Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Bones show but a copy of the season 4 DVDs. Although, I did contemplate buying a copy of one of the books that inspired the show...
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Bones was right there, sitting on the couch with a book beside her, flipped upside down to mark her place. She was whispering to her stomach, rubbing where I could see the baby clearly through the protective covering of Bones' skin, and smiling like her whole world just lit up with fireworks. So intent on talking to that baby - our baby - that she didn't hear me come into her apartment, I simply stood there and took in the moment. A little voice in my head, which sounded eerily like Angela, prompted me to pull out my phone and take a picture of the scene before me.
The flash of the camera alerted Bones to the fact that she wasn't alone, and just before the click of the shutter sounded, Bones looked up at me with such love and joy in her eyes, that I knew I would keep that picture visible at all times.
Bones stood, hands still on her stomach, and walked slowly towards me, the smile never leaving her face. Gently, she took my hands and placed them on a certain spot over her skin, and I dared myself to hope. Brennan had felt little flutterings for a few weeks, and I was nearly driven insane with jealousy that she could feel our daughter and I couldn't. As I held my hands still, I waited with baited breath to see what would happen. I didn't think I could stand it if it turned out to be false hope.
Then, so faint that I didn't know if it had just been my imagination, a little bitty kicking sent jolts up and down my arm. I knelt to the ground in front of Bones, and softly placed my ear where my hand had just been. If I fooled myself, I could imagine that I felt her heartbeat, but I couldn't think to fool myself into believing anything. Instead, I waited again, hoping to feel that little baby foot once more. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, which realistically was only about ten seconds, I felt it again, but simply more pronounced. A smile that matched Bones' spread across my face, my lips unable to restrain themselves from betraying their happiness. I turned my head, and placed a small kiss upon the barrier between father and daughter.
I stood, took Bones' hand, and started towards the couch. Halfway there, I was pulled back, turned around, and embraced by the woman carrying the child we made together. A whisper sounded in my ear, but it was so quiet that I couldn't make it out.
I pulled back to ask Bones to repeat what she had said, and was presented with tears silently falling down her cheeks. Using my thumbs, I wiped away the tracks left behind, as well as the fresh ones pooling at the creases of her eyes.
Before I could ask what was wrong, Bones said, "I find that the hormonal shift during pregnancy has left me with the inability to contain my sporadic changes in emotion."
Bones was always Bones, pregnant or not. I said, "Bones, baby, that's okay. You can cry on my shoulder any time you want."
A slight annoyed look crossed her face as she replied, "Don't call me 'baby.' That endearment, as well as many others, has been over used and commercialized to such an extent that it no longer holds quantifiable meaning or value."
"Okay, Bones. No more 'baby.' " A statement like hers, with tears still leaking out of her eyes made it very difficult to maintain a straight face as I spoke, but I was able to pull it off.
Bones began to complete my earlier mission by pulling us towards the couch cushions. Once we deposited ourselves there, I pulled Bones into my side, wrapped my arms around her shoulders, and asked what she had whispered earlier.
"Oh ... it was nothing of significance. Or, rather, it was a mere observation on my account. I saw you standing there, with your phone out, taking my picture, and I thought of Sweets."
"Sweets?" I asked incredulously. "You looked at me and thought of ... Sweets?" I was definitely confused.
"Yes. I have been spending time today, thinking of all that's happened in the past few years. I spent the most time thinking of things like Kenton, Epps, the Gravedigger, your brain tumor." A pause. "Sully." Another, slightly longer pause. "Hannah." Surprisingly, I didn't feel the same animosity I usually did when I thought of Sully and Hannah myself. I, too, had been considering things like this. The gang leader I threatened for Bones. The reporter I threatened for Bones. The two boys in the foster system I helped for Bones. These kinds of thoughts always served to make me think of how to take care of Bones, and now our baby girl, whether they would know it or not. I realized Bones was still talking, so I broke out of my silent thoughts and listened to her vocalized ones.
"...I spent the most amount of time thinking about the conversation we had before."
Unfortunately, she stopped there, with an expectant look on her face. I couldn't tell her I wasn't listening, and I couldn't very well pretend I had the slightest clue as to what she was talking about. Thinking fast, I said, "I'm sorry, Bones. I just ... I keep thinking of feeling that first little baby girl kick." Liar.
Luckily, she didn't seem to catch on. She simply smiled down at her stomach. She looked back up at me after a few seconds, and said, "I know. That's what I was feeling when you first came home. But as to what I was saying earlier, I found I most thought about the conversation we had in Sweets' office." At my blank stare (which was completely warranted, I assure you. I've lost count of how many times the two of us have sat in that twelve-year-old kid's office), she continued, "When we played the ridiculous word game which required an instantaneous reaction to one spoken word?"
As she spoke, my mind became focused on part of that particular memory.
" Hunger.
Sex.
Woah.
Horse.
Cowboy.
Child.
Baby.
Booth.
What, what do you think I'm a baby?
You're a father.
Oh, mother!
Birth.
Happy.
Sperm.
Sperm? Isn't this getting a little weird?
No, keep going.
Okay, egg.
I want a baby.
Woah!
Horse...? "
Pulled from the memory, Booth noticed the smile on Bones' face had broadened.
"While I got my desire, though not in the way I had originally intended, I find I am ... exceptionally pleased that we are having a child together, like we were going to. I am glad that circumstances are different, and I am extremely grateful that we have evolved into what we are now."
"And, what exactly are we, Bones?"
"We are two people who love each other, are buying a home together, and preparing to raise a child together. At that point in time, before your surgery, I was not strong, and you had only just started to get angry. Now, we have moved past all that together, and if past events tell me anything, it's that you will always be by my side, as I will always stand by you."
To hear Bones say all that, and use the words love and home instead of attraction or house, truly opened my eyes to how far we both have grown, both as individuals and together. Bones continued with her words.
"Once I told everyone that we were having a child together, everyone seemed to think that I was going about it the wrong way." The way she said the last three words, coupled with the adorable, faint scrunch of her nose, made me smile. It was as if she were offended by the idea that an idea of hers could be wrong in any way, shape, or form. "At the time, I couldn't conceive how it could be termed as the wrong way to go about having a child while still being single. Now, however, I am very happy to say that I'm equally as happy that we are having this baby together. The right way."
The right way.
A/N: I have to share: I thought of this as I was trying to go to sleep. I was so afraid I wouldn't remember the idea in the morning that, instead of just saving a Word document with a title that would help me remember, I wrote it all out. I hope you all like it, and I would love to receive feedback. (I promised myself that I wouldn't ask for reviews, so you, dear readers, will simply have to make do with a lovely little suggestion.
Also, the wording of the conversation in Sweets' office is from 4x25, The Critic in the Cabernet. If the way it's formatted is confusing, Booth is bolded, Brennan is not, and Sweets was the standard formatting. I thought it would be a simpler way of writing the conversation, without having to take you through a long-winded explanation of things we already know. Also, if it's still confusing, read it as you watch the episode. It might help clear up the cobwebs in your brain. :)
Happy reading!