Discovery

Chapter 25

Willow nervously walked beside Jack up the ramp into the arrivals lounge. She could see the groups of people waiting to collect their loved ones off the plane. She scanned the crowd, searching for sight of Booth, as Jack gave an excited squeal and sprinted from her side, throwing himself into the arms of a waiting man with whom he shared a strong resemblance. Willow smiled at the sight of her young friend being reunited with his father before she resumed her search for her own.

She soon spotted him, beaming at the sight of her. Willow hurried over to him and he pulled her into a one-armed hug.

"Hi," Willow smiled.

"Hey, did you have a good flight?" Booth asked. Willow nodded.

"Yeah, it was great. The city looked so pretty after we'd gotten down through the clouds. Everything was white because of the snow."

"I thought you'd like that. How were the last few days of school? How did your exams go?"

"My exams went fine, I didn't have a problem, I think this is the first time I've really looked forward to school vacation, though usually I like being at school, but I just wanted to get up here and see you and meet Parker and all the other people you've told me about."

Booth laughed and began to lead Willow to the baggage claim area. Willow spotted Jack walking with his father and waved and the little boy waved back at her.

"Friend of yours?" Booth asked as they reached the baggage carousel, his voice thick with amusement. Willow shrugged.

"He was next to me on the plane; they put all the minors travelling alone together, up the front, so the flight attendants can look after them. We talked a bit."

"Ah," Booth said, nodding in understanding. Willow watched as the luggage started to arrive and they fell into a silence, with Willow watching for her suitcase to show up and Booth watching Willow, revelling in the fact that she was finally with him.

Booth found himself taking the sight of his daughter. Willow hadn't changed in the few weeks since he had last seen her but it was still a novelty for him to look at his daughter. He was still in shock that the petite, shy little red-haired sixteen-year-old girl was his daughter. It reminded him of when Parker was a newborn, how long he and Rebecca had spent just sitting and watching the little baby as he slept, cooing and gushing in delight at the littlest things he'd done.

Of course, at the time Booth didn't know that there was another child out in the world who carried his DNA, one that had long since passed through the first smile-and-babble stage (although babbling was debatable, she still did it often), and was instead in that awkward stage in between being a child and being a adult.

Willow's movement drew Booth from his musing and he watched as she collected her suitcase from the carousel. She hauled it back to where he was standing, smiling as she set it down to organize her bags and the handle, so she could pull it along on its wheels.

Booth smiled at Willow. "You all ready to go?" he asked. Willow beamed and nodded.

"Uh-huh, I have everything now. All ready to go."

"Great." Booth nodded, taking Willow's suitcase from her gently and leading the way out of the airport. Willow saw Jack on the way out with his father and the little boy waved happily at her. Willow waved in reply before she followed her father from the airport.

Willow followed behind Booth as he took her through the car park until they reached his SUV. Booth put her suitcase in the back and Willow put her backpack in the back as well before she got into the front seat. Booth jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine.