Chapter 3 – The boy who wanted more

She did end up taking the Thursday off, shocking Cam completely when she rang her to tell her she was taking a long weekend. Booth was able to swing an extra day with Parker and by Saturday the three of them were happily spending the morning at the beach after a nice drive in the car. Parker was animatedly describing an experiment he'd done at school, trying to impress Bones, happy to finally be able to spend some solid time with her, after the whole Hannah debacle.

"It was so gross and it smelled so bad!" Parker laughed his eyes twinkling almost exactly like Booth's did when he laughed. He looked up at two of his favourite people in the world and knew he needed to ask them something.

"Dad, Bones are you seeing each other now?" Parker asked shyly, desperately hoping the answer was yes. He'd been hoping for this day for a long time and as much as he'd liked Hannah, she just wasn't Bones, she didn't know anywhere near as much cool stuff as Bones did and he knew he'd only tried to like Hannah to please his Dad. Bones was his friend, but had always felt more like his step-mum, she'd been the one to help him with his homework, teach him about science, she knew so many cool facts and never tired of sharing them or answering his questions. Sometimes he liked Bones more than he liked his Mum & Dad just because she treated him like an adult, she never thought anything he said was stupid.

"Well bub, we actually wanted to talk to you about that" Booth told his son, looking at the woman he loved, searching for any sign of hesitation or fear. Instead she smiled at him, really smiled at him iand t lit up her whole face so much that he'd never felt luckier in his life. He went to continue but Bones took the lead.

"Your Dad and I are dating, are you okay with that Parker?" Brennan asked him, her face showing a slight amount of fear only now that she was faced with whether Parker would be okay with this. She loved him and although she knew he loved her too, this was a big development.

"Okay?! This is awesome, you don't know how long I've waited for you to say that" Parker said flinging himself at Bones and hugging her enthusiastically. She wrapped her arms around him and a tear slid down her cheek as she thought of how long it had been since they'd spent time together and how much she'd missed him. Parker was the reason she'd wanted to have children, he never made her feel like she was inept at anything, his trust and faith in her astonished her every day. He was the one person where she felt she could not say anything wrong and she loved him, sometimes more than she knew she had a right to. It had broken her heart when Booth had stopped letting him spend time with her, when he was pulling away from her to be with Hannah.

"I'm glad you are happy buddy, because I love Bones and we are going to be together for a very long time" Booth told his son, taking in the way Bones held him, the tear sliding down her cheek, and it took his breath away when he thought about how little time his son and Bones had spent together lately. How blind had he been to not see his son needed Bones, and Bones needed him. He promised himself that no matter what happened between Bones and him, that she would always be able to see Parker and be a part of his life.

"I don't know about you two, but I am starving how about we go find some lunch" Brennan said and looked up at Booth, feeling her breath catch in her throat at the intensity of his gaze. She helped Parker up and stood next to the man she loved, looking into his eyes she gently kissed him, feeling incredibly lucky to have this chance with him again, after everything that had happened.

"I might be happy with you two dating but that doesn't mean you can kiss in front of me all the time ewwww!" Parker laughed and shrieked as his dad began tickling him, then suddenly grabbed Bones and soon they were a jumbling mess of tickles and laughter. It felt really good to be doing this together, another step in the right direction.

The weekend passed far too quickly for all of them and as Booth drove them back to Rebbeca's place to drop off Parker, the mood had slowly turned sombre. Parker knew he needed to live with his mum, but thought maybe now that Bones and his dad were together that maybe she might let him spend a bit more time with them. They always had such a great time together, and he knew his mum liked Bones. She'd told him on more than one occasion that she didn't know how they weren't together and although she'd never voiced it, he got the feeling she never really liked Hannah.

"I'll never get used to that" Booth said as he watched his son and his mother walk back up the steps away from them. It always hurt to say goodbye to his son for the week, not knowing if something was going to happen to break into his time with him. Lately Rebecca had been a lot better about making sure she didn't interrupt their time together and he knew she approved of Bones. They'd had more than one conversation about why he wasn't dating Bones. She'd almost done an Angela squeal when he'd told her that Bones and he were finally dating and it made him smile to think of the memory.

"Neither will I, I find that I miss him when he's not here" Brennan said truthfully, the longer she was in a relationship with Booth the more Parker felt like hers. They'd only been together a week and a half, but it had already proved to be some of the better times in her life. Spending almost four days with the little boy, who was no longer really a little boy being almost 10, had been a complete joy. That's not to say that Parker was never mischievous, he was a normal boy when it came to things like that, but Parker had always felt like her child too, so getting to spend any time with him for any reason was worth it.

"Well we now have all night to console ourselves" Booth said smirking at the instant change in Bones' mood. He knew he was flirting outrageously with her, but it felt so good not having to hold that part back. He stopped the car after he'd parked in her parking garage and lent over to kiss her, passionately, leaving no argument as to what he'd like to be doing at that moment. He felt her more than heard her moan into his mouth and soon got lost in the kiss. When breathing proved too difficult he reluctantly pulled away smiling at the pink tinge to her skin and tousled hair. He wanted her to always look like that, so sexy and the look of obvious desire on her face.

They spent the rest of the night bringing each other to heights of ecstasy neither of them had ever felt with anyone else, and when they were both finally sated they lay together, Brennan curled up in his arms completely content in his embrace. They lay there for a while, no words passing between them both caught up in their own thoughts and feelings.

"Bones, as much as I don't want to, I think there are some things both of us need to air before we get too caught up in this and forget to say them" Booth told Brennan, pulling her tighter against him, letting her know through his actions that he was not letting her go and nothing she said would ever make him want to leave.

"I know we talked in the elevator, but we didn't really say everything we wanted to say" Brennan said, amazed that Booth was bringing this up. She knew how much he hated talking things out, and as much as she didn't like it either out of the two of them she was always more willing to talk than he was. She knew there were things he didn't know, things she hadn't been able to tell him because he'd been with Hannah, and they'd never really had a chance after she left, Booth had been so angry and she was scared if she told him, he'd leave her too.

"Booth, when we came back from our seven months apart, I- I was going to tell you I was ready to take that chance, I was about to tell you" She said before he interrupted her.

"But I told you I was with Hannah" He said simply, wanting to urge her on but not wanting to rush the process. Instead he squeezed her gently, letting her know silently that she could say what she needed to. He knew he wasn't going to like what he heard, already didn't like what she'd said so far. If only he'd known, but now was no time for if only's, she was his now that's all that mattered.

"Yes, and you told me it was as serious as a heart attack, I-I couldn't say anything, my heart was crushed, metaphorically" She told him, turning herself towards him so she could look into his eyes.

" I don't think I've ever felt pain like that and it wasn't even all your fault, if I had only just been stronger, not as afraid to lose my imperviousness..." She said as she trailed off, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Shhh Bones, I'm here now, I'm yours now" He said as he wrapped his arms around her tighter again and allowed her to cry for a while. He knew he had things he needed to tell her too, apologise for and in some ways he wished he'd said them earlier.

"Bones, I was wrong, what I did with Hannah was wrong, when I saw you that night all those feelings I'd had for you rushed back and I, well I did what I had to in order to show that I was true to my word, that I had moved on" He said feeling a little ashamed. She went to interrupt him but he placed a finger on her lips, knowing he needed to get this all out.

"When Hannah came back, I thought this is my chance, to show you I could move on without you, and for a while I didn't want to see how much it was hurting you, I tried to make Hannah my world the way you had been, and I stopped bring Parker over, and bringing you Thai and making you eat and doing all of the things that made me your best friend, I stopped being true to myself... I don't know why it was so important to me to show you I'd moved on, but Bones you have to believe me I never really did, Hannah, she was a big mistake...I – I knew she wasn't right for me and eventually she'd move on, but she was who I could have right then and then when I saw how much you were hurting, especially during the Lauren Eames case, it panicked me, I saw during that time that you did love me, and I looked back and saw all the things you were doing for me and how much I was hurting you, Bones I am so sorry, I was an ass, a complete ass to you" Booth said tears in his own eyes, wanting her to hear everything to know everything about that time.

"Just let me finish okay, and then you can say whatever you need to, Bones you were the one back then and you are the one now, I hurt you on purpose, I threw Hannah in your face, and I took Parker from you and I can only hope you'll forgive me for that, but I want you to forgive me more for is for pushing you, I gave into my urge to gamble and I listened to Sweets, and I shouldn't have, I knew you weren't ready, I knew that you needed time and I don't know why I did what I did, but I should have waited for you, I should have fought for you and I should never have put you in that position, Bones you are and will always be the one I want, just as you are, you will never need to change for me" Booth told her, looking deeply into her eyes and seeing the forgiveness in her eyes that he still wasn't sure he deserved. Thinking back he knew how much he was hurting her, yet he couldn't stop himself.

"Booth, I forgive you, and I hope you can forgive me for getting scared and telling you I couldn't change, I know I can, but I was so afraid I would hurt you, I could never have stood that, knowing I'd hurt you, but with how inept I was at relationships at the time I felt it was inevitable that I would" Brennan told him gently, not able to resist placing a light kiss on his lips. He surprised her and deepened the kiss and soon they were clinging together, forgiving and loving each other in ways that words could never show.

"Booth I love you" Brennan told him sleepily when they were wrapped in each others arms again after their lovemaking.

"I love you too Bones, you'll never know how much but I will spend all of my life proving it to you" Booth told her as they both drifted off to sleep together. Little did they know but as they slept, changes were beginning between them, the seed had been sown and the path they were on was set. It would be another two weeks before this development would make itself known, and it would change their lives for ever.

TBC

Sorry for leaving it there, but the chapter was getting too long. I could have gone on and on about all the things they needed to apologise to each other about, and it always saddened me that we didn't get to see a discussion like this between them in the show... until next time!