(After The Change in the Game)
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I don't own Bones.
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Angela couldn't take it anymore. The not knowing was driving her crazy and she had to know what was going on. "You're pregnant."
"Yes I am." Brennan was relieved that someone had finally noticed. She had even complained the evening before to Booth about the fact that everyone she worked with appeared to be blind to her condition.
Surprised that Brennan would just confirm it just like that, Angela entered the examination room and glared at Brennan. "So you don't deny it?"
"Why would I deny it?" Brennan thought the question was ridiculous. "I'm obviously pregnant. I'm actually quite disappointed in you Angela. You should have noticed it before now, in fact, everyone should have noticed it before now."
Trying to control her temper, Angela gritted her teeth and counted softy from one to five. "We did notice, but we thought you'd say something before now. Why not tell us? Is there a problem? Is it Booth's baby or not? Is he refusing to take responsibility because if he is . . ."
Brennan held up her hand and sighed. "Booth is the father and he does take responsibility. He will be an excellent parent. I know he will because of his relationship with his son, Parker."
"Then why?" Angela was so frustrated with her friend she thought she'd burst. "Why the secret? Are you two a couple or not?"
Unable to hide her smile, Brennan took off her latex gloves and threw them in the biohazard bin. "We know about the pool . . . Booth and I know about the pool about us."
"Um, okay." She was beginning to see what was going on and Angela could only see trouble ahead. "Are you telling me you and Booth have been keeping quiet about your pregnancy because of the pool?"
Not sure how much she should admit to, Brennan thought Booth's rule about keeping their relationship a secret should still hold, at least for now. "Booth heard about the pool and he became quite angry. He thinks too many of our friends and co-workers are too busy interfering in our private business and I concur. Betting on us is a waste of money, time and a clear invasion of our privacy."
The anger in Brennan's voice was apparent and Angela knew that the pool had probably been a bad idea. "It seemed harmless enough when it was started. Come on, Bren. We create pools for everything you know that."
"No, most of them are sports related." Brennan didn't intend to let her friends off too easy. She really hated gambling and appreciated that Booth had given up gambling seven years earlier. "Making wagers on events in someone's life seems both gauche to me and insensitive and Booth agrees."
"So you know that the pool is about when you two get together as a couple?" Angela knew that the partners might be irritated about the pool, but at least they could wrap it up now. "Are you living together yet? You are aren't you?"
Brennan decided to stick to technicalities. They were a couple, but they weren't living together. "We are not living together." As she walked past Angela and out of the room, Brennan tried to hide her smile and failed. "We're just partners."
"But you're having a baby with Booth." Angela could not believe what she was hearing. "What are you two waiting for? Of course you're a couple."
Remaining silent, Brennan moved down the hallway to her office, closed the door behind her and called her lover. She was starting to see the amusing part of the plan and wanted Booth to know what was going on.
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She had thought it had gone too far and someone had to intervene. The squabbling by the pool entrants was getting out of hand and Cam had witnessed some terrible arguments at the Jeffersonian while everyone tried to guess when Booth and Brennan had become a romantic couple. Absolutely no one believed the partners when they said they were just partners and the pool players wanted the pool closed and the money given out.
Cam found Booth in his office, stalked in and closed the door behind her. "Okay Big Guy, you and Dr. Brennan have had your fun, but it's time to stop. Just tell me when you two became a couple and we'll close the pool down."
With a trace of a smile on his face, Booth shook his head. "Bones and I aren't a couple."
Angry with her friend, Cam slapped Booth's desk with the palm of her hand. "You are a couple and you're punishing everyone for betting on you. Well it's not a nice thing to do. People want the pool closed and the winner needs to collect their money. You're just being petty and you know it."
"I'm not nice and I can be petty." Booth leaned back against his chair. ""No one has a right to use my private life as a way to entertain themselves. My life is real. Bones' life is real and we will not be played with. I don't give a shit if anyone ever wins that pool. Maybe the next time they'll think twice before they use us as a source of entertainment."
Yelling at her friend wasn't going to get what she wanted and Cam knew it. Sitting down, she calmed her emotions and stared at Booth trying to determine how to get him to cooperate. "Look, let's face it. Your relationship with Dr. Brennan had been a source of speculation since the first time you two worked together. Over the years we've seen you two grow close and when you got too close you ran away from each other . . . You know how people are. You know that you two have been a source of gossip for years and these people that started the pool, they're your friends and co-workers. They knew that you two would get together sooner or later even if you and Dr. Brennan didn't want to admit it or recognize how much you mean to each other. We aren't blind. We aren't stupid . . . that pool was a sign of optimism. Your friends knew . . . they absolutely knew that you two were going to be a couple someday. That's how much faith they have in you two. Even when you were with Hannah, the pool stayed active because everyone knew that you and Brennan were meant to be together and that someday you'd see it too."
Booth stared at Cam and was surprised at the speech she was giving him, but he didn't respond. He wanted the players to understand that he wasn't a toy to be played with and neither was Brennan.
"Nothing? Really?" Cam sighed. "Just tell me when you two became a couple and we can end the pool. We've learned our lesson. No one will ever use you in a pool again. Not after it took two years to finish this one. Do you have any idea how big that pot is now?"
An idea sprang into being and Booth grinned as he leaned forward. "Tell you what. If the winner agrees to give half of what they win to Fisher House Foundation, Bones and me will cooperate and we'll tell you when we became a couple."
"But that's blackmail." Astonished that Booth would stoop so low, Cam shook her head. "I'm not so sure everyone will agree to that."
"It is blackmail and that is my condition to end this." Booth grimly reached into the drawer of his desk and handed a brochure from Fisher House Foundation to Cam. "These people deserve our respect and our help. Everyone in the pool has three choices. They can keep fighting over the date, they can just pick a date from thin air and end the pool or they can give in to my terms and we'll confirm if we're a couple and if we are when it happened. I don't really care which one they choose. I'm done with this conversation and you know there isn't any use bugging Bones about this. She was pretty unhappy when she found out we were being used as pieces in a game. She was also disappointed that it took everyone months to mention that she was pregnant. You people are supposed to be geniuses, but we sure didn't see any sign of it. Bones can tell when someone is pregnant when they're just a couple of months pregnant, but she made allowances for your lower IQs and decided you guys would figure it out in three." Booth shook his head. "Pretty sad Cam. Pretty damn sad."
"Oh we knew by the time she was three months pregnant. The signs were there, but we kept thinking she'd say something or you would." The whole situation was turning into a soap opera and Cam was regretting that she'd allowed the pool to enter the Lab. She also regretted being part of the pool. "I'll pass the word around about your blackmail and I'll get back to you."
Glad that Cam had given him such a great idea, Booth nodded his head. "You do that." Turning his attention back to the report lying on his desk, he waited until Cam left his office before he called Brennan. He was glad the thing was coming to a close. It had been too much drama and he had had enough drama in his life.
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A/N: Fisher House Foundation is best known for a network of comfort homes where military and veterans' families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving treatment. These homes are located at major military and VA medical centers nationwide, close to the medical center or hospital they serve. Fisher House Foundation also operates the Hero Miles program, using donated frequent flyer miles to bring family members to the bedside of injured service members as well as the Hotels for Heroes program using donated hotel points to allow family members to stay at hotels near medical centers without charge.