Chapter Seven: The Case And The Past
Dr. Temperance Brennan sat alone in her office lost in her thoughts; they had solved the case earlier that day. Daniel had just two weeks before his death, started dating a young woman who had a very jealous and violent ex who had taken exception to her knew beau. He had found Daniel and his girlfriend together, had lost it and beaten Daniel to death, the dumped his body in an abandoned field.
She had gotten very upset during the interrogation; she had pulled out a photo of Christopher and flung it across the table at him just after he had confessed to the murder "this is Daniel Ashmorow's son, he's ten years old and really misses his father" she had tears in her eyes as she said it, her son was hurting and it was a pain that she was familiar with.
There were a collection of photographs of Christopher and Daniel and there past. There was one of Daniel, an eight year old Topher and a teenage girl, a girl that Bones recognised as Daniel's step-daughter from his marriage that had ended less than a year before he and Brennan had met, her name was Aroha, she and Brennan had bonded while she and Daniel had been getting to know each other.
Start Flashback
Temperance Brennan had recently travelled to Wellington, New Zealand on a yearlong work visa, she was lecturing on Forensic and cultural anthropology at a local University. She was young, just twenty-three and had started working at the Jeffersonian a year before, they had loaned her out as a guest lecturer for Victoria University and she would be staying for a year before returning to the Jeffersonian.
She was now sitting alone at a bar, she didn't know very many people yet and wasn't one who made friends easily, she was alone in a foreign country and the drink in front of her was the only thing keeping her happy.
"Dr. Brennan right?" a man said from behind her, turning around she looked at him and recognised him from the University "yes, Dr. Ashmorow correct?" she replied, the man gave her a charming smile "yup, that's me, but please call me Daniel" Brennan smiled back at him "of course and you can call me Temperance if you like" she replied.
"Well Temperance, mind if I sit?" he asked, indicating the bar stool next to her, she nodded "yes, if you like" she said, he was still giving her his charm smile as he joined her at the bar. They spent a little over two hours, the talking and drinking went from one thing to another and the next morning she woke up in a strange bed, her mind foggy and her head pounding, a hangover settling in.
End Flashback
She came across a photo of Daniel, Aroha and herself; they were sitting by a big lake, Brennan was wearing a two piece swimsuit, the slightly swollen belly could be seen peeking through from under the top, she had been almost five months pregnant at the time, Daniel had invited her to visit his family's holiday batch in a small holiday town called Kuratau. Temperance had agreed to go, this man was the father of her child and Aroha would be a sister to the baby as far as Daniel was concerned.
It had given her the opportunity to see Daniel as a father, to see how he interacted with the eight almost nine year girl he saw as his daughter, it gave her some insight and perspective.
Start Flashback
Temperance lay on a fluffy beach-towel beside a big and beautiful lake, her hands stroking the slight swell that was her unborn son growing inside of her, as she watched the man who had gotten her pregnant and his young stepdaughter from a previous relationship splash and laugh in the rather chilly water of 'Lake Taupo'.
The more time she spent with Daniel, watching him and Aroha the more she became convinced that the decision that she had almost defiantly come to, she knew that going home she had no one to support her, no one to help her with the baby, she couldn't stay in New Zealand, couldn't be with Daniel. She cared about him, but she didn't love him and couldn't give up the job at the Jeffersonian.
There was an overwhelming sense of love for her unborn child, a feeling that she wasn't used to, she was hurting at the thought of giving up her baby, she didn't want to but her rational mind told her that she had to do what was best for herself and for her son.
I happy squeal caught her attention "Tempe, Tempe, help me he's gonna get me" Aroha said as she run up towards Brennan, a huge smile on both her face and Daniel's, it was enough, seeing the love between the two she knew that her son would be better off here, with his father and sister, with his family.
End Flashback
The next photo was taken just after Christopher's birth, she was sitting, propped up in a hospital bed, a tiny baby cradled in her arms, Daniel sat in the seat next to the bed smiling proudly, Aroha was perched on the bed next to both Tempe and Daniel, she had a tee-shirt on that said 'Big Sis' and a party hat on top of her head that said 'birthday girl'.
Start Flashback
The exhausted new mother lay happily in the hospital bed, her new born baby son, Christopher Matthew Brennan, lay sleeping in her arms, she had refused to let the nurses take him away from her room, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her baby.
He had been born two weeks early, making it just in time to share a birthday with his stepsister Aroha. Brennan had been allowed to name that baby as Daniel would be the one raising him, they wanted their son to have something of him mother in his life, she had gone with Christopher after her mother 'Christine' and Matthew after her father, she had decided to give him her surname and Daniel had agreed. She looked at the delicate features of her son's face, the tiny and newly opened eyes staring up at her; she felt love like she had never felt before.
She ran her fingers of his soft cheeks, brushed them over the thin layer of dark, silken hair. She played with his tiny, perfect hands, feet, fingers and toes, memorising how it felt to touch, what they looked like.
She rested the baby to her heart so he could hear the beat, she inhaled his 'new baby smell' and committed it to her memory, she had changed her flight so that she would be leaving early next week, she didn't want to forget anything about the amazing human being in her arms, a tiny person that she helped to create.
"I love Christopher" she whispered to the sleeping baby.
End Flashback
She had loved her son from the very beginning and was happier than she ever thought possible to have him in her life again, although she hated the way it happened, hated that her son had to suffer such a great loss to come back to her.
She was also worried and confused, not just about Christopher, but about other aspects of her life too, such as the feelings she had for Booth that had been becoming more and more pronounced since their returns for overseas, since that night they both came back, they had been so happy to see one another, so happy that they were both home safe and sound, that one thing had led to another much as it had between her and Daniel and had, it had ended with much the same result.
The last picture she picked up was a sonogram, but is wasn't of Christopher, it was dated two days ago, two small foetuses could be seen, it had been a shock for her, finding out she was pregnant was shock enough, finding out it was twins had been even more of one.
As if her's and Booth's lives weren't complicated enough as it was, they already had two extra children to get to know and worry about, how was she supposed to tell him that the one night stand that neither was quite sure they regretted would be giving them two babies?
A/N: Well hope you like the chap, the babies kind just wrote themselves in I swear, these characters have minds of their own. Well will she tell Booth or will she keep it a secret as long as possible, any suggestions are welcome.
The name 'Aroha' is the Maori word for love (in case anyone was wondering)
