The Progeny in the Parting
Chapter 36 - Au revoir
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Disclaimer: BONES; not mine.
A/N: Can I just say that I'm feeling a little sad that this story is coming to an end? When readers review and tell me that, I mutter to myself 'Moi aussi, Cheri!' (in a Caroline Julian drawl - because I'm a little bit 'in lurve' with her character...can you tell?) I'm not 'rushing' to finish this story, but I have closeted myself in my writing cupboard under the stairs to focus on getting the flow to the end in some sort of coherent order...hence the flurry of chapters!
Also, before you start this chapter, there was a problem loading the previous chapter yesterday, so if you didn't get alerted, you may have missed the small vignettes there.
May 17th 2011 - Indonesia
Waiting at the airport with the group of people that were a collection of new colleagues, friends, and even people that she considered as 'family'; Brennan gave a sad smile of remembrance of another airport parting just a year ago. The scientists, historians and roving amateur archaeology enthusiasts who had helped to shut down Maluku Project were in a jovial mood of relief and expectancy. Some, like Brennan, would be returning home, others were moving on to the next adventure, with a small remainder casting themselves onto a nomadic zephyr, surrendering to the winds of change.
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Ella Haynes had a tear-stained face and puffy eyes; the teenager had wept intermittently at times in the last few days at the prospect of saying farewell to her favourite little boy, Joey Booth. She was sat across from Brennan and Eileen with Joey on her lap, entertaining him with a string of antics designed to make him laugh as he chomped on a toy.
"Will Ella be okay?" asked Brennan slightly concerned at the outpouring of emotion of this morning. Every single person who had departed on their way to their next destination that morning had mentioned how much they would miss the simple joys of Joey, in addition to the standard expression 'it's been an honour/privilege etc., to work with you, Dr. Brennan'.
Eileen gave a sigh. "She's a teenager, Temperance, she'll survive," asserted her colleague pragmatically. "I've got to admit, I'm going to miss having a baby around...even though my eleven-year old 'baby' is waiting for me at home."
"Would you and Phil consider having more children?" asked Brennan.
"Nope. Too old, no energy...plus five is enough, don't you think?" replied Eileen with a laugh. "Plus one of my oldest two is bound to make us grandparents in the next ten years...not sure that Phil is looking forward to being called 'Pops' though."
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"Booth's grandfather is called Pops..." murmured Brennan, almost to herself.
"Did you get any sleep at all last night?" asked Eileen with a note of concern in her voice.
"Perhaps five hours in total," replied Brennan. "I am very much looking forward to arriving home."
Eileen gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I know that feeling. It's great that you can afford the First Class ticket, they should take care of you..."
"I know," said Brennan. "The cabin staff can be almost too helpful."
"Well, let them look after you," advised Eileen. "Travelling with a baby is hard work, even a well-behaved little guy like Joey."
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Brennan considered the advice in silence as she took a drink from her water bottle.
"You've lost weight again, Temperance," observed Eileen. "You're not going to be able to get pregnant again if you're underweight."
"I've never stated any definite intent to have more children, Eileen," said Brennan dryly.
"When your friend Angela announces her pregnancy, you and Booth will be rushing to get horizontal and procreative again," said Eileen with a chuckle.
"Angela is pregnant?" asked Brennan, her brows raised in surprise. "She told you?"
Eileen shook her head in mock disappointment. "You should hand back one of your PhD's, Temperance. On that Skype call that she made from your apartment the other day, when she was avoiding showing you the nursery decorations by showing us the items that she wanted to 'borrow' from your wardrobe...her gait and the position of her ilia screamed early pregnancy. Sorry if I ruined the surprise."
"No apology necessary," replied Brennan. "I'm sure I would have noticed if I hadn't been trying to convince Angela to show me the nursery."
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"You're still wearing your ring," said Eileen, mentioning the fact, as she did from time to time; giving a fond smile as Ella dissolved into laughter at Joey chortling with baby giggles. "How's that 'traditional symbol of commitment' sitting with you now you'll be heading back to get on with the rest of your life?"
"I don't need the ring, Eileen. I have my son. When I look at him, I see his father...Joey is a living symbol of what we have together," she replied.
The older woman gave a nod of her head and smiled. "Good answer. So are you going to take the ring off then? It would make a nice farewell gift if you wanted to give it to me..."
Brennan covered her left hand with her right reflexively. Eileen laughed loudly.
"So it 'does' mean something to you..." teased Eileen. "Are you going to reject the null hypothesis and accept my theory here, or do we have to thrash it out via the editorial letters in my forthcoming journal publication?"
"The ring suits my hand...Booth would be upset if I gave it away...and it does hold meaning. I am still undecided as to whether it 'means' that I have enough reasons to marry him is all," said Brennan with an evasive smile.
"You're tying yourself up in a Gordian knot of logic there, Temperance. If that beautiful child over there isn't enough of a reason, then how many more reasons does Booth need to give you?" asked Eileen. "And by 'reasons', I mean children..." she added with a snort of laughter.
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"I take your point, Eileen, but our lives will be busy enough without adding more children into the equation," rationalised Brennan.
Eileen rolled her eyes heavenward. "That's why the roles of Housekeeper and Nanny were invented. You're a wealthy woman for Christ's sake, one who has finally allowed herself to experience the joys of parenthood...and I can see that you get a real kick out of it; so do what you have to, get the best of both worlds...be everything that you want to be. It's only money."
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A heavily accented voice announced in English that the flight to Seoul was in the final stages of boarding. Ella burst into tears and Joey pouted, looking as if he might too. Eileen quickly made her way over and indicated that Ella should hand Joey to her. The baby brightened considerably at Eileen's wide grin and open arms, he put his chubby arms out and was swept up. Brennan put her water bottle in to her carry-on bag and approached Ella, holding out an arm.
"Walk with me to the gate, Ella?" asked Brennan with a smile. She had become inordinately fond of Eileen's middle child, as had Joey. The teenager stood mutely, glancing at her mother before looping an arm through Brennan's.
They walked in silence for perhaps fifty feet before Brennan spoke again. "You can come and visit us. I spoke with your Mom about it, you could come to DC next Christmas, it will be snowing..."
"Really?" asked Ella sniffling.
"Yes. Even Booth agreed that you should come for Joey's first Christmas," added Brennan with a smile.
"He did?" Ella said brightening.
"He did. Booth loves Christmas, he goes out with Parker and selects a Christmas tree, he likes to make snowmen...he's like a big kid really..." said Brennan as they approached the gate.
"Well, I suppose I'll have to see how the rest of my studies go this year," said Ella sensibly.
"Your Mom assures me that you will do very well," reassured Brennan. From her own observations, the teenager was clearly gifted.
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"Time for goodbye hugs!" announced Ella brightly, with tears in her eyes; she gave Brennan a brief hug. She then took Joey from Eileen for a final hug and kiss.
Eileen embraced Brennan; they exchanged final thanks and goodbyes.
"We shouldn't say goodbye, we should say 'au revoir', until we meet again", said Brennan as she gathered her squirming son into her arms and presented her boarding passes at the gate.
"Au revoir it is, my dear friend," said Eileen. "Remember, I want a wedding invitation..." she added.
Brennan laughed and turned to take the first steps toward home..
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The flight to Seoul was just under eight hours in duration. First class was empty except for Brennan, Joey and one other passenger. The baby tolerated take off remarkably well, became mildly unsettled for half an hour before he calmed down enough to take a little rice cereal. A quick trip to the bathroom for a diaper change, then being wrapped up securely and offered a feed seemed to do the trick. He fell asleep, so Brennan decided to recline her seat into a bed and snuggle up with him while she had the chance. Five hours later she awoke with a start, finding Joey still asleep, but wriggling slightly in a baby dream; his arms had escaped from his light blanket and were thrown back over above his head.
The cabin attendant noticed her passenger awakening and offered refreshments and even took the sleeping child in her arms while Brennan freshened up in the bathroom afterward. When she emerged, her son was stirring and obviously hungry again; he latched on as if he'd been fasting all day. By the time he'd had his fill, it was time to prepare for landing, so he was sat up on her lap again only half-winded when they touched down in Seoul; Joey promptly vomited all over her pants while the aircraft was taxi-ing to the terminal. She wiped them both down as best she could and told him that he could save the next one for his father, as she kissed him fondly. Joey offered up his hand for a raspberry to be blown on it, a game which lasted until the seatbelt sign was turned off. Donning her baby sling, she placed the wriggling boy inside and prepared to exit the aircraft. An airline staff member was waiting for her at the arrival gate with a golf buggy to take her across the terminal to meet her next flight...this one was almost fourteen hours in duration, but she would be back in D.C. by the end of it.
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May 18th 2011 – International Airspace
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The flight from Seoul to Washington D.C. couldn't have been more different. For starters, the flight was jam packed full. Then the man in the seat next to her made objections to her breastfeeding on the flight, which almost escalated into a knock-down drag out fight as the Cabin Attendant tried to reason with them both. Brennan fervently wished that someone with a badge, a gun and a Cocky belt buckle were around to stage an Alpha-male intervention.
Finally, with Joey becoming unsettled, the staff moved the man to another seat, a tiny Korean business-woman kindly agreeing to swap seats. Brennan didn't speak Korean, but they managed to establish with a little pidgin English and translation from the Cabin Attendant, they established that Mrs. Shu had four children of her own and thought that the complaining man was a regressive pig (the translation made her name calling appear tame, but it was actually more colourful in Korean).
But by that time, the damage was done. Poor Joey, now hungry and unsettled by his Mother's anger toward the rude man, took the opportunity to exercise his baby lungs and vocal cords for five long minutes that seemed like an hour to Brennan. When she finally got him calm enough to attempt to feed he kept falling asleep at her breast exhausted, napping for a few minutes, and then becoming grouchy when she tried to keep him awake. After almost an hour of this insanity, she took his pacifier from her bag and somehow managed to get him to fall asleep on her shoulder. Murphy's Law of parenting kicked in at that point, he wouldn't stay asleep unless he stayed on her shoulder; so two hours was spent holding Joey for the price of him getting some rest. Lunch was served during this time, Brennan just picked at it listlessly; the progress of the flight shown on the wall screen at the front of the cabin appeared to hover stubbornly around the halfway mark between the departure and arrival markers on the map.
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When Joey Booth finally awoke, he was his usual jovial-baby self, whereas Brennan felt wrung out and unaccountably impatient. It was 3:00 p.m. D.C. time, but the early hours of the morning in Indonesia. Not content to snuggle with his Mommy as they usually would when he woke in the night, her son took a shine to the diminutive Mrs. Shu, clearly fascinated by her exotic looks and the shiny rhinestones on her spectacles. The Korean woman asked, using their mixture of gestures and truncated English if Joey could sit on her lap for a while...he was already making his own preferences clear by leaning over the console that separated their seats and Brennan's arm, to try and grasp at the sleeve of Mrs. Shu's attractive bright red silk blouse. Capitulating, Brennan handed over her son, receiving a gummy cocky smile of thanks when he finally sat facing her from his new perch on Mrs. Shu's lap. Taking the opportunity presented by her son's temporary defection, Brennan pulled out her laptop and checked her e-mail.
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Sure enough, Booth had sent her a message a couple of hours previously, reporting that the second leg of his journey had been delayed by some technicality; apparently regulations dictated a minimum number of hours between flights for pilots; which translated to four hours of kicking around in a grotty recreation room, which only had a pool table for entertainment. He assured her that he wasn't planning on playing, getting horizontal for a couple of hours was highest on his agenda - plus the pool table had a subtle dip to the left bottom corner pocket that was going to throw the game in any case.
She sent him back a brief message, reporting that she was tired and that Joey was wide awake, trying out his charm skills on a small Korean lady. His son hadn't quite mastered the charm smile yet, but she anticipated that Joey could learn from the Master - starting the day after tomorrow at the coffee cart. Somehow, she dozed off to Joey's happy pre-verbal sounds in reaction to what was clearly a children's story in Korean from Mrs. Shu.
When she awoke, another three hours had passed, Joey was sprawled on his belly across an airline miniature pillow that had been placed on Mrs. Shu's lap, and she was patting his diaper-clad butt absently as she watched something on her video screen. Brennan mimed that she was getting up to go to the bathroom; the Korean lady gave her a cosmetically whitened toothy smile.
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Stood in the First Class bathroom, Brennan looked at her own reflection in the mirror, almost not recognising the woman that she saw there. Sure, she was dressed as if she'd just been dragged out of the jungle...most return trips from her digs and Anthropological excursions were made in this kind of attire. But the modern lighting, and the Western standard of bathroom facilities exposed a difference, a set of differences actually. She looked tired, not just because she had slept for a few hours, but because she had been Hell-bent on being a sole carer to a small human...her very own small human, for four and a half months. Her skin tone and turgor told her that she was dehydrated, something that she had battled with when returning to the very humid Maluku while breastfeeding. Her eyes conveyed a message to herself, no matter how much she tried to adjust her gaze to that of blank scientific appraisal...the marks of this experience, this time away, this journey of discovery to live with the simple joys of humanity. What had marked her so? Motherhood? Love? Solitude? Or had the marks been there all along, just covered over or buried under something.
Angela had offered to stay with her for a couple of nights after picking her up from the airport, Brennan decided that the arrangement would work out well for both of them. Since Angela and Hodgins had returned from Paris, they had spoken every day; given the keen observation of Dr. Eileen Haynes, Brennan realised that in some way, her best friend was reaching out for the support of a maternal role model in the early stages of her own pregnancy. Booth would coin the phrase 'pay it forward', something which she could now fully appreciate. She looked down at her hands as she washed them in the sink, the rings slightly looser than they should be under the influences of dehydration and weight loss. Giving her reflection one final glance, she returned to her seat. Joey cracked an eye open from his comfortable resting place as she sat down again; satisfied that his Mommy was still there, he returned to his peaceful slumber.
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May 18th 2011, Washington D.C. – 11:00 p.m.
Angela Montenegro-Hodgins grabbed her husband's hand and squeezed it for the fifth time in as many minutes. They were waiting at the arrival gate, Bren's flight had landed twenty minutes prior and the Artist was getting more impatient by the second.
"Did I mention how exciting finally getting to meet this little guy is going to be?" she said to Hodgins.
"Only two or three...hundred times, Ange," he replied in a sardonic tone, with a grin added for good measure. "Stay calm, baby...for our baby's sake, if not for mine."
Angela raised a brow at her husband and assumed a pose of beatific calm and returned to watching those arriving through the gate. Thirty seconds later the calm was shattered by a rapid-fire outburst of "Oh-My-God!"
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Pushing a trolley full of bags and boxes, laden with a lemon-coloured cotton baby sling over one shoulder, her friend appeared. She yanked Hodgins forward by the arm, rushing forward regardless of others milling about in their path to greet the arrivals.
Brief greetings and fond kisses were exchanged as they moved with the flow of foot traffic until they cleared the main crowd of humanity gathered around the gate area. Stopping for a few moments near a car rental stand, Brennan found herself pulled into a massive hug.
"Am I glad to see you, Bren! I think I missed you more this last week than any other time over this past year," exclaimed Angela. "Now hand over that baby, because Hodgins wants a hug from you," she demanded.
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Brennan gave a snort of laughter at her clear manipulation of the situation and was joined by Hodgins who shook his head as he chuckled.
"Very well...but his name is Joey, not 'that baby'," said Brennan as she extracted her bemused son from the sling. He blinked at the bright lights and noise and looked to her for reassurance. Placing a kiss on the tip of his baby nose, she passed him to Angela who gave a gasp of amazement.
"Aww! You are just...gorgeous, you little thing...mmhwah!" said Angela to Joey as she planted a kiss on his chubby cheek. Joey gave her his best gummy cocky grin and let out a loud belch. Angela reacted as if he'd quoted Shakespeare at her. "Thank you, Sweetie! Aunty Angela loves you too..."
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Brennan shook her head in amusement and held her arms open to give Jack Hodgins a hug.
"Welcome home, Dr. B!" he said as he hugged her tight.
"Thanks, Hodgins. It's good to be back," she replied, hugging back.
Angela initiated something that amused Joey immensely, because he wriggled and chortled in response. "Phew-ee, Joey Booth, you are ripe, Mister!," complained Angela, wrinkling up her nose. "It smells like a job for Uncle Hodgie..." she announced, passing the baby to Hodgins. Joey's face took on a guarded look, which dissolved into a wail of protest at the unfamiliar bright blue eyes and facial hair.
Brennan intervened. "It is probably a job for Mommy," she asserted, taking Joey. "At least until he becomes accustomed to all the new faces...besides, I imagine that the two of you would benefit from some practice," she added, glancing meaningfully at Angela's pelvic region.
Angela placed a hand on her hip, looking seriously miffed. "Aww, c'mon Brennan! I wore a dress to hide my iliac crests from you, and you can still tell?"
"You can't hide your gait, Angela...although I'll admit that Eileen was the one to spot it on our last Skype call when you were raiding my wardrobe," said Brennan with a smile, as she juggled Joey up onto her shoulder and took her baby bag off the trolley.
Hodgins harrumphed good-naturedly. "Typical Aussies, always trying to steal everyone's thunder!" he said.
"Hey!" said Angela. "Don't be hating on Aussies...Joey here is technically one."
Brennan laughed. "That's what Booth says too, but in actual fact, Joey is not an Australian Citizen, different laws apply. We need to find a change facility..." she muttered looking around.
May 19th 2011 – Washington D.C.
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The car ride home to Brennan's apartment had mainly consisted of Angela talking ten to the dozen about everything and nothing. Amongst other things, she was apparently ten weeks into her pregnancy, but had only known about it for ten days, having missed signs and symptoms, along with her period, during the move back from France. Angela was also glad that Brennan actually wanted her to stay over for the first couple of nights, admitting that she'd anticipated having to put up a fight to make it happen.
When they finally reached the door of her apartment at around midnight, Angela was in the process of extracting the keys from the bag she was carrying, when the door was flung open by none other than Max Keenan, who threw his arms wide and announced, "Here's Grandpa!"
Joey was still strapped into his car seat and had fallen asleep, as babies do in moving vehicles, but his eyes popped open at the booming welcome.
Max stood back and let everyone in. Glancing down into the car seat, he said, "Hey! The little guy is awake!"
Brennan placed her shoulder bag on the back of a nearby chair and rolled her eyes at Max. "He is now," she commented dryly.
"Come on, sit down, relax; I've put on a pot of coffee...decaf, and I got some Snickerdoodles..." said Max with a big grin on his face.
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Brennan took a seat on her couch, placing the car seat on the floor between her legs and began removing the restraints. "I'm too tired to eat, Dad," she said with a sigh.
"Is that your excuse, Honey?" said Max folding his arms. "That explains the waif look that you're sporting...you're skin and bone!"
"Okay, okay!" she replied sitting Joey on her lap. "One cookie..."
"Two," countered Max.
"Dad!" she warned. "Here, come and say hello to your grandson..." she evaded.
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Angela wandered into the kitchen. "Mmm! Snickerdoodles...I haven't had one of those in like...forever," she said, rubbing her hands together and starting to salivate.
Max picked up Joey and gave him a raspberry on his cheek. Joey grabbed a fistful of his grandpa's forelock, showing that he could already hold his own against the baddest guy in the room.
"Hey! No more than two for you, Angela," said Max. "You may be eating for two, but you should lay off the sugar."
Angela threw her hands in the air. "What is this, like some sort of psychic ability that your family has?" she said to Max and Brennan.
Finally managing to free his thinning hair from the grip of Joey, Max gave a laugh and bounced the baby on his lap. "No. You've been here decorating the nursery for the past week, stealing my all of my Reece's Peanut Butter Cups and rubbing your belly like crazy." He gave Joey an extra high bounce, extracting a squeal of delight, before asking Joey, "...the only question is now, when are your Mommy and Daddy going to make you a baby brother or sister, huh?"
Brennan made a derisive noise and elbowed her father. "Just because I plan on having sex tomorrow doesn't mean that I'm planning another pregnancy! Besides, my menstrual cycle hasn't re-established because of the prolactin levels produced by my breastfeeding."
Max gave a chuckle. "That's probably just because you're too damned thin Tempe!"
Angela brought over the plate of cookies and a cup of coffee. "Here, Brennan. Eat up, these Snickerdoodles are amazing!"
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Max and Hodgins had departed before it got too late. It was after 1:00 a.m., so Brennan and Angela hung out on her bed for the night, moving the portable cot in from the hallway where it sat with the luggage. Apparently Parker had helped Angela decorate the nursery on the weekend, so there would be an 'official unveiling' at a party that had been arranged on the following evening. Brennan was aware of this, but it was going to be a surprise for Booth. Angela had cooked up and sold the plot to both Brennan and Rebecca when she'd asked if Parker could help decorate Joey's nursery.
After feeding and changing a worn out, time-zone challenged baby boy. Angela barely had time to make a crack to Brennan about Joey returning to his 'point of origin' on her bed, while she snuggled the sleepy baby.
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The rest of the twenty-four hour period was just spent adjusting, in a loose cycle of eating, sleeping, resting, and talking. Max visited again, as did Hodgins, but everyone else was staying away until the day that Booth returned. Having stayed up as long as possible during the D.C. daytime, Brennan again fell into an exhausted slumber at around midnight.
May 20th 2011 – Washington D.C
When Angela awoke at 5:00 a.m., Brennan was sat up against her headboard, feeding Joey and texting with one hand, wearing a big smile. Feeling a wave of nausea overwhelm her, the Artist rolled off Brennan's bed and staggered to the bathroom, where she began retching.
Brennan gave a small smile in the direction of the bathroom and stroked Joey's wavy hair. Her phone buzzed with a message and she smiled when she read it.
"Your Daddy is home!" she whispered to the baby, who stopped suckling for a moment, then appeared to think better of being distracted and carried on.
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She pressed the long unused speed-dial to Booth's personal cell phone and waited for the call to connect.
"Good morning," she said.
"Hey, Bones. I am 'back' baby!" he crowed into his cell phone.
"What time do I come and get you?" she asked, her voice loaded with innuendo.
"Ha! I wish," he replied. "Morning debrief, shower, shave, change, head to The Mall. How about 1900 Zulu...I mean two p.m.?" he asked.
"Sure," she said. "Hopefully Joey will nap and be awake when we get there."
"Aw, poor little guy, why don't ask Angela or Max to watch him while you come down to the coffee cart?" he asked.
"I'm not leaving Joey," she said firmly. "He only gets to be alone with you, or me for now."
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"Okay, fine. Bring the 'Australian Guy', get all in my face about how much you love him. I can take it..." said Booth with a laugh.
"You'll be in uniform?" she asked, laughing.
"Regulations, Ma'am," he teased.
"Excellent..." she drawled seductively.
"Geez, Temperance...will you cut that phone sex voice out, I've got to be front and centre for a 'rent a crowd' briefing in less than an hour!" he reprimanded her.
"This isn't phone sex..." complained Brennan. "There's a baby attached to my breast!"
"Great...now I'm gonna be thinking about your breasts all fucking morning...er, sorry about the potty mouth there, Bones," he said. "I've got to double-time it, so I'll see you at two, okay?"
"See you at two," she said with a grin.
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"Wow, hot and heavy with the phone sex already...nice..." drawled Angela, who look a little pale and drawn.
"Are you feeling okay?" asked Brennan.
"I'm kind of getting used to it," mused Angela. "But that last Snickerdoodle that I ate at three a.m., was a seriously bad idea."
Later that afternoon
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She reached The Mall with time to spare. With her heart in her mouth she parked her Prius, calmly unstrapped Joey and lifted him out of the baby seat. He was wearing a new outfit from Aunty Angela, was freshly bathed, and had a full stomach.
"No vomiting on us, Mister...are we clear?" she said to the smiling baby, who took the opportunity to let out a wet sounding burp, but fortunately didn't follow through. He was placed into his baby sling and Brennan decided to take a walk around the monuments on the way to the coffee cart to pass the time. The day was warm for D.C. at this time of year, but was much cooler than the humid climate of Maluku, so she had a pashmina scarf draped around her neck to protect Joey from the breeze that created ripples across the Reflecting Pond.
At five minutes before two p.m., she spotted him at the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial steps. Dressed in his Class A's, proud and polished, she felt a wave of attraction wash over her.
They had come full circle.
It was her move.
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A/N: Well, here we are...back at the start. Whoa! Next chapter is not far away, so I'd be interested to hear the feedback on this one.