A/N: I hope you enjoy chapter 11! I usually only put my author's notes at the start of the chapter, but just this once, please pay attention to the second author's note at the end of the chapter – I need your help with something for the next chapter!

"Sully, this is too much!" Temperance protested when Sully handed her the bag.

Sully just smiled. They'd been sailing for about a day and had just passed the border between North and South Carolina when Temperance had insisted that they pull into the next town they came to. Something about a craving for strawberry ice cream. So, Sully had dutifully docked the boat at Oak Island, a little town he'd visited once or twice on other trips. He'd gone on the ice cream mission, while she stayed on the boat to take a nap. In addition to the ice cream, though, he'd also returned with a bag full of pink onesies, baby booties and toys.

"Hey, sorry Temperance, you're going to have to get used to this. I'm going to spoil that little girl rotten."

"Fine," she sighed. "But did you have to get the ones with all the ruffles? I expect this sort of thing from Angela, not you! Why do I get the feeling the only practical clothing this baby is going to have will be what I buy? She certainly can't wear this every day," Temperance scrunched up her nose in mock disgust as she held up what appeared to be a very small, very ruffled pink tutu. Sully laughed as he steered the boat back out to sea.

"Sully, what are we going to do when we get back to Washington?" They'd been sailing for almost two days now, and with only a few hours left until they would reach their destination, Temperance figured it was now or never, if they were really going to have this conversation.

"Well, it will be evening when we get in. I figured we'd have some dinner, and then…" He didn't get very far before Temperance interrupted him.

"Sully, you know perfectly well that's not what I was referring to. What are we going to do about the baby?"

Sully sighed. Although he knew they had to have this conversation, he'd hoped to put it off as long as he could.

"I don't know, Tempe, I really don't know how these things work. I mean, I don't have a job in Washington, I don't have a house, other than the baby I have no connections left up there. And I was just starting to really settle into a life down in the Caribbean."

Temperance could hear the sadness and conflict in his voice, and she knew how hard this was for him.

"Sully, I don't want to ask you to give that up. But you have to think about our daughter. She deserves a full-time father."

"It just isn't fair, Tempe, to you or to me, what we have to give up."

"Fair?" Temperance surprised even herself with how angry she found herself getting at that statement. "Sully, this isn't about what is fair to me, or what is fair to you. This isn't about us anymore. It's taken me most of the last three and a half months to realize it, but I finally recognize that this is bigger than that. Before you left, you told me that my work was important, but that it wasn't important enough to be my whole life. And you know what? I resented that statement, because I couldn't imagine anything more important than what I do. But you were right, Sully. I just needed to find something so much more important that I couldn't push it aside – and this little girl, well, she's it. She's important enough to be my whole life. And she deserves that from me."

"Tempe…"

"I'm not finished, Sully. I didn't think I'd ever see the day when I found something more important than my work. I certainly never thought that I'd ever feel love like what I feel for my daughter. And maybe you don't feel love like that. Up until last week, I didn't feel it myself. I wasn't ready. After you left, Booth told me that all those things I think will never happen, they will happen, if I can just be ready for them. I'm ready for this. If you aren't, I'll be alright. But I need you to make a decision."

Temperance paused to catch her breath, then continued.

"You need to be ready for this, and you need to be ready for the fact that you can't live in both worlds. You either get to be her father and be one hundred percent devoted to her and there for her, or you don't get to be her father at all. I'd rather she grow up with one parent that she knows would do anything for her and give up anything for her, than grow up wondering why her father keeps coming in and out of her life. It might not be fair, but it is what's right."

Having finished the speech she'd be rehearsing ever since they set sail, Temperance slumped back down into her seat. Sully sat there in stunned silence, amazed at the amount of passion he'd seen in the normally stoic and unemotional Dr. Temperance Brennan.

She sighed heavily, then added in a much softer tone:

"Sully, I don't want to pressure you, as much as I know it sounds like that's what I'm doing. I want you to take as much time as you think you need to figure out if you are ready or not."

"Thank you, Temperance."

Deciding to give him some time alone to think, Temperance headed down to check her phone, now that they seemed to be closer to land, and hopefully closer to a signal tower.

"Hey Bones, me again. I know you don't want to talk to me. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. You've got us all worried, running off like this. Please, could you at least call Angela and let her know that you're alright? I'm worried, Bones. I hope you're okay."

"Bren, sweetie, it's Angela. Call me when you get this…please? You didn't even say goodbye before you left. That's not like you sweetie, I just want to be sure that you're alright. Okay? Good, well, I guess I'll talk to you soon, then."

All of her messages sounded something like those two. All fourteen of them. Temperance couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, knowing how worried her friends must have been. If she hadn't been so preoccupied with her anxiety about what would happen in Miami, she would have thought of that and called Angela before she left.

She quickly hit the speed dial on her phone, and waited anxiously to hear her friend's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hi Ange, it's Brennan."

"Oh thank God! Sweetie, we've all been so worried about you! I swear, if you hadn't called to check in soon, Booth was going to call the National Guard!"

"Why would Booth call the National Guard? What do they have to do with me?"

Angela laughed. Typical Brennan. "Sweetie, it was just a figure of speech. It means he was really worried about you, and thought something might have happened."

"Well then, that's what you should have said."

"Sorry Bren, I forgot you don't speak the same language as normal people."

"Hey!" Brennan protested, but she knew Angela was right.

"So where are you, sweetie? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine, Angela. I'm on my way back to Washington; I should be home in a few hours. Do you think you could come over tonight? I'm going to need a ride to the airport to pick up my car."

"Of course! Wait, how are you getting back if you aren't flying?"

"That's a long story, Ange. I'll tell you all about it when I see you, okay?"

"Well, I suppose I can wait," Angela pretended to pout. "See you at nine, then."

"Thanks, Ange. I really appreciate it."

Temperance was just stepping off the boat onto the pier when she felt Sully take hold of her wrist. They hadn't spoken much since she'd given him her ultimatum a few hours earlier. She hadn't tried to push it, either, figuring it was best just to let him think. So as she turned back to face him, she wasn't sure what to expect.

The first thing she noticed was that he had tears in his eyes. Although Sully certainly was an emotional man sometimes, she wasn't sure she had ever seen him cry.

Finally, he practically whispered, "I'm ready, Tempe. I'm ready for this."

"Are you sure?" She didn't want him rushing into anything he'd regret later.

"Yes. You were right. This baby, she's the most important thing in the world right now, and I want to be there for her one hundred ten percent."

Temperance smiled softly as Sully pulled her into an embrace and she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt herself relax for the first time since she'd stepped onto the boat two days earlier. She might not have been willing to admit it to anyone, but the thought of her daughter not having her father in her life had terrified her.

"Tempe?" Sully whispered into her ear.

"Yes?"

"We can't call her 'baby' forever. She needs a name."

Temperance pulled back and looked at him.

"Well, did you have something in mind?"

A/N: I didn't want to put this at the beginning because I didn't want to spoil anything for the chapter. So, here's what I need – name ideas! What should Brennan name her baby? Let me know what you think!