Both children were silent in the car, and Hodgins had to keep checking the back seat of the SUV to ensure that they were still there. Their eyes were plastered to the window outside, and both had a faraway look in their eyes. "Hey, are you guys hungry or anything?" Hodgins asked, hoping that there was something that would get their minds off what was going on. Neither responded in the positive or negative. "Do you guys care if we go to your place or mine?" He asked, sighing as he looked at one child, then the other, neither of them looked to him, so he sighed and drove in the direction of his house.
The scene in the ambulance was a bit more chaotic. Brennan was on the gurney, naturally, and Booth sat on the small bench beside her as they worked on stopping the contractions as well as they could. "Booth?" She called from the bed, her pain almost unbearable as he held his hand out and grasped hers tightly. "Booth, I'm sorry." She exclaimed, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"What are you sorry about? Not listening, or for me being right?"
"I'm… sorry for everything…" She cried out, her hand nearly crushing his as she squeezed it through another wave of pain.
"Are you sorry about breaking my fingers?" He asked as she tried not to laugh, but it brought minimal relief, so she allowed herself to do it.
"No." She whimpered as she watched his eyes sparkle at hers.
"You need to think positive thoughts, baby… positive thoughts, and before you know it, we'll be at the hospital." He said as she pulled at his hand, squeezing it as the pain began to lessen.
"I love you." She whimpered. "I'm scared, Booth."
With those words, he stood, feeling the movement of the ambulance, he held fast to the bed as he reached across her and grabbed her other hand. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers, disregarding the medics telling him to sit down. "I will not let anything bad happen to you, Bones…"
"You're not a doctor, you don't know… her lungs aren't developed fully… what if… what if…?"
"You don't speculate… no conjecture… whatever happens, happens… and I assure you… it will all work out." Booth assured. "Positive thoughts, Bones… positive thoughts." He whispered, as he held her through the ride to the hospital, his presence and comfort providing her with all she needed to make it through this. "Close your eyes… it'll be okay." He whispered, running his fingers through her hair. "We're almost there."
February 14th
Brennan glanced to the door again, waiting for it to open, willing for it to open. He was never late for one of her appointments, and she glanced at her watch to see that he still had two minutes to spare. She was lying on the exam room table, and she listened carefully, her eyes closed for a moment as she felt the coolness of the room. She glanced at her watch just as the next minute passed, and the door opened quickly behind the curtain. "Bones?" His voice sounded somewhat rattled, but she smiled regardless.
"In here." She replied, seeing his brown eyes poke around the curtain as he smiled.
"Am I late?"
"No." She replied, her eyes brightened considerably upon seeing him.
"I almost left the squints at the scene, they were taking forever." He said, walking around the curtain to her bedside, she leaned down and kissed her lips tenderly. "Did I miss anything?"
"You haven't missed anything." She replied, instantly feeling his hand on her abdomen, his eyes never left hers. "Booth, it's alright…" She said, noting the bit of panic in his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Just a little nervous." He said, shrugging.
"Booth," she said softly. "There is nothing to be nervous about, it's not as if you are getting the ultrasound. It is a routine procedure, and there is no pain involved. Weren't you there for Parker's?"
"No." He replied, with a bit of a gulp. "Rebecca wouldn't let me." He said, watching a slight darkened expression cloud her eyes. "She told me, obviously… that it was going to be a boy, but it wasn't until a few days later." He replied, glancing to the curtain, he hated to see the anger behind her eyes whenever he brought up something that he had missed with Parker.
"Hey." She said, tugging his hand, he looked at her and caught the hope in her eyes. "You're not going to miss a thing." She replied.
"No." He shook his head. "Not one damn thing." He said, leaning down to kiss her cheek, he nuzzle her neck just a little as they heard the door close behind the curtain.
"Doctor Brennan?" A woman's voice drifted from behind the curtain.
"We're okay, Doctor Bryan." Temperance said, her eyes still directly on Booth's as he felt his smile begin to break the nervous tension that was lining face.
The doctor stepped from behind the curtain and smiled. "Mister Booth." She smiled, holding her hand out to the proud father, who seemed even more nervous than he had been in their previous visits. "It's a pleasure to see you again." She smiled.
He smiled anxiously and held his hand out, gripping hers firmly, he always felt better once the professionals entered, much like he did when he was at work. "You too, Doctor Bryan." He smiled. "She's doing pretty well, right?" He asked nervously.
"I did Temperance's exam already, and she's looking really good… and she indicated that you wanted to be here for the ultrasound." She said, her voice just a bit too sweet for Booth's taste, but he always just sucked it in and accepted her overly cheery attitude, as it seemed to calm Temperance, despite what she would say. "I'm going to send in the technician, she'll get you all set up, and we'll get a good look at that little one."
The doctor could see the barely veiled excitement in the eyes of the father-to-be, and she couldn't help but smile at his excitement and concern for the woman and child that were beside him. She gave them a friendly smile and walked from the room, leaving them alone for a moment.
It didn't take long for the technician to appear, and it took an even shorter amount of time for them to prepare for the ultrasound itself. Before they knew it, the transducer was gliding across Temperance's bare belly, and the images were sliding across the screen. The technician watched as the two parents stared at the screen before them, the father's eyes wide with wonder as he stared at the picture on the screen.
"Booth?" Temperance whispered, feeling his hand squeeze hers, she knew that he was trying to figure out what he was looking at. "Booth, do you know what you're looking at?"
"Um… I think the cable is out…" He said, tipping his head to the side, he heard Temperance's laugh beside him and turned his head simply to catch the smile on her lips. "Care to tell me what I'm looking at, Bones?" He said, watching her eyes sparkle like diamonds as he noticed the technician was also laughing. "You two think this is funny?"
"Of course not, Mister Booth… you're not the first father who has said that." The technician laughed as she walked to the screen and pointed at the round figure in the picture. "That's the…head…" She said, moving the transducer around a bit, she watched the baby move. "See… there's the hand, an active baby you have there, Doctor Brennan." The technician said, careful not to slip and reveal the baby's sex. She moved the transducer a little bit, the picture went out and back a bit, and Temperance watched Booth as he stared at the screen, absolutely mesmerized.
"Is it a boy or girl?" Booth asked, still keeping his eyes on the screen, the image went in and out, and Temperance tugged on his hand. He turned to look at her, and she lifted her eyebrows. "You already know."
"Of course I do." She said, giving the technician a sly glance.
"What is it?" He asked, turning his head from the screen, he kept complete attention on Temperance.
"It's a girl." She whispered, when suddenly a low rumbling sound could be heard, his eyes flashed to the screen again.
"A girl?" He whispered. "Another girl…" She could see him swallow back his tears, his eyes focused on the screen. "I don't care how you know… how you tell… I trust you." He whispered.
"That's her heartbeat." She whispered. "We heard it at our other appointment, remember?" He just remained silent, listening to the gentle thump of the baby's heart over the speaker as he held Temperance's hand. His eyes closed and he turned, and for a moment, Temperance wasn't sure if he was okay or not. "Booth?" She whispered, and his eyes opened on hers, wet with unshed tears. "I love you."
"I love you." He said, swallowing hard once again. "I love you so much." He sighed a breath of relief, and leaned down, kissing her forehead and closing his eyes, as she closed her eyes and they listened to their child's heartbeat together.
The memory was enough to calm her nerves, calm some of her pain, and before they knew it, she was being pulled from the ambulance. She lost sight of Booth for a split second and had a moment of panic, but before she could breathe an expression of worry, she could hear his voice. He was asking questions, giving answers, and was remaining as calm as he could under the circumstances. "Booth?" She called to him, seeing him appear out of the crowd of nurses and EMTs helping to get her into the hospital. "We'll be okay?" She asked, needing to hear him say the words.
"We're going to be great, Bones." He said, seeing the weary smile on his lips calmed her considerably, as they whisked her away into the hospital, to assess the situation fully.
