He watches with awe in his eyes as the midwife carefully places their newborn son in his wife's arms, moisture building behind his eyes. He can barely form words, so struck with emotion that he now has three children, two of which are with Brennan. He never thought he could be lucky enough to even date her - not after that night during their first case when she'd turned him down - let alone marry her and have two perfect children with her.

"He's very healthy," their midwife, Anne, tells them with a grin. "And beautiful. You did a great job, Temperance!"

He watches as his wife manages to tear her eyes away from their newborn for a fraction of a second to shoot an appreciative glance Anne's way, her eyes refocusing on their son straight away. "I couldn't have done it without your help!"

"Much better than a barn, eh?"

Booth misses the question directed at him, lost in his son's face. Happiness consumes him at the adorable little scrunched up face that looks so much like his big sister's. Speaking of, he can't wait for Christine to meet him. She's been so excited, asking every day for months when she can finally meet her little brother. He knows she'll be fantastic with him. Parker, too. Suddenly, he feels a pinch to his forearm, glancing between Brennan and Anne as he is brought harshly out of his reverie about all of his children together.

"Booth, Anne asked you a question," Brennan admonishes as she cradles the bundle in her arms.

"Huh? What?"

The midwife chuckles. "It's ok. I'm used to new parents zoning out. I asked if this time was better than the barn?"

"They were both perfect," he says seriously, surprising both women.

"Really?" Brennan's eyes are imploring. "But what about the screaming and the animals and-."

"The grossness?"

She shakes her head; that would not be her choice of word. "The more unpleasant aspects of giving birth."

"Nicely put, Bones," he chuckles, amusement glittering in his eyes. Seriousness returns and he shrugs. "Sure, I'd have preferred it if a midwife or doctor had pulled the baby out instead of me, but I don't know. It gave me Christine, so I can't hate it. It was pretty magical and it makes for a great story, huh?"

"I suppose you're right," she admits, "although it pains me to say it."

A toothy grin forms on his face as he watches Brennan with their son. "We need to choose a name."

"Have you had any thoughts yet, you two?"

"Well," Brennan's eyes meet Booth's. "I haven't actually discussed this with my husband yet, but I think I've chosen the perfect name."

"You do?" Anne asks, shocked. After getting to know this couple, she'd assumed the name-choosing process would be more difficult than the birth with the amount of bickering they do.

"Henry Booth."

Booth's heart jumps in his chest. "You'd... You'd do that?"

"Of course, Booth. I love you!" Neither of them are paying any attention to the entranced midwife, their eyes only for each other. "I loved Hank too and I think this would be an excellent way to honour his life. Don't you?"

In lieu of a response, Booth just kisses her.

"Is that a yes?" She checks as their foreheads touch together intimately.

"Yes," he whispers as he kisses her again. "Henry Booth."

"It's a great name," Anne chimes in, smiling sweetly at the couple, not missing the clearly emotional reasoning behind the name. "I'll give you some time alone while I fill in the birth certificate."

Booth nods as Anne slips out of the room and then touches Henry's back. "Can we call him Hank for short? I think Pops would like that."

"Of course, Booth," comes Brennan's response, so full of love and understanding. "I wish Hank were here to meet Hank Jr."

Booth swallows. "Me too."

His wife's hand intertwines with his on their son's back and Booth loses track of time, content to simply watch their newborn. He has no idea how much later, but he's pulled away from Hank's tiny yawn when Anne pokes her head into the room.

"You have a very excited little visitor out here, if you're ready."

Booth and Brennan share an equally excitable look, then nod to Anne, who disappears to inform their visitor.

Christine comes shooting into the bedroom moments later.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Booth stands and catches his daughter in his arms, lifting her above his head. "Hey, monkey!"

"Can I see the baby now?" She asks eagerly as Booth lowers her back to the ground.

"Of course you can, sweetheart."

Hearing Brennan's voice, Christine peaks around Booth to find the source. She sees Brennan lying on the bed with a bundle of blankets in her arms. Her pupils dilate and her mouth falls open slightly as she takes a few hesitant steps towards the bed. "Is... Is that my baby?"

"Technically he's mommy and daddy's baby," Booth corrects her with a soft chuckle.

Christine glares at him over his shoulder and he is struck by her likeness to her mother. "My baby, daddy. I'm going to be their favourite person."

Brennan smiles sweetly as Christine reaches the bed, her eyes full of interest as she seeks out the baby amongst the blankets. She angles the bundle towards her five year old, gently pushing away the blankets so Christine has a better view. "You're going to be his favourite person," Brennan tells her mini-me, unable to hide the grin that creeps onto her face.

"I have a little brother?"

Booth and Brennan share happy smiles. "You have a little brother."

"That is so cool!"

"Really?"

"We thought you wanted a little sister so you could dress her up in your princess dresses and put make up on her," Brennan says confusedly. While she had no gender preference, content with either or, Christine had made it well known she wanted a sister, especially with already having Parker in her life.

"I can still do that with him," Christine replies as if it's the most obvious thing in the entire world. "I wonder whether he prefers Snow White or Cinderella."

Booth has to stifle the loud laughter that threatens to escape at the thought of his son dressed in Cinderella's blue ballgown with make-up smeared all over his face. "I'm sure he'll let us know when he's a little older," Booth informs her, his voice shaky as he tries not to laugh.

Christine nods as if his answer is acceptable. Then, suddenly nervous, she asks quietly if she can hold him.

"Yes, of course, sweetheart. Booth."

"Right, ok, here." Booth lifts Christine through the air and sits behind her on the bed, so she's leaning against his chest.

Brennan then adjusts Hank and places him carefully in Christine's arms, both parents hovering in case she makes one small, wrong move. "There you go, sweetheart. You're doing great." She strokes Christine's hair as she watches them together, her heart bursting with pride and love.

"He's so cute," Christine murmurs, engrossed by the rise and fall of his chest. "Was I this cute when I was a baby?"

"You were very cute. Everybody agreed."

"I still am, daddy."

He laughs loudly, his hold on her tightening. God, he loves this little girl. When he composes himself, he drops a kiss to her hair. "Yes, you are, monkey. Very cute. Not very modest though. Like mother, like daughter."

"I don't know what that means. HEY! He's opening his eyes!"

"He must have heard all his family talking and wanted to know what was going on," Brennan says, her gaze fixed on Hank as he opens his eyes for the very first time, revealing identical ones to his father. "Hey, Hank," she whispers, her finger lightly stroking his cheek. "Are you going to be a little heartbreaker like your daddy? You look just like him. That's a good thing, of course. Your daddy is very attractive."

"Bones."

"I should think you know you're attractive, Booth. You do see all the stares you get from women wherever you go, don't you? And we own mirrors, so it's not like you can't see your pleasing face and physique."

His cheeks have flushed red. "Bones."

She shrugs. "I'm just saying."

"Hank?" Christine whispers thoughtfully. "Is that his name? Hank?"

"Henry, but Hank is his nickname. Like Pops."

"I like that name."

"I'm glad we have your seal of approval, Miss Booth," Booth responds, smirking. "So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love your new baby brother?"

"8 million trillion billion!"

Booth grins. "Wow, that much, huh?"

The five year old nods enthusiastically. "Hank's the bestest!"

"No, Christine, bestest isn't a word. You mean to say Hank is the best, remember? We've had this discussion before," Brennan teaches, never missing an opportunity to widen her daughter's knowledge.

"Well Hank's the best then," Christine rectifies.

Anne pokes her head around the door at that moment, birth certificate in hand. "Hey there, Booth family. Sorry to interrupt - I need mommy and daddy's signatures."

"Ok, sure."

She nears the bed and hands the paper for Brennan to scribble her signature on first, then Booth does the same.

"They're both adorable," Anne compliments as Christine sings twinkle twinkle to Hank, unaware of the three adults admiring her.

"We agree." Booth and Brennan exchange meaningful looks. "Could you take a picture for us please, Anne?"

"Absolutely." She takes the phone that Booth passes to her and holds it up to the family. "Say cheese!"

"Cheeeeesseeee!"

Anne clicks the button, waits for the picture to load and then smiles as the snapshot of the family appears on the screen. "Very photogenic," she says, giving the phone back to Booth. "I'm off now. Hank seems perfectly healthy from what I can garner - if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me or your doctors."

"Will do. Thank you Anne for all your help. I'm sure Booth is very grateful he didn't have to do it himself this time."

"Yes, I imagine he is," she replies laughingly. "Congratulations on your beautiful baby boy."

Brennan smiles at her, lifting a hand as the midwife leaves the family to it. Her attention returning to her two children, she sees Christine press a wet kiss to Hank's cheek and wonders why she ever thought kids would be a bad idea. Aside from Booth, Christine and now Hank are the best thing that's ever happened to her. She loves them more than she ever thought possible to love another human being and she can't wait to watch them grow beside each other.

She catches her husband's eye and he winks like he knows exactly what she's thinking about. While in the past it would have infuriated her that he know her so well, so deeply, that he could know her every thought, now she kind of likes it.

She accepts the fact that she's changed quite a lot since that handsome man in a suit introduced himself as Seeley Booth at the end of one of her American University lectures all those years ago. As she watches Booth and Christine pull funny faces at Hank, Christine's musical giggle ringing through their beautiful house, she's not so sure she minds.

This one has taken me some time to get right; I kept deleting it and starting over and over. But in the end I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I wish we'd seen Christine/Hank meeting on the show but we've had so many incredible B&B moments I suppose I can't be too disappointed.

Leave a review if you liked this chapter! :)