Sunday, July 15- 12:30pm
Aiden had spent most of his morning in the conference room with Temperance. They had taken each of their notes and organized them on the conference room table in such a way that they could read through the evidence as if it were a story board. Aiden had explained to her that he found it easier to focus on the evidence as if it were a story, and Temperance agreed, comparing it to when she was writing one of her books, how she'd focus the plots specifically, lining them up with purpose and cause.
They spoke openly about the case, and Temperance would ask the occasional personal question, and it never seemed to rattle Aiden. They laughed and Temperance told stories of Antonia's childhood that Aiden seemed to enjoy and crave, his laughter echoing through the empty lab as Temperance found herself laughing as well. As the time wore on, the focus of the case seemed be centered around a three specific suspects.
One of the suspects, described in the journal as well as having been associated with the two kidnappers matched the description of the third assailant in the Cameron case. A second suspect was a lawyer that was connected to not only the adoption of Melody by the Cameron's, but also worked with the Department of Social Services, and had blocked Harding's attempt at getting Melody's files. This lawyer, along with their third suspect, a prominent doctor in the Washington D.C. area were both mentioned in Sarah Hunter's journal, as well as alluding to the possibility of blackmail. The doctor had been associated with the suspects in the Cameron case, and had nearly lost his license the year before when he was accused of misconduct involving pain killers.
Temperance sighed as she sat back in her chair, looking at the work they had done, and the proud smile on her lips indicated that she was quite happy with herself and Aiden. "Agent Harding doesn't like this part of the job." She said, nodding toward the photos and notes that littered the table in the order they had placed them. "He says it wastes time."
"Are you serious? This is what saves time." He said sincerely. "Taking the time to organize and strategize has to eliminate at least half of the paperwork at the end of the process, not to mention it gives us a solid foundation for arraignment and trial." He said, noticing that she was looking across the table at him simply listening. "What?" He smiled.
"Nothing." She shook her head. "I don't often understand my daughter's decisions, but I think I understand why she trusts you, Agent Fitzgerald." She said, watching as Aiden nodded his head politely.
"Doctor Brennan, may I be direct with you on something?" He asked, straightening a bit in his seat, sensing that the moment would be appropriate for such a conversation considering the subject matter.
"I would expect no less." She said, watching the young man's eyes as he focused on hers, his expression seemingly a bit conflicted.
"I understand that you and Agent Booth came back from your trip in a bit of a tempest of activity, and I understand that there were a lot of decisions and changes, and things going on that you had no opportunity for input or say, and I wanted to give you an opportunity to voice any concerns that you may have over anything that has happened."
"You're speaking of the moving in, the engagement, and the baby in a matter of four months, when you have been in a relationship for less than a year." She said, watching him nod. "And you would like my input at this time?" She asked, a slight smile on her lips. "Aiden, has it ever occurred to you that I've given my opinion?"
"It's not a matter of what you think of the situation. The baby is coming, and I am committed completely to Antonia, forever without question. It's a matter of you being Antonia's mother, and you know her better than anyone. You are by far, her best friend, and it is extremely important to me that you can see the trajectory of our relationship from a different angle, and I want to make sure we're on the correct path."
"Did you ask her to marry because she is carrying your child?" She asked honestly.
"No." He shook his head.
"Were you always happy about the child? When she told you, what was your reaction?" She asked, tipping her head, watching him very carefully.
"Well, she told me in the middle of an argument, but I thought I handled it well." He said, watching Temperance's lip turn up slightly. "We had just come home from dinner at Grace and Jack's."
"I don't want to stay at your place tonight." Antonia said suddenly as they approached the car after dinner, Aiden gave her an odd look and moved toward her door to open it for her. "You don't have to open my door, I'm not an invalid." She said, her voice filled with a tension that Aiden couldn't quite pinpoint the cause of.
"Are you alright?" He asked, taking her hand, she pulled it from him, and she turned to face him, her eyes burning into his. "Tex?"
"I'm fine." She said, her cheeks were pink with frustration, and her nose was flaring angrily.
Instead of confronting her mood further, he turned and walked around the car, climbing into the driver's side, he noticed she was buckled in and staring straight ahead. "Did I do something to make you upset?" He asked, and her head turned slowly, their eyes clashing as he nodded his head and took a deep breath. "Your place, got it." He said, starting the car. He drove them toward their destination, and he watched her sit with her hands in her lap, her thumb tapping each fingertip as she often did when she had something on her mind.
"I don't understand why everything has to go so perfectly for her." She mumbled to herself.
Aiden glanced to her and wasn't sure if she wanted a response, but based upon her current mood, he chose silence.
"She does everything right." Antonia growled. "Marries the kid she grew up with… saves her the disaster of dating." She rolled her eyes. "Everyone's little sweetheart with her little candies and wedding plans, and flowers, and dresses." Antonia grumbled.
"You don't think you'll have those things?" Aiden asked, knowing he was speaking out of turn, risking it.
"I don't." She said sincerely. "I don't want it."
"You don't want to get married?" He asked. "To anyone?"
"No." She said definitively. "Marriage is a trap. It's a patriarchal tradition to prove men's dominance over women. It's a power play. It's like ties."
"Ties?" He asked.
"Yes. Men wear ties to show that they are subordinate. They wear them as if they are a noose, and they're to be pulled around by it. What is the point of having a strip of fabric hanging down the front of your shirt?" She snapped.
"I always thought it was to cover up the mustard stain near my third button." He said, moving the tie to the side, he glanced down and scratched at his shirt.
"Will you please pay attention? We've been sitting at this green light for two minutes!" She exclaimed.
"Wow, calm down. It just turned." He said, putting his foot on the accelerator, he glanced to her and noticed she was again staring out the window. They drove in silence for a few minutes, when he turned down the road near her apartment. "So did you want me to stay with you tonight?"
"No." She said, as he slowed, pulling the car up to the curb, she nearly jumped from the vehicle before it was in park. "I think we should stop seeing one another." She said, climbing out of the car, she slammed the door and started walking quickly toward her building.
Aiden watched her walk away, the words that she had spoken sunk in slowly as she stepped up the steps to her apartment. He turned the car off, jumped from the seat and ran after her, locking the door in the process. "Antonia, stop!" He said, watching as her movements went faster, the door opened, and he was up the steps in no time, slamming his foot into the small opening in the door, just before he closed it on him. "Antonia."
"What?" She said, still holding the door firmly against his foot, refusing to turn around.
"I'd like an explanation." He said.
"No." She replied. "Move your foot."
"Antonia, please talk to me. What is wrong? Why the sudden turn in mood? You were fine at Grace's, why are you so angry at me?"
"Because I don't need you." She said, pushing hard on his foot. "Move your foot!"
"At least talk to me!" He exclaimed, feeling the pressure of the door against his foot, he had no intention of letting her close it.
"Move your foot or I will scream!" She exclaimed.
"Give me one reason why you won't talk to me! One reason why you won't explain this to me! One reason, Antonia! One reason why you're breaking up with me, and you better make it a good one!" He said with a frustrated grunt when she tried to push the door harder.
"You want a reason?" She exclaimed, swinging the door open, she stepped out into him. "You want a good reason why I am breaking up with you? Why I don't want to continue this? I'm doing it to give you an out! I'm doing it because you can find so many people out there that are better than me, and believe in the things that you believe in. You can find someone who is not broken and damaged like I am! You can find someone like Grace found someone! Somebody who is willing to get married and be happy and live a life of domestic happiness, and not suck out all of the fun in your life!" She shouted.
"You are not broken and damaged! For God's sake! Stop feeling sorry for yourself all of the damn time! What is this really about?" He exclaimed, moving in on her, his face right in hers as he watched the fire completely deplete from her eyes.
"I'm pregnant." She whispered.
Those were two words that he did not expect to come out of her mouth. His eyes remained on hers, strong and unwavering, though his mouth dried up extremely quickly, and his throat was suddenly scratchy, and he was fairly certain that he had stopped breathing.
"Aiden?"
"I heard you." He said, so softly that it was barely uttered.
"Are you okay?" She whispered.
"Yep." He replied.
"Do you need a second?" She asked. "I can go inside."
"You're not going anywhere." He said, pulling her close to him, he took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "Can you please repeat what you said before?" He asked, tipping his head to the side.
"I'm pregnant." She said, lifting an eyebrow curiously as the corner of her mouth lifted to a smirk.
"I love you." He whispered. "Do you understand that?"
"Yes." She whispered.
"You are not broken and damaged." He whispered. "Say it."
"I am not broken and damaged." She said, a bit of a pout on her face.
"Again."
"I am not broken and damaged."
"No, the other thing." He said, a smile on his face as he made a face that made her grin.
"I'm pregnant?" She said, a note of question in her voice, as she pushed forward and kissed him tenderly.
"You're not sure?" He asked, teasing her as she wrapped her arms around him tightly, resting her head on his chest. "May I take you home with me, please?"
"Yes." She whispered. "I love you."
"I love you." He said, kissing the top of her head as he reached out and closed the building door securely, wrapped his arm around her, and led her carefully back to the car.
"Aiden, I think that your relationship with Antonia is extremely unique. You are both highly intelligent adults with very good careers, and the level of trust and care that you put into one another is visible and enviable." Temperance explained. "You have taken the time and patience to care for her in a way that I have seen master gardeners attempt to grow the perfect orchid. You've grown with her, and not forced her to grow alone to fit your own ideals. I only see that bond getting stronger, and the addition of a child to that will only succeed in strengthening that bond."
"I'm afraid." He whispered, his honesty was clear.
"That is natural and to be expected, and perfectly okay."
"She walks away a lot. She tries to hide, a lot. It's gotten better, but she still walks away." He said softly.
"Trust me, she won't go far. She loves you, and needs you just as much as you need her. I know that type of relationship. I am in that type of relationship. In that relationship, I am the one that walks away. It's not because I can't handle it, or because I want to escape. I walk away to look at things from a different perspective, much like we've done here with the notes that we took on the evidence. Sometimes the story board doesn't work out the way we expect it to, sometimes the plot changes, or out of nowhere a bread truck plows down a character. It's just a moment of pause to reflect and as you say, find the proper trajectory. Not everything will be easy, and sometimes you will be blindsided by things, as you were when Antonia told you of the baby. But as long as you continue on the path you've chosen so far, I think that you have the ability to go very far together." She said, touching his hand. "And you always do have family to fall back on."
"Thank you, Temperance." He said, hearing her name from his lips felt a bit awkward, but when she smiled, the awkwardness fell away.
"It's never a problem." She replied. She looked to the door of the conference room when she heard the sliding glass doors to the lab opening. "That's probably Booth and Nichols." She said, standing up. She stepped toward the doorway just as Booth walked past her, dropping a kiss on her lips as he stepped into the room.
"What do we have here, squints?" He asked, glancing to Aiden as he expected to see some sort of rebuttal for the moniker. He found none, and scowled as he looked at the table with their notes. "Looks like a big mess." He said, looking up for Temperance, she had left the room heading for her office. "Bones, where did you go?" He said as he turned and walked out of the room, quickly walking toward her office.
Nichols walked around the table, looking at the photos and notes that they had spread across the table, looking over them slowly, he stepped up alongside Aiden as the other agent continued sitting. "This really is a mess." He said, emulating Booth, looking at Aiden with a bit of a scowl. "Do you even know how to investigate?" He asked, his tone a bit snide.
Aiden looked up slowly at the other man and said nothing. He knew better than to provoke, so he just looked back at the notes in his notebook, and their suspect list. He took a couple more notes as Nichols continued to stand over him.
"I mean look at this, bring out a few crayons, and a kindergardener could have just tossed all of this crap onto the table and made the same design." He said, continuing when Aiden didn't bite, he reached over and moved a few papers, smirking at Aiden's glare.
"What's your problem, Nichols?" Aiden finally asked, stopping himself before he made a petulant remark.
"Nothing. Just trying to figure out why you stuck around here with Doctor Bones while I got to go with Booth on the interrogation of your suspect. Hanging out with the squints, running off on your own. You're not going to last long around here. Considering you've been with Toni for... not very long, she'll get bored, she'll get tired of you being around too and you'll be transferred to Philly or Albuquerque... and I'll just stay here, working with Booth." He shrugged. "Maybe take another crack at Toni."
Aiden was about to say something, his face red with anger the longer Nichols spoke, when suddenly the sound of very, very familiar laughter came from just outside the room. It was jovial and deep, and when Ace stepped around the corner, his face was red as he tried to control it. "Oh God." He laughed. "Did you seriously just call her Doctor Bones? She's going to kill you!" Ace exclaimed.
Nichols looked confused, the self satisfied smirk that he had across his face dropped off immediately.
"I just can't... I can't..." He said as he sighed, trying to control his laughter.
"Ace? What the hell are you doing here?" Aiden exclaimed suddenly, standing up. His chair hit Nichols, but he didn't even notice that, or the pull of his ribs as he walked around the table toward the door. "Where's Antonia?" He asked, stopped by Ace's hand. "Is she okay?"
"Relax, man. Relax. She's here, she's fine." He said, nodding his head to the side, he lifted his hand and let Aiden pass.
Aiden stepped out into the lab, his head snapping this way and that. Temperance's office door was closed. He snapped his attention back to the doors to the lab. The sliding glass doors had just closed behind her, her eyes were downcast for a moment as she shifted the little girl in her arms. He stood frozen for a moment, unsure if he should go toward her, or wait for her to see him.
"Tex." He said, letting his voice make the decision for him. She looked up at him, her eyes brightening instantly as she held the sleeping girl that rested against her shoulder. "It's you." He said, feeling a sudden rush of emotion rise up from his stomach as he moved quickly toward her, a happy smile on his lips.
"It's me." She said, stepping directly into his arms as she tightly held him, burying her head against his shoulder, pressing the little girl between them as tears began falling down her cheeks.
"I missed you so much." He whispered, burying his face in her neck, he breathed in her scent as he kissed her again and again. "I missed you so much." He whispered. "What are you doing here?" He asked, pulling away from her to run his thumb down her cheek, she tipped her head into his hand.
"Last night was too much." She whispered. "I told Ace that I was ready to go home. I just wanted to be home. I need you." She whispered.
"But it's not safe." He said softly. "Tex."
"It's okay. We have a place to go, and it's locked down better than Fort Knox." She smiled.
"Hodgins." Aiden smiled.
"You got it." She smiled. "I just needed to be closer. I needed to be able to touch you." She said, taking a deep breath as she reached up and touched the bruise across his cheek. She cringed slightly.
"It's fine, just a bruise." He shrugged. "She's really sleeping soundly." He said, reaching up to touch Melody's head, the little girl pushed further into Antonia.
"She had a rough night." Antonia sighed, watching as he nodded knowingly, a guilty flash in his eyes.
"Well you're here now. No more rough nights." He said, leaning forward to pull her close to him, his lips found hers, and she needfully obliged, holding his shirt with her free hand.
"Antonia?" Temperance's voice echoed through the lab as she reluctantly pulled from Aiden's kiss, their eyes still locked.
"Stay right there." She said with a smile, watching as a bright smile appeared on his lips. She turned sharply and walked toward her mother, who met her halfway and hugged her tightly as Melody continued to sleep against her shoulder.
"I'm so happy you're okay." Temperance whispered into her daughter's hair, pulling from the hug to take her cheeks in her hands to look into her eyes. "You look so rested, healthy." She said as she looked up to see Ace sauntering toward them, Nichols walking slowly behind, watching the reunion quietly. "Christopher Harding, you brought our girls home." She smiled.
"I did. Talked to Hodgins, he's got a place for them on his compound."
"Estate." Antonia glared.
"He has fifty acres of property, with a main house, a guest house, a pool house, a lake, and has it locked up tighter than a maximum security prison. It's a compound." Ace argued as he put his arm around Temperance's shoulder. "She was getting all emotional and weird." Ace shuddered.
"Yeah, and we know how you are around emotional, pregnant women." Booth teased, walking up to Ace to shake his hand. Antonia then turned and hugged her father, letting him pull her in tightly with a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"He did very well." Antonia teased, her arm still around Booth. "Hey, Sam." She said with a smile, watching the strange look on his face with confusion, she was distracted by the little girl in her arms who started to stir. Melody's eyes opened slowly as she lifted her head, her groggy expression was a smile to Antonia, when she suddenly realized she wasn't where she thought she had been. A look of panic crossed her features, and Antonia thought quickly, poking her nose with a smile, she pointed past everyone else.
Melody slowly turned her head, her brow furrowed with concern as her eyes focused on Temperance, then Booth, Nichols, then Ace, when finally she saw the person Antonia was pointing at. Her reaction was instantaneous, a squeal, a smile, and a wiggle that had her ending up on the floor nearly immediately in a full run.
Aiden could feel the pull of his ribs, and knelt on one knee hoping to absorb the pain as this tiny girl ran full speed into him. Her body slammed into him with such force, he couldn't keep his balance.
"Aiden!" Antonia let out a laugh as she walked toward them quickly as he landed hard on his back with a light yelp, the little girl gripping him tightly as she pulled at his face, kissing him again and again, feeling his arms around her as he hugged her tightly, her tears began to fall freely.
"I think she missed him." Temperance laughed as Aiden held the little girl above him and listened to her laughter as she reached for him.
"We all missed him." She said, touching her belly as she approached the pair, kneeling by his head to kiss him upside down, as he hugged and tickled the little ball of energy in his arms, and tugged Antonia down again for one more much needed kiss before they had to get back to work.