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Chapter 18

Brennan woke to the dull sound of a coffee machine brewing. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times to clear her blurred vision. It was dark, but a light shone from the corner of her eye. She looked over to see Booth in his kitchen, wearing only sweatpants. She quickly brought a shaking hand to the side table lamp, twisting the switch. She heard a click, and his living room was bright.

"Bones, you're awake," She heard Booth say from the kitchen.

She stood from the couch, scratching her head. She noticed that her hair was tangled, but she didn't really care.

"Yeah," She said softly, "Are you going to work?"

"No," He said, taking the pot out of the coffee maker, "I just wanted coffee to settle my nerves," he told her honestly.

She wished she could do that.

But caffeine wasn't good for the baby.

"Oh," she said, going back into the living room.

She looked around, there wasn't much to do here in the middle of the night. She walked over to the window, separating the blinds with her fingers, and taking a look outside. There were cars on the road, people getting an early start for the day she presumed. She thought about it, and realized she didn't even know what day of the week it was. Or the date. She was pretty sure it was late November though, early December maybe? It had been snowing yesterday, but it wasn't cold enough for it to stick. So it had to be winter... she didn't remember celebrating Thanksgiving yet either. Booth wouldn't give that up, would he?

"What'cha looking at?"

Brennan jumped when she heard Booth's voice behind her, and she looked over to see him standing close behind, sipping at his coffee.

"Just, the streets..." She said, shrugging.

As Brennan looked at Booth, in his saggy sweatpants and disheveled hair along with his prickly stubble, she couldn't help but feel attracted to him. There was something admittedly sexy about him early in the morning, or in the middle of the night. She felt like a mess, on the other hand. She was still in regular clothes, not having changed into pajamas before she fell asleep the night prior. Her hair must have looked funny as well, she could feel it wasn't exactly in place. And her makeup was probably smeared around her eyes.

How could he look so good with no effort?

"Hello? Bones?"

She met Booth's warm brown stare, and noticed that she had been zoning out for a little longer than she thought.

"Can we go somewhere today? Even if it's just out to diner?" She asked, kind of suddenly.

Booth kind of looked at her strangely, tilting his head to the side, "Yeah, of course we can go to dinner. Where to?"

"There's this place downtown I've been wanting to try for a while... It's Italian," She said persuasively.

"Sounds like my kinda place," He said enthusiastically, waggling his eyebrows.

Brennan chuckled at Booth's expression. It was nice to have him as a friend, he took care of her. And she appreciated it.

Line Break

"That looks a little hot."

"No, it's just fine."

Booth and Brennan were at the restaurant, it was a family pizza place in Washington. Their atmosphere was very fancy, but they were a little family owned business that had several kids running around inside. Their walls were decorated with paintings of what looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and several other buildings that fit the setting. A few arcade games sat in the back, where most of the children were gathered.

Brennan had an order of whole wheat pasta, minus the sauce, and was enjoying it. Booth had ordered a few slices of pepperoni pizza for himself. It was pretty casual, nothing fancy.

Brennan was really glad to get out of the apartment, even if it was a casual pizza place. It was a time where she could get away from everything else out there. No work, no bones, no murders, so snooping friends... she could just relax. Take a break from everything.

"I think I'm going to go into work tomorrow," She said, taking a bite of spaghetti.

"Good for you, we need to solve more cases. The FBI isn't very proud of all the time I've been taking off recently..." He said hesitantly.

"It's perfectly understandable. You have been taking a lot of time off to be with me, which I appreciate," She told him honestly, "But it's not very good to take excessive vacation time."

"Exactly," He said, chewing his food, "And it will help, you know, make things more normal again."

She nodded, "What would you think if I went back to my own apartment?" She asked, slightly out of the blue.

"No, no, no, no, nope," Answered Booth simply. He knew that question would be coming soon, and he was prepared to answer.

"Why not?" She asked, somewhat like a child. "I'm fine now, and I want to be able to do things by myself."

"Absolutely not."

"Booth, you're really starting to annoy me," She said, slumping back into her chair.

"Too bad, you're stuck with me. I'm not leaving you alone," He said, sipping his Coca Cola.

Brennan knitted her brow, giving Booth an angry look. She knew what had happened was bad, but it was a while ago. She didn't go outside alone at night anymore, he had been by her side her whole the recovery. Did he really need to hold her hand the whole way? Like a child and their mother? She didn't need him anymore.

Or at least that's what she told herself.

Booth wore an expression that was just as annoyed as hers. But it was more aimed at her stubborn attitude. "Listen Bones, I know you think you're ok on your own, but... I can't let anything else happen to you. I already blame myself for what happened," He said, looking away for a second, then returning his gaze, "I don't need anymore guilt on top of that."

Brennan's face softened at his warm words. She looked at his eyes, their brown color lightening her spirits. She smiled a little, restraining herself from going over and giving him a hug.

"Thanks Booth."

Booth smiled in turn, giving her a warm, loving stare.

They sat silently, eating their food for a few minutes.

"I made a doctor appointment today, you know, for the baby," She said, feeling awkward saying it.

"Oh... When is it?" Asked Booth, looking up from the table.

"Next week," She said, twirling her leftover spaghetti with her fork.

"...Cool," Said Booth, not really sure what else to say in the situation.

"I was wondering," Brennan bit her bottom lip nervously, "Would you want to come with me?" She asked, looking at him with sad, ocean blue eyes.

"Um, sure. Anything that helps," He said, also uncomfortable with the awkwardness of the conversation. "I mean, yeah, if you want me to."

Brennan let out a metal sigh, thanking the universe that he had said yes. The last thing she wanted was to go get a checkup by herself. Although, she wouldn't admit that.

"What are they going to do?" Booth asked, curiously.

"Probably take an ultrasound," She said, moving in her seat uncomfortably.

"So we'd get to see the baby?" He asked.

Brennan wasn't sure what it was, but there was definitely a glimmer of something in Booth's eyes that she had missed seeing. Was it hope? Or happiness?

"Well, it wont look like a baby really, more like... a dot the size of an olive," She shrugged.

"It's still a baby though," He smiled. "Have you thought of names yet?"

"Not really, I haven't thought about anything really. I don't want to talk about it," She admitted.

"Cheers, Bones," Said Booth, raising his plastic coke glass.

"What for?" She giggled, grabbing onto her glass of water as well.

"To new life," he smiled, moving his cup to halfway between them.

"Cheers."

They drank quietly, and right after Booth had asked for the check, Brennan told him what she had been thinking most about the whole dinner.

"I believe it's a boy," She said, drinking the last of her water.

"Why do you think that?"

"I just have a feeling."

Unfortunately, someone out there has somewhat copied this story. It upsets me, and I hope they take it down. So who ever you are, please take it down. I work hard on this story, and It's not fair that you're taking credit for what I wrote.

So, give me your best baby names!