Dear readers, welcome to the sequel of Beyond the Masquerade: Beyond Duty! We give you the prologue and from now on will try to uphold a twice-a-week updating schedule. We're very excited to have you back, and if you're new, this story can be read independently from Beyond the Masquerade. We hope you'll be enjoying this one!
Prologue
Booth had always been a light sleeper, so when his Bones groaned in pain, he woke up instantly. Immediately, he was on high alert. Their son should've been born two days ago, but still there had been no sign of his pending arrival. He was starting to think that his little guy preferred to stay warm and safe in his mother's belly as opposed to braving the big bad world and meeting his father and his sister. Booth rolled over and turned the lights on. "Bones? Darling, is this it?"
During the pregnancy, Booth, at times, had had a hard time of enjoying it to the fullest when he was constantly reminded that he had no idea what it had been like when Brennan - whom he had thought of as his Captain back then – had been pregnant with their daughter, Elena. Booth and Brennan had slept with each other just once, going on pure attraction since they didn't even know each other's names. Unfortunately – or fortunately – there'd been a misunderstanding about birth control, and Brennan had become pregnant. By that time, though, Booth had left campus to take care of his old grandfather Pops who had fallen very ill. It wasn't until four years later, after graduating from the police academy, that Booth looked for Brennan again. He hadn't been able to forget about her, the girl dressed as a pirate captain, but when he finally found her, he was received by her family with hostility. Eventually, Booth learned that he had a little girl, and found that Brennan wanted to get to know him. Slowly but surely, they'd become a family. Threats against their family had forced them to relocate to Washington DC, and they'd built up another life for themselves.
Since Elena was almost eight years old now, she had become curious like her father, and a family tradition had begun. Every night, Brennan would talk to him and their daughter about what it had been like to be pregnant. To feel Elena's kick for the first time, to talk to her late at night, to look at her tummy while she was in the bathtub and see all of the little signs that her daughter was safely inside of her womb. A few days ago, Brennan had started to talk about what the actual birth had been like and the amazing fact that the joy of having Elena in her arms had done a lot to diminish the physical pain she had been in.
Booth sat upright and took his love's hand in his. "It started, didn't it?" They had decided that she was going to give birth to their son in a hospital and so for the last month a packed duffle bag had taken up residence in their bedroom. And Booth had a feeling that it would finally be used tonight.
Brennan squeezed his hand and nodded. Finally, it was going to happen. Booth had been anxious the past days, well, probably for the past nine months. He was so sweet, so good to her. She was going to miss his massages, the foods he kept bringing home to her, how they did the chores together and Elena loved to help, but only if her daddy was helping, too. She'd become a real daddy's girl, but Brennan didn't mind. She still had a special relationship with her daughter, formed in the first four years of Elena's life, and they both knew it would last forever. Even though it had been eight years, Brennan remembered the pain that came from giving birth. She knew that these contractions were only the beginning. She squeezed Booth's hand harder. "Stay with me," she asked him like she'd asked her brother to stay eight years ago.
"Of course." Booth pressed his lips to her cheek and pulled back a little, so he could look into her eyes. "I'm staying close to you. Are you having a contraction?" Now, he could see that it had been a wise decision to have Elena stay the night at Angela and Jack's place, with their little boy Michael Vincent.
"I can handle these. The scary part comes later," she whispered as she rolled onto her side and drew up her knees a little.
"I'm taking you to the hospital before it gets worse, so they can definitely get you some pain relief," Booth promised her. "Can you stand?"
She nodded her head. "Yeah, I think so."
Booth went to put sneakers on and got his coat. He took her coat and a pair of sneakers with him as he returned to the bedroom. Booth helped her to put them on. Then, he grabbed the duffle and helped her to stand.
"If they don't give me something for the pain, I'm not giving birth. Remember to tell them that, okay?" Brennan emphasised as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Yes, darling," he soothed her as he helped her down the stairs, out of the house and into the car. Her words were highly illogical and irrational of course, but he could only imagine the pain she was going to be facing. And she had first-hand experience. He turned the sirens on and sped towards the hospital.
"Russ didn't have sirens," Brennan remarked with a pained smile, "I'm afraid I wasn't too nice to him in the car."
"That would only have been understandable," Booth smiled at her. "Hang in there, I'm almost at the hospital. Does it feel like you remember?" he asked her curiously.
"No, Elena was worse." As soon as she'd finished her sentence, she moaned as another contraction hit her. She clenched her jaw, having vowed to be nicer to the man accompanying her this time.
Maybe it wasn't as bad as she remembered because she wasn't as far along as she had been with Elena's labour. She'd been so fast.
Booth parked the car in front of the emergency entrance and when two nurses spotted him, he got out of the car. "My wife is in labour!" A wheelchair appeared and Booth encouraged Brennan to sit down in it. "I have to go park the car, darling. I'll be right back, okay?"
"Okay," she nodded. "I'll wait here." She didn't want them to get separated, and what she really didn't want was for her to be taken away and for him not to be able to find her as a consequence.
Booth managed to park the car nearby. Once the vehicle came to a standstill, he got out, grabbed the bag and hurriedly locked the doors. He ran over to his wife in the wheelchair and took over from the nurses, wheeling her inside himself.
The nurse showed the way to a room where Brennan could wait in privacy until she'd be ready to go to the delivery room. Booth helped her on the bed and took off her shoes. When he straightened, she suddenly felt a rush of love for him and pulled him closer, kissing him.
Booth embraced her tenderly and returned her kiss. "I'm here," he promised her. "You won't be alone this time. I'm here to help. Whatever you need, just tell me and I'll get it for you." He helped her out of her coat and kicked his own shoes off, putting his coat over hers. "Do you want me on the bed with you? Or do you need space?"
"No, come," she said and lay down, reaching for him. On the one hand, she was afraid of the pain, but on the other, she knew what she could expect and Booth was here. She trusted that things would be okay.
"How about that massage, Bones? You know? For your lower back?" It had helped in the past. Their birthing coach had told him it was his job to take care of mom while she was delivering the baby, so she could focus on her job. And he fully intended to take good care of her. "What do you think? Do you want me to try?"
She pulled him in for another kiss. "Thank you." She loved his massages; also, she knew he needed to have something to do. He hadn't done this before and he was nervous.
Booth lay down behind her and the comforting familiarity that came with the soothing, gentle motions of his hands on her lower back, managed to lower his anxiety. He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck and whispered softly, "Does this help, Bones?"
"It feels nice," she said as she breathed out. Another contraction hit and she practised the breathing from birthing class as Booth's warm hands tried to give her some comfort. "Elena was so fast," she said after the contraction passed, "I have a feeling this one's going to take much longer."
"I can call a nurse and check on the painkillers? When they will bring you one?" Booth continued his massage. "I hate seeing you in pain like this, Brenn," he told her quietly as he pressed the red nurse's button.
"You'll be seeing me in a lot more pain, believe me," she groaned. "Whatever offensive things I may say to you then, just ignore them. I genuinely hated you when I was pushing Elena out," she teased him, mustering a smile.
"I can tolerate a few hours of being insulted in exchange for a beautiful baby boy and a healthy, happy mommy," he told her as he continued his massage. "And you know, they will be giving you something for the pain, so it won't be as bad as when Elena was born."
"I really hope so." Then, she thought of something. "Booth, are you afraid of blood? Because if you are, you shouldn't look past my waist. It could get messy and I need you. You can't faint."
"I'm a cop. I've seen my fair share of blood. However..." he didn't really think he would ever be able to get the image of her lady parts out of his mind if he saw that during the birth, so he said, "I don't think I'm going to - uhm - " he blushed, "take a look, if you don't mind."
Brennan grinned. "I didn't think you would." She enjoyed fifteen minutes of bliss as she didn't have another contraction. She could take these ones, and they ended up lasting hours. Eventually, she even wished they would get stronger. She was getting tired and she wanted to use all of her power to push the baby out. When the intervals between contractions were decreasing, and she was becoming more dilated, she was given her pain medication. At this point, they'd been at the hospital for ten hours, and she was taking short naps in Booth's arms between contractions. She was in pain, but it was just manageable.
Hours and hours and hours had passed and they fell into an uncomfortable routine of sleeping for fifteen to twenty minutes, before a contraction demanded her attention. Booth was worried. Especially since Elena's birth had been so swift. He was reassured time and time again that this was normal - if somewhat unexpected - but that every childbirth was different. Her contractions were getting closer together and with it, his nervousness and anxiety increased. She was given the pain medication and he held her to him when she was given the okay to lay down again. "Things will start getting better now, Brenn," he reassured her as he held her against his chest, combing his fingers through her hair.
Brennan closed her eyes and sank into him again after another contraction. He was a bit silly for saying it would get better, because even with the pain medication giving her about two percent relief, things would only get worse until the baby and the placenta were out of her body. "I need it to go faster," she mumbled. "I've had enough."
"You're doing great," he told her. "I'm very proud of you. And I must admit, I don't think I could do what you're doing. Maybe we should walk around? Do you think that might help to speed it up?"
"Worth a try, I guess," she agreed. Booth got out of the bed first, and then helped her get her feet on the floor. She cringed. "Gravity's definitely working," she groaned, and when after a few steps she got another contraction, she wrapped her arms around Booth's neck and he held her up. "I want to keep standing as long as possible," she said, hoping it would speed things up.
Booth widened his stance a bit and wrapped his arms around her, their baby boy cradled safely between them. "You can lean on me," Booth reassured her.
It appeared the plan was working, and one hour later, things were finally starting to move faster. Brennan lay back down on the bed, a sheen of sweat covering her body. She'd been in pain for so long, she just wanted it to end. "I feel I need to push," she told Booth, and hoped the midwife would agree.
While they were standing, Booth had been rocking them back and forth a bit, the continuous motion helping her through the pain. She trembled and groaned in pain as he held her and he did his best to comfort her. When the midwife had entered an hour later, she'd raised an eyebrow, but hadn't commented. Now that Brennan was lying down, Booth clasped her hand in his. When she told him that she needed to push, he spared a glance at the midwife, who smiled and nodded. "Yes, my dear, it's almost time to push."
As a nurse came in to move her to the delivery room, the midwife continued to talk. "You know how this goes, but I'll repeat it for you. Wait for the contraction to push. Use it. When the contraction is over, relax and wait for the next one."
Brennan nodded her head. She wasn't able to speak anymore, she needed all of her energy for this. When she was given the okay, she started pushing, the pain ripping through her body. If she'd have had the energy, she would have screamed her lungs out. Her body was weakened from the long twelve hours of being in labour, and she noticed that she wasn't pushing with the power she'd had with Elena. But then, she'd taken only a few hours. This was quite another story. Booth was looking a bit pale and helpless, but he supported her very well. When she thought she would faint from the pain, she finally felt the head pop out, and on the next push, the shoulders and body followed. Completely exhausted, she fell back into the pillows as sharp cries filled the room.
"Oh, Bones," Booth leaned down and kissed her cheek several times."I'm so, so proud of you. Look, look what you did, there he is, our boy." The baby boy was placed on his mommy's soft breasts and Booth held him in place as Brennan tiredly opened her eyes.
She looked at her son and tears gathered in her eyes. The worst was over, now, and their baby was beautiful. The pain lessened as an endorphin rush washed over her. She'd only felt this once before, and that was when Elena had been placed on her chest. She raised her head so she could kiss her son's head. Then, she looked up at Booth and smiled weakly, but happily.
"He's perfect, Brenn," Booth sighed and smiled happily. "Thomas Henry Booth. Welcome to the world, son. You're very lucky. You'll have the best mom ever."
It was so nice to have Booth here, the father of her baby. She was lucky to have shared this experience with the two most important men in her life. She'd ask Booth to call Russ in a minute.
The midwife interrupted. "Honey, can you push again? You'll stop bleeding once the placenta's out."
Booth frowned. He knew that the placenta would have to follow, but not that she'd continue to bleed until she had pushed that out of her body as well. Gently, his son was lifted from his mother's chest and he reached for her hand. "You can do this, Brenn. Once you're done, we can go back to your room and hold our son."
Where does she want me to get the energy from? Brennan thought desperately. She felt too weak to push again, but tried her best.
"It's taking too long, dear, I really need you to push for me, now," the midwife told her a bit worriedly.
"Come on, Brenn." Booth cupped her cheek in his palm and tilted her chin, so he could look into her eyes. "You're bleeding. I know you're tired. I know you want to stop, but that's not an option right now. Thomas and Elena need their mom. Come on," he spoke a bit more determined. "You can do this. I know you can. I'm so proud of you." He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "Push, darling."
"Do it yourself," she groaned and then put all of her willpower in another push.
"Good job!" the midwife told her and pulled the placenta out of her. "I'll have someone clean up and I'm going to have a chat with the doctor. I believe you're a borderline blood transfusion."
But Brennan hardly heard her. She felt nauseous and ready to faint. All she could do was lie very still with her eyes closed.
"Hang on," Booth whispered as he managed to somehow reign in the panic that was starting to build inside of him. "You did it. You'll be fine. Just stay with me, darling." Booth murmured as he continued to hold her hand. Every second felt like an hour and by the time the midwife came back, it was nearly impossible to not snap. "That sure took long enough. Does she need a blood transfusion? Will she be okay? What's happening to her? Somebody talk to me!"
"Given her age and good health, we've decided not to do the transfusion," the midwife told them. "She'll likely be very weak for a couple of days, but once she's eaten and feels a bit better, you can take her home."
Booth looked at his partner, who was extremely weak and pale. "No," he shook his head. "I think you should do a blood transfusion. We're the same blood type. You can use my blood."
"The doctor would like to wait a few hours, at least until after she's eaten. A nurse will come check on her every fifteen minutes. You don't have to worry, we're keeping a close eye on her."
"Will she be able to nurse?" Booth asked the midwife. They had discussed it and she was keen on breastfeeding their son, just like she'd done for their daughter.
"Yes, she's allowed to do anything she feels up to," the midwife answered as a nurse started cleaning up the blood. "You know what, there's blood on the bed, so we're going to transfer her to a clean one. I'll take care of it right away. Any more questions at this point?"
"Yes, where is our boy? Is everything okay with him? I want him in the room with us," Booth insisted as he held onto Brennan's hand. He was scared and overwhelmed and he wanted his family where he could see them.
"He's perfectly healthy. I'll have him brought here," the midwife assured the new dad.
He nodded. "Now, tell me how I can help you." The nurse had finished cleaning Brennan up and Booth was anxious to get her into her bed so that she could eat, rest and recover.
The midwife signalled to a nurse in the hallway and a clean bed was brought in. "You can transfer her if you want. Otherwise, I'll call more nurses to help."
"No, I'll do it," he turned to his pale partner. "Darling?" his voice was soothing and warm. "Can you open your eyes, Brenn?"
She'd let Booth take care of everything. Now that he was addressing her, she listened more carefully. She opened her eyes and looked at him. She wanted her baby.
He could see that longing in her eyes and he caressed her cheek with his thumb. "He's happy. He'll be brought to your room. Can you wrap your arms around my neck, Brenn?"
She nodded and lifted her arms. They felt so heavy. She was glad he was close to her.
Booth carefully pushed his arms underneath her knees and her back, lifting her into his embrace. He lowered her down on the clean bed and kissed her temple. "Let's go and get our boy, darling." He helped the midwife push the bed back to her room, giving the midwife a look that said he needed his son. His wife needed their little boy.
As Brennan's bed was installed, the crib was wheeled inside as well. Brennan smiled as she heard her baby crying still. The boy had good lungs!
Booth walked over to the crib and lifted his baby into his arms. "There, there," he soothed his youngest. "Mommy is right here." Booth kissed the baby's soft cheeks, inhaling his baby scent as the midwife and nurse finally left the family to themselves. Booth sat down on the edge of the bed. "See? There's your mommy."
Brennan lifted her arm and rested her hand on Booth's leg so she could play with her baby boy's little fingers. "You should start calling everyone," Brennan spoke in a soft voice.
Booth looked at her. "Are you sure you're ready for that? You look really pale, darling," he told her worriedly.
"It'll make me feel better," she assured him. "Can I feed him yet?"
"The midwife said you can do anything you feel up to, so if you want to, I think you can. Although you should probably have something to eat first, before you feed this little guy."
"I don't want to wait," she told him as she started to sit up a bit more. "This is the best feeling in the world," she smiled as she bared one breast.
"Okay," Booth agreed, as he stood and sat down by her side. "But I'm helping." Gently, he helped her to sit up, then handed her their little boy. He sat on the bed behind her and guided her back down, so her back was resting against his chest. He then supported her arms with his own as she held their son. Booth knew she was exhausted and weak and he didn't want her to have to focus on anything else except on the feeling of their baby boy nursing for the first time. So he held her to his chest and he held Thomas up as he watched this little miracle unfold in his own arms.
Brennan contently leaned against his chest. It felt like they were feeding their baby together. "I love you, Booth," she said as she pressed a kiss to his arm next to her.
"And I love you, Brenn," he said softly as he kissed her shoulder tenderly, "And everything that you've given me in the eight years since I've met you." When Thomas was fed and burped, he fell asleep in his mother's arms. Booth reached for his cell phone and looked at it. "Who do you want to call first?"
"Angela," she said without hesitation, "To let Elena know she has a brother. Then, Russ, my dad, Hank, Jared, and I can't think any further than that."
Booth kissed her cheek. "Perfect."
"We have a big family, now," Brennan smiled as she caressed Thomas' cheek. "This baby was born into a loving, safe life."
That was the prologue! Will Elena love her little brother or have difficulty sharing the attention? Will their family continue to be safe and loving? Stay tuned for chapter 1 and let us know what you thought of the birth of a new family member!