Despite the snow and cold outside, their little family was warm and cozy inside. A fire was going, the tree lights twinkled, and a pair of kids stood at the front window, their noses pressed to the glass. They were waiting for the final member of their family to arrive so their Christmas Eve celebrations could finally start.

"Sorry about your window," their mom, Caitlyn, says.

"Don't worry about it," Booth replies with a smile, watching his grandkids at the window. "They're excited, and the glass will get clean."

A gasp and a blur of kids running past has all the adults in the room tracking them as they run to the door, opening it to reveal their beloved uncle and his girlfriend.

"Uncle Hank!"

"You're finally here!"

"I am finally here!" Hank replies, picking up the smallest of the kids, a little boy of about seven, and throwing him over his shoulder. "Come on, back inside before Grandpa gets mad."

As if on cue, noticing the subtle temperature change, Booth hollers at his grandkids. "Hey! Close the door! What? Do you live in a barn?"

The first blur, the oldest, a ten-year-old girl, races ahead of them, heralding their arrival. "Uncle Hank is here! Uncle Hank is here!"

"Yes, Ellie, we heard you shout the first time," Brennan says, coming from the kitchen to greet her youngest child. "Hey, baby," she smiles, managing to hug Hank despite the small child still clinging to his neck.

"Hey, mom," Hank says. College has been good for him. He's grown taller; holds his body straighter. "How are you?"

"I'm well," Brennan nods. "You look well as well."

"I am," Hank nods. He moves to his father, the two sharing a back-slapping hug, then his siblings-in-law (silently wondering where his brother and sister are). With the hugs now done, Hank looks behind himself, smiling at the person hiding just out of sight "You guys remember Julia, right?" Julia Klein, Hank's girlfriend of nearly a year, of average height and build with striking green eyes and wavy brown hair, steps up and accepts the hugs and hello's Hank's family gives her.

"Of course we do! It's great to see you again, Julia," Brennan says, smiling.

"You too, Temperance," Julia replies. "Your house is decorated so beautifully."

"You can thank Booth for that. He insists we decorate every year even though the kids are all grown up now."

"Eh. the kids love it," Booth says, waving his wife off.

"And so do you, Dad. Don't try and deny it," Christine pipes up, walking into the room. She's holding a baby and the tiny girl hides in her mom's neck when she sees all of the people. "You love the light and magic all the decorations bring."

"She's not wrong," Booth agrees.

"There's my girl! Hey, Little One!" Hank says going to his sister and youngest niece. He hugs Christine and takes the baby, holding her up to the sky with an exaggerated smile on his face. The tiny girl lights up upon seeing her uncle, letting out a string of giggles.

"Uncle Hank! Open the present I got for you!" The little boy is bouncing with excitement; he'd personally chosen and wrapped the gift.

"How about we wait until we get back from church, okay? That way I can open it with you, Ellie, and Poppy."

"Okay," He answers, slightly disappointed but satisfied with the deal. "What's your name?" He asks, turning to his uncle's girlfriend.

"I'm Julia. What's your name?"

"I'm Paxton," he says.

"It's nice to meet you," Julia smiles, holding out a hand to which Paxton slaps five.

"I get my own real candle this year at church 'cause I'm seven," he says.

"Wow, that's a pretty grown-up thing to do," Julia says, bending down to his level.

"Yeah, it is. 'Cause only the grown-ups and big kids get real ones. The little kids have to have fake ones."

"Well, you'll have to make your uncle take a picture for me to see, okay?"

"You're not gonna come with us?"

"No, church isn't really my thing and I don't want to intrude too much on your traditions."

"That's okay. Grandma doesn't go to church either. She stays home and makes us all hot chocolate for when we get back."

"That's what I'll do! I'll help your grandma make hot chocolate."

"See, grandma? Now you don't have to do it alone this time!" Paxton says happily, turning to Brennan with a smile. "Julia said she was gonna help you."

"Well considering there are more people here this year, I am grateful for her help," Brennan replies.

"We better get going. It starts in about an hour," Booth says. "I'll go get the car started." He rises from the couch and kisses Brennan goodbye.

"You be safe," Brennan says. "Have a good time." She follows her family to the door, watching as Booth throws on his coat and makes a beeline for the car.

"Hey, where's Parker?" Hank finally asks, noticing the lack of his older brother in the room.

"Our laundry room flooded early this morning, so he's been at the house dealing with a plumber all day. He said he'd meet us at church, though," Caitlyn says, directing her kids to get their coats and shoes on so they could leave for the Christmas Eve church service.

"Merry Christmas, huh?" Hank asks his sister-in-law with a sarcastic quip to his voice.

"Tell me about it!" Caitlyn laughs.

"Babe! We're leaving! You ready?" Christine calls out to her husband. Declan rounds the corner of the hallway leading to the other bedrooms of the house and smiles when he sees Hank. The two were very close and after a tight hug, start up a conversation that they carry out the door with the girls and the kids following behind.

As the door shuts, Brennan returns to the living room, turning off the cartoons that the kids were half watching and settling on the couch. She breathes in the silence of the house for a moment, and Julia tries to be as quiet as possible as she sits as well.

"So, how has the internship been going?" Brennan asks Julia. When she was over at Thanksgiving, Julia had excitedly told Hank's family about her student teaching placement in a second-grade class and how much she was loving it.

"Oh, it's going oh well!" Julia smiles. "We're on winter break right now, and after we come back, I only have three more months with them which is sad. But I'm going to make the best of it."

"I'm so glad you're enjoying it. Teaching is a profession not many people can perform well in, but you seem like you know what you're doing."

"Well, sometimes," Julia laughs, making Brennan laugh too. "So, Christine, is she still at the BAU?"

"She is. She took some time after Selah was born, obviously, but yes: she is still there."

"Good. I'm glad. I feel like she's really good at that job. Of course: I've never seen her, but I have a feeling."

"Yes, she is a lot like her father in that way. She uses her gut; which is not a scientifically proven tool to catch criminals, but it seems to help both of them," Brennan answers.

"Whatever keeps the bad guys off the streets, right? A family of crime fighters. Ever thought about changing your last name to 'Incredible'?" Julia asks with a laugh.

"No, never. Booth is proud of his name. He'd never willingly change it," Brennan says, missing the joke entirely.

"And Parker? He has a new book coming out next year, right?"

"He does! It's the start of a new series he's writing. He hasn't told us much, but the paunch party is in February, so we'll know more then."

"I can't wait to read it. I loved his other stuff, so I have hopes for this new one."

"You will have to let him know what you think after you read it," Brennan says.

The two girls spend the next hour talking. Gossiping over work and life and getting to know each other better. And before long, it is time to begin making the special hot chocolate that comprises the last bit of their Christmas Eve tradition.

Julia offers as much help as she can; but also watches as Brennan mixes the hot cocoa from scratch without a recipe in front of her.

Mugs are lined up across the island and other toppings (including several kinds of liquor for the adults) are set out at the far end. Brennan manages to time it just right so that the cocoa is ready to be poured just as the churchgoers are walking in the front door.

"Hey! How was it?" Brennan asks.

"It was good! The kids' nativity was super cute, and the candlelight procession was beautiful," Christine says, setting down the baby carrier on a barstool and pulls her daughter from it.

"Hey! How was getting your own grown-up candle?" Julia asks Paxton as he scampers into the room and joins the line for hot chocolate.

"It was so cool! We do this thing there they pass the fire down your row and when it was my turn, this lady didn't skip over me like they do for the little kids, she gave the fire to me! It was awesome!"

"I'm glad you had a good time. It's fun doing the grown-up stuff sometimes too, right? Like you're breaking a rule or something."

"Yes! That is how it feels! Like you're begging naughty!"

Julia laughs, her eyes going wide as Paxton squirts a mountain of whipped cream into his mug. She follows him to the living room where he sits on the couch and pats the space next to him or her to sit. "So, what do we do now?"

"Now, we drink our hot chocolate and the grown-ups talk for a while, and then Grandpa reads us the Christmas poem. Then we put out cookies and milk for Santa and then we go watch a movie in the middle bedroom and go to bed."

"Wow, you guys have a whole routine in place, don't you?"

"Yeah. It's tradition. Sometimes Ellie gets to pick. Sometimes it's Uncle Hank. But I say you should pick this year."

"Me? Why? Because I like you and Uncle Hank likes you. So that means you're gonna come back again. It's your turn."

Julia didn't know whether she trusted her boyfriends' nephew or not, but he seemed sure of himself. Rather than take him up on the offer right then, she opted to hold off and enjoy the rest of the night with the family.


A/N: I wanted to wish all my nerds who celebrate it a very merry Christmas, and to those that don't: happy holidays and TGIF, right? Ha! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little future look at this family.

Until next time!