Here's a short two chapter story dealing, in a humorous way, with something that I think was glossed over in the first episode of season seven. I hope you enjoy the fun I have with it. Gregg.
Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Seeley Booth looked at the guys sitting in front of him. Hodgins, Max, Gordon Gordon, Sweets, and Pops. For weeks now his sleep had been interrupted with thoughts of something Bones had said that he had joked over and now he wasn't so sure of what had happened. He needed some assistance in figuring this one out, so he gathered together his brain trust to work it all out. Well, maybe not a brain trust, but he'd make do with what he had. He ticked off in his mind why each one was there.
Max: A Bones' father, and someone that Booth was scared shitless of if the man got pissed, Booth wanted him there so that the man would know that Booth had his priorities straight when it came to Bones.
Hodgins: He had a world of experience with the whole marriage and failure routine with his experiences with Angela, so he had to have some good advice stored in that Squinty brain of his.
Gordon Gordon: Not only could the man cook, but when it came right down to it if he had listened to his advice from the beginning the whole Hannah idiocy would never have happened. Thus his advice on this one was indispensable.
Pops: That one was self-explanatory. How the Hell could someone go wrong following Pops' advice?
Sweets: Well, the little pimple had steered him wrong so many times the guy was bound to get one right some time. And if not, he could blame it all on Sweets and pound the crap out of him. That last had some appeal for Booth.
"So what is this all about, Shrimp," Pops demanded gruffly. "I had some crocheting lined up for this afternoon."
Booth groaned. "I really didn't need to know about that, Pops," he told his Grandfather. There were times when the old man was worse than Bones!
"Is Dr. Brennan still giving you trouble over wanting a man cave?" Sweets asked, hiding the little smirk that his mind was forming.
"If I don't get a man cave Sweets I'm blaming you and sicking Angela's Dad on you as punishment," Booth glared intently at the young kid.
Sweets got pale at that one, and agreed wholeheartedly when Hodgins said out loud that's harsh, Dude. "I will begin talking with Dr. Brennan about all the good that can come from having a Man Cave," he promised. "I can even compare it to her lab for her. I'll even make up some stuff!"
"Good boy, Sweets," Booth nodded. "I thought you'd see it my way on that one."
"As if I had a choice," Sweets grumbled.
"Now," Booth said, ending the minor sidetrack. "The topic for today is Bones and marriage."
Everyone groaned when he said that. It was very well known that Brennan did not believe in marriage at all. Hell, it had been a quantum leap forward for her to dive into the relationship with Booth like she had, and then had agreed to get a home together. But marriage? Even Max was a bit unsure of that one, though like any Father he wanted to be able to walk his baby girl down the aisle.
"Agent Booth, would you please take my advice on this subject which is to be patient and have hope?" Gordon Gordon requested. He considered Booth and Brennan to be two of his closest friends and didn't want to see a serious mistake, yet again, because Booth decided to move ahead much too rapidly.
"That's the thing," Booth tugged on his ear lobe. "I think I may have already screwed up."
They all looked at him incredulously. Max shook his head, while the two psychologists rolled their eyes. Pops and Hodgins kind of glared at Booth. They couldn't believe that the man finally was in the relationship he had always wanted and was messing up already.
"What'd you do, Son," Max asked, keeping his eyes leveled with Booth's. He had a feeling that it was more Booth's insecurities at this point, but one never knew.
"A few weeks ago me and Bones were arguing about whether to get a place of our own, and I told her that she would be the one proposing to me," Booth told them. He ignored the snort that Pops let loose. "Then she said You're not going to ask me to marry you? I didn't think much of it at the time, but she seemed pretty shocked, and kind of disappointed." He now ignored Max's glare, though he did cross his legs in case Max decided to crush the jewels for making Bones unhappy.
"And you have been fixated on that since that time," Gordon Gordon surmised. He was actually amused at this development. Booth's insecurities about his relationship with Brennan would make a lengthy book that would be a bestseller in the psychiatric world, but Gordon Gordon reminded himself that he was now a chef.
Booth kind of glanced at Max before answering. "Well, yeah," he told them. "The last thing I want is to have completely ruined whatever minute chance of marrying Bones I had, after all. The question is, have I?"
"Dude, you are so lucky that that psycho Billy isn't her Father," Hodgins shook his head in commiseration.
"I'm not sure I understand what the problem is," Sweets said from his spot. "You know her views on marriage, so you not wanting to ask her should come as no surprise to her."
Pops shook his head. "I knew your degree had to have come from a Cracker Jack box," he told Sweets gruffly. "Don't you know anything about women? Just because she thinks she doesn't want to be married, doesn't mean she doesn't want to be asked."
"And I can say as a Father, it does not bode well for the potential son-in-law if he doesn't even ask the question," Max added his two cents in. He gave his best Let's Be Friends, Hail Fellow Well Met smile to Booth which he knew scared the crap out of Booth.
"And pissing off Father-in-Law's is not a cool thing," Hodgins remarked, thinking back on his own experiences with that. "In fact, it's downright dangerous!"
"So I did screw up? And should suck it up and propose?" Booth questioned. He noticed that all of them seemed to be on board except Sweets who was still trying to figure out what's what. But he was twelve after all and his concept of a relationship couldn't be all that great seeing as he'd been involved with that hyped up Energizer Bunny Daisy Wyck for so damn long. He made a note to speak with Hodgins about who had the worst Father-in-Law sometime. Max, in his scared shitless opinion, made Billy look like a pussycat.
Varying words of yes, of course, and the like came spewing forth, even from Sweets. Booth considered and nodded.
"Alright," he agreed. "But if I get turned down, that'll make my third strike on the proposal front. I'm beginning to get a complex, Guys."
"I know an excellent therapy group that could help," Sweets offered. He ignored the shaking of the head and disparaging comments about all these modern contrivances from Pops.
"Do that and I will pound you into hamburger and make sure that you never get laid again," Booth told him caustically. He just knew that on something like that Bones would be some eager beaver to participate in order to try and prove once more that psychiatry and therapy were not true sciences. That meant a lot of time in therapy for Booth when he could be watching the game or spending lots and lots of quality time with Bones. He sighed. "Alright. I screwed up and now need to do the manly thing and propose. This sucks!" he summarized.
"A word of advice, Shrimp," Pops said from his seat. "It's better to propose with a happy attitude rather than the this sucks attitude."
"Thanks guys," Booth grumbled as he watched them all leave the restaurant. Max had offered Pops a ride back to the Retirement Home, so now he had the afternoon to get a ring. Oh, Happy Day! Not. Two rings in one year. That had to be a record of some sort. Tossing some money on the table he walked out, resigned to his fate.
A/N: Yes, I know Booth wants to get married, but I can also see him not wanting to propose given his track record and who we're talking about here being on the receiving end of the proposal. This story is my own fun way of having all turn out well based on that one slightly shocked question from Bones at the beginning of the episode. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Gregg.