A/N: A couple things…first, this follow-up to my one shot The Heart Where I Have Roots, is a very late birthday gift for my friend Frankie. She assures me that it's lateness isn't as important as its content so we'll roll with that. In any case, Happy Belated Birthday, Frankie! I hope it was a wonderful day.

Secondly, this is unabashedly fluffy. Like, cotton-candy-topped-with-caramel-sauce-and-whipped-cream, make-your-teeth-ache sweet. So if you enjoy that sort of thing, you're in luck. If not…I have all kinds of depressing shit you can read elsewhere on my profile. ;)

Finally, the title is a line from the poem Baby's World by Rabindranath Tagore. You should check out his work, it's extraordinary.

Enjoy!
~NM

Reason Makes Kites of Her Laws and Flies Them

The noise confused Booth at first as he pulled himself out of sleep in a fog. Once he had acclimated himself and realized, without a small amount of staggering relief, that he was no longer alone in bed, the soft sighs coming from the baby monitor finally made sense. With a face-splitting grin and a quick glance at Brennan still sleeping peacefully beside him, Booth jumped out of bed and grabbed a pair of sweats, tugging them on before stepping carefully and quietly down the hallway to the nursery.

Even from the doorway, Booth could see the tiny fists waiving in delight as Christine watched Parker's gift twirling above her head, and his heart clenched painfully when a noise that sounded suspiciously like a giggle emanated from the crib. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in the milestone, before stepping fully into the room and towards his daughter's bed.

Booth had imagined this moment almost every day for the last three months. Dozens of scenarios crossed his mind, each more saccharine than the next, and all inevitably ending with tears and relief. Those same tears pricked his eyes as the baby turned her attention to the person hovering over her crib. With a very familiar smile, Christine reached for her father, causing his heart to clench in his chest as he accommodated them both by pulling her out of her bed and holding her close, nuzzling her neck and taking in her sweet baby smell. Somehow sensing Booth's need to hold her close, Christine lay still, allowing him to hold her tightly while swaying back and forth in a soothing cadence. His large hand rubbed circles on her small back, silently cataloguing her growth since the last time he'd held her like this while damning Christopher Pelant to the depths of Hell for causing their painful separation.

Eventually Christine grew restless and began to pull back from his embrace, and Booth allowed her to tip back, holding her back safely as father and daughter regarded each other carefully. Round, trusting blue eyes locked on kind brown ones as they had what would look to an outsider like one of the silent conversations Booth and Brennan had engaged in numerous times over their long partnership. With a one-toothed grin, Christine raised her little arms and began slapping Booth's cheeks enthusiastically. But it was the noise she was making that took Booth completely off guard and almost brought him to his knees.

"Da! Da! Dadadadadadadaaaa!" The baby squealed, clutching Booth's slack face and squeezing painfully. The discomfort barely registered as he soaked in his daughter's gorgeous voice calling his name for the first time.

"That's her first word." Brennan's sleep-soaked voice came from the door way, where she stood quietly taking in the reunion of her family. She stepped forward to join them, placing a kiss on Christine's head and another on Booth's bare shoulder. "She has been verbalizing, but nothing understandable…until this moment."

Booth had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could speak. "Really? I mean, you're- you're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

Brennan smiled sardonically. "When have you ever known me to obfuscate to save anyone's feelings, even yours?"

He chuffed a laugh and pulled her into his side, holding both his girls close for the first time in three months. "Yeah. You got me there, Bones." He looked down at Christine again, who was watching her parents' interactions in fascination. "I just can't believe she waited until now to bust it out."

"Yes, her timing is fortuitous." Brennan agreed. "But…I did show her your picture every day. And I had some video of the two of you on my phone that we watched, so…"

Booth cupped the side of her head in his free hand and pulled her into his shoulder again. "Every day?"

She shrugged one shoulder, feigning nonchalance. "I missed you. We missed you. It made me feel closer to you."

Booth nodded, suddenly sleepy again. "I missed the hell out of both of you, Bones." He dropped another kiss on his baby's head and turned them both towards the door. "So much that I can't be away from either of you right now." He squeezed her bicep to silence her expected protest. "I know, I know…you don't like to have her in bed with us, but I need this, Bones." He gave her a pleading look as they reached their bedroom. "Please?"

"Booth…" Brennan breathed, shaking her head. "I have no issue with the three of us sleeping in the same bed. In fact, I would prefer that arrangement as well." She walked to her side of the bed and turned the blankets back down to make room. She looked up at him, almost shyly. "Actually, I have grown accustomed to sleeping with Christine and I was missing her presence."

"Well, that settles it, then." Booth laid the baby in the middle of the bed and crawled in after her, watching intently as Brennan joined them, pulling the blankets over them like their own, private cocoon. They turned on their sides, facing an already-sleeping Christine, and locked eyes.

Brennan's question escaped her lips before she could stop it. "Can you ever forgive me, completely?"

"Bones…" He shook his head and looked down at the mattress, tracing a finger along the edges of Christine's sleeper, avoiding his partner's eyes. "I-" Looking back up, Booth smiled softly. "I forgave you the second the car pulled away. But, it might take me a bit to let it go completely." He looked unsure for a moment. "Is that okay?"

Brennan nodded, relieved. "Of course." She lay back against the pillow, head turned towards him. "We'll hold. Right?"

"Yeah, Bones." Booth mimicked her position, lying down as close to the baby as he safely could. "We're the center. We'll hold."