A/N: So basically everyone at the Boneyard bribed me with Tim Hortons dollars and tried to mob me, so you can thank them for this chapter!

Chapter Three

"Hi." He blurted out. 'Stupid, stupid.' He thought to himself.

She just stood there, stunned. Her eyes flicked from him to the sleeping child in his arms then back to him again.

"Hi Booth." She finally managed to get out. He nodded and they stood there, neither of them knowing what to do.

"So…ummm…I should.." he said, tilting his head towards Chris.

"Right, right. I'm sorry. I just came for some takeout." She said. "I didn't think you would be here." She saw the look of hurt flash across his face. "I didn't mean.."

"It's okay, Tem...Bones." he stuttered.

They were silent, neither of them knowing how to get out of their awkward situation.

"Daddy?" Chris said, lifting her head up. "Where are we?"

"Um, we are just leaving Sid's, okay?" he replied. "Just go back to sleep."

"Where's Mr. Franks?" Chris asked.

He looked around and realized he must have left it at the table.

"Let's go get him." He said.

"Who is that?" Chris asked, pointing to Brennan. "Does she work at the FBI too?"

"Yeah, she does." He replied. "Chris, this is….Tempe. Tempe, this is Chris."

"Hi." Chris said. "You're pretty."

"Chris?" She asked.

"My real name's Christine, but Daddy calls me Chris." Chris said.

"Christine." She repeated, looking at Booth in wonder. "You called her Christine."

"Yeah." He replied, trying not to lose himself in her eyes.

"Let's go find Mr. Franks." He said abruptly, moving towards the table. They found him next to Zach.

"Okay, we've got Mr. Franks, we've got your book, time to put you to bed." He said. "Say goodbye to the squints."

"Bye squints!" Chris shouted, causing everyone to laugh.

He moved away from the table and started to head out the door.

"Bye Tempe!" Chris said, as they passed her.

"Bye." She replied softly. She nodded at Booth and turned to the bar.

He carried Chris out to the car. She was asleep by the time he pulled out of the parking lot. As he drove home he thought about what happened. He punched the steering wheel in frustration. He thought he could handle it, but then she walked in and it was like it was yesterday. He remembered everything. The way she kissed him, how she felt underneath him, how she would blush when he called her beautiful. With one glance, he felt himself crashing hard. He punched the steering wheel again.

This was not how it was supposed to be. She left him. She was the one who pushed him away. He should be angry as hell, he should have yelled at her for everything, for leaving him with Chris. He was alone for four years, raising a daughter all by himself.

But in that one glance he fell in love with her all over again. 'Dammit.' He said quietly. He glanced back in the rear view mirror at his sleeping daughter. He was right before when he said she was all Temperance. Sometimes she would flash him a smile or get a look on her face that reminded him so much of Temperance that he would have to leave the room.

He pulled into the parking space of his new apartment and got out of the car. He unbuckled Chris and carried her upstairs, placing her in her bed. He took off her jacket and shoes, but left her clothes on. He walked back out to the living room and starting digging through the boxes until he found what he was looking for.

He headed over to the couch and sat down, fingering the picture in his hands. When he moved, he had gotten rid of all the pictures of the two of them together, but he couldn't throw out this one. It wasn't even important. It didn't happen on a special day, it was just a picture that Angela had taken when neither of them were looking. They were staring into each other's eyes and smiling.

A tear slipped down his cheek and hit the picture. He thought he could do this, come back here, walk into her life and everything would be fine. He knew now that wasn't going to happen. A part of him didn't want Chris to know Temperance at all. She was the one, after all who had so coldly told him in the hospital that she didn't want her, would never want her.

This is how it was going to be. The two of them dancing around each other, pretending like nothing happened. He would walk into the Jeffersonian tomorrow with a case and everything would be back to normal. Or at least they would pretend it was normal.

He fingered the picture again, looking at how happy they were. That is what he wanted. He wanted to be happy with her. The picture fell, fluttering to the ground as he put his head in his hands.

He thought he could do this, but maybe he couldn't.