Author: QueenyC

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or any of the charters or locations affiliated with it. If I did, I'd be doing more with them then posting stories in fan fiction.

A/N: To Chicklit, thanks for the reality check :) If it helps, I did take these things into consideration. Let me attempt to explain my logic. I, of course, knew that there was no way that Brennan could fly at 8 months and that a drive would be necessary. As to the length of the journey, yes, it is quite the treck and yes, I do imagine that she was told (by her doctors, her partner and her friends) that it was an unnecessary risk. But this is Temperance Brennan we're talking about and when she wants to do something, very few things have been known to stand in her way. I figure Booth put up a good fight with her for several heated hours but that, in the end, Brennan threatened to drive herself there if he wouldn't. End of discussion (as it usually is with those two.)

Also, the decision to make it Michigan was strategic as I had incorrectly recalled the last Christmas episode (with Zooey Deschanel) revealed Brennan to have distant family on her mother's side located there (it was in fact in Minnesota, my bad, I have since made this correction). I hope that this helps to bring you back into the characters a bit and thank you for taking the time to call me out on my mistakes. Without further ado, I give you the next installment!

Twenty-One: If You Just Realize

Tempe,

Enjoy the cabin! A family inheritance on your mother's side. Sorry about the lack of dead bodies. Guess you and Booth will have to find other ways to keep yourselves busy! Happy vacation!

Dad

*~BB~*

"Dad, what were you thinking?"

"That it's about time to two of you pulled your heads out of the sand."

"I don't know what that means," Brennan scowled, pacing the cabin's living room on her cell phone. "You faked a case and sent me and Booth to Minnesota because you mistook us for ostrich?"

"Baby," Her father's patient voice said over the line, "I know that what your mother and I and even Russ did to you all those years ago has never allowed you to love someone, but I'm telling you, if you wait around much longer, if you don't act now, you're going to lose him. Not today maybe, or tomorrow, but somewhere down the road, he's going to move on."

"Everyone moves on," Brennan sighed, feeling a stab of pain in her gut despite the bravado of her words. "Love is ephemeral. It doesn't last. People leave."

"Sometimes, Tempe, it lasts. I've never stopped loving your mother."

"Mom isn't here to test that theory," Brennan said coldly, anger coloring her words.

"No, she isn't. I'm sorry that my decisions have always managed to cause you such pain, but I refuse to see you spend your life alone when there is a good man who wants to spend it with you."

"Booth doesn't—"

"He does, Tempe. Surely even you can see that. Now, you can do one of two things with the gift I've given you."

"Gift? This is practically false imprisonment."

Her dad continued like she hadn't spoke. "You can either continue to bury your head in the sand, pretend you don't love him and live a half-life. Or, you can open yourself up to the possibility of being with him, tell him how you feel, Temperance. I promise you he will feel the same way."

You're in love. Embrace it, Bren.

Brennan sighed and shook her head both at the voice of her best friend in her head and at her father's words, "It's not that easy," she said finally.

"Just talk to him, Tempe."

*~BB~*

Booth woke up from another bad dream, one he seemed to be having a lot lately which involved Brennan trapped somewhere where he couldn't save her and going into labor. Just the thought made him feel nauseous as hell. It didn't help that, due to her shifting hormones, Brennan had lit several fires and was keeping the cabin unbearably hot.

Booth wasn't really sure what had happened on the phone between Brennan and her dad last night. Something about a false call from Hacker (there would be words) and a family-owned cabin in the woods of Minnesota. Brennan was being unusually quiet about the whole thing which led Booth to believe that there was much more to the story than she was willing to admit.

This was what he did know: For whatever reason, they were here. It was snowing outside. This place was beautiful. And Brennan had insisted that they leave first thing in the morning before retreating to her room hours ago. Booth was not looking forward to the 1,000 mile drive back in the morning. His back was already aching at the thought.

Booth groaned in the heat and the darkness and gave up, sitting up in bed and determining to get the full story out of Brennan now, even if it meant waking her up.

These thoughts on his mind, he rose from his bed and made his way over to her room. He pressed his ear against it curiously, listening for signs of life.

"Bones?" He whispered softly against her door. There was no response. Booth mustered his wits and called again, louder. "Bones, you awake?"

Even through the sturdy oak door he heard her defeated sigh, the one that meant he'd broken through another barrier. "I'm awake, Booth," she muttered resignedly. "Come in."

Booth did, entering her bedroom, dark but for the nightlight ritually plugged into the far wall. She was sitting up in bed, hand resting on her rounded belly and a contemplative look on her face. He could tell she hadn't been sleeping well either. He perched at the edge of her bed but before he could ask she was already giving it up.

"My dad planned for us to become romantically involved."

Booth thought he'd swallowed his tongue. "I'm sorry, what?"

She nodded, bowing her head sheepishly. "I know that's what you were going to ask. Why are we here? Because Dad put Hacker out to fake a case for us."

"Put Hacker up, Bones," Booth corrected automatically. "And why would he do that?"

"Because he thinks that you and I are in love and apparently the way to make us realize this is to send us away for a long weekend," Brennan shrugged. "I'm not very good with understanding motives. That's your job, Booth."

Booth chuckled. "The old man has chutzpah, I'll give him that."

Brennan smiled in the darkness, her eyes glowing prettily in the late night gloom. "I'm sorry about all of this. I know you didn't want to come."

"Bones," Booth sighed, instinctively grasping her hands through the covers she had tucked up to her chin, "I want to be wherever you are. I just didn't want you working in your condition."

"You say that like I'm dying. Pregnancy isn't a disease, Booth. It's very natural."

Booth smirked. "It's also very natural for alpha males to worry for their offspring and the women carrying them."

Brennan laughed. "That's fair, I suppose." For several minutes they sat in silence.

"Booth," she asked suddenly, breaking into his thoughts, "What does it feel like? Being in love?"

Booth felt the world shift slightly beneath his feet at her words. How to explain love to Bones? Were there even the words? "It...it feels like there's a string tied from your heart to another person's, and every breath, every action, every moment with them draws the string tighter so that, eventually, all that's left is the one."

Brennan watched him speaking with her usual wide eyed curiosity, nodding her understanding. "And...are you in love with me?"

The words shocked him. Was he in love with her? Was there ever a question? He couldn't remember the last time he'd looked at the woman and only seen his partner staring back at him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so deeply tied to another human being in his life. She was incredible. Smart and yet naive, beautiful and yet strong. She was great with Parker, who adored her sometimes more than either of his biological parents, and she was so full of love for the world that he was amazed when someone could call her cold.

"Yes," he replied simply, because above all Temperance valued truth. "For as long as I can remember."

For a moment after his admission Booth felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Then, "That's good," Brennan nodded, her eyes glistening prettily in the moonlight spilling in from the window. "Because I think love you too."

Booth felt his heart swelling in his chest, his breath coming in shorter, desperate gasps. The moonlight and the strange surroundings made this all feel like a vivid dream, but she was real beneath his hands, her skin warm and her eyes bright. She was more beautiful than his mind could've ever created for him in musings.

After a moment of hesitation, he pressed his lips against hers, the kiss full of passion and promises.