Hello again. Thank you all so much for your reviews and your patience. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Here we go…. Bones meets Booth's parents!

Chapter 26

"You're nervous." Booth stated, when they were walking towards the 'Hotel Blue'. "Don't be. You're cute, smart and beautiful. And you make me happy. They'll love you."

She smiled thankfully upon hearing his words. "Thank you, but I hate to break this to you: You're biased."

"And enjoying it." He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. Then she took in a deep, calming breath, her eyes on the big doors of the hotel.

"Besides," Booth whispered in her ear. "They're going to worship you after we tell them we're giving them another grandchild."

"You haven't told them yet?" Brennan stopped, frozen in shock. She honestly had thought Booth had told his parents that they were going to be parents. Booth smiled at her sheepishly. "No. I thought that's something to be told face-to-face, you know."

"Ah." She made, not sure if she should be even more nervous now, but then another thought occurred to her. "How did you explain us not coming to see them, then?" The doctors had suggested she should not be going on too long car rides, let alone planes, as a precautionary measure.

"I said I couldn't leave because of ongoing cases." Booth shrugged. "And this way they get to spend a little time with Parker too. So they we're quite easily convinced."

"Oh. Okay." She said, then sighed again. "Well, no use stalling it, right?"

"Absolutely right. " He said, but held her back for another moment to place a kiss on the tip of her nose. "I love you." She leant into his warmth for a moment, enjoying it, drawing strength of it. "I love you too." She whispered, then pulled back. "Let's go."

A moment after they had gone through the doors and entered the foyer, Booth spotted his parents. "Seeley." His mother exclaimed and he quickly strode over to her and embraced her. "It's been too long." She scolded gently.

"I know, Mum. But that's what you always say." Her son smiled at her, then gave his father a quick bear hug.

"Seeley, where are your manners?" Mrs. Booth scowled at her son. "You should introduce us!"

"I'm sorry, yes, I really should." Booth winked at Brennan, who'd been watching the cordial greetings.

"This is my Bones." He gave her a gentle look full of love and she felt a warm feeling rise in her, replacing the flutter in her stomach, calming her nerves. "My parents."

"It's so nice to finally meet you. He's been talking about you non-stop." Booth's mother winked at her. "You can call me Lynn."

"Temperance. Or Tempe. Nice to meet you. And you too, Mr. Booth." She extended her hand to Booth's father too. She realized that 'her' Booth had to have inherited the warm, brown eyes from him. They twinkled with amusement at how she had addressed him. "Oh, please, no need to be formal. Call me James."

"James." She nodded and smiled…. And realized that she was starving. Before her stomach could growl and embarrass her, she decided to say something. "We made reservations at a restaurant nearby. Would you like to walk? It's not far."

"That's a good idea." Lynn agreed. "I could use a walk."

"Great." Seeley Booth nodded at his parents, then slung his arm around Brennan's shoulders. "Hungry again, huh?" She whispered into her ear and she nodded. "Starving." He had to smile. Being pregnant at least ensured that she was eating regularly. Hourly, more so.

Ten minutes later they were seated around a table in a nice restaurant near the Hotel Blue.

Booth had opted for something classy, but not too exclusive. His parents weren't used to too much 'city-chic', so he didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable. He knew the place was bordering on it, already.

But he also had wanted to show Bones how important this meeting was to him… by choosing a restaurant that was not too ordinary. He hoped he had succeeded at balancing both.

"Would you like a glass of champagne as aperitif?" The waiter asked them and Booth gave his parents a questioning look. He knew his mother had a thing for the bubbly stuff, so it was no surprise to see her nodding. "Yes, please. You too, right?" She looked at her husband, her son and his girlfriend and was a bit dismayed to see the younger woman shake her head. "Not for me, thanks."

"Oh, come on… I insist. We haven't seen Seeley for so long and we would like to celebrate that he found someone who's making him so obviously happy." Lynn smiled winningly.

"Ah… I'm flattered, but I really shouldn't….." Brennan stuttered, sending her boyfriend a pleading look.

Booth started to chuckle and his parents and Brennan stared at him incredulously. "What's so funny?" Lynn asked, wrinkling her nose a little.

"Just…. This." He grinned. "Figures that it didn't quite work out as I planned it. We wanted to tell you later, after you talked a little and are more comfortable, but well….Mom, Dad. Bones won't be drinking any alcohol. She's pregnant."

Lynn's eyes went huge and James' grinned. "That's great news, son." He said and nodded and clasped his hand over the table. "Congratulations."

"Oh. Oh." Lynn made, tears shining in her eyes. Brennan watched the other woman with a little hint of panic, not sure if she was happy or not. Then a single tear trickled down Lynn's cheek and she smiled broadly "How wonderful."

Brennan let out a relieved sigh, but added after a moment. "Please don't cry. The pregnancy makes me very susceptible to that and when I start…. I can't stop." Already she felt the urge to sniffle.

Booth laughed at her words. "That's my Bones. Told you they'd be happy. Cry if you want. No need to be ashamed about happy tears."

"My make-up would be ruined." She said and sniffled again. "Then I'd have to go to the restroom to repair the damage. But I don't want to, because I'm really, really hungry."

James and Lynn joined Booth in his laughter at her honest words. "Oh, that's wonderful news, really." Lynn sighed. "Not that you're hungry, though. We need to do something about that."

She motioned for the waiter, who politely had vanished some time during the conversation, to come back to their table. "We won't need the champagne. " She smiled at the waiter. "But we've got a starving pregnant woman here."

"I'll be right back with the menu, water and some bread." The waiter nodded understandingly and vanished.

"You can still celebrate." Brennan stared at Lynn Booth.

Booth's mother waved it off. "I don't need the champagne to feel festive today. I'm so happy for you two. If you don't mind me asking… When are you due?"

"End of April" She answered. "We would have told you sooner, but…." She took in deep breath, and bit her lower lip. Talking about the accident wasn't the problem. But remembering that she nearly had lost their baby still hurt. Still made her feel helpless.

She felt Seeley's warm hand covering hers, squeezing it gently, giving her comfort. "Sh, sh. Bones." He murmured, then addressed his parents. "She's right. We wanted to visit you to tell you personally…. But as you know Bones was in a car accident a few weeks ago and…. It was a very close call. We nearly lost the baby. It was rough on us. "

He heard his mother suck in a breath, shock in her eyes. "My God. The accident, yes, you called. But… everything's okay now, right?"

"Yeah." Booth smiled at his girlfriend. "Everything's perfect now." He raised their entwined hands to his mouth and pressed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand, then his serious gaze returned to his parents. "The doctor's just told us to be cautious and better not go on a plane, not even a long drive. That's why we invited you to come to DC."

"I knew you weren't telling me the whole truth, when you called." Lynn smiled sadly at her son. Then she reached over the table to take Brennan's other hand in hers, startling the forensic anthropologist with the intimate gesture. "I could hear that he was worried, when he called us a few weeks ago. He had told us about your relationship but I wasn't sure if it was serious until he called and told me you'd been in an accident. I could hear he loves you and how scared he was. I'm glad you two found each other and are going to have a family."

Brennan drew in a shaky breath upon hearing these words. "Thank you." She whispered. Already she felt the familiar burn of tears in her eyes, how her throat seemed to tighten a little.

"Now, now. No tears. Look, the waiter's bringing bread." James smiled at her and she let out a shaky laugh.

"I really am not that emotional … usually." She explained, but Booth chuckled. "Nah, you just were good at hiding it."

She freed her hand of his hold to punch him playfully. "You changed that. All your fault" She accused him, humour in her voice.

"I take the blame anytime." He answered, then offered her the bowl with bread the waiter had discreetly placed on the table. "Eat, or you get grumpy again."

She obeyed and took a bite, then mumbled. "M'not grumpy." He patted her arm lovingly. "If you say so."

Brennan rolled her eyes at his words.

Lynn and James were watching their son and his girlfriend and exchanged a parental look of relief and humour. 'He found the right one' The look said.

Sooo, how did you like it? Reviews make me very happy. VERY VERY HAPPY ;)