RobinAngelena, Vmf447, ZinaR, 554Laura, GalaxieGurl (oh yeah that image of steam coming out of the ears lol!), nirkamo, LoveShipper, kareneb, jsboneslover (thanks, that's high praise), FaithinBones, mendenbar (lol true), Annarita (welcome and keep reading!), regbride12. Thank you all for reading and reviewing.

I'd like to think this is a missing scene, taking place before Booth relapses into his gambling addiction in "Eye in the Sky".

Plus Sign

The house was quiet. Christine was at school and Booth headed to work. Brennan sat on her bed, staring at the plus sign on the pregnancy test. The memory of Booth's over exuberant response to her pregnancy put a smile on her face. Of course her husband was gone now, off to the crime scene without her, happily whistling a jaunty tune as he left the house. She remembered how he would get. He would forbid her to go to any crime scene, then slowly relent. That was how he was when she was pregnant with Christine.

What a difference four years makes. She remembered when she found out that she was pregnant with Christine. It was a great contrast to that morning's joy. Four years ago, she had taken the pregnancy test while waiting for Angela to give birth to Michael-Vincent. She wasn't sure why she chose that exact moment. She had been late which was a little unusual. It hadn't been the first time though, she knew that a lack of rest from overwork and stress very occasionally made her otherwise regular periods late. Though she had to admit she hadn't been subject to much overwork or stress. No doubt there had been murders to solve and they were undercover, but being undercover was ridiculously fun and in no way stressful. As for her lack of sleep, she couldn't complain. Not when her lack of sleep was thanks to sex with a certain FBI Agent. Said FBI Agent also then being in a secret relationship with her.

Keeping their newly changed relationship status a secret hadn't been hard. They had been acting as if they were a couple for some time now and nobody suspected a thing. They had been able to remain strictly professional while at work. She didn't think a secret relationship would have added much stress either. So that left her with only one possibility for her being late. At first, in denial but no longer able to deny the facts, she had discreetly purchased the pregnancy test. Although Booth was also at the waiting area along with everyone else, she had slipped off to the bathroom and the three minute test had yielded a plus sign.

She remembered sitting in the waiting room, as reality sank in. She was pregnant with Booth's child. The thought had filled her with trepidation and anxiety. She did not want their burgeoning relationship to end. The child had been unplanned. She was afraid of how Booth would react. When Hodgins had emerged with the newborn in his arms, beaming with pride that only a father could, Brennan had stolen a glance at Booth. He was smiling, seemingly very happy for their friends. He had caught her stealing a glance at him, and smiled back. His reassuring smile gave her newfound confidence. She would tell him.

She remembered how loudly her heart seemed to be hammering in her chest as she broke the news to Booth in the early hours of the new day while they were standing on the empty sidewalk. The smile on his face allayed all her fears. So much had happened between them since then.

This time round, it was a stark contrast.

When she suspected that she was pregnant, she had immediately shared her suspicions with Booth. This time, telling him was different. It was easier and didn't feel burdensome at all. This time, she was filled with excitement and joy, tempered with a hint of anxiety. His response this time though, was not unlike the first. He beamed at her. An early morning run to the pharmacy, then the three-minute wait. Another plus sign. She was relieved for the excuse to continue eating her cookies.

Considering what an organised person she was, it was almost unthinkable that both her children with Booth were unplanned. She could always blame it on Booth. He too had a voracious appetite when it came to sex, and it didn't hurt that after so many years together, they had honed their love-making to what could be an exquisite art. She wasn't sure why they were having so much sex lately, perhaps it was because Christine was getting older and no longer demanded as much of their attention, or the recent lull in murders leading to more time together at home. She concluded it was a combination of both. Whatever the reason, here she was pregnant again. Her hand came to rest on her abdomen. Nobody would suspect a thing. Nobody would know, yet.

As was with Christine, they would keep her pregnancy a secret, for now. What went on between them was just theirs, before she started showing. A secret so precious, they would share it just between them, for as long as they could. The thought of holding a newborn in her arms put a smile on her face. Her phone rang, interrupting her reverie. Her heart warmed when she saw that it was the father of her unborn child calling.

"Hi Booth, did you forget something?"

"Nope. Just called to see if everything was okay."

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Yes. Everything is okay, as it was fifteen minutes ago when you left the house."

"Just checking."

She smiled into the phone. She could bear with his over-protectiveness, for now.

"So um... any cravings? I remember what it was like."

"Not at the moment. You might want to stop at the store on the way home this evening. I'd like to ensure I have sufficient supply of chocolate chip cookies."

She heard Booth chuckle. "Of course. Anything for the mother of my child."

There was a moment of comfortable silence, before Booth spoke again, "You're okay with this right? I mean we uh… we didn't plan for it. Now that I had some time to think it through, I just… I don't want you to be unsure or anything. I'm sorry I'm bringing this up now. Maybe it's better if we talked face-to-face tonight."

"No, you had a crime scene to go to. Don't worry, I'm fine Booth. We are going to have another child together. The thought makes me very happy."

"Great. Cause I'm really, really happy too."

"I'll schedule an appointment with Dr Morris soon. Just to check the health of the fetus."

"Why would you say that? You feelin' okay? Do you think something's wrong? Listen, the baby's gonna be just fine."

Brennan detected a hint of worry in Booth's voice. She remembered that she had unintentionally excluded Booth from many things when she was pregnant with Christine, including initial visits to her OBGyn. She was determined it would be different this time.

"There's nothing wrong Booth, and I'm feeling fine. Just a routine check. And I'll remember to make sure you're always with me this time."

"Great!" There was a pause, "I've gotta go. Making a quick stop to get some coffee before going to the crime scene."

"Okay."

"You'll call me if anything changes."

"Nothing will change. Don't worry. I'm headed to the lab now. Call me when the remains are on the way to the Jeffersonian."

"Right. I love you Bones. Thanks for having my baby again."

Brennan laughed. "Who else's baby would I have? I love you too."

Booth hung up and Brennan picked up the pregnancy test, glancing at the plus sign again before discarding it in the bin. She thought about Christine and what a good big sister she would be. She smiled. She was happy. Very much so. A plus sign. A sure sign that things were going to change for them, a change for the better.

Not sure if I intentionally added that last bit of foreshadowing of Booth's impending gambling relapse.

Should be another week before I'll be able to find more time to write. Looking forward to that.

So a quick poll. I'm fast approaching 50 chapters to this collection of one-shots. I intend to continue for as long as ideas keep coming. I was toying with the idea of stopping at 50 chapters then starting another collection of stories. Like a volume 2. Or should I just keep going with this?