Apologies for the delay - let's find out what Brennan's decision is, shall we?
Vacations are an opportunity to get to know each other better...
Sunday Night
Logically, she should go to bed, and leave things until the morning. They were both tired, and they had both been far too close this weekend. If things were ever to get back to normal between her and Booth, she had to make space for them both to recover. She headed down the hallway to her bedroom door, but stopped when she reached the door to Parker's room, where Booth had disappeared to. Was back to normal really what she wanted?
If there was one thing that frightened her more than the thought of losing someone she loved, it was the fear of not knowing what would happen. She had lived with uncertainty about her parents for half her life. The thought of spending the rest of her life wondering what would have happened if she had gone after Booth was unbearable.
Yes, having a close relationship with him as well as working with him could be problematic, but that was not absolutely certain. Walking away now and pretending none of this had ever happened could be far more problematic. They had crossed the line, and the only thing to do now was to follow the path to the end, and find out where it went.
She hesitated, then opened the door without knocking.
Booth had been standing gazing out of the window at the dark street. He turned abruptly when he heard her enter. "I told you to forget it," he said roughly. "I was out of order. I know."
She moved closer to him. "What if I don't want to forget?" she said softly. He looked at her questioningly, his head on one side, and she bit back a smile at how cute he looked. "We've gone too far, Booth," she said. "We've crossed the line. We can't pretend any of this never happened. I don't want it not to have happened. I don't think you do either."
He shook his head. "I don't want to push you, Bones," he said. "If you're not ready..."
"I'm not ready to give up on us before we've even started," she retorted. "The logical thing to do is to see if this relationship can go anywhere. Angela keeps telling me we should, and you seem to feel attracted to me, so logically..."
"What about you?" he interrupted. "How do you feel about me?"
She looked at him for a long time, considering. "I don't know. I enjoy your company. I don't want to go back to just seeing you when we're working on a case. I'm not sure I'm ready for anything serious..."
"I can live with that, for now at least," he mused, and coming closer, he reached out and touched her cheek gently. "Are you sure?"
"If you keep asking that, I'll change my mind," she said tartly, and he smiled and bent his head very slightly to kiss her gently on the lips. She hesitated at the unfamiliar touch, then put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, and she felt her knees weaken slightly at the touch of his lips. He held her tight, and she melted into his arms. They sank down onto the nearby bed, and it was a long time before either of them came up for air.
They lay on the bed for a while, holding each other and kissing. Brennan did not feel confident enough to suggest they went any further, and she was also acutely aware of Parker, who was supposedly asleep in the next room, but who had shown before an uncanny ability to appear at the oddest moments. Eventually, she pulled away and sat up. "I'd better go to bed," she said, rather breathlessly.
Booth stroked her hair, trying to persuade her to lie down again. "You're already in bed," he pointed out.
"No, Booth - I'm not ready for that yet. Let's take things slowly, okay? You're tired, and your shoulder is still hurting you, I can tell, and I really don't want to go any further while Parker's around. I'll see you in the morning."
He stuck out his bottom lip, pretending to sulk, and she just had to kiss him one more time. Then, finally, she dragged herself away and headed to bed, leaving Booth lying on the bed watching after her.
The next morning, Brennan was the last to waken. She roused out of a deep sleep, to find Booth standing over her grinning. "Come on, sleepyhead, it's time to get up," he greeted her. She groaned and threw her pillow at him, and he chuckled and sat down beside her on the bed.
"It's just turned eight, and my hospital appointment is at 9.30," he announced.
She looked at the other side of the bed. "Where's Parker?" she asked, sitting up in a rush.
"It's okay, he's eating breakfast," Booth reassured her. "How are you this morning?"
"Not regretting last night, if that's what you mean," she answered with a sleepy smile. She held out her arms to Booth, and he leant forward to give her a kiss and a hug.
"I've brought you a coffee," he said, as he straightened up slightly. "I'll sort Parker out, if you want to get yourself up soon."
"Okay." She could not resist giving him one last hug and kiss before allowing him to leave the room.
"Daddy?" They both jumped apart at Parker's voice from the doorway.
"Hiya," Booth greeted him cheerfully, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Have you eaten breakfast? I'm just coming."
Parker just gave a triumphant yell. "Daddy's kissing Tempe, Daddy's kissing Tempe," he chanted. "Daddy, does this mean Tempe's your girlfriend now?"
Booth looked down at Brennan, who grinned back at him ruefully.
"I guess it does," Booth answered his son with a broad smile, while beside him Brennan wriggled in delight at the thought.
Well, they're together! Hope you enjoyed this part - why not let me know? Just another couple of parts to this one now, I think.