Thank you all for the reviews and alerts. Special thanks to Philosophos for the awesome, in depth reviews that make me feel all glowy and for the accurate guess a few chapters back.
This one is fluffy fun, but not without purpose.
Unexpected Variables-Chapter 10
Booth returned to work on Monday, and by noon was knee deep in paperwork. Actually, it was more like ear deep. So when Brennan showed up with take out from the diner he was more than happy to see her for the new Monday ritual they were carving out.
"How about Molly? Molly is cute." He took a bite of his burger.
"Molly is cute for a little girl, but eventually she has to grow up. Molly doesn't seem like a very fitting name for a scientist."
"Maybe she won't be a squint. Maybe she'll be an FBI agent."
"It's more likely she'll be a scientist."
"How do you figure?"
"Anthropologically, girls tend to emulate their mothers."
"You're not a bookkeeper. You emulated your dad."
"Because I had a natural curiosity for science and he was a science teacher, as am I."
"Maybe she'll want to be like her old man."
"You want her to be an FBI Agent? You just got shot!"
"Good point. Maybe a squint would be better."
"Exactly." She stole a fry. "What about Elizabeth?"
"Boring."
"Cassandra?"
"No."
"Rose."
"Rose Booth sounds like an old lady."
"Alright. Your turn again."
"Ella."
"There are three Ellas in the Jeffersonian daycare."
"Paige?"
That one got a nose wrinkle.
"Meredith."
"Really?" Her eyebrows were up.
"What's wrong with Meredith? We could call her Meri."
"Meredith Booth is a little heavy on the 'th' sound, don't you think?"
"This kid is never going to have a name." groused Booth.
"This is only the second Monday we've been working at it. We have at least seventeen Mondays to go." Another fry was stolen.
"Remind me again why we only talk about this on Mondays at lunch?"
"Because we are not always the best at discussing things. By carving out a designated weekly time for this decision making process we can assure that we will actually have a name for her when she arrives."
He knew that made sense, but still, there was that part of him from his pre-Brennan days that knew it was weird to have a standing weekly lunch date in order to name your kid.
"You know, maybe she won't be a squint or an FBI agent. Maybe she'll emulate you and be a novelist."
Brennan considered this for a moment. "That's very true. So we should also take into consideration how her name will look on a book jacket and whether it will stand out amongst other authors."
His intention had not been to make this harder. Thankfully it was her turn again.
"Sara?"
"Too common."
"Layla?"
"Eh."
"Mallory?"
"I kind of like Mallory." Booth smiled.
"Mallory is on the list!" Brennan looked triumphant and then immediately defeated.
"What's wrong?"
"Mallory is the only name on the list. It's not even a list. It's just Mallory."
"Well, you where the one who said we have seventeen Mondays left. There will be more choices on the list eventually. Every list starts somewhere."
"That's true." She thought for a moment. "Parker really likes his name. He says he likes that he's named after someone special"
"Yeah, he does. He also thinks we should name the baby Alex."
Brennan frowned. "Alex is traditionally a male name."
"He likes that Wizards of Waverly Place show. Actually, what I think he likes is looking at that cute girl wizard. Her name is Alex."
"I don't think I can put Parker's choice on the list, but I would like to consider some names that might have more meaning, like Parker's does."
"You want to name her after someone?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I think family names are nice. Anthropologically speaking there are many cultures that name the new generation after a previous one."
"No way is she going to be Maxine."
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous." She finished her salad. "What was your mother's name?"
"Ah, the very Irish Catholic Mary-Margaret Hadley Booth."
"Mary is a bit religious for me. And I have that cousin named Margaret whom I find obnoxious."
"Your mother's name was nice."
"Christine?"
"Well I didn't mean Ruth."
"What's wrong with Ruth? It's a very strong name."
"Yes, but Ruth Booth?"
At that Brennan burst out laughing, "No. I don't suppose that will work, will it?"
God, he loved it when she laughed. It was the best sound in the world and it always made him laugh, too. "No, I don't think Ruth will go on the list."
"But Christine?"
"Maybe, Bones."
"Maybe as a middle name?"
He had missed it before, but he could see it now. This was important to her. "I think it would be a great middle name." He answered honestly and that earned him a big smile.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Should I start a second list for middle names?"
"No, I think we should just make the decision. Her middle name is Christine." He knew they could go round and round if one of them didn't just decide to decide.
She beamed and he knew, knew it was the perfect choice. He'd do anything to see her happy like that. He smiled back at her, then sobered.
"What?"
"I'm hosed."
"Hosed?" She knit her eyebrows in confusion. "I don't know what that means"
"It means," he smiled again. "that this baby is going to have me wrapped around her finger just like her mommy does."
"Oh. And that's bad?"
"Not for the two of you. I'm the outnumbered one."
"Not true. You have Parker."
"You give Parker everything he wants."
"I do not."
"I know you bought him that Xbox game, Bones. He can't even play it for three and a half more weeks!"
"Well, he'd saved half the money."
"So you gave him the other half?"
"No. He's going to work off his loan."
"His idea or yours?"
"His" She conceded. "He is going to start by helping you paint the nursery."
"That's probably not the best plan. He'll make a mess."
"Booth, we talked about including him so we are sure he doesn't feel left out."
"Yeah, I was thinking he could help me assemble the crib or pick out a quilt. Painting is a lot of work."
"It will be good for him."
"Not for me" grumbled Booth.
"It will be good for the two of you to work on a project together. It will give you the chance to work together towards a goal. Throughout history, this kind of activity has been very relationship affirming for fathers and sons in many different cultures." She began to collect the remains of their lunch to throw in the garbage. "Besides if I give Parker everything he wants, doesn't that mean he's got me wrapped around his little finger? It sounds like a very even distribution of parent to child spoiling to me."
Booth was almost too busy daydreaming about a tiny, piggy tailed Brennan to hear her.
"Booth?"
"Yeah. Parent to child spoiling ratio. Got it."
She shook her head, knowing he didn't really hear her. "I have to go back to the lab. I have an ancient warrior to identify."
"In other words, you'll be late tonight." He stood and came around his desk to where she was standing.
"Probably" she admitted. "But this one is very exciting. If I can uncover his true identity it may reveal the truth behind some ancient Incan folklore."
"Okay, but please come home." Booth never bothered to give her a time. She'd blow right past it without ever looking at a clock. Asking her just to come home was their compromise. He wouldn't get mad at her late hours and she wouldn't stay in the lab all night.
"I will. I promise. But don't wait up for me, Booth."
"Right." Because they both knew that he would. He allowed himself a rare moment of weakness at work. "I miss you when you work late." He drew her to him.
"That's silly. You just saw me and I'll see you later tonight. You have plenty to do. You will be too busy to miss me." But she did indulge him with a long, sweet kiss. "I'll be climbing into bed next to you before you know it." She tried to remember to be good at this kind of thing…the kind of relationship talk that she knew Booth craved sometimes. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do to see him smile.
And she was rewarded with a big grin. "Maybe I'll be waiting for you after all."
"No, don't. You should sleep. You'll need your energy for when I get home." She gave him her very best bedroom eyes.
"Yeah. I'm not going to be able to concentrate on the rest of my day now, Bones." He wasn't really complaining.
"I could just stay at the lab, sleep on the couch, I have a bag…" She was cut off by his kiss.
"Don't…" Kiss. "You…" Kiss. "Dare." He growled, his lips never really leaving hers.
"Have a great day, Booth. I will see you tonight." She whispered seductively in his ear before she disentangled herself, grabbed her bag and left him in his office, grinning like a fool.
"Hey! How was your baby naming lunch?" Angela appeared in Brennan's office doorway, ever eager to hear all the details of Brennan's pregnancy, just as a best friend should be.
"It was very productive. We have selected a middle name and we have one first name on the list."
"Do I get to know what they are?" Angela asked.
"Her middle name will be Christine." Brennan couldn't help but smile as the name rolled off her tongue. It was illogical, but she suddenly felt more connected to her mother somehow.
"After your mom. That's really sweet, Bren."
"Thanks, Ange."
"What's the first name on the list?"
"Mallory."
"Oh, that's cute!" Angela clapped her hands. "It goes great with Michael. How cute will they be? Mikey and Mallory when they are little. Mike and Mal at the prom? Oh my gosh, they will be the cutest couple ever! If they have a celebrity name it will be M&M!"
"They will be babies, Angela" Brennan wasn't one for getting silly over such a things.
"Brennan, come on, it's just FUN! Mike and Mal will give us gorgeous grandchildren some day. And their initials will be the same when they get married. MH!"
Brennan mentally crossed Mallory off the list but said aloud. "Maybe she'll want to keep her last name."
"Are you going to hyphenate?" Angela came back to Earth, knowing this was something Brennan was struggling with.
"I just don't know, Ange. I like my last name. It's very much a part of my identity. I'd like to pass that on to my child…"
"But?"
"But I'm not sure how Booth will feel about it."
"You haven't told him."
"No."
"She would be Brennan-Booth?"
"Yes, but," she sighed. "I think Booth would likely prefer just Booth. And after all the compromises I've asked him to make, I just wonder if this should be one that I make."
"What compromises is Booth making? He's got a hot girlfriend, a shiny new condo and a baby on the way. Sounds like a good life to me."
"He's Catholic, Angela. Living in sin and babies out of wedlock aren't exactly his favorite thing."
"Bull. You and that baby and Parker are everything to him."
Brennan dropped into her chair and motioned for Angela to close the door. Once she had, Brennan confessed "I told Booth I thought we should get married."
Angela Montenegro Hodgins was almost never at a loss for words. This was one of those rare moments when the words she needed could not get from her brain to her mouth.
"He said no." Brennan added quickly before the excitement in her friend's eyes ignited completely.
"HE SAID NO?" Angela had most assuredly found her voice now and it was loud.
"Ange, please keep your voice down."
"I don't understand." Angela was shaking her head, trying to comprehend what she'd just heard. "You, who never wanted to get married, proposed to Booth, who has always wanted to get married, and he said no?"
"That is correct."
"Um, that makes no sense. That man is crazy about you." Now Angela found a seat. "You'd better fill me in. Tell me what happened."
Brennan shrugged, trying to appear more nonchalant than she actually felt. "I told him all the reasons I thought we should get married. Legally and for Parker and for his faith, it just works better if we are married."
"Wait, you tried to convince Booth to get married because it's better for legal reasons?"
"Yes. That doctor would have told me what I needed to know if I'd been Booth's wife. And it's better for Parker, too and maybe Booth wouldn't feel the need to go to Confession so often if he wasn't breaking so many rules."
"Sweetie, you cannot logic your way into marriage with Booth."
"That's pretty much what he said."
"So he said no"
"Yes. Well, I guess it was technically 'not now' but it felt like a no." She was still feeling the sting of rejection, even though that wasn't really what it had been.
Angela thought very carefully before she spoke. "Bren, he loves you. And he knows that you love him. Do you think you will be with Booth forever?"
"There is no such thing as forever."
Being married to a scientist and best friends with a scientist and taught Angela a thing or two. "Okay, hypothetically, can you imagine a time when you will not love that man? Because I do not see that happening."
Brennan shook her head. "No. I really can't. But I can't promise that. It will be what it will be for however long it will be. There is no forever. You can't promise a feeling for an unending amount of time. It's illogical and unreasonable. I believe in being able to keep the promises I make. Forever doesn't really allow for that, so by definition, neither does marriage."
"Ok, Sweetie, let's try this another way. Do you love him?"
"Yes. Of course"
"Do you believe that he loves you?"
"I know that he does."
"Do you believe that he would do anything and everything to make things work between you?"
"Yes."
"Would you?"
"Angela, of course I would!"
"So that if you hit a rough patch, a time when things weren't easy or beautiful or fun, a time when maybe you don't like him much or a time when he doesn't like you at that moment, you would be committed to getting back to where you were before you started feeling that way?'
"Yes."
"Sweetie, that is all marriage is. It's a day by day effort for long term results."
"That sounds very logical Angela. I have logical reasons. Apparently what I need is just to know it's right."
"That's what Booth said?"
"Yes." She threw her hands up in defeat. "But I don't think like that."
"For Booth it's not about thinking."
"I'm not like you Angela. I can't just take a chance and hope that it works. I have to have reasons for my choices! Well thought out, logical reasons. All the things Booth doesn't want to hear."
"Just because Booth doesn't want to hear the logic behind them doesn't mean your reasons can't be logical, Bren. Ask yourself if you want to be married to Booth. Because in the end, the answer to that question is the only one that counts. If you don't want to get married, then none of the rest of it matters. If you do, then you just need to tell him what you feel and not what you think. You are a scientist. You are a genius. Figure out how to tell him what is in your heart."
"It's not that easy."
"It's also not that hard."
Brennan smiled sadly "I never believed in marriage."
"And now?"
"Now…now I just don't know anymore."
"But you were willing to do it for Parker and doctors and religion."
"Yes."
"What you really need is to be able to do it for you and for Booth because it's what you want."
"You sound like Booth."
"One day, it will hit you like a truck and everything will fall into place. I know you. You feel deeply, no matter what anyone thinks. And when that time comes, when you realize you want to marry him, you'll find a way to let him know how you got there emotionally in a way that makes logical sense for you. It will be uniquely you and it will make both of you say yes to marriage."
"You think?"
"I really, really do."
"Thank you, Angela."
"You are welcome. Now, I've got a scenarios for our warrior if you want to see them."
"Oh yes!" Brennan shot of her chair. "I would very much like to see them."
Angela chuckled at her friend's enthusiasm. Personally, she found ancient warriors fairly dull. "Okay, let's go take a look real quick. I have a few errands I have to run in a bit."
What Angela actually had was an FBI Agent who needed a good talking to.
Thank you for reading. Reviews are much appreciated.
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