(The Brother in the Basement)
I don't own Bones.
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His joke was terrible, but it made her laugh. The last few days had been fraught with worry and though he was barely awake he was joking with her. "Booth, I never gave up looking for you. I knew you were fighting to stay alive and all we had to do was find you."
"That's all." Booth smiled at her. He was weak from loss of blood, but he knew that if he had any strength at all he would pull her onto the bed and kiss her hard and long. Unfortunately he felt as a weak as a kitten, so that wasn't going to happen. "Well I've seen you and your squints perform miracles before, so I wasn't surprised when I walked up those steps and I found you. Believe me for a while I didn't think that was going to happen though."
"I had faith that you would find a way to stop the bleeding although using silver nitrate wasn't something I expected you to use." Brennan knew her husband was tough, but this was almost mind boggling. "The pain must have been quite excruciating."
He wanted to spare her, so he lied. "Eh, not really. It was just a scratch."
"I hardly think so, Booth." She was annoyed, but Booth was Booth. "I'm sorry about Jared."
"Me too." Booth had done all he could do for his brother and had almost died with him. His brother was now gone and the only family he had left was Brennan and his children. "He tried to do the right thing in the end." Jared's life had been a disaster and Booth would always blame his father for it. His father had a lot to answer for. "He wasn't a bad man, just unanchored. He never could beat his addiction for alcohol and it ruined him. He just never found the right person in his life to help him like I did you." He knew he needed to assure her. "I won't let my addiction to gambling ruin mine. I promise Bones. I made a big mistake last year, but I won't fail like Jared and my father. I need you and the kids too much to risk that again."
"I'm confident that you won't Booth." Brennan did worry about it, but she knew that Booth had a lot of support and she knew he was very determined. "You are much stronger than Jared ever was."
Oooooooooooooooooooo
Four weeks went by and Booth was ready to go back to work. Standing in the kitchen, Booth poured himself a cup of coffee and watched his children and wife busily working on a jigsaw puzzle. Hank was actually too young and he kept picking up the pieces and throwing them at his sister, much to her annoyance.
Moving over the table, Booth scooped up Hank in his arms and laughed. "Hey little man, let's go play with your ball." He felt a twinge of pain while holding his son against his side, so he shifted the boy to his other hip.
She had seen her husband wince and that concerned her. "Booth, I'm quite certain you shouldn't pick up Hank. You're still healing."
Booth placed his hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "It's okay. Don't worry about it." He carried the boy into the living room, kicked a bright green ball away from a basket full of toys and placed Hank down beside the ball. Gingerly Booth sat on the floor and motioned for the child to push the ball towards him. "Roll the ball to Daddy, Hank."
Getting up on to his knees, the boy batted the ball with the palms of his hands, laughed and pushed the ball towards his father. It didn't really go far, so he crawled over to the ball and pushed it again, this time sending it rolling into his father's hands. "Hey, Hank, good job." Cheerfully, Booth rolled the ball back towards his son and saw it hit him in the chest.
Hank laughed and pushed the ball back starting a game that lasted for a few minutes. Brennan turned to watch her husband and son play and smiled. A month ago, she had had to face the possibility that she would never see Booth alive again and now that he was home, she was afraid to let him out of her sight for very long. She knew she was being foolish, but almost losing him had emphasized just how much he was part of her life. Both of them going back to work on Monday was going to be tough on her and she knew it.
"Mommy, I can't find the clown's nose." Christine was on her knees in her chair leaning over the puzzle pieces. "I don't see it."
Brennan looked at each piece and finally found it. "This it, Honey." She handed it to her daughter and felt a sense of pleasure when Christine placed the nose on the clown's face and grinned in triumph. "Very good Christine. This puzzle is now sixty percent complete. I think we should be done in another hour or so."
Proud of her accomplishment, Christine glanced at the box lid and started to look for the balloon pieces that belonged in the clown's hand. "This is fun, Mommy. I like puzzles."
"I do too." Brennan loved her family very much and it still amazed her that she actually had one. If someone had told her ten years ago that she would someday be married and have two children, she would have thought that person was being unrealistic. She hadn't believed in marriage at the time and she had thought she would be childless. The unpredictability of life amazed her sometimes.
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The children in bed, Booth moved over to the juke box, selected a song and turned to face his wife. "Would you like to dance?"
As she moved closer towards her husband, Brennan felt her heart beat increase. After all these years, the thought of dancing with him still sent a tingle through her that she couldn't really explain. In his embrace, they swayed to the music and Brennan felt calmer than she had in weeks. "This is nice."
"Yep." Booth enjoyed dancing with his wife and because of his injuries this the first time in over a month that he could do it comfortably. "Remember a few years ago when I made that wish for you?"
She knew what he was talking about and she laughed. "There is no such thing as wishes, Booth. Well to be more precise, you can make a wish, but they don't come true."
He wasn't having none of that, so Booth shook his head. "Of course they come true. I wished that you would find happiness, love, laughter, friendship, purpose, and a dance. I'm not sure about the happy part since you've been through so much, but you got the rest of it including the dance."
A sense of warmth spread throughout her as he spoke and she knew that wishes sometimes did come true though she would never admit that. "I am happy Booth. I'm very happy. I have you and Christine and Hank in my life. That is more than I ever expected when I was younger, before I met you. You have given me love and friendship and with that we have laughter. My job is important and it does give me purpose, but so does being with you and yes, we dance, but that didn't come from making a wish. It is the result of our mutual attraction."
"You just won't admit my wish came true." Booth moved his arms so she was pressed closer against his body. "But that's okay. It was my wish and I know it came true and that's all that matters."
She refused to let him annoy her and ruin her moment. "You may believe what you wish, Booth. I don't really care." Her face pressed against his shoulder, Brennan enjoyed the feel of his arms around her. She always felt safe and wanted in his arms.
He loved her so much and the thought of some day not being with her made him sad and determined that he would fight to stay alive and be with her as long as he could. "I love you Bones. I will always love you."
"And I love you too, Booth." Brennan didn't believe in wishes, but she did believe in Booth.
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