Bones walked downstairs to see Booth in the kitchen.
"Morning Bones." Booth walked over and placed his hands on her partially swollen belly, then pulled her into a kiss. Bones returned the kiss and then sat down at the kitchen counter.
"You were up early today, Booth. I woke up and you weren't there." Booth came over and sat next to her.
"I'm sorry. I just couldn't sleep." He glanced at Bones.
"If you want to talk about it, I'm here.."
"Temperance- I'm fine." With that he got up and left the room, leaving Bones there all alone.
Letting out a sigh, Bones got up and went over to the coffee machine and started brewing coffee. After it was all finished, she set it on the counter knowing Booth liked his coffee black.
Heading to the bathroom, for the second time that morning due to being fifteen weeks pregnant and having the baby push down on her bladder, Bones passed Booth's home office. She stopped in her path when she heard the soft whimpers and sighs coming from the office.
Quietly, she knocked on the door, "Hey Booth, are you okay in there?" she'd asked already knowing that he wasn't but that he was an Alfa male and wouldn't want to show his weakness.
"Yeah I'm fine, Bones. I'm sorry about calling you Temperance before, I will admit that I was a little defensive."
"It's okay, I understand. I made you coffee. It's on the kitchen counter." They were still talking through the office door.
"Thank you. I will be out in a few minutes." Bones took that as a cue to leave and continue on her way to the bathroom.
By the time that Bones was out of the bathroom, Christine was awake and crying. She climbed the stairs and went over to Christine's room.
She picked her up out of the crib with a little grunt at the weight of the two year old and set her on the floor. Grabbing Christine's hand, they walked down the stairs, one by one.
Booth was out of the office and sitting down sipping coffee by then. He looked up and gave them both a smile when he saw his family. Bones smiled back and let go of Christine's hand as she ran to her dad.
Booth kneeled down and reached out his arms to her, picking Christine up and twirling her in his arms when she got to him.
"Booth careful!" Bones blurted out.
"It's fine, I have her okay. I'm not going to let her get hurt. I'm a good father."
"I- I didn't mean it like that. I know you are a wonderful father. It was just an impulsive thing to say." Brennan's face fell and she shifted her eyes.
Booth, trying to change the topic, said "Well I have to leave for work early. At the bureau, they are holding a service for us."
Bones nodded and added "I will drop Christine off at daycare and I will be right over for the service."
With that, they were off their separate ways.
"We gather here today to remember those who were lost in battle and to pay our respect to those who have fought for our country to keep our freedom." The words were amplified over a microphone, exaggerating their importance. Twenty soldiers stood in two equal rows of ten all dressed in uniform, including Booth.
"Those who have fallen from our community are Christopher Abrams, Colonel Richard Adams, Samuel Collins, Gregory Elaine, Charlotte Fawn, Veronica Frankfort, Beth Hollings, Nathan Kingsfort..." The list went on for a long time.
Bones stood in the crowd around the United States Flag and kept on glancing over at Booth to see if he was doing alright. His face had a blank expression and he faced forward with his body at attention.
There were cries coming from families of lost loved ones all around Bones. The list of the fallen was extremely long and disheartening every time another name was called.
Finally, it came time to say the veterans who were still standing strong. "We'd like to thank the following people for their time and service," There was a short pause until they continued on.
"Zachary Addy," He stepped to the side of the line briefly so everybody could see him, and stepped back in line standing at attention once again.
Brennan's head whipped to the side to get a better look. Had she heard correctly? Zack Addy? Her Zack Addy? It couldn't be, but there he was standing at attention.
Bones looked over at Booth and his face flashed with a look of confusion and disbelief for a split second and then went back to blank. He straightened out and stared forward again, not wanting to be caught not at attention.
"Kristie Basting," a women stepped to the side this time and saluted, then stood back at attention.
"Seeley Booth," a proud smile grew across Brennan's face as he stepped out too. He turned, saluted Bones, causing her heart to skip a beat, and stood back at attention.
"Rochelle Eco," She stepped out and did the routine salute to a loved one and stepped back in.
"Andrew Harrisburg," He continued the routine stepping out and saluting.
"Penny Lovings," She stepped out and saluted too.
"Darren O'Neil," Once again saluting.
"Dezie Rodegher," She continued the pattern.
"Brandon Rogers," He saluted too.
"Ali Santez," she stepped out too.
"Ethan Tanner," he took off his cap and saluted the American flag.
"Shae Toth," she also saluted the flag too, showing her respect.
It continued on until all twenty soldiers standing there were recognized and the pledge of allegiance was recited to the flag.
Once it was all over, Booth walked over to Bones and hugged her.
"I love you so much Bones." She could tell that he needed a hug much more than her.
"I love you too." He started to step back, but she pulled him back into the hug, "Thank you for not being a hero, Booth, I don't know what I could do without you."
They embraced for a few minutes, letting their emotions get to the best of them. As much as Booth hated to admit it, he had a few tears rolling down his face. Brennan's body shook with silent sobs, and they both stood there arm-in-arm.
"Happy Veterans Day Booth." Brennan stepped back and gathered her composure.
Booth whipped at his eyes and put his hand out for Brennan to hold it.
They walked hand in hand over to where one soldier stood all alone.
"Zack? Is that you?" Bones questioned.
As soon as he turned around, Brennan's face lit up and she went to hug him.
"Hello Dr. Brennan." It was Zack after all this time. Zack Addy.
"Well actually now it's Dr. Brennan-Booth." Bones corrected.
"I will adjust my behavior accordingly, Dr. Brennan-Booth. Is 'congratulations' the correct term to use in this situation?"
"Yes, Zack that is exactly the right thing to say." Bones looked over at Booth for reassurance on her response and he nodded.
"May I ask how you were allowed out of the mental hospital?" Bones retaliated.
"Yes you may. There was a thirty-six percent chance if me being allowed out before last Tuesday. But Dr. Sweets had reported that I had not murdered anybody, but merely showed Gormagon where the victim was. That information increased my chances of being let out to an eighty-two percent chance. After a revaluation, they decided that I wasn't actually mental and they let me out last night for Veterans Day today."
Brennan just smiled and nodded as she complied this information in her head. "Zack, will you be coming back to the Jeffersonian?"
"If I get allowance back into the Jeffersonian and funds then yes I would love to come back." Zack replied.
"I will do whatever it takes to get you back Zack."
With that, Zack left and Booth and Bones continued on their day.
Later that night, Bones had just put Christine to bed and joined Booth on the couch. He finally had let himself be free and started to cry.
"If you want to talk about it, I'm here Booth. I'm here."
Booth started to talk about the trauma he went through in Afghanistan, how everyday he had the fear of never knowing what would happen, how he had seen many of his friends die in battle- the whole story.
Bones sat there and listened the whole time. She was crying too.
They cried together in each other's arms, until they fell asleep there.