So, like I always I apologize for the delay. Last week was finals week and I was busy with that. Also, thanks to my amazing beta, meredithgrey23, and her amazing abilities as an editor. And disclaimers in chapter 1.

Without any further delay, here's the next chapter.

As soon as Brennan left Booth in Angela's office, he began to feel a little awkward. He had not been welcomed in there since she left (hell, he'd barely been welcomed in the lab period), and now he wasn't so sure if he was supposed to be in there or not. So, he simply left.

On his drive home, he thought about who the guy on the phone with Brennan was. His first concern had been that it was Hacker, but Brennan had told him to wait at her apartment and that she loved him. And she said it with such ease that Booth knew that she had said it before. If it had been Hacker, then Booth would have heard about it by now. So, that left someone she spent time with while she was away. Someone who had probably acted more like a father to Katy than anything else. Someone who had been there for Bones when she was hurting. But she clearly hadn't been living in DC since she left; he would have found her before now. So that would mean this mystery man was just visiting… or he moved to be with her. Booth prayed it was the first, but he would respect whoever this guy was. After all, he had been there when Booth hadn't.

When Booth finally made it home, his head was still back at the lab. Or it was until he walked into his den to find two of his three children watching some Cartoon Network show he didn't recognize. Parker looked up and saw his father come in, but Brooke's eyes were glued to the TV. The teenager stood up and approached his dad. "So, you were gone a long time."

"Yeah, I had to wait for Bones and Katy to get back from getting ice cream," Booth answered in a low voice. He knew he needed to explain the situation to Brooke, but thought it might be useful to talk to Hannah first, especially since she was due to come pick up Brooke sometime in the next couple of hours.

"So, you actually talked to Bones? It wasn't just arguing?" Parker questioned.

"Yeah. Turns out she feels bad about leaving. Actually, she thought I was going to leave her." Booth looked up to see Parker nod in understanding. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"She mentioned it to me earlier. But only 'cuz I dragged it out of her," Parker added quickly.

Apparently a commercial came on because in that moment, Brooke sprung out of her chair and ran to Booth. "Daddy, where'd you go? You were gone for forever!" she said while hugging his leg. "Parker wouldn't tell me why you left."

"I had to talk to an old friend; but I'm here now. So, why don't I cook us up something to eat?"

"But Mommy told me on the phone yesterday she would take me to get something to eat tonight!" Brooke responded. Booth sighed. That meant he and Parker had to wait to eat until after Hannah and Brooke left. And that would take longer than anyone planned, because he had to tell Hannah that he found Bones and Katy.

"Okay, well, then we'll just have to wait for your mom."

The three of them quickly settle around the television, though Brooke was probably the only one paying any attention. Parker was on his smart phone, texting or whatever it was he did on it, and Booth was trying to plan out how to tell Hannah that he found Katy and Bones.
It only took forty-five minutes before there was a knock on Booth's door. Booth jumped up to get it, knowing otherwise Brooke would rush to the door. When he pulled it opened, he wasn't surprised to see Hannah standing there with a smile.

"Hey, Seeley, how's your week been?"

"Interesting. I've got a lot to tell you about-" he started before a squeal came from the other room.

"Mommy!" Brooke came bolting to the door and Hannah quickly picked her up.

"Hey, babe, how was your first week of school? Learned anything interesting?"

"Yep! Katy taught me something!"

Booth's eyes bugged out, knowing exactly where this was going. "Brooke, no!"

Hannah looked at him suspiciously. "Honestly, Seeley, they're six. What did Katy tell you?"

"She told that you don't need a Mommy and a Daddy to have a baby, just a sperm and an egg. Daddy won't tell me where to get sperm, though, so I can't make a little sister or brother!"

Hannah looked unpleasantly shocked at what her daughter had said. Not the wanting a little brother or sister part, she already knew Brooke wanted another sibling. But the fact she knew a very vague definition of what a sperm was, slightly upset Hannah. She put Brooke down and said, "Why don't you go get your stuff and play with Parker for a few minutes. I need to talk to your dad."

"Okay," she answered before wondering back to her room.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Hannah turned on Booth. "I don't want her spending time with a little girl who goes on talking sperm and egg when they're six!"

"Funny, that's almost exactly what I said. But she and Katy are going to be spending time together."

"I know I can't control them at school, but I'm serious, I don't want Brooke exposed to things like that for another few years."

"Katy's mom has already dealt with it, Hannah, and Katy knows not to talk about it anymore. But Brooke and Katy are going to be spending a lot of time outside of school. They're both determined and have their dad wrapped around their fingers," he said with a small grin. It was funny Booth had known Katy as his daughter for less than twelve hours and was already willing to do about anything for her.

"Well, then maybe the mothers should be in charge. Why did Katy's parents even tell her about sperm?"

Booth couldn't help but smile. "Because her mom is very direct."

"And her father?"

The smile disappeared. "I wasn't there to have a say."

"Well, I want to talk about it with Katy's mother first- Wait, you weren't there?"

"Yeah, Katy is my daughter."

Hannah's face softened a little as the situation sunk in. "You found Temperance?"

"More like Brooke found Katy, but, yeah, Bones and I have talked."

"Where was she?"

"Uh… I dunno. I didn't really ask." There were a lot of things he didn't know, he suddenly realized. Important things too, like Katy's exact birthday, if Brennan had any health changes, etc. "But she took her job back at the lab, and enrolled Katy in school, so they'll be here for a while."

"You didn't ask? What did you talk about?"

"Why she left."

"Because you were ignoring her," Hannah replied. She had been around him enough when he was drunk to hear his self-hating rants.

"That was only part of it. She probably wouldn't have been as freaked out if she didn't think I was trying to break up with her."

"Why would she think that?"

"Because she overheard you ask me for help. And then there was the awful timing of that stupid, secret thing involving Max, so I couldn't explain it to her and she never asked."

"But you basically told me that she and your child were your first priority."

"Yeah, I don't think she heard that part of it."

"I guess this means that you're going to be raising three kids, right?"

Booth understood what she was asking. Since the beginning, Hannah had been worried that she and Brooke were a replacement for Brennan and Katy. Now that Bones and their daughter were back in his life, Hannah was concerned he would abandon Brooke. But Booth had already told Brennan that wouldn't happen and he meant it. Just because Brooke wasn't biologically his didn't mean she wasn't his daughter.

"Yeah, of course. I'm not going to abandon Brooke just because Katy and Bones are back. I hope you know me better than that, Hannah."

Hannah let out a sigh. "I do. Really. But Seeley, you turned me down when I originally asked you for help because you didn't want the responsibility of raising three kids. Now you have all three, I can't help but try to protect Brooke."

"I'm her father! You don't have to protect her from me!" Booth hissed, trying very hard to keep his voice so the girl wouldn't hear them.

"But let's face it; if things had gone according to your plan, then Brooke would be nothing to you. You offered to babysit and help find her father."

"I am her father!"

Hannah gave him a look. "You know what I mean. Her biological father. But since you became her father, have you really tried to look for her dad?"

"If I had anything besides one of the most common names in America, I would," Booth replied bitterly. The name Tim was about as vague as getting a name like John.

"Forget it. I don't want to fight about this… Have you told Brooke about Temperance and Katy?"

"No, I was going to after I talked to you."

"Does Katy know?"

"Yeah, it kinda came out. I was hoping to talk to Brooke before you left with her for the weekend."

Hannah nodded. "Okay. Brooke, can you come here for a minute?"

Hannah's request brought the young girl into the room, looking fairly guilty. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, baby, it's nothing like that. It's just that your dad has something he needs to talk to you about."

Brooke looked at her dad expectantly. Booth knew that he couldn't do this standing up. "Uh, let's move into the den."

The three of them entered the room. Hannah took a seat on the love seat, and Brooke and Booth took the couch. "Daddy, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. Actually, something is fixed."

"What was broken?" Brooke asked looking around the room.

"Before I tell you, you know that nothing is going to change the fact that I love you, right?"

Brooke's brow furrowed. "Okay…"

Booth took a deep breath. He didn't know where to start with this. Should he work his way up slowly or tell her quickly? He decided on the latter. "You have a sister."

Brooke's brown eyes went wide and a smile grew on her lips. "Really? Why haven't I met her? Is she in Mommy's tummy still?"

"No," Hannah quickly confirmed.

"And me and your sister's mom had a misunderstanding, so I haven't really talked to her until today. That's why I was gone for so long this afternoon."

"Is Dr. Bones her mom?" Booth's head shot up. He knew he had never mentioned Bones to her. So that meant someone else had been telling her about Brennan. Booth looked to Hannah to see if it had been her.

"Don't look at me like that, Seeley. I don't talk about your love life."

Brooke understood her parents' semi-silent conversation. "Parker told me about Dr. Bones."

A week ago, Booth would have made a mental note to talk to Parker. But now, it didn't seem like as big of a deal. "Yeah, Bones is your sister's mom."

"What's her name?"

"Your sister? Katy."

"She has the same name as my best friend! That's weird!"

Booth bit back a smile. "It's more like she is your best friend."

The entire room went silent. Booth and Hannah both watched as their daughter's face scrunched together in confusion. Finally, the girl spoke. "Katy is my sister? Does that mean we can have sleepovers every night? Because that would be lots and lots of fun!"

Booth couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, it would be fun. But she's mostly going to live with Bones, like Parker does with Rebecca."

"But that's not as much fun," Brooke complained, giving her best puppy dog look.

"Look on the bright side," Hannah tried. "You have that little sister you always wanted."

"Katy's not little though! She's my age!"

"She's a few months younger than you, making you her big sister."

"But I can't boss her around like a big sister."

"She's got you there, Hannah." Hannah simply rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Booth turned to his older daughter. "You sure this is okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Brooke asked. Much like Katy, she didn't see any of the complications and only the positives of having a new family member.

"No reason," Booth smiled. "No reason at all."