A/N: Hello! Is it me or is the Bones fandom slowly getting emptier? Scary… So for those who are still here, I have a new chapter ready :) It is an all B&B chapter, but there is quite some angst in there, but as in the fairytales: all will end well. I kind of didn't want to write this chapter because of that. However, what are the odds of B&B not getting into a little misunderstanding about buying a new house?
Please note: Unlike in the canon; Bones isn't pregnant at this point in time.
I hope you'll enjoy it.
"So did you think about us getting a new place? Booth asked as he sat down next to Brennan on the couch, nursing his beer.
"I did," Brennan responded without looking up from her magazine.
"And what did you conclude?" Booth asked, a little tense as he was growing impatient.
Putting the magazine away, she turned towards Booth "I surmised that your suggestion has merit. Your apartment is too small and impractical to have a baby in. My apartment could work until the infant learns to walk, but my home has too much of an open plan like a loft that would be less desirable. A baby needs its own place and I will need a home office to work undisturbed. And..." Bones paused.
"And what, Bones?" Booth didn't get why she paused.
"And I enjoy the idea of us living in a house. It has been a long time since I've lived in a family home as a true part of the family". She looked a little vulnerable.
Booth smiled. "I love that too. Have you already had a chance to look at those listings I found?"
"Not yet. That is to say, I only had a chance to quickly look at the first three. Those houses, Booth, they are so small, they don't have all the characteristics we'll need. We'll need a nursery, a home office, an extra-large bathroom including a two-person bath and a large garden. Besides the master bedroom, we'll need a room for Parker, maybe another room we can use as a guest room. A swimming pool would be nice."
"A swimming pool?" Booth wrinkled his forehead.
"Yes. Parker loves swimming in the communion pool. Swimming is a very healthy and a very effective way of exercising."
"Bones, a pool is very expensive and with a young kid, it is very dangerous."
"Yes, the last time I looked at houses a home that would fit into my vision of perfect starts at around $2,500,000. An inside pool wouldn't be as dangerous. We could just lock the doors."
"$2,500,000?! Bones, I can't afford that." Booth moved on from the swimming pool.
"But I can. I've made enough money to pay for a home like that." Bones simply stated.
"But I want to pay my fair share," Booth said sternly, trying not to get overworked.
"There are several ways of determining a fair share."
"No, there is only one and it is 50/50."
Bones studied Booth's expression. "You're looking tense. 50/50 is not the only way to split costs between two adults living together. Since I make more money, it would be reasonable for me to pay the bigger part of our costs." Bones tried to be reasonable. She had the money and she was more than willing to spend it on her life together with Booth. To have the perfect house they needed.
"I am tense, Bones. I am your partner, and I don't mean work partner now. I mean your life partner. It is my task to provide for you and our future child. If I am unable to do that..." Booth swallowed. "We maybe shouldn't already be trying to have a baby."
Bones gasped. "That is ridiculous Booth."
"Is it? It's a tale almost as old as time, right? The man is the hunter and the woman gathers the fruit. The man is supposed to be the provider." Booth started to get headed, the vain in his head started to become visible.
"Why? Why does it have to be that way? You're not making any sense. Your reasoning is flawed. Logically, I should be able to just buy us a house of that category. I have the money we need to purchase a house that can aid in fulfilling our needs. I didn't see why I shouldn't do that simply because you feel we need to adhere to a way of living practiced over millions of years ago. I am sorry you feel like you can't have a child with me under these circumstances." Bones got up. "I feel very distraught, I'll be at the lab." Bones turned around and walked to her front door, grabbed her coat and left.
"Bones wait!"
The door slammed closed as Bones walked away.
"Shit!" Booth shouted to the empty apartment, kicking the couch leg.
Bones:
Normally Bones would find refuge in Limbo to work on a set of unidentified remains. When she was upset she liked to buried herself in a new challenge. However, tonight that felt like the wrong choice. Clark and Wendell had worked on so many Limbo cases that the paperwork for those cases had been stacking up on Bones' desk. Aside from those case files, there was a feedback email from her publisher about a new procedural handbook that she still needed to go through.
All that piled up work was also the reason she hadn't been able to take a good look at Booth's proposed houses. Brennan herself had taken a look at houses she thought had a standing chance at being perfect, but she hadn't yet been able to tell Booth because of their fight tonight. Brennan wiped away a tear.
Before her parents had disappeared Brennan used to fantasize about being a grown-up living in a beautiful home with her husband and their children. Later, when her parents had been long gone she had been able to sublimate those daydreams for foolish child's play inspired by the biological imperative to procreate and the anthropological need to be part of society and play the part was most easily accepted.
But since Booth and she were planning their future together, all her more traditional desires and wishes had started to resurface. Brennan still wasn't sure she could believe that love was transgressional and eternal but she was starting to understand people's obsession with it. It had taken her the better part of her life to see what Angela had always meant to be getting lost in dreams and hopes.
Losing part of her rationality was scary, or at least it used to be, with Booth she had dared to do that and she had to admit it had been enjoyable. Maybe that was a mistake, because it was absolutely terrifying at the moment. If love was eternal, longer-lasting than life itself, why had Booth pushed her away during their first fight as a couple, telling her he couldn't have a baby with her because she wanted a bigger home than he did? Of course, Brennan had been the one to rush out of her apartment tonight.
How could he tell her he didn't think they should have a baby now? People considered a baby the absolute affirmation of their love for each other. At least Hodgins and Angela did. Maybe that was where Booth was different? As much as Booth loved Parker, Parker wasn't the fruit of a committed relationship where a child had been a natural progression. What did it say about Booth that his ego was more important than his wish to father a child with me? Perhaps he hadn't meant it when he told her that he was open to having another baby. It had been after sex, so it was possible Booth hadn't had regained access to his logical thinking again.
Temperance stared at the case file she had planned on reviewing. She had only read one page in the past 15 minutes. She sighed. This was exactly what she had always feared to happen when she opened her metaphorical heart. Steady relationships were new to her and of course, she had expected to occasional proverbial trip and fall, but this seemed more intense. It appeared that there was a clash of values between both of them and those disputes were extremely hard to overcome.
Brennan opened the browser on her desktop. She clicked through the viewings she had accumulated of houses she liked. There were different styles between them. Bones had tried to gather as much information about as many types of homes that could work. She hadn't known what type of house Booth liked. Modern, Colonial, Craftsman, Victorian. All these house listings were beautiful.
Sure, they were expensive but a good home was important, right? Money was a practical problem and her income could be the solution. A practical problem required a rational solution right? Bones clicked through the pictures of a contemporary styled bungalow with a gigantic garden. There were trees there that could make a perfect treehouse. The bathroom had a two-person massage bath that they both could enjoy together and a shower. There wasn't a pool, but the lot was big enough to put one in themselves.
Booth:
As soon as he had seen Bones' face grow gloomy, he had regretted his harsh wording. It had been a long time since he had lost his cool like this. Trying to control his outburst had always been difficult and it was only a small comfort that he had enough self-control to use only words this time around.
Bones had already been gone for over 3 hours. He had expected her to be back at the apartment by now. Booth wasn't sure how that conversation had gotten away from him but he had messed up massively. There had been a strange look in Bones' eyes just before she had left. He had seen the hurt in her beautiful blue eyes, but it had been masked by something else he wasn't sure of. Causing her heartache was bad enough, but then he had actually told her he couldn't have a baby with her until they figured out their housing dilemma. What had possessed him to say that, he didn't know, but it was stupid. Maybe his failed relationships were more his fault than he took credit for…
Of course, this fight wasn't even about money. Money was just a big part of what a man was supposed to bring to the table. His dad had barely done that. Booth wasn't sure how many days he had been sent off to school without breakfast only to come home to go to bed without dinner. Luckily his teacher had given him a lunch pass.
If he couldn't provide for Brennan he wasn't worthy of her, wasn't worthy of creating a love child with her. That was what he had meant, not that he wouldn't love having a family with her. He was practically dying to play house with Bones. He almost had everything he wanted. A beautiful girlfriend, his job, no gambling, planning to buy a house together. And now he screwed up. These past weeks had been a blessing and he hoped he could fix this.
He wasn't sure what Bones were thinking but it probably wasn't any good. She had come such a long way. It was Bones who had nudged them toward a personal relationship. Temperance had been able to keep her calm for quite some time, calm enough to deal with his insecurities, but as it seems this time he had pushed her past her breaking point. He just hoped it was a repairable break. If she wasn't home within the next 15 minutes he would go and look for her.
There was only one set of lights on in the Jeffersonian Medico Legal Lab. Surprisingly it were the lights of Bones' office. Weird. Crossing the threshold, he was met with the view of a setting bend forward Brennan. Weirder - and worrying. A sense of distress overcame him. The voices inside his head annoyed him.
This wasn't a natural pose. He walked closer, loathing feeling the need to check if she was still breathing and had a pulse. This damn job. If she's just sleeping I am such a stress case… It wouldn't be the first time that the security of the lab had been breached. Carefully he checked her pulse, maneuvering his hand between her hair. Thank God, she is just sleeping. Booth felt relieve rush over him.
Using this opportunity of standing close to Brennan, he checked what Bones had been working on before drifting off to sleep. He saw part of a paper from a case file that Brennan was using as a pillow. Where those... tearstains? The computer was still on. Was that a mansion? He looked at the picture slideshow that was still playing. Confused he tried to wake up Bones. "Hey-a Bones. I came to ask if you wanted to come home." He softly spoke as she opened her eyes.
"Maybe we should talk before we go home." Bones said as she sat up in her chair.
Booth nodded and swallowed. "Okay." He took the visitor's chair in front of her desk. "I am sorry. I... shouldn't have said I don't want a baby with you. Truth be told, there is nothing more I want than having a child with you. The issue isn't the money, at least I don't think that is it. The money, it's a symbol. I want to give you what you deserve and you deserve a man that can provide for you. My dad didn't do a very good job of taking care of my mom, Jared and I. Money was the cause for a lot of fights between my parents. I was about 8 years old when I vowed to myself that I would make sure I could contribute enough if I ever got into a serious relationship." Actually, his vow was if he got married but his reasons were still sound.
Bones saw the tears that had welled up in her partner's eyes. "Oh, Booth... You know that you are nothing like your father. There are many ways of offering support. Through the years I've had many opportunities to witness you with Parker. Even if you had no money whatsoever... You offer so much to him. You're the most caring man I've ever met. Money is just one piece of the puzzle."
"I know Bones, I know and I forgot about that. Even though there are other things I bring to the table, it is important for me to pay my fair share." He hoped he was explaining this logically.
Bones nodded. "I know, but having a comfortable home is important too. I am unsure if or why your emotional reasoning has to weigh more heavily than my rational one, but from my position of view it doesn't make sense for you to take out a mortgage when I have all the money we need."
"Wow, when you put it like that I do sound dumb," Booth said. "However, I can't let you just pay for everything."
"I understand Booth. That would be bad for your male ego."
He shot her a look. "Come on Bones, please don't make this about alpha male tendencies."
"No, Booth, I don't mean this condescendingly. I truly understand. Society expects you to bring home the pork."
"Bacon, Bones. Bring home the bacon… Do you think you can forgive me?"
Bones nodded. "Yes, as long as we'll figure this out."
He smiled disarmingly at her. "With your big brain? I am sure we'll find multiple solutions."
Bones returned his smile for a while. As it faded away, Temperance spoke again. "I am sorry too. I shouldn't have left while we were talking."
"That is okay, we both needed some time to put our thoughts into perspective. I am just glad we survived our first couples fight. I didn't except our conversation to turn sour like this though."
Bones nodded. "Me neither, I enjoy the idea of hunting for a house with you."
"Awh, Bones, that is sweet. I saw you were looking at one before you fell asleep."
Bones nodded. "Like you, I have done some research before we got swamped with the case. I didn't get a chance to inform you."
"And this a house you find perfect?"
"No, not perfect, but it is close to perfect", Bones said.
Booth nodded. "How about we take a look tomorrow and try to find a perfect one, or one that will do?"
"Even though we haven't figured out how to share our costs?" Bones asked surprised.
"Even then yes," Booth confirmed. "There is no way I am letting you go."
A/N: Thank you for reading. I don't plan on covering how they found the Mighty Hut, because I really liked how the series handled that. However, we will get a look at the Mighty hut soon. I'd love to hear what you think about this chapter!