"Hi," I squeaked, embarrassed beyond belief.

"What's up?" Booth asked, not caring in the least that his mother caught us having sex.

Well, not sex per se, but close.

We did have sex, but she just didn't get to see any of the good stuff.

I looked at Adria questioningly.

Adria patted the seat to her right, aiming her gaze towards me as Booth walked around the table, pressed a kiss on Adria's head, and walked to the seat on her right.

I sat down on her left, hoping she'd be nice and not call me on anything.

I had no such luck.

"We're not stupid," Adria said. "This used to always be your hiding spot."

My mouth dropped open.

Had she known when I stayed over all this time?

Sure, Booth had never been underage like I had been, but this had been his parents' house, and it was their rules that had me sneaking around in the first place.

I eased down into the seat, thankful I'd put my bra back on even if it was wet, and looked at Adria.

Well, at her hair.

I was too chicken shit to look into her eyes.

"How was your cruise?" Booth asked his mother.

"The bed was too small, I had to turn sideways to get to the bathroom, and I'm pretty sure I was sea sick at least twenty-five percent of the time. And my man made me walk a ton. My feet are killing me," Adria explained.

"Hmm," Booth said. "Guess you won't be going on anymore, then, will you?"

Adria shrugged. "I was told on my second visit to the infirmary that they make patches for people like me that want to enjoy a cruise, but get sea sick. I plan on using it the next time we go," she looked pointedly at me.

"Thought you were wanting to go to Alaska next year," Booth wondered.

Adria's eyes ran down my body, studying me, as she answered.

"Actually," Adria said. "I'm going to fly to Alaska, and take a cruise out of there."

"What does Bill think of that?" Booth wondered.

Booth never referred to his stepdad as 'dad.' And even now I can hear the way he said the words. There was no animosity, but there definitely wasn't 'like' there either.

It was more tolerance.

He hadn't been that way when he'd left. In fact, they'd been more like good friends. Not father and son, because Booth had a father still. A father that was wonderful.

He was just married to his job.

He was a General in the US Army and didn't have any plans of retiring.

He loved his son and his ex-wife, he just loved his job more.

And to be honest, Carson Dean Jones was needed. For the country. He was an excellent General. He loved his country. He would die for his country and had proven that many times.

He was a great guy, very loveable. In fact, I still kept in touch with him, mainly because he could give me updates on his son and would until I asked him to stop.

The divorce of Carson 'Dean' Jones and Adria hadn't been bitter. It'd all been very amicable, and, in fact, Carson had been the one to introduce Bill to Adria.

And at one point Booth had been bitter about Adria's remarriage to Bill.

But he'd gotten over it.

And they'd been very good friends.

But this distance I saw in Bill wasn't normal...not for Bill and Booth.

I frowned in thought as I watched Booth and his mother talk, getting more and more concerned.

"Is that alright, Mase?" Booth asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I blinked, staring blankly at him.

"Is what alright?" I asked finally.

Booth smirked.

"If we have dinner with Bill and my mom tomorrow," he explained patiently.

He was used to my daydreaming.

They all were.

"Not tomorrow," I said. "I have to go eat with my mom and dad tomorrow for dad's birthday. Anytime is fine the next two days, but I have to work all weekend."

He nodded in thought.

"How about Wednesday then?" He turned back to his mom. "I have to work that next day."

His mom smiled at him.

"That's fine, Boo."

I smiled at that old familiar term of endearment.

Booth went by his middle name and had since he was a young child.

Over time, it'd gotten shortened to Boo by his mother, as any child's nickname did.

And he hated it.

Which was why I called him that when we were together just to tick him off.

He'd never tell me not to use it, though.

And I saw the instant he realized the thought as it flitted through my mind.

"Yes, Boo. Sounds good," I smiled.

He narrowed his eyes, but I could see them sparkling behind them. His mother laughed.

And just like that, I felt better than I had in a very long time.

Chapter 10.

There are only two ways to win a lady over. Beards and a lifted 4X4 truck.

-Coffee Cup Booth I felt on top of the world.

I hadn't felt this good in a very, very long time.

As I walked into Masen's house, I kept my eyes on her ass that was painted into the jeans she was wearing.

"Where's Blitzen?" I asked, looking around, eyes taking in everything.

I'd kept up with all things Masen through my mom. She was the one to tell me that Masen still had the dog I'd bought her before I'd left on deployment. The deployment that'd been the beginning of the end.

Masen's strangled cry had my head whipping around.

"What is it?" I asked worriedly, rushing toward her.

She was crying.

I'd made her cry...again.

"Blitzen," she hesitated. "Blitzen died last year."

I was silent for a few long moments.

"What?" I asked, confused.

My mom would've told me that.

Hell, my aunt was the only veterinarian in town. Wouldn't she know something like a dog dying...especially Masen's dog?

"She's dead," Masen nodded her head, swallowing thickly. "She ran out into the road when I took her into Longview to meet Santa two days before Christmas last year."

I blinked, waiting for the punch line.

However, there was none.

"You took the dog to meet Santa?" I asked. "Why?"

"It was stupid," she whispered, clearing her throat. "I should've never taken her. She'd be here right now if I hadn't."

She turned to face a picture of the dog I'd gotten her on the fridge.

It'd grown into a cute dog.

Before it'd been a curly mass of black fur.

In the picture on the fridge it was a beautiful black dog with sleek hair that curled on the ends.

"I was taking him to get his picture taken for my Christmas presents for my parents, and I'd just gotten him out of the car in front of the PetSmart. A woman bringing out a cat from the front door caught Blitzen's attention, and his collar slipped off when he yanked away from me suddenly. He chased after the cat," she shivered and looked away from the picture. "And got hit along with the cat. Both were dead and there was nothing we could do."

I felt like shit for even bringing it up, and the only thing I could do was wrap my arms around her and let her cry for the second time in twenty-four hours.

I took in her place as she cried, looking at the walls and realizing that the whole place was a shrine to Blitzen...and me.

I was still everywhere.

And it made me smile.

I wasn't in any spots of honor, like over the fireplace or anything.

But things I'd bought her over the years were in places of honor.

Like the vase I'd gotten her with the first set of flowers that I'd ever given her were on the kitchen island with fake tulips, exact replicas of the flowers I'd bought, in it.

There was the blanket that I'd had made for her, a beautiful quilt of all the t-shirts that I'd worn over the first year we'd been together, on the couch.

She and I shared a picture on the fridge, her prom.

Then there was the picture of her and I at the Marine Ball that'd been held about two weeks before deployment.

That one had been...perfect.