AN: There were quite a few people who wanted a sequel to 'Here Comes Santa Claus' and in general I don't like to write them, but an idea came to me and I thought it would work perfectly with that previous story. I'm not totally satisfied with the beginning of this, and I'll admit that it went differently than I had planned, but I hope it's a decent start and I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless.

"Temperance, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to insist that you take off of work until after you have your baby. You're already a centimeter dilated and could conceivably go into labor at any time," Dr. Boyd said to her patient as she snapped off her latex gloves. She could tell by the surly look on the anthropologist's face that the news wasn't well received.

"Dr. Boyd, I'm perfectly capable of working until I go into labor. You yourself have said on many occasions that I've had a very healthy pregnancy, so I really see no reason why I should leave work early."

"It is ultimately your decision, but I would really suggest taking some time off."

"Bones, just listen to her. She knows what she's talking about. Besides, it'll give you some time to spend with Chris before this one's born." Booth looked at Temperance as he said it, trying to help out the doctor. He totally agreed with the obstetrician, but knew that ultimately it was up to his fiancée.

"Look, in one week you'll be considered full term and if you have your baby at that point then it's not a problem. However, because you've already had some dilation, it's in your best interest to take off of work until after the birth. I'm only looking out for your well being Temperance."

"This is ridiculous. Women all over the world engage in work until their children are born and sometimes return to their activities after the birth of the child. I see no reason why this should be any different."

"The difference Temperance is that we here in the United States like to keep infant mortality to a minimum, so I really would appreciate it if you would just take it easy for the next few weeks by going on maternity leave and getting some rest," Dr. Boyd said as she looked at the shocked face of the anthropologist. Booth tried not to snicker, but the sound escaped and it earned him a glare from Brennan.

"Bones, honestly she's just trying to make you as comfortable as possible. Can't you just concede on this one?" After a long moment, Brennan sighed and nodded her head in defeat. She honestly saw no reason for needing to go on a maternity leave even if she had dilated some. The chances were low that she would have the baby within the week despite the dilation and it just didn't seem right that she take the time off of work.

"Fine, I'll take off the time, but I am not taking an extended leave once I have our child. There's no need to be out longer than I need to."

"You'll be out between six and eight weeks once you give birth depending on whether or not you have a vaginal birth or a cesarean. I know that you adopted a baby before, but I think you'll find it a bit more difficult to raise two little ones while healing."

"I don't see how that would make a difference to the process. It is a natural occurrence after all." Dr. Boyd smiled at her patient and shook her head.

"There are always things that you'll find out about childbirth that no one ever tells you. Cardinal rule number one is that the closer you get to your due date, the more likely someone is to tell you a gruesome birthing story. Cardinal rule number two is that no one ever tells you what you feel like after you give birth. Yes you are perfectly capable of going about normal activities, but you hurt. It hurts to stand, walk and sit. In fact the only truly comfortable position is laying down. Your breasts will hurt if they become engorged while your milk comes in, and will become chapped and bruised when you first begin to breast feed. Trust me Temperance, I know you're a pretty tough cookie, but even you will need help." Brennan was about to respond to her doctor when both her and Booth's phones buzzed. Seeley stepped out of the room to answer while Dr. Boyd finished her exam and Temperance got dressed.

"When would you like the paperwork for my leave by?"

"Oh, bring it as soon as you can and I'll see you next week, okay?" Brennan nodded and joined Booth in the hallway as he finished up his call. He looked at her and smiled as he snapped his phone shut.

"You all set to go?"

"Yes. Was that about a case?"

"Yes, not that you'll be involved past today. We need to get up to College Park, Maryland for a body retrieval. Cam's going to meet us there so we need to hurry. She said you could assist with the initial observation but after that your interns will be taking over. If needed you can consult via online feed," he said making sure she knew he wasn't trying to exclude her from the investigation.

"It seems to me that my time would be better spent in the lab assisting with the case."

"No. Your doctor said you're going on leave and that's exactly what you're doing. I don't want this to be a strain on you."

"I'm perfectly capable of knowing what will and will not be a strain on my body."

"I know that Bones, but you agreed to go on leave and you're going to stick to that. I already said that you could consult, but you'll just need to do it from home, okay?" Brennan looked at him for a long time and sighed before nodding her head.

"Just for the record though, I don't like this." Booth grinned over at her and leaned in for a kiss as they reached the SUV.

"I didn't exactly expect that you would." With that, Booth helped Brennan into the Sequoia and took off for remains retrieval.

XxXxX

"I don't know how you want me to respond to this Doco. The press will be all over this and it's going to be bad for the store," Grace Hawley said as she stood next to the store manager of the large Swedish furniture store. Her boss, Don Collins looked over the mass of police and other people at the scene as the store's Loss Prevention manager kept an eye on everyone to make sure they weren't wandering around the merchandise dock of the store.

"I'm sure that once we know more from the officers in charge, we'll be able to issue a statement and so forth. There's no need to be so worried about this."

"It's going to be bad press, and we can't afford that in this economy. It's getting hard enough to bring people in and now this…" Grace shook her head and rubbed a hand over the back of her head.

"Something else is bothering you, isn't it," the perceptive man said to her as he watched the work of the crime scene technicians. He wasn't sure why the FBI had been called in, but figured it must be because of the state of the person who died.

"Noah didn't come home or call last night and I'm getting worried. I've tried getting hold of his friends but so far no one knows where he is."

"Why don't you go ahead and keep trying him. I'll let you know what's going on once I know myself." Grace nodded and began to leave as two more people showed up for the body. She glanced once at the tall, dark haired FBI agent and the very pregnant woman with him as they were led to the cardboard recycling chute to look at the body found there.

She continued on her way as the FBI agent glanced at her as well, a frown on his face. She couldn't blame him for looking that way. She felt like curling into a ball both from the fact that her son was off doing God knows what and now someone had been killed in the cardboard chute. What a day this was turning out to be.

Grace reached the large double doors leading out to the main warehouse of the store, but paused as the FBI agent began to speak to her boss.

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth, and this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute. Would you mind telling us briefly what happened?" Booth had all of his attention on Don Collins, but Temperance turned when she heard the gasp that Grace let out. The woman remained frozen by the double doors, staring at the back of Booth's head in shock.

"One of our Replenishment coworkers was bringing cardboard down for recycling and after filling the chute and turning the machine on, he noticed the blood on the walls of the thing. He pressed the emergency stop and hopped in to see if whoever it was that was in there was still alive and we called the police when we realized that they weren't." Both nodded and Temperance stepped over toward the cardboard chute to begin her investigation.

Grace slowly turned away from the doors to get a better look at the man talking to her boss. There was no way he could be who she thought he was. It had been far too long, and he couldn't just show up here at the store, but she had to make sure it really was him.

"Was there any staff missing? You know, someone who might have fallen in on accident?" Booth glanced away from Don Collins for just a moment and glanced over his shoulder. His eyes locked with Grace's and he dropped his pen on the floor.

"No, everyone was accounted for after the person was discovered. Are you okay?" Don looked from Booth to Grace as the two engaged in a stare off. Booth was the one to finally break the silence ensuing between the two of them.

"Mom?" Grace let out a whimper before she collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Oh my God, Grace," Don shouted and rushed to the side of the unconscious woman. Booth stood there a moment in shock. His brain seemed to be locked in slow motion and he couldn't think to help for just a moment.

Cam's head popped up from where she and Brennan were in the cardboard chute as she glanced first at Seeley and then at Grace sprawled onto the floor. Brennan joined Camille to see what was going on, a look of confusion on her face as Cam scrambled up out of the bin and ripped off her latex gloves to see if the woman was okay.

"Booth, what's going on," Brennan asked, unable to get out of the chute herself. She watched as her fiancé turned to look at her, his face pale. He staggered slightly before putting his hands on his knees.

"My mom…" he muttered before turning and walking away from the scene.