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Another one inspired by the same episode The Dwarf in the Dirt. My daughter wanted to know if Brennan eventually tells Booth what Hank Senior had told her. I told her the show doesn't address it. Anyway thought I should fill in the gap.

Secrets

"You're still up?" Booth asked as he entered their bedroom that night to find his wife sitting up in bed against several large pillows.

"Yes, I'm finding it hard to fall asleep. Your son is currently firmly wedged against my seventh rib and he's rather active tonight." Brennan explained as she place the anthropology journal she had been reading on her very swollen belly.

"Oh so when he's naughty his my son huh?"

"Our son." Brennan smiled.

Booth smiled back. It felt good to me home again.

"Maybe our little Tiger is gettin' ready to make his escape huh?"

Brennan shook her head. "I don't feel any contractions. More like an oversized buffalo trying to get comfortable on a small bed."

"You are definitely not an oversized buffalo Bones, you're a smokin' hot Mama." He grinned as he looked at her. She was very pregnant, with his child and the knowledge of that made him feel nothing but pride and love for her.

Brennan chuckled, shaking her head. "Only you would think that."

Booth slipped off his shoes, then pulled off his shirt, climbing into bed next to her. "This is okay right?"

"Yes why would it not be? You've been home for more than a week now. "

"Cause you were complaining that the bed's too small." Booth replied as he settled against the pillows next to her.

"I'd rather have you next to me than have more space to myself."

Booth smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm sorry I got home so late Bones."

"No need to apologise, you texted me that you were going to be held up at the GA meeting."

"One of the guys at the meeting, his car need a jumpstart. I had to help him out."

"I know you already told me, in your text." Brennan held up her cellphone that had been next to her on the bedside table.

"I just wanted to be sure you know?"

"I trust you Booth. You don't have to keep reporting your whereabouts to me."

"It means a lot to me, hearing you say that." Booth took her hand in his, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. "I just wanted to make sure there're no secrets between us. There shouldn't be."

Brennan fell silent. There had been one recurrent thought in her mind. One that came to mind a lot more frequently especially since they had settled on the name of their unborn son.

"What is it Bones?" Booth asked concerned. "You okay?"

"I feel like…"

"What?!" Booth sat upright, "Are you in labor?"

Brennan couldn't help but chuckle, shaking her head. "No."

"Then what is it?" Booth asked, picking up on her pensive mood.

"There's something I need to tell you."

"Is the baby okay?" Booth asked worried that she may have withheld information from him or that he had missed out on something important while they had been separated.

"Yes. He's fine."

"And you're okay too right?"

"Yes."

"Okay?"

"Do you remember that time, when I had just met Hank, Pops, not our son."

"Yeah?"

"He told me something. Something he said he never had the courage to tell you." Her blue eyes met his. "He told me to tell you when the time was right. Except, you know how terrible I am at human interactions, I can never tell when it's a good time. How could I find the right time to tell you something Hank didn't have the courage to tell you himself?"

"You've been keeping somethin' from me?"

"Yes. At the request of Hank."

"The first time you met Pops… that was years ago."

"Yes."

Booth blew out a breath. "That's a long time to keep a secret. It must've been eating at you…"

Brennan nodded. "At first, but as time passed I managed to sublimate the thought. However, Hank had tasked me to tell you and every now and then I would wonder if the time was right to reveal that information to you. I find that with the impending birth of our son whom we've chosen to name after your grandfather, my desire to tell you what Hank told me grows."

"Bones its okay, just tell me."

"Booth I…"

"What he's not some bank robber like Max right?" Booth joked, trying to make light of the situation.

"What? No. What Hank told me… it's about your Dad."

"Oh." Booth hadn't been expecting that.

"He told me that he felt responsible for why your Dad left. He had caught him hitting you, he had stepped in that day."

Booth hung his head, staring down at his hands. "Yeah. I remember that day. Dad he… I don't know why he was so mad, I thought he was gonna kill me. But then Pops showed up and he saved me. I was so scared I ran up to my room and locked the door. I heard shouting downstairs but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I threw the covers over my head. Hid there until Pops came to get me. He told me that he was gonna take me and Jared to live with him and Grandma for awhile. Dad left after that day. Never came back."

"What you didn't know was that your Dad didn't leave on his own volition. It was Hank who told him to leave. He has felt guilty for that ever since."

Booth was again silent, processing in the information. He felt the familiar anger bubbling to the surface. He knew he shouldn't be angry but he was. He wished she had told him sooner, he wished he could have addressed this with Pops when he had the chance.

"I wish you'd told me sooner Bones."

"I didn't know how."

"I just…" Booth blew out a breath. "Why'd you wait so long?"

"I don't know… things happened, we were just partners then and after we got together… I tried multiple times to find the right opportunity."

"You had many chances to tell me Bones." Booth slipped out of bed, pulling his shirt on.

"Where are you going?"

"I just… I just need some air."

"Booth I'm sorry."

"I just need to clear my head." Booth felt his anger rising and he was afraid he would say something he would regret.

Brennan watched as Booth left the room. He had asked for space and she would give him that, but she couldn't help the sting of rejection in her heart.

Booth got home when it was almost dawn. He had drove around aimlessly trying to quell his anger but the more he tried, the more guilty he felt. His wife was heavily pregnant and they had a four-year-old daughter who would be a bundle of energy once she woke up. He peeked into Christine's room, relieved to find that she was still asleep. He entered their bedroom and found Brennan asleep, her back to him. He stood at the doorway, silently watching Brennan sleep. They had just got back together after their separation and he was determined not to let anything come between them again.

He watched as Brennan stirred. He approached her cautiously. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"I wasn't really sleeping." Brennan said as she struggled to get up. " I need to go to the bathroom again."

Booth held out a hand to her and was grateful she allowed him to help her up. As she entered their bathroom, he sat perched on his side of the bed, waiting for her to finish. When she was done, she came to sit beside him.

"Listen Bones, I'm sorry for just walking out like that."

Brennan shook her head. After their separation and seeing how hard he had worked to fight his addiction, she had faith that their marriage could withstand anything. She had felt angry, guilty and a little hurt but not insecure. She knew he would come back. Yet the nagging worry that she had inadvertently cause him a relapse coupled with her unborn son's antics in her womb kept her awake for most of the night.

"No, I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to keep something like this from you for so many years. Not when I should have given you the opportunity to tell Hank you didn't blame him for what happened."

Booth was momentarily stunned into silence, unsure how to respond. He took her hand in his. She had improved in her ability to read people and social interactions but he had not expected her to read him like an open book. How she had known what he was thinking he wasn't sure.

He cast a sideways glance at her, quirking her a crooked grin. "How'd you know that?"

"I put myself in your shoes. Not literally of course."

"Of course." He chuckled. "I just drove around for a couple of hours, tryin' to clear my head. I didn't go vent my frustrations by gambling."

"I didn't think you would."

Booth looked at her questioningly. She wasn't a good liar, never had been.

"I did have moments of doubt, but mostly I had faith that you wouldn't.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did." He squeezed her hand.

"We're okay." She assured him.

"I know. Like you said, I just wish I could've told him."

"I should have told you earlier."

"You kiddin' me? Compared to me keeping my gambling from you, I think this was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing."

"It was a unfair burden for you to carry but you know what? It proves to me that Pops had a good eye. He knew he could trust you with something like this. He knew you were just the person to entrust this with."

"You're saying he could predict that we would get together?"

"I'm saying he knew you're the one for me."

Brennan smiled almost shyly, remembering what Hank had told her. "Are you okay?"

"I will be, I mean I have to be. Hank'll be here any day now." He placed his hand on her belly, rubbing gently before leaning down to plant a kiss.

Brennan took the opportunity to pull her husband to her as closely as her belly would allow, holding him to herself. They sat in each other's arms, occasionally interrupted by their unborn son's kicks.

"Thanks for telling me." Booth finally said.

"I'm just glad to be able to tell you."

"So no more secrets right?"

Brennan smiled the smile that always melted his heart. "No more."

"You know after our little Tiger gets here, I'd like to drive up to see Pops. You know tell him?"

"I'd like that."

Outside the dawn had turned into morning as the sun began to rise. The couple heard little footsteps approaching their room. Christine surprised to find her parent's bedroom door open, ran into her father's welcoming arms.

"You're still here Daddy."

"Of course I am, I promised you I'm not leavin' ever again right?"

Christine looked towards her mother. "Your Dad's right."

Christine smiled. She placed her small hand on her mother's belly, "When's Hank gonna get here?"

"Soon Sweetheart," Brennan smiled as she planted a kiss to Christine's head. "Soon."

Brennan shared a smile with Booth over Christine's head. No more secrets between them.

I'm really hoping I can hit 100 chapters with this series. I've got some ways to go!