I'm Pregnant, You're the Father – The Morning After

I honestly didn't think I would write a follow up to "The Morning After," but my muse had different ideas. I'm still marking this as complete for now, but I do have a few more ideas filed away for this tale if the inspiration strikes. Fingers crossed!

Seeley Booth stretched as he rolled over in bed. He smiled when he came face-to-face with none other than Temperance Brennan. She was still asleep, a peaceful smile on her face, one arm tucked under her pillow while the other arm was resting protectively over her abdomen.

She was pregnant.

With his baby.

Booth was pretty sure this grin would be plastered on his face for the rest of eternity. He and Bones were having a baby and he wanted to scream it from the rooftops. He pulled Brennan into his embrace and closed his eyes, sent a silent prayer to the heavens above, thanking them for blessing him like this, and replayed last night's events in his mind...

They were leaving the hospital, walking together in the chilly, early springtime air. Where they were going, he wasn't quite sure. Brennan had led the way, but they weren't going towards his apartment, they weren't going towards her apartment, and they weren't heading towards the diner. He was confused – as all three off those places would have mostly like required a cab ride as they were much too far to walk to at this hour, yet here they were – walking aimlessly through town.

Her mood seemed a little bit off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what the problem was. Earlier In the day, while they were undercover, she took on the role of Wanda. She was laughing, and smiling and having a good time, but now she seemed sad, almost melancholy. She could have just been really good at adopting the persona of Wanda for the assignment, but Bones wasn't always the best actress, and that seemed too genuine to be fake, so Booth could only conclude that something happened from the end of the assignment to this moment that caused her mood to change.

They walked silently has he pondered what the issue could be. He didn't think she was jealous of Hodgins and Angela' baby, but maybe the birth of her best friend's child was bringing some unresolved issues about her own parents. Maybe she was thinking about when she asked him to be a sperm donor before they found out he had to have brain surgery, maybe she felt like her biological clock was ticking and she was finally starting to acknowledge it.

They walked another ten blocks or so in the wrong direction before Booth had to speak up. "Umm, Bones? Where are we going?"

"What?" she asked, confused, as she looked around. "Oh. I don't know. I guess I just wanted to go for a walk and enjoy your company. I wasn't really paying attention. I'm sorry."

"Is there something you'd like to talk about, Bones?"

She shrugged. "No..." That was a lie and she knew it, hell, Booth probably knew it, too. "I don't know...maybe... yes. I'm confused." She said, at a loss for words, as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Well, if you're confused, imagine how confused I am," he teased as they turned around and began to head back in the direction they just came from. There was silence for a few seconds. "You know, Bones, whatever it is, you can talk to me."

She nodded, studying his face intently, she knew she had to tell him, but she still had so many thoughts floating around inside her head that she had to stall for a little bit, just to buy some more time. "They looked so happy," she finally offered.

He knew she was referring to Hodgins and Angela. "Well, yeah. They had a baby."

A baby is a big deal, she thought before she spoke again. "Their whole lives have changed. You'd think they'd be a little more apprehensive."

"Well, you know. Having a baby... that's a good thing," he replied, contemplating whether or not he should remind Bones that Angela and Hodgins had nine months to prepare for the arrival of their baby.

He didn't get a chance to point that out to her, because her next question caught him off guard. "You really think that?" she asked, biting nervously on her bottom lip and hoping he didn't notice.

"Yeah, it's a great thing. Why... what?" He stopped suddenly so he could look at her. When she didn't say anything, he continued. "Oh, come on, Bones. Look the baby... the baby's fine, it's healthy. They had a healthy baby. Alright? They love each other. This is the happiest day of their lives. Okay?"

Bones still didn't say anything. Instead, she just continued to stare at him with an expression on her face that he has never seen from her before.

"What?" he asked, hoping she'd finally say what was on her mind and stop beating around the bush. It was very unlike her to skirt around whatever it was she wanted to say and he didn't like it.

"I'm..." she started, but then she stumbled to find the right words before she ended up letting a laugh escape. It felt so surreal to say it out loud for the first time. "I'm pregnant." Her heart was beating so fast when she said the words that for a split second she wondered if she was having a myocardial infarction – probably just a panic attack, she decided. Yes, she felt a tightening in her chest, she was struggling to breathe. It was a panic attack. Hopefully he still thought having a baby was a good thing.

Booth didn't say anything. He stared at her and looked confused, as he tried to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together.

"You're the father," she added, unsure why she felt the need to add it as an afterthought, but the words spilled out before she could stop them.

With that, Booth's confused expression turned to one of joy – pure simple joy. Slowly he smiled and she found herself mirroring his actions. Booth was pretty sure that if he was a character in a TV show or a movie right now there would be some sappy song playing in the background.

"Come here," he finally whispered softly as he tugged at the tie of her jacket and pulled her towards him. "Come here, you."

She let out a sigh of relief, her pulse finally returning to normal as she allowed herself to be swept into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, never wanting to let go.

"I love you," he whispered as he planted a kiss in her hair. "This is amazing. So amazing. You're amazing...creating this little life..."

She knit her brows together, confused. "It's a biological process, Booth."

"It's the miracle of life," he countered. They stood in silence as he held her, but then out of nowhere, he remembered that Bones was a fiercely independent woman. He thought back to the time when Bones was adamant that she didn't want to bring children into the world...what if...what if she didn't want to keep the baby. "Um, Bones?" he finally spoke, his voice uncertain.

"Hmm?" she mumbled, her face buried against his chest.

"This is important, look at me for a second," he encouraged.

"What?" she pulled away, nervous again.

"You do want this baby, right? You're not going to have an a-a-a-…." he couldn't finish the sentence.

"An abortion?!" she asked for him, as her eyebrows shot up as far as they could go.

He nodded. "I know you've had conflicting views on whether or not you wanted to bring children into the world and, well, I don't know..." He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it.

"No!" She cut him off. "No way. I know how important your faith is to you, Booth, and I know how the Catholic church feels about abortion. I would never do that to you." Something inside of her snapped, and she felt the need to "speak from her heart" - as Booth would say. "Listen to me. Okay? This baby...this baby is a part of you. I want this baby so much – in ways that I never could have possibly imagined before – I was just scared to tell you because I didn't know how you would react. I know that I'm not the best with relationships, and comprise and all that, but Booth, you have to believe me, I would never abort your baby...our baby," she corrected, tears pooling in her eyes. "Never. You understand that, right?"

He nodded slowly, pulling her safely back into her embrace, and hugging her as tightly as he could. "I never should have brought it up, Bones. I'm sorry." He placed a kiss on her temple. "Please forgive me."

She pulled away enough to look into his eyes. Always the one to look at things rationally, she didn't appear to be angry or offended that he would ask such a thing. "It was a fair question, Booth, it really was," she assured him, softly. "Especially knowing me the way you do. I can understand why you would feel the need to ask."

He took the opportunity to kiss her as passionately as he could to convey all the feelings he had towards her in the moment – admiration, amazement, joy, love, serenity, excitement, and so many more.

"Booth," she whispered against his lips as they pulled apart. "Can I make a confession?"

"Of course, Bones."

"I've wanted this baby ever since I asked you to be a sperm donor," she bit on her bottom lip. "I never wanted to give up on that dream – you are the only one I've ever wanted to have a baby with. You -just you - only you. You're the one who changed me – who changed my views on parenthood and I'm not even sure if you realized that. The world is a messed-up place these days, but our world – the one that we can create as a family – has so much potential. Where I only see black and white, you see colors, so many beautiful colors, when I only read what is written, line by line, you can read between the lines, when I tend to only follow where my brain leads me, you follow your gut and your heart. You balance me out. I couldn't possibly think of a better way to raise a child than with that dynamic. Our child will get to experience the best of both worlds...the best of science and the best of faith. Truthfully, I'm a little scared and nervous for this journey. I don't know what kind of mom I'll be, but I've seen you with Parker. You're a fantastic dad. The journey seems less scary with you by my side."

He smiled again. "I'm glad that you feel that way. Thank you for loving me that way." He brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "And you're gonna be an amazing mom, Bones. Don't ever doubt that."

"Thank you for not giving up on me."

"We're partners, life partners, lovers, mates," he throws in one of her vocabulary words just to see her smile, "we're not gonna give up on each other – no matter what."

"I know," she agreed. "I know."

They walked a few more blocks in a comfortable silence, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder, his arm wrapped protectively around her. "Booth," she spoke up again.

"Yeah, Bones?"

"I'm really tired, it's been an emotionally exhausting day. I don't think I can walk all the way back home."

"I don't think we'll find a cab at this hour in the part of town. Do you think you can make it another block to the subway? I'll carry you if you can't walk!"

"I can make it another block," she laughed. "Just keep talking to me so I don't fall asleep."

By the time they made it back to her apartment, Brennan could barely keep her eyes open. Booth had so many more questions he wanted to ask her, but he knew they could wait until morning. So instead, he had helped her change into her pajamas and get situated in bed. He kissed her forehead and then walked towards the bedroom door.

"You aren't leaving, are you? I assumed you would be staying here." She called out, her eyes still closed. They stayed together every night since Vincent Nigel Murray's death, and she didn't think he would not stay with her the night she told him she was pregnant with his child.

"I smell like an ash tray. I'm just going to take a shower and then I'll be right back."

"Good. I don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to leave either."

"Love you, Booth," she mumbled, nearly asleep.

"Love you, too, Bones," he said before leaving the room to go to the bathroom.

And now here they were the following morning. The sun was peeking through the blinds by now, and Brennan's voice jostled Booth from his trip down memory lane. "You're awake before me. That's unusual."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I had a lot to be thankful for today, I was too excited to sleep."

She smiled sleepily, still trying to wake up. "I'm glad you're happy about this. Our relationship went from zero to sixty overnight pretty much and adding a pregnancy...well..."

"I am over the moon happy," he assured her. "I know everything happened a little faster than either one of us anticipated, but that's okay. It doesn't change the big picture. I know your views on marriage... do I want to be married to you someday? Yes, of course yes. But I won't push you into anything you aren't ready for. I won't propose to you just because you are pregnant like I did with Rebecca. I pushed you too far last year when I told you I loved you, and I knew you weren't ready but I still pushed, and look what happened. It made for one terrible, messy year. I won't do that to you again, Bones. I won't. And if you never want to get married, I can live with that. As long as I am with you, that is all that matters. Besides, we basically had six years of foreplay which was a prelude to all of this... " He waved his hand in the air between them.

Brennan smiled sweetly. She wasn't entirely convinced if Booth meant what he said about marriage, or if he was just saying it as a result of the increased levels of oxytocin he was experiencing this morning. Regardless of whatever it was, she did appreciate the sentiment. "We'll find what works for us. It will just take some time."

"I know," he smiled reassuringly. "Besides, we know each other better than most married couples do. Think about everything we've been through together already – it's more than most people see in a lifetime. I've loved you so long, that sometimes it feels as if we have been a couple all along."

"I feel the same way. You're the longest relationship I ever had with a man...hell, with anyone in general. You know, some people think relationships are based on the triangular theory of love. That theory states that in order to be successful, a loving relationship requires three parts: intimacy, passion, and commitment. In some ways, you can argue that it what we've had along. Intimacy, well, that is defined as a familiarity or a close friendship – we definitely had that...there were a few bumps along the way, and we spent some time apart, but we never stopped being friends. Then, there is passion, well, I'm sure I don't need to define that to you, but it's a barely controllable emotion. We've had that passion...that chemistry ever since out first kiss, in the rain, when we almost slept together after our very first case...and I felt it again under the mistletoe and many other times, which I am sure you have felt, too. It could be the littlest thing...like our hands brushing against each other while you pass me a file, or the way you put your hand on my back and guide me through a door...little things like that. And finally, there is commitment...that's basically just a matter of being dedicated to one another. We saved each other's lives multiple times, so we had that part of the triangle, too. We met all three parts. Basically, we had a loving relationship almost all along. It was just a physical relationship we were lacking." She rationalized.

He nodded in agreement and kissed her shoulder. "It killed me inside to watch you get in that cab and drive away after we first kissed, but in a way, Bones, I think it was the best thing you could have done."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"If we slept together that night, we probably never would have made it here...to this moment, you know? It would have just been a hook up – or as you would say – the need to satisfy a biological urge. It probably would have happened a few times and just fizzled out. We were attracted to each other, but we didn't know each other."

"I think that's why we're going to be okay, Booth. Our relationship is based on the foundation of our friendship."

"Exactly," he agreed, "which most likely wouldn't have happened if you didn't get in that cab that night. It's all about fate."

She chuckled. "I don't believe in fate, but I see your point."

After a moment of comfortable silence, he reached out to touch her stomach underneath the pajama top. "Do you feel pregnant yet?" he asked, curiously, gently stroking his thumbs over her silky, smooth skin.

"It's still very early, so I don't feel too differently yet; but there are some subtle changes I have noticed. For instance, my olfactory senses have been in overdrive lately. There are some smells at the lab that make feel as if I want to emesis, when they have never bothered me before, and your cologne..."

"My cologne makes you want to throw up?" He panicked, making mental note to pour it down the drain.

"No," she laughed. "It's quite the opposite. I have always been very fond of your cologne choice, but lately I've been finding that every time I smell it I want to, oh, how do you say it? Skip your bones?" She struggled to think of the right idiom. "It is very arousing," she said seductively.

"It's - jump your bones, Bones, and I'm flattered. I'm glad I won't have to throw out my cologne," he answered with a grin.

"Please don't throw out your cologne," she eyes twinkled. "But other than smells, I just seem to be a little more tired than usual right now."

He stopped caressing her belly and moved on to caress her face. "How long did you know you were pregnant?"

"Well, my period always comes right on time, but this time it didn't. At first, I thought it was just because of the stress of everything that has been going on, but then I realized that I was ovulating that very first time we have sexual intercourse, I mean, made love," she corrected, "so, I decided I should take a pregnancy test. I came to this realization several days ago, but, to answer your question, I didn't take a pregnancy test until yesterday morning."

"And you waited all day to say something?" he asked, incredulously. He wasn't angry, just surprised that she was able to keep a "secret" that long without blurting something out.

"I didn't want to compromise the investigation by telling you before we went undercover, so I just thought it would be better to wait. But then, Angela went into labor and suddenly everything started to seem so real and life changing, and I got nervous about telling you."

"Wait a second," he began, thinking back to her demeanor yesterday. "You kept saying things about Buck and Wanda having kids someday..." he trailed off.

"Yeah," she smiled. "You know me, I can't really keep things from you, so I said them while I was in character."

"Oh, you're good."

She scrunched up her nose and smiled. "Glad you think so."

"Uh, one more question, if that's okay," he knew he had to tread lightly.

"Sure. Ask me anything. I'm an open novel."

He smiled – he knew she meant "open book" but what she said was close enough that he didn't even bother to correct her. "After you said you were pregnant...why did you say "you're the father?"

"You looked so confused, Booth, like you were afraid that I was going to tell you it was someone else's or I picked out a sperm donor like I wanted to before, only this time I didn't ask you to be the donor. Did you doubt that you were the father?"

He took her hand in his an entwined their fingers. "Honestly...I'm not sure, I was more confused than anything...but I remembered in the back of mind how you felt about monogamous relationships in the past, and we weren't on the best terms for the better part of a year, and I knew we were careful every time we made love, even that first night, so I guess I was trying to figure out if there was someone else or if we were in the two percent of the couples who get pregnant even while using a condom correctly."

She squeezed his hand. "Two percent is not zero percent; I admit the chances of successfully conceiving a child on two percent were probably increased due to the fact that I was in fact ovulating..."

He silenced her with a kiss. "I'm happy about this. I just really, really hate the idea of you carrying another man's child. I guess I am a little..."

"Possessive?" she supplied for him with a raised eyebrow.

He scowled. "I don't like that word. It makes it sound like you aren't your own person, and that I control you. I don't control you, Bones, and I'd never try to. It's just that it took so long for us to get to this point and I hate to think about anyone else sharing this with you besides me. What we have is special. I don't want to – I couldn't - share you with another man. It would kill me."

"Well," she began as she pushed him against the pillow and climbed on top of him. "We haven't been together all that long, but I can assure you that I understand the appeal in a monogamous relationship now. Our lovemaking is quite satisfying, and I suspect it will stay that way even after the so-called honeymoon phase of our relationship – and, for what it is worth, I don't want to share you either."

"No sharing. I like that."

"Good." She pressed her face against his and inhaled. "I see or should I say smell," she chuckled at her own joke, "that the scent of your cologne did in fact wash away when you showered last night, but I am still very attracted to your natural scent and am finding that I am very aroused right now."

"Oh, you are, huh?"

"Yes, I am."

"I think we should so something about that, don't you?"

"What do you have in mind?"

He grinned. "I was hoping you would show me what you had in mind."

It was her turn to grin sheepishly. "Well, it starts a little something like this..." she began as she pulled the covers over their heads.