The next morning, Booth was groggy and unfocused throughout breakfast. He hadn't slept the night before and had decided what he was going to do but he would need Angela's help to follow though with it. When Bones said that she needed to run some errands and David offered to go with her, Booth recognized it as the perfect opportunity to talk with Angela.
"Ange, what do you know about David's interests and hobbies?" He asked, not knowing if she would catch on to what he was trying to get across.
"Not much, why do you ask?" She was getting suspicious, Booth had never shown an interest in David, let alone what he enjoyed.
"Can I tell you something? But you can't mention it to anyone else." Booth asked desperately.
"Yeah, what's wrong? Do you not want to be Best Man or something?"
"It has a little to do with the wedding, but not a lot. You see, last night, when we went up to bed, I heard a female voice talking to David in the guest room. I know it wasn't Bones, so who could it have been?"
"I knew there was something not quite right about him! That lying, cheating…" Ange broke off here and paused. "Oh gosh, what are we going to do? How do we tell Tempe?"
"I know, that was my reaction last night. But I have a plan. Do you think you could help me?"
"Okay, but it better be a way to get Bren to move back to D.C."
"If her reaction to my arrival was any indicator, you may be planning another wedding back home."
"All this time and you still love her." Angela stated with awe.
"Yeah and the only way I will get the girl is if you agree to help me sort this problem out."
"Okay, what is the plan?"
The rehearsal went well. There were a few complications, like the fact that David was late and Brennan was so angry she refused to talk to him. Before David arrived, it was just Booth, Bones, and Angela.
"Oh, no. What if he backed out?" Bones was worried; the others knew something was wrong.
"No problem, let's just practice without him." Ange suggested, looking at Booth.
"How are we going to do that without a groom?" Tempe asked.
"Booth can act as the groom."
"I don't know Ange…" Booth replied.
"Booth, will you do it? Maybe then these feelings will go away." Bones replied.
"Oh, all right. Angela, you're going to be the priest."
"Sure, where do you guys want to start?"
"How about when the bride walks down the aisle, and we'll go from there." Tempe replied looking at Angela.
"Wait a second Bones, what are we going to do about vows?"
"Make something up. Pretend to take David's place."
Then Tempe began to slowly walk down the aisle towards Booth. He had no idea what had caused him to agree to this idea, but it was as if his only dream had ever come true and his life was finally complete. "If only this were real," Booth thought.
Angela began the mock ceremony with the traditional monologue and soon it was time for Booth to say his vows.
"Tempe, it's been touch and go since we met and I can't say that I regret any of it. We have shared many memories and I hope to make many more to come. The laughs and the weeping, through it all you made me feel as if I was the only one who existed. You took me for who I was and who I will become as we grow older. I have loved every minute of our relationship and will continue to do so as we grow older. I love you."
Although Tempe had already said her vows, she felt as though it really was the wedding and she never heard Angela say that he could kiss the bride. Booth gently kissed the corner of her mouth and looked at Angela.
"That was good, but I think the kiss was supposed to be a bit more passionate," Angela stated as she did a mental dance around in her head.
"Yeah, but I'm not the real groom remember?" Booth was beat red and he was hoping the Bones would attribute his facial color to the temperature of the church they were in.
They all went and sat down in the pew, waiting for David to arrive. About ten minutes later, he came running in to the church claiming that traffic was the cause of his problem, although Booth suspected it wasn't. The second rehearsal went without an issue and no one told David about the first trial run with a different groom.
When they arrived at the house, David claimed he was tired and went to bed. While Booth, Ange, and Tempe elected to sit and watch a movie. After the movie, Booth helped Angela and Bones to bed and went to his room, where he paced throughout the night. Finally, he fell asleep two hours before his alarm was due to go off so that he could prepare for the wedding.
Author's Note: I know the days before the wedding are a bit off, but I really don't know what goes on before a wedding, as I'm a bit too young. However, the next chapter will most likely be the last and if there is a desire for a sequel, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to comply. Also, if anyone is interested in co-authoring the sequel, if there is one, let me know at