They had been married for almost two months, the joy of being newlyweds fading as Tempe rounded into her eighth month of pregnancy. It was heightened when, at 5 am, she recieved a phone call. "What do you want at this ungodly hour?" Booth's voice was clogged with sleep.

"She's having the baby! She's in labor!"

"Whoa, Hodge, slow down. Where are you?"

"My wife's having a baby, where do you think I am!?" Booth fought the urge to smile as he heard the dialtone.

Beside him, Tempe grumbled, "Shsssh"

"Bones," He whispered, gently shaking her, "Bones, we've gotta get up..."

"No..."

He smiled, turning on the lights. "Yes. Come on, get dressed."

She sent him a look of death, pulling the blankets over her eyes, "Booth, I'm warning you..."

"Fine... I'll just tell Ang and Jack that you don't want to be an aunt and would rather be lazy and lie in bed..."

She sat up quickly, fumbling for clothes. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"It was much more fun my way..."


They pulled into the hospital's parking lot, both practically running for the doors. "Hey, we should probably be more careful..." Booth muttered, grabbing Tempe's arm. Suddenly she lost her footing, her shoes sliding easily across the pavement that was coated with morning dew. Booth tried to catch her, but missed and he listened as she fell, a sickening thud that reverberated off the ground. "Bones!" He knelt beside her, holding her face in his hands. "Bones, baby, look at me. Tell me where it hurts..."

Her eyelids fluttered, "Ev...everywhere..."she shuddered, her eyes rolling back into her head.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY!" He yelled, tears rolling down his cheeks as he saw someone bolt from the doors.

"What's going on?" the woman asked, stuggling to see him in the darkness.

"It's my wife! She just fell... she's eight months pregnant!"

"Oh, God!" The woman and two men came out with a stretcher. They secured her neck and lifted her onto the thin mattress. "Sir..."

"Is she going to be okay?" The men pushed her inside, and she held him back slightly, "Please, let me go with her! She needs me!"

"I need to get some information from you first, okay?" She led him inside the hospital and began to ask him questions about her health. He answered them as quickly as he could, growing impatient.

"Jack!" it dawned on him the reason they were there in the first place. "I need to go to the maternity ward... which way?"

"But, Sir, your wife is still..."

"I know, but her family is in the maternity ward..." he paused, "Her sister is giving birth right now, that's why we were here. I need to tell them.."

"fourth floor. Take the elevators on the left" she whispered, watching him run down the hall.


"Jack, I need to see you..." He poked his head in the door.

"It's okay, she's not going to give birth for a few minutes... come in..."

"No, Jack... I need to see you out here. Now..." Booth stepped back, and Angela looked at him in concern.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking around. "Where's Tempe?"

Booth choked on a sob, and Jack's heart dropped, "There's been an accident, Jack..."

"What happened?"

"We were coming here, we were in the parking lot. We were running for the doors, both so happy and excited. I told her we should be careful... what if she tripped, you know? And I... god, I grabbed her arm. She slipped..." He closed his eyes, sliding to the floor. "She's in surgery right now... This is my fault. This is all my fault..."

"You didn't know, man..." he sighed, worry raging through him. "God, this is awful..."

"Hey... you should be in there with Ang. I'll have them call you if there's news, okay?"

Jack just nodded before he pulled his friend to him. "She's going to be fine. She's got to be..."

Booth returned the hug before pulling away. "I hope so..." He forced a smile, "Tell Ang I'll be here in a while. But... it's probably not the best idea to tell her about Tempe."

"Yeah. See you in a bit..."

Booth headed downstairs to find the nurse again. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. "No..." he whispered.


"What's wrong, Jack? What's going on?"

He forced a smile before he kissed her forehead. "Nothing, baby... just focus on this right now, okay?"

"Something's wrong. Tell me, Jack..."

He shook his head, "Not until after you give birth. Not until after you and the baby are safe. Do you trust me?"

She nodded, "with my life..."

He kissed her, "Then know that I'll tell you, okay?"

"Alright." She said before another contraction ripped through her.

"It looks like the baby's coming sooner than we'd expected. I'm sorry, Mrs. Hodgins, we can't give you an epidural at this point..."

"WHAT?" She grunted, her face etched in pain.

"What do you mean, no epidural?" Jack asked, wincing as his wife squeezed his hand again.

"I mean, the baby is coming now. We cannot give her the medication because she's progressed past the point where it would help. She's going to have to do this naturally..."

"Christ, you have got to be shitting me!" Angela whispered, and Jack smiled at her. "I can't do this..."

"Sure you can. You don't have a choice..."

"You're right..." She glared at him, "This better be worth it!"

He leaned forward to kiss her again. "It will be..."


"Mr. Booth..."

"How is she? How's the baby?"

"She's in a coma right now. They had to... they had to perform an emergency c-section..."

Booth paled, "And my baby?"

"She's going to be fine. She's in NICU for observation, given the trauma she and her mother went through."

Booth sighed. "Can I see my wife?"

The nurse nodded curtly, leading him in the direction of her room. "Be prepared, sir... she is a little... she looks different right now..."

He opened the door cautiously, and almost gasped when he saw her. It was so odd, seeing her without her enormous, pregnant belly. She was pale, a sickly whitish-yellow shade. The entire top of her head was wrapped in gauze, and she had a million tubes running everywhere. He took her hand in his, sitting beside her. "Hey, Bones... you and Angela both had your little girls today. You two really can't do major life events without each other, can you?" He smiled to himself, "So our little girl, and their little girl, are going to be closer than we'd even thought of. Can you imagine having your best friend born the same day as you?"

He stared at her blank face, hoping to see some flicker of acknowledgement there. There was none...


She flickered her eyes open, trying to adjust to the light. "Hello?" Her voice was thick and raspy. "Hello?"

"Oh God, sweetie, you're awake?" Angela squealed, jumping up. "Booth, wake up, she's... she's... here!"

Booth shot up from his seat beside the bed, his hand clutched in hers. "Thank God... I'm going to tell them..." He left the room, Tempe staring expectantly at her with a smile.

"So... how's my baby?"

Angela's eyes widened, "What baby?"


AN: Don't hate me!! haha. I expect the next chapter to be up before the end of today, and then possibly one more chapter, the epilogue... stay tuned!