TITLE: Undoing
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Space Cadet


"Booth..."

"Hmm."

Temperance smiled as his palm instinctively found her abdomen, and she covered his hand with hers, squeezing it slightly as she tried again. "Booth."

"What?"

She raised her eyebrows when she finally gained his attention. "Are you okay?"

He nodded automatically. "Sure, why?"

"You keep staring off into space for no reason."

"Oh, really? I didn't notice I was doing it."

He lied. He knew full well he was dazed, but he couldn't help it. His meeting with Goodman, though it had gone well, was sticking in his mind. Specifically, the portion about possibly proposing. Part of him was surprised he hadn't considered it right off the bat... and yet another part of him knew why he hadn't. He was right in assuming she wouldn't be keen on the idea of getting married purely because she was pregnant. She didn't handle relationships in a conventional way -- she often had accused him of being a stodgy traditionalist when it came to love and relationships.

But what Booth also knew was her unconventional ways stemmed from her unconventional upbringing. He knew, had her parents still been around, she would be more open to pursuing a more mundane relationship. She'd be more open to the possibility of--

"Booth!"

"What? Sorry."

"What is the matter with you?" She removed his hand from her slightly rounded abdomen and pushed off his couch, going into the kitchen and grabbing a bag of pretzels. She returned to the couch after ripping the bag open and stuffing her hand inside, digging around for the more salty pieces. "Why are you going all space-cadet all of a sudden?"

He raised his eyebrows at her terminology. "'Space cadet'?"

She tilted her head, a look of disappointment coloring her face. "Did I use it wrong? I've heard Angela use it, but--"

"No, you did fine. Just not used to hearing that come out of your mouth." He sighed. "And... I can't really explain why I'm going off into space so often."

"My amnio is in a week. Are you worried about that for some reason?"

He shook his head immediately. "No. I know everything's going to be fine with you, fine with the kid..." He nodded toward her choice snack. "Might wanna take it easy on the salty stuff, though."

She chucked a pretzel at him and admonished him for coddling. "I can't help it that my body wants salt, Booth. I'm just following my body's orders." She grabbed another one and began to nibble it, glancing sidelong at her partner in the process. "Is this about what Goodman said?"

"What? Goodman didn't say anything about anything, what are you talking about?" he blurted, eyes shifting.

Tempe widened her own. "I... meant about Parker. Because Booth, I don't have to spend time with him if you don't want me to. I already told you, I in no way want to infringe on your time with him. I--"

He stopped her words with a kiss. "No. It's not about that. I stand by my belief that Parker would adore you. And I think you should meet him. After all..." He trailed off and stared at the coffee table again.

Tempe ducked her head slightly to regain his attention. "After all, what?"

Booth took a moment to choose his words carefully. "After all, you're going to be the mother of Parker's little brother or little sister, and... I want him to get to know you. I think it's important you guys spend time together."

Tempe smiled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Booth, it's not like you and I are getting married or anything."

He feigned a chuckle, that came out somewhat nervous. "Right, yeah." He paused, tilting his head slightly, brows knitting together as he questioned, "Would that be so awful?"

"What?" She started eating just the salt off another pretzel.

"Us. Married. That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world... would it?"

She made a face. "Of course not. I'm just saying that you and I aren't intending to get married, so there's no need to force Parker to interact with me if he doesn't want to."

"Parker's met you once, Bones. I don't think he'd be oppposed to seeing you again. In fact, he kinda liked ya when he met you."

Booth cherished the soft look that came over her features in that instant. "He did?"

"Yeah. He keeps referring to you as the 'pretty lady from the restaurant.' He's been asking to meet you again, but I've kept telling him you were too busy."

"Well, I'd like to see him again. He seemed like a nice little boy, Booth."

He smiled. "Then, I'll set something up."

"Good."

The pair settled back on the couch again, Booth watching Tempe while she nibbled the salt off yet another pretzel, discarding the remains on a nearby napkin when he was finished. He chuckled at the sight. "Bones..."

"What?" She turned to look at him after plucking another pretzel out of the bag. Realization came over her features then. "Oh, I'm sorry." She reached for the now-plain pretzel she'd set on her napkin and held it out to Booth.

He waved it away and wrinkled his nose slightly. "I'm good, thanks."

"Alright." She settled back with her pretzels once more. After a moment of silence in which she picked the salt off two additional pretzels, she sighed. "I'm getting thirsty."

Booth had to laugh at this. "Well no wonder! You're consuming all the salt in the D.C. area."

She rolled her eyes as he rose to fetch her a bottle of water. "You're over-exaggerating, Booth."

"You're right," he chuckled, "I am. But it's just so damn funny."

Tempe turned over her shoulder slightly and smiled her gratitude when she was given her bottle of water, before she turned serious again and posed her question. "So you're never going to tell me what's wrong with you?"

"In general, or just today?"

She sighed in exasperation. "Today, Booth. Delving into what else is wrong with you would take far too long."

A smile flicked across his face and was gone. "Gee thanks, Bones."

"You're welcome. Now tell me what's going on. It's nothing to do with my amnio, or with Parker. So what is it?"

He shook his head and leaned in for a kiss. "Nothing for you to worry about, trust me." As he kissed her, he slid his hand into the open pretzel bag...

"Ow!"

...And promptly got his hand slapped for doing so.

"Geez..." He pulled back waved his hand in quick succession, trying to shake away the pain. "Note to self: pregnant chicks get territorial over their food."

Tempe smirked halfway at him and stuffed another pretzel into her mouth. Booth just chuckled and shook his head in response, reaching for the television remote. He flicked through the channels on autopilot, staring through the selections rather than at them, once again thinking about what he didn't want to think about.

"Booth, stop it."

"What?" He turned to look at her.

She snatched the remote from his hands. "You're going too fast. I'm getting dizzy."

Booth watched her as she slowed the channel surfing. "So..." he began, then immediately trailed off.

She glimpsed at him in her peripheral vision. "Yeah?"

"Marrying me wouldn't be all that awful?"

"No, Booth, it wouldn't. But I would hope that you wouldn't ask me to marry you just because I'm pregnant. People shouldn't feel obligated to commit to each other for the sake of a child. It creates a potentially detrimental developmental environment for the child in question, and causes the parents to eventually resent one another."

Booth nodded. "I whole-heartedly agree to that, Bones. I thank God everyday that Rebecca never accepted my proposal, because there's no telling how much more we would hate each other right now. And I wouldn't want to know what that would've done to Parker." He cleared his throat. "People should marry each other because they love one another, and because they want to be together for the rest of their lives, child or no child. They should get married because they're meant for each other in every possible way, despite the fact that they know too well how to push each other's buttons and annoy the hell outa each other."

The pretzels were forgotten, set aside as Tempe laid a hand over her abdomen and shifted her position on the couch, angling her body toward her partner. "What are you saying, Booth?"

He took a breath, let it out, then took another. He finally let it out. "I'm saying I want to marry you, Temperance." He held her gaze as he shook his head slowly, gaze intense. "And it has nothing to do with the pregnancy -- that's not why I'm asking. I'm asking because I'm in love with you. I want to marry you, call you my wife. I want to build a family with you and grow old with you." He allowed a slight smile to break forth, then. "Whaddya say?"

Tempe could do nothing but blink in response, her jaw slack.


TBC