First week of February

"Ange, are you coming? We're going to be late for my appointment!" Brennan called out, standing next to the front door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Angela said, jogging down the stairs.

"I'll see you guys when you get back," Jack said, heading to the kitchen for a snack.

"Do you want to come, Jack? I don't mind," Brennan suggested.

Hodgins hesitated. "Uh…are you sure? I mean…it's not going to be awkward or anything is it?"

Angela smiled. "Since she's popped, there's nothing going on down there. We get to find out if it's a boy or girl today!"

"I'm in. Fifty bucks on-ˮ

"No!" Brennan shouted, "Make all the bets you want but I do not want to hear what you bet on because knowing my luck, you'll slip and say something so if either of you spill the rice, it's on you!"

"Uh, Sweetie, I think you mean spill the beans."

"Whatever. Let's go or we're going to be late."


After the basic check up with Dr. Francis, the three friends went down to the sonogram room and waited for the tech to arrive.

"Hi there, I'm Kathryn, I'll be doing your ultrasound today," the woman said as she walked in. "Now, before I give anything away, do you want to know the sex of your baby?"

"No, but my friends do," Brennan told her, pointing back to Jack and Angela, who was getting the video camera ready.

Pressing the record button, Angela said, "We're planning the nursery for her."

Kathryn nodded and looked Brennan over. She noticed Bren's wedding ring and said, "So…no husband today?"

Brennan became bitter at her mentioning of Booth's absence. "Not for ten more months. He's in Iraq." Kathryn blushed at her seemingly insensitive comment and began to prep for the ultrasound.

"If you'd like, I can step outside with your friends in a bit to tell them the gender so you don't overhear," Kathryn offered.

Brennan's mood changed again suddenly and she was smiling, her mood swings taking a toll once again, "Sure. That would be great."

Kathryn smiled at her, thankful that she had gotten back on her patient's good side. "Okay, I'm just going to be checking to make sure everything is progressing along smoothly. I tried to warm up the gel a little bit but it still might be cold so be warned."

The ultrasound tech waited for Brennan to unbutton her pants and lift her shirt to expose the slight baby bump that had erupted.

"Look at that bump, Studly!" Angela cried, zooming in on Brennan's stomach.

"Ange, really?" Brennan said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," she mumbled. Kathryn laughed and gave Brennan one last warning about the cold gel. After squirting some on her, the tech placed the transducer on her stomach and turned the monitor toward Brennan.

"Hear that? That's your baby's heart beat," Kathryn said.

"Sounds awfully fast," Angela said.

"No, that's normal. Let's see…the baby's size looks good, seems to be growing at a good pace…I'm not seeing any neural tube defects on the spine so that's a good thing…your baby seems to be perfect. I'm not finding any abnormalities and it is your lucky day," Kathryn said, looking at Angela and Jack, "The baby is in the perfect position to see the gender."

"I do not want to know the gender. I would like to be surprised at the birth," Brennan reminded them.

Kathryn nodded and gestured to Angela and Jack to step out in the hall. She had left a picture of the baby on the monitor and told Brennan she could begin to wipe off the gel on her abdomen while she was talking with her friends. After they stepped in the hallway, Brennan could hear Angela shriek and jump around with both Jack and Kathryn trying to calm her down.

Brennan ignored the commotion in the hall and stared at the monitor. The baby's profile lit up the screen. The small features puzzled Brennan. She knew the baby was still developing, but she wanted to know if their child would look more like her or Booth. She couldn't determine the baby's bone structure from the ultrasound, but she desperately wanted to know.

The door opened again and Brennan continued to wipe off the gel.

"Bren, oh my god!" Angela gushed, seemingly about nothing.

"Ange, I swear, do not tell me or I will kick you out on the street!"

"Sweetie, let me tell you this: You will be so excited!"

"I'm excited anyway, Angela."

"I know but I'm even more excited than I was before!"

Brennan looked to Kathryn. "Can I have a picture?" she asked timidly.

"Make it two!" Jack added.

"Of course! Dad needs to see his little one, right?"


As the friends arrived home from Brennan's appointment, the mail carrier was just walking up to her front door. For a Washington winter, it had been decently mild out. Snow had stayed away for the most part and the roads were almost always clear.

"You Dr. Brennan?" The man asked as they approached.

"Yes, that's me," Brennan said, stepping closer to him.

"Well, nice to meet'cha! I'm Frank Bardot. I wondered who had moved into his house. Congrats," he said, looking down at her stomach.

"Thank you," she said quietly, absentmindedly placing a hand on her growing belly.

"Is it just you three here?" Frank asked, searching through his bag for their mail.

"Well, yes until my husband comes home."

"He on a business trip or somethin'?" Frank had found their mail and was double checking it was all theirs, making sure they didn't end up with someone else's mail.

"Something like that…" Brennan trailed off.

"He's deployed," Jack said for her.

"Huh. Jeez, I remember those days. I was over in Vietnam. It's gotta be hard on ya, though. Anyway, I best be movin' on. You should get inside too before you get sick. It may not be snowing yet but it's cold! I'll just give you this," he said, handing Brennan the mail.

"It was nice to meet you," she offered.

"Same! Good luck with everything! I'll see ya around," Frank said, heading to the next house.

Brennan flipped through the mail eagerly, looking for Booth's chicken-scratch handwriting. Finding exactly what she was looking for, she dropped every other piece of mail and frantically opened the letter. She hadn't heard from him since December and she was beginning to worry.

Hey Bren,

I know you're probably worrying about me but please don't. It's not healthy for you and the baby. I'm fine. I did go on a mission that took a little long than usual and when I got back, they had a lockdown on mail when there was suspicious mail coming in, so no one could send or receive anything.

I've been reading those books that Pops, Jared and Angela got me so the moment I come home, I'll be ready. This kid is going to have professional parents, let me tell you. I feel like I could go pro. I've already finished one of them and I'm almost done with another. So when I come home and I say give me the kid, I know what I'm doing, trust me.

So according to the books, you can tell the gender now right? And you'll probably get an ultrasound at your appointment. Don't let Angela forget to find out for me. She's supposed to tell me. I can't wait to see the tape of that. It's so awesome hearing your voice on those tapes. By the way, those Christmas decorations you sent were a big hit. Everyone loved them and our tent was the coolest tent on the base. Teddy said thanks for the candy too. Good call on not sending chocolate. It would melt before we had a chance to eat it.

I'm glad you decided not to go to Africa. It was making me nervous just thinking about it and I was just waiting to get a letter saying "Greetings from Kenya" or something like that. I know you can take care of yourself but it's a dangerous place and it just really scared me that I wouldn't be able to do anything to help you. But I'm glad you worked things out with Dr. Kent. He seems like a nice guy to help you out with the dissertation and keeping you and the baby safe. I'm going to have to send him a thank you card or something.

I'm getting ready to go out on a few more missions soon so if you don't hear from me, please don't be worried. I'm going to be away from the base camp for a while coming up so I'm probably not going to be able to send you any letters or get whatever you send.

I love you, and I promise I'll be safe. Angela said she'd whoop my ass if I wasn't.

Booth

P.S. Just like last time, the second letter is for Angela and Jack. Don't read it! I love you.

"Here, Ange," Brennan said softly, handing her friend the other sheet of paper. Between the two letters, a picture fell out. She waited for Angela to take the letter from her and kept her eye on the upside down picture that had landed on the front steps. She sat next to the picture and picked it up.

It was of Booth and another man Brennan assumed to be his friend Teddy. She stared at it. It was the first time she had even looked at a picture of him since he left. Not because she didn't have one; there were dozens of pictures of the two of them scattered around the house. She just didn't want to feel sorry for herself. She knew she wasn't the only Army wife waiting to hear from her husband. She knew there were other women in a worse position than she was but they hadn't been married for long. They hadn't had a real ceremony like Booth wanted or a real honeymoon like they both craved.

She noticed Booth's handwriting on the back. Me and Teddy Parker, Iraq, 2nd deployment, it said, Bren, he's my best bud. We can't wait to get back to see you and the baby. We can't wait to see you. Love you

She smiled and flipped the picture back over. The friends were waving at the camera, dressed only in partial uniform. They had their fatigue pants and boots with a tan colored shirt and a bandana to cover their heads. She noticed he was incredibly tan but, then again, spending months in the hot desert will do that to someone.

"Sweetie, you alright?"

Brennan looked up at Angela and smiled. "Yes. Now that I know he's okay, I'm fine."

"Bren, you should get inside before you catch a cold," Jack told her.

She nodded and awkwardly stood up; her stomach was beginning to get in the way of basic things.

"Damn, it's cold," Angela commented, "I'm going to make some coffee when we get inside. Jack, you want some?"

Hodgins nodded and noticed the look on Brennan's face. "Brennan, you of all people should know that the caffeine in coffee isn't good during pregnancy."

"But I'm cold! And…can't you make decaf?"