The Fear in the Fight
Chapter 4 – Adjustment
Booth laid in their bed listening to the sounds of the night air outside. He couldn't get comfortable. No matter how hard he tried to go to sleep he couldn't make it stick. He turned from one side over to the other. He nodded off only to wake back up again. He wondered if he'd sleep again until after the baby was born and they were officially out of danger. He moved to wrap his arms around Bones, and relaxed a little when he got close enough to feel her heart beating. His mind kept going back to that examination room and the doctor's words. He was still wrapping his head around the fact that he and Bones were creating a family, and now he had to deal with the idea that that family might be in danger. He inadvertently squeezed her tighter.
She sighed, turned to him and opened her eyes slightly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Go back to sleep…" He softly kissed her ear. She needed rest. He had to make sure she got it.
"Don't lie to me. You know better than that," she turned to look at him. "Tell me…"
"Ok…I'm terrified," he said quickly. "I can't get rid of this knot in my stomach."
She reached up to touch his face. "It's okay so am I."
"Not you, the scientist. I was hoping you were going to teach me how to put the wall up between my emotions and the facts."
"Normally, I would be your go-to on that. I really thought I could, but about seven months ago the sturdy wall I had up came crumbling down when we finally got together. So in short, I've got nothing…" She gave him a quick, concerned smile and placed his hand on her stomach.
"It's just that I'm feeling a little helpless here. You know I have a really hard time with that."
"I know, but we're in this together remember? That's what you said. Two hearts and heads have to be better than one, right?"
"Yeah… I just…"
"Shhh… " She gently pulled him into her and place his head on her shoulder. "Sleep… we'll talk about it in the morning."
Brennan slowly opened her eyes and peeked at the ceiling. Booth's head was resting on the top of her pregnant stomach. He'd finally gone to sleep to the sound of their baby's heart beat. She smiled and rested her hand on his tousled hair. Her touch woke him.
"Hey…" he said, lifting his head. "Oh sorry… are you okay?" He rubbed the place his head had been and looked at her.
"I'm fine. Just hungry," a smile slowly crept over her face. "You always hear stories about pregnancy and hunger but it really is true. This one definitely likes to eat." She tapped her stomach lightly.
"I'm on the case." Booth rolled over to lift himself out of the bed. Brennan started to follow him up and he stopped her.
"No, you have to start taking it easy. I can bring you breakfast. Stay put."
She liked the idea of staying in bed but hoped this wasn't the first sign of "protective Booth" showing up. She secretly kind of liked it when he went all macho protective on her, but it always ended with her getting fed up and having to tell him he went too far.
She reached over and grabbed the nearest book off her nightstand. Gently, she opened her paperback version of "What to Expect When You're Expecting". She smiled to herself. Having a scientific mind, she never thought such simple, instructional reading would ever be in her library. She'd somehow assumed that as an anthropologist she would miraculously be able to understand and quickly explain everything going on with her body while she created another life. How wrong she was. The technical stuff was easy, but there were things that to her shock she couldn't find an explanation for like the funny feeling she had that she was carrying a girl. She had no evidence. She just touched her stomach one day and knew she was connecting with her daughter. She hadn't told Booth yet, and probably wouldn't until it was confirmed at the doctor's office next month. She didn't want him grinning at her while waxing poetic about her finally getting in touch with some kind of spiritual connection.
"Here we are…" He said entering the bedroom, balancing a breakfast tray with orange juice, eggs, bacon and toast. "Breakfast is served." He placed the tray down over Brennan's lap and laid a cloth napkin over her baby belly. "Enjoy!"
"You're not eating?" She said picking up the fork and knife. She tried to contain her excitement, but their child was causing a hunger pain that she didn't think she'd ever experienced in her life.
"I will. I just wanted to make sure you were taken care of first. The look in your eyes was a little dangerous," he sat down on the bed and smiled.
"Whatever… you try carrying a human being the size and weight of a bowling ball and see how you like it…" She rolled her eyes, placed a forkful of egg in her mouth and sighed in pleasure.
"Now, that sounds familiar. I love it when you make that sound." He tilted his head to the side, gave her the look that always turned her mind to butter, and slid his hand up her leg.
She slowly smiled. "And that's how we got here in the first place…"
Booth laughed and stood. "I can't help it. You'll always be sexy to me – pregnant, sick, with an AARP card. It doesn't matter," he leaned down and kissed her slowly.
"So what time are we leaving?" She said biting into a piece of bacon.
"Leaving? Oh, yeah… about that… The good news is you don't have to leave. "
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the doctor said you should take it easy, right? I just called Cam and told her you needed today to rest."
Brennan squared her jaw and looked up at him. "You did what?"
"Don't get that look. It's just for today so we can figure out what to do next."
"Booth, I don't need you to…" He quickly touched her lips to silence her.
"I'm not getting crazy. I promise. I did have the urge to tell Cam you were on leave until the baby is born, but I tempered that for fear of serious Bones retribution. I just said you wouldn't be in today.
I think we need to talk about how to adjust to this and keep everyone healthy. "
She sighed. "I accept your explanation. Although, I don't think much needs to change. I'll take my prescription and pay attention to how I'm feeling. That's all we really can do."
"I don't know, Bones. Why not slow it down from the outset? I mean, why put yourself at risk at all?"
"I knew this was coming…"
"Don't do that…" he interrupted, "You know I only have our best interest at heart here. We don't know what could put you at risk so why not be careful from here on out?"
"Because I don't know how to be this woman, I don't know how to sit at home and wait for a baby to come."
"It wouldn't be as bad as you think. We can bring all of your office material here. You can still work, just from the living room."
"I hate this."
"So do I, but you're the one who said we have to be real here. You're in danger. We have to adjust. I'm not even that comfortable leaving you here by yourself, but I know not having a little bit of space would drive you insane. My office is closer to you here than at the Smithsonian so if something happens I can get to you quickly."
"But I won't be able to help you in the lab…"
"The squints will step up. Besides, you can see everything on the computer or we can set up the TV to connect to the lab camera. We can make this work. Please, Bones… I'm already a mess as it is. I can't be worried about you doing things you shouldn't in the field."
"Alright, alright… I can't say it's irrational," she leaned back in the bed. "I really don't like it, but if it means we're at less risk for something horrible happening I'll do it."
Booth sat down on the side of the bed and hugged her tightly. "We just have three more months. He or she will be here soon. Okay?"
She kissed his cheek. "Okay."