Created June 2013 - I don't own these characters as made famous by the TV show, Bones. Love them anyway. Oh, I also don't own Cheerios. Well, that's not true, I do. In fact, who doesn't have a box of Cheerios in their home? Sorry, all the rest that follows is my feeble attempt to keep time in between broadcasts, Razztaztic, Threesquares and Covalent Bond postings.
This is a companion piece to Ma Bone Day, but unlike it, it is totally AU. Total fantasy. Saccharine really. But it's still Father's Day for most of the US, the least I can do is give Booth one to enjoy.
A/N: 06/20/2013 - I want to thank JBCFlyers19 for the suggestion to write a Father's Day Companion; and Covalent Bond for posing the question: what if Booth killed Pelant? (the thought struck me that as messy as B&B are, that the only way that he could clearly kill Pelant without fallout was if it was a fantasy or if Brennan authored it that way.)
Brennan set up camp on the lounge chair under the shade.
It was a lovely June morning, and while she had promised Booth that she'd stay out of the lab for the day, she had not forfeited her right to do some writing. She had decided that she would negotiate a pre-emptive compromise by wearing the new red bikini that he purchased for her for their upcoming trip.
From their sandbox in their backyard, Booth looked up to see his partner swiveling onto the beach chair. He wolf-whistled at Brennan, as she returned his leer call with an "I'm ignoring you" smirk. She shifted the chair so that she was in an upright position. From the side table, she donned the Jackie-O sunglasses that Angela had given her and hoisted her gorgeous brown locks into a messy bun.
Booth watched his partner as if she was moving in slow motion – that happened to him frequently. In seven years, she had never ceased to take his breath away. And, when she made these overt gestures – like wearing the red bikini to distract him from the fact that she was working on her book – he just loved her even more. He swallowed, licking his lips as her motion to put her hair up incidentally pushed her breasts together – that was an unexpected treat.
How any other woman had caught his eye in their years together was a shock. Still, there was another female who demanded his immediate attention. Booth look down to see that during his Bones trance, that his little girl had buried his right leg an inch deep into the box. With her little plastic shovel, she was now patting the sand down dangerously close to his crotch.
"Whoa there Beegee! Watch Daddy's, -er, watch out for where you're aiming that thing!" he gently redirected her patting further down his leg.
Christine looked up briefly at her Dada, eyes squinting at the shining sun in her eyes. Booth smiled down at his pudgy-faced, towheaded delight, grabbing the mini pair of shades from his chest pocket. He slid the tiny sunglasses onto his daughter's face. Her lips parted, her body assuming that Dada's actions would be aided by the effort. She chuckled when Booth punctuated the completion of his task with a poke of her nose.
"See there Beegee, now you look just like your Mama!" he exclaimed.
Christine returned back to her sand building efforts, while Brennan warned. "Booth! Stop calling her Beegee! Christine does not understand what it means, and it may confuse her if you don't call her by her name!"
Booth grinned widely at his partner's ridiculous, illogical argument. He knew that – however irrational it was to be competitive with her own child – Bones preferred to be the only monikered person in his world. She's so cute. He thought to himself, ready to tease her a bit.
"Oh yeah? I'll have you know that 'Beegee' are the initials for 'baby girl' which she is. She's my baby girl, Bones! Besides, you don't seem to have any problem with Mom calling Christine 'Noodle'…"
Brennan's eyes widened at the trap. Always the nimble scientist – even when irrational – she defended "Yes, well in that circumstance, Marianne is preserving a sentimental reference to raising you and Jared. By addressing Christine as such, she is, in some ways passing on a tradition."
Booth scoffed at his partner while he and Christine combed through the sand, preparing for a pail castle. "You don't mind Max calling her 'Little Angel'…."
Brennan pursed her lips together, annoyed that Booth was deconstructing her. "I can't stop Max from doing anything…"
"Pops calls her 'Princess'…." Christine helps Booth turn the pail over.
"But Hank-"
"Angela calls her 'Sweetie Pie'" Almost immediately, she smashes the foundation back into the sand. Just like her Mama, he laughs to himself. Wrecking my world….
"Angela calls everyone 'Sweetie'."
Booth looks over to his petulant partner. "Face it Bones, you want to be the only lady in my life with a nickname."
Brennan huffed at his accusation. But she was also without a direct retort to his charge. "I, uh…"
"Ha ha! Christine! We got Mommy! She's speechless, Beegee! Who's the best?"
Brennan rolled her eyes, knowing the next word to come out of her daughter's mouth. And, as expected, she delivered: "Boof!"
Brennan sighed as she sat back. She was outnumbered. Booth chuckled as he and Christine returned to their sand play.
About forty minutes later, the trio heard the back door slam, and Christine began to shriek. Turning towards the cause of Christine's excitement, Brennan barely flinched from her typing, familiar with the lumbering gait of Christine's big brother. From the porch he came, curly hair wildly strewn in every direction.
Parker stood next to Brennan's chair. "You guys, it's like – eleven-something in the bloody morning! Why are you guys even up yet? It's Sunday!" he bent down to kiss Brennan on the cheek before advancing toward the sandbox crew.
Brennan smiled. Parker had entered the voice-changing phase of puberty and he was losing the battle against the cracking.
Booth looked at his son with a partial grin, partial stare. "Yeah, well some of us has been up and gone to mass and come home….because it's Sunday. Right Christine?"
Christine had no interest in her Dada's question, as her favorite toy was in her sight line. "Parka! Parka!" She waved both hands up and down anxiously awaiting the embrace of her big brother.
"Daaaaad, c'mon. You said you'd give me a week to adjust back to the time change! I'm definitely there next week."
Brennan had picked Parker up from BWI that previous Tuesday since Booth and Rebecca had agreed that Parker could spend the summer in the states. Booth was so excited to have his entire family together, especially as he saw this opportunity to teach Parker what it meant to be a man.
"Fine, Bub. But sleeping the entire day away is not getting back on East Coast time. By my calculation, this would be early evening in London…." He said with raised eyebrows. Booth was so going to enjoy this summer. Parker sighed.
Impatient with the entire conversation, Christine used her Dada as a counterweight as she stood up to get closer to Parker. Even with the unsteady levels of the sand, she was able to accomplish three steps toward her brother before falling toward his knees. Parker caught his little sister, and swooped her up into his arms. She laughed joyfully having accomplished her objective.
"Hi Teeny!" he sang to his sister as Christine took Parker's skull necklace into her tiny hands. He adored his baby sister, and he knew she also served as a great obstruction to his Dad's sternness.
Booth beamed at his two kids, while his partnered contributed to the discussion. "Booth, Parker has begun puberty. The hormonal changes that he's experiencing do warrant an increase in the amount of rest that he requires."
Parker smiled at Temperance's defense. She continued. "That, coupled with jet lag is a completely acceptable reason for what we perceive to be his excessive laziness."
Booth snickered. "Hey!" Parker interjected. "Temperance, you said I was a big help at the lab on Friday."
"Yes, Parker you were. In fact, I'm looking forward to your participation in the junior internship program this summer. But I do hope that your number of visits to the restroom decreases. I assumed that your body was adjusting to your change in diet, or that you had recently discovered masturbation."
"Bones!" Booth hissed. Parker's mouth dropped open, but then he simply chuckled, so happy to be back in the states with his Pop and his very direct surrogate mom. He loved that they could talk about anything, especially since his Dad was a bit of a prude.
"What? Parker is aware that he is going through puberty. I'm certain that you two have discussed mastur-"
"Shussh! Not in front of Christine!" he scolded. Parker had missed this.
"If you'd like, I could speak with Parker about…."
"Boooones! Stop! Enough. Let me be the Dad, okay?"
She grinned. "Very well. Just because it's Father's Day, I will concede."
Parker shifted Christine to his other hip. "Oh yeah! Happy Father's Day, Dad!"
Booth looked up at his son and his daughter- the best Father's Day present ever. "Thanks Bub!"
Parker stepped out of the sandbox toward the house. "C'mon Teeny! Let's get Dad's gift."
Surprised, Booth looked at his partner for a hint.
Click went the noise of Brennan's camera. She had captured her partner – FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, head of Major Crimes - alone in the sandbox with a pail and shovel in his hand.
"Hey!" he protested standing up, brushing excess sand from his board shorts and tee shirt. He stepped out of the sandbox, prepared to wrestle the phone out of Brennan's hand in order to delete the shot.
Brennan's side grin shifted to a smug smile of defiance, challenging her partner. She knew that once he entered the danger zone – the zone where he was close enough to her to touch any of her exposed, but heavily sunblocked flesh - he'd forget all about the photo.
And he did. She had moved her laptop and phone to the side table, and placed her sunglasses atop her head as she braced for his assault. He nudged her over on the chair as he slid his sandy fingers high on her waist.
"Booth –"Brennan warned against his lips. He ignored her caution, and so did she as he leaned Brennan back in the chair, attacking her lips and pressing his body against hers. Brennan slipped her hands around Booth's neck and back, pulling his upper body tight against hers. Air was not a priority to the duo as they lost themselves in a passionate embrace, both of them recalling the very early, very pleasant wakeup call that Brennan had for Booth this morning.
Parker cleared his throat. The duo halted their make out session to find the young man standing beside them, arms crossed, obviously annoyed that they were groping each other in broad daylight. Brennan sat up like a guilty teenager, while Booth visualized decomposing feet to calm himself back down. He hated feet.
"Brunch is served." Parker announced proudly. Brennan smiled while Booth turned to see that his son had prepared a meal on the deck for them to enjoy. Christine was already sitting in her high chair, snacking on Cheerios.
"Parks! You made me brunch! That's awesome, Bub! When did you?-"
"In the past hour, Dad. You know, while you were complaining about how lazy I was?"
Brennan placed her hand on his chest. "Parker and I picked up some items this morning while you and Christine were at mass." She kissed his cheek and grabbed her cover up and headed toward the table. Turning back to where Booth continued to sit, inquired. "Are you coming?"
Booth hadn't yet recovered from pawing Brennan yet, and that piece of cloth she had on wasn't helping. Brennan smiled shyly towards Parker, commenting "he'll be right over, Parker."
Parker grinned, knowing exactly what had caused the delay. "Dad." He stated matter-of-factly. "What your experiencing is the effect of your arousal from groping Temperance. Blood has rushed to your…"
"Stop!" he warned, slightly humiliated to have his erection explained to him by his son, and slightly proud that his boy had not lost his squintiness. "No more sex talk! Today is my day!"
"Well, not just your day, Shrimp! You're going to have to share it with us too!" From the back gate, Pops, Max, Sweets and Wendell entered. Pops led the way, hobbling a bit with his cane.
"Usually, I don't mind the sex talk, but you see, I've got Temperance's Dad with me, and two of Parker's friends…."
All laughed at Hank's consistent tease of the young psychologist. Sweets simply smiled, having accepted his place in the family as Booth and Brennan's adopted son. Wendell blushed, realizing that even though he was almost thirty, this crew of people would always consider him a young man.
"This is a surprise!" Booth exclaimed, turning to Brennan and his son to acknowledge their Father's Day cahoots.
"Hiya GrandPops!" Parker ran to greet his great-grandfather. He had had a chance to see everyone since his return except for Pops.
"Parker Lot! How are you my boy! Look at you, so grown up! That Skypy thing doesn't do you any justice! You're even better looking than your Dad was at your age. Taller too!"
Parker's face lit up. "Thanks, GrandPops! C'mon in! I just set up the table for brunch. Come and find a seat."
"Okay Pally. I'm coming! Why don't you go ahead and help Temperance find the rest of her outfit?"
Max chuckled at the man Temperance considered a grandfather, giving his daughter a stern, meaningful gaze to respect her elder. Max's loving care of Christine had softened Brennan's iciness toward her father, and so on this topic, she chose to acquiesce. Into the house she went to retrieve a pair of shorts.
When Brennan returned back out to the yard, she gazed upon her daughter and the array of men around the picnic table – each of them with their own unusual father journey. Wendell had lost his father to cancer, but still leveraged the spirit of his Dad as his moral guide. Parker had been separated from his father by an ocean, and even before that it had been a constant struggle with his mom to see his Dad. The result was a superhero-level of worship that he had had for Seeley Booth.
Brennan thought of her childhood with Max with fond recollection. She knew that many of the traits that helped her survive her foster years were because of Max. Her survival instincts, her competitiveness, her objectivity and her love of science. And, her persistence. That she had allowed him back into her life after he and Christine abandoned him was directly due to his demonstration that he'd do anything – include face the death sentence – to never let her down again.
And then there was Hank, who experienced the joy of raising his own son and the devastating sorrow of that man not living up to expectation. He knew that his son had been broken by Vietnam, but nothing could excuse or absolve the violence wrought against his wife and his little boys. Hank considered the obligation to raise Seeley and Jared a blessing – an opportunity to right what he actually never did wrong in the first place. He had been what the boys needed – a father to Seeley and a grandfather to Jared.
Brennan regarded Booth. Although their journey had been long and convoluted, she was always proud to have Booth as her partner. He was, quite frankly, the best man that she had ever known. The apple of Hank's eye. From a distance before he passed away, Booth's own father regarded him with pride, even though he had lost the privilege of having Seeley in his life. He was a better big brother than Jared had ever deserved, and an impressive father. The stamp of his influence on Parker had not been limited by an ocean and much to her competing joy and dismay, their daughter exhibited many of her father's 'Boothiness' qualities. Like all humans, Seeley Booth was a flawed man. A complex man, a potentially dangerous man but equally full of love and generosity. So generous that he had convinced Brennan to open up her heart to – metaphorically – adopt Lance Sweets.
Sweets. So brilliant, but yet so misguided in his studies to pursue a soft science like psychology (or at least Brennan thought so). Sweets had seemed oddly obsessed with Booth and Brennan's partnership, and only when his own past as an orphan came to light, and his desire to replace his adoptive parents with a younger version of them, did his fascination make sense. Both Brennan and Booth had wondered at various times what would happen if Sweets didn't have them. Or if he was left to good versus evil devices. In fact...
In fact...
Brennan strode past the table of men toward her lounge chair. All the men look toward the determined gait. Max was the first to call it. "Oh, I know that walk…."
"What walk?" Wendell inquired.
"It's her, 'I've-worked-through-an-angle-for-my-next-book' walk." Replied Booth. "She's got an idea."
"Tempe-" Max called out, concerned that they had lost her daughter to her writing for the rest of the day.
"I'll just be a second, Max! I just want to jot a few points down." She promised.
True to her words, Brennan returned back up to the table in minutes. She smiled briefly at Sweets, appreciative of the idea that he had no idea that he had given her. "My apologies, everyone! I just had an idea for my story. It was not my intention to abandon this bacon fest." She sat down at the side end of the table, next to Parker and Christine, whose high chair was parallel to Booth's position at the head of the table.
Booth dropped his fork, immediately aware of the intention of her colloquialism. Parker snickered while Wendell, Sweets, Max and Hank waited for an explanation. Parker whispered into Temperance's ear.
"Oh!" she smiled, happy that Parker had shared the clarification. "Sausage fest!" she corrected. The table erupted in laughter.
"Really, Bones?"
"I just thought the phrase referred to men's favorite breakfast meat and it was my understanding that over the past decade, that bacon had superseded sausage…."
Hank chortled at his granddaughter. "Temperance, you are the best."
Brennan sat up a bit straighter in the chair. "I know! Thank you Hank." She replied. Booth leaned over to steal a brief kiss. Brief because the effort obstructed Christine's view of Grandpa Max, an issue that she resolved with a swat of her plastic spoon to her Dada's face. Brennan chuckled as she straightened up, stroking her daughter's sandy locks.
"So, you're working on the latest book, Hon?" inquired Hank.
"Yes, I've just had a breakthrough on Pelant's latest misdeeds. Kathy and Andy are not going to like this one."
"More Pelant?" Wendell whined. "I can't stand this guy. Why can't he leave Kathy and Andy be? What's his beef?"
"All will be revealed Mr. Bray" Brennan smiled. "Besides, I think that my audience may be a bit bored with Kathy and Andy now that they're a couple. The Pelant arc allows me to explore what happens when an interloper is obsessed with manipulating their lives. Plus, the distance that he creates between them allows for more fireworks when they reunite."
Max offered "Well, while it may be great for readers, I'd certainly would like Kathy and Andy to have happily ever after. And more babies. Before they get too old." He looked toward Booth directly with his last comment.
Booth raised his hands in innocence. "Hey! I'm all for the baby-making! Kathy and Andy, me and Bones – no problem here!"
The table laughed.
"Temperance, from where do you get your ideas for your bad guys?" Aside from her stories and cases that had made the news, Parker had a very limited view to the work that she and his dad performed.
Looking cautiously at Booth to verify his approval of this discussion, and seeing no objection, she explained. "Well, some of the cases are similar to ones that your father and I have had, but most of the really bad guys I have made up are us."
"Huh?" Sweets queried.
"My bad guys are us. Well, some of us."
"Help us out here, Sweetheart." Hank suggested.
Brennan smiled. "Well, the Gravedigger was modeled after me, Gormogon was Dr. Hodgins. Uh, Jacob Broadsky was Booth, and Pelant is Sweets."
The table of men looked at Brennan, dumbfounded by her reveal.
"Really?" Wendell finally asked.
"I'm Pelant?" Sweets squeaked out.
"Yes." Brennan stated plainly, but then she shook her head "I mean, they are the malevolent versions of us."
"Huh. Broadsky was a sniper with his own moral code." Booth mused.
"The Gravedigger worked within the system, but used it to keep a step ahead of the authorities." Max mused. "Burying people was a metaphor for burying her feelings and experiences…. So your victims. They were people from your past who had hurt you?" Brennan nodded sadly to her father. He nodded back, now more than ever realizing how much her writing had helped his daughter cope.
Booth cleared his throat, aware that he – or Andy – had been one of the Gravedigger's victims. What was bugging him was Hodgins. "But what about Hodgins? How had he hurt you?"
Brennan smiled sheepishly. "Plot device. I needed a dirt guy to relay information to the outside that Kathy wouldn't know."
"Well, Hodgins as the archetype for Gormogon totally makes sense." Wendell offered, trying to shift the subject. "Conspiracy theorist, obsessed with bringing down secret societies…"
"How is Zach by the way?" Parker inquired. It had been some time since he had seen Brennan's favorite assistant.
Brennan smiled. He's still in Maluku with Dr. Nigel Murray. They've uncovered a rich new pocket of fossils not far from where Miss Wick and I had been. We…"
"I'm Pelant?" Sweets squeaked out again. No one had noticed how affected the young psychologist had been by Brennan's disclosure. He had been frozen in place, mouth agape.
Brennan looked at all of the men around the table. Hank was chuckling and she could discern a twinkle in Max's eye. Before responding, she looked at Booth. She sighed.
"Sweets. You are not Pelant. Traits of Pelant are based upon you. When I began creating the profile for the character, you had just completed your book. And, Booth and I – we were in an awkward place in our relationship. I-, I didn't know how to process the feelings that I was having, and I blamed you partly. I felt as if you were trying to manipulate us as if Booth and I were on marionette strings."
Sweets was about to interject but Bones' continued. "While Daisy and I were in Maluku, she introduced me to the concept of hacking. And, the act of hacking felt to be a true analog to what you were doing to my relationship with Booth. Pelant has infiltrated Kathy and Andy's lives, he has studied them and contrives scenarios to see if they behave to his expected outcome."
"Like an experiment?" asked Parker.
At that question, Sweets' eyes widened, knowing that Brennan had never revealed to Booth his true intentions about not disclosing to Brennan that Booth had not been killed by Pam Noonan. Certain that this was not the occasion to reveal this very polarizing piece of information, Brennan turned to remove Christine from the high chair. Quickly she responded to Parker. "Yes, I suppose so."
Booth looked between his partner and his occasional partner, very keen to the fact that there was more to this discussion than either was alluding to. It was Father's Day, so he let it pass.
Brennan bounced Christine on her lap. "So I made Pelant a hacktivist / serial killer. Like you, Pelant has gathered a significant amount of knowledge about the entire team. The murders that he orchestrates are a reflection of such."
Sweets had been crushed by the revelation. He knew that Brennan thought him to be a pest, but he had never made the connection between the actions of the most hated serial killer in the Kathy Reichs series and himself. But, yet now, it was so obvious. He was speechless.
"But Sweets." Brennan said softly. "I created this character years ago. And it is not you. I care for you very deeply."
'Awwwws' flooded the table as Sweets finally relaxed. He grinned goofily at Brennan's kind words.
"And besides," Booth interjected. "Most of what's in Bones' stories isn't real, Sweets." Again the table laughed. "Bones and Hodgins were never buried alive."
"And I never had an affair with Angela" Wendell shared. "Not that I would have minded."
"And Vincent and Zach are obviously fine." Booth added.
"And Tempe and Booth would never had sex in an elevator during a blackout…" added Max, obviously fishing.
Booth choked on his beer. "Dad!" Brennan warned, nodding her head toward Parker.
"Whoops! Sorry Parks!"
"No biggie Grandpa Max. I'm convinced they've done it everywhere." Parker added.
"Parker!"
"Sorry Dad. Whoops!" Booth glared at his son, but caught Pops' eye as well.
"He's not lying Shrimp. They've got you two on the parking lot footage from my community…and in the banquet hall. You can't keep your hands off the poor girl."
Max chuckled. Booth hung his head. Brennan smiled broadly, very pleased with the depth of their attraction. "Anyway, Sweets – you are nothing less than family to me. Please know that."
"Thank you, Dr. Brennan." He replied. Thinking through the entirety of the recent exchange, he wondered. "Why was Daisy explaining hacking to you?"
Brennan passed Christine to Parker, who had subsequently passed her to Hank. "Oh! She had hacked your personal email account to see if you were dating anyone."
Again, Sweets' mouth dropped open. Wendell hardly held back his laugh. Brennan continued. "She was very perturbed by messages from a young lady named Jessica, especially the boudoir photos that she had sent you. The leather costume was especially distressing to Miss Wick.
The table roared in laughter. Sweets grinned sheepishly, knowing that if Brennan was aware of the leather outfit, she had probably also seen the beefcake muscle shots he had sent back to Jessica. Brennan raised her eyebrows mischievously at Sweets. Yeah, she knew.
As the afternoon progressed, Hank retired into the living room to catch a nap while Wendell and Sweets volunteered for grill duty. Booth, Parker and Christine were enjoying the pool while Max and Brennan lounged around the pool. Max was on the phone speaking to a lady friend while Brennan was busy outlining her next story on a pad of paper.
"Mama! Pool!" Christine called to her mother.
Brennan was frowning, stuck on a plot point when she looked up to see her daughter beckoning her to the pool. "I will be right there Christine! I am almost complete."
"See Beegee? Mama's coming!" Booth encouraged his daughter as he pulled her out of the float she was in. She took either sides of Booth's face in her tiny hands as she began to rub his stubbly face. Just like her Mama, Christine loved the roughness of her Dada's face. Booth nuzzled his daughter's nose, much to her delight. She was so excited that she wailed Booth in the face with one of her swimmies. Booth cracked up.
After letting Christine doggie paddle small distances between Parker and himself for a few minutes, Booth realized that Bones was still in writer mode. He handed Christine to her brother who began to bounce float with her in the shallow end of the water. Booth moved to the side of the pool. He regarded his partner, again only in her red bikini.
Fuck. He thought to himself. Look at her. With Max sitting on the opposite side of the pool, he felt no guilt at leering at Brennan. He loved the little knot in her forehead and the wrinkle in her nose when she wrote. He gazed at her body – her creamy white skin, her delicate shoulders and arms. Her long athletic legs. Her full, round breasts, the gorgeous curves of her hips. She's a fucking Sports Illustrated model. He mused. Even with the little belly that she had retained after having Christine, the soft swell that reminded him of the product of their love every time he touched her there – she was a goddess.
His goddess. "Bones." He called out. Still frowning, she looked up, knowing that her writing time was at an end. She sighed as she looked out her partner eyeing her from the side of the pool; his hair slicked back and his hulking arms taught and wet against the side of the pool.
She wanted more of the Booth show.
"Are you coming to get me?" she smirked, confident that she could coax Booth out of the water.
It was all the encouragement that he needed. He pushed up against the side of the pool and pulled himself out of the water. Brennan grinned as she watched the water rush off his body and back into the water. She could feel her body warming at the site of her very fit, very wet mate drying off. Even though his board shorts were to his knees, the wet cling of them to his body was very pleasing to Brennan.
She sighed again. When she was pregnant with Christine, Booth had gained what he had called sympathy weight. Well, while his face was fuller, the balance of said had been distributed to all the best places – his chest, his arms and his thighs. Brennan loved to wake before her partner and just touch him. She mused about the weight he would gain when –
"C'mon." he commanded reaching out his hand to help her up. With gleeful obedience, she turned her legs to stand, leaving her glasses on the table. She eyed her partner cautiously as she advanced in front of him.
"Do not throw me in Booth." She warned. Booth simply smiled and slid his arms around Brennan's tiny waist. Was it him, or was her belly a little fuller than he recalled?
He kissed her cheek, holding her in place. "I won't, Babe – this time. How's the story coming?" he said into her neck. He began to rub her belly. Brennan placed her hands over Booth's arms.
"Very well! Pelant is going to try to keep Andy from marrying Kathy, and he's going to succeed for a period of time."
"Really!? I can't wait to hear how he accomplishes that. If it was me, I'd just kill him."
"Yes, you would. But Andy has a more chequered past than you Booth. He has metaphoric demons that he battles every day. He can't risk what killing Pelant may do to him and his relationship with Kathy. It would completely shatter who he is to her."
"This is why you're the writer, babe. I'd just kill him. Ain't nothing that could keep me from making you my wife – even you." Booth kissed her on the cheek again, and then released Brennan so that she could sit on the side of the pool. He sat down beside her, both of them swinging their legs in the water.
Max watched his daughter and her mate and their kids by the pool. He was so proud to be present to see his little girl find love, happiness and a family. He sat up further, realizing that Tempe was a little heavier than the last time he had seen her.
From the water, Parker had noticed it too. It had been Temperance who had taught him the observable indicators of pregnancy. Christine clung to her big brother as he inquired, "Temperance, are you pregnant?"
Brennan blushed, knowing that she would never lie to Parker. She nodded at him and looked at his father. Shyly, she said "Happy Father's Day, Booth!"
Booth beamed as he angled Brennan's chin up so that he could kiss her properly. "Best gift ever, Mrs. Booth."