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Epilogue

Part 4

"Thank you for going out for this, Booth. I know it probably seems irrational…" Brennan shrugged off her brief moment of insanity in which her pregnant body had craved something they didn't have on hand. Booth had been all too willing to fulfill the request, especially when he realized what she was craving.

"Bones, my kid wanted pie. I'll go out for pie any time. I still can't believe you're actually eating it." He had a giddy smile on his face as he watched her devour another forkful of the cherry concoction.

"I can't either," she replied honestly. "It's actually not the first time I've thought about eating it, but-" Brennan stopped speaking abruptly and held a hand to her rounded stomach, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Bones? What's wrong?"

"Noth…" She stopped again, and a brilliant smile lit up her face. "Nothing's wrong. He's moving."

Booth was at her side in an instant, and she guided his hand to the appropriate place. They remained still as statues, waiting for another flutter of activity, but after several minutes, it was clear that their son wasn't in the mood to perform. Booth tried not to feel too disappointed.

"Keep eating that pie," Booth chuckled. "Maybe the sugar will wind him up a little."

"It's good, but it's missing something," Brennan mumbled around another bite. "Do we have any ice cream?" Booth's face lit up once again, and he swaggered over to the refrigerator.

"God, I love you, baby."

Booth woke up early the next morning to find Brennan stretched out against him. Her growing bump was pressing into his side, and he turned carefully to face her. Her slow, even breaths indicated that she was still sound asleep, and he said a quick prayer of thanks that she'd had a solid night's sleep. The pregnancy had begun to affect her dreams lately, and she was often awake well before he was.

He watched her sleep, appreciating the opportunity to really take her in. The changes in her body were fascinating to him, and he couldn't seem to stop looking at her. Booth hadn't thought it possible that his wife could become more appealing, more attractive to him. He'd always thought that the 'pregnant glow' people spoke of was mostly hype, but now he knew better. Brennan's beautiful skin really did seem to glow, and her eyes were nearly always bright with happiness and contentment. His eyes traced the length of her body, appreciating each curve in equal measure. Her body was filling out; her breasts were getting larger, her hips more rounded. She was walking differently, though it was not the waddle that he knew would come eventually. It was more of a sway.

Booth lifted her pajama shirt carefully and placed a hand on her bare stomach. Her expanding belly was undoubtedly his favorite change. Knowing that their child was growing inside of her made him almost euphoric with happiness. He was caught off guard when he felt movement beneath his hand, and he gasped in surprise. Booth shifted to place another hand on her belly, glancing at Brennan's face to see that she was still asleep.

Another flutter tickled his palm, and Booth felt his eyes stinging with unshed tears. Though he wasn't a first-time father, this particular experience had been denied him last time. He'd never truly realized how much he'd missed. The connection he felt with his child was almost as powerful as the one he knew he would feel when he finally got to hold his newborn son for the first time.

"Why are you crying?" Brennan's voice startled him and their son. Booth moved one hand to his cheek to wipe away the moisture.

"They're happy tears, baby. I can feel him." His voice was no more than a slightly broken whisper, and he looked at her with eyes overflowing with love and wonder. He scooted down on the bed so that he could place a tender kiss on her belly. "Hey, buddy," he cooed. "It's your Daddy. Your Mommy and I love you so much."

Brennan's own eyes filled with tears as she watched him talk to their son. Booth told the baby all about the family he would be born into, the big brother who couldn't wait to meet him, and the things they would all do together. When the flutters eventually stopped, Booth returned to his original position and folded Brennan into a warm embrace.

"Thank you so much, Bones. I love you," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you too."

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Brennan sat in the SUV and kept her eyes trained on Booth through the windshield. He had drawn his gun and was edging cautiously around a run-down house where they believed their primary suspect was hiding. When he disappeared through the darkened entryway, she gripped the handle of the car door involuntarily, but she forced herself to stay put.

It wasn't the first time he'd made her promise to stay in the SUV during an investigation. At five months pregnant, Brennan didn't think she was anywhere near ready for maternity leave, but Booth was adamant that they take new precautions for her safety while in the field. If he thought a suspect might be even remotely dangerous, he would insist that she lock herself in the SUV until he gave the all clear. The last time she'd disobeyed that instruction, he'd threatened to leave her in the lab. Her delicate hormonal balance hadn't responded well.

The subject of field safety was a recurring discussion between them, and Brennan was doing her best to see things from her husband's perspective. Although she certainly had no desire to put their baby in danger, she still felt the need to protect Booth in the field. As she watched him exit the dilapidated structure and stride toward the vehicle, her muscles unclenched into a more natural posture.

"So?" she asked as he opened the door.

"The guy's an ass, but he doesn't know anything. I think we need to talk to the wife again."

"You always think it's the wife."

"And statistically, I'm usually right."

"Was it really necessary to leave me in the car again?" she huffed.

"Yes," Booth said firmly. "The guy had multiple assaults on his record, Bones. Come on." Brennan's jaw tightened, but she did manage to contain her eye roll. "Look, I actually needed to talk to you about all of that."

"We seem to be at an impasse," Brennan replied.

"Yeah, but it's not just up to us." Booth took a fortifying breath and trudged on. "The Bureau is considering assigning me another partner until after you come back from maternity leave."

"What?"

"They're just covering their asses, Bones, you know that. It's a liability thing."

"I'm not on leave yet, Booth. We have months before we get to that point. I'm your partner." She was not entirely surprised by his announcement, but that didn't make her any more willing to accept it.

"I know, baby. You'll always be my partner. This would just be temporary. Actually, it's more like a training assignment. The agent they want to put with me is pretty much fresh out of Quantico."

"Who is it?"

"Perotta," he said reluctantly. Brennan couldn't help but roll her eyes this time. Agent Payton Perotta seemed to be a reasonably nice person, but Brennan felt she was way too inexperienced to work with Booth.

"Is that really a good idea? She hasn't been trained on our evidence protocols. We have a nearly perfect record. What if she makes a mistake and compromises an investigation?"

"Bones, it's not like she'd be on her own. I'd still be in charge of the investigations. And as far as evidence protocol training, maybe we should think about training a squint to fill in for you at crime scenes."

"I've already talked to Dr. Edison about helping you at crime scenes when I go on maternity leave, but that's months away."

"Maybe he should start sooner than that. I really don't like you going to crime scenes while you're pregnant anyway. You could be exposed to all kinds of germs or chemicals. Sometimes they aren't secure enough-"

"Booth, stop. You're being way too overprotective."

"Well, get used to it, cause I'm not stopping."

"I've already promised to wait until agents have secured every crime scene, and you know that I always follow containment protocols for pathogens and hazardous chemicals. It's perfectly safe. Besides, what's the difference between analyzing remains in the field or doing it in the lab?"

"Don't get me started on the lab. If I had my way, you wouldn't be there either," he said wryly.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing that the lab is my domain. I know Angela's spying for you, and I know you got to the interns too. Ms. Wick is rather loquacious."

"More like nosy and annoying." Booth had the good grace to look abashed at her accusation, but he couldn't bring himself to regret his actions.

He had indeed spoken to the squints and Brennan's new interns to solicit their help in keeping Brennan safe and healthy. Angela had taken it upon herself to deliver lunch and well-timed snacks throughout the day, and she had promised to keep Booth in the loop on anything that might come up during the hours that he was away from the lab. Cam was doing her best to stay out of it altogether, and Hodgins was merely amused by Booth's behavior.

The 'squinterns' were helping when possible. Wendell was attentive, but not to the point of being annoying like Daisy. Fisher was full of unsolicited information that was typically delivered at awkward moments, and Arastoo seemed rather uncomfortable at the mention of anything related to pregnancy or childbirth. However, they all volunteered to work longer hours so that Brennan could leave the lab at what Booth had deemed to be a reasonable hour.

"I just think you're taking this too far," she said, trying to keep a reasonable tone. "I'm pregnant, not sick or disabled."

"Bones, if anything happened to you or our baby, it would kill me. And if it was something I could've prevented, I'd never forgive myself. I'll never stop trying to take care of my family, Bones. No matter how stubborn you are." He spoke the last words with a well-practiced charm smile, and Brennan decided to let the matter rest, at least for the time being. She smiled ruefully back at him.

As frustrating as his overprotective nature could be at times, she couldn't bring herself to wish it away entirely.

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Booth arrived home early from work several days later and was pleasantly surprised to see his wife's car in the garage. He walked into the house and immediately gave a shudder in response to the abnormally low setting of the air conditioner. The August heat had been making Brennan miserably hot, and although their home felt like the Arctic Circle to Booth, he suffered without complaint. While he slept with extra blankets, she needed none at all. In fact, the only part of her body that ever seemed cold were her feet, especially when they gravitated toward his legs at night. He insisted that she wear socks or slippers around the clock.

"Bones?" he called as he shrugged out of his suit jacket. His greeting was met with silence. Booth checked the upper level, but she was nowhere to be found. He began to worry as he methodically checked the other rooms, trying to imagine a logical reason that her car would be in the garage if she weren't at home. He was about to pick up the phone to call her cell when a flash of movement through the patio doors drew his eye to the backyard. Booth stepped outside to investigate, and his breath caught in his chest at the sight that greeted him.

His wife was swimming laps in their in-ground pool. Naked.

"Bones?" She stopped in mid-stroke and spun to look at him, her smile lighting up her face.

"Hi. I was overheated. I know the pool was originally intended for Parker, but I'm feeling rather grateful for it at the moment."

"Yeah, I can see that," he replied, swallowing thickly as he watched her breasts swaying in the water. Brennan's eyes flickered to the prominent bulge in his pants, and she smirked a little.

"You should join me."

Booth wasn't sure he'd ever removed his own clothing so quickly. His eyes darted around the fenced backyard in a natural response to being naked outdoors. He felt exposed, but he knew that no one could see them. It wasn't the first time they'd fooled around in the backyard.

Brennan swam to the shallow end and watched him descend the steps into the water. Their arms went around one another immediately, and she fused her lips with his. Their tongues danced, and Booth's hands glided downward over her wet skin, settling at the backs of her thighs. Brennan instinctively lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist, moaning in appreciation when she felt his arousal between her thighs.

"You're so beautiful, baby. Every perfect inch of you."

Brennan opened her mouth to respond, but he seized her lips again. They shifted against one another until their intimate parts were aligned, and he entered her slowly. She panted heavily as he filled her, inch by inch until he was buried entirely in her warmth. Booth gripped her ass firmly and thrust into her at a slow but steady pace. It was deep and intense, made even more so by the fact that their eyes were locked on one another.

The intensity built steadily until Brennan was almost desperate for release, and when at last she reached her climax, Booth smothered her cry of pleasure with another soul-searing kiss. He came forcefully within her, savoring the warmth and satisfaction of knowing that she was his.

"I agree," Booth said, breathing heavily as they came down from their respective highs. She arched an eyebrow in confusion, and he smiled back at her. "The pool was definitely a good investment."

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This may end up being the most I write about Perotta or the squinterns. I'm not rehashing episodes for this. Hope you liked it!

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