The phone rang and rang but after nine or ten rings, she decided to hang up. Her brother was obviously not going to answer his phone and the kids didn't seem to be home either. She'd call back later. It was only 4:00 pm. Maybe Russ was still at work and his kids hadn't come home from school yet.

Her brother had left Washington the same day she had given him her final answer but she hadn't heard from him ever since. It had been almost a week and she was beginning to wonder when he would call her to arrange the travel for his kids. There was only one week of school left and Temperance wanted to know when her nephews and nieces would be coming.

She debated what she wanted to do that night. She hadn't seen Booth since Brenda's arrest, four days ago. She had wanted some time alone and he had given it to her. She thought she had sensed disappointment in his tone when he had spoken to her but she knew that he had understood.

She had taken four days off from work and it had felt unbelievably great to be doing nothing all day. She had talked to Dr. Goodman about the possibility of taking the first two weeks of July off so she could get fully acquainted with her new roomies. He had been quite understanding and had told her to take as much time as she needed. There were two other anthropologists, they could fill in for her if she ever wanted to leave.

She heard the footsteps way before she saw him but she still knew who it was. There was something in the way he walked that made a particular sound that she now recognized perfectly. She wondered how he would be. He must have been worried about her, she just didn't know how much.

He knocked lightly on the door and Tempe slowly turned around. A smile spread on her face and she had to fight the urge to just jump in his arms.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"I'm fine."

He gave her his I-don't-believe-you look.

"Really, Booth, I'm fine."

She got up and walked up to him. They were standing close and Tempe felt her legs turn to Jell-o. What was it about him that made her feel that way?

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for me these past few weeks. Thank you for not giving up on your investigation even though you thought you had hit a dead-end."

"The solution came to me in a dream, Bones. I didn't do anything. It was my sub-conscience." Booth replied.

Temperance laughed.

"You know I don't believe in psychology."

This time, it was Booth's turn to laugh.

"Also thank you for giving me my space after Brenda's arrest. I just needed some time to cope with everything that had happened. I always thought about Brenda as a second mother to me and the fact that she had actually killed my parents was just too much for me to bare. But I'm doing much better now and it's thanks to you."

Booth smiled at her.

"I came by to tell you that Brenda confessed to having slipped some kind of household poison in the water. Her lawyer is going to plead mental instability and it's obvious that she is unstable. She'll probably be sentenced to life in a psychiatric hospital to, you know, get the help she needs."

"Thanks, Booth."

They stared at each other for a while. Neither of them said anything else or moved closer. Brennan felt her heart beating faster as she looked into her friend's eyes. Then the thought occurred to her. Was he more than just a friend? She thought back to the events of the previous weeks. He had helped her find out what had happened to her parents, he had never given up. For the past two weeks he had slept over at her house, in her bed, with her. He had taken her out, brought her flowers and had held her in his arms more than once.

She knew what she felt about him but was it possible he felt the same way? Bones felt arms wrapping around her waist and she brought her own arms around his neck. Her heart raced even faster as Booth leaned closer and closer.

The sound of her phone brought them back to reality. Temperance practically jumped out of his embrace and answered her phone, her face flushed.

"Brennan." She said.

Booth ran his hand through his hair then walked to the desk and sat on a corner. Temperance wasn't looking at him. He watched as her facial expression changed. It went from serious to surprised, then from surprised to simply blank. Her face had turned pale and her eyes were round. He could see tears forming in her eyes and protectively, he got up and went to wrap his arms around her waist. Something was definitely wrong.

Brennan hung up and stared at the phone, completely shocked. She couldn't think. Millions of thoughts ran through her mind at that particular moment. She was trying to assimilate everything the other person had told her on the phone but it just didn't want to sink in. She felt a weird feeling in heart. She didn't know what it was.

She felt Booth pull her closer to him and that's when she realized that he had wrap his arms around her. She looked up at him.

"I have to go to California." She whispered.

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Berkeley, California.

Booth and Brennan walked in the police station around lunchtime. They had grabbed the 8:00 am flight for San Francisco where an FBI vehicle was waiting for them. Booth had then rented a car and the two of them had left for Berkley around 11:00 am, Pacific Time. The traffic was bad and it took a little over an hour for Booth to find his way around Berkeley and find the police station.

The cops watched them as they walked by on their way to Inspector Connolly's office, hand-in-hand, fingers intertwined. Brennan had a feeling she knew what was coming and she felt nervous. Booth had tried to calm her down during the flight but nothing had worked.

Inspector Connolly was waiting for them in front of his office. They noticed the door was closed. Connolly explained them the situation, gave them a few warnings then led them in the office.

Four brown heads turned around as they heard the door open. They all turned to look at Booth, whom they had met before. Inspector Connolly introduced them to their aunt and then told Brennan and Booth to sit down. Temperance's eyes immediately went to the garbage bags lined up against a wall. She felt a lump forming in her throat.

"There isn't much else to tell you except what I told you over the phone yesterday. Your brother's body was found in his house about a week ago. We tried to reach you but we were unable to do it."

"I was unavailable for a couple of days. I'm sorry." Temperance replied.

"The kids were put in foster care immediately after we found the body and were to remain there until we were able to reach you."

Inspector Connolly took an envelope out of the binder lying on his desk and handed it to Brennan. She could see that it was addressed to her.

"Your brother explains himself in the letter. He also asks that you take the kids and that you bring them to Washington with you. If you were to decline, the children would go back into fostering."

Brennan slowly opened the envelope and read the was apologizing to her. He told her that he had planned this months ago. He had come to Washington with a story about having to work two jobs for the summer, hoping that she would accept to take in his kids. He said that he was very happy that she had agreed to take them, that he was sorry he had lied to her and that he could now die knowing that his kids were in good hands and not in those of the foster system. The pressure of having four kids to take care of, the fact that the only woman he had ever loved had killed herself and all the memories from his past had been too much for him. He told her that he knew she would understand and that she would do what was best for the kids. He told her he knew that she was capable of raising four kids and that if she ever needed help, she could always turn to her sexy FBI agent for help, who was more than just a friend by the way.

Brennan looked up to Booth and laughed through the tears that were once again trailing down her face. Booth put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. The kids watched in silence as their newly found aunt read the letter.

Once she was finished she turned to the inspector and asked him if she could talk to Booth alone for a while. Connolly nodded and told the kids to follow him out in the hall. He closed the door to give the couple a bit of privacy.

She turned to Booth and sighed. She looked desperately at him.

"What should I do?" she asked him.

"What do you mean, what should you do? I thought you had already made your decision."

"I did but I thought it was going to be just for the summer."

"Are you this heartless?" Booth asked, letting go of her.

Brennan was surprised by his tone. She had expected sympathy or kind words, definitely not this harsh response.

"I am not heartless, Booth. I just don't think I can take care of four children."

Booth got up.

"Come here for a second."

He grabbed her hand and helped her up. He guided her to the garbage bags and pointed out to them.

"Look at these garbage bags, Tempe. Remember how it felt to carry them around. Remember how it felt to never feel at home, to be bounced from place and place. Tempe, do this for the kids. It's not that hard and I'll be there if you need help."

"But my apartment is way too small. How will I be able to find a place that'll fit the five of us?"

"You can move in with me for the time being. We'll buy a new house eventually."

"What?"

Brennan turned to her friend. He couldn't possibly be serious. They weren't even an official couple yet. Yes they had slept in the same bed and had lived together at her place for almost two weeks but that didn't make them a couple, did it? She looked into his eyes and saw he was being sincere. He really wanted her to move in with him.

This is crazy. She told herself.

"Come on, Bones. Do it for the kids. Do it for Shawn and David Cook. Do it for Leslie Lawson. Do it for all the kids in the system."

They had met little Leslie in a murder investigation six months ago. Leslie Lawson, 11, foster child since her birth, had never known what a real family was. She had been separated from her twin sister at birth, she had no family whatsoever. She had been the victim of her tenth foster family. Her foster dad had beaten her to death. Temperance remembered having to reconstruct part of her skull because it had been so damaged. She remembered seeing a picture of this lovely child. She still remembered her eyes. Even in pictures, they had seemed to be crying out for love and affection.

She heard Booth's voice from a distance.

"You remember what it was like. That's something you never forget. Now the question is, are you willing to put your own family members through this knowing full well that you could have done something to stop it?"

Temperance stayed silent for a few moments and took one more look at the garbage bags at her feet.

"Bring Inspector Connolly back in." She told Booth.

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TBC of course I won't let it like that. So what do you guys think will happen? Oh and by the way, how many of you thought that Brenda was the killer? I'm just curious to know. Did I disappoint anybody with the solution? Hopefully not.