A/N: Hi everyone! This update is coming up a lot later than I thought and it's a bit shorter than what I normally post. But I wanted to get something to you and there wasn't much I could do in this chapter before going into what is going to be another big moment for the B&B family. I've been busy settling into my new job, finishing finals, and moving out and into my new dorm so it's kind of been a crazy past few weeks. Don't worry though, I'm not giving up or abandoning this story :) I'll see it through until the end!

Previously, Brennan and Booth were talking to Parker and Lily was with them. So we're picking up from there.

Booth and Brennan spent a few more minutes in the family room. Lily had fallen back asleep in Brennan's arms as she finished her bottle. Booth was slightly worried at how quiet Brennan had gotten after a while. He knew it had to either do with Lily or Parker and considering the longing looks she was giving the baby in arms, he figured it was Lily.

"Hey, Bones, you okay?"

"Of course, I am." Her reply came too instantly for Booth to agree.

"Uh-uh. I don't buy it."

"I don't know what that means."

"It means baby, that you answered that far too quickly for it to be nothing, and you haven't stopped staring at the baby in your arms. What's wrong? Talk to me."

Brennan sighed. "What if I can't really bond with Lily?" her question was softly spoken.

"What? What do you mean? Bones, it's only been a day, but you've been doing so well with her."

"Booth she's four months old. She's a baby… the ways in which she needs to bond with her mother… I can't provide that."

"Are you talking about not being able to breastfeed her?"

Brennan nodded, holding Lily a little tighter. Booth took a breath. This was one thing he couldn't take over for her. But he also knew what an amazing mother Temperance Brennan was. He knew the deeply rooted maternal instincts Brennan had and how much she loved.

"Bones, you may not be able to nurse her like you did Christine and Hank, but you can bond with her. She's young enough that she won't remember her birth mom, as sad as that is. By God's grace, we get to keep her Bones, you will be her mother. She'll know your love, be held, and protected by your heart. She'll call you Mom and when the time comes for us to tell her the truth, we'll do it together. But growing up… raising her, that'll be all you baby and you'll bond with her."

Brennan nodded and knew rationally that if they keep and raise Lily, she would be the little girl's mom. She'd be the only mother figure Lily ever knew.

"And if it helps you Bones, you can do the skin-to-skin time with her. Nothing says you can't if that'll help you bond and if you feel like it'll help her to get to know you. But regardless Bones, you will be the best mother to this baby, and she is beyond lucky to have been given the chance to be raised by you."

Brennan's eyes were brimming with tears at the end of Booth's speech. Without even trying, he knew how to calm her fears and insecurities no matter how irrationally emotional. She looked up with a teary smile, "Thanks, Booth."

He reached over and gently wiped away the tear that was falling. "I got you, baby."

The rest of the day passed on without much activity. Booth went outside to take care of Shepsky who was already getting bigger and thicker. His body gaining the appropriate weight and his strength increasing. Booth spent a few minutes roughhousing with him and came back in winded which Brennan of course, teased him about.

Lily woke up when Christine and Hank came outside and the three of them played together for a bit before breakfast. Brennan took some time thinking about what Booth had told her and decided she'd take some time later to do what she did best when it came to things, she remained unsure about; she'd research it.

That's what Booth found her doing midafternoon in their home office amongst other things.

Christine had gone to finish some worksheets for her final exams while both Lily and Hank were put down for a quick nap. Brennan had been very consistent with keeping Hank on a nap schedule so that he could get the rest he needed, and the little tiger was such a ball of energy, it was a way for Booth and Brennan to get some reprieve from his antics.

He walked into the home office and found Brennan sitting at the desk, typing away at her computer. He took a minute to watch her work. She'd gotten glasses the previous year and was wearing them. Though she didn't want to admit it, Brennan's eyesight was not the 20/20 vision it used to be. Years of squinting at bones, reading reports and grading and being a squint had caught up to her. While she was slightly insecure about them, Booth loved them on her. She looked even more beautiful and smart and with her short auburn hair, she was the vision of perfection to him.

"You're staring Booth." She chastised gently, looking up.

He smiled. "Well, with a beautiful squinty wife like you, why wouldn't I?"

Brennan huffed and bookmarked her tabs closing them in case he came over. She didn't want him seeing the plans she was beginning to make about a certain agent's upcoming birthday.

"Watcha doing?" he pushed off from where he was leaning against the doorframe.

"Oh, nothing. Just some light research."

He nodded and came around the side of the desk where she was.

"Is Christine still working?"

"Yeah, but she's almost done. I told her she could come to tell us once she was and could go and take a break."

Brennan nodded. She spent a few more minutes reading on the baby website she was on. She wanted to find out as much as she could and as she was reading, Booth made small talk with her. He was sitting on the desk right beside where she had her laptop and was fiddling with the rubix cube she had on it.

His mind wandered to when they had just become partners and he would stop by her office often to spend time with her. Brennan would question him at first wondering if he didn't have work to go do. But then, she let it go and left him to sit either at the chairs in front of her desk or lie down on her couch fiddling with random things.

Parker had left his rubix cube over at Booth's place once and he brought it over to Brennan's office the next time he went leaving it there before he left. It had been 'his thing' every time he came over to her office to hang out and wanted to fidget. When the lab blew up, the rubix cube was one of the little things that didn't make it out, but Brennan had gone out and gotten him another one. While in the grand scheme of things that didn't seem like something important, to Booth it touched him.

Thinking about it affirmed just how observant his wife was and in turn, it was one of the ways she showed him how much she loved him.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked figuring she was researching something about connecting with Lily.

"Yes. Surprisingly these mommy blogs have been really helpful, and I found some websites that were also very helpful."

"Good. That's good." Brennan nodded and shut down her laptop. She stood up and Booth pulled her into the v of his legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his settled on her waist.

"You know, these glasses of yours, they make you look real hot Bones."

Brennan laughed at his blatant comment. She had long since realized that Booth was not prudish and was just a very private man. When it was the two of them together, he could be very open and playful.

"Hmm, will you be resorting to finding out the penalty of an overdue book again Agent Booth?" she quipped back. Remembering exactly what happened the first time he saw her in these glasses.

Booth groaned and laughed. "Perhaps I will Dr. Brennan. I'll need your guidance though." He winked at her and she smiled that crooked smile of hers in response.

"You know Booth, your birthday is coming up. And I know we won't be able to celebrate it as you would have probably wanted to."

"Are you kidding me Bones? I have you and our children right here. I don't need anything else."

She looked at him, tilting her head. "It'll be your 50th birthday Booth. Don't you want to celebrate this milestone? That's something that has always been important to you."

Booth nodded. He was the one in their relationship who was big on important dates and celebrating and marking milestones. But with everything going on in the world, with everything that had happened to them as a couple and as a family, he was truly just happy to be given the chance to be alive. To be this close to his birthday and waking up with Brennan in his arms and his children down the hall would be enough for him.

He reached a hand up and gently cupped the back of Brennan's neck. "Believe me, Bones. Having you and our children by my side is enough for me. So much more than I ever thought I'd get."

He pulled her down to him and captured her lips in a gentle loving kiss. Brennan wrapped her arms around him tighter and returned the kiss. His warm lips always felt like home, and she loved the gentle pace he was setting. The hand that was resting on her hips pulled in closer and soon they were chest to chest, pulled tightly against each other.

When they finally pulled apart, Booth smiled at the flushed look on his wife's face. Brennan kept her hands around him and leaned in to kiss him once more. "You and the children are so much more than I thought I'd get too, Booth. I love you."

"I love you too, Bones." He smiled and pulled her in for a hug, holding her close to him and enjoying the quiet comfort and peace he got from having her in his arms.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you still enjoyed it even though it was shorter than usual. I'll make it up to you with the next chapter. As always, please leave me a review so I know what you're thinking!