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Brain tumor

It was two months after their daughter had been born and the happy parents were finally settling into a routine with Christine. That particular morning, Brennan was sitting on the couch, nursing Christine before the workday began. She heard Booth on his phone.

"I'll be there at three. Thanks."

"Are you meeting someone?" Brennan asked, looking up at her boyfriend.

"Yeah I have an appointment with Dr Mullen this afternoon."

The name was new to her but she knew he was taking about a doctor's appointment. "Oh are you feeling unwell?"

"Nah. It's just my annual review, you know, because of my brain tumor."

"Oh." She was suddenly filled with alarm.

"Look Bones, it's nothing to worry about okay? Just something I have to do every year, because of the tumor. It's not like you didn't know."

"Yes I remember you mentioned it to me a year after your surgery."

"Yeah and it wasn't a big deal then."

In the few years since his surgery to remove the tumor in his brain, Brennan had known that he had to go back for yearly checks to make sure the tumor had not recurred. The first year after his surgery, she had offered to go with him as a friend, but he had assured her it was no big deal. The next year, he had just returned from Afghanistan and was with Hannah. She had felt it wasn't her place to intrude then.

"And the following year, I assume Hannah went with you."

Booth shook his head. He shrugged. "I never even told her I had brain surgery before. I didn't even think to tell her."

The fact surprised Brennan, but now looking back it made sense. Booth's relationship with Hannah had been superficial compared to what they had now. Now, three years after his surgery and subsequent coma, they were a couple, raising a daughter together. She found the thought that he was still living under the shadow of the tumor disconcerting, especially now.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Noticing the look of hurt on her face, Booth quickly sat down on the couch beside her, wrapping an arm round her.

"Bones, it's no big deal. I just go to the doctor's office, he runs some tests, gets me to do stuff like follow his pen with my eyes, touch my nose, kinda like checking to see if I'm drunk, then asks some questions. He says the same thing every year. That it's all good and he'll see me again the next year. I didn't think you'd wanna know. Besides you've been tired, Christine's been keeping us up."

"I would want to know Booth. We share our lives together now. If your tumor recurs, it affects the both of us."

"Hey it's not gonna come back okay? I'm in perfect health. I'm not seeing any cartoon babies. The only baby I see…" He touched their daughter's cheek gently as she suckled on her mother's breast, "… is our beautiful little girl here."

"I want to go with you Booth."

"Okay. If it makes you feel better."

"It does."

That afternoon, as the couple sat in Dr Mullen's office, hands interlinked, Brennan felt as if she could release the breath she had been holding since the morning, when Booth was given a clean bill of health again.

One year later…

Pelant was still on the loose. Booth was angry that Flynn had been severely wounded by Pelant and was desperate to catch him. A reminder Booth had set on his phone told him he was due for his annual appointment with Dr Mullen. He remembered he needed to tell Brennan this time. As he entered his wife's office that evening to pick her from work, he broached the topic.

"Bones ready to go?"

"Yes, let me get my bag." She rose from her desk and made a grab for her messenger bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

"I um… I have my annual thing with Dr Mullen tomorrow." Booth stood infront of her, looking into her eyes.

"Yes I had set a reminder in my calendar but I'm glad you're telling me."

"Yeah I was thinking of postponing. You know, till we catch Pelant?"

"No Booth. These reviews are important. We can't let Pelant interfere with our daily lives."

"Yeah but the sooner we catch Pelant, the better I'll feel. Besides, I feel good. I mean whatever Dr Mullen said I need to look out for, headaches and stuff, I don't have them." He rested his hands on her shoulders to assure her.

"While I'm fairly certain your tumor has not recurred, it would put my mind at ease for Dr Mullen to confirm it."

Booth sighed. He couldn't say no to her, especially when she had that pleading look on her face. "Okay. I guess you're coming with me?"

"Yes, of course." She smiled.

The next day, and much to Brennan's relief, Booth was again declared tumor-free.

The next year, Booth's annual appointment came shortly after Christine's birthday. Brennan was confident enough to allow Booth to go for his appointment on his own this time. Booth called her immediately after his appointment. As she had expected, he was still tumor-free.

The year that followed has been eventful. It wasn't long after Booth had moved back home to live with Brennan and Christine, when his yearly appointment came round again. Things between them were still a little raw and tense. Booth had been careful to constantly remind her that he wasn't intending on gambling and hurting her again. This year, the appointment held particular significance. If he was still tumor-free the chances of it recurring would drop to almost zero and his annual appointments with the neurologist could stop.

But this year, things were slightly different than with previous years. He had been experiencing more frequent headaches. Headaches that hurt a lot more than usual. He had kept his headaches from her when he had moved away but now that he was back home, they bothered him enough for her to notice. These symptoms concerned both Booth and Brennan but he was quick to assure his heavily pregnant wife that it was probably nothing.

The morning of said appointment arrived.

"So I'll come pick you from the Jeffersonnian at lunch and we can go to Dr Mullen's office together after lunch. Any cravings?" Booth asked, trying to make light of the day's impending visit to the doctor's office.

"No. I find that I don't have much of an appetite this morning." Brennan pushed the pancakes on her plate around.

"Hey Bones, you gotta eat. The Tiger's gotta be starving, especially since he's gotten so big."

"I'm just worried Booth."

"I know. But like you always say, we need to have all the facts first, before we come to a conclusion."

"I'll feel better after we speak to Dr Mullen this afternoon."

Booth's phone rang, interrupting them.

"A case?"

"Yeah. I'll take Wendell." He rounded the counter to place a hand on her swollen abdomen. "You're too big to be going to a crime scene now anyway. I don't want to help you deliver a second baby by myself."

Brennan scowled at him in mock annoyance. "The baby's not due yet Booth."

"Yeah that's what we thought when you went into labor with Christine."

"Fine. I'll wait at the lab."

Booth pressed a quick kiss to her lips before leaving the house for the crime scene.

Their new case involved a senator. Brennan had wanted badly to go with Booth to the doctor's appointment but the case took precedence. Pressure from the Deputy Director of the FBI meant that they needed to solve the case as fast and accurately as they could. Late that morning, the couple conversed over the phone.

"I'll call you as soon as I'm out of Dr Mullen's office okay? I promise."

"Remember to tell him about the frequency and severity of your headaches."

"I will."

"I love you Booth."

"I love you too Bones. Everything's gonna be okay. You'll see."

As Brennan got off the phone with Booth, she couldn't fight the sinking feeling in her gut.

…

"As you can see the pattern of fracturing indicates – "

Brennan's phone rang, interrupting Wendell's assessment of the sternum.

"I'm sorry Mr Bray, I have to take this."

"Of course." Wendell knew his mentor hated being interrupted by phone calls. The fact that she stopped their work to receive this call meant that it had to be important.

Brennan snapped off her gloves and reached for her phone in the pocket of her lab coat as she moved to the corner of the bone room.

"Hi Booth."

"Hey Bones."

"What did Dr Mullen say?"

"Pretty much what you said he would. That he can't be sure if the tumor's back. They took some blood to run some tests, and I gotta go for a CT scan next week. We'll know more after."

"Okay."

"Hey listen, let's not jump to conclusions okay? I'm sure I'm fine."

"I hope so Booth."

"He made me do all these tests, like balance on one leg and touch my nose. Stuff like that, which I passed with flying colors."

"Okay."

"That's a good thing right?"

"Yes, it's promising."

"How's the Tiger doing? Not trying to make an escape is he?"

Brennan smiled to herself. "No. I don't think he would. My due date is not for another four weeks."

"I'll come by later. Catch up on the case. Plus, I'd like to see you."

"I'd like that."

"I'll see you soon Bones."

Brennan hung up, staring at the blank screen of her smartphone for a couple of seconds.

"Everything okay Dr B?" Wendell asked. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help but overhear."

Brennan knew Booth liked to keep his personal life private but she also knew Wendell was his friend.

"Booth has been having headaches. We're just concerned his tumor's back. But we won't know for sure till he undergoes more tests."

"I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I hope so Wendell."

A week later, husband and wife were sitting in the waiting room of Dr Mullen's office. He knew Brennan was anxious and tried to allay her fears.

"I'm gonna be okay Bones."

Brennan nodded. "These headaches you've been having, they might be indicative – "

He squeezed her hand. "I'm fine."

"And if you're not?" Brennan instinctively dropped her hand to her belly.

"Then we'll go through it together. And it'll all turn out fine." He laid a hand over hers.

"I'm gonna make sure I'm here to watch the Tiger grow up okay?"

Their son took that moment to push against his parents' hands.

"See, he agrees."

Brennan offered him a small smile.

"Mr Booth?" It was his turn to see the doctor.

Booth stood, helping Brennan to her feet. Brennan blew out a breath. Time for the moment of truth.

The couple entered Dr Mullen's office, taking seats opposite the doctor.

"Dr Brennan. Good to see you." The doctor greeted her. "Seeley did tell me you guys were having another baby."

"Yes. Our son isn't due for another three weeks."

"That's quite soon. I'll cut to the chase then."

Booth reached for Brennan's hand, squeezing lightly.

"The blood work and scans show that there is no evidence of tumor recurrence."

"So I'm okay?" Booth asked grinning.

"Looks like it." The doctor replied.

"What about his headaches?" Brennan asked, wanting an explanation for her husband's health issues.

"Likely migraines, possibly from stress." The doctor replied.

"It has been a rather stressful few months for us." Brennan acknowledged.

"Yeah." Booth nodded. In the back of his mind, he wondered if the headaches were by-products of attempting to keep his gambling from Brennan and also the fact that she had threw him out of the house.

"I'm happy to assure the both of you that Seeley's still tumor-free."

Booth grinned at Brennan.

"So I don't have to come for annual checks anymore?"

"Not so fast Mr Booth. I think I'd like to see you one more time next year. Just to be doubly sure."

"That would be wise." Brennan added.

"And unless the headaches get a lot worse, or more frequent or if you start having trouble walking or problems with your vision, I'll see you next year. Dr Brennan would know what symptoms to look out for."

"Right. Thank you. Best news in a long time."

The couple exited the doctor's office, a weight off their shoulders. He took her hand in hers, leading her to their car. "See, nothing to worry about Bones. Like I told you."

"I am relieved. I was worried it would be something more sinister."

"You know what? I'm back home now. I promise I won't ever gamble again. I won't keep anything from you anymore."

"You're back home but you're still having headaches."

Booth sighed. "I kinda have been walking on eggshells around you since I moved back."

"We're being overly cautious with each other."

"Yeah. Cause I'm scared I'll do something to make you mad and you'll kick me out again. And you're probably worried I'll gamble and hurt you again."

Brennan nodded. Booth stopped in his tracks. Turning to face her, he took her hands in his.

"Listen, I think what's best for us is to try to put my gambling behind us and move on. I don't mean forget what I did. I mean I'm still gonna be extra careful I don't get tempted again. But we should try not to let it get a hold on us you know? We need to get past it."

"You're right. I'm going to have to allow myself to risk being hurt by you again. Because there are no guarantees. But I can't let the fact prevent me from rebuilding a life with you again."

"There are no guarantees but I promise you. I know what it's like to hit rock bottom. I know what it's like not to have you in my life. I'll burn that feeling into my memory, and the next time I've got that urge to gamble, I'm gonna remember what it's like. Cause I'm never going back there. It's gonna take some time to get back to the way things were but… we'll get there. We're solid. Like we've always been."

"I know." She smiled at him.

He leaned in as far as her belly allowed and he kissed her tenderly.

"Now all we gotta do is wait for the Tiger to get here."