Sorry for the delay! I've sort of been dreading this chapter and I hope I did it justice. Thank you Sam for everything! I should really just credit you as a co-writer on this one. :P I love you dearly! Here we go…

Booth heard the doorbell ring and instantly regretted changing their plans. They were originally going to meet his father at a restaurant, but Brennan insisted that inviting him to their home was more personal and showed him that they were willing to make an effort. He took a breath to calm his nerves and opened the door. "Hey Dad, come in," he said in as cheerful a voice as he could muster, stepping aside to let his father in.

Booth's father walked across the threshold and his eyes landed on Brennan. He smiled and brought her hand to his lips for a chivalrous kiss. Every muscle in Booth's body tensed and he took an unconscious step toward them, as if ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. "You must be Temperance," his father said with a wide Booth smile. The smile that was so familiar to Brennan seemed eerily out of place on this man and she felt her skin crawl.

"Yes, I am," she told him matter-of-factly. An awkward moment's pause passed and Booth had to stifle a laugh.

"Well, you can call me Frank, pretty lady." Brennan removed her hand from his pointedly.

"And you can call me Temperance. Pretty lady is not my name." Without another word she turned and walked into the kitchen, leaving the two Booth men alone.

"You've got a pistol on your hands there, Seeley," Frank said when Brennan was gone.

"Yeah, well, Bones likes to speak her mind," Booth replied; suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable. Frank shook his head.

"I'll tell ya, son, things sure have changed from back in my day." Booth bit his tongue to stop a smart comeback and instead clapped his hands together loudly.

"So, you want the grand tour, Dad?"

"You've only lived here a few weeks?" Frank asked as they made their way to the living room.

"Yep, we moved so we'd have more room for the baby and Parker," Booth explained. A picture on the fireplace mantle caught Frank's eye and he picked it up.

"Is this Parker?" he asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the image of the smiling young boy. Booth snatched the picture from his father's hands.

"Yeah. That's him, me, and Bones a couple years ago."

"He's a fine looking boy, Son. He's got your eyes. Our eyes, I guess," Frank added with a smile. "I'd like to meet him someday. If that's alright with you."

"I…" Booth was suddenly at a loss for words. Frank smiled and waved off his concern.

"Hey, I don't want to screw this up. If you're not comfortable with me meeting him yet, that's okay. I'm gonna prove myself to you, Seeley. I don't care if it takes a while." Booth was trying to think of a response when he was rescued by Brennan entering the room.

"Dinner's ready," she told them. Booth gladly followed while Frank brought up the rear.

"So," Frank addressed Brennan once they were all settled in the dining room. "How far along are you?"

"Sixteen weeks," Brennan replied curtly.

"You're almost halfway there, then," Frank said with a smile. "I remember when my Arlene was pregnant with Seeley. We were young and had no idea what we were doing. I was deployed for most of the pregnancy and we were dirt poor. And then we had Jared three years later. We still didn't have any money; we could barely feed the one kid we already had. But you find a way to make it work. And it's all worth it in the end, right?" Booth shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Brennan couldn't stop herself from defending him.

"What part was worth it to you, exactly?" Brennan asked.

"What?" Booth eyed Brennan, urging her not to go on.

"You said that although you didn't have money and it was difficult, having children was worth it. I'm just curious what you think was worth it. Was it worth it to have children just so you could abuse them and eventually allow your own father to perform the duties you should have performed yourself?"

"Bones," Booth warned sharply.

"No, it's okay, Seeley," Frank insisted. "She's right. I made a lot of mistakes. I don't want to sit here and make excuses for them, but Seeley understands why things happened the way they did."

"I do?" Booth interjected incredulously.

"Come on, Seeley, you were in the war. You had a gambling addiction. You couldn't understand when you were a kid, but you do now. I'm sure your kid got the short end of the stick every once in a while, no matter how much you didn't mean it." His words shot straight through Booth's heart, and for a moment he couldn't breathe. Brennan's eyes met his, only breaking contact when Frank addressed her again. "I fought in Vietnam," he explained. "It's not easy to serve in any war, but Vietnam messed us all up. I got honorably discharged a couple months before Seeley was born. I had that… uh… that PTSD, you know? That's not what they called it but that's what it was. When I got home, that's when I started drinking. Then I lost Arlene and… Well like I said I don't wanna make excuses. I screwed up as a father, and now I wanna fix it."

"How did you know I had a gambling problem?" Booth asked lamely, unable to express any of the millions of thoughts rushing through his head at the moment.

"Making up for lost time, Seeley," was Frank's only answer. "I'll tell you what, no matter how long it's been since my last drink, I can still feel the itch. It won't ever go away completely. Well, you know all about that, Seel."

"I guess," Booth agreed sheepishly. Brennan had never heard her partner sound so much like a scared little boy.

"We gotta stick together," Frank concluded, taking another bite of his spaghetti. "No one's ever gonna understand you like I do, Seeley. I've been there." Frank's gaze was cold and steely and it chilled Brennan to the bone. She couldn't imagine what the familiar look must be doing to Booth.

"You're right, Dad," Booth agreed. Brennan shot him a look of surprise that he ignored.

"We need each other, Seeley," Frank went on in a low, dangerous tone. "We're both fathers trying to make up for the past. I think God wanted me to come back now for a reason, what with you having a new baby and everything. We can start over." Booth just nodded mutely. His form somehow seemed physically smaller in the presence of the older man. Unable to take it anymore, Brennan spoke up.

"Frank, can I speak to you in the other room for a minute?" she asked politely, not waiting for an answer to cross the dining room. Frank shrugged and followed.

"I know what you're doing," she warned him in a harsh whisper once they were out of Booth's earshot. "You think you can intimidate him into doing whatever you want, but you can't. He's not a child anymore. I don't know what you want from him but I can assure you, you won't be getting it. He did just fine before you came back and he'll be fine after you leave. He's strong. Stronger than you, and he won't be intimidated. And neither will I." Frank's eyes bore into Brennan's, nearly begging her to back down. Brennan stood her ground, the corners of her mouth curling up into a triumphant smile. "I'm not afraid of you, Frank. And I'd like you to leave. Now." Frank stared her down for a moment more before relenting.

"Fine." Frank walked purposely back to the door to the dining room and stuck his head in. "Seeley, I have to get going," he told his son quickly before turning on his heel and walking to the front door. Booth burst into the room behind him.

"What? Why?" Booth asked frantically. He was met with silence. Frank pulled on his jacket and looked at Brennan.

"It was lovely to meet you, Temperance. Congratulations again." With that, he opened the front door and walked into the warm, late July air.

"What did you do, Bones?" Booth accused through gritted teeth. "What did you say to him?"

"I told him to leave," Brennan informed him matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

"Why?" Brennan repeated incredulously. "He's using you, Booth! He's trying to intimidate you! I can't believe that I can see that and you can't!" Booth sighed and collapsed on the couch. He patted the cushion next to him in invitation and Brennan sat. He draped his arm over her shoulder.

"I can't just walk away from him, Bones. He's my dad, and he's dying." Brennan didn't have an answer for that. "He's right, you know. I'm like him."

"What?" Brennan sputtered. "No, Booth. You're not."

"I love that you believe that, Bones, I do. But you're wrong. I was just like him. I came home from the war and I let the gambling take over. I was weak. Maybe… Maybe I need him. This baby is gonna be different. He or she is gonna live with me, with us, every single day. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna fail."

"Booth, you shouldn't let him guilt you like this. What he said isn't true! You're a good father!" Brennan felt like he was slipping through his fingers, and she was grasping desperately to bring him back.

"Bones, he's right, okay? Just trust me on this. Parker…" He trailed off. "Yeah, I got over the gambling. But I still feel that side of me, Bones. I feel it inside and it kills me to know that part of me still exists. The part that would…" He trailed off again.

"Booth!" Brennan yelled his name, almost as a desperate plea. "He's only doing what he's done your whole life! He's convincing you that you're not worth anything! That without him you'd be nothing! But that isn't true, Booth. You know it isn't."

"Bones!" Booth shouted, his voice tinged with anger and frustration. "Just stop! I'm not who you think I am, okay?"

"Is this what he does to you, Booth? Is this what he did when you were younger? Make you believe these horrible things about yourself?"

"Bones, it's who I am. And he's the only one who understands it, because it's who he is too."

"Booth…"

"Bones." He took her hand in his and took a deep breath. "Once, when Parker was two years old, I went out to the pool hall. It was my weekend, Bones, and he was asleep in his crib. But I forgot he was there. All I could think about was going out to gamble. My two-year-old son is in the other room asleep. And I just left. I didn't realize it for over an hour." Brennan just stared, stunned into silence. "And I didn't stop gambling for over a year after that. Leaving my son all alone for over an hour wasn't enough to scare me out of it. That part of me still exists, Bones. And I know it could always come back. That's what scares the hell out of me. So don't ever tell me I'm not like him."

Phew! So this one was tough to write. Let me know what you thought, good or bad!