(After 'The Change in the Game')

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I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooo

Tired of trying to keep her secret, Brennan relented and decided to break the news that she was pregnant to everyone all at once and get it over with. Once Booth had arrived at the Lab, they walked up on the platform, stood on the edge of the staircase and faced the broad hallway below.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Booth shouted out as loud as he could. "Listen up you squints we have an announcement to make."

Curious, Cam and many of the techs in the area congregated at the base of the platform and stared at the couple. "What's going on Booth?"

After nudging Brennan, Booth smiled at the crowd and waited for Brennan to speak.

Taking her cue, Brennan cleared her throat before she spoke. "I'm pregnant."

Angela and Hodgins, who were standing in the doorway of their offices began to clap while Cam rolled her eyes and walked up the stairs. "As if most of us hadn't already figured that out for ourselves."

Stunned, Brennan stared at Cam while she came up the stairs. "Angela or Hodgins told you?"

Amused, Cam arrived on the platform, hugged Brennan then Booth and laughed. "No, the clues were there for anyone that paid attention. I think there's a pool being run by Wendell as to when you were going to make your announcement. I lost since I said in three weeks."

Annoyed, Brennan turned to look at her mate. "Well, this was a complete waste of our time." Marching down the steps, Brennan stopped at the bottom step, smiled at her co-workers and shook her head. "I'm surrounded by very observant people."

Laughing, the crowd of techs and scientists congratulated her then hurried to find Wendell to find out who had won the pool.

"You people are too nosy for your own good." Booth was irritated and felt like he and Brennan had been cheated out of their happy moment. "No wonder I hate coming here." He watched his partner walk over to her office and somehow felt a little let down.

"Don't be like that Booth." Cam placed her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You know everyone here is in this Lab because they're at the top of their game or will be soon. We're paid to be observant and unfortunately for you and Brennan that means we notice things like Brennan running to the bathroom to throw up and saltine boxes sitting on her desk. Of course, the big give away is the fact that Brennan keeps resting her hand on her stomach. That is new and not something she normally does."

Mumbling, Booth shook his head, left the platform and walked over to Brennan's office. Once he was there, he leaned against the door frame and stared at Brennan while she sat next to her desk staring at nothing in particular. "Hey, Bones."

Unable to hide her smile, Brennan turned to look at Booth. "This is very funny. They were pretending they didn't know I was pregnant and I was pretending I wasn't pregnant. We are a very strange group of people."

"Well, I've been saying that for a long time." Booth laughed and entered the office. Standing next to her desk, he leaned down and ran the back of his finger down her cheek. "I love you, Bones. You make me happy."

"And you make me happy, Booth." Brennan stood up, stepped into his embrace and kissed him. Their announcement may not have been a surprise, but at least it was out of the way.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Feeling a little hurt, Sweets stepped into Booth's office holding a cup of a coffee. He had just found out that Brennan was pregnant and as their friend he thought he should have been told personally by either Booth or Brennan and not in an email from Hodgins. The email mentioned Brennan's pregnancy in passing which meant the sender assumed he already knew and that was embarrassing. "So, Dr. Brennan is pregnant. Congratulations." His voice was flat and emotionless and he knew it, but it was hard to work up any emotion about the good news.

"Thanks." Booth kept his eyes on his monitor as he entered some details on the last case he'd worked on.

"Are you angry with me?" Sweets just couldn't understand why he was being treated like he was and it was starting to worry him.

Surprised and not sure where this was coming from, Booth turned and stared at his young friend. "Why the hell would I be angry with you? Have you done something to make me mad at you?"

Stepping further into the room, Sweets shrugged his shoulders. "Not that I know of, but you didn't tell me that Brennan was pregnant. I had to learn it from Hodgins a little while ago. That doesn't seem like something a friend would keep secret from a friend."

"You've never been through this or you'd know why I didn't tell you." Booth pointed at the chair in front of his desk and waited for Sweets to sit down. "Bones didn't want to tell anyone until her second trimester because she's afraid she might lose the baby and she didn't want to be pitied by anyone if it happened . . . especially by her friends. It's her first pregnancy and she's nervous, plus she's smart as hell and she knows what can go wrong. This wasn't about you it was about Bones and what was right for her."

"But you told the people at the Lab." Sweets still felt that Booth could have told him before they told the squints. "You could have told me . . . I read it in an email."

Annoyed, Booth leaned forward on his desk. "Sweets . . . You're a kid with no experience when it comes to stuff like this. Bones, comes first. She'll always come first. She wanted to make the announcement once she figured out that people were catching on at work, so that's what we did. I haven't seen you since Monday and I've been busy. Now if you don't get that, then I'm sorry, but my life isn't a television show. It's not scripted and it's messy and sometimes downright chaotic. My life has always been that way and I'm used to it. If you're my friend then you're part of the mess. Learn to deal with it."

His cheeks a rosy red, Sweets stood up. "I guess I'll have to . . . I meant it when I said congratulations."

"I know you did, that's why I said thanks." Booth glanced at his PC and saw he had two new emails to deal with. "Look, I really am busy. Thanks for coming by, but I have to finish this report before Fairburn comes in here looking for blood. I'm behind in my reports and the Deputy Director has warned me he wants these today. Now go away and close the door on the way out."

Since Booth didn't want to talk, Sweets had no choice but to leave. Once he was out in the bullpen, he noticed Lester looking at what looked like a manual open on his desk. Moving over to see what the agent was reading, Sweets noticed that Lester was studying the specs on what looked like a sniper rifle. "That looks like a pretty dangerous weapon. I think Booth has one of those."

Looking up, Lester smiled. "I have to do some tactical training at Hogan's Alley at Quantico next week. I'm a sniper and I don't want to lose my bonus. 25% is a huge benefit and Claire would have my hide if I lost it."

"Yes, I suppose so. I didn't realize you were a sniper." Sweets finished drinking his coffee and glanced at Booth's office. "Booth is a sniper."

"We're both Army Rangers and yes, I was a sniper in the Army and now I qualify in the FBI." Lester closed the manual and took some paperwork out of his 'in' basket. "I'm pretty damn good too."

Amused, Sweets smiled at the confidence in the other man. "I'm planning on taking tactical training, so I can carry a gun in the field. I don't want to be a sniper though. I'm not that good."

"You want to be armed when you go out in the field?" Lester that sounded like a bad idea. "You don't go out in the field that much do you? You're a psychologist."

"I have in the past." Sweets sighed. "I used to back up Booth sometimes. I guess he doesn't really need me anymore to do that since you're here."

Aware that Sweets considered him a rival, Lester shook his head. "Dr. Brennan is Booth's partner not me . . . If he used you as backup in the past then he'll probably do it again." The agent thought using a psychologist as backup was strange, but Booth was unorthodox and it worked for him. "Doc, I'm not trying to get rid of you, but I have a shit load of work to do."

"Okay." Moving towards the elevator, Sweets still felt sad that Booth hadn't told him about Brennan, but like his friend said, his life was messy and he knew that Booth and Brennan never seemed to do anything the normal way.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Carl Fairburn met Max at their favorite Denny's. "So, you're going to be a grandfather?" Carl sipped his coffee before he started eating his Veggie Omelette. Max had called him and asked him to meet him at the restaurant.

"Yeah . . . look, you're not going to let Tempe go out in the field with Booth, are you?" Max was worried. He didn't want his daughter to take unnecessary risks while she was pregnant.

"Of course, I am. Are you nuts?" Carl laughed. "Have you actually met Temperance Brennan? Me telling her she can't go out in the field wouldn't be worth the headache it would cause me or Booth. Besides, crime scenes are pretty safe. When she's at a crime scene she's surrounded by cops, agents, techs . . . no one is going to attack an armed group of people like that. No one is that insane."

He knew Carl was probably right, but he was still nervous that his daughter would be at a crime scene. "You could stop her if you wanted to."

"I don't want to, Max. She's good at what she does and she can take care of herself." Carl started to cut up his omelette. "I'd be careful if I were you. If you start telling her what she can and cannot do because she's pregnant . . . it won't end well for you and you know it."

Sighing, Max scooped up some of his hash browns. "Yeah, I know. I was hoping you'd stop her that way she'd blame you and not me."

After he swallowed his bite of food, Carl chuckled. "I'm not stupid Max."

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