March 21, 2008

Booth stared incredulously up at the chipping paint on the ceiling of his bedroom. He sighed, pulling his hands behind his head. All he wanted was some quiet, but it seemed to never get quiet in New York City.

There was always something. Cars honking, cabbies yelling, pigeons squawking, the subways running through the maze underneath the city, breaking bottles, loud shouts from teenage boys and their girlfriends. It never stopped. Even in the middle of the night, he would wake up with a head ache from all the noise.

He wanted to go home; he wanted to go back to DC. Where everything was quiet at night, where people turned off their lights at 10 and went to bed soon after, where the squints and the Jeffersonian were, and most of all, he wanted to go back to her.

He had no idea what was going on in the busy forensic anthropologist's life. They hadn't spoken in 6 months. Since the night he told her he was leaving. The way she had looked at him, with so much pain. He had betrayed her; he couldn't even deny that to himself.

He had promised her he wouldn't leave her. That he would always protect her, and he had broken both promises. He didn't blame her for the way that she reacted, but he hadn't quite suspected that things would end up like this.

The last thing he wrote her was that he would never forget her. He didn't even know if she had found the letter, although he had an instinctual feeling that she had. Booth wasn't planning on staying in New York forever, so he had rented out his apartment to a young couple, who he hoped hadn't found the letter before Brennan had.

It had been the only way he knew how to say goodbye, because he knew she wouldn't speak to him otherwise.

Booth had been lucky enough to find a nice apartment on the Upper East Side off of Lexington and 65th. It wasn't anything fancy. 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom. His favorite part was the sprawling balcony overlooking the loomy buildings and streets.

Rebecca's baby had been born about 2 months ago. She was adorable with a perfectly round face and huge blue eyes. They had named her Molly, and even though Booth wasn't related to her at all, he couldn't help but be charmed by her wide toothless smile.

With a new baby in the house, Rebecca has allowed Parker to stay with Booth for longer intervals of time. Booth remembered how hectic it had been when Parker had been little; there was never a moment when the baby didn't need something. Either he was hungry, or tired, or thirsty, or he wanted his blanket. It never stopped.

6 months in New York. It had been a long time. The only thing holding him there was Parker. The look on his face when Booth picked him up, the way he laughed when they went to see baseball games at the Giant's Stadium. Parker needed his father. Booth knew that Brennan needed him too, and every extra minute he spent in New York he could feel them being pulled farther apart.

He was worried about her. The way she was, she was probably trying to hide everything. Brennan wasn't good at her emotions; she didn't know when to let people in, and when to push them away. Something like this was not going to go over well with Bones.

If only he knew.

He was reached over for his cell phone to dial her number, when the doorbell rang, signaling that Parker and Rebecca had arrived. It was Parker's 7th birthday, and he was coming over to stay with Booth for the night.

Throwing his cell phone back on the bed, he walked slowly to the door, opening it, and immediately felt a large weight slam into him. A blonde mess of curls was visible from underneath a mountain of coats and one very red fuzzy scarf.

"Hi Daddy!"

"Parker! Happy birthday buddy!"

Booth smiled down at his son, who had grown significantly in the last six months. He was standing almost as high as Booth's waist, a prospect that was a little unnerving.

"We practically ran over here, Parker was so excited to show you what he got in the mail."

Rebecca smiled at Booth. Little Molly was sleeping softly in her mother's arms, blonde tufts of hair sticking up every where.

Booth lifted Parker up, ruffling his hair, which seemed to be perpetually messy.

"What did you get in the mail bud?"

Parker stuffed his hands deep into his pockets, pulling out a slightly crumpled blue envelope. Booth recognized the hand writing as soon as he saw it.

"A letter from Dr. Bones! For my birthday!"

Booth knew it was coming, but it was still surprising to hear none the less. A letter from Brennan. Booth resisted the urge to grab it from his son's hands and rip it open.

"What does it say?"

Booth tried to appear nonchalant, but he could see Rebecca's knowing look. She knew that Booth was completely head over heels for the scientist.

"Daddy you're so funny, obliosly I haven't opened it yet."

Parker chuckled at his father's eagerness, completely oblivious to the pain it was causing him to stay in New York.

"Are you going to?"

"Of course! I wanted to wait for you though."

Parker might be oblivious, be he knew that his father was quite attached to "Dr.Bones". Even a blind man could see that.

He jumped out of his father's arms, hugging his mother, and standing on his tippy toes to kiss his baby sisters face.

"Bye mommy!"

"Bye baby, I'll pick you up in a few days ok. Have fun with your dad."

"I will," Parker grabbed Booth's arm, dragging him into the apartment. "Love you mommy, come on daddy!"

"Thanks Rebecca, for letting him come on his birthday."

"No problem Seeley, see you later."

Booth smiled before Parker closed the door softly on his mother's retreating figure. Booth preferred Rebecca this way, basking in a post pregnancy glow. She was a lot more compassionate when she had a baby to care for.

Parker jumped up and down, trying to catch his father's attention.

"Daddy! Are we going to see the basketball game later?"

"Of course we are buddy, I told you we were."

"Hooray! I'm thirsty."

Booth ruffled his son's hair as Parker quickly skipped towards the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and pouring himself a glass of chocolate milk, and sitting at the small table next to the window. Booth shook the jug of chocolate milk. There was only a little left on the bottom, and he took the carton, drinking it as he sat across from his son who was sipping his chocolate milk, a milk mustache forming on his lip.

"What did you and your mom do for your birthday buddy?"

Parker looked up from his glass. "Um…stuff, we went and had lunch at the top of the Emfire State Building and it was really really high! And then we went to FAO Swartz's and I got some toys."

Booth smiled at Parker's enthusiasm, he was almost bouncing off his chair. Booth took a long swallow from the carton of chocolate milk.

"Daddy, mommy says not to drink from the carton, that it's bad."

The scolding look on his sons face made Booth laugh. He grinned at Parker.

"We just won't tell her then, will we?"

Parker shook his head, his curls moving wildly. "Nope. I promise Daddy, I won't tell. Pinky swear."

Parker lifted his pinky, and Booth curled it in his. He hadn't pinky sweared in years. He forgot what it was like to be in 2nd grade.

"Pinky swear."

The too Booth boys went back to their chocolate milk, slurping it down in a comfortable silence. Parker looked down at the table once he was done with his milk, making patterns with his fingers. Booth was about to stealthily suggest that they open the letter from Bones, when Parker suddenly spoke.

"I miss Dr. Bones."

That he had not expected. He knew Parker and Bones had gotten close while they were dating, but he hadn't fathomed that they were so close that he missed her. Booth missed her more then anything, but he hadn't thought that possibly his feelings were mirrored in his son.

"You do?"

"Yeah, she was really nice. And funny. Can she come and move to New York?"

Parker's pleading eyes almost broke Booth's heart. He looked so hopeful; Booth wished it was as easy as that. That he could just bring Bones to New York.

"She lives in DC buddy."

"Don't you miss her Daddy? She was your person."

Booth raised his eyebrows. "My person?"

"Yes, Mommy has Drew, and you have Dr. Bones."

Booth looked down at the table, and then back at his son.

"Yeah buddy I do miss her. A lot."

Parker pulled out the blue envelope. "Can we open her letter Daddy? Please?"

"Sure, why don't you do the honors, since it is addressed to you?"

Parker smiled, and ripped the envelope slowly and carefully. Booth tried not to reach out and grab it and read it. Parker pulled the card slowly out of the envelope as if it might disappear any second. His eyes scanned it quickly, and he smiled.

"What does it say Parker?"

"Dear Parker, I know today's your birthday, and I wish I could be there. You must be really tall, just like your dad, he's probably really proud of you. I know I would be. I hope that you do something special on your birthday. Seven is a big number after all; go out to ice-cream on me, promise? XOXO, Love, Dr. Bones."

Parker finished reading triumphantly. Booth knew that was a lot for a second grader to read. He was also in a state of complete shock, hearing something that sounded so much like she did. He wanted to hear her voice. The way it got lower and huskier when she was tired or when she was kissing him. Letters on a paper weren't enough.

"And look Daddy, she gave us twenty dollars for ice-cweam!"

Parker grinned, holding up a twenty dollar bill proudly.

"Why don't we get on that then Parker, we can go before we go to the game."

Parker jumped out of his chair, leaving the abandoned chocolate milk glass, and the card on the table.

"I'll get my coat on daddy!"

Booth nodded, sliding the card over so he could read it. "Ok Parker."

He read it over again, noticing the scribbled out line on the bottom of the page. He could see the words Booth, and then nothing else. Obviously she had been trying to write something, but had panicked and crossed it out. Reading her messy scrawl only greatened the dull pain in his heart.

He was about to read it over again, when Parker called from the hallway.

"Daddy! Come on, I'm ready."

Booth took one last look at the letter before stuffing it into his pocket of his coat, and going to join his son for ice-cream paid for by the women, he couldn't seem to get a hold of, no matter how fast he grabbed.

Brennan sat at her computer, typing away furiously. A new idea had just come to her for her new book, and she had to write it down. Plus the FBI agent they were supposed to be working on the case with was sick. She was glad, he was whiny and obnoxious, and wouldn't stick up to her at all. Even Zach could walk all over him.

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, sighing. Ever since she had woken up thinking about Booth, her thoughts had been filled with him. It was strange she had forbidden herself to even think of him since he left. She had made herself promise that he was a different part of her life.

The only things that mattered were her children. Their children. She had to make sure that Chloe and Sam didn't get hurt the way she did. They had already been abandoned by one of their parents even if he wasn't aware of it. That was going to be hard on them, and they were already aware of it. They asked her where their daddy was, she never knew what to say. She told them stories about Booth. How he rescued her in every way that was possible. He had saved her.

She never thought that she would be the mothering type. That she would ever care so much about another human being as she did about Sam and Chloe. She had cared that much about Booth. It was hard, because they were half him, so every time she looked at them, it was like a flashback. The last glimpse of him before he turned his back and left forever.

3 ½ years had seemed like forever. It still did. She was about to type more, when her stomach growled viscously. Looking at the clock on her computer reading 12:04, she realized she hadn't eaten in nearly 5 hours.

She stood up, stretching lightly, and pulling her short black blazer over the dark purple short sleeved tunic she was wearing. Angela had convinced her to buy it, and it hadn't been a hard sell since Brennan had automatically fallen in love with the white buttons that dotted the bodice of the tunic.

About to wander out of her office to see if Angela had eaten yet, she ran smack into her friend in the doorway to her office.

"Bren, there you are, I was looking for you."

"I was working on my book. Listen do you want to grab lunch or…"

"Hold that thought for a few minutes; because there's something I have to tell you."

Brennan nodded, "Ok, what?"

"You might want to sit down."

Brennan eyed her friend suspiciously. She was grinning like a mad woman, and she wondered what could be so exciting that she would have to sit down to hear.

"I can stand Ange."

"No really sweetie, please sit down." Angela's face got serious as she motioned for the couch.

Brennan tapped her foot impatiently; she was starving, and since Angela seemed to want to hold in the news for as long as possible she really wanted to just go.

"Angela, I'm really hungry, so either tell me now, or I'm going to go eat, and then you can tell me later. But don't drag it out please."

Angela sighed, sometimes Brennan was insatiable. Angela knew how her friend would react to this news, that's why she sincerely didn't want her standing.

She placed her hands on either of her friend's shoulders. Brennan looked at her puzzled.

"Ok, you have to promise me not to freak out Brennan."

"Ok."

"No running, or screaming, or stomping away angrily ok?"

"Yes Ange, just tell me."

"Booth…is coming back."

Booth is coming back. Booth is coming back. It was the last thing Brennan could even think of comprehending before she blacked out completely.