Title:Small Favors
Rating: Pg-pg13 ish we'll see.
Dislaimer: I own nothing, I do own the plot though. Its un-beta'ed so let me know of any mistakes or anything that could be changed
Ideas would be great also
Chapter One: Wrapped Around His Finger
Heavy snow began to fall on Washington D.C. and Temperance Brennan wanted nothing more than to be outside walking through it. Winter was the only time of year that she had the hardest time concentrating. Not only did she love the snow, but it was these times her mind wandered to other things: her parents, her brother, her staff and her partner.
Her partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth was special to say the least. Her 'knight in FBI standard shining armor' as Angela so kindly referred him to. She smiled amidst the piles of bones belonging to a World War II victim at the thought of the man.
As her thoughts ran to her non-existent family, the familiar ring of her cell phone startled her. "Brennan." she responded.
"Hey." said the voice on the end, her lips curling into smile.
"Hey. Long time, no hear." She said lightly.
"I called you yesterday, Bones. Are you missing your partner that much?" He returned.
"Its been really quiet with Hodgins out of town for the week, poor Zack hasn't had anyone to talk to in three days. Angela has locked herself in her office, working on some grand picture of sorts." She explained the predicament the 'squint squad' was in, it was as if one left-the rest were lost puppies. She could hear Booth chuckle on the other end. "Where are you anyway? You were supposed to be home by now."
"Chicago, my plane has been delayed because of the snow." he said. "Can you do me a huge favor?"
"What?" She asked, curiously.
He had expected sarcasm from her, but none came. "I get Parker for the holidays and I am supposed to pick him up in about an hour." He started
"And you want me to go get him?" she finished as Angela stood next to the table.
"Could you? Rebecca left for Las Vegas this morning and obviously I can't call her." He said in a rush. "He has everything with him. . ."
"You don't have to explain, Booth. Just tell me when and where." Angela smiled at her best friend, who also had a slight smile, "But are you sure you trust me with your child?"
"I wouldn't trust anyone else, Bones." he said sincerely, her smile soften indicating to Angela that he had said something to make her heart flutter, if confronted about it-Brennan would go on and on about how its medically impossible for the heart to flutter. "Be careful out there Bones, its supposed to be a mess out there."
"Don't worry Booth. I have your all-wheel drive SUV, remember. Its you that has to be careful."
"How can I forget that you have my SUV? If Cullen finds out and he might take it away, and I'll be stuck with the Crown Victoria." Teased Booth.
"That man already hates me, why not give him leverage." she responded. "Now hang up, so I can pick up your son."
"Alright, thanks again Bones." He replied sincerely.
"It's what friends are for." She said. "Call me when you know when you are getting here." They said their goodbyes and she placed her phone into her front pocket, noticing Angela's cheshire cat grin. "What?"
"You were so flirting with our resident G-man." Came her reply, her grin grew bigger." Brennan cursed her body's natural instinct to blush, and proceeded to put the bones away.
"I was not." Retorted the scientist, she brushed her bangs out of her face and looked at her watch. "Damn, I've got to got get Parker."
"I'll put these away." said Angela, pushing Brennan aside. "Go get him, I'll stall Cam if she asks."
"Thanks Angela." Brennan said, turning on her heels and heading to her office to grab her things, leaving with out another word.
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What would've taken her ten minutes to drive to the daycare facility, took her almost a half an hour. Confirming the time on her watch, she still had twenty minutes until Booth said to pick up the five year old. The daycare facility was nice, she had to admit, getting out of the SUV and walking into the large glass doors of 'Small World" daycare and the first thing she saw was a security check-in point.
"Can I help you ma'am?" Asked the large guard with a smile, whose name tag read Sam.
"Yes, I'm here to pick up Parker Booth." She said returning the smile.
"I need to call the head-mistress and get clearance, Ms.. . ."
"Doctor Temperance Brennan." She corrected out of habit.
"My mistake, Dr. Brennan. We need to run clearance checks on everyone who takes a child from the facility." He explained, his accent suggested he was from somewhere out west.
"I understand." She said, working with the FBI required a lot of security checks.
Within minutes a stout woman with graying hair came to the check-point. "Dr. Brennan? I'm Caroline Addler, Mr. Booth informed us that you would be picking up Parker." She said in a proud voice, shaking the young doctors hand.
"Yes, Booth is stuck in Chicago. His plane is delayed." Said Brennan.
The older woman slid a card into the reader and opened the door of a large room, the same size as the lab, she noted. "Small World has anywhere from 20-30 staff who will look over anywhere from 100-150 children. Children are separated by age groups ranging from infants to age of 12. We offer tutoring for all children over the age of 4.. ." She explained as a mass of blonde hair, hugged Brennan legs from behind.
"Dr. Brennan!" The arms belonged to none other than Parker Booth.
She turned around and got to eye level with him. "Hey Parker, are you ready to go?" The boy launched himself at her, his arms around her neck. He began talking at a million words a minute, and she looked at the older woman apologetically.
"Yup!" Said the boy as she returned his hug.
"Well, if Parker has all his things, I just need you to sign these papers and a copy of your ID." She smiled softly at the younger woman.
"Alright. Go get your stuff, Parker." She said, following Caroline Addler. The boy let go of his grip and ran away, it had surprised her at how attached he was to her. She had only met him a couple of times and he was completely smitten by the Forensic Anthropologist. She signed the necessary paper work and the boy ran back with a backpack and duffle bag in hand. With a smile she helped him put his coat, gloves and hat on. Together, hand-in-hand they ventured out into the snow.
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She had watched Booth put Parker into the car seat sometime ago, and she mimicked his actions placing the boy into it, and taking her own seat in the drivers chair.
"What would you like for dinner?" She asked, mentally running through the cupboards.
"Spaghetti?" asked Parker.
"We can do that." She said "Does Bo. . .your dad make you spaghetti?"
"All the time, its my favorite food." He said excitedly.
"What do you like to do with your dad?" pressed Bones, hoping it was something she could do to entertain his progeny.
"I like playing in the snow, and watching movies and. . ." The boy began to list.
Listening carefully, she silently made her own list of what she could and couldn't do, she cursed herself for not having a TV, but she remembered her laptop had a DVD player, the park wasn't far from her building, playing in the snow was a no-brain activity.
"Wanna know what I learned today?" asked Parker.
"What?" She responded, her mental checklist momentarily forgotten.
"I learned how to make snowflakes out of paper." He said proudly.
She was silent for a moment then responded. "That's neat."
"I can show you how to make them." she smiled at him, listening with interest. "I learned that snow happens because the clouds get cold and instead of rain, snow comes out."
"Actually . . ." She corrected, then Angela's voice came to mind Don't spoil it for him, let him believe. "Your right."
The boy was glowing with pride. "Really?" She nodded in response. "Daddy says your are really, really smart. He said you work in a museum, that has dinosaurs and mummy's and other cool things."
"Have you ever been to the Jeffersonian?" she asked, a little red, pulling into her parking stall, turning off the SUV.
"No, daddy said he would take me one day when you could give us a tour. He said we'd have more fun." Explained Parker, she helped him out of the car seat. "He also says you play with bones all day, is that true?"
"Yes I do." she said, taking the duffle bag and his hand and headed up the stairs to her apartment. "Here we are."
His eyes grew wide in excitement and took in his surroundings. "Wow." came his voice. "Where's your TV?"
"I don't have one." she said, the young boys eyes widen in shock. "I accidentally smashed it with a baseball bat." Parker started to laugh, it was infectious. She started to laugh. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour."
She showed the boy the bathroom and placed his stuff in her bedroom. "Go wash up, and we'll make dinner." Parker nodded and scurried to the bathroom. She sighed, wandering into the kitchen, pulling out the ingredients and her cell phone rang. "Brennan."
"Your still alive, I hear." Came Angela's voice.
"If I remember correctly, you are supposed to say hello." came her reply.
"Oh no, you didn't lose the kid did you?" she teased, knowing well that her friend would bend over backwards for the child.
"No, we are making dinner." She exclaimed, sounding hurt.
"That was unfair of me." apologized the artist. "You are great with children, Parker is really lucky."
"Dr. Brennan?" asked the curious boy behind her.
"Yes Parker?" She questioned, Angela momentarily forgotten.
"Where's your Christmas tree?" he asked innocently looking around the kitchen.
She could hear Angela take a deep breath. "Well Parker, I don't really celebrate Christmas."
"But why?" Curiosity killed the cat, right?
She could hear Angela saying something in her ear, she got eye level with him. She could go on about the Christians moving the date for their own selfish reasons, but she chose to ignore the logic. "Because I haven't had time to celebrate Christmas." It wasn't all a lie, she could hear Angela exhale the breath she was holding.
"Oh?" he said, turning on his heels and running in the opposite direction, only to return with the image she knew was called Santa Clause and had three paper chain links hanging off his hat. "Here! It sticks to the fridge," the child placed the 'art' on her fridge, her heart would have melted, hadn't been medically impossible. "and it tells you how many days till Santa comes."
"Sweetie?" Came Angela's voice from her phone.
Shaking her head, her mind wandered back to her best friend. "What? Oh, sorry."
"That boy has you wrapped around his finger." She said, with out room for argument.
"I don't know what that means, but I have to start dinner." Said Brennan, her face slightly red.
Angela's smile grew bigger. "Alright Sweetie, don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."
"Thanks Angela." They said their goodbyes and returned her attention to the boy.
"I've got a deal to make with you." His eyes grew wide. "I will make dinner and I will get you paper to decorate my apartment for Christmas."
He nodded his head excitedly,then becoming serious and holding out his hand to shake, a move he learned from his father she guessed, taking it and their deal was finalized.
She searched through her office an found a mass of colored paper, colored pencils, tape and glue, that she had, had since grad school. Parker sat at the table ready to work, with his poker face-inherited from her partner, he began his project.
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She had dinner ready in record time and looked over at the boy studying him amidst the paper. She admired his creativity, snowflakes hanging from the walls, pictures of Christmas on the door, and a chain of red and green paper strung from wall to wall at the height of a five year old. "Wow." She whispered, he smiled, that damned charm smile. She picked him up, bringing the chain higher than a five year old and a Forensic Anthropologist. "Dinner is ready, lets clean up."
It didn't take long for Parker and Bones to clean up and began to eat. She spent the entire meal explaining what happened to the dinosaurs and anatomy of the human body. Parker hanging on every word. "Dr. Brennan, daddy was right. You do know everything." He said with his huge grin, his voice grew low and he leaned closer to her. "Do you know where babies come from?" she choked on her water.
"What?" She coughed, eyes wide in shock.
"Well Jeff said his mommy is having a baby, but Miss Carly said the stork drops the baby off on doorsteps, and Jeff says that the baby is in his mommy's tummy, and that storks aren't real." He reasoned in five year old, He stood up and walked to her, looking at her midsection with curiosity. Carefully he placed his hands on it. "Is there a baby in there?"
Her face was red. "No Parker, there isn't a baby in there."
He was confused. "But if Jeff's mommy has one . . . ."
"Parker, you are much to young to know the complications of human reproduction." She almost cried.
"Huh?" She was using big words and she knew it.
"Babies do come from a mommy's belly." She finally said softly, putting their dishes in the sink.
"But how do they get there? Do mommy's eat them?" He asked innocently, his blue eyes were calling for answers.
"How about we watch a movie?" She had seen Booth change the subject abruptly with the boy, and his technique worked.
"Yeah! Mommy packed me my favorites, 'cause daddy doesn't have them." He said running to get his backpack. "Nemo, Polar Express, Toy Story, Incredible's."
She gave a sigh of relief, though not having a clue as to what he was talking about, she grabbed her laptop and placed the disk he had handed her into the drive, and putting it on the coffee table. "What are we watching?"
"A Christmas movie, called Polar Express. Its my third favorite movie after Nemo and. . ."he started naming the hierarchy of movies as the main title began, causing him to quiet down.