Booth was lying in bed, wondering how he was going to get through the next...well, however long it would be before these kids were taken back. Nora refused to come out of her room all night, and Dominic went to bed early as he was exhausted. Booth sat in the living room wondering if he had made the right choice becoming a foster parent. This was a lot to take. He got up finally because hiding in bed never really did help anything. He went down the hall and found Nora and Dominic already in the kitchen. He held back to listen. He knew he shouldn't, but he was curious to see if they were talking about him. They were.

"I don't like it here," Nora was saying.

"Just give it more than twelve hours," Dominic said. "You don't even like being at home."

"Oh shut it, you little weasel," Nora hissed. "I want to be with Uncle Russ. Or Cam."

Cam? As in, Camille Saroyan? Booth was curious.

"The lady said Uncle Russ couldn't take us right now and that Cam needed to be checked out. Whatever that means," Dominic said.

"I know what she said," Nora said, exasperated.

"Well, groaning about it isn't going to help," Dominic pointed out. Booth could hear Nora get up and start walking around.

"This place is so...so military," she spit out. "Does he expect us to do push ups and stuff?"

"I doubt it," Dominic replied. "What are you doing? Nora, don't snoop!"

"Relax," Nora said. "I'm just looking." Booth heard Dominic get up and go over to her, his canes hitting the floor.

"Hey," Dominic said, surprised. "He knows Cam!"

"What? Let me see," Nora ordered. Booth knew exactly which photo they were looking at. He smiled to himself. Perhaps that would ease her mind knowing he was friends with Cam. He decided to send her a text message now to see if she could come over. Maybe her presence would help. He sent it and then stepped out from his hiding spot.

"Hey, guys," he said. Dominic gasped and dropped the picture frame. It shattered on the floor.

"Look what you did, dummy," Nora hooted. Dominic started to cry.

"I'm s-s-sorry," he stuttered. He bent to try to pick it up, but he was struggling.

"Hey, hey," Booth said, going over to him. "It's all right. Here, let me help." He salvaged the photo from the glass and went to get a broom to sweep it up. Dominic was still crying.

"Don't be such a crybaby," Nora demanded. "God."

"Hey, leave him alone," Booth ordered. He cleaned up the mess while Dominic tried to help.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"It's all right, Bud" Booth said. "I can get a new frame. No worries."

"I was just looking at it," Dominic whimpered. "It slipped."

"He does that a lot," Nora cut in. "Be sure to hide your valuable stuff if you don't want it broken."

"Breakfast," Booth said, changing the subject. "Who wants to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," Nora said immediately. Her stomach growling in the silence afterwards said otherwise.

"I could eat," Dominic nodded. Booth went to the kitchen and opened his cupboard doors.

"I don't have a huge selection right now," he admitted. "But we can fix that later."

"Fruit Loops?" Dominic asked hopefully.

"They rot your teeth," Nora tsked.

"No they don't," Dominic argued.

"Only fruity thing I have is jam," Booth said. "Toast okay?"

"Sure," Dominic agreed. Nora sat down on the bar stool with her arms crossed. Dominic struggled to get up onto the seat, and when he finally succeeded, he turned a shade green and gripped the sides of the chair.

"You all right?" Booth asked, noticing.

"He gets scared that he's gonna fall off chairs," Nora answered for him. "He also gets nauseous a lot."

"How can I help?" Booth asked.

"I just gotta get used to the chair," Dominic grunted. He gritted his teeth, forcing his mind to believe that he was okay and wouldn't fall off. He was sure Booth thought he was nuts.

"So it's a balance thing, right?" Booth asked. The more he learned about cerebral palsy the better.

"Sort of," Dominic answered.

"Mostly," Nora snorted. "Good luck taking him in a car anywhere."

"Motion sickness," Booth said, getting it.

"Uh huh," Dominic nodded.

"Okay, well, I'll do my best to help, all right?"

"Okay."

Booth handed him the plate of toast and turned to Nora.

"I'm not hungry," she repeated.

"I somehow doubt that," he said. "If it makes you feel better, you can do it yourself. I won't touch anything." She contemplated this. Then she saw the bananas on his counter. He caught on.

"You want one?"

"She does," Dominic answered through his chewing. "They're her favorite."

"Dom!" Nora hissed. Her brother annoyed her to no end sometimes.

"Here," Booth said, handing her one. She refused to take it, so he set it down on the counter and slid it towards her. Then he turned around so as not to watch. After a few moments, he turned and saw she was peeling it. Success.

"Knock, knock!" a voice called. "Booth?"

"Hey! Come on in," he called back. Cam appeared around the corner. Nora almost choked on her banana.

"CAM!" she shrieked, jumping off and running to her. She hugged her tightly.

"Cam, Cam, Cam," Dominic chanted, trying to get off to join her. Booth helped him get down.

"Glad to see you're all right," she said, ruffling Dominic's hair.

"Where's Mom?" Nora asked. "Have you heard anything?" Cam's face fell.

"No, sweetie, I haven't," she admitted. She looked at Booth over their heads. "I think the FBI is involved now."

"Booth's FBI!" Dominic cried. "He can help!"

"He will probably be put on the case," Cam agreed. "Right?"

"Most likely," Booth agreed.

"Then go! Go find her!" Nora urged.

"I can't just leave you and do it right now. It's Saturday," Booth said.

"Cam can watch us," Nora begged. "Please, Cam!"

"I can't today, darlin'," Cam said, bending down. "Monday we will all get a good start at it okay?"

"No! Monday is two days from now. Mom could be dead by then," Nora said. Dominic started to cry at this.

"Okay, let's not upset your brother today, all right? We will find your Mom, Nora. I promise," Cam said. She avoided looking at Booth. She knew the possibility of finding someone and them not being alive.

"Can we live with you?" Nora asked.

"I have a meeting with your social worker on Monday," Cam said. "Even if she says yes, I still can't have you full time. You'd have to switch between Booth and me."

"I like Booth," Dominic nodded, grinning at him. Booth felt a tiny thrill a this. He must be doing something right, then.

"Nora?" Cam prodded.

"He's okay," Nora said begrudgingly.

"My stretching!" Dominic said suddenly, remembering.

"Cancelled for today," Cam finished for him. "You can go tomorrow. We agreed you should have the day off considering."

"Okay," Dominic agreed. He was all right with that. Those stretches hurt sometimes.

"Here," Cam said, handing Booth a folder. "Some information and his schedule."

"Thanks," Booth replied.

"I gotta go," Cam said. "Michelle needs to be dropped off, and I've got some things to do today."

"Please come back," Nora begged.

"I will," Cam laughed, kissing her forehead. "You are in very, very good hands here. I promise."

"How do you know Booth?" Dominic asked.

"Well, since kids," Cam answered. "We go way back. I'm sure he could tell you all about it when I'm gone." She stood, getting ready to leave. Both kids hung back while Booth followed her to the door.

"You're in for a treat," Cam said, her eyes sparkling. "Nora pretty much has no filter."

"I noticed," Booth chuckled.

"Dom is sweet. He aims to please. He gets hard on himself, though, so keep an eye on that. Boost his self-esteem."

"You got it."

"Call if you need me, okay? I'll try to be available as much as possible. The Jeffersonian is working with what we have, which is bare minimum," Cam sighed.

"You knew her?"

"She worked at the lab with us."

"Oh. I didn't know."

"She's the best, Booth. I can't see how this happened or why."

"I will figure it out."

"I know you will," she smiled, giving him a sideways hug. "Just don't take too long."

The Next Day

Booth watched as the physio therapist pressed on Dominic's legs. He winced. It looked ultra painful, and by the way Dominic was gritting his teeth, he got the feeling the kid was really doing his best not to make a sound.

"There we go," the therapist said. "All finished for today." The whole procedure looked complicated, but Booth could see how this was helping Dominic to stand straighter and not put all his wait on his tiptoes all the time.

"I'll see you tomorrow after school," Dominic said, getting into a sitting position.

"Do I pay you...?" Booth asked.

"Oh no," the therapist said, waving her hand. "It's taken care of."

"Really?"

"Yea. Dr. Brennan saved my husband's life. I'm doing these on the house."

"Wow. You're very kind."

"I'd be a widow otherwise," she shrugged.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch your name," Booth said.

"It's Grace," she smiled, holding out her hand. Booth shook it.

"Seeley Booth," he replied.

"Until next time," she said, bobbing her head. Booth and Dominic walked out together. The car ride over had been interesting, but no vomiting had occurred. He hoped this could continue. He drove slow and tried not to take corners quickly. He helped the little guy in and buckled him up.

"Thanks," Dominic said. Booth got into the driver's seat and put it into gear.

"Here we go," he said. They were going to get some groceries before heading home. Nora was with her friend, Elsie, so he didn't have to worry about her. Booth examined Dominic in the rearview mirror. He was curious.

"Who's your dad?" he asked. "You remind me of someone."

"My Dad is dead," Dominic answered flatly.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I never met him. He dated my Mom only shortly."

Booth didn't know what to say about that. He got thinking about Nora next.

"Is your sister's father alive?"

"I think so," Dominic replied. "He's not in our lives, though."

"Why not?"

"I don't really know," Dominic said thoughtfully. Booth let it drop for now. He wondered just what kind of life Dr. Temperance Brennan had had.

Monday

"Here's the file," Jones said, slapping it down onto his desk. Booth stared at it. The photo of the woman on the front was breathtaking and oddly familiar. He shook his head. Of course she looked familiar. She looked like Nora, who was living in his house. He had dropped the kids off at their school that morning and introduced himself to their teachers and principal. He figured they should know who the kids were staying with. Oddly enough, it was the same school Parker went to, but he hadn't seen him. Then he got thinking that perhaps he had seen Brennan there in passing while picking Parker up at times.

"Maluku Islands," Booth mused, flipping through the file.

"Yea. It was a two month trip. Daisy Wick is also missing, her colleague," Jones went on. "She is currently engaged to our one and only Dr. Sweets."

"What?!"

"Booth!" Sweets said as if on cue. "Thank God you're on this case! You gotta find her!" He was flushed and out of breath. He also looked like he hadn't slept in days, which was probably the case.

"You know these two?" Booth asked.

"Dr. Brennan was a patient of mine for a bit," Sweets replied. "And Daisy...Daisy is the love of my life."

"We'll find her, mate," Jones said, slapping Sweets' back.

"What were they doing in Maluku?" Booth asked when Sweets sat down.

"Digging up corpses I think," he answered. "They weren't too specific on that."

"Dr. Brennan identifies remains?"

"She does."

"Then that's probably what they were doing," Booth concluded.

"I hear you're the foster parent for her children," Sweets said.

"I am."

"There's something you should know about Nora," he went on.

"What's that?"

"She is a product of a sperm donor," Sweets replied. Booth froze.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Dr. Brennan wanted a child without having a father in the picture. That's due to abandonment issues, which I'm sure you'll get into when you ask for access to my file on her. Anyway, Nora knows this, I think, and her anger issues stem from not having a father in her life. That's my opinion anyway. Do you need access to Dr. Brennan's file?" Sweets finished.

"All I would need to know is if someone was threatening her," Booth said. He mentally stored away the tidbit about Nora. It made sense that she'd be hostile with him. He was a guy.

"Um, no. I don't believe she has ever disclosed that to me," Sweets said. "I mean, the locals over there can be intimidating. I didn't think they'd actually hurt them, though."

"I'm gonna get in touch with the authorities over there today," Booth said. "But what I want to know is, do you know anything about Dominic's father?"

"No. We never discussed that. I assumed Dominic was another sperm donor baby."

"He told me his father was dead," Booth said. Sweets looked taken aback.

"So maybe not then," Sweets presumed. "Hmm. This is interesting. She never said she had a meaningful relationship with anyone before."

"Sometimes, you don't need a meaningful relationship to get pregnant," Booth told him, giving him a look.

"Huh? Oh!" Sweets said, catching on. "Oh. Poor Dr. Brennan."

"Let me get to work, Sweets," Booth said before he could ramble on again. "I'll give you an update when I have one."

"Thank you, Booth," Sweets said, getting up. "I know you'll find them."

"Yea," Booth agreed. That seemed to be the general consensus, but what if he couldn't? He tried not to think about that.

...

Booth found himself standing out in front of the sperm donor bank. He felt slight deja vu as he walked through the front doors. He needed some answers. Perhaps Nora's father found out who his child was and wanted to be involved. He doubted things would get nasty, but it was worth looking into.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for Dr. Temperance Brennan's file," Booth said, showing her his badge.

"I'm sorry, sir, but that's confidential."

"I know. You see, she's missing on another continent, and I am in charge of finding her. I need to know everything about her to see if there is anyone anywhere who has threatened her."

"You think by finding the father of her baby you'll find answers?" the receptionist asked.

"Why yes, Susan," he said, reading her name tag. "That's exactly what I'm trying to do."

"Give him the file," a man said behind Susan.

"You are?"

"The manager. Steve. Take the file. We loved Dr. Brennan. She also has helped us reunite children to donors when they had no family left."

"You can do that?" Booth asked, surprised.

"If the donor has checked off 'yes' to future contact by their offspring, yes," Steve replied.

"Interesting," Booth nodded. Susan dug in the drawer and handed him the file.

"Good luck, Agent," Steve said. "Bring her home. She's one of a kind."

"Thanks," Booth said, holding up the file in a salute. He had some reading to do.

Nora & Dominic

It was lunchtime. Nora hated that her brother always came and sat with her and Elsie. There was no one else he wanted to hang out with. Most kids picked on him anyway or laughed at his canes. Nora would get angry and mouth off when they started in on her brother, which always ended up in writing lines after school. Who knew that defending your brother ended up in punishment? She didn't know if her mother knew.

"How's foster life treating you?" Elsie asked them, biting into her sandwich.

"It's hell," Nora answered.

"Stop swearing," Dominic said.

"I can say what I want. It's a free country," Nora scoffed.

"My mom knows your foster dad. She says he's hot," Elsie giggled.

"Ew," Nora groaned.

"He's going to help find Mom," Dominic chimed in.

"I've heard he's the best," Elsie nodded. "According to my mom anyway, but she might be biased."

"I hope he finds her soon," Nora sighed. She didn't know how much longer she could take living with Booth. He was all right, she guessed. She just wanted to be back home.

"He asked about my Dad," Dominic said quietly. Nora froze. If he asked about his dad, then he'd wonder about hers. Nora knew she had no father, technically. Her mother had gone to a bank and got her from there. That was the story anyway. She hoped he wouldn't go digging and hope to reunite her with her biological father. That was something she never wanted. It was just her, her brother, and her mom. She liked it that way.

Booth

He stared at the paper. 0548731. The number glared up at him. He felt like he couldn't breathe. It seemed like yesterday now, but it had been 12 years ago that he had needed to make some money and had given samples to the sperm bank for a few extra bucks. It seemed easy enough. He hadn't really thought about any kids coming out of it, despite the fact that it was a sperm bank. He looked at Brennan's file now and swallowed hard. She had gone to the bank. She had picked out his file. She had had his kid.

Nora was his biological daughter.

Ooohh what a cliffhanger! Stay tuned for our next chapter!

P.S. We would like to make it clear that the symptoms of Dom's cerebral palsy are based on one person's experience and not everyone's. It is different for each person.