Well, this is it, the end. This chapter kind of stinks and I've rewritten it a few times, each time it got worse and worse. So this is the finish product, laden with errors. I hope you can forgive that.

Many thanks to those of you that have reviewed over the almost year that it took me to finally finish this. I hope you get some enjoyment out of this.

Epilogue

"I can't believe it's all gone," said Booth for the fifth time. They were standing outside the charred remains of his home. He was released from the hospital two days prior and went back home to Pennsylvania to be with his family for a while. Now it was a few days before Christmas and he was left without a home and without his possessions.

"Were they able to recover anything from the fire?" asked Brennan. She was standing next to him, bundled up in a jacket to keep out the brisk wind.

"Just my important things that I keep in a fire-proof box, but I lost all my pictures and everything else."

"I'm sorry Booth." He just nodded. "Um Booth, since you don't have anywhere to stay, you could stay at my place if you want."

He turned to face her and regarded her comment for a moment before nodding. "Thank you Bones, I'd like that."

He reached into his pocket and threw her the keys. "Here you drive. I don't think driving one handed was a good idea."

"Really Booth? After you almost missed the turn I was beginning to wonder the same thing."

"Are you getting smart with me Bones?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No…"

"I think you are." He started after her and she to the car for protection. She got in and locked the doors, leaving him stranded outside. "Okay Bones, come on, it's cold out here."

She laughed before unlocking the door and letting him in. "Don't try me next time Mr. Booth."

…

"Ange, he's just been in this funk lately. He's not his usual upbeat self."

"What do you mean Sweetie?" Brennan had shaken Booth off for a few hours, leaving him in her apartment as she left to go run some errands. In reality she went to her best friend's house to ask for some advice.

"I mean it's just that he kinda sits around. I offer to take him somewhere fun or go buy new clothes or something, but he doesn't want to do anything. And before this whole debacle, he was very excited for Christmas, but now he hardly mentions it."

"Oh, I see." Angela stood up from the couch. "Okay, your apartment isn't Christmas friendly, but we are going to make it so to give that man the best Christmas he ever had."

"And we are going to do that how?"

"Well I am going to get Jack and we're going to go buy Christmas decorations. You are going to take Agent Stud out somewhere for a good few hours. We'll take care of the rest."

Brennan looked at her for a few, before standing. "I'm glad to have a friend like you."

…

They walked through the mall together, passing the rush of people purchasing last minute gifts. Being the day before Christmas, many people were running around frantically trying to find last minute gifts.

Brennan looked over to Booth; he was quiet all day and it worried Brennan. She had tried to cheer him up, but that wasn't one of her strong suits and instead she had made a fool of herself.

They had visited half the stores in the mall already and Booth's arms were laden in bags from various establishments. "Booth, where do you want to go next?" she asked him. He didn't answer and instead kept walking.

"Booth, are you okay Booth?" she asked him as they left the store. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Yeah Bones I'm fine."

"Perhaps you need some nourishment. Let's head to the food court next."

…

A few hours later Booth pulled the SUV into the parking lot of Brennan's apartment complex.

"Bones, why is the light to your apartment on?" he asked concernedly.

"That? Oh I turned it on before we left because I couldn't find my… keys."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Booth, of course." Apparently Booth was satisfied as he stood up and went to the trunk to get the bags from their shopping trip. Booth had repurchased the gifts he had gotten for Parker, and Brennan had purchased him some too.

Brennan took it as a chance to send Angela a quick text message to make sure that the apartment was ready from them.

"Bones, let's go. It's cold and dark out here." She grabbed her jacket and followed him into the elevator of her building. Her phone vibrated as they got on and she looked at the text quickly before returning the phone to her pocket. Angela needed a few more minutes, how was she going to stall him. She looked around the elevator and saw that the only thing she could do was to push the emergency stop button. But that was too drastic.

The doors to the elevator opened and their noses were assaulted with the scent of Italian cooking.

"Wow that smells so good," commented Booth as he walked down the hall. "Bones is that coming from your apartment?" He turned back to look at her. "Bones, what's going on?"

"I had a lot of fun today Booth," she blurted out quickly. "I think we should do it again sometime," she added as she moved closer to him. They were now in front of her door and she was still waiting for the go ahead text from Angela.

"What?" laughed Booth. "What, was this a date Bones?"

"If that's what you like to call it," she nearly whispered as she moved closer. Her lips were inches from his and he started to tilt his head when her pocket vibrated. Immediately she stepped away and reached into her pocket to grab her keys. She opened the door to find the place lit up with Christmas lights with a huge tree in the corner. Her apartment had never been so decorated or filled with people. Zach, Hodgins, Angela, Cam and Sweets all stood around in various Christmas attire and clapped when they walked in. Hodgins turned on the stereo and the soft sounds of Christmas music began playing in the background.

"Happy Christmas Eve!" they shouted. Brennan smiled as she looked to Booth. She hoped to find a smile, but instead his jaw was rigid. He put the bags down and rushed past the group towards the bedroom.

"What happened?" asked Angela.

"I don't know. He was fine all day, at least as fine as he's been lately."

"Go talk to him Sweetie. We'll get dinner ready." Angela urged Brennan towards the direction Booth ran. Their talking resumed as she made it past the living room and to the guest bedroom. The door was shut and she knocked on it gently.

"Booth, is everything okay?" she asking.

"Go away," he said. Considering the circumstances she would have laughed at the child like behavior; instead she opened the door.

The room was dark and with the light from the hallway she could barely make out Booth's figure sitting on the floor with his back against the bed.

She sat down beside him. "Well I thought that you were unhappy about missing Christmas and I know that this isn't the most Christmas friendly place so I asked Angela to help me out. I thought that I was doing you a favor."

He lifted his hand and used it to turn her face so that he could stare at her eyes. "Hey listen, I'm sorry. It's a great idea and I absolute love it. I was bummed out about not having Christmas at home." He sighed and tilted his head against the bed. "It's just that Rebecca called me while you were in the bathroom at the mall and she told me that I can't see Parker anymore, that my rights are finished. I…I spoke to Parker and he was crying as I tried to tell him it would be okay. But he wanted to come over my house for Christmas, just like we always do, but she won't even let me see him again, one last time." He choked on his last words and leaned his head against Brennan's shoulder. She frowned and reached for his hand, squeezing his fingers in assurance.

"I'll be right back Booth." She stood and walked out of the room and then returned a few minutes later. "I asked the others to leave for the night. Hodgins is having a big Christmas get together at three in the afternoon tomorrow and we're invited."

He opened his mouth to protest but she placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "Listen to me Booth, you're going to go to bed and tomorrow we're going to open presents. Understand?"

He was to beat to argue and instead stood. He gave her a hug, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in close. "Thank you for everything Bones." With that she smiled and left, heading to the living room.

She sat there for an hour until she heard the sound of his snores permeating the hallway. Once satisfied that he was sound asleep, she grabbed her jacket and keys and carefully snuck outside. She drove to the house she had only been to once when Booth needed to pick up Parker early for the weekend. It was nearly nine o'clock and she hoped that not everyone had headed to bed early. She pulled up to the curb and was glad to see that there was a light on.

She walked up the driveway carefully, trying to avoid the ice forming. She knocked on the door and Rebecca answered quickly.

"Oh, hello Dr. Brennan," greeted Rebecca rather confusedly.

"Hi Rebecca. Can we talk for a few?" She nodded and stepped to the side to allow Brennan through. The home was quiet and she assumed that Parker was already in bed hoping to accelerate Santa's arrival.

"Look Rebecca, I hope that I'm not overstepping any boundaries here. It's just that Booth is really taking this not being able to see Parker thing to heart. He's been down the past few days and upon hearing that he can't spend Christmas with his son, he got worse. When the fire started and Booth figured out what was happening he immediately put Parker's safety above anything else. His first goal after we left the house was to keep Parker safe. His safety and the case meant next to nothing to him until Parker was safe at his grandmother's house."

"I understand that Dr. Brennan, but my concern is for Parker's health. He has been and can be used for leverage considering Seeley's occupation and I don't want him being scarred for life because of his father's work."

"Yes but still for Parker's benefit, not seeing his father still hurts him more. There are worse men out there that can legally see their children, yet Booth is an honest, caring man that wants nothing more than the happiness and safety of anyone that means anything to him. And you keeping a man from his son like that, because of something that could happen is wrong."

Rebecca opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when she realized that there was nothing she could say regarding the statement. "I'm sorry if I overstepped a boundary or two, but I think that something needed to be said." With that Brennan left the home, hoping that she didn't permanently ruin Booth's chances of ever seeing his son again.

…

The morning came quickly for Brennan and she awoke to the soothing aroma of coffee and bacon assaulting her olfactory senses. She looked at the clock to see that it was already 10 in the morning. She rolled out of bed and threw on her robe before heading to the kitchen to see what Booth was doing.

He stood in front of the stove turning over the bacon with a fork. In her iHome was Booth's iPod and she could hear the sound of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra blaring. Booth's head moved in time with the beat of the drum.

She watched as he body moved, taking in the movement of his muscles through the thin T-shirt and candy cane laden pajama pants. She smiled until Booth turned around and caught her staring.

"Hmm Bones, like something you see?" he asked cheerfully and gave a wag of his bottom. "Merry Christmas." He stepped away from the stove and walked up to her. "Listen I'm sorry about last night. I guess everything that has happened over the past week kinda just hit me and I couldn't stop it."

She waved her hand. "No Booth, there is no need to apologize. It would have been wrong of me to stop that."

Booth smiled. "Thanks again Bones." He gestured to the stove. "I figured that we could have a nice Christmas breakfast before we left for Hodgin's place."

Brennan smiled. "Thanks Booth. I'm just going to go shower and get ready."

"Well if you're not going cook, you get to clean up."

"Fine by me," she added before she headed for the bathroom.

…

After the refreshing shower she dressed and headed to the kitchen. Booth was just finishing putting their food on the table. He pulled her chair from the table and she sat.

"Thank you Booth."

They ate in silence, each avoiding the other's stare for the time being. Brennan could tell that Booth was still embarrassed after the events of the previous night. He was also mourning the loss of visitation rights for Parker. She felt for him, wishing that she could help him deal with his pain, but she couldn't think of any way that would even begin to ease the pain.

Booth cleared his plate and wiped his mouth before leaning back and linking his fingers behind his head. His gaze was on Brennan as she finished eating, the way she would close her lips around the food and then slowly slip out the fork. She dropped her fork as she finished her food. She noticed that Booth was staring and her cheeks turned red as she looked away. Booth smiled at her shyness and stood.

"I'm going to shower now." She nodded and watched as he moved down the hallway.

She was working on drying the dishes when there was a knock at the door. She dried her hands on the dishtowel and hurried to answer it. She was surprised to find Rebecca and Parker standing at the other side.

"Hi," she said tentatively, hoping that the woman wasn't angry about her visit the previous night.

"Hi Tempe, is Seeley here?"

"Daddy!" shouted Parker and he ran past his mother and Brennan and jumped into his father's arms. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too." He put Parker on the ground. "Can I go talk to Mommy for a few?"

Parker nodded and Booth walked out the door, not before giving Brennan a suspicious glance.

Parker tugged on Brennan's hand. "Tempe, can I have something to eat?"

She was surprised that the boy referred to her as Tempe when he used to call her Doctor Brennan. "Of course Parker." He took her hand in his and held on tight as they looked for something to eat.

"Do you have Froot Loops?"

"No," she replied quickly, not even knowing what the boy was talking about.

"Apple Jacks?"

"No."

"Fruity Pebbles?"

"No."

"Then what do you have?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Cheerios." He made a disgusted face and sighed.

"Fine, can I please have some of those?"

"Of course." She poured him a bowl and set him up in the living room and turned on Christmas cartoons. He pulled her to the couch and they were just starting to watch something about a bald little boy and his dog when the door opened and Booth stepped back inside. From the distance Brennan couldn't gauge his mood.

"Temperance, I need to speak to you in the kitchen, please." Worried she immediately walked to the kitchen, nervously biting her lip in the process.

Booth was leaning against the counter when she walked in. "Look Bones, I don't know what you said to Rebecca even though she denies that you had anything to do with it. But I know you left last night." Booth had moved closer while talking to her so that were now standing toe to toe.

She opened her mouth to reply, but Booth put a finger on her lips, silencing her. He leaned in to kiss her cheek but she turned into the kiss so that their lips met. They continued for a few moments, enjoying the closeness of each other until…

"My Cheerios are soggy… EW!" shouted Parker when he saw what they were doing.

The adults broke apart fast and giggled at being caught by the young boy. "Merry Christmas Bones," said Booth.

"Merry Christmas Booth."