A/N: Thanks once again for reading and for the reviews-every single one is truly appreciated. For this next installment, I've played around with the timeline a little bit. Brennan is home from her book tour just in time for the next Cee Cee adventure. And this is a little longer than the usual Cee Cee chapter, but I've never been able to bring myself to break it up. It's always felt like it belongs together. With all of that said...I do hope that enjoy! AnaG
With a final adjustment to a sparkly, purple butterfly barrette, and the last pigtail….tenner….in place, Brennan stepped back to take in the total effect of her daughter's chosen ensemble.
A bright orange t-shirt paired with green shorts with ladybugs embroidered over the pockets. The pink cowboy boots had been non-negotiable, as had the yellow happy face socks peeking over their tops. The entire outfit was completed by the little blue lab coat that Cee Cee had insisted on wearing.
All of the books….and Angela….had said that this sort of thing was perfectly normal for children her age. Something about developing individual personality and encouraging creative interaction with the world. But she could not help but wonder if this was really a good thing.
"Celia, are you sure about this?"
Cee Cee nodded her head, pigtails bouncing to emphasize her point, as she smoothed down her t-shirt.
"Mm-hm, Mama. I wanna wear the big colors so Parker'll see us right away."
"I see. Well, I certainly think that this will work."
"Good.' Cee Cee reached for her mama's hand and began to lead her from the room. "Now, let's go get my brother…."
xxxxx
Brennan pulled into the packed-dirt parking lot, her eyes darting to the rearview mirror when she heard a suspicious click from the back seat.
"Celia, don't unbuckle until…"
"I know, Mama….until we are all the way stopped."
Brennan shook her head and hid a smile when she heard the heavy sigh from the backseat. Patience wasn't always considered a virtue in the Brennan-Booth household.
She finally located a parking space between the crowd of mini-vans, SUVs and station wagons. By the time she gathered her purse and stepped out of the car, Cee Cee had already freed herself from the confines of her car seat and was waiting for her to open the child-proof lock on the back door. When the door finally opened, the little girl practically flew out of the car, pausing only to reach for her mother's hand as she chattered away.
The pair made their way across the lot and through the open gates to the common area. Both stopped short at the chaos that greeted them. Kids and parents milled around, weaving around clusters of backpacks, duffel bags and trunks scattered over the ground, while harried camp counselors tried in vain to rein them all in.
"Mama, how're we gonna find our Parker?"
"Don't worry, I am sure we can find him. Or he'll see your big colors, right?"
"That's right! I forgot. The big colors'll work."
Brennan looked up from the relieved look on her daughter's face, her eyes immediately falling on a familiar figure. Parker stood a few yards away, talking to a girl his own age. She was taken by surprise to see how much he had changed in the few weeks since she had seen him. His hair was a little longer, skin tanned by the sun. But there was something else too. She watched as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, scuffed a shoe against a clump of grass as he quickly looked at the girl and then away again. Her eyes traveled to the girl, observing the way that she fidgeted with the end of her long ponytail and then reached out to put a hand on Parker's arm and smiled shyly. Brennan's eyes narrowed. Typical preening behavior, flirtation. But wasn't he too young for that? Her mind flashed back to the little boy placing a paper crown on her head, the one that got excited over a frog on a sidewalk and chasing imaginary pirates. She knew he was getting older, but she wasn't ready for….
"Parker! Marco! Marco! Marco!"
She was startled from her thoughts by Cee Cee's shout of delight and the feel of the little hand slipping from hers. Focus immediately returning, she hurried after her daughter, who was already running toward her brother. By the time that she caught up, Cee Cee had already wrapped her arms around her brother's legs, tightly squeezing as she talked a mile a minute.
"….missed you sooo much playing tea party isn't as much fun without you and I'm not as good at pirates as you are cause Barnabus keeps gettin' away and you shoulda seeeeen the new bugs Hodgie got at the lab and I almost lost Zachaddy…."
Brennan noticed Parker's face turning a deep shade of red as he glanced nervously from the little girl looking at him with hero worship on her face to the older girl standing at his side. When he looked at her beseechingly, she nodded once and managed to gently pry Cee Cee away.
"Celia, let's give Parker a chance to say goodbye to his friend."
Surprised to find that there was another person in the vicinity, Cee Cee looked at the other girl standing very close to her brother. Eyes narrowing, she crossed her arms over her chest as the girl waggled her fingers in Cee Cee's direction. She immediately looked back at her brother.
"Why dinnit you say Polo back, Parker? I say Marco and you say Polo. Marco Polo. That's our deal. 'member?"
"Umm…'
"Celia….'
Both Parker and Brennan were almost saved as the other girl spoke.
"Marco Polo? Isn't that a little kid's pool game?"
The girl's giggle sent Cee Cee marching towards the girl, hands on her hips.
"It's our secret code. And yoooou don't get to know it. So there!"
"Boooones! Make her stop."
"Parker, she's just…"
"Please?"
Torn between the plea from Parker and the confusion in Cee Cee's eyes, she finally came up with a compromise. Maybe it would give her a chance to explain.
"Celia. Let's give Parker a chance to say goodbye to his friend. We can take some of his things to the car…"
Still suspicious over this new presence in her brother's life, Cee Cee shook her head.
"I don't wanna."
After whispered negotiations and promises that they would be home soon, she was finally able to convince Cee Cee to walk back towards the car. After a couple trips, the backpack and duffle were carefully stowed in the trunk, and a reluctant Parker had said his goodbyes. They were all walking back to the car, a reinvigorated Cee Cee chasing a now sullen Parker with an endless series of questions.
"Who was that girl? Did she go to camp too? Is she your girrrrlfriend?"
Still caught up in the perceived humiliation of having tea parties and pirates games revealed at the worse possible moment, Parker turned to his sister.
"No. Yes. No. Probably never thanks to you and your crazy stories."
"Parker!"
"Sorry, Bones. I just….nevermind."
Parker stomped off ahead of them, the tears welling in Cee-Cee's eyes causing a confusing tug of guilt in his chest.
xxxxxx
Sitting silently in her car seat, Cee Cee couldn't take her eyes off of her pretty pink cowboy boots, but she really didn't see them. Parker was mad at her. Mama had made him say sorry, but Cee Cee knew he didn't really mean it. She could tell cause he still wouldn't talk to her even though she tried. She didn't know what she had done wrong. She had been really, really happy to see him after all this long time and wanted him to know so he wouldn't go away from her for so long anymore. So she had tried to tell him about all the reasons she missed him. But that girl had been there. She knew for sure she didn't like that girl. She was a big girl and what if Parker liked his friend better than he liked her? She was just a little girl and didn't like video games and hockey and football and stuff like Parker did. And her ponytail was long and really pretty. She probably didn't have to have her mama help her make it either. Cee Cee didn't like the idea that someone else would be specialer than her to Parker. It wasn't fair. Plus that girl had laughed at Marco Polo. That had made Cee Cee really mad.
She sighed heavily. Being mad hadn't made it any better. Cause Parker still hadn't said Polo back to her.
xxxxx
Cee Cee walked down the hallway on her tippy-toes, carefully holding a large square of paper in both hands. She had made her brother a picture to show him that she was sorry she had talked about the tea party in front of his friend. Mama had explained it all to her. She had used a lot of big words that Cee Cee didn't understand, but some of the words did. But mostly, she just didn't like her brother being mad at her. So she made him a present. Presents always made her feel better.
She was close to Parker's room and ready to surprise him, when she heard his voice on the other side. She started to turn away because her daddy had told her it was not nice to eardrop on somebody's per-son-al talks. Then she heard him say her name. It had to be okay to listen if he was talking about her.
"….crazy clothes with that didn't match. And her hair in those stupid pigtails that she thinks look like a bug…..
xxxxxx
Parker paced the room, phone to his ear.
"…..it was so embarrassing..."
He paused as his dad said something on the other end of the line.
"…..yeah, Dad, but…."
"I know she's just a little girl…."
"I know I used to play pirates and……but…."
"Really? I'm like her hero? I guess that she wasn't that bad…."
"Yessir. I will…..I promise."
Parker pressed the button to end the call and sat on his bed. When Bones had said that his dad wanted to talk to him, he thought he was gonna be in big trouble. He knew that he had been mean to Cee Cee, but he had been so mad because of what she had said in front of Jenna. He always felt like he was a dork around her and Cee Cee had made it worse. But his dad hadn't yelled or anything. He had just talked real quiet. And somehow, that made Parker feel worse than if he had yelled or grounded him. Instead, he had talked about how much Cee Cee loved him and how she just got carried away because of that and it was wrong to make her feel bad because of it. So, now Parker had to go make it better and say he was sorry for real. Man, this big brother thing was a lot of work. Why couldn't he have a normal sister like everyone else?
He rummaged in his duffel bag for something that he had brought for Cee Cee. With everything that had happened, he had forgotten about it. But maybe this would make everything okay.
As he walked out of the door, he heard the sound of paper crumpling. He looked down to find his shoe resting on a drawing. He picked it up, his heart sinking as he studied the crayon stick figures inside a lopsided heart. The one with pigtails was holding hands with the bigger one with curly brown hair. Both of them had crooked smiles drawn in the middle of their circle faces. Why had she left it on the floor?
He looked from the drawing his sister had left on the floor back to the phone still visible on his bedspread.
Aw, man. How much had she heard?
xxxxxx
Parker tapped his knuckles against the open door to Cee Cee's room.
"Marco?"
There was complete silence in response. He looked around the room for Cee Cee. He knew she was in here somewhere, but didn't see her.
"C'mon, Ceec, don't be mad."
He heard a sniffle and then spotted the edge of a pink cowboy boot peeking from beneath the white bed ruffle. He walked over and kneeled on the other side of the bed, placing the jar he'd been holding on the floor next to him.
"Marco?"
When there was no answer, he took a deep breath and lifted the white fabric and found a tear-stained face staring back at him.
"Go 'way, Parker. I'm bein' sad"
"Ohh-kay, then. I guess you don't want the surprise I brought for you."
"A surprise? For me?"
"Mm-hm. It's very cool, too."
"But you don't like me. I heard. I 'mbarrass you."
"Ah, man. Cee, you don't embarrass me. It's just that…"
Parker sat down on the floor, resting his back against the bed as he tried to figure out the words to explain how it was. He wasn't sure he knew.
"It's just that I'm a big kid now. And sometimes it is hard for big kids to know what to say around little kids. Especially when other big kids are around. We can say stupid stuff."
"Yeah, you can."
"Hey, ….you didn't have to agree with me."
"Un-huh. Mama and Daddy say to always tell the truth."
"But…" Parker took a deep breath, trying to remember the other things his father had told him.
"Oh-kay. It was dumb. And since we are supposed to tell the truth….you are pretty cool for a little sister. At least you don't pick your nose like Cody's little brother…"
"Ewww. That's gross, Parker."
"Yeah, it is. And you know what else?"
"What?"
"I really missed you while I was gone."
"You did?"
"Yep. Sooo….are you gonna come out now and see your surprise?"
Parker waited a second, worried when she didn't appear. Then suddenly, she was sliding from beneath the bed, a big smile on her face as she turned to him.
"What is it?"
"Here." He picked up the jar and placed it in her hands.
She turned, confused by the logo on the lid and the label that covered the jar.
"You brought me peanut butter. That's not a good surprise, Parker."
"No, silly. Look inside.' He carefully unscrewed the lid and tilted the jar for her to peek inside.
He smiled as her eyes widened in delight.
"Beeeetles! You brought me beeeetles!"
"Shhhhh. You are gonna scare 'em to…."
His words were cut off as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, hugging him with all of her might before placing a kiss on his cheek.
"You are the bestest brother in the whole en-tire world!"
She finally released him, eager to get back to watching her 'presents' scurry over the grass and twigs he had placed in the jar. As he listened to her try to name them all, he couldn't help but smile.
She might be a pain in the neck sometimes, but still….there wasn't another little sister like her in the world. He guessed that made him pretty lucky.
"Gonzo. Cinderella. Joe. Yep, he looks like a Joe…."
"Hey, Ceec?"
"Yeah, Parker?" Cee Cee responded without looking up from the insects.
"Marco."
She sighed heavily.
"That's my part."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is!"
"Fine then. Go ahead.'
"Marco.'
"Polo."
Brennan watched them unseen from the open doorway, smiling at the two heads bent over the open jar of insect specimens. Things had gotten off to a rocky start today, and she was sure that there would be more bumps along the road as they continued to grow up. But for now at least, they were back on track.
"Parker?"
"Yeah, Cee-Cee?"
"Love you."
"Love you back."