A/N: I apologize for the lack of updates in this story. My muse ran away. But the good news is that my mom completed her chemotherapy treatments! She is now moving onto radiation but at least the first part over. Thanks for all the reviews expressing your concern for her. I let her read them and she was very touched. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 6

"Bones, could you run back in the house and grab another couple of sodas, please?" Booth yelled from his post in front of the barbecue in Hodgins' backyard. It was Labor Day; the official end of summer and the squint squad was having a small get together to celebrate. Hodgins had a beautiful backyard and to Parker's delight, a big swimming pool. Booth desperately wanted to get in with his son and a couple of the squinterns but because he was only in the beginning of the third week after his fourth chemotherapy treatment, his doctor advised him that while he could attend the small party, provided nobody there was sick, going in the pool was pushing it a little too much. Booth didn't really mind though; he was appointed grill-master for the afternoon and enjoyed the warm sun on his skin. Not on his head of course, that was still covered with the now worn Phillies hat that Parker gave him at the beginning of his treatment.

Even though the last four months had been hard, with the continuous chemotherapy and the adverse reactions that the drugs caused, he still had some moments of happiness during that time. He was able to see his son hit his first home run in an All-Star game, play dominos with Pops, see Jared off to India, and spend a lot of time with his Bones. While he knew that starting a relationship under these circumstances could have been dangerous with anyone else, his disease had just brought out what was already so close to the surface. Without her tender loving care and support over the last four months, he was sure that he would have been mentally and physically drained. Instead, while he was tired of getting sick every three weeks, having a constant metallic taste in his mouth that made him not want to eat anything, and having all of his clothes hang loosely on his thinner frame, he loved the fact that he and Bones were together.

Turning his attention back to the meat on the grill, he flipped the burgers and turned the hot dogs, taking his duties very seriously. He heard the water splash over the side of the cooler that was by the grill and assumed Bones was putting the sodas inside. Cold hands were placed upon the back of his neck and he jumped at the feel, turning around to see Bones with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Bones! You are so going to get it," he yelled at her, taking a cup of ice water that was sitting on the table and chasing after her when she started running away from him, forgetting the grill for the moment.

Tempe ran away from him, knowing that even though he had been so sick, she could not outrun him. But it was beautiful outside, her second family surrounded her, and she was feeling playful, wanting to forget about the disease and cancer for a few moments. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that he was gaining on her, and tired to begin some evasive maneuvers that ended up being in vain as she felt the water splash over her head and ran down her back. She stopped suddenly, the temperature of the water shocking her and he ran right into her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind to steady them both.

"Gotcha," he whispered into her ear, not letting go of her.

She smiled and turned in his arms, looping her arms around his neck, and standing up on her toes to give him a kiss. He had tried to pull back after a minute but she kept a firm hold of him, slipping her tongue in his mouth and deepening the kiss. She took one hand and titled his hat back so she could deepen the kiss further.

"You two both know there are children around right now, right? I mean, Nigel-Murray should not have to be exposed to that before he is ready," they heard Hodgins joke. Breaking apart reluctantly, she blushed while Booth just gave him a cocky grin.

"Booth!" she remarked when she saw the grin and playfully swatted him on the chest, walking toward the pool again to sit with Angela on one of the lounge chairs.

"Nice, dude," Hodgins told him when Bones was out of earshot. Booth just laughed. It felt good to be normal again, even if it was just for a week or two between his treatments. "Hey man, why don't you drag that kid of yours out of the pool and I'll try to get Wendell, Sweets, and Vincent to throw the football around."

Booth's face lit up at the thought of playing around with his son, something that he had only been able to go a couple of times during the summer, recovering faster after each chemotherapy treatment. This last time, he had only felt really, really sick for five days after the treatment which was a great improvement on the week and a half he had been really sick the first time around.

"Hey Parks," Booth shouted out as he reached the pool. His son whipped around from where he had been trying to go handstands at the shallow end. "Come on, bub. Let's go throw the football around."

Brennan watched as Parker excitedly hopped out of the pool and put his shoes on, not bothering with a shirt. She looked over to see Booth with a smile on his face as his son started to chase him around the large grass yard that Hodgins had behind his pool. Sweets, Mr. Bray and Mr. Nigel-Murray joined Hodgins, Booth, and Parker on the grass and she could hear Parker's happy squeals as the boys started tossing around the ball. She was about to lay back and close her eyes when she saw Booth run back over to her.

"Can you check the grill for me in about ten minutes? Thanks!" he said as he leaned down to kiss her, not waiting for a response as he ran back over to the boys.

"Sweetie, that was adorable," Angela said, lying on the lunge chair beside her. "How is everything going?"

"We are taking it day by, Ange, not taking anything for granted." She paused for a moment, wondering how much she should say. She knew she could talk to Angela but she also knew that Booth hated anyone to think he was weak. In the end though, she felt like she needed to say something to get some feelings off of her chest.

"It's hard to see him so sick, Ange. After the chemotherapy, he is nauseous all the time and can't even roll over without wanting to throw up. He doesn't eat as much as he used to because he says food doesn't taste good and its like I can see him wasting away before my eyes. I feel like I have aged four years in the last four months. But I will be there with him as long as he needs me. I will give him as much support as I can because I love him and I can't imagine losing him. So, if he needs me to get through this treatment, I will be there, every step of the way. But I'm scared Ange. I know realistically that he will go into remission after this treatment but I know with this type of cancer and with the amount it had already spread, there is a chance that it will come back. I am afraid that this will never really be over."

She breathed in after her statement, feeling much better now that she had told someone her fears. Obviously, she didn't want to tell Booth any of this because she didn't want to add any more emotional baggage to what he was currently feeling. It wasn't until a month ago that he asked her for money to cover some of his living expenses since he wasn't working. Luckily, the health insurance he got from the FBI was very, very good and covered all of his treatments but since he was not getting a salary, he was going to fall behind on his rent. Her heart broke when he asked; he wouldn't even look her in the eyes he felt so ashamed. Of course it wasn't a problem and she was happy to help him, after all she had more money than she knew what to do with.

"Bren, I am so proud of you," Angela said. Brennan looked over at her, wondering what Angela was talking about. "I'm seriously, Bren. A few years ago, you wouldn't have opened up to Booth like you are right now. You are that man's rock right now and he is out there playing with his son because of it. And I'm not going to lie to you; his cancer may come back sometime in the future but what is important is that you are here with him now. I am so glad that you have finally caught up with your own reality, even though it was a tragedy that caused it in the first place."

Brennan didn't know how to respond to Angela's praise, still slightly awkward in the face of the emotional issues surrounding her emotional commitment to Booth.

"I am going to check on Booth's meat," she said, getting up and hurrying to the grill. Angela just shook her head and smiled at her friend.

Walking over to the grill, she was curious as to why Booth put a known vegetarian in charge of cooking the meat for the party. She called out to him once she saw the condition of the meat on the grill.

"Uh, Booth?"

He heard Bones call for him and ran over to where she was standing after throwing the ball to Hodgins before going to check on her.

"Is the meat supposed to be smoking like that?"

"Bones!" he said as he took the beer that was on the side of the grill and poured it over half of the food, putting out the smoke. He surveyed the food and said, "Well, I guess everything is just going to very well done."

Brennan leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry, Booth. We still have plenty of veggie burgers." She laughed at his look and didn't stop until she had rejoined Angela on the lounge chairs. Curious, Angela turned around and at seeing the pout on Booth's face, started laughing too, deepening Booth's frown at the ruined meat on the grill.

Three days later, Booth felt miserable. He was running a fever and felt nauseous, not bothering to get out of bed even though it was already 1 pm. He was still in his pajamas and lying back against the pillows. Bones had set him up with water on the bedside table and a trashcan at the side of the bed just in case he couldn't make it to the bathroom before she went to work this morning. She wanted him to go to the hospital once she found out he had a fever but he told her no in no uncertain terms. His appointment with Dr. Liao for his next round of chemotherapy was tomorrow so he just wanted to spend the day at home. She hesitantly agreed but told him that she would be home earlier than normal. The television that had been moved into the bedroom was on but Booth had no idea what was on, some replay of an old hockey game.

What was worse is that he couldn't decide if he was hot or cold. He had a beanie on the top of his head because if it was off, he was going to be cold but he kicked the sheets off of his legs after the lower half of his body said told him he was hot.

And he was angry. This was the time that he was supposed to be feeling good! Next week he was going to be sick all week after the scheduled chemotherapy and he did not want to be sick when he wasn't supposed to be. Punching his pillow in frustration, he rolled over and closed his eyes, trying to lock out the nausea and get some sleep.

Meanwhile, at the lab, Brennan wasn't getting anything done. All she could think about was the sick partner she had left at home. When he rolled over towards her last night, she was shocked to feel the heat radiating off of him. He was shaking with the chills from the fever and she instantly wanted to take him to the hospital. He convinced her not to but now she was not certain of her decision.

"Dr. Brennan," Cam said as she entered her office. "Not only are you not getting anything done today but you also are distracting Angela and Hodgins because they are just watching you instead of getting any work done. So, as your boss, I am ordering you to go home. Go take care of him."

For a brief moment, she considered resisting before realizing that Cam was right. She looked down to see the same file open on her desk that was there this morning when she came in. Sighing, she gathered her things and walked past Cam on the way out, not bothering to thank her. Cam chuckled at her behavior, not in the least offended by the sometimes socially awkward scientist.

Brennan broke every speed limit on the way home, prepared to drop Booth's name if she got pulled over. She couldn't help but run through every worst-case scenario and her anxiety increased with each passing minute. With her stomach in knots and her heart rate twice it's normal; she parked her car and ran up the stairs to the apartment.

The apartment was silent when she entered and she ran back to the bedroom, worried that he had become unconscious or had a seizure from the fever that he had. Granted, it had been a low-grade fever but it could have spiked without him knowing.

Entering the bedroom, she saw him sprawled out on the bed, his beanie still on his head but the sheets kicked off his body. Quietly walking toward the bed, she gently took the beanie off of his head and pressed her lips to his forehead to judge the temperature. Her stomach un-knotted as she realized his fever had broke and not only was his temperature down, but the beanie in her hand was soaked with sweat.

"Hey, Bones," she heard him say quietly as she felt his eyelashes flutter against her jaw as he woke up.

"How are you feeling, hon?" she whispered to him, not realizing that the term of endearment slipped out. Booth caught it though, and it automatically made him feel better. Well that, and the fact that she was currently running her hand over his baldhead, lightly brushing it with her fingernails.

"Better," he croaked out, not recognizing his own voice. "I'm glad you are here though," he said as he picked his head up and laid it down on the thigh that was resting on the bed where she sat. She smiled slightly at the movement, continuing to stroke his head.

"Move for a minute, Booth," she told him as she got up on the bed and settled in, bringing his head back to her lap. He sighed against her abdomen and she turned the television to the Discovery channel, listening to his soft snores as he fell back to sleep.