A/N: I told myself I wouldn't write anything with the current storyline, but I can't help it.
Booth closed the door and leaned against it for a few seconds before turning his attention to Brennan. "Bones are you sure you're okay? You should have gone to the hospital."
"I'm fine Booth, if I'd had the home birth I'd wanted I wouldn't have gone to the hospital..."
"Yeah, but someone other than me would have been there and they'd know if you and Christine were okay."
"Booth I promise we're both fine. And more than likely no one but you and I would have been here anyway... Christine was way too impatient to wait on any form of medical assistance." Brennan smiled at the sleeping infant in her arms.
"Do you need anything?"
"No, but can you take Christine while I shower? I feel…gross…and I smell like a barn…"
"Sure, come here baby." Brennan gently put Christine in Booth's arms. "Be careful and go slowly up the stairs."
"I will."
Booth let Brennan go up the first few stairs on her own and went over and held her elbow with the hand not holding Christine. Brennan leaned on Booth a little."Thanks Booth." Booth just nodded and supported her as they went up stairs.
A half hour later Brennan found Booth sitting on the bed staring at Christine, she sat on the edge, Booth looked up. "Hey mommy's back." Brennan smiled.
"Feel better Bones?"
"Yes, how is she?"
"Christine is fine, do you want her back?"
"Yeah." Booth handed the baby back.
"Today has been an exciting day to say the least."
"Yep. Did you think when you woke up this morning you'd be a parent when you came home?"
"No. I felt fine when I got up this morning. I had no idea that in the middle of a case I'd go into labor and not have time to go anywhere."
"Me either, but I guess it turned out okay. It all happened so fast I really didn't have time to worry about what was happening."
"Me either it went in slow motion after we got to the barn."
"Yep, I wonder if she'll be early for everything from now on."
"Part of me hopes not." Just then Christine stated fussing. "Somebody has her dad's appetite."
Booth smiled as Brennan settled herself against the headboard and began to feed Christine.
Booth chuckled, "Speaking of appetites I'm going to see what everyone left us."
"Okay." Brennan didn't look up from Christine's face. Booth smiled a certain 4 hours old baby had stolen her moms' attention from the beginning.
A few minutes later Booth came back upstairs," All right Bones, we have soup, two kinds of pasta, a salad, and a casserole and fruit salad. Plus bread and a huge plate of cookies, I think they're from Zack and Sweets."
"What kind of soup?"
"Vegetable, it's from Cam."
"That sounds good."
"Do you want me to bring you a bowl?"
"Could you in about ten minutes? She's almost done. And some water fruit salad?"
"Sure."Booth kissed Brennan's cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too Booth."
Booth came back just as Brennan was putting Christine in her bassinet. "Your dad called, he's going to stop by tomorrow on his way back from Russ'."
"Okay. Brennan sat back on the bed and began eating her soup, they ate in silence. Once they were done eating Booth put the dishes on the floor and got Christine from the bassinet and laid her between them on the bed. Brennan turned on her side and smiled when Christine's tiny fingers grasped her finger. "Booth, I can't believe she's finally here!"
Booth smiled at Brennan's wonderment, "Me either feels great doesn't it?"
"Yes, it is indescribable how much you can love someone and that nothing else really matters anymore."
"Aw Bones, I felt the same way when Parker was born and then it got renewed tonight when I saw Christine for the first time. You'll always feel that way no matter how many kids you have."
Brennan yawned.
"You need to sleep Bones."
"I know, but I want to stay up until she eats again, besides I find that I'm still experiencing a bit of an adrenaline rush."
Booth chuckled and leaned down to kiss a sleeping Christine. An hour later Christine had been fed and changed and now was crying. Brennan was slightly panicked, "Booth, do you think something is wrong with Christine? Should we take her to the hospital?"
Booth put an arm around Brennan." Bones, I'm sure she's fine, babies fuss sometimes for no reason you can pinpoint." Brennan nodded and tried to comfort Christine to no avail. Booth could see Brennan getting more tired by the second. "Give her to me, Bones I'll see what I can do while you get some sleep or at least rest a bit."
Brennan nodded and handed Christine over; Booth cradled the baby to his chest. "I'm gonna go sit in the rocker for a while."
"Okay, goodnight. Love you." Booth went to Brennan's side of the bed and kissed her."Goodnight, love you too."
Booth went into the nursery and turned on the nightlight sitting in the rocker, rocking slowly.
"Christine, I have to tell you, you gave mommy and I a little bit of a scare today, but like your mom said it was perfect. Can I tell you something your mom doesn't want anyone to know? It's a secret between us. Your mom is unsure of herself when it comes to being your mom, but she'll be great at it. Can you go easy on her? No excessive crying and go to sleep without a fight? At least for a few days? You wore mommy out and she needs to rest." Booth looks down and smiled, Christine was sleeping soundly. Booth sat in the rocker for a while longer before going back into his and Brennan's bedroom and putting Christine in her bassinet. Booth climbed into bed next Brennan.
"Booth?"
"Bones, go back to sleep, she's fine and sleeping soundly in her basinet on your side of the bed." Booth kissed Brennan's cheek
"Hum."
An hour later they were both up to do it all over again, this time though Christine went to sleep without a fight.
It was just after lunch and Brennan had taken Christine upstairs for a new diaper, lunch and hopefully a nap for them both. It had been a surprisingly restful night; Christine was up every two hours for a snack and a diaper and was back asleep before she even finished eating. Booth was washing the last of the baby clothes and organizing things Brennan hadn't got to before Christine's hasty arrival. Booth was matching up Christine's tiny socks when the doorbell rang, as he was hurrying to the door he made a mental note to put a note on the door asking visitors to knock rather than ring the doorbell. Booth got to the door and opened it before Max could ring the bell again.
"Max come in, Bones and the baby are taking a nap. I'll get the baby, she'll sleep through anything."
"I wish you'd tell me what her name is."
Booth smiled, "I wish I could tell you, but Bones is adamant that she be the one to tell you. You know it's best to let Bones do what she wants."
"Yep, is Tempe okay though?"
"Yes, she's more tired and sore than she'll admit to, but it will get better. I'll be right back take a seat."
Max nodded and headed for the couch. Booth went upstairs and quietly opened the bedroom door and went over to the bassinet and lifted Christine out.
"Booth?"
Booth turned," Bones go back to sleep Christine is fine, I'm just getting her so your dad can see her."
"Dad's here?"
"Yep."
"Take Christie down, I'll be down in a few minutes."
"You need to sleep; you've only been sleeping for an hour and a half."
"Christine will be up in a half hour and I'd like to see dad before I need to come back up and do that."
"Okay. Come on Christine. By the way, your dad is annoyed he doesn't know her name."
"Don't tell him please."
"I'm not I know how much it means to you to tell him yourself, just don't make him wait too long."
"Thank you."
Booth nodded and headed downstairs finding Max on the couch. "Here she is, Bones will be down in a minute and then she'll tell you her name."
"Okay." Booth handed Christine to her grandpa.
"She looks a lot like Tempe did when she was born."
"That may be, but she has Booth's jaw…"
Max looked up and smiled, "Tempe, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine dad, I feel a lot better than I did last night."
"That's great. Now, what's her name?"
"Her name is Christine Angela Booth; we named her after mom and Angela." Brennan reached out and touched Christine's cheek.
Max's breath caught, he was surprised, "it's beautiful honey. You know your mom almost didn't make it to the hospital with you, luckily we lived down the street from it and were there a whole twenty minutes before you were born."
"Like mother like daughter." Booth teased from the easy chair.
Brennan chuckled, "at least I waited until you got to the hospital, unlike your impatient granddaughter."
Max looked at his granddaughter. "It isn't your fault, I think if your mom had listened to your dad and gone home when he wanted her to you wouldn't have been born in the company of a horse."
"Dad! It was perfect, everything went fine!"
"I know honey I was just teasing."
"Oh."
Max chuckled and looked at the sleeping baby in his arms. A half hour later Brennan took Christine for her next feeding and when she was done Brennan placed the baby back in Max's arms. The next few hours were spent watching Max hold Christine.
"I've never seen dad look so happy." Brennan snuggled into Booth's side.
"Yeah, babies bring that out in people. You feel okay?"
"Yes, though I feel a little sleepy."
"Go to sleep, we're probably gonna have to pry Christine out of your dad's hands anyway." Brennan chuckled and leaned against Booth and drifted off. Brennan had been sleeping for almost an hour when Booth woke her gently.
"Um Booth is Christine okay?"
"She's fine Max still has her. Becca called, her dad is not doing well and she needs to go to Florida for a while and wants to know if you're up to having Parker with us until she comes back. She doesn't want to take Parker with because he's never met her dad, at her dad's wishes. She doesn't want to go through all that crap now."
"Of course he can come, if he was an infant or toddler I'd be hesitant, but he's older and doesn't need the constant attention they do. Besides Parker needs to meet his sister."
"You're the best Bones." Brennan smiled as Booth kissed her cheek and turned to call Rebecca.
"I guess that's my cue to leave." Max stood and walked over to Brennan, placing Christine in her arms.
"Dad you don't have to go; stay and have dinner with us."
"I'd love to, but I haven't been home in over a week and it's calling me. Besides she'll need to eat soon. Call me if you need anything."
"Okay we will."
"Bye Honey."
"Bye Dad." Max kissed Brennan's cheek and left.
"Parker will be here in forty five minutes. You sure you're okay with him being here?"
"Yes Booth. That'll give me enough time to feed Christine again."
Forty five minutes later Rebecca chuckled softly at the sign Booth had taped to the front door, 'please knock baby sleeping'
"What are you laughing at Mom?"
"The sign in the door, your dad put one like that up at the apartment when we brought you home."
"Dad stayed with us?"
"Yeah. We all lived together for a little over a year after you were born."
"Why did dad leave?"
"Parker, your dad and I decided that it'd be better for all of us if we didn't live together anymore."
"Do you love dad?"
"Parker I'll always love your dad because he gave me you, but I don't love him like Doctor Brennan loves him."
"Oh."
"And Park I'll always love your mom because she gave me you, but I don't love her like I do Bones." No one had noticed Booth standing in the open doorway.
"If you love each other why aren't you together?"
Booth chuckled, "Because bub you need more than love to make it work…" Booth hoped Parker didn't enquire further, he didn't think he could explain his past to him right now.
"Oh."
"Say bye to your mom and go inside and see Bones. You'll need to be a little quiet, your sister is awake but she isn't used to a lot of noise or people yet. I'll be in after I talk to your mom."
"Okay. Bye Mom." Parker went to Rebecca and gave her a hug. "Bye Parker, I'll call you tomorrow after I get there and figure out how long I'll be there, all right?"
"Yep."
"I love you."
"I love you too, mom."
"Leave your bag bub, I'll bring it in."
"Okay." Parker headed in the house.
Brennan smiled as she heard Parker's footsteps on the hardwood floor and softly called out. "I'm in the living room Parker."
Parker came around the couch and stopped. "Come here and meet your sister, Christine, Parker." Parker stood beside Brennan.
"She looks kinda weird, her head is misshapen or something."
Brennan chuckled, "yeah it is a little bit, that will go away in a few days and she'll look better, not so red and her face will change as the bones in her skull shift ."
"Oh."
"So other than Christine looking a little misshapen, but still cute what do you think about her?"
"She's smaller than I thought she'd be." Brennan nodded; Christine was a bit on the small side, but well within the normal range.
"But she's okay for a baby I guess. "Do you want to hold her?" Brennan saw Parker panic a little. "I'll help you."
"Okay."
Brennan stood and placed Christine in Parker's arms, placing his hands so that he supported her better. Then Brennan sat back down, giving Christine's head a little more support.
"Parker, Christine will hold on to your pinky if you gently place it in her hand." Parker did what Brennan said and smiled when Christine's fingers grasped his. "Cool."
Brennan smiled as she saw Booth watching them; Booth nodded at Brennan telling her he was going leave them alone and went into the kitchen. After a few minutes Christine began to fuss and Parker glanced at Brennan.
"You didn't do anything Parker; Christine is just telling us that she needs something. Booth, Christine needs a diaper change; it's your turn I did the last two."
Booth came out from the kitchen."I'm on it." He took Christine from Parker and rubbed her back. "Little girl you better not have a stinky surprise in that diaper like you did this morning. Things that foul should not come out of little girls."
"Booth that was completely normal, gender has…"
"Normal or not it stunk!"
"Again completely…"
"I know Bones." Booth gave her a kiss and headed to the changing mat they had in the corner of the room so they wouldn't have to go upstairs every time Christine needed changing. Booth came back a few minutes later, "Do you want to hold her some more Parker?"
"I guess if she'll let me."
"She'll let you, she should be happier now that her diaper is clean."
Parker sat back and let Booth put Christine in his lap."What do you think about your sister Bub?"
"She's okay for a baby." Booth chuckled.
They sat together for a while with Parker and Christine between them.
"Parker, why don't you go pick which dinner we're going to have tonight."
"Okay, what do you have?"
"We have vegetable soup, two kinds of pasta, a salad, and a casserole and fruit salad. Plus bread and a huge plate of cookies."
"And I can pick anything?"
"Yes as long as you choose something substantial to have before the cookies. Set the table too please."
"Okay." Parker headed to the kitchen. Brennan turned to Booth," is Rebecca okay?"
"Okay as you can be after you find out your father has a 50/50 chance and it doesn't look like he'll be on the high end of the 50/50 chance. Becca never had a good relationship with her father then after we got together it got worse and then after she got pregnant he all but disowned her."
"Why?"
"Becca had a wild streak in her and he wanted her to get married and become a socialite."
"I can't picture Rebecca doing that."
Booth chuckled, "The only one who could is her father."
"Bones, I set the table and picked out dinner."
"What are we having?"
"Lasagna, at least that's what I think it is and the salad stuff."
"Sounds great, I'll be there in a minute to heat it up."
"Okay."
"I'll get it Bones."
"Booth I can get it, I haven't been up much today, and I need to move around a little. Besides Christine wants you to hold her for a little while."
Booth smiled and took the baby from Brennan. "Hi baby girl." Brennan kissed Booth's cheek and went to the kitchen. They enjoyed a quit dinner and watched a movie together between taking care of Christine.
The next day Booth picked Parker
up from is half day of school and then discovered he needed to make a grocery store run.
"Bones, I need to go to the store, all we have are condiments, beer and cheese. I'm taking Parker with me."
"Okay, but why are you taking Parker with you? he hates grocery store."
"So it won't be so much for you to handle."
"Booth Parker can stay, he's no trouble."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, can you pick up something from the diner for dinner? I'm not in the mood for pasta or a casserole."
"Yep usual?"
"Yeah."
A few minutes after Booth left Parker came downstairs and sat down next to Brennan, who was holding Christine. "She's asleep again? All she does is sleep and eat."
Brennan smiled,"Christine does sleep and eat a lot, but when she sleeps she grows and growing takes energy that makes her hungry. In a few months she'll do more than that, like smiling, rolling over and staying awake more."
" Oh."Parker looked at the floor.
"Parker what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Brennan got up and put Christine in her bassinet and sat back down putting her arm around Parker.
"Dad's goona love Christine more because she's here all the time and I only get to be here when mom says…."
Brennan hugged Parker to her and kissed his head." Parker, you know that isn't true, your dad loves you and Christine equally that will NEVER change. And before you say anything I will always love you, it doesn't matter to me that you aren't mine biologically."
"Okay." Parker snuggled into Brennan's side.
"Parker, are you okay?"
"Yeah, this just feels good; mom's been a little crazy for a few days."
Brennan kissed his head again, "Do you want to put another movie in?"
"Star Wars?"
"Sure." Parker got up and put the movie in and snuggled back on the couch. forty five minutes later Booth came in and put the groceries away and took the bag of takeout to the living room and joined Brennan and Parker on the couch.
