Discovery

Chapter 9

Booth had finally started on his reports when Sweets burst into his office.
"Sweets? What is it?" Booth frowned, slightly puzzled at the young Psychologist's actions. Sweets was carrying seven large looking books in his arms, and his eyes were lit up with excitement.
"Okay, so when you gave me that email to read, the name Willow Rosenberg meant something, but I couldn't remember what. I'd read it somewhere else, but I couldn't remember where I'd read it. I was looking in my bookshelf to see if I could see something that would jolt my memory, when I found this." Sweets quickly spoke, handing over the top book on his pile. Booth set aside his reports and picked it up. He read the title.
'Raising a child in the 21st century, a guide for parents.' Booth looked up at Sweets with his eyebrows raised.
"Look at the author." Sweets explained. Booth lowered his eyes back to the bottom of the front cover and read the name of the author.
'Shelia Rosenberg.'
"Open it up." Sweets instructed, and Booth opened the book, and was greeted with the author's biography written on the inside of the dustcover, complete with a family picture. Booth froze as he looked at the picture. It could so easily have been a picture of a younger Carmen, except for the subtle differences. Booth could see not only Carmen, but his own mother in the girl that sat beside a woman, whom he assumed to be Shelia Rosenberg, and who had a man standing behind her with an arm around her shoulders. He glanced at the caption.
'Shelia Rosenberg with her husband Ira, and their daughter Willow (aged 15), at home in Sunnydale, CA.'
Booth placed the book down on his desk, and looked up at the young Psychologist.
"That's the most recent of her books. Because she deals with child psychology, I don't read her books very often, I only reference when there's a case involving a child. I went home and picked up her older books if you wanted to have a look. The pictures are all different, but the biography doesn't change."
Booth lowered his eyes once again to the book that he had already opened and read the short biography. It was only the last paragraph that interested him.
'Shelia Rosenberg is a world class lecturer, and runs seminars and programs on Successful parenting and the management of children throughout the globe. She is accompanied on her tours by her Rabbi husband Ira. Shelia Rosenberg has one daughter, Willow, who is kept sheltered from her mother's hectic public life by remaining at the family home while her parents are away.'
"Her mom is a child psychologist; she must have had a great upbringing." Booth said quietly. Sweets shrugged.
"Maybe, but I was more thinking along the lines of she doesn't see her parents that much. I looked on Shelia Rosenberg's website, and she spends at least nine months a year on tour each year, and Ira Rosenberg has his own lecture tour that often runs in unison with hers, so they spend a lot of time traveling together, and they're both away from home at the same time."
Booth grimaced at the idea of a child growing up with their parents being away so much, "No wonder she sounds so anxious and shy when she's writing to me, if she feels as though her adoptive parents have abandoned her, what my reaction is going to be."
Sweets sadly nodded his agreement, having come to the same conclusion. Booth frowned and tapped open his email account, checking it. There was a message for him from Willow sitting there waiting for him. He read it, grinning as he learned more about his prospective daughter. He stopped smiling when he read about her friend that had died. It seemed that already, aged only sixteen, Willow had been touched by the true cruelty of the human race.
Sweets opened up the other books, and Booth tore his eyes away from the email to look at them. In the earliest image Willow was only one year old, according to the caption, and then progressed up to a four year old, a seven year old, a nine year old, an eleven year old and then a thirteen year old. Booth looked at the images of his daughter, which he considered Willow to be, even though it hadn't been confirmed yet, as she seemed to grow up right in front of him. His eyes were drawn to the smile upon her seven year old self. If only for the difference in hair colour and the eye colour, it could be Parker's face smiling up at him. Maybe there was some of himself in Willow too, though he couldn't see it.
At the noise of Sweets clearing his throat, Booth turned his computer screen around so the younger man could read the email.
"What do you make of that?" he asked, still looking at the pictures. Sweets sighed and read the email quickly, trying to get an insight into the life of the Californian teenager in question.
"She's suffered a loss at a young age, and I can see that it's had a lingering affect on her. I think it's made her worldlier and less innocent about the world. She knows it's a dangerous place from experience, but the way she talks about her current friends indicates that she's very happy with them."
"Did you read the bit about what subjects she likes and does well at?" Booth asked with a light grin on his face.
"Yeah, why?" Sweets asked.
"How on earth did I father a geek? There's nothing wrong with that, but we Booths tend to be more, er, brawn than brain."
Sweets dissolved into laughter, "Was her mother smart?"
"Oh yeah, she was Valedictorian, but English, Languages and literature were her specialties. Willow sounds more like a science and maths and Computers kind of person. Oh God, she's a squint. Bones is gonna have a field day."
Sweets laughed even more, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.
"I'm so glad that you find this amusing, Sweets" Booth grumbled, though he too was fighting his urge to smile.
Sweets got a hold of himself and his chuckles died down as he resumed his usual, serious, facial expression.
"Have you told any of the squints yet?"
"Cam knows, because she was one of the last ones to see Carmen before she disappeared. They were at college together, and I got Willow to send a mouth swab to Cam at the Jeffersonian so she can do a DNA analysis."
"What about Dr. Brennan?"
"No, and I'll hold off until the DNA tests come back. You know how she likes proof and evidence and all that."
"What do you think Parker's reaction is going to be?"
"He'll be excited, and he'll probably be jealous of Willow at some point, but overall I think he'll like it. He's always wanted a sibling, even though I think it was a younger one he had in mind, not an older sister that's ten years older then him."
"What about Rebecca?"
"She'll be okay with it, I mean, it's not like we were together at the time. We didn't even meet until after I came back from Iraq. By that point, Willow would have already been about six, and Carmen was dead."
"Yeah, I guess." Sweets agreed.
"Do you mind if I keep these, you know?" Booth gestured at the books.
"Go ahead," Sweets said with a smile, "And if you need any help, you know where to find me."
"Thanks Sweets." Booth smiled as Sweets left his office, before he looked down at the photos of his daughter. A wry smile crossed his face as he looked at the photos, before he turned his computer screen around, and hitting the reply button with his mouse.
'To Willow,
It was good to hear back from you so soon. I'm glad to hear about your friends, they sound like they are very supportive and helpful. I'm glad that you like school. Your mom was good at school; she was valedictorian when we both graduated from high school. You should be happy that you got her mind, because I'm more a physically doing things kind of guy, and I'm more people smart than book smart.
I was sorry to read about your friend Jesse dying. It must have been very hard to loose a friend like that.
In relation to your Irish friend Angel (Is that his real name?), I know that my grandmother on my Dad's side was Irish, so I guess it is possible.
What do your parents do? One of my friends is a Psychologist, and he recognized your last name, and the fact that you lived in Sunnydale, and showed me your mom's books. It must have been good growing up with an expert on Kids. You mentioned your dad not being around much. Do you know why?
Sorry, it probably sounds like I'm questioning you like I do to a suspect. It's a hard habit to break.
I don't have many friends outside of work, and my work does keep me kind of busy. In my down time, I enjoy watching sport on TV, and reading comic books. I also play some sports (Depending on how busy I am, and what time of year it is).
Do you have any siblings, or, you know, adopted siblings technically? You mentioned a couple of your friends, and it sounds like you're all very close.
Did you send the DNA test off? It'll probably get here tomorrow at some point, or maybe Tuesday. It is convenient that there is a late night mail run on a Saturday, although kind of unusual.
Sunnydale sounds like a nice enough kind of place; although I did some reading (I was curious.) Is the crime rate usually that high? I was surprised at how many cemeteries there were, considering it's not a large city.
This email is fine for you to send stuff to, because I don't have another one. I won't get in trouble. I hope to hear from you soon.
Seeley Booth.'