Brennan arrived home from a meeting with her editor. The screams coming from the family room caught her by surprise, she dropped her bag and ran to see what had happened. Her heart was in her mouth as she pushed open the door. She was greeted with an ocean of newspaper and a pair of squealing children. Angel sat on the floor amidst the mayhem, a wriggling, squirming ball of cream fluff in his arms. He had his face turned down towards the Labrador puppy, which was licking his face all over. As he looked up at her, she felt her heart catch and swell with love for him. His eyes were shining and his face was splitting with the widest grin.

The twins caught sight of her and came running to grab her hands and pull her over to meet the new addition to the family. "What is going on here?" she cried, trying to sound like she had no idea. "Daddy bought us a puppy!" squealed Cordy. Seeley was speechless, as usual, letting his sister do all the talking, and just kept tugging on her hand to get her to come closer to the puppy squirming in Angels arms. "Her name is Angel, because she is soft like my angel wings you brought me for my birthday" Cordy announced. Brennan looked at Angels face. His grin got even wider and she could have sworn he was almost blushing, which she knew was impossible. "I swear I had absolutely nothing to do with it. The naming ceremony took place five minutes after she arrived. We have it recorded for you to watch It was very beautiful" he said, his face very serious. Then he couldn't hold it in any more and he laughed loudly.

The two of them exchanged a glance above the children's heads. The irony of the name their daughter had chosen for the puppy making them grin at each other like Cheshire cats. "Hold her mummy!" Seeley was still tugging on her hand. She sat down on the floor next to Angel and held out her arms. Angel deposited the puppy into her arms and she was immediately greeted by a tiny pink tongue up her nose "Oh, no! Bad puppy!" she said. "No mummy, her name is Angel" Cordy reminded her. Brennan looked at her and apologised "I'm sorry sweetie. Angel, no." she said again to the puppy. She finally gave up trying to contain the wriggling creature and released her to run madly around the room with the twins in tow.

"So when exactly did this happen?" she asked Angel. He uncrossed his legs and stretched them out in front of him. "To be honest, I ordered her a month ago. I wanted it to be a surprise. I knew the twins would miss having Parker around, so I arranged for her to be delivered. Are you mad at me?" he asked. Brennan leant back on her hands and tilted her head, looking at him "Oh don't you give me those eyes mister." Angel sat gazing lovingly with his best puppy dog eyes. She smiled "No. I'm not mad, just" she looked around her at the mess "I'm just wondering how long she will take to toilet train." Angel laughed. "Don't worry. I promise I'm going to be on poop scooping duty. Promise." he said crossing his heart. She scooted closer to him and dropped a kiss on his lips. "I'm going to hold you to that." she said. He twirled a strand of hair around his finger and responded "I'm counting on it".


She sat in a deck chair, smiling as her children played in the sandpit in the garden. Seeley was a chubby little boy, with crystal blue eyes and dark brown hair that shone copper in the sun. His grin could melt the biggest iceberg or the hardest heart. Cordy was tiny and delicate, with soft dark brown eyes like velvet, that always looked like she was judging you. Her dimples deepened when she smiled that crooked smile and like her brother, she shared the same dark brown hair. She was the outgoing one, always speaking for her twin. He was meek and quiet and simply followed his adored sister everywhere, especially into trouble.

It was hard to believe it had been three years.

The sun had just set, but it was warm in the evenings, so they liked to eat outside on the patio. She turned to see Angel walking across the lawn with two drinks in his hand. She took one and took a sip. "mmmm, yummy." she said smiling into his handsome face. He smiled back, then looked up as a loping awkward labrador puppy came bounding out of the bushes and landed right in the middle of the sandpit making the two children shriek with laughter. He laughed along with them. "What are you two up to?" he called out to them. "Daddy!" The children came running and threw themselves at their father, smothering his face with their little kisses. He adored them more than life itself. He thanked Temperance every day for them.


They sat drinking their drinks in the balmy evening air. The children running and squealing as they chased their puppy around the large garden. The perfume from fresh herbs and flowers hung in the air. Angel slipped onto the chaise next to Temperance. She snuggled into his body, sighing contentedly. Life had been good to them lately. His job was going really well. He had been made night supervisor and was highly respected at the museum. She had released another book, which was selling like hotcakes. Her editor was trying to convince her to go on a book signing tour, but she had declined. She didn't care if sales depended on it or not. She loved being home with her family.

Angela and Jack had come to visit last month with their children. They had a wonderful time. Jack had been a little uncomfortable around Angel at first, but he soon warmed to him and began to see glimpses of the old Booth that he knew. The children had enjoyed each others company and had spent many days playing in the sunshine and growing brown like little berries, their cheeks and eyes glowing. On the plus side, they had gone to bed early and slept right through the night, which left the evenings free for the four friends to sit and drink wine and laugh and talk about old times, which of course Booth was gradually remembering.

Parker was in his last year of high school and doing very well. He had discussed the possiblity of joining the police force, which made his father extremely proud. He was going to be busy studying this year, so he may not get out for a visit. But once he had finished the school year, he promised he was going to come for a month to stay. Angel and Parker had become extremely close over the last year. He truly loved Booth's boy like his own son and knew that he would do anything in his power to help him achieve his goals.

Yes, life was good. Temperance looked at her watch and was surprised to see the time. "Come on you two, time for a quick bath and then dinner and then bed. It's getting late!" she called to them. Seeley immediately stood up, and was promptly dragged back down into the sandpit by his sister who was not ready to stop the game they were playing. Angel laughed softly "I wonder who she takes after" he said nudging Temperance in the side as he stood up. He walked over to the twins and bent down and scooped one up under each arm, their little legs kicking in protest. "No! Daddy, no!" cried Cordy. "Just 5 more minutes. Please?" Angel kissed their tousled heads as he carried them towards the house. "Sorry. No. Mummy has spoken. And we all know we have to do what mummy tells us" he said smirking at Temperance as he walked past her. She smiled and stood up and followed the trio inside.

Angel sat by the bathtub, rubbing at Cordys face with a washcloth "How do you manage to get so dirty?" he asked. She looked up into his face, her dark eyes, the image of his, looking into his "I don't know! It just jumps onto my face!" she said. He burst out laughing and kissed her pink lips and said "I love you baby girl, you know that?" She nodded "I love you too Daddy". Seeley tried to stand up and grab at Angel "I love you too!" he cried as Angel grabbed his chubby body to stop him slipping over. "Hey tiger! Sit down. No standing up in the tub. I love you too Seeley. I love you both very very much" He looked at the pair of them, all shiny and rosy after their bath, as he towelled them dry. "Ok. Let's go see what Mummy has for dinner. Then I'll read you a story. Deal?" The twins chimed together "DEAL!"

The twins were settled. The dog had been fed. The dishes washed and Temperance was just putting away the plates. Angel stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you Temperance, so much. I have to stop and pinch myself sometimes to prove to myself that I'm not dreaming." She turned around within his arms and kissed his lips softly, slowly. "And I love you Angel. You saved me. You woke me up. You loved me. I would not be alive" she pointed to her chest "in here if it was not for you" She grabbed his hand. "Let's go to bed."

Angel woke up. He felt strange. He touched his forehead. It was wet, clammy and hot. hot? how can he be hot? He pushed the covers off himself.. He was dripping with sweat. what the hell is happening? He swung his legs off the bed and stood up. His head was swimming and his legs felt like jelly. He felt like he was going to vomit. I haven't vomited in decades! He ran to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stripped off his damp pyjama pants and stepped in under the cold water. He stood with his hands pressed against the tiles, his head bowed letting the cold water beat against his neck. Suddenly he felt the bile rising in his throat. He vomited onto the floor of the shower. It tasted sour and hot. Again and again, his stomach clenched forcing bitter bile up into his mouth. His head was spinning. No. This isn't right. What's happening. I can't think ! He felt himself slipping.

"Angel! Angel! Can you hear me? Oh my god. Angel!" he could hear a voice. It was far away. It sounds like Temperance The voice got louder, closer "Angel. Honey, can you hear me? Wake up" He felt her hands slapping his face over and over until it stung. He tried to open his eyes. The light was blinding. "Can you turn the light off?" he croaked, his tongue was dry and swollen, the taste of stale bile in his mouth. Temperance crawled across the floor and reached up and flicked off the switch. The room was dim now, only illuminated by the light coming from the bedroom door. She crawled back over to him, still lying on the tiles in the shower. She had turned off the water and had been trying to wake him up for fifteen minutes. She was panicked now. Her eyes large and full of fear. She had never seen Angel like this before. Never.

"Is that better? Can you open your eyes now?" She asked. He lay still for a moment then slowly opened his eyes. He looked around "Where am I?" he asked. She pushed the hair back off his forehead "You're in the bathroom, on the floor. Do you remember what happened?" she asked in a whisper. He tried to shake his head, but it hurt too much to move "No. Water. How long have I been in here?" She shook her head. "I've been here for 15 minutes, but I don't know what time you got up and came in here. Angel. What is wrong with you? I'm scared!" He looked into her eyes, so full of fear. He managed to crook the corner of his mouth in an attempt to smile "I'm fine. I'll be fine. I must have slipped. I. I remember coming in to have a shower to cool down. I was so hot. Water" he repeated.

She looked at him, stroking his forehead again. "I know. You were burning up when I found you. Hang on, I'll get you some water" she stood up and grabbed a glass from a shelf in the medicine cabinet and filled it with water. She knelt back down next to him and helped him sit up, leaning him against the tiles. "Angel. You don't get temperatures. You don't get hot. What's going on?" she asked as she held the glass to his lips for him to sip.

He lifted his eyes and looked at her "I don't know. I woke up. I was really hot!" he stopped and frowned, trying to remember "I got out of bed and came in to have a cold shower. And I was sick. Then my head felt weird. And then you were calling me from a long way away. And then you were here. That's it." He reached up and felt the back of his head. He pulled his hand away and it was covered in blood. He looked at her "Guess I hit my head on the way down. It'll be fine. It's funny that its still bleeding though. That's not normal. For me." he added.

Temperance checked the back of his head. "It's not too bad. I think its stopping." she said. She helped him up slowly and led him back to the bedroom to sit on the bed. "What time is it?" he asked her. Temperance looked at the clock "2.30am. Do you think you can go back to sleep? You don't feel hot anymore." She had her hand on his forehead, then moved it to his chest "You've completely gone back to your normal temperature. This is very strange. Could you be sick? Is there some virus or something that. um, that your" She looked at him unsure what to say. He smiled "Some virus that vampires get?" he finished her sentence. "Not like this. I have never known a vampire to have these symptoms." he said shaking his head, then wincing because moving his head hurt too much. She frowned. "Could it be a bad batch of blood? I thought that last lot looked different. Darker. Could it be?" she was grasping at straws. "The blood was fine Temperance. I'll be fine. I'm sure it's just. It's. I'll be fine. Really. I just need to sleep." he said, trying to convince himself as much as he was her.

She checked the back of his head once more, worrying because it was not healing up as quickly as normal, but not saying anything because clearly, from the look on his face, Angel was worried. Really worried. She lay down next to him and fitted her body to his, wrapping her arm around his body. His skin was still slightly damp from the shower, but at least he was cool. He lay with his eyes closed, willing himself to relax. Concentrating on the touch of her hand on his bare skin as she gently stroked his chest. Slowly. Slowly, he drifted off.

Temperance did not. She lay awake, on alert for any change in him while he slept.