This is the last chap, after this all loose ends shall be tied and all Madison/David/Momma Bones/Papa Booth fluff will have been had. Hope you enjoyed it, I know I did.

The last few words of the priest's prayer drifted away on the breeze and all in attendance at Samuel Cullen's funeral lifted their heads. Almost immediately the crowd began to dissipate, heading off to grieve in their own way.

Booth looked at Brennan and she nodded, drawing her black coat in closer around her body to fend off a breeze that rippled across the large cemetery.

Silently Booth released her fingers and walked around the casket to Heather Cullen, the small dark haired widow trying desperately to keep her wits about her as person after person approached to give condolences for her husband's death.

"Mom?" A voice reached her ears and Brennan turned around to face her children.

Parker wore a black suit, his shaggy hair combed for once, accentuating his need for a haircut. David stood beside him wearing a matching suit, his brown curls being whipped about furiously by the wind. Madison stood on the other side of her oldest brother in a long black fur coat that reached down just far enough to show her white tights and black sequined shoes.

"Mom is it alright if I take Dave and Sonny to the car? She says her feet hurt." Parker spoke up again while holding tight to his siblings' hands. He'd insisted on coming to the funeral. While the kids were only briefly accounted with Sam Cullen, Parker had known him for a long time, he liked the man and felt it was only right to say 'goodbye' properly.

Brennan nodded. "Go ahead Parker. Your dad and I will catch up in a few minutes."

Parker nodded and started leading the children away. Brennan turned back around in time to see Booth step forward and hug Heather.

He held her longer than usual and it became obvious by the expression on her face that he was saying something in her ear under the cover of an embrace. Whatever it was finally broke the woman's walls and tears spilled from Heather's eyes in long grief-stricken streams. She pulled back and Brennan attempted to read her lips. 'Thank you' was all she could make out.

Booth just nodded in response and a few of Cullen's brothers approached, gently leading Heather away from her husband's casket and back to the rows of cars parked along the street.

He stood still and watched her go, the silence that had now descended in the gardenlike setting was refreshing. His own thoughts were swirling loudly in his brain and the quiet was grounding in a way. The report he'd gotten mere minutes before the funeral, regarding the bomb that caused Cullen's death, only served to stir them up more and he found his own heartbeat deafening.

He sensed her approach from behind and without thinking he reached for her hand, searching for something to hold him steady and knowing she always would.

"Seeley?" Brennan reached up wrapped her other hand around his, nearly encasing it. "I'm sorry about Cullen, Seeley. I know you two were close friends."

Brennan remembered well how Booth had worked Amy Cullen's case diligently, even before it was officially under FBI jurisdiction, using his sick days until it was. Brennan knew Sam Cullen's death was affecting her husband more than he let on.

"Yeah, we were Temperance." He said quietly, his eyes remained transfixed on the spot on the ground where Heather Cullen stood.

Brennan squeezed his hand but received no response. She would have let it go, chalked it up to grief, but there was something in his eyes…

"Seeley, is there something else?"

Taking a deep breath, Booth pulled himself out of his trance and looked at her, surprised to find her eyes as watery as his own.

I have to tell her.

"Yeah there is." He moved to sit in a few chairs nearby and she followed, their hands still linked when she sat down.

"They, the bomb squad, they pinpointed the origin of the explosion." He looked up at her questioning face and smiled ruefully, "I guess Ortez was a bit closer than we thought."

Brennan frowned, trying to understand why he would smile like that while delivering this news. Glancing back at him she realized that smile was completely superficial, thinly covering his sad eyes.

"Seeley…what are you saying?" she asked, her voice quivering ever so slightly.

"Temperance…what I'm saying is that bomb was meant for me. The explosion originated in my office." Booth watched silently as Brennan closed her eyes for a moment and noticed the color in her cheeks and nose, a reaction to the unusually cold air.

When she turned those blue oceans back on him a familiar panic lay within them and he immediately took her face in his hands.

"Listen carefully okay?" She nodded, still searching for her voice, "Forensics found pieces of the bomb and were able to match the fingerprints to Jorge Vargas, the man…"

"From the burnt out car." Brennan finished for him. "The man my father killed for going after David."

Booth nodded, his hand still holding her head firmly in place.

"That's right. I don't want you to panic okay? I'm fine. It's over."

Brennan nodded and pulled away from him.

"I know that. I know." She said repeatedly, progressively getting quieter, "I just need a second okay?"

Booth nodded and stood, approaching the head of Cullen's casket.

He placed his palm against the cool polished wood and smiled slightly.

Goodbye old man…it won't be the same without you.

After a few moments he felt arms slip around behind him and Brennan's face pressed into his back. Withdrawing his hand, he turned in her arms, waiting patiently until she'd composed herself enough to look up at him.

She finally did and he instinctually wrapped his arms tighter around her small frame, wishing to melt her into him where he could protect her forever.

"You're safe?" Brennan asked quietly.

"I'm safe." He assured her, kissing her forehead briefly. "We all are."

Brennan nodded, taking a few deep breaths.

"Okay."

He raised his eyebrows. "Okay?"

Brennan nodded. "Okay."

Booth smiled and leaned down to kiss her. A kiss filled with all the passion, strength, assurance and love that he could give her.

"Mom! Dad! Can we go now?" David's voice burrowed into their clouded minds and Brennan had to smile.

"I should really tell him to stop yelling." She whispered, her forehead still pressed up against his.

"Yeah…but maybe wait until we're close enough that you don't have to yell in order to do it."

Brennan agreed and side-by-side they made their way over to the children where every door to the SUV was flung open and The Who played softly out of the radio.

"Hey dad can I drive?" Parker asked hopefully from his seat behind the steering wheel. Booth only laughed as he got to his side of the car.

"Three years Parker. Just three more years."

Parker hung his head but promptly vacated the driver's seat and joined Madison and David in the back.

"Parker will you finish buckling up Sonny please?" Brennan asked, climbing in the passenger door.

Parker did and then assisted David with his seatbelt.

"Mommy, can we go to Wong Fu's for lunch?" Brennan twisted around to face Madison.

"I don't know Sweet…oh no."

"What?" Booth turned and followed Brennan's gaze to the backseat, where his youngest child, and only daughter, wore an unmistakably charming smile.

He whipped off his sunglasses to be sure he was seeing what he thought she saw.

"When did she learn to do that?" He demanded, moving his gaze from his two sons, laughing openly at the shocked expression on his face, to his wife who was barely holding back her giggles.

"It's not funny! The boys didn't learn that until they were at least four!" He shoved his glasses back on his face and glared at the road ahead.

Brennan shrugged and smirked at her husband.

"What can I say Boothy-Boo? She's a quick learner…takes after her mother, you know."

Booth glared at his wife over his sunglasses before flicking his eyes up to the rear view mirror where he could see a red Toyota tailgating him and an illegally cute Madison braiding her doll's hair, completely unaware of the distress she'd just caused her father.

Booth just shook his head.

This is not good. Not good at all.

THE END

That's all folks! I hope you enjoyed the ride.