I'm stuck on my original projects, so I thought I would return to this story. I know it seems like this chapter is irrelevant to the rest of the story, but don't worry, it'll get back to it. Enjoy!


A few weeks after Christine's fourth birthday, Booth had planned a special date night for him and Brennan. During the sixth months that had passed since they ran into Hannah at the park, Booth had been doing a lot of thinking. He thought about his life with Christine, his life with Parker, his life with his job. But more than anything, he thought about his life with Brennan.

Booth remembered an incident several years back when Hodgins was asking him for advice on how to propose to Angela. He wondered why Hodgins had thought he was the best person to help him with that challenge. At that point, he had proposed to two women and had been turned down by both of them. Clearly, he was doing something wrong. But the upside of having been rejected so many times was that Booth could give advice on how not to propose, especially to himself.

He had bought the ring over a month before with Hodgins and Sweets. They asked him almost every day, "Did you do it yet?" and he had to say no. He was trying to figure out the right way to do it based on what he had done wrong in the past and what he knew about Bones. Finally, he had gathered his courage and devised a plan. He was ready.

"Are we going out to dinner?" Brennan asked him while they were getting in the car after Leah had arrived to babysit Christine.

"Not tonight," Booth told her as he started the car and backed out of the garage.

"Then where are we going?"

"That's a surprise."

"A surprise?" Brennan asked. Booth nodded. "You know I don't like surprises."

He did know that, all too well. It was a risk, but he was willing to take it.

"I think you'll like it. You just have to be patient," Booth told her.

"Could you at least give me a hint?" Brennan requested. Booth shook his head. "Why not?"

"Because you're too smart, Bones. If I gave you any sort of hint, I'd be afraid you'd figure it out," he explained.

"Well, my acting has improved significantly in recent years. Perhaps I could act dumb so I would have an idea, but wouldn't figure it out?" Brennan proposed, clearly desperate for some idea of what was happening.

"Nuh-uh. Sorry, Bones. You're the one who's always telling me you can't turn off your brain," Booth told her. "You'll just have to wait."

And wait she did, for what was nearly a half-hour car ride into downtown DC. Booth pulled into a public parking lot, as close as he could get to his proposal spot without making it too obvious.

"Alright. Let's take a walk," Booth said as he and Brennan got out of the car.

"Is this just a stroll, or are we purposefully walking somewhere?" Brennan wondered as she rushed to catch up with Booth.

"Purposefully walking somewhere," Booth said, deciding to throw her a bone.

"Where are—"

"Nope. That's as much as you're getting," Booth said, cutting her off. "Stop thinking so much. Let's just have a nice walk, have some chitchat."

"Fine. What's in your pocket?" Brennan asked.

Booth's eyes widened with anxiety. "Nothing. Nothing's in my pocket."

"I think you're lying."

"What, all the sudden, you can tell things like that?"

"There is clearly a large rectangular object in your pocket, made more obvious by you rolling it in your hand repeatedly. What is it?"

"Alright, I think we've had enough chitchat. Let's just silently enjoy each other's company." Booth took his hand out of his pocket and placed it in Brennan' hand, quietly walking together for five more minutes before he stopped her in front of a magnificent marble building.

"The Carnegie Institution of Science?" Brennan asked.

Booth nodded. "Your favorite museum."

"Yes, but it's closed. Why did you take us here?"

"Do you remember when we first met, Bones?" Booth asked, too focused on trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice to answer her question.

"Of course I do. I wanted you to take me out of the lab and into the field. You didn't want to." Brennan paused for a moment. "Why didn't you want to?"

"Because I didn't like you," Booth answered truthfully.

Brennan shrugged slightly. "I can't be too offended because in all honesty, I didn't like you, either."

"Can you believe we went from hating each other's guts to where we are now?" Booth asked. "I mean, did you ever imagine that you and I would be where we are today? Happily living together with a beautiful daughter?"

"I would be lying if I said I had," Brennan told him. "To be honest, I never imagined myself in such a situation with anyone, not you in particular."

"Really? You never thought you would end up with someone?" Booth asked. Brennan shook her head. "Why not?"

She shrugged. "I suppose I always assumed that I'm not the type of women that men fall in love with."

"Well, I can emphatically say that you have never been more wrong in your life." Booth took a deep breath, feeling that this was the moment. "You know, I was gonna wait for a few minutes, but as you can see, this damn thing doesn't really fit in my pocket."

"What damn thing?" Brennan asked.

Booth gave her a small smile. "I know in your heart, you're a bit of an old-fashioned girl." He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and opened it slowly, looking down slightly so he wouldn't have to see her reaction quite yet.

"You see, I've, uh…I've arrived at this place where I can't imagine life without you," he continued, glancing up to see Brennan's reaction. She was disturbingly stone-faced. "I'm not going to make this a long, sappy thing because I don't think you would like that. But let me just say that I love you more than anything else in the world. And Bones…will you marry me? Please?"

"Oh," was all Brennan said.

"What are you thinking?" Booth asked her, fearing the answer.

"I'm thinking…I'm thinking about a lot of things," Brennan said softly.

"I understand. I know you, and I know that you can't be pressured into making a decision like this on the spot," Booth said. "Let's talk this through, okay?" Brennan nodded. "Okay. What's the first thing you're thinking about?"

"I never…I never thought I wanted to get married, Booth," Brennan said, finally meeting his eyes after being completely focused on the ring.

"You also never thought you wanted kids, but you love Christine, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"Maybe marriage will be like that, too. Something you thought you didn't want but turn out loving and can't live without," Booth proposed. "What else is going through your head?" Brennan bit her lip, staring into his eyes, then turned away. But he knew her mind.

"I'm not going to leave you, Bones. Ever," he assured her.

"But…"

"But what?"

"But you can't know that," Brennan whispered.

"Oh, yes. I can," Booth said firmly.

"Feelings…Feelings change," Brennan said. "We are an undeniably strange combination of people. What if you realize someday that I'm not the kind of girl you're supposed to be with and want to leave?"

"There is no specific type of girl I'm supposed to be with. The only girl I'm supposed to be with is you," Booth told her. "I promise you, Bones. The only reason I would leave you would be if you told me to. I might not even leave then. I'm in love with you, and I'm in love with this life we've built together. I would never do anything to tear it apart."

"Well…I do want to make sure you never leave me. Marriage would certainly make that more difficult," Brennan said, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she was in deep thought. She suddenly seemed to snap back to reality. "Oh, God."

"What's wrong?" Booth asked urgently.

"You probably think my hesitation is because I'm questioning if I love you or not."

"No! No, not at all," Booth assured her. "I know you love me, Bones. I understand that your brain needs time to think."

"But it shouldn't," Brennan said. "I knew the answer to this question the second you opened that ring box. I know I want to say yes. I know I will say yes. I know I am saying yes. For whatever reason, my brain wouldn't let me say it immediately."

"But you're saying it now?"

Brennan nodded with a smile. "I would consider it an honor to be your wife."

"That's what I was hoping you would say," Booth said with a smile.

"But would you change your mind if I asked to keep my name?"

"Of course not." Booth smiled as he gingerly picked the ring out of the box and placed it on Brennan's left ring finger.

"It's beautiful," she said, admiring the oval diamond set in a white gold band. "You did a very good job."

"Thanks," Booth said, finally releasing the breath he had been holding since he left the house. He wrapped his arms around Brennan.

"I do love you, Booth," she said quietly into his ear.

"I love you, too," he said. "You know what happens next?"

"What's that?"

"We get to tell Christine," Booth said. A huge smile grew on both of their faces before they rushed back to the car, hand in hand.

XXX

Booth pulled into the garage with screeching tires. They were so excited to tell Christine they were going to be married that they had rushed back home as fast as they could. They ran inside the house together and went to the living room, where they could hear Leah talking to Christine.

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan. You're home very early. Is everything okay?" she asked while Christine had jumped up and went to hug each of them.

"Everything's fantastic," Booth told her before he turned his attention to Christine.

"I've never seen you wear that ring, Mommy," Christine observed. "Have you had it for a long time?"

Brennan shook her head. "No. Daddy gave it to me tonight."

"Why did you get Mommy a ring, Daddy? Was it because you love her?"

"That was part of it," Booth said, glancing at Brennan with a smile. "Christine, would you like it if Mommy and I were married?"

"I would love that! Why? Are you going to ask Mommy to marry you?! Maybe you shouldn't tell me right in front of her. It's supposed to be a surprise, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, and I gave Mommy a big surprise tonight," Booth said. "The ring is an engagement ring. I gave it to Mommy tonight when I asked her." Christine's mouth dropped open, making her parents laugh.

"Finally!" she exclaimed before literally jumping for joy. "You and Mommy have been together since I was born four years ago. That is a very long time to wait to get married. What took you so long, Daddy?"

"I expected that question to come from a lot of people, but not our four-year-old daughter," Booth said to Brennan with a smirk.

"We wanted to make sure that…" Brennan trailed off. It had always seemed so obvious to her why she and Booth hadn't gotten married already, but now when she was trying to explain it to someone else, it didn't seem nearly as logical. She knew she loved him. She had known that since long before she had become pregnant. She knew he was a wonderful father. She knew he was loyal and trustworthy. So why did they wait?

"You wanted to make sure of what?" Christine asked when Brennan stopped.

"We wanted to make sure it was the right time," she decided on saying.

"That's silly. All of the kids at school's parents got married before they had kids. I'd say the right time was when you found out you were pregnant."

"She's a precocious one, isn't she? Always has an opinion," Booth said with a chuckle before turning back to Christine. "Your mommy likes to take things like this very slowly. Very slowly."

"Well, I'm very happy you're going to get married. Can I be the flower girl?"

"Of course," Booth promised her.

"I am so happy for you two," Leah said, having been watching the scene from the floor. "From what Angie has told me, this was a long time coming, much longer than four years."

"It was worth the wait," Brennan said, smiling at Booth.

"It was worth the chase," Booth added, smiling back. "Thanks for babysitting, Leah."

"My pleasure. Congratulations." Leah gave each of them a hug before she grabbed her purse and left.

"And it's just about bedtime for you, ma'am," Booth said to Christine. "Why don't we go upstairs and start getting ready for bed?"

"Okay," Christine signed reluctantly. The three of them went upstairs and helped Christine brush her teeth and change, then put her into bed.

"Mommy?" she asked.

"Yes?" Brennan replied.

"How will I know what you're saying at your wedding?" Booth and Brennan hadn't considered this.

"Well, Mommy and I can sign our vows, and maybe Leah would be willing to interpret everything else for you," Booth suggested.

"Can Leah sign everything?"

"I suppose so. You don't want me and Daddy to sign?" Brennan asked.

Christine shook her head. "I don't want you to have to pay attention to me. You should pay attention to each other."

"We can pay attention to each other and you. That's our job," Brennan said.

"No. As your flower girl, I demand that you ignore everyone else in the room, including me, and focus on each other."

"Well, that's very sweet, Christine. We'll ask Leah if she would be willing to interpret for you," Booth assured her.

"When are you going to get a dress, Mommy? Can I come with you when you do?" Christine asked.

"Of course you can, but we got engaged not an hour and a half ago. We have a lot of time to think about wedding planning. For now, it's time to think about sleep," Brennan told her.

"Okay. I'm really happy that you're getting married. I've been wanting you to for a long time," Christine said.

"So have we." Booth kissed her forehead. "Good night, Christine."

"Night, Daddy. Night, Mommy." Christine rolled over and closed her eyes.

"She is so funny. She talks like she's thirteen, not four," Booth said with a smile once they reached their bedroom.

"I don't think that's odd. I talked in a similar fashion when I was her age," Brennan said.

"Giving us even more proof that it is odd," Booth said with a teasing smile. "I can't wait until we get to the lab tomorrow so we can tell everyone."

"They will be very happy for us," Brennan agreed. She moved towards Booth and hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you, too. And now we can show the world."