I don't own Bones, not even a little bit.

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At around noon, Brennan decided that she had the time and she'd like to go to lunch with Booth. Checking her wristwatch, she called him to see if he was free to meet her at the Diner. It turns out that Booth was very hungry and more than happy to meet her at the diner. He hadn't had very much alone time with Brennan for a few days, so having lunch with just the two of them and no brother hanging around sounded very nice to him.

Booth sauntered into the Royal Diner, found that Brennan had beat him there by a few minutes and was sitting at their table. She was alone, so Booth walked up to the table, leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Sitting down next to herm, he picked up her left hand and gave her one of his smiles. "Having a good day I hope?"

Glad to see him, Brennan laughed. "I am now."

His heart beating faster at the sight of her beautiful face, Booth called over their waitress, Tonya and they ordered their lunch. Lately their menu choices had varied very little so he was confident that he knew what Brennan wanted. Brennan was willing to let him order for her since he really did know what she wanted to eat.

After their meals arrived, they ate in companionable silence, glancing at each other once in a while and accidentally brushing their arms against their mates arm once in a while. They were almost finished with their meals when Max entered the Diner, walked up to their table and sat down across from Booth. Booth was not happy to see him and chose to ignore Max while he finished eating.

Brennan was happy to see her father and smiled at him. "Hello Dad, what are you doing here?"

Max observed how healthy she appeared and smiled at her in return. "I dropped by the Jeffersonian to talk to you, but you were gone. I talked to Angela and she said you and Booth were here eating lunch. I thought I'd come by and see you. I want to talk to you about Russ if that's all right."

Concerned about her brother, Brennan asked her father, "What's wrong with Russ? He was fine this morning when Booth and I left for work. He was sleeping in Parker's room."

"No, honey," Max explained, "Russ is okay. I meant that I want to talk to you about Russ and Amy. You know there's something going on between those two. Russ wouldn't tell me what it was when he came to see me a couple of days ago. I was hoping that he may have told one of you." His gaze moved towards Booth and then back at Brennan. "You know it isn't normal to go on separate vacations from your wife. Somethings wrong and . . . well, I want to help him if I can. "

Booth looked at Max for the first time since Max had sat down and informed the older man. "Russ said he had a fight with Amy and she asked him to vacation separately from her this year. He told me that you caused the fight they had."

"Me?" Max exclaimed with a shocked voice, "What did I do?"

Interrupting Max, Brennan tried to explain the situation to her father in a less confrontational manner. "Booth is exaggerating, Dad. Russ said that he and Amy got into an argument because you found a new job for Russ in Maryland and he was considering taking it. Amy doesn't want to move. She's says she's happy where she is. Her parents live in North Carolina, so that may also be part of her reluctance to move. Russ thinks it would be better if they moved to another state as that would allow him a fresh start. Amy doesn't agree that is necessary."

Glaring at Booth, Max snarled at the younger man. "Way to spin that my way, Booth."

Booth decided that Brennan wanted to control the conversation and since he didn't care that much, he ignored Max, picked up his sandwich and bit into it.

Annoyed that Booth wasn't going to say anything, Max turned his attention back to his daughter. "Did Russ say if he was going to take the job? It really is a good paying job. I don't see why Amy is so set against it. It would improve their financial situation and they could afford to look for a house with the new job. They wouldn't have to live in that small apartment that they're stuck in right now. The job also has health benefits that they really need right now what with a sick child to take care of."

Brennan agreed with her father, but of course had no control over her brother or Amy. "That may be, but Amy doesn't want to move to Maryland. Apparently she likes living in North Carolina near her parents. I talked to Russ last night. He says that it was just a disagreement and that she just wanted Russ to stay out of her hair for awhile. Russ said that they are fine and they are not having any marital problems. It was just a minor argument."

Both Booth and Max looked at Brennan with shocked disbelief on their faces. Booth decided for the sake of his own partnership, to mind his own business, picked up his coffee and drank some of the cooling liquid.

Max couldn't have kept quiet if his life had depended upon it. "You know Tempe. Russ may not have told you the absolute truth. It does sound like they're having marital issues to me."

Brennan disagreed iwith her father's conclusion. "No Dad, Russ and Amy are fine. Would you like to join us for lunch? We're almost done, but we can sit with you while you eat."

Max realized that he wasn't going to change his daughter's mind about her brother and decided he could at least visit with her and her boyfriend. "Thanks Tempe. I will join you. Thanks for asking me."

Giving Max a sour look, Booth put down his cup of coffee and continued to eat his sandwich. "So much for alone time with my Bones."

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