Chapter One

"Just think, Bones. In a few weeks, this little gal will be out of your stomach and in our arms."

It was just a few weeks away from Brennan's due date, and she and Booth were ecstatic. They were sitting together on the couch in the living room of their house. Their house. Booth still couldn't believe that he was able to say that he and Brennan shared a home. It always made him feel fulfilled.

"Technically, it would be more accurate to say that she'll be out of my womb and in our arms," Brennan said.

"We don't have to get into the girly stuff," Booth said.

"Are you getting nervous?" Brennan asked him.

"Nervous? Seeley Booth does not get nervous," Booth said. "Why? Should I be nervous?"

Brennan smiled. "No, I don't think so. However…I will admit that against rationality, I am feeling rather anxious."

"Well, let me ask you something. Have you been smoking?"

"You know I don't smoke."

"Have you been drinking?"

"Of course not! I'm pregnant."

"Then what's there to worry about?" Booth said.

"It's just…I saw how nervous Angela and Hodgins were before Michael was born, and…"

"And what?"

Brennan exhaled. "There was such a high likelihood that Michael was going to be born blind. Angela and Hodgins worried all the time. And he wasn't blind. I'm just wondering…"

"Wondering what, Bones?"

"You'll laugh at me," Brennan said.

"I would never laugh at you," Booth said. "Come on. Something's bothering you."

"It's just…They worried so much and he wasn't born blind, but we're not worrying at all," Brennan said. "I know it's completely irrational, but I'm just wondering if…if something terrible is going to happen to Christine because we're not worrying."

"Bones, nothing is going to happen to her," Booth assured Brennan. "No matter how much we worry or don't worry, Christine is going to be perfect. I promise. Now come on. Let's watch a little TV, get your mind off things."

"I can't watch another hockey game," Brennan said. "How about the only channel I somewhat enjoy?"

"History Channel it is." Booth turned on the TV and went to the right channel, revealing a program about the Kennedy assassination. Brennan rested her head on Booth's shoulder and tried to pay attention, but the only thing she could focus on was Christine. She knew that Booth was right; there was no reason to worry, and worrying wasn't going to accomplish anything.

But her newfound mother's intuition told her that something was going to go very, very wrong.

XXX

Two weeks later, on December twenty-fourth, Booth and Brennan found themselves in a hospital delivery room. It had been an easy labor, and before they knew it, Christine was sitting in Brennan's arms.

"She's gorgeous, isn't she, Bones?" Booth said, sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed Brennan was lying in with Christine in her arms.

"I certainly think so, but we are both quite biased," Brennan said. Booth was laughing at her response when they heard someone knock on the door. They looked up to see one of the nurses standing in the doorway.

"Hi, there!" she said happily. "Looks like you got a little early Christmas present."

Booth smiled. "We certainly did."

"What's her name?" the nurse asked.

"Christine," Brennan told her.

"That's a beautiful name. Congratulations," the nurse said. "If I could just steal Christine away from you for just a few minutes so she can have her vision and hearing screening and I promise I'll bring her right back to you."

"But…" Brennan looked down at Christine and tightened her grip around her slightly. The last thing she wanted to do was hand her daughter, who she had waited so long to hold, over to a stranger.

"It's okay, Bones," Booth assured her. "They've gotta check her eyes and her ears. They won't let us leave the hospital until they do."

"I know," Brennan said. "I just don't want to give her up."

"I promise, Mrs. Booth, I'll have her brought right back to in just a few minutes," the nurse promised.

Momentarily distracted by being called Mrs. Booth, Brennan handed Christine over to the nurse who took her from the room. It was just after the door closed behind her that she felt she had made a mistake.

"I have to go get her back," Brennan said, trying to get out of bed.

"Whoa, Bones, are you crazy?" Booth said, gently pushing her back against the pillows. "You just gave birth. I know you're full of hormones and everything, but you've gotta know that the nurse is gonna take good care of her."

Brennan exhaled. "I know. You're right. Of course you're right. I'm being foolish."

Booth smiled. "No. You're being a mother." Brennan smiled back at him. They sat in silence for a few minutes, holding each other's hands as they waited for the nurse to return with Christine. After ten minutes had passed, Brennan started to get worried.

"Why is it taking so long, Booth?" Brennan asked anxiously.

"Maybe there was a line of other babies in front of Christine," Booth suggested.

"Then they shouldn't have taken her from me until it was her turn," Brennan countered.

"Bones, just chill, alright?" Booth said, stroking her arm. "Why don't you just try to rest, okay? I'll go find out where Christine is."

"You promise?" Brennan asked.

"Of course. As soon as you close your eyes, I'll go out and talk to the nurses, okay?" Booth said. Brennan still looked hesitant. "Bones, you're exhausted. That's part of the problem. You need to relax."

"Maybe you're right," Brennan admitted. "If you go check on Christine, I'll go to sleep."

Just after Brennan closed her eyes and Booth was halfway out of his chair, someone knocked on the door. Brennan's eyes immediately darted open.

"Come in," Brennan and Booth said in unison. The nurse who had taken Christine for her vision and hearing screening came in holding their baby, with an unknown woman standing behind her.

"So, how'd she do?" Booth asked as the nurse put Christine back in Brennan's arms.

"She did very well with the vision screening," the nurse said. "However…"

The woman stepped forward until she had reached the foot of Brennan's hospital bed. "Mr. and Mrs. Booth, I'm Dr. Jasper, the chief audiologist here at the hospital," the woman said. "I'm very sorry to have to tell you that…your daughter failed the hearing test."

"Wha…What?" Booth said. "What do you mean she failed the hearing test?"

"Christine was born deaf," the Dr. Jasper said more directly.

"Wait, how do you define deaf?" Booth asked. "Like, she's just got a little hearing loss, right? Get her some hearing aids and she'll be able to hear perfectly?"

Dr. Jasper shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Mr. Booth. Christine is completely deaf."

"How…How is that possible?" Booth asked. Brennan was too shocked for words. She just looked down at her newborn daughter, sleeping peacefully in her arms, blissfully unaware of the challenges she would have to face in her life.

"Most likely, either her cochlea was born without hairs in it or—"

"Or the bones didn't form correctly while she was in the womb," Brennan whispered, still staring down at Christine.

Dr. Jasper nodded. "That's correct."

"So…So what are we supposed to do?" Booth asked. "Where do we go from here?"

"Try not to worry about it for the moment," Dr. Jasper said. "I know that seems impossible, but you do have a perfectly healthy baby. There's no chance of her dying or anything like that. Just spend some time with her, get to know her, and in a few weeks, you can bring her back to the hospital and we can figure out what we'll do."

"I saw a few people out in the waiting room. They said they were waiting for you," the nurse said. "If you'd like, I could bring them to your room. Or would you like a few minutes alone?"

Booth looked at Brennan. "Bones?" When she met his gaze, he saw tears in her eyes. "Oh, Bones." He turned to the nurse. "I think we might need a few minutes. But please bring them back in a bit."

"Absolutely. If you need anything, just call," the nurse said before she and Dr. Jasper left room just as tears were starting to slide down Brennan's cheeks.

"Bones, hey," Booth said, gently stroking her hair. "It's just like she said. Christine is healthy. She's going to live. We could be sitting in the NICU with Christine in an incubator, unable to touch our baby. But here we are. A family. A beautiful, complete family."

"I know," Brennan whispered. "I'm not upset that she's deaf. I mean, I am upset that she's deaf. But I'm more upset because I know how much she's going to have to struggle."

"Bones, I want you to look at Christine," Booth said. Brennan did. "What do you see?"

"Our daughter," Brennan said simply.

"I see more than that," Booth said. "I see your blue eyes. Your auburn hair. Your strong bone structure. I see you."

"You do?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, Bones. Christine looks just like you. And since she looks just like you, that automatically makes her beautiful," Booth said. Brennan just smiled. "It doesn't matter if Christine can't hear. She's going to be funny and kind and stubborn and brilliant, just like her mother."

"And she's going to be brave and strong and entertaining, just like her father," Brennan added quietly, still looking down at Christine.

"Exactly," Booth said with a smile. "She was going to be different to begin with because she's our child. Now she's just going to be different in a different way."

"It's not fun, being different," Bones said softly. "What if the other kids at school tease her like they teased me?"

"She was born thirty minutes ago, Bones," Booth said. "We'll talk about school in a few years. For now, we'll just focus on teaching her sign language and learning it ourselves so we can all communicate with each other."

"You're right," Brennan said. "It's going to be fine, isn't it, Booth?"

"Of course it is, Bones," Booth agreed. "I think that God knew that if we had a completely normal kid, we might get bored, so He threw in a little extra challenge for us."

"I still don't believe in God, but I will accept your rationalization," Brennan said. "I still love her. I never knew I could love something as much as I love her."

"Of course you do, Bones. And so do I," Booth said. "She's our kid! Just think about that, Bones. We have a kid!"

Brennan smiled. "We have a kid." Someone knocked on the door a few moments after Brennan finished speaking. "Come in." Angela, Hodgins, Cam, and Sweets entered the room.

"Hey! The nurse told us we could come back and—Oh, my God, is that her?!" Angela squealed. She rushed over to Brennan's bedside. "Okay, sweetie, you've had your time with her. Time for the godmother to get her dose of baby love." Smiling, Brennan carefully handed Christine over to Angela. "Oh, my God, this is the cutest baby I've ever seen. Hi, little baby whose name has still not been released to us by your evil, evil parents. Get used to your Aunt Angie because you're going to be seeing a lot of me."

"Can the godfather have a turn?" Hodgins asked, raising his hand.

"You're going to have to fight me for her, Jack," Angela said.

Hodgins just smiled. "Come on, Angie. Give her up."

"Oh, fine." Angela carefully handed Christine to Hodgins. Sweets and Cam gathered around him so they could get a look at her.

"Oh, Booth, Dr. Brennan, she is gorgeous," Cam exclaimed.

"Fine looking kid there," Sweets agreed.

"Okay, you two. You've kept it a secret for the last two months. I'm dying here," Angela said. "What is this beautiful little thing's name?"

"Are you ready?" Booth asked.

"Yes!" Angela exclaimed.

"Are you sure?"

"Seeley Booth, I will kidnap your child."

"Alright, alright," Booth said, laughing. "Bones, you wanna do the honors?"

"Christine," Brennan told their friends. "Christine Angela Booth."

Angela gasped. "That is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. You named her after your mom? And you named her after me?! Oh, I am so, totally, completely honored!"

Brennan smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

"We love it!" Cam said. "Christine is a beautiful name."

A beautiful name that she'll never hear, Brennan thought to herself.

"Alright, give Bones our child back before she starts having separation anxiety," Booth said. Hodgins carefully handed Christine over to Brennan.

"Is everything okay, sweetie?" Angela asked. "You seem…I don't know…Not so happy for someone who's just had an adorable baby."

"Well…there is something we haven't told you," Booth said. Everyone in the room immediately became more somber.

"Is Christine okay?" Cam asked.

"She's a perfectly healthy baby," Booth said.

"Then what haven't you told us?" Angela asked.

"Christine…Christine failed the hearing test. She was born deaf," Brennan said quietly, staring down at her child and avoiding her friends' stares. It was hard enough to hear them gasp.

"You mean…Like…Like completely deaf?" Angela asked, dumbfounded. Brennan and Booth both nodded. "Oh. Oh, God. Oh, sweetie…"

"We're okay with it," Booth said. "If Christine was born deaf, then for some reason, she was supposed to be deaf. This is what's happening, and we're just going to go with it."

"I feel awful, though," Angela said. "My son was supposed to be born blind, but he wasn't. Your daughter was supposed to be born with all of her senses, but she was born deaf."

"It's not your fault, Ange," Brennan said quietly, still looking at Christine. "Booth says…Booth says it's because God knew that we would be bored with a normal child, so He gave us a deaf child. I don't believe in God, but it seems like as good a rationalization as any."

"There are a lot of great programs out there for deaf children these days," Cam said, trying to sound reassuring. "With those and with you two as her parents, I'm sure Christine is going to be fine."

"Of course she will. We are all going to love her more than any kid has been loved before," Angela said.

"So are you going to teach her sign language or do you want to think about a cochlear implant?" Cam asked.

"What's a cochlear implant?" Booth asked.

"I'm too tired to even think about that," Brennan said.

"Of course," Cam said.

"But what is it?" Booth asked.

"I'll tell you later, Booth. I promise," Brennan said.

"Okay, Bones. You wanna take a nap?" Booth asked.

"That seems like a decent idea," Brennan said.

"Here. I'll take Christine. You get some rest," Booth said as he removed Christine from Brennan's arms. "We'll get her a bottle and hang out in the waiting room for a bit while you sleep, okay?"

"Mmm-hmm," Brennan muttered with her eyes closed, already half asleep. Booth and the others left the room. Booth got a bottle from the nurse and they brought it out to the waiting room.

"Bones predicted this," Booth said once they were all seated as he fed Christine the bottle.

"She predicted that Christine was going to be born deaf?" Angela asked.

"Not specifically," Booth said. "A few weeks ago, we were talking, and she said that you and Hodgins worried so much about Michael being blind, but then he wasn't born blind. Bones was afraid that something was going to go wrong with Christine since we barely worried at all."

"That doesn't sound like Dr. Brennan," Cam said. "It's not rational."

"Pregnancy makes you think about a whole lot of irrational things, believe you me," Angela said. "But it is kind of creepy that she was right."

"She usually is," Booth said quietly as he gently bounced Christine in his lap. "Cam, what's that thing you asked Bones about? The something implant?"

"The cochlear implant," Cam said. "It's a device implanted in a deaf child's skull that can create the perception of hearing."

"There's a thing that can make deaf kids hear?" Booth asked.

"Not exactly," Cam said. "It's not the same as real hearing, and it's rather controversial. Some people end up hating it, some end up loving it. There's no way to tell."

"Are you going to consider that for Christine?" Angela asked.

"We'll consider it, but I doubt Bones would go for it," Booth said.

"Why not?" Sweets asked.

"Because then she would be nowhere," Booth said. "She wouldn't be deaf, but she wouldn't be able to hear, either. She wouldn't fit in anywhere. And Bones is really concerned about her fitting in."

"Why?" Cam asked.

"Because she knows what it's like not to," Booth said. "There are schools out there that are just for deaf kids, aren't there?" Cam nodded. "I think Christine would be better off at a deaf school where she would fit in. But we'll think about it."

"The decision is completely up to you and Dr. Brennan, of course, but I agree that she would probably be better off amongst deaf peers whom she can relate to," Sweets said.

"We have some time before we have to think about school," Booth said. "The audiologist told us not to think about it right now and just spend some time with her. Get to know her. And we should probably sign up for sign language classes."

"On the bright side, I'm sure Christine will be a great sleeper," Cam said.

"And you won't have to worry about her overhearing you and Brennan talking about her," Hodgins added.

"And most importantly, you won't have to worry about her overhearing you two having sex," Angela said with an impish smile.

"Is that all you can think about?" Hodgins asked his wife with an amused smile.

"Hey, it's the leading thing in life, babe."

"I think this is the leading thing in life," Booth said, indicating to Christine.

"And how was she created?" Angela said.

Booth smiled. "Fair enough."

The group talked for another half hour before Christine woke up and started crying. Angela suggested that she missed her mother, so Booth decided to see if Brennan was still sleeping. She was sitting up in bed fiddling with her hospital bracelet when they entered the room.

"Hey, Bones," Booth said as he walked in with their crying baby.

"Is Christine okay?" Brennan asked anxiously.

"She will be in a minute," Booth said as he placed Christine into Brennan's arms. After a few moments, she went quiet.

"Apparently she was sick of me," Booth said. Brennan smiled down at their baby. "How long have you been awake?"

"Twenty minutes," Brennan said.

"Why didn't you call me? I would have come back," Booth said.

"I needed a little time to think," Brennan explained.

"You are a very good thinker," Booth said as he sat down in the chair beside her bed. "What were you thinking about?"

"Christine," Brennan said.

"What about Christine?"

"Mostly…I know the audiologist told us that we should try not to worry about Christine's deafness, but I can't help but think about everything that she's going to have to go through in her life," Brennan said.

"No matter what kind of challenge Christine is going to face, we're always going to be there for her to help her through it," Booth said.

"But we can't protect her from everything."

"No, of course we can't. It sucks, but that's just a part of parenting," Booth said. "We're going to help her as much as we can, okay, Bones?"

"I'm worried that Christine will feel like she won't be able to relate to us because we're not deaf," Brennan said, moving on to her next concern.

"I don't know about that one, but I can tell you that even if she doesn't think she can relate to us, she'll always know that we love her."

"I'm just so worried about school and communication and…and…everything. I'm just so worried about everything," Brennan said.

"You're supposed to be worried about everything," Booth said. "You're supposed to be nervous. You're supposed to be scared. We just had a kid. You and I are now responsible for a human life. That's a lot of pressure."

"But you seem fine," Brennan said. "I'm about to have an anxiety attack, and you're sitting there totally calm. Why is that?"

"Listen, Bones," Booth said, putting his hand over hers. "I have been through combat. I have been kidnapped and tortured. I have faced down death more times than I can count. But I have never felt as scared as I did when Parker was born."

"Really?" Brennan asked.

"Really," Booth said. "I'm nervous, Bones. Of course I'm nervous. I would be nervous if Christine had been born with her hearing. But at least I would have had some experience with that. I have no idea how to raise a deaf child. But we're gonna figure it out, Bones. Together, we're gonna figure it out."

"You really think everything's going to be okay?" Brennan asked shyly.

"I don't think. I know," Booth said. Brennan's heart desperately wanted to believe him. But her oh-so rational brain wasn't so sure.