Story: The Feel of a Heartbeat
Author: QueenyC
Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or any of the charters or locations affiliated with it. If I did, I'd be doing more with them then posting stories in fan fiction.
A/N: Wow! I am OVERWHELMED by the number of review that poured in for this story! Truly! You guys are fantastic! This chapter still feels a bit sticky to me, I'm not sure if I like this direction or not. Let me know what y'all think. On a different note, did we all see the season premiere last night? Thoughts? I think my heart broke when Booth told Brennan about Hannah!
Chapter Two: Truth and Lies
Booth watched his eight-year-old son as he climbed through the jungle gym at the local park with experienced ease, perching at the top with a proud wave before offering a hand up to his play companion, a pretty little red-head named Sarah.
Booth grinned, his heart swelling with the pride of knowing that he'd raised his son well to be respectful and helpful and courteous. Everyone was always quick to assure him of this. And Parker was a smart, well-adjusted kid too. He seemed to instinctively understand things far beyond his age when it came to people and their emotions. Booth wondered if Bones would tell him traits like that were genetic. He wondered if their baby (God, he needed to quit thinking of it that way) would develop a similar understanding of human emotions or if it would be more like Bones: analytical and adorably hopeless.
At the thought of her and the baby, his stomach knotted unpleasantly. For Parker this was just a Saturday at the park, but for Booth it was long past time to get something over with.
In all fairness, he should really have done it weeks ago. Bones had already (with the same blunt manner she addressed everything) informed Cam, her father and Sweets of her pregnancy. Their partnership was under (as always) the continued review of Sweets in case things got too awkward. Booth only had one job and, to be fair, it wasn't like anyone could've done it for him. Tell Parker.
Tell Parker about a baby that was somehow his sibling and, somehow, something completely unlike a sibling too.
And Booth had no idea how to go about this but, with Bones almost a full month into the pregnancy now, was starting feel like an ass for not doing it sooner.
"Hey, Dad," Parker called, trotting up and cutting into Booth's circling thought cycle. "Can we get ice cream before we go home?"
Booth grinned and ruffled his son's hair affectionately. "Sure, Bub."
"Yes," Parker said, pulling his arm back in the universal 'cha-ching' action. "Bye Sarah," he called to the little red-head as he scooped his backpack up and tossed it over one shoulder.
"Bye Parker," the little girl called back with a toothy grin and batting eyelashes. Booth rolled his eyes. Just what he needed, a little lady-charmer on his hands. Becca would insist this was somehow all his fault.
They pulled up outside of their favorite ice cream shop, a Swirlee Treats, and it was only when Booth shut the car off that he realized how silent Parker had grown.
"You okay, Bub?" He asked carefully.
"Are you okay, Dad," Parker countered with a raised eyebrow. Booth sat back a little surprised.
"Uh, sure, Buddy. Why?"
Parker shrugged, lifting an eyebrow and, dear God, doing that little head-cocking thing that Bones sometimes did when she was puzzling through an I-don't-know-what-that-means moment. Clearly these two were spending too much time together.
"You've been quiet all day," Parker said calmly. "Bones says you're only quiet when you're angry or trying to hide something."
"She does huh?" Booth scowled a little at both the knowledge of how well the otherwise emotionally-clueless scientist knew him and the fact that she was training his kid to read him as well.
Parker nodded sagely. "So, what's up Dad?"
"What would be up, Park?"
There was a pause and then, "Bones was sick at breakfast this morning," Parker remarked suddenly. Feeling distinctly like he was caught in a trap, Booth nodded. Yes, he admitted, Bones had gotten sick this morning after joining them for breakfast at the diner. He'd taken her home before he and Parker headed to the park.
"Sometimes people get sick, Bub, it doesn't mean anything bad," Booth assured his son gently because, God, the last thing he wanted to do was discuss morning sickness with his eight-year-old son. There was nothing in the parenting books about explaining their unique situation to a child. He'd checked.
Parker shrugged. "I've never seen Bones sick and we've known her for years, Dad."
"That's true," Booth hedged.
"Dad," Parker sighed, turning to face his father suddenly with a very grown up nod of understanding. "What's going on?"
And Booth knew this was one of those defining moments people like to talk about. He'd always been as honest and open with his son as possible, something that he credited for Parker's excellent behavior.
All or nothing.
"Well, Buddy," Pause, "Bones is pregnant," he said honestly, holding his breath for the fallout.
Parker lifted his eyebrow quizzically. "But who's the daddy?"
Oh, God.
"I am," Booth sighed.
Just be honest and be calm, Seeley.
"You are?" Now, at least, there was something resembling an eight-year-old child staring back at him. "Dad? Are you and Bones having sex?"
Booth nearly choked on his own tongue. He so wasn't ready for this conversation.
"What do you know about sex, Park?"
Parker raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Dad, we get cable. And I go to public school. Plus, Bones has told me all sorts about mating rituals in different tribes around the world."
Booth made a mental note to remind his partner that Parker was still in elementary school. Then he sighed, "It's complicated, Buddy," Booth said carefully, trying to think of a way to not sound like a crazy person. "Bones wanted to have a baby and asked for my help."
"So you did have sex?"
"What? No, Park! Stop using that word or your mother will murder me...I just...helped, okay?"
Parker sighed and Booth had a funny feeling he was planning to ask Bones about all of this later.
"Anyway. The baby will live with Bones, it'll be her baby and my baby, but we're not together. Understand?"
"Sort of like you and Mom," Parker nodded.
"Uh...sure." Booth nodded, unsure of whether his relationship with his partner was more or less complicated than his relationship with the mother of his son.
"Okay, cool," Parker nodded, totally adjusted. He opened the door to the SUV and slid out. Curiosity satisfied, he was back to focusing on the ice cream issue. Booth shook his head and followed his son up to the window thinking he should probably take Bones' advice and start giving his kid a little more credit.
~BB~
They were at her apartment again, a more and more frequent occurrence since the day she'd given Booth a key to her apartment's pool house. Also magnified now by the pregnancy which Angela, Cam and Sweets all seemed to insist was truly unique.
Brennan didn't really see it that way.
She'd wanted a baby. Booth, a strong, healthy intelligent man, was the best viable option for a sperm donor. She refused to see any more or less to it than that.
Still, she wasn't going to lie (at least not to herself), it was nice having the Booth boys over most weekends. They would play out in the pool for hours. Sometimes she joined in, but mostly sat by the edge and caught up on her scientific journals. Then the trio would file into her place for lunch (or dinner if Parker was convincing enough to keep them outside that long) before they headed home. After the fourth mentioning from Parker, Brennan had even broken down and purchased a television for her place.
This afternoon though, they hadn't come over for a swim. Instead, they'd attempted a breakfast at the diner (it would be a long time before she looked at eggs the same way, that was certain) and then the boys had gone to the park.
She'd been surprised when, two hours later, they'd showed back up at her door. She'd been surprised, but oddly comforted and (dare she admit it) completed by the idea of them spending the rest of their evening with her.
"You didn't have to come back and check on me," Brennan had told Booth once Parker was out of earshot and flipping through channels on the TV. Her partner handed her a bottle of gingerale at the doorway.
"Parker insisted," Booth told her with a grin.
"That was thoughtful of him," Brennan nodded, trying to read the look gracing Booth's impressive features.
"He also now knows about the baby."
"Oh?" And suddenly, inexplicably, she was very nervous.
"It's fine, Bones," Booth said gently, brushing a strand of her hair back from her face in reassurance. Sometimes she was torn between hating and loving how easily he read her.
"Fine?"
"Yes. Parker is okay with everything. I explained how the situation was. He knows we're not in love or anything and — hey, you okay?" Booth stared at her in concern as Brennan attempted and (of course) managed to cover her falter quickly.
"Just nauseous still," she lied (her first real lie to him) and stepped back from him and the door to allow Booth fully into the apartment.
Booth frowned curiously but seemed to accept this excuse. "Try the gingerale. The lady at the pharmacy swore by it," he promised before going in hunt of his son.
Brennan took a deep breath as he passed by her, an odd clenching feeling in her heart which she wished, truly wished, would just go away. Because Booth was right. They weren't in love. So why had that hurt so much to hear.