Rebecca's Decision
Disclaimer: I don't own Seeley Booth, Rebecca, Parker or sadly, Bones. There are on my christmas lists though!! Only the plot, Geroge and Moira (Rebecca's parents) belong to me.
A/N: Hey! Hope you enjoy my story. Sort of came to me one day while I was meant to be doing revision for a Chemistry test. Oops! Oh well hope you like it!
And on with the story!
Chapter One
Rebecca looked at the handsome man before her. His eyes conveyed every feeling that he felt. They were they only way you could tell how this normally strong, confident man, who acted on instinct, was feeling. She knew exactly what he was feeling at that moment, even though if she asked him, she knew that he would deny it.
Hope. Anticipation. Nervousness.
Right now she knew that with one word she was going to add a new emotion to those chocolate eyes.
Hurt.
"No." She watched his strong façade crumble before her eyes before he mentally re-built it back up; higher and stronger than it had been before. "Seeley, I'm sorry. I can't marry you." With that she knew that she had ended any chance they had had of a future, and she was hurt. No, hurt wasn't the right word. Devastated would be closer. She just wanted to curl up and cry but she knew that now wasn't her time. Just now it was his. And she knew he wanted answers. Answers that she knew she didn't necessarily want to give. Wasn't even sure of the answers to some of the questions. But she knew that she owed him enough to at least try to answer. After all he was Special Agent Seeley Booth.
The man whose heart she had just broken.
Special Agent Seeley Booth scanned the darkened club, his eyes falling on a woman near the door. She appeared to be with a group of friends. She looked up, her eyes catching Booth's across the dance floor. She gave him a smile, showing a row of straight white teeth. Booth looked over at his drunken friend, who appeared to be chatting up a local woman who Booth knew was a man-eater. Well, at least his friend would have some fun tonight. Tomorrow might be a different matter, but Booth was strangely not bothered by the fact.
Downing the last of his beer, he rose from his seat and crossed the room to where the woman was standing with her friends. She again looked up as Booth approached.
"Hi." He indicated to the empty seat beside her. "That taken?"
"No."
Booth sat down. "Good. I'm Seeley."
She smiled again. "Interesting name. I'm Rebecca."
Rebecca smiled as she recalled their first meeting. Now as she sat in the darkened room, she realised with a heavy heart that she had made the wrong decision but she couldn't take it back. The damage was done. Looking at the photo album in her hands, she looked at what had been her life for the past four years. Sighing she picked up the handset beside her and dialled a familiar number. After four rings the phone was picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Mum. It's Rebecca."
Seeley looked at her eyebrows raised. "You want me to what?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes at her boyfriend for the past three months. He was charming, handsome, and clever but sometimes he could be quite dim.
"I want you to meet my parents. And they want to meet you."
Booth's mouth opened. "But I've only known you three months. What if it doesn't work out and your dad comes after me with a pitchfork because I broke his baby girl's heart?"
Rebecca looked at him like he was mad. "Come after you with a pitch fork? Why on earth would he come after you with a pitch fork? I'm from Texas not the Wild West! And are you planning on breaking up with me?"
"No but-"She cut him off.
"Good. Then you have nothing to worry about then do you? Dinner's at seven on Saturday. Don't be late, Seeley, or I might have to reconsider the pitchfork idea.
>>
Saturday came far too quickly for Booth's liking. All too suddenly he was on Rebecca's doorstep with a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers. Rebecca opened the door.
"Seeley, you made it."
He gave her a smile that made her knees go weak. "I didn't really have a choice did I?" He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Handing the bottle of wine and the flowers to Rebecca he stepped inside the door closing in behind him.
Rebecca continued towards the kitchen, turning her head towards him. "You did have a choice. Dinner or the pitchfork. See it was all fair."
Booth let out a laugh, before trailing her into the kitchen. Sitting at the breakfast bar were a man and a woman who Booth guessed were Rebecca's parents. He held out a hand. "Mr and Mrs Hargreaves, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Seeley." Mr Hargreaves shook his hand followed by Mrs Hargreaves.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too son, but please its George and Moira."
Booth smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought.
>>
Later that evening once George and Moira had left, Booth and Rebecca were sat on the couch.
"So what did you think?"
"They were nice. I liked them."
"I told you they weren't that bad."
"Yeah well I still believe that your dad would come after me with a pitchfork if I so much as broke your fingernail." Booth ducked as one of Rebecca's hands swatted the back of his head.
Rebecca replaced the phone after her conversation with her mum. She felt slightly better. Her words rang in her head. "It's just like every other argument you've ever had. You'll make up. This may be more serious than most but you'll get over it. If not, then you could always just be friends. But you need to talk to him Rebecca." Even though she wanted to believe her mother's comforting words, a part of her knew there was no getting over it this time. No apologising. No forgiving. Nothing but harsh words and pain.
"I can't believe you!" Rebecca's voice, crackled with rage.
"You can't believe ME?! What about you?" Seeley's voice was just as fierce, filling the room with static energy that seemed to reverberate off the walls overflowing the space, making it seem twice as small to the arguing couple.
"You were the one that gave him a black eye!"
"He was chatting you up right in front of MY eyes!"
"Sometimes you are SO immature! I knew he was chatting me up, if you had let me finish before storming on in there, I would have given him the gentle approach instead of scaring the poor bloke half to death!"
"Poor bloke? Poor Bloke?! He was a sleaze! He probably goes out every night just to pick up a different girl and you were falling right for it!"
"Right! Out! You're sleeping on the couch!"
"Fine! I'll be glad to, if it gives me a chance to get away from you!"
"Well, that's a good thing too! There's not enough room for me and your ego in the same room!"
With a slammed door they left each other and their argument in another room, with nothing but themselves and their own anger for company that night.
>>
Booth felt foolish. He had been completely out of line with Rebecca last night and he needed to apologise. Sitting on the couch he tried to come up with the right thing to say, It seemed that he wasn't getting any more time, as the door to their bedroom opened, with a swish over the carpet and the creak of an un-oiled hinge.
>>
Rebecca felt quite unsure of herself. She had said some horrible things last night that Seeley really didn't deserve. She knew she needed to say something if she ever wanted them to get over this. Pulling herself out of bed, she wrapped her dressing gown around herself and opened the bedroom door to face the music.
Booth stood facing her.
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
"I said some really out of line things last night Rebecca."
"You did but then so did I."
"I reacted badly. I guess I just don't want anyone else trying his lines on my girl."
"Your girl?"
Booth smiled. "Yeah, my girl. You got a problem with that?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes before retuning his smile. "No, no problem."
Booth's expression turned serious again. "Call it even?"
"Deal. I mean we wouldn't want to have to get out the pitchfork now would we?"
"No, that is something that definitely needs to be kept far away."
Despite themselves, they burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter that peeled around the quiet apartment, washing away the last remnants of their argument the night before.
Rebecca was in no way deluded. She knew that it hadn't always been good between them. They had had their fair share of fights, for all sorts of reasons, some with regards to his job, her job, his colleagues, her colleagues, her friends, his friends, his gambling, her addiction to shopping, and the debts caused by both. One of the main reasons for the arguments was his job. She knew that it was dangerous and she knew that one day the unthinkable might happen, but what annoyed her was his sometimes reckless behaviour. Sometimes to her, it seemed that he went out of his way to cause trouble.
Rebecca rushed down the hospital aisle in search of the emergency desk. She was worried something terrible had happened. All she knew was that Seeley had been in an accident and that he had been brought to A&E. Arriving at the desk, she saw a familiar face, standing not too far away. Changing her course she sped up heading directly towards Deputy Director Sam Cullen, Seeley's boss.
"Mr Cullen, what happened? Is Seeley alright?"
"Agent Booth is fine. Just a few stitches."
Rebecca felt her racing heart physically slow down as she let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. Worry, and fear for the worst, was pushed aside, overcome by a new emotion.
Anger.
"What the hell happened then?"
>>
Special Agent Seeley Booth could see the suspect, Matthew Jones, in clear view, just standing there beside two of the local boys in blue. Walking towards them, Booth could see that neither of them had bothered to cuff him. Obviously they didn't think he was too much of a threat. Booth wouldn't have either if he hadn't known that he had shot his wife and sister in law. Finally reaching his destination, Booth couldn't resist the urge to goad the little weasel.
"Well, well, Matty old boy, didn't think we would catch you, did you? Guess you're not as smart as you thought."
The small runt of a man looked up at him with steel, cold, grey eyes. "Took your time about it didn't you though. Thought you were just chasing tails and sitting on your butts all day eating donuts. Good thing I let you catch me or I would still be waiting for you to tie your shoe laces." Booth's eyes narrowed, his grin replaced with a smirk.
"Let us catch you, is that what you think? Doesn't matter, either way you're going to jail for a very long time." Turning to face the other detectives he gave them a nod. "Put the gerbil back in his cage, and this time, make sure the door's locked and the key's destroyed. Oh and Matty?" Booth pulled up a trouser leg an inch to reveal his shoes. "No shoelaces."
Maybe it was something Booth said or possibly the prospect of spending the rest of his life in jail, but something inside of the man snapped. He lunged sideways, knocking one of the police officers to the ground, as he pulled a concealed gun from the back of his trousers and took aim at Booth. The bullet whizzed past Booth, grazing his arm as it went. Booth pulled his own gun, releasing a bullet into Jones's leg. Jones let out a howl of pain as he fell to the ground, dropping the gun in the process. Replacing his own gun in its holster, Booth walked up to the fallen man, before roughly pulling him to his feet.
"You're going to pay for that." Booth looked at the arm of his suit as he snapped the hand cuffs around Jones's wrists, slightly tighter than was necessary. "This suit is Armani."
>>
Rebecca was fuming. "He did what!" She marched off in the direction of her boyfriend's hospital room, her anger growing with every minute. "I'm going to kill him!" It practically came out as a growl. Arriving at his room, she pulled open the door before, striding in, the door shutting with a sharp crack.
"How could you have been so stupid? He could have killed you and all you did was provoke him further!" It was a harsh whisper that seemed to resound around the cramped room.
Booth seemed to visibly shrink further down on the bed he was sitting on. "I wasn't in any danger, babe. The guy was a lousy shot."
"Don't you "babe" me Seeley Booth! Why do you always do this?"
Booth's brow furrowed. "Do what?"
"Put yourself in unneeded risks. Don't you care that one of these days one of the lousy shots might not be so lousy?" She could feel tears burning the back of her eyelids but she brushed them away with a hand.
Booth motioned her closer to him. "I'm sorry, Becca. I don't mean to do it, it's just who I am. I'll try to stop doing it in future."
She wrapped an arm around his back. "Don't you care that some of us worry every time you go out in the field, that you might not come back. I understand that there is a risk with being an FBI Agent but sometimes you seem to go out of your way to make trouble for yourself, Seeley."
"I'm sorry, Becca. I'll try to stop."
Wrapping his arms around her, he just sat there contemplating the effects of her words.
If Rebecca actually thought about it, he had changed after that talk. He had seemed to mellow a little, though not completely. Stopped taking so many risks, wore a bullet proof vest when he was told to, well most of the occasions that he was told to. She knew that he would never do what he was told all the time, his ego just wouldn't take it, being ordered around. He always had to rebel in some way. She guessed that's where the socks and ties came from but she couldn't be sure.
Then again it may have all come from the arguments and the constant urge to beat his brother at something. The smart, popular, boy with good grades and the head boy badge against the local rebel with the weekly spot in detention and the ghastly report card which said that he would never accomplish anything. She recalled the first time Seeley and Jared had seen each other after their last and largest fight.
Seeley stood in the kitchen of his parent's family home, his house for the first seventeen years of his life. Across the room stood his brother, Jared, two years his senior. He couldn't believe that his parents had managed to dupe him into this. He was an FBI Agent for goodness sake and he still hadn't had a clue about this until he was pushed in the kitchen with his brother with an order of not to come out until they had resolved things. Looking at his brother, he could see that he was just the same as he had been four years ago. A little greyer and worn around the edges but he looked just the same to Seeley.
Plonking himself down on the seat across from his brother at the table, Seeley crossed his arms before saying anything. He knew he looked defensive but at the moment he couldn't care less.
"So we're supposed to talk."
"Yeah. I guess. How you been?"
"Good. You?"
"Good."
"Good." Booth could tell that at this moment neither of them was willing to make the first move towards apologising and Seeley had no inclination to change this situation anytime soon. This whole thing hadn't been his fault in the first place anyway. Why should he apologise?
Sensing that Seeley wasn't going to make it easy for him, Jared decided that he should just bite the proverbial bullet and get it over with. After all nothing could be worse than their relationship at the moment.
"Look Seeley, I'm sorry."
Seeley gave an mmph sound as answer. If Jared thought that that was going to make it better then he was seriously mistaken.
"I…I said some pretty rotten things."
"Understatement of the century bro." Seeley's voice had a slight indignant tone to it.
Jared sighed. This wasn't going to be easy and he could already sense his anger rising towards his brother's unhelpful mood.
"Ok, I said some horrible things but at least I'm trying to apologise here. The least you can do is show me some respect and pay attention!"
Seeley's face flushed with colour. "Respect? Respect?! You never showed me any respect at all when we were growing up. Why should I show you some now?!"
"That is not true! I always respected you!"
"Huh, could have fooled me! You were always out for yourself Jared. You knew what you wanted and you threw away or ignored anything that would stop you from getting your goal. I guess a nuisance younger brother wasn't in the approved pile. I looked up to you! You were my big brother! And you just looked down your nose at me like I was a piece of dirt on the side walk!"
Jared's mouth opened and closed a couple of times making him look like a gold fish before he found his voice. "I'm sorry. I never meant to do that."
Yeah well didn't stop you doing it, did it?" Seeley could feel his anger towards his brother draining. Maybe this talk was a good idea. When he continued his voice was quieter. "You have no idea how much it hurt when you said those things, Jared. I could have handled them from anyone else but not you. Heck, I never thought you would say those things."
Jared felt his stomach drop when he heard his little brother say those words. He felt like a jerk. Which was probably an appropriate feeling, seeing as he had been one. "Seeley... please forgive me. I never meant it, I was just scared I guess."
"I do forgive you, Jared. I forgave you a long time ago but that doesn't mean that I've forgotten."
Jared nodded. He would take any opportunity to make things better between himself and his brother and maybe this was the first step.
Rebecca could remember how Seeley and she had discussed it later that night. She had never told anyone but it had been her idea to try and reunite the two brothers after so long apart. She had known that he had missed his brother even though he had never admitted it to anyone. She knew that even though they had had the arguments they had gotten along at times too and that he missed talking to him about things.
Glancing at the window, she could see the lightening tint of morning turning the dark sky a pale blue with morning light. Sighing she thought of the reason why the whole relationship had fallen apart.
Rebecca was sat on the couch when Seeley came home. He could tell that something was bothering her by the way her brow was creased in thought. Discarding his shoes and jacket by the door he sat down beside her.
"Rebecca. You okay?"
She jumped as his voice registered in her brain. She hadn't heard him sit down beside her, but then again she had been so preoccupied by her thoughts she probably wouldn't have noticed even if a pig had flown by outside her window. "Seeley, we need to talk."
Booth swallowed the lump in his throat, those words were never a good thing to hear in a relationship, they were usually followed by "this isn't working out" or "I think we should just be friends." Sighing he prepared himself to hear whatever she had to say. "Ok."
"Seeley, I…I think I'm pregnant."
Rebecca ran a hand through her hair, why had she even said anything. Maybe if she had waited until she was sure, he wouldn't have proposed and they would have been able to continue on the way they had been before. Deep down, she knew that wasn't true. That was just the way Seeley was. He always wanted to do the best for people. For her and now, for the baby too. But she had thrown that all away.
Booth's mouth fell open. This was…great. He had always wanted to be a dad and now he was going to be one. Ok maybe it was a little unexpected but they could handle it, just like everything else.
"Are you sure? Have you done a test?"
"No, not yet. I wanted to wait for you."
"Ok, well. You… you want to do it now?" Despite himself, Booth was nervous. What if she wasn't pregnant?
>>
Standing up, Rebecca headed towards the bathroom.
A few moment's later and she exited the bathroom, the pregnancy test in her hand. She sat down beside Seeley, so he could see it too.
"How long do we have to wait?"
"Two minutes."
Time seemed to stand still for the couple, sat on the floor of their shared apartment. After what seemed like an eternity, a beep from Booth's watch announced the end of the two minutes. They both looked down.
Two blue lines.
She was pregnant.
Booth sucked in a breath. "Rebecca. I love you, I've loved you since the first time I saw you in that bar. And I know I'll love this baby. Our baby. I want the world to know I love you. Rebecca, will you marry me?"
>>
NO! NO this wasn't how it was supposed to go! They were supposed to have this baby and raise it together! But now he was asking her to marry him. Give up her freedom. She loved him, but she couldn't do that. She needed to be a free person, be able to make her own decisions without having to check with someone before she made them. Now she knew her answer and she knew that it would break his heart.
"No. Seeley, I'm sorry. I can't marry you."
She saw the hurt in his eyes just as she knew it would be there, even before she said those horrible words.
"But…why?" Booth's voice broke as he said those words. He could feel his heart being ripped apart in his chest.
Rebecca felt her own heart break at the hurt in his voice. Inside she silently cursed him for making this harder. If he had been angry, she could have been able to handle it but broken she couldn't handle. Tears ran down her face but she made no effort to brush them away. "It…It wouldn't work, Seeley. With your job and mine, we would hardly ever see each other. We would argue and in the end we would just end up hating each other. And what if one day you didn't come home, I couldn't cope with that. And I won't put our child through that either."
Booth could feel his own tears on his face. "So it's about my job? Then I'll quit. Get a new job. There are tons of things I could do."
Rebecca smiled a sad smile. "No. Seeley, you love that job. Deny it all you want, but I know you do and I'm not going to force you to give up something you love. It's easier this way, Seeley. Please don't make this harder than it has to be."
Booth brushed away a tear with his hand. "But I love you."
"I love you too Seeley, but I can't marry you. You understand that don't you?"
Booth gave a cheerless nod. "I understand. I'm…I'm going to go. I'll come round for my stuff another time."
Rebecca stood up a worried expression on her face. "But where will you go?"
"I'll stay with a friend. Don't worry about me Rebecca. You need to look after yourself and the baby. Stay safe, Rebecca."
With a last sad look around, Booth walked out the door shutting it gently behind him.
Wiping the last remnants of the nights' tears from her face, Rebecca stood up and walked to the window to look at the soft orange sky that came with the dawning of morning. Looking out, she could already see the start of the brand new day with people just starting to wake up. Mothers collecting the morning paper and milk from the doorstep, fathers going to work, children playing with their friends in the garden. Just like a normal day, Rebecca thought. But she knew it wasn't. Her life had drastically changed in the past twelve hours. Smiling to herself she realised that it was a normal day. Every day somewhere something happens to people and things are never the same again but they get by. Make the best of what they have got instead of mourning for what they haven't. And that was what Rebecca was going to do.
Make the best of what she did have.
She may have made the wrong decision but there was nothing she could do. Her relationship with Seeley was over, but her life wasn't. She had a child to raise and she knew that she was going to do the best she possibly could.
A/N: So what you think? Any good?
You know what to do by now, press the blue button!
Lee