I tried to get this chapter up earlier, but I was never quite satisfied with it, so I ended rewriting it three times. Plus, with work and a new six-month-old puppy we just adopted, finding time to sit down and write is a little difficult...
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter :)
It took Booth all of sixty seconds to regret giving Brennan a five-minute head start. He made it to the lobby before taking off in a sprint the rest of the way out of the doctor's office, hoping he hadn't given her too much time. He stopped on the sidewalk and caught his breath as he scanned the parking lot, searching for her car. He sighed. She was gone. Just for the Hell of it, he took another look, and sure enough, there was her car. It had been hidden behind a blue Ford truck, which had just pulled out.
Not bothering to see if any cars were coming, he ran out into the parking lot and over to her car. He gave the car a quick glance; he wanted to be sure it was actually hers. After confirming he had picked the right car, thanks to the skeleton family decal on the back window he had gotten her as a joke, he walked around to the driver's side door. He lifted his fist, about to knock on the window, when he realized the seat was unoccupied. He cursed under his breath. She couldn't have gotten that far in seven minutes, especially on foot.
He needed to find her before she got back to the Jeffersonian if he was going to have any success convincing her to have the ultrasound. He realized that driving would be quicker than walking, so he headed to his SUV. He jumped into the driver's seat and nearly jumped when he felt a presence in the passenger seat. Slowly turning his head, his hand already reaching for his gun, he gasped. "Bones."
Brennan was sitting there, slumped towards the window, her head resting on the glass.
He shut the door and twisted his body towards her. "Bones?" He called again, his fingers brushing the top of her hand.
"I don't believe her, but I don't know why," she whispered. "Home pregnancy tests are only so affective in detecting pregnancy and are far more accurate after a woman has missed her period. It was foolish of me to have allowed your excitement to cloud my rationality." She exhaled. "Despite that, I am having an incredibly hard time believing it was a false positive."
He smiled, caressing her hand as he continued to watch her and listen.
"I feel pregnant, which makes no sense to me. I do not feel things. You do." She shook her head. "I have no reason to question Dr. Judd's findings, but I am. I am and I don't know why I am. It's very frustrating."
He laughed.
She frowned, her brows furrowing. "This is not funny, Booth."
"What you're describing is instinct, Bones, of the maternal variety."
She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. There's no such thing."
"Then how do you explain knowing Christine's sick before we even physically check on her or she comes to us complaining of a stomach ache or sore throat?"
She blinked.
He looked at her knowingly. "I'm waiting."
"Well, I—it's quite simple actually, it—."
"Can't think of anything?" He smirked, knowing he was right.
She waved her hand at him. "Just give me a minute."
He gave her a full minute. "Well?"
"I have superb hearing." It was a lame explanation, but it was something. She knew he wasn't buying it, though; she would have been better off saying nothing at all.
His thumb passed over her knuckles and he leaned towards her. "Don't fight it, Bones. Go with it. Yeah, sometimes gut instincts can back fire on you, but most of time they pay off big time." He paused. "If you're not ready for the ultrasound, how about we just wait a couple of days for the blood test results? The urine test might have been negative, but those things are just glorified home pregnancy tests, right? And you've said a million times that those aren't always accurate. And whatever happened to waiting for all the facts in a situation before coming to a conclusion? We don't have all the facts here, Bones." He squeezed her hand.
She was quiet for a long time, her head now turned towards the window again, her eyes staring at nothing in particular. She hadn't talked in so long that it startled Booth when she said, "Okay."
He blinked. "Okay?"
"You're right." She leaned back and slumped down in her seat. "Do you think I'm crazy?" she asked, looking straight ahead.
He shook his head. "Of course not. Because if you're crazy, so am I."
She turned towards him, her lips slowly curving upwards into a smile.
"What do you want to do? It's your call."
She closed her eyes for a second before refocusing on him. "We have some time before Christine gets out of school. I want the ultrasound." She was afraid of what they'd discover or, more importantly, not discover, but she needed to know.
"You sure?"
She nodded. "Before, when I said your excitement was effecting me, that is still true, but you're not the only one to blame here. Perhaps my own desire to have another child has made me act rather irrationally, as well. Now that we're actively trying, I find myself wanting this more than I've ever wanted anything."
He put the key in the ignition and shifted the SUV into reverse. "Me too, Bones." He pulled out of the parking space and headed to the exit. Once he reached the main road, he aimed his vehicle towards the hospital and rested his hand, palm up, on the center console, in silent invitation.
She placed her hand in his and rested her head back on the seat. She closed her eyes and let out a breath.
The drive to the hospital was silent, except for the radio playing Soft Rock tunes in the background.
Booth and Brennan were called back into a room forty-five minutes after arriving at the hospital. The outpatient waiting room wasn't incredibly busy and Dr. Judd had called, even though Brennan originally declined her offer.
Brennan was currently sitting on the edge of the exam table, holding the edges of her paper gown closed over her chest. She was quiet as she looked around the room. One wall was covered in posters all depicting pregnancy, motherhood, or early infancy in some fashion, and there was a series of anatomy models of a pregnant woman's pelvis on the counter, one for the first two trimesters and two for the third.
Booth seemed especially captivated, if not a little sickened, by them. He picked up a third trimester model, the one showcasing the fetus at 40 weeks gestation and stared at it. The baby was so lifelike, it was freaky.
"Booth?" Brennan called, not wanting to sit in silence any longer.
He jumped, accidently knocking the model off the counter. The baby came lose and both hit the floor just as the door opened.
A petite woman entered the room, her dark eyes drawn to Booth, who was now on his knees, reaching for the plastic baby that had landed under the exam table. She smirked, shaking her head. Adjusting her glasses, she pulled over a rolling stool and took a seat. "Good afternoon. I'm Dr. Kingston."
He stood quickly, narrowly avoiding banging his head on the overhung edge of the bed, popped the baby back into the model uterus, and set it gently on the counter. "Uh, sorry about that."
Dr. Kingston just smiled. "You'd be surprised how many times that's happened." She paused. "I just want to confirm that you're here for an ultrasound?"
Brennan nodded. "Yes."
"Can you tell me more about why you're requesting an ultrasound? Dr. Judd couldn't disclose any of that information to me, seeing as she's bound by patient-doctor confidentiality."
Brennan swung her legs around and shifted to get more comfortable on the table. "I took two pregnancy tests a week ago and they were both positive, but the urine test Dr. Judd performed earlier was negative. Because the results are conflicting, I am unsure if I'm pregnant or not. Dr. Judd drew blood, but the results of that test will take time and I would very much like to know sooner rather than later," she explained.
Dr. Kingston nodded. "Waiting for conformation is almost always nerve-racking."
Brennan felt the urge to correct the doctor, but bit her tongue. Something couldn't almost always happen; those terms were mutually exclusive.
"Since you're already in the gown, let's go ahead and do the ultrasound now. We can discuss more afterwards." Dr. Kingston stood up and pulled over the ultrasound machine. She powered it on and looked at Brennan. "I'm going to do what's known as a transvaginal ultrasound. It will give me a much clearer picture of the developing pregnancy than a transabdominal ultrasound."
Brennan nodded, agreeing with the decision the doctor had made.
"You'll likely feel some pressure, but other than that it shouldn't be too uncomfortable." Dr. Kingston prepared the transducer, rolling a condom over the probe and making sure it was adequately lubricated. "I just need you to lie back and put your legs in the stirrups."
Brennan did as the doctor asked and looked at Booth, who looked incredibly uncomfortable, his eyes shifting between her pelvic region and the transducer Dr. Kingston was holding. She smirked. "Do you need a bucket, Booth?"
Booth swallowed and turned his head slowly towards her. "Huh?"
"You're very pale and you're sweating, both indications that you may soon vomit. I asked if you needed a bucket."
He shook his head. "I'm, no, I'm good, Bones." He grabbed her hand and leaned over, pressing a kiss to her hair. "Whenever you're ready, Doc."
Dr. Kingston nodded, getting into position. "Is this your first child?"
Brennan shook her head. "No. We have a four year-old daughter together and he has a son from a previous long-term, monogamous relationship."
Booth groaned.
Dr. Kingston smiled. She inserted the probe and studied the monitor.
Brennan clenched her jaw and blinked.
Booth gave Brennan's hand a squeeze, his heart racing.
Finally, Dr. Kingston exhaled and swiveled the monitor around so Booth and Brennan could see. With her pinky, she pointed at a spot on the screen. "I know there's not much to see, but here is the gestational sac."
At Dr. Kingston's observation, Brennan felt a familiar pressure behind her eyes and her jaw relaxed.
Booth groped at her shoulder as he started at the monitor. "What's that mean?"
"It means, congratulations," Dr. Kingston said.
"Wait, what? She's, Bones is, there's really a baby in there?"
Dr. Kingston nodded. "Yes."
"I knew it!" He turned his attention from the screen to Brennan. "Bones, you're pregnant!"
Brennan shook her head, glancing at him, a few tears spilling over her bottom lid and sliding down her cheeks.
He held both her hands and leaned over, capturing her lips with his. He broke away and skimmed his thumb over her cheeks. "No such thing as maternal instincts, huh?"
Brennan didn't comment, as her eyes and focus were drawn back to the machine. There was nothing to see, not really, but she knew it was there. There was no question about it.
"I estimate you're about four weeks along. Does that sound accurate?"
Brennan wasn't paying attention; she was in her own little world.
Booth was half listening and nodded, despite not having a clue what Dr. Kingston was asking.
Dr. Kingston shook her head and backed out of the room, choosing to give them some privacy. She'd come back in a few minutes to answer any questions they had and to wrap up the appointment.
