Another pretty long one and lots of fluff...Enjoy :)
Brennan was on the floor in Ryder's room, struggling to put the toddler's legs into his pants. "RJ, Honey, please, the less you squirm, the quicker we're finished here." She sighed.
Ryder continued to kick and wiggle.
She fought against his movements and finally managed to pull his feet through the holes. She lifted him up and hooked her arms around his waist in such a way that she could hold him in place but yank his pants up the rest of the way at the same time. She straightened out his red, black, and white plaid shirt and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "All done." Scooping him up, mindful of her sore ribs, she walked over to the changing table and sat him down. She grabbed the bundle of black socks, and as quickly as he'd allow, she slipped them on before popping on his shoes.
Ryder squealed, his face lighting up when Brennan gave him another quick kiss. Before she had a chance to pull her face back, he planted a wet kiss on her chin.
She smoothed down his wild hair and smiled at him. "Thank you." She paused. "Let's go see if your dad and brother have everything under control downstairs."
Ryder shook his head.
"I don't believe they do either, RJ. Leaving them alone was probably not a good idea." She lifted him up and settled him on her hip. She carried him out of the room and the two of them headed downstairs.
Just as Brennan cleared the last step, the doorbell rang. She sighed, hoisting Ryder higher on her hip.
Ryder squirmed and whimpered, anxious to be put down. He pushed at Brennan and kicked his legs.
She set him down, in fear of dropping him if he continued to fight against her hold, and before she had a chance to react, he took off, toddling down the hallway. "RJ," she started to follow him, but then the doorbell rang again followed by a forceful knock, reminding her someone was at the door. "Booth, RJ is coming your way."
"He found us," Booth called back with a slight chuckle.
She shook her head and turned to the door. Checking the peephole quickly, she opened the door. She glanced at her watch, making sure she didn't lose track of that much time, and raised an eyebrow at her unexpected guests. "Angela, Hodgins, what are you doing here so early? The party isn't until five o'clock."
Angela walked into the house without an invitation and pulled her best friend into a hug. "Hello, Ange, how are you? It's been so long since we've talked. Hi, Sweetie, I'm great, and yes, it's been way too long."
"Why are you referring to yourself in third person and answering yourself?"
Angela rolled her eyes. "Never mind. So how are you, Sweetie?"
"I'm doing fine, getting used to being home again."
"Um, are you going to invite me in?" Hodgins asked, still standing on the porch, holding an infant carrier in one hand and a bottle of expensive wine in the other.
"Oh, yes, I apologize, come in." Once he passed the threshold, Brennan shut the door and turned the deadbolt. "Booth and the boys are in the dining room, setting up.
"The boys." Angela smiled.
Brennan nodded, not sure why her best friend was smiling like that. "Yes, Parker and RJ."
"Forget it, Bren."
"I don't understand."
Hodgins handed the infant carrier to his wife and smiled. "I'm going to go say hey to the G-Man," he said, dismissing himself; he was practically invisible anyway.
Brennan finally noticed the newborn when he made a faint mewling sound and a furled hand broke free of the confines of the baby blanket. All signs of confusion gone, her face lit up. She stepped closer to Angela and bent over, pulling the edge of the blanket down a little more. "Hi, there, little one." She took his outstretched hand in hers and the newborn hooked his tiny fingers around her thumb when it came in contact with his palm. She freed her thumb from his grasp and reached in, scooping the baby into her arms. She adjusted the blanket and cradled him, tucking him securely against her chest. She took a deep breath in and out and brushed a knuckle across his cheek.
Angela just stood there, watching. The fact that Michael hadn't cried the second he woke up and that he was still silent even though he was in a stranger's arms was not lost on the artist.
Brennan stared into the eyes of her "nephew" for a brief minute before dipping her head and kissing his forehead.
A hand reached up and grabbed hold of Brennan's jaw and the baby's eyes shifted around, attempting to focus on the strange woman holding him. Two minutes later, he let out the cry Angela was expecting minutes earlier, his empty stomach obviously winning out.
Brennan was surprisingly reluctant, even to herself, in giving Michael back to his mom. She didn't hesitate to pass a couple fingers through his hair once he was settled in Angela's arms and finally looked at the artist, who was looking at her, a bright smile on her face. "What?"
"Feeling nostalgic, Sweetie?"
"I have to admit holding Michael did bring back memories of when RJ was a newborn and reminded me how much I do miss the days when my son was this small, but that is not unusual, especially factoring in that RJ's first birthday occurred recently. I have no desire to relive those moments with him; however. I enjoy watching him grow and change. Being able to talk to him and have him respond back to me with actual words is wonderful."
"And you don't want to relive those moments because they bring up painful memories of Booth being in a coma."
Brennan bit her bottom lip and looked down at the floor, her chest tightening. She shook her head. Booth is here now. The past is the past. You can't change it, but it doesn't matter anymore. Booth is alive, so very much alive.
Angela reached over and placed her hand on her best friend's arm. "I'm sorry for bringing that up, Sweetie."
Brennan shrugged. "It's fine. I'm fine. Booth is no longer in a coma and he's a wonderful father."
Angela rocked Michael when he let out another string of cries. She walked into the living room and sat on the couch. She got herself and her son situated, shielding herself somewhat with the blanket. Rubbing the baby's back soothingly as he sucked, she turned and looked up at Brennan, who had followed her into the room.
Before Angela could say another word, Brennan blurted out, "Booth and I are getting married."
Angela blinked and shook her head, practically choking on her own saliva. She coughed and cleared her throat, staring at the anthropologist. "Come again?"
Sinking down in the chair adjacent to the couch, Brennan turned her body towards her friend. "Booth and I are getting married. I decided to interpret his speech as a marriage proposal and to say yes."
"And this happened when?"
Brennan was silent for a few seconds before answering, "Two weeks ago?" She nodded. "Yes, somewhere around then. I'm sure I would have been able to recall the exact date and time if I was not under the influence of various medications."
Finally wrapping her head around what her best friend was saying, Angela squealed, albeit quietly. "Two weeks? And you didn't think to mention this little juicy morsel at some point during any of our numerous phone conversations?"
"It must have slipped my mind."
"Uh-huh."
"Booth and I are planning on announcing our engagement tonight at dinner. That is the point of this party. We haven't told anyone, other than my father." Brennan's eyes widened and she stood up. Stumbling forward slightly before regaining her balance, she left the room.
Brennan hurried into the dining room, pleased that the table was set properly. She adjusted one of the placemats as she strolled over to Booth, who looked up at her sudden entrance.
"Bones, hey."
She stopped at the side of his wheelchair and leaned over, cupping his ear as she whispered, "Do you still wish to talk to Parker privately?"
"About?"
"About us getting married. We are announcing our engagement tonight like we discussed, aren't we?"
He nodded. "Oh, uh, yeah."
"You spoke about us telling Parker together, just the three of us. If you still wish to do that, we need to do it now."
He completely forgot, not that he forgot she had agreed to marry him because let's be honest, he would never forget that ever, but these last couple weeks had been hectic, so he just didn't think about it. "Yeah."
She smiled, a nervous-tight-lip smile, and looked at the entomologist, who was busy entertaining the two boys, showing them pictures of insects he had in the photo album on his phone. "Hodgins, would you mind keeping an eye on RJ for a few minutes? Booth and I have something to discuss with Parker."
Parker froze at the sound of his name. "I'm not in trouble, am I?"
Booth shook his head. "No, Bub, not even close. Bones and I just have to talk to you about something important."
"Oh. Did you talk to my mom?" Parker sounded hopeful now.
"No, Buddy, I didn't. It's not about the move or your mom's decision. This is something about me and Bones, okay?"
Parker nodded. "Okay."
Hodgins stood and took Ryder's hand. "C'mon, little man, let's go see what Aunt Angie is doing. I bet she'd love to see that fancy toy SUV and the bright red MINI your big brother tells me you've got." Holding the toddler's hand, he ushered him out of the room, giving Brennan a nod.
Parker looked back and forth between the adults and shrugged. "So, if I'm not in trouble and you haven't talked to mom, uh, what do you guys have to talk to me about?"
Brennan glanced at Booth the same second he glanced at her. They shared a smile and she gave him a nod.
"Listen, Bub, Bones and I, we're, well, how do I say this—."
Parker's eyes widened. "You're not breaking up, are you?"
"Unless Bones has something she'd like to tell me," Booth threw a quick look at her and then focused on his son again, "no we're not breaking up."
Parker relaxed his shoulders and let out a breath. "Good 'cause that would totally suck."
Brennan stepped forward. "What your father is trying to articulate is that we're," after a brief pause and another glance at Booth, she continued, "getting married."
"Seriously?"
Booth nodded. "Yeah, Parks, seriously. You okay with that?"
Parker laughed. "Am I okay with that?" He let out another laugh. "This is awesome." He beamed.
Brennan sighed. "It is awesome."
Booth winked at her and reached out his hand, hooking his pinky around hers. "I'm glad you think so, Bub."
"Bones is cool, Dad, and I love her. I'm glad she'll officially be my stepmom."
"Officially?"
"Yeah, I mean, it was kinda hard to explain who Bones was to my friends and stuff when you were in the hospital, so I just told people she was kinda like my stepmom. I couldn't just tell them that she was your partner at the FBI 'cause it just didn't sound special enough and didn't make a whole lot of sense since she was picking me up from school and chaperoning on one of our fieldtrips."
Booth raised an eyebrow at Brennan and mouthed, "Fieldtrips?" That was brand new information.
"On one occasion, they were short a chaperone and were thinking about canceling the trip, so I volunteered. I, however, did not know what I was getting myself into when I agreed on such short notice. It was very overwhelming and exhausting."
"She was awesome, Dad. Some of the kids were being jerks and asking her all these questions 'cause they wanted to know if she was really as smart as I told them she was. You should have seen their faces. It was great. Best fieldtrip I've ever been on."
Booth's expression transformed from surprise to pure affection. "He's right, you know. You are awesome."
Nodding, Brennan smiled back at him. "We should finish getting ready for the party. I'm going to check on dinner. Can you handle the drinks and ice?"
"Sure. Parks, c'mon."
Parker nodded and the three of them left the dining room, focused on their individual tasks.
After finishing up with the cooking, Brennan headed back into the living room. Walking into the room, she stopped and glanced from the scientist lying on his back on the floor to the artist sitting amused on the coffee table. "Ange, what—?"
Angela pressed her finger to her lips. "Just watch, Bren."
And so Brennan stayed standing near the doorway, silently watching as her son crawled and climbed over her colleague, giggling, squealing, and pulling on his hair.
Hodgins reached up and started to tickle the toddler, sending the little boy into a giggling fit.
Brennan smiled.
Hodgins tilted his head. "Oh, hey, Dr. B."
Brennan waved and headed for the couch, sitting down beside Angela and immediately, albeit a little absently, reached out and touched Michael's cheek, the newborn now more alert than before.
Shortly after, Booth entered the room and noticed right away that his son was using the Bug Boy as a personal jungle gym. He smiled, clearly amused, and crossed the room to the couch. "Everything's ready. I sent Parker upstairs to change."
Angela stood up and lowered Michael into his arms. "You haven't gotten to hold him yet."
Booth adjusted his arms and cradled the newborn. It had been over ten years since he had held a baby this small, this young, but it all seemed to come back to him. He stroked Michael's hair and smiled when the baby reached out for the tie Brennan picked out and insisted he wear. "Hey." Seeing how Michael was interested in the tie, he dangled it in front of the baby's face.
Angela sat back down on the couch and nudged her best friend.
"Don't, Ange. I know what you're doing and you can just stop. Booth and I have already discussed the possibility of having another child, so you can save your 'Booth is a great father' speech. It's not necessary."
"You're getting good at that, Sweetie."
Brennan shrugged her shoulders one after the other and beamed with pride. "I have, haven't I?" She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and when she turned her head, Ryder was walking towards Booth, nearly running towards him with a goofy smile on his face.
Booth smiled at his son and tapped him on the nose when he stopped beside him, eliciting a giggle from the toddler. "I want you to meet somebody, RJ." He tilted Michael and motioned for Ryder to come closer. "This is your cousin."
Ryder's eyes widened and he poked at the blanket. He jumped when an arm shot out and the blanket began to make noise. His bottom lip quivered and tears sprang to his eyes.
Booth sighed and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Hey, Buddy, it's okay." He adjusted Michael again and pulled away some of the blanket. "Look. Can you say baby?"
Ryder knuckled his eyes and reached out, poking at the blanket again.
"Gentle." Booth took his son's hand and showed him how to touch the baby properly. "Just like that." He then guided his son's hand to Michael's and soon the newborn's hand was wrapped around Ryder's fingers.
Ryder giggled as he tried to free his finger from Michael's grasp.
"I bet you were just as strong as Michael is when you were this tiny."
Ryder furrowed his brow.
"Can you say baby, RJ? Ba—by. Say baby, RJ."
Ryder looked back and forth between Michael and his dad. He pointed at Michael and shrugged. "Dat?"
Booth nodded. "He's a baby."
"B-bee," Ryder jabbered.
Booth nodded. "Yeah, baby."
"Hiya." Ryder squealed.
Michael looked around and squirmed, blinking and trying to focus on Ryder.
Angela nudged Brennan again. "How cute is that?"
Brennan shrugged without much thought as she watched the interactions between the two boys; she wasn't paying attention to Angela in the slightest. When the doorbell rang minutes later, she reluctantly stood up and left the room.
Brennan stood up from her seat at the head of the dining room table and raised her water glass. "I'd like to propose a toast." She paused. "I know you are very busy people, so thank you all for coming tonight. It may not seem like it most of the time, but you all mean a lot to me. It's foolish to think about what these last few years would have been like without all of your support because the fact is that I did have your support, but I appreciate what you have done for me, for Booth, and for our," she swallowed and looked straight at Booth as she breathed out the final word of her statement, "family."
Booth's chest warmed at that and a pleasant tingling sensation shot through his body.
"Before we eat," a collection of annoyed groans erupted, but Brennan continued as if she hadn't heard a thing, "Booth and I have an announcement to make." She swallowed and waited until she had everyone's full attention.
Sweets tapped his fork impatiently against the edge of his plate. "What's the big announcement, Dr. Brennan?"
"I am getting to that, Sweets." Brennan took a sip of her water and set it back down on the table. "My Dad, Angela, and Parker already know, but another reason we decided to have this party was to announce our engagement, as in a precursor to marriage," she clarified.
Cam glanced at Booth and raised an eyebrow.
Booth nodded and smiled at her in return.
"No way," Sweets blurted.
"Yes way," Brennan replied, though a little hesitantly.
Sweets was unable to wipe the smile off his face. "Congrats, guys."
"Yeah, congrats, Dr. B, Booth," Hodgins stood up and gave his friends a quick hug before sitting back down.
"Congratulations," Cam added.
It was silent for a few seconds before Angela's squeal broke it. She covered her mouth quickly and shook her head, blinking away tears. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just so happy for you, Sweetie."
"I'll save my speech for your wedding day," Max said, looking pointedly at Booth. "I don't want to spoil dinner, but congratulations."
"Can we eat now?" Parker complained, poking at one of the drumsticks on his plate with his fork.
Brennan nodded and finally took her seat once again. "Yes."
"Thank God." Parker barely waited a second before going to work on his dinner.
Everyone followed his example and the room was soon filled with the sounds of clattering utensils and easy conversation, not all of it work related.
