"I never understood why Clark Kent was so hell bent on keeping Lois Lane in the dark." - Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife
6.
Booth suppressed a smile as he felt Brennan's gaze on him. It was less than a week to Christmas and he knew he was driving her insane. He watched her pace across the living room as he reached out for a sip of his beer: the Flyers were playing the Rangers and they were losing.
Finally, she spoke up, "When I spoke to Russ last night he mentioned having us over on Boxing Day. Should I tell him to expect us?"
He shrugged. "I don't know Bones, we might be busy."
She stared at him. "Doing what, exactly? Those nebulous plans for taking walks and building snowmen that you are so fond of?"
He glanced briefly over at her from the TV before looking back. She was standing near the kitchen with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "Well, yeah, but I have a few other surprises up my sleeve for next week as well. Tell you what, I'll give Russ a call and we'll figure out a time to get together."
"When?"
"What?"
"When will you call Russ?"
"What?" Temperance moved to stand in front of the TV and he craned his neck to see the picture behind her. "Bones, you're blocking the screen."
"I know Booth. Since you're so comfortable sitting in that position, I decided to make it easier for you to look at me when we're having this conversation."
"There's seven minutes left. Can we talk later?"
"No. I'm tired of waiting."
"Please?" He tried out his charm smile, but let it drop as her expression darkened. "Come on, what's seven minutes going to hurt?"
She stared at him, finally stepping away and down the hallway with her shoulders drooping slightly. "Fine."
He watched her go and with her went his previous feelings of smugness. This wasn't what he'd meant to do, irritate her yes, pissing her off, no. He'd just wanted to tease her a bit; add to the anticipation of the holidays. He hadn't lied about having surprises up his sleeve – he had a big one that he couldn't wait to spring on her. It was their first Christmas as a couple, it had to be special. He glanced back at the screen in time to see the Rangers score another goal with under 6 minutes to go and sighed. He finished off his beer and shut off the TV.
She was sitting on their bed staring at the wall blankly. She didn't look at him as she spoke. "I think it would be best if we spent some time apart right now."
He couldn't help himself, he panicked. "What? No way Bones, we live together - you can't run from me this time."
She glared at him. "I'm not running! I'm sitting! You don't get to accuse me of that right now!"
"You're the one talking about spending time apart, what else am I supposed to think?"
"You were supposed to give me the benefit of the doubt1 You were supposed to think that I was mad at you and didn't want to fight with you right now, not leap to an unfounded conclusion."
"You're mad at me?" He frowned, realizing his suspicion had been correct. He'd pushed it too far.
"Yes Booth. Yes! I'm mad at you! Why do you keep brushing me off when I ask you about our holiday plans? Are you afraid I'll ask you to do something unpleasant or boring? Angela tells me that the first Christmas with your significant other should be memorable milestone in a relationship."
"Jeez Bones, it's just the holidays, it's not that big of deal." Damn, he thought, she was more than pissed, she was furious at him.
"Not a big deal? You won't even discuss it Booth and as far as I know the only plan you have is to watch television and play in the snow. I can't sit around and do nothing for a week Booth! I have tried to be patient, to do things your way, but you won't allow me any leeway. There's an expression about climbing up the walls? I am ready to do that, because all my alternatives appear to be blocked! I am not allowed to work, either here or away. I am apparently not allowed to visit my family. I obviously can't go anywhere by myself, as you would consider it yet another example of me abandoning you. I feel trapped!"
"You really think spending a few days doing nothing with me is that bad?" He was slightly hurt at the way she was reacting.
She bit her lip and looked away.
Finally, he sighed. "Look, I may or may not have something planned that I'd like to surprise you with, okay? Can you just trust me on this?" He watched her clench her hands together tightly, but got no response. "Bones? Hey. Please?" He moved to sit beside her but she shifted away abruptly.
"Please leave me alone for a while Booth." She avoided looking at him as she paced across the room, picking up the dirty laundry she found strewn in her path.
He sighed. "No Bones, tell me what's wrong."
"I have told you what's wrong and you continue to brush it off as nothing." She threw the clothes into the hamper and let the lid slam shut.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I've been trying to surprise you, you know? Do something nice for you."
She whirled to face him. "It doesn't feel nice. It feels controlling."
"Whoa Bones! That's not it at all."
"Really? Then why is it I have to make all the compromises? Why is it that when I make plans or try to do something nice for us, you shoot it down? Why is it that you get to sulk in solitude when you're mad at me, but I have to talk to you the moment I get upset? Why can't you ever let me do what I want to do? Why is it always your way?"
"It's not always my way," he protested, thinking of the endless hours he'd sat in the audience at the last conference she'd lectured.
"No? 'Come on, what's seven minutes going to hurt?' Does that ring the bells? 'Christmas and skeletons don't mix Bones'. How about, 'Put away your computer Bones, it's the weekend. You can't work on the weekends.' Every single time I've given in to you because I thought that's what people in relationships do."
He reacted badly to her taunts with one of his own. "That's not what this is about. What you're really upset about is that I didn't want to go dig up bodies for three weeks in the jungle."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Was I looking forward to it? Yes. Was I disappointed that you didn't consider it? Yes. Am I mad at you for not wanting to spend your holiday that way? No. Booth, you enjoy different things than me and since the point was to spend time with you, I have accepted your decision."
"You make it sound like I refused only for myself. You can't work all the time Bones. It's important to take time off and enjoy life with the people you love."
"I understand that Booth, and that's why I accepted your answer. But now that we're living together, I have no time to spare on anything but criminal cases and you! I am struggling to find time for my normal duties at the Jeffersonian as well as working on my next book, attending conferences, writing articles… It's even been difficult to find time to spend with Angela alone because you seem to expect me to include you in every facet of my life."
He scoffed, "I don't do that."
"No? You complain when I work overtime but also when I bring work home. You chastise me for skipping meals to catch up on work during the day. You insist on meeting me if I go out for drinks or coffee after work. You beg me to watch TV with you, but get annoyed when I attempt to multitask. Tell me Booth, what are my options? Do I quit writing? Do I stop working cases with you? Do I give up on the research aspect of my job? Do I never do anything alone again?"
He looked at her guiltily, "I just wanted to spend time with you outside of work. I never meant to keep you from the things you love."
"You're not! Just…never mind. It's not relevant to this discussion. We were talking about your holiday plans."
"How I make you feel is relevant Bones. And they're not just my holiday plans."
"As you have been deceiving me about them, and are not allowing me to participate in making them, they cannot be my plans."
"I'm not deceiving you! I'm surprising you, there's a difference," he defended.
"I don't enjoy being surprised, Booth, you know that."
"Can't I ever do something nice for you without a fight?"
She stared at him in consideration. "It would be nicer if you gave me a choice."
"But you'd say no or complain or…"
"So you took away my choice."
"Well…."
"Ergo, you have the control."
"No, I…"
"Meaning I have no control. Meaning that we're not really partners as partners implies an equality that does not exist between us."
"We are partners Bones. We are equals!"
"No Booth. If I were your equal, you would have told me that there was something you'd like to surprise me with over the holidays and asked that I trust you with the details."
"But telling you would ruin it!"
"And not telling me has worked so well."
He gave her the surprised look that always appeared on his face when she used humor or sarcasm in a conversation. She raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms in response.
"Fine!" He reached into his sock drawer and pulled out a folder, tossing it on the bed beside her. "Here. Merry Christmas. Happy?" This was so not the way it was supposed to go. He was supposed to surprise her with this on Christmas Eve, after Parker had been put to bed and they were cuddled up under the glowing lights of the tree.
She reached out and gingerly picked up the glossy booklet that had spilled out of the package. The cover appeared to advertise eco-adventures in Costa Rica. She set it down and sifted through the rest of the documents, airline tickets, hotel bookings, excursion plans, before turning back to him. "It appears like a very nice vacation Booth. I would very much enjoy spending time with you this way."
He sunk down beside her in defeat. "Then why the big fight?"
"Booth, how would you feel if I had surprised you with the trip I planned? It would have been a very similar vacation, except for the week spent working on the excavation together."
"The dig was only a week?"
"Yes, I had considered your bias against mixing Christmas and skeletons and tried to make accommodations to the schedule so that the majority of time was spent doing things you enjoyed."
"Things I enjoyed?"
"Yes, I found an all-inclusive resort with a large beach and pool that caters to international tourists and had planned several day trips to different areas of the country where we could engage in a variety of athletic endeavors, including the hike to Machu Picchu I mentioned previously."
He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "You put a lot of thought into it, didn't you?"
"I imagine I put at least as much thought into it as you did planning your vacation."
"But you had the decency to run it past me first, just in case I didn't like it."
"I knew you would have reservations about it."
"And I didn't bother to hear you out, I just said no."
"As I said, I knew you would have reservations; I knew there was a chance that you would say no."
He lowered his head and reached for her hand. "I'm sorry Bones."
"I know. Thank you for apologizing to me."
"You're something, you know? To be able to forgive just like that?"
She hid her smile and leaned into him. "Who says I forgive you?"
His head shot up to look at her. He relaxed at her amused expression. "I really am sorry Bones," he admitted with sincerity. "Do you. Is there any way we can still go on the vacation you planned? I can cancel this if you'd like."
She shook her head slowly. "No. I declined the invitation weeks ago and cancelled the few reservations I had made just in case you said yes."
"Then can we go on the vacation I planned?" He flashed a brilliant smile.
"Will you allow me to review the material you have here and make a few adjustments?"
"What kind of adjustments?" He asked warily.
"The kind of adjustments where I don't have to engage in a…water polo tournament?"
He laughed. "Okay, but I'm drawing a line at visiting more than two anthropologically significant sites."
She smiled and leaned into him, pausing just short of his lips. "Make it three and you've got yourself a deal Agent Booth."
He curved his mouth into a smile before whispering, "Deal, Dr. Brennan." They sealed it with a kiss.