(The Next in the Last)

A/N: tissue alert.

I don't own Bones.

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They hadn't really discussed names for the son that was about to be born, but the weeks were growing short and soon their baby boy would be born and that decision had to be made. Both Booth and Brennan had written a list of names they wanted to consider but so far, they hadn't agreed on any particular name.

"I want to name our child after you, Booth." Brennan didn't see why Booth was so set against it. She had always thought his name was interesting.

"No kid of mine is going to be called Seeley, Bones." He couldn't believe that Brennan didn't understand how wrong that was. After all her first name was Temperance. "Do you know how many mattress jokes I had to put up with in high school?"

Unable to prevent it, Brennan rolled her eyes. "Everyone's name is mocked and ridiculed when they're in high school. I should know since my name was the butt of many jokes. Of course, the nicknames they gave me were rather vicious too." She had hated to be called Morticia, but she had found the best way to handle name calling from her classmates was to ignore it and to pretend it didn't hurt to be the joke on everyone's lips.

"Listen, I think you should respect how I feel about it." Booth didn't want his son to be named after him and he wasn't going to give in.

"Alright." Annoyed, Brennan drew a line through the last name on her list and sighed. "You have objected to every name on my list . . . I don't have any more suggestions."

Feeling guilty, Booth tuned his paper over and leaned on it. "You didn't like the names on my list either . . . We have to name him something Bones."

"No Something would be a terrible name." Brennan laughed. Her husband might not like the joke, but she found it very amusing.

Determined to get this task over, Booth tried to not give up like he'd done in the past. "We could let Christine name him." It was a poor way to handle the situation, but Booth didn't know how to get around the impasse.

"No, Booth." Clearly her partner had not heard Christine's latest suggestion. "She thinks we should name him Willie Wonka."

Surprised, Booth snorted. "Hell no . . . We're not letting a kid name our baby. That's a bad idea."

"I agree." Amused, Brennan hid her smile behind her hand while Booth sulked in the chair across from her. "I have one more name I would like you to consider. I want you to take me seriously and not dismiss it immediately."

Worried, Booth looked at his wife and wondered what was coming. "I'll try."

"That's the spirit." Brennan was starting to find the whole situation to be a big joke. They had spent more time searching for a name for their son than they had on their wedding. "I would like to name our baby Henry Joseph Booth."

For a moment, Booth was speechless. He had loved his grandfather and he had mourned his death for quite a while, but he had not considered naming his son after him. "I don't know if he'd want me to name our baby after him . . . He died while I was in prison. I . . . I don't know if I have the right to use his name without his permission."

A little confused, Brennan stared at Booth while he stared at the table top. "I don't . . ." And suddenly she did know what he meant. "Booth, he loved you. He knew that you were innocent. He was so angry that you were in prison that he actually had a friend of his drive him down to his Congressman's office and demanded that Congressman Blaine get you out of prison. He wanted to know how anyone could believe that a patriot and a war hero like you could be treated so badly . . . It took him six visits to the Congressman's office before anyone would talk to him . . . I think they finally realized that Hank wasn't going to give up and they couldn't just throw an old man out of the office . . . Congressman Blaine met with Hank and he was polite and heard Hank out, but the Congressman pointed out the obvious. You were arrested for the murder of three FBI Agents by the FBI and he couldn't interfere in something like that . . . Hank was furious and came to see me about it. I had to explain to Hank that the Congressman had no power to get you released and that we would have to prove that you were innocent to do that . . . Hank cried, Booth. He loved you so much that he cried about the injustice being done to you."

His throat tight, Booth felt tears leak from his lashes and race down his cheeks. "I didn't know he did that."

"Hank died five days later, Booth." Though she knew this was upsetting her husband, she knew that he needed to hear this. "He was going to come and see you, but after his visit to the Congressman's office, his health started to fail . . . Cam thinks he was mourning for you and that he was afraid you'd be killed in prison before we could get you out. He was old, Booth. He was tired and he didn't understand a world that would lock someone like you up in prison . . . I was going to tell you about this, but you were so angry when you were released from prison and I could never get you to go to Hank's grave site or talk about Hank to me. Until now, I thought you were angry with him for some reason, but now I see you thought he was angry with you . . . He wasn't Booth. He was angry for you. He loved you."

The tears were falling steadily and Booth couldn't stop them. Leaning his head on his closed fists resting on the table, Booth allowed himself to weep for the father that raised him. Up until this moment he had thought that his grandfather hadn't visited him in prison because he was ashamed of him. He hadn't known that his grandfather had been trying to fight for his release from prison. "I should have talked to you about Pops." His voice was thick from emotion, but he needed Brennan to understand that he wasn't blaming her for anything. "I thought he was ashamed of me . . . ashamed and that is why he didn't come to visit me."

"Never, Booth. He loved you so much." She felt bad for her spouse. So much had happened while Booth was in prison and the death of his grandfather had just added to the nightmare at that time. Standing, she moved around the table, placed her arm across his back, leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I want to name our baby Henry Joseph Booth."

Sitting up, Booth grabbed a napkin from a small stack in the center of the table and dried his face. Calmer now, he turned and looked up at his partner. "I think that's a great idea, Bones. I think Pops deserves to have his name continue on."

"I do too." Brennan pulled the chair from under the table next to Booth and sat down. "Someday we will tell our son about his great-grandfather and he will see that he was named after an honorable, compassionate man."

"Yeah, he was a great man. Taking in two grandsons and raising them when he was ready to retire . . . He was my hero, Bones. He is my hero."

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