Title: Letting Go, Part 2
Author: Caera1996
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine.
W/C: 1,302
Note / Summary: Takes place within TBoPE series. This is the continuation of rogueangel1998's original request.
This part: Leonard explains the situation with her mother to Jo.

Jim watched as Leonard filled a glass with ice and water, and then put it down on the counter without taking a sip. Turning his back to Jim, Leonard braced his hands on the counter and closed his eyes.

"How the hell am I going to explain this to her?" he muttered. "How can I answer her questions without hurting her?"

Jim looked at him sympathetically, and moved closer to him, wrapping his arms around him from behind, trying to impart comfort to him. This was still a difficult topic for Bones, he knew. Having to explain it to Joanna wasn't going to be easy.

"I don't think you can," Jim said. "Not if you're going to be honest with her."

Leonard snorted and straightened. Jim let him go as he turned around to glare at him.

"That's not really helping, Jim," he said.

Jim raised a shoulder in a half shrug, a sympathetic smile on his face. "It is what it is, Bones. It's not an easy situation…and it's gonna hurt. But I think it'll hurt her more if she doesn't get some straight answers about this."

Leonard sighed, ran a hand over his face. "I know. I just…wish there wasn't a need for her to have to ask these questions at all." He looked up and caught the expression on Jim's face before he could smooth it away.

"Oh…no. Jim – I didn't mean…"

"I know, Bones. I know. It's okay."

Leonard wanted to say more – make sure Jim reallyknew that what he'd said hadn't come out the way he'd intended—but there wasn't time right now. He could hear Jo coming down the stairs.

"Dad?" she called.

"Coming Jo. You want some water?"

"No, thank you."

Jim put a hand on Bones' shoulder, and gave him a gentle squeeze, conveying his support. "Just keep it simple, Bones. It'll be okay."

Nothingaboutthisissimple,Leonard thought as he nodded.

Jim followed Leonard out to the family room. Jo was curled up on the couch, leaning her back against the arm rest. Leonard sat on the couch next to her, and Jim brought over one of the other chairs in the room and sat so he could see both of them. He didn't really anticipate playing a role in this conversation, but Bones wanted him there, and he wanted to be there…for both of them.

Jo was looking at her father expectantly, and Bones was trying not to look uncomfortable. He might've been able to hide how unsettled about all of this from Joanna, but he wasn't able to fool Jim.

"Jo, I'm gonna be honest with you here," he said. "I don't feel ready for this conversation. But, Jim and I both feel that you deserve to know more. So…here we are. But I need you to be patient with me."

Recognizing that this was very difficult for her father, and unaccustomed to hearing and seeing him so uncertain, Joanna nodded, wide-eyed.

"Okay Daddy," she said.

Leonard took a breath and looked up at her. He hardly thought of Jocelyn any more…but he could see her in Jo's beautiful face when he looked for her.

"Okay. So…I met Jocelyn when I was pretty young…still learning to be a doctor. And we got married pretty fast."

"Why?" Joanna asked. "Did she get pregnant?"

"What? No," Leonard said, flushing slightly. He just was not used to hearing his baby girl ask a question like that so nonchalantly. "No, we were married when she got pregnant."

Joanna looked at Jim quizzically, and he knew what was coming…could see it in her eyes.

"So…why did you get married?"

Leonard sighed and shrugged slightly. "We became friends first, and we thought we'd found something in each other that we each needed. And we thought…I thought…we were in love. So…we got married. And a couple of years later, Jocelyn got pregnant."

"But she didn't want me," Joanna said quietly.

"Jo…it wasn't youshe didn't want," Jim said, glancing at Bones as he spoke. Bones nodded, reaching to take his little girl's hands.

"That's right. Jocelyn…liked the life she had. She liked the social life, and her work, and she never intended to have a child. And I…well, I was so busy all the time at the hospital, I figured that we'd cross that bridge later."

"So I was an accident?" Jo asked. Leonard gave her a look.

"You were a surprise. Jocelyn was on birth control…but she got pregnant with you. And when she told me, I just…" He stopped, shaking his head. "I felt like the baby was a gift, and I convinced Jocelyn to have you. Because once I had the thought in my head, and felt it in my heart…I wanted a baby. And then, we had you."

"And once I was born…she still didn't want me," Jo said again, her eyes starting to shine with tears.

Leonard pressed his lips together and reached out to brush a tear off her cheek.

"Some people aren't cut out to be parents, Jo. Jocelyn was one of them. She just…didn't want to share her life with anyone. So, she did the only responsible thing she could do. She told me the truth, and we decided to go our separate ways, and you came with me." He paused, looking at his beautiful baby girl, a small smile on his face. "And Baby, you were the best thing that ever happened to me."

Joanna looked up at him. "I made you and…Jocelyn…get a divorce," she said.

"We should never have gotten married," Leonard said immediately. "I didn't know it at the time, but that's not who I am…and she wasn't who I was supposed to spend my life with." He looked at Jim and reached out take his hand. "But I have neverregretted the time we had together, because she gave me you."

"Do…do you think that she'd ever want to meet me?" Joanna asked.

"I don't know Baby. Do you want to meet her?" Leonard asked, not sure how he felt about that possibility.

But Joanna surprised him. She didn't answer right away, but looked between Jim and her father for a moment, biting her bottom lip.

"I don't know. I love you, and I love you, Uncle Jim. And I love our family. And…I don't think I want to do anything to change that right now. Anyway, she didn't want a baby…why would she want a teenager? " she said, a little bitterly.

"Come here," he said. Joanna moved to him, and he wrapped her in his arms, holding her tightly and kissing her head. "I know it's hard to understand, Jo…why someone wouldn't want to be a parent…but in the end, what matters is she cared enough about what your life was going to be like to be honest about how she felt. And I will always be grateful for that."

"Me too, I guess," Joanna said.

"Do you have any other questions, Baby?" Leonard asked.

"Not right now, Daddy. I just…I'd like to just think about it for a while."

"Okay, Jo." He let her go, and she stood, moving to Jim to hug him tightly.

"I love you Oidde. I wouldn't want anyone but you anyway," she said.

"I love you too, Jo. So much. You'll let us know if you want to talk about anything else, right?"

"Right…I just…need some time alone. Thank you for telling me, Daddy."

They watched as she headed up the stairs, then turned to each other.

"Well, that went as well as can be expected," Jim said.

"You think she's going to be okay?" Leonard asked worriedly.

Jim moved to the couch, sitting beside him and urging him to relax into his embrace. "Yes, I do," he said. "She's got you."

"She's got us."