AN: Thanks to everyone who read, added alerts or made this story a favorite! A special thanks to justcrazy, JesseniaRose for your recent reviews. EmeraldSoleil, thanks for refreshing my memory on the fate of Pam so I could fix chapter 4. Y'all are the greatest!

The worst part of being an artist is when the picture on the canvass doesn't live up to the picture in your head. That's how it was with Brennan and Booth. Early on, you could see their happy ending more clearly than your own. His lion heart was warm enough to melt through her icy exterior and strong enough to support her. For years you gave them nudges and hints only to learn that they knew, knew all along, and had spent eight stupid years hiding it—running from it.

It was a like a palimpsest: velum scraped clean and reused in the days when writing materials were scarce. One story scraped away and written over. No, it was more like one of those paintings with another painting underneath. With x-radiographs and infrared studies, you could see the hidden layers. Some were better than the surface paintings.

You had seen their future when you looked at them: a happy family—and not just your wonderful, crazy work family—a husband and wife with beautiful kids. (God, would their kids be beautiful!) But now there was a layer painted right over that picture—a layer of time, distance, and denial (not to mention a vivacious reporter).

Avalon had read the original masterpiece in the cards, Brennan had written it on the page, and Booth had lived it in his dreams. But somehow everything had gone wrong. You wonder, as you've always wondered, how anyone could paint over something so beautiful.

You should be happy, snuggled in bed with your dreamy husband, the child you always wanted growing in your belly. Instead you're awake, staring at the ceiling. The word "restoration" echoes in your head.


Brennan had just dozed off when the buzzing began at her door. She tried to ignore it, but then her cell phone began blaring, as well. She squinted at the caller ID.

"Angela? Is everything okay? Is it the baby?"

"Just answer the door, Brennan."

She stumbled out of bed and buzzed her best friend into the building. Then she threw a robe on over her nightgown and put the kettle on for some tea. She'd prefer coffee, but Angela couldn't have caffeine, and Brennan didn't want to rub it in.

Angela pounded at the door, and Brennan opened it quickly. "Angela, you'll wake my neighbors."

"Good," the beautiful-but-rumpled artist replied, uncharacteristically cranky. "If we're awake, they can be awake." Angela paced Brennan's living room in burgundy satin pajamas with a long, belted gray cardigan and Ugg boots.

"Angela, please sit down. You're very agitated, and this stress is not good for the baby."

"I know," she grumbled, flopping down on the couch. "That's why I'm here. I was tossing and turning. This thing with you and Booth is driving me nuts! So I decided to come talk to you and get it out of my system."

"Get what out of your system?"

"That story you told tonight? Why have I never heard it?"

"What? Well, you were there for our first case. I didn't realize you needed to hear about it," she said, sitting beside her best friend.

"Not the case, Bren! The thing with you and Booth."

"Oh. Well you and I hadn't know each other long, and nothing happened in the end."

"Oh, please! You've told me about every relationship, flirtation and one-night-stand since we met. But despite all the times I suggested you get with Booth, you never told me that you almost did?

Brennan studied Angela's face carefully and sorted through all the things she'd learned from Booth, Sweets and years of observing her friend.

"I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn't mean to."

Angela sighed, some of her annoyance fading. "I know that, sweetie. But why…"

"I didn't understand what happened. I didn't know what it meant. I only knew that when I met Booth I reacted illogically. Whenever I thought about that first case, I felt panic. So I tried never to think about it…"

"…let alone talk about it." Angela sighed again. "I get it. But now you're obviously thinking about it. Something's changed, so spill!"

Brennan told her best friend about Sweets' book and the visit to tell him the truth. She explained what happened after she and Booth left Sweets' office: the plea, the kiss and the tears. She paused when the kettle shrieked and poured them each a cup of chamomile tea.

"So?" Angela asked, nearly vibrating with excitement, "What happened next?"

"He told me he needed to find someone who could love him for fifty years."

"And then you both took off for a year…"

"And he found Kate, yes."

"Wow, sweetie, that sucks."

"I want him to be happy, Ang."

"Yeah, well you're making a pretty big assumption, there, Bren: that he's happier with her then he would be with you. You think you're no good at love, but you are! You're the best friend I've ever had."

"It's not the same thing."

"You think that, but not counting my family, you're the longest relationship I've ever had! I bailed on every friend and lover. I started my life over and over. Then I met you and you gave me a home and a family." Angela sniffled and continued: "You know why I used to want 'a million babies'?" I love kids, but it's more than that. It's because that was the only kind of love I really trusted. Couples break up, friends grow apart, but parent and child? That's forever."

Angela noticed her friend's skeptical look. "I know that's different from what you grew up believing, Bren, but now you know I'm right. Your parents left to save you. Anyway, I used to think I was too flighty for anything long-term. That's why I couldn't marry Hodgins the first time. Then, one day, I realized how long you and I had been friends, and that we always would be—which made me realize if I can love one friend forever, I can be in love with one person forever. And you can, too."

"At Christmas, I told Booth I made a mistake, but it was too late. He loves her, Ang."

"Oh, sweetie," Angela crooned, setting down her teacup and pulling her best friend into a hug. "He's a loyal guy, too. Not the type to just cast off one woman for another. I mean, look how long it took him to get over you."

"He'd only been gone a few months!" Brennan exclaimed, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Sweetie, he held on to hope for six years after you rejected him the first time. That night outside Sweets' office, he finally let it go. It didn't take him months. It took him almost seven years to move on."

"I know." Brennan pulled away and attempted to rebuild her usual composed appearance. "Now I just have to move on, too."

"Or you could fight for him!"

"What? Ang, he loves Kate, and she's a good person."

"A good person with your Booth! And your sunglasses. What is with that, anyway?"

"I forgot to bring her a gift at the hospital. I thought it was a female bonding ritual."

"Bren, have I ever forced you to give me an article of your clothing?"

"No, but you sometimes take food from my plate. I thought it was equivalent. Angela, I told him how I felt and he turned me down. Now I must move forward. I'm thinking about having a baby. That was the plan before Booth's coma. I need to find new sperm, though. I think—and Sweets concurs—that using Booth's would be inappropriate given the circumstances. It's a shame, really. The sample is still frozen, and should be good for another nine years or so."

Angela's face broke into a wicked grin. "That is a great idea, Bren! And you should definitely tell Booth!"

"I planned to, as it's likely to affect our work," Brennan replied. "I should act quickly, as fertility declines in a woman's late 30s. Also, with my child and yours just a year or so apart in age, they would likely play together well, especially once they both gain the ability to walk and talk."

"Aw! Now I feel bad."

"Why?"

"Okay, to be honest, Bren, I was partly just encouraging this plan because it's going to drive Booth nuts."

"What? 'Nuts' is slang for making someone insane. Why would my choice to procreate make Booth insane? I don't want to make Booth insane!"

"It drove him nuts last time!"

"Last time, Booth had a brain tumor."

"It was more than the tumor. He couldn't stand the thought of you having anyone else's baby. And I'd wager—Kate or no Kate—that he still won't be able to stand it. Look, Kate's nice, smart, blah, blah, blah. It sucks that someone has to get hurt in this situation, but better her than you."

"Why? Why better her than me?"

"Because she's not 'the one' for Booth! Honestly, we're doing her a favor in the long run."

"We're not doing anything to Kate! I'm just trying to adjust and move on!"

"That's even better, because if you were a home-wrecker, Booth wouldn't see you the same way—you wouldn't be his Bones. Look, you two are meant to be together. What did Avalon say? It all works out. So forget what I said about Kate. Just focus on what you need to do to move on. Tomorrow we start checking sperm donor registries, and Monday, you tell Booth. The rest will sort itself out."