TITLE: Undoing
CHAPTER 21: A Forever Way
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I think this is the longest chapter of this story to date. Soooo... enjoy it!


"Thank you for dinner, Booth," Tempe commented, her hand unconsciously on her abdomen as she settled against the passenger seat of Booth's SUV.

Booth smiled over at her as he started the car. "You are very welcome, Bones. Thank you for coming out with me."

"You're welcome. I'm just... y'know, glad we could get past the whole proposal... thing."

"Oh." He nodded emphatically. "Yeah, me too. Me too." He cleared his throat and trained his eyes on the road, knowing that if he looked at her, he'd give everything away. "I think it's best we just pick up where we left off, I-I mean not right where we left off, but y'know... back up a little, and go from there."

"You seem a little out of it, Booth. Are you alright?" She furrowed her brows as she studied her partner.

"Yeah. Definitely. Why?"

Her eyebrows flicked upward briefly. "Because you're driving on the curb."

The tires squealed and Booth reached out to cover Tempe's abdomen protectively as he veered back onto the road. He glimpsed quick at her as he muttered an embarrassed, "Sorry."

"Are you sure you're alright, Booth?"

He plastered on a smile for her. "Just fine, Bones. Sit back and enjoy the ride."

She sighed. "Just as long as you stay on the road."


"Why did Booth text you?"

Angela slipped Booth's hide-a-key back into its designated spot after she and Hodgins had slipped inside the front door. She then shut the door behind them and shoved Hodgins further inside. "He just wanted me to make sure everything was all set, before they got back here from dinner. If I'd known you were going to ask so many questions, I would've just left you chained to your desk, like usual."

"Which reminds me... do you own a pair of handcuffs, perchance? And if so, would you like to put them to good use?"

She rolled her eyes as Hodgins followed her down the hall. "Only if, by that, you mean me cuffing you to the back bumper of the car."

"You really have a thing with wanting to injure me with the car today. What gives?"

She sighed, "Something about you just brings out the violent side of me, dearest Hodgins."

"Wow. That's... weird. Kinda hot, but weird."

Angela rolled her eyes once more and clicked on the light in the room they'd recently painted. The giant fans that had been drying the paint were no longer anywhere to be found, and all the newspaper and blue painting tape had been cleaned up. "I'd say everything looks good. We should probably--" Her ears perked a little at the sound she heard coming from the hallway; when she realized what it was, her eyes widened, and she grabbed Hodgins by the collar of his shirt. "Shit!"

"What? What?" He asked frantically, stumbling over his own feet awkwardly as she dragged him toward the closet.

She pulled on the white-washed folding door until one side of the closet was opened. She then tugged Hodgins inside with her and shut the door, hissing, "It's Booth and Bren! They're back!"

"So?"

Angela shoved her companion; he was ever the oblivious male. Her voice remained barely audible. "So, the whole idea with this whole thing was to remain covert! Brennan can't know that we're here and that we helped with this!"

"Oh," Hodgins whispered back slowly, as if realization had just hit -- in the dark, he didn't see Angela rolling her eyes. "Because this is supposed to be Booth's surprise proposal?"

"Yeah," she hissed, "Thanks for catching up."


"You want me to put your leftover lobster in the fridge, Bones, or you wanna nibble on it now?"

"Fridge is fine," Tempe responded, rubbing slow circles into her abdomen while she wandered Booth's livingroom, visually browsing his possessions as if she'd never been there before.

"Here."

She turned at the sound of his voice and saw him extending a bottle of water to her while holding another, probably for himself, in his other hand. She twitched a smile. "Thanks."

A brief moment of awkward silence passed between the partners for the first time in what felt like a long time. Finally, Booth sighed. "So..."

Tempe's eyebrows flicked upward. "So...?"

"Uh, when's your amnio?"

"A few days," Tempe responded, her eyes bouncing back and forth between pictures of Parker on his bookshelf. "Are you coming with?"

He nodded. "If you'll have me."

At this comment, she turned away from the pictures and met his eyes, her brow furrowing in contemplation. "Are you sure you're alright, Booth? You seem... nervous or something."


"Do you hear where they are?"

Hodgins turned toward the source of his companion's whisper... though she wasn't difficult to locate being just inches away from him. "No, my sonar's on the fritz," he quipped softly. "What am I, a bat?"

"Shut up. Y'know, if you hadn't taken so damn long at the lab, we wouldn't even be in this predicament right now," Angela hissed. "But of course you had to finish your bug race with Zack--"

"Hey, at least we went to 'sudden death' for the sake of saving time," he hissed back. "Even though Half-Nelson could've easily won the tournament."

Angela huffed, then almost startled at how quickly her breath bounced off Hodgins' lips and went back to her own. She felt a slight tickle on her leg and gasped, jumping closer to Hodgins. "What was that?"

His hands found her hips instinctively, steadying her while he tried to keep his own balance in the dark. "What was what?"

"I felt something on my leg. I think it might've been a spider. Will you kill it?"

Hodgins paused a moment. "Yeah, okay, sure. Just let me get my night-vision working," he snarked. "Angela, it's pitch-black in here. How'm I supposed to find a spider?"

"Do you even know how insufferable you are sometimes, Jack? What is it with you today?"

"You just bring out that side of me, toots."

Angela huffed frustratedly again.


"Can I show you around, Bones?"

Tempe arched an eyebrow. "I've been here before, Booth."

"I know, but... I don't think you've ever gotten a full formal tour before, have you?"

"No."

Booth raised his eyebrows and gave her his 'charm' smile, extending his arm to her. "Then let's go."

Warily, she looped her arm through his and allowed him to lead her around. He placed his hand over hers that was on his arm and squeezed it, leaning toward her ear. "Bones, I know you don't want to talk about what happened the other night..."

She closed her eyes. "Booth..."

"No no, just let me say this. I know you ran out because you were thrown-off and unsure, and... probably a million different things all at once. I mean hell, I pretty much sprung that whole thing on you."

"I won't argue with you there." She smiled ruefully.

Booth grinned. "You not arguing with me? That'd be a first."

She rolled her eyes.

"But seriously, Bones. Temperance. I know that I sprung that on you and I apologize." He held her gaze. "But I won't apologize for asking."

"Booth..."

"And I know I never received an actual answer from you, so before you tell me 'no,' will you just go on this tour with me? Will you allow me to show you all these aspects of my life, and of our life as I see it occurring, before you give me an answer?" His eyes pleaded with her.

Tempe searched his eyes briefly before she slowly nodded. "Okay."

"Okay." He led her first into the kitchen. "This, as you know, is my kitchen. You've obviously been here before, and you have a kitchen of your own, so you know its basic features. What I can tell you is different about this kitchen, Bones, is that I will be in it, cooking for you and our kids as often as I can." He nodded just beyond the kitchen. "There's my dining room table, which can easily fit more than just you and me. There's room there for Parker and for a high-chair as well. And the paint is stain-resistant too, so when I try to feed the baby actual food for the first time and it spits it back at me, it'll wipe off the wall easily."

Tempe had to chuckle at the image of Booth splattered with strained peas. "Okay..."

He led her into the living room. "This is my living room. You may remember it as where you consumed all the pretzels in the tri-state area." He grinned when she rolled her eyes. "You're obviously familiar with the functions of a couch, and I can assure you that I will let you hog a good portion of that couch. That and, once you learn how to use it, I'll even let you hold the remote for the TV."

"Okay..." she chuckled again.

Booth pointed to the bookcases along the far wall. "As you can see, there's plenty of room in my bookshelves for your anthropology texts and medical journals and all of that other... stuff... that you read and I know nothing about. There's also ample room on these other shelves for your creepy little bone souvenirs."

At that crack, her jaw dropped indignantly, and she planted her fists on her hips. "They are not creepy! And they're not 'bone souvenirs' -- they're things I've collected from all the digs I've been on."

Booth nodded, his voice deadpan. "So... bone souvenirs."

She smacked him in the arm, and he feigned a wince.

"Alright, alright. They're not 'bone souvenirs.' Whatever they are, you can put them on the shelves." He then led his pregnant partner down the hallway, stopping at the first door on the left and flicking on the light inside the room. "I don't think you've seen this one before."

Tempe peered inside and saw a bedroom strewn with toys -- plastic dinosaurs, stuffed animals, army figurines -- and a twin bed standing directly in the middle. The walls were a deep blue with space-themed decals covering a good portion of the walls. Even without Booth's explanation, she knew what this room was for.

"This is Parker's room when he comes to stay with me. He normally keeps it a little more tidy than what you see now. But he is a great little boy. And he'd love you, Bones, he really would. Don't doubt for a minute that he wouldn't worship the ground you walk on. He'd take after me, in that respect." He turned to smile at her and found her eyes cemented to him, half-contemplating him and half soaking up what he was saying.


"I think they're getting closer," Angela whispered. She turned in the dark to face Hodgins and drew in her breath when the tip of her nose bumped his. She hadn't realized they'd gotten that close.

But Hodgins didn't move. Neither did his hands, still on her hips. He must have realized the closeness at the same time too, for his whisper came out just a tad tremulous. "Y-yeah."

They found each other's eyes in the darkness, and a silent battle ensued...


"Here's the bathroom," Booth flicked on another light and allowed his companion to take a look around. "I normally keep it pretty clean, but I would be amenable to letting your girly stuff mess it up a little bit."

Tempe raised her brows at him. "You think my 'girl stuff' is going to mess up your festidious bachelor bathroom? Like I'll leave pink razors and flowery-scented candles all over the place?"

"I'm just saying you can do whatever you want to my bathroom, Bones, and I won't care because I'll be so damn happy that you're living here with me." After a pause in which his partner stared at him, Booth cleared his throat and gestured to the next room. "And then in here... is the bedroom."

They stepped inside together and Booth gestured Tempe to sit down, which she did slowly, watching him as he walked around the rather large room. "This, obviously, is where we will sleep and conduct our, um..." A silly grin came to his face. "Recreational activities."

Tempe rolled her eyes. "Pig."

"Prude," he shot back good-naturedly, and continued. "You're obviously familiar with the sheets."

"And you're obviously okay with being frequently banned to the couch," she countered.

His brows flicked upward in acknowledgement. "Point taken." He made his way toward the closet and opened the doors, making a sweeping gesture toward the inside. "The closet. Where you can take up at least half, if not more, of it with all your clothes and shoes and stuff, and," he shook his head, "I won't even complain that I have no closet space, Bones."

"Okay," she chuckled.

"I do have a TV in here, but I won't turn it on at night if you don't want me to. Sometimes though, I like listening to mindless stuff as I fall asleep, like Letterman or Leno."

Tempe shook her head, her trademark, "I don't know what that means," rolling off her tongue.

Booth grinned. "I know you don't, Bones."


Hodgins was finally the first one to take a step back, tearing his eyes from Angela's in the dark and shuffling his feet. "Where the hell are they?" he whispered. "I have to pee."

He practically felt his companion rolling her eyes as she replied, "Way to the kill the mood, Hodgins."

His brows raised at this. "There was a mood? Were we having a moment?"

"Just forget it."

Hodgins was about to comment, but her hand against his lips, quieting him, surprised him enough to shut him up. "What?" he mumbled against her fingers.

"Sshh! I think they're coming."


"There's one more room I want to show you, Bones, before you give me an answer. Okay?"

Tempe nodded once. "Alright."

"But first, you have to close your eyes."

She balked at this. "What? Why?"

Booth templed his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Just... trust me, okay? Close your eyes."

Tempe complied and shut her eyes, instinctively reaching for her partner. She smiled when Booth grasped her hand and began to lead her forward. She heard him turn the knob and push open the final door, and felt herself being led inside. Once inside, she smelled the distinctive scent of a newly-painted room. "Booth?"

She heard the smile in his voice as he told her, "Open your eyes."

She did, and promptly widened them as she let out a barely-audible gasp. The entire room was painted a pastel yellow, with white shag rugs covering the hardwood floor in some spots. All the furniture, none of which she could recognize, was white-washed, and she turned her widened eyes to her partner for an explanation. "Booth?"

"This room, Bones, I've turned into our baby's room."

"Our baby," she repeated absently, still looking around the room in slight awe.

"Yeah. Look," he made his way to one of the white-washed pieces of furniture. "This is a crib, where the baby will sleep. And I'll buy baby monitors; we'll keep one in our room so we can hear when he or she cries." He moved to the next piece of furniture, also white-washed. "This is a changing table, where you and I will trade off changing the baby's diapers."

Tempe smiled, noting the joy in Booth's eyes as he described everything to her. She normally wasn't one to melt at any sentimental overtures, so she chose to blame the fluctuating hormones. Booth's efforts to build a future for them left her eyes moist.

"This is a glider, Bones," Booth explained, effectively gaining her attention once more. "It's kinda like a rocking chair, but with a smoother motion. We can rock the baby to sleep here, or feed him or her, or -- when it gets older -- we'll read stories here." He moved toward what looked like a white-washed hope chest against the far wall. "This, I thought we could use as a toy box or something. The dresser's right here..." He touched a taller, white-washed bureau on his way toward the closet.


"Oh shit," Hodgins whispered, and his hand unconsciously settled on the small of Angela's back.

She stepped closer to him. "Just don't move," she whispered back.


Booth grasped the handles on the bi-folding closet, its white-washed doors resembling oversized shutters. "And here's--" When the doors opened and Booth's eyes settled on its occupants, his expression slipped to a frown. "Hodgins and Angela."

Angela waved sheepishly while Hodgins lamely replied to an amused-looking Tempe, "We come with the room."

Tempe chuckled. "What are you guys doing here?"

Hodgins eyed the annoyed look on Booth's face. "We're... definitely wishing we could teleport back to the lab right about now."

Angela smiled. "Sorry. We're just leaving."

Booth shook his head. "You guys might as well stay to hear what she says. You'll waste less time gossipping in the morning, that way."

"Sweet!" Hodgins declared, and was promptly slugged in the shoulder by Angela.

She then tugged on his arm. "We'll just wait out in the hall, okay? Give you guys a little privacy."

When they were gone, Booth turned back to his companion and, upon noting her arched eyebrow, he explained, "Alright, so I needed a little help getting everything ready."

Tempe smiled and shook her head just slightly, dismissing both the explanation and the situation. "Doesn't matter," she assured him. "Help or no help, Booth, this is an amazing gesture."

He took her hand. "It's not just a gesture, Bones. Consider it an expression of my deepest wishes." Conviction colored his tone as he held her eyes, emphasizing each word slowly. "I want you to live here. With me. I want to be your husband. I want you to be my wife, and the mother of my children." He looked around the room briefly. "I want us to build a life here."

Tempe smiled when he met her eyes again.

"This pregnancy thing, Bones, as scary as it is, happened for a reason. And whether you believe in God or Fate or whatever, this happened for a reason -- because we're supposed to be together. And not just in a work partner way, Bones. In a forever way."

She blinked away the moisture that she could no longer attribute to hormones. "Booth..."

He dropped to one knee, still grasping her hand, and her stomach cartwheeled. He reached into his pocket with his free hand and, to her surprise, he pulled out a diamond-and-platinum engagement ring. She stared at this scene as if it were the most fascinating thing she'd ever witnessed, and maybe it was. Here was her partner, the man that infuriated her like no other, extending a ring to her while silently asking her to spend her life with him.

"Temperance... will you marry me?"

And then it was instinct. The rational, reserved part of her was shoved aside as she nodded emphatically and replied a steady, "Yes."

The force of what she'd said hit them both at the same time, and while Tempe let out a deep exhalation, Booth sighed in relief and emitted a face-splitting grin, slipping the ring onto her finger effortlessly.

She barely had time to look at the ring then, as her partner and now-future-husband stood up once again and swooped in for a breath-stealing kiss. In the back of her mind, Tempe registered the excited shriek of her best friend and heard both her and Hodgins bursting through the door, but she ignored it all as she continued to kiss Booth.

It wasn't until Hodgins' childish exclamation of, "Ewww!" that they broke apart to accept words of congratulations from their friends.


TBC

MORE Author's Notes: Yes, this chapter had a high sap-factor. I'm a sucker for romance, though, and I know that 99.9 percentof you are, too. :D