A/N: Set at the beginning of season 8


He wasn't really sure this was a good idea, but he figured today was as good a day as any.

When Booth pulled the SUV away from the house this morning, he knew what he wanted to accomplish this sunny Saturday. First, they took a quick trip to the park to see if Christine really hated the carousel. He'd held his daughter steady on her painted pony as they turned in a slow circle in time with the calliope music, and she didn't scream, but she didn't relax, either. It seemed like that was going to be the theme for today.

Then it was time for the rest of their plans. He was sure his Bones wouldn't understand why they were making this trip. He wasn't sure he understood himself, either, but he knew they had to go out there, and it needed to be soon, before anything else was lost between them.

"Why are we going out there today?", she asked in a petulant tone, not looking forward to another long ride in a car. "Are you sure the weather there will be appropriate for Christine?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Look, it's a beautiful Saturday morning, and I don't want to stay in the house today, okay? Besides, I want to show you something. It's been a long time since we've been out this way together, and I want to spend some time with you. It'll be a nice drive." Booth glanced at Brennan as he turned the SUV south for the two hour drive to Richmond. Something was different between them now, and it made him uncomfortable. It was like she was there in the car with him, but at the same time, she was a million miles away. He'd missed talking to her so much while she was gone. That was one thing he'd always loved about her...that they could talk about anything. Now it seemed like they couldn't talk about anything without one of them getting upset.

Finally she broke the silence. "We didn't travel this way after we left that day, Booth. We headed north when we left DC, toward West Virginia."

"Yeah? Did you see anything interesting along the way?", he asked. Relieved that the crushing silence between them had been overcome, he wanted to continue the conversation. "Did you visit any museums while you were gone?"

"No, of course not." She sighed heavily. "Max wanted to make sure we did nothing to call attention to ourselves. We had to blend in with the crowd. We spent a lot of time moving from one little town to another, and we rarely stayed in one place very long, so there was no time for sightseeing."

"I guess that's easy to do in West Virginia, isn't it? Drifting from one small town to another?" He glanced at the rearview mirror, glad to see his daughter was happily babbling in the back seat. "I suppose it wasn't easy to travel with a baby, though."

She turned suddenly to glare at him. "Why are you bringing that up, Booth? You know why I took Christine with me. I was afraid for her safety! Pelant would've stopped at nothing to hurt us! He might've harmed her…"

Exhaling slowly, Booth nodded. "I know. I've already told you that I understood why you took Christine when you left. I wasn't trying to start a fight, Bones. I was merely making an observation, okay? I know you did the best you could to keep Christine safe under some very bad circumstances, and you were successful, alright? You're a excellent mom." His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as he tried to remain calm. "Look, I'm sorry if you thought I was teasing you. I know you've had a rough time over the last few months, being away from home and all."

She closed her eyes, inhaling sharply as she realized how badly she'd overreacted. "No, I'm the one who should apologize Booth. I know you weren't trying to annoy me on purpose. It seems like every little thing is making me act irrationally lately." Brennan stared out the passenger window. "You are correct. It can be quite difficult to travel with a small child."

They drove in silence for several more miles, each wanting to make sure they didn't upset the other as they got further and further away from the stresses of their work and their lives in the city. "Maybe that's the problem.", Booth thought. "Maybe we have to be honest with each other and not worry about being of making each other mad." He contemplated the awkward situation as turned the SUV off of the main thoroughfare and onto the bumpy two lane highway, knowing something had to give if they were going to recover from the trauma of the last three months. They sped along until they reached the turnoff to the gravel road outside of Carterville. "Here we are."

He climbed out of the driver's seat and opened the car's backdoor so he could unbuckle Christine from her car seat. "There we go, Sweetheart. Yeah, she's gonna hang out with her dad, right? Daddy missed his little girl…" He bounced her a little bit as he whispered some baby talk in her ear. "Did Christine miss her daddy while she was on a trip? Yes, she did…" He walked toward the gate and turned to Brennan. "Come on...I want to show you something."

Brennan got out of the SUV and slowly walked over to join him. "I don't understand, Booth. You've already shown me this place many times…"

"I know...c'mon, Bones. Just trust me, okay?" He balanced Christine on his hip as he held the gate open for Brennan.

She hesitated for a minute before joining him. "I'm afraid this place makes me uncomfortable now. It looks like one of the places where we camped while I was gone. I find it unsettling."

"I imagine so." Booth nodded in agreement as he came back to put his arm around her. "In fact, Hayes Flynn just knew I had you stashed away in a trailer somewhere out here. He dragged me out to this acreage a couple of times so he could have the FBI techs search the area for signs of habitation."

"That's absurd! Why would he think you'd be stupid enough to hide me on an acreage you own?" Brennan shook her head in exasperation. "He should've known better than to waste your time like that."

"Well, we both know that was a crazy assumption, but he was desperate to locate you, since you were considered to be a wanted felon. He didn't know anything about how Max was helping you, and, of course, I didn't volunteer anything about that, either. It drove Flynn crazy trying to figure out where you got the money to live on. He kept tracking our bank accounts and cell phone records, but he had no idea where to find you. I guess he thought if he made me come with him out here, I'd give in and tell him where you were staying. He never believed me when I told him that I didn't know where you were."

They slowly walked down the narrow path that led from the gate out to a grove of trees. "Max is quite adept at being on the run from law enforcement officials.", Brennan commented. "Not that it's a skill to be cultivated." She wore a small smile as she looked at her surroundings. "It seems you've done quite a bit more work on clearing the path."

"Yeah." Booth paused as he placed Christine up on his shoulders. "I got lonely, you know? Most of the time, even though I hated it, I was okay during the week while you were gone. I could stay home in the evenings and read one of your textbooks or watch a game for a few hours to keep my mind occupied before I went to bed. But on the weekends…" He shifted nervously from one foot to the other, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He didn't want his comments to sound like accusations. "I found myself getting really restless. Part of me wanted to drive all over the countryside, looking for you, but I knew that would be a waste of time, so, instead, I came out here to work on the acreage. It gave me something to do so I wouldn't dwell on how bad things were at the time. I was so worried about you, and it was eating me up inside. It was too hard to stay in that big house all myself." He walked up the little rise that looked down into the clearing before turning back to Brennan. "Take a look."

She came to stand next to him and focused her attention to the spot he'd indicated. "You've decided on the actual building site?"

"Yeah. Let's walk down there, and I'll show you. Be careful...I still haven't got all of the driveway cleared yet." He smiled has he held out his hand to her. "It's kind of steep…"

She hesitated slightly before accepting his hand. They walked down the incline and around the bend until they were level with the clearing in the trees. "I was correct. The trees surrounding the house will offer us quite a bit of privacy."

"Yeah, I think so. I may have to take out some of the smaller ones to make a drive up to the house, but I hope to leave most of the larger ones. I think I'd like to have one of those tree lined driveways like they have in front of those old plantations. Careful…" He took Christine from his shoulders and held the child in his arms as he explained his plans. "The site for the house is about a half acre across, so we'll have a big yard. This is what I wanted to show you." They passed through the last of the trees and stood in the clearing. "I've marked out the plans for the house."

Small wooden stakes, tied with orange plastic ribbons, were positioned at intervals in the clearing. "The front of the house will face the trees, so when someone drives up to the house we can see them approach." He walked over to one of the stakes. "This is one of the corners of the front porch. I know originally I said I wanted a wraparound porch, but I think it'll be better to have it just across the front of the house, and then maybe another one one the back." He grinned at Brennan. "What do you think?"

"I think that sounds nice. Perhaps we could have a porch swing here in front." She walked over to join him and pointed to another area. "So that's the family room?"

"Yeah...the fireplace will be here, and then a wall, and then a French door that leads out from the kitchen to a covered patio where we can grill." He pointed to the farthest stakes. "I think it might be a good idea to put a couple of bedrooms downstairs as well as upstairs. That way we still can enjoy the house when we're older. We won't have to climb the stairs to go to bed."

"That seems like a wise choice, Booth." Brennan took a fussy Christine from Booth and stood in one of the areas marked off for a bedroom. "So how many bedrooms will the house have all together?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Maybe five or six?" He pretended to glare at Brennan's "I told you so" smirk. "I know. I originally said 3 or 4 bedrooms, but I figured we'd put three upstairs and at least two down here so we could have room for when the kids come to visit with families of their own. I think it would be fun to have our holidays out here with our grandkids."

"That's a pleasant thought." Brennan took Booth's hand in hers. "I'm glad we kept this land instead of selling it when we decided to buy a house together, even though at the time, I thought you were being merely stubborn when you stated that you wanted to keep it."

"Who, me? Stubborn? I don't think so." He chuckled as he pulled Brennan and their daughter into his embrace. "This land means too much to me to give it up, I guess. In a way it reminds me that life is really unpredictable, and I should make good use of whatever time I have. I want to spend every minute I can with you and our daughter, out here at our vacation house..."

"Booth…", Brennan began as she wiped away a tear. "I'm so sorry we lost those three months together. You know I didn't want to leave you...it would never be my first choice to deliberately cause you pain."

"I know, Bones. I know why you made the choice you did. I know wasn't your fault, and I know I'll get over it eventually...that we'll get through this bumpy stretch. Instead of dwelling on that, though, I'd rather think about all the months and years we'll have in the future to spend together...me and you, and our family in this house for vacations and holidays...it's gonna be great, Bones. We may have to work hard at it, but it's gonna be great."

Brennan nodded as she stood in the middle of their future family room, imagining her family enjoying this house together. "I find that I'm looking forward to the members of our family spending time together in the future. I want to share wonderful memories with them here in this house." She smiled as she took his hand. "You're correct, Booth. Things will be great."