AN: Unlucky chapter 13... Is it going to be unlucky for B&B? Well let's find out.

Chapter 13

"You're engaged?" Angela squealed disbelieving, before wrapping her arms around her friend careful of her bulging stomach.

"I knew you'd come around eventually" Angela smirked having gotten over her initial excitement "So are you going to have a big wedding?"

"Ange" Brennan groaned, she'd put off breaking the news to the artist for a day and a half, knowing that she would react enthusiastically "It's just going to be a simple ceremony, in the gardens here with the people who are closest to us, it's not going to be a big deal" Brennan insisted collapsing onto the sofa that had become her favourite place in her office.

"But Bren, it's a wedding, you have to have a dress and flowers, it's the most important day of your life" Angela argued flabbergasted.

"I don't have to do anything" Brennan retorted quickly "We just want a few people there, the people who matter, the dress and flowers don't. And besides isn't it supposed to be our day? Just because you and Hodgins never got your dream wedding doesn't mean you can live it vicariously through me. This time you're the maid of honour, not the bride"

"Woah" Angela held up her hands, Brennan was angry, it had been happening more often since she'd become pregnant, she was prone to sudden outbursts of anger, especially as her body began to swell and she found herself bumping into things and rushing to the toilet every few minutes. It was frustrating.

"You want me to be maid of honour?" Angela asked when Brennan seemed to have calmed a little.

"Of course" she replied as if it was obvious, who else would she have chosen?

"Well in that case I accept, but I get to pick out my dress" Brennan nodded, one less thing she had to worry about.

"Okay, but Cam's going to be a bridesmaid, so you'll have to make sure you don't clash"

"Sure, I'm thinking something Blue though, electric blue, and strapless" Angela told Brennan dreamily and she laughed, whatever Angela wanted was just fine with her.

"Are you going to wear white?" Angela asked a few minutes later having detailed the design for the bridesmaid dresses.

"I don't know, I might get something cream, but I think Booth would like something traditional and that's okay because I'm going to be pretty big by then so it'll just be a simple dress.

"Oh. You're having the wedding before the baby's born?" she asked as if she hadn't thought of it before.

"Yeah, in a couple of weeks if we can. After all you managed to put something even bigger together and we've got a pretty small thing so it won't take too much planning" Angela thought back to the frantic rush they'd had trying to put together a wedding in a week, she did not envy her friend at that moment.

"Okay, well good luck. I'll talk to Cam about the dresses and we'll sort it out" Angela told Brennan getting up from the sofa "And Bren... Congratulations"

"Thanks" Brennan accepted smiling. As Angela disappeared happily from her office Brennan's thoughts were interrupted by her ringing phone.

"Brennan" she greeted.

"Can we meet, I need to talk to you?" It was Ben.

"Sure" she'd told Booth she'd at least talk to him. She offered a time and place, hoping that the whole thing would be over with soon. Hopefully that day, since she was meeting him in her lunch break.

BB-BB-BB-BB-BB

He was already at the cafe when she got there, and didn't stand up or help with her seat when she sat down opposite him.

"Hello Ben"

"Temperance" His voice was stony and Brennan didn't care for the pointless small talk, she just wanted to know what she was doing there. Before she had a chance to ask the waitress bustled over.

"What can I get you two?"

"Um... I think I'll have a chocolate milkshake and a bowl of chilli fries" Brennan ordered, Booth had laughed the first time she'd asked the waitress at the diner to bring her some chilli for his fries. But he'd quickly learnt to simply order chilli fries in the first place because it had been one of her favourite things since she'd fallen pregnant.

"Just a burger for me" Ben told the young woman, though his eyes were focussed on her ample breasts, spilling over the top of her shirt. Brennan scoffed, that was not going to help his case.

"Ben!" she called a few moments later when his eyes continued to follow the now retreating form of the young waitress. Her hands waved in front of his face "Will you please tell me what I'm doing here? I need to get back to work"

"That's right, it's always about work with you isn't it?" Ben shot back, his tone suddenly hostile.

"Ben! If you're not going to be civil then I don't know why you invited me here, I thought you wanted to discuss something calmly and rationally like adults"

"And again with the rationality" Ben said exasperated throwing his hands into the air "I don't understand you Temperance, you put all your effort into playing around with bones and identifying people who don't even matter, people who have been dead for hundreds of years. You don't have a clue about the living" Brennan had no idea what she'd said wrong, in fact she'd hardly said anything and yet Ben was practically yelling at her in the tiny cafe.

If he was trying to hurt her then he was unsuccessful. It wasn't the first time someone had told her she didn't do well with the living and although she was much better at relating to people than she had once been it was still not something she was very good with. She had accepted that, she knew it was a weakness and it was something she was trying to change but it didn't matter to her what Ben thought of that, because she didn't really care about him. She cared about him less than she did the bones that she examined, in fact she'd probably care about him more if he were dead as sad as that was.

"Look Ben, every one of those people matter to me" she replied calmly "Because every single one of them lived and they all deserve to have a name in death, somebody should know what happened to them. But that is not what we are here to discuss. We are here to discuss the baby, our baby" the last phrase was choked, she hated referring to the baby as theirs even though that's what it was.

"Yes we are" he agreed, suddenly much calmer.

"Okay. I assume you've made a decision"

"Yes. I'm going to try and get custody"

"Okay" Brennan accepted "You won't get it without a fight" she knew there was little chance he would actually win, the most he would get would be joint custody and even that was a slippery slope.

"Can I just ask you one question?"

"Sure" Ben agreed.

"Do you actually want the baby or do you just not want me to have it?" She hadn't spent four years as Booth's partner and not picked up a few things, she could tell Ben was thrown by the question.

When it seemed Ben was not going to answer her question she posed another "Have you thought about what a big change it would be? All the things you wouldn't be able to do? Are you ready for that?"

He was silent a few more seconds before answering "No, I'm not. Okay, maybe I don't want the baby, but I still don't think you should have it" Brennan tried not to groan, the nerve of him. What had she been thinking she wondered, what would have possessed her to share a bed with the man sitting opposite her?

"Look, no matter what you believe right now biologically speaking it is in the best interests of the baby to be with the mother, unless for some reason that is not possible or a risk to the child's health. And honestly the baby would be better off with me than not, I can provide a stable financial situation and a stimulating environment. I don't understand why you are so opposed to me raising this baby"

"Okay" Ben yielded "Obviously you want this, the kid can stay with you, I won't fight it. Hell I don't care what happens. I wish you'd just got rid of it"

Brennan was shocked, but in the interests of her agreement with Booth she thought she should try to remain diplomatic, and give him one final chance "Thankyou Ben. But I hope you realise that this time there's no going back, the decision you make right now is the one you have to stick with. I don't want you coming in and out of my child's life, you're either in or you're out and I'm going to leave that choice to you. So what's it going to be?" She was using her business voice and even Ben knew that she meant it, so he considered carefully before answering.

"Out" Then he was throwing a few bills on the table and she was watching his retreating back disappear from the cafe.

Only when he was out of sight did she finally call Booth and tell him that Ben had called her back and that everything had been resolved. She knew that if she'd called him earlier he would have insisted on accompanying her and while she had learnt to appreciate the gesture there were still things she needed to take care of herself.

"He wanted out" she relayed to Booth while walking the block and a half back to the Jeffersonian.

"He'll regret it" Booth replied easily.

"I don't know that he will" Brennan argued "He's not like you"

"So you've said"

"I..." Brennan broke off suddenly.

"Bones? Temperance?" Booth called and upon receiving no response he began to panic immediately picking up his office phone while making sure to keep the other connected too he called an ambulance. She was probably fine, but he didn't want to risk it. He knew roughly where she was and if he raced he could get there before the ambulance and make sure. He wasn't sure why he was worrying, because she was just walking back to the Jeffersonian, what could possibly happen? But his gut told him to worry, so he did.

AN: Sorry about the massive cliffie... And i know you're not feeling like reviewing now that i've left you hanging but it would be nice anyway.