A/N: Erhmagherd UPDATE! And a bit longer than that silliness from last chapter! Thanks so much to anyone still hanging in with my sporadic updates...I love each and every one of you!

Saturday morning

It was very early when he let himself back into her house; he remembered how early she used to wake up. In the semi-darkness, he let himself look through all the photographs displayed on the shelves. There were dozens of them, frame after frame of her children…their children…at various stages of growth. One of his favorites was one of two girls, curly-haired toddlers sporting diapers and nothing else, sitting on the floor of the kitchen with a completely upended bag of cheetoes dumped out between them. Their hands and faces were orange, and their expressions were completely unrepentant.

He'd just leaned in for a closer look at a small picture of a young man in uniform when he heard noise coming from upstairs.

He stood up swiftly and ducked into an alcove when he heard her coming down the hall, which kept him out of sight but gave him a clear view up the stairs. She was yawning and rubbing her distended belly absently, still sleepy and unguarded; a more relaxed side of Bones that he'd only seen a few times.

He watched as she stopped and turned into one of the rooms close to the stairs.

"Time to wake up, honey," he heard her say from inside. He heard a muffled grumble and her laughter. Jeez he'd missed her laugh.

She stepped back out into the hall and walked into the room directly across from the one she'd just left.

"Girls, come on…I know you've snoozed your alarms twice already."

'Girls'? Those must be Joey's sisters, who he'd seen in the pictures on her bookshelf.

A chuckling Temperance Brennan propelled two identical very sleepy pajama-clad girls out of the bedroom. They were met by Joey, who stumbled out of the room she'd visited first. With an ease that suggested this was a relatively routine practice, she herded the three downstairs. They passed by his hiding spot so closely that he could have reached out and touched them as they walked towards the kitchen.

"C'mon, Sleeypheads, it's breakfast time, and then we've got a busy day, remember? Do you want oatmeal, cereal, or a bagel?"

"Bagel, please," Joey said, perking up at the mention of food.

"Oh, now you're awake," she teased.

"Oatmeal for us," the girls chorused.

Booth couldn't believe how at ease she was with them. Angela had said she was a great mom, but it was one thing to hear it and something else completely to see her in action. The domestic scene before him continued to unfold.

"Oh, I forgot!" Joey exclaimed. "Paul asked if I could spend the night on Tuesday," he told Bones.

Bones shook her head. "School night, Joey…you know the rules."

Joey sighed. "I know."

"Why don't you invite him and Andy over on Saturday? There's a new dinosaur exhibit at the Jeffersonian."

He perked up. "Could they spend the night here?"

"I don't see why not," she replied, shocking Booth. "You can call them when we get back from the game. If they want to, tell them to have their mothers call me, alright?"

"Yep!" Joey exclaimed, clearly excited already.

Booth couldn't believe what he was hearing. Dr. Temperance Brennan, world-renowned forensic anthropologist, was not only fixing breakfast for a handful of children, but she was agreeing to host a sleepover.

"Did you put your baseball uniform in the laundry so I can wash it for tomorrow?"

Joey nodded. "Yep, it's there." He grinned at her. "I still think is so cool that you're one of the coaches," he chortled. "All of the other moms just sit in their chairs and read, or wave or something."

"Well, it's a good thing I found such a good teacher to explain the rules and show me how to play."

"Aw, Mooom," he groaned bashfully, making the two adults grin.

"Girls?"

"Yes Mom, all of our gear is packed and ready to go too."

Just then, another boy came stumbling down the stairs. He was the other boy who Booth had seen yesterday, Nate, and though his eyes were hardly open he made his way unerringly to Bones.

"G'morning Mom," he mumbled as he wrapped his arms around her swollen midsection. As she returned the hug, he pulled back enough to kiss her belly. "G'morning Alex; g'morning Katie."

"Good morning, Nate," Bones replied with a smile. "And the twins say good morning, too. Cereal?"

"Mmm…yes please," he said as he climbed up into the chair with the booster seat.

After Bones set a bowl of cereal in front of Nate they all sat down at the table together, a scene straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Everyone had finished about fifteen minutes later, taking their dishes to the sink without being prompted.

Bones checked her watch. "Alright, you've all got about an hour and a half to get ready before we leave for the game. Take turns in the bathrooms, and try to save your dearest mother some hot water this time. Does anybody need any help?"

There was a chorus of negative replies. "Off with you then!" she said, shooing them out of the kitchen. "And ask your brother to bring Emily downstairs, please."

Joey grinned wider and trotted off towards the upstairs bathroom, the two girls and Nate following behind.

Booth still watched from the dark corner, trying to process everything. His brother? That must be the son she'd adopted.

As he continued to watch the stairs where the kids disappeared, the answer appeared and his breathing stopped.

Standing a good six feet tall, a young man in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms stood holding Emma, talking to her softly. He had brown eyes, a strong jaw, and his sandy brown hair was cropped military-short.

"Mom, Emma says she'd like oatmeal for breakfast," Parker Booth informed them as he came down the stairs.