Here's another chapter! This one went quickly, I normally can't update so fast. Once again I am so excited about the amount of alerts etc. for this story, your enthusiasm makes me all the more enthusiastic, which in turn helps me write faster! I especially love all of the fantastic comments I've been getting, they absolutely make my day! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter =)

"So, what is it that you have to tell me?" Booth asked once they were sitting down at their table with food in front of them.

Dr. Brennan took a deep breath, she was so nervous about telling him. She decided to just be blunt, true to her nature, "I'm pregnant."

He gaped at her, his mouth opening and shutting a few times with no words coming out, it might have been comic if she wasn't shaking with nerves. Eventually he managed a strangled, "Huh?"

"Pregnant, Booth," she said impatiently, "having a baby."

He continued to stare, dumbfounded, "What? How? When? Why? What?" He couldn't seem to form a coherent question so he settled for barking out a string of single-worded ones.

She took another deep breath and explained almost calmly, "I decided to go through with artificial insemination a while ago. Angela helped me pick an anonymous donor," she added quickly, seeing the obvious question in his eyes, "you know that I have been considering this for a long time."

"Why?" The force of his own voice surprised him, "Why would you choose to do that?"

"Booth, there's no need to yell. I choose this because I want a child. I'm tired of being alone, I want someone to care for. I believe that I would make a great mother, and let's face it, I'm not getting any younger." Her own voice began to rise as she defended herself, this was certainly not the reaction she expected.

"You can't raise a child alone. Children need family, stability. You work all the time, how will you take care of a baby?" He didn't understand what could have made her choose this.

"No," she said as his words stung her, "you don't get to do this. You don't get to sit here and judge me this way. I have a family. I have my father and my brother, my brother's wife and my nieces. I have Angela and Hodgins, they are family to me, and I thought I had you but I was wrong about that, apparently. And I'm not an idiot, I know I won't be able to keep my current schedule, and I don't want to. I love my job, but I want to have a reason to go home at night. Did you ever consider that maybe I only stay at the lab all the time to feel a little bit less alone? I don't like coming home to an empty apartment night after night. I hate it actually. I really don't even need my job, I have more than enough financial resources to raise a child, though I'm sure I will continue working lessened hours.

"I have planned this, Booth. So you cannot judge me. You moved on. This is me moving on." She glared at him, waiting for a response.

He rubbed his temples, trying to process this, "I just… I don't get it Bones."

She was becoming more and more frustrated as the conversation wore on, "Why not? What is so hard for you to understand?"

"I don't understand why you would want to have the child of someone that you've never met. I don't understand why you couldn't just wait to find someone, like a normal person would, just let nature take its course, you know?" He wasn't completely sure what was making him so upset. She was right, it was her choice, but he couldn't let it go until he understood.

"You know how well my relationships work, Booth. It will be much easier for me to raise a child independently. No having to worry about a relationship lasting, no custody battles, how is that so hard to understand?" She raised her eyebrows at him while she waited, not too patiently, for him to answer.

"Why didn't you, you know… talk to me about it?" He asked this without meeting her gaze.

"Are you serious?" She stared at him imploringly, "Do you really think that I'm that socially inept? Even I know that you can't ask a man to have his baby when he is with another woman." She sighed, "Since you seem to be having such trouble with this I'm going to give you two options. One, you can be my friend and support me through this. Two, we can be just partners and not mention this again, although it will affect the type of work we do together. I'll be spending much more time at the lab, and I won't be able to help chase criminals with you anymore." She gave him a small smile but he didn't return it.

"I really don't know what to think about this, Bones. I really don't," he was frustrated that she seemed to expect him to just accept all of this in one sitting.

"All right," she said, working hard to maintain her composure. She was done feeling annoyed and now she just felt tired and disappointed and she didn't want him to notice the tears filling her eyes as she reached for her purse. "I guess I will see you later then," she said, leaving her money on the table.

"Bones, wait," he said as she moved to leave, "please give me a minute. I don't process things as quickly as you do, remember? And this, this is big," he looked at her seriously as she sat back down, "I need some time to think through it. I'm here for you, though, okay? I know I haven't been the best friend lately, but I want to work on that all right?"

She nodded as she blinked back the tears, "I'm glad you still want to be friends. I've missed having you as a friend. And I did want to tell you sooner. I just didn't know how to tell you, or when, we haven't been alone together very much lately. It's understandable of course, you're in a new relationship, but I really did want you to know." A single tear slid down her cheek as she finished, she swiped it away quickly.

"It's okay. I'm glad you did tell me," he flashed her a smile and she relaxed immediately, "so, who else knows?"

She smiled a bit back at him, "Angela knows, obviously. I had to tell Cam, the morning sickness has been making me late, like yesterday for example. That's the real reason I was late. My dad knows, the last time he visited he caught me during one of those episodes of morning sickness," she laughed a bit, "he was as surprised as you were I think. Zack is the only other person I'm sure knows. He figured it out by the slight change in my posture. He could have been a better forensic anthropologist than me someday," she shook her head sadly.

"No one else knows?" He was surprised, and slightly pleased that he wasn't the absolute last to find out.

"Well, Hodgins probably knows. I haven't told him but I doubt Angela's kept it secret from him this long. I'll start telling people next month, after the first trimester."

He nodded, "Have you thought about names yet?" He tried his hardest to make conversation as he still worked on processing the fact that she was actually pregnant.

Now she gave him a real smile, "I like Eleanor for a girl, Ella for short. I don't know about a boy's name yet," she glanced quickly at the clock on the wall, "it's almost three. We should really get back."

"Okay," he said, nodding. He checked his phone quickly as he got up. There was one text message and three missed calls from Hannah, he had forgotten his phone was on silent. The text message said, Where are you? Why aren't you in your office? Why aren't you answering your phone? Are we still on for dinner tonight? We need to talk.

He groaned quietly, he wasn't looking forward to seeing her.

"What was that for?" Brennan asked, of course she picked up on the smallest hints of his frustration.

"Nothing, Bones, it's nothing. Let's just get back to the lab okay?" She shrugged in response and allowed him to lead her to the car.