To Love
Dr. Temperance Brennan-Booth frowned at her bulging mid-section and sighed. She was definitely too old to be doing this for the first time, she thought wryly. Around her, the rest of the Booth clan scurried around the house just like it was any other Saturday morning.
Seventeen year-old twins Jenny and Julie had shooed her out of the kitchen and refused to let her help clean up the mess from breakfast. She could hear twenty year-old Parker assisting his five year-old brother Jake upstairs with the vacuum. Booth, meanwhile, was out front mowing the lawn.
"Booth!" she complained as her husband came in the front door to check on her, "This is ridiculous! I'm not an invalid, you know."
"You are a week past your due date, however," he pointed out, planting a sweaty kiss on her cheek, "Even you should see the logic in letting the rest of us do the heavy work around here." He tapped her nose, "You're the Doctor, Bones."
She glared at him and repositioned herself on the couch, wondering not for the first time how Angela had survived ten pregnancies. She and Jack must be nuts.
"Here," Booth broke her train of thought, proffering an old photo album, "You can pass the time by reliving our glory days." He waggled his eyebrows at her and grinned, "Feel free to ogle my hot, young FBI-agent body!"
"Special Agent," the correction slipped out before she realized it.
"Yup," the grin was bigger than ever now, "That was me- Special Agent Seeley Booth! Try not to get jealous, though, Bone- there are pictures of my equally hot partner in there too."
She swatted him arm and said dryly, "I'll try my best. Now get back to work, Booth, before your ego explodes."
"Yes Ma'am," he offered a mock salute and turned toward the steps, "Private Jake!"
"Yes, General?" Jake peeked his head out of one of the bedrooms.
"How goes the Dust Bunny War?"
"We're sucking them up and moving them out, Daddy," Jake giggled, enjoying the game.
"Alright then," Booth saluted him, "Back to work!"
"Aye-aye, Sir," the little Private returned the salute and dashed back into the room.
Bones laughed, enjoying watching her "men" take care of her. From the inside she felt a hard kick.
"You planning on joining us anytime soon, little one," she whispered.
There was no reply, of course, though the kicking continued at full strength. She repositioned herself again and, after another sweaty kiss from Booth before he went to tackle the back yard, opened the album. Booth had been correct that it contained older pictures, and there were papers as well that had been haphazardly deposited over the years. She was not the scrapbooking type.
The first picture that brought a smile to her face was one of she and Booth at a crime scene. They were actually in the background of it because it was a crime scene photo from the Hanover Preparatory Academy, one of the first cases they had worked together. They were standing, not quite side-by-side, looking up at the decomposing corpse hanging from the tree. He'd called her his Forensic Anthropologist that day. Not that she'd appreciated that at the time, but it did stick in her mind; which is probably why she had made a copy of it to keep for herself. She also remembered getting extremely flustered during that case because he kept calling her Bones, and because she had been forced to make a call on Nester's death under pressure. She'd sided with Booth, and prayed his gut was correct. It was, of course, Booth's gut was rarely wrong. It was also around that time that they first went to Wong Foo's.
A few pages later, a paper fluttered down on her lap. It was a newspaper article that had been written profiling each member of the team. They all looked so young, she thought, so confident in the fact that they were making a difference, so sure that no one could touch them. And then Epps had to go and destroy that euphoria with his twisted game. And Booth had drawn a line.
The line. That irksome line that had prevented them from having a relationship beyond partners for years. At first, she had thought that she understood. It did make sense that people in their field dealt in high-risk situations, therefore anyone associated with them was put at risk as well. What had only occurred to her later, when her feelings for Booth had become irrefutable even to herself, was that they both were at risk already and even if they weren't their feelings were so deep it wouldn't matter. She hated psychology, it was true, but even she could see looking back how much they had repressed their emotions because of the line.
She fingered the small object that had been stowed in the album's plastic pocket along with the article, and was transported back in time.
Over 10 Years Ago….
Special Agent Seeley Booth and Dr. Temperance Brennan were sitting at the diner for a late lunch after a very disturbing case. The victim, Margret Adkins, was a 33 year-old woman who, they discovered, feared everything and had managed to live her life completely shut up in her apartment. Her only connection with the outside world was her computer, through which she ran a home business. The irony was that she was shot accidentally when her neighbor below her had decided to settle his domestic dispute with his wife using a gun. The wife had been found the day of the shooting when her mother stopped by to check up on her, and had miraculously lived. Margret had not been found until her landlord had come to collect the rent that was past-due; two months later.
"Pie, Bones?" Booth grinned wearily at her.
"Booth-" she had really not been in the mood for his teasing.
"Relax, Bones," he'd soothed, "You know I had to ask."
"And you know that I'd say 'No'," she'd retorted with a small grin.
"Doesn't matter, Bones, I'll always ask," he then had leaned in close and gave her his best charm smile, "Maybe one of these days you won't be able to resist."
"Doubtful."
"We'll see. Everything happens eventually, you know."
"Yes, you've said that before."
"It's true," he insisted.
They sat in silence for a long time; he eating his pie, she nursing her coffee and nibbling his left-over fries.
"You wanna go for a walk, Bones?" he asked when they had finished.
She nodded; neither one of them were ready to be alone yet. They got up, paid the bill, and drove in relative silence to the United States Botanic Garden. They walked the paths, appreciating all of the different flowers that were in bloom. He showed her the Romeo and Juliet roses.
Standing on the bridge overlooking the roses, Booth turned to his partner, "Do you know what the worst part of this case was, Bones?"
She looked at him with curiosity and shook her head.
"Margret, she had a lot going for her- intelligence, good looks. But she kept herself hidden in that apartment, Bones, because she couldn't- or wouldn't- face her fears head on. It may have been Clive Witmer who pulled the trigger, but her fear was what killed her in the end," he shook his head in disgust, "It was fear that kept her from living."
"Fear can be very paralyzing," Brennan agreed.
He willed her eyes to look at him and spoke very deliberately, "I don't want to live like that, Bones."
"Booth," she placed a hand on his arm, "You are one of the least fearful people I know." She smiled softly up at him, "You took a bullet for me."
He nodded, "I'd do it again, you know."
"I know."
He took her arms in his and faced her full on, "But I have been living in fear, Bones. Ever since Howard Epps- no, even before him, I've lived in fear. Fear that I wouldn't be able to protect you. Fear that I would lose you either to some psycho killer or some handsome guy with a sailboat," he held a finger up to halt her protestations, "First, I was afraid I'd lose you, and then I was afraid to love you. Afraid that you might not love a dumb jock turned sniper turned cop like me. Afraid that you did love me and that it would ruin us. I value your friendship above anybody else's, Bones. I love you."
He looked down at her, fighting the fear of what her reaction would be, when he realized that his body was pressed up against her; her forehead nearly touching his own.
And there was a moment.
In that moment, Seeley Booth watched Temperance Brennan take in his declaration of love, and reciprocate it.
"I love you too, Booth," she whispered.
And there in the US Botanic Gardens, beside the Romeo and Juliet roses, they shared their first true kiss.
"Um- ex-excuse me," a pimply-faced security officer stammered, tapping Booth on the shoulder, "The park is closing, sir, you-you'll need to leave now."
Booth reached his hand into his breast pocket and flashed his badge without ever taking his eyes off of Brennan. The guard apologized and beat a hasty retreat up the path.
"Now where were we, Bones?" Booth's voice was husky.
"Right here," she brought her lips up to meet his in an explosion of passion that had been growing steadily for almost four years.
And for once, the universe stood still and let them have their moment.
"Booth," she pulled back softly after several minutes.
"Yeah Bones?" he murmured, brushing her lips with his words, and wrapping his arms around her.
"We really should leave," she pointed to the sky, "It's getting dark."
He nodded reluctantly then, like an anxious teenager, released her from his arms, took hold of her hand, and led her back to his SUV. He opened the door for her and shut her safely inside. He climbed in the driver's seat, unsure of what to do next.
"Booth," Brennan called his name softly, "I need to use the restroom."
His head jerked up and smiled, "One toilet, coming up."
She punched his shoulder.
They drove to the first open drugstore on their way back to her apartment and he poked around while waiting for her to do her business. She found him in the school supply aisle.
"Look what I found," he held up an eraser, "It's a crossbones."
"She looked at him, puzzled, "That is not a crucifix, Booth, it's a skull."
"Yeah, that's what I said," now he was confused, "A crossbones. You know, where the bones make an 'x' below a skull. Please tell me you've heard of a crossbones, Bones."
She laughed, understanding dawning, "I thought you were saying my name. You know, a cross, comma, Bones- capital 'B'," she drew a 'B' in the air with her finger.
He laughed with her, "Guess I'll have to be more careful in the future, then," he paused, "Should I call you Tempe now?"
"Should I call you Seeley?"
He made a face, "I hate that name!"
"Then we'll be who we've always been," she said matter-of-factly, "Booth and his Bones."
He grinned from ear to ear, "I'd like that a lot, Bones."
"So will you marry me, Booth?"
He looked at her to make sure he'd heard her correctly, the grinned slyly, "Well, Temperance," he emphasized her given name, "Most women wait for the man to ask that question."
"Well, Seeley," she countered him stroke for stroke, "I am not 'most women'."
"And I wouldn't have it any other way," he tapped her nose, eliciting a look of mock disgust.
"So will you marry me?" she asked again, with more earnest.
"Yes," he threw up his hands and rolled his eyes at her, "But well you at least let me buy you the ring?"
"Alpha male," she mumbled, trying hard not to smile.
"Egoist," he shot back and drew her in for a hug and a quick kiss.
"Hey wait," he said, half-serious, "I thought you were the one who didn't believe in marriage."
"You do, though," she explained, "And maybe I don't want to live in fear any longer either. I know I don't want to live alone like Margret."
"I'll never leave you, Bones," he said, all kidding aside.
"I know, Booth, and thatis why I can marry you."
Present Day
He'd bought the crossbones eraser, of course, as a sign that "the line" had been erased for good. She'd kept it on her desk at work until the day she left the Jeffersonian. She felt a warmth flow through her as she recalled the day he'd bought the ring and she'd felt its weight for the first time.
Then she noticed that the couch was warm too- and wet. She yelled for Booth.
Twelve hours and way too many pushes later, Hope Joy Booth made her grand appearance. She was healthy and whole and her father couldn't have been prouder. They showed her off to friends and family, then allowed mother and daughter and father some time alone.
Flushed from the labor and delivery, Temperance Booth looked down at her nursing daughter, a perfect blend of she and Booth's genetic features, and finally understood why women chose to bear children.
"Booth," she roused her husband from his nap on the nearby cot.
"Yeah, Bones?" he came over to stand by her bed.
"We did it Booth," she grinned up at him.
"Did what?" not quite sure what she meant.
"We broke the laws of physics, Booth," she nodded her head toward their daughter, "We made love."
