Happy holidays to everyone! To get more into the holiday spirit, I decided to join the Bonesology 2021-2022 Winter fanfic challenge! I started writing fanfic earlier this year so, this is my first fanfic challenge and I'm super excited! Just to give credit where credit is due, thanks to rynogeny for posting the challenge on the community and mphs95, Hopper74, and Dukefan1982 for some of the ideas!

The prompt I'm following is "Stranded" where Booth and Brennan get stranded out of town and can't make it home in time for Christmas so Booth wants to make it the best makeshift Christmas for Brennan. They're a couple in mine and I played around with the timeline of their relationship between S6 and S7 for it to work. Again, a disclaimer, I don't own the Bones characters, just borrowing them for some fun.

I hope you enjoy it! As always, leave me a review so I know what you thought!


"Well, at least that wasn't so much of a waste of time like the previous suspect," Booth muttered as he hopped into the SUV.

"I concur. We learned more from this suspect about our victim and we were able to clear her with her alibi. Which leaves us with a much more focused direction." Brennan agreed as she slide into the passenger seat. Shivering and rubbing her hands together, she immediately reached for the SUV's heating system and cranked it up. It was already the middle of December and winter was in full force on the Northeast. Not to mention it was only two days until Christmas.

Though they had been hoping to be spared, the Jeffersonian and FBI had caught a case earlier in the week that required their full attention. A body had washed up in the Potomac River, mostly decomposed and waterlogged, and after preliminary analysis and match with dental records, the victim turned out to be some big-time journalist that had gone missing two years ago. The search for her had never truly died down and now that her remains had been found, the media and press were aggressively following the investigation once more.

Word on the street - and the internet - had it that just before the journalist went missing, she had gotten into a huge argument with her producer in New York about a new segment wanting to be added to her show. With a little more digging on Booth's part, they found that not only did their victim spend a lot of her time flying between D.C. and New York but there was also a string of disgruntled coworkers and colleagues who were in New York, practically screaming to be questioned.

He'd worked with Sweets to profile and identify all the possible suspects they had in New York in between questioning the ones in D.C. It took them a while but they'd finally complied a list and profiles on their NYC five suspects.

Because of Brennan's pregnancy and it being so close to Christmas, Booth was hesitant in traveling to New York to question the suspects. Brennan of course had none of it.

"I'm five months pregnant Booth, not handicapped. Besides, our victim needs justice. It isn't fair to her that we fail to complete our job to the best of our capabilities just because you're being overprotective about me carrying your progeny."

And of course, he conceded to her point, falling just a bit more in love with her and her fierce tenacity for the truth. But not before correcting her word choice to "baby."

He looked over at her now, smiling softly at the visual of his partner in a gray beanie. Booth still couldn't believe that she was his now. His Bones, his partner, the woman of his dreams was his and they were finally together. They'd finally crossed that stupid line of theirs and were not looking back. Granted, yes, the moment that led them into each other's arms was sad and still very painful to think about but Booth would not have it any other way. Their story, including their history, was imperfectly perfectly them.

"I'll text Dr. Saroyan and let her know that Mr. Bray can start determining a murder weapon. That should help us narrow it down more." Brennan added, not looking up from her cell.

"Sure thing Bones. Do you need anything before we hit the road and head out?" Booth asked. They had an almost four-hour drive ahead of them and Booth wanted to make sure Brennan was as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances.

Looking up and meeting his soft brown eyes, Brennan gave him a small smile. "If you wouldn't mind getting me something sweet to drink, that would be lovely. I know we're past the morning sickness period but I just want to be prepared in case the motion sickness from the car moving affects me again."

Coming up from D.C., Booth had to pull over about 40 minutes into their drive to get Brennan something to drink and to give her a chance to gather herself. Something about the drive and cold weather had her feeling extra queasy despite already being out of the woods for morning sickness for a solid month.

"Of course, Bones. Anything else you need? Something to snack on maybe?"

Brennan slide her phone back into her messenger bag at her feet and looked out, a distant yet pleased look on her face. One Booth knew all too well. "Well, now that you mention it, those peanut butter crackers would be great. Oh! And some chocolate, maybe even chocolate-covered pretzels?"

Booth threw his head back laughing, punching in the directions to the nearest grocery store and pulling out into traffic.

"I gotcha, Bones." He reached over and placed his palm on her thigh, squeezing gently and smiling at her.

He knew that there were times where Brennan felt a bit self-conscious about asking him for too much and didn't want to seem needy. But, Booth was all too happy to get her anything she wanted and to indulge her. When Rebecca was pregnant with Parker, he didn't get a chance to be a part of her pregnancy much, given that for a portion of it, he had been deployed in his final tour and they were trying to work things out following her refusal of his proposal. Not to mention him almost missing the birth of his son, trying to hurry back from where he had been stationed only to immediately be taken away by that SOB Walter. Or whatever his name was.

Booth was determined to not run into any of those issues with Brennan and their baby. He'd be there for her through every part of the pregnancy, every craving, need, hormone change, he made a promise to himself and to her, that he would be there. With this being their first Christmas together as a couple, he was determined to start by making it one of the best Brennan had ever had.

Brennan was having similar thoughts as they drove towards the grocery store. She'd definitely been afraid of asking Booth for too much. Thinking that if she laid it on too thick he'd run. Her nerves were a bit more on edge given that they had only just been a romantic couple for about a month and a half before she told him that she was pregnant. Rationally, she knew Booth loved her and was already very much in love with their baby, supporting her pregnancy wholeheartedly but old wounds die hard.

Booth pulled into the grocery store parking lot and gave her a quick kiss before hopping out and heading inside to get her what she needed. As she watched him walk away, her hand absentmindedly fell to the small swell of her belly where their baby was growing.

Brennan thought about the fact that at one point, she was completely against the idea of having children. Then, with Booth coming into her life and showing her how open she could be emotions and turning her world upside down, she'd begun to open her eyes more to the possibility. Her failed attempt at artificial insemination briefly crossed her mind and now, she scoffed at the idea of conceiving any other way than the way she did.

She knew Booth would call it fate and destiny and while she, a rational scientist to the end, would dismiss the notion, the woman in her, the part of her that felt utterly feminine to Booth's doting and selfless love, could not help but think maybe that's the way it should have happened.

Her hand lightly caressed her belly and Brennan began thinking about her first Christmas with Booth and their unborn baby. She'd shared many holidays with Booth since the first Christmas they'd been stuck in the lab together except for the year they'd spent on separate sides of the world. But this would be the first Christmas they'd spend together as a couple and as expecting parents. There was a part of her that wanted to be happy, like really happy but there was another part of her that was hesitant to accept things would actually be good this year.

The holidays were never always a fun time for her. The memories of how it used to be when her parents were still alive were very distant and Brennan couldn't really remember them. Years of being in the foster system clouded the good memories with the bad ones. The worst one, she tried every year to forget but every year the memory of that time in foster care rose to the surface.

She took a long breath and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the car seat. Mentally reminding herself that she wasn't there anymore and she was okay. Slowly trying to rid her mind of the horrible memories.

That's how Booth found her when he got back to the SUV.

He'd picked up more than enough of Brennan's favorite caffeine-free, organic tea and some of the snacks she'd been gravitating towards due to her pregnancy cravings. He'd even picked up some snacks for himself, figuring that when they made a pit-stop, he'd be hungry enough to take a snack break.

His brow furrowed when he saw her eyes closed and head titled back. Thinking she was feeling ill, he went around to the passenger side and opened her door.

"Bones, are you okay?"

"Booth!" She jumped a bit, not expecting to see him standing directly beside her, looking down at her.

"I was coming back and saw your head titled back and eyes closed… I thought something happened." He explained, depositing the bag of things on the floor of the car. Booth brought a hand up and gently cupped her jaw while the other rested on top of hers on her belly.

"Is the baby-"

"The baby is fine Booth, we both are." She immediately quieted his fears. "I was just… it's not important, Booth. Don't worry. I'm fine, we should get going before it's too late."

"Bones, you know you can talk to me." Booth looked down and met her eyes with a soft gaze.

Brennan looked up at Booth knowing he meant well, and that eventually, she would tell him, she just didn't want to get into it right now. She gave him her best convincing look.

Booth knew that something was bothering her but he also knew not to push her before she was ready to tell him. Softly sighing, he nodded. He leaned in and kissed her forehead softly before capturing her lips in a soft kiss all while keeping one hand on her belly along with hers.

"Okay," he breathed against her lips. "But when you're ready, whenever you want to talk about it, I'm right here. No rush." Brennan smiled and nodded, thanking him. He gave her and her belly one last kiss before closing her door and rounding the SUV to get in the driver's seat.