A/N – Thanks to MickeyBoggs for checking this chapter over. And everyone who R&R'ed the last chapter.

Disclaimer – Not mine.

Enjoy


"I just don't get her, Max. Why she's acting this way?"

Booth stood at the coffee machine in the upstairs lounge of the lab and passed a coffee to the now well-recovered Max, finally back at work after his heart attack. "Should you even be drinking this?"

Max grinned. "I do a lot of things I ought not to. Look, here's the short of it. At the moment she's a raging bag of hormones. And Tempe will do many, many peculiar things. It just a byproduct of pregnancy." He set his coffee down and added far too much sugar. "Did I mention how thrilled I am about my new grandchild?"

"Several times." Booth smiled. "And I guess it's true, I found her purse in the refrigerator yesterday. And she offered me some lame excuse that made no sense at all."

"Give her time Booth. She'll come around."

He looked down at her working on the platform below. "I damned well hope so."

"Trust me," Max offered, standing beside him. "When am I ever wrong?"

*********

"Ahem"

Temperance looked up from the skeleton she was working on. Caroline Julian was stood - expectantly - at the foot of the steps.

"I have the paperwork you asked for."

"Oh that's wonderful Caroline." Temperance replied, walking down to take the document from her. "Wait, this is a marriage license." She looked up in horror.

"Yeah." Caroline nodded. "It's real effective for ensuring parental responsibility rights. And as long as you wed before the birth, there are no complications whatsoever."

"No."

"No?"

Temperance shook her head. "Booth and I aren't together that way."

"Have you considered that maybe you should be, Cherie? You got your little bun in the oven there. And it's gonna need its daddy around."

"Booth is going to be around," she argued. "But he accepts that I'm too independent to engage in a domesticated lifestyle."

"You're havin' a baby. Ain't nothin' independent 'bout that."

"I don't believe in marriage. It's an archaic institution."

"What a loada hooey!" The prosecutor placed her hands on her hips dismissively.

"No! Caroline," Temperance objected. "I need an alternative."

Caroline scowled at her. "Fine. But for the record," she added "You, missy, are a damned fool."

*************

"Excited?"

"Apprehensive." Temperance watched the other people in the waiting room with interest. Sitting directly across from herself and Booth were a younger couple, the guy had his arm wrapped around the woman protectively, as she toyed absently with her wedding ring. To their right was an older woman who sat alone. Temperance smiled at her apparent ease at being alone, confirming that not everyone needed to be as obvious as the young couple. Right on cue, a man came in and sat beside the lonely woman, handing her a bottle of water. Temperance sighed as she observed her thank him for the water and then kiss him lovingly.

"Well, I'm excited. And you should be too. We've been waiting all week for this."

"I'm concerned about what the obstetrician will conclude. I'm still not enamored with the idea of twins."

"Do you think we'll be able to hear a heartbeat?" Booth wondered out loud. "That would be great."

"I'm not sure. What was it like with Parker?"

"To be honest Rebecca never really brought me to any of these things. She always wanted to bring her Mom along instead of me."

"I'm sorry." She placed her hand on his knee in a gesture of comfort. "I guess you are relishing the opportunities here then?"

"Damned straight." Booth watched her with intrigue. "What's with all the fidgeting?"

"In order to produce the best scan image it is necessary that my bladder is full. If the image is poor they will likely send us away for an hour, with the instruction to consume more beverages." She sighed. "I really need to urinate quite badly."

"I have to learn not to keep asking questions," Booth mused. "I never like the answers too much."

The desk clerk looked across at them. "Ms. Brennan, you can go through now."

Booth helped her up and together they entered the room indicated. A younger woman smiled graciously at them. "Good morning. I'm Emma Bailey. I'll be conducting your scan today."

"Where is Dr Phil?" Temperance challenged. "I'm his patient."

Booth rolled his eyes at her over-familiarity with the obstetrician.

The sonographer nodded at Temperance's confusion. "Dr. Greene is indisposed at the moment. He's delivering triplets this morning."

"Whoo," Booth grinned. "Now that's a handful. Whaddya think Bones? Fancy three?"

Temperance scowled at him. "The statistical likelihood…"

"Forget I spoke," he interrupted quickly.

"Now," Emma began, tapping away at the machine. "If you want to wear a gown you can, but honestly it's as easy if you just going to push your top up, and your skirt and panties down a little so I have sufficient access to your abdomen. Although I will warn you, the jelly I use may feel a little cold against your skin."

"Okay," Temperance mumbled, climbing up onto the bed. Booth noticed she seemed uncharacteristically nervous.

"Hey," he reassured, reaching out to hold her hand. "Nothing to worry about."

As the sonographer spread the cold jelly around, she turned towards him and smiled. "I know. It's just…"

Her words went unspoken as the soft sound of a baby's heartbeat filled the room. Temperance felt her eyes welling up with tears as she absorbed the reality of the life growing inside her.

"Wow Bones!" Booth whispered, careful not to interrupt the amazing sound around them. "That's our baby."

"Yes. That… that is our baby." She looked at Emma. "The heart is beating so fast. Is that normal?"

"Completely. By all indications you have a strong healthy child in here."

"Did you say a, as in one?" Booth asked. "Because I kinda had myself convinced that there were twins in there."

Emma smiled. "No, just the one. You want to see?"

"Hell yes!" Booth exclaimed, letting go of Temperance's hand and moving around the bed.

She felt the loss immediately. Lay flat, her view of the screen was limited and she desperately wanted to see what Booth could. It felt strange, that while the focus was all on her, she felt detached from the situation, almost invisible in fact.

"… and here are the legs, and you can see the spine so clearly too…"

"Wow, I just can't believe what I'm seeing. This is just, it's a miracle. That two people can make something so tiny… Bones… you gotta believe that this is more than science? Tell me you can appreciate just how amazing this is? Bones?" As he turned to look at Temperance, her silent tears were falling steadily. "Hey, hey, what's the matter?"

An almighty sob erupted before she could speak. "I… I can't see…" she croaked, as another sob escaped. "…what you can, and I…"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize." Emma quickly angled the screen to give her a better view. "Is that okay now?"

"Mmm hmm" she whimpered as her tears persisted. "Ohh, that's… Oh Booth!"

He took her hand back in his and placed a chaste kiss on her temple as she watched the image on the screen intently.

Their picture of happiness was interrupted once more. "The dates you gave Dr. Greene are definitely wrong. You are further into your pregnancy than twelve weeks. At least sixteen to eighteen weeks, maybe more."

"So that last test before Jared's party must have been a false negative," Booth offered, thinking back to her strange behavior. "No wonder you started acting all freaky on me," he chided with a grin.

"But…" Temperance shook her head. "I still had my period. I went to see the doctor." She looked at Booth direct. "My usual physician, Dr. Martin. I was… concerned. I was vomiting, and losing weight, and my lymph nodes were swollen." She touched them tenderly as if to emphasize her point. "And my gums were bleeding incessantly."

"All early indicators of massive hormonal changes." Emma confirmed. "It's quite common for women to bleed after conception. Some continue having regular periods well into a pregnancy." Emma glanced down at her notes. "Would you excuse me a moment? I need to check a few details against your records."

As Emma left the room, Booth stroked her cheek with affection.

"I thought I was sick," Temperance offered.

Booth frowned "Sick? Like cancer or something."

She nodded, slowly. "I needed to know."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have been there." The hurt in his eyes was evident.

"I didn't want you or Parker to get too attached if...."

"Oh, Bones. You don't think maybe we were already attached?" Booth rested his forehead against hers. "Wait, he obviously gave you the all clear right? Or…"

"He said…" Her face creased in sorrow. "As we'd been trying for a baby, it was likely that I had conceived but subsequently miscarried."

"Is that why you broke it off between us?" Booth asked heartfelt.

Temperance swallowed her pride and confessed her foolhardy reasoning. "I thought if I couldn't carry a child full term that you might not want me."

Booth wrapped his arms around her, pulling Temperance up into a half-sitting position. She nuzzled into his chest, feeling safer and more secure than she had for a long time. "

"You received a misdiagnosis," Emma confirmed as she re-entered the room. "Although it's hardly surprising. I've seen a lot of this in the past couple of months, what with the Cantilever issues."

"Excuse me?" Temperance demanded, pulling out from Booth's grasp.

"Cantilever doesn't just produce your over-the-counter tests. They are also a primary supplier to many hospitals and clinics. There was a faulty batch produced. It was recalled. Didn't you read about it in the press?"

"I was in Peru."

"And I have no direct interest in a news story about pregnancy tests," Booth added casually.

"Well…" Emma shrugged. "I know a lot of women are suing the company."

Booth pulled her back to him. "Whaddya think Bones? You gonna sue Hodgins too?"

"You know the Hodgins family?" Emma laughed. "Awkward or what!"

"Just a little," Temperance answered thoughtfully.

"So, anyhow, as you're so far gone, do you want to know the sex?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Booth, why would you not want to know?" Temperance's eyes remained fixed on the monitor.

He shrugged. "I... just... it would be nice to be surprised, that's all."

"Oh." She turned back to Emma. "Well I would like to know."

"Perhaps you should discuss the issue a little longer with your husband," she suggested.

"He's not my husband."

"Your partner then." Emma stated.

"That either."

Booth frowned. "Well, that's not true. We are partners.

"Work partners, Booth. Our relationship goes no further than being colleagues."

"Obviously," Emma added, in bemusement. Booth still had his arms wrapped securely around her.

"You really still feel that's all we are?" he asked. "After everything?"

"Yes."

"Regardless." Their bickering was interrupted by Emma's firm tone. "This is an area of conflict between you. And it should be a mutual decision."

"I don't have your patience, Booth. I want to be able to plan and prepare," Temperance argued.

"But you weren't expecting to find out today. So how would it hurt to wait and think it over a few more weeks?" Booth looked at Emma. "We'll get another scan won't we?"

"Sure, probably another four weeks…"

"It's not an issue now anyway." Temperance's interruption was blunt.

"Wait." Booth narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean by that?"

Her eyes flashed knowingly. "I believe that I was able to assess the sex by the image on the screen."