VI. A Blueberry
They called in sick. Booth and Brennan had never done that before, but considering the fact that they had spent the better part of the night in the hospital, neither of them felt like getting up at 7 am. Plus, they had already solved the murder at the bowling alley. The paperwork could wait, and it was highly unlikely that her bones would run away.
It was almost noon, when they stirred again, the sun tickling their faces. Her naked body was warm and pliant in his arms, and Booth watched her struggling with sleepiness for a few blissful minutes. Temperance Brennan was always beautiful, it didn't matter what she wore, it didn't matter if she stood knee-deep in human remains. But first thing in the morning, so unguarded... this was how he liked her best. Her face bare of make-up, her dark hair tousled, her cheeks rosy from sleep. There was something so heart-crushingly innocent about a drowsy Brennan, something he couldn't even explain. All he knew was that his life was perfect when he could hold this sleeping woman in his arms.
Then her eyelids fluttered, and Booth looked forward to his second-favorite thing, the first unfocused gaze. The blue of her big eyes was always paler in the morning, deeper somehow. He liked to think that he could see straight into her soul.
Eyelids snapped open, and he got what he needed.
He tapped her nose with one finger, and she twisted her face in the cutest way ever.
"Hi Bones," he smiled, and she groaned in response, stretching herself in his arms.
"Good morning," she finally slurred, and he poked her nose with his own.
"Hey, Baby, we're having a baby!"
She rolled his eyes.
"I think it is time for you to stop calling me like that."
He pondered her request for the fraction of a moment before brushing her lips with his.
"Nope."
"But it doesn't make any sense. You wouldn't call the baby 'Adult', would you?"
He frowned.
"Don't confuse me with your logic, Baby."
She sighed, accepting defeat for now, and his fingers whispered over her skin until they found her belly.
"You don't look different at all. You don't feel different, either."
"Well, the embryo is only as big as a sesame seed."
"So tiny. Do you... can you already feel something?"
Her hand met his on her abdomen.
"I feel very... sensual somehow. My breasts are just a little bit more tender than usual. Of course that could be because of you as well."
"Because of me?"
"Well, I wasn't sexually active for quite a while, and now we're engaging in interc- ahem, making love quite regularly. I figured it'd be only natural to feel more sensual."
"Is it uncomfortable when I touch you?"
His voice was just a little bit insecure, and she hurried to shake her head.
"No, not at all. It is more than comfortable."
"What happens to the baby right now?"
"The neural tube is sprouting, and soon the brain will start to develop. The heart is forming as well. Through the umbilical cord my body provides the embryo with nourishment and oxygen."
"Brain and heart, they start growing at the same time?"
"That's correct."
He gave her a big grin.
"I like that. It's like us, Bones."
"Of course it is like us since we are the parents. However, I get your metaphor," she added with a warm voice, "and I like it as well."
"When can we go and see a doctor?"
"We", he had said "we", and it moved her unexpectedly.
"Usually they don't take appointments before the eighth week. Chances are higher that the pregnancy will stick after that period of time."
"So we don't know for sure until then?"
Her face saddened.
"I'm sorry."
"Hey, don't be, Bones. Let's just hope, okay? I'm sure everything will be fine."
"You can't possibly know that, Booth."
"But I can have faith. I just wish I could see it somehow. Do you," he pondered the craziness of his question, "do you think you could do another test? Or did you, by any chance, keep the first one?"
"I'm sorry again, but the lines fade away after a while."
Suddenly an idea crossed her mind, and she disentangled herself from him to jump out of the bed.
"I took a photo."
His face lit up.
"You did?"
"Yes."
She came back with her cell phone in her hand, searching for the picture.
"Here it is. The first line there is the control line, and then you have to wait three minutes. If another line appears, the result is positive."
"Two lines," he whispered, staring at the display in awe.
"Two lines," she repeated.
"Three minutes, huh?"
She nodded.
"How did you feel?"
Tilting her head, she let go of a throaty laugh.
"I believe the appropriate term would be 'shit-scared'."
He chuckled, pulling her into his arms.
"My poor Bones. Why didn't you tell me?"
She shrugged.
"Everything is still so new. I... I don't want to lose you, Booth."
Her confession shocked him.
"I would never leave you, how can you even think that?"
"But you could stay only for the baby, and that would be another kind of losing."
Holding her close to his chest, he rocked her.
"Maybe I should make it absolutely clear. Temperance Brennan, I love you. I would go to the ends of the world for you. In fact, I did. Whatever life you offer me, I take it, and I'll be a happy man as long as you love me back. With or without a baby, I want you. You. But now... now there already is a baby, and I don't care if it makes me greedy, I want that as well. I want it all. But only with you. Because of you. You get that?"
She was very still in his arms, and he knew that he had touched her. He felt her shuddered breath, and then she spoke.
"That was a very beautiful declaration. Thank you, both for loving me and for finding just the right words to verbalize it. You know that I feel the same about you, don't you? I might not be able to say it in such a beautiful way, but I feel it."
"You're saying it just right, Bones, don't worry for a second. You say it with antique Tommy Guns, massages and kisses. You say it with your big beautiful eyes. And don't let us forget that you do 'verbalize' it. Hearing these words from you... it makes me shiver. Every freaking single time."
"I love you," she whispered, and shiver he did.
"Honey," he smiled, "I have an idea to dispel your worries. We have a few weeks before we can see your OB/GYN, right?" She nodded. "Let's take the time for us. Let's try not to talk about the baby, let's just be a couple. Do ordinary stuff, you know?"
She smiled at his suggestion.
"You already dispelled my worries. No, I don't want to compartmentalize anymore. I don't want to have a plan. Let's just," she shrugged, "live."
He had to laugh because that reaction was so unlike her.
"I guess the pregnancy has already messed with you brain," he teased, and she slapped him unceremoniously before leaving the bed.
"Where are you going? Come back!"
"My twisted brain tells me that I'm hungry," she stated in mock dignity before disappearing in the direction of her kitchen with swaying hips.
His laughter followed her, and he fell back into the pillows for another lazy minute of joyous contemplation. He was happy. He was very, very happy.
-BONES-
There were so many things to discuss, so many potential pitfalls and unresolved questions – Where would they live, for example, and what about their partnership? – but in the first weeks following her announcement, they didn't touch the subject at all.
Life grabbed them mercilessly, sucking them in. With Angela on maternity leave and Hodgins on vacation they were short-staffed at the lab, and Booth barely saw Brennan during the days. No rotten bones popped up, and he worked a case without her. In the olden days he would have found a lot of excuses to manifest in the Jeffersonian, would have even dragged her to a crime scene with fresh remains. These days he didn't have to make up reasons to see her, he could just go home in the evening, and most of the time she would be there.
They would meet at his place or at hers. It didn't really matter because one way or the other, they were together, and it was home. The TV on his place was bigger. Her tub was comfortable enough for the two of them. He had his own pillow in her apartment. She owned one in his bed. Somewhere along the line two lives had blended, two individuals had chosen a common path, and sometimes they wondered silently how familiar everything already felt given the fact that their relationship was still as new as the summer.
Those first weeks seemed to be a bubble of happiness, and their intimacy was covered by a blanket called discretion. No one was there to intrude, it was only them.
Of course, they didn't forget about the baby, but somehow they managed not to dwell on it either. Every once in a while Brennan found him studying her belly, but always, always when his eyes wandered back to her face, holding her gaze like a caress of dark velvet, there was still the same look of adoration in them.
She just had to hug him, then. In fact, nowadays she found it quite hard not to be in his arms.
Seeley Booth was a father, he had already experienced the miracle of creating a life, but taken into consideration that he had been in the army back then and that he and Rebecca hadn't been on good terms, he didn't know much about being involved with a pregnant woman. And, most of all, he didn't know much about being involved with a pregnant Temperance Brennan. It can complicate things if your woman is the world's leading forensic anthropologist, insisting that she knew more about the human body than any pregnancy book ever written.
However, it was sometime in the seventh week when he started to notice changes she couldn't hold lectures about. Her feet, for example, they used to get cold easier and as soon as they came home in the evenings, she hid them in ridiculously fluffy socks. He observed the development with amusement, but when she started to wrap herself in blankets on warm early summer evenings, he began to wonder why she was freezing all the time.
They had always been quite tactile with each other, even before their relationship had gotten physical, and in the weeks before they had learned about the pregnancy, Booth had savored her new habit to touch him whenever it had pleased her. Warm arms around his back when he had cooked breakfast for them, a head on his shoulder in the cinema, a hand sneaking into his own. She was still touching him, but somehow... somehow it felt more restrained these days, as if he was holding back.
And he didn't like it, he didn't like it at all.
Their baby was as big as a blueberry when he decided to address the subject. It was a mild Friday evening, and Brennan was lying on the couch under a pile of blankets. Approaching her with a hot tea, he took a careful seat next to her, giving her the mug.
It wasn't as if they didn't talk, in fact, they talked a lot. About everything, about nothing, but right now he felt as if he was looking for a needle in a haystack.
With a grateful smile she accepted the hot beverage, bringing herself into a sitting position and taking a first cautious sip. Booth pushed a few strands out of her face, tucking them behind her ear.
"You still cold?"
"A little."
"Blueberry is bothering you?"
She rubbed her belly absentmindedly.
"I don't think so."
"Why are you freezing all the time, Bones? Maybe there is something else bothering you?"
A brief flicker of something washed through her eyes, but then she had covered up again. His hand landed on her knee.
"Don't do that, please. Talk to me."
"It is ridiculous," she uttered almost against her will, and he caught her chin with his fingers, forcing her to look at him.
"The only thing ridiculous is that you hide under a Mount Everest of blankets when outside the sun is shining. Just tell me."
She took a deep breath, clasping the warm mug with both hands.
"Booth, I am strong. I've always been capable to take care of myself."
He felt a slight pang of hurt at her words.
"I know that, and I respect it. But please... share it with me."
"You misunderstood me," she said, registering his mood. "What I'm trying to say is that I have been like that. Now... now..."
"You don't feel strong and self-assured anymore?"
"I feel... pathetic," she almost spit out the word. "I crave you, constantly, and it isn't even sex. I want your arms around me all the time, and the few nights we spent apart in the past weeks, I slept in your shirt. I want to crawl into you, and knowing that this desire is physically impossible doesn't make it any better. I don't want to suffocate you. I don't want to be like this. I want to be a lain-back and amusing girlfriend, not a clinging one."
With a furrow between her brows, she crossed her arms in front of her chest, and Booth tried his very best not to laugh in relief.
"It's laid-back, Bones, and why do you assume that I want such a girlfriend in the first place? You're pregnant, and I suppose it's totally normal that you feel more domestic and vulnerable. Come here."
Tugging at her hand, he drew her into his embrace, hugging the pile of blankets with the Brennan filling affectionately.
"Plus, I have no objections if you want to crawl into me," he added, and the first sincere smile played around her lips.
"I'm silly," she stated.
"Nope, you're pregnant. But, Bones, for God's sake, if you want to hug me, just do it. Whatever you need, whatever you want, just take it. I want to give everything to you. Everything. I want to keep you warm. Besides, it's not as if holding you is a sacrifice or something like that. I need you as well, Temperance."
She sighed in his arms, finally wrapping herself around him, allowing need to consume her, fully expecting to be overwhelmed by pathetic emotions. It came as a surprise that the moment she surrendered herself to her weakness... she didn't feel weak anymore. Something inside of her shifted and clicked, and she lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him in utter astonishment.
"I feel better."
He chuckled at her dumb expression, pecking her lips gently.
"I'm glad I could help."
"That doesn't make any sense. Why do I feel strong again when I have just admitted my weakness?"
"Admitting weakness is the strongest thing ever, Bones. Just don't hold back. Between you and me, there is nothing you have to be scared of, you understand? Never."
She nodded in acceptance.
"Thank you, Booth. I feel oddly energized suddenly. Maybe we could go out?"
He pulled her close anew.
"I could dance with you all night long."
-BONES-
They didn't manage "all night long", but when her head fell to his shoulder in the backseat of the cab, it was already two o'clock in the morning, and his feet felt pleasantly sore. She wore a simple black dress, and even though she was still gracious and slender, there was a certain heaviness around her hips, and her cleavage was even fuller than usual. She didn't look pregnant, but a new kind of sensuality was surrounding her like a charm, and when he had swayed her in his arms in the little club, he hadn't missed the one or other hungry glance thrown in her direction.
However, she hadn't noticed it, and his hands splayed on her hips, guided by the music, he had proven to manhood and the universe that she was his.
He fucked her slowly that night, showering her with the depth of his feelings, drowning her in his desire for her. And maybe... just maybe they managed to crawl into each other just a little bit.
-BONES-
"Man, I need to get drunk tonight, and you are my partner in crime."
Booth twisted his face in confusion.
"Is everything alright, Hodgins?"
"Absolutely," came the other man's cheery voice. "Our baby is healthy, my wife is wonderful, and I feel great. I just need a good Whiskey and someone who doesn't puke at me for one evening."
Booth exchanged a glance with Brennan who was sitting across from him in the Royal Diner. They had just finished lunch and were about to head back to work. "Hodgins," he mouthed, and her hand reached out immediately. He gave her the phone.
"Dr. Hodgins, how is the baby?"
"Hi, Dr. B. The baby is fine, Angie is fine, I am fine. I just informed Booth that I want to get drunk with him tonight. Maybe you'd like to come over? I'm sure Angie would be over the moon."
"I can do that. I'm quite excited to see Michael's development. Why do you wanna get drunk?"
"Just because. The world is a great place, and I want to celebrate. Listen, why don't you come over around eightish? Then Booth and I can find a bar, and you two can do your thing."
"That sounds acceptable. I'll tell Booth."
Snapping the phone shut, she handed it back, a puzzled look on her face.
"Do you think that was a trick to separate us for an interrogation?"
He shrugged.
"No idea. How much does Angela know?"
"Not much. I told her about the first night."
He nodded.
"How much do you wanna tell her?"
"What goes on between us is ours..."
His heart filled with warmth, as she repeated his words from such a long time ago, her eyes full of pale blue trust.
"At some point we have to tell them."
"I don't want to tell anybody about the baby before we aren't past the first trimester."
"That's wise, I guess. But, Baby, she's your friend. Whatever you want to share with her, just do it. I suppose a man has to live with that. Just," he hurried to add, "don't tell me afterwards, okay?"
"Why?"
"Why? I'll tell you why, the idea of you discussing our sex life with your best friend is disturbing as it is. Knowing details would be too much."
"Booth, I know that you are very private about these things."
"Yeah, but you are not. I guess I'm offering you a compromise. You don't have to change how you are, not for me."
Her face softened, and her hand reached out automatically. Remembering that they were in a public place, she stopped last-minute, pulling back reluctantly.
"I promise you to compromise as well."
-BONES-
They reached Angela's and Hodgins' new flat at quarter past eight that night. Booth found it strange to sit in the passenger seat, but since Brennan would stay sober, taking her car was the logical choice. At lot of hugs and kisses were exchanged, and then four adults gathered around a little crib, watching its inhabitant. The baby boy was sleeping, only the pacifier moving in his tiny mouth.
Angela and Hodgins looked tired but radiant with joy, and after a sweet goodbye kiss the curly-haired man grabbed his wallet.
"Have fun, ladies."
Angela smirked.
"Take care of him, Booth, the last time he got drunk he came home with a new tattoo."
Booth slapped the other man's shoulder.
"I'm sure we'll fight a nice spot for another one."
Hodgins groaned.
"I told you that your father did that to me."
The two bickered lovingly, and Booth and Brennan exchanged a longing glace, as their friends kissed once more.
"You're ready?"
Booth nodded, but before he had stepped out of the door, he turned around anew, firm determination in his features. Closing the distance to Brennan in three long strides, he lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers.
"Have fun, Bones,"
She gasped in surprise, but regained her composure fairly quickly, grabbing his collar to kiss him one more time.
"I know your tattoos as well," she warned him with a wicked smile, and his lips curved up.
"See you later."
Risking a glance at their friends, they were greeted by Angela's smug grin.
"About time," Hodgins murmured. "One more reason to celebrate."
Then the men were gone, and Brennan turned around to face her best friend. Angela's eyebrow arched up.
"So?"
"Yes?"
"I guess you did talk about it, then."
Brennan's face lit up, as she followed her friend into the spacious living room.
"We did."
"You are a couple?"
"We are."
"And? Sweetie, tell me everything. What is it like?"
Remembering the last time this sentence had been spoken, Brennan mirrored her friend's words.
"It's wonderful. Beautiful. It's a dream."
Angela pointed one finger at her.
"I know what you're doing here. You're not leaving tonight before you haven't told me about it in your very own words."
Brennan smiled almost shyly.
"I love him."
Angela squealed as silently as possible.
"You told him?"
"I did."
"And?"
"He loves me as well."
"Oh, Sweetie, I knew it. This is great! It is great, isn't it?"
A dreamy look washed over Brennan's face.
"It truly is. I've never felt like this before, and I begin to realize what I've missed. He is very considerate. And warm. He is a wonderful kisser. Being with him... it doesn't feel strange at all."
Angela regarded her with sincere affection.
"Well, the two of you have always been together somehow. Minus the sex, of course. You do have sex, right?"
"Absolutely."
"Brenn, come on, you have to give me something. My own body is nothing more than a milk bar at the moment."
Brennan leaned back into the cushions of the comfortable couch, debating how much she should share. Then an idea crossed her mind. She could hardly overstep the boundaries of Booth's modesty if she just talked about her subjective point of view.
"I feel like burning whenever he touches me. I used to be quite practical and emancipated about sex, but with him I lose my mind. I long for his weight on me, and I cannot think straight anymore."
Angela sighed.
"That is lovely. What happens next?"
Oh, you know, the usual stuff. Dinners, flowers, a baby... Brennan interrupted her track of thoughts.
"I don't know. But isn't that what love is supposed to be about?"
The artist gave her a warm smile.
"I guess it is. At least before a baby is in the picture."
Ice-cold shock rushed through Brennan's veins, but then she realized that her friend was only talking about herself.
"How much does it change?" she dared to whisper, and Angela laughed.
"Just everything. It's not only about you and the sexy man anymore, now there is someone else you have to consider. Suddenly you talk about diapers and burps. But it's a good change, a very good one."
Michael whimpered in the other room, and Angela pricked up her ears. The whimper turned into a cry, and the baby's mother got up.
"Feeding time."
Sitting on the couch next to her friend, Brennan regarded the sucking baby. She saw the soreness around Angela's areola, but she saw the intimate connection as well. A trace of milk lingered in the air, sweet, and, even though it could impossibly be Brennan's own memory, it felt like childhood.
Her scary heart was beating wildly, and something inside of her screamed that she was not ready, that she wanted more time. She needed more time of undivided Booth attention, more time of silly love. Just... more time was the only thing she did not have. Inside of her the blueberry was growing, developing ears and hands.
-BONES-
"Cheers!"
Glasses clanged and golden spirit was gulped down.
"So, you and Dr. B?"
"Yes."
"That's cool, man. Finally."
Booth's lips curved up, remembering the roller coaster ride of the last years and months.
"Subscribed."
"Listen, I don't wanna pry, but the two of you are sure this time? Being around you was damn painful when we all came back."
Staring into his refilled glass, Booth tried not to dwell on grief and regret. They were past that. She loved him, he loved her, and they were having a baby. Their love had created a new beginning.
"We are. I love her, Hodgins, like a fool. I would never let her go again without fighting. But I don't think she wants to go anyways. She has changed."
"Yeah, I noticed. Watching you with Hannah was pretty tough for her." Registering the stern look on his companions face, Hodgins bit his lips. "Hey, I'm sorry."
"No, you're right. We've been very stupid."
"Sometimes you have to lose something to realize how much it means," Hodgins mused, and while he thought about a long and painful time of separation, Booth's mind traveled back to a crowded airport hall and a cold hand in his.
He lifted his glass.
"To wisdom. And to the women we love."
"To our women!"
"So... the baby. How is it?"
The scientist started to glow.
"It's a miracle. Suddenly there is someone with your eyes, and the woman you love is a mother now. Dude, a mother! I'm so in awe of Angela's body. It's exhausting as hell, and everything is different, but it's the best thing ever."
Soon, so soon the woman he, Booth, loved would be a mother as well, and as much as he wanted their baby, as much as it made him the happiest guy on earth... Booth felt an unexpected pang of something. Was it jealousy? Or something entirely different? Only a few weeks ago Brennan had been worried that he might only stay with her because of the baby. It was ridiculous, he would stay with her for every reason. She was it for him. However... a part of him began to wonder if her behavior had been dictated by pregnancy hormones and instincts. How much of her new affection originated in the fact that she was expecting his child?
And while they ordered another round of drinks, the sour feeling couldn't be shaken off.
-BONES-
The night got older, and in another part of the town two friends said goodbye to each other while their men swallowed one last drink. Taking a deep breath full of dark air, Brennan wrapped her arms around herself, so many thoughts spinning around in her head, making her dizzy. She drove home to a lonely apartment, trying to put some distance between herself and her musings. It didn't help.
Seeley Booth paused for the fraction of a second before giving the cab driver his address. He didn't know if Brennan would be there, waiting for him, but somehow he felt that she wouldn't. He could count the nights he had spent alone in the past weeks on one hand, but tonight there was no room for someone else under the cloud that was hanging above his head.
Her bed was too big, his pillow smelling like him. Everywhere she looked, there were traces of him in her life, even deep inside of her own body.
His bed was empty, and while the room was swaying unpleasantly, Booth longed for something, someone that would anchor him. It was her, had always been her. He could still remember the first time he had truly relied on her. It had been a tough case, one that had hit too close to home, reminding him of his past as a sniper. They had been in a mall, and he had known that the suspect had been carrying a bomb. He hadn't been able to shoot the man, though, he had needed a face. And he had counted on her to give him one.
Then there had been another time, and he had been tipsy as well. They had been sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and his head on her shoulder had been the only thing grounding him. Literally.
It was like a movie in his head, occasion after occasion when she had been there for him. She had proven that it had not been JFK. For him. She had guarded his coma, providing him with a dream that hadn't been a nightmare. She had gotten drunk with him after Hannah had left.
Jolting up, Booth realized how stupid he had been. Temperance Brennan would never do something she didn't want to. And she had proven, time after time, that she wanted to be there for him. She would never stay just because of a baby.
"Idiot," he murmured, kicking the blanket away.
"Idiot," she thought as well, riding in her car one more time this night. She was already wearing her PJ's, but after half an hour of brooding, she had experienced an epiphany similar to his.
While she had mourned something she thought she'd never have, flickers of the past had manifested in her head. Undivided Booth attention... Her life had been full of it, so full of it. The way he had looked at her down in New Orleans, tapping her chin to examine her injuries.
His chest muffling her sobs. I know who you are...
She was the only smart person he truly liked, she wasn't a bad anything, she was the standard.
He had danced with her on her high school reunion, and despite the wistfulness of the moment, the room around them had vanished. He had thrown a knife at her, and her body had vibrated with desire and faith. Once she had worn a red tutu and big white gloves, and even though he had been with Hannah back then, his gaze had found and held hers over the crowded room.
Undivided Booth attention... she had always possessed it, right from the beginning. His very own intensity, the dark fire in his eyes – it had always been for her. Their time of exclusive romantic love might be shortcut, but the things they had shared, they weren't.
There were years of memories, years of knowledge, and once more Brennan surrendered herself to something that felt suspiciously like fate when she parked her car in front of his building.
She had just lifted her hand to knock, when his door opened and Booth stormed out, wearing nothing but soft sweatpants, an old shirt and jogging shoes. Both of them stopped mid-track, and he took in her outfit for one silent moment. Then she was crushed against his chest.
"Bones..."
"I've been so stupid, Booth," she blurted out, her arms tight around his waist.
"No, I have been stupid," he murmured into the familiar softness of her hair.
"You panicked, then?"
"Just a little. You too?"
"Briefly."
"I know that you love me, Honey, and I know that you would never stick with me only for the baby's sake."
"And I realized that I already had years of your undivided attention, and even though we might not feel ready to become parents, we are more than ready to be a couple."
"We have months before we will be parents."
"I know, isn't that reassuring? Months for me to show you how much you mean to me."
"Months for us to make up for wasted time."
"Does this already count as a crisis?" she asked seriously, and he chuckled, his whole body vibrating around her, through her.
"We resolved it quite well. Maybe we're not that stupid after all. You wanna come in? I've missed you in bed."
She nodded, letting him guide her inside.
"I'm not used to sleeping alone anymore."
"Makes two of us."
Ten minutes later they were burrowed in fluffy blankets, her head on his chest, his arms around her. Her lips were soft and warm under his, her sighs sounded as sleepy as he felt. The thumping of his heartbeat under her ear was something Brennan had become utterly familiar with.
This... this was one more moment where she had his undivided attention; this... this was one more moment where she had reached out to him.
After all, they were the center. And it held.
To be continued…
Thank you so much for your kind reviews, they mean a lot to me, especially since this story is quite a struggle. This pregnancy theme is so not within my comfort zone, and I have to confess that I don't enjoy writing as much as usually... I don't know how far along the pregnancy I will write, but as long as it feels that I still have something to say, I'll keep on writing. I'm doing my best to get the facts right, even though it is a lot of research. As much as I can't wait to watch the new canon, writing it is tough...