"One year from today."
The words still rung in her ears. One year from today. He'd said it. She'd said it. They'd meant it. One year from today.
And in one year, so much had changed. She hadn't really expected it; she hadn't really wanted it to change. At least not in the way it had.
As she sat there on their bench, at the coffee cart by the reflecting pool, she sighed. She took a sip of her coffee and watched the movement around her.
Men and women drifted from one side to another, engaged in conversations about everyday occurrences. They talked about cooking dinner and television shows, about their children and their spouses, about their jobs and how much they despised their jobs.
Her eyes focused on a thirty-something woman with red hair and a little girl with dark brown locks. They were standing by the water, holding hands as the child pointed into the reflecting pool.
She closed her eyes. And she imagined. What if the coma had never stopped her and Booth from having their own baby girl? Would that have changed things? She could imagine herself being that mother she saw. She'd be smiling at her little girl, seeing her partner – maybe he'd be more than just that if they'd gone through with it – reflected in her eyes. Their daughter would have her intelligence and her father's charm, wit, and ability to reach people. Her daughter would be pointing into the pool, laughing at her own reflection, pointing it out to her mom before they walked over to the ice cream cart…
She shook herself out of her reverie. She saw a man coming towards the mother and daughter, holding a balloon in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. Smiling, he handed the balloon to his daughter, and took a sip from the cup before passing it off with a kiss to his wife. With that, he gathered up his little girl and the threesome walked away.
If only. She'd been home for five months now, almost to the day. And her homecoming was nothing like she'd imagined it. She'd returned, after dreaming of her partner for seven months, to find out that he'd moved on. He'd found a woman who was open and loving, someone who he didn't need to be protected from. He'd found the right woman, someone she clearly wasn't. She'd just been pretending.
Taking another sip of her coffee, she closed her eyes. Enjoying the warming effects of the sunshine on her pale complexion. Suddenly, she felt a warmth beside her.
Opening her eyes in surprise, she turned her head. And there he was. Booth. He took the cup of coffee from her hand and took a sip, composing himself before he spoke.
"I told you, one year from today," he said. "I told you I'd be here."
"You did say that," she replied. After a moment's pause, "How's Hannah?"
Her partner smiled.
"She's great, actually." He glanced down at his watch. "If I'm right, she just boarded her plane to Iraq."
"Hannah left? Did you two discuss this?"
"Hannah left me. She realized that – well, we realized that we weren't meant to be. She needed excitement, and I… I needed you."
She gasped. "Booth, I… I don't know if…"
And before she finished her statement, they were kissing. This time, she didn't pull away, and she didn't feel afraid.
When they two finally separated, there were smiles on both their faces.
"I guess third time's the charm."
They both laughed.