(Girl) Jordan (4) and (boy) Riley (5)
azarathangel (ash)
five years marriage
A/N: This is a soliloguy from Parker's point of view.
I would like to thank azaratheangel for giving me permission to use her characters Riley and Jordan. They appear in her fanfic "The Angel From My Nightmare". If you haven't read it yet, please do. It's really good. Thanks Ash, you're the best!
Disclaimer: I don't own BONES or any of its characters. Azarathangel owns 'Riley' and 'Jordan'. 'Bryar' belongs to me.
Welcome. I'm so glad you could make it. Can you believe that Tempe and Dad has been married for 30 years? I know, it just seems like yesterday that my dad was introducing me to 'Dr. Bones'. Dad still calls her that from time to time. He'll call out, "Bones, can you…". It's cute really. I remember Tempe telling me how much she hated that nickname, and Dad saying that's why he called her that. But now Tempe says, "You can't teach an old man new tricks." I just don't think it bothered her as much as she said.
Funny, really. Even after all these years, Tempe will refer to Dad as 'Booth'. Normally when she's mad or annoyed with him. It use to make me laugh so hard when I was a kid. Her yelling, "Booth, would you just give me a minute" or "Booth, would you get the kids? They're getting flour all over the kitchen and I'm with the baby!" I can't help but to smile at the memories. It took her a long time to call him by his first name. And I guess that's because they worked together before they started to date. Even after they got married they continued to work as partners. The FBI was a little, okay, a lot worried that their personal relationship would interfere with their work, but it didn't. It made them a better team. Their case record was impressive before their marriage, afterwards it was incredible.
I would like to tell you about our life. Dad and Tempe got married 30 years ago today. Thus the reason for the anniversary party. Oh sure, they didn't want it, but us kids thought they deserved it. I was almost six when they got married. My little brother, Riley, was born shortly after their marriage. (I found out later that she was already pregnant when they said 'I do'.) Anyhow, just over a year after Riley was born my sister, Jordan, came along. We really were just one big happy family. When I was 13 I moved in full time with Dad and Tempe, much to my mom's horror, but my stepfather and I didn't get along well, and frankly, I wanted to be with my brother and sister. That same year, Tempe surprised everybody when she told us she was having another baby. Dad was beside himself!
The new baby was named Bryar. She got that name because Jordan loved the story of Sleeping Beauty, and that was the princess' name. Well, Briar was her name, but Tempe decided she liked it spelled with a 'y'. Nobody really knows why. So Bryar made six. Tempe, Dad, Riley, Jordan, Bryar and me. A big happy family.
Tempe finally took over for Dr. Goodman as head of the Jeffersonian. And Dad, well, he worked his way up to Deputy Director. Although they didn't work together anymore, they never stopped bouncing ideas off of each other. Even the characters in Tempe's books eventually got married. (And she always said they weren't based on her and Dad.) Neither one does field work anymore, well, officially they don't, although they still do 'consulting work'. They just can't sit still, and I guess they're both too good at what they do to ask them.
I grew up and followed in Dad's footsteps, entering the FBI when I was 24. I got married when I was 26, and my wife and I have two little rug rats. My oldest, Julian Seeley, already says he's going to be an agent just like me and his grandpa. My daughter, Eva Temperance, has an odd fascination with bones. And she's only three!
Riley is also followed in Dad's path and went into the Army. A sniper, of course. Dad tried to talk him out of it. Saying the things you see isn't worth the nightmares, but Riley didn't back down. He said that he felt it was his duty…to his country and to his family to serve and protect. Dad never said another word against him. We are all proud to have a service man in our ranks. His wife is a great woman and she takes really good care of their daughter, Roselin, when Riley has to go over seas.
Jordan was inspired by Tempe. She's a forensic anthropologist working at the Jeffersonian. She's really good. She hates it, but she has been compared to Tempe. I have to admit though she has made her own name. Much to the pleasure of our parents. Jordan got married two years ago to a co-worker (a theme that seems to run in our family, for I married one too) named Steven Seymore. They just had their first kid earlier this year. A little boy named Brennan.
Little Bryar, although she's not so little anymore, just graduated from college. She's not FBI or Army or into science, but I guess you could say she followed in her moms path too. She got her first book published when she was only 16. She's an excellent writer, just like Tempe.
We each have gone down our own paths, and you can see our parents in everything we do. They guided us and taught us and then let us make our own choices. We were lucky…we are lucky. We are such a close-knit family. Such a loving family. We have been through a lot together and we've always been there. No matter what. Dad got shot. Twice that I remember. Tempe got kidnapped a few times. It was trying…hard…scary. But we pulled together and we pulled through.
Thirty years Tempe and Dad have been together as husband and wife, although I'm sure it started before then. Started not long after they met. They are the people I model my life and my marriage after. Dad and Tempe have made us, their children, so proud of them over the years. So happy to call them our parents, that we can only hope that we make them as proud. That the work I do for the FBI, that Riley does in the Army, the good Jordan does being an anthropologist and the joy Bryar brings about through her writing makes Dad and Tempe proud to call us their children.
So now I would like to thank Angela, Jack, Zack and their families for joining us today. They are family to us. If you would all raise your glasses, I would like to propose a toast.
To my parents, Tempe and Seeley. The best parents anyone could ever ask for. You were both there for us when we needed you, no matter what. For everything that you two have done for me and Riley and Jordan and Bryar, we will never forget. And we can only hope that we do as good with our children as you've done with yours. Tempe, Dad, happy anniversary. And wishes for many, many more!