It's been awhile since I updated this. My muse left me for awhile but hopefully I've got my inspiration back. Thank yous to: mphs95, 554Laura (yeah agree), GalaxieGurl (that would've been nice to see), LoveShipper, Vmf447 (agree with everything you said), RobinAngelena, kareneb, Annarita, regbride12 (yes their relationship is of their deep friendship as well), mendenbar, Bones2014 (you made it to the end!) and guests who reviewed.

This one is a combination of requests from dms517 and ZinaR.

New Mom

After spending two weeks at home with her, Booth was at work and it was Brennan's first day at home alone with a Christine. Almost three weeks old now, baby Christine was staying awake longer and starting to show distinct personality traits. She seemed to be displaying some of her mother's stubbornness, something which Booth had gleefully pointed out when on occasion the baby refused to go down for her nap, rather choosing to be inquisitive and study her surroundings which were a start contrast from the home she knew that was her mother's womb for almost nine months.

Today, with Christine finally down for her nap, Brennan could finally get some chores done. With a newborn in the house, chores that were normally easily completed had been neglected. Booth's shirts for work still needed to be washed and the dishwasher needed to be loaded. She had her day all planned out. She would do a load of laundry, load the dishwasher then prepare a sumptuous dinner for the father of her child.

Brennan was tired but she was determined to accomplish all she had planned. After all her sheer determination had seen her through many difficult situations in life. Brennan had just started the washing machine when Christine started to cry. Brennan hurried to the baby's room and gathered her wailing daughter into her arms.

"You can't be hungry, I just fed you." Brennan set the baby down, "You must want a diaper change."

Brennan quickly and skilfully changed the baby's diapers. It seemed to pacify the infant and Brennan set her in her crib again. "Mommy just needs to get the food out so she can make dinner for Daddy. You can entertain yourself for a moment, I'll be right back."

No sooner had Brennan entered the kitchen then her daughter voiced her loud disapproval of her mother's plans again. Brennan had read the books about allowing her child to self-soothe but she couldn't stand the thought of her infant daughter crying and all alone, so she hurried to Christine again.

"What's the matter now Sweetheart? Are you hungry already?"

Brennan picked up the infant and settled into the small couch in the room. She unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse and started to nurse her infant daughter. "You seem to have inherited your father's appetite," Brennan whispered to Christine.

The baby now sated and drowsy again, Brennan gently lowered her into her crib. Making sure the baby monitor was on, Brennan took the receiver and made her way to the kitchen intent on making dinner. Brennan filled a pot with water and placed it on the hob wanting to bring the water to boil. She retrieved several vegetables, intending to make soup for Booth and her. The knife had just made contact with the carrot on the chopping board when Christine's cries could be heard yet again.

Brennan shook her head wondering why she bothered with the baby monitor since she could hear Christine loud and clear from the kitchen. She placed the knife down, washed her hands and hurried to Christine's room again. She picked up her daughter for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"It's okay Mommy's here." She rocked the baby, pacing up and down but Christine refused to be pacified. As her cries grew louder, Brennan suddenly remembered the water she had been boiling. She placed a crying Christine back into her crib before hurrying to the kitchen to find that the water had boiled over and was spilling out of the pot. She quickly removed the water from the stove, narrowly averting a small disaster. Christine was still crying and Brennan now feeling exhausted, made her way back to attend to her wailing daughter. Christine had cried so hard she had spit up on herself and her mother.

Brennan changed Christine into a clean set of clothes then continue to try to pacify the crying infant. After what seemed like forever, Christine cried herself to sleep. Now feeling as if all her energy had been drained from her body, Brennan wearily made her way to the bedroom to change her blouse which Christine had spit up from. Feeling like a complete failure at her inability to do anything she had set out to do, Brennan sat down on the couch, her emotions getting the better of her.

Booth slowly turned the lock to the house, pushing open the door and entering. The house was quiet and he figured Christine was down for her nap. As he entered the family room, he saw Brennan sitting hunched on the couch, her back to him. He hung up his jacket then slowly walked towards his partner not wanting to disturb her in case she was nursing their daughter.

As he rounded the couch he could now see that Brennan had her face buried in her hands and was sobbing quietly. Suddenly alarmed, Booth crouched down next to her.

"Bones. What's wrong?" His eyes swept the room. "Where's Christine?"

"I'm a terrible mother."

"No you're not." Trying not to panic, Booth asked again, "Where's Christine?"

Brennan lifted her head, her face stained with tears. "She's in her room, asleep."

Booth blew out a breath. "Okay." He moved to sit next to her on the couch. "What's wrong?"

"One day. One day Booth. You go back to work for one day and I make a mess of things."

Booth looked round the house. It had been a bit of a mess since Christine arrived but it didn't look any messier than when he had left that morning.

"I'm not really understanding what's going on here. You gotta help me out here Bones."

"I'm normally good at many things. I can multi-task superbly. I can master many languages, some ancient, but apparently I can't master infant communication."

Having gone through this with Parker, Booth was starting to understand what his partner was getting at.

"You would think I was intentionally starving her. I made sure she was fed, burped, changed and comfortable. Yet I couldn't soothe her and she cried herself to sleep just before you got home. I had originally intended to make us some dinner tonight but I almost set the kitchen on fire. I wanted to get a load of laundry done but nothing I had set out to do was accomplished. The day went by so quickly I didn't even realise it was evening."

"Bones, it's okay."

"No it's not, I'm a horrible mother. I can't even comfort my own daughter! I've read all the books – "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Parenting isn't a science okay? The books can say all they want but our daughter… she's one of a kind right? She's just as rare and unique as you. You can't fit her into what the books say. And you're not a bad mother. Babies, they're gonna cry. And sometimes we're not gonna be able to figure out why. Trust me I've been there, with Parker."

Brennan fell back against the couch. "I'm exhausted."

"I know. You've been waking up every couple of hours every night to feed her."

"I could go days without sleep on my digs…"

"This isn't gonna be like a dig or whatever anthropology stuff you've done before okay? This is a first. For you and for me. It's gonna be hard but we'll get through it together."

"I usually very adept at learning new skills."

"Yeah well Christine's half of you so she's probably good at what kids do too and that's to make life harder for their parents."

Brennan shook her head and chuckled though her tears. "What you're saying makes sense but I still feel like a failure. I don't even know why I'm crying."

"You're not a failure all right? And I'm guessing it's those hormones you were tellin' me about that's making you cry."

"I really wanted to surprise you with dinner when you got home."

"That's really sweet and surprisingly domestic of you Bones."

"It's the hormones Booth." Brennan frowned annoyed. "You said so yourself."

"Hey don't worry I'm not expecting you to quit your job to stay home with Christine or anything. Give it some time. You'll get the hang of things. Even geniuses like you need to learn how to be a Mom. And I've seen some people try and fail miserably at it. But you? You're a natural."

"How would you know."

"Because, I live with you. Because I know you."

Christine's cries could be heard again. Booth stood. "I'll go."

He returned shortly after with his crying daughter in his arms. "She doesn't need a diaper change." He paced the floor, trying to soothe their daughter. "And you said you fed her."

Brennan stood, reaching for Christine. "Let me try."

Booth handed their daughter over. The infant's cries grew less distressed and after some soothing words from her mother, quieted down.

"See," Booth beamed proudly at his partner. "You're a natural. She just wanted her Mommy."

Brennan smiled back at him. "Maybe you're right."

Booth gathered her into his arms and looked down at their daughter who was looking back at him with a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

"Just give it some time okay? Don't be too hard on yourself. It'll all be okay. I promise."

"It's scary to think she's so dependent on us for all her needs."

"For now she is, but she'll be grown up in no time."

"Like Parker."

"Yeah."

"I can't wait for them to meet."

"Me too. You're a great Mom. Don't you doubt that."

"Thank you Booth. So about dinner?"

"We'll order in. Maybe in a couple more weeks or maybe over the weekend, we can try makin' dinner."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"That's if this little Pumpkin here's okay with it." Booth grinned down at Christine who looked content in her mother's arms.