Here's the third part of my Ex story arc (the first two are The Ex-Lover in the Diner followed by The Ex in the Office). It can be read on its own, but for full enjoyment I recommend reading the others first. This story is mostly fluff (okay, mostly is an understatement, its pure fluff) after such an angst-y season, and it's been so much fun to write, even though the idea came totally out of left field. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
It was the night of the annual FBI Ball and the presence of every FBI agent and all of their contractors was "recommended" (aka required). Of course this included the partners with the highest solve rate. So sitting at a table in the corner was an irritated FBI agent (this was one of his few Parker weekends and he hated having to hobnob with stuffy senior agents instead of spending time with his kids) and a glum forensic anthropologist (she hated missing out on time with Parker nearly as much as Booth did). Angela and Hodgins sat with them, working hard to cheer their friends up.
Angela shared a look with her husband as the partners left the table for the second time that night to check in with the babysitter, and it was barely eight o'clock. Despite their gentle mocking of their friends, they both waited impatiently for the pair to return with an update, it was one of the benefits of sharing a sitter with two of the most overprotective parents ever.
"So what'd your dad say, Bren?" Angela asked as her friends returned to their seats.
"He said, and I quote 'Tempe, everything's fine. Stop calling or you'll wake the little ones up.'" Brennan sighed. She trusted her father, he was more protective of his grandkids than he was of her, but she couldn't help but worry.
Booth noticed her pensive look and continued for her, "He also said that Allie fell asleep a half hour ago after forcing everyone to play kitchen with her for over an hour." Booth smiled at that. Russ and Amy had given Allie a toy kitchen set for her first birthday the previous month and it had quickly become her favorite toy.
Angela smiled at this too, thinking about how easily that little girl had wrapped the men in her life around her finger. She looked at Hodgins, "You realize that our poor Michael has no chance against that girl, right? Bren's eyes and Booth's charm, the kid won't know what hit him."
At this, Booth and Brennan just laughed, they knew better than to try to correct Angela after a year of her teasing along this tangent.
Hodgins just rolled his eyes lovingly at his wife, "So, what'd Max say Mikey was up to?"
Booth smiled, "Once Allie was asleep he wanted to watch Cars and apparently he didn't even make it through ten minutes before he was sleeping too." Angela and Hodgins shared a smile at this and Booth finished the recap, "Now that the little kids are in bed, Max and Parker are doing some sort of 'super cool' experiment. However, Max promised that everything would be cleaned up. My kid's turning into a squint."
Angela smiled sympathetically at him, "Face it, G-man, our kids are going to be squints. It's inevitable." She didn't mind at all, she appreciated their little lab family more than she could put into words, and she loved how Brennan's father treated Michael the same way he treated Allie and Parker. It was nice, especially since Michael's only real grandparent lived in Texas. Moreover, Parker acted like a big brother to her son, the three kids spent a lot of time together, and she couldn't ask for a better role model than the warm-hearted young boy.
Booth just smiled at this, he was really proud of how smart Parker had become since he began hanging around Max and Brennan. He smiled at Brennan, reassuring her that he was joking, and when she smiled back, he felt much lighter than he had earlier. He decided rather than sulking the rest of the evening, he should take advantage of it. Their kids were perfectly safe, and his Bones looked absolutely stunning in her deep blue evening gown. His small smile turned into a full force charm grin, "So, Bones, now that we know the kids are just fine, dance with me. I want to spend the rest of the night with my beautiful, brilliant wife in my arms."
Brennan, predictably, gave in. Her remaining tension melted under Booth's famous charm smile and she beamed back, allowing him to lead her to the dance floor, his hand at its spot on her back. Angela smiled at her friends' happiness, and moved to drag her own husband to the dance floor. They didn't get to the floor, though, instead they ran into Cam and Paul and happily started a conversation and were soon joined by Sweets and Daisy, who seemed relieved to have found people they knew in the large group of agents.
Booth and Brennan quickly lost themselves in each other, swaying to the jazzy music. Booth let the music and the feel of her body so close to his entrance him for a few minutes before he needed to interrupt their trance to ask her about one thing that had been bothering him all night.
"So, Bones," he began, "I've noticed that tonight something with you has been a bit off."
She reluctantly moved her head from its place on his shoulder to look into his eyes, "What's wrong, Booth?"
"Nothing's wrong," he said, gazing at her curiously. "It's just that I noticed you haven't been drinking at all tonight, and I know that it isn't because you're worried about who will drive since Hodgins and Angela insisted on renting that ridiculous limo to share with us." He paused, watching the sly smile that had spread across her face as she listened to his observations and he felt his heart leap. "Are you really… you really think…?" His sudden excitement seemed to override his ability to form a coherent sentence.
She grinned back at his obvious enthusiasm, "I'm not completely sure yet, but it's a definite possibility. I'm planning on buying a test this weekend; I figured you'd want to be there."
He pulled her in for a deep kiss. They had decided to try for another baby once Allie had turned a year old. They would have liked to wait a bit longer, but Brennan knew that her childbearing years were quickly passing and there was no guarantee that she would get pregnant as quickly a second time as she had the first. Apparently, their concerns were unfounded, and they couldn't be more thrilled.
Meanwhile, the rest of their friends continued to talk near the ballroom's front entrance. Suddenly, two latecomers walking through the door diverted Hodgins' attention completely. "Ange," he said, poking his wife in the shoulder, "Ange." He repeated again when she didn't responded.
"What?" She snapped, turning to him.
"Look who just walked in." She followed her husband's gaze.
"Oh my god. Cam, do you see what we see?" She gaped at the sight before her.
"What are you loo- oh god," Cam said, catching sight of the couple Angela was gesturing toward. "Is that Sully and…"
"And Hannah?" Hodgins supplied for her, "Yeah it is." He shook his head in disbelief.
Angela's eyes quickly found Booth and Brennan in the midst of the dancers. They couple only had eyes for each other and hadn't noticed the new arrivals. "Do you think they know?" She asked no one in particular.
"Guys, what are you talking about?" Sweets asked, totally confused, though a quick glance told him that Daisy and Paul were as clueless as he was.
"Do you think they know?" Cam reiterated, though she pointed the question towards Hannah and Sully, who were now sitting down at an empty table.
"Guys," Sweets said sharply. "So, we knew Hannah was back. I guess she has a thing for FBI agents." When they still didn't respond, he petulantly added, "Secrets don't make friends." He paused the second the words fell from his mouth. Great, he thought, just more ammunition for the 'Sweets is twelve' argument.
However, no one seemed to notice and Angela quickly explained, "I'm sure you don't need a reminder of who Hannah is, but that's not just any FBI agent. That's Sully."
Finally, it clicked as Sweets remembered past references to the man. "You mean like Sully as in…"
"Dr. Brennan's ex-boyfriend who asked her to sail off into the sunset with him for a year, Sully? Yeah, that's him. I knew he'd come back but…" Cam trailed off shaking her head.
"Dude, seriously? That's so… weird. Sometimes I feel like we're trapped on some ridiculous TV drama," Sweets lamented.
"I think someone should warn our dynamic duo," Angela said, glancing towards their friends. The group turned to look as the partners shared a loving kiss.
"No way, I don't want Booth to shoot me. Which he might for interrupting that," Sweets said quickly and Hodgins nodded in agreement.
Angela turned to Cam, "Don't look at me. They're doing their 'we're in a bubble and no one else exists' routine. I'm not barging in on one of their moments."
Angela rolled her eyes impatiently, muttering about cowardice as she made her way towards Booth and Brennan.
This is turning out way longer than I expected, so rather than a one-shot, this will be a two-parter. I hope you're enjoying it. Reviews are lovely! I'll try to have the next chapter up soon as I'm sure you're curious about how Hannah and Sully ended up together. I'm having a lot of fun with this one…