(After 'The Change in the Game')

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Oooooooooooooooo

Agent Harris prided himself on his powers of observation and while he attended one of Booth's barbecues, he finally figured out what Booth had been hiding from everyone. He knew that it had to be something big and sure enough it was. Son of a bitch. Dr. Brennan is pregnant.

He had noticed that Brennan had turned down several glasses of beer and wine and since he knew she wasn't a teetotaler he found that curious. It wasn't enough to make him suspicious, until he walked into the house to use the bathroom and heard retching coming from the bathroom in the hallway. Concerned, he'd jiggled the doorknob and knocked. "Hey in there. Do you need help?"

After a few moments of silence then more retching, Harris was seriously considering breaking the lock when a faint voice responded. "I'm fine Agent Harris. Do not concern yourself."

Worried, he left the hallway, found Booth in the kitchen slicing up a loaf of Italian bread and approached him. Keeping his voice low, Harris looked around to make sure they were alone. "Dr. Brennan is in the bathroom throwing up her guts."

"Shit!" Booth placed the knife down on the cutting board and left the kitchen with Harris following closely on his heels. Once outside the bathroom, Booth leaned against the door. "Bones, are you okay?" The sound of retching could be heard through the door and both men looked at each other. "Look Harris . . . I need you to walk away. I'll take care of this."

A little uncertain, Harris finally nodded his head and walked down the hallway to the living room. Sitting on a chair facing the hallway, he waited to see if Booth might need his help. After several minutes, Brennan entered the living room and sat down on the couch. Her skin pale and the faint beads of sweat on her forehead let Harris know that there was something wrong, but he didn't want to make her or Booth angry by prying. He chose to sit where he was and observe.

Annoyed that Harris was in the living room, Booth walked into the kitchen, retrieved a bottle of water and a handful of saltines. Back in the living room he handed them to Brennan. "Bones, I have to take care of our guests. If we both disappear, they might start looking for us. Harris is here so if you need anything ask him. I'll be back to check on you in a little while."

Taking the water and crackers, Brennan nodded her head. "I'm fine, Booth . . . just take care of our friends." Once they were alone, Brennan opened the bottle, sipped some of the water then nibbled on one of the crackers. "This is most inconvenient."

"Yeah, I'll bet." The signs were there and Harris wanted to ask Brennan if she was pregnant, but he felt that might upset the anthropologist. If this was the secret that Booth had been trying to keep then he didn't want to be the one to blow it. "Have you considered taking Emetrol? You can use that for nausea even if you're . . . um. It's safe to use."

Clearly Harris knew what was going on which Brennan found annoying but not surprising. "Is that what Susan used when she was pregnant?"

"Yeah, it helped, but she was only nauseous the first month." Surprised that Brennan was admitting that she was pregnant, Harris leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Have you talked to your obstetrician about it?

"No, not really.' Brennan nibbled on another cracker, then swallowed it. "Nausea in pregnancies is normal though not all women get morning sickness. I had hoped to be one of those . . . Don't tell anyone about my pregnancy. I want to wait until my second trimester before we tell anyone."

Since that was what he and Susan had done, he didn't think the request was unreasonable. "Sure, mums the word."

"I don't understand."

"It means, I won't reveal what I know." Harris leaned back against the chair. "Do you feel well enough to go outside or do you want to wait a little longer?"

Her crackers gone, her bottle empty, Brennan stood up. "I'm fine now . . . it's alright to go the bathroom, Agent Harris. I'm going outside."

Standing, Harris walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Hoping it didn't smell too bad, he saw the can of air freshener on the sink and knew that someone had sprayed the room. "Thank God."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Hodgins had noticed that Brennan barely ate anything at the barbecue and didn't drink any alcoholic beverages. Worried that she might be sick, he waited until she walked into the house and followed her inside. After making sure they were alone, he moved over to the fridge, removed a bottle of water and turned to face Brennan who was cleaning the bowl that had held some baked beans. "Are you okay, Dr. B?"

Wary of her friend's interest, Brennan continued to clean the bowl while she responded. "I'm fine." The dish now clean, she placed it on the drainboard to dry and faced Hodgins. "I'm just a little tired. I had a restless night."

The dark smudges under Brennan's eyes stood out against her pale skin and Hodgins felt there was more going on. "I noticed that you haven't drunk any alcohol today and you really didn't eat anything even though Angela made your favorite vegetarian chili . . . I'm not prying in your business, Dr. B but I'm worried. As a friend, I'm very worried."

She didn't want Hodgins to worry about her, but she didn't want to tell him she was pregnant since he had a hard time keeping secrets. The look on his face was enough for her to see she didn't have a choice. Crossing her arms against her breasts, Brennan knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep her pregnancy secret for much longer. She was surrounded by very intelligent and very observant people. "I am going to tell you something, but I need you to not tell anyone else . . . well you can mention it to Angela since she already knows . . . I'm pregnant."

Relieved that his friend wasn't ill, Hodgins exhaled. "Thank God. I was worried sick that you had something seriously wrong with you." Moving across the room, he hugged her. "Congratulations, Dr. B. You're going to be a great Mom. I know it."

His kindness made Brennan feel a little teary, but she managed not to cry. "Thank you. That's what Booth keeps saying. I'm not so sure."

"Are you kidding me?" Hodgins stepped back and smiled at her. "I've seen how you handle kids when they're part of our investigations and Michael Vincent loves you. He's a very good judge of character . . . You're kind and compassionate and really, who wouldn't want you to be their mother? . . . You'll be fine, I promise."

"Thank you."

The back door opened and Booth entered the room carrying a large empty platter. Excited, Hodgins walked over, grabbed Booth's free hand and shook it. "Congratulations, Man."

Glancing at Brennan, Booth saw her shrug her shoulders and knew that their secret wasn't a secret now. "Thanks." Booth removed his hand from Hodgins' firm grip. "Just don't blab about it yet, okay? We want to wait a few weeks before we make an announcement."

"I get it." Hodgins grinned at the couple. "You guys must know you won't be able to keep this secret very long. If I can figure it out then so can Cam and Wendell . . . and if Daisy finds out . . ."

"Yeah, we know how nosy everyone is at the Lab and at the Hoover." Booth carried the platter over to the sink and began to wash it. "I'm surprised Angela hasn't put a notice in the paper, but so far she's kept our secret."

A little miffed that Angela hadn't told him that Brennan was pregnant, Hodgins shrugged his shoulders. "She can keep a secret when she wants to although this is pretty big and I'd have expected her to rat you out too." Hodgins chuckled. "Wait until Cam finds out. You're her friend, Booth. She's probably going to be pissed that you kept this a secret."

"Really?" Brennan didn't want to anger Cam since she considered her supervisor a friend. "It's just for a few weeks and it's not personal."

"It will be personal to Cam." Hodgins knew that Cam considered Booth part of her family and Brennan now that they were a couple. "You might want to tell her as soon as you can and then keep your secret from everyone else."

Booth laughed. "Who will be left to tell?" Shaking his head, Booth turned to look at Brennan. "Bones, this is getting out of hand. I need to let the Deputy Director know before someone else tells him. You know Harris knows and now Angela and Hodgins. I don't really think there's a reason not to say something now."

"I suppose not." Brennan took the now clean platter and placed it on the drainboard. "I suppose I should have realized that I couldn't keep this a secret. I'm surrounded by scientists and investigators and lab technicians. All very observant people."

"Ha, all very nosy people." Booth had known that Brennan wouldn't get to keep her secret for long. It just surprised him that it had been discovered so quickly.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

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