Seeley Booth slowly walked up the stairs to the landing above. He stopped to catch his breath for a moment, reaching down to massage his knee and stretch his back, then walked towards the last door on the right. He gently knocked.

"Come in. No, wait! Who is it?" a voice came from inside. Sweet, hopeful, nervous.

"Who do you think it would be? It's me, Dad!" he spoke through the door.

"Well, I was just checking. You can't be too careful." the voice replied.

Booth smiled to himself and shook his head. He turned the handle and pushed the door open.

His heart seemed to jump up into his throat as he took in the vision before him. An angel was standing in the middle of the room, swathed in a flurry of white satin and lace. His wife was on her knees, fiddling with something as she always did.

He took a minute to take in the scene. Mother and daughter, spending their last moments under the same roof, together. His attention was drawn back to his daughter who was applying a pale pink lipstick. He stared at her and a thousand memories suddenly swirled around his mind.

"I'm sorry Bones. I'm so sorry" he said, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"What are you apologising for?" Brennan asked as she panted in-between contractions.

"This! This place! This isn't how it was supposed to be Bones. Not like this. Not in a place like this." he said, resting one arm across his knee. He was worried. Here they were in a stable at the back of a hotel in the middle of nowhere. The woman he loved was lying on a pile of straw on the ground. And that damned horse kept snorting at them. He shook his head. He could feel his bottom lip begin to quiver.

"Booth, this is the perfect place. The perfect place." she said, laying a hand upon his arm and trying to smile bravely. Truth be told, she was a bit scared. Nobody had warned her what labour was really going to be like. She had thought she knew everything she needed to know. Medically. She had no idea about the physical and mental side of things.

What she did know was that she was as safe with him here, as in any hospital. She trusted him implicitly. He would never let her fall. Never.

"Ooh here comes another one Booth" she gasped as another contraction overtook her. She leaned over her swollen belly and groaned "I need to push. I need to push now!" she yelled at him.

Booth lifted her feet and placed them against his shoulders, pulling her hips closer to him. "Brace against me Bones, and give it your best shot." he said as he crossed himself. "OK, as soon as you're ready, push."

Brennan didn't need to be told twice. She bore down and pushed as hard and as deep into her belly as she could. She could feel the baby move.

"I can see the head Bones!" Booth said, watching as a thatch of light hair appeared, then retreated. "You gotta push again Bones. Push hard!" he encouraged her as the most amazing thing he'd ever witnessed happened. "The head is out! Bones, the head is out!" he yelled excitedly.

"Booth, can you stop. You sound like you're calling a sporting game. I need to concentrate." Brennan gasped, then made an odd squealing sound as she curled up and began to force the tiny being out of her body. Her hand was wrapped around his, squeezing it as she strained.

He wanted to pull his hand out of her grasp, but she had hold of it too tight. And it hurt. It hurt really badly. But he reminded himself that what she was doing probably hurt a bit more. Well, a lot more. So he grit his teeth and put up with the pain.

"I've got her shoulders Bones, wait. I need to just move this, like that. Now, in a minute I want one more. One more push. As hard as you can" he encouraged as he slipped the umbilical cord over the baby's head and out of harms way. He tried to swallow, but his mouth was so dry. Before he could finish that thought, his daughter slithered out of her mother's body and landed in his free hand. He pulled his other hand from out of Brennan's as she fell backwards onto the hay.

He couldn't say anything for a moment. He just stared at this red, slimy, squishy thing that was his child. Then he realised she wasn't crying. Her perfect little face was blue. Panic started to rise in his throat. He turned her over, her head hanging down to drain mucous from her mouth. At least he hoped that's what would happen. That's what he had read. He noticed how white her buttocks were and he panicked and slapped her bottom sharply then flipped her over, preparing himself for the fact that he may have to perform CPR on this tiny body. Fortunately, he had done just the right things and as he turned her over she spluttered and spat sticky bubbles from her mouth, and a high pitched mewling sound erupted from her. He thought it had taken forever, when really less than a minute or two had passed.

He gently wiped the mucous from her face, and stared properly at her face for the very first time. Her eyes were dark and he couldn't tell if they were blue or brown. Her tiny button nose was turned up at the end and her mouth was a delicate cupids bow. "She's perfect." he thought as he passed her into her mother's waiting arms.

"Look at her Booth. Just look at her." Brennan whispered as she cradled her daughter in her arms. Booth lay down beside her, cradling them both in his arms.

"We're a family!"

"and before you know it, you'll have your own family Christine. Isn't that right Booth?" he heard a voice muffled in the background of his daydream.

"Booth?"

"Daddy! Are you wandering again?"

Booth blinked and he was back in his daughter's bedroom. Both Christine and Brennan were staring at him.

He spluttered a fake cough and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at his mouth, then quickly at his eyes. "I don't know what you women are talking about" he objected, as the two women laughed together.