I continue to be amazed at the wonderful response I'm getting to this story! Thank you all for reading, and enjoy the next chapter!
"Hey, Bones!" Booth shouted as he approached Brennan in the book aisle of the store. "I got the stuff on the list!"
"And some other things that weren't on the list, I see," Brennan teased, glancing at the cart. "What are those?" she asked, gesturing to a pair of rainbow striped socks.
"Oh come on, Bones! You can't say these aren't the best!" he exclaimed and took the impossibly tiny socks out of the cart. He held them up with a bright expression. "Little socks for the baby that match Daddy's!" Brennan rolled her eyes.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to become a sentimental fool." She smirked. "It's far too early to be buying things for the baby. I'm only seven weeks pregnant."
"It's never too early!" Booth defended, putting the socks back in their place next to the gallon of milk. "So, what are you looking at?"
"I'm looking for pregnancy and parenting books," Brennan answered, not taking her eyes off the shelf in front of her. "We may have to go to a book store for a wider selection." She was already grabbing three books off the shelf to read their back covers.
"You don't need any parenting books, Bones," Booth told her. She glanced up at him with a confused expression.
"I want to be prepared. My doctor has discussed proper prenatal care with me, but there are bound to be multiple perspectives on the subject. This is quite possibly the most important thing I will ever do. I want to do it correctly." Brennan blushed slightly at her own admission and Booth smiled warmly.
"I'm glad to hear it, Baby, and pregnancy books are great…"
"Don't call me Baby," Brennan retorted automatically, cutting him off. "And you just said I didn't need pregnancy books."
"No, I said you didn't need parenting books," Booth corrected her. "Pregnancy is right up your alley. You can read a few books and know everything you need to about it. Parenting is different. You can't just learn it from a book, Bones."
"Thousands of books have been written on parenting, Booth. Many of them sell millions of copies. I'm sure there must be some truth to them if they're so popular."
"Believe me, Bones. There are some things you just can't master from reading about them. You have to experience it. And how to be a parent is definitely one of those things." Brennan sighed and put her books in the cart anyway.
"I'm buying them." Booth chuckled and shrugged.
"Okay, but don't get mad when the baby doesn't follow the rules your little books lay out." Brennan was about to respond when she spotted someone she recognized out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh no." Booth wrinkled his brow and followed her gaze. His eyes widened when he saw Hodgins and Angela making a bee line for them. "Come on," Brennan urged him and grabbed his arm. Booth shook his head.
"They already saw us."
"Hey you two!" Angela greeted, pushing a cart that held Michael in his baby carrier. Booth and Brennan each forced a smile.
"Wow, this guy gets bigger every day!" Booth said and looked at the sleeping baby, trying to detract attention from the items in their cart.
"Tell me about it," Hodgins agreed with a laugh. "At this rate he's gonna be taller than me in a month."
"You look great, Angela," Brennan complimented her friend.
"Thanks, Bren. I feel great. I mean besides the fact that I haven't slept in three weeks and feel like a zombie all the time." The baby gurgled and opened his eyes. Angela beamed at her tiny son. "Looks like someone wants to say hi!" Brennan grinned and peered into the baby carrier. Michael's little eyes seemed to focus on her and she felt her heartbeat quicken slightly.
"Do you… do you mind if I hold him?" she asked tentatively.
"Of course we don't mind!" Angela answered and carefully lifted Michael from his seat. She handed him to Brennan, who took him with cautious arms. After getting over her initial nervousness of holding something so small and fragile, Brennan smiled down at the content baby in her arms.
"You're great with him, Dr. B," Hodgins complimented with a grin. Brennan locked eyes with Booth and her breath hitched at the absolute adoration she found in his face. Her concentration was broken, however, when she saw Angela staring at the contents of their cart.
"What… What's that?" she asked, taking the books out and reading the titles again to be sure she hadn't imagined it. "'Your Pregnancy Week By Week', 'The Essential Nutrition Guide for Mothers-to-be', 'Parenting With Love and Logic.'" Angela lowered the books and looked between Brennan and Booth with a slack-jawed expression. Hodgins was wearing an almost identical look. "Sweetie… you're not…" Brennan swallowed hard and looked to Booth for reassurance. He shrugged.
"I guess it's out now," he said with a beaming smile that Brennan couldn't help but return.
"I… I found out I was pregnant the day before Michael was born." Angela and Hodgins just continued to stare at the two of them in absolute shock.
"I… Um…" Hodgins stammered. "Congratulations you guys!" He offered Booth a handshake which he took with enthusiasm. He then hugged Brennan close, being careful not to disturb Michael.
"How did you know Booth was the father?" Brennan couldn't help but ask. "Angela is the only one who knew we were in a relationship."
"Oh please," Angela answered for her husband. "You know there's no way I could keep it a secret. I had to tell someone." She shook her head in disbelief. "You two drag your feet for seven years and suddenly it's full speed ahead." Michael started to fuss and Brennan quickly passed him off to his mother.
"You can't tell anyone about this," Brennan told them both seriously. "No one, Angela. We aren't prepared to make an announcement yet. And that goes for our personal relationship as well."
"Got it, Sweetie," Angela promised. "My lips are sealed." Brennan eyed her friend skeptically, but dropped the subject.
"Well, we should be going," Brennan said to break the endless silence. "We have some paperwork we need to go over. Right, Booth?"
"Uh, right," Booth agreed. "See you guys later." With that, Brennan took Booth's arm and led him away from their friends, who were left standing in stunned silence wondering what exactly had just happened.
This one is just a little longer than the previous ones, and I hope you liked it! As always, tell me what you thought!