This is a story I wrote for the last marathon and was posted in the thread "Colors". At that time, I asked if anyone was interested in seeing more of it, and I got a good response, so I decided that today would be a good day to continue it. Below is the original chapter, beginning, so if it looks familiar, that's why! But the next chapter is all new. Hope you like it!

-B&B-

"Hey, um, hold on-" Booth put a hand on Brennan's arm as they exited the diner. "I'm getting a phone call."

Brennan watched his face as he held the phone up to his ear, and when he looked at her and mouthed 'Rebecca', she raised her eyebrows and pointed over to the shops across the street.

Booth nodded once and waved, and Brennan looked both ways before she crossed the street. Her brother's anniversary was coming up, and she wanted to purchase something to send to him and Amy. She walked into a well lit gift shop, the welcoming tinkling of windchimes in the doorway signaling her entrance, and Brennan remembered that this shop was where Angela had purchased a vase she'd always admired.

Stained glass lamps and sun-catchers twinkled from the lights and Brennan smiled as she let her fingers run along the edge of a few shelves. And now she remembered that everything in this store was made by local artists. It encouraged her to be standing in a room with so much evidence of creativity.

"Can I help you find anything?" a kind looking woman smiled from behind the cashier's register. Brennan forced a smile and lifted a hand in greeting.

"I'm looking for a gift for my brother and his wife for their anniversary. I would like something unique, but am perfectly capable of looking with my own eyes."

The salesperson's eyebrows lifted, but she smiled and nodded. "Let me know if you need assistance."

Brennan nodded and continued to look around. She rather liked the look of some dark wooden photo frames, and could imagine Amy placing photos of Hayley and Emma into them. Clasping a few in her arms, she lifted her gaze and admired several works of art, both framed and on canvas.

She walked into a small alcove near the front window of the store, and then paused.

It was always with her, always somewhere in the recesses of her mind, but every once in awhile, the feeling, the desire, the yearning for a baby seemed to overtake her. Almost without her consent, her hands laid the frames she held onto a shelf and she walked over toward the neat and precise pile of perfectly square-folded baby blankets. An actual moan escaped her lips as she lifted up a pink one. The yarn was softer than anything she'd ever felt, the pale color reaching deep, deep, deep within her to a place she'd locked away a long time ago. She looked up and through the storefront window could see Booth standing across the street, one hand on his hip and the other up near his face, his phone conversation still going. She watched him smile at more than likely something Rebecca was saying, and then shook her head, her mind feeling bruised with emotion.

The intricate knitting patterns both confused and soothed her mind, and she closed her eyes and clutched the blanket closer to her chest. She wasn't the type to dwell on past mistakes or failures, but for some reason, she'd been unable to completely shake her longing for a baby and specifically, her desire to have a baby with Booth. It wasn't something she was proud of, her inability to compartmentalize her feelings on the issue, and it wasn't anything she'd told anyone else about. Brennan had honestly thought she'd resolved it in her mind, but now knew that she hadn't.

-b&b-

Booth pressed his phone back into his pocket and pulled in a breath, looking down at his watch. He held up a hand in thanks to the cabbie who let him cross as he jogged across the street to where he'd thought he'd watched Brennan go during his phone call. Rebecca's story of Parker's insistence that 'Bones' be invited to his birthday party made him smile again, and Booth scanned the street for her, anxious to invite her.

But nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.

If he lived to be two hundred years old, nothing, nothing would catch his breath like the sight of his partner standing in a storefront window, her eyes closed and her pale face serene as she clutched a soft pink baby blanket to her chest.

It was the one thing they hadn't really discussed, not since his coma. There had been the awkward moment in her office, when Angela had brought it up, but stealing unsure glances at her wasn't exactly talking about it.

He stood, frozen in place, as he watched her, unable to tear his gaze away. An unsettling feeling slipped in around his heart as he remembered both his dream and the reality of the situation before his surgery.

They hadn't talked about it since, but he'd thought about it. And he'd come to the conclusion that she just figured he was damaged goods. He knew she thought he was a good person, but what genius scientist wants to have a baby with a brain tumor survivor? When she hadn't brought it up again, he'd figured she either wasn't interested any more, or she'd just lost interest in him as a viable option. Both thoughts had cut him to the core. Along with long-buried images, desires of morning kisses and her sitting on his lap, being together at work and at home, and even the idea of sliding into her, being with her to create a baby, their baby…

Booth had honestly thought he'd resolved that in his own heart, but now he knew that he hadn't.

-b&b—