It had been a week since New Years and Booth wanted to go home. Whenever he'd ask Brennan, his doctor, Nicole or Katie they would say soon and change the subject. Booth had just finished his leg strengthening exercises when Nicole handed him his shoes." You did really well today Seeley, not much longer and you'll be out of here. Put your shoes on and get in the chair, we're quitting early today. I have a meeting I need to get to."
"Okay." Booth started putting his shoes on and once he was done he easily stood up and walked a few steps with his cane and sat down in his chair. Nicole watched as Booth put his feet on the rests, "you can walk back to your room tomorrow."
"Okay." Booth was happy now that he was done he had time to shower, eat, and take a little nap before Brennan and Amanda got there.
"See you tomorrow, Seeley."
"See you, Nicole."
Booth wheeled back to his room to find Brennan there packing up his stuff. "Bones, what are you doing?"
"Packing up your stuff to take it home…."
"Why? I need it here. "
"Then I guess it's a good thing you're coming home with me."
"What? I want to, but nobody in this place seems to know when I'll be able to."
"Seeley?" Booth turned to find Nicole behind him."Yeah…"
"You're going home for good. You'll need to come back for daily therapy for a while, but we'll start decreasing your days until you don't need to come here anymore. I don't need to see you until Monday so; you'll have four days of relaxation. Do something fun with your kids."
"I will thanks, Nicole." the therapist nodded and left. Booth turned to Brennan, "Bones, I get to go home!"
Brennan smiled at Booth, "I know. I've known for a few days that you were going to come home today, it's been hard not to tell you or Amanda and Parker." just then Hodgins came in, "hi Booth. Dr. B I pulled your car into the pickup/drop off zone. I'll go put this last box in my car and head your house to unload everything."
"Thanks Hodgins put it all in my office so it's out of the way until we go through it."
"You're welcome. We'll come see you guys next week after you've gotten settled."
"Sounds good to me, tell Angela I'll call her later."
"Will do. Bye Dr. B, Booth."
"Bye Hodgins. Booth, do you want to shower before we go home? I left a change of clothes out and your shower stuff is still in there in case you do."
"Yeah, I stink." Booth took the pile of clothes from the end of the bed and wheeled into the bathroom. Forty five minutes later Booth was showered and signing his release forms. Brennan helped Booth with his coat; she took the bag of dirty clothes and followed behind Katie as she pushed Booth to her car. Booth got in Brennan's car without any help from her or Brennan. When they were almost to the lab when Brennan looked at Booth," Booth, do you want to go with me to get Amanda from daycare or do you just want to go home?"
"I'll just go home. I'd like to go with you and get Amanda, but I think she'd be too excited to see me to actually sit in her car seat without a fight." In the few days since Christmas when Booth was able to spend the night at home and be there when Amanda woke up she became clingier to Booth and didn't want to leave him at the rehabilitation center.
"Probably. I hope once she gets used to you being home she'll sleep better. She sleeps better now that you're awake than she did when you were in a coma, but it still isn't as good as it was before you got sick."
"Everything will be okay once I get home and get back to a somewhat normal routine."
"I know." Ten minutes later Brennan pulled into the garage, Booth looked at the ramp and sighed. Brennan put a hand on his arm. "The ramp stays until Nicole says you don't need the chair anymore. I know you don't like having it here or using the chair, but it's for your safety. Plus you still get tired walking long distances."
"I know I just want to be able to run around with the kids. I haven't been able to do that with Amanda yet."
"I know. You'll be able to soon, until then we'll just have to come up with ways for you to do things with her and Parker. Do you want to walk up the ramp or use the chair?"
"May as well use the chair seeing as how you have to take it in the house anyway."
Brennan nodded, "I'm going to go unlock the door then I'll get your chair out." Booth nodded as Brennan got out and headed for the door. By the time Brennan had the door unlocked and opened and turned to go to the car, Booth was standing at the base of the ramp. "Booth you can walk up if you want to, just let me get behind you just in case."Booth nodded and let Brennan get behind him and hold onto the waist of his jeans before he headed into the house. By the time Booth made it up the ramp into the house and over to the couch his legs were screaming at him to sit down ASAP. Booth sat down on the couch and let out a sigh.
Brennan smiled, "are you tired?"
"Yeah, should've used the chair…."
"Perhaps, but you did well. Next time you can take a rest in the kitchen if you need to."
"Thanks Bones."
"You're welcome, Booth. Do you need anything?"`
"No."
"Okay. I'll be back in 45 minutes or so. Try and rest you know Amanda will be hyper, especially when she finds out you're home for good." Booth nodded as Brennan kissed his cheek and left the house.
Brennan zipped up Amanda's jacket, "see daddy?"
"We'll see daddy in a little while, but first we need to go by the house and get something that I forgot to take to daddy."
"K."
Brennan smiled, "let's go home." Brennan picked Amanda up and took her to her car. Twenty minutes later Brennan pulled back into the garage, she got out of the car and got Amanda out of her car seat. Brennan headed in the house and put Amanda down in the kitchen. "Go play for a few minutes while I get what I forgot to get for daddy, then we'll go spend all day with him."
"K." Amanda ran to the living room, Brennan followed quietly behind. Amanda rounded the couch and stopped, "DADDY!" Booth chuckled and held out his arms. "Come here baby girl."
Amanda ran to Booth, he easily picked her up and sat her on his lap. Booth started to get Amanda out of her jacket. "Stay?"
"Yeah, baby girl I get to stay with you and mommy all the time now. I'll have to go see Nicole in the mornings, but when I come home we'll have lunch and then after your nap we'll do things together, okay?'
"K." Brennan came over and sat down; Amanda turned her body, "mommy, daddy stay!"
Brennan smiled, "I know. How about we go have lunch, and after you take a nap you can show daddy your toys."
"K."
"Booth, I have stuff for sandwiches or I can go get something or we can go out, it's up to you."
"A sandwich sounds good, Bones. Amanda you're going to have to get off my lap and let mommy carry you into the kitchen." Booth kissed the top of her head, handing her to Brennan. Once they got to the kitchen Brennan strapped Amanda into her booster seat. "Do you want peanut butter and jelly?"
"Uh-huh."
"Okay. Booth, do you want me to bring everything over to the table so you can make your own sandwich?"
"Yeah I don't think I can stand that long, my legs are still tired."
Brennan nodded, "you need to rest after you eat you've done a lot today without as many breaks as you usually take. The fact that you aren't fatigued to the point that you can't continue without a long rest period first is a good sign though."
"Yeah." Brennan brought over lunchmeat, three types of cheese, condiments, lettuce, tomatoes, and bread. Thanks Bones."
"You're welcome, Booth. "Brennan grabbed a slice of bread from the bag and went back to the counter to make Amanda's peanut butter and jelly. After everyone had eaten lunch Brennan wiped Amanda off and put her on the floor to join Booth in the living room. Once the kitchen was cleaned and everything was put away, Brennan wondered into the living room and smiled; Amanda was curled in to the bend in their L shaped couch with her head in Booth's lap asleep. Booth looked up, "she just climbed up here."
"She usually takes a nap in that spot on the couch anyway; she doesn't nap in her crib anymore." Brennan grabbed a small blanket and covered Amanda up, "you should try and nap too Booth."
"I will."
"I need to go to the store and post office to mail my manuscript, plus I should stop by the lab and drop off the files I brought home last night; do you think you'll be okay with Amanda on your own while I'm gone?"
"Yeah she's just gonna sleep and if she wakes up before you get back we'll read or something."
"Okay, I'll bring you your cell phone just in case you need to call me. "
"Okay."
Brennan returned to the living room a few minutes later with Booth's phone, and sat next to him. "Now that you're home for good I can give you back your wedding ring." Brennan slipped the chain over her head, undid the clasp and let Booth's ring slide into her hand. She picked up Booth's left hand and slid the ring in his finger.
"Thanks Bones."
"You're welcome. Do you want anything from the store?"
"Ice cream."
"Already on the list."
"Real ice cream, not that fat fee stuff."
"I only got that once on accident, it wasn't that bad. Anything else?"
"No."
"Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Take your time, baby girl and I are going to sleep."
"Okay enjoy." Brennan kissed Booth's cheek and the back of Amanda's head before covering her up.
An hour and a half later Brennan sat the last bag of groceries on the counter and peeked in the living room, the couch was covered with toys and Amanda and Booth were playing. Brennan snapped a picture with her phone, catching Booth's eye she waved before going back into the kitchen to put away the groceries away and do some dinner preparations. A few hours later Brennan put a pan of macaroni and cheese with a bowl of broccoli on the table.
"Bones you made macaroni and cheese?"
"Yes, it's your favorite dish of mine and I thought it'd be a good way to celebrate the fact you're home. I know you had this a few times in rehab, but I have the feeling mine is much better."
Booth chuckled, "it will be better, the other stuff was tasteless glop. " Brennan nodded and began cutting Amanda's broccoli into smaller pieces before she added a spoonful of macaroni on top and stirred it up. Booth raised an eyebrow. "The only way she'll eat broccoli is if I mix it into whatever else we have. Macaroni and cheese is the favorite entrée to do it with."
"Ah, Parker?"
"Yes, she wouldn't eat it one night so he mixed it together and she ate it."
"he used to do that when he was little to a lot of foods."
"He still does. He'll be over Saturday morning for the weekend. He doesn't know you're going to be here, he has a basketball game that morning. Rebecca is going to drop him off before breakfast under the pretext of needing to work, when in reality she's going to school to make sure there is space for your chair. People sit in the bleachers mostly, but there are some who crowed the area off to the sides in the quest for action shots of their child. We found out if you get there extremely early you can 'reserve' a space on the floor."
"Cool."
Brennan nodded and put Amanda's dinner in front of her, the two year old picked up her spoon and dug in.
Booth took his own forkful of pasta and closed his eyes as it hit his taste buds. "Bones, this is the best macaroni and cheese I've ever eaten!"
Brennan smiled, "I'm glad you like it Booth. Eat your broccoli…."
Booth rolled his eyes and speared a floret. After dinner Brennan cleaned Amanda up and sent her off to play with Booth while she cleaned up the kitchen.
"Bones, I wish you'd let me help…."
Brennan looked up from the pan she was scrubbing, "you are helping Booth, and now that you're here I don't have to worry about what Amanda is doing while I'm in here. You are going to help with her B-A-T-H after I get done in here, for the last couple of months she screams at the top of her lungs when any part of her body troches water. I had to go back to giving her a bath in the sink; she flops too much for the tub. I hope that your being there will calm her down. I will bring a folding chair in case you need to sit down."
"Thanks Bones. I wonder what the problem is?"
"I don't know. One night I gave her a B-A-T-H and she was fine, the next night not so much. It took me over an hour to bathe her that night, I thought I got the water too hot at first, it wasn't. I checked her over to make sure there was nothing wrong with her. I even took her to the doctor to make sure she was okay, she was. The doctor says it's a phase, if that's true I hope it's over soon."
Booth chuckled and kissed Brennan's cheek, 'whatever it is we'll get through it."
"I know. I just wish she wasn't so scared of a B-A-T-H, she used to love them. I wish she'd say why she's scared, I ask all she says is 'no' and grabs a hold of me and tries to get out of the sink."
"We'll figure it out."
"I know."
"Daddy play?"
"I'm coming Amanda, go pick out what toys you want to play with."
"K." A few seconds later Booth heard the sound of Amanda's toy basket being emptied. Booth smiled,"I gotta go play dolls again…"
"You love every minute of it don't you?"
"Yeah.'
Brennan smiled, "have fun." Booth nodded and headed to the living room. Thirty minutes later Brennan sat on the couch behind Amanda."Let's put your toys away and get ready for bed, sweetheart."
"No, I play wit daddy!"
"You can play with daddy in the morning,"
"No!"
"Yes, now come on."
"No!"
"Amanda, you have until the count of 3 to start picking up your toys or you'll have a 2 minute timeout. Daddy can help you. 1…" Amanda threw the doll in her hand into her toy basket. Booth threw in most of the toys in one toss and looked at Brennan," I do the same thing; as long as she puts a few away I'm happy. Sometimes I make her do most of them, but tonight isn't the night to deal with it."
"Okay, baby girl I put most of your toys in the basket, you have to put the rest away yourself."
"No!"
"Amanda, do you want to go in timeout?"
"No!"
"Then you need to put your toys away."
"Daddy help."
"I already helped you; it's your turn to do the rest. I'll hold the basket while you put your toys in it, how's that?"
"K." Booth held the basket while Amanda tossed the rest of her toys in to it.
"Good job sweetheart! Let's get you ready for bed; daddy is going to come too." Brennan picked Amanda up and headed for the stairs, Booth was a step behind her. Brennan grabbed the folding chair in the corner of her and Booth's bedroom and headed for the bathroom. Once Booth was sitting down Brennan handed him Amanda, and then she started filling the sink with water and getting towels out. Booth got Amanda undressed and once the sink was filled enough he handed her back to Brennan. She kissed the top of Amanda's head and lifted her into the sink, when Amanda's foot touched the water she pulled both her legs up. "NO MOMMY! OUT! NO!" Brennan sighed, tightened her grip on Amanda and looked over at Booth. Then she tried again to lower Amanda into the sink, the two year old went ridged and grabbed a hold of the sink.
"Amanda, you have to take a bath." Brennan tried again
"NO MOMMY! OUT! NO!" this time Amanda started crying and looked at Booth, holding her arms out.
"Out daddy!" Booth stood up and took Amanda's hand, "Amanda, you need to let mommy give you a bath, and then I'll read to you, okay?"
"No out!"
"Amanda when you're done with your bath you can cuddle with me and daddy in our bed while daddy reads you a story." Brennan felt Amanda relax a little and she successfully lifted her into the sink, but Amanda wouldn't sit down in the water.
"Amanda you need to sit down so I can give you your bath."
"NO!"
Brennan sighed, "Booth, can you hold on to her while I wash incase she slips?"
"Hold on I might have an idea." Booth turned to the linen closet behind him and reached behind the spare towels and to the right of his beer hat and pulled out his rubber duck. He turned around and held it up so Amanda could see it. "Ducky!"
Booth smiled, "yep it's a ducky. This is a special duck, you can only play with it when you let mommy or me give you a bath and sit down in the sink or tub. Do you want to play with the duck while mommy gives you your bath?"
"Uh huh." Amanda reached for the duck.
"You need sit down first then you can play with it."
"Mommy help." Brennan smiled and helped Amanda sit in the sink.
"Cold."
"I'll put warm water in the sink; you'll have to sit still." Brennan pulled the stopper in the sink, letting some of the water out and refilled it with warm. "Is that better?"
"Uh huh." Booth floated the duck over to Amanda, she floated it back. Brennan smiled as she watched Booth and Amanda floated the duck back and forth. She finished Amanda's bath quickly with her distracted and not screaming. When she was done Brennan reached down and floated the duck to Amanda. "Are you ready to get out, Amanda?"
"No!"
Brennan chuckled, "you can play for five more minutes, then you have to get out and let daddy read to you before you go to sleep."
"K."
Five minutes later Booth drained the water out of the duck as Brennan lifted Amanda out and wrapped her in her ladybug towel. "Amanda, if you let me and daddy give you a bath for the rest of the week, I'll get you a few more toys to play with when you take a bath."
"K."
Brennan carried Amanda into the bedroom and gave her to Booth. "I'll be right back with her diaper and pajamas."
"Okay."
Brennan came back and put Amanda's new diaper on her."Daddy…."
"Do you want daddy to get you ready for bed?"
"Uh huh." Brennan looked at Booth, he nodded.
"Okay."
Booth pulled Amanda into his lap and put her pajamas on her. When he was done Booth pulled Amanda to his chest and leaned back, putting her on Brennan's side of the bed. "Stay there while I get in bed."
"K." Booth stood up pulled the covers down and climbed in bed; Brennan joined him with a few books. They got Amanda settled between them and Booth began the story. Twenty minutes later Brennan came back into the bedroom after putting Amanda in her crib."She's out cold; I hope she sleeps all night."
"She will, I hope she sleeps in a little."
"Bath time hasn't been that easy in months, she usually screams the whole time. I end up holding her in my arms most nights so she doesn't scream too much while I hurry up and bathe her, I get wetter than she does. I can't believe a rubber duck did it."
"Bath toys usually do the trick. We still need to figure out what's wrong."
"I don't think anything is 'wrong' she just doesn't want to take a bath."
"Probably."
"Are you going to go back down stairs or stay up here?"
"I'm going to stay up here; I'm going to go to sleep soon myself."
"Okay, good night. I love you. I'm going to take a shower." Brennan walked over to the bed and kissed Booth.
"Goodnight Bones, I love you too. Enjoy your shower."Brennan nodded and headed for the shower.
