Sabbaticals - 29 weeks
Tuesday morning, the three of them slept in and then went to the diner for a big, late breakfast. The plan for the day was that the boys were going to laze around Booth's apartment and watch sports all day. They planned on watching either basketball, or hockey, or just hours of programming on the different ESPN channels. Brennan would take the car to shop for her New Year's Eve dress.
When they left the diner, she dropped them off at the apartment and headed to the small shop where she had been buying all of her formal wear since she originally moved to DC. The shop was owned by Maggie and Diana, two best friends who loved helping their regular customers whenever they needed a special outfit.
When she walked through the door, Maggie was standing behind the counter. "Dr Brennan! It's so great to see you! We've been wondering if you had moved away?" She explained about the one year sabbatical, and that she would be back home for good next spring. Diana had joined them and asked if she had a special event while she was home. "I'm going to the New Year's Eve ball at the Willard." Both ladies expressed excitement for her and said they had already sold several dresses for that event this year.
"So, is there a special man who will be escorting you to the party of the year?" Brennan blushed slightly. "Yes. He's been my work partner for years, and he's actually escorted me to several events in the past when I was wearing gowns that you sold me. We finally admitted that our feelings for each other were stronger than just friends. And we realized that…..well…well, that we love each other. So this will be our first New Year's Eve as a couple." Maggie put her hands on her hips. "Okay. We have to see a picture of this guy to make sure he deserves you." Brennan laughed and pulled out her phone to show them several photos of them together.
Diana used her hand to fake fan herself. "Oh, Dr Brennan. I approve! He's….yeah…..he's… worthy." All three ladies laughed. Maggie noticed that Brennan was fingering the aquamarine hanging from her necklace. "Was that a gift from him?" Brennan told them it was his Christmas gift to her. Diana noted that it matched her eyes perfectly. The two ladies suddenly looked at each other. Maggie spoke first. "The new one that came in last week?" Diana smiled and nodded. "Dr Brennan. I think we have the absolutely perfect dress for you. If it fits…" She looked her up and down. "…and I think it will…..this is THE dress."
Brennan laughed and said she trusted their judgement. She was anxious now to see this perfect dress. They took her into a fitting room and had her disrobe, including her bra. They explained that the dress had a built-in bra. Maggie walked in behind her so she didn't see the dress until they pooled it at her feet and had her step into it. The two ladies pulled it up, helped settle both breasts into the built-in cups, and then zipped it up.
She turned around to the mirror and gasped. It was perfection. It fit her like a glove. It was shimmery and the exact same color as her eyes and her necklace. It had a deep plunge in the front, which was why she couldn't wear a standard bra, but the cups built into the dress acted like a push-up bra, so she had very impressive cleavage. The dress was almost like a mermaid dress - very form fitting right down past her butt, and then flaring out to the hem that brushed the floor. They pointed out to her that a medium pair of heels would make the length perfect.
She started moving around, as if she was dancing, and was delighted by the way the bottom of the dress floated around her. Maggie was thrilled at the sight of her in the dress. "I knew it! It's like the dress was made for you!" Brennan had to agree. "Booth is going to love this dress." Diana walked over and made a small adjustment to her cleavage. "Yes, I suspect he will." All three laughed again. She did one final check to make sure that she would be comfortable sitting as well as standing in the dress, and it was all good.
She walked out of the shop with the dress over her arm in an opaque garment bag. She didn't want Booth to get a glimpse of it beforehand - she wanted to make an entrance on Friday night.
When she returned home, the boys were thoroughly enjoying their all day immersion into the world of sports, but realized they were famished when they saw that she was carrying a bag from their favorite Chinese restaurant. She handed Booth the bag, and he noticed the garment bag over her arm. "Aren't you going to give us a fashion show with your new dress?" She shook her head. "Oh, no. You have to wait until Friday night so I can blow your socks off." Parker looked puzzled. "What does THAT mean?" Booth looked at Brennan, and then over at Parker. "I'll tell you when you're older." Parker took the bag of food from him and stomped off to the kitchen muttering. "You say that ALL the time!"
He walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss. "Can't I get just a little glimpse?" She shook her head. "No, you can't. And please, promise me you won't peek. It's good for us to surprise each other sometimes, isn't it?" He chuckled. "You're right. It is. I promise." He turned to head for the kitchen and turned back to her with a smile. "Go hang it up. We're starving."
Parker was going to remain with them the next day, Wednesday. Then he would go back to his mom's house on Thursday and Friday, and return to his dad and Bones on Saturday, which was New Year's Day, and Sunday. Monday was the day Parker was to return to school after the holiday, and Booth and Brennan were flying to London. This schedule allowed Booth and Parker to spend their last two days together and they planned to spend most of it watching bowl games on television.
They woke up Wednesday morning and decided that the three of them wanted to just spend all day at home. Parker suggested they have a movie day, so they searched around Netflix and made a list of movies they might like to watch. Booth ran out to the store and came home with soda, lemonade, popcorn, and all sorts of movie candy - including his favorites, Twizzlers and Sno-Caps.
They had a fun day and watched mostly comedies, which had them all laughing uproariously at times. Around 10:00, Booth realized that Parker was sound asleep on his lap. He told Brennan he would leave him there for a bit. He enjoyed the closeness with his son, knowing their days together were coming to an end for this trip.
An hour later, he stood up and carried him into his room. Parker woke up when he sat him on the bed, so he was able to get him into his pajamas and tucked the sleepy boy into his bed.
When he went back to the living room, he and Brennan finished the last movie they had been watching and then stumbled sleepily into their room. They were both tired from the long day eating junk food and sitting around and getting no exercise. They climbed into bed and shared a kiss. She snuggled into him and they fell asleep quickly.
About 3AM, they both woke up to the sound of a quiet knock on the bedroom door. Booth immediately knew it was Parker because he recognized his knock. Parker always knocked quietly and usually was prepared to go back to his room if his dad didn't wake up. But Booth had become attuned to the sound, and always called to him to come in, because he knew his son needed him.
"Come in Parker." The door opened slowly, and he saw them both sitting up in the bed in the darkness of the room. "Come here. What's up Parks?" He crawled up on the bed and into his father's arms and started crying. They looked at each other with concern over the top of the boy's head. "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Parker shook his head. "Brennan put her hand out and started gently rubbing his back. She leaned over and kissed the top of his head. "Can you tell us what's wrong?"
He sat back and looked back and forth between them. "I'm only going to see you two more days and then you're going away again." He took his arms from around his dad, turned around, threw himself into Brennan's arms, and started bawling. She put her arms around him, squeezed tightly, and continued rubbing his back. She looked across at Booth and they both had tears in their eyes. She tried to comfort him. "Shhhh Parker. It will be okay. When we come back, we'll be together a lot. We can be making all sorts of plans for things we want to do when we come home." He pulled back slightly and started sniffing and looked up at her. "Like, what kinds of things?"
She smiled at him and gently ran her hand through his curls. "I'm not sure. Why don't all three of us start making lists while we're apart?" She looked up at Booth and they both nodded their heads exaggeratedly. "You can start a list, and your dad can start a list, and I can start a list. When we get home, we can go through the lists and figure out which things to do." Booth leaned over, put a hand on one of his shoulders, and kissed the top of the other one. "We can't guarantee that we can do everything on the list, but it will be something to look forward to."
He looked back and forth at the two adults. "But you will be gone for SO long!" Brennan pulled him back into her arms. "Not really Parker. Don't forget - before we came home for Christmas, we had been gone for seven months. When we go back, it will only be four months until we're back home." He pulled away from her embrace and looked at her. "Is four months a long time?" Booth moved forward, wrapped them both in an embrace, and kissed the top of his son's head. "It's not that long. You'll see - it will be May before you know it."
Parker finally settled down and ended up sleeping between them the rest of the night. Brennan was the first to awaken the next morning and she looked lovingly at her two boys, still sound asleep, just inches away. She felt powerful emotions inside. 'This is what it's like to be a family. Waking up to my partner and my son - all of us sharing a bed because he needed comfort in the middle of the night.' She closed her eyes and just let herself feel the flood of emotions.
Booth woke a few minutes later and their eyes smiled at each other over the boy's head. Booth was reluctant to wake him, but he had made a decision before falling asleep and wanted to check in with Rebecca. He started rubbing his hand gently on Parker's back, and soon the boy was stretching his arms and rubbing his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked happily from one to the other and then snuggled into her arms. Booth ruffled his hair. "Good morning Parks. I have something to take care of - I'll be right back." Brennan had a puzzled look on her face as she watched him leave the room and close the door.
Booth had grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and palmed it as he walked out the door. He went into the kitchen and dialed Rebecca's number. "Hi. Sorry it's so early. I hope I didn't wake you." He told her about the middle of the night visit from Parker and his despair over them leaving soon. "So, I was wondering Rebecca. Could we keep him with us today? I think it would make things a little easier for him." Rebecca understood and said that would be fine. She felt awful for her little boy who would have to deal with his dad leaving again for several months.
They arranged that Booth would bring him back home the next day, Friday, and then pick him up Saturday morning after leaving the hotel following the New Year's Eve party. They now had four days left at home and would spend three of them with Parker.
He went back to the bedroom and crawled back under the covers. "So, Parker. You're going to stay another day with us." He looked at his dad in surprise. "Really? Is mom okay with it?" Booth nodded. "Yep. I just talked to her and she's good. So, you're going back home tomorrow morning cause Bones and I have the big New Year's party to go to. Then you're back with us for the rest of the weekend." Parker threw his arms around his dad's neck. "Thank you! I love you." Booth wrapped his arms around him. "I love you too Parks." The boy turned his head back to Brennan. "And I love you too Bones." She rubbed his back. "And I love you Parker."
Parker laughed. "Everybody in this bed loves everybody else in this bed. Ha!" The two adults cracked up.
Sabbaticals - 30 weeks
As they finished breakfast, they talked about what they wanted to do for the day. Booth said that they had all spent too much time indoors the previous day, so they needed to get outside in the fresh air and get some exercise. Brennan suggested the zoo, but Parker said he always went in the summer. "Oh, Parker. Winter is a far better time to see the animals at the zoo. They are much more active. Haven't you ever noticed that most of them are just lying around sleeping when you go in the summer?"
Parker thought for a minute and then nodded. "Okay, I guess we could go. But if it's too cold, can we leave and go somewhere else?" Booth patted his shoulder. "Let's play it by ear, eh? If it is too cold, at least we will have gotten some fresh air and some exercise, eh?" Parker was good with that, so they dressed warmly and headed to the National Zoo.
It turned out to be a fun outing. Parker knew the layout from all of his previous trips there, and he skipped and sometimes ran from exhibit to exhibit, while the adults walked, hand in hand, behind him. The one difference on this trip was that he had Bones to give him far more information than what he could read on the signs posted near the animals. On his school trips there, they always had a zoo guide giving them facts about all the animals. But Bones knew a whole lot more than the guides, and Parker was excited to share his new knowledge on the next school trip.
They spent so much time there that they breezed right past lunchtime. When they got to the car, Booth suggested they go somewhere for an early dinner, and, if necessary, they could have a snack at home in the evening. Parker was jumping up and down in his seat. "Dad. You promised me a long time ago that we could go to the Hard Rock Cafe. Can we go there now? Do they have early dinners?"
Brennan looked across at Booth and then back to Parker. "I think that sounds like a wonderful place for an early dinner. Dad, will you drive us there?" Booth chuckled, looked over at Brennan, and mouthed, "Dad?" She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. He started the car. "Okay! Hard Rock Cafe it is!"
It wasn't quite the healthy meal that Brennan would have preferred, but the day was all about Parker and his preferences. She was learning that about raising a child. Sometimes you just have to put aside the notion that everything has to be a learning experience, and just let them play. Not every meal needs to be gauged on a nutrition scale. Junk food is okay, as long as the child understands that it has to be an exception, rather than the rule.
So, she sat back with her salad and side dish of veggies and watched her boys chowing down on their burgers and fries. Of course, Booth pushed his plate of fries between them because he always shared his fries with her. Parker insisted they all needed to have dessert, so the adults caved and all three had different flavored sundaes. Spoons reached back and forth across the table while they each tried bites of the other's and decided which one was the best.
They stopped in the gift shop on the way out and Booth and Parker were enthralled with the variety of items available. As they were occupied on one side of the store, she walked over to a rack and studied the items displayed. She picked one up, glanced over to see they weren't looking in her direction, and walked over to the cashier to pay for her purchase. She called to them to say she would wait for them outside the shop, but told them to take their time. They finally came out of the shop with several bags and she joined them to walk to the car. Booth noticed the flat bag she was carrying and raised an eyebrow, but she just smiled and kept walking.
When they got in the car, Booth rubbed his stomach and said they needed more exercise after all that food. He told them he'd be right back, reached for the button on the dash to pop the trunk and jumped out to look into it. He rubbed his hands together, closed the trunk, and got back in the car. "Where are we going dad?" He just looked into the back seat and smiled. Brennan looked back at Parker. "I have no idea what he's up to either."
When he pulled into the Jeffersonian lot and parked off to the side, near the park, Brennan and Parker realized that he had looked in the trunk to make sure their skates were still there. They again rented a pair for her and stepped out onto the ice rink. This was a different experience since it was still daylight, and there were very few other people on the ice. Brennan felt a little more sure of herself this time, and the three of them found themselves playing together on the ice rather than skating around in circles. Both of the boys taught her a few intermediate moves and she found that she was starting to actually enjoy skating.
By the time they finally left the ice, it had gotten dark. They again found a table in the pavilion and Booth brought them all hot chocolates. "Dad! No cookies this time?" Booth stared him down. "We all just had giant sundaes. I think we've had enough sugar for one day, don't you?" Parker nodded. "Yeah. I guess you're right. But thanks for the hot chocolate!" Booth laughed and ran his hand through the boy's curls. "Well, I needed to warm you up, but no coffee for you. And, if you're having hot chocolate, we're having hot chocolate." Brennan smiled watching her two guys and enjoyed sipping her drink. In the last two weeks, she had really come to appreciate the joy of a good cup of hot chocolate.
They got home and watched some television, but all the fresh air and exercise had wiped them all out. Booth was sitting on the sofa with his arm around his son, and he saw that the boy couldn't keep his eyes open. "C'mon Parker. To bed with you." He walked him into his room and helped him into his pjs. "Can't I sleep with you and Bones again tonight?" Booth studied the boy's face. "I don't think we want to get in that habit bud. You're a big boy now, so you need to sleep in your own bed. And Bones and I, we like to have a little time to ourselves." He thought about it for a minute. "I'll tell you what. Sunday night, our last night here. How about we have a pajama party and all sleep in the bed together? Just that one time, eh?" Parker smiled and nodded. "Okay, but what's a pajama party?" Booth pursed his lips. "I'm not really sure - that's a girl's thing. We'll have to ask Bones."
As he tucked him in, he added. "I still want you to knock on my door in the night if you have a nightmare, or get scared, or get sad - like last night. From now on, Bones will always be with me, but we both love you and want to be there for you if you need us. Okay?" Parker hugged him. "Okay dad. I love you." "I love you too Parks. Sleep tight." As he walked to the door and turned out the light, he heard a soft voice behind him. "Don't let the bedbugs bite." He smiled as he closed the door. 'That's my son.'