Just a little something that's been floating in my head for a few days… ONE SHOT! Title and summary aren't the best I know...

It had been 8 days since Brennan had been shot and Booth hadn't left her side since he had finished the case. No amount of assurances from Brennan that she was fine and he needed to go home and see Christine that she was probably confused and maybe a little upset that neither of them was home would get Booth to move from that creaky plastic chair by her bedside. Brennan had been out of ICU for three days when the doctors pronounced her well enough to go home provided she not work for at least another two weeks.

"Are you ready to go home Bones?"

"Yes, I miss Christine very much-"

"She misses you too. Max wanted to sneak her in the ICU to see you for a few minutes… I said no too many germs!"

"Booth, you were the one that wanted her to be BORN in a hospital among all those germs!"

"Yeah, but their aren't as many gems in a maternity ward as there are in the ICU!"

"I disagree, but regardless she didn't need to see me like that. Even though she would have no memory of it she can sense when either one of us is under stress."

"You don't think I did something to her head by bringing her to the lab when I found you, do you?"

"No, she was upset yes, but that was because she saw me lying there and she felt your panic. Christine will not remember me getting shot or being there when you found me in less we tell her later and that is something we are not going to do…until she's over 21. Same with Pelant and our time away from you…"

"Okay." Booth leaned in and kissed Brennan's cheek. Brennan smiled and kissed Booth back before sitting up and getting out of bed. She winced a little as her feet hit the floor.

"Easy. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Booth, I'm fine, it's a little far to the floor and the stitches pulled a little. My pain has decreased substantially since I've been here and I've been ambulatory for three days. If I wasn't or my pain wasn't being managed by oral medication the doctors wouldn't let me go home."

"I know I just hate seeing you like this. I should have went with you, maybe I could have stopped-"

"Booth, I'll be fine if you'd been there chances are high we both would have gotten shot and that isn't something we need to experience. Besides you got there when I need you the most, you heard the doctor another five minutes…"

"I know lets go home huh? Christine wants to see you." Brennan nodded and let Booth help her into the wheelchair. Ten minutes later Booth was carefully setting Brennan in the SUV.

"Thanks Booth, it's more difficult than I thought to get in here without causing myself pain."

"You're welcome Bones. Anywhere you want to go before we go home?"

"No, I just want to go home, getting dressed and getting in here wore me out."

"All right." Booth carefully shut the door and went to the driver side.

Thirty minutes later after skillfully avoiding all the bumps and potholes Booth parked in front of the mighty hut and helped Brennan out of the SUV and up the stairs where Max opened the door.

"Hi Sweetheart, you're looking better."

"Hi dad I don't feel it at the moment." Booth helped Brennan sit on the couch.

"You will once you've been home a while and can rest; you can never really rest in a hospital." Max leaned over and kissed Brennan cheek, noticing how tired she really was.

"Where's Christine?"

Max smiled a little, "She fell asleep about ten minutes ago. I tried to keep her awake until you got home, but she was getting really cranky."

"Oh, I miss her very much, but her napping is for the best. I don't think I'm up to seeing her right now. The trip home wore me out."

"I'll get out of your way then in less you need me to stay."

"We'll be okay dad. Thanks for babysitting Christine."

"You're welcome Tempe it's what grandpas are for. Call me if you need something or Booth gets on your nerves too much."

Brennan smiled, "I will." Max squeezed Brennan's shoulder and left the house. As soon as Brennan heard Max's car head down the street she turned to Booth, "Booth, can you help me upstairs? I want to lie down."

"Sure." Booth helped Brennan stand and then put an arm around her."Lean on me as much as you need to."

Brennan nodded and slowly started up the stairs ten minutes and three stops later she was sitting on the edge of the bed resting a minute before she attempted to maneuver her lower body into the bed without causing herself too much pain.

"Lay back Bones I'll do the rest. I'm going to try to do this without hurting you too much, but it's going to hurt some, sorry."

"It's okay, it can't hurt any more than it does right now…"

Booth frowned, "Do you want your pain meds?"

"When I lay down, I think some of it will go away. Sitting with my legs hanging off the edge is pulling everything a little."

Booth nodded and gently turned Brennan so he could lift her legs into the bed, she winced.

"Sorry, almost done." Brennan nodded and sucked in a breath as Booth scooted her body over from the edge. Booth tucked the blankets around Brennan, "sorry I had to move you, you were too close to the edge."

"It's okay, that didn't hurt as much as walking up the stairs and getting in bed did."

Booth nodded a little and handed Brennan the bottle of pain medication from his shirt pocket that they had filled at the hospital. "I'll get you water, hold on." Brennan nodded after learning that swallowing the pills dry wasn't a good idea the day before.

Booth came back a minute later with a paper cup of water, "I'll get you a real glass of water if you want it for later."

"Please. I hate taking these they make me feel disconnected."

"I know but they help the pain so you relax and sleep. Maybe after today you can get away with taking them only at night."

"I hope I want to spend a little time with Christine at some point today."

"You can it's still early take your pills and sleep for a bit while she is."

Brennan nodded and took the cup from Booth and swallowed the pill. "I'm going to get your water, I'll be back."

"Okay."

Five minutes later Booth smiled and quietly sat the glass of water and Brennan's cell phone down on the nightstand and kissed a sleeping Brennan's cheek. "Feel better Bones, I love you." Booth checked on Christine and went to the kitchen to see if there was anything suitable for dinner. Hours later Brennan was lying in bed contemplating whether she could get up on her own or if she needed to call Booth to help her when the door opened a little. "Christine, look whose home."

"Ma." Booth smiled and kissed the top of Christine's head.

"Hi sweetheart." Brennan smiled when Booth walked over to the bed, grabbing a throw pillow to act as a cushion against Brennan's injury. Booth placed the pillow carefully over Brennan's wound and sat Christine in her lap.

"Ma?"

"Hi Baby girl, I missed you so much." Christine started bouncing against Brennan at the sound of her voice.

"OH. Sweetheart you have to sit still, Mommy is not feeling good at the moment. "Booth reached to take Christine.

"Booth, she'll settle down in a minute, can you go get one of her books? It's almost bedtime and I'm assuming she's had dinner since she's in her pajamas …" Brennan rubbed Christine's back and smiled as she started to still.

"It's still a little early for bed, but someone smeared her carrots, mashed potatoes and three bites of veggie meatloaf all over. When I got done scrubbing her down I put her in her pjs. I'll be back with the books. Are you okay holding her?"

"Yes, now that she's being still." Booth nodded and left the room.

Brennan kissed the top of her daughter's head, "Christine, you get to stay home and hangout with me for a few weeks while I recover. It will be fun, in a few days when I get more mobile we can go sit on the porch in the swing and read and play with your little people sets. Daddy will be home with us for the whole time, but I hope we can have a day or two just the two of us." Booth came in then with two books. "Bones you two can have your day whenever you feel like you can handle Christine on your own, as long as it isn't anytime this week."

"It won't be, maybe by next week I'll be up to sitting in the swing and that's it."

"Okay." Booth handed the Books to Brennan, "I grabbed plain books not the touch and feel ones; she's not going to be awake long."

"Yeah, dad said she wouldn't go down at night without a fight."

'I think she missed her cuddle time with you…. she was okay with me doing it for a little bit though."

"I missed my cuddle time with her too." Brennan pulled the pillow out from between her and Christine, pulling the baby closer."Bones-"

"It'll be fine Booth, Christine isn't going to move." Brennan started to read and three pages into the book Christine was sleeping, she continued reading until she finished the book.

"Booth, we should take Christine fishing-"

"No, Bones you're right she's too young-"

"She is young and won't remember it, but she'll have fun in the moment and that's what matters. We'll have memories of the trip too. Of course we'll need to make sure wherever we go isn't too far from home incase she has a problem with it and we need to come home. Running water and indoor bathroom facilities are a must too."

Booth smiled," We can do that, but not for a month or two so you can heal."

"Okay."

"Listen Bones I didn't mean that you were a mom, you're a fantastic mom. Christine is a lucky little girl, Parker too. I just wish you could leave science and anthropology behind once and a while and have fun and just relax a little."

Brennan smiled, "Mom said something similar I'm going to work on it."

"Okay. How about I set the pack n play up in here and we all camp out in here tonight. Then I'll go heat you up some leftovers and you can take more pain meds?"

"Sounds good, I am starting to hurt a little. I know I need to put Christine down, but I don't want to. Having her in here will be a good compromise. Do you think you could help me up so I can go to the bathroom?"

"Sure let me go get the pack n play." Brennan nodded.

Five minutes later Christine was sleeping at the foot of their bed and Booth was slowly helping Brennan sit up.

"Are you sure you don't want to take your pain meds before you walk in there?"

"I'll be fine once I get moving."

"Okay. Are you going to be okay in there?"

"Yes." Booth nodded and helped Brennan stand and walk to the bathroom door.

"Booth, I got it, I'm fine."

"Okay, yell if you need me." Brennan nodded.

Thirty minutes later Brennan was back in bed after taking her pain meds she was able to relax a little and enjoy Booth's veggie meatloaf.

"This is really good Booth."

"Thanks Bones."

"I shouldn't have left like I did; I shouldn't have gone to the lab. I'm sorry I ran to my work instead of talking about it-"

"No Bones, you didn't run back to the lab. remember you told me when we got home you were going to have dinner and get Christine down then go back to the lab and work for few hours ? I said it was fine. "

"I don't remember that. I'm sorry I didn't answer your call."

"It's okay, I'm not mad I never really was, just annoyed I guess you could say."

'Still I'm sorry for it."

Booth chuckled a little, "apology accepted. Now finish your dinner."

"I love you, Booth."

"I love you too, Bones. Booth kissed the top of Brennan's head and turned on the TV.