Booth was sitting in the puffy, muted red recliner with Ryder sitting on his lap and leaning back into the crook of his arm.
Ryder batted the book Booth held and turned his head, looking up at him, a smile slowly growing on his face.
Booth opened the front cover, albeit slowly, and dropped a kiss on the top of his son's head. He let out a breath and began reading. "A is for ap—apple. RJ, can y—you p—point to the ap—apple?"
Ryder glanced over the first page of the alphabet book, his eyes shifting back and forth between the three pictures. He leaned forward and poked the first one, squealing. "Da," he babbled.
Booth smiled. "Th—at's right, B—ud." He paused. "A is also for a—acorn—s. Can y—you p—point to the a—acorns?"
Ryder furrowed his brows and pouted, looking over the pictures again.
Booth looked over at Brennan, who was sitting on his bed watching them. They shared a smile before he looked back at Ryder. He nudged the infant in the side, eliciting a giggle from him. "Y—you g—got this. W—where's the a—acorns?"
After a little more hesitation, Ryder poked at the second picture. "Da," he repeated.
Booth kissed the side of his son's head. "Y—you got it," he praised. "W—wow, your m—om wasn't k—ki—idding. You are sm—art. Just l—like your Dad." He lifted his head and laughed at the incredulous look Brennan was giving him before turning his attention to Ryder once more. "A is also for a—al—ligator. Can y—you p—point to the al—ligator?"
Ryder sucked on his fingers and glanced down at the page, studying the pictures again. He pointed at the last picture and looked up at Booth, smiling wide, his eyes twinkling. "Da."
Booth nodded and kissed the tip of the baby's nose. "G—ood."
Ryder giggled and batted Booth's face with a slobbery hand.
Booth, unfazed by the slobber, pecked at Ryder's chubby cheek.
Ryder imitated him and kissed his Dad softly on the lips He threw his arms in the air and fell back into his Dad's chest.
Booth moved to loop his arm more around his son's middle and then pointed to the next page. "B is for ba—aby."
Ryder studied the one picture, seemingly captivated by the baby wrapped in a blue towel. He flattened his hand on the page and leaned over. "Gee-gee," he babbled, flicking his eyes up to Booth.
"Y—you know who el—else is a ba—by?" Booth cooed.
One of Ryder's eyebrows rose towards his hairline and he sucked on his bottom lip, cocking his head slightly to the side. He poked Booth's chest and sucked on his bottom lip.
Booth shook his head. "No, no—ot me, you." He tickled his son's belly.
Ryder squirmed and laughed as his Dad's fingers continued to tickle him.
Booth stopped when his muscles screamed and he went back to the book. He pressed his lips against his son's temple and heaved a sigh.
Brennan looked on as Booth went through the entire alphabet and Ryder pointed to the pictures, only getting help from his Dad on a few occasions when he couldn't match the word with the image on the page. She smiled at the pair and sighed. She was grateful that Booth was alive and wanted to be their son's father rather than just being responsible for his existence.
At around five, Booth was once again sitting in the recliner with Ryder cradled in his arm. He caressed his son's leg while the infant clutched his bottle and sucked out the formula, his eyes searching the room. Booth looked over at Brennan, who was now sitting at the desk, and finally decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for a while now. "D—did you, uh, um," he crinkled his eyes and grimaced.
She raised an eyebrow. "Did I what, Booth?"
His eyes flicked to her breasts and then back up to her face. "Did you, um," He cringed.
She rolled her eyes. "Did I breastfeed?"
"Yeah."
She laughed. "Yes, I did, until RJ was almost five months old."
"W—why'd you stop?"
"My milk supply was low to begin with, but I did everything I could to stimulate production. I breastfed for as long as I could, but as he grew, he just wasn't getting enough to eat or enough nutrients, so I had to substitute in formula for one or two of his feedings until I had to completely switch over to formula."
He nodded, glancing down at Ryder, who blinked slowly and looked up at him. He tugged on his son's green and white stripped polo shirt and sighed.
"He likes you."
"I—I'm h—his dad. He loves me."
She smiled and shifted, leaning against the high back of the desk chair she was sitting on. "You're an excellent father, Booth."
He looked over at her and smiled. "Th—anks, Bones. I—I just wi—ish I c—could do more."
She nodded. "I know. You're a very physical person." She stood up and picked up the empty bottle Ryder had just dropped. She set it on the corner of the desk and helped Booth lift the infant into a sitting position.
A couple seconds later, Ryder let out a monster of a burp.
After wiping Ryder's mouth, Brennan grabbed the bottle and stuck it back into the diaper bag. She bent down to pick up the infant's toy phone and handed it to him. "Can you show Da-Da how your phone works, RJ?"
Ryder pushed down on one of the buttons and a soft Baaaaah filtered through the speaker. He waved the phone up and down as he leaned back into Booth's chest and stomach. "Aaaaahh," he jabbered in imitation.
Booth smiled. "C—an I see the phone, Bud?" He took the phone after Ryder loosened his grip and shoved it towards him. He looked at the different buttons before pointing to one in particular. "Th—is is my fa—avorite." He pressed the button with the picture of a monkey on it and watched his son's eyes lit up as the sound escaped. "Th—at's a m—monkey."
Brennan walked over to the bed and picked up Booth's stuffed monkey, which was buried in the sheets. She carried it over to the pair and handed it to the infant.
Ryder clutched it and brought it towards himself, petting the soft fur.
She smoothed her hand over his soft wisps of hair before she sat down in the desk chair again. She knew it was illogical, but she felt her heart swell as she watched Booth and their son smiling and laughing together.