This is a little shorter than I intended, but it has a major storyline that I'm trying to get across in it. It's more about Brennan revealing herself and the broken woman she became in Booth's absense.

Also this chapter is dedicated to a girl from school, who was involved in a three-car crash yesterday afternoon, she was airlifted to Melbourne (you definately know its serious when you're airlifted) and is now fighting for her life in an induced coma. Its been a year our school would rather forget with the death of a girl in my year and now a girl in an induced coma.

So please review, it will make my day that little bit brighter.

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing.

The rest of the night was spent as a family. Brennan for the most part kept a bright glimmer in the corner of her crystal blue orb, as Booth sunk into the background to give the mother and daughter time together and alone. He however, watched carefully as Brennan insisted she help with Amelia's bath and he kept that observant eye on her as she watched the little girl's chest rise and fall for an hour as Amelia slept on the Porto-Cot in the lounge. By around 10:30pm, a yawn passed through Brennan as she was struggled to keep her eyes open and that's when Booth stepped in.

"Come on, time for your bedtime as well."

Suppressing another yawn, Brennan let her eyes water, "No."

"Bones," His tone was a low but very stern growl, one he would have use on Parker if the boy was misbehaving. He used a tone of voice that made people know you were a parent. It was a tone of voice he would use in the interrogation room, belittling suspects into a confession.

"No Booth; I…I just want to watch her sleep." The twinge of sadness in her voice was evident, as he only for a second felt her gaze drop from Amelia's sleeping form. It broke Booth's heart to see Brennan the way she was - vulnerable, defenseless, transparent; he knew he left in an abrupt way just after Amelia was born, but he never knew just how broken he had left her. He had cut all contact with her. He didn't respond to her desperate phone calls at two o'clock in the morning, he didn't respond to her pleading emails and text messages, and he never really took Angela's desperate appeals to heart. As that time he blamed her. He blamed her for giving up a child God had insisted they have, he blamed her for not taking on the responsibility, but most of all he blamed himself. He blamed himself for putting her in the predicament. He left her pregnant. He wished he could wash that night away, drown it out with alcohol and forget it ever happened, but then he would look towards his daughter. A daughter, he may have never gotten otherwise. He loved being a father, anyone could see that, and it was his chance to fulfill his lifelong wish – a child, a daughter, with the woman he loved. He loved her; he never stopped loving her, but it was easier to hate her and to hate himself behind his hatred for her.

Never again, sighing Booth promised himself to never run or hate her again. He couldn't….but most of all, he wouldn't. This was his chance to finally be with her and bring their little readymade family up together. He would help her be a part of a family. Of course he'd long ago accepted her into his family; Parker had too, even Pops, but she hadn't. She still believed she wasn't someone who got to be a part of a family…he wanted to change that. He wanted to show her what a family means.

Booth's thoughts were washed from his mind, as the coffee maker gentle beeped, signaling him that the coffee was hot and ready to pour. Pouring the brown brew into two coffee mugs, Booth stirred the liquid before adding a splash of full cream milk into his and a dash of soy milk into hers, before stirring again. The fresh smell of coffee must have piqued her attention, as when he re-entered the lounge, she was sitting at one of the dining chairs, even though her gaze was still on their sleeping daughter.

"Coffee," Sliding the cup into Brennan's hand, Booth sat opposite, his gaze also dropping to Amelia, "I used to do the same….still do sometimes."

"She looks peaceful," Brennan replied, bring her head back around to face Booth.

"Yeah, she's developed the crease in her forehead that you have while sleeping," His lighthearted chuckle earned a smile from Brennan as they both took a sip of their coffee, relishing in the nighttime caffeine hit and simple idle chatter. They were at ease with one another and they didn't feel forced to act upon something they didn't want to.

"I've been thinking…"Pausing, Brennan didn't let her gaze meet Booth's and she suddenly felt unraveled knowing his orbs would be boring into her face, trying to bring light to the situation, but at the same time helping place walls up around her which would need to be broken.

Outstretching his arm, Booth gently tugged on Brennan's arm, bringing her into a standing position before hauling her into his lap, "Don't hide."

"I don't want you to leave again, and I don't want to be separated from you or Amelia." Dropping her head, she seemed to relax into Booth's hold, her head resting in the crook of his neck, her fingers twirling the hairs on his arms.

"…Okay."

Taking his one worded answer as a sign to go on, Brennan sighed, "I want us to be close, it doesn't have to be romantic or sexual, but I want us to live together; I can't live by myself not in the state I'm in and I don't want to lose you to another woman and I don't want to lose Amelia to someone trying to be her mother."

"I would like that," Booth's heart swelled, metaphorically of course, with a sense of pride and he couldn't help the boyish grin which appeared faintly on his lips, knowing that Brennan wanted them to be a family. Them living together was just as good as being together; to him, there's more to life than sex, and with her statement it made him feel as if she was leaving the component of sex out of her life and finally understanding what he'd been trying to tell her for the previous eight years.

"I wish to go to bed now, but could you just hold me for a few more minutes," The childlike, innocent voice in which she just spoke in shocked Booth, rocked him to the core, he never thought, never in a million years (without receiving a lecture from squinty Dr. Brennan) that he would ever hear her so candid and pure.

Words of his heart whispered from his gentle lips over her ear and bought a smile to Brennan's face. Pulling herself away from him, Brennan stood, drained the last from her coffee mug and clasped her hand in Booth's as he flicked the light off, leaving the cups on the table and trailed behind as Brennan started to pull him towards her bedroom, his former bedroom.

With the glow of the lamp illuminating the room, Booth let Brennan watch as he stripped off his tee-shirt and jeans and pulled on a pair of tracksuit pants. He let her watch as he brushed his teeth and washed his mouth. She then let him gently tug at her clothing, letting her jeans pool to the floor. She let him pull her tee-shirt over her shoulders and drop it into the laundry basket in the corner of the room. She let him pull a pair of cotton sleep pants and charcoal grey singlet from her set of drawers and place them on her bed. She let him hug her and ghost his fingers over her bra clasp, removing the material from her breasts. She let him sweep a palm over her breasts and down to her hips, where he gently pressed into her pelvis. She let him, pull her singlet over her naked midriff and she let him slide the pants onto her long legs. She continued to let him pull her onto the bed and she let him press kiss to her forehead. She let him pull the covers over her and tuck her in tight. She let her blue orbs drop over his naked chest as he rounded the bed and slipped under the covers, pulling her in tightly into his chest, her head snuggling down to the place above his heart. Booth told her stories of Amelia while threading his fingers through her hair as she forced her eyes to stay open.

But when she couldn't keep her eyes open in longer, she mumbled against his chest, "Don't ever leave."

Pressing a kiss to the top of her hair, Booth leant over and flicked the lamp off, dissolving the room into darkness and held onto her tighter, "Never."

With his admission, he let his own eyes slip close.