Saturday, September 1st-

Booth took the circuitous route to his apartment, noting that Parker didn't seem to notice or care. When he arrived at the apartment twenty minutes later, he pulled into his space in front of the building and reached for his phone. He noticed Parker's eyes flick to him and he gave him a guarded smile. "I'm going to call Bones to let her know." He said, though Parker's eyes remained trained on his. He had a penetrating stare, his tears long gone. "Okay?"

Parker's mouth opened to say something, and then he clamped it shut, swallowing hard. He watched his father take the phone and press a button. "Wait." Parker said suddenly, watching Booth glance to him, he had already dialed and the phone was ringing.

"Hey, Bones." He said. "Can you hang on a sec? Sorry." He said, glancing to Parker. "What am I waiting for."

"Iwannagoswimming..." He mumbled quickly.

"What was that?" Booth asked.

"I want to go swimming." He sighed. "I want to go swimming at Bones'." he rolled his eyes. "Please?"

"Is this puberty or something?" He asked, watching Parker's brow furrow. "Nevermind." He said, lifting the phone to his ear. "We'll be a little bit, but we're coming by." He said into the line. "Nope, everything is just fine. We'll see you soon. Love you." He said, hanging up the phone. He set the phone on the console and glanced to Parker. "You want to go swimming now?"

"Yes." He sighed.

"You don't sound happy about it." Booth said, watching his son carefully. "You're overwhelmed."

"Yes." Parker nodded. "Everything has been weird since you got back, Dad. Everything is different, and weird, and... it's not that I don't like it. I mean, I love Bones. She's great, and smart, and pretty, and will be a great step-mom. It's just hard, you know? It's hard when I was thinking things were going to be like before, and every time I see you there's something new or different." He sighed, flopping his head back a bit dramatically. "It's all different."

"But is it a bad different?" Booth asked.

"I haven't decided." Parker said, rolling his head to look over at his father. "I mean... I'm not mad at Bones. She didn't do anything wrong. I can't be mad at Michael. He's a baby, and besides. I don't even know him very well. How old is he? Does he cry in the middle of the night? Are Bones and you going to stop watching movies late and doing fun things because there's a baby? How would adoption work if you and Bones live in different places? Where are you going to live? Are you going to move in with Bones? When are you getting married?" Parker lamented, seeming to spiral a little.

"We haven't discussed this stuff yet, bud. That's why we were excited to talk to you about it, get your opinion. We want you to be part of it so that you never feel left out." Booth explained. "So, you're mad at me?" He asked.

"No." Parker said softly. "I mean, not really. This isn't something that I have to keep from Mom, is it?" He asked, glancing to Booth.

"No." Booth shook his head. "I'll tell her at the end of the weekend when she comes to pick you up."

"What about all the other stuff? When are you going to decide all of that?" He asked.

"We'll talk this weekend. It's a long weekend, we have a lot planned, but you can talk to us at any time. You know that, Parker." Booth said.

"Are you going to tell Bones that I yelled at you and got mad?" He asked.

"No." Booth shrugged. "But I think she knows you're upset."

"You said she is bad at reading people sometimes." Parker replied. "Maybe she didn't notice."

"It was pretty obvious that something was bugging you, and she loves you. She knows human nature, she understands patterns and you weren't on your usual pattern." Booth explained. "Are you done being mad, now?", nudging his son with his elbow.

"I'm not mad." Parker said, giving his father a nudge back.

"I know." Booth said. "Can we go now?" He asked, smiling slightly at Parker.

"Yeah." Parker said with a nod. "Dad?"

"Hm?" Booth hummed, glancing to him.

"Can you please never say the word puberty again?" Parker asked, cringing a little.

"Deal." Booth nodded. "But I can't guarantee Bones won't go into a diatribe about the origin of species and some anthropological mumbo jumbo talk."

"Eh, it's okay. I don't understand half of the things she says anyway." Parker giggled.

"Me neither, Bud." Booth said with a laugh, "But that's why we love her." He chuckled, as they rode in silence toward Brennan's place.

Booth rapped lightly at Brennan's door as he and Parker waited patiently. The door opened to Brennan standing with her jaw open slightly, a look of confusion on her face. "Booth, you have a key." She said, turning away from the door, she listened to them come inside and glanced back to see Parker standing a bit awkwardly beside his father.

"I know, but I thought I'd be polite." He replied. "This is your apartment, after all. Your place..." He nodded toward Parker. "You know, privacy." He said, watching her nod slightly, still a little confused.

"Yes, well... We share a lot, and you may feel free to come inside whenever you like." She said, glancing to Parker. "The same goes for you, Parker."

Parker smiled. "Thanks, Bones." He said. "Where's Michael?" He asked, stepping inside a little further.

"Well, since you two said you'd be a little bit, I put him down for a nap." She said, watching as the sparkle seemed to flicker from Parker's eyes. "But, remember, we haven't been to the pool in a while." She said, turning toward the couch, she lifted up a box. "We have to inflate these pool tubes before we go in." She said, tossing the boy the box. He caught it, and a grin lit up his face. "The pump is in the front closet if you want to use it. I also have to get ready to go swimming, and it looks like so do you, so we have plenty of time to let him nap." She smiled.

"See that, Parker. She's always thinking." Booth said, smiling at his son's excitement as he started to open the box.

"Bones is a genius." Parker said, tearing into the box to get the pool tubes out, he excitedly started to work on his task.

Both watched the boy for a moment, and Booth stepped toward Brennan slowly. He pulled her close to him, feeling her chin settle on his chest for a moment, she looked up into his eyes. "Is he okay?" She whispered.

"There will be more talking, but I think he's okay for now." He whispered, kissing her temple gently.

"You guys are so gross." Parker mumbled with a giggle from beside the closet as he looked for the air pump.

"You're gross!" Booth said, sticking his tongue out at the boy, only to receive an admonishing smack from Brennan. He turned to face her, and her eyebrow was raised, a small smile at the corner of her lips. "What? He is."

"Go help him with the pool floats." She said, stepping back, she pulled from his arms and turned him, giving his butt a small tap to send him across the room. "I'm going to go get ready." She said, turning toward her bedroom.

"Ha ha, you got in trouble." Parker teased Booth.

"Hush, you." Booth grinned, and stepped over to help Parker.