Hi, readers! Hope you're all enjoying summer so far :-)

This story is rated K+ and is set about seven or eight months after Booth & Brennan become a couple. And that's really all the setup it needs, so, as I'm sure you all know by now, Bones isn't mine and enjoy the chapter!

The fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling bathed the spacious room in an orange glow as a few dozen kids ran around the shiny gymnasium floor. On the left side of the court, one of the coaches of the indoor soccer teams sat on the bottom row on the spectator bleachers, holding his girlfriend's hand. His team, a team that included his son, was dressed in red and practicing passing the ball and shooting goals, while the other team, dressed in black, practiced on the other end of the gym.

"You're going to win," Temperance Brennan said.

"How do you know," Seeley Booth, dressed in a matching red shirt, asked.

"I've been watching the other team. They're uncoordinated and have poor communication among their members."

"They're all under ten years old," Booth reminded her.

"That doesn't mean it won't cost them the game."

"Well, you'll have to keep score in your head because they won't be doing it here."

"What?" she exclaimed. "What's the point in playing if you don't keep score?"

"They're kids, Bones. They're just learning how to play soccer and work as a team."

"But what about end-of-season tournaments?" she asked. "How are you going to know which team is the best?"

"We don't. The league ends when every team plays every other team," he explained. "How do you even know about end-of-season tournaments?"

"I've been in the room while you've watched sports. You're quite loud when a team you like is losing," she reminded him. "So by not keeping score, the children's soccer league keeps the competitive nature of sports without forcing anyone to feel poorly about losing?"

"By George, I think she's got it," he teased.

"Who's George? Is he the founder of the league?"

Booth simply laughed and pecked her lips. "I gotta get back to my team," he said, standing. "Here's a hint; maybe pay more attention to Parker and our team than the opposition. You are our girl, after all."

She nodded. "Okay, coach. Go get 'em…how long is this game going to last anyway?"

"No more than a few hours. Why? Is that okay?" Booth asked.

"It's fine," she said, vaguely smiling.

"Okay," he said, slightly skeptical that something was going on. He leaned down and pecked her lips again. "For luck."

The game had just begun when Angela Montenegro slipped into the gymnasium. She looked around for Brennan, spotted her, and quickly took a seat next to her.

"Sorry, I'm late," Angela said.

"S'okay," Brennan muttered. "I don't think Parker noticed."

"Where's the scoreboard?" Angela asked.

"Apparently they don't keep score."

"Oh," Angela said. Parker ran by them at that moment, getting ready to play a defense position. Angela cupped her hands around her mouth and cheered for him. The kids then headed towards the opposite end of the gym, so Angela leaned in close to Brennan and lowered her voice in the hopes that no one around them would hear. "Well?" Angela asked.

"Negative," Brennan said.

"Are you sad?"

"Relieved," Brennan replied, looking at Angela.

"Really?" Angela asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," Brennan sighed, turning back to the game.

"Have you told Booth yet?"

"No…he still doesn't know anything," Brennan said.

"Are you going to tell him?" Angela asked.

"Probably…no…I don't know," Brennan said. "Yours?"

"Positive," Angela smiled.

"Really?" Brennan asked, turning to look at her again.

"Yeah," Angela giggled.

"You're happy," Brennan noticed.

"Very," Angela said, beaming.

"Hodgins?" Brennan asked.

"Doesn't know yet," Angela said.

"Why?"

"I wanted to tell you first. This was our thing."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't have anything to do with it," Brennan said.

"You know what I mean. We only told each other, bought the tests together, would've gotten the results together if we hadn't had to hang up so quickly…" Angela explained.

"True," Brennan nodded. "Ange…"

"Yeah?"

"You're having a baby," Brennan stated, finally saying it out loud.

"I know!" Angela laughed, hugging her friend. "Are you sure you're not? It could be a false negative."

"It's not," Brennan said. "My cycle was just a little off this month. Are you sure yours isn't a false positive?"

"I knew it was going to be positive before I even bought the thing. Call it female intuition," Angela said. "So you're relieved, huh?"

"And feeling really guilty about it," Brennan said.

"Why, sweetie?"

"Booth thinks I still want a child! My emotions are clearly indicating that I don't. I mean, we never talked about it again after his surgery, but I had him in a sperm bank nine months ago, Ange," Brennan said, laughing at how absurd that now seemed to her.

"But we talked about that. I thought you decided that was your way of dealing with your feelings for him," Angela said.

"I know, and I still agree with your assessment of the past situation, but…I'm afraid to tell him I thought I might have been pregnant."

"Why?"

"Because he'll be sad I'm not, and I'm happy I'm not, and then I'll be forced to tell him that I've changed my mind back and he can just forget about everything I said that week before his surgery."

"Have you really changed your mind back or did this just make you realize you're not quite ready to be a mother yet?" Angela asked.

"I don't know, Ange," Brennan said softly.

"Well, I'm kind of bummed. I wanted our kids to grow up together," she said.

Brennan chuckled. "Sorry. What are you going to do about the wedding?"

"Still have it," Angela said instantly. "I'll still look plenty hot at five months pregnant."

"Really?" Brennan asked. "You didn't even think about it."

"It wasn't quite how I envisioned myself at my wedding, but Hodgins and I should've gotten married two and a half years ago, so I'll be damned if anything stops this wedding this time!" Angela replied. Angela's cell buzzed with a text message just as she finished speaking.

"Hodgins?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, looks like he's home," Angela said. "I guess I better go tell him he's going to be a daddy a little bit earlier than we had planned."

"Probably a good idea," Brennan agreed.

"Not to overwhelm you even more, but there's one more thing I want you to think about."

"What?" Brennan asked.

"I don't mean this as a religious thing, so don't freak out, but I want you and Booth to be the baby's godparents," Angela revealed.

"You…you would trust me to raise your child if something happened to you?" Brennan asked, touched and surprised.

"Don't look so shocked, Bren! There's no else I'd rather trust my baby with."

"Shouldn't Hodgins get a say in this before you ask me?"

"We…may have hypothetically discussed it back when we thought Booth had died and left Parker without a dad. I know Parker would've still had Rebecca, but it made us think. I doubt he's changed his mind," Angela said.

Brennan hugged Angela tightly. "Thank you…and congratulations."

"Thanks, and talk to Booth, sweetie. He'll make you feel better."

Brennan nodded as Angela stood. She waved at Booth on her way off the bleachers. Angela cheered for Parker once more before leaving. Brennan smiled. She was going to be a wonderful mother.

Brennan turned and locked eyes with Booth from across the room. He smiled at her, and she half-heartedly smiled back. His smile faded as he turned back to his team. She had been a little off for the last few days, but he hadn't yet been able to figure out why. He knew he couldn't worry about that now, however.

He called for Parker to pass the ball to his open teammate as the kids ran past him. Parker passed the soccer ball to the little girl wearing red on the other side of the court. She ran with it for a few seconds and passed it back to Parker. Parker received the ball and kicked it hard, watching as it sailed past the black-shirted goalie and into the net.

Parker immediately looked towards Brennan. She was on her feet clapping, like many of the other spectators, and shot Parker a thumbs-up when she realized he was watching for her reaction. The black team called a time-out, and Booth's team began to walk over to him. Parker arrived first.

"Did ya see it, Dad?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, that was great, Parker!" Booth said.

"Dr. Bones saw, too," Parker exclaimed.

"Keep it up, and you'll probably be able to talk her into buying you ice cream."

Booth glanced over at her again as the rest of the kids reached the sidelines. She sat with her palm cupped around her chin, seemingly in her own little world. Once the kids had run back to the court, he sent her a short text message asking if she was okay. She read the message almost immediately, looked up at him, and nodded. He knew she was lying, but he got distracted again as his son scored another goal.

"Your son seems to have quite the talent for this game," a woman sitting behind Brennan said. Brennan immediately became flustered.

"What? No, he's not my son. I don't have any children. I'm…Dad's girlfriend. I'm not his mother," she clarified. The woman nodded, realizing she had hit a nerve, and turned away. Brennan took a deep, calming breath and buried her face further into her hands. This was turning out to be the longest soccer game ever.

After the game finally came to an end, Booth pulled into Rebecca's driveway to drop off Parker. He was in the backseat, happily eating the gooey ice cream concoction Brennan, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, had bought him. Rebecca saw them pull in and met them outside, and Booth rolled down his window.

"How'd it go?" Rebecca asked.

"They won seven to three," Brennan said.

"I thought they didn't keep score, Seeley," Rebecca asked.

"They don't," Booth said. "But in Temperance Brennan World, it's not worth doing if nobody wins."

"You're coming next week, right?" Parker asked.

"Yes, and wow, look at that ice cream you have," Rebecca said.

"Three of those seven points were mine!"

"Wow! Good job, buddy! I'll be inside. Say goodbye to your dad and Dr. Brennan."

Rebecca walked back into her house as Parker laid his sundae carefully on the seat so he could lean forward and hug both Booth and Brennan.

"Bye, Dad," Parker said.

"I'll see you Wednesday for practice," Booth said.

"Okay! Thanks for the ice cream, Mom!"

Parker had never called her that before. Booth held his breath as he waited to see how Brennan would react. Parker slammed the door shut and ran up to the house as Brennan dissolved into tears, finally letting the myriad of emotions she had experienced in the last few days consume her.

"Okay, well, I'll be sure to tell him he's definitely not going to be calling you that again," Booth nervously chuckled.

"No, Booth, it's not…I don't care what he calls me," Brennan said.

"You don't?" he asked, confused.

"No," she confirmed.

She continued to sob in the seat next to him. He reached over and brushed some tears away from her cheek as more droplets spilled from her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" he asked softly.

"Angela's pregnant," Brennan choked out.

"You're sad because Angela's pregnant?" he asked, still confused.

"No! Of course not!" Brennan paused for a few moments, sobs overwhelming her body. "The test…the test was negative."

Booth began to look really puzzled. "So Ange isn't pregnant?"

"No, she is! My test!" Brennan exclaimed, getting frustrated. "I'm not pregnant!"

He looked even more perplexed. "Okay, you need to start connecting some dots here, because I am really lost."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down enough to talk. She slowed her sobbing and softly said, "I thought I might have been pregnant, but the test was negative. I got my period this morning."

Booth reached over and took her hand. "Oh, honey, if you want to have a baby, we can start actively trying. One negative test isn't the end of the world." At this, Brennan started crying harder. He watched her cry for a few moments before realizing, "That isn't why you're upset. You didn't want to be pregnant, did you?"

"No," she mumbled.

"Do you still want a baby at all?" he asked.

"I don't know," she muttered.

"But last year…why did you want my sperm so badly if you're not even sure you want a baby?" he asked, bringing it up for the first time since it happened.

"Angela said that I was so in love with you and struggling with that because I thought it was wrong and nothing could ever happen, so, as a way of dealing with my feelings, I wanted to have your baby to insure you would always, in a way, be with me forever. She said I really wanted you and not the baby, or else I would've been happy to have taken Fisher's sperm or sperm from some random donor when you hesitated," Brennan explained. "And I think she's right, Booth…about all of it. I was relieved when the test came out negative…really relieved."

"You were?" he asked.

She nodded. "And I don't know if that means I don't want a child at all or I'm just not ready, but I've been afraid to tell you."

"Why, Bones? You can tell me anything," Booth said.

"Because you went into this relationship assuming that, at some point, we would have a child, and now I've realized that I'm not ready and may never be ready or may not even really want that, and…I don't know if you'll be okay with that."

"I'm okay with that," he immediately said.

"You are?" she asked, looking at him in surprise. "Just like that?"

"Yeah, Bones. I'm not in this relationship to have another kid. I'm in this because I love you and because I want to be with you," he said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, I love the thought of you and me making a little baby Bones, but I'm not going to leave you if it doesn't happen."

"You'd be okay even if I eventually decide I don't want a child…or if we're too old by the time I decide I'm ready?" she asked, spelling it out for him.

"If you decide you want a kid after we're too old to safely do it biologically, we'll adopt a foster child," he shrugged.

She smiled. "I think I'd like that."

"So don't worry," he said. "If or when we have kids will be up to you. I love you either way. So no more tears, okay?"

"Okay," she smiled, leaning in for a kiss. They shared a tender kiss, both tasting Brennan's tears on their lips. "I love you," she said.

"I know," he smiled. "Let's go to Sid's. You need some comfort food."

She sighed. "I'm kind of worn out."

He brushed some tears that had rolled onto her collarbone away. "So we'll snuggle up together in a dark corner booth. You gotta have lunch, Bones."

"Okay," she agreed, drying off her face. Booth started the car and pulled out of Rebecca's driveway. Brennan involuntarily sniffled, and he grabbed her hand to comfort her.

"So Angela's pregnant?" he asked.

"Yeah," Brennan smiled. Her face contorted into a look of panic. "Don't say anything, though! I'm not even sure Hodgins knows yet."

"He didn't know, either? What did you girls do? Take pregnancy tests together?" he asked. Brennan laughed.

"Not exactly," she said. "We were doing them over the phone, but then you and Parker showed up last night to take me to dinner before they were ready, so we didn't get to exchange results until this morning."

He looked disgusted. "You took pregnancy tests while on the phone with each other?"

"For moral support!" Brennan said. "Neither one of us had expected to be taking pregnancy tests anytime soon!"

"Yeah, that's gross, Bones."

"You're gross," she said playfully.

"Nice comeback," he laughed.

"Thank you," she said.

"So that's what took you so long to get your butt out of the bathroom last night?"

"I couldn't leave without knowing," she said.

"Did we do something wrong?" he asked seriously.

"I don't think so. I can't think of any time we weren't safe. I think my cycle was just a little off this month. Maybe I didn't take my pills at the same time every day or something," Brennan said. "I don't know. It happens. I'll have to be more careful with it, though, just for my own sanity. I do not want to repeat these last few days."

"Whatever you want, Bones," he said. "But, yeah, that sounds good."

Booth waved at Sid as the couple entered Wong Foo's. They headed for a circular booth in the corner and slid to the middle. He wrapped his arm around her waist and began stroking her side as she laid her head on his shoulder and placed her hand on his thigh.

"Trying day?" Sid asked, coming over to get their drink order.

"You could say that," Booth said. "It's been an interesting relationship day."

"Well, whatever it was, you guys make a nice-looking family," Sid said, noticing their cozy position in the booth.

"Do we count as a family even though there are only two of us?" Brennan asked.

"Couple as close as you two?" Sid asked. "You're definitely family. I'll go get you something to eat."

"I guess we are a family," Brennan said, looking at Booth.

"We definitely are," Booth smiled, leaning down for a kiss.

So I guess you can all tell how I felt about the baby storyline, huh? I was not a fan. Plus, I thought that episode ended up seeming like Brennan's own special way of expressing her feelings for Booth anyway. Regardless…yeah, not a fan. And this was kind of inspired by an Emily interview…the journalist asked her if she wanted her own kids, and the poor thing got so flustered and kept going back and forth and saying "I don't know!" and I just wanted to smack the guy and tell him to leave her alone, haha. So her reaction kind of inspired Brennan in this chapter...

Anyway, please leave a review if you've got some time. All comments are greatly appreciated!