A/N: Well I'm back. My writer's block is finally gone and I actually had time to write. Hope all of you enjoy this chapter. There's a little bit of everything in this. And, by the way, how cute was the last scene from this week's episode?
"You're quiet." Booth stated as they drove through the streets of Washington.
Temperance, who had been staring out the window thoughtfully, turned to her partner.
"Did you say something?"
"Yes. I said that you were quiet."
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Nothing important." Temperance replied, shrugging dismissively, before turning back to the window.
Booth frowned and glanced over at his partner. It bothered him to know that something was going on that she wasn't telling him about. Angela and her were once again on speaking terms and almost acted as though nothing had ever happened between them yet Booth could sense that there was still something. He had developped an art at reading her since the beginning of their partnership but lately, she hid herself well... too well for him to decipher anything.
The light turned red in front of them. Without thinking, he pulled the SUV into an empty restaurant parking lot, parked the vehicle and turned off the ignition. He watched as his partner turned towards him, confused.
"Booth, I think this restaurant is closed."
"I want to know what is going on." Booth said, ignoring her previous comment.
Unable to stand his gaze, Temperance looked away.
"Nothing is wrong, Booth."
"Temperance, look at me."
She felt the heat of his hand on her chin and turned to him reluctantly.
"Don't lie to me, Temperance. I know you better than this and I know something is up that is hurting you. I want to know what it is so I can make you feel better."
He dropped his hand slowly. Temperance forced a smile.
"I'm not hurting."
"Then what is it? You've been acting really strange these past few weeks and I thought it had something to do with your fight with Angela but that's been over for more than two weeks and you still don't look happy."
Temperance sighed.
"I can't tell you, Booth. I'm sorry but I just can't."
"What do you mean you can't tell me? You always tell me everything, even things I sometimes don't want to know."
Temperance chuckled and a small smile tugged at her lips. Booth looked at her tenderly.
"When you're ready to talk to me, I'll be there to listen. I promise."
His hand sought hers and gave it a small squeeze. Their eyes locked.
"I know." Temperance replied, squeezing his hand back.
Enjoying the moment for one more second, Booth then turned on the ignition and drove out of the parking lot.
On their right, a young red-haired woman was typing notes at the speed of light at her desk, glancing every now and then at a sheet of paper laying next to her keyboard. On their left, the water machine gurgled every once in a while. The brown walls and black chairs made the waiting room impersonal which only resulted in rising the anxiety level of the three people present in the room. Still, this was still something they needed to do.
A vibrating sound reached their ears. Angela and Hodgins turned towards their friend who fetched her phone from her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. Without answering she put it back in her pocket.
"Booth." She replied to the inquisitive looks.
Angela simply nodded.
"Does he know you're here?" Angela whispered, not wanting to disturb the quietness of the room.
"No."
"Why not? You still didn't tell him that..."
But the rest of Angela's question was cut off, much to Temperance's relief. The door to the office opened and two tall men came out. The young of the two thanked the other for his time before turning around and walking out of the room.
Eugene Marsh turned to the three adults and smiled kindly before gesturing them inside his office.
"I'll be right with you." He told them as they marched inside the next room.
Sitting down, they didn't have to wait long for the attorney to come back.
"So what can I do for you today?" Marsh asked as he closed the door behind him.
Temperance fidgeted in her seat while Jack looked anywhere but at the lawyer now sitting across from him. Angela sighed and took it upon herself to reply to the question.
"Well you see, my husband and I can't have children and we were told our only options were surrogacy or adoption. We felt that, for our first child, we wanted it to be really ours. So my best friend, Dr. Brennan, agreed to be our surrogate."
Marsh turned to Temperance.
"Dr. Brennan, I must say, my daughter really enjoys your books. I think you're her favorite author. It's all she asked for last Christmas. Or, to use her words: Please Dad I will do anything you and Mom want if you buy me Temperance Brennan's book for Christmas."
"That's... nice to hear."
Marsh smiled at her again before turning back to Angela.
"Surrogacy?"
"Yes. We've done a lot of research on the subject but we still have a few questions before we decide to go on with the procedures."
Marsh took off his glasses and stared into Angela's eyes. The artist, uncomfortable, looked away.
"Surrogacy is a big responsibility." Marsh began, turning his attention back to Temperance. "It is not to be taken lightly. I hope you do realize the implications of the situation?"
Temperance gulped but nodded.
"Surrogacy is actually illegal in some countries in Europe. Not only is it illegal but it is considered an insult to the female body to bare a child for another person. Here in the US, couples have access to that option but there are still negative sides to it. Do you have a husband, Dr. Brennan?"
Hodgins and Angela, surprised by the lawyer's question, turned to the friend who had risen her eyebrows in surprise.
"I don't believe in marriage." She replied, bluntly.
"Me either." Marsh replied. "I've been with the same woman for twenty years and never did we ever talk about getting married. Doesn't make us any less happier. With my profession, I encounter divorce all the time and after dealing with it all day, I decided that it wasn't something for me. I do not need a piece of paper to prove my commitment to someone and I'm glad that my girlfriend agrees as well."
"That's what I think too." Temperance replied, a smile spreading across her face.
Hodgins snorted.
"Marry him." He told her, under his breath.
"The reason I asked you that question Dr. Brennan was because, as surrogate mother, you become the baby's legal mother. Had you had a husband, he would have been the legal father."
"But the child isn't biologically hers. How can she be considered the mother?" Hodgins asked, stunned by what he had just heard.
"In law, the legal mother is the carrying one, no matter who's child the baby is. Your friend's name will appear on the child's birth certificate and will remain so. In order for you to become the official parents, you will need to either apply for adoption or for a parental order."
"This is more complicated than I thought." Angela said, turning to her husband. "Are we sure we really want to do this?"
"It's up to you, Angie. I told you, I'm fine either way. I never ruled out adoption."
"How about you, Sweetie?" Angela said, turning to her best friend. "Are you still up for it?"
"Sure."
"If you decide to go through with surrogacy, you also need to know that it is not enforceable by law. That means that despite the presence of a contract, if there is one, if any of you change your mind in the middle of the process, nothing can be done. Nobody can be sued. Same goes for if the intended parents decide, at birth, not to take the child for physical or mental disability reasons."
"What happens then?" Temperance asked, sensing where this conversation was going.
"The legal mother will be responsible for the child. That means you, Dr. Brennan."
Hodgins heard Temperance's sharp intake of air. His nervousness only increased. Would she change her mind once more? There was no way he'd ever give up his child no matter what but did Temperance know that?
"You know we'll never do that, though, right?" Hodgins risked asking.
Temperance turned to him but said nothing.
"Do you have any more questions?"
The couple exchanged glances before shaking their heads. They had everything they needed to know. Thanking the lawyer for his time, the trio walked out of the office.
The door opened and Booth looked up to find a man dressed in an orange jumpsuit walking towards him. Max seemed to have aged immensely since the last time he had seen him and Booth found himself feeling bad for his partner's father.
Courteously, Booth got to his feet.
"Booth, how nice to see you again. You didn't bring my daughter with you?"
"Actually, no. I needed to talk to you, alone."
"They didn't reinstate my death penalty, did they?"
The two men sat down.
"No. They're not aloud to do that. We worked hard to convince the jury to only sentence you to life in prison, they can't just change their minds after six months. You haven't been causing trouble, have you?"
"Never. I've been even more obedient than a child."
Booth nodded.
"Why are you here, Booth?"
"Something's up with Bones and I want to know what it is."
Days turned into weeks. The rest of the snow had melted, the trees were slowly coming back to life and the weather was slowly getting warmer. Angela had been put on medication to help with the ovulating, eggs had been fertilized and the best ones had been chosen. It was now nearing mid-April when Temperance, Angela, and Hodgins found themselves reunited once more, this time at the fertility clinic. Two other couples waited also in the room and all bore the same expression.
"What did you tell Booth to get out of the interview with Atkinson?" Angela asked as they anxiously waited for the nurse to call them.
"I told him I had promised to have lunch with you and Hodgins. He didn't ask any more questions."
"Well that's half-true." Hodgins replied.
The two women quirked their eyebrows.
"Well it is noon."
Angela simply rolled her eyes.
"Your really should have told him the truth."
"Why?"
"Because he's your friend, that he cares a lot about you and that he deserves to know. Sweetie, you're driving the man crazy. He's been pestering me for weeks now, trying to get information. I would have told him but he's your partner and you're the one who should be telling him that you'll soon be pregnant. Do it soon, though. I think he's really starting to get worried. He even went to visit your dad in prison."
"He did what?" She asked, her voice rising.
The two other couple in the room looked up.
"Don't be mad at him, Brennan. Booth is just trying to figure out what's going on. It's kind of his private investigation."
"He had no right to visit my dad without telling me first. I told him I'd talk to him when I was ready and he told me he'd wait for me."
"Sweetie, it seems like that's all you do. Last year, you told him you weren't ready for anything more serious with him and asked him to wait for you, which he promised. And now, there's something really big happening in your life and you tell him to wait until you're ready to talk to him. The guy's been waiting around for a long time, Bren. He's not going to wait around much longer and I think the visit to your dad proved just that. He's getting restless waiting."
She knew Angela was right but what else could she do? She wasn't ready to take their relationship to another level and she definitely wasn't ready to tell him she would carry a child for her best friend. She always knew that Angela was telling the truth when she said Booth was getting restless. But was she on the verge of losing him? Would he give up on her too?
She was about to reply when a nurse called out her name. Glancing at Hodgins, the two women stood up and followed the nurse down a small corridor.
As the doctor and nurse got ready for the transfer of the embryos, Temperance was asked to change into a hospital gown before laying down on an examination table.
"I feel like I am on the verge of being autopsied."
"Whatever calms you down, Sweetie." Angela replied as she looked around, hoping no one had heard her friend's comment.
"Ange?"
"Yes, Bren?"
"You're not going to leave me with this child, are you?"
Angela grabbed her friend's hand and smiled tenderly at her.
"Jack and I are so happy you are doing this for us. There are no words to describe what we are feeling. Never in a million years will we give up that child and leave you alone with it."
"But what if it's disabled or..."
"Disability or not, this child will be coming home with us. Don't worry, Sweetie. This is something we really want. Nothing will prevent us from taking that child with us once it is born."
Partially reassured, Temperance forced a smile.
"Okay, everything is ready." The doctor said as he walked up to the two women. "We've already been through this but let me explain just one more time. We will be transferring three embryos into your uterus to improve chances of implantation and pregnancy. We put a maximum of three to decrease the risks of multiple births."
Temperance nodded and the doctor's words soon became muffled. They had already been through all of that already. Why was he bothering to tell them again? She knew there was a large possibility that she wouldn't get pregnant on the first try, that there was a large chance of multiple births. Angela assured her that, even if it didn't work, they'd only be doing this once.
"If it doesn't work, we'll go for adoption. We really want a baby that's our but not if it's to put you through too much."
She was nervous and, as much as she hated to admit it, she wanted Booth beside her. But now that she had made up her mind, she didn't feel like going back. She was going to do this for them. After all that had happened to them in the past year, they deserved somewhat of a happy ending.
She thought of Booth again and felt bad. He too deserved things. He deserved to know what was going on, deserved for her to make up her mind about their status. He deserved the truth but a part of her was scared to let him in. There were too many what ifs to consider.
"Stop analyzing the situation and just go for it." Angela had told her after she had told her friend about her kiss with Booth.
She had taken the advice, just not for the same situation. She had stopped analyzing and decided to accept Angela's favor. It wasn't about her, it was about her friends and wanting to fulfill a dream.
Angela's voice brought her back to reality.
"Did you say something?"
"I asked you if you were ready."
Temperance nodded. Her eyes fell on the petri dish the doctor was now holding, not fully knowing that this small, round plastic dish would one day change her life forever.