Exactly one month after the baby was born, Temperance Brennan marched back into the Jeffersonian to go back to work. She had called the previous week, informing Cam that she would be returning to work. After much arguing and negotiating, Cam finally agreed to let her come back, but reminded the anthropologist that the full year of maternity leave was still available, and that she would keep Dr. Grace O'Neil on call if Brennan should change her mind.

So, bright and early on that first Monday morning, Dr. Brennan came into work pushing a stroller and carting around a huge baby bag.

As Brennan set up her office for the infant, Angela appeared in the doorway.

"You really were serious about getting right back to work," Angela marvelled.

"Of course I was. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of Sophie and getting work accomplished at the same time. She sleeps most of the day anyways, so why not be productive?"

The artist went over to the stroller to pick up the sleeping girl.

"Don't!" Brennan cut her off before she could touch Sophie, "She just went back to sleep. If you wake her now, I'll get nothing done all morning."

Angela held up her hands in defence, "Alright then. Though I have to ask you, what does Booth think about you getting back to work so soon?"

Brennan busied herself at her desk, "Oh, he doesn't mind," she muttered.

Her friend could smell the deception, "He doesn't know, does he?"

"It's not that he doesn't know, it's more like he thinks I'm just coming here to get some paperwork done, and it's not a lie. I'll be doing paperwork concerning our cases. Zack can do the field work for me."

Angela rolled her eyes, "So Booth doesn't know you've gone off mat leave?"

"He doesn't need to know Angela," Brennan answered sternly.

"Well he's going to find out eventually. Then what?"

"We'll talk, and I'll come back to work. He doesn't control me."

"That's for sure. But don't you want the time off? Don't you need time to sleep, do things for yourself? I thought babies were supposed to be a lot of work."

"She is, but I've adjusted. Being here is time for me, and I only slept a little more before she came then I do now. I'll be fine Ange, stop worrying."

"Fine, if that's what you want. Do you intend to bring her to the lab every day?"

"I don't see why not."

"Did you clear it with Cam?"
"Sort of."

Angela rolled her eyes again. Brennan moved from behind her desk and grabbed her lab coat, "Now I've got remains to identify, so are you coming?"

"What about Sophie?"

The anthropologist picked up a baby monitor from her desk and waved it at Angela, "The other one is in my pocket. If she wakes up, I'll hear her. She'll be fine in here, its quiet."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later, as Brennan was finishing up her initial report on the remains, Cam came to check up on the team.

"Dr. Brennan, welcome back," she greeted her.

"Thank you. I've just about finished with these notes, and Angela's going to work on a-"

She was cut off by the sound of a baby's cry coming from her pocket.

Cam raised an eyebrow, "Is that what I thought I heard?"

She pulled the baby monitor from her pocket, "Sophie's up," she said simply.

"Where is she?" her supervisor asked.

"In my office."

"You brought her to work?"
"Where else was I going to leave her?"

"I don't know, maybe daycare, a baby-sitter? You're the one who insisted on coming back from maternity leave."

"Anthropologically speaking it is unnatural for our species to leave our young with someone else. The whole notion of someone else taking care of my child is a little unsettling. Would you really want someone else bringing up your child?"

"It may have been unnatural at some point, but now daycare is a perfectly acceptable place to leave a child. That or with relatives. Weren't Booth's parent's in town?"

"They left last week, after much insistence from us that we were fine with our own child."

The baby wailed again over the monitor.

"I've got to go to her, she probably needs to be fed," Brennan hurried off the platform towards her office, leaving a confused Cam in her wake.

"Was she serious about having the baby here with her?" the supervisor wondered out loud.

"Does Brennan joke about anything?" Angela answered back.

"Bones doesn't get very many jokes, and she tells even less," Booth added as he appeared on the platform, "By the way, where is my partner?"

"Just left for her office, something about feeding the baby," Cam replied, still perplexed by Brennan and her reasoning.

"Feeding the baby? Did she bring Sophie here?" It was Booth's turn to look shocked.

Angela nodded.

"How long was she coming in for? She mentioned paper work, but I thought she'd be home for dinner."

"Paper work? You do know she's back on cases, right Booth?" Cam told him.

"No…"

"She called me and asked to go off of mat leave last week."

"Really?"

Booth turned on his heel and headed for his partner's office. On the way he was listing several arguments in his head, but was stopped in the doorway at the sight of Bones feeding the baby on her couch. The infant was nestled close to Brennan, quite happy to get what she wanted. A goofy grin spread across Booth's face as he watched Bones smiling happily down at Sophie.

Finally he walked in, "Hey," he said quietly, the grin still on his face.

"Hi Booth," Brennan replied, oblivious to his reason for being in her office.

"How's my baby girl?" he addressed the infant, stroking her small hand.

"Much better now," Brennan answered for her.

Booth looked around the office and noticed the small changes. Their stroller sat by Brennan's desk, and on her table was the baby bag. Across the couch lay a new soft pink blanket.

"So how long were you planning on bringing Sophie to work with you?" Booth asked casually.

"As long as I can. I can take care of her and do work at the same time."

"Cam said you went off mat leave."

"So?"

"That means you're back on case work. What about the field work?"
"Zack can do it, for now."

"You'll miss it," he gave her his charm smile, "And me. Besides, you could take the year off to be with Sophie instead of carting her here. Or we could hire a nanny."

"No nannies Booth, I want to care for her."

"Well you can't do that and work both full time."

She got a determined look on her face, "Watch me."

"And what happens when you do have to come back out in the field?"

"Angela can watch Sophie, and if she can't, then I'll leave her with Zack."
Booth's eyebrows shot up, "You wouldn't leave our baby with a nanny, but you'd leave her with Zack? He's barely human, what makes you think he can take care of an infant?"

"He has a big family Booth, lots of siblings and cousins. He's told me how he's had to care for them before. Zack's perfectly capable of babysitting Sophie for a few hours."

"Are you two talking about me?" Dr. Addy's voice came from the doorway.

"Yes we were. Come in Zack," Brennan called.

Zack took a few steps into the room, then realized what Brennan was doing. His face went red and he turned away from her.

"Maybe I should come back another time," he stuttered.

Booth looked from Brennan to Zack, then back to Bones, "Yeah, I think that might be a good idea."

"Booth! Wait Zack. Does breastfeeding make you uncomfortable?"

The former lab assistant nodded, still turned away from her.

"Well it shouldn't. It's a perfectly natural thing to do, and besides, in some countries the breasts aren't even sexualized because they are a primary form of nourishment from such a young age."

"I am well aware of those facts Dr. Brennan, but the fact that you're doing it is what makes me uncomfortable. It's not something I'm used to seeing, nor do I want it to be."

"You know, he has a point. I'm not even comfortable with him being in the room right now," Booth added.

"They're my breasts, and they're being used for their natural purpose. I'm quite comfortable."
By this time, Zack was already out the door, and Booth was blushing a bit. Brennan only glared at him, "It's true Booth, women do this all the time."

"Yeah, but you're my woman and I don't feel comfortable letting anyone else look at your, um, assets, other than me and the baby."
Her eyebrow shot up, "Now you're just being chauvinistic-"
"…and displaying alpha male tendencies."

She laughed, "So you do listen to me."

"Spending this much time with you, I was only bound to pick up on some things."

"What else did you pick up on?" she said playfully.

"Some of that scientific language you and the squints use, not to mention you've shown me on numerous occasions how stubborn you are."

She narrowed her eyebrows at him.

"Like how you're to stubborn to just take the time off to be with Sophie. You could always just come in a few days a week, and take the rest of the time off."

Brennan sighed, "Fine, I'll think about it."
He smiled at her, "There are other things I've picked up on too."
She raised her eyebrow at him and he continued, "Like when you're mad, and your cheeks flush, it's absolutely beautiful."
She blushed.

"And how when you look at Sophie, you look like you couldn't love anything else more in the world."

Brennan smiled.

"I know, and I've also noticed that despite how stubborn you are, you're willing to change. Who would have thought that Temperance Brennan would be a mother."

She nodded, "I never understood how women did this before, how they could be mother's, but now I do. It's all because of love, you can't help but love your children."

"Well, it's a natural, biological anthropological thing too," Booth joked.

Brennan laughed, "That too. But that's all I thought about before. I've discovered the emotional, joyous side to motherhood now."

"I guess you could call it an act of serendipity then."

"Yes, but I would never have gotten here if you hadn't gotten me drunk, or had the condom not broken."
He rolled his eyes playfully, "Or if you hadn't told the driver to go to the hotel…"

The End

Serendipity:

1.

an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

2.

good fortune; luck: the serendipity of getting the first job she applied for.

Thanks again for all the reviews!
Don't forget, Bones premiers on September 25th now, not the 19th and season two comes to DVD on the 11th!