Chapter 3

I looked at the man sitting on my coffee table, the man that my head was against, the man that I have come to know and love. Booth looked into my eyes and I swear he could read them. He always seemed to know what I was thinking, and somehow, I was shocked when he said he didn't know, that he wanted to know. I lifted my head from his chest and looked up at his melty chocolate brown eyes.

"Booth, what do you mean? You have feelings for me?"

"Yes, Bones, when you are ready to hear them, I will tell you. But right now, you need girl time, and I think Angela will be coming back soon. Plus I need to talk to Cullen again, and finalize some things with Becks, and start getting some of my shots. So call me if you need me, okay?"

Reluctantly, I nodded my head and agreed. I really wanted him to curl up on the couch with me, make my fears go away, reassure me that he would be okay. But he was right, I needed some time to mull things over. He leaned forward and kissed my head, letting his lips linger for a few seconds more. He went to get up, and I realized that this next week was going to be the last I had with him for a while, and I wasn't going to let him go that easily. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to me, letting my arms wrap around his strong body.

"I want to go with you. I want to spend the next seven days with you. I want every minute with you, like it was your last."

He looked at me incredulously but hugged me back. I felt the beat of his heart, the rise and fall of his chest.

"If you want to come Bones, you can. But it will be a reality check for you. Plus, I can't get you into the readiness center unless you are my spouse."

I thought for one second, then responded the one thing I knew would shock him.

"Okay, I'll be your wife."

Booth did a double take then reached into his jacket pocket and produced a black velvet box.

"I hoped that you were going to say that. But I don't want you to do this if you aren't completely sure about your feelings for me, because I love you Bones. I always will. But you need to be ready for this."

"Booth, if I don't commit to my feelings now, I never will. I want to spend every moment with you."

I closed my eyes, trying to pinch off the tears that were threatening to fall. My whole world of rationality and lack of emotion came falling down on me. I was admitting that I was in love with my work partner, that I wanted to get married to him. This was all new for me. I opened my eyes briefly to see him getting down on one knee and opening the box he held in his hands.

"Bones, this was not the way I intended on proposing, but, will you be my wife?"

Acting strictly on impulse, I jumped into his arms when he stood up and kissed him passionately. Just then, my front door opened and Angela stood there, mouth open, squealing. She ran towards me, wrapping me in a tight hug. When she released me, she dropped her hands to her hips and looked at Booth.

"I thought you were just going to talk to her."

He laughed, and I smiled.

"Well, we ended up getting a few things out into the open, and we need you and Hodgins to meet us down at City Hall."

She looked confused, "Why?"

I took the liberty to speak, as his mouth opened, "Ange, Booth and I are getting married."

Her jaw hung open and when she went to squeal, she couldn't.

"Are you serious? Don't be shitting me."

"Angela Montenegro, as Seeley Booth, would I ever lie to you about Bones and my feelings for her?"

She shrugged, "Okay, I'll call Hodgins, you two go down there and try and get things settled, alright?"

We both nodded our heads, and I dragged him back into m bedroom, so that I could get changed and cleaned up really quickly.

"Woah, Bones, this is big. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I need to get changed, can you pick something out while I put my face on?"

He laughed, "Sure. Anything in particular?"

"Nope. Your choice."

"That's a dangerous thing Temperance Brennan."

As I shut the door to the bathroom, I was shocked with my own choices in the last half hour. I was getting married. I had this gorgeous engagement ring on my finger, and I had this beautiful man in my heart. All the 'rationality' I had built my life around was illogical and strange. I had finally found someone who meant more to me than life itself and it took a deployment to bring out my true feelings. As I scrubbed away all the imperfections I saw, I heard a knock on the door. The door knob turned slowly, and I saw his rough hand reach inside. He was holding a pair or dark jeans, his favorite blue blouse, and a pair of black boots. I opened the door wider and let him take me in. I was standing there in a silk robe, that just happened to fall open. I heard him suck in a deep breath and close his eyes.

"Bones, seriously, if you don't put clothes on, we will never leave this apartment. Plus Angela is still out there. I'm pretty sure she would have a heart attack if she thought we were doing something other than getting cleaned up. "

I sighed, but when I leaned in, he kind of smelled, "You need a shower. There should be some clothes in my closet somewhere from our last stakeout when you crashed here. I'll look, you get in the shower. I'll be back in a few minutes."

He laughed, smelled himself, and made the face that I did, "Okay, I'll get in the shower."

I laughed at his modesty, and left the bathroom, going straight into my closet to find that clothes that he left here. Surprisingly, there was a full suit, tie, and shirt here. Next to all that was a pair of jeans and a gray v-neck long sleeve shirt. I pulled it down, and brought it back into the bathroom. He was still showering and must not have heard me come in. He was mumbling something to himself, and I was able to make most of it out, "Dear Saint Christopher, protect me today, in all my travels, along the road's way. Give your warning sign, if danger is near, so that I may stop, while the path is clear. Protect Bones for me, when I am not here to protect her. Amen."

I backed out of the bathroom, feeling anxiety wash over me. I quickly changed into the clothes he picked for me and sat at my dressing table, finishing up the last of my make-up. The tears flowing from my eyes were smearing the mascara I was putting on, and for a minute, I just let the tears flow freely. After a minute or two, I looked back into the mirror to see Booth standing in the doorway of the bathroom, staring at me. He advanced across the room quickly.

"Bones, what's wrong?"

I sniffled, not thinking I could answer.

"I heard your prayer in the shower and I guess the reality of the situation actually set in."

"Bones, I pray to Saint Christopher every day. I always ask him to protect you when I cannot."

I sucked a deep breath in and calmed myself quickly. Wiping at my eyes with my thumbs, I swiped on the final layer of mascara and got up. I took his hand in mine and led him out into the living room. Angela was gone, but there was a note on the table.

Bren and Booth—

I called Caroline, and she is meeting us down there. She is going to help speed the process. Hodgins, Cam, Jared, and myself, plus a surprise are going to meet you down there. So let's speed things up.

Angela

I looked at him and smiled, and he lightly pushed me out of the kitchen, but I stopped and pulled a box from my desk drawer and pocketed it. He was eyeing me curiously, but I shook him off. We left and sped down to City Hall to see Angela and Hodgins standing with Caroline at the front desk. We heard Caroline's voice raise just another decibel, "I have a junction from a judge allowing these two to skip the marriage license process. I can personally attest that Seeley Booth has no sexually transmitted diseases, and Angela Montenegro can vouch for Dr. Brennan."