Chapter 21 – The Walls of Fate

Booth woke to the shrill sound of a phone ringing from across the room.

"You've got to be kidding me," he grumbled into his pillow.

"It's mine," Brennan said, her breath warm against his chest.

She made no move to get up and answer it.

"Are you gonna get it?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "Too comfy," she added sleepily, as she wrapped her arms tighter around her waist.

"That's better," he said as the ringing stopped and silence filled the room.

As the morning sun filtered in through the sheer curtains on the now closed balcony doors, Booth pulled his wife close, urging her to look up to his face.

"C'mere," he said, leaning down for a good morning kiss. "Now, this is the way to wake up."

Just as their kiss was beginning to move from good-morning to it's-gonna-be-a-really-good-day, they were once again interrupted by the ringing of Brennan's cell phone.

"They're not gonna give up," he said, frustrated as she sat up next to him.

"It has to be Angela," she said.

"Angela?" he asked. "Why would she be calling? She knows she'd be interrupting…"

She looked at him pointedly.

"Do you know anyone else who would be so persistent?"

"You have a point," he answered, sitting up against the headboard and watching his wife as she got up to retrieve the phone from the dresser across the room.

The phone stopped ringing just as she picked it up. She glanced down at the call history.

"Angela," she confirmed.

"Call her back," he said.

She looked at him, surprised, as she climbed back into bed.

"You know she's just going to keep calling."

"You're right," she answered with a sigh as she snuggled back up against him.

Resting firmly in her husband's arms, Brennan scrolled through her missed calls and redialed Angela's last call.

"Hi Sweetie," Angela answered on the first ring.

"Good morning, Angela," Brennan replied.

"You're probably wondering why I was calling," her friend replied, sheepishly.

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"I'm sorry for interrupting your weekend," Angela said. "I just wanted to ask you something, but I figured it out."

"What was it?"

"Nothing, Bren. Really, don't worry about it."

"Angela," Brennan replied, nearing exasperation. "It must have been important for you to call this early… and more than once, I might add…"

"I know, and I'm sorry for bothering you, really. It's okay. I figured it out. Forget about me and just enjoy that hunky hubby of yours. We can talk when you get back."

"Ang, if you needed something…"

"Really, don't worry about it. Enjoy your weekend and we will talk later."

With that, Angela hung up and Brennan turned to Booth.

"That was strange, even for Angela," she said.

"What did she want?" he asked, tracing lazy circles on her hip.

"I don't know," she answered. "She wouldn't tell me. She just kept saying that we'd talk when I get back."

"Weird," Booth agreed. "But it is Angela we're talking about." He leaned in and pressed a kiss against her lips. "What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know," she answered, returning his kiss. "We could go down to the beach," she offered.

"Sounds good," he mumbled against her neck. "Later."

"Much later," she agreed, dropping her phone on the bedside table and moving into his embrace for a proper morning greeting.

BnBnBnBnBnB

"Well? What'd she say?"

"I chickened out."

"Angie…"

"I know, I know," she answered. "But seriously, like you said… it's already done. What good would it do to talk about it now?"

"I guess you're right," Hodgins replied. "So, what's on our agenda for today?"

"You get to set up Booth's man cave," she said with a smile.

"Oh, I don't know, babe. That's exactly the thing I'm afraid of. I'm sure he's gonna want to do that himself."

"In for a penny, in for a pound," Angela said. "We're already in this far…"

"It's a good thing I love you," he said with a laugh.

"Hey, you knew what you were getting into, mister."

"That I did," Hodgins replied with a kiss. "That I did."

BnBnBnBnBnB

Brennan spread a blanket out on the beach while Booth set up the beach umbrella beside her. She set the picnic basket down on the corner of the blanket and untied the sarong that was wrapped around her waist. She folded it, dropped it into the basket and sat down in the shade of the umbrella.

Booth looked down at his wife as she pulled up her hair and tied it into a quick, messy bun. He let out a soft, involuntary growl at the sight of her in that skimpy red bikini.

"Here," he said, sitting down behind her. He reached into the basked and took out the bottle of sunscreen. "Let me put this on you."

"Booth, I'm fine," she protested.

"Baby, I wouldn't want any of this beautiful skin to burn," he whispered in her ear, his voice husky. He rubbed up and down her arms. "Especially since you're showing so much of it."

"We're sitting in the shade, Booth," she said, flirting at him with a smile.

"I can't take any chances, Bones," he said. "You're my wife… It's my duty to protect this gorgeous body."

He flipped them over so that she was pinned under him.

"If you won't let me protect you with sunscreen, I'll just have to find another way to cover you," he said, leaning in to cover her mouth with his.

"Know what I love about Martha's Vineyard?" he said quietly, his breath hot against her ear.

"What, baby?" she replied breathlessly as she hungrily returned his kisses.

"Private beaches," he answered, his hands roaming the curves of her incredible body.

"I think we should make the most of that fact, Agent Booth," she said.

"I do love the way you think, Dr. Brennan," he answered.

"Thinking is just one of the things I do exceptionally well," she said, practically purring. "Let me show you another."

BnBnBnBnBnB

"Damn, babe. This stuff is almost as good as mine," Hodgins said, looking over Booth's home theater equipment. "Not that I care, but how much did this set me back?"

"Not a penny, Scrooge McDuck," Angela said with a laugh. "Brennan picked it all out. She bought it a couple of weeks ago."

"Brennan picked it all out?" Hodgins asked.

Angela nodded.

"Yes," she said, "Along with a very helpful and happy salesman."

"I'll bet," her husband replied.

"You should have seen the guys eyes light up when she said she wanted to build the perfect media room for her husband… and money was no object."

"I can imagine," Hodgins said, laughing.

"I think that commission probably put his kids through college."

"What's next?"

"Well… I decided against the muralist," she said. "I was going to have the Flyers logo cover the wall behind the bar. I think Booth would love that, but he might want to do something else… or have it done himself. I could even paint it, if that's what he wants."

"Good thinking, Angie," Hodgins said, walking up and taking her in his arms. "You gonna try and call Brennan again tonight?"

"No," she answered, reticent.

"Angie…"

"Oh, Hodgie," she said, sidling up to him. "I'll talk to her before they get back. I promise. I don't want to interrupt their weekend. They really need this time alone."

"I know, babe," he answered. "I know." He flashed her a smile. "What about our weekend?"

"She's my best friend," Angela said. "I just want her to be happy. But don't worry… Mama's gonna make sure you're happy too, Big Daddy."

"Ooooh, I love it when you talk sexy, baby."

"You know it," she said with a sexy smile and a raised eyebrow. "Let's get out of here."

BnBnBnBnBnB

Booth sat on the beach, his back against a rock. His wife sat between his legs, leaning back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her as they watched the waves tide going in and out.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"You," she answered. "Me. Us. This is nice."

"It is," he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"You know," she said. "This past year has been like nothing I ever thought I'd experience."

"Life is what you make it, Bones," he said. "But it rarely turns out the way we expect."

"That's true," she answered, smiling. "I never thought I'd be sitting here on the beach, wrapped up in the arms of my husband."

"Well, I never expected it to be Martha's Vineyard," he said. "But I always knew we'd end up like this. It's fate, baby," he added with a smile.

"I don't believe in fate," she said, seriously.

"Maybe not," he answered. "But you believe in us."

She nodded.

"I do."

They sat quietly for several long minutes, listening to the gulls overhead as the waves lapped along the shore.

"You know what else I never expected?" she asked softly.

"What?"

"That therapy would prove useful," she answered.

"But it has?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes," she told him honestly. "I've learned quite a lot."

"That's nothing new," he said, "That's my Bones… always learning."

"That's true," she replied. "But typically, it isn't about myself that I'm learning."

He waited for her to continue.

"Remember that night outside the Hoover?" she asked. "The day Sweets gave us his book?"

That was a night that he would never forget, but he knew she wasn't really asking for an answer and waited for her to go on.

"I told you that I couldn't change," she said. "But that isn't true, is it? Everything changes. I have changed, I had already changed. I started to change the minute you walked in to my lecture hall and into my life." She ran her hands over his arms as he tightened his embrace. "But the truth is, that I wasn't really changing… evolving… it's more that I was coming out of hiding.

It's not that I never believed in love. I did. I was a normal little girl who believed in fairy tales. My parents loved each other and they showed that to me and Russ every day.

But when they left," she said, "I started putting up walls. I was hiding behind those walls, trying to forget. It hurt so much, Booth."

"I know, baby," he said quietly, pressing a kiss to her head.

"I wanted to believe that love didn't exist. That it was just a symptom of chemical reactions, but I knew it wasn't true. I just kept telling myself that until I eventually believed it. It was the best way to protect myself. People thought that I was cold and heartless… but you knew that wasn't true. You knew that I was simply protecting myself. You knew that I needed to hide behind those walls. It was the only way I could survive the pain and the loneliness. But I didn't like hiding, Booth. I'm not a coward. That's what the walls made me feel like. You tore them all down," she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said. "But I should be thanking you. You know you've done the same for me, right?"

"You think?" she asked, sincerely.

"I do," he answered. "I think that's what Sweets has been getting at all these years. Benson is better at getting me to see what he wants me to see, but in the end it's the same thing anyway. After my old man, and Rebecca… I put up walls, too, Bones. It took the right woman to tear them down. I told you baby, it's fate."

"I told you Booth," she said, turning to face him. "I don't believe in fate."

"Sure you don't," he answered, smiling. "You just keep telling yourself that."

"I will," she said with a wide smile as she reached up to cover his mouth with hers.

AN- You know what to do… review! :-)

I do read and consider each and every review, and not only do they encourage me to keep going, they let me know whether or not I'm on the right track. I won't guarantee that anything I read in a review is going to change the way I'm writing the story, but I definitely take your words under advisement. So, please… take a minute to tell me what you liked-and what you didn't

Thanks!