After simply holding each other for a long time, they ate a light dinner and spent the rest of the night enjoying the fact that they were alone. She offered him another foot massage and he accepted, and the end result was the same as the first time. They had to be careful, of course, to accommodate Seeley's still-fragile ribs, but with a little experimentation, they managed just fine.

"I wonder if this is what our honeymoon will end up being," Seeley mused as she lay in his arms the next morning. She shot him a quizzical look and he continued, "Well, it's like we get one day here, another day somewhere else. I guess it just seems like we're getting it piecemeal instead of all at once."

"Well," she said, her head resting on his good shoulder, "I suppose it does seem that way, though given our mutual history it's not so wholly unexpected."

"No," he kissed the top of her head lightly, "As soon as everything's healed up and the case is squared away, though, I'm kidnapping you for two weeks."

"Hmm," she smiled at the prospect, "And what will those two weeks of captivity be comprised of?"

He didn't answer her in words, but rather brought his lips down to meet hers. She leaned into the kiss, giving him full access to her mouth. Their tongues danced as hands roved. Her foot slid down the length of his tibia, eliciting a soft groan from his lips as the rest of his body responded to her subtle invitation. Two months of observing his body language in bed brought a playful grin to her face as she anticipated what was to come.

Her grin- and what was to follow- was cut short by the ring of a cell phone from across the room.

"That's yours," she informed him.

He started to sit up, then winced in pain, so she motioned for him to lay back down.

"Seeley Booth's phone, Temperance speaking," she answered.

It was Cullen, so she walked the phone over to the bed and handed it to her husband. Seeley frowned when she started picking their clothes up off of the floor where they had been quickly discarded the night before, but nodded in approval as she opted to don his t-shirt instead of her own.

Deciding that she would leave the men to their conversation distraction-free, she surveyed the room. It really was quite opulent, even compared to some of the hotels that she had been put up in over the years. She estimated that the floor-space was close, if not equal to her apartment back in Washington, and the furnishing were definitely more expensive. Despite the formality, however, the furniture was comfortable, and the space well-used.

Moving over into the kitchen area, she made herself a cup of instant coffee and helped herself to a bowl of Cheerios from the pantry. As Seeley was still on the phone, she settled down into one of the plush couches in the sitting area, placing her mug carefully on the glass coffee table in front of her.

Her thoughts drifted to the upcoming move. They had decided last night that everything but her clothes and personal toiletries that had originally come from her apartment would be sent back there and the rest would go to Booth's townhouse. Of course now they would also need to send Sadie's things to his townhouse too. As the townhouse had three bedrooms, and a basement for storage, they decided that would be the best house for them to move into initially. Part of Seeley's convalescence over the past two weeks had been spent scouring the internet for houses, though as yet they had not found anything that they both agreed on.

"Hey," Seeley's voice cut into her thoughts as he joined her on the couch, "You look like you're trying to solve the world's problems over here."

She shook her head, "I'm contemplating our housing situation."

"Ah," he nodded knowingly, "Well, looks like things'll be tight in the townhouse for a little bit, but we'll manage," she looked at him questioningly and he elaborated, "Cullen approved our plan for the kids and will start working tomorrow to get all of the paperwork going. He said the guardianship papers should be a snap since we're their foster parents already, though Sadie's paperwork might take a little longer.

"Our standing orders right now are to bring all of the kids back to DC with us so everything can get sorted out," he took a sip of her coffee before continuing, "Cullen also said he'd call the Milton Hershey School and make sure that Maddie and Joey get in ASAP, though we kind of have to go by their schedule on that end, which is why I said it might be tight there at the house for a little bit."

She nodded and set her empty bowl down on the coffee table and sighed, "Selecting and purchasing a house is not as easy as I had originally anticipated."

He smirked and pulled her close to him, "We're two separate people with two separate tastes-"

"And two separate views as to how to finance a house," she interrupted.

"Yeah," he smiled, "That too. I just want this house to be a little part of both of us."

"You want to be the alpha male and pay for the entire thing yourself, which is ridiculous given my financial status," she accused lightly.

"And you are not seeing that this is a guy thing," he tapped her nose, "I want to provide this for you, for us. I didn't marry you for your money, Temperance."

They'd covered this topic before and were still at an impasse, though at least this time around they hadn't raised their voices. The first time- about a week after he'd been released from the hospital- it had degenerated into a yelling match that had ended when she had stomped out of the spare room and left him to sleep alone that night. They'd apologized in the morning, but had never really resolved the root issue.

"What if," she suggested, trying to devise a compromise, "I fund the house and then leave you to pay for all of the monthly bills that are incurred?"

"That might work," he conceded, "Though I'm still not sure if I'd really want you paying for the whole thing."

"Seeley," she tried reasoning with him, "It makes no sense whatsoever to take out a mortgage when we already have the money."

"You have the money," she heard him murmur.

She stood up abruptly, leaving him stewing on the couch. A week ago when they had first had this argument, she had called Angela, unsure of what she was doing that could make her new husband so mad. Angela had patiently explained aspects of the male ego that Temperance had been previously unaware of, though the artist had staunchly refused to give her a solution to the problem. That, Ange had told her before they hung up, was something that Temperance needed to work out on her own.

Moving over to where her overnight bag lay, she opened the front compartment and nervously pulled out the manila envelope that she had prepared, hoping that this was the correct decision to be making. She had more faith in Seeley Booth than any other person in her life, and yet realistically Seeley was just as fallible as any other man. Shoving aside the remaining dregs of doubt that clung in the back of her mind, she closed the compartment, pulled the envelope close to her chest, and moved back over to where he still sat on the couch.

"Here," she said simply, handing him the large envelope.

She studied his face as he opened it- watched as his frustration turned to confusion, which turned to intense concentration, and finally, awe.

"Does this mean what I think it does?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"If you think that it means I have added your name to all of my assets, then yes," she nodded, "Obviously you will need to sign on the lines indicated and the papers will have to be processed, but-" she stopped, as an unfamiliar expression crossed his face. She took his hand into hers and their eyes met, "Did I err in some way?"

"No," he shook his head, "I'm just trying to process all of this. I mean, this is a lot of money, Bones. Are you sure-"

She laughed despite the gravity of the situation, "Yes, though you know quite well how successful both of my careers are, so I'm not sure why the sum of money astounds you so much."

"I knew," he was stuttering now, "But I didn't, you know, know! So all of this is now-"

"Ours," she finished for him gently, "It's ours. And please, I know that this was not your intent in marrying me, but it is mine to share freely," she scooped up the papers and moved them aside, then closed the distance between them, "I want to do this. For you- for us. I don't want money to become something that we are constantly arguing over or something that somehow causes you to feel like less of a man- though I still don't understand that line of reasoning. "

"Won't this put you at risk financially?" he questioned, repeating one of her old mantras.

"I trust you," she told him honestly.

"Then I accept," a genuine smile spread across his face, "Though I still don't want a mansion."

"That's fine," she said, trying to sound casual, "I wouldn't want to clean a mansion anyway. Though a house with a large basement would be preferable."

"Why's that?"

"You will need a place to house your large television and I can assure right now it won't be in our living room!"

He laughed softly so as not to disturb his healing ribs and nodded in agreement. As one they stood, and began getting ready for the day. After a brief shower they began packing their things to return to the safe house. They had accomplished a great deal in the last twenty-four hours, and she could tell that they both wished to stay longer, but it was time to go back.

An hour later they left the hotel hand-in-hand. The mood on the return trip was much lighter than it had been the day before. Surprisingly, she felt extremely satisfied that they would soon be joint heirs of the fortune she had spent amassing over the last several years, and it seemed that he was growing comfortable with the idea as well.

They arrived back out the safe house to be greeted almost as soon as they exited the car. Parker, Maddie, and Joey began regaling them with the exploits of their day, while Sadie climbed up into Temperance's arms, resting her small head on Temperance's shoulder. A warmth crept over the forensic anthropologist as they moved toward the house when she realized that Sadie would soon be her daughter. The two of them had bonded closely and she was relieved that she would not have to place Sadie into anyone else's care.

After dinner that night, they bid goodbye to Angela and Hodgins and the couple sat down with all of the children and relayed the decisions that had been made that concerned them. She described the school that Maddie and Joey would be attending, explaining that Sadie was too young to attend. Seeley made sure to assure them that they would come and live in DC with the Booths during the holidays and over summer vacation. He then gently told them that they would be adopting Sadie, and that they would be Maddie and Joey's legal guardians.

"How come we can't live with you all the time?" Joey wanted to know.

Temperance opened her mouth to answer, but someone else spoke up first.

"I don't get to live with them all the time either," Parker said to the amazement of the two oldest Lane children, "I live with my mom most of the time, and I'll only see my dad and Dr. Bones every other weekend. It's not too bad, really, and your school sounds way cooler than mine!"

Both of the other children looked very relieved, and somehow comforted by the knowledge that even Parker- Seeley's biological son- did not live with him on a regular basis.

As they all stood to get ready for bed, a cloud passed over Joey's face and he looked directly at the FBI agent, "Can I still call you, Daddy?"

"Of course," Seeley bent down and engulfed the small boy in his embrace, then moved over to include Maddie as well, "You both can. We're a family, after all."

"YAY!" Joey jumped up and down excitedly, "Did you hear that, Maddie? Did ja? We're gonna have a real daddy! We've never had a real daddy before! And Dr. Bones is gonna be our Mommy now that Mama can't take care of us anymore! And Parker's our brother now too!"

A small smile blossomed on Maddie's face as she watched her younger brother dance all the way up the stairs and into his bedroom.

Later, as the two adults were tucking Maddie into bed, she looked up at them with tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" Temperance asked gently, brushing a tear off of Maddie's cheek as it fell.

"We've had a Mommy and a Pop and a Nana before," Maddie said quietly, "But we've never had anybody who loved us- not enough to be a real family."

Maddie's tears became full-fledged sobs as she flung herself into the arms of her new parents. They held her between them as she cried. Temperance knew what those cries were; they were the same ones she had cried when she finally let herself accept that neither her parents nor Russ were coming back for her. Back then, her tears had fallen unheard in her bedroom at one of her many foster homes, with no one to comfort her.

Unwilling to let her new ward suffer the same things, Temperance picked the seven year-old up, placed her gently in her lap, and held her until the cries subsided. When Maddie had finished, Seeley enveloped both females in a large hug. For the first time since she had come under their care, Maddie turned and threw her arms around Seeley's neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. The girl then turned and repeated the actions with Temperance before crawling back underneath of her bedcovers.

Quietly, the adults rose, each planting one last kiss on Maddie's brow before wishing her a good night's sleep. As they closed the doors, Temperance and Seeley shared a smile and she knew that- no matter what terms were used on the official documents- they were now a true family.