Bonesology Writing Challenge:
Booth and Brennan are getting ready to welcome their little squintling and they need some baby-free time before the big event. Write about their 'babymoon' or a similar vacation pre-birth, just B&B, talking about their future, enjoying each other's company (Make sure you label any M rated submissions!)...anything that doesn't have to do with baby furniture, diapers, birth plans, picking names or cutting the cord.

I worked really hard to keep this a T rated fic. That's hard for me, and especially since this is a babymoon fic. Smut wanted to happen so bad. So while sex is definitely implied, it isn't written out. I'm writing some smut into the next chapter of First a Dream; if it bums out that this one isn't explicit, that should be out probably tomorrow sometime.

One last thing, a huge thank you to -NCISxBonesxOTH- for betaing and the inspiration for the title. Much love to you for being so quick about it. :)

Just the Two of Us

I'd had help arranging a week off of work for the both of us from Cam, who simply told Bones that she'd accumulated too much overtime and that she needed to take some time off. Of course Bones argued that she would more than make up for it during her maternity leave when the baby came, so Cam made up some excuse about needing to use it by a certain date. Miraculously, Bones bought it and didn't question her any further.

When picking out a destination for a Babymoon, I had hoped to be able to keep it a surprise. I also wanted to take her somewhere she'd never been before.

But the problem I encountered there was, where do you take a woman who has already been practically everywhere without asking her where she hasn't been and then ruining the surprise?

I wrote down everywhere that I knew for certain that she'd been, either because she'd talked about it in the past or because it had taken her away from our partnership at times.

I asked Angela if she could add any places that she'd been to the list, and did the same with Cam and Hodgins, who all added several places to my list. I even went to the mental institution to talk to the boy wonder who remembers everything he's ever been told to ask if he could add anything to the list. Of course, he added several.

I then asked Russ and Max about places they had gone to as a family and added those to my list.

You're not going to believe this, but I also called Michael Stires to ask about places that she'd been for her course studies as a grad student and doctoral candidate.

I really wanted to take her to a place that she'd never been.

One day during lunch, I'd left the list sitting on my coffee table by accident and when we got home from dinner that night she found it and asked me what it was.

Of course before I even answered, her speedy brain immediately recognized it as a list of places that she'd been to. Without telling her why, and miraculously, without her asking why, I asked her if there was anything she could add to the list. It struck me as odd that she'd answered truthfully without questioning why.

One night, when Bones was taking a short nap, I sat with my complete list of places that she'd been; I was able to make a map and determine the places that she'd never been that would make a good Babymoon destination.

When my map was complete, I jotted down several of the places that were not marked.

Bahamas.

Jamaica.

Rome.

Hawaii.

Cancun.

Florida Keys.

Dublin.

Just my luck that she'd have never been to real vacation destinations such as these. I should have known that I wouldn't need that list. I wasted so much time with that, but at least I knew for sure now.

Still, I shouldn't have been surprised. Bones has never taken a vacation that didn't include work.

Bones is probably not going want to spend her time on a beach. She's very self-conscious of her belly whether she'll admit it or not. I think she's gorgeous and I love her belly, but I know based on her reaction when I tell her that, that she questions my objectivity when it comes to her body.

All of that sun, eh… she'll probably just burn from all of the sun exposure anyway. We can go anytime she wants in the future and she'll probably enjoy it more when she isn't pregnant.

She'll probably enjoy a place where she can see the historical sites and museums and get a chance to learn about the location and the people.

Italy or Ireland? I asked myself.

"Ireland," I heard her soft voice say from the armchair to my left. I was startled by her presence and definitely didn't expect an audible answer to my question. When I looked up at her from the floor where I was sitting between the couch and coffee table, she continued. "If you're trying to choose between them, Ireland," Bones said.

Damn it. I had apparently been talking to myself. I was so concentrated on the map that I didn't even know she was in the room with me. I thought she was still taking a nap.

I tried to hide what I was doing, which was a moot point made obvious when she added, "I know you're planning a vacation."

"What? How?"

"After nearly twelve years of working for the Jeffersonian, all of the sudden, Cam makes me take a mandatory week off because of too much overtime? I don't think so; besides you've been sneaking around for about a week. You made a list of all of the places I've been."

"What if I was just curious about the places you've been to?"

She ignored my question and barreled right on, "If you're trying to determine where I'd rather go out of places I've never been, I prefer Ireland. I've always wanted to go. You could have saved a lot of time by just asking me."

I stopped rustling though the things in front of me and I put my pen down on the table with a little more frustration than I intended to show.

"I just wanted it to be a surprise, Bones."

She got up from the arm chair and sat down next to me in front of the couch, and she curled into my side.

After I relaxed and accepted the fact that my surprise was blown, she started to speak softly to me.

"I don't need surprises from you. My life with you… every day is an adventure, Booth. I don't need much else," I could tell she was working something over in her head, so I gave her time to make the addendum that I knew was coming, "but I recognize the desire to relieve your mate's stress and provide a relaxing vacation away from reality for a bit. I also see the appeal for you to offer this to me as a surprise. You want to take care of the arrangements and work out the details and let me relax and not have to worry about that… and it's very romantic of you to want to show me the world in places I've never been and," she was getting closer to me, and was now inches from my face, "also consider places that would be intriguing to me."

I knew it was coming yet, she stole my breath away when she leaned up to kiss me.

"Thank you, Booth. The real surprise would have been if you didn't try to plan something like this for me, and it would have been an unwelcome one."

. . . . . .

"Bones," I rubbed what I could reach of her back and shoulders when we got off the plane in Dublin, "are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, now that we're on land. That was one of the roughest flights I've ever been on. I've never gotten sick like that on a flight before. And the landing left a lot to be desired."

"You've also never flown while pregnant before. Here, let me get you some water," we walked up to a vending machine on our way to the baggage claim area. I pulled out a few Euros and got a bottle of water for the both of us.

I watched Bones take small sips so as not to upset her stomach any more.

"Better?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Good, let's go claim our bags and get our rental car."

. . . . . .

Our first day in Ireland was mostly spent fighting jetlag. Bones wanted to go out and spend the day seeing the different tourist attractions, but I knew she needed her rest. And there would be plenty of time to see anything we wanted to see.

She disagreed, so we compromised.

We went to see a few places, got lunch, and then returned to our room for a little afternoon nap before we went out for dinner and then spent the rest of the night in our room.

Our second morning was a pleasant one. We had a lazy start to our day and spent a good portion of our morning making love.

We eventually showered and went out to breakfast, which was more like brunch, where we made our plans for the day. We each chose activities to do for the day.

We went to a library—because Bones wanted to; I told her that you don't go to libraries while on vacation—the Chester Beatty Library, which as it turned out was not just a library; it was a museum and was actually very fascinating. They had all kinds of old historical texts and manuscripts on exhibit: European medieval and renaissance manuscripts, Egyptian papyrus texts, beautifully illuminated copies of the Qur'an, the Bible, paintings, and woodblock prints. Bones was more excited that I was, but I still enjoyed myself at her delight.

The forecast for today was about seventy degrees, which as I understand it is a little warm for this time of year. I found a list of beaches in Dublin. The water was cold, and we didn't go swimming, but we at least enjoyed the time outdoors and took a nice walk along the beach and relaxed in some lounge chairs under a little beach gazebo—which was nice because we got our fun in the sun after all, and didn't even get sunburns.

Then, we went on a Castles and Cathedrals iWalk tour. We downloaded the free podcast, printed a map, and let my iPod guide us on the walking tour—that was thankfully something we could do at our own pace, as Bones is a little slow these days; uh, don't tell her that, though—through some of the oldest and most elaborately constructed buildings that either of us had ever seen all within walking distance of each other.

After that, Bones was very tired. So we went back to the room for a bit to put away some of the souvenirs we'd picked up and to relax for a bit before dinner.

When we got there, relaxing was apparently the furthest thing from her mind, despite her swollen and aching feet.

As soon as I joined her on the bed, she had positioned herself on top of me with her legs straddling my hips. There was no way either of us were going to take a nap, and there was no way I was going to tell her no. Not when she was looking at me like that.

I planned on there being plenty of that while we were on vacation together, so I definitely did not say no.

. . . . . .

Our third day found us leaving Dublin for the day to tour the country on a tour bus. Bones assured me that she'd be fine with being confined in the uncomfortable seats as long as they made the frequent stops to walk around—and to take bathroom breaks, because there was no way she was using that sorry excuse of a bathroom at the rear of the bus—as was promised in the brochure.

We had a guide who narrated throughout the day about the Irish history of many of the landscapes and cultural landmarks we saw. We toured through the countryside and heard about Castles and stately homes as we passed them. There were Monastic Ruins, lakes, caves, wildlife, guided walks, botanical gardens, and mountains. There was even an all inclusive guided tour of Glendalough, a sixth century Monastic settlement.

By the end of day three we were so exhausted, that I'm not even sure either of us said goodnight to each other before falling asleep in each other's arms. When we woke up the next morning, we laughed at ourselves for being so exhausted that we didn't even change out of our street clothes before falling asleep.

We bickered about who was to blame for not staying awake long enough to tell the other to wake up to change.

Of course, she won—rightfully so—after claiming, "Booth, gestating your child is very taxing on my body. What's your excuse?"

Touché, Bones.

Of course, there was no way to answer that other than to kiss her and take full advantage of our newly energized bodies.

That day, well… we spent the whole day taking advantage of being alone together choosing to only leave our room to attend an evening performance of "B for Baby" at Abbey Theatre, knowing that once we got back to DC, I'd have to go back to work and she'd be back in the lab and our alone time would be greatly diminished, and even more so after the arrival of our baby girl in a few months.

While the play was an hour and thirty minutes that I didn't much care for, Bones enjoyed it very much. Again, I found my own delight in that alone. Her happiness was everything to me.

Much of the rest of our trip included more and more time alone in our room along with a few cultural activities and dinners.

Bones took me dancing one night. We didn't dance much because after a while her feet hurt, but we met a nice Irish couple who was not shy about teaching us some of the more traditional Irish dances as the music changed over to some more traditional tunes and folk dances that Ireland is known for.

That night we both spent time soaking our feet in a sea salt and then I rubbed some of that peppermint foot lotion that Bones likes into her feet. Then she somehow coaxed me into trying it. I have to admit that it felt pretty good to have her rub that stuff into my feet. It felt cool, tingly, and warm all at the same time. And having her skillfully trained mind guiding the hands massaging my feet didn't hurt either. She really knew how to manipulate my feet to make them feel better. She always knew exactly what to do.

Our last morning there we ate breakfast and reminisced about everything we'd done while there. We talked briefly about wishing that we'd spent more time outside of our room the last few days, but then that quickly turned into giggles as Bones said that she really didn't feel like she missed out on that much and that she would much rather spend her time exploring me.

We made sure we both had all of our stuff packed and our valuables, cell phones, and cameras secured in our carry-ons. We made sure we had our tickets and our passports before I took one last look around our room to make sure we had everything before leaving.

The drive to the airport was quiet as Bones watched the lush green scenery go by the window.

We were certainly sad to leave Ireland, but we both knew that no matter where we'd been in the past or where we will go in our future, Ireland would always hold a special place in our hearts as the first place that we'd gone to alone on a vacation where we could truly enjoy being us without the excuse of having to work.

The was one of the few things that we had together, just the two of us.

Please don't read and run. I would really value your opinion on this. :) Pretty please?

XOXO,
CrayonClown