TITLE: Undoing
CHAPTER EIGHT: Baby Steps
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Everybody who's reviewed this story so far rules. ...that's about all I had to say.
"You can't keep avoiding him, Brenn."
Temperance rolled her eyes as she finished pulling her lab coat on, flicking her hair out from under the collar. "Good morning to you too, Ange," she sighed, not surprised to hear the click of Angela's boots following her into her office. "Is there any coffee?"
"Yes, but just a little for you, Sweetie. You're not supposed to be having a lot of caffeine."
Tempe gave her best friend a look over her shoulder while starting to pull her hair back. "Since when are you an expert on pregnancy?"
"Well, though I love you, I know that you are not going to be 'boning up', so to speak, on what to do during a pregnancy, so..." She reached into the large bag that currently served as her purse and fished out a thick book: 'What To Expect When You're Expecting.' "I took the liberty of picking this up, and I read through it for you this weekend."
Tempe couldn't help but chuckle. "Ange..."
"It was no big deal, really." She grinned. "Plus, it was kinda fun seeing the look on Trevor's face when he saw me reading it in bed." She handed the book over to her friend. "If, for some reason, you want to do some research on this fun, body-altering journey you're about to embark on... here is your research material."
"Thanks." She took the book with a small smile and set it on her desk, turning back to her friend when she heard her sigh.
"So how long has it been since you and Booth have spoken?"
"Two weeks, almost. He took a case out in Oregon and I haven't heard from him since."
"Well no offense, Sweetie, but this little mini-breakup is your fault."
At this, Tempe's eyes widened. "HE was the one that tracked me down at the clinic and chewed me out for something I didn't even do! He's the one that criticized my integrity and my intelligence! And YOU'RE the one that told him where to find me and what was going on! If anything, I should still be mad at you, too!"
"First of all, yeah that was semi-bastard-ish for him to yell at you like that, but to play devil's advocate, he was under the impression that you were getting an abortion at the time. And you know what kind of person Booth is, Sweetie. You have to know that would make him mad." She ducked her head slightly. "And you have every right to be mad at me for telling him, but in my defense, I felt that I had an obligation to let him know what was going on. I mean, it was his child too, and I was also under the impression that you were going to get rid of it. Whether you went through with it or not, he had to know. And you know that."
Tempe sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"And... just for my own curiosity, why didn't you go through with it? I mean, you've been saying forever that you don't want kids."
"I don't. I still don't. But..." She shook her head, leaning against her desk slightly. "I went there, I was already in the room waiting for the doctor. I had been ready for it since I found out I was pregnant. I was certain I was going to abort as soon as I saw that positive sign on the pregnancy test. But... as I was waiting there, for some reason I just got suddenly... protective. I got this primal urge to... shelter it."
Angela nodded sagely. "It's called maternal instinct, Sweetie. It's inborn. You should know that."
"And I do. I just never really believed in it. Until then. When I was waiting in that room and that doctor came in, I knew what was going to happen. I knew that doctor was going to kill my baby, and I just... bailed. I-I started crying, and I bailed. That's when I ran into Booth and he started yelling at me."
"You should talk to him."
Tempe shook her head resolutely. "No. No, he said plenty to me outside the clinic. I don't want to hear anymore. He said all those things and then... when he found out I was still pregnant, he just-just thought he could make all those words go away. That he could erase them like magic and we could have some big, cinematic talk and that everything would right itself. That's not how it works, and I needed him to understand that."
"And I'm sure he does understand that, Sweetie. But..." Angela pointed to her best friend's abdomen and just barely smiled when she saw her hand instinctively cover it. "That baby? That baby that you didn't want, that you still don't want and don't know how to handle? That is Booth's baby, too." She shook her head. "Don't do to him what his other child's mother did."
"Parker." Tempe closed her eyes. "I'm just as awful as Rebecca, aren't I?"
Angela managed a supportive smile, and shook her head slowly. "Not if you talk to him."
Booth finished depositing files in the cabinet behind his desk, slamming the drawer shut a little harder than he'd intended. He'd been slamming things quite a bit harder than necessary these days. For two weeks, in fact. When a knock sounded on his office door behind him, he lifted his head without turning around and barked, "Whatever it is, I'm busy! Check back with me tomorrow."
"Hi."
He spun at the familiar alto voice with his hands on his hips, and they drifted back down to his sides. He met the beautiful blue eyes he'd been deprived of seeing for two weeks, then ducked his head, voice quiet as he responded, "Hi."
Temperance lingered in the doorway, hands in her pockets as she leaned on the door frame, glancing around Booth's office as if she'd never been there before. "I don't know why I'm here."
He eyed her through his lashes, head still lowered. "I don't, either. Last we saw each other, you felt that we had nothing left to say to one another."
She sighed heavily through gritted teeth, balling her hands into fists inside her pockets before drawing them out, opening her palms and then raising them in the air. "I don't know why I even... you can be so... I'll just... I'm leaving. Forget I came here." She shook her head and turned to leave.
"Temperance, wait!" He maneuvered quickly around his desk and lunged toward the door, gently seizing her elbow.
She kept her head bowed as she let him turn her around. She knew he'd follow. She looked up then, into his apologetic sable eyes, and wanted to reach for him. She held back.
"Temperance, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." He looked down as his hand slipped from her elbow, downward to grasp hers. "And I'm..." He met her eyes again. "I'm really, really sorry about--"
She nodded. "I know."
"I should've heard you out before I jumped to conclusions, but--"
She cracked the barest hint of a smile. "It's in your nature to jump to conclusions."
Booth tilted his head, widening his eyes slightly at her as he mirrored her smile. "Was that a joke at my expense, Bones? You're back in your element."
They shared a brief chuckle before their smiles faded and their eyes locked once again. Tempe shifted her weight while Booth jingled his keys in his pockets. His gaze drifted toward her abdomen, and he nodded toward it. "How are you feeling?"
Tempe's hand once again fluttered to her abdomen, covering it. "I'm fine."
He tilted his head again, this time giving her a look. "Bones..."
She shrugged. "Well, other than the fact that I throw up every single morning, I really am fine, Booth."
"What, um..." He reached out to her and she didn't move away. The backs of his fingers brushed her abdomen lightly before retreating back to his side. "What made you change your mind?"
Tempe opened her mouth to answer, then shut it again and released a smile, nodding toward the exit. "Take me to lunch."
Booth raised his eyebrows, but obeyed, settling his hand on the small of her back while he guided her out the door. "Does this mean that we -- the partnership, everything else -- are okay?"
She sighed. "We'll take everything one day at a time, Booth."
He grinned. "So we'll take baby steps."
"I don't know what that means."
His laugh echoed in the hallway as they waited for the elevator. "Oh, Bones... I missed you."
TBC
MORE Author's Notes: Subsequent updates may not be quite as speedy as these last few have been, as I've got a ton of fics I need to work on right now ('Nothing Personal' IS one of them, in case anyone was wondering). I've got some CSI fics I should try to finish up as well as some O.C. fics... so keep in mind that while Bones is my primary source of inspiration these days, I've also got tons of other stuff that needs attention, too :D And you guys still rule because I know you'll be understanding.
