Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. When I posted the last chapter, I had this one about 80% complete. But then I received a really nasty review. The reviewer really trashed this story, calling it garbage - and attacked the quality of my writing.
Up until that day, I had been writing almost every day, and spent a lot of time on each chapter. I know I shouldn't have let it get to me, but something like that really messes with your confidence. It also killed my motivation for writing. But, after two weeks of stewing, I decided that I LIKE this story. I have a full outline that I developed before sitting down to write it. In fact, I wrote the final chapter before writing the first one. There is more to this story - getting this couple settled into their new relationship and figuring out how to live together. So, I'm going to push on.
I hope you like it.
Sabbaticals - 0 days left to Parker
The flight home was very smooth and turbulence free. They had lifted the armrest between them so they could snuggle, and slept for a few hours after being served breakfast. Not long after their nap, lunch was served, and Booth was raving over the meals available in first class. "You know that I'm getting spoiled. Flying first class, staying in suites instead of just plain hotel rooms." She took his chin and gave him a quick kiss. "Well, that's because you're with a woman of means now. One who can afford to fly first class and stay in suites. Being a best selling author has its perks."
After landing, it took almost an hour to get through immigration and customs, and they were both very excited to see Parker. As they walked through the doors to the waiting area, they both stopped in their tracks. Parker, Rebecca, and Brent were right there waiting for them, but just behind them were Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Caroline, Sweets, Daisy, Wendell, Clark, Pops, and Max. A couple of them were holding up signs saying, "Welcome Home!" and there were a couple of signs with just a large red heart.
The couple were stunned seeing the large welcoming party, and after they shared hugs and kisses with Parker, everyone came together and there were plenty of other hugs to go around. Angela addressed the couple. "I know you're probably tired from the long flight, but we've set up a little welcome home party in Booth's apartment. We won't overstay our welcome, but we just want to mark your return - together - properly. And Bren, don't worry about your car. Hodgins and I moved it from your apartment lot over to Booth's this morning, so you're all set.
That actually solved one of their dilemmas, because the storage facility insisted that they could only return it to the address on file, so they were going to need to find a way to get it over to Booth's place. Luckily, they had left the spare keys with Rebecca.
So, the large group formed a caravan from the airport to Booth's apartment. When they walked in, it was all decorated and there were snacks arranged on the dining room table. On the way back from the airport, Hodgins called in the pizza order, and they were delivered just 15 minutes after the group arrived. Parker took Booth and Brennan by the hands and led them around the apartment pointing out the decorations that he made. And then he pulled them into his room. In the middle of his bed was his calendar. He proudly showed them the pages from January through May and how he had marked off each day.
His eyes just sparkled. "You were right. It really was just a blip!" Booth pulled him into a tight hug. "It really was. But it's SO good to be home." Parker extracted himself from his dad's arms and skipped over to his desk. "And look! I have my list of things for us to do!" Booth took the paper and nodded as he skimmed down the list. "Some good things here Parker. Bones and I made lists too. After we unpack, we'll have to go over all of them."
Brennan came over and gave him a hug as she skimmed his list. "We will have to wait until after you're back from the weekend with your grandparents. Your dad and I talked about it on the plane, and we are going to mostly spend the rest of this weekend here at home - just the three of us." Booth interjected. "But you and I are going to mass together tomorrow morning. I've really missed being able to do that with you. And then we'll pick up Bones and go to the diner for lunch. You ready for one of their famous chocolate shakes?" Parker jumped up and down. "Yeah!" Booth and Brennan smiled to each other over the top of his head.
Everyone really enjoyed the party. Different groups of friends gathered in different areas of the apartment, and then would migrate over to another group. Booth and Brennan were on opposite sides of the apartment most of the time, talking about their experiences over the past year. There was a lot of good natured ribbing about their new relationship, and everyone seemed pleased that they were going to be living together right from the start - albeit in two different places for the near future.
After about two hours, everyone decided it was time to leave the three of them to settle in and they all pitched in to clean up. The leftover pizza went into the fridge, and they stored the snacks in the kitchen. Angela and Hodgins were the last to leave. "Bren, you guys have plenty of leftover pizza and snacks to feed you for the rest of the day. If there's anything you need, just call. I'm sure you want to just veg out today." Brennan came over and gave her a hug. "We'll be fine Angela. Thank you for everything." She hugged and thanked Hodgins while Booth gave Angela a hug and then shook hands with Hodgins. "You guys have been so good to us." He looked over to Brennan and then back to them. "For a long time. We both appreciate your support." He looked at Brennan again, and then winked at the couple. "And your patience." Angela and Hodgins both laughed. "All's well that ends well Buddy." Hodgins smacked him on the back as they left the apartment.
That evening, the three of them relaxed on the sofa watching the Phillies baseball game. Booth and Parker were sad that the Flyers had been eliminated from the playoffs, but there was always baseball, so they now rooted for the Phillies full time. While Brennan enjoyed watching baseball, she was wiped out from the long day, so she curled up on the sofa and was soon sound asleep. Booth was sitting on the other end of the sofa with Parker on his lap and they held out until the 7th inning when Booth could no longer control his yawning.
"Hey bub, I can't stay awake any longer. The Phillies are winning by eight runs, so I think it's safe for us to go to bed. I'm going to set my alarm so we can go to mass in the morning." Parker nodded excitedly. "I missed going to mass with you dad. Do you think Bones wants to go with us?" He looked down the sofa at her sleeping form. "I don't think we'll ask her tomorrow. But maybe over time we can convince her to try it. Right now I enjoy just the guys going together. Okay with you?" Parker nodded enthusiastically again. "Okay, let's try not to wake her while we get up so I can tuck you in."
Parker got into his pjs, got into bed, and Booth pulled the covers up to his chin. He kissed him on the forehead. "Now that she's living with you, will Bones sometimes tuck me in?" Booth smiled at him. "I suspect she will want to do this every night - well, except the nights that she crashes on the sofa." They both laughed. "I think we will probably do it together most nights." Parker was pleased. "That's good. Goodnight dad." "Goodnight son."
Booth closed the bedroom door and walked quietly into the living room. He reached down and picked her up in his arms and she came half awake. "Mmmmmm." He chuckled. "Mmmmmm yourself. You need a good night's sleep." She nodded. "I do." He carried her into the bedroom, set her down on her feet next to the bed, and made sure she was steady before reaching into the dresser drawer for her sleep shirt. She pulled her sweater over her head and he unlatched her bra - and then pulled the oversized shirt over her head. He reached down and pulled her pants down, leaving her underwear on, and she put her hands on his shoulders as he removed each pant leg. She sleepily kissed his cheek. "Thank you Booth." And then climbed onto the bed. By the time he undressed to his boxers and climbed into the bed beside her, she was sound asleep again.
The next morning, she barely registered his alarm before digging her face back into the pillow. Booth chuckled at her and got up to go wake Parker so they could jump in the shower together.
The only food they had was some leftover pizza, so they each had a slice, and Booth made a pot of coffee - leaving the rest of the pot for Brennan. Before leaving, he went into the bedroom, kissed her cheek, and told her they were off to mass. He told her there was coffee brewed in the kitchen and was rewarded with a grateful smile. As they left the apartment, Booth told Parker not to tell his mother that he had pizza for breakfast. "Before you're back in two weeks, we'll make sure we have lots of real breakfast food - for all of us!"
The boys felt really good as they walked into the church, and it finally felt like normal life again as they attended mass, praying and singing along with the congregation. Walking out of the church, the priest greeted them - happy to see Booth back, safe and sound after a year in a war zone. They went back to the apartment for Brennan and then went out and had a joyous lunch sitting at their favorite table in the diner. It was all so familiar, and all so comforting. The boys had burgers and fries, Brennan had a salad - and stole half of Booth's fries. And then all three of them had chocolate milkshakes. Parker pulled his straw up and took a big gulp right from the glass. He looked up at Booth and had a chocolate mustache. "Dad, I was dreaming about this chocolate milkshake!" All three of them laughed, and the adults almost felt like they were the ones dreaming right now. It was all they had ever hoped for.
Late that evening, they took Parker back to Rebecca's so he would be ready for school the next day. They had worked on a list of things they needed to do in the next three days to get ready for their long weekend at the beach, so Monday became their errand day. Of course, they had to run their errands together since they only had one vehicle - Booth wouldn't get his SUV back until he went back to work the next week. They each pulled several work outfits from the closet and took them to the dry cleaners. They went to Walgreens and picked up all kinds of fresh toiletries, enough to stock both apartments. They did some grocery shopping for staples for both apartments, and just enough fresh food for the next three days.
They had several loads of laundry to do, so they decided to take it all to a local laundromat so they could run them all at the same time. After drying and folding it all, they put it in the trunk and drove to Parker's baseball game.
It was another of the "normal" things that they had missed so much in the last year. Brennan had been to Parker's games occasionally in the past, but being there as a couple gave it a totally different feeling. It was a family outing - and the family included Rebecca and Brent.
They had decided that Tuesday would be a day of rest for them. They took their time waking up, getting dressed, eating breakfast. It was a beautiful spring day, so they decided to take a walk in the city around some of their favorite spots - Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial. They talked about how lucky they were to live in this beautiful city, and how different it felt seeing it together - especially after being gone for so long. Booth had thoughts. "You're probably going to make fun of me. But everything we do together just feels special. The colors are brighter. I don't know. Maybe this is what really being in love is?" She smiled at him. "I'm tempted to disabuse you of that notion, but it all feels very special to me too." He stopped in his tracks, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her until they both forgot where they were.
After lunch on Wednesday, they gathered up some of their clothes, toiletries, and food staples. The goal was to have half of their casual clothes, half of their work clothes, a full set of toiletries, and half of their food staples in each apartment. Since they would be moving back and forth between the locations each week, they felt it would be easy to keep both places stocked.
Although it would have been easier to have just one place, keeping both places was really all about Parker. Even though he only stayed with them every other weekend, at Booth's place was his dedicated bedroom. Over the years, he had decorated it with all of his favorite sports items so that his room at Booth's place was just as personal to him as his room at his mom's house.
Brennan also had a spare room, but it was used as a guest room for her father and for Russ when they visited from out of town. The couple had discussed it while still overseas, and didn't feel comfortable asking Parker to sleep in a guest room some of the time. So, every time they had him for the weekend, they would stay at Booth's - and they would switch back and forth during the week. They also agreed that it would be best to stay flexible in case there were good reasons to switch places at the last minute.
After gathering up the items to take over to Brennan's, they stopped at the dry cleaners and picked up the work clothes that they would need for their first week back. By the time they had Brennan's place all organized, it was time to head to Parker's game.
It was another glorious spring day, and the two sets of parents cheered the team on to a victory. The five of them all headed to the diner after the game to have celebratory burgers and shakes. As they left the diner, there were goodbye hugs all around since Booth and Brennan were leaving the next morning for the beach, and the other three on Friday morning for the anniversary weekend.
Thursday morning, they packed the car, went to the diner for breakfast, and were on the road by 10:00. The drive to the coast would take about three hours and the traffic was fairly light since they were leaving after the peak of rush hour. Neither one of them had ever been to Rehoboth Beach, but for a lot of people in DC, it was a fun place for a getaway. As they pulled into the town, they weren't surprised to find that it was a very beachy/touristy place. It was exactly what they needed for this weekend. They wanted to decompress and just have a fun few days before settling back into the routine of work - not to mention beginning the navigation of coupledom. Neither of them was naive enough to believe that it was going to be an easy transition for them. They bickered constantly when they weren't a couple - how would she react the 4th time she had to pick up his underwear that didn't quite make it to the hamper? But they had waited so long for this - they were determined that, with some minor adjustments and patience, they would make it work.
They walked into the spacious lobby of the hotel in Rehoboth Beach and up to the reception desk. "We have a reservation in the name of 'Booth' for the next three nights?" As they waited to be checked in, Brennan took his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. He looked down and smiled at her. It felt like a big moment for the couple. Yes, they had done this in both Paris and London, but this was different. This was the start of their lives together and their first actual vacation together.
Booth could tell that she was feeling the same glow inside as he was. He remembered the feeling he had when they were checking in at the hotel in Paris the first time. They talked about it later and found that they were both feeling butterflies inside at that moment. This time was so much different. There was now a quiet confidence in their pairing, and a feeling of joy that they were about to spend the next four days with just the two of them. They were treating it almost as the honeymoon they had joked about before, and had requested that their friends and family not call them unless there was a real emergency. They had spent the past year with time and space from each other. Now they needed to reconnect and have time and space from the rest of the world.
As they entered their room, Booth stowed the luggage and walked over to the bed. He sat down and bounced a couple of times. "Nice bed! I think we'll enjoy this room." Brennan laughed at him and walked over to the wall of windows at the far end. It looked out to a large private balcony and a gorgeous ocean view. "Oh, Booth! You need to check out the balcony." She walked over to the rail, lifted her head, and closed her eyes to take in the breeze and the smell of the ocean. The breeze blew her hair back as Booth walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and reveled in the feel and the smell of her hair in his face. He brushed her hair back and leaned forward so they were cheek to cheek taking in the view.
He turned slightly and kissed her cheek. "Great job picking out the hotel sweetheart." She turned to look at him. "Sweetheart?" He smiled. "Gotta come up with something besides Bones. That is more of a work name. This one will be just for us. You know, 'What's ours is ours'." He turned her to him and gave her a long, deep kiss. She was a little staggered, so his arms tightened around her waist. He chuckled. "I guess that's a 'yes'?" She looked back toward the ocean and gave him a side-eye. "I guess that's a 'maybe'. I'll take it under advisement." He laughed and gave her another, even more staggering kiss.
He put his mouth to her ear. "I'm starving." She pulled her face back. "I take you're talking about food?" He looked at her in astonishment. "During that year apart, have you completely forgotten who I am? Of course I'm talking about food. A nice, thick, juicy steak. I can almost taste it already." She smiled and patted him on the chest. "Let's go inside, unpack our suitcases, and we'll get you that steak."