Once the decision was made to move in together, Booth and Brennan began spending their weekend free time looking at houses. The list of demands that Brennan had made was quite extensive and judging by the houses that they had seen, they were going to be house-searching for quite some time. Not to mention the fact that Booth was becoming more and more aware that they would be ending up in a house that was more akin to a mansion than an apartment above a liquor store.

"Booth, can I talk to you for a second?" Hodgins asked one day as he stuck his head out of his office, glanced around furtively and then retreated again.

"Sure." Booth said, concerned for his friend's well-being. He knew that Hodgins was naturally paranoid, but to be paranoid in his own office was a whole new level of psychosis.

"Listen, I don't want to be that person who gets involved in everyone's personal life, but I did marry Angela, so I'm going to end up getting some information that I normally would never care to hear."

"Oh God." Booth said, knowing he wasn't going to like what came next. "Let's hear it." He said, preparing himself for the worst.

"There's a house just down the block from ours that apparently matches all of the qualifiers on Dr. Brennan's list. Now, Angela has it in her head that you guys are going to love it, move in and we're all going to spend our summers raising kids and barbequing for block parties." Hodgins warned. "Plus, she's pregnant and nesting." Booth rolled his eyes. "Despite my best attempts to do so, I can't convince her that it's not our place to pick out your future house for you." Hodgins summed up.

"And you're warning me." Booth said, recognizing the gesture.

"I know that it sounds crazy, but she's got her heels dug in on this one, so will you please just look at the house and if you don't want it, come up with some reason that won't offend my very pregnant wife?" He requested. Booth chuckled.

"I can do that." He said. "I'll talk to Bones about it later, okay?" He said.

"I owe you one, man. Really." Hodgins said as he watched Booth leave his office.

OOOOO

"Booth, can I ask you a question?" Brennan asked Booth later in the SUV.

"Of course." Booth said.

"Before I ask, I have to preface the question with the reminder that I'm not good with relationships, particularly when it comes to things that I know that we disagree on. We haven't really had a serious fight yet and I don't know how to discuss this without being honest about my feelings, but I don't want to offend you either so…"

"Bones! Just spit it out." Booth said, suddenly getting very nervous about where this was headed.

"We haven't talked about how we are going to finance a house, should we find one." She stated.

"We're going to talk money? Now?" He asked, hoping that would be enough to table the discussion. "Weren't you the one who wanted to compartmentalize work and home in separate boxes?"

"Normally yes, but I'm hoping that because we are in a work environment, it will speed the discussion up. It was either this or tempt you with sex, but then my head gets all fuzzy and I can't really do my best thinking when you're touching me." She said bluntly. Booth couldn't fight the smile that tugged at his lips.

"So you're trying to play me." He realized, slightly proud of how far she had come in just a few short months. "You have such a steep learning curve." He grinned, clearly impressed.

"Are you trying to change the subject?" She asked.

"Yes." He said honestly. "Look, Bones, I will admit that the question has crossed my mind, but I figured that we would cross that bridge when we came to it." He said.

"That brings me to the next part of the discussion." She said. "Angela thinks that she found us the perfect house." She said. "And I must agree, from what I have seen online, it does look quite acceptable."

"But it's down the street from her and Hodgins." Booth said. "Yeah, Hodgins warned me about it."

"What you mean, warned you?" Brennan asked.

"Nothing, he just said that Angela was hormonal and nesting and that she may be taking this whole housing thing a little too personally. He just wanted to reassure me that it was our decision and that Angela meant well."

"If we didn't like the house, he wanted us to let her down gently so she wouldn't be emotionally distraught." She understood. "That was very kind of him." She recognized, happy that her friend had married such a caring person. "You know, I'm glad that they found each other. Angela often tells me that despite her original fears of marriage, she is quite happy with the situation." Brennan was simply relaying facts but she didn't realize that she had just pushed all the air out of Booth's lungs with one simple comment. He glanced over at his girlfriend, trying to see if she was dropping any hints, but of course, she was quite oblivious to the effect her words had on him, as always.

"Well then it's a good thing Hodgins kept proposing then, isn't it?" He said simply, not wanting to say anything that might be misconstrued.

"Yes, I suppose it is." She said with a chuckle, remembering how nervous he had been for those few weeks when their relationship had been in flux. "So will you come examine the house?" She asked.

"Yes, I will come see the house." He said. "And if we don't like it, you will have to explain to Angela why our future kids won't be sharing a tree house or whatever she imagines in that brain of hers."

"Deal." She said.

OOOOO

As they pulled up to the house, Booth already was feeling a twinge in his gut. He had been in this neighborhood before when they had visited their friends, but now the concept of living here, being one of those ridiculously wealthy people who could live inside this community, made him extremely uncomfortable. Then again, he wasn't ridiculously wealthy. He made enough to feed himself and put some money in Parker's college fund. But while he had promised Brennan he would look at the house, he had never promised to like it. The real estate agent met them on the front step and unlocked the door. Brennan got to work examining the house. Booth followed behind as she entered the formal living room.

"I've never understood the concept of a formal living room. Either it's a living room, or it's formal. Do you feel the need to have one?" She asked Booth.

"There's nothing formal about my lifestyle, Bones." He said with a small smile.

"Good, then we can turn this into a regular living room." She decided as she headed towards the open kitchen and dining room. Booth followed her from room to room and listened to her ideas of what it could be. Soon enough, he saw the picture that she was painting and he began to add details himself.

"Hodgins said that we had to be sure it had space for what he called a "man-cave"?" Brennan said.

"The basement." Booth said. "You know, a place to set up an entertainment center and a sports bar. A guy's room." He explained as they walked down the steps. He whistled as he took in the large flat screen on the wall.

"Does that mean you approve?" Brennan said with a knowing smile.

"It's a thing of beauty, that's for sure." He said. He turned around to face her. The expectant look on her face was priceless. He smiled. "You really want this house, don't you?" He said, already knowing the answer was yes. She nodded sheepishly, but didn't say anything. "And you have the money to just buy it right now without a single trip to the bank." He said, also knowing it was true. She didn't answer his question this time, but he could tell that she was holding her breath.

"Booth, can I be honest with you?" She asked.

"Always." He said seriously.

"I know that you want to contribute financially when we buy a house, but if I had it my way, you would take the money from selling your apartment, put it in Parker's college fund and just let me have this one." Booth stared at her like she was crazy. She walked over to him and put her arms around his neck. "You have given me so much. The books that I've written, the purpose of my job, all of the joy and love in my life, it all comes from what I've learned from you." She said. "And without you, I wouldn't have had any of it."

"That's not true." Booth shook his head.

"Yes. It is." She said, staring him in the eye with a certainty that made him uncomfortable. "I want to give something back to you in return. I want to show my appreciation. I don't know if I will be able to commit to you in the way that you always wanted, in marriage, but I want to show you that this relationship means something to me. I want to commit to this for the rest of my life, and this is my way of doing that. Please, just let this be my way of repaying you for all that you've done for me. Please?" Booth's heart was beating out of his chest as he fully absorbed her words. She had basically just proposed to him, in her own squinty way. He could see how important this was to her and like always, he found himself powerless to resist her.

"It really means that much to you?" He asked, making sure. She nodded violently. "Okay." He said, brushing his ego aside. It was going to be hard for him, but he was willing to go through some pain if it meant that he could spend every day of forever with the woman standing in front of him.

"Really?" She said as she threw her arms around him tighter. He smiled at her happiness and nodded. He would do anything to see that smile. She kissed him passionately. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He watched as she practically bounded up the stairs to tell the agent that they would like to make an offer. He glanced around. This was going to be his, no, their new home. They were going to live here, together, for what he hoped would be the rest of their lives. As he made his way back through the home to the front entryway where Brennan was still talking to the real estate agent, he knew that it felt right. He could see the dog in the backyard that he knew she so desperately wanted and he could see teaching Parker to drive in the quiet neighborhood streets. He saw Hodgins and Angela and their children coming over for barbeques and he saw snuggling up with the love of his life on the patio, the fire pit blazing on chilly fall evenings. To think, he had almost given up on ever having any of it. He shook his head at himself. The smartest thing he ever did was listen to his son that night in the truck when he asked if he really loved Hannah more than Bones. He felt an itch in his fingertips as that familiar feeling of wanting it all suddenly came into his heart. Don't be greedy, Seeley, he reminded himself. She just told you that she wasn't sure if she would ever want to get married. But as she flashed a smile at him for his reappearance in the hallway, he wasn't sure if he could ever stop wanting that complete package, the whole commitment, with her.