I don't own any of the characters, and I'm not making any money.

Thanks for all your comments so far!

Sometimes you even have to work during a vacation...

Chapter 21 working

As soon as Booth and Parker had disappeared through the sliding doors Angela grabbed Brennan's hand and took her along the lab to her office. Brennan slipped her jacket off her shoulders and hung it up on the coatstand behind her desk, avoiding Angela's impatient gaze.

Finally she turned round, wondering optimistically for a moment whether Angela had left, but there she sat, an eager smile on her face, waiting to hear all about Brennan's weekend.

"Well, Sweetie? I gather you had a good time with Booth?" Angela's face was impatient, and Brennan sighed, and perched on the edge of her desk.

"I've been looking after Parker and Booth all weekend. Parker's been learning to ride his bike, and he can nearly do it." If Brennan hoped that this would be enough to satisfy Angela, she was wrong.

"And kissing Booth? What happened, Bren?"

Brennan tucked her hair behind her ears. "Well – that's it. You know what happened."

"You kissed him?"

"Well, strictly speaking, he kissed me."

"And what did you do? Don't tell me you ran away, please. I couldn't bear it!" Angela's eyes lit up with glee.

Her hesitation had Angela turning an impatient circle on the spot. "How could you, Bren? That guy is so hot, and you care for him, I know you do. How could you blow it like that?"

Brennan wondered whether to leave Angela in the dark, but decided to take pity on her. "I did go after him," she admitted.

"And?"

"And we kissed again."

"And?"

"There is no more 'and'. His shoulder still hurts, Angela. And we had a small boy in the house. What did you expect us to do, make mad passionate love on the coffee table?"

"Mad passionate love? Oh, yeah, that would be good."

"In your dreams, Angela. Now, I have work to do." She neatly avoided further questioning by slipping her blue lab coat on and going in search of Zack.

As she bent over the lab table, examining the pieces of bone as Zack handed them to her, she caught occasional sight of Angela from the corner of her eye. Angela was obviously eaten up with curiosity, but had to content herself with a few cryptic comments. She appeared consoled by the thought of Booth joining them for lunch though, and Brennan decided she'd better warn Booth to be prepared for a cross-examination worthy of a courtroom.

At exactly 12.30 the sliding doors opened and Booth and Parker entered. The little boy was holding his dad's hand and chattering excitedly to him. When the team of squints approached them, Parker began to tell them what they had been up to. "I touched a piece of moonrock, and we saw some real pirate bones!"

Hodgins bent down to the boy's eye level. "Did your dad tell you I was the one who found those bones?"

"Wow!" Parker was impressed. Brennan smiled in amusement as she caught Booth's eye. He raised his eyebrows in a question, and she fought back a grin as she shook her head slightly and glanced over to Angela.

Zack pulled off his labcoat and left it on the back of his chair. "Food!" he said eagerly, and Parker laughed in delight. He ran over to Zack, who picked him up and gave him a cheerful hug.

They walked together to the parking lot, then Angela and Zack squeezed into Hodgin's car, while Brennan went with Booth and Parker. Booth let her drive again, which Angela acknowledged with a raised eyebrow and knowing smile. Brennan pretended not to notice.

When they reached Wong Foo's they walked into the restaurant together. Booth took a seat between Parker and Brennan, and they amused themselves during the meal by holding hands under the table, where no-one could see. Angela kept looking at them suspiciously, and made a few attempts to fish for information, but Booth proved to be even better at avoiding her questions than Brennan was, and she sat back to watch him in admiration. Then she realised Angela had turned her attention to her, and she sat up and focused intently on her meal.

Booth seemed to enjoy the company of the squints, a fact that pleased Brennan intensely, and Hodgins and Zack between them kept Parker entertained throughout the meal, although one or two of the jokes Hodgins told him seemed to go over his head rather – a fact Brennan was heartily grateful for.

Eventually the meal was over and they walked slowly back to the car. "I'd better drop you back at the lab," Booth said regretfully.

Brennan nodded. "My car's there, so I'll be okay," she said, desperately trying to think of an excuse to stay with Booth longer.

It seemed like Booth didn't want to say goodbye either, because he sat in the car for a long time before starting the engine.

"What are you two doing this afternoon?" Brennan asked in the end.

Booth shook his head and shrugged, then winced as the pain in his shoulder bit. "I guess we'll head down the park, huh Bub?" he said, turning to look at Parker through the gap in the seats.

Parker nodded eagerly. "With my bike!" he yelled.

Booth nodded. "So the park it is," he said, giving Brennan the smile that melted her heart. "Do you want to come round later?"

She smiled at him. "That would be great," she said, and he finally started the engine.

They drove back to the lab in silence apart from Parker's cheerful chatter from the back of the car, and when Booth pulled up in front of the entrance to drop her off, Brennan sat for a moment, hesitating, before Booth undid his seatbelt and turned towards her. She leaned forward to kiss him goodbye, and it was at that moment that she noticed the squints had stopped to talk to Dr. Goodman outside the main entrance, and were looking across at the car and had seen them kiss.

Brennan froze for a moment, felt Booth's confusion, then she realized their secret was irrevokably out, and in a moment of daring she placed her arms around his neck and pulled him closer for a hug and a passionate kiss.

Booth hugged and kissed her in return, and she felt him smile quizzically. "That was nice," he said, as he pulled back, then followed her glance. "Oh, I see. I didn't realise we had an audience. Sorry."

Brennan shrugged. "I guess the cat's out of the handbag," she said cheerfully, and he laughed at her. "Just a bag, Bones," he corrected her, then shook his head at her grin. "But you know that, of course. Sometimes I swear you only live to wind me up."

Brennan pretended to look him all over. "Where's your key then?" she asked, and Booth chuckled.

"Maybe I'll let you take a good look tonight," he said with a mischievous expression on his face. At that, Brennan finally, reluctantly, said goodbye to Parker and climbed out of the SUV to face the reactions of her colleagues and her boss.

One more part to go, I think. Then there'll be a sort of sequel, which will follow the relationship as it's now been established, but be a casefile as well. I'm off to research it next week, so this one needs to be finished by the weekend.

Please let me know what you think!