A/N: You guys rock! Reviews and alerts make me very happy, so thank you all! Not all my updates will be this quick, but chapter 2 was nearly finished when I posted chapter 1, so all I had to do was a little polishing, and here it is! This one's a little longer, so I hope you enjoy it! If you read carefully, there are hints about the father in this chapter.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!
What the hell did I just say? Brennan thought quickly about changing her mind.
Better tell her fast, Martha thought to herself, before she changes her mind.
"It looks like she's a girl," Martha smiled at Dr. Brennan as she told her the news.
A girl. I'm having a girl. Brennan wasn't really sure what she had been expecting, but somehow the news caught her completely off guard.
"A girl," she gasped.
"Is that alright? Did your husband want a boy? You know, men always say they want a little boy, but trust me, when he holds her in his arms, he'll be wrapped around her little finger in no time, don't you worry about that, Dr. Brennan." Martha knew perfectly well that Temperance Brennan was not married. She'd seen it in her file. Nevertheless, that wasn't going to stop Martha from trying to get some sort of acknowledgement out of her that there at least was a father in the picture somewhere.
A sharp glare from Dr. Brennan put a quick end any questions she might have wanted to ask, though.
"Well, I think I've seen everything the doctor will need," Martha told Brennan. "Would you like me to print out some ultrasound pictures for you to take home?"
"No!" Brennan shouted much too quickly, clearly frightening the poor technician. Slowly, more calmly, she said, "No, thank you Martha, that won't be necessary." She threw in smile just to reassure the poor woman.
"Alright then, well, we keep them on file if you ever want a copy. In the meantime, you can go ahead and get cleaned up and I'll send Dr. Bryant in to talk to you in just a few minutes."
Temperance spent most of the rest of her visit in a daze, catching only a few words of what the doctor actually had to say. Martha's words kept replaying in her head, It looks like she's a girl. Over and over, she heard the words. She. Girl. Why the hell did she care so much? She wasn't supposed to care.
"…and we'll see you again in two weeks, just to check that things are still going smoothly. Temperance? Temperance, did you hear me?"
"What? Oh, yes, yes, Dr. Bryant. Two weeks. I'll see you then."
"Alright. Try to get some more sleep, Temperance, I think you need it." And with that he walked out the door, shaking his head at his patient.
It looks like she's a girl.
"Hiya Bones! We got a case here, right up your alley. Call me, okay? Okay, see you soon."
"Bones, why isn't your cell phone on? That's why you have it, you know, so I can talk to you when you don't answer at home! Call me. Please?"
"Me again. Turn the phone on, Bones. I need you on a case. Call me!"
"Hey Bones? You there? Pick up, Bones! Please? Fine, but we've got a case. Skeleton-y bones galore, just like you like 'em! Call me when you get this, I'll pick you up at your office. Don't even think about pawning this one off on Zack again, either, Bones, you know I almost had to shoot the kid last week! Okay? Call me, Bones. And turn your damn cell phone back on, would ya?"
Temperance sighed as she hit the delete button on her answering machine one last time. She just couldn't go out in the field. Too much time with Booth and he'd figure it out for sure. He already knew something was off with her. Fortunately, he just thought she was still mad at him for kissing her after Angela's non-wedding three months ago. If only he knew the truth, she thought sadly.
She couldn't hide it much longer, she knew that. She couldn't believe she'd been able to go this long without anyone noticing - she was nearly five months along, after all. She figured two, maybe three more weeks and she'd have to either tell everyone or find a way to disappear for the next four months.
It wasn't supposed to get this far. Three and a half months ago, she'd sat outside that clinic for almost four hours, trying to get up the nerve to walk through the door. If she had just done that, nothing would have had to change. Walking through that door would have been the rational behavior in this situation, she told herself. So why did I drive away?
As she bent over to grab her bag, she felt a hard, sharp kick land just below her ribcage.
That's why, she thought. My little girl. And she already knows karate.
Brennan laughed at the thought. I know that can't be genetic, but still…she's definitely my little girl. It had been a week since her last ultrasound, and she still found herself with an inexplicable little smile on her lips every time she thought about Martha's words: It looks like she's a girl.
She sighed as she jerked her thoughts back to reality, grabbed her bag and headed out to her car. She'd call Booth on the way to the lab – hopefully she'd come up with some excuse that wouldn't set off too many alarm bells this time.
The flu? Nah, she'd used that one four or five times in the last month. One more time, and he was going to start thinking she was dying.
Her book? No again. He knew she'd just sent the last chapter off to the publisher over the weekend.
C'mon, Temperance, there's got to be something! She banged her steering wheel in frustration.
Thirty minutes later, she still had nothing as she pulled into the parking structure at the Jeffersonian. She groaned as she saw him standing there, arms folded across his chest, right in the middle of her parking space. It was almost as if he were daring her to run him down.
He looks pissed, she thought with dread. No wonder, since you've been pushing him away for months.
There'd be no escaping him now, though.