CHAPTER 51. Clipboards & Spaghetti
Love is not written on paper, for paper can be erased. Nor is it etched on stone, for stone can be broken. But it is inscribed on a heart and there it shall remain forever.
- Anon
Brennan stood over the Moses basket and smiled. She looked at the sleeping child and sighed at how peaceful it looked.
Angela came up behind Brennan and laughed. "Sweetie, if you continue to stare at my son like that he's going to think his Auntie Tempe is crazy," Angela chuckled, hugging her friend's shoulder to her body.
Angela had given birth two days after Christmas, and she was just beginning to work part-time at the lab again after two months off.
Rowan Ashton Hodgins was a chubby little bubble of laughs and smiles. Brennan loved to come and watch him when she had time on her hands, as Violet now went to daycare when Booth and Brennan were at work.
"Sorry, Ange, it's just that he looks so innocent as he lies there. I've been studying the tibia of the skeleton I'm examining in Limbo for so long that my eyes couldn't focus any more. I was just taking a little break," Brennan defended.
"Bren, you shouldn't work so hard! You're only human; no-one will think any less of you for taking time off. You're pregnant, sweetie, we expect it," Angela informed her.
"I'm fine, Angela. I didn't stop working when I had Violet, and I'm not stopping now," Brennan asserted.
Angela held her hands up in defeat and Brennan smiled at her victoriously, picking up her clipboard and making her way back down to Limbo.
Booth came up behind her as she leaned over the remains, covering her eyes with his fingers.
"Guess who?" he asked cheerfully. She sighed, pausing in the middle of her notation and turning in Booth's arms. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Booth, you are aware that such a game never works, right? It is very easy for me to recognise your voice; therefore the moment you speak you give yourself away. It is a pointless exercise," she frowned.
Booth rolled his eyes. "Well anyway, I came here to see what you were up to. Angela's worried about you and so am I. I don't want you pushing yourself so hard, Bones, it isn't good for our baby," he grumbled.
She narrowed her eyes and stuck her hands on her hips. She didn't like the idea that her husband and her best friend were conversing about her abilities behind her back.
"Booth, I am perfectly fine," she muttered, folding her arms across her chest, "don't tell me what I can and can't do. You aren't the one who has to carry around our child for nine months, enduring the horrible side effects of being pregnant."
"No, but I do have to endure the horrible side effects of you being pregnant," he smirked, pressing the end of her nose with his thumb.
Brennan groaned and returned to examining the remains, jotting down the measurements of each bone as she calculated the dimensions.
"I know it's hard, Bones, and I'm trying my best to help, I really am. I just don't know how I can do that without being under your feet all the time," he sighed.
She frowned. "I don't know what that means," she mumbled.
"I mean I don't know how I can help out without constantly getting in the way," Booth explained patiently.
Brennan shook her head and chuckled. "Were you this annoying when Rebecca was pregnant?" she teased.
Booth rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and looked down at the floor. "Well, she wouldn't let me be around much, so I didn't really get a chance to be, I suppose," he admitted.
"Well you and Ange don't need to harass and lecture me so much. I'm a big girl, Booth," Brennan protested.
"I know you are, Tempe, but sometimes you refuse to acknowledge what would clearly be in your best interest," Booth sighed.
Brennan was starting to get irritated with him. "And I suppose you know what's in my best interest better than I do, right?" she snapped.
"Bones, I'm only trying to help. It's just that sometimes I think you lose sight of what might be in the best interest of our baby too," he said, trying to remain collected.
"What? Are you accusing me of putting my own needs above our child's? I would never do that, Booth! How dare you!" she screamed fiercely, "I thought you of all people would know me better than that." Tears sprung to her eyes at the suggestion. Did Booth really think that little of her?
"Temperance, it's okay. I didn't mean it like that; I couldn't ask for a better mother to my children. I just meant that occasionally you get a little swept up in a task, and don't necessarily realise how long you've been working for," he explained.
"Seeley Booth, you are an overbearing alpha-male," she smirked.
"Sometimes I think I was crazy to marry you. Maybe Rebecca had the right idea," she teased.
The look of pain that she registered in his eyes said everything that he couldn't bring himself to respond with. She had intended it as a joke, but she instantly knew she had crossed a line.
"Oh god, Seeley, I didn't mean…" she started, but the rest of her sentence was lost as he turned and exited the room.
She trailed after him, her heart pumping ferociously. "Booth, please," she begged; tears now falling down her face from pure fear, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please don't leave."
He stopped in his tracks as the last words slipped out of her mouth and he swivelled around to face her.
"I'll never leave, Tempe. I just need some space to clear my head. I'll be home later," he promised, and with that he rotated, heading to the car.
Brennan picked Violet up from daycare and collected Parker from school on her way back, as always. Booth wasn't yet home when they arrived and Brennan was growing increasingly anxious.
When dinnertime rolled around, Parker was suspicious.
"Mommy, where is daddy? Is he not eating with us?" he questioned, his face sunken with a frown.
Brennan stroked his head softly. "I'm not sure where his is, Park," she answered honestly, "I'm sure he'll be here as soon as he can." This seemed to satisfy him and he returned to wolfing down his spaghetti.
Brennan heard the front door opening as she put Parker to bed. She kissed his forehead and pulled the door closed behind her, quietly descending the stairs.
Booth was sat at the breakfast bar, cupping a mug of tea. He didn't look up as she entered, though he was fully aware of her presence.
"You came home," Brennan whispered, leaning against the doorframe. Her voice was thick with tears and regret.
He didn't move his eyes away from the spot in front of him, raising the drink to his lips and then back onto the table. "I promised I would, didn't I? You know I never break promises," he said quietly.
"Booth…" she began, desperate to apologise, but he cut across her.
"Temperance, lets not do this now. It's been a rough day," he sighed, looking up and meeting her eyes for the first time that night.
She nodded her head sadly. "I'll sleep in the guestroom tonight," she offered, her breath catching. She felt as if her throat was constricting.
"That's okay. I'll just crash on the couch," he replied.
She hugged her arms around herself tightly; heartbroken that she was causing the man she loved so much pain. "Do you want me to get you something to eat?" she asked.
"No, I picked something up earlier," he said, forcing a half-smile.
She nodded her head once more in understanding. She moved to leave, but turned back to face him. "I love you, Booth," she murmured softly, trapping her lip between her pearly teeth.
"I know," he whispered despondently, watching her walk away as she left the room.
This chapter is dedicated to: JelloStix
Lockets for everyone. :D
A review would be energising.
