Beautiful Boy Chapter 33/?
Paring: Booth/Brennan/Parker/Introducing New Major Character Laura in later chapters
Rating: M - WARNING: There is mention of child abuse and mental health issues
Genre: Romance/Family/Angst
Summary: Please Read Summary: Parker has been returned after being abducted and months of sexual abuse. Booth and Brennan deal with his issues while learning to deal with their burgeoning relationship and a family they thought they’d never have. There will be issues of resolving child abuse trauma and mental health for all..
Chapter 33
Booth held tightly to Parker's hand as they walked into the hospital and towards the elevator. Parker had almost dashed away in the parking lot twice so now he was close to just picking the boy up and carrying him. "I'm glad Colin could take us." he said to Bones as he stared at the numbers rise, wishing they were at the 12th floor already.
"Yes Booth, I'm not sure I know what to do now. It's very confusing. Somehow I thought he would just gradually come back to us but that isn't what is happening is it?"
"It doesn't seem like it," Booth said with sadness in his voice. He glanced down at the blonde head at his side and felt tears. Once they were at the children's floor, they walked to the right where the children's psychiatric wing was. He smiled at the young nurse at the counter by the doors. "Hey” he said... “Booth clan here to see Dr. Harseny."
The nurse nodded and quickly called the doctor. Once she was assured they were supposed to be there she pushed a button that unlocked the main doors. "Head on in." she said and smiled more at Parker. "Hey cutie, I hear Dr. Harseny got some new toys in today." she said with a sweet smile.
Parker looked around and saw a chalk board "Daddy lemme go manna draw." He pulled away from Booth and ran to look for chalk and began to draw one circle after another all over the board. "Booth" Bones said as she looked at him with a cocked eyebrow and smile "Booth clan?"
"Easier then saying all our names." Booth said with a shrug, not realizing he was actually adding her into the Booth name. He then noticed Parker. "Buddy we've gotta go to Colin's office, you can play there." he said standing in the doorway waiting for him to come, giving him that chance.
"NO WANNA DRAW HERE!" he screamed.
The nurse who was manning the desk saw Parker amping up and made a quick call to somebody from his day treatment program.
"Parker we can go play with the toys there." Booth said looking around mostly out of embarrassment for his son's behavior.
Maggy Harper one of the staff members who had worked with Parker came out the door and right over to Park. "Hey Parker do you remember me?" she asked getting down to his level.
He looked at her and to Bones "Mommy you said I don't gotta go school." He grabbed Bones leg and buried his face.
"I'm Sorry Miss... "I'm Parker's Mother you can call me Temperance" she added quickly seeing the look of confusion on the young woman’s face. Bones was sure she remember Rebecca as Parker's Mother but Booth was right there really was no need to add more names into am already confusing mix. After all parker was hers now and that was all that mattered to her. Bones continued "I thought we were taking Parker in with us. Actually we do need Collin to observe his behavior."
"Parker your mommy and daddy aren't taking you to school, I just happen to be here because your school is where Colin works." Maggy pointed out and then smiled at Bones. "Nice to meet you Temperance my name is Maggy, I am one of the staff members that works in the day treatment program. I worked with Parker the few days he was with us."
Booth was quiet not sure what to say. All he knew was they needed to get in with Colin so they could get things figured out. This whole situation was making him nervous and it was obvious by his shifting and the way he shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Oh it's nice to meet you Maggy. We really need to see Colin he is seeing us between patients and it is really an emergency.” Looking down at Parker she ran her hands through his hair then kneeled down. "Are you ready to go in now Baby. Daddy and you and me need to see Collin."
Parker looked at her. "I not a baby!" mumbled.
Your right your aren't." She stood up took his and in hers then looked at Booth "lead the way... I hope to see you again Maggy perhaps when Parker returns?"
"Of course," Maggy said with a wave as the trio headed inside.
Colin's door was open when they walked up and he smiled. "Come on in guys," he said standing up.
"Hey Daddy's there's no fucking drawing board in here. I told you I wanted to fucking draw. I'm motherfucking outta here." He yanked his hand out of Bones' turning he said "let go bitch!"
Colin quickly got into gear and went over to where Parker was. The last time he had seen the boy he had been in his mother's arms nursing. It was a bit of a shock to see him like this but you would never have been able to tell. "You like to draw Parker?" he asked hoping to distract the boy. "Do you like whiteboards?"
Booth was right at Bones' side wanting to protect her from something neither of them understood.
Parker looked up at Colin and instantly froze "Mommy." came out of him on a lonely wail.
Bones ran over and pick him up quickly going over to the chairs and sitting down with him in her arms rocking him. Again Parker demanded to nurse and again she settled down and began to nurse him.
"Booth this is getting very confusing?" She looked at Booth her eyes full of tears.
"Booth why don't you sit down as well," Colin said gently going to his own seat.
"I'm not going to sit down...something is fucking wrong with my son!" Booth exclaimed beginning to pace sounding a lot like Parker earlier.
Bones was torn, her son needed her but now so did Booth, no longer just a partner, no longer just a friends but now he was all of those things and her lover. It was the lover she wanted to comfort. "Booth, BOOTH" she said a little louder. Once she had his attention she said very quietly "Baby please come sit by me, we need to talk this through, please."
"Something is wrong," Booth whispered as he did walk and sit down next to her. He looked at Colin. "This is all because the kidnapping?"
Colin took a deep breath, "I do believe that Parker is reacting to the trauma he suffered, but I also believe Parker has been suffering from child onset Bipolar Disorder. I have had my suspicions since he became my client, but after seeing his school records you sent me I am more sure."
Booth looked completely confused and looked over at Bones. "Do you understand any of that?"
"I understand what Bipolar disorder is, but I thought it was only adult who suffered from this disease." Smiling at Booth she said "it's isn't something I have had to Google in the past but rest assured I will as soon as we get home." Returning to Collin she asked "what makes you sure he is Bipolar and how do you intend to treat it?"
"In the past doctors did not believe that children could have psychiatric disorders." Colin began "but many studies have been done over the past fifteen years and it has been found that children as young as 3 years old can be diagnosed with a mental disorder."
Booth shook his head in disbelief. "This isn't like his PTSD stuff...I mean I know anybody can get that from any type of trauma...this is a big deal...like talking to yourself deal."
Colin held up a hand to stop Booth "Bipolar Disorder is not Schizophrenia Agent Booth and in children it often presents itself in rapid changes in mood, aggressive behavior, raging temper tantrums. short attention span and many other things."
"Shit..." Booth said slumping in his seat because he knew for a fact that was his son. He looked at Parker wondering if he was even listening to what was going on.
As Collin talked Bones became more agitated, she began to clutch at Parker harder and rock him a little faster. At Booth's "shit" she jumped and Parker whimpered and did something he hadn't done in a very long time. He bit her very hard. "SHIT!" she screamed as she pulled Parker away and looked down. This time she had blood running down over her nipple where he had bit her.
"Tempe!" Booth said quickly kneeling in front of her.
Colin got wad of tissues and handed it to them. "I will call downstairs and see if somebody can check her over." He then looked at Parker noticing he seemed shocked.
Laying parker down on her lap she looked at his face. It seemed blank, like he was gone. It sacred her more than anything else had since this entire nightmare began, even his kidnapping hadn't scared her as much as this vacant stare did. She took the tissues from Colin, placed it over the wound and snapped her bra closed knowing it would hold the makeshift dressing in place. She looked at Colin "No not now it can wait, this is too important." Then she pulled Booth to her until their foreheads were touching and whispered so that only he could hear her. "Baby, look at me," once he did she continued "looked at him, We need Colin's help. This is not as important as Parker. You have to support me in this Booth, we need help. We have to find our little boy before we lose him for good."
Booth took a deep breath and looked over at Colin. "What do we do?"
Colin sat back down and crossed his legs. "I would like him to come back to the day treatment program and start him on a new medication."
Parker was twisting on her lap so she prepared to nurse him at her other breast. When Booth reached over to stop her she smiled and said "It's ok trust me. Colin I thought the reason we had him at home was the fact he still regresses. He still demands to nurse several times a day, more if he is in his toddler mode. How will we deal with that?"
"The nursing at this point is obviously a comforting thing. If he is distressed he seeks that comfort." Colin said and noticed the worried look on her face. "I still think he should continue... but he also needs to be with peers and working on skills to help him with his bipolar disorder."
"I agree, but again I am going to ask you how you intend to meet my son's needs when he feels he needs to nurse. I don't care why or when he feels he needs to nurse I only care how you intend to integrate that need into his treatment program." She had looked over Parker's IEP very carefully and learned one thing from it. It was her right to demand those things that she saw as his needs were met and it was Colin’s job to figure out a way to meet them. "I am not asking you not to treat him for his Bipolar Disorder I am only asking, no actually I am telling you, that as his Parents we want to know how the needs we have identified at home will be met."
"For the first few weeks I plan on having him on a half day plan. That would mean he would be here from 8:45 to noon. With this plan we can add in a time where you can come in to nurse him if he wants it." Colin said fully prepared to incorporate this into the plan. "The short days will be to see how much he can handle. I don't want you to feel discouraged if he simply can only handle an hour in the classroom though."
"What's the point of trying if he only takes away an hour." Booth said feeling rather negative at the moment. He was thankful Bones was thinking differently because he was feeling really depressed and quite frankly guilty and downright pissy.
Bones head snapped in Booth's direction at both his tone and words. She had never heard him this depressed or negative. Again she thought back to the time of Parker's abduction, no he hadn't been this negative then either. What had Hank said? Was this the gray elephant that might stomp them to death. "Booth an hour here is better than 24 at home. Didn't Hank think all of us should get out. It might reduce all of our stress?" She hoped the mention of Hank's name would remind Booth they needed to tell Colin about his near miss with his gambling demons.
Looking at him and not getting a reaction she decided to give Booth a helping hand. She only hoped he'd see it that way. "Colin Hank is Booth's gambling sponsor and it was his suggestion we get out more." She continued to look at Booth with clear blue eyes.
Booth's eyes went wide and he quickly stood up. "What the fuck Temperance!" he exclaimed at the top of his lungs. "Why'd you go and tell him that!" It was becoming quite obvious that he did not have control over himself.
"Agent Booth...you need to calm down." Colin said firmly but gently at the same time. He could tell Parker was coming back but simply sitting on Bones' lap looking confused.
"Don't tell me what to do." Booth growled through clenched teeth as he stormed to the door, knocking books and a few toys off a shelf on his way out.
Hugging Parker to her she looked at Colin "What do I do now?" In less than 2 days she had managed to anger this man. "I need him in so many times I’ve lost count and I have never needed anyone" at that the tears she had been holding in started.
"Ill children are often hard on fathers." Colin said gently. "They often blame themselves more than mothers do." he then added. "I also feel that he is making a connection between himself and his son and that is making the guilt worse."
"I don't understand. Please" she sobbed "this is important I need to understand."
"I cannot be certain because I have not had enough time to work through this but I believe that Parker's disorder was not simply brought on by trauma, but is genetic." Colin said gauging her reaction. "I believe that the men in the Booth family have been suffering from this illness for at least three generations now."
"So how does this effect Booth?"
"He should see his own therapist..." Colin said. "It would not be in Parker's best interest for me to talk to them both" he then added. "It might not be easy to get Agent Booth to listen, he is in what we call a severe manic state right now. He will take everything said to the extreme." he looked at Parker. "Parker is as well." he reached back on his desk and grabbed a thin paperback book." This will be helpful for you to read for Parker, but Dr. Brennan I suggest you rally friends and family around you. You cannot do this on your own."
"Thank you Colin. We have a therapist so I will ask him for a referral. When would you like Parker to start schools again?"
"How about on Monday." Colin said knowing it was Thursday so a Friday would be a strange time to start. "We will try the 1 hour so 8:45 to 9:45. While he is here let's plan for you and Agent Booth to meet with me that morning."
"That should work." She stood and walked to the door carrying Parker "also as he begins to stay longer would you mind if I waited for him I can always work on my book. Then if he needed me I would not be so far away?"
"Whatever best suits your schedule." Colin said with a smile. "I will give you a call tomorrow to see how things are going."
"Thank you. SSSHhhh" she hissed as Parker gently touched her breast reminding her she still had another hospital visit to make. "I guess I had better get someone to look at my breast to see if I need stitches." Looking at Colin and making an attempt at a smile she said "I hope when I tell the Doctor my son bit me while he was breastfeeding they don't think it was some sort of pedophilia seeing how old he is."
"Tell them to contact me if there is something wrong." Colin said with a slight laugh as he walked them out of the office.
Booth was sitting in the lobby where Parker had been drawing on the chalkboard. He heard Bones' voice saying goodbye to the nurse but didn't look up.
"Booth we are going to the Emergency Room are you coming with us, or would you rather just have us take a taxi home?" There was no heat in her voice, no condemnation she just asked him as if she were asking him the state of the weather outside.
That got his attention and he looked up in alarm. "Emergency room? why what's wrong?"
"I bit mommy." Park said with a pout finally talking again. He looked at Bones. "Didn't mean to....I sorry mommy."
"I know you are Parker. Did you forget Parker bit my breast while he was nursing? I thought you remembered everything there was to know about my breasts Booth?" She smiled at him and waited for an answer.
Booth shorted in laughter. "I did sort of forget, but I remember now. You're okay?" he questioned as they headed to the elevator.
Parker looked at his daddy. "Daddy you need to say sorry too... you made a mess in Colin's office." he was showing his parents he had heard everything. "And said bad words."
"I think It will need a stitch or two, but like all wounds it will heal. It’s just a flesh wound I've had worse." she said in her very best Gordon Gordon imitation. "Seriously Booth you did leave Colin's office in a mess and you will need to apologize Monday at our next visit. He is going to see is while Parker is in school.” They would talk about everything else tonight in bed where, she was learning quickly, all parents seemed to discuss issues not fit for little ones.
They waited several hours in the ER. She did need two small stitches, and they did indeed call Colin to confirm the incident had happened in his office. On the way home they picked up her antibiotic and a breast shield so she could continue to nurse Parker on that breast. Booth picked up dinner from the Diner including pie for himself and Parker and extra fry's for her AND FOR ONCE they spent a quiet evening watching a movie feeding Parker and then they went to bed.
Nyre & TinyTeffers
Prologue, Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4, Chapter 5 , Chapter 6 , Chapter 7, Chapter 8 , Chapter 9 , Chapter 10 , Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, , Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26, Chapter 27, Chapter 28, Chapter 29, Chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 32,