Angela and Hodgins had just returned home from a doctor's appointment to check on the baby after the lab explosion, their little peanut was perfectly fine. Angela thought Hodgins would be over the moon happy after seeing their new baby for the first time and learning that he or she was fine. Instead he was moody and withdrawn, as soon as they got home he'd fled to the patio. After giving Hodgins time to work himself out of the mood he was in, Angela grabbed a sweater and Hodgins' lap blanket and went out to the patio.
Hodgins was sitting and staring at nothing. "Hodgins?"
Hodgins slowly turned his head, "yeah?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing…"
"Hodgins…"
"I can't do it."
Angela walked over to Hodgins and tucked the blanket over his lap. "What can't you do?"
"Help you with the baby. At least not like I did with Michael Vincent."
"Yes you can."
Hodgins sighed, "Angie, I can't! I can't carry a baby on my lap and wheel at the same time. Maybe when it's old enough to sit up I'll be able to do it, but not when it's a newborn. I can't reach down into a crib. I can't change diapers. I can't get up at night while you sleep because it'll take too long for me to get in this stupid chair and go in there. The whole house will be up before I get to the kid… Then all the stuff when the kid is older like teaching it to ride a bike, drive, and throw a perfect pass…"
Angela smiled and took Hodgins' hands in hers. "You can do all that stuff Hodgins, we'll just have to figure it out. We have time. Theirs probably some adaptive cribs and all that stuff out there. As for getting up with the baby at night so I can sleep, I woke up every time you got up with Michael Vincent and didn't fall back asleep until you were in bed again. I just laid there with my eyes closed…"
"You faked it?"
"Yes. We can put the bassinet on your side and bottles in a cooler or something and an extra warmer on your nightstand so you can sit on the bed and feed the baby at night while I fake sleep…"
"Okay…"
"Hodgins, I know this isn't how either of us want this pregnancy to be, but it will work out and be fine. The baby will be fine and you'll be able to do all kinds of things to help me."
"What if the baby has LCA? The odds-"
"No! This baby will be fine… I know the odds are a little stacked, but the odds of me getting pregnant after your accident weren't that good according to two doctors…. But by Thanksgiving we'll be a family of four…"
"Yeah, Angie I'm really happy and excited about the baby, but I'm scared too…"
"Me too, Hodgins, but whatever happens we'll get through it."
"I know."
"I'm going to go inside and make the brownies that Michael Vincent has been wanting for the past week."
"Okay."
"Love you, Hodgins."
"Love you too, Angie. " They kissed.
Once Angela had mixed up the brownies, sprinkled a handful of chocolate chips on top and slid them in the oven she got her laptop and typed 'wheelchair accessible nursery' into the search and hit enter. Angela read through blogs and looked at websites until the brownies were done. Once they were out of the oven Angela went out to the patio. "Hodgie, come inside I have something to show you."
"Okay." Hodgins followed inside, she went over to her laptop and turned it where he could see it. "I googled 'wheelchair accessible nursery' and found a lot of stuff. They make cribs that you can wheel under and open on the side so you don't have to reach over the rail. They have one that raises and lowers at the touch of a button and the rails open out so you can reach in the crib, but you need a script from your doctor for it because it is considered a class II medical device."
"You're kidding, right?"
"No. the other one is just up higher up so you wheel under it and the rails open out so you can reach in." Angela pulled up the websites, Hodgins looked through the pages and sat back in his chair before turning to Angela.
"I like the one that I can just wheel under without pressing a button, it looks more normal…"
"I do too."
It's over $1,600 dollars though… We always said if we had another kid that we'd reuse Michael Vincent's crib and stuff…"
"We can still use the dresser and glider…"
"But…"
"Hodgins, it's just furniture. If this kid had to sleep in a hammock so you could get it in and out then we'd be hammock shopping right now."
"Angie…"
"My point is, I don't care that we have to get a new crib and stuff. Actually I'm looking forward to it, the crib never matched the dresser anyway after Pelant touched the matching one and I made you buy Michael Vincent a new one. It will be good for us to get a new crib."
"Yeah…"
"Don't worry about the money, I've been selling a lot of photos the past few months and we have the royalties from your inventions. We'll be okay plus Cam said that we're getting paid while they rebuild since it wasn't our fault."
Hodgins smiled a little, "Thank God for that. Did you find anything else?"
"Yeah, but I don't know how helpful they'll be. They don't really have a changing table that you can easily use, most of the blogs suggest using a small desk or table you can wheel under with a changing pad on top of it."
"That's a good idea, then when the kid grows up they can use the desk."
"Yeah. People have had strollers custom made that attach to the front of your chair, the baby would be facing you." Angela pulled up another website.
"I'm sorry, but that doesn't took very comfortable or safe for the baby. Not to mention attaching and unattaching it to and from my chair is probably a pain in the ass and something I can't do myself…."
Angela laughed, "I agree, but you can't buy this one anyway, it was made for a class design project and was never marketed. There is a company in England that makes a baby buggy that attaches to a wheelchair, but I haven't yet figured out how to get one. They also have a connector clamp that can connect a normal stroller to your chair, the baby would be forward facing though."
"I think I'll leave the strollers up to you or use that front carrier thing we had when we took Michael Vincent to Vermont that time."
"I found the lap baby, baby carrier, it's basically a belt that straps the baby to you and the baby sits on your lap, while keeping your hands free."
"I could use that when the kid is old enough to sit up…"
"Yeah, we'll get the carrier like we had with Michael Vincent for you to use until then. Getting the baby in and out of a car seat might be a little tricky, they have swiveling bases that you could use but I don't know how that would work for you getting the infant seat in there. You're still going to have to reach up at an odd angle to snap it in place. When the kid is upgraded to forward facing it will be easier for you to get to."
"The car seat is all you, you did Michael Vincent's most of the time when he was a baby anyway."
"Okay. We can get a different highchair so you can get closer."
"All right."
"Hodgins, this will be easier once the baby is here and we can figure stuff out with an actual infant and the other stuff."
"I know."
"Do you feel better about it?"
"A little…"
"Really? Or are you just placating me?"
Hodgins smiled a little, "both. I do feel a little better about some things, but not everything."
"That's good…"
"You know what's gonna suck the most about this whole thing?"
"No, what?"
"The fact I can't get on the floor with them…. It sucks with Michael Vincent too, but he's kind of growing out of playing on the floor with me. Thankfully he's more into model building and stuff that needs a table."
"There are ways we can get you on and off the floor. We can get one of those track lifting systems your therapist mentioned installed through the whole house…"
"The track running in the ceiling is unsightly though…"
"Just think about it." Hodgins nodded and smiled slightly as Angela kissed his cheek before standing up and cutting a large square of brownie from the pan.
"I thought those were for Michael Vincent…"
"They are. He won't know that I've eaten one if I cut them and put them in a container before he gets home…'
Hodgins laughed, "I love you, Angie."
"I love you too, Hodgins."
H&A
The next few months went by quickly for Hodgins and Angela. The baby was doing well, but being very stubborn and not staying in the right position long enough for anyone to determine whether it was a boy or a girl.
"Hodgins, we need to tell Michael Vincent he's going to be a big brother soon. I won't be able to hide this much longer…" Angela turned and Hodgins noticed her baby bump more than the night before.
"Do you want to tell him today?"
"We can. Let's tell him after breakfast, then we can spend the day doing whatever he wants to do."
"Sounds like a plan. Do you want anything special for breakfast?"
"I was going to make peanut butter and jelly pancakes. They're Michael Vincent's favorite."
"You can make the pancakes and I'll cook the bacon."
"Okay." After breakfast Michael started to head to his room.
"Michael Vincent, before you go do your thing, mom and I have something to tell you. It's nothing bad, you're not in trouble."
"Okay…" Michael Vincent headed for the couch. Angela and Hodgins followed. Once Michael Vincent was sitting next to Hodgins Angela sat next to him and took his hand, "Michael Vincent, you're going to be a big brother. I'm going to have a baby."
"Oh. When?"
"November, before Thanksgiving."
"Oh. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"No. We should know by now, but the baby won't stay still long enough for the doctor or anyone else to find out. We have pictures though." Angela handed Michael Vincent the strip of pictures they'd gotten from the doctor the week before.
"What do you think, buddy?"
"It's cool, I guess…it might be fun to have somebody to do stuff with when it's older. I'm not changing diapers…"
Angela chuckled and kissed the top of Michael Vincent's head, "you don't have to do that."
"Good."
"We were thinking we could do whatever you wanted to today."
"Okay. Can we stay here watch movies and have junk food?"
"Sure."
That night after Michael Vincent was in bed Angela turned to Hodgins, "Hodgins, do you think Michael Vincent is happy about being a big brother?"
"Yes. He just needs time to adjust to the idea, for his whole life it's just been the three of us. Getting a sibling, no matter what age is a big deal."
"I know. I'm just afraid he'll feel left out, especially in the beginning. The baby is going to take most of our time."
"We'll just have to make sure that he is included as much as we can or as much as he wants to be. Once we get things figured out we can have one-on-one tine with him. Angie, Michael Vincent is the least of the issues this time."
"Hodgins, you'll be fine."
"I know, but I'm still nervous."
"I know. Me too."
H&A
A few weeks later Hodgins and Angela were relaxing in bed and Angela turned to him. "We need to start thinking about names…"
"Yeah. Do you still want to use Katherine Temperance for a girl?"
"Yes…Brennan won't understand why, but that's okay."
"Okay, so all we need is a boy's name. Do you have any more names that you like?"
"I've always liked Ryan…"
"Me too. Let's use it."
"Okay. How about using Jeffery for a middle name?"
"Ryan Jeffery Hodgins. I like it. I got an email from the nurse at the facility, Jeffery is doing really well now that he's gotten used to the new meds…"
"So did I, he's been on my mind since. We should go see him this weekend."
"Let's do it. What do you think your dad will say about the names we picked?"
"He'll think they're too normal and boring. He'll have some crazy suggestions of his own that we don't have to take. The good news is I don't think he'll kidnap you and give you another tattoo. The wheelchair makes it hard." Angela chuckled and kissed Hodgins
"Finally this chair is good for something!" Angela laughed and kissed Hodgins. Goodnight, Hodgie. I love you."
"Night Angie. I love you too."
H&A
It was time to get the nursery ready Booth had spent the previous weekend painting the room a seafoam green. Now he was unpacking the crib with Hodgins.
"Thanks for getting the nursery ready for Angie and me…"
"Of course. You helped Bones get the house ready when I was in jail…"
"That was different, I could do stuff to help then…"
"You can do stuff now, Hodgins. I realize that it may not be how you want, but the important thing is you're here and can do things."
"I know and I'm mostly thankful for that, but sometimes this chair sucks. Especially with Angie being pregnant."
"I imagine it does but at least you're here. When Rebecca was pregnant with Parker I was on deployment the entire time. We met a few days before I shipped out and on my last night she got pregnant… I missed everything. I was back stateside for more training when he was born and I went AWOL to see him. Walter found me and I got shipped back to Iraq, then got taken prisoner. When I got back I was angry at the world. I was pissed at the doctors for trying to fix my feet, the surgery recovery hurt worse than the abuse did. One day I wouldn't let anyone touch me, I wouldn't eat or take pain meds… I wanted the pain to kill me… that's how bad it was… The nurse called Rebecca and she came with Parker. I was laying there waiting for the pain to take me when I felt this weight on me, I opened my eyes to Parker grinning at me… I realized that no matter what I needed to overcome this for him if nothing else. I asked Becca to get the nurse and she loaded me up on pain meds and Rebecca fed me soup. After the meds kicked in I slept for the rest of the day with Parker on my chest. From then on Rebecca tried to be at at least one of my therapy appointments a week. We had a long talk about what would happen for us and Rebecca moved to an apartment closer to Walter Reed. After I got released she took care of me. I was in a wheelchair for almost two years. The surgeries were more complicated than the doctors originally thought and recovery was a bitch. I couldn't do a lot of things with Parker, but he didn't care as long as somebody fed and changed him. We didn't have a fancy crib like this, when Rebecca had to work she put him in bed next to me. When I got up I'd put him in one of those baby backpacks to carry him around the apartment. We read a lot of books and watched a lot of T.V. I couldn't leave the apartment with him by myself. He learned to stand holding on to my wheelchair."
"Booth…"
"My point is, this kid isn't going to care that you can't walk. It's going to love what you can do with or for them. Yeah maybe when the kid is older and notices that their friends parents walk and do things you can't there might be an issue, if there is you'll deal with it. For now just enjoy the baby."
"I will. Does Brennan know?"
"That if it wasn't for Parker and his toothless, slobbery grin I wouldn't be here putting this crib together?"
"Yeah…"
"No. Don't ever tell her or Ange… Hand me that screwdriver…"
Hodgins handed Booth the screwdriver. "I get what you're saying about the baby. I'm worried about Angie."
Booth looked at Hodgins, "Is something wrong with Angela?"
"No, she and the baby are fine. I'm just worried that she's doing too much. She has to take care of house stuff, Michael Vincent, and me. The other night I was having really bad muscle spasms and she had to help me get undressed and into pajama pants and into bed. I couldn't help her do any of it. I haven't felt that helpless since rehab…"
"Hodgins, I'm sure she's fine, if she'd needed help with you she'd called me or Wendell. Like she did that time you had spasms in the shower and couldn't get out."
"Yeah… thanks for doing that by the way…"
"No problem. Hand me that bracket."
Hodgins handed Booth the bracket.
"If you want to do something for Angela, the spa she drags Bones to every few months has pregnancy massages. I got one for Bones when she was pregnant with Hank and kicked me out of the house. I sent an E gift certificate to Angela and asked that she make sure Bones went. After she got done I got a thank you text from Bones. Have her go on a Friday afternoon and Bones and I will keep Michael Vincent for the weekend so the two of you can have one last weekend to yourselves before everything gets crazy."
"Thanks, Booth. I'll plan it and let you and Dr. B know when…"
"You're welcome, Hodgins." They finished the nursery in easy conversation about sports and the kid's activities. Booth let Hodgins do whatever he could reach and lift. A few hours later Angela and Hodgins were in the completed nursery.
"You and Booth did a good job, Hodgins."
"Thanks, Angie, Booth did most of the work though."
"Yeah. You seem in a better mood than you were this morning."
"I am. We talked…"
"What about?"
"All I can tell you is, Booth knows what I'm going through with the wheelchair and having a baby…"
"His Army days?"
"Yeah… Brennan doesn't know and probably never will so don't ask her."
"I won't. I don't think I want to know…"
"Trust me, you don't… just be thankful Booth is with us and that he and doctor B have each other."
Angela nodded, "I am, every day." she kissed Hodgins and went to the closet across from the crib. She came back to Hodgins, he noticed she was holding a doll.
"Angie, why do you have a doll?"
"I thought you might want to practice once we got the nursery done. It will be different with a wiggly, crying baby, but this way you'll have some idea of what to expect. When you're done practicing, the doll will either become our daughter's first doll or a just because present for Christine."
"Good idea, we can at least make sure everything is at the right height and get the carrier adjusted to fit me and I can practice getting it on sitting down."
Angela nodded and got the carrier from the closet and took it out of the box. "I remember the one we had for Michael Vincent being smaller."
"Me too. Hopefully there will be room so the baby's legs aren't squished by my lap."
"I think we'll be fine for the first few months, once the baby starts growing a lot we might need to find something else." Hodgins nodded and he and Angela spent the next few minutes getting the straps adjusted. Hodgins secured the carrier around himself with minimal difficulty. "That wasn't as hard as I was expecting it to be. How does it look?"
"It looks secure. How does it feel?"
"Good."
"Try wheeling with it, see if the straps slip." Hodgins nodded and put the doll in the carrier and wheeled around the bedroom, the straps stayed in place. "It works fine now, but we may have a problem when the baby inside of the carrier weighs more than a pound."
"Yeah. If we do we'll deal with it." Hodgins nodded and opened the side of the crib. "The crib will work out fine, I can't reach all the way across the crib, but I can reach far enough so the baby isn't right up against the rails."
"That's all that matters."
"Yeah."
"Do you feel better about things now that the nursery is done?"
"Yeah, mostly. I'm glad Booth was here to help us. I couldn't have done it myself. Booth didn't make a big deal out of helping. He didn't make me feel helpless…"
"Hodgins, you are not helpless!"
"I know, but sometimes a little of me feels like I am, especially if I have to have a lot of help…"
"Hodgins…"
"I'm fine, Angie. The last two years have been hard, but I've accepted it and have learned to deal with it. I'm not going to get angry like I was in the beginning."
"I know. Just promise me that if you need to talk to someone you will."
"I promise I will, Angela." Hodgins shut the crib and wheeled over to Angela and kissed her. "I love you, Angela."
"I love you too, Hodgins."
H&A
A few days later Angela was in her office working on a sketch for their latest case when Hodgins wheeled in. "Hey Hodgins, do you have something for me?"
"Hey Angie. Yeah, but it doesn't relate to the case, sorry." Hodgins wheeled over beside her and handed her the envelope. Angela opened the flap and pulled out the piece of heavy paper, and quickly read it. "You got me a pregnancy massage?"
"Yes, I thought you'd enjoy it. I remembered how much you liked me giving you massages when you were pregnant with Michael Vincent and since I can't do that anymore, at least not the way I used to…"
"Thanks, Hodgins. It's going to feel so good."
"You're welcome, Angie. I was thinking you could use it Friday. Booth and Brennan are going to watch Michael Vincent for the weekend so we can have a last weekend to ourselves before the baby gets here. Cam already gave you the day off."
"That sounds great Hodgins. What do you have planned for the weekend?"
"Nothing, I'm leaving that up to you. We can go somewhere or stay home."
"Let's stay home."
"Okay, sounds good to me. I'll cook dinner Friday night. What do you want?"
"Don't laugh, but I really want spaghetti with homemade sauce and lots of garlic cheese bread."
"Perfect. That does sound really good."
Angela laughed and kissed Hodgins, "thanks for this weekend, Hodgins."
"You're welcome, Angie."
H&A
Friday morning Hodgins got Michael Vincent off to school and himself to the lab without waking Angela. Her appointment wasn't until 1 and since Cam had given her the day off she planned to sleep in for as long as she could. Later that day Hodgins was draining the pasta when Angela walked through the door. "Hey Angie, do you feel better?"
"Hey Hodgie. I do feel better. I still feel like a beached whale, but at least now I feel like a refreshed beached whale…"
"Angie, you're not…"
"I just want this to be over, I hope this baby isn't as late as Michael Vincent was…"
"I know. Hopefully soon, but not too soon. Dinner is ready."
After dinner Hodgins cleaned up before sitting on the couch next to Angela. Once he was settled Hodgins grabbed a small box from the pouch on his chair and handed it to Angela. "Hodgins, what?"
"I just wanted to get you something…"
Angela nodded and opened the box to reveal a necklace with Michael Vincent and the baby's birthstones in baby blocks. "Hodgins, it's beautiful. Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it. If the baby is early I can get the stone changed no problem. It's easy to add other blocks to if we decide to adopt later." Angela wiped away a few tears and turned slightly so Hodgins could put the necklace on her. Once that was done Hodgins pulled a gift bag out from beside the couch. "This one is for the baby." Hodgins handed Angela the bag, opening it she pulled out an orange sleeper with a jack-o-lantern face on it and a small green hat with a stem on it. "I know it's a Halloween costume, but you're due nine days after Halloween and pumpkins are fall… plus it's cuter than the turkey outfit…"
"Hodgins, it's adorable. It will be the baby's coming home outfit. I just packed a pale yellow sleeper since we still don't know if we're having a boy or girl…"
"I say boy…"
"I say girl because this pregnancy has been so different than Michael Vincent's."
"I hope if it is a girl, she looks just like you…"
"Hodgins, you're gonna make me cry again!" Hodgins chuckled lightly and pulled Angela to him. "I love you, Angie."
"I love you too, Hodgins."
H&A
A few weeks later Hodgins had just gotten in bed for the night when Angela came into the room. "Hodgins, Booth will be here soon to pick up Michael Vincent…"
"O- Angie?" Hodgins started pulling himself into a sitting position.
"I'm in labor, it's not urgent yet. I just want to get him out of here before it gets crazy, things are more complicated this time. I don't need to go to the hospital yet, I just don't want to be stuck waiting on Brennan and Booth when I need to be on my way to the hospital."
"Okay. You're okay though right?"
"Yeah, this might a false alarm, but with this pregnancy being considered high risk…"
"Does it feel like a false alarm?"
"Not really, no."
"Then it's probably not." Hodgins got himself back into his chair, suddenly thankful he decided to shower before bed and change into sweatpants instead of his usual pajama pants. He was nervous and excited, both of those emotions made getting dressed quickly harder. Hodgins pulled a sweatshirt out of his dresser and pulled it on over his t-shirt.
Hodgins wheeled over to Angela and took her hand, "Angie, everything is gonna be fine. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Hodgins. I know everything will be fine, but I'm scared too, what if this baby is the one in four?"
"It's not, but if it is we'll get through it, like we always do."
"I know. I'm just…"
"I know… if this kid takes more than 5 hours to arrive he or she will have a Halloween birthday. That's gonna be cool, we can throw some epic parties."
Angela smiled a little, "Yeah, but we'll have a non-Halloween birthday party a few days before or after so that it isn't overshadowed by trick-or-treating and all that stuff. It's kinda like being born on Christmas, your special day gets lost in the shuffle."
"Yeah, especially when the kid is at the age for trick-or-treating."
I can't really see a kid giving up free candy for a birthday party. I also don't want to make their friends choose between free candy and friendship…" Angela's grip tightened on Hodgins' hand. "Just-"
Angela glared at Hodgins, "Shut up!" he shut up and waited for Angela to loosen her grip.
"Sorry Hodgins, I didn't mean it, it's just that-"
"It's okay, Angie, I forgot my voice annoys you…"
"Everything annoys me right now though. I need to go get Michael Vincent up…"
"I can do it."
"I want to."
Hodgins nodded and kissed Angela. "I love you, Angela."
"I love you too, Hodgins."
"Did you call Dr. Banno yet?"
"No, I'm going to wait until we actually get ready to leave the house."
"Okay."
Angela headed down the hall to Michael Vincent's room, she stopped by his bed and watched him sleep for a minute before waking him up. "Michael Vincent, you need to wake up…" the boy stirred a little and opened his eyes. "Mom?'
"Yeah. Dad and I need to go to the hospital soon. Booth is on his way to pick you up."
"Okay. Do I have to go to school though?"
"Yes, it might be a while until the baby is born. Brennan and/or Booth will bring you to the hospital to see the baby before you go trick-or- treating. Remember to take your backpack and costume. You don't have to change, just put your shoes on."
"Okay." Michael Vincent got out of bed and hugged Angela. "I love you, mom."
"I love you too, Michael Vincent. Hurry up!"
Ten minutes later Hodgins let Booth in the house. "Hey Booth, thanks for coming and getting Michael Vincent."
"No problem. How's Ange?"
"She's doing okay as long as I keep my mouth shut."
Booth chuckled, "Bones was the same way the night Hank was born."
Angela walked into the living room then with Michael Vincent dragging behind her, "hey, Booth."
"Hey, Ange."
"Michael Vincent is ready to go. He has his clothes, backpack, and costume."
"Great. Do you two need help with anything before I go?" Hodgins looked at Angela, she nodded a little.
"Booth, can you put our bags in my van? I can do it, but it'd take a few trips."
"Sure." Hodgins gave Booth his keys and wheeled over to Angela as Booth picked up the three bags and headed outside. Angela squeezed Hodgins' shoulder, he looked up at her "I'm fine. I just know that it's hard for you to ask for help right now…"
"Yeah…"
Booth came back inside and gave Hodgins back his keys. "I didn't put them too far in the back so they should be easy for you to reach."
"Thanks, Booth."
"You're welcome. Bones said she'd meet you guys at the hospital when you go."
"She doesn't have to do that, Booth."
"She wants to. You helped her so much the night Hank was born…"
"It was nothing."
"No, it was everything to us. Let's go get you back in bed, Michael Vincent." The sleepy child nodded and hugged Angela. "Bye, buddy, have a good day at school and be good for Booth and Brennan." Michael Vincent nodded and leaned into Booth who had an arm loosely around him and his bags on the other arm.
Thirty minutes later Hodgins looked up as Angela made another pass through the living room. "That was Booth, he said Michael Vincent didn't even stir when he carried him inside and put him in Parker's bed."
Angela smiled a little, "That's good I felt bad about waking him up."
"Me too. Are you doing okay?"
"Yeah, the pain isn't as bad this time. Sitting is uncomfortable though. We'll probably be leaving soon."
"Okay. Do you need anything?"
"No just stay close. I know I can't hold your hand while you wheel, but…"
"Put your hand on my shoulder, I'll wheel slow…"
"Okay." After a few more laps through the kitchen and living room Angela turned to Hodgins. "We need to go, Hodgins. You text Brennan and I'll call Dr. Banno."
"Okay." Angela turned to get her phone off the counter. "Hey Angie…"
Angela looked at Hodgins, "You got this…" she smiled a little and made her call. They'd been at the hospital for a few hours. It wasn't a false alarm, but they were going to be waiting a while according to the doctor. "I wish this kid would hurry up! I want to hold him or her so bad… plus it's the only way to get the pain to stop…"
"I can't wait to hold the baby either. Have them give you something."
"No, I had Michael Vincent without pain meds I can do it again… I wish we didn't have to be here at all. Hank's birth was perfect; just Brennan, Booth, the midwife and me. At home. No nurses poking and prodding. Quiet, dim lights… And it was over fast; only 2 hours from beginning to baby…"
"I know. I wish we could've had that too. We would've if it wasn't for the LCA possibility."
"I know. I'm not mad that we couldn't. I'm just tired and want this to be over."
"How about we walk and see if that speeds things up?"
"Okay." Angela headed for the door and held it open, Hodgins looked at her. "Hodgins, it's okay, I know you feel like you should be the one getting the door for me. I know that this hasn't been easy for you because you can't do things to help me how you'd like to, but I don't care about any of that. All I need is you here, I wouldn't want to go through this with anyone else… except maybe Brennan…"
"Do you want me to get her?"
"No! Just wheel through the door, it's not comfortable to stand here and hold it open while we talk…"
Hodgins turned and quickly wheeled into the hall. "Sorry…"
"It's okay." Angela bent and kissed Hodgins, "I love you, Hodgins."
"I love you too, Angie." They started down the hall, Angela's hand on Hodgins' shoulder. "Unless this kid is born in the next 17 minutes we're having a Halloween baby."
Angela laughed a little, "You'll get your Halloween baby, Hodgins."
"Cool." Angela Chuckled as she headed down the hallway. They had made a few laps down the hall to the nurses' station and back, stopping whenever Angela needed to. They were on their way to the nurse's station again. "Hodgins, stop!" Hodgins stopped and was a little concerned because Angela hadn't asked him to stop wheeling before. Before he could ask what was going on she was behind him leaning over the chair with her hands tightly gripping his shoulders. Hodgins leaned back in his chair and put his hand over Angela's. "You okay, Angie?" Angela nodded slightly. After a few more seconds Angela straightened up and turned Hodgins' chair toward her room. Once they were inside Angela continued to stand behind the chair "The contractions are getting worse. Leaning over your chair like I was in the hall helps more than just standing upright does."
"I'm glad I can help. I'm not being sarcastic, I really do mean that…"
"I know. I'm not hurting your shoulders am I?"
"No."
"Would you tell me if I was?"
"No, but seriously you're not. Do whatever you need to." Angela nodded and leaned over again. Several minutes later Angela's grip tightened on Hodgins' shoulders, he winced a little. "Angie?"
"Call…the…nurse…it's…baby…time…"
"Gonna have to get closer the bed…" Angela groaned, but wheeled Hodgins closer to the bed. His finger was over the call button when Doctor Banno walked in. "How's everything going?"
Angela stood up and looked at Hodgins and nodded slightly "She says the baby is coming..."
"Okay, let's get you back in bed and see how things are. "Angela moved from behind Hodgins and climbed back in bed. Hodgins held her hand. Dr. Banno did a quick exam and looked up at the couple and smiled, "it's time. Give me a few minutes to get things set up." Doctor Banno quickly left the room. The next few minutes were a flurry of activity as nurses set up equipment and specialists came in. Angela turned to Hodgins, "sit with you back to the doctor, that way the angle won't be weird when you hold my hand..."
Hodgins turned his chair around and picked up Angela's hand again, "That's better. I love you, Angie."
"I love you too, Hodgins."
The "Whatever happens it will be okay." Angela nodded and tightly squeezed Hodgins' hand.
"Whenever you're ready, Angela." Angela nodded and tightened he grip on Hodgins' hand, he tried to hide a wince.
The next few minutes passed in slow motion for Hodgins, "Hodgins, I can't..."
"Yes, you can. You're doing so good... I love you..."
"Not much longer…"
Hodgins kissed Angela's hand, she smiled a little before blocking everything and everyone out except for Hodgins' hand in hers and concentrating on getting the baby here. Time seemed to stand still for Hodgins, but before he knew it Doctor Banno was holding up a crying squirmy baby. "I'll be right back, guys." After what felt like an eternity, but it couldn't have been more than five minutes Doctor Banno was putting a tightly wrapped bundle in Angela's arms. "Congratulations you two, you have a happy, healthy, 8 pound 4 ounce baby girl. Her eyes a perfect."
"Hi Katie. I love you so much." Hodgins tried to lean closer to Angela. The nurse walked over and lowered the upper bedrail so Hodgins could lean closer "That might help a little, sorry we can't get you closer."
"It's fine, thanks." Angela held Katie down and pulled the blanket away from her face so Hodgins could see her better. "She's beautiful, Ange, just like her mom."
"Hodgins…"
"It's true. I guess I'm going to have to get the birthstone changed in your necklace."
"If she'd waited 22 and a half more hours it would have been fine."
"Yeah, but it's no problem, the jeweler said it would be easy to swap out the stone if we needed to."
"That's good. Hodgins, Katie is our last kid…"
"I know, I'm okay with that… Are you?"
"Yeah. If we want more kids later we can adopt like Cam and Arastoo."
"We can, actually I think it would be good for us to do in a few years. Do you want me to get Brennan?"
"Yeah, I can't believe she insisted on coming down here and sitting in the sitting room for the last four hours!"
"She's loyal, Ange. At least this time it wasn't as long as it was with Michael Vincent. And we aren't solving a murder at the same time."
Angela laughed, "That was nuts, but none of us are that obsessed with work anymore. Everything has changed so much since Michael Vincent was born. Brennan and Booth are married and have kids, Cam's married and has kids, Sweets and Max are gone, and Booth's been in jail. You've been blown up and paralyzed…"
"Yeah, it's been a hell of a nine years, but they've been mostly good…" Hodgins kissed Angela's hand and headed for the door. He wheeled into the waiting room and found Brennan dozing in the corner. Hodgins wheeled over and touched her arm "Brennan?" she stirred and blinked, "Hodgins?"
"Yeah, you wanna cone see the baby?"
"Of course." Hodgins grinned and headed back to Angela's room, Brennan followed. Angela smiled when she saw Brennan enter the room. "Bren, come meet your niece, Katherine Temperance Hodgins. We're going to call her Katie for short." Brennan walked to the bed. "Do you want to hold her?"
"Yes!"
Angela chuckled and handed Katie to Brennan. "She's beautiful, Ange. How are…?"
"Thanks, Brennan. Her eyes and everything else is perfect."
That's great! How are you?"
"I'm fine, I'm tired and sore, but that's normal. The whole process wasn't as bad this time."
"Hank's birth wasn't either…"
"I told Michael Vincent that you and/or Booth would bring him to see the baby afterschool before he goes trick-or-treating with you. I was wondering if you could get him from school early, like at lunchtime and bring him down here. If we wait until afterschool it will be too rushed with going trick-or-treating."
"Of course. I can keep him home and bring him this morning if you want."
"No, the three of us need to sleep this morning. He can go to school while we sleep."
"Angie, I think Brennan should keep him home with her this morning, he's going to be distracted all day at school. I can get his assignments and he can stay with Brennan and do his work."
"That would probably be a better idea. You don't mind do you, Bren?"
"No. We kept Christine home from school the day Hank was born for the same reason. Granted he was born on the second to last day of school so she didn't miss anything. I'll take him to lunch and bring him here about 1."
"Sounds good to me. Hodgins can call the school when it opens and excuse him plus get his assignments." Angela tried to hide a yawn.
"I should go so you can rest." Brennan started to hand Katie back to Angela. "Give her to Hodgins, Bren, he hasn't held her yet." Brennan nodded and waited while Hodgins wheeled up beside the bed. Once he was in place Brennan carefully placed Katie in his arms.
"Congratulations to both of you. Let me get a picture to show Michael Vincent and Booth." Brennan snapped a close-up of Katie's face and one of Hodgins holding her before quietly saying goodbye and leaving the room. Brennan had been gone only a few minutes when Angela noticed Hodgins starting to shift positions in his chair. "Hodgins, what's wrong?"
"Nothing really, just the excitement and nerves from the last few hours have made me have spasms and I forgot my meds…I might go get some pain meds from the gift shop later." Angela sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Angie, what are you doing?"
"The green bag has two changes of clothes for you, your extra transfer board, and three dosages of all your meds and all your other supplies. Plus snacks. Give me Katie and go get dosed up, when everything kicks in you can have her back."
"Thanks Angie." Hodgins kissed Katie's forehead and handed her to Angela.
"You're welcome, Hodgins." Angela turned her attention to the baby in her arms. "Katie, daddy is going to have to do things with you differently, you're just going to have to be patient and let us figure it all out, okay? Know that no matter what, daddy loves you with all that he has."
A few minutes later Angela handed the baby back to Hodgins. "Hi Katie. Mommy is right, I'm going to have to do things with you differently than I did with your brother. It's going to take time to figure it all out, just be patient with me alright? There are going to be things I can't do with you and I'm sorry about that…"
"Hodgins…"
"I'm fine, Angie. I love you so, so much baby girl…" Katie snuggled into Hodgins' arms and fell asleep, he kissed her forehead. Hodgins couldn't take his eyes off Katie, she was their miracle. After the accident doctors had told them that the chances of conceiving another child were slim. They'd also dodged the LCA bullet again, as bad as he wanted another biological child the odds weren't really in their favor of their next baby not having a vision impairment. Angela watched them form the bed, imprinting the scene in her mind to sketch later. Sometime later Hodgins looked over at Angela and discovered she was asleep. He sat there for a little while longer and was close to waking her up to take Katie so he could get out of his chair for the night when the nurse knocked quietly and came in, she smiled at Hodgins. "Would you like me to put Katie in her crib?"
"Yes." The nurse smiled and took Katie from Hodgins and settled her in the crib on the other side of Angela. "Do you need anything else?" Do you want me to pull out the foldout?"
"No thanks. I'm going to sleep in the recliner, it will be easier for me to get in and out of."
"Okay." The nurse checked on Angela without waking her and quietly left the room. Hodgins got ready for bed and transferred himself into the recliner and got comfortable.
H&A
Brennan wasn't surprised to find Booth waiting on the couch for her, he was asleep. "Were you planning on going to bed tonight?"
Booth's head jerked up. "Bones! Hey! Yeah I was going to wait a little longer then go to bed. Do we have a baby?"
"WE don't have a baby, but Angela and Hodgins are the proud parents of Katherine Temperance Hodgins, they're going to call her Katie for short. She's perfect." Brennan pulled up the pictures she took and handed Booth her phone. "Aw she's beautiful. I see a lot of Angela in her, but I see Hodgins too. Is he doing okay with this?"
"So far I believe he is, but who knows how he'll be once they come home. He told Angela months ago he'd go get help if he needed it."
"That's good. Angela doesn't need mad-at-the-world Hodgins on top of a newborn."
"She doesn't. I'm going to stay home with Michael Vincent tomorrow and take him to see his sister after Angela and Hodgins have had time to sleep. Hodgins is getting his assignments from his teacher.
"That's a good idea, he's going to be too excited about the baby to concentrate on school. Not that they'll do much with it being Halloween… Come on lets go to bed, they'll all be up before we know it. I'll make pancakes…"
"I'd like for them to have something healthier given the sugar laden activates of the day…"
"How about scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, toast, and fruit?"
"That's acceptable."
H&A
Angela woke up when Katie started to fuss and moved to get her before she woke Hodgins up. She lifted the baby up and headed back to the bed, noticing Hodgins was awake. "Hodgins, you should go home…"
"I stayed with you when you were in the hospital with Michael Vincent."
"I know and I appreciated it, but things are different this time. You don't need to be in your chair all the time."
"I'm not in my chair, I'm the recliner…" Angela rolled her eyes and looked down to make sure Katie was okay.
"You should at least lay on the foldout…"
"I don't think I could get off or on it easily and you can't help me. I'm fine, I have my good meds and my doctor is in the next building if I need anything. How's Katie?"
"She's eating like a champ and is almost asleep."
"That's good. How are you?"
"I'm good. I'm not as sore as I thought I'd be by now, but that'll change I'm sure."
"Do you need anything?"
"No."
A few minutes later Angela changed Katie and put her back in bed and walked over to Hodgins. She reclined the chair until it was almost flat and grabbed the blanket from the stack on the couch and put it over Hodgins. "That should be a little more comfortable. Don't worry, I can sit the chair back up when you need me to. I really wish you'd go home…"
"Thanks, Angie. I love you."
"I love you too, Hodgins."
H&A
Some mornings Brennan got up before Booth and the kids to have time for coffee and to read her paper before things got too crazy. She had just sat down on the couch with her coffee when she heard feet shuffling across the floor, looking up she saw Michael Vincent coming into the living room. "Good morning Michael Vincent. You're up early." The boy shrugged his shoulders. Brenan smiled and patted the space next to her, Michael Vincent sat down.
"You have a little sister, Katherine Temperance Hodgins ..." Brennan pulled up the pictures on her phone.
"She's okay I guess... why is she all wrinkly?"
"When babies are born-"
"That's just how babies look when they're first born, in a few weeks she'll look more like a baby normally looks."
"Booth!"
"Bones! He's nine, he doesn't need to know the details…"
"I disagree. However, Booth is correct, Katie will look more like how you think a baby looks in a few weeks once she grows a little. Your mom and dad decided you don't have to go to school today. Your dad is going to get your assignments from your teacher and you can stay here with me and work on them. Then this afternoon we'll have lunch at the diner and go to the hospital so you can meet Katie. Tonight you'll go trick-or-treating with Christine, Hank, Tyler, Isaiah, and Jordan."
"Cool, but Tyler is old…"
Brennan chuckled a little, "perhaps, but he's never been trick-or- treating…"
"Oh." Michael Vincent yawned.
"You can go back to sleep if you want to." Michael Vincent snuggled next to Brennan and closed his eyes, she pulled the blanket from the back of the couch over him and put her arm around him... Booth smiled, "Sit with him, I can handle Christine and Hank." Brennan nodded and went back to her paper.
H&A
That afternoon Hodgins looked at his phone and quickly sent a reply before turning to Angela. "Brennan and Michael Vincent are on their way up."
"Perfect. She just got done with lunch so we should be good for a long visit with Michael Vincent." Angela looked at Katie, "Are you ready to meet your big brother, sweetheart?"
A few minutes later Brennan knocked softly on the door and came in the room, Michael Vincent slowly followed. "Hey guys. I'll be in the cafeteria, call me when you need me."
"Thanks, Bren." Brennan nodded and left the room.
"Come meet your sister." Michael Vincent walked over to the bed, Angela adjusted the blanket so Michael Vincent had a better view of Katie's face.
"What do you think, Buddy?"
"She's okay I guess. She can see right?"
"Yes, she doesn't have LCA. When babies are first born they can't really focus on anything, but as she grows her vision will improve. Do you want to hold her?"
"No."
"Dad will help you…"
"Maybe later."
"Okay. How was your day?"
"Good, it's a lot more fun to do school stuff with Aunt Brennan. She's a lot smarter than Miss Kocevar…"
"Michael Vincent…"
"Actually Angie, he's right…"
"Hodgins, not helping!"
"Aunt Brennan explained my math homework in a way I understood and we did some cool experiments after I read my science chapter. All I have left to do is write my spelling words five time each."
"I'm glad Aunt Brennan explained your math homework so you could understand it and that she did cool experiments with you. Aunt Brennan is probably smarter than your teacher, but you can't tell your teacher she's not as smart as Aunt Brennan, okay?"
"Okay."
"Good. Are you excited for tonight?"
"Yep, Uncle Booth is dressing up as Superman!"
"Cool."
"Aunt Brennan said Tyler, Isaiah, and Jordan are going trick-or-treating with us, they're older though."
"They're older, but remember they didn't get to do a lot of fun things before they got to live with Cam and Arastoo, so they're catching up."
"Oh. Am I coming home after we get done?"
"No, Katie and I have to spend another night in the hospital. You're going to spend the night at Aunt Brennan's again and go to school in the morning. Afterschool you can come home. Uncle Booth will probably be the one picking you up and bringing you back home."
"Okay." They sat in silence for a while, but Angela couldn't help notice that Michael Vincent couldn't take his eyes off Katie. "Do you want to hold her?" Michael Vincent nodded a little, Angela smiled. "Take one of my pillows and go sit down in the chair next to dad, put the pillow on your lap." Once Michael Vincent was settled Angela put Katie in his arms. Hodgins put his arm along the pillow. "Hodgins. Michael Vincent…" when they looked up Angela snapped a picture with her phone. "Talk to her, she knows your voice."
"What do I say?"
"Anything you want."
"Um, hi Katie. I'm your brother, Michael Vincent. I think you're pretty cool… Mom and dad are pretty cool too. Dad lets me play with bugs and stuff, it freaks mom out." Hodgins laughed.
"It does not freak me out. I just don't like watching them crawl on you."
"Dad, can Katie play with bugs and stuff too?"
"When she gets older if she wants to sure."
"Cool. Aunt Brennan and Uncle Booth are cool too. Aunt Brennan is really smart, she may even smarter than dad!"
"Aunt Brennan is smarter than me buddy, but don't tell her I said that, I'll never hear the end of it." Angela laughed and kissed Hodgins' cheek.
"Dad can't walk anymore, but it's okay. He can still do cool stuff with us. He can give you rides and stuff on his lap. Mom can draw ANYTHING, she always draws pictures on my lunch bags." He told Katie about school and going trick-or-treating that night before she started to fuss. "Dad, take her…"
Hodgins leaned over and scooped Katie up and settled her in his arms. Angela let out a sigh of relief when Katie settled down as soon as she was in Hodgins' arms. They talked a little more about Michael Vincent's day and what it was going to be like the first few days they were home. Angela noticed Michael Vincent was starting to get restless. "Do you want me to text Brennan and ask her to come take you to her house so you can finish your homework and get ready to go trick-or- treating?"
"Yeah…" Michael Vincent looked at his shoes.
"Buddy, it's okay to be excited about tonight… just save all the peanut butter kisses you get…"
"Ew, dad, those things are nasty!"
Hodgins chuckled a little, "I love them!" A few minutes later Michael Vincent left with Brennan.
"I think his first meeting with Katie went well."
"It did, it's just going to take him some time to warm up and get used to everything. It will be better once we get home and can relax a little more."
"Yeah. You should go home tonight."
"I'm staying here with you both tonight. Wendell is passing out the candy we got. I have one more dose of meds left for tonight so I'll be fine."
"Okay. When did you call Wendell?"
"This morning while you were sleeping after I got Michael Vincent's assignments and called us both off."
"Oh."
H&A
The next afternoon Hodgins was surprised to see Booth's SUV in in the driveway when he brought Angela and Katie home. "Wonder why Booth's here?"
Angela smiled a little, "I bet he and Brennan are our welcome home committee. The others might be here too, they don't have a case." A minute later Booth and Brennan came outside to help them unload. Booth carefully helped Angela from the Van. "Thanks, Booth."
"You're welcome, Angela. I got Katie." Angela nodded and headed for the house. After everything was inside Booth sat the car seat on the breakfast bar "Booth, you can take Katie out of her car seat and hold her if you want." Booth grinned and carefully unstrapped Katie and picked her up, Angela snapped a picture. After holding Katie for a few minutes Booth looked at the time. "As much as I hate to I need to get back to work. I'll pick Michael Vincent up from school and bring him home. I already brought his costume and suitcase back."
"Thanks, Booth." Booth handed Katie to Angela. Once he had gone, Angela turned to Hodgins. "Why don't you go get the carrier so we can see how it's going to work out?"
"Good idea." A few minutes later Hodgins came back and took Katie from Angela and began putting her in the carrier, as soon as the baby's legs were through the holes she started crying. Angela resisted taking Katie out and calming her down. As soon as Hodgins took Katie out of the carrier she stopped crying, Hodgins waited a few minutes and tried it again and was met with the same result. This time he looked at Angela, "Angie…" Angela took Katie, as soon as she was in Angela's arms Hodgins ripped off the carrier and fled to the back patio.
"Damn it, I knew something like would happen. Take Katie." Brennan took the baby and watched as Angela adjusted the carrier to fit her. Angela put the carrier on and took Katie from Brennan and put her in the carrier. Katie loudly let her displeasure be known. "She really hates this thing, that's good at least it isn't just because Hodgins was using it like he thinks." Brennan frowned as Angela handed her the baby. "I have the sling I used with Hank at home she might tolerate it better. It might be tricky for Hodgins to put on, but if it work we can figure the rest out. I'll be back in a little while. Her outfit is cute."
"Thanks Brennan. Hodgins got it a few weeks ago, I thought it'd be a good 'coming home' outfit since yesterday was Halloween." Angela took Katie from Brennan and wrapped her tightly in a blanket and made sure her hat was firmly on her head and headed for the patio.
"Hodgins?"
"I can't even carry my own kid!"
"You can…"
"How Angie? She screams every time I try. I'm not going to do it anyway and force her to be in it."
"I don't want you to do that either. We'll figure it out."
"Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's just wondering why you're out here freezing." Angela walked over to Hodgins and put Katie in his arms. "She hates the carrier, I just tried it with her."
"That's good, at least it's not just me…"
"Brennan went home to get the sling she used with Hank, maybe Katie will like that better. Let's go inside, it's too cold out here plus I'm hungry." Angela took Katie and headed inside, Hodgins followed.
They just finished lunch when Brennan returned she held up the light grey sling. "Hank loved this sling, I loved it too. I was sad when he outgrew it. Hopefully Katie will love it too. It might be hard for you to put on in your chair without assistance, but it's light enough that you can wear it all day without it getting in the way when Katie is not in it."
"Sounds good to me I just hope she likes it…" Brennan helped Hodgins put the sling on and adjust it, then Angela handed him Katie. "Ok baby girl, let's try this again. Please don't cry…" Hodgins gently put Katie in the sling and waited, nothing happened. "I think she likes it…"
"It would appear so."
"Try wheeling with it…" Hodgins nodded and headed for the kitchen. He wheeled back into the living room and wheeled up beside Angela. "How does it feel?"
"Good."
Angela nodded and looked at Katie, "I think someone is going to fall asleep…"
Hodgins looked down and grinned, "Yeah…"
Brennan smiled, "I'm going to head back to the lab. Call me if you need me. There is a chicken, green bean and potato meal in the refrigerator, it just needs to be heated. I put a few other meals in your freezer. Oh, Aubrey sent menus from the best takeout places that deliver, they're on the counter next to Michael Vincent's Halloween candy."
Angela laughed, "Thanks, Brennan."
"Yeah, thanks for everything, Dr. B."
"You're both very welcome." Brennan grabbed her things and let herself out. Katie spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon in the sling or in Hodgins' arms. Angela didn't mind though, for the first time since the accident he was truly happy. Later that afternoon Angela smiled and pulled her phone out, snapping a picture as she went into the living room. Hodgins had fallen asleep in his chair with Katie in the sling asleep. She went over to the pair and gently put a hand on Katie's back. "Hodgins…"
"Hodgins…"
Hodgins stirred, "Humm? Angie?"
"Yeah, why don't you go put Katie in her crib and then go lay down and take a nap? You've got a couple hours before Michael Vincent gets home."
"That sounds good, okay." Hodgins headed for the nursery, Angela followed. Hodgins opened the doors of the crib then he gently took Katie out of the sling, the baby grunted a little at being disturbed. "I know you were all snuggled and warm in there. I'm sorry I had to disturb you, but I need to get out of my chair for a while. We'll snuggle some more later, baby girl." Hodgins rubbed Katie while settled back into sleep. Then he carefully placed her in the crib and closed the doors. "Success! That was easier than I thought it'd be."
"I'm glad. Now go lay down in bed, you've sat up too long. Your doctor would be pissed if she knew how long you've been sitting in your chair and the recliner."
"I'm fine, Angie."
"I know but go lay down anyway. We all need naps."
"Does that mean you're going to join me?"
"Yeah, but I don't know if I will sleep, I'm still a little keyed up."
"I love you, Angie."
"I love you too, Hodgins."
H&A
Angela let Michael Vincent in a few hours later, "hey buddy, how was school?"
"Okay. Stephen got in trouble for bringing all of his Halloween candy to school."
Angela chuckled, "did you bring any?"
"No, Aunt Brennan wouldn't let me. She confiscated the Laffy Taffy I had in my backpack. She took peanut butter cups from Christine too though. She said she'd bring it here today though."
"She did, it's in the kitchen. You can have some after dinner."
"Okay." Michael Vincent headed for his room.
"You're not going to have a snack?"
"No, I have a lot of homework." Michael Vincent started playing with his backpack strap.
"Okay. Be quiet going to your room, your dad is still sleeping." Michael Vincent nodded and went to his room. Angela waited ten minutes while she spread peanut butter on crackers and poured some milk, then she went to Michael Vincent's room. "Buddy, what's wrong?" Angela sat the plate of crackers and the glass of milk on the edge of the desk, Michael Vincent grabbed a cracker.
"Nothing, I just have a lot of homework."
"I can tell when you or your dad lie to me… Are you upset about Katie being here?"
"No! I like her and stuff… it's just…"
"Just what, Michael Vincent?"
"I don't know what to do, she freaks me out a little…"
Angela smiled and kissed the top of Michael Vincent's head. "Having a new baby in the house is a little freaky even for me and your dad. It's been a while since we've had a baby in the house, I've forgotten what it's like. This time is completely different for your dad too, because he doesn't have the use of his legs. We're all a little freaked out right now. Thiers not a lot you can do with Katie right now except for holding her. You can read to her and talk to her. In a few months she'll start being more active and start doing things and that'll be more fun. You might have to help me corral her once she starts crawling a lot. Dad can't reach and get her out of the play yard like he did with you…"
"I remember that, Christine and I took it apart a lot."
"You did, the last time dad and I just put it in storage, and then you figured out how to climb over the baby gates. I hope your sister doesn't take after you with that."
Michael Vincent shrugged and went back to his homework. Ten minutes later Hodgins wheeled into the living room. "Hey Angie, Michael Vincent's not home yet?"
"He's home, he's in his room doing his homework. He's a little freaked out by his little sister."
Hodgins chuckled, "I'm a little freaked out myself to be honest."
"Me too."
"It's going to take time for all of us to adjust, she's barely 24 hours old."
"I know. I had planned to have lunch with Brennan today. Instead she and Booth were our welcoming committee."
"It's crazy how fast things can change…"
"Yeah. Hodgins, this is a good change…"
"I know." Angela stood up and headed for the kitchen, putting Katie on Hodgins' lap along the way. After dinner Michael Vincent finished his homework. Angela was in the kitchen getting something to drink when she saw him come into the living room and stand beside Katie's bassinet. Angela walked over and put a hand on Michael Vincent's shoulder. "Do you want to hold her?"
"Maybe later when she's awake."
Angela reached in the bassinet, "She'll sleep through you holding her." she headed for the couch, Michael Vincent followed. Once he was settled on the couch, Angela handed him a pillow and put Katie in his arms. A few minutes later Hodgins wheeled into the room and quietly snapped a picture. Angela noticed, "Come sit on the couch with us and we can attempt our first family selfie then we can watch a movie."
"Okay. I'm making popcorn first though."
"Okay, bring the chips and salsa too…" Hodgins nodded and headed for the kitchen. Once the awkward selfie was taken Michael Vincent chose the movie. Fifteen minutes into the movie Katie was in Hodgins' arms and Michael Vincent was snuggled into Angela's side. "This is a perfect night, Angie."
"It is. I love you, Hodgins."
"I love you too, Angie."
H&A
Katie was two weeks old, and had chosen tonight keep Angela and Hodgins up all night. "I wish she'd sleep for more than twenty minutes at a time. If Michael Vincent didn't have school tomorrow I'd just let her cry it out, but I don't want her to keep him up. I don't know what's wrong, she's not hungry or in need of a diaper change. She doesn't have a fever."
"Maybe she's just not tired yet…"
"Hodgins, she's two weeks old and it's almost 2am, she's tired she just doesn't want to sleep!"
"Hopefully she's settled down."
"Hopefully." Angela slid under the blankets and closed her eyes. Once he knew Angela was asleep, Hodgins got out of bed and parked his wheelchair by the portable crib and waited. Fifteen minutes later Katie started to fuss. Angela groaned and started getting out of bed. "Angie, go back to sleep, I got her." Hodgins lifted Katie from the crib and put her in the sling and headed for the living room. A few hours later Angela woke up and realized Hodgins' side of the bed and the crib were still empty. She got up and headed to the living room, she found Hodgins sitting on the couch with Katie sleeping in his lap. "She's finally out cold…"
Hodgins looked over at Angela, "yeah, a few minutes after we got out here she left me an awesome diaper to change and she's been asleep ever since."
Angela smiled, "That's good. I'm glad she feels better. I'll take her back to bed. She might be up in a while for a feeding." Angela gently picked up Katie, she didn't stir. "Thanks for letting me sleep."
"Sure. Did you fall back asleep or have you been faking it for the last three hours?"
"I actually fell asleep."
"That's good."
H&A
Hodgins was home with five week old Katie and Michael Vincent while Angela was out helping Brennan shop for a dress to wear to an FBI event as Booth's wife. So far the morning was going well, Katie was napping and Michael Vincent was watching a movie while Hodgins was working on his world famous chili for dinner. Michael Vincent walked into the kitchen, "dad, Katie smells…"
"Michael Vincent, that isn't nice!"
"Dad, I'm not being mean, it started a few minutes ago."
"Okay." Hodgins put the lid on the chili pot and headed for the living room. He wheeled over to the bassinette and looked inside, groaning. "Katie, why did you have to wait until mommy's not here to help to have an explosive diaper? Michael Vincent you're going to have to wheel me to Katie's room so I can change her."
"Can't you put her in the sling thing and do it yourself?"
"Not with the mess she's in. Go get a big towel from the bathroom first…"
"Okay." Michael Vincent headed for the bathroom, quickly returning with a towel. Hodgins picked Katie up and wrapped her in the towel. Michael Vincent started slowly wheeling Hodgins toward Katie's room. "You can wheel faster, buddy. I'm not going to drop her."
"Okay." Once they got to the room Michael Vincent parked Hodgins under the small desk that was currently being used a changing table. Hodgins was thankful that Katie was dressed in a sleeper that he could take her arms and legs out of and carefully lift her up. Hodgins undid the snaps and carefully freed Katie's arms and legs and lifted her up. "Dad it's everywhere!"
Hodgins chuckled, "I know. While I get her diaper off you're going to have to get the baby bath from your bathroom, the special soap mom uses and her ladybug towel. Take it to my bathroom and sit it on the sink. Then come back and wheel us in there."
"Okay." Michael Vincent headed out of the room. Hodgins carefully peeled Katie's diaper off, she started to fuss. "I know, baby girl you'll be all clean and warm in a few minutes." Hodgins cleaned up the mess as much as he could. Michael came back in the room then. "Are you ready, dad?"
"Yeah." Michel Vincent wheeled Hodgins into his bathroom. He held Katie in one arm and filled the baby bath. Once the tub was ready Hodgins sat Katie in it, she started to cry. "What's wrong with her?"
"Your sister doesn't like baths that much. You didn't either when you were her age."
"Oh. Do you need me to do anything else?"
"In a few minutes I'm going to need you to wheel us back to her room."
"Okay." Michael Vincent went and sat on Angela and Hodgins' bed. A few minutes later Katie was waiting in her crib while Hodgins cleaned up the changing table. Once that was done Hodgins turned to Michael Vincent. "Do you want to choose her new outfit?" Michael Vincent nodded. "The sleepers are in the middle drawer. Get another blanket too, they're in the bottom drawer."
"Okay." Michael Vincent looked through Katie sleepers and chose a light pink one wit zoo animals on it. He handed it to Hodgins, "dad, what are the mitt things for?"
"Babies fingernails are very sharp and since she likes to keep her hands up by her face we put the mitts on her hands so she won't scratch her face."
"Oh." Hodgins finished dressing Katie and sat her in his lap before turning to Michael Vincent. "Do you want to put the mitts on her hands?"
"Yeah…" Michael Vincent carefully put the mitts on Katie's hands. Hodgins smiled.
"Thank for your help today, bud. You're going to have to help me change the sheet in her bassinet."
"I'm not touching it, it's gross!"
"I have gloves you can wear. I can't reach in to get the sheet off easy."
"Can't it wait for mom to come home?"
"I don't know when she'll be home. Do you want to smell it until she gets home?"
"No… I'll do it, but I'm wearing gloves…and a mask!"
Hodgins chuckled, "Okay. Take us back to the living room…"
"Hi guys." Angela walked into the nursery.
Michael Vincent looked up and smiled, "Mom, you're home! Now you can change Katie's nasty sheets!"
Angela looked at Hodgins. "We had a poop explosion, I got Katie all bathed and cleaned up with Michael Vincent's help. All that's left is changing her bassinet."
"Oh. I'll do that."
"Thank God!" Angela chuckled and kissed the top of Michael Vincent's head and took Katie from Hodgins.
A few hours later Michael Vincent was helping Angela load the dish washer. "Thanks for helping dad with your sister today."
Michel Vincent shrugged, "at least I didn't have to touch her like dad did because that was nasty! Hopefully she won't do it again."
Angela laughed, "She will. Babies are nasty sometimes. When you were a little older than Katie, Brennan was holding you and you threw up a whole bottle down her shirt. In the 8 years I had known Brennan at that point that was the only time I've seen her grossed out. I thought she was going to throw up. She took a long decontamination shower after that, but was right back holding you when she got done. Booth thought it was hilarious."
"That's disgusting…"
"It was, but it was a little amusing to see Brennan so rattled by baby puke. I thought she was going to hit Booth for laughing about it."
H&A
Later that night Hodgins and Angela were going to bed. "How was your fist day alone with Katie, Hodgins?"
"It was fine, except for the poop explosion. I forgot how bad that is. Thank God Michael Vincent was here to help, I couldn't put her in the sling and wheel her into her room without making a bigger mess. He was afraid to push the chair with me holding her, he went turtle slow even after I told him he could speed it up a little."
"I think Michael Vincent is a tiny bit afraid of Katie still."
"Yeah, I think he's afraid of accidently hurting her."
"I guess I should put her bath stuff in our bathroom. I didn't think about you not being able to get in the hall bathroom to bathe her."
"Angie, it's okay that you forgot about the accident for a while. I do sometimes."
"I know. sometimes I forget about it for days because the wheelchair and all your other stuff is normal now. It'd probably freak me out if you suddenly started walking again…"
Hodgins leaned over and kissed Angela, "it's good that it's normal to us now. If I started walking again I'd be freaked out too I think. "
"I love you, Hodgins."
"I love you too, Hodgins."
H&A
Katie was 11 months old, the past year had had a few ups and downs, but overall it had been a good first year of Katie's life. After a few months Michael Vincent had warmed up to his little sister and became an awesome big brother that didn't mind being Hodgins' legs and picking her up from the play yard when Angela wasn't available. Hodgins had gotten used to not being able to do everything he did to help Angela when Michael Vincent was a baby. He'd gotten brave a few months ago and taken Katie shopping by himself, it took longer than it normally did, but father and daughter enjoyed it. For the past few days Katie had been walking by holding on to furniture or Angela and Michael Vincent's hands. Hodgins was in the living room watching her walk using the coffee table. Katie saw Hodgins watching and let go of the table and started towards him. Katie was almost to Hodgins when she lost her balance and fell forward into Hodgins' footrest and started crying. "Angela!" Angela came into the room, "What happened?" Angela picked Katie up.
"She was walking without holding on to anything and she was almost to me when she lost her balance and fell into my footrest."
Angela wiped Katie's tears and kissed the side of her head. "She's okay, nothing's bleeding and her teeth are still intact. She's just scared and probably a little mad she fell." Angela put Katie on Hodgins' lap and left the room. "You're okay Katie. You did so good walking by yourself. I'm so proud of you!" Hodgins kissed Katie's cheek and started rubbing her back, after a few minutes Katie stopped crying and started playing with the string on Hodgins's hoodie. "Let's get your jacket and go swing." Katie smiled a little as Hodgins turned her around on his lap and strapped the Lap Baby lap belt around them. Once Katie jacket was on Hodgins wheeled into the kitchen. "Katie and I are going to go swing."
"Have fun. I'm going to get Michael Vincent from Brennan's and go grocery shopping on the way home. Anything you want?"
"If they have those mini pies get some, I don't care what flavors."
"Okay. Love you." Angela leaned over and kissed Hodgins.
"Love you too, Angie." Hodgins headed outside. A few minutes later Angela watched Hodgins push Katie in the swing before she got in her car.
A/N: All the adaptive products Hodgins and Angela talk about and end up using exists… just google wheelchair accessible nursery for pictures and more information.