This story takes place after "The Next in the Last" (season 10). Brennan and Booth have quit their jobs and are in a state of limbo for the time being.

I don't own Bones.

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Interrupting his wife, Booth informed her, "This is my last case."

Surprised, Brennan asked him, "Are you sure, Booth?"

She's told him earlier that day that she wanted them to quit their jobs and look for something else that wasn't quite so dangerous. Not her exact words, but that was what she meant and after thinking about what she'd been through, what they'd been through, he felt he owed her that peace she was seeking, "Yeah . . . You know what? I made some really bad choices recently, but this one feels really good. It just feels right."

Grateful that Booth was willing to make such drastic changes in their lives, Brennan tried to point out that they could still be useful. "You could take the job at the NSA and I could take over the department at Fulton. They'd give me unlimited funds."

Amused that Brennan was already making plans for their future, Booth moved closer to her and smiled, "Or we could just have a baby and live our lives and be happy."

And she was happy. She was happier than she had been in a long time, "That sounds so good."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The first week was rather odd for both of them. They had decided to take their time and find positions that would make them happy, so for the time being they would stay in their home, relax and enjoy a life without warped criminals, gruesome bodies and the sad lives touched by murder and mayhem.

With Christine away at kindergarten and nowhere for both of them to be, Booth was helping Brennan clean the kitchen when she announced, "I'm working on my next book. I worked out the plot last night and I should be able to start writing today."

Surprised, Booth turned and cheered for her, "Hey, that's great, I knew you'd work it out . . . Oh, I may go visit Pops today."

Her smile fading, Brennan asked her husband, "Would you like me to go with you?"

Folding the dish towel, he placed it on the counter and replied, "Nah, that's okay. I'm just going to bring him some flowers, maybe have a little chat and maybe go and check on your Mom's grave site and make sure the cemetery people fixed that chip in the back of her gravestone."

Her mind on her mother, Brennan sighed, "I was thinking of my mother yesterday. When I was a child I never thought I'd live a life without her in it and then . . . We're about to have our second child and I feel . . . I'm not really sure what I feel."

Even though she might not understand what she was feeling Booth did. He understood that she was feeling a little lost at the moment. Up until a few years ago, all she had was her job, her skills, her bones. She'd been cut off from her family since she was a child of fifteen and had very few friends. She'd made a life for herself, but she'd been isolated from most of the world. Now she was married, had one child and another on the way and she'd quit the prestigious job she'd had at the Jeffersonian.

Booth placed his arms around her and hugged her, "Hey, it's okay. I'm here and you have Max and Christine and soon little tiger will be here . . . These last few months have been pretty rough and you're just tired that's all. The baby will be here soon and we just quit our jobs. It's a lot to take in. We'll be fine. Christine is already happier than I've ever seen her. This is what we needed. Our family needed this change."

Mindful that she was the one that had originally wanted the change, Brennan leaned against her husband and enjoyed the feel of his arms around her, "Yes, you're right, this was the right thing to do. We've been through so much . . . we need this Booth. We need a quieter life."

Kissing her, Booth assured, "I agree with you, Bones. I agreed with your idea and really you were right. Not having to work long hours, having to deal with murder and sadness and . . . well, you get the idea . . . You had the right idea. This will work for us . . . it will, you'll see."

"It will, Booth." Releasing him, Brennan moved over to the counter, took Booth's phone out of the charger and handed it to him. "You can take your time looking for a job that will make you happy and I will work on my book until I give birth to our child. I think I'll wait until he's two or three months old before I start to look for a position somewhere. I'm not really in a rush to find anything. The money I've made from my books would allow both of us to remain unemployed for the rest of our lives if that is what we chose to do."

Checking the charge on his phone, Booth shook his head, "I can't not do something Bones. It's not in me not to work. I'd be bored if I didn't find something to do."

Her hand on his arm, Brennan reminded him, "But you don't have to choose something that would bore you or make you unhappy. You have time to look and find what would make you happy. That's what I want for you, Booth. I want you to be happy. You deserve it."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Standing in front of his grandfather's gravestone, Booth sighed and placed his small bouquet of flowers on the grave. Picking up a leaf, he stuffed it in his pants pocket and stood back up. A feeling of melancholy filling him, Booth stared at the nearby oak tree and finally spoke, "Hey, Pops, it's me." Clearing his throat, he moved his gaze back to the gravestone, "Bones sure picked a nice gravestone for you. I know I've said that before, but really she did a great job . . . I was in prison and . . . well, I'm sorry I couldn't be there when you . . ." Pausing, Booth took a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped it across his eyes. Sniffing, he inhaled deeply, "I quit my job at the FBI . . . I don't know if I did the right thing, but Bones needs this. I've put her through so much and she's tired. I can see that . . . me being almost killed and then . . . then prison and . . . you died . . . my gambling . . . it's been more than enough for both of us."

The sun breaking out the through the clouds deepened the shade around him from the oak tree, "Bones quit her job too. We're not investigating murders anymore. . . . I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. . . . Oh yeah, Bones is working on a new book. She seems to be pretty excited about it. She wants to work on it now before Tiger gets here. She might take a few months off before she looks for a new job. She might consult for Cam for a while, so . . . anyway . . . um . . . I miss you, Pops. I really do." Wiping his eyes again with the handkerchief, Booth abruptly turned and walked away from the gravesite.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Placing the bouquet of yellow roses on Christine Brennan's grave, Booth inspected the gravestone and found that the chip had been fixed. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty close and Booth was sure it would pass Brennan's inspection the next time she saw it.

"Hey, Mrs. Brennan . . . Christine . . . it's me, Booth. Temperance's husband." His eyes closed, he said a quick prayer for her and then opened his eyes again. "Your daughter is doing pretty good. She's going to have her baby soon . . . She misses you, just in case you don't know that . . . Max does too." Shifting his feet, he frowned, "She quit her job . . . we quit our jobs. We aren't solving murders anymore. It's what she wanted, but I don't know if she's really happy about it. It's hard to tell with her. She . . . um . . . well, she doesn't really express her emotions easily and . . . she tries though. She's better about that. Anyway, I hope we made the right decision. I want her to be happy. She needs to be happy." Not sure what else to say, he nodded his head, "I'll come back and see you next month when I go and visit my Pops."

The shade from the nearby trees making the spot a pleasant refuge from the intense sunlight, Booth stepped away from the gravesite and moved across the cemetery to his car. As he approached his Mustang, he noticed Max parking his car a few feet away. Waiting for the older man to leave his car, Booth leaned against the trunk of his Ford.

Max, aware that his son-in-law was waiting for him, reached over to the passenger seat and removed a bouquet of red roses and exited his car. Walking over to where Booth was standing, Max smiled, "Hey Booth, I didn't expect to see you here."

Pleased to see his father-in-law, Booth smiled at him, "Just making the rounds. I checked her gravestone to make sure the chip was fixed and it is."

Happy to hear that news, Max glanced over in the direction of his wife's gravesite, "That's great. I was hoping they'd fix it soon . . . So, how's civilian life? Miss the gory bodies?"

Amused, Booth laughed, "Hell no. That's the one thing I'm glad to give up. Sometimes it was a stretch to even call them bodies . . . I remember a few that were more like soup than bodies. Hell one time we had one that looked like chili."

"Eww, Booth." A little disgusted, Max shook his head, "I just ate breakfast a little while ago."

Not sure if Max was serious, Booth shook his head, "This from a man who gutted and toasted two corpses? Really?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Max commented, "But I didn't turn them into soup." Clearing his throat, the older man leaned against Booth's car, "So found a new job yet?"

"Nah, not yet." Straightening, he opened the car door, "I'm not in a real rush. I may wait until the baby gets here and then find something. I don't know yet. I have a few things I want to do around the house. I promised Christine I'd build her a tree house like the one at the old house so . . . anyway . . . I got to go. Nice seeing you. . . . Come over to the house. Bones would probably like to see you."

Moving away from the car, Max watched Booth drive away then walked over to his wife's grave site. Placing the flowers next to Booth's bouquet, Max stood back and told her, "I see Booth came by. He's a nice guy. You'd have liked him."

Oooooooooooooooooo

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