A/N: Thanks to everyone who shared your thoughts with me on the last chapter. I'm incredibly pleased that so many of you are enjoying this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing Bones related except my imagination. (2/19/17)

Millie had never been much of a morning person and a 7 hour flight traversing the Atlantic Ocean to meet her boyfriend's family wasn't going to change that. Couple that with the absolutely luxurious bedding she'd crawled into the night before and she didn't really give a rat's arse if a dozen American roosters perched right outside her window, cock-a-doodle-doo-ing as loud as they could – she was determined to ignore the arrival of a new day and stay snuggled in her warm cocoon a little longer. She'd just experienced the best bloody night's sleep of her life and she wasn't going to give it up easily.

Parker had sighed reverently once about how one of his stepmom's few indulgences and displays of her wealth were reflected in her beds. Millie hadn't appreciated the comment at the time, but now, she was almost convinced Dr. Temperance Brennan purchased mattresses that must've been crafted by Morpheus himself. They seemed to wrap around the occupant, enfolding him or her within the softest, highest quality sheets, weaving a near-magical nest which fostered the sweetest of dreams. So, even as consciousness insidiously crept into her brain, she did not want to open her eyes. She wanted to just lie in her comfortable and cozy bed and lollygag for a while.

There was one tiny problem though.

Millie wasn't alone in her heavenly bed.

She'd been alone the night before when she swathed herself in this fantabulistic bedding that was fit for the Queen of England, but now, she reluctantly cracked one eye open and was greeted with two chocolatey brown orbs peering back at her from her unexpected bedmate's head, resting on her pillow just inches from her own.

It was the sound of the thumb sucking that had given his presence away and at the sight of her eyes fluttering open, Hank Booth reached out with his free hand and placed it gently against her cheek. Millie had picked up an admirer and, God's truth, she thought she might be falling in love with him too.

Yesterday afternoon, when Max Keenan had returned from the Newseum with Parker's siblings, Christine had squealed with delight, immediately running into Parker's arms, thrilled to see her big brother so unexpectedly. Hank, on the other hand, had shyly hidden behind the pant legs of one or another of the other adults in the room for the first couple hours, running away anytime Parker came close. It wasn't until after Max had left for the evening, Booth had taken up residence in the kitchen preparing dinner, Parker and Christine were sitting together on the couch reading one of her books, and Millie sat at the dining room table with Temperance, each working on their own laptops that Hank started to warm up to Millie.

At first, he just watched her quietly, occasionally peeking out from behind his mother's chair. Eventually, Millie started sticking out her tongue and making funny faces every time she caught him peeking at her. He'd peek, she'd make a goofy face, rolling her eyes, contorting her mouth, poking her tongue out sideways, and he'd hide behind his mom, then they'd do it again. And, again. The first time she heard the sound of that little-boy giggle, she'd felt like she'd just struck gold.

Temperance had looked up from her laptop, glancing at Hank, then smiling at Millie. "Hank is extremely shy around people that are unfamiliar to him, but it appears he likes you."

"He's adorable. Does he ever speak?"

"A few words, when he wants to, but he's more of an observer right now." Brennan chuckled. "He's not nearly as loquacious as his sister was at that age. Christine was a chatterbox as soon as she started learning words, always singing and just making up gibberish if she didn't know the correct words."

They glanced over to where Christine sat tucked into Parker's side on the couch, regaling him with stories of her friend Emma's slumber party that she went to a few weeks ago. "Parker is very proud of her. He speaks about her quite fondly."

"They've always been very close. Parker's like his father in that regard. Family means something very important to them both and, like Booth, Parker is very protective of the women in his life."

Millie snorted. "Tell me about it. I've threatened to wallop him a few times when he's gotten a little overbearing." At the end of that, she leaned over suddenly and poked Hank in his tummy, eliciting a squeal of surprise and another series of giggles.

"I believe Hank, on the other hand, is a little confused right now about his brother. He sees Parker's face on the computer screen regularly when we Skype, but I think he's having a hard time understanding how Parker got out of the computer and showed up in person. He's too young to really remember Parker's last visit."

"How old is Hank now?"

"20 months as of last week."

"Wow." Millie watched as Hank turned and ran down the hall towards his bedroom. "It's hard to believe Parker is his brother. He's more than 16 years older than Hank."

Brennan shrugged. "Booth was relatively young when Rebecca accidently got pregnant with Parker, but his sperm count is quite impressive with excellent motility and morphology characteristics." She looked at Millie with serious concern, a cautionary note creeping into her voice. "Even so, he was significantly older than Parker when he became a father. He'd already finished his schooling, and he was employed."

"Woah. Hold the horses. I am not pregnant and have no bloody intention of getting pregnant anytime soon," Millie reassured her.

"Good. But, assuming you and Parker are in a sexual relationship, you should know that none of Booth's three children were actually planned either. And, I certainly know how easily it is to get carried away in the heat of the moment." Brennan glanced through the glass wall towards her bedroom as a secretive feminine smile appeared on her face. "Your body starts pumping chemicals like oxytocin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin through your system, none of which do anything to improve your capacity for rational thought or intelligent decision making, and before you know it, you're lying there happily naked and trying to catch your breath . . . It may be quite satisfying, I admit, but it's not always smart." She sighed, turning her gaze towards her husband and staring at images in her mind that only she could see, privately reminiscing for a moment, before shaking herself back to the present and picking up where she left off. "But, my point was simply that in the absence of any other data, I'd assume Parker's semen is equally as potent as his father's so you'd be wise to be extremely diligent in practicing your birth control."

Millie grinned. Maybe she should've been annoyed or offended by Brennan poking around in her personal affairs, but it was clear Brennan was simply providing information out of concern without passing any judgment and it was such a pleasant novelty to converse so frankly with another woman that Millie just found the whole conversation delightful. "Yes, ma'am. Got it. I promise you, the gates to the royal castle always remain closed unless the knights are properly armored for battle." She was saved from having to respond to the perplexed frown Brennan turned her way by the reappearance of Hank.

This time, he had a teddy bear which he held out to her as he leaned against her thigh, waiting to see what she would do. Millie accepted the stuffed animal and gave it a thorough looking over. "Why, Master Hank, I do believe this must be one of the finest teddy bears I've ever seen."

That must've been an acceptable response because Hank crawled into her lap and snuggled up to her while she tried to coax him into sharing the bear's name. By the time supper was served, Millie knew she was a goner for the little boy and for the rest of the night, Hank had monopolized her attention. It didn't matter that he wasn't much of a talker, he was still quite capable of making his desires known. He brought her a book to read and just giggled and giggled as she imbued the voices of the animals in the story with heavy English accents. At bed time, he gave her a big hug and seemed reluctant to let go until his mom promised him that he'd see Millie again the next day.

It was such a sharp contrast to the less than warm welcome she received from Parker's sister, Christine. It was clear that Christine considered Parker to be hers, and she wasn't too keen on the prospect of sharing him with someone else. She spent the better part of dinner sulking and shooting daggers at Millie with her eyes when her father told her Parker was to be seated next to Millie, not her. Whenever Parker started chatting with Millie, Christine found a reason to interrupt and draw his attention away.

After dinner, Parker and Millie offered to clean the dishes while Booth and Brennan got the little ones bathed and into their pajamas. First, they put away all the food, packaging the leftovers into lunch-sized portions and storing them in the fridge. Then, they tackled the clean-up. With her arms up to her elbows in warm, sudsy water, Millie pointed out the obvious. "I don't think your sister is too keen on my being here with you."

"Christine? Nah, she's fine."

Millie just tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow at him, conveying her disagreement.

"Right." Parker reached for a plate and started to dry. "She'll come around, though. She's just excited to see me." Parker stored the plate away and reached for another. "You'll see – before long, she and Hank will be fighting for your attention."

"Humph." That one word summed up Millie's skepticism.

Wash, dry. Wash, dry. They fell into a comfortable silence, each reflecting on how the day had played out as they completed their self-appointed chore.

Millie hailed from a fairly large family. She'd been exposed to the chaos and dramas of siblings, nieces, and nephews for her whole life and in her experience, it was typically best to just tackle most issues head on. "Perhaps you and I could offer to take Hank and Christine somewhere for a bit tomorrow and spend some time alone with them. It would give your parents a break and hopefully make your siblings a little more comfortable with the two of us." She threw him a teasing grin. "Perhaps Temperance would even get a chance to finish folding that laundry."

Parker laughed, flicking her ass with his towel. "You're bad. God, that was embarrassing."

Millie turned, leaning her back against the counter and grabbed his belt loops, pulling him closer. "I thought it was wonderful . . . " She tugged a little more and Parker had to brace his arms on the countertop, caging her in, to keep from falling against her. " . . . kinda like you."

Parker couldn't resist. He leaned in and kissed her. He was only planning on a sweet, chaste kiss, but when she sucked on his lower lip and started nibbling on it with her teeth, he turned up the heat and started to get carried away. Neither of them noticed Christine returning from the hallway.

"Eew. Daaaaad, Parker and Millie are kissing in the kitchen!"

"Shit." Parker jerked up straight and pulled away. Millie just gave him a self-deprecating grin, speaking softly for his ears only. "Karma's a bitch, isn't she?"

Booth walked into the room behind Christine.

"Dad –" Parker started.

"Stop." Booth held up his hand and shook his head, still not yet used to the idea of Parker with a girlfriend, but realizing he was going to have to adapt to some degree. "I just . . . I don't . . . damn. Just, keep it clothed and no worse than PG, got it?"

"Yeah, got it."

"Thanks for doing the dishes."

The rest of the night was uneventful. Millie decided to turn in shortly after the kids, planning to read quietly in bed for a bit before going to sleep. But, once she crawled between such extravagant sheets, sleep was quick to claim her until now.

The soft touch of Hank's hand on her cheek brought her fully awake and she could see that even though he'd been brave enough to sneak into her room and crawl into her bed, Hank was a little nervous about his welcome.

Millie gave him a sleepy smile. "Hiya, love."

A/N: A pretty fluffy chapter, I admit. Feedback on my story is always welcome.