Now three months pregnant, Temperance Brennan stood looking at the full-length mirror with a critical eye. She had layered two sweaters and a blazer over her form. When her husband entered the bedroom after shaving, she spoke, "Can you see it?"

"See what?"

"My lump."

"You mean bump."

"Well, can you?"

"Not under all those clothes…." His sexy grin made her weak in the knees.

"It's just, …. I'm not ready for everyone to know." She smoothed down her clothes and posed for the mirror from various positions.

He smiled sympathetically at her tendency to over-analyze the situation. "Yeah, well, not to be Captain Obvious, but there's a certain level of inevitability to the cat being let out of the bag on this one, Bones."

"You're right."

"Hang on. What? Could you repeat that? 'Cause I could've sworn I heard you admitting that I'm right." His chest puffed out a little and his confident smile took its rightful place on his lips.

She turned around and smoothed her fingers across his cheek. "I don't think we have time to stroke your ego this morning, Seeley."

He pulled her body flush up against his and narrowed his eyes at her playful ones. "Oh, there's always time for that."

Her carefully layered outfit was gone in minutes and they found their way to each other twice before resigning to the fact that duty called. He lay there in bed spent, drawing lazy circles on her abdomen. "Oh, and the bump thing? I think it's cute."

Energized by their morning workout, Tempe rose from the bed and began to dress as Booth watched her with unabashed interest. Decided against disguising her baby bump, she opted for one of her usual form-fitting tops and a burgundy skirt.

She leant over and kissed her tired husband, quickly reigniting his passion. When he didn't want the kiss to end, she pushed him back down onto the bed and smiled deviously at him. "Wouldn't want you to be late for work."

"How 'bout lunch?" He yelled at her retreating form. She waved over her shoulder and headed out the door. She smirked at his invitation. Lunch with Booth hardly ever involved food. And besides, today she already had lunch plans.

………………………..

"Thanks for the clothes. That's really generous of you, Rebecca."

"No problem. I doubt I'll be needing them anytime soon. I've got my hands full with this little guy." She watched as Dylan made several fruitless attempts to pull open the kitchen cabinet doors.

Rebecca had obviously baby-proofed her home well to keep her child safe. Lately Temperance had been considering the feasibility of bringing up a baby in Booth's small two-bedroom house.

"What do you think of the idea of us buying a house in this neighborhood?"

Rebecca was more surprised by her own reaction to the question than by the question itself. "I've got no problem with it at all. We are what we are. And I'm fine with it." She paused and smiled at the woman before her. "We're actually friends, aren't we?"

Tempe smiled back at her. "Yeah, I'd say that's a fair assessment."

The blonde woman broke their Hallmark moment when a thought popped into her head. "Oh, there's this great place a couple blocks away, next to the park, that just went up for sale. You and Seeley should check it out."

"How about you and I go look at it this afternoon? I'd like to know your opinion first, since you're familiar with the area."

"Sure, why not?" Tempe helped secure Dylan in the stroller and the two women walked the few minutes it took to get to the beautiful large brick home. It was perfect.

……………………

Later that evening….

She opened the door to their home and tossed her bag on the table in the entryway. As she rounded the corner, she found Booth sunk down into the leather couch cushions watching hockey on TV. They exchanged "Hey" greetings as she bent over the back of the couch to kiss him briefly on the lips. His eyes never left the screen. She knew immediately that he was angry with her.

As she pulled open the fridge, looking for something to eat at the late hour, his questioning began. "Where were you this afternoon?"

"You're going to have to be more specific, Booth."

"I swung by the lab to pick you up for lunch. Angela didn't know where you were. And you weren't answering your phone." His tone was accusatory and she resented it immediately.

She closed the refrigerator door with more force than was necessary and replied curtly, "I had a meeting."

"With who?" He bit back.

"Whom." She corrected him.

Getting frustrated with her evasiveness, he rose from the couch and came into the kitchen. He folded his arms across his broad chest and let out a sigh. "Okay,…..a meeting with whom?"

"With a friend," she cryptically answered.

Rolling his eyes at her argumentative tactics, he probed, "Do I know this friend?"

She raised her eyebrows and smiled at his worried countenance. "Very well actually."

Deciding not to torture him further, she let it out. "I had lunch with Rebecca."

"You know, I'd prefer it if you didn't bond with my ex behind my back!" His harsh tone was unexpected.

"She's more than just your ex! She's Parker's mother……and yes, she's my friend!"

"Great." He grumbled.

"What's with the attitude?"

"It's complicated."

"I don't see why."

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't see it, would you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Forget it."

"Look, Booth, it's important to establish a good relationship with the people you work with. And the way I see it, Rebecca and I are working together as Parker's parents."

"What about me? Don't I have a say?"

"Of course you do. But I shouldn't have to ask your permission to be friends with her."

His hands went to his hips and his eyes regarded her suspiciously. "There's something you're not telling me. What did you two discuss at lunch today?"

Damn his gut instincts! She shrugged and tried to answer as nonchalantly as possible. "We looked at a house."

"A house?"

"Yes. A house for sale in her neighborhood." She raised her hands in the air as if it were no big deal at all.

"Unbelievable!" He was pacing now, looking down at the floor and shaking his head.

"What?"

"And she was okay with this idea?"

"Absolutely," came her steady response.

He stopped his movement and visibly calmed. He took a deep breath and a look of confusion took over his features. "Really?"

Seeley Booth looked at his brainy beauty of a wife and laughed to himself. She was the most frustrating and exhausting person he had ever met. It irritated him that it was nearly impossible to win an argument with her because she was so damn rational, even in the midst of a heated debate.

Their verbal sparring matches left him with a familiar tension in his neck. And he wanted nothing more than to throw his stubborn wife over his shoulder, and carry her into the bedroom to relieve said tension. So he did exactly that.

………………

An hour later, their argument was long forgotten as they lay in bed completely relaxed. His head was resting on her abdomen protectively, and her hand was smoothing out his ruffled hair. A low rumble disturbed their tranquil moment, and Seeley's eyes shot open.

"I think the kid just growled at me!"

"What? I'm hungry!"

He laughed and worked his way up her body with kisses until reaching her pouting mouth. "Okay, okay…..I'll see what I can do about that." She admired his naked form as he got out of bed and walked toward the kitchen. Angela would love to paint him in the nude, she thought.

A few minutes later he returned to the bedroom with a plate of food and a bottle of water, still as comfortable as ever sans clothing.

As she took a bite of her sandwich, she looked sideways at him. "Are you just gonna stare at me while I eat?"

His smile faded and his gaze floated down to the sheets. "I'm sorry for earlier."

She looked hopeful. "So, you'll consider looking at the house then?"

The sincerity of his brown eyes met the expectation in her icy blue ones. "Would it make you happy?"

She nodded her response, still chewing on her last bite of sandwich.

"Then, of course I will. All I want is for you to be happy Temperance." His hand covered her belly and he flashed a toothy grin in her direction. "Well, that and keeping the kid from growling at me!"

She playfully slapped his shoulder and laughed with him. "You can be very irritating! It's no wonder she growled at you!"

"She?"

"She."

"Like mother, like daughter."