Chapter 25

3:03 PM

"I'm not sick, Booth. I'm pregnant."

He was in shock. He was sure he heard her wrong. She couldn't have said the word he thought she said.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm pregnant," she repeated.

"We're going to have a baby?" He questioned, his eyes wide.

"Yes."

As the news finally sunk in, Booth couldn't think. A million thoughts flowed through him. He looked into Brennan's eyes and suddenly his mind felt clear. He had never been so ecstatic. Booth threw his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet. He twirled her around and impaled her mouth with his. Although she appreciated his reaction, Brennan could feel her stomach turning.

"Booth," she said. He finally stopped spinning her and placed her back on her feet. She put her hand to her queasy stomach.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized. He covered her hand with his over her stomach. "Did I hurt you?"

"No….I just feel rather nauseous. I believe the layman's term for it is morning sickness."

"How long have you known?" Booth asked, wondering how long she had kept the secret from him.

"For several days."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to make it special. I was waiting for our anniversary, but we were interrupted."

"That's what the bath was all about?" He asked. She nodded. "That's why you wouldn't drink the wine."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I know when you found out about Parker, it wasn't very special, so I wanted to do something that you wouldn't forget. I didn't expect to tell you in the women's bathroom. Are you mad?"

"Mad? Bones, I've never been happier in my life." He kissed her again. "We're going to have a baby."

"I believe we've already established that."

"I just like saying it. I can't believe it."

Booth hadn't taken his hand off her stomach. He was still finding it hard to believe that their baby was growing inside of her.

"Well, with the amount of sexual intercourse we have, it is not that unbelievable. And, as we agreed, it has been almost four months since we've used any form of contraceptive."

"I know we've been trying to get pregnant, Bones, but it still doesn't make it any less unbelievable that we're actually going to have a baby."

"That logic doesn't make any sense. And you do realize that right now I don't have a baby. Right now, what I really have is a blastocyst."

"A what?"

"The blastocyst is the ball of cells which will become the embryo and placenta.

"What does that mean?"

"Our baby isn't quite a baby yet. It will take a significant amount of time before the ball of cells growing inside of me is really a baby."

"Ok so…what does that mean in my terms? How far along are you?"

"Although I haven't yet been to a doctor to confirm, my most educated guess would be approximately five weeks. I have an appointment with a doctor recommended to me by a colleague on Tuesday."

"You told a colleague about being pregnant before me?"

"I needed to gather information about the best doctor. Does not telling you first break some kind of rule?" She asked, a sense of fear and nervousness flashing in her eyes.

Booth wrapped his arms around her waist. "No, you didn't break any rules." He rested her forehead against hers. "I'm so happy, Bones. Are you happy?"

"Although I am not looking forward to feeling sick for the next nine to ten weeks with morning sickness as is customary, I am happy about having an offspring with you."

"I love you."

This time it was Brennan who initiated the kiss. She hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him with fire and passion. Without either of them noticing, the bathroom door opened.

"I guess this means you feel better," Angela said.

Brennan and Booth broke apart. They had both forgotten that they were not only still at work and not in the privacy of their own home, but that they were also standing in the middle of the women's bathroom.

"Angela, we were…" Booth began.

"No need to explain. I was just checking to make sure you were alright."

"I feel fine, Angela," Brennan assured her. "Thank you."

"Uh-huh." Angela could sense the energy in the room. Something good had happened. She desperately wanted to know what it was, but she chose not to ask. She knew she would find out in time. "We have some more information about our victim, Donna Thomas."

"I'll be right there," Booth said.

"We'll be right there," Brennan corrected.

"You are going home," Booth instructed.

"I told you I feel better," Brennan insisted.

"You're still going home."

"Why?"

"Because…" Booth was about to say that now that she was pregnant, she needed to take care of herself, but he kept it to himself.

"I'll let you two finish here," Angela said before exiting the bathroom.

"I feel fine, Booth," Brennan said.

"You haven't eaten or slept."

"I will when I am done with the remains."

He shook his head. "You are not just taking care of yourself anymore, Bones. Now you have to think about you and our baby."

"It's not a baby yet, Booth," Brennan reminded him.

"We can talk science later. Right now, you're going home."

"Booth…"

"No arguments. I am taking you home. You are going to eat something nutritious and take a nap."

"Booth…"

"After you've taken care of yourself, then you can finish examining the body."

"I don't see how this is fair."

"Life isn't fair, Bones. Deal with it."

Brennan opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She crossed her arms over her chest, showing Booth that she did not like what was happening.

"Fine," she conceded.

"Fine." He leaned over and kissed her on the tip of her nose. "Let's go." Booth took her hand and they began to walk towards the door.

"I don't think we should tell anybody yet about the pregnancy. I would like to wait until my second trimester just in case anything should happen to the baby."

"Nothing is going to happen, Bones."

"You don't know that. Ten to twenty-five percent of pregnancies end due to miscarriage. The majority of those miscarriages occur in the first twelve weeks."

Booth cradled her face in his hands. "Nothing is going to happen," he repeated.

"I still think we should wait."

"Then we'll wait, but can I ask one favor?"

"Of course."

"I would like to tell Parker."

"Oh." Brennan looked own at the floor. Booth noticed the change in her face. She was no longer smiling. She looked hurt. He slid his hands up and down her arms.

"If you want to wait before we tell Parker, I understand," Booth said, knowing something was wrong. He knew a lot of women waited to tell people about their pregnancy, but Booth was surprised that Brennan wanted to keep it from Parker.

"No, I want Parker to know. I just…I thought we would tell him together."

"Of course we'll tell him together."

"But you said that you would like to tell Parker."

Booth held her hands in his. "Bones, what I meant was that I want us to tell Parker before we tell anyone else. Of course I want you there. We're a family. I think it's important for him to know that and to know that no matter who comes along, we will still be a family."

"A family."

"Yeah, a family."

She felt the tears stinging her eyes. One dripped down her cheek. Booth caught it with his thumb.

"What? What is it?" He asked.

"I've never…it's been a long time since I've been part of a family…a real family."

"What are you talking about?"

"My parents tore our family apart."

"There are a lot of different kinds of families, Bones. The squints are our family. You, me, and Parker are a family. We're just adding another addition."

"I love you," she said, pressing her forehead against his.

"And I love you." He kissed her forehead. "And now I'm taking you home."

"Let me just finish the…"

"No. Home."

Brennan sighed. He took her hand and led her out of the bathroom. Neither of them could stop smiling.

Booth pulled his SUV into the driveway. He grabbed the flowered gift bag from the passenger seat and got out of the car. As he walked up the driveway and headed for the front door, he heard someone call his name. Booth turned and saw his neighbor, Tim throwing down some rock salt to try to get rid of some of the ice that had formed on his walkway after their most recent snow storm.

"Hey Tim," Booth called across the street. As much as he wanted to get inside to see Brennan, he walked to the end of the driveway so that he could more easily talk to Tim. Although they weren't close, he and Tim had shared a number of neighborly conversations over the years. Every couple months, Tim and his wife Hailey would invite Booth and Brennan over for dinner or a cookout. More often than not, Booth and Brennan had to cancel last minute because of a case they were working on, but they still had a friendship with the couple.

"Heard we might get some more snow later this week," Tim said.

"Yeah, hopefully not too much. I'm tired of shoveling," Booth replied.

"Yeah, I hear you. Every time winter rolls around, Hailey threatens to move us to Florida so she doesn't have to deal with the snow."

"It does sound enticing."

"Yeah sometimes it does. Hey, Hailey and I were wondering if you and Temperance wanted to come over for drinks some time this week."

"Ah…yeah, that sounds good," Booth said.

He couldn't hide his smile, knowing that Brennan wouldn't be drinking anything alcoholic for quite a while. All day Booth had been bursting to tell someone about his big news, but he had kept his mouth shut. He desperately wanted to tell someone and Tim was just standing there. As he was about to open his mouth, he remembered that as soon as he told Tim, he would tell Hailey, who would probably tell Mrs. Monroe who lived down the block. Pretty soon the whole neighborhood would know about it and Brennan wouldn't be very happy.

"I'll have Hailey set a date."

"Sounds great." He held up the gift bag. "I want to give this to Temperance so…"

"Right, of course. Gotta keep the wife happy."

Booth smiled and nodded.

"See you."

Booth waved and headed back up the driveway. He went up the walk, fishing for his keys in his coat pocket. He opened the front door and walked into the house. He spotted Brennan sitting on the couch, her eyes fixated on the television.

"What are you watching, Bones?" He asked.

"This forensics show is completely inaccurate," Brennan said, pointing at the TV. "There is no way they would be able to get a DNA result back that fast. Not to mention that the coroner is not wearing any gloves. Do you realize how much evidence is being contaminated because she's not wearing any gloves?"

Booth shrugged off his coat and threw it over the armchair. He walked over to the couch and gave Brennan a quick kiss on the forehead.

"You're blocking the TV, Booth," she said, pushing him out of the way.

"When did you become such a TV junkie?"

"This show has been playing all day and every episode has been erroneous. If that was how we solved cases, nothing would ever get really solved."

"It's a drama, Bones. It's supposed to be entertaining, not accurate."

"Well, it's exposing the uninformed public to incorrect information."

"How long have you been watching this?"

"Just a few episodes."

"Uh-huh." Booth handed her the plastic bag he had brought in from the car.

"What's this?"

"Open it."

Brennan opened the bag. She pulled out a jar of pickles and gave Booth a quizzical look.

"Pickles?"

"Keep looking."

Brennan put her hand in again and pulled out a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream. It was her favorite flavor.

"Pickles and ice cream? Booth, why would you wrap pickles and ice cream in a gift bag? Am I missing something?"

"They always say pregnant women crave pickles and ice creams. I figured it would be best if we were prepared."

"Cravings are usually a result of the body needing a nutrient that isn't provided otherwise. It's possible that I will crave pickles and ice cream, but there's no way to know what one will crave."

"Well, we have them just in case. There's one more thing in there."

Brennan reached her hand into the bag again, fully expecting another food item. What she pulled out was what looked like a piece of folded cloth. Brennan unfolded it and held it up. It was a pale yellow onesie with a rubber duck in the middle.

"What is it?"

"It's a onesie, Bones. Babies wear them."

Booth studied her face. She wasn't as happy and excited as he thought she would be. Booth had picked up the groceries and onesie on his way home. He knew it was premature to be buying the baby anything, but he wanted Brennan to know how happy he was. He thought she would appreciate the tiny outfit. He had specifically picked one out that was gender neutral. Tears formed in Brennan's eyes. She tried to blink them away, but one escaped down her cheek.

"What? What is it?" Booth asked, afraid that he had done something wrong.

"Human chorionic gonadotropin."

"Excuse me?"

"HCG. It's the hormone during pregnancy which is often the cause of illness and emotional changes."

"Ok, so besides the hormones, what's wrong? He pointed to another tear that was forming in the corner of her eye. "Is it the outfit? Because I can return it."

"No, it's not that. It's…cute."

"So…what is it?"

"I'm highly intelligent," she stated.

"Yes, I've known that for quite some time, but that can't be why you're crying."

"You're an amazing father. You think about the things like picking out cute outfits with ducks on them. And the way you are with Parker, it's…it's effortless."

"Bones…"

"I...I can rebuild a skeleton and identify thousand year old remains, but what if I'm not a good mother? I didn't even know what this was. I didn't even know what babies wear. What if I'm not meant to be a mother? I mean, it's not like I had the best role models for parents. What if I can't do it, Booth?"

Booth put his hand under her chin, and cupped her cheek with his palm.

"You are going to be an excellent mother. I see the way you are with Parker, Bones. You're a natural. It's normal to be scared, but you are going to be amazing. And we are going to do this together. You have nothing to be afraid of. You are going to be the best mother there is."

"That's an impossible claim to substantiate."

"Some things don't need to be substantiated." He kissed her.

"Booth?"

"Yeah?"

She handed him the pickle jar. "Could you open this for me?" He smiled, opened the jar, and fed her a pickle. "Want to watch this with me?"

"Are you going to talk through it the whole time, pointing out the inaccuracies?"

"Most likely."

He smiled. "Then yes, I would love to watch it with you."

Booth put his arm around her shoulder as she rested her head against his shoulder and munched on another pickle.