Booth had to remove Heather from his shoulder to fit into the view area for the gorillas. There were 4 walls of Plexiglas that visitors could look through and see the gorilla's interact in their enclosure. One baby ventured to the glass and was watching the people watching him. Heather timidly took Parker hand to move up closer, but turned back every now and then to make sure her mommy and Booth were still there. Brennan and Booth sat down on a bench just behind the kids.
"Booth did you follow us to the zoo?"
"No, yes, I mean I wasn't going to interrupt your time with Heather, but Parker saw you and I couldn't very well tell him he couldn't say hi." He reached for her hand and before she could pull it back he got hold of it. "Don't Bones, don't pull away from me."
She was about to give him a what for about following her when ear piercing screams came from kids all around them. Kids were running everywhere. There was a large gorilla charging the Plexiglas, Heather turned in the confusing and couldn't see her Mommy or Booth. She started to scream, Parker was trying to calm her, but she was hysterical. Brennan tried to wade through parents and kids to get to her. Booth was shoving people aside moving forward, he grabbed Brennan's hand and pulled her with him. Parker was struggling to hold on to the panicked little girl. She saw Booth and broke away from Parker running and screaming, "DADDY, DADDY, DADDY." Booth let go of Brennan's hand and reached down to scoop up Heather. He grabbed Parkers hand and motion to Brennan to follow as he forced his way out of the exhibit.
He found the nearest bench to sit on to begin to calm Heather down. Parker came up beside Bones and she wrapped her arms protectively around his shoulders. When Booth had managed to calm Heather down he announced, "I think that is enough zoo for one day, lets go get some food." Parker just stared at his dad.
"Dad, she called you Daddy." Booth turned to see Brennan's blue eyes brimming with tears and Parker looking astonished.
"She is a little girl that was her first reaction. I don't think it meant anything." He tried to sound matter of fact, but inside he was beaming. Win the little girl; make it impossible for mommy to resist. He watched Brennan, he couldn't tell if the tears he saw in her eyes were happy or not. This worried him. But, for Brennan this was the moment, she knew, she knew what to do. Not today, but soon, she knew what she had to do.
After lunch in the park they went their separate ways. There had been no more incidents of Heather calling Booth Daddy. Brennan had gotten over the shock of it and it appeared that Parker had forgotten all about it. Brennan was glad the day was over and she could just go home and escape to the protective walls of her apartment.
The first week back to work was uneventful. Heather spent most of her time in the Lab either with Angela or her mom. Heather wasn't fully comfortable being left at the day care all day. She handled a couple hours max at this point and Brennan did not see the need to push it.
As the end of Friday approached, Brennan was at her desk, Heather was standing in her door waiting for Angela, she enjoyed painting with Angela and had only stopped today when Angela got a craving and had to go satisfy it.
Brennan hadn't heard from Booth all week long. No cases had brought them together, he had his work, and she had hers. Work and Heather had kept her mind busy, so she didn't have time to think about him. Nights after Heather went to sleep were the only time she allowed her thoughts to wander and she missed him.
When she was alone, his words played over in her mind. "I love you with every fiber of my being. We have a once in a lifetime love, the kind of love that people search for their whole lives. I am right here beside you. I know you love me. I will wait forever because I know you love me."