This one-shot was originally written for a story collection which is published under the writer's name "Stories to share" and the story "Faith in Love" which was published over the last 2 weeks. Please check it out. It's a great collection of anniversary stories of our beloved couple "Booth and Brennan" written from different writers of this fanfiction universe.
Disclaimer: Nope, the characters are still not mine, still belong to Hart Hanson and Fox.
September 14, 2029
Brennan parked her car in the garage, took a deep breath, and looked casually at her watch. She was late coming home. Friday nights in the Booth/Brennan household were special. They'd developed traditions that they seldom broke. They'd order take-out and have a movie night as a family. Sometimes It was a challenge to get everyone to agree on a film, especially when 13 year old Hank was only into action films and 17 year old Christine wanted nothing but romance. The family was constantly on the lookout for movies with a good romance and lots of explosions.
Food was much easier. The family of four took turns. Every Friday one family member got to choose which food to order. With Hank, it was always Pizza. Christine mostly chose Mexican food. Brennan generally chose Thai food, which gave her lots of vegan options, unlike pizza or Mexican food, and Booth invariably brought home burgers. But, being the good husband that he was, he always went out of the way to bring his wife home either a veggie burger from her favorite vegan restaurant or get her something special. Just thinking about dinner reminded her how hungry she was.
Normally, when Brennan came home this late, they were already seated in front of the big screen TV in the man cave waiting for her to join them. She routinely lost track of time at work. Like almost every Friday night she prepared herself for the bickering and complaints waiting for her on the other side of the door.
Hurrying, she opened the front door in a rush to get to the man cave. To her surprise, no one was there. She retraced her steps back to the living room and only then realized that the dining table was set with candles and fine dishes, but only for two. A bowl of salad was already placed on the table. That's when she realized the delicious smell coming from the kitchen where she found lasagna baking in the oven.
But she couldn't help but wonder where her family was. She started calling their names, which drew Booth out of the bedroom. Adding to her confusion, he hadn't changed clothes after coming home. He was practically a quick-change artist on Friday nights. He routinely traded his suit and tie for comfortable jeans and an older, soft t-shirt within minutes of getting home. But here he was still in his suit, tie still in place and everything. This wasn't like him at all.
A wide grin spread over his face, he gave her a loving look. "Hi, Bones, glad you're home. Dinner will be ready in a few." He gave her a peck on the cheek and passed her heading straight for the kitchen with no other explanation. Of course, Brennan followed close behind, confused by the change of plans and very curious.
"Booth, what is this all about? Where are the kids? Why did you cook dinner? Why are you still in your work clothes?" The questions were raining down on Booth, who didn't stop - not even for a second - he just went about his business. He got the lasagna out of the oven and onto a trivet on the dining table and went back to the kitchen for a basket of bread he'd put together earlier in the evening. Brennan followed, right on his heels every step of the way.
Returning briefly to the kitchen to collect an open bottle of wine, he sat down at the dining table and waved his hand toward her chair to get Brennan to do the same. She looked skeptical and irritated but sat anyway. Smiling smugly he poured wine into each of their glasses and handed one to Brennan, lifting his own glass to clink together with hers. She reacted to his action, lifting her glass too.
"To us." Booth leaned forward to give her a small peck on the lips before he took a sip of wine. Brennan was still wondering what this was all about and gave Booth a questioning look.
"Booth, first of all, where are our kids?" Booth started serving the lasagna and put some on each of their plates as well as some salad.
"The kids are with the Hodgins." He shoved some lasagna on his fork and started to eat. Brennan stopped what she was doing and looked at him with wide eyes.
"Angela left at noon. They're spending the weekend at their cabin. So, they can't be with them, Booth."
Booth chuckled. "Oh, believe me, they are. Angela and Hodgins picked them up directly after school." He leaned in and told her in a husky voice. "And they aren't coming back until late Sunday evening." He waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, a smug smile on his face.
Brennan finally started to eat. "But why did you send them away?"
Oh, how he loved his beautiful, genius, often clueless wife. Booth leaned in again. "Isn't it obvious?" He took her hand. "I wanted a nice, romantic date with my wife." He pressed a kiss at the top of her hand and then continued with his meal.
Brennan shot him a flirty look. "But why send them away for the whole weekend?" She tilted her head, looking intensely at him. "Have you planned something special?"
The look Booth sent her way sent shivers down her spine. His eyes were dark and full of desire. "Maybe." He didn't say more, just shoved another fork full into his mouth.
Brennan also continued eating, but the mood in the room had shifted. The air was suddenly sizzling with anticipation and a hint of seduction. "You know, this feels an awful lot like a special date? Are we celebrating something?" She asked that last question hesitantly worried she'd missed something important.
He gave her another cocky grin. "Maybe."
She put down her fork and set her napkin on her plate, obviously finished eating. He did the same and leaned back in his seat. He had crossed his arms and his body language sent the message, I'm not going to tell, you'll have to guess.
"Do we have an anniversary I don't know about?"
"Maybe."
Her look got a bit desperate while he couldn't stop grinning. He was enjoying this just a little too much. She frantically thought about the date but couldn't think of any explanation as to why it would be so special.
"Booth." She whined. "I have no idea, it's no one's birthday, it's not our wedding anniversary." Her voice became a bit quieter. "It's not the day Mr. Vincent Nigel-Murray died." She looked up. "Can you at least give me a hint?"
"Maybe." He chuckled. "Twenty-five."
"Twenty-five?" She shook her head. "That's it?" She started calculating in her head. "Booth, twenty-five years ago we weren't even working together. Are you sure you didn't calculate something wrong?
"Positive, it's twenty-five years to the day."
"Booth, that would be 2004, we didn't start working together until 2005, so how could we be celebrating an anniversary?"
Booth leaned back in his seat, that Cheshire Cat grin only growing. "Bones, think harder. Here's a hint - when was our very first case?"
Her face lit up "You're right, our first case was the Gemma Arrington case." She looked very pleased, having finally figured it out.
Booth nodded. "Yes, you're right." He stood up from his chair and took her hand to help her up, then pulled her right into his arms. "You know we have all the old files digitized now. They asked us to check them for accuracy and the Gemma Arrington case was the first file I looked at. And today, twenty-five years ago, I stepped into that lecture hall at the American University and saw the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on."
"Booth." Her voice was very soft. "How can you say that?" But her eyes were beaming at him. In all these years he had never stopped telling her how beautiful she was to him and how much he was still in love with her. He was still the hopeless romantic she'd met twenty-five years ago.
"Because it's the truth." He bent down to give her a kiss, but he kept it light, the night was still young and he had another surprise for her. He couldn't let himself get distracted quite yet. When they parted he took her hand and guided her to the couch. He slipped out of his suit jacket and removed his tie. Together they sat down on the couch and he reached beneath it to get a box from underneath.
"I have a surprise for you." He laid the box onto Brennan's lap.
"Booth." She was a little breathless. "This dinner and everything was a beautiful surprise and now you have a gift?" She looked up. "I have nothing for you, you know ... I didn't even know."
He let his finger slide slowly down her cheek. "I know Bones. It's okay, believe me." He pointed to the box. "This gift is kinda for both of us. You'll see." He pushed against the box, nudging it a little. "Open it."
Brennan carefully removed the ribbon around the box and lifted the top. Inside was a book, which she instantly pulled out and looked at with great interest. "Booth, this is one of these photo albums you can create online and then have it printed into a real book." She beamed at him. "I didn't know you had the computer skills requisite to do something like that."
"I don't." He chuckled. "I had lots of help from Angela. She pretty much put it together. Actually, most of the photos inside this book are photos she took. I added some from my phone and computer and old news clippings I collected through the years."
Brennan turned the book in her hands, looking at the pictures on the cover. It was a collection of shots of her and Booth over the years. On the front, written in big, bold letters were the words, "The Story of Us."
She opened the book only to find another sentence written in large font on the first page. "It was fate, baby!" She smiled, remembering how he'd asked her the very first day they met if she believed in fate.
He moved closer to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, and together they looked at the pictures. It was the story of them. Angela had done a really good job, using her pictures, many related to work events, scanned newspaper articles, and private photos from Booth. In chronological order, they showed their story from the start.
They pointed out photos and shared their memories as she carefully examined every page.
"God, look how young we were." Booth chuckled when he pointed out the article in the newspaper about the congressman and his assistant, the one Bones shot in the leg.
"I totally forgot about Zack's long and messy hair." Thinking of Zack made her sigh. It took a long time to get him out of the secure mental health facility, but now he had a great job at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor Research Center.
Booth pointed out a photo of Brennan taken at the reception Dr. Goodman had forced the team to attend, the one only Hodgins escaped with Booth's help. "Look, Bones, you looked so gorgeous that night. You know, I hate those events, but to tell you the truth I would have accompanied you that night if you'd asked me to. I was already falling in love with you." He leaned in to give her another small kiss. This one was a little firmer and lingered a little longer.
He turned a page, pointing. "Hey, look here, our Christmas lung fungus quarantine."
A thoughtful look washed over Brennan. "That was the first time I met Parker."
Booth slid his hand slowly up and down at the side of her arm. "I bet you never imagined then that he'd become your son someday, huh?" She smiled at him.
"There are many things I couldn't imagine then that I am very grateful for today."
The next page showed X-Rays and a newspaper article about the James Cugini case. Brennen let her fingers run over the X-Rays photos as if caressing them. "You came for me. You were hurt badly, but you came for me." She turned her head in his direction only to find him already looking at her.
His voice was soft. "I will always come for you."
The next page made her tear up a bit, showing pictures of her Mom's case and Max and Russ after they'd reunited again. "Have I ever told you how much it meant to me that you were there for me during that time?" She briefly looked at him, giving his hand a gentle pat.
Turning the page, there was a picture of her in a sexy red dress and Booth draped over her shoulder, barely hanging onto her, his face and undershirt splattered with blood. The undercover agent there had taken the shot and sent it to Booth years ago.
"I am so glad I found this photo in the file." Booth smiled at her, "sadly I don't have a photo of you in that tiny black dress," he sucked in a sharp breath and shook his head. "This red one though, damn, it was totally hot too."
He chuckled and pointed to the next photo, one she had never seen before. They were dirty and grey from dust but smiling at each other. It was taken shortly after he'd pulled her out of the ground where the gravedigger had buried them alive.
"Booth, where did this picture come from? I'm pretty sure Angela wasn't taking photos when this happened?" He leaned in, holding her tightly, as if she'd slip back in that hole and be lost forever if he didn't hold onto her.
"I found it in the file. The author of those Grave Digger books, something Vega -"
"Thomas Vega, his name was Thomas Vega."
"Yeah, him. His assistant writer person got it with her cell phone. He wanted to use it in his next book but I told him no, in no uncertain terms." It was ballsy of the man to even ask after Booth had threatened his life. Booth didn't take kindly to the way he exploited victims for his own gain, a point he made very clear to Mr. Vega when he asked to use the picture. "I put it in the case file and forgot about it until I was looking for pictures." He chuckled. "I looked at a lot of files to put this book together."
Then there were photos of a wedding that never took place. Angela and Hodgins and the two of them before the would-be bride and groom beat their hasty retreat. He grinned at her. "I still remember feeling so awkward as we stood in front of that pastor and the whole congregation. She looked very determined to do a wedding that day, don't you think? I'm pretty sure she was aiming at us."
"I was panicking." She chuckled and nudged him a little. "Your eyes told me you were panicking too." He agreed.
Booth turned the page. "Oh wow, that was a horrible day." Brennan looked quizzically at him. The picture was of the whole Jeffersonian team standing there in their Halloween costumes. Booth grinned while looking at the photo. "You know, you drove me nuts with that costume of yours. You made it so damned hard to concentrate." He leaned in and whispered into her ear. "I was expecting a wardrobe malfunction any minute." He pressed a slow sensuous kiss to her ear letting his teeth nibble just enough to elicit a low hum from her. "God, I dreamed about you for weeks after that. Especially how to get you out of it." Brennan shoved her elbow playfully against his chest, shaking off his advances.
An "Aww." Escaped her mouth when she saw the next page. A picture of a Christmas tree outside a jail trailer, Parker and Booth waving at them. She leaned in again. "Booth, this was the best Christmas gift. You left me speechless that night and changed my mind about gifts forever."
Booth nodded, he didn't have the words to explain how deeply he felt about those early years. Watching her grow and change, seeing his own life become fuller and more stable because of her. Those were thoughts for another night though.
"I wish I had a picture of that mistletoe. Believe me, I thought long and hard about how to get you under mistletoe again, without other people watching, of course. That kiss. That was a life-changing kiss. All I wanted was to kiss you again and again … and again." And then he pressed a kiss to her mouth that was easily worth at least twenty-five steamboats.
Two other pictures brought tears to her eyes again. Baby Andy with his new parents and one with her and Booth with Baby Andy in between them. Booth got serious. "I didn't tell you then, but there was a time, before we found out about Carol and Jimmy Grant, that I thought of keeping Andy. I know it sounds crazy but watching you with him … I could see us raising him together."
"Oh Booth." She smiled at him. "We weren't even together then and still you thought we could raise a baby together?" She shook her head. Now it was him who gave her a small shove.
"You were good with him. A natural. I couldn't help but think at the time that maybe it would bring us together, taking care of him, kinda like playing house, huh?"
She turned the page and took a deep breath. An announcement of a funeral which, thank God, never happened. They had talked about that and they'd gotten over it but it would always be a traumatic memory for her.
She hurried on. Looking at the next page she started to laugh. Two US crime fighters in front of London bridge and a bobble-head bobby on a desk followed by pictures of one crime fighter throwing knives at his partner, the pair all dressed up as Buck and Wanda Moosejaw.
"Bones, you scared me to death when you pulled those tiny little items out of your bag. An apple, seriously, and that nose, I was sure that I would accidentally kill you."
She shook her head. "Booth, I trusted you, you wouldn't do that, right?" He just laughed and shook his head.
"Not intentionally."
Brennan was happy that there was no photo of Booth in a hospital bed, his head wrapped with big white bandages.
The whole next page was covered with pictures. There was a mummy, an Egyptian exhibition, and a beautiful couple in a nice black dress and a tux posing for Angela to take a photo. Booth put his hand at her chin and moved her head in his direction. "You know, I almost kissed you down there."
"I would have let you."
She placed her hand on his. "It was a different time, not like the one in front of the Hoover. At that moment I would have given in." She sighed. "It would have saved us so much pain if we would have gotten together then."
She turned back to the book. "Sadly, we cannot change the past. It turned out very well in the end though, right?" She gave him a short glance.
"Pretty good." He gave her a wink and another kiss on the lips.
Next were pictures of Christmas dinner at her house with all her friends around the table and one annoying cousin. "I completely forgot about my cousin Margaret. Maybe we should invite her for Christmas again." She waited for Booth to groan before winking and smiling at him. "Gotcha." She laughed and laughed.
She flipped the page. Her high school reunion. A funny picture of Booth holding a silver star in one hand and a plate of pie in the other, a strange, forced look on his face. Brennan remembered that she took that photo to let Angela measure the tip of the star. There were pictures of a wedding in a cell they didn't get to attend and two people saying goodbye at an airport. Not a happy time in their lives but a part of their history.
Brennan was happy that there were no photos of Hannah. But there were photos that brought back sad memories. Two pictures of Mr. Nigel-Murray. Brennan took another deep breath and swallowed heavily.
"I will never forget this horrible day or what happened that night." She laid her head on his shoulder and they sat there for a minute to recall the details of that night and what came from it. On the next page, ultrasound pictures. A happy couple with a newborn in their arms.
"Christine was so tiny there." Booth's finger slid over the photo of their then little family.
Pictures of the whole team as actors in a Kathy Reich's movie, baby Christine with Parker and Max, and photos of a blonde kissing Booth with a flute of champagne in her hand, reunited after three torturous long months apart. There was a mother that came back after more than twenty years and a son walking her down the aisle.
Time flew by in the pictures in this book.
There were two full pages of pictures of their wedding in the rose garden of the Jeffersonian. Brennan turned to Booth again. "We had a wonderful wedding, don't you think?" Booth laughed.
"Says the woman who never wanted to get married, and I quote, 'Marriage is an antiquated ritual. Any intellectually rigorous individual would never get married in this day and age. It is a barbaric expectation imposed by a prudish society.'"
"That was before I lived with you." Brennan beamed at him. "You changed my mind."
Next were pictures of an intern that fought cancer and a friend who was killed in the line of duty. "Sweets was right." Brennan turned to Booth again. "He got everything right." Booth bent his head to lean against hers. They sat in silence, there was nothing more to be said.
A new house, pictures of Christine, Baby Seeley, and finally Hank and a team saying what they thought was goodbye to each other once again. The funeral of Jared, a thanksgiving dinner at the Booth household, and Cowboy and Cowgirl undercover. So many memories they shared. Evidence of the rich life they led.
The next page showed pictures of Brennan's 40th birthday, the last pictures with Max alive. Brennan took another deep breath. Another wedding, Arastoo and Cam this time. They all grew up together, this team, no this was her family, the family she'd created. There were pictures of the lab destroyed and the various stages of it being built anew. And Hodgins, acting King of the Lab, cutting the ribbon for its reopening.
Hanks' first day in school, Booth becoming Deputy Director of the FBI, and Brennan announcing Clark as the new liaison with FBI Agent James Aubrey as his partner. A picture of them with the new pair taking over the position she and Booth had filled for decades, together. Celebrating Booth's 50th birthday with the family in Hawaii. Their kids growing up, milestones with their close friends the Hodgins', and years of Christmases celebrated with friends. More recently, celebrating Christine's graduation from high school. The last pictures were taken with all of them together at Parker's wedding earlier in the year with the newest member of their family, his wife Kelly.
Brennan closed the book and looked at her husband with teary eyes. "Thank you, thank you so much." She leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "This is the best gift I have ever received."
He cupped her face with one palm. "We have a wonderful history, don't you think?" His thumb slid over her cheek. "It took us so long to come together. We took just about every detour known to man."
She took a deep breath. "And there were so many ways we could have lost each other along the way." Their eyes met and held. "But we didn't lose each other. We're here today and we will be tomorrow."
He had a wide smile on his face. "Looks a lot like fate to me."
She put her head on his shoulder. his arm still wrapped around her. "So, what are your plans? You could have sent the kids away for a sleepover with their friends. Why the whole weekend?"
He bent his head in her direction. "The last few months have been so hectic. Parker's wedding, Christine's graduation, figuring out what college she was going to go to, me and you, so heavily engaged in our jobs, everything. We've barely had time for each other."
She protested. "Booth, we spend nearly every day together, how can you say that?"
"Quality time, Bones, you and me and every surface we can find in this house to make love on. Our kids, God, I love 'em, but they are always around, everywhere, all the time. And they never sleep." He started to unbutton her blouse. "Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade them for the world but sometimes they are a pain in the ass."
"Booth." Her voice became very seductive. "We have intercourse at least twice a week, I don't know what you are talking about." But she happily went to work on his dress shirt. "However, I need to say, in the future, we need to be more careful."
He stopped what he was doing and gave her a questioning look. "Huh, what are you talking about?" She had finished opening his shirt and was pushing it off his shoulders.
"The other day Christine told me that we're not as quiet we think we are when we have sex.'"
"Oh, God, what did you say?" Brennan paused her work on his belt buckle long enough to give him a mischievous smile and wiggle out of her blouse as he lifted it off her shoulders.
"I told her, that we have a healthy sex life, that she might want to use some ear protection if she feels embarrassed by that, and that I would tell you to be a bit quieter. ''
Booth scoffed. "Yeah, because it's me who's the vocal one." Booth took this opportunity to ease her down onto her back, taking her shoes off one by one, and moved back up her body so he could remove her slacks. "See, I was right to get the kids out of the way. We sure as hell wouldn't be able to do this with them here." He bent down and laid a lingering kiss right above her panties, eliciting a long pleasured moan from his wife. "What was that about me being the loud one?"
"I'm feeling uninhibited." She squeaked out, running her fingers through his hair.
Booth pulled away and leaned back taking her in as she lay in front of him in nothing but her bra and panties. "God, you're gorgeous." He fell on her, nibbling first at her ear before devouring the skin along her neck with his hungry kisses as she pushed his pants down.
Breathless, she whispered in his ears. "Surfaces." She breathed heavily as he ran his cheek along the swell of her breasts. "Where?"
"Oh, lots." He pressed a kiss over her heart. "Shower." He edged a little lower, kissing along her ribs. "Kitchen counter." Laying a line of kisses from her waist to her hip. "Bathtub." He hummed against her hip as he moved over her tummy. "Our bed … multiple times." Lower. "And of course the couch … now."
Panties and boxers joined their clothes on the floor. Hands roamed. Intimate caress, tender words spoken against skin, work and the kids and their crazy, busy lives sunk farther and farther into the background until it was just them, as it used to be, as it would always be. Booth pulled back and sat up, bringing his beautiful partner with him and settling her on his lap, her long legs straddling him.
"You are so beautiful." She spoke softly as her hands wandered over his perfect shoulders. Cradling her face in his hands he pulled her down into a deep, sensual kiss.
They had made love thousands of times through the years and he still took her breath away. The feel of his hands running over her body never lost the electric sensations of that first touch. Her love for this man and his for her still overwhelmed her sometimes twenty-five years later. Her knight in shining armor, her hopelessly romantic FBI guy, had made this anniversary something so special for her.
"I love you." She whispered into his ear as she made them one, once again breaking the laws of physics.
"I love you too." Booth kissed her again, "so much, so so much." His tongue danced along with hers, passion took over, as they moved in unison that only comes with time. He slowly released her lips, pulled back to look into her eyes.
"Do you believe in fate?" His voice was husky with desire.
"Absolutely not, ludicrous." But she winked at him, only teasing. "You'll have to persuade me." Her lips drifted along his neck causing his hands to grip her hips tighter as they found the perfect pace to take them slowly to the edge.
He panted heavily next to her ear. "Bones, tonight you can be loud … so let's get loud."
AN: I hope you enjoyed this story and if so, please leave a review. And don't forget to check out the story "Faith in Love", but you can skip the second chapter.
