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Shadows of
Yesterday
Chapter 3
by Tami
Booth watched as Drusilla pushed Parker on the swings. Now that they were married, whenever he had the boy, he and Drusilla would take him to the park after dinner when the sun set. They would push him on the swings or the merry-go-round while he told them about his school day. There were other scenes where he held Drusilla as they watched his son climb on the jungle gym or watched his son play football or softball during night games, her hand clasped in his.
One night, as Booth was tucking Parker into bed, his son asked, “Daddy, why don’t we ever see Dru during the day?”
Booth found himself at a loss for an explanation just before an incessant beeping started.
Seeley’s eyes snapped open and his hand immediately went to his watch to stop the beeping sound. He rubbed a hand over his face and laid his arm across his forehead. Blinking sleep out of his eyes, he stared at the ceiling and thought about the dream. Consciously, he knew the dreams would never happen. Not only would Angel never allow it, but having an exclusive relationship with Drusilla would put Parker in danger.
Daddy, why don’t we ever see Dru during the day?
The question echoed in Booth’s mind. Among the many inquires he expected to answer from his son, that wasn’t one of them. Why is the sky blue? Why aren’t you and mommy married? Why do Uncle Spike and Angel seem like they never get along? Why do they sleep together? Those were the easy questions. Why don’t we ever see them during the day? That was a little trickier.
Pushing the thoughts aside, Booth sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Rubbing the blurriness out of his eyes, he glanced up at the sound of a weatherman. He had fallen asleep and left the TV on. He searched the rumpled blankets for the remote and turned the TV off. Dropping the remote, he got out of bed and pulled his clothes on. In the bathroom, he combed his hair into place and checked the stubble on his cheeks that had grown overnight. He shrugged and left the bathroom. He was on vacation. There was no need to shave right now.
Booth stuffed his wallet in his back pocket and sat down on the bed to put his shoes on. Grabbing his keys, he woke his son with a small nudge on the shoulder. Parker rolled over and looked sleepily up at his father.
“Time to wake up, buddy. The sooner you get dressed and ready to go, the sooner you get to see Angel and Uncle Spike,” Booth urged.
Upon hearing that, Parker jumped out of bed in his little Green Lantern underwear and ran to the bathroom. Booth could hear the tinkling sound of his son using the facilities. Seconds later, Parker bounded into the room ready to put his clothes on.
“Did you flush?”
“Oops!”
Parker ran back and Booth heard the flush. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the sink faucet. He picked his son up and held him over the sink so that Parker could wash his hands. Then, Booth set Parker on the floor and dried his hands off.
“Okay, buddy, go put some clothes on.”
Booth leaned against the doorjamb that separated the bathroom from the bedroom and watched his son struggle with his clothes. He remembered the day he brought Parker home to meet Angel. The vampire was really good around his boy. He talked to Parker and teased him. Booth could tell both vampire and child enjoyed making him uncomfortable. He just wondered how Spike and Drusilla would handle the boy. Okay, maybe not Drusilla.
“Dad?”
Booth shook himself and looked to see that his son had his jeans on and his shirt stuck over his head with his arms flailing to yank it down. Booth chuckled at the image and went over to tug the shirt down over Parker’s head.
“There you go. Get your shoes,” Booth instructed softly.
Parker searched under the bed and came out with a shoe in each hand. Booth set the boy on the bed, pulled his socks up and pushed his shoes on.
**************************
Las Vegas, Angel Investigations, Redux
Chase and Spike were in the office hunched over a computer researching the demons that had cornered Chase the night before. Denise still hadn’t come in yet and Cassidy was working on her article while trying not to appear like she was sneaking a peek at Spike when Angel walked in from the elevator.
“Morning,” Angel greeted the room.
No one said a word. It wasn’t like he expected a big reception. He told Spike that the discussion over Nina was not to be brought up again so he and Spike hadn’t talked since they returned last night. Nina’s death hung over both of them like a dark cloud. He poured himself a cup of coffee, took a big drink and, two seconds after trying to swallow it, spit it out onto the floor.
“What the hell is this?” he rasped, glaring at the cup as if it was possessed.
Spike glanced up and went back to typing on the keyboard, “Coffee.”
“Did Denise hammer it out of a layer of concrete?” Angel asked while trying to scrape the taste of it off his tongue.
“I’d pour it out, but I think it’d kill the plants and any living organism within a hundred yards,” Cassidy said from behind her monitor.
“Does no one in this office know how to make a decent cup of coffee anymore?” Angel asked, his eyes watering at the foul aftertaste.
“Beats me, but you’re cleaning that up,” Cassidy said casually.
“I’m the boss of this operation, why are you telling me what to do?” Cassidy looked up from her work and glared at him over the rims of her reading glasses. Angel sighed, “Right.” Setting the cup down, he went in search of a mop, mumbling, “First, she makes me track Spike down and bring him back here and now I have to clean up coffee that’s so abrasive it’ll most likely dissolve a hole in the floor.”
“I heard that!” Cassidy said.
Everyone looked up as the door opened and Booth walked in holding Parker’s hand. The normally active boy suddenly became shy and tried to make himself as small as possible against his father’s body, hoping to hide from the strangers in the room.
Recognizing the boy, Angel set the rags and cleaners aside. “Booth! I didn’t expect you to come for a visit.”
“Well, surprise. I had a few vacation days and Parker’s finally got a break from pre-school. Who better to visit with than my favorite uncle?” Booth commented.
Insulted by that assumption, Spike cleared his throat exaggeratedly.
“Second favorite uncle then,” Booth amended.
Angel stepped closer and crouched down in front of the boy. “Hi, Parker. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. Do you remember me?”
Parker peeked out from around his dad’s leg to look at Angel. “You’re Uncle Angel.”
Spike let out an indignant snort at that. Angel turned and glared at Spike to shut up and then gave Parker a half-smile. “That’s right. “How have you been?”
“’M all right,” Parker said as he looked around at the others in the room. “Who are all these people?”
“They work for me,” Angel said, knowing full well that Cassidy was going to make him pay for using the term ‘work for’ instead of ‘work with’. Then again, Angel was the one paying the meager salary she received. “Come here,” he urged, holding out his arms.
Parker let Angel pick him up and then looked at the group with curiosity. He still didn’t recognize anyone from this height. Hugging Angel, he whispered, “Which one is Spike?”
Angel chuckled as he rubbed the boy’s back reassuringly. “I’ll introduce you to everyone. Frankie will be in later and Denise hasn’t shown up yet. But the pretty, dark-haired lady over there with the glasses is Cassidy.” He pivoted on his heel and gestured to the two men behind another computer. “That’s Chase. And the blonde annoyance over there is Spike.”
Spike looked up when Angel mentioned him and met Parker’s curious gaze. He stood up and moved closer to Angel, greeting the boy, “Hi, Parker.”
“Your accent’s funny,” Parker giggled.
“Is it now?” Spike asked with a raised brow.
Parker nodded vigorously and then ducked his head under Angel’s chin, giggling.
“Don’t worry, Parker. We all think he has a funny accent. He adopted it a long time ago,” Angel whispered to the boy.
“Not as funny as your bed hair in the morning,” Spike grumbled.
“So where’s Drusilla?” Booth asked, trying not to seem like he was looking for her. He couldn’t help it. After the dreams he’d been having lately, he was hoping to see her again.
“She’s off on one of her walkabouts that Miss Edith insists she go on,” Spike replied.
Parker raised his head to look at Spike. “Who’s Miss Edith?”
“She’s, uh, Drusilla’s friend,” Booth hedged uneasily. That’s it; just let his whole sordid relationship with vampires out into the open. Parker only knew the bare minimum about his sex life, which would remain next to nil if he could just keep Spike’s mouth shut through this entire trip. To take the spotlight off his sex life, or lack thereof, he commented, “I see you two are still making a mess of everything.”
Angel looked down at the puddle of coffee. “Yeah, I was just about to clean that up when you came in. So, what do you have planned for today? There are some great tourist attractions,” Angel asked as he lightly bounced Parker in his arms.
“I thought I’d take him to Excalibur for lunch,” Booth started to say.
“Oh, you get to see the mock jousts while you eat,” Angel told Parker indulgently. “It’s like dinner theater. It should keep you pretty entertained. There’s an arcade center near here, too, and a park and there’s always something happening on the promenade. Tomorrow night we can take you to Cirque du Soleil,” Angel glanced at Booth, “if your dad says it’s okay.”
Angel and Parker inclined their heads together and looked expectantly at Booth. The two of them made such a picture that he couldn’t say no. The vampire and his child knew just the right buttons to push when they were together. They both had him beet-red with embarrassment during their last encounter.
“Do you have his future planned too, Angel? Maybe where he’s going to college, what kind of girl he’ll marry, how many kids he’ll have and what gender?” Spike asked sardonically. He had taken it upon himself to wipe up the mess since Angel’s hands were full. Not that he was making a habit of literally cleaning up after his Sire.
Cassidy got up from her desk and held out her hands. “Come on, Parker. Let your dad catch up with the boys. I think we have some juice in the refrigerator that you can drink and I’ll fix you a snack.”
Parker looked uncertain at the dark-haired woman. She seemed nice enough. He looked over at Booth and saw the man nod his assent. Parker chewed his bottom lip for a moment, thinking it over then wriggled until Angel put him down. Tentatively, Parker took the woman’s hand and followed her across the room. He kept his eyes on Booth the whole time. As long as he knew where Angel or his daddy was, he decided he was fine.
Cassidy poured him a small glass of apple juice and made sure his hands were securely wrapped around the glass before she started to make the boy a sandwich. She snuck peeks at Parker while he drank his juice and looked around the room with wide-eyed curiosity.
“So, Parker, how old are you?” Cassidy asked.
Swallowing a mouthful of liquid, Parker replied, “Almost four.”
“Such a varied vocabulary for your age,” Cassidy smiled.
“Daddy lets me watch Rocky & Bullwinkle and Sesame Street,” Parker said.
Cassidy turned on Booth then. “You have him watching a cartoon from the cold war era?”
“What’s wrong with Rocky & Bullwinkle? I grew up on that,” Booth said defensively.
“Daddy says that the puppets on Sesame Street aren’t evil. So they’re safe to watch,” Parker filled in.
“You told him that puppets were evil?” Cassidy asked in surprise.
“What are you accusing me for? Angel’s the one that killed the puppets on Smile Time. I just said that Sesame Street was safe to watch,” Booth said guiltily.
“Smile Time was demons in puppet disguise,” Angel said in his defense.
“You do not tell a child that puppets are evil!” Cassidy exclaimed.
“Explains my fear of chickens,” Angel shrugged nonchalantly.
“And my fear of clowns,” Booth added.
“You have a fear of clowns?” Spike chuckled.
Booth scowled at him. “It’s not nice to mock someone’s phobias, Spike.”
Ignoring Booth, Spike chuckled more. “So, Emmett Kelly freaks you out?”
Booth’s brows drew together when it looked like Spike was storing the information like a squirrel stores nuts. He had the sinking feeling that Spike knowing of his fear would come back to haunt him in the future.
The door suddenly opened and Denise flounced in, laden down with shopping bags. “Hello all! Sorry I’m late, but there was this great sale at Neiman Marcus, deep discounts on these pair of boots,” she said excitedly as she modeled her new footwear for everyone.
The arrival of the new stranger sent Parker, sans juice glass, scurrying to hide behind his father. Out of curiosity, he peeked at her from around Booth’s leg. Booth patted the boy’s blonde curls reassuringly.
Setting the bags down on her desk, she pivoted on her heel and stopped cold when she finally realized there was another person in the room. Booth stood there with a slight grin on his face.
“Booth!” squealed Denise, right before she pounced on him with an over-enthusiastic hug.
The sudden tackle rocked Booth back, almost toppling Parker behind him. Spike reached out and caught the boy up in his arms before he could fall.
“I gotcha, Little Boots,” Spike said, addressing Parker by the pet name Drusilla had given him.
For a while after they returned to Las Vegas, all Drusilla could babble about was how Parker would be just like his father one day and what she saw of the boy’s future. Not that she’d met him, but she swore that she could feel him as an extension of Booth. Sort of like secondhand sight if you asked Spike.
Denise caught sight of Parker in Spike’s arms when she stepped away from Booth.
“Oh, you brought someone with you,” she said cheerily.
“Yeah, this is my son, Parker. Parker, this is Uncle Angel’s secretary, Denise,” Booth introduced.
Spike scoffed at Angel being referred to as ‘uncle’ again, not to mention Denise being called a secretary. Only in the loosest of terms could Denise be considered a secretary. The girl did more shopping and gossiping on the phone with her friends than actual secretarial work. Frankie was a better secretary.
“Who knew you were so domestic, Spike?” she teased.
“Shut up, I’m not bloody domestic,” the blonde vampire grumbled even as he shifted Parker to a better position.
“You’re definitely going to be spoiled, kid,” Denise predicted as she plopped down in her chair and started going through her bags.
Booth held out his hands. “Here, let me take him. We still have a day of sightseeing to get to and leave you to whatever work you have to do.”
Spike handed Parker over to his father as Angel suggested, “How about we go out to dinner?”
“Sure,” Booth replied.
“Say around seven. It won’t be formal dining or anything fancy. There’s a great Italian restaurant near here with a game room next door,” Angel said.
“Yeah!” Parker cried happily.
“I guess that answered that question,” Booth chuckled. “Sure, see you guys later then.”
“Later!” Chase, Cassidy and Denise replied in unison as Booth left with Parker.
**************************
Las Vegas, La Scala Restaurant, Dusk
“. . . And we went to the park and we went to the pier. You were right, Uncle Angel! There’s a lot to do there. There are kids’ rides there. It was great! I think Daddy was tired though.”
Parker was still raving about the great day he had as Angel opened the door, letting the boy enter first before he, Spike and a haggard-looking Seeley Booth entered the restaurant. Booth looked like he hadn’t slept in days. There was cotton candy, hot dogs, a hot pretzel somewhere in there, and ice cream. If you asked Booth, maybe the ice cream was the trigger. Parker has been running on all cylinders and it didn’t look like he was going to slow down. Parker would be down for the count after the sugar-high wears off. Hopefully, that would be soon. Booth needed a break.
“And they gave me a small plastic lance at Excalibur,” Parker said excitedly as he climbed up into a chair.
“All that in one day?” Spike smirked at Booth. “What are you going to do for tomorrow?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Parker shrugged.
Booth tiredly flopped down in his chair. He couldn’t take anymore fun today. Parker dragged him everywhere. Sleep was going to be blissful tonight, if he could not dream of Drusilla. He still hadn’t told Angel and Spike about the dreams. Not that he was planning to – ever.
They chatted through dinner. Angel ordered a meal and ate it for Parker’s benefit. It didn’t seem like Booth had let on that he and Spike were vampires. Not that being a vampire stopped Spike from eating human food. Angel just didn’t see the point of it. After dinner, Spike took Parker to the arcade next door, leaving Booth and Angel alone.
“So, how have you been, really?” Angel asked while they shared a second glass of wine.
“I’m fine. Getting Parker out here was like pulling teeth with Rebecca,” Booth said tiredly.
“She wasn’t too happy about letting you have him around two souled vampires?” Angel asked.
“She doesn’t know that you are vampires. Also, Parker knows nothing about my sex life and I’d like to keep it that way. So, if you could just get Spike to keep quiet about that . . .”
Angel gave a genuine laugh. “Restraining Spike from doing anything, especially keeping his mouth shut is a full-time job.” He swallowed the last of his wine and stood up, “Come on, let’s get out of here. The couch makes out into a sofa-bed and I can pull out a small cot and make it up for Parker.”
“You don’t have to do that, Angel. We’re set up at the Homestead Studio-Suites,” Booth said as he followed the vampire.
“That’s a better hotel than that motel you stayed in when we first met. But, really, it’s no problem. There’s plenty of space and --”
“Angel, we can’t. How would I explain why Uncle Angel and Uncle Spike sleep together? He doesn’t know about my sex life, and you want to open up questions about your relationship? A) He’s four years old! And B) Rebecca will kill me if he goes home and lets your relationship slip out.” Booth stressed.
Angel looked at him. Booth was starting to feel hot under the collar as he met the vampire’s eyes. He could almost see the wheels turn in Angel’s head as the vampire decided whether he was sincere or not. Booth was beginning to feel self-conscious as he was scrutinized. Anymore of this and he may as well just confess his dreams, if only to stop Angel and Spike from looking at him like he’s hiding something.
“Okay,” Angel said dismissively as he walked out of the restaurant and over to the arcade.
Booth watched in awe as Angel stood at the entrance of the game room and sniffed the air. It still amazed him that the vampires could pick one distinct scent out of the air and follow it, especially in a crowded place like the arcade. Angel started walking again and Booth fell into step until he heard Spike cursing at the video game.
Parker and Spike was playing a two-person game. Both of them were rapidly pounding on a trigger button as they jerked the joystick around. Parker stood on a stool to reach the controls and laughed as Spike cursed in British slang. When the screen blinked ‘GAME OVER’, Spike growled and continued to pound on the trigger button in frustration.
“It’s a stupid bloody game anyway,” Spike groused, turning away from the game.
“I beat you!” Parker said excitedly.
“It was an off-day, Little Boots. If it was any other day, I would have beaten you,” Spike said as he helped Parker off the stool.
The boy’s face lit up when he turned and saw Angel and Booth. He ran up to his father and gestured to be picked up. Booth obliged and settled him on his hip.
“I beat Spike, daddy!”
“You just got lucky,” Spike amended to save his dignity.
**************************
Las Vegas, Homestead Studio-Suites
Angel unlocked the door and Booth walked in with Parker fast asleep on his shoulder. They had done more today than Booth had planned. It was already 8:30 pm and, as predicted, Parker was out like a light. Angel and Spike walked around the main room of the apartment and looked in closets, checking the security of the place while Booth took Parker into the smaller bedroom.
Booth deftly balanced his son while he pulled the covers back, a movement born of long-practiced ease. Parker shifted in his sleep as Booth tucked him in.
“I like Spike, daddy. He’s fun. I beat him at a game,” Parker said sleepily.
“I know, buddy. Angel and Spike are great, aren’t they?” After Parker gave him a perceptible nod, Booth placed a kiss on his forehead. “Get some sleep, little man. There’ll be more fun to be had tomorrow.”
Parker rolled over and fell back to sleep before Booth even made it to the door. He shut the light off on the way out and closed the door behind him.
Angel and Spike were waiting in the sitting room. Angel, being the relaxed one of the two vampires, flipped through an outdated magazine. Spike, being the restless one, channel surfed on the big-screen TV with the sound muted. They looked up when Booth came in.
“Everything all right?” Spike asked.
“Yeah, he’s fast asleep,” Booth said as he sat down on the couch opposite Spike. “Thank you for humoring him, and showing him a fun time. I know you didn’t have to indulge him that way.”
“Don’t mention it. He’s your son, therefore he’s family. It wasn’t a hardship,” Angel said as he put the magazine back.
“He’s a cute kid, Booth. I didn’t get to meet him the last time,” Spike said with a sidelong glare at Angel. The last time they saw Booth, Angel got to meet Parker and Spike had to distract Drusilla.
“Thanks,” Booth said. “I’d offer to help with work, but it’s only his second night in a new place and I can’t leave him locked in here while I’m out with you.”
“It’s fine, Booth. Don’t worry about it. Maybe tomorrow night, you can bring him by the office. The girls would love to have someone new to fuss over and we can take you out see what kind of trouble we can get into,” Spike offered.
Booth looked at Angel who shrugged. It didn’t seem like Angel minded the idea. It wouldn’t be like he was neglecting Parker . . . and Cassidy did take a shine to Parker. And the boy seemed fine with Spike in the arcade. On the other hand, Parker would be among strangers.
“We’ll see,” Booth said.
“Okay,” Spike tossed the remote to Booth and stood up. Angel followed suit as Booth abandoned the remote and walked with them to the door.
“It’s good to see you again, Booth,” Angel said sincerely as he pulled the human into a hug.
“You too, Angel,” Booth’s voice was muffled against Angel’s shoulder.
When they broke apart, Spike held out his hand to shake Booth’s hand. “We really don’t have to get bloody dramatic do we, mate?”
“No we don’t,” Booth smirked as he leaned into Spike’s personal space, reaching for the door and opened it. “See you guys tomorrow.”
“Night Booth.”
Just like that the vampires were gone. Booth shut and locked the door. He went over and fell into a relaxed position on the couch. Reaching for the remote, he looked up to see that Spike had left it on a movie with a nude scene playing on Cinemax.
“Damn it, Spike!” Booth cursed to himself before changing the channel.
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