Disclaimer: They're not mine.
Author's Note: This ficlet can be seen as a companion to "Two Partners…" but you don't have to read that to understand this. Also, this is not beta'd and was written in about five minutes so please be kind if you review.
When she is fifteen (before she is abandoned and jaded) a boy promises her the sky but gives her Egypt instead.
"The pyramids," he tells her, "are stars mapped on the ground."
Holding a postcard in her hand Temperance Brennan learns to accept second best.
Years later Seeley Booth makes a similar promise and she laughs because, logically, it is impossible for anybody to give anyone the sky and he is just being romantic. But then he surprises her (he always does).
Giving her a ring (he doesn't need to ask) he says, "Did you know that some diamonds are just too old to be pressurized coal?" There's a twinkle in his eyes. "They're really crystallized stardust."
With a ring on her finger Temperance Brennan learns to forget about second best.