A/N - I am so sorry for making you wait this long. I hope I still have a few readers remaining.

Honestly, I have been a little stumped as far as which way to go. I have an overall story line, but the in betweens and timings have started to catch up with me a little. Plus, it's been very busy lately with lesson planning and a new puppy that Santa brought. I have to share -- her name is Bones. It's actually Poly (meaning many) Bones.

Anyway, enough about me. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's short and I am working on what should belong in this chapter, but wanted to get something up for you and get this thing rolling again. Please let me know what you think or at least that you are still interested in reading.

Disclaimer - I don't own Bones or any of the characters.

Chapter 38

Brennan had managed to set her alarm clock before collapsing onto her bed after her night out with Booth. She woke when the obnoxious electronic gadget went off. It filled her room with happy music that she was pretty sure no one wanted to hear at 5:30 on a Saturday morning but it was better than the blarring buzz that was her other option. 'I need to get an alarm I can hook my IPOD to,' she thought. 'That way, I can wake up with the Tibetian Throat Singers.'

She was surprised when she went to move and found her ankle in the cooling unit once again. 'Booth,' she thought. She didn't recall him coming into her bedroom after she collapsed. He must have come in because she had left the unit in the living room the night before after she used the electrotherapy machine.

When she rolled over and out of her warm, comfortable position under her covers, she moaned, audibly. The morning greeted her with the after effect of the previous night – an achy body. For a few minutes, she thought about rolling back over and sleeping until her back and arms no longer ached, but she chose otherwise. She was stronger than a few muscle aches that resulted from the overuse of certain muscle groups. Besides, she would have to start using the muscles eventually and she might as well push through the pain way, hopefully Monday would be easier for her when she finally got back to work.

She got out of the bed, grabbed her crutches and made her way into her bathroom. She turned on the faucet as hot as she could get it and awkwardly climbed into the tub. Learning to bathe with a huge cast on her foot was tricky, but he had figured it out. She was, however, thankful for the spray head that she had on her tub that she could remove and use. She was also thankful for a bath tub that had a large, flat rim. It made climbing in and out without putting any weight on her foot much easier.

She silently wondered if she would be able to put any weight on it if she tried. Her curiosity as to the state of her ankle was trying to get the best of her, but she opted not to try. Part of her was aware of the potention of making the pins shift. The other, non rational, part of her knew it would hurt like hell if she tried.

She spent a few minutes reveling in the warmth of the water and the relief it brought to her aching muscles. She finished up, got dressed and ready, and made her way into the kitchen to find an already ready Booth. "What time do you get up anyway?" She asked. She was surprised that he was such a morning person. He always managed to wake before her in the morning even when they were out of town.

"Oh, I was up before 5:00 and went for a short run. It doesn't take me long to get ready. You know, guys don't require that much maintenance like you women." He smiled as he talked.

She laughed and took a seat beside him on the stool at the counter. "Oh, really. Is that why you have the extra large container of hair gel in my spare bathroom?" She was clearly trying to start something. "You actually use the same brand as Angela."

The million dollar smile fell off his face. He was stunned that she had noticed his hair care products. He didn't want to give her any more ammunition, so he quickly changed the subject. "You want some coffee?" He asked.

"Please, and could you hand me that bottle of Advil out of the cabinet?" She said.

He nodded and gave her the bottle and a bottle of water he pulled out of the fridge. She downed a few pills just in time for him to slide a steaming hot cup of coffee in front of her.

Booth didn't comment on the medicine, but needed to get an update on how she was feeling. "So, how's the leg? Feeling better?" He could come up with more questions, but figured those two would work for now.

She thought for a second and managed to develop a good answer. "I'm sure it's healing satisfactorily. I really can't attest to the improvements I'm seeing until I have the cast removed to check the range of motion. The swelling is still persistent, but based on what Jameson and Marc have said, I will have issues with swelling for a few months. I'm not concerned about that."

Booth smiled at her attempted evasion of the question. He met her eyes and said, "Still hurts like hell, doesn't it?"

She lowered the coffee cup she had raised very close to her mouth. She gave him a very puzzled expression and thought to herself, 'one of these days I'll figure out what it is that I do to help him read all my thoughts.' She took a deep breath, sighed, and gave him a simple, single nod.

He nodded back at her and briefly considered telling her that he could just bring her home after therapy and breakfast, but knew that she would never do that. She was committed and wanted to help with Parker's project. He did, however, have a possible option for her.

"You know, Bones, I could go get all of the stuff and bring it here. We could work on Parker's project here and you could rest better and be more comfortable." He gave her a grin and hoped she might accept the offer.

She half rolled her eyes and answered quickly. "No, Booth, I'll be fine and I have so much to work with at the lab that it would be irrational to try to do the project here. I had planned on us working in Zack's old ookey room. I also thought that once we finish the project, I might take Parker over to the museum proper and get some of the people from the giant squid exhibit to take him behind the scenes for a little while. He can't do that at my apartment." She looked at the clock and saw that it was 7:05. She had to be at therapy in less than 30 minutes, so she began to work on putting her coat on.

Booth was almost speechless. Had his Bones actually made plans for the day with Parker? He knew she was great to him and it touched his heart to think that she wanted to have a great day planned for him. "Bones," he said. "I'm sure he would love that more than anything." His smile grew wider and wider by the second.

"I thought he might like it." Brennan said in response to Booth's excitement. "I also called Naomi in Paleontology. You remember her right?" She was gathering up a couple of things to get ready to leave.

Booth rolled his eyes. "How could I forget the other half of the cow with udders the size of my car?" The thought made Booth laugh and want to cry at the same time. He hated how Zack had chosen the wrong path. He knew he could have done something to stop him. He always told Brennan that there was no way they (any of them) could have stopped it, but if he had stopped him from going to Iraq the first time, none of this would have come to be. He had failed to protect his Bones from another betrayal. He could never forgive himself for that.

"Anyway," said Brennan. "I called her and she said they had some new Edmontonia fossils to arrive this week and she's working to go through them and catalog them all. She'll be there all day today and she said Parker could watch. They also have some soil samples that they've already sifted through but they left some of the smaller, less rare fossils in the soil. She said Parker could use all of their equipment to go through them and find some fossils to take home."

By the end of her explanation, she had gathered all of her belongings and was working to get her messenger bag over her shoulder. Booth quickly grabbed her bag and gave her a big smile as they headed out the front door. He held the door for her and then picked up the army green duffle sitting by the door. It obviously contained all of the belongings he had accumulated at her apartment since he had been staying there.

Brennan allowed her eyes to focus on the bag and the realization hit her. She would be alone in her apartment again tonight. She would be fine, physically, but she didn't want him to leave. Rationally, she knew he had to leave sometime, but she wasn't ready for that to happen.

They made their way, in silence, to the SUV and quickly drove to the physical therapy office / gym. "Bones, it's a couple of minutes early, but will that be okay? I don't want to make Rebecca mad by making her late or something." Booth spoke as he was pulling up under the covered drive at the entrance to the building.

Brennan felt compassion for Booth as he spoke. She knew he walked on eggshells with Rebecca about Parker. She always wondered why he didn't go through the court system and get legal custody rights, but she figured that he didn't want to do that. He wanted everyone to be happy, including the mother of his child. She finally answered his question as he was grabbing her crutches out of the back seat of the SUV. "Sure, Booth, that will be fine. If Marc is there already, we can probably go ahead and start. It's only 10 minutes early anyway."

Booth grinned. "Thanks, Bones. Parker and I will be back to get you shortly and we'll go get some breakfast. Parker will probably be ready to eat his own hand by then. That boy has a stomach the size of a sumo wrestler."

Brennan laughed audibly at the comment. "I wonder where he got that one from, Booth?"

Booth shot her a very crooked smile at the statement. "Oh, come on Bones. We Booth boys just appreciate great cooking."

She laughed again and walked passed him to go into the building. As she did, she used the back side of her hand to pop him in the stomach. "Good thing you work out. All that pie would make that abdomen of yours quite pliable otherwise. I'd say you are adequately pairing your caloric intake with your exercise regimen thus resulting in a lean, well proportioned body."

She didn't look back and made her way into the building. Booth was forced to pick his mouth up from the concrete drive. 'I think Bones just told me I was hot in squitonics. . . and she didn't even take a narcotic this morning.' He shook his head to clear his thoughts, checked his watch and jumped back into the car to go pick up Parker. He had already decided that it was going to be a great day.