Discovery

Chapter 36

Willow actually let her jaw drop as her father drove up the driveway that lead to Hodgins' house. The large automatic gate and the tall brick fence in the very upper-class-looking suburb indicated to her that obviously it was going to be impressive but nothing had prepared her for the sheer size and look of Hodgins' property. And then, as they cleared some trees, there was the house with its attached massive garage. It didn't seem to fit Hodgins at all but there was Hodgins, Angela, Zach and Sweets all standing on the front steps, waving.

"Not what you expected?" Booth asked a wide grin on his face. Willow was speechless and simply shook her head in reply. Booth laughed.

"I thought the same thing the first time I came here. Hodgins comes from a wealthy family. He has people that work for him that organize the business so he doesn't need to and he hates being associated with them. His family actually are massive sponsors of the Jeffersonian but Hodgins hates talking about it. He earned his position at the lab and he works hard because he loves it. At least, I'm pretty sure he does," Booth told her. Willow smiled and nodded before she climbed out of the SUV, carrying the bag of presents that she had brought for her father's Jeffersonian friends. They would all be there today except for Dr. Saroyen, who had already left D.C. to visit her family, but she would be back in a few days and Willow would give Cam her present then. Booth got out too and grabbed the dish that was carrying his contribution to the meal from the back of the car before they both walked over to the house.

"Hi, guys. Merry Christmas." Angela beamed, taking the dish from Booth and carrying it inside, leading the whole group inside.

"Merry Christmas," Willow replied, putting her handbag down beside Angela's. Booth took his coat off and put it with the bags.

The inside of Hodgins' home was just as grand as the outside but it still felt warm and lived-in. Hodgins returned from the kitchen, having dropped the dish off, and led the group from the large entry into a smaller living room. A Christmas tree was set up at one end of the room and Zach led Willow over to it so they could scatter Willow's presents (plus the ones that Booth had brought already for his colleagues) underneath it.

"The tree looks very pretty," Willow commented as they worked. Zach blushed slightly.

"Hodgins and I went and picked it out last weekend and I had to decorate it. Considering that both he and I are usually away during Christmas time, Hodgins does not have many Christmas decorations and I do not have any, but I tried to make it as symmetrical as possible. I'm glad you find it visually pleasing."

"It looks great," Willow reassured him. "I'm very impressed and I love the wall decorations too," Willow said, admiring the string that had been looped along the wall with test tubes hanging from it filled with alternating green and red glowing liquid. It added a scientific quirk to the room, which Willow found highly appropriate, since most people there had a doctorate in some form of science.

"Hodgins did those. He has his own small laboratory in the basement," Zach said, looking at the test tubes happily. "Dr. Brennan tells me that you do not normally celebrate Christmas," he said softly as Willow laid the presents out. Willow smiled and shook her head.

"Not normally. I'm actually Jewish and my parents usually are away this time of year anyway. My friends and I used to sort of merge Hanukkah and Christmas into one thing and I used to sneak over to my best friend's house and we'd watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special together. That would be the extent of it."

"This year must be very different for you then," Zach reasoned.

Willow nodded. "Yeah, it is. I've loved it. For the first time in my life, I'm actually excited about it being Christmas."

"What are you two chatting about?" Booth asked as he approached them.

"We were just talking about the tree and Christmas generally," Willow replied. Zach nodded in agreement to back her up. Booth's eyes narrowed slightly but he brushed it off and walked away, satisfied that Willow was happy where she was. He had to admit it he found it odd that Willow and Zach got along so well but then, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised. Either way, he was glad. Zach was the closest of the squints in age to Willow and the shy squint needed a few friends, if Hodgins was to be believed. Booth didn't mind, since it was good for Willow to have someone who was a friend to talk to while she was staying in D.C.

"What?" Jack smiled at Booth, seeing the conflicted look on Booth's face.

"Nothing, just seeing what they're up to."

"Dude, you're so overprotective already. It's just Zach, chill." Hodgins grinned, shaking his head in amusement.

"I think it's sweet," Angela said softly, watching the pair. "Zach's been acting weird ever since he got back from Iraq and ever since he spent that day with Willow, he's been normal... or at least, as normal as Zach gets."

Sweets privately agreed with Angela. Although he did not know Zach overly well, he had observed from what the others had said that the youngest squint had been different since his stint in Iraq. Booth had told him about Zach's habit of sleeping in odd places and Sweets personally thought that Zach was struggling with what he witnessed in the war zone and that he was going through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, although he had talked to Zach and Zach had never mentioned a incident which might have led to him developing PTSD. Sweets had thought that Zach would be highly skilled at compartmentalizing what he had seen and he would have thought that Zach would have been able to cope. Obviously he had been wrong. The problem was that Sweets had to wait for Zach to approach him. Booth and Brennan were the ones that the FBI were worried about and were forced to attend sessions. Zach would have to make his own approach and that, Sweets knew from his college classes, was going to be the hardest step for the young squint. At least, Sweets reasoned as he watched Zach and Willow chatter, Zach had found someone who was happy to talk to him and would be willing to help Zach recover.

"Come on, guys, lunch is served," Hodgins called, having gone and checked on the food while Sweets was submerged in his thoughts. Zach and Willow got up and hurried over to the rest of the group and together they all walked to the kitchen.

A wide variety of foods was laid out on the bench and they all piled their plates high with food before carrying them to a dining room, where a table was set. Willow sat in between Booth and Angela. Dr. Brennan was on Booth's other side while Hodgins was on the other side of Angela at the head of the table. Zach was sitting on the other side of Hodgins, leaving Sweets opposite Willow.

Willow loaded up her plate, pausing to say a soft prayer under her breath. Booth did the same but none of the others did anything of the sort, nor did they comment on the actions of Willow or her dad, so Willow shrugged and joined in the toast, clinking her glass (filled with lemonade) with the glasses of the team. She smiled and accepted the end of a Christmas cracker that Booth had offered her, pulling on it, and laughing as Booth put on the paper hat that had been contained within.

Looking around the table, Willow smiled as she saw how happy the team were... how, despite the fact they weren't related, they had come together and celebrated as if they were a real family. It was at that moment that Willow realized that now she was a member of the family. She belonged here with them, just like she belonged in Sunnydale with Xander and Buffy.

Laughing at the corny joke Booth read out, Willow beamed and let herself relax. So this is what belonging to a family felt like, she found herself thinking as she began to eat.