They were about an hour into their drive when the radio's weather station announced a storm quickly moving in on the Northeast and all travelers beware of their movements.

"Booth, I don't think we'll be able to make it back to D.C. today. The snow is already starting to come down a lot harder than before."

"Trust me, we will okay. We've been making good time already. I'll just shift gears and we'll be fine."

Brennan eyed Booth carefully. "Booth…"

"We'll be fine Bones. Trust me." Not wanting to argue, Brennan decided to take his word for it but knew better.

Another hour into their drive and they'd reached Philadelphia but, by now, the snow had been falling much harder making it difficult to drive in and see. Booth had to slow down significantly to see and avoid sliding on the iced roads. Cursing under his breath, he agitatedly drummed his fingers against the wheel. Brennan had already pulled out her cell again contacting Angela and letting her know that they might not make it back in town that night.

Booth was trying not to lose it. The last thing he wanted was to be stranded in Philly in the middle of this storm with his pregnant girlfriend two days before Christmas. They'd left the radio on after the first weather advisory in case another came on and sure enough, at that moment, another weather advisory was broadcast calling all drivers to get off the road and even cautioning air travel to hold off on certain flights.

"Dammit," Booth muttered.

"Booth, we really should find somewhere to pull over so we could figure out a place to stay."

"I know Bones… just…" Booth reached over and punched in some directions into the GPS praying that it wouldn't be too far a drive and practically shouted hallelujah when he saw how close they were.

Brennan looked over at him with questioning eyes.

"The last time I came back to Philly for last season's hockey game, a couple of the guys were talking about this bed and breakfast that's nearby. It's part of Philly's university city but it's in a pretty decent neighborhood and we're only ten minutes away." Booth explained turning off into the appropriate exit.

"I find it difficult to imagine a group of hockey-playing alpha males would enjoy such a bed and breakfast. Why didn't they just stay in a hotel?"

Chuckling softly, Booth shook his head. "Nah, Bones you're right. My hockey buddy Gray stayed there with his wife when they came up. Most of the hotels had been booked so that was pretty much their only option."

"Ah, that makes more sense."

In pretty much no time, Booth spotted the bed and breakfast and a parking spot a few feet away.

The bed and breakfast was a three-story Victorian home with a wrap-around porch. With all the Christmas decor and lights hung around it, it looked like a storybook gingerbread house. Brennan found herself captivated by its sweet and historically rich charm.

Killing the engine, Booth rubbed his two hands together. "Alright Bones. Lemme just grab our duffle bags out the trunk and then we can head in to see if they got a room."

Brennan nodded in response, gathering up her messenger bag and snacks from the front.

Snow had already been falling fast and hard, so most of the ground was covered with at least three inches of snow. Even the top of the roof had snow caught on its edges. They both headed up the sidewalk and into the property through the small black iron gate that had string lights wrapped around, adorning the top of it. Large red bows were also placed evenly on the gate.

There was a sign hanging from the porch ceiling with the name of the bed and breakfast - "Cornerstone." The overcast, dark skies and heavy snow made it hard to distinguish any other features to the exterior of the place.

Booth opened the front door, ushering in Brennan ahead of him and just as he was anticipating, she spun into a mini-lecture on Victorian architecture upon seeing the interior. Paisley patterned wallpaper adorned the walls and a stain-glass chandelier hung in the foyer. Immediately in front of them was a spiral staircase leading to the second floor.

"Oh Booth, look!" Brennan pointed out. "This looks like it was constructed in 1865. You know Victorian architecture is highly evolved from Gothic style spawning its own several well-known styles. Gothic revival, Italianate, Queen Anne - I'm sure that rug over there is reminiscent of it, of course, I'd need a bit of a closer look."

"You're quite right dear," a voice came from their right. A middle-aged woman rounded the corner, smiling.

"Hi, I'm Mary-Anne." She extended her hand for a shake.

Booth extended his hand to return the handshake, "Special Agent Seeley Booth ma'am. This is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan." Upon seeing the woman's concern that the FBI was in her place, Booth quickly went to reassure her. "No worries, ma'am, we're not here on official business. Just looking for a place to shelter from the storm."

"Ah, gotcha. I was just about to call my husband Frank from upstairs." Mary-Anne chuckled. "Well, in that case, you've come to the right place, dear. We've still got a few rooms open for a couple of nights."

"That'd be great." Booth smiled at her.

"Come, come, follow me." Mary-Anne motioned them to follow her into the room she had come from which was the dining room with an added table serving as a receptionist area. There was another room attached which Booth and Brennan figured was the living room. Directly behind the receptionist area, was a little breakfast nook with stained-glass windows and a well decorated and lit Christmas tree.

"How many nights do you folks need?"

"Well, we're hoping things clear up by tomorrow so we can head back to D.C. So, I guess we'll do tonight?" Booth turned to Brennan for confirmation who nodded her head.

"Okay, sounds good. I'll tell ya though, that storm is shaping up to be pretty nasty. It's pretty much gonna blow over us but it's heading D.C.'s way with a vengeance."

"It's true!" Another voice rang out. Booth and Brennan turned to see a middle-aged man coming down the stairs and into the dining.

"Frank Hall," he introduced himself. Booth and Brennan introduced themselves, shaking his hand.

"But, yeah. Like Mary-Anne was saying, the storm's blowing down there pretty bad. You folks sure you don't want to change the number of nights?"

"I think it would be wise for us to book one night and then see. We are only two hours away so there is a possibility we could get back to D.C. in time depending on when we leave in the morning." Brennan answered.

"Okay, but if you change your mind, you can always give me a holler and we can get that set up for y'all. Not many other folks are gonna be coming in with it being Christmas and all."

Booth took over signing the paperwork and used the FBI-issued credit card he'd been given for emergency uses to pay for the first night, Brennan had immediately offered to pay the other night or two if needed. Booth not wanting to get into a little bicker about money in front of their hosts simply agreed. Once all the paperwork and payments were complete, Frank led them up the stairs to their room.

More stained-glass panels and ornate wallpaper lined the walls along the stairway and once they got up onto the second floor, they were met with long hallways to their left and right. Doors lining each. Frank led them to the left and opened the first door.

"A'right folks, here ya go. You got a mini-fridge and bar in the room, full bath, tub, and shower. If ya need to do laundry or anything, give Mary-Anne or me a holler and we'll open the laundry room downstairs." Frank gave Booth the key and left them to get acquainted with the room.

The room itself was quite huge. The walls were painted a pale daffodil yellow with white trims. The decor was minimal, a couple of photographs framed in black frames were hung and in the bedroom, there was a rectangular mirror hung on the wall. The sheets were off-white accented with black throw pillows and a black and cream throw blanket. There was even a faux fireplace complete with two red stockings hanging from it and a poinsettia plant on the top of the shelf.

Going off the bedroom, there was a door leading to a small living room nook. The two sofa chairs were red paisley and there was a huge floor-to-ceiling window and enough floor space to lay out on.

The bathroom had a small single sink vanity and a large enough tub to fit two people that was sectioned off by a wall and the walk-in shower was right behind the other side of the wall beside the toilet.

Brennan had put her messenger bag down at the small desk in the bedroom and had gone to stand in front of the large window in the little nook room. Booth placed their duffle bags by the small dresser beside the bed, grateful that they still kept emergency duffle bags with a couple of clothes for a few days.

He sighed as he looked out the smaller window in the bedroom. This was not how he wanted their Christmas to begin. It wasn't what he wanted since they'd gotten the journalist case but he figured he'd go with the flow and wrap the case up as quickly as possible so he and Bones could enjoy a quiet Christmas together. He'd go to the grocery store, pick up Brennan's organic, vegetarian food, the ingredients for her seven cheese Mac and Cheese. He'd pick up a small turkey for himself, Pops, and Max as well as Parker when he came over.

They'd make Christmas dinner together and after their guests had left, they'd enjoy a quiet night in, he'd dote on her to no end and when it was done, he'd move to make love to her and end the night with her wrapped in his arms. He'd even picked out the perfect gift for her and was eagerly awaiting the moment to give it to her.

Booth closed his eyes and sent up a prayer to God that they'd be able to leave tomorrow as they wanted so they could wrap up the case and spend Christmas together. A soft knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts and he went to go check. Mary-Anne had come up offering to include him and Brennan in their dinner plans. Since the storm was still pretty much in full swing, most of the restaurants were closed so she and Frank would be cooking dinner. Thanks to their generators, Cornerstone still had electricity and heat, and gas.

Booth thanked her and told her that he and Brennan would eat whatever they were planning but that Brennan was vegetarian so if they wouldn't mind giving her a little more than a simple salad.

"Of course, dear! Our daughter is also vegetarian so when she comes to visit, we know how to accommodate her. Don't worry, I got a recipe I can pull out."

"Thank you, we really appreciate it." Booth smiled at her and Mary-Anne waved her hands in a gesture indicating that no thanks were needed and let him know dinner would be ready in about forty minutes.

He closed the door and went to go check on his partner. He slowly walked into the room and found her standing in front of the large window. She'd taken off her beanie, her hair now slightly curling down and she'd shed her winter coat, leaving her in her red turtleneck. She'd even taken off her boots, leaving her sock-clad feet bare.

She was slightly turned to her side so he could see a portion of her face. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold and the light blush across them stole his breath. Her hands laid on the gentle swell of her belly as she looked out the window. There wasn't much to see given how overcast and gloomy it now was with the storm surging but Booth figured she wasn't sightseeing but was rather deep in thought.

He shrugged out of his winter coat, laying it over hers, and approached her. He stayed behind her, wrapping his arms around her and resting his arms atop hers. He heard her inhale in a steady breath and her head came back to rest against him. Being in only her socks, put her a couple of inches below him but it was the perfect height for him to rest his chin on top of her head.

They stayed like that, him cocooning her and her leaning on him before Booth broke the silence. "I'm sorry, Bones."

Brennan immediately turned in his arms and looked at him in alarm. "Sorry? For what?"

"Us being stranded here right now. The storm."

"Booth, you don't control the weather. How could it possibly be your fault?" The familiar 'v' between her brows appeared as she tried to figure out how the horrible weather could be his fault and why he felt responsible.

"No, I don't mean it that way baby. I mean…" Booth sighed as his arms around her tightened pulling her closer. "I mean, it's two days before Christmas and we're stuck here and might be stranded here not able to go home. It's our first Christmas together, you're pregnant, we should be home. Not in a bed and breakfast in Philly."

Brennan's gaze softened as she heard the words. She hated that he was feeling responsible for their predicament and yes, while she would love nothing more to be home in her apartment or Booth's, in a familiar environment given her mental state, she didn't want him shouldering unnecessary burdens.

"Oh Booth. It really is okay. Please don't blame yourself for this. Besides, this bed and breakfast is a better alternative than a lot of options we could have run into." She looked at him with as much love and grace she could muster, willing him to believe her.

Booth looked down into her eyes, the eyes that always managed to see right into him, the eyes that steadied him and belonged to the woman he loved. He knew that something was still bothering her but the fact that she was trying to ease his concerns - "I love you." He told her gently.

His hands moved from her hips to palm her belly reverently. Tears pricked his eyes and he felt the familiar rush of emotions fill him every time he held her belly and spoke to their baby. "And I love you," he spoke even quieter rubbing his palms over her belly, gently but with enough pressure that Brennan felt his onslaught of emotions. She shivered as she watched a thousand emotions play behind his eyes.

This man. This very alpha male man, who in his day-to-day was very masculine, tough, and passionate. Chasing down suspects, finding justice for the victims they worked with. Everything in him screamed of a power so strong and deeply rooted. His hands that oftentimes, held a gun, pulled triggers, dragged suspects out of alleyways, handcuffing them. They were steady and sure.

But, what Brennan never knew lied beneath, until they'd given themselves to each other, was how gentle he could be. She'd seen glimpses of it when she saw him with Parker or even with Pops but not the level he was with her. He'd hold her with such reverence, touch her so surely yet so gently, the juxtaposition made her head swim.

She smiled at him and stretched up to give him a soft kiss, as he pulled her closer. Brennan sighed contently as he pulled away, lightly sucking on her bottom lip. All the emotions she was was feeling had her teetering on the edge of finally telling Booth what had been preoccupying her mind in the SUV earlier and looking out the window. She knew that he knew what a difficult time the holidays were for her but he still didn't know the one thing that happened that really made it so difficult.


Hope you enjoyed the first two chapters! Please, please leave me a review hahaha I love hearing y'all's feedback and what you thought. The next few chapters will be up soon, it is gonna be shorter than TQIY for sure but just enough to leave y'all with some holiday joy from our favorite couple.