A/N: Sorry I've taken ages to post this chapter but I had a lot of trouble writing it. Hope you enjoy it and that it was worth the wait.

Briefing had gone well into the night. A last-minute meeting had been called by David Pharatt's lawyer in order to do some tweaking to a plan that was, according to Booth, already perfect. By the time the tweaking had been done, the sun had long set and the moon had already climbed as high as it would go for that night. It was in yawns that everyone bid each other good night and climbed into their vehicle.

The house had been quiet when Temperance and Booth had set foot inside. The only light had come from a series of blue-colored flashes made by the television in the living room, left turned on by the babysitter asleep on the couch. Temperance had awoken her while Booth had waited in the entrance to drive the young teen home. By the time he had come back, the clock had shown one o'clock.

"There's just no way..."

The annoying voice of the latest number-one singer rose the couple from their short sleep. Groaning in unison, they both turned simultaneously towards the inside of the bed and snuggled back against their pillows.

"We have to get up." Temperance mumbled, sleepily.

"Five more minutes." Booth replied, reaching over to his wife and pulling her closer to him.

Temperance sighed happily as she let herself sink back into the comfortable realm of sleep, where no ghosts and no murders could reach her.

The sound of hurried footsteps in the hallway reached her ears telling her Lukas was already up and on his way to the bathroom. Untangling herself from Booth's embrace, she sat up in her bed and yawned.

"I'll make breakfast. You get your daughters up." She told him before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and getting up.

She heard a mumble coming from behind her as she walked towards the hallway but decided to ignore it. Sleepily, she made her way to the kitchen.

The sun bathed most of the room when Temperance walked in, making her squint before her eyes slowly adjusted to the new amount of light. Mechanically, she went to the cupboards and began taking out everything she would need to make breakfast. Cereals for Lukas, bread and raspberry jam for Riley. Cinnamon and apple oatmeal for Brina, bagels and coffee for her and Booth. Same old thing. And as Temperance took out plates and bowls from the cupboard beside the sink, she found herself wondering, just like she did every morning, just when her life had taken such a monotone routine.

She was pulling up Brina's high chair to the table when Lukas walked in the kitchen.

"Good morning Sweetie." Temperance said, looking up at her son.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of her nine-year-old son, hair criss-crossed on the top of his head.

Lukas nodded sleepily before sitting down at his usual spot and grabbing the box of cereal which stood in front of him.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. What time did you get home last night?"

"Midnight." Temperance replied as she sat down across from her son. "Are your sisters up?"

Lukas simply shrugged.

"How about your dad?"

"I don't know."

Temperance frowned and sighed impatiently. Lukas looked up briefly at his mother before looking back down at the cereal box. Even though he had played the games on the box several times, it was better to do them once again than having to listen to his mother complain that they were going to be late again.

Temperance had been about to get up for the third time when Riley finally stepped into the room, her dark brown eyes thick with sleep.

"Hey Rye."

"Hi mom." Riley simply yawned before sitting down beside her twin brother. "Dad said he'll be right down with Bree."

Temperance nodded as she got up and stepped over on the other side of the counter. She was putting two slices of bread in the toaster when heavy footsteps in the stairs told her Booth was on his way down. She looked up in time to find him walking in the kitchen.

"We have a problem."

"What do you mean sick?"

Booth stared intently at his wife, Brina still asleep in his arms.

There was a short silence during which Temperance's interlocutor must have been explaining what was wrong. The frown on his wife's features only deepened.

"I'm very sorry to hear that. No, no, it's okay. You stay home and rest."

Then, looking over at her husband, she added:

"We'll figure something out. Take care, Nancy."

On that, she hung up.

"Well, we have no nanny today. Nancy is sick, she won't be able to come over. What are we going to do?"

"We can just bring her." Booth replied as he glanced down at his asleep daughter in his arms.

Reaching over, Temperance touched her daughter's forehead. Warm.

"We can't bring her to court with us, Booth."

"Why not? We'll take turns watching over her. We'll just sit out in the hall and wait for the other to come back."

"How is that going to work?"

"Well since you testify first, I can take the first shift. I'll wait just outside the courtroom while you testify and then when you're done, meet me outside and we'll switch."

Temperance frowned, still skeptic.

"Trust me. It'll work out. Then when we're done, you can go to the Jeffersonian and I'll come back here with her."

"Booth, I..."

"Trust me."

One look into his dark brown eyes and Temperance knew she would agree to his crazy plan. Her gaze shifted to her youngest daughter and she immediately felt her throat constrict. Brina had never been sick before. Sure, she had had her share of ear infections as a baby but that had been the extent of it.

Looking back up at her husband, who was staring at her worriedly, she forced a smile.

"Okay."

Everyone had gathered in front of the courtroom and only David Pharatt was missing from that group when the Booths arrived, sick daughter at their side. All eyes turned to them and eyebrows shot upwards at the sight of the special agent, diaper bag on the shoulder and daughter in his arm.

"A baby?" Jason Triggs asked, surprised.

His eyes immediately shifted from the asleep toddler to the diaper bag then finally to Booth.

"This is our daughter Brina. She's sick and so is her nanny." Booth began to explain. "We couldn't find another babysitter. We had no choice but to bring her along."

Triggs nodded, unsure of what else to say. He himself had no children of his own and, if truth be told, he didn't want any. Gazing one more time at the blond head resting on her father's shoulder, he turned back to the group.

"The appeal starts in ten minutes. We better get ready."

Everyone agreed.

As the group began stepping inside the courtroom, Booth turned to his wife.

"Meet me outside as soon as you can."

Temperance opened her mouth to reply but one look from Booth told her she was worrying for nothing. Nodding, she gave him a quick kiss before heading off to the courtroom. Momentarily puzzled as to why his wife had kissed him in public and in a professional environment, he couldn't help the smile that stretched on his face as he headed to a bench at the far end of the entrance.

Sitting down, he set the diaper bag beside him. Brina was still in his arms and by her steady breathing, he could tell she was asleep. Strengthening his hold on her, he leaned his head back slowly until he felt it hit the cold marble wall behind him. The lack of sleep was finally getting to him but he knew he couldn't fall asleep. Now wasn't the time. He needed to be alert. He wasn't scared of Jason Triggs or his colleague Rebecca but he certainly needed to stay on his toes.

It had been obvious to him from the start that Pharatt had been innocent. There had been something in that man's eyes that had told him someone in the system hadn't done their job properly, whether it had been the cops involved in the investigation, Pharatt's lawyers or simply the jury itself. Pharatt's eyes had told a different story. Booth had immediately seen himself in them, seen himself in the man's position. From the moment he had seen the sadness and the slight dementia in the gray orbs of his, he had known. He had known an innocent man had been incarcerated.

He knew Judge Lenoy. He knew she would hear the man out before making the slightest decision. She was the best judge to have sat in that chair in ages, Booth believed. And today, he had to admit, coming across good judges was something difficult to do.

The sound of high heels echoed off the walls somewhere in the building. If Booth simply listened to the noise surrounding him, he wouldn't succumb to his tired body. He was getting too old for this. As much as he loved the action of working on the field, his body just wasn't able to hold up. He had four kids to take care of. Parker had recently turned sixteen and along had come a phase he had never gone through just yet: rebellion. He wasn't afraid that his son would turn into a criminal but hearing him talk back to his mother and now to him, he couldn't believe this tall teenager had once been the sweet five-year-old blond boy he had presented to Temperance so many years ago. Even Riley was beginning to be scared of him and Lukas had drifted apart from his older brother as well. It saddened him to see all of this unravel before his eyes and he just hoped that things would turn out okay in the end.

He felt Brina move in his grasp, probably trying to find a more comfortable position to sleep.

He knew Temperance was worried about her daughter. She didn't say anything but her eyes spoke volumes. There was no doubt in his mind that Febril had had a deep impact on her. They hadn't really talked about it since then but knowing her the way he did, he knew that she had been worried sick and had been scared of losing them both. She hadn't, of course, and they even had a beautiful daughter out of this crazy period in their life but she probably felt as though their death still hung above her, that at any second now, it could take one of them from her. She had been abandoned several times in her life and even though Booth had promised never to do the same thing, he wasn't as sure anymore if he would have the possibility to keep that promise.

What he did know is that Brina didn't have Febril. There hadn't been any real cases in the past two years and after Riley's recovery and his own, things had gone uphill for several others. More than half of the cases reported in the city of Washington and its surroundings had turned out for the best and the patients had recovered. Since then, no one had heard from this strange disease again and most, other than the families of the victims, had forgotten all about it. And, Booth had to admit, he couldn't blame them.

In spite of everything that had happened to them since they had first become a family, he couldn't say he wasn't happy with the way things had turned out. Having the twins had been a real challenge at first, especially when Riley had been brought home. He had quickly realized that, while taking care of one baby was manageable, taking care of two at the same time was a real challenge.

Then there had been the learning disabilities. Booth had seen right away that Lukas was going to be the smart one out of the two. The way his brain processed information reminded Booth of his wife. Yet, despite his amazing intelligence, Lukas wasn't much into books or science as Booth thought he was going to be. There had been a phase during which science had been a passion for his son but that phase was long gone and had been replaced by playing outside with his friends, climbing trees and playing in the dirt.

Riley, on the other end, had slowed down. She had been the first one to walk, the first to say Mama (which quickly turned into Mommy) and the first to have teeth. But then three years old had come around and all progress had stopped. It had been like what she was now learning was too complex for her brain to process. A trip to a psychologist had told them pretty much what the doctors had feared three years earlier; that because of her lack of oxygen, chances were she was going to have learning disabilities.

Hearing that had of course troubled him but now, six years later, Booth wondered if maybe they hadn't overreacted. The second Riley had been taken out of her special class, she had done a lot of progress. Sure, she still had troubled processing what she was learning. As one of the school psychologist had explained to them:

"It's like there is a big traffic jam inside your daughter's head. All the information is lined-up bumper to bumper and is waiting impatiently to come through."

As much as he hadn't like that description back then and had had the urge to punch the doctor in the face, Booth couldn't deny that it was probably what was going on inside his daughter's mind. But today, at nine years old, she was able to follow in a regular class.

Of all the things that had happened to them, the one thing he still couldn't believe was that, on the night he proposed, Temperance had said yes.

There had been no huge set-up. The question had simply fallen from his lips one night while he was holding her close, the warmth of her body heating up his own on that cold December night. She had said yes and he had felt as though the breath had been knocked out of him. His heart had momentarily stopped beating and he remembered looking down at him to see if she was teasing him. But her face had been serious, her eyes twinkling in the moonlight and Booth knew she had meant her answer.

Sure life hadn't been easy for them but he doubted that every marriage worked as well as theirs. At first, he had been scared that the relationship they had once had would be changed forever, that they would lose the strange connection that seemed to link them together from day one. Of course, it had changed but, to him, it had changed for the best. Even after all these years, they were still the best friends in the world and deeply in love. He smiled at the thought that his children would grow up in a loving home and not one torn by hate and arguments.

A door opened somewhere and more footsteps echoed off the marble walls. He opened his eyes to find his wife walking towards him. He must have dozed off for he couldn't remember how long it had been since she had walked into the courtroom.

"It's your turn." She told him.

Booth nodded. Setting his daughter on the bench, he got up. Then, as out of the blue as she had done herself, Booth kissed her deeply before walking away.

Turning around, Temperance watched him walk away.

There was a good chance David Pharatt would walk away a free man by the end of the day. Now that she had testified and heard the others do the same, she was positively sure. It seemed more than unfair that David Pharatt would have to go back to his prison cell tonight, especially after all the new evidence that had been found. But she was confident. They made a great team and, together, they would set Pharatt free.

Temperance felt her daughter wiggle beside her. Gazing down at her child, she found the toddler staring right back at her.

"Mommy, thirsty."

"You're thirsty?"

Rubbing her eye with her fist, Brina nodded.

Pulling the diaper bag to her, Temperance reached inside for her daughter's cup, which had been filled with water before they had left.

Sitting up, Brina grabbed the cup from her mother's hands and immediately began sucking gingerly on the beak. Her brown eyes met her mother's blue ones and Temperance couldn't help the strong feeling of love she instantly felt.

Even after all these years, it still scared her. It scared her to know how much she loved her children and how devastated she would be if something ought to happen to them. She only had to think to what had happened to Melanie Pharatt, or even only to Mickey, to become scared that something similar could happen to her children.

The state of the world today had been one of the reasons she hadn't wanted children in the first place. To raise something so pure and innocent in a world torn by hatred, violence and death was something she just couldn't conceive. That, mixed with her fear of being a horrible mother, had convinced her that not having children, despite what the world would think, was a better choice.

So much had changed since she had made that choice that she could hardly believe she had taken such a decision in the first place. Not only had she had three children, but she had gotten married, something she had sworn she would never do since she couldn't see the utility. So many marriages ended up in divorce after only two or three years, she just couldn't understand why people got married in the first place.

She wasn't quite sure why she had said yes to Booth either when he had proposed. So many things had changed since they had first met. She had changed, they had changed. They had grown up in some way, transformed in something they hadn't been before 'them'. They had created some sort of a world for them where they completed each other and it had just made sense for her to say yes, no matter what her opinions on marriage had been back then. After years of fighting against an inner demon who had been scared of by abandoned, she had finally learned to let go of that fear and live. Maybe that had been the reason she had said yes. She had known that Booth would never leave her voluntarily, that he would always be there for her. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Booth was the only one who could calm the demon inside of her. And as much as she hated psychology, she knew this was the only way to describe how she felt.

She loved her husband and she loved her kids. They formed a rare kind of family, a kind that had almost completely disappeared. Nine years a couple and close to five years of marriage later and they were still together and happily in love.

She felt Brina tug at her sleeve and she looked down to find the toddler lifting her cup towards her.

"All done."

Smiling at her daughter, she gently took the cup from her hands and put back in the diaper bag.

She expected her daughter to curl up on the bench once more and go back to sleep but, to her surprise, Brina climbed on her lap and snuggled comfortably against her. Momentarily stunned, it took Temperance a few seconds before wrapping her arms around her daughter and pulling her even closer. She heard her daughter sigh contentedly before bringing her thumb in her mouth and slowly closing her eyes.

Temperance's heart beat rapidly in her chest. It had been ages since one of her children had snuggled against her. She couldn't even remember the last time Riley or Lukas had done something similar. They always went to their father, who they probably saw as the 'emotional' parent.

It had always been like that. Comfort had always been sought in their father while their accomplishment, especially in school, had always been told to their mother. Hugs and kisses had always been an awkward interaction between her and her children. Booth had told her numerous times that the twins probably felt that and that was why they always went to him but she wanted so much to be the mother she wished she could be.

She had had the best mother. Christine (despite knowing her mother's real name, she would always remember her mother as Christine the bookkeeper) had always been there for her, consoled her when she cried, sing to her when she couldn't fall asleep at night and comforted her when she was scared. She showered her with hugs and kisses until Temperance would order to her to stop, mortified in embarrassment at such a public display of affection. Her mother had always supported her in everything she had done. She had been the best mother... until she had taken off.

She wanted to be like that. She wanted to be like Christine had been with her but as much as she wanted it, she just didn't feel capable of it. Every hug seemed awkward, every kiss felt forced. She loved them, but she was incapable of showing them. She was incapable of being like her mother. There was something stopping her, preventing her from being what she thought was a good mother, a real mother.

Brina's breathing had steadied and Temperance knew she was sleeping. Asleep like this in her arms, thumb in her mouth, Brina looked vulnerable and, instinctively, Temperance strengthened the hold she had on her and, resting her chin on her daughter's head, she quietly hummed the song her mother had often sang to her as a child.

Her eyes shot open and she jumped, startled by all the commotion. She looked down at Brina who was still asleep in her arms before bringing her eyes up to find Booth walking quickly towards her.

In an instant, she was on her feet, Brina still in her arms.

"And?" She asked, her heart racing madly.

"Innocent."

"What?"

"He's free!"

A smile stretched across her face and she turned her gaze from her husband to look for the man who had recently been set free. She found him shaking hands with his lawyer.

Handing her daughter to Booth, she quickly made her way to the freed prisoner.

"Thank you, Dr. Booth." David Pharatt said, grabbing the woman's hand. "Thank you for everything you have done for us."

"I only did my job, Mr. Pharatt."

"Well keep up your good work and I hope you find the son of a bitch who killed my daughter."

Temperance forced a smile.

"I'll do my best."

"You and Agent Booth do some great work together. You've already managed to prove that I didn't push my daughter down those stairs. I have faith in you, Dr. Booth. I know without a doubt that you will find my daughter's killer and put a rest once and for all to those murders."

Temperance nodded politely. She turned to find Booth standing beside her.

"Who is that?" Pharatt asked, turning to Brina.

"Our daughter, Brina." Booth replied.

Pharatt nodded.

"Brina. It's Gaelic for protector, isn't it?"

Temperance frowned.

"How do you know that?"

"Brina was the name of my deceased sister as well as Melanie's middle name."

Temperance simply nodded.

"What are you going to do now that you are free?"

"The prison has arranged to find me an apartment but I think the first I'm going to do is get my haircut."

Booth and Temperance chuckled.

"I was planning on visiting Melanie's grave but I guess that will have to wait."

"The bones will be reburied once the investigation is over."

"I know. Thank you again, for everything you had done. I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for you."

"You're welcome, Mr. Pharatt." Booth replied.

Nodding one more time to the couple, Pharatt walked away.

"Ready to go back to work?" Booth asked his wife.

"Yes."

"Then let's go."

The music from his cellphone reached his ears the second his foot touched the last step. Barging into the living room, he picked it up and was about to answer when the gadget fell quiet. The words 1 Missed appeared on the small screen. He waited, in case the caller had decided to leave his a message. Setting down the cellphone on the coffee table where it had laid only a few seconds earlier, he went to the kitchen to get something to eat.

As he walked in the kitchen, a weird feeling washed through him and he felt a shiver run down his spine. Suddenly, the home phone on the counter seemed to be staring intently at him, as though trying to send him a message.

Before he knew what was happening, Booth found himself being pushed towards his phone and dialing his work number. He listened to the rings in mild anxiety. When he heard his voice telling him to leave a message, he typed in his password.

"You have one message." The robotic voice told him.

Booth nodded.

There was a short silence before a man's voice came on.

"Agent Booth, my name is Rowan Kresic. I heard you were working on the 53 Maple Street case. I might have some information for you."

Booth pressed the receiver closer to his ear, his heart beating loudly in his ears.

"I'll talk to you but you'll need to come down to California. I can't go back to Virginia. He'll know. It's the only way I'll talk. Call me when you land."

And before Booth even had the chance to process what the young man had just said, Booth heard the click telling him Rowan had hung up.