Angel stood fiddling with the collar on his shirt, his forehead crinkling in a frown as he stood looking down at the smoky blue shirt Cordy had given him to wear.
"Are you sure about this shirt? Its blue. I wanted to wear that dark grey one." he asked gesturing to the shirt hanging on the hanger on the door knob. "Angel, stop fiddling with the collar and let me look at you" Cordelia said as she spun him around to face her. She smiled at him "You look very handsome. You should wear blue more often, it suits you!" she said as she made one last adjustment to the collar for him. Angel looked down at himself and muttered "It's blue".
She stepped back and twirled around for him "You like?" she asked. He grinned back at her "Yes, I like. A lot!" Cordy was wearing a deep midnight blue dress, cut low in the neckline with lace inserts on the shoulders, on the back was a circular cut out and the same lace was inserted. The skirt was mid thigh length and flared out as she twirled around. Her long shapely legs were bare and she wore strappy navy sandals with impossibly high heels. Angel grabbed her mid twirl and kissed her. "You sure we haven't got a bit of time up our sleeves?" he asked cheekily, nuzzling her neck. "Absolutely not!" she pushed him back and grabbed her handbag off the dressing table. "We are not going to be late for our very first dinner party!" she called back as she walked towards the stairs. Angel pulled awkwardly at the collar of his shirt one more time and followed her out of the apartment.
Booth stood in front of the mirror adjusting the collar on his shirt. Brennan came up behind him and reached around his body, unbuttoning one button and straightening the collar "There. That's much better." she commented, nodding her head at him in the mirror. "You look very handsome Booth" she added smiling shyly at him. He turned and held her face between his hands "Thankyou Bones. And you? You look amazing!" Brennan was wearing a silvery skirt that skimmed over her hips and ended with a ruffled hem just above her knee. She had teamed it with a black lacy top. Her hair was hanging down around her shoulders, swinging softly as she tilted her head. "Hey" he said looking at the clock "they won't be here for at least an hour you know" winking at her. Brennan shoved him backwards "Oh no. I have a lot still to do, and you are going to help me!" she announced and headed out of the bedroom. "Come on" she called and then popped back through the door making a gesture with her hands, "Chop! Chop! As you would say!" then she giggled at her own culinary joke and turned around and disappeared.
Brennan looked up from stirring the pot on the stovetop when the doorbell rang. Booth was up to his elbows in salad. "You keep chopping, I'll get the door," she said. She quickly wiped her hands on her apron and undid it, slipping it over her head and dropping on a dining chair. She smoothed her skirt and opened the door.
"Angel! Cordelia! Hello!" Brennan stepped aside and motioned for them to come in. Angel stood in the doorway looking at her somewhat embarrassed. Brennan, not realising why, looked back at him. Cordelia stepped in, "Oops! We forgot to mention. You have to actually invite Angel in for him to be able to cross your threshold". She had stepped back out the door and was holding Angels arm. Brennan blushed "Oh Angel, I'm sorry! Of course you are very welcome in our home, please come in".
As Angel stepped through the doorway, she held out her hand to him and as he took it, she stretched up and dropped a soft kiss on his cheek. "I'm so glad you came" she whispered to him. Angel started, slightly surprised by her action, then smiled widely at her. Brennan felt her heart do a little skip, then she checked herself and said "Come on in and make yourselves at home. Can I get you something to drink?"
Cordy gave her a big hug "Thanks for inviting us Temperance. Your place is gorgeous!" she said looking around Brennan and Booths large open apartment. Brennan had lived here alone for a long time and it was filled with unusual art pieces and strange ornaments she had collected from her many forays into weird and wonderful parts of the world. Booth had moved in with her a few years ago, and his own small touches were seen here and there. Sporting memorabilia, some trophies, a couple of antique guns mounted on the wall, framed photos of his son Parker, him and Brennan. A strange set of blue seats which looked like they had been pulled out of a sporting arena sat along a wall. "Thank you! We like it." she walked across to the bar and asked "now about those drinks?" Cordy replied "Oh I'll have a wine if you have it, white?" Angel was standing in the middle of the room looking around. Brennan asked him "Angel? Anything to drink?" not knowing if he did drink alcohol or not. "I'll have a scotch if you have it, on the rocks please" he responded. "That's what Booth drinks" Brennan responded smiling at him "I wonder how many other things you have in common?" At that moment Booth emerged from the kitchen.
He took a few steps into the room and stopped dead. The silence was only broken by the sound of Cordy and Brennan laughing out loud. Angel and Booth were standing about ten feet apart, hands on hips, fingers tucked into their belts of their black trousers and the exact same smoky blue shirt. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Booth exclaimed throwing his hands up into the air. Angels mouth had dropped open. He turned to Cordy and said "Cordy!" and then he looked down at his shirt and over at Booth and back at his shirt. Booth was beginning to unbutton his shirt. "That's it! I'm changing!" he stomped off into the bedroom throwing the shirt through the door in front of him. He emerged a few minutes later wearing a dark grey shirt. Angel stared at him and whispered to Cordelia "That's the shirt I WANTED to wear!" Cordy laughed out loud again and Angel frowned at her and hissed at her not to say anything. Cordy and Brennan collapsed onto the couch and were still laughing about the twin thing. Angel was slumped in one of the leather chairs sipping at his drink, trying not to look at Booth who was glaring at all three of them.
A timer went off in the kitchen and Brennan got up. "Well, saved by the bell it seems! I'll just be a moment. How about you three have a nice chat while I'm serving up dinner. Booth, you can manage that can't you? Please?" she pleaded with him. Booth watched her go into the kitchen and then turned back and stared at Angel and Cordy for a moment. He still got the heebee geebees when he looked at Angel. It was like looking in a mirror at times. He cleared his throat "So. How is the investigation business going?" he asked. Angel took a sip of his drink and looked at Cordy, who nodded and frowned at him, silently urging him to speak. He looked back at Booth and said "Good".
The ensuing silence was irritating Cordelia. "Oh for goodness sake! When are you two going to stop stalking around each other like you are waiting for the other one to attack! Can't you just talk to each other? Angel, stop acting all holier than thou and superior, and Booth! You act like Angel did this on purpose to spoil your day! Get over it! Both of you. You both exist. You both have a purpose. Work out what it is!" And with that she stood up and followed Brennan into the kitchen. Both men stared after her with their mouths slightly ajar, surprised by her outburst. Angel looked at Booth, his mouth kicking up at the side into an amused smirk. Booth mirrored his smile and commented "Feisty! I like her." Angel laughed "Try living with her!" Both men laughed, their voices blending in a melodic way. They clinked glasses and sat down. The tension finally seemed to have broken.
Cordy was peeking at the two men from around the kitchen door. She whispered to Brennan "I think they finally are talking". Brennan was serving up the stroganoff she had made onto large white plates. "Good. I'm so glad you came Cordy. I really am! We have so much to talk about, and its going to be so much easier now that the boys are not at each other's throats" Cordelia glanced back at her and smiled. Something in the room drew her attention back "Uh Oh. I may have spoken too soon!" The voices from the other room were raised and it sounded like they were having an argument. "Oh no! Well that lasted all of ten minutes, didn't it?" Brennan sighed as she carried plates to the dining table.
"No Way! Phillies all the way. You have no idea what you are talking about Angel. Seriously!" Booth was standing with Angel looking at some of the memorabilia. Angel was pointing to a baseball and laughing. "I remember when Micky Mantle was MVP and I met Babe Ruth several times. Yankees Booth, remember that name, Yankees" Angel placed his hand on Booths shoulder and patted it.
"You met Babe Ruth? Really? When?" Booths eyes were as large as baseballs by now and the two men were engrossed in Angels little trip down the baseball memory lane. Booth was completely mesmorised by his stories. "I hate to break up your little party boys. Dinner is ready" Brennan called out to them, relieved to see that there was no major fight going on. Angel and Booth reluctantly came over to the table and sat down. "Dinner smells great Temperance" Angel said, smiling at her. Cordelia came into the room carrying a bowl of salad and a large mug which she placed down in front of Angel. He smiled up at her and said "Thanks, but I think I might just have a small taste of this wonderful strog. It brings back memories of when I was travelling through Europe".
Brennan smiled at him and passed him a plate "I guess you really have had a lot of time to travel haven't you?" Angel smiled back at her. "Time is something that I've definitely had a lot of, and yes, I have travelled to many countries over the years. Some I have very fond memories of, some, not so much" he looked down at his plate, not wanting her to see the hurt in his eyes as he had a flash of a memory.
Booth picked up his glass and smiled at his guests. "Well, here's to a great meal, thankyou Bones. And to good conversation. I have to add I never, ever thought I would be sitting at my dinner table with a vampire, who is also my apparent twin! I guess there are things that we just cannot expect or explain." He raised his glass higher "Here's to the unexplainable" he toasted. "Inexplicable" Brennan added smiling holding up her glass to his. "Here's to the solving of our own mystery" Angel said, adding his glass. Cordy held up her glass and said "Cheers!" The foursome laughed and drank to their own good health and started dinner.
As he watched the others at the table Angels mind was ticking over, he was trying to decide if tonight was going to be the right time to talk about the prophecy. He sipped at his blood.
Booth forked a chunk of tender steak into his mouth and chewed slowly, looking around the table. He had decided that they were going to tell Angel and Cordy about the baby after dinner. He couldn't wait to see the look on their faces.
Cordelia ate her salad and smiled at Brennan over the table. She couldn't wait for Brennan to find out she was pregnant. She wanted to talk babies!
Brennan took a mouthful of mushrooms and felt her stomach lurch. "No!" She jumped up from the table and ran to the bathroom.
Booth grinned widely and started to laugh. He turned back to his guests. "Guess what?"
