4

Brennan sat at her computer typing up some reports while she impatiently waited on the bones to be released. Cam liked to do everything by the book which drove Brennan to the brink of madness most of the time. She had very little affinity for the flesh, deeming it only as the surface casing that most people saw in the first place. The real answers were deep in the underlying architecture. Where there was damage that was done, the bones remained the solid source that spoke the truth on most occasions.

She knew that just a tad more patience was in order, but she seemed to be in short supply these days. Booth usually made that fact fairly well known when need be, but it did not seem to make a difference.

" Bones?"

"Speak of the devil." Bren thought with the small smile that she seemed to get more and more when he was near her.

" Bones, there you are. I have been looking all over for you. How are you feeling?" Booth asked in a gasp as he flopped down onto the cushions of her oversized couch.

" Much better thank you," She said as she leaned back in her own chair, her arms resting comfortably on her slightly rounded midsection. It was a pose that Booth had noticed she took more frequently these days. She seemed to find a great deal of comfort in feeling their child grow inside her, wonder and surprise crossing her face. He kept wishing that she would offer to share it with him. He wanted desperately to feel the little bump make its presence known under her gauzy dresses, yet she kept that for herself. It was yet another issue that festered beneath the surface, waiting for the right moment to make a guest appearance.

" I'm sorry about your suit. I can have it dry cleaned or replaced if you would rather." Brennan said when Booth didn't react.

" It's no big deal. I can take care of it." He said forcing a smile.

" You already dropped it off."

"Yeah." He said with a quickness that conveyed her understanding.

Brennan smiled as she sat up and scooted back to her computer. Her icy blue eyes moved back and forth in quick side-to-side motions as she processed the little black font. Every so often her brow would furrow and she would vehemently click the backspace key till she seemed satisfied. Then her nails would click their way around the rest of the keys and her smile would return.

Booth lay there pretending to nap, Cam's words echoing in his mind. It had occurred to him more than once that he was settling for less than he wanted. It was not that he did not want Brennan, because he knew that was not the case in the least. He wanted her too much and in ways that she could not handle or allow. He knew that she was stretched as far she could, her emotional quota met for the time being. Yet part of him wanted, even needed more. He needed to have her, and that need only intensified as time went on. The only solution that he had found the strength to handle was to take anything she would offer over nothing at all.

" I'm starving." Her voice called him out of his own thoughts.

" I don't know that I have that many clean suits left." He joked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He smiled as he saw the slight flush in her cheeks.

" I thought that we could stop by the diner for some lunch before we met up with Sweets." She said standing up and turning off her workstation.

" Bones, the diner makes you sick." Booth said as he stood to meet her by the doorway.

" I want pie with my fries." She said as they exited her office and headed down the long sterile corridor of the Medico-legal lab.

" You hate pie."

" Not at the moment."

" We can stop at Mc Donald's if you want fries."

"No! That food is terrible for you. It's all saturated fats and empty calories. I refuse to expose our child to that. Besides, they don't have pie."

"Yes they do!" He said in exasperation.

" That is not pie." She said in a very definite tone.

" You don't even like pie." He repeated trying with one last-ditch effort to win this argument and save her from throwing up all over the floor of the diner once more. He was pretty sure that they would have thrown her out last time if he had not only helped clean it up but told them she was with child. How easily she forgot these little details.

" Your child does." She called over her shoulder as she kept her path streamlined for towards his suburban. Booth silently rolled his eyes as he chased after her. If he thought she was difficult normally, this was going to be a very long pregnancy.