Disclaimer: Bones is the sole property of those responsible for bringing the Characters and Story to be. *Heart* you guys!(and gals...specifically Kathy Reichs.) Hart....you guys. And Fox. Gotta love Fox.

This is the third and final part of the Story that began with 'What may come to pass'. There will be definite references to the previous two parts, as well as suggestions and references to all seasons of Bones. Not really spoilers...just hints.

In the format of a love story...Boy meets girl, Boy gets girl, Boy loses girl, but...Boy gets girl back. And he will here too. This story deals with how. Please enjoy. XO

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Chapter One...

Booth walked down the grassy path towards his destination. In his left hand he held the hand of his two year old son, and in his right hand he held tightly onto the hand of his three year old daughter.

Payton wanted to run ahead, to play amongst the headstones, but Booth held her tightly. Rio just walked quietly beside him. He had brought both of them here before, trying to instil the importance of the knowledge that one who had passed could still be there with them. That they could talk to the headstone, and somehow, the deceased person could hear their words.

He closed in on his destination and finally let go of Payton's hand. She ran ahead, and stopped in front of the marble stone where she had been before. She put the flowers down that she had carried with her and looked back to her father to see if what she had done was the right thing to do. He smiled and nodded. She smiled back, a mirror image smile.

He stopped in front of the headstone and sighed.

Rio followed his sister to a large tree that was growing nearby, and the two of them chased each other around, giggling and laughing. Booth smiled at their antics.

He knelt before the headstone and crossed himself. It was a few minutes before he spoke.

"Boy, do I wish you were still here. I need you now. I need someone to talk to. I don't know if I can get through this by myself..." He paused as he watched his kids playing. Payton was trying to climb the tree and he got up to stop her before she got too far. She had no fear.

Rio followed him back to the headstone sat down beside it. The little boy, who looked so much like his mother that it stopped Booth's heart when he made certain faces, picked up one of the flowers and handed it to his father.

Booth accepted it with a smile, and the little boy smiled too. His mother's smile. Booth missed her so much, but he couldn't go back in time. He couldn't change the past. He couldn't take back the words that were spoken.

"I really screwed up this time buddy. I don't know if we can fix this one."

Rio just looked at him. The little boy rarely spoke, usually because he couldn't get a word in edgewise with his sister constantly chatting, but he said three little words that made Booth feel temporarily better.

"I love you." The little boy had inherited his father's intuitiveness and said just the right thing.

"Thanks little man. I needed that."

He sat down beside his son and rubbed his back. He looked back to the headstone. Maybe it was a mistake to come here today. He knew his grandfather would not have spoken words to make everything okay. The voice he so desperately wanted to hear. He missed the man so much. He was sure that if his grandfather was still around he would talk some sense into him and Bones. He would have the right words to make them see that what they were doing was a mistake. But now, there was only silence. Except for Payton's giggling. She was trying to stalk a robin that was searching for something to eat in the grass, but every time she got near it, it hopped further away.

Eventually he stood up and picked up his son and called to Payton that it was time to go. He half expected her to argue, but she ran to his side and took his hand.

"Where are we going now Daddy?" Her little voice asked.

"We're going to Sid's to meet Helen, and then she's going to take you back to your mom."

The look on her face broke his heart. She knew that her time with her dad wouldn't last much longer. Their weekend had gone much too quickly.

"Can't you come home daddy? I want you there. You tell the best bedtime stories..."

"No, Sweetheart. I'm not coming home." He wished he could, but the situation between him and the woman he loved had not been resolved. Yet. The apologies that needed to be spoken had not yet come to light. He wondered if they ever would.

He bundled the kids into the back seat of his SUV and drove off towards Wong Foos to meet their nanny who would take the kids back to their mother's apartment. It had been their apartment until six months ago when their perfect life together had become two separate ones.

He didn't want to think about that now. He focussed on the last hour he would have with their kids. Booth glanced quickly in the backseat and realized that they had both fallen asleep. It had been an eventful day at the zoo, and a picnic lunch at the park. It had been a good day, but the hard part was about to come. Saying good bye.

He pulled up outside the restaurant and noticed that Helen's car was already parked outside. She was early. He waved when she looked up and saw him pulling up. She got out of her car and met him at the curb. She reached into the back and gently pulled Rio out of his seat and carried him to her car. Booth followed with the still-sleeping little girl. He was kind of grateful that the kids stayed asleep. It would prevent the tears that he knew were coming. He kissed them both quickly and met the nanny on the driver's side of her car to say thank you for picking them up.

He wanted to ask how Bones was. He wanted to ask her a lot of things, but she had told him a few months ago that she was tired of being stuck in the middle of the two. If he wanted to know how she was, he could ask her himself. He liked the nanny. She had attitude and she was great with the kids. They adored her.

She had been a good find after months of interviewing possible applicants to look after their kids. He smiled quickly at the memory of the process of finding the perfect nanny.

Temperance's search for her perfect intern left nothing to compare to the vigorous tests she put the potential nannies through. Helen was the only one who had passed all the tests with flying colours.

Now, he watched as she drove off with his kids. It would be another week before he saw them again. His heart was sad, and he walked up the few steps into the restaurant and sat at the bar waiting for whatever Sid would think he needed to eat, or drink. Preferably drink.

Sid approached him empty handed and Booth looked at him with large eyes and his hands held out.

"What Sid? Have you lost your skill at knowing what people need? Can I have a beer?"

"I haven't lost my touch...I just don't have what you need. What you need is across town. Probably sifting through some old bones in a certain lab. Why don't you just go apologize already? This is killing you. I hate to see you like this."

"Well... She has to apologize too. I'm not the one who was left standing at the altar. Oh wait... yes I was. She's the one who decided that she couldn't marry me, and had no good reason as to why not. Or if she had a reason, she wouldn't tell me what it was." Booth had explained this to Sid already. He was tired of explaining.

Sid just shook his head. He couldn't make his friend see how stupid he was being. Everyone thought so. He was sure he didn't have the whole story, but no one but the two involved knew the whole story. And they weren't talking. As far as Sid knew, they hadn't spoken directly in months. Whatever had happened between them had not come any closer to being resolved. He knew something about her though. Some buddies of theirs from the FBI had told him the other day. Booth and Brennan were a hot topic of gossip for the FBI people.

Sid decided to find out if the man at the bar knew what he did.

"So, Seeley... I found out something the other day. About Doctor Brennan." He carefully gauged the man's reaction.

"What?"

Sid finally placed a beer in front of his friend and waited until the man had a sip.

"Well, a couple people saw her the other day at the Hoover building and they said she looked like she was pregnant. Anything you haven't told me?"

Booth carefully swallowed his mouthful and looked at the man behind the bar.

"Yeah. I guess she went through with it. She wanted to be a surrogate for her friend Angela. I was opposed, and I told her that if she did it, we were done. I wondered if she had. I guess that's my answer." He took another drink from the bottle in front of him.

"Why are you so opposed to that? It's kind of a great gift that she could give her friend."

"Because she told me that she didn't want to have another baby with me. She didn't want to go through that again. Neither pregnancy was easy on her and she decided that two were enough for her. I agreed with that, but then she shows up one night and bluntly tells me she's going to have a baby for Angela and Hodgins. She cares more about them than she does about me."

"Aren't you being just a little selfish there Agent Booth? It's her body to do with as she pleases. If that's what she wanted why couldn't you go along with it?"

"Because Sid, she had absolutely no consideration for my feelings. It's a two way street right? Or so I thought. I guess she never really cared about me. She just used me to have a couple of kids, and then she didn't need me anymore." Booth took another sip. His expression was one of disbelief.

"Honestly Seeley, you don't really believe that do you? I have never met two people who were more suited for each other. You guys were so happy once you finally hooked up. I can't believe that you can't work through this...If you want my opinion..."

Booth waved him off indicating he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He really didn't. No one seemed to understand his point of view. The Squints had all given him the third degree to the point that he couldn't face them anymore. He had asked Cullen to transfer him to another department so that he wouldn't have to go to the Jeffersonian anymore. Wong Foos was the only place he got any breaks. Until now.

Sid seemed to sense that his friend's answering of questions was done. He put another beer on the counter even though the first one was only half done.

With Sid finally leaving him alone, he had time to think.

He missed his Grandfather. His confidant for so many years. The one who had been there when his relationship with Bones had finally come to be. He could use the old man's advice about now, but as often as he visited the grave, and asked; sometimes begged, no answer ever came.

He would have to fix this on his own, but he had no idea how to start. He had alienated himself from all the Squints; Jared was gone off on some new undercover mission. Parker was still in Florida. Max had taken Temperance's side and wouldn't talk to him. Murphy had not been able to handle the stress of the constant death and mayhem that their job dealt with and had asked for a transfer to another department. Booth rarely saw him now, and when he did, Murphy only wanted to discuss how selfish they were both being. Murphy seemed to be mad at him especially.

It wasn't only his fault. It was hers too.

Neither would make the first step towards reconciliation, and there he sat. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to be. He finished his first beer and picked up the second. Five more days until he could see his kids again.

He sighed. His thoughts strayed to what she might be doing now. She had really gone through with the surrogacy. He knew he had reacted badly to her decision, but his pride would never let him admit that to anyone. His pride, that had been hurt so badly when she bailed on their wedding.

Stupid pride. Always got him in trouble...

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To be continued...