"Agent Booth, wake up." Joy shook the agent's shoulder. Booth slowly woke up, and winced at the pain in his neck. He looked up sleepily at the attendant.
"What time is it?"
"Six in the morning. Look, I have a flight leaving for New York via Minneapolis in twenty minutes, do you want to be on it?" Booth sat up straighter in his seat, his tiredness rapidly slipping away.
"Of course."
"Great. I was hoping you'd say that, because I've already got you a ticket." She handed the ticket to Booth with a smile. He took it, a grin sliding across his face.
"Joy, thank you, really. Here's my card. I expect to hear from you."
"Expect to hear from me? Wouldn't your fiancée be upset?" She teased.
"In this case, I don't think so. Actually, much as I would love to explain now, I can't, but I have some information about the Keenan's you might be interested in."
"Stop joking agent Booth."
"I'm not joking, I've been working on a case involving them. Now, what gate do I need to go to?" Joy looked at Seeley uncertainly. She could see the sincerity in his expression and gave him a nod.
"Gate twelve. Better hurry though, only about fifteen minutes left." She offered him another smile, that smile that was so much like Temperance's. He returned the gesture before racing off to the terminal. Joy watched him leave and shook her head. She doubted that he had any information, but it never hurt to hope, right?
XxXxX
Temperance grimaced. She was tired, and she was in pain. Her contractions had been going on twenty-four hours, and they still had not reached the five-minute mark. Her doorbell rang, and her heart jumped to her throat. Was Booth here and he didn't call as a surprise? She moved to the door, opened it, and was met by a smiling Russ Brennan.
"Russ, what are you doing here?"
"A little birdie told me it was time. How you feeling sis?"
"Are you trying to get hurt or are you legitimately concerned?" She moved away from the door and hugged Russ as he came into the house.
"Of course I'm concerned. I wouldn't have asked otherwise."
"I hope I never have to go through this again. Ever."
"Oh, it can't be that bad."
"Sweetie, imagine passing something the size of a watermelon through something the size of a lemon." Angela emerged from a guest room, her hair sticking out in several directions at once.
"Ouch. You have a point Angela." Russ smiled when she gave him a hug. "Tempe, do you need anything? Is there anything I can do?"
"At the moment? No. Booth seriously had better realize I'm not going through this again." Temperance frowned and rubbed her belly as it seized up again.
"I'm sure you'll change your mind once you hold that baby for the first time. How far along are they now?" Angela smiled at her friend.
"About eight minutes."
"Well, it's getting closer to hospital time, right? That's a good thing, right?"
"Ange, if you felt this way, you wouldn't be saying that." Temperance flopped down on the couch and leaned her head back. All she wanted was a couple hours of sleep. She could live with that. The only problem was that her back hurt so badly, she couldn't get comfortable, and with pains every eight minutes, she didn't have enough time to relax to get to sleep.
"You'll be fine, Sweetie. Just get through the next few hours, then it'll be all over and you'll have a beautiful child in your arms that will love you unconditionally."
"Did you find out the sex yet?" Russ asked as he sat next to his sister. She smiled at him tiredly and shook her head.
"Booth wanted it to be a surprise, so we didn't ask the doctor."
"What about names? What are you planning to name it?"
"Well, if it's a boy, Kyle Maxwell. If it's a girl, Joy Christine."
"Those are great names I must say," Russ grinned. A sound from the other end of the house caught Angela's attention.
"Well, it sounds like Booth's other progeny is up, so I'll go fix him some breakfast."
"Thanks Ange."
"Hey, no problem Sweetie. You just try to relax, and I'll take care of everything."
XxXxX
Booth stepped off the plane in Minneapolis and moved to the ticket counter. Even though his ticket was to New York, if he could get to DC from here that would be much better. The line at the counter was long, but he still had two hours before the flight to New York took off.
After a half hour, he finally reached the ticket counter. The woman behind the counter was older, with her hair in a bun and little hairs creating a halo around her head. He looked quickly behind the counter and spotted one of Temperance's books. He grinned. It was the one dedicated to him. That should help him win over the tired looking woman.
"How can I help you sir?" She looked at him with an indifferent expression.
"I'm trying to get to Washington DC, and I need to know if you have any seats available either here or on another airline."
"Sir, I only have the capacity to check this airline." The woman began to search through the flights listed in her computer. Seeley tapped his fingers lightly on the counter until the woman looked at him sharply.
"Look, I'm just trying to get back to DC because my fiancée is in labor. I would really like to be there because it's our first together."
"Sir…"
"Please, it's Seeley, Seeley Booth." He smiled when the woman looked up at him sharply.
"Why does that name sound familiar to me?"
"My fiancée dedicated a book to me." The woman's eyes widened and she broke into a grin.
"Temperance Brennan? She's my favorite author!"
"Really? Wow, that's amazing. It's such a coincidence, running into one of her fans here."
"Well, I can see why she'd choose you, you stud. Let me see what I can do for you." She tapped through the flight list and her face split into an even larger grin. "Looks like I have one seat left on our nine o'clock flight."
"Ma'am, you are wonderful. I'll take it." He pulled out the ticket to New York and his credit card, then handed both over to her.
"Mr. Booth, don't you worry about the cost, I'll just convert this here ticket to New York for you." She smiled at him flirtatiously and finished up the process. She handed the new ticket to him and winked. "You get back to Miss Brennan, and congratulations you stud."
XxXxX
Temperance was pacing again. Her contractions had finally reached the five-minute mark. Angela was preparing a bag for her while Russ played with Parker. When her phone rang, Brennan smiled at the name on the caller id.
"Hey you, how's Fargo?"
"I don't know. Currently I'm in Minneapolis."
"What are you doing there?"
"Getting back to you. I miss you. How are you doing?"
"I hope you realize I am never, ever going to go through this again."
"We'll see. My flight arrives in DC at noon."
"I'll send Russ to get you."
"Why?"
"Because we're about to leave for the hospital."
"Oh God, Bones, you aren't having the baby now are you?" Panic laced his voice.
"At this particular moment in time? No, but soon." She paused as she felt a warmth wash over her legs. She looked down to see a puddle of liquid.
"How soon?"
"Seeley, my water just broke."