A/N: Just a short message to say thank you to everybody who has reviewed. Also, I just wanted to point out that one line in thischapter was taken from EternalConfusion's review because I just thought it was too great not to put it in the story.

Booth sat up abruptly in his bed, sweating and panting. He stared for a moment into the darkness, trying to convince himself that it had been just a dream. He looked down beside him. Temperance laid on her stomach, on her side of the bed, her head tilted towards him. He sighed in relief.

Man, that was some weird dream. He thought before swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

His throat felt dry but a glass of water would take care of that situation.

Quietly, he walked out of his room. The hallway was dark and he prayed that Lukas hadn't scattered his toys everywhere. Fortunately for him, he reached the kitchen some minutes later, unharmed. Flicking the switch, he then squinted against the bright light.

Man I should have use the light above the stove. He thought as he blindly walked to the cupboards.

He took out a glass and poured himself some water, his eyes slowly getting accustomed the light. He drank slowly, remembering the vivid dream he had had.

Temperance had found out about the ten thousand dollars he had lost. She had found out that he had then burrowed the money from his father so she wouldn't notice the huge gap in their finances. She had walked out of the house, taking their two children. He had then tried to contact her without any luck. She simply refused to talk to him. He had woken up at that part, unable to take much more of this 'made-up' story.

Everything had seemed so real that Booth had half-expected to wake up in an empty bed. But it had only been a dream. A bad dream, no doubt, but a dream nonethless.

He knew that dream was an indicator that he'd have to tell the truth soon enough. These dreams were coming back more and more frequently. But he knew that if he told Temperance, these dreams were bound to come true and he wasn't ready to face that just yet.

Should have thought about that before you played that money. His conscience told him.

Booth told it to shut up.

Putting down the glass in the sink, he thought with dread about the day where he would have to tell her. After all, it was better that she hears it from him than from someone in his family.

He walked out of the kitchen, turning off the light on his way out. Back in his bed, he tried to fall asleep but he knew that it was hopeless. His dream had wrecked his night.

"She's coughing." Temperance pointed out to her husband as they reached their daughter's bedroom.

"I know." Booth replied, softly.

"She wasn't coughing yesterday. Her medication isn't helping."

She sounded worried. Heck, she was worried. Booth quicky glanced at her before opening the door to their daughter's room. He put a finger to his lips and told her quietly to shush. Temperance rolled her eyes but obeyed.

The room was far from quiet. Riley had stopped coughing but she was breathing heavily and her parents could see beads of sweat pearling her forehead. The couple walked in slowly, no to wake their daughter up. Temperance could see that Riley was also shivering. She turned to Booth.

"Maybe we should bring up the heat."

Booth shook his head.

"She'll complain in a minute that she's too hot."

"Well it's better than to let her freeze to death." Temperance snapped back.

"She won't freeze to death, Bones." Booth replied, sitting down on his daughter's bed.

He felt her forehead. He didn't need a thermometer to tell him that her fever had hitched up a bit since the previous night. Riley was panting, like she had ran for hours. Booth turned to his wife.

"I'll stay here with her today. You go work."

Temperance eyed him, suspiciously.

"What's the catch?" she asked him.

He chuckled lightly.

"There's no catch, Bones. I'm serious. You spent the entire week with her. It's my turn."

"Well if you say there's no catch..."

"There's no catch." Booth said, stopping her in mid-sentence. "Come on. Go get dressed and leave for work. I'll take care of the kids."

He got up, took her hand and led her out of the room. She followed, surprisingly, obediently.

Minutes later, she was being pushed out the door and onto her porch. She heard the door close shut behind her and she groaned.

Twice, I've been kicked out of my house own. She thought, thinking back at how her mother-in-law had done the same thing. I guess it runs in the family.

She unlocked the door to her car and climbed in. Seconds later, she was pulling out of her driveway.

"Daddy, I can't find my other sock." Lukas whined as he walked in the living room.

Booth looked up from his newspaper.

"Don't bother looking for it, Buddy. You're not going to school today."

"Why not?"

Booth noted the disappointed in his child's voice and laughed.

"Because today, we're staying home with Riley."

The answer seemed to satisfy the child. He was about to walk out of the room when his father called him back. He turned around.

"Come here for a second. We need to talk about something."

Lukas trotted to the couch and perched himself beside his dad, his legs dangling off the edge. Watching his son swing his legs in front of him, he began to wonder how it was possible for him to have such a tiny child when he and his wife were pretty tall. Shaking his head, he tried to focus.

"Luke, your mother and I have been fighting a lot lately. I'm sure you noticed."

Lukas nodded.

"Good." Booth replied, unsure if it was the right thing to say. "I just wanted you to know that whatever is going on between your mother and I isn't your fault or your sister's fault. I know you've been blaming yourself for this but you have nothing to do with our problems."

"Then who does?" Lukas asked, curiously.

Me. Booth thought.

"Nobody. Sometimes grown-ups argue for different reasons. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're not. With your mom, it's sort of like this. We've always been arguing, always. Ever since we first met. Lately, things have just gotten out of hand but it doesn't mean that we don't love each other anymore or that we don't love you or Riley."

He wasn't sure he was making any sense but he hoped that his son would understand nonetheless. He watched as Lukas seemed to consider the situation.

"Okay." He simply said.

Booth frowned, confused.

"So you understand that it's not your fault?"

"Yuh-huh." Lukas replied, nodding.

"Good."

The air was awkward for Booth. He watched as Lukas stared in front of him, his legs still dangling off the couch. He watched as one leg went up then down, mimicked right after by the other. Everything was silent.

"You... uh... you can go play now." Booth said, to break the silence.

Lukas jumped off the couch and ran to the basement, leaving a puzzled father behind him.

Booth stood up and walked to the window. As he stared at the falling snow, he wondered if his son had understood one word he had said. Then again, it didn't really matter. The important thing was that Booth had told him that his marriage problems weren't his fault. If his son understood that, then Booth was happy.

The telephone ring pulled Booth from his slumber. He glanced at the clock on top of the TV. 12:05.

Must've dozed off. He thought.

Getting up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Grabbing the phone that he had placed on the coffeetable, he pressed the Phone button and put it to his ears.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"Were you sleeping?"

Booth yawned in response before realizing that Temperance couldn't see him.

"Yes." He replied. "I must have dozed off. I didn't sleep very well last night."

He heard more than saw her nod.

"How's Riley?" she asked, concerned.

"Last I checked, which was about two hours ago, she wasn't doing much better but not worst either. She's stable, sleeping as always."

He heard her sigh.

"I'm worried about her, Booth."

"I know, so am I."

There was a small silence, immediately broken by Booth.

"I talked to Lukas this morning. I told him that our marriage problems weren't his fault."

"Was he blaming himself?"

Her voice told him she was surprised.

"I think so. But I assured him that he had nothing to do with it. I told him that sometimes grown-ups argue for no reason and that for us, things just got out of hands."

"Did they?"

"Yeah. Bones, I still love you. There are just some things going on in my life that I'm not ready to tell you yet."

"Okay."

"But these things will never change the way I feel about you."

Small silence followed by a sigh.

"So you meant what you said last night?"

Booth frowned, wondering what she was talking about.

"That I love you?" he asked, taking a chance.

"Yes."

Booth smiled.

"Of course I meant it. I mean, it might not have been the kind of decleration that makes your knees weak but it doesn't mean that I didn't mean any of it."

"Okay. Good."

She sounded almost relieved.

"So I'll see you tonight?" Booth asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Yeah. I'll see you tonight."

On that, they hung up.

Booth set down the phone on the coffee table before sitting back down on the couch. He leaned his head back against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. He was so tired but he couldn't sleep. He needed to make lunch.

I'll just close my eyes for a few more seconds. He thought. A couple of seconds won't hurt, right?

Right...