The one you love the most
This story was already published in the collection "Love is in the air". A bundle of stories for our dear writer friend dgschneider.
I've always had my problems with the Hannah storyline and for years felt that I should write a story to get this out of my head and get the closure the show didn't give us.
This story takes place three and a half years after Hannah left. I took the freedom of fanfiction and set the birth of the second child of Booth and Brennan shortly after Christine turned 2 and gave them a second little girl, because I think Booth is a perfect girl daddy. Also Parker hasn't left for England and still is around.
Disclaimer : I don't own Bones, only using their characters for this story.
The plane was descending to Dulles International Airport in Washington DC. The woman sitting near the window glanced outside and took a deep breath. It had been more than 3 years since she had left the city and now she was coming back to a place that held so many memories for her.
She had moved on with her life, found new places to go, and gone forward with her career as a war correspondent. She actually had come back to DC because her network needed her here to discuss some recent changes and the future plans for her career.
She'd had some new love interests over the years, but truth to be told, there was one man she couldn't get out of her head…one who'd had a deep impact on her. There was more than one day when she'd regretted letting him go, having said no to his proposal. Still, one sentence was fresh on her mind.
I don't think we're done, but I can see we're done for now.
Maybe she still had a chance. Maybe he also felt that they weren't done yet. It was this spark of hope that had her excited about her return to DC.
After taking a cab to her hotel, checking in, and unpacking her suitcases in the hotel room, she went straight to the Hoover. She had thought about how to approach him and because it was an early Friday afternoon, she knew he wouldn't have left for home yet, so checking to see if he was in his office was the logical thing to do.
After going through security, Hannah Burley made a beeline to his office, only to find it empty. However, it was still his office…she made sure by looking at the sign at his office door.
"Special Agent S. Booth"
She looked around for a familiar face and finally recognized Charlie Burns, who was just coming around the corner. She stepped in his direction and smiled at him.
"Hi, Charlie. How are you doing? I hope you still remember me."
Charlie thought for a moment and then his face lit up. "Yes, of course. Hannah, right?"
"Yes, that's right. How are you doing? It's been awhile."
"Fine, how are you? How can I help you?" Charlie was really surprised to see her again.
"Oh, I'm alright." Hannah pointed to Booth's office door. "I'm just back in the city and wanted to check how Seeley is doing." She turned to Charlie again. "But I see he's not here. Is he out because of a case?"
Charlie shook his head. "No, he took the afternoon off. Parker mentioned something about going to the Botanical Gardens near the Jeffersonian. There's a nice playground and they wanted to go there."
"Oh, okay. I know where that is." Hannah turned around to leave the office. "Thanks, Charlie. It was good to see you again."
§§§
Hannah knew exactly where to find Booth. They had been at this park several times with Parker, but she was surprised that they still went there. Parker must be around 13 right now and a bit too old to enjoy the playground.
As she rounded the corner she instantly recognized Booth, who was sitting on a bench near the playground, watching the kids there. She followed his line of view and found Parker in the sandbox. He was playing with a little girl, showing her how to use some small items to form different sand figures.
She was frantically thinking about how this little girl might fit into the picture and then remembered that Angela was pregnant when she first moved in with Booth. That must be Angela's little girl. Maybe Booth had volunteered to babysit her.
Hannah stopped to watch Booth for some minutes. He was still as handsome as she remembered him and he looked truly happy. Time must have been good to him.
She slowly walked in his direction, not knowing exactly how to handle the situation. The problem was solved when Booth suddenly looked around the park and spotted her. She saw it in his eyes…the moment when he recognized her.
A small smile grazed his lips and he stood up from the bench. "Hannah!" He took some steps in her direction until he met her. After a brief, awkward moment, he pulled her in a light hug. "What a surprise to see you here." He pointed to the bench so she'd sit down with him.
"Hi, Seeley!" She was a little breathless. He still was able to make her heart beat a bit faster and her stomach flutter. Obviously, he hadn't lost any of his charm.
"How are you doing, Hannah?" They sat on the bench next to each other and he looked expectantly in her direction. "You're looking good!"
"Thank you." Hannah blushed a bit at the unexpected compliment. "Could it be that he also still has some feelings for me? "I am fine, actually…really fine." A big smile was on her face. "I'm back here in DC to meet with my employer to discuss my next assignment."
Booth's eyes darted back and forth between her and Parker in the sandbox. "How long do you plan to stay here?" He turned to her again.
Hannah shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, several days, maybe 2 weeks." She placed a hand on his arm. "Maybe we can meet for dinner some night, to talk about old times, you know?" She gave him a meaningful glance. "I think there are still some issues we didn't really talk about when I was living here with you."
He shook his head. "Hannah, I…"
She didn't let him finish. "Seeley, I still think we had something beautiful going on when we were together, but I only saw that clearly after I'd left you. I made a mistake, you know?"
"Hannah, I…"
But she wanted to say what was on her mind. She had to tell him right away. "I can't forget you! I think I'm still a bit in love with you. I think maybe we should give our relationship a second chance."
She held his gaze but found only sympathy shining back at her from his brown eyes. Have I lost him?
"Hannah, I… " He started again, but at that moment there was a small cry coming from the stroller that was standing next to the bench. Hannah had expected that the young woman on the bench next to them would react to the baby crying and was more than surprised when Booth stood up and bent down to reach into the stroller.
He pulled the newborn out of the stroller and placed her into the crook of his arm. "What's up, baby girl?" He pushed the little bonnet, which had slipped down over her eyes, out of her face. "Does this bother you, huh?" He placed a small kiss on the cheek of the girl. "There we go. All better."
That was the moment when Hannah saw the wedding band on his finger and it was like someone had emptied a bucket of cold water over her head.
He sat down on the bench again and Hannah watched him with wide eyes. He didn't seem to notice the change of her mood and the sad, defeated look on her face.
Booth moved the baby in her direction. "Hannah, meet Elisabeth…we call her Lizzy." The baby was falling asleep again, snuggling into Booth's arms.
Hannah looked at the baby, her voice stuck in her throat. "She's really cute, is she… is she yours?" Who am I kidding…of course she's his, there's no doubt about that.
"Yes, she is." Booth's voice was filled with pride. "She's 6 weeks old."
"So you have a family now?"
Booth finally heard the sadness in her voice. "Yeah…I do."
"So you've got all you ever wished for?" She looked at him and saw the happiness in his eyes. That was the moment when she knew she'd lost him forever.
"Yes, I have."
Parker came running in their direction, pulling the little girl with him by the hand.
"Dad, Dad!" They arrived at the bench. "Christine tried to eat the sand cake we were making!" He pointed to the little girl who was standing next to him, her mouth closed tightly.
"I told her that she couldn't do it…that sand isn't for eating!" He shrugged. "But she insisted that cake is cake and took a big bite." He pushed her forward in the direction of her father. "I told her to open her mouth, but she's not listening to me."
Booth got up from the bench and placed the baby in Parker's arms. "Take care of her." Then he hunkered down in front of the toddler and placed one hand on the side of her face, while reaching into the bag which was hanging on the stroller to pull out a small bottle of water.
"Listen to Daddy, okay?" He opened the bottle and placed it on her lips.
Hannah watched the scene, shocked to find out he obviously had another child…and by estimating the child's age, it became apparent he hadn't mourned her leaving very long.
"Chrissy, you have to take a sip of the water and then spit the water out, hopefully with the sand, too." He let her take a small sip. "Don't swallow, okay? Don't swallow…. just spit it out."
The little girl did what her father told her and spit out the sand and water. Unfortunately it all landed on Booth's shirt. "Chrissy!," he howled. "That was the wrong direction, okay?" He pulled out his handkerchief to remove the rest of the sand out of Christine's mouth. Then he used the piece of cloth to clean his shirt.
This was the moment Parker noticed Hannah. "Oh, hi, Hannah." He hadn't fully understood what had happened between his father and her, but he knew that he somehow felt elated when she left and Brennan came back into their lives again. "What brings you here?"
"I just was in the city and wanted to know how you all are doing." Hannah felt more and more like she was intruding on this small family of four, but she couldn't go until she found out the identity of the woman who had finally given Booth his family.
The baby in Parker's arms started to fuss and Parker looked helplessly at his dad. "Dad, I don't know how to handle this! You have to take her back." Without waiting for Booth's answer, he placed the baby back in his father's arms.
"Okay, okay." Booth had his hands full with taking care of the two girls. He was trying to check Christine to make sure she had no more sand in her mouth while simultaneously holding the baby to his shoulder as he attempted to soothe her.
"Parker, there's a bottle in the bag. Bones pumped some milk before she left for her appointment, in case we needed it." He smiled at him. "Can you look for it?"
Parker turned up his nose in disgust. "Dad, that's gross." But he looked for the bottle and pulled it out of the bag to hand it to Booth. Booth sat down again and held the bottle to his little daughter's lips. She instantly stopped crying and started to suck hungrily.
Hannah sucked in some air. She'd gotten her answer. So they'd finally come together. Brennan and Booth. She had always felt that there was more between them than they both would admit, but still, she was surprised that Brennan had agreed to have a family and to even get married. She was under the impression that Brennan was like her…independent and not open for a permanent relationship. Obviously, she was wrong about that.
Parker took Christine by her hand again. Noticing the awkward silence between the adults, he decided it'd be better for them to leave the scene. At the last minute, he remembered his manners and turned to Hannah.
"Goodbye, Hannah." Then he turned away again and went back to the sandbox.
Booth looked at Hannah and chuckled a bit awkwardly. "Sorry, Hannah. It's not easy to take care of three kids alone, especially when the girls are still so small." He motioned with his head to the little one in his arms.
Hannah managed to hide her surprise about Booth's family and smiled back at him. "I'm happy for you, Seeley. Looks like you got all that you've ever wanted."
His expression grew serious. "Hannah, don't doubt it for a bit…I wanted to have this with you. I was just too blind to see who my heart really belonged to. In hindsight, I have to thank you for saying no. Truth to be told, we had a great time together, but we were never meant to last."
She nodded. "Yes, Seeley…I can see that now." Hoping to hide her sadness, she looked over to Parker and Christine. Parker had sat the little girl on a swing and was pushing her, and the girl's joyful voice was reaching their ears. Sighing softly, Hannah continued. "I'm happy for you, I really am."
"Hannah, I should've told you when I met you in Afghanistan that there was someone I couldn't forget…someone I loved, but who didn't love me back." He scoffed softly. "At least I thought so at the time. I tried to move on…I really tried, and I think, if we had stayed in Afghanistan, it could've worked."
He put the empty bottle aside and placed Elisabeth on his shoulder again to let her burp.
"But when I came back home…" He paused, trying to find the right words. "Everything came back again in full force…all the things I tried to forget. I tried, Hannah…I tried to make it work between us, but there were still these feelings for her buried deep inside me and forcing themselves back to the surface again."
They heard a small burp and Booth patted the baby's back. "That's my girl!"
"I noticed it, Seeley. I tried to ignore it, but I saw how you both looked at each other sometimes. It was like there was only the two of you, shutting the whole world out, communicating in a way only you both understood." She nodded. "You never looked at me like that. That was one reason I didn't accept your proposal."
"Hannah, I found out one simple truth. You can love a lot of people in your life, but there is only one person you love the most." He was serious as he looked at her. "And sadly, that wasn't you, no matter how hard I tried to make it work for us. A wise man once said to me, 'the heart chooses what it chooses, and we don't really have a say in the matter'. He was right."
Hannah nodded. "And your heart had chosen Temperance. I should have seen it earlier."
"Yeah, that's a fact…it's always been Bones." His eyes became a bit dreamy. "I think I loved her right from the beginning, and that didn't change a bit, no matter how hard we tried to ignore it. She's the one I love the most."
Unnoticed by both of them, Brennan had arrived and approached the bench where Booth and Hannah were sitting.
"Hi."
Hannah and Booth looked up in surprise. Booth saw the astonished look on Brennan's face and quickly explained the situation. "Surprise, Bones! Hannah is back in the city and wanted to check on us."
"Oh." Brennan turned to Hannah, who had got up from the bench. "Great to see you again, Hannah." She hugged Hannah and beamed at her. There were no bad feelings on Brennan's part. She was as happy as she could be with Booth, and thankful that Hannah had said no when Booth had asked her to marry him. Thinking of what she might have missed would always be a part of her life.
Booth had laid Lizzy back in the stroller and stood up to greet Brennan. He pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss on the lips. "How was your doctor's appointment?"
Brennan smiled at him. "It was fine. Everything is like it should be 6 weeks after giving birth and Dr. Meyer cleared me to have sexual intercourse again."
"Booonnnes.," Booth whined. "Wrong time to tell me, okay?" He leaned his head in Hannah's direction.
Hannah suppressed a smile. This was 100 % the Brennan as she remembered her.
She felt that was time for her to leave the little family alone. She had gotten her answer…not the answer she had hoped for, but an answer anyway.
"Seeley, Temperance. I think I should leave now. The jet lag is getting to me and I'm longing for my hotel room so I can get some rest. Maybe we can talk again some day in the near future."
"Yes, we should.," Booth answered, but they both knew that wouldn't happen.
"Take care, Hannah." He gave her a quick hug and Brennen waved her goodbye, before turning to the stroller and checking if Elisabeth was sleeping again.
Hannah left but turned back again before she rounded the corner, glancing back at Booth and Brennan. They were sitting on the bench…he had placed his arm around her shoulder and they were both looking at Parker and Christine, smiling at them as they played together.
"The one you love the most." The sentence ran through her mind over and over until finally she knew the truth.
"It looks like Seeley had been that one for me, but I'd been to blind to see it…"
AN: A big thanks to 554 Laura who had been a Beta to this story. If you like it, please leave a review and also send some well wishes for dgschneider. She has a long way to get better.
If you are waiting for an update on my story: "The Sperm in the Special Agent" I have to ask for your patience because dgschneider (my Beta on this story) is not able to do it right now, as you know now. But we will finish this story, don't doubt that for a minute
