TITLE: Undoing
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Ablaze


"Sweetie, take your vitamin."

"I was about to, and would you get off my back?"

Angela raised her hands in surrender. "Sorry." Under her breath, she muttered, "Looks like I woke the beast."

Tempe glared. "What?"

"Nothing. So Booth's making you dinner tonight?"

She sighed. "Yes."

"Does that make it a date?"

"No, Angela, it's not a date." Tempe rose to her feet after downing her prenatal vitamin with a swig of water, and she headed for the door.

Angela nodded slowly. "Right. Of course not. I mean... you guys are having a baby together, so why rush things by going on a date?"

"Was that sarcasm?" Tempe glanced at her friend over her shoulder.

"Yes, Sweetie, that was sarcasm. That was me, making a joke to cover up how disapproving I am that you and Booth have not jumped each other since the fated conception."

"What do you want us to do?" She threw her hands up, exaggerating her shrug, as she fell in line beside and then behind her friend on the way toward the Angelator.

"Other than jump each other?" Angela questioned with raised eyebrows, and entered her own office to boot up her mainframe. She spun to face her best friend. "Talk. Be open with each other and discuss making some sort of a commitment, for the sake of your baby."

"Are you saying you want me to marry Booth? I shouldn't be with him just because we're having a baby together."

Angela nodded. "You're right. You shouldn't. You should be with him because you love him. Because you're meant to be with him."

"Okay, if you're going to get into your star-crossed-lovers diatribe again, I'm leaving."

"I'm sorry, honey. It just kills me sometimes how perfect you guys are for each other, and you can't even see it."

"Ange..."

She nodded. "Shutting up now. We'll talk about something else." She grabbed her stylus and her touch-pad computer, sending a grin toward her friend after a moment. "So what's he making you for dinner?"

Tempe rolled her eyes.


"You really didn't have to make dinner for me, Booth," she commented, finishing wiping her mouth with her napkin before discarding it on her now-empty plate.

Booth smiled at her from across the small dining table. "I know I didn't have to, Bones." He rose and grabbed their plates off the table, nodding toward his living room. "Go on and take a seat. I'm just going to stick these plates in the dishwasher and then I'll be right out."

She did as he bade, heading into the living room and sitting down on his couch. It felt odd, just for a moment, for her to be making herself comfortable in Booth's home. Though it wasn't that long ago that it was he making himself comfortable in her home. She never would have admitted it then, but there had been something oddly... right... about seeing Booth, dressed casually, standing in her home and rummaging through her CD collection.

She didn't have much more time to process what that meant as Booth made his way over to her with a beer in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. He extended the water to her with one of his 'charm' smiles. "Drink up. You need to stay well-hydrated."

Tempe couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I can't decide who's more of a pest with this whole pregnancy thing -- you or Angela." When he sat down beside her on the couch, she gave him a look as she added, "And I don't have the flu, Booth. I'm pregnant."

"Hydration is still a very important part of pregnancy." He nodded once, as if that alone would make his point sound better.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Your book tell you that?"

Booth kept his eyes away from hers as a slight pink tinged his cheeks. His voice was low, almost a mumble, as he replied, "Maybe."

She chuckled. "You and Angela make quite the pair. So much reading is being done between the two of you that I probably won't even need to pick up the book. Matter of fact, you two could probably deliver the baby yourselves when the time comes."

Booth's brows flicked upward briefly. "No thank you. I'd prefer to leave that to the professionals."

"So would I."

They shared a look, and then simultaneously cracked a smile. After a moment, Booth sighed. "So Bones... can I ask?"

"What?" She angled her body toward him slightly and watched him mirror the move.

"I'm sure this is a touchy subject for you, and I know you've said you don't want to discuss it, but..."

"You want to know why I don't want to have a baby."

He held her gaze. "Yes. I mean, is it because of what we do? Is it because we spend our days -- and a lot of our nights, for that matter -- chasing leads and catching murderers?"

She tilted her head slightly. "It's partly that, and--"

"Because if I had to make a choice, Bones -- FBI agent or father -- I'd choose father in a heartbeat. And I hope you know that."

"I do." She nodded. "But it's not just that, Booth. It's complicated."

Booth watched as she lowered her head, gaze falling to her lap where she picked imaginary lint off her jeans. He twitched a sympathetic smile that went unseen, before he reached over and placed one finger beneath her chin, lifting her eyes to his once more. His nod was knowing, voice soft as he asked, "It's because of your parents... isn't it?"

Tempe blinked rapidly, a rush of gray water suddenly accumulating in her eyes. She turned her head away from Booth's touch and chuckled tearfully, dabbing at the corners of her eyes. "These damn hormones. I hate this."

"Temperance..."

Her rarely spoken first name drew her eyes back to his, and when they locked in a stare she noted the deep concern and empathy in his. He spoke low, and deliberately, almost as if reciting a well thought-out monologue. "You will never know how sorry I am that you had to go through such a tragedy at such a young age. You will never know how often I wish that I could bring them back to you... for you. But what you have to know is, you can't let what happened effect you forever. Of course it will always have an impact. How could it not? But Temperance..."

She tilted her head down and he leaned forward, tucking back the slice of her hair that concealed her eyes from his gaze. "Temperance, you can't let the tragedy from the past destroy what's in your future. Okay?" He slid his palm over her abdomen and smiled tenderly when she looked up at him. "This baby deserves a chance. It deserves a chance to be loved. And you deserve a chance at motherhood."

Tempe chuckled grimly, shaking her head in the negative but allowing Booth to wipe the tears that had silently fallen. "I don't know how to be a mother."

"You're right, you don't. Because you've never been one before, and because it's not something you can get from a book." He chuckled. "First time I held Parker? I didn't know what the hell I was doing."

She turned to look at him as he stared through the coffee table, reliving the memory with a smile. "I had this tiny little bundle in my arms, and... that was the first time I was terrified. I was holding this helpless little human being and knew that I had the power to either give him a great life or mess it up completely."

He rubbed her abdomen unconsciously and Tempe looked down to watch the motion, momentarily fascinated. She took his hand in hers then and squeezed it, noting he never took his eyes off the coffee table as he lifted their joined hands up, slipped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her against him. She didn't have the heart to fight him.

"I was terrified of being a father. And it didn't help much having the mother of my first child hate me, but... I learned how to make it work. The whole thing. I learned how to change a diaper and warm up a bottle. I learned how to put on one of those Snugli things..."

"I don't know what that means."

He chuckled and pulled her tighter against him, winding his arm around her front and laying it across her collarbone, rubbing her arm. "You'll learn just like I did. The whole thing is a learning experience, Temperance. None of us are prepared for it, some of us don't even want to be prepared for it, but we learn to be."

"You won't have anything to learn. You already know all of this."

He shook his head. "That's not true. I've never gone through a pregnancy with someone before. This is a whole new learning experience for me. And at least I'm going through it with someone that will let me be near her... that doesn't hate me."

Tempe stroked his arm unconsciously, voice soft as she assured him, "I could never hate you, Booth."

"I'm glad you feel that way," he murmured, daring to kiss the back of her head while he leaned back on the couch.

She let herself relax against him, resting the back of her head against his chest. She looked down and realized she was still stroking his arm. She started to pull back, but he caught her hand and brought it to his lips. She stiffened slightly and then felt his lips, his smile more specifically, against the back of her head.

"I'm not going to pounce on you, Bones. Just relax." After a pause, he added, "And keep in mind that I've been a lot further with you than this."

Tempe whacked his stomach with the back of her hand. "You're a pig."

"I know," he sighed. He turned serious, then, as he craned his neck slightly to look down at her. "But I hope you know that I'd never force you into anything you weren't ready for."

She was back to stroking his arm again. "I do know that." She gently extracted herself from his arm, lifting it off of her as she turned to face the disappointment on his features. She smiled to reassure him, before she added, "But you're right. We have been a lot further, I mean... it's not like it would hurt anything if maybe we... kissed?" Her face was all innocence as she shrugged, blue eyes beguiling. "We'd still be taking baby steps, wouldn't we?"

Booth noted the miniscule twitch of her lips -- what he always secretly referred to as the 'Bones-smirk' -- and his own lips quirked in response. He nodded, feigning seriousness. "Absolutely." He reached out then and slipped his hand beneath her hair, around the back of her neck, and began to pull her in. "Baby steps all the way."

"Good." Her voice dropped to a whisper as their lips neared, "I'm glad we're on the same page."

"Oh," his lips just barely stroked hers... teased them, "me too."

Then their lips met. It was that fateful night all over again -- the night they'd fallen into her bed. The kiss started, and didn't stop. Tempe knew, after the first five or ten -- maybe twenty, even -- minutes passed, that she should stop the kiss. That she should pull away and head home for the night. There was no need to rush things, and they had promised each other their relationship would take baby steps.

But she hadn't expected the mere touch of Booth's lips on hers could set her ablaze a second time. She had been so certain that was a one-time thing, attributed both to the close calls they'd had, and the fact that it was their first kiss. This second one, however, put the first to shame. If anything, the feelings were intensified ten-fold now that she was carrying his child.

As the first time, they headed for the bedroom without breaking the powerhouse kiss... only this time, they didn't tumble into bed. Booth scooped her up in his arms and carried her like a prince carrying his princess over the threshold. Tempe's struggle against him was only half-assed, her wildly-skipping heart inciting her to just enjoy the feeling.

He laid her out on the bed and crawled over her, their lips never ceasing to touch. He rolled them onto their sides, mindful of putting too much weight on her. They unbuttoned each other's shirts blindly, still mid-kiss as they smiled against each other's lips. Baby steps be damned. This was what they both wanted. They could worry about taking things slow some other time. Tonight, what they needed was each other -- and they both knew this.

They finally broke the kiss as they sat up, keeping the connection with their foreheads while both struggled out of their shirts and tossed them aside. Their lips found each other once again, then, as Tempe scooted back against the pillows and Booth carefully crawled over her. He turned out the light beside the bed and blanketed them in darkness for the rest of the night.


TBC
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I know this is a huge update. I didn't intend it to be, but I got this chapter done so quickly, and... I figured you guys wouldn't mind too much ;)