TITLE: Undoing
CHAPTER TWELVE: That Glow
"Get out! You guys did it again?"
Temperance held up a finger to signal Angela to wait while she took her vitamin with a swig of water. After she had swallowed the capsule, she nodded. "Yes."
Angela's excited squeal was enough to send Tempe out of her chair and toward the door to close it. "I cannot believe this!" Angela gushed, watching as her friend turned back around to face her. She grinned, "So what happened to the 'baby steps' plan? And Sweetie, you're totally glowing."
"We put that plan on hold, apparently," she replied, then reached up to touch her face, "And I am?"
"Yes." Angela's grin grew devilish as she added, "Although, I can't tell if it's a pregnancy glow, or an 'I-got-laid-lastnight' glow. They both look very similar."
"I'm sorry." Tempe was still busy touching her -- what she assumed to be -- flushed cheeks.
Angela chuckled. "Sweetie, it's not something to apologize for! It looks great on you, trust me. So, have you guys talked about this?"
"He'd already left for work when I woke up this morning," she sighed, sifting through her e-mails haphazardly. "He left a note with a bagel saying 'we'll talk later.'"
"'Later'? When would that be?" Angela grinned again. "After more sex?"
Tempe rolled her eyes and clicked out of her inbox, swerving her chair around to face her friend. "Lastnight was a fluke thing, and--"
"'Heat-of-the-moment'?" Angela raised her eyebrows. "Sure it was." She plopped onto the couch, ignoring the reproachful look Brennan sent her way. "So how was it the second time around? Steamy and passionate? Or gentle and loving?"
Tempe shrugged. "Somewhere in between, I guess."
"Hot. Very hot. Do it again."
"What? No, we're going to slow down. That's what we discussed doing in the first place."
Now it was Angela's turn to roll her eyes. "Yeah, and look how well that worked for you guys." After getting another look shot at her, she conceded, throwing up her hands. "Sorry. So when's your next doctor's appointment?"
"Not for another two weeks. I'm supposed to go once a month for the first six months... then more frequently after that."
"How's the morning sickness?"
"Almost non-existent, at this point." She reached for her bottle of water and looked at it almost disdainfully before unscrewing the cap. "I'm getting sick of all this water, though. I want coffee."
"Ask and you shall receive," came a voice from the doorway.
Tempe and Angela spun to see a rather chipper-looking Hodgins leaning against the doorframe, holding out two Starbucks cups with a grin. Angela chuckled. "What's with you, Hodge-Podge? Get some action lastnight?"
He strutted into the office and handed one cup to each of his colleagues. "Why yes, I did. And apparently, I'm not the only one." He turned then and looked pointedly at Brennan.
Her eyes widened. "What!"
He chuffed. "Oh, please. That look on your face just reeks of sexual gratification."
Angela nearly spit out her coffee. "Hodgins..."
Hodgins threw his hands up in a shrug, feigning innocence. "What? You tell me, then. What's that glow from if not sex?"
Angela's eyes flicked toward Brennan's ever-so-briefly before she addressed Hodgins. "Look, I know you men love to screw-and-tell, but we aren't like that."
He raised his eyebrows at her before turning to Brennan with a grin. He pointed over his shoulder at Angela. "This coming from the woman who announces every time she's leaving work for sex."
Angela rolled her eyes and shoved her curly-haired co-worker toward the door. "Get out, Hodgins. Don't you have bugs and slime to play with?"
"Why yes I do." He made his way toward the door, spinning around once he was in the doorway. "You ladies have a wonderful morning, and," he pointed toward the cup of coffee in Brennan's hand, "drink up! It's Sumatra blend!"
After he made his exit, Angela and Tempe chuckled and shook their heads in unison. Angela stared at his path of retreat and sighed. "He's such an ass, but God help me... I actually get a kick out of him."
Tempe grinned in response as she took the lid off her coffee and blew on it, raising it to her lips...
"Bones! What the hell are you doing?"
She nearly spit out the sip she'd taken, startled at Booth's sudden presence. While Angela turned to hide her smile, Tempe raised her eyebrows at her partner. "I'm... having a cup of coffee?"
"We talked about this. You're not supposed to."
"Believe it or not, Booth, I actually cracked open that pregnancy book this morning, and guess what it said?"
His suit coat spread as his hands landed on his hips. "Not to listen to the guy that's looking out for you?"
She tilted her head. "No. It said that moderate amounts of caffeine are okay. So before you wig out on me again, consult the book."
Booth made a face. "'Wig out'?"
Tempe looked to her best friend for reassurance. "Did I use it wrong?"
Angela shook her head and chuckled at the nearly-crestfallen look on her friend's face. "No, Sweetie. That was right. Good job."
Tempe nodded once, and sent a smug look toward Booth, who shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"G-man and the bone lady!" Sid greeted them with a grin from behind the bar at Wong Foo's.
Tempe and Booth smiled before sliding onto their usual stools. "We're here for lunch, Sid," Booth told him.
"Let me take a look at ya and see what will be on the menu..." He gave Booth the up-and-down glance briefly. "G-man's looking pretty happy with himself, so I think I've got an idea of what to bring for you..." He turned his eyes to Tempe and gave her a big smile. "And the lovely bone lady is looking quite radiant, so I know what to bring for her. I'll be right back."
When he disappeared into the kitchen, Booth turned to his partner. "So, did you get my note this morning?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes, I did. And Booth, about last night--"
He shook his head and closed his eyes in an almost painful expression. "Let's not do the patented 'about last night' thing, Bones. Please. Let's not chalk it up to being 'in the heat of the moment' or some other stupid excuse like that, and just look at it for what it is -- we both wanted it, we both enjoyed it. The end."
"Okay..." Her eyebrows flicked toward her hairline for a moment.
Booth sighed. "And I know that we agreed to take things slowly, and we still should. We're both still adjusting to this whole..." he gestured toward her abdomen, "thing."
Tempe nodded. "Yeah. All I was going to say is that we should still try to keep taking this slowly. I know neither of us can promise that it won't happen again..." She couldn't help the grin that spread across her lips at seeing the one on his. "But you know what I mean."
"Yes. I think it's safe to say that we are still on the same page."
"Good."
Booth looked over his left shoulder, then his right, for prying eyes, before he leaned close and whispered, "But does taking it slow mean we can't kiss anymore?"
She chuckled. "Well, if last night is any indication..."
"Okay, but what about this kind of a kiss?" He leaned the rest of the way and kissed her lips softly, tenderly... cherishing them with his own before he pulled back. "Is that okay?"
Tempe smiled and bit down on her lip softly. "I suppose those kinds of kisses would be alright, in moderation."
"Good. Then I want one more." He pecked her lips quickly again before sitting bolt upright when Sid came through the door with their food.
"Alright friends, here you go," he announced, setting their meals down in front of them. "Wonton soup for the luminous Dr. Brennan. Very very healthy for you, and... whoever else might be having it with you."
Tempe looked to Sid in surprise and got a wink and a smile in response. She slowly smiled back, and watched as he set another dish in front of her partner. "And here's some beef lo mein for Special Agent Booth. Enjoy."
He disappeared into the kitchen once more and Tempe leaned over to Booth, hissing in his ear, "He knows."
"What? God, this is good." He captured some of the noodles with his chopsticks and brought them to his lips.
"Sid knows that I'm pregnant."
"What?" That time, a chuckle was laced within the question. "Bones, you're crazy. How could he know?"
She shrugged. "How does he know exactly what to bring us to eat? Besides, he hinted at it three times already."
Booth made a face, skepticism ripe in his tone. "When?"
"First he called me 'radiant'... and then 'luminous'... and then you heard what he said about my meal!"
He chuckled. "Bones, that doesn't mean anything."
"Almost forgot your beverages," Sid re-emerged from the kitchen carrying two cups, balanced on saucers. He set the first one down in front of Booth. "Cup of java for you..." He then set the second one down in front of Tempe. "And a decaf cappuccino for you, lovely. It's healthier that way." With one more wink sent her way, then, Sid backed into the kitchen again.
Tempe raised her eyebrows pointedly at Booth. "See?"
Booth just laughed and continued eating his meal.
TBC
