Update! And for those of you who are lost as to what the gift was last chapter, it's a pregnancy test. Just in case, any of y'all missed that. Enjoy!

Snapshot: December 31, 2012

Booth and Brennan were met at the door of a hulking mansion by the beaming face of one Angela Montenegro Hodgins...and by the background image of a very naked Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins being chased by three maids and his father.

Brennan was the first to notice this, Booth the second as he hurried to shield his daughter's eyes from the indecency.

"Angela..." Brennan started to say, but Angela shook her head.

"I'll explain later, Sweetie. Now, come on in! You're letting in a draft!"

"Wouldn't want to do that." Booth mumbled as he led Brennan inside, holding his little girl in his opposite arm.

They were immediately greeted by the Hodgins' newest family addition, Bentley, the Black Lab that the couple had gotten from a local pound for Michael to have as a pet.

Bentley practically threw herself at Booth, wanting nothing more than to be pat and play with the small child in his arms. Booth smiled at the dog, leaning down to pat her head, and allowing the relatively young dog to lick and sniff his fingers.

Then Cristina leaned down and hugged the dog's head, giggling when Bentley sloppily licked her cheek and tickled her with her cold, wet nose.

Cristina turned back to Booth. "Daddy, down!" she ordered, and Booth gently placed her on the floor before helping her rid herself of her jacket, boots, and scarf. Once she was only left in her little green velvet dress and thick stockings she opened her arms and Bentley stepped towards her, allowing the baby to hug her head, no matter how uncomfortable it was for her.

Brennan smiled at the dog. "She's very good with children." she commented.

Angela grinned widely. "She's amazing. I wish I had thought of getting a dog earlier. It would have saved us a ton on what we paid those dreadful nannies."

"Angela," Brennan started. "You can't seriously think that a dog would be any better of a nanny. A dog would not have been able to feed, or change, or do much for a child, other than-"

"Sweetie." Angela said, giving her friend a look.

"Oh." Brennan said. "You were being humorous?" Angela nodded. "Very good. So, a canine would be beneficial to our child's growth?"

Angela nodded, smiling as Bentley picked up one of her rope toys and held out the other end for Cristina to grab, which she did, and began to tug gently, allowing the little girl to slightly wobble on her feet, but not completely fall over just yet. Cristina giggled, causing her mother to look over at her and smile.

"She seems to like the dog very much. And Bentley is very calm." Brennan commented, smiling as the Black Lab lay down so she was only a few inches shorter than the child and was staring, almost humorously, at the girl as she continued to try to pull the toy out of her mouth, with no success.

Suddenly, Booth and Hodgins came barreling in, a completely wrapped up Michael in between them, struggling to get free.

"We got the streaker." Booth announced.

Brennan and Angela smiled, before Brennan turned to Angela. "Why does he do that? Run around the house, naked, I mean."

Angela sent a glare Hodgins's way, before answering. "Bad influences." she stated, simply. "He saw a certain someone walking around naked when nobody else was home and has been doing it ever since. Dad says it's just a phase, and to leave it alone, but it's embarrassing when there's company over. He promised to stop after we got Bentley, but he's starting to slip."

"Angela, you can't expect him to keep such a promise. He's only eighteen months old. He probably didn't understand the implications of-"

"Oh, he understands just fine." Angela said, firmly. "Apparently his IQ is above average for somebody his age. At least according to the Day Care teacher at the Jeffersonian."

Brennan beamed. "She said the same about Cristina and I do find her intelligence to much further surpass those of her peers."

Angela grinned. "Mmhmm. Now, imagine her in about eight months, and all the mischief she'll be getting into because of her intelligence."

Brennan immediately frowned. "That will not be pleasant."

Angela nodded, before turning back to the men, who still held a struggling Michael in their arms. "Take him to get dressed." she said. "And tell him that if he doesn't do it willingly, you have Mommy's permission to sew the clothes on him." She glanced daringly at Michael, whose face fell as he went limp.

Angela grinned triumphantly and waved to him, before he was carried away.

Brennan, amused, asked her, "How do you do that?"

Angela grinned, evilly. "Have you ever met my father?"

Brennan shook her head. "Not formally."

"Good. Let's home it never comes to that." She took a deep breath and smiled brightly, reaching down for the little girl, still pulling stubbornly at the dog's rope. "Crissy!" she cooed, picking up the little girl and smothering her with kisses, causing her to let go of the rope and start giggling, wildly.

"An An!" she exclaimed, hugging Angela's neck.

Angela laughed. "Hey, Baby. You got so big since I last saw you!"

"But that was-" Angela put up a hand to stop her friend. Brennan quieted.

"Wanna come with Mommy and me to finish decorating the Media Room for our party?"

Cristina nodded and pointed at Bentley. "Bennie, too?"

Angela nodded. "Of course! Come on, Ben!" she ordered before taking Brennan's hand and leading her through the massive halls, to the Media Room, Bentley trailing behind them, rope in her mouth.

"Bones, there you are!" Booth exclaimed, coming towards her as she reclined in one of the big seats, Bentley at her feet, which Cristina and Michael snoozing on the big dog's warm belly.

Brennan had been trying to distract herself from the fact that she couldn't have any alcoholic beverages for the next nine months and had been watching the babies play with the dog as everybody else sipped their beverages and she was limited to non-caffeinated soda and unsalted chips to keep away the nausea.

It was now two minutes to midnight and Booth had been searching for his wife to be able to be the first to kiss her at midnight.

Thankfully, he'd found her.

Brennan smiled at him, rising to allow him to slip in behind her, and laying back against his strong chest. Booth kissed her cheek. "Happy almost new year, Bones." he said, then reached down and patted her tummy. "You too, Baby Bones."

Brennan sighed. "Not this one, too."

Booth chuckled. "You gotta let me call at least one of them Baby Bones."

"You already call Cristina that!" Brennan protested.

Booth laughed again. "But you always yell at me when I do."

"Stop doing it then."

"Never."

They laughed in unison, almost not noticing that everybody was counting down from thirty.

"30, 29, 28..."

"I think we should get a dog." Brennan said, suddenly.

"Whoa!" Booth exclaimed. "Where did that come from?"

"Well, look how good she is with Bentley. She loves her. I think getting a dog would be very beneficial."

"Beneficial how?"

"22, 21, 20..."

"Well, she'll have company when I'm cooking and you're working on something, and vice versa. And she'll have somebody to play with when Michael and Parker aren't around. And dogs make people more sociable."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"16,15,14..."

"And look how cute she is laying on Bentley's stomach like that." Brennan said, smiling.

"She's always cute."

"But this is exceptionally cute."

"You're right." Booth said, taking out his cell phone and snapping an adorable, upside-down photo of their daughter, sleeping. "That's adorable." he said, smiling.

"10, 9, 8..."

"Alright." he said.

"Alright, what?"

"We can get a dog."

Brennan beamed at him and her lips met his just as the clock struck midnight and everybody burst into applause around them.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

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