(After 'The Woman in Limbo')

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The owners of the house in Shirlington, Virginia had taken Brennan's counter offer of $400,000 and soon Booth and Brennan were home owners. Brennan made the initial purchase and used Booth's rent money to help make the purchase. Booth had been uncomfortable allowing Brennan to buy the house, but he realized that it was the smartest way to pay for it. There was no mortgage since Brennan had paid the entire price, so there was no debt hanging over them. It was Booth's intention to pay the utilities, property insurance, property tax and the upkeep for the property that way the burden of taking care of the place fell on him. He appreciated Brennan's generosity by placing his name on the deed as well as hers. It also gave him confidence in his relationship with her. If she was co-owner of a house with him then that meant they were in a long term relationship, hopefully the kind that lasted until the day they died.

"I haven't lived in a real house since I was a kid." Booth was resting after setting up the master bedroom. "It's kind of weird."

The kitchen partially unpacked, Brennan retrieved two bottles of water from the fridge and handed one to her partner. "I haven't lived in a house since I left Foster Care. I suppose we'll get used to it . . . it seems like a sturdy house. The inspection went well . . . the roof is new, so we won't have to worry about leaks at least for a while."

Taking the bottle of water from Brennan, Booth cracked the cap, opened the bottle and drank some of the cool water. "We have the master bedroom set up, our bathroom and most of the kitchen too. Not bad I'd say. I think it was a smart idea to mark the boxes with the rooms they belonged in. The movers did a good job of unloading everything. Once the kitchen is done we can set up Parker's bedroom. The rest can be taken care of when we have time. The living room is usable, so we're in pretty good shape."

"I believe that is an excellent plan." Brennan stared at the fridge. "At least we can cook our own food now. Living in Hodgins' house was convenient, but I felt constrained in my movements and cooking was definitely something that we couldn't do since his cook didn't like anyone in her kitchen."

"Yeah, that was kind of weird." Booth leaned on the kitchen table. "I'm going to get Danny to help me move my car and my junk from my storage unit to the garage next weekend. He said he has the time. I can cancel my storage locker and that's one less bill to be hassled with. There's room for my Mustang and your car. Storage along the back wall is pretty good, lots of shelves and a couple of work counters. It's pretty sweet actually."

Pleased that Booth liked the garage, Brennan smiled. "Now you can continue to upgrade your car . . . I think we should use the fourth bedroom for an office. We can both use it for that purpose."

Booth had no need of an office at home, but if his girlfriend wanted one then that was what they would do with the room. "Did you know that there's a loft room built in the garage? I found the door earlier today. It can be used for an office if you want isolation while you're working on your books or I can use it for a sports room. It's big enough to put some chairs in and a television, a small couch . . . maybe a mini fridge. Whatever works for you will be fine."

"Well, since you have a tendency to be rather loud when watching sporting events, perhaps you should use the room for entertainment." Brennan was used to Booth's shouting during games, but sometimes she craved peace and quiet when she wasn't working and setting up the TV in the garage would be an excellent way to get that peace. "You can decorate it with your sports paraphernalia."

"Good idea." Booth sighed. "Wow, we're property owners, Bones . . . I need to buy a lawn mower . . . and a weed whacker, yard stuff . . . I might need to buy a shed for that stuff. I don't want to use the garage for that . . . yeah, Danny and I'll look for one. He can help me set it up along the back fence . . . I'm glad Angela found this place. It's not too far from work and that is what I'd been worried about. Driving in the District is pretty bad, so being closer to work is great. I was worried that we might end up in Timbuktu."

"Timbuktu is in Mali. I'm pretty sure that commute would have been draining." Brennan laughed.

Amused, Booth laughed with her. "Pretty good joke, Bones. You're getting good at those." He loved her corny simple sense of humor. There was nothing pretentious when it came to his Bones. "Hey, want me to call for some takeout? I'm too tired to cook and I think you need the break too."

"Alright, but I want to start cooking soon. I'm tired of eating takeout food." Brennan savored the idea of controlling what was in their meals. "We can fill our refrigerator with healthy food and healthy snacks too."

"Whoa there." Booth shook his head. "I don't mind eating healthy stuff, but I need my snacks too. I can't watch a game eating carrot sticks."

She had known he would protest. He was so predictable. "Of course not. I know you require salty snacks filled with copious amounts of saturated fats, but we can eat healthier food when it isn't game day."

Ha, every day is game day!

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

The funeral for Brennan's mother had been delayed until Christine Brennan's body could be released from the Lab. Once she had permission to bury her mother's remains, Brennan had found a cemetery close by in Fairfax, Virginia and made arrangements to have a graveside service done there. The cemetery was a thirty minute drive from her home and Brennan was pleased that the cemetery was carefully maintained and that the headstones were kept clean and unmarred.

On the day of the funeral, Brennan and Booth drove over to Fairfax and were surprised to find, Dr. Goodman and his wife, Hodgins, Angela and Zach already there ready to attend the service. Caroline Julian also attended with her daughter. Brennan had been mildly shocked to see the DA, but Booth wasn't. Ms. Julian had made sure she knew when the funeral was going to be held and had told Booth she would be there to represent the FBI. She felt Dr. Brennan and Booth deserved that respect.

Much to Brennan's annoyance her brother showed up ten minutes late and after the service had started. Embarrassed he waved at his sister as he approached the grave site, pointed at his watch and shrugged his shoulders. He had been delayed by a car accident on the way and never could make up the time. As an ex-con the last thing he wanted to do was to get a speeding ticket and probably be hassled for breaking the law, not on the day of his mother's funeral.

The ceremony was a simple one. Brennan's family had never been religious, but she believed that a funeral was a way to say a final goodbye to her mother. During the service, Booth stood next to Brennan's elbow and tried to show her as much support as he could. He had been to many funerals in his lifetime, but only two of them were for relatives. His grandmother Alice had died when he was still living in his parent's house and his grandmother Marie had died a year after he had moved into Hank and Marie's house. His Aunt Ruth had died of cancer while he was stationed overseas and he had been unable to get back in time to attend her funeral. Staring at the new headstone that was being used to mark Christine's grave, Booth knew that Brennan had chosen a beautiful stone, but she had kept the lettering simple.

During the funeral, the Agent tried to keep track of anyone that appeared nearby. He had hoped that Max Keenan would show up at the funeral and that he could arrest the conman, but there had been few visitors in the area and none appeared to be old enough to be Brennan's father. Disappointed, he realized it wasn't going to be easy to track down Max Keenan. The man had been on the run for a long time and he wasn't going to cooperate with any law enforcement agency.

The ceremony over, Angela carried a bouquet of roses over to the coffin and placed them on top. Stepping closer to Brennan, she leaned over and kissed her friend on the cheek. "I'm sorry for your loss, Honey. I really am."

Returning a kiss to her friend's cheek, Brennan nodded her head. "Yes, I know . . . At least I know where she is . . . I would have preferred to find her alive, but now I know what happened to her."

Dr. Goodman and his wife moved over to where Brennan and Booth were standing and shook her and Booth's hand. "I'm sorry that Christine Brennan lay so long in Bones Storage, but I am glad that you were able to give her a final resting place." Mrs. Goodman placed a bouquet of red roses on the coffin and smiled at Brennan. "It was a lovely service Temperance."

Slowly everyone left the grave site leaving Brennan, Booth and Russ behind.

"Tempe, I'm sorry I was late, but I left the house early this morning and I still got caught up in an accident." Russ stared at the cherry coffin, reached out and ran his hand along the side of the silky wood. "It's beautiful, Tempe. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Brennan took a handkerchief from her jacket pocket and dabbed at the bottom of her eyes. "I don't know why I'm so sad. She's been dead for a long time."

Placing his arm around Brennan's shoulders, Booth gave her a little hug. "It's okay to be sad, Bones. She was your Mom. It doesn't matter how long she's been dead. We didn't find out about it until a few weeks ago . . . There's no time limit for something like this . . . Russ, do you want to come back with us? We're in our house now and the guest bedroom is set up if you want to stay overnight."

"Thanks." Russ had hoped that Booth or his sister would make the offer. He was tired and feeling very sad at the moment. "I appreciate it."

With one final glance at the cherry coffin, Brennan moved away from the grave site with Booth following behind. His gaze roaming the cemetery, he hoped to see someone that might be Max Keenan, but he didn't notice anyone watching them in the distance. The bastard could have at least come to his wife's funeral. We printed the obituary last week and it said where and when the funeral was going to be.

Still standing next to the coffin, Russ bowed his head and felt tears begin to fall. "Bye, Mom. I love you. I miss you."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

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