Roots and Wings, Part Two

201. A Day in the Life

One last visit with Christine and Andrew.

(Booth and Brennan appear only by reference in this chapter.)

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Christine rapped on the bedroom doors as she passed by on her way to the stairs.

"Fifteen minutes."

One door immediately cracked open. Lisa's head poked out, blonde hair hanging loose around her scandalized face.

"Fifteen minutes? I can't be ready in fifteen minutes! I still have to fix my hair! Seeley just got out of the bathroom!"

"Don't blame me!" The 12-year-old's outraged voice came from behind his door, the muffled tone explained when it opened to reveal him struggling into the polo shirt of their school uniform. When his head popped through the neckline, he glared at his sister. "It's your fault I was late getting in there! You took so long, I ran out of hot water!"

Lisa stomped out into the hallway, khaki pants visible beneath the hem of the robe she still wore. "It wouldn't matter how much hot water I used if you'd taken your shower last night like Mom told you to!"

"She didn't say I had to," Seeley shot back. "She said it was my choice and -"

A full-scale row seemed inevitable. Christine, however, wasn't going to stay and listen to it.

"You have wasted three minutes of the fifteen I gave you," she interrupted, giving them each a stern look. "Now you have twelve."

She ignored the sound of the doors slamming behind her and made her way downstairs, just stepping off the last riser when a door leading outside opened and Andrew appeared, the morning paper in hand. Located at the end of a long hallway to her left, it was just past a floor-to-ceiling stained glass window built in the image of the tree of life. Facing the sunrise and made with panels in brilliant shades of green, blue and gold, it filled the narrow corridor with colorful light every morning.

Just now, though, Christine ignored the beautiful window that had been the selling point for the house a decade earlier and instead stared suspiciously at her husband. Unlike his wife, who was dressed for work in black slacks and a crisply starched rose pink blouse, he still wore pajamas. Andrew read her expression easily and grinned back, too innocent and definitely too damn cheerful.

"Morning, honey! Wow, it's gorgeous out there. Looks like it's going to be an another beautiful day!"

One raking glance scanned him from the top of his sleep-disheveled head, over the threadbare West Virginia is for Lovers t-shirt and loose cotton pants, to the slippers covering his bare feet. When her gaze traveled back up to his face, he was still smiling. His clear blue eyes twinkled behind the lenses of his glasses.

"Yes, siree, it is a beautiful day," he said again, strolling leisurely toward her. He raised the newspaper and pretended to consider it thoughtfully. "You know, I think I might take the paper outside, maybe drink my coffee out on the deck while I see what's happening in the world. What do you think?"

Christine knew exactly what he was up to but played along. "I think that you think you're being funny, but you're not." With a haughty sniff, she pivoted on one foot and headed toward the kitchen. The sound of laughter told her he trailed right behind her.

Andrew dropped the newspaper on the kitchen table before making a point of stretching into a loud, exaggerated yawn as Christine readied the morning's coffee.