(The Dwarf in the Dirt)

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I don't own Bones.

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As he entered Sweets' office, he realized that the young psychologist wasn't alone. "Sweets . . . oh, um, Dr. Wyatt . . . I'll come back."

"Agent Booth, please come in. I was just paying a social call." Gordon Wyatt waved Booth further into the room and pointed towards the couch. "I can leave if you wish me to."

Not sure how he wanted to handle the situation, Booth sat down and tried to appear relaxed. "I don't have anything to hide." Running his hand down his tie, Booth decided it didn't matter if Wyatt was there or not. "I just wanted Sweets to know that I'm going to recertify tomorrow. I've been practicing at the gun range and everything is fine."

"That's great Agent Booth." Sweets sat down on the chair across from the couch while Wyatt sat down on the chair next to the desk along the back wall. "It's your last obstacle. I'm sure the Deputy Director will be happy to hear it."

Booth nodded his head, glanced at Wyatt then back at Sweets. "And I'm a home owner now . . . Bones bought a house for us. It's big . . . yeah, you should come over when we've moved in and see it . . . it's big."

Wyatt was curious about Booth's repetition about the size of the house. "Is that a problem?"

"A problem? I don't know what you mean." Wary that Wyatt might try to make something of the house, Booth leaned back against the couch and crossed his arms against his chest.

Turning the chair so it fully faced the agent, Wyatt leaned forward. "You said the house is big, twice. Are you bragging or complaining?"

The last thing Booth wanted was for Wyatt or Sweets to make a big deal about what he had said. "It's just a fact. It's big. I'm going to have to buy a riding mower to take care of the yard, but besides that I don't have a problem with it. Bones liked the house because it's in a nice neighborhood. It's got a couple of good schools in the area, a hospital about five miles from the house, a fire station four miles away . . . she made sure of those things when she was looking. She's like that."

Sweets had known that Booth had wanted to pay for part of the house, but he had given up on that idea. Ever since he had had his brain tumor, he seemed to be considering the future more than he ever had before. It was a surprising change since the agent was one of those people that tried to live in the present and didn't think too far into the future. "So you still don't have any problems letting her buy the house?"

"Why would I?" Booth had vowed to himself not to get in the way of Brennan's happiness and if she wanted a big house then she deserved a big house. "I may not be around a long time and we need to make sure everything is set up, so that she'll be all set when I'm gone."

Alarmed with Booth's statement, Sweets leaned forward, a look of concern on his face. "Are you ill, Agent Booth? Is your brain tumor back?" He felt his heart beat faster. He considered Booth a friend and the thought of the agent dying soon was upsetting.

"No, I'm fine." Surprised that Sweets was overreacting, Booth uncrossed his arms and pulled his poker chip from his pants pocket. "But I did have a brain tumor and there's no guarantee that it won't come back some day. I need to make sure that Bones is going to be okay. The house will be a good investment and it will get her into a place of her own. It has extra rooms and she could always get her father to move in with her if she wanted him to."

Relieved, Sweets cleared his throat. "There's a chance that it will never come back, Booth. The surgery was a success. I don't think you really should worry about it. You'll probably live a long life."

"I understand your concern about your future health, Agent Booth, but I don't think you should live your life as if you have a target on your back." Wyatt thought Booth was being too fatalistic. "You have a chance for a long and happy life. Please don't let the fear of the possibility of the brain tumor coming back affect your present circumstances. If you fear what might happen, you may not live the life you should."

Annoyed, Booth shook his head. "I'm not afraid of what might happen to me in the future. I'm just being a realist. I saw my surgeon last week and he told me that I'm going to have to have a brain scan every year for at least a few years to make sure it doesn't come back. Okay? . . . That tells me it could come back. Not everyone gets a happily ever after, but I'm going to try to live a happy life with Bones because I know it could end in a moment. That doesn't make me a fatalist. Bones wanted to buy a house because if we waited for me to save up money we'd never get out of that apartment. Neither of us have lived in a house since we were kids. We both want a house with a yard, a nice big yard. We want kids someday and raising a kid in an apartment would suck. I'm happy that Bones bought the house. Don't go all shrink on me, okay? Everything's fine."

Wyatt still felt that Booth was worrying too much about what might happen in the future. "So you and Dr. Brennan are going to try to have children?"

"Someday, yeah." Booth smiled. "She wants a baby and I don't see why she can't have one. I'd like a little Bones running around the house."

At least Booth was willing to think about a happy future. "I'd like to help you move your things when it comes time for you to move from your apartment. If that's okay."

"Sure, why not?" Booth was glad for the offer. "Bones and I have a lot of stuff to move, thanks."

"You're welcome." Sweets wanted to be a help to Booth after all that's what friends were for. "Just let me know when you'll need me."

Done talking, Booth stood up. "I have work to do. I'll let you know how the certification works out when I'm done, but it should be a piece of cake."

Once the agent was gone, Sweet stood up and walked over to where Wyatt was sitting. "He's handled his recovery pretty well, but I think that's because of Dr. Brennan. She's been a great support to him. You wouldn't think those two would get along, but they're really loyal to each other and in love." Sweets smiled. "I think they've both benefited from knowing each other. They're the most interesting couple I've ever met."

"They are indeed." Wyatt smiled at the younger man. "They're really fascinating."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

They began to box up their possessions when they had time. Brennan had given her landlord a month's notice. She thought they would be out of the apartment before then, but with their work schedule, she wanted to allow enough time to pack up everything and move it to their new house. They would also have to move the Mustang to the new house and move all of Booth's possessions he had in the storage unit with his car. They were going to be very busy for the next month or two, moving everything they owned to the new house and then unpacking.

Packing up Brennan's antiquities, Booth was careful to use a lot of bubble wrap. "Bones, I'm going to build some shelves in the living room for these doodads. I think the shelves could go on either side of the fireplace unless you want them in the area where you want your office to be."

"I think they would be nice around the fireplace." Brennan paused in wrapping an ancient statue. "I don't think I realized just how many things I owned until we started packing them up. At least you will be able to have your things with you when we move into the house. You may need to build shelves in the basement to hold your collectibles . . . I was thinking we could use part of the basement for a guest bedroom or an office space. It wouldn't have to be big."

"So you don't want your office in the living room?" Booth placed a fertility statue in the box he was packing.

Brennan pulled some bubble wrap from a roll and began to cover a small earthen bowl. "I think so. We could build a wall to separate it from the man cave . . . with sound proofing."

Booth turned and looked at Brennan. "Good idea, I can be noisy when I watch a game . . . You know, maybe we could turn that spare bedroom next to the master bedroom into an office and make a guest bedroom in the basement next to the man cave. It would be quieter if you weren't sitting a few feet from my television."

"Excellent idea, Booth." He had a point. Booth tended to shout when his teams did something wrong during a game. "I think we should do that."

They were thinking ahead and Booth liked that. He wanted the house to be perfect for Brennan. "Plus if your Dad visits we won't have to be quiet when we make love if he's in the basement."

Amused, Brennan laughed. "We do get a little noisy sometimes."

"Yeah, but that's okay." Booth smiled. He loved it when Brennan screamed when they made love. She didn't do it all the time, but when she did it was very satisfying. "Of course, when Pops is visiting we have to keep it down since he'll be down the hallway."

"I'll try Booth, but you can very noisy too." Brennan didn't want to take all of the blame. "Especially when we're in the tub."

"Yeah, well . . . yeah." Booth blushed. "We won't have sex in the bathtub when Pops is visiting."

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