But listen, love. Though human,
that is what you are
already
to this student, absorbed.
Human tree and rock already,
to me.

You had a plan for your life and you were sticking to it. This was working out just fine until you told Angela you were living the life you expected and could not hide the sadness in your voice at the admission.

You watched as Angela fell in love with Hodgins. Your ideas about love then were proven to be correct when they broke up. You weren't sure what to think at first when they got back together and were married. You were happy for your friend, but you remember Booth's glance in your direction when Hodgins said their marriage was for love.

You watched as Sweets and Daisy had their ups and downs. You regretted that one of the downs was caused by you and your mistrust of the perky intern. But had you been Sweets, you knew you would have wanted to know the person you loved was being unfaithful. You were just trying to help, but only caused harm. Your guilt led you to Booth's apartment and his good bottle of scotch. You confessed some of your deepest feelings to him that night and he listened, as he always does. He made you a promise that you would someday come to believe in love and everything that goes along with it. You did not believe him quite yet, but you did let him remove the bottle of alcohol from your hands. After that, the two of you sat in silence for a while. You slouched down on the sofa and rested your head on his shoulder. He laid his cheek on top of your head and, for some reason, this gave you courage. You reached over and took his hand in yours. You laced your fingers through his and marveled at the feeling of his rough skin. When you had held his hand before, you had been wearing gloves. Sitting of his sofa, feeling your heart beat faster than normal, you longed for the ease of that skating rink and wondered why ice was the only excuse you two needed to touch each other.

You felt like an awkward teenage girl and did not like this because you knew you were a woman, a successful woman who was the best in her field. That had been all you ever really wanted. You realized it wasn't until you met Booth that you wanted more. Sometimes you used to get angry with him for making you so discontent.

After a few more silent minutes of holding his hand, you let go and got up. You said it was late and that you should go. He didn't try to stop you and you almost wished he had. He walked you to the door and as you stood there before him, you wanted more of him than what you already possessed. But that was not part of your plan, so you drove home to your empty apartment and wondered about fate, even though you didn't believe in it then.

As you feel the first labor pain, you can't help but think once again about fate. As the contractions get closer together, you find yourself amazed that you are having a child and even more amazed that you are having Booth's child. You have had nine months to prepare for this and you have done the best you can with your time. But when you feel the agony of childbirth take over your body, you know that you can't ever prepare for something as capricious as life. You close your eyes and feel sweat running down your face, and then you feel him with a cool rag trying to wipe it away.

That is Booth: someone who helps you with your pain and has ever since you slid him the folder detailing your parents' disappearance. You open your eyes and look into his. He murmurs something in your ear, but you're not sure what he says because right now you are only concentrating on delivering your daughter.

You are desperate to meet her. She was not in your original plan, but neither were her father and his son. The pain is getting more extreme by the moment, but you know you can survive this because you have already survived so much pain.

You survived the pain of losing your parents, only to gain a sly yet caring father. You survived the abandonment of your brother and were able to gain a friend after some confessions and forgiveness. You have survived so much with Booth already: thinking you lost him for good, sitting with him throughout his coma, refusing his offer of love, and then watching in hurt as he loved someone else. Neither your credentials nor your beauty nor every wall you ever erected could stop that pain from coming into your life. In the beginning, Booth pursued you because of your credentials, would have slept with you because of your beauty, and eventually loved you so much that he would wait as long as he could for your walls to come down. It was because of Booth that you had to abandon your plans. You could not have planned for him.

You did not plan your baby girl, but the instant you see her you cannot imagine the world existing without her existing, too. You look at your daughter and then you turn your eyes to Booth. You have never seen so much joy on his face. He kisses your forehead and thanks you for giving him such a precious gift, but all you can think about is that it was him who gave you the gift of your own life. He stayed and he loved you the more he knew you. There were years in which you never would have believed this was possible, but you believe a lot of things now that contradict the assumptions you held onto for so long.

You think once again about a university lecture hall and can picture him as he walked toward you. When he asked if you believed in fate, you said no. Were he to ask again, you think you couldn't help but say yes.