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It’s later than she’d thought advisable to have an adolescent out in the cold, but given the holiday activity she theorized that an exception had been made. She wondered briefly if Booth had authorized the activity with Rebecca, but immediately filed that away as an issue that was, as Angela would say, not her business.
Still, it was good that Booth was purchasing them hot chocolate. The light show had been crafted for walking and while the snow had slowed down it had not stopped completely. She’d grabbed a matching scarf from her car that went with the grey knit hat she’d been sporting all day and wrapped it four times around her viscerocranium before even exiting the vehicle.
Parker snuggled into her side, pressing his nose into the soft wool of her overcoat while they waited on a bench near the front of the National Arboretum for Booth to come back. “I really liked the tree you and your father brought me.”
“It was really neat,” he agreed, his gloved hands playing with the hem of her coat sleeve casually; Brennan wondered if it was because he was nervous to be alone with her or that he was just that comfortable with her. She truly wasn’t sure. She knew that her analytical and science-based personality often was off-putting for others and while she wasn’t willing to change herself to make someone else comfortable, she didn’t want Parker to feel uncomfortable around her. She’d always enjoyed spending time with him and Booth, she hoped that he had enjoyed their times together too and didn’t feel she was intruding.
“Are you sure you’re okay with me joining you and your Dad for the lights? I know you don’t get to see him often-”
“No, it’s totally cool,” he reassured, tilting his head so he could see her face around the soft fuzz of his hat. It barely contained the curly blond hair he’d inherited from his mother but she always thought that the eyes were all Booth. It was a little jarring to see such an intense brown from the cute, innocent face of his son when she was so used to seeing it from the chiseled, arrogant face of his father. “I wanted you to come. It’s just so darn cold!”
She nodded, reaching out and hesitantly touching the tip of his nose, which was more red than usual. “You should take my scarf, it’ll protect your nose and ears.”
“I can’t take your scarf, Bones! You’ll get cold. I’m a tough guy, I’ll be fine.”
“I’d rather you take it,” she insisted, unwinding it slowly, “I’ve got a higher collar, I’ll be okay.”
“Dad says we have to take care of the women we love, so I can’t take it,” he replied with a stubborn pout, his brow furrowing and for a moment he looked like a mirror image of Booth and the small pieces of Rebecca fell away. “I gotta make sure you’re okay while he’s not here.”
She gaped at him for several seconds, amazed at his casual declaration of love, before biting her lip and hiding an amused smile. “How about we share it then? I don’t think I can tolerate knowing you’re cold and I’m not.”
The idea of sharing seemed to confound his proprietary learnings and he twisted his lips as he thought it through. “I think that would be okay.”
Luckily it was a long scarf so it was easy to get a couple of loops around him until he was covered from clavicle to zygomatic. They sat closely and shared body heat and scarf, his little fingers playing with the hem of her sleeve as they talked about the lights they could see from their seats and occasionally looked over at the drink cart to check Booth’s progress.
By the time Booth came back with the three cups of steaming chocolate, they had both developed numb butts from sitting but the rest of them were doing just fine. As they stood, she surreptitiously looped the rest of the scarf around Parker and propped up her lapel, taking her cup from Booth with a grateful smile and hissing slightly at the first touch of too-hot beverage to her lips.
Parker led the way onto the path and started to rave about the displays as the couple lingered a few feet behind. “Booth, we need to talk,” she started, one hand sliding into her pocket as she glared at him from the side of her eyes before checking back on Parker ahead of them instinctively. “...about you teaching Parker antiquated patriarchal ideation.”