Sorry it's been a long time since the last update! I had a case of writer's block you wouldn't believe! Thank you so much to va32h for getting me out of that hole! Thank you as always for the reviews, favorites, and alerts! Let's keep going…
When Booth got home, the apartment was dark except for the glow of the TV. The screen displayed the menu of whatever DVD Brennan had been watching, the music looping every minute or so. Brennan was asleep on the couch, one arm curled under her head. Booth smiled. He was surprised to see her asleep at this early hour. Since entering her second trimester she had been enjoying her newfound energy.
Booth walked over to the hall closet and retrieved a blanket. He draped it over her sleeping form and planted a soft kiss to her forehead. She stirred when she felt his lips on her and her eyes fluttered open. She smiled when she saw him standing above her and reached up to touch his face. Booth turned his head and kissed her palm before gripping her hand tightly in his own. Brennan sat up and wordlessly pulled him toward her. He sat on the couch beside her and she draped the blanket over the two of them. He sighed and rested his head on her shoulder. She laced their fingers together and leaned her head against his. She smiled when she felt his free hand begin caressing her tiny baby bump affectionately.
She thought she was imagining things when she felt something wet seeping through the sleeve of her T-shirt a minute later. She glanced over at Booth and, sure enough, saw a tear trailing down his cheek. Brennan reached over and wiped it away, causing Booth to look up and lock eyes with her. He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips before resting his forehead against hers. He gasped quietly; not able to hold back the sob any longer. Now facing him, Brennan wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close to her chest. Booth gripped onto her for dear life as sobs wracked his entire body. Brennan rubbed his back soothingly and planted small, sweet kisses to his neck and shoulder.
Booth cried. He cried for the little boy who never learned to let go of the guilt he felt. For the boy who was never told he was enough. That he was loved. That he mattered. He cried for the man who would never truly believe he was worthy of happiness. For the man who was terrified that his own children would never understand how deeply he loved them. And more than anything, he cried for the man who didn't know whether to forgive the father who had caused all of this.
Brennan couldn't take it anymore. The silence filled with only Booth's occasional gasping for air was making her crazy. "Booth?" she said, just to break the unending quiet.
"He's dying," Booth stated simply, sitting up and wiping his eyes dry.
"Is that why you're crying?" Brennan asked, pretty sure there was more than just that behind his tears.
"No. Yes. I don't know." Booth's arms wrapped around her midsection and he laid them both down on the couch. They didn't speak for the rest of the night, but Brennan lay awake for hours, listening to Booth's deep, uneven breaths.
-BONES-
They were awoken by the sound of knocking on their front door. Brennan stirred first, momentarily startled to find herself still lying on the couch. She was very near the edge, the only thing stopping her from rolling off being Booth's strong hold around her waist. She put her feet on the floor and gently pried his hand from her midsection. He groaned in his sleep and shifted slightly, but didn't wake up. Brennan padded over to the door and looked through the peep hole. Confused, she opened the door. "Dad? What are you doing here?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Max gave his daughter a once over and glanced over to the couch, where Booth was just beginning to wake up. His brow wrinkled in confusion. "You guys having an afternoon cat nap or something?" Brennan glanced at a clock and realized that it was half past noon. She couldn't remember ever sleeping so late, not even as a child.
"Booth's father has re-entered his life suddenly after many years and he's having some difficulty with it. We didn't fall asleep until very late."
"Bones!" Booth exclaimed, now fully awake and making his way toward his pseudo father-in-law. Brennan gave him an apologetic look, but Booth waved off her concern. "Hey, Max. What brings you here?" he asked casually, hoping to skip the topic of his past altogether.
"Well, I missed the house warming party," he began, producing a small box wrapped in silver wrapping paper. He handed it to Booth with a wide, toothy grin. "So I thought I'd bring this by and welcome you to the family. Officially." Booth smiled in thanks and started to open the package.
"Max?" Booth questioned, holding up the contents of his present. The once bright yellow color had faded and you could just barely make out the outline of a teddy bear that was once printed on the side. Booth shook it and to his surprise, it was still functional.
"That was Tempe's favorite toy when she was a baby." He addressed his daughter. "You figured that thing out by the time you were two months old. You gripped that rattle in your tiny little fist and shook it with all you had and your eyes would just light up. I used to say it was your very first experiment. I thought you might like the baby to have it." Brennan took the rattle from Booth and looked it over carefully, remembering a particular photograph that used to hang in the upstairs hallway of her childhood home that depicted her at about six months old, holding the rattle above her head.
"Thank you, Dad," she managed to choke out through the tears that were forming in her eyes. Max gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the temple. "How do you still have this?"
"It was in the car when we…" He trailed off, not sure how to complete the sentence. "Anyway, we had been babysitting one of the neighbor kids the week before and let him play with it. I guess we just never brought it back in the house. Lucky break." Brennan smiled and shook the rattle, almost delighting in the familiar sound it made. "So, what's this about your old man, Booth?" he asked, his focus now on the younger man. Booth sighed. Thanks for that one, Bones.
"That's really not any of your business, Max," Booth warned before sitting on the couch. Max shrugged.
"Maybe not, but take it from somebody's who's been on the other end of this kind of thing. Sometimes people do change. Sometimes all they need is a second chance. Isn't that what you told Tempe about me? And look how well that worked out."
"This is a little bit different, Max."
"Maybe. Maybe not. You won't know unless you give the guy a chance to talk." Max let his words hang in the air for a moment before clapping once, loudly. "Okay! I'm starving! Who wants some lunch? I'm buying!" Brennan smiled at her father and shook her head before heading toward the bedroom to change clothes. She was still clutching the rattle to her chest as she walked past. Booth glanced between the two of them, grinning at each other, and put his hand in his pocket, working the piece of paper with his father's number on it between his fingers.
So there you have it! As always, tell me what you think!