(The Widow's son in the Windshield)

Thank you for continuing to read my story. I appreciate it.

I really don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

So far Dr. Edison was doing a fine job assisting Dr. Brennan and for that Cam was grateful. The man had a very serious side and seemed to have no sense of humor, but that was fine as long as he did his job to the satisfaction of Dr. Brennan. Cam had known that working at the Jeffersonian was going to be stressful at times, but she hadn't counted on an employee like Zach actually volunteering to leave and causing havoc in the lives of her team. Cam hoped that Clark would prove to be a good replacement for the missing Zach and everyone would settle down.

Clark found the attitude of his fellow co-workers to be annoying since they all seemed to be gossipers and played more than was necessary, but he also knew that his position at the Jeffersonian was a once in a life time opportunity and he felt he could put up with the unprofessionalism if it allowed him to work with Dr. Brennan. So far she seemed to accept his help and he had great hopes of learning from someone as brilliant as she was.

Checking the platform once he entered the Lab, Booth noticed that all of the squints were on the platform including his girlfriend. Making a quick detour to Brennan's office, he placed a gift bag in the middle of her desk making sure the floral designed bag was square on the desk top and that the card was facing her chair. Satisfied, Booth left the office and walked over to the platform, swiped his security card in the reader and strode up the steps, two at a time. "Hey Bones, it's official my lease is finally up for my apartment and the Super contacted me to tell me that I have to move out in two weeks. He has someone interested in my apartment."

Pleased to hear the good news, Brennan placed the clavicle down she had been examining and turned to face her boyfriend. "Good, paying rent on an apartment no one is living in is ridiculous. We should be able to pack the rest of the things still at the apartment and store them in time for your contractual obligations to be met."

"Oh hey, I'll help you pack and move stuff." Hodgins was curious about Booth and he thought that helping Booth would be a great way to get a peek into the Agent's personal life. Packing Booth's stuff would let him be as nosy as he wanted to be without getting into trouble. "Just tell me when and where. I have a truck we can use to haul stuff to Dr. B's apartment and to whatever storage facility you want to use."

Surprised with the offer, Booth smiled at the entomologist. "Thank Hodgins. Bones and I have been packing stuff for the last few weeks, but we could use the help to finish up. I didn't realize how much stuff I had until we started packing. A lot of it is going to go into storage for now."

Not sure if his help would be wanted, Clark cleared his throat. "If you'd like more help, I'm available."

Booth flashed Clark a smile and nodded his head. "Thanks man, I appreciate the offer."

Cam was shocked that Clark had offered to help since the man was so aloof most of the time, but she was pleased that he was trying to be friendly. "I'll help too. I know you have a ton of knickknacks to move."

"Knickknacks?" Booth didn't like his valuable possessions lumped into that category. "I don't own any knickknacks."

Amused that Booth was so protective of his stuff, Cam nodded her head slightly. "I stand corrected."

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye below the platform, Hodgins turned to see who was hovering on the bottom step and was surprised to see Zach. "ZACH!" Hustling to the stairway, the entomologist scrambled down the steps and rushed to hug his friend.

Startled with the unexpected appearance of her former assistant, Brennan rushed down the steps along with Angela. Standing on the platform next to Clark, Booth observed the beaming smile on Brennan's face and knew that she was happier than she had been since Zach had left. He felt a twinge of jealousy, but tamped it down immediately. Brennan belonged to him and her friendship with the squints was okay after all she needed friends even if he wasn't fond of some of them.

Slowly removing his latex gloves, Clark watched the impromptu party below the platform and wondered if his job had just evaporated. Trying to assure him, Cam placed her hand on his upper arm and smiled. "We really could use two experts Dr. Edison to help Dr. Brennan and I do have the budget for it if you'd like to stay."

As the crowd came back up the steps and onto the platform, Clark watched the group chatter with the returned Zach and wondered if he really fit in with this group. "Thank you." He knew he'd have to think about whether or not he wanted to stay.

Booth knew that Brennan didn't have time for him at the moment and since he had things to do in his office, he decided to leave. Not a fan of Zach, he decided to let Brennan and the rest of the squint squad enjoy their moment with Zach. "I have work to do Cam." Moving across the platform, he found it a little disappointing that Brennan didn't notice him leave, but he accepted it. Since Zach was back, he hoped that their need of a psychiatrist would evaporate. He hated talking to strangers about his personal business and he'd had plenty of experience with psychiatrists in the army and their need to dig and dig. He just wanted to be left alone and he knew that Brennan did too.

With a quick glance back towards Brennan, Booth was pleased to see that she was so animated talking to her assistant. When she was happy, Booth was happy. He'd talk to her later and see how she liked his present.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The morning had been hectic with the return of her former assistant and once Cam had made it clear that Zach could have his job back, they had all gone to the Royal Diner for a long lunch. In her eagerness to enjoy the company of Zach, Brennan ignored the gift bag on her desk when she retrieved her purse and didn't remember it was there until two hours later when she returned to her office. Curious, she placed her purse in one of the drawers of her desk, sat down and pulled the bag towards her. Flipping the attached card open, she found a note written in careful script from her boyfriend. "I love you, Bones."

Surprised that Booth had left her a present without mentioning it or calling her about it, Brennan opened the bag and moved aside some snowy white tissue paper to see what was inside. Carefully, she removed the delicate object from the bag and placed it on her desk. Staring at the beautiful crystal daffodil, Brennan noticed the flower rested on a black stone base. The green glass stalk and leaves rose majestically up in the air and held the deep yellow flower at the top, allowing her to see the pistil when she faced the open flower. Feeling a little emotional, Brennan swallowed and thought about how she had ignored Booth when Zach had materialized earlier that day. He had brought her good news about his apartment and a gift and she had ignored him possibly making her boyfriend feel less important than she should.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

That evening, Brennan entered her apartment carrying her gift from Booth and once inside, carefully placed it on the bookcase near the hallway leading to their bedroom. Adjusting the flower so the pistil was clearly seen by anyone that chose to stop and observe the crystal flower, Brennan was satisfied that it was being displayed properly.

"Hey, happy anniversary, Bones." Booth moved across the living room, a dish towel over his shoulder and swept Brennan into a hug. "I see you found my present."

Completely confused, Brennan returned his kiss and placed her hand on his chest, staring into his soft brown eyes. "I don't understand. What anniversary?"

Used to Brennan's less than romantic nature, Booth pecked her lips and stared into her bright blue eyes. "Hey it's been three years since I formally met you. We can't really count the airport thing since we were too dumb to get each other's names, so we have to go with our first case even if that turned out to be um . . . problematic."

Unsure about his wanting to celebrate their first meeting, Brennan frowned and bit her lower lip.

"What's wrong, Bones?" Booth had thought celebrating their anniversary would be fun, but her reaction wasn't what he had hoped for.

"I don't have a present for you." Brennan was embarrassed and was reminded that she didn't understand social conventions as well as she would like to. "I didn't realize that our first case was an event to be celebrated . . . I'm sorry, Booth. I'm not very romantic and . . ."

"Hey." Booth smiled kindly at her and pulled her back into his embrace. "You're romantic enough for me. You worry about the day to day stuff like getting my stuff moved out of my apartment and I'll worry about our anniversaries. Both of us don't have to be romantic saps. One in the family is good enough . . . Now, I've got some mushroom risotto on the stove, a steak in the oven for me and some of that fake chicken you like in the oven too." Kissing her, Booth hugged her once more. "Don't worry about presents and stuff like that. You just be you. That's all I want."

Her arms holding Booth tightly in her embrace, Brennan felt so in love with her boyfriend. "Thank you for the present. It's beautiful and thoughtful." She sometimes worried that she wasn't romantic enough and that Booth would see she was no good at personal relationships and yet there were times he'd say the things he had just said and she knew he didn't care. She had never had anyone care so much about her. She loved the feeling and she loved him.

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Let me know what you think of my story. Is this still interesting?