A/N: I know that I've been unable to update. Life, you know? Thanks for everyone who kept checking in and making sure that I hadn't forgotten that I owed you all an update! The next one won't take so long. I promise! I hope that this satisfies. Enjoy!

OOOOO

As the next few weeks flew by, Brennan had been making a serious effort to avoid Booth and they both knew why. He had made up excuses on why he couldn't have that after dinner drink and she had worked through every lunch. Eventually, the two had managed to cut down their relationship to simply being colleagues. Booth knew that as the absence of Brennan became clearer in his life, Hannah relaxed and things had become less tense between them. However, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was missing from his life, a piece of the puzzle wasn't fitting. As he glanced over at Brennan, sitting at her desk, he knew what that piece was. It was his best friend. He had pushed her away before and it had ended poorly. Wasn't it just a few months ago that he had vowed to do a better job of remaining her friend? So why was he cutting her off again? An image of a blonde journalist with an eye for details popped into his head and he shook it away. He shouldn't have to choose between the two, even if Bones was willing to step aside. Then again, she had someone now too.

"Hey Bones, I haven't heard you mention Eric's name in a while, how's that working out?" Booth started, trying to make an effort at small talk.

"It didn't… work out." She added simply without looking up from her paperwork. "He was offered a better position in California and he couldn't pass it up." She said, leaving it at that. "We broke up after the karaoke party." Her words let him know that a job offer wasn't the only reason they had split and Booth's heart clenched in guilt.

"I'm sorry Bones." He said quietly, suddenly feeling the need to apologize. It explained a lot about Hank's party, her confiding in Jared, her need to put some distance between the two of them. Not only had he ruined their own relationship, but he had wrecked things in her new one as well. When it came to her, he just couldn't seem to get it right.

Brennan's head finally lifted to look into his eyes, surprised by his soft apology. He had been so distant lately that his suddenly caring tone sent shockwaves through her body. She had forgotten that his words, his tone, could split her right in two. What was it about him that made her feel so exposed and vulnerable? She had always been surprised at his ability to see right through her, and right now, she hated that he held that power over her. Reminded of the fact that he still had Hannah, she put her full attention back onto the papers in front of her.

"It's fine. I'm used to it." She said simply. Booth was just about to comment, when Cam walked into the room to discuss Angela and Hodgins' baby shower plans. Cursing her timing for such a trivial conversation, he held his tongue and pondered what Brennan's words had meant.

OOOOO

"Alright, I got the presents." Booth said as he entered the apartment. "But I'm going to need your help wrapping them because trust me when I tell you that I do not have a natural knack for it. Hi." He paused in his ramblings to kiss Hannah hello.

"What did you end up finding?" She asked.

"I got the little man…" he said as he pulled open the bag "his first FBI uniform." He smiled proudly, wanting her approval. "Huh? What do you think?" She took the little black onesie out of his hands. It had the same white lettering reading FBI across the chest as all of Booth's t-shirts. "Plus, it'll drive Hodgins crazy." He said with a smile.

"It's perfect." She said honestly as she took it from him and started to wrap it in the tissue paper Booth had also bought.

"I got him some other stuff too. Some toys that Parker liked as a kid, you know, baby stuff." He said as he set the bag on the table.

"I never would have guessed that you would get so into all of this." Hannah commented as she placed the gift in the powder blue bag in front of her.

"I'm the kid's godfather; it's my job to spoil him." He said. "Plus, this is the first baby so everyone's going a little overboard." He admitted. "Although, you didn't hear it from me, but rumor has it that Jared and Padme are next in line." He said.

"Really?" She said, surprised. "Who said that?"

"Bones. She always knows, sometimes even before the mothers do." He said with a proud smile as he popped a grape in his mouth.

"Baby central." Hannah said.

"You know it. And as the only one with baby experience in the family, I have been the one stop shop for baby advice. It's kind of fun being the know-it-all for once in a group of geniuses."

"You're totally holding this over their heads, aren't you?" Hannah said, a knowing smile on her face.

"Forever." He smiled widely.

OOOOO

When Hannah spotted Cam and Brennan, they were standing around the punch bowl and clearly having quite a good time.

"Okay, I'm officially on blue overload." Hannah said as she picked up the mysterious blue punch and sniffed it. "But Angela certainly knows how to throw a party." She said as she took a sip of the punch and winced as it burned the back of her throat. She wasn't sure what was in it, but it would definitely do the trick.

"That's true." Brennan said with a smile. "Although Hodgins is very happy that it's a boy, so he's partly to blame for all of the blue symbolism."

"He's not the only one." Hannah said. "Seeley loves being a godfather and the baby isn't even here yet. He bought all of these toys and clothes."

"Don't let the big scary sniper exterior fool you. Booth loves babies." Cam said. "He's a total softy when it comes to kids."

"Did you two ever think about having kids?" Hannah asked the women. However, a slightly tipsy Cam misunderstood the question's direction and assumed that she was still talking directly to her.

"Me and Booth? Oh God no!" Cam rushed to reassure her. "We were never that serious." She said. "Besides, I never wanted kids. If I did though, I wouldn't be able to find a better father than Booth." Cam said with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the pained look on Brennan's face and suddenly realized what she had said that had upset her. She had completely forgotten about Brennan's desire to have a child with Booth.

"I think I've had enough punch. I'm going to just step outside." Brennan excused herself quietly as she left Hannah and Cam alone. Cam glanced over at the quickly disappearing Brennan.

"I think I'll join her." Cam said, running off in pursuit of Brennan.

Hannah, now alone, decided to head for the bathroom. Booth clearly wanted more kids but it was something that she was pretty adamant about not doing. According to everyone lately, not having children with him seemed like she was robbing him of his life's purpose. This was going to cause some tension in their relationship and she knew it. She was just about to leave when she heard Cam's voice enter the bathroom. She quickly ducked back into the stall so she could overhear the rest of her conversation.

"So then I said that if I had wanted to have kids, I wouldn't have been able to find someone better than Booth to have them with."

"Oh God." Angela's voice spoke. "You didn't."

"I know. I feel terrible! It was supposed to be a compliment but…"

"Do you know where she went?"

"She left. I have no idea where she might have gone." Cam paused. "How could I have possibly forgotten that they were going to have a kid together?" She asked Angela.

"Well, Booth's brain tumor sort of overshadowed their decision to procreate." Angela said. "We all sort of forgot about it after that, including them. Booth waking up thinking that he was still married to Brennan eliminated any thought of her going through with it. Then came the infamous split to the opposite ends of the earth, leading to Hannah entering the picture and then Eric and now with Eric gone..." Angela rolled her eyes. "Well, I can't even talk about the radio silence that's going on between them right now." She sighed. "As the self-appointed historian of the Booth and Brennan relationship saga, even I get lost in the details sometimes."

"I know but I should at least try to track her down and apologize. Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" Angela gave it a few seconds' thought.

"Tequila." She said suddenly.

"I don't understand." Cam said confused.

"Whenever she needs to mourn over Booth, she drinks tequila." She said. "Remember the team's first case together?"

"Gemma Arrington?"

"Yeah. Booth had to fire Bren for punching that federal judge in the nose and he did it over a bottle of…"

"Tequila." Cam recalled, suddenly knowing exactly where Angela was going with this. "The night of their first kiss." It all made sense.

"To this day, the taste of tequila reminds her of Booth." Angela said.

"It's poetic, I'll give her that. I know the bar. Seeley used to gamble there all the time before he got straightened out. I'll go see if I can find her." Cam said. "You stay here and make sure that he doesn't realize that she's gone."

"God, that's the last thing we need right now." Angela agreed. "Go. Call me if you need reinforcements."

"Wait, you've got Booth and I've got Brennan? Does this feel backwards to you?" Cam asked.

"Welcome to Team Brennan." Angela clapped Cam on the shoulder. "May you be more successful than I have been for the last six years."

"Yeah, because Team Booth has been such a raging success." Cam said as she rolled her eyes. "I'll call you when I find her." As they left the bathroom, Hannah slowly stepped out of her stall. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't know how she was going to do it. She made her way back out into the party and kept an eye out for Seeley. As she made eye-contact with him at last, she nodded towards the back door. He quickly made his way through the crowd and followed her outside.

"Hey, where have you been?" He asked her.

"I overheard a conversation and I need some truthful answers from you." She said.

"Okay, what did you hear?"

"When was the last time you kissed Temperance?" She asked, her eyes demanding he tell the truth. He sighed.

"Who told you about that?"

"Answer the questions Seeley." She requested.

"About a year ago." He said.

"Have you ever slept with her?" Hannah asked.

"No." Booth said adamantly.

"Have you ever been in love with her?" Booth was suddenly finding it very hard to breath.

"Hannah…"

"Tell me the truth Seeley."

"Yes." He said, unable to lie to her.

"When?"

"The last time we kissed, a couple of months before I left for Afghanistan, I asked for more. She said no. I told her that I had to move on and that was the end of it."

"Has she ever been in love with you?" She asked, knowing the answer but wanting him to have to finally tell her the facts.

"I don't know."

"Yes you do." She said with a shake of her head.

"No I don't. She never actually said that she…" He paused, realizing that he was just digging himself a bigger hole. Hannah found his dishonesty made the next question easier to ask.

"When did you two decide to have a child together?" Booth's head shot up to see her face. She was a stone wall, refusing to give him anything to read. He figured it was best to just keep answering the questions like she wanted.

"For about two days back in…2007. I agreed to donate my sperm so that she could have a kid, but I backed out because I decided that I wanted to do it right the next time around. During our conversation, Bones diagnosed that something was wrong with me and two hours later I went into surgery for my brain tumor." He said. "We never spoke of it again." Hannah looked at the ground, unable to believe that she was actually having to stand here and have this conversation with him.

"I can't believe this." She said. "All this time, I told myself that you two were so close because you had spent so much time working with each other. You reassured me that nothing was going on and I actually tried to believe you." She said, suddenly hating herself for being so blind. She was a reporter for God's sake. "I'm just her replacement."

"No!" Booth said adamantly. "You're not. Hannah, I love..."

"Don't." She said, holding up her hand. "Don't say it. Don't even think it right now." She said, unable to hear it when it was so obviously not true. Had it always sounded that desperate when he said it? "I'm going home, I'm packing my things. Don't follow me." She said.

"Hannah…" But she was already walking down the alley towards the street, leaving him alone in the middle of the alley, feeling like he had just had the air knocked out of him.