Lunch passed without incident, except that Vera brought out two pieces of pie instead of one since Brennan had surprisingly convinced Booth to eat a salad for lunch and Vera thought he deserved some sort of consolation prize. When Booth dropped her off at the lab to run over to the Hoover building, Brennan found Angela's sketch on her desk.
Well, at least we know your name now. Angela's sketch was an undeniable match for the girl Eddie identified as Jeanna Robinson in the picture Brennan placed in a file. As she sat at her desk to check her emails for the report document she expected Zach to have sent her by now, she spotted the email from Russ from this morning. Feeling a bit confident from the quick progress she and Booth were making on this case, Brennan decided to ride that wave and send a quick email to her aunt. It was less emotionally draining than a phone call might be, and she knew she was very good at articulating points on paper.
Good afternoon Ms. Jacobs,
She deleted the line. She didn't want to be quite as formal as she was with her accountant. She thought about the advice Booth would give her. He'd tell me to be myself. To relax and just tell her who I was and why I was contacting. Be honest but not to too blunt. What was that phrase? Rebuilding my family? But what if they don't want to be my family? What if she never responds? No. I'm not going to accept defeat before I've even started. Just let her know that if she is interested, I would like to meet her. But if not, I understand, and I do. She typed quickly, mentioning her birth name and that she had her mother's ring, and she hit the 'Send' button before she could talk herself out of it. She pushed herself away from her computer and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
When Angela walked in, Brennan was still staring at the 'Message Sent' screen, apparently lost in thought.
"Bren? Whatcha doing?"
Brennan started slightly and blinked as she looked up at her friend. "Hey, Ange. I just sent a message to my aunt, telling her I'd like to meet her if she is interested. Russ sent me her contact information and I thought I'd give it a shot." She seemed to turn inward again for a moment, lips turning downward slightly. "I don't know how I feel about the idea of meeting her, but Booth seemed to think that it might be good for me to reconnect with more of my family." She focused again on her friend and smiled. "But you know, I think I'm pretty happy with the family I have here."
Angela grinned widely at that, her eyes sparkling from the joy it gave her to hear her friend say that. Not because she was surprised that Brennan thought it, but because it meant so much for her to say it aloud. "Sweetie, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Your aunt would be crazy to turn down the chance to have you in her life. How'd Russ get her contact info, by the way? And how is he doing now that's he's back out?"
Brennan hadn't thought about Russ's sources; she hoped that this wasn't something else he was hiding, and she didn't think that was the case anyway. "He's doing well – he got a good job with a nonprofit organization that fixes up donated cars and gives them to needy people. The DC diocese does a lot of work with them, so with the recommendation from Archbishop Wallace, he was pretty much a shoe-in. I'm not sure how he got the contact information for my – our – aunt, though. Maybe my dad got it to him somehow."
"Hmm. I guess with Booth's involvement in finding your family, I expected him to haul her in here himself. Where is the hunk-o'-law-enforcement, anyway?"
"Right behind you," Booth said from Brennan's doorway, walking past Angela, who walked back toward the door. "You know, Angela, you ought to be careful talking like that. Hodgins might get jealous, and I'll be honest, that crazy squint concerns me more than the rest of you combined." Brennan took the file from her desk and walked around to face Booth. "Oh, Booth, you know I'll always lust after you," Angela sighed, "just another unrequited crush." She made an overdramatically sad face, looking from Booth to Brennan like she was heartbroken.
Booth laughed and looked over at Brennan, who gave him a small smile in return. He had a quick flashback. Oh, you wouldn't dare, Seel. Or would you? "Bones, you know the last time we were standing like this with someone watching us from the doorway, there were steamboats and mistletoe involved. . ." He smirked at her, fully anticipating the wide-eyed look she returned, but not the scoff he heard from the doorway. He looked back in Angela's direction with raised eyebrows, catching her rolling her eyes. "That's low, Booth, trying to tempt me with my true heart's desire." Angela's voice had laughter in it, which turned a bit strangled when she noticed the blush on her best friend's face. She looked back and forth between them, disbelieving, but the self-satisfied expression on Booth's face sealed the deal. She broke out of her daze with a much higher-pitched gasp. "You kissed?! And I didn't get to see it?!" She took a step forward and pointed at Brennan. "And you didn't even tell me?!" She just stood there with her mouth open as Brennan's mind raced, preparing to explain that it wasn't intentional, and she didn't even remember it, and she wasn't even involved, and she wasn't even there that day.
Booth looked over at the still-silent and clearly stunned Brennan. "You know, Bones, I don't think she really believes that we did it. Maybe we should give an encore?" He moved slightly closer, looking down at her with that grin still plastered on his face. Brennan's look of surprise turned to laughing skepticism. "You wouldn't dare," she said, imitating the silent voice of excessive caution in his brain. The smile on his face was now big enough that she couldn't help but look at his mouth. Just go for it, man. That voice of caution apparently knew when it was beat. He felt himself hold his breath, and he bent down, pressing his lips to hers.
She stiffened, a lot from shock and a little from fear. Remembering how she had taken it further by grabbing his jacket last time, he moved even closer to her, placing his hands on the sides of her jaw with his fingertips brushing the back of her neck. Brennan's shock was quickly turning to warmth, her fear to something she tried not to acknowledge as desire. She felt herself involuntarily relax into his hands and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing him to her. As she timidly opened her mouth to his, he lost count of the steamboats and just gave in to the moment.
They were both too distracted to notice as Angela quietly fainted in the doorway.
Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since I've posted? Sorry about that. Hope you like the chapter - I've fallen into the romance trap! It's just more fun to write! I think I was kinda discouraged too, since I'm not really getting alot of reviews. Think you know why? Tell me! Think I should give up this story and not quit my day job? Tell me! Think I'm the most amazing writer ever to grace the internet? Stop it, I'm blushing. Eh, who am I kidding, tell me anyway! :)
