommy nicely, she'll let you watch Paw Patrol while we're doing our stuff…"

"Yay!" Hank's pout quickly changed to a smile. "Okay, I'll be good."

"That's my tiger!" Booth nodded as Christine joined them, taking her hand in his. "Okay, kiddo…let's ride…"

Oooooooooo

"Where are we going, Daddy?"

Booth glanced at his passenger, smiling as he pointed to the sky ahead of them. "We're gonna see if we can find the end of that rainbow!"

"Really? But it looks like it's so far away!" Christine tried to move so she could get a better look at the window. "How will we know when we get there?"

"Because we'll find the pot of gold the leprechauns left for us."

Confused, Christine turned a questioning glance at her father. "What are leopard coins?"

"No, no…leprechauns…you know, the little people?" Booth groaned softly as he realized his daughter was sadly lacking in exposure to the folklore of his ancestors. "You see, your Grandma Marianne…my mom…well, her grandfather was from County Clare, in Ireland. Her last name was Maloney before she married my dad. She told me all sorts of Irish stories and folktales, and one of them was that leprechauns leave pots of gold at the ends of rainbows, but since the end is so hard to find, they don't worry about giving it away. In other words, people shouldn't worry so much about hunting for free treasure when they can work for money instead, okay?"

Christine was surprised. "Wow…I didn't know I had real Irish ancestors. That's kinda cool."

Booth nodded. "I know, right? Your grandma was a really good singer, and she did shows in small clubs in the Northeast, around the Poconos and the Adirondacks. Occasionally, she'd even throw an Irish song or two into her set. She danced well, too…she taught me how to dance when I was a little kid. I'd stand on her shoes and she'd waltz me around our basement."

"What about your dad? Where was his family from?," Christine asked eagerly. "Pops was your grandfather, so was he your dad's dad?"

It was Booth's turn to be surprised. "You remember Pops?"

"Yeah, a little. I remember he had white hair, and he was kinda stooped over. Sometimes he pretended to be mean, but he really wasn't. He used to call me his 'little honey bee', and he called you 'Shrimp'."

"That's right." Exhaling slowly, Booth tapped the steering wheel. "Pops' family came from England, and my Nana's family came from Italy, so my dad…his name was Edwin…he was kind of a strange mix, I guess. Anyway, when he was a young man, he flew fighter jets during a war, but some scary stuff happened to him on a mission, so he couldn't fly any more, because it made him too nervous, so he got to come home. Then, when he got home he became a barber and he had his own shop. When I was your age, I used to go help my dad clean the place at the end of the day, and we'd pretend the electric razors were microphones and sing all sorts of songs with the radio and we'd dance around with the brooms…"

Christine giggled at the thought of her father dancing with a broom. "How come I never met Grandpa and Grandma Booth?"

"Well, unfortunately, Grandpa Booth died before you were born, and Grandma Booth died when you were about three years old. She'd been ill for a long time, so you never got to spend much time with her."

"Oh." Christine gazed out the car's passenger window. "I've seen pictures of Pops at home, but none of Grandpa and Grandma. Don't you have any of them?"

"Not really…" Booth paused, trying to think of a way to explain things without including too many upsetting details, but he decided she needed to know at least a simplified version of the truth. "You see, they didn't stay married very long. My dad drank too much because the things that happened during the war upset him so much, and it bothered my mom because he just couldn't quit. My dad used to get really angry, and it frightened her, so she left home…and because my dad got so violently angry at times, me and my brother had to go live with Pops and Nana." He sighed softly. "Sometimes people make bad mistakes, and no matter how many times they apologize, they can't make things better. That's what happened to my parents, so they got a divorce. It was sad, and I was real upset when I was a young man, but as I got older, thanks in part to your mom, I realized what happened wasn't my fault…and eventually I guess I got over it and so I moved on with my life. It doesn't do any good to cling to bad memories or to hold grudges, because that just wears a guy down, so after a while I found I wasn't so upset about my parents' mistakes any longer, and I started to feel better about stuff in my own life." He glanced at his passenger, wondering how she felt about his difficult childhood. "Anyway, you don't need to worry about me and your mom getting that angry at each other, okay? We're not gonna let that happen. I've made some stupid mistakes but your mom forgave me, so me and her are sticking together for the long haul."

She nodded, turning to him with a smile. "I'm not worried about that, Daddy."

"Good."

They drove on in silence for a few miles, trying to get closer to the rainbow before it faded away, but with no luck. Finally, Booth cleared his throat. "So, anyway…another reason we're looking for the end of the rainbow is because your Grandpa Max did this very thing with your mom when she was a little girl. He had many jobs during his life, but at one time he was a science teacher, and he made it a point to let your mom figure things out for herself by doing experiments, so he had a big influence on her life. I guess they drove around for most of an afternoon, looking for the end of the rainbow, before he explained to her that rainbows are formed when water drops in the sky break up light into different colors. You can't physically find it, just like you can't actually hold light in your hand when it comes from a lamp."

"He was a science teacher? I didn't know that…"

"Yeah, for a while, anyway. He did some experiments with Parker when Parker was young…and he worked at the Jeffersonian for a while, too, teaching kids fun stuff." Booth grimaced slightly. "I guess he also helped your mom embalm a rat after she watched some mummy movie, too."

"Gross!" Christine giggled at her father's disgusted expression. "What else did he do?"

"He was an electrician for a while…" Hesitating, Booth wished he hadn't mentioned the 'many jobs' topic, so he opted for stretching the truth. "I really don't know all the different things he did…just that there were a lot of them." He glanced at Christine. "I know you were a little kid when he was around, but what do you remember about him?"

"He called me his 'best girl'. When he stayed with me while you and mom were working, he'd read me stories or tell me stories and all the characters in the stories had a different funny voice. He played house with me and he helped me dress my dolls and stuffed animals, and sometimes he'd sit on the floor and play games with me…" Pausing for a few seconds, Christine sniffled quietly. "…and then it all gets kinda hazy. I remember that something really scary happened at a house where we were staying, but he was there and he kept Hank and me safe…and then right after that, he died, because his heart was bad."

"Max loved all of you kids very much." Booth nodded as he gazed down the road. "To be honest, he did some things that made your mom very upset, and they didn't always get along…but after some time passed, she was able to forgive his mistakes and let him back into her life."

"They didn't get along? That must've been hard on Mom…but he was always nice to me and Hank…"

"Yeah, I know…and to Parker, too."

Christine shifted slightly in her seat. "Mom's mother died when Mom was a teenager, right?"

"Yeah…I think your mom was about fifteen or sixteen when that happened. That's who you're named after, you know? I don't know that much about your Grandma Christine except that she was a bookkeeper, and she really liked dolphins because she thought they look like they're always smiling. I also know that your Grandpa Max loved her very much." Booth gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Unfortunately, one year, around Christmas, your mom's parents left your mom and your Uncle Russ on their own and then they disappeared. It was a bad decision, but they'd made some poor choices along the way, and they were worried that your mom and Uncle Russ were in danger, so they just packed up and left town. For years, your mom didn't know what had happened to them. Then suddenly one day, she found out her mom had died, and it was a really difficult thing to swallow. That's part of the reason she'd been so upset with your Grandpa Max…because your mom felt abandoned by her parents, and sometimes she felt like she couldn't trust him. She still has a hard time talking about that, you know? But in the long run, things got better when she let go of her hurt and she tried to forgive him."

Christine nodded, fidgeting with her seatbelt. "I know the whole thing was hard for her, especially after he died. That's why I didn't ask her too many questions about her parents for my project. I didn't want to make her unhappy all over again." She studied her father for a few seconds. "So the reason we went on this drive wasn't really to look at rainbows, was it? It was so you could give me some info to help me with my project, right? Because you don't want Mom to be unhappy, either, so you told me about my grandparents by yourself, instead…"

Booth rolled his eyes before giving her a big smile. "You caught me, okay? I figured this would be the easiest way to do it. See, this way, we don't make your mom upset and Hank doesn't get to ask too many questions. He's kinda too young to know about everything I told you. I mean, he'll find out this stuff eventually, but I don't want it to be today."

"Okay."

Booth pointed down the road. "Let's go home. Your mom warned me not to be too late for dinner."

"Yeah…Mom can be scary if she's annoyed." Christine sat back in her seat and smiled at her father. "Thanks, Daddy. I don't think I'll have any trouble with my project now…"

"Glad I could help, Sweetheart."

Oooooooooo

A week later, Brennan snuggled next to Booth on the sofa and handed him her phone. "I got a nice email from Mr. Rice about Christine's project, and I think you should read it."

"Okay." He cleared his throat and then read the message out loud.

"Dr. Brennan:

Given the circumstances surrounding Christine's grandparents' biographies and your concern about the assignment, I thought you'd want to know that her project was very well done, and she received 94%. I also thought you and your spouse would be interested in reading the last portion of her paper, in which she was required to reflect on what she learned, so I'm attaching a file for your perusal.

Thank you for both your interest and your active participation in Christine's education. I think we'll make a good team this year as we encourage her to strive for excellence.

Martin Rice, M. Ed

Language Arts Instructor"

Booth glanced at his wife. "Well, I guess things worked out okay, and she got a good grade, right?"

"Yes, but you need to read the file he attached. That's actually the important part."

Nodding, he opened the attachment.

Reflection: What did I learn from this assignment?

When I started this project, I really didn't know much about my grandparents, since none of them are still alive. A couple of them died before I was born, and the other two died when I was very young. However, my dad gave me some information about them, which I used in this report, and what I learned from that information was that my grandparents did some good stuff, but they also made some bad decisions, poor choices, and a lot of mistakes, probably like everyone else's grandparents did.

The most important thing I learned was actually about my parents. I think my grandparents couldn't have been total failures because my parents turned out so well. Both of them have careers that make differences in other peoples' lives. I think that's because neither of them dwell on the past and they don't worry too much about all the dumb things my grandparents did.

It might've been easier if my parents had been stuck on being upset about the bad mistakes their parents made, but they didn't do that. They've moved on to live their own lives. My mom forgave her dad, and my dad has made an effort to forget the hurtful things that happened during his childhood. My dad said if they do those things, the bad stuff won't hold them back in life. That way they can be happy moving forward.

So far it seems like my parents haven't made quite as many bad decisions as their parents did, but if they ever do, I'll know how to handle it, because they've both been such a good example to me.

"Wow." Booth brushed a tear from his cheek. "Man…I guess we've done okay, huh? I mean, I've made some pretty bad choices…"

Brennan nodded. "But I chose not to dwell on them…and I'm sure you'd do the same for me, if I ever made inappropriate decisions…"

Booth rolled his eyes at her. "Like that would ever happen." Sighing in contentment, he rubbed his wife's shoulder. "You know what the problem is now, right?" Seeing her shake her head, he chuckled. "Now we have to keep being good role models. We can't slack off even a tiny bit!"

"I think we'll be fine. You're an excellent father, Booth, and our children are lucky to have you."

"Thanks, Bones." He gave her a sassy wink. "And how about you? Do you feel lucky to have me?"

She giggled as she put her arms around him. "Definitely…and if you follow me to our bedroom, you might get lucky, too…"

A/N: Thanks for reading. Laura