Chapter Six

The night passed slowly for Temperance. Her mind raced with memories of last night, and of that morning and of that evening. She remembered everywhere his hands had touched, and they had touched everywhere. Her sheets still smelled of his cologne, and the pillow still had the indentation of his head. She laid her head on his pillow and tried to sleep. It evaded her. Early in the morning, she finally fell into a shallow sleep, but was disturbed by her phone ringing. She reached blindly in the dark for the phone and answered, "Brennan."

Agent Perotta had been assigned all of Booth's cases while he was on extended leave, and she was wondering what time Brennan would be at the Jeffersonian so she could stop by with some questions. They also had a new body that had been found last night, and it was being delivered to the Lab as they spoke. Brennan informed Perotta that she would be in early and to stop by at any time. She hung up the phone, and turned on the light beside her bed. There would be no more sleep for her this morning. She looked at the clock, it was seven a.m. Later than she thought.

She prepared to head for the Jeffersonian and briefly wondered what Booth was doing right then. Likely, still sleeping. She was hooked. Badly it seemed. She wondered how she would compartmentalize this situation, especially while she was at work. Everything had to seem normal, but her thoughts constantly streamed back to Booth, and his skills in the bedroom. "Damn," she thought as she left her apartment, juggling her keys, her bag and her emotions.

She was well on her way to work when her cell phone rang in her pocket.

"Brennan here." She answered without checking the call display.

"Hey Bones, good morning!" Her heart skipped a little at the sound of his voice. She did not recall that ever happening before.

"Hello Seeley. Are you okay, is everything okay?"

"Everything is perfect. Well, as far as you and I are concerned anyway. I'm not so sure about the rest of my life though." He chuckled into the phone. The laugh sounded a little forced. "I just wanted to call and ask you something."

"Anything."

"Well," he paused briefly, "This thing we're doing, you and me, how do we want to handle this? Do we want everyone to know, or is it a secret? I mean, we never really discussed what we were going to do, or what we were going to say to people." His voice sounded very tired, but optimistic.

"What do you think Booth?" She honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. The last few days had been a 'live for the moment' kind of scenario.

"I think we should keep it between us for now, I mean, it's our relationship right? I want a chance to enjoy it for a while before we're constantly under the microscope of the squints, and the FBI." She was relieved to hear him say that.

"I concur. I would like to enjoy it as well before everyone knows. I really think that Sweets should never find out. He'll never let us live it down that he was right, and we were in denial." Seeley laughed at her comment. Definitely not forced that time.

"No kidding. So we agree this is between you and me."

"You and I, Booth," she corrected him without thinking.

"Whatever Bones... say, would you like to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Aren't you spending the evening with your son and your grandfather?"

"Well, yeah, but you said you wanted to meet him, and he wants to meet you, and you got to eat right?" She could almost see his cocky smile through the phone. She smiled in spite of herself, he was asking her to meet his family.

"I would love to. What time?"

"Seven o'clock. And Temperance...?" She grunted a response as she was pulling into the underground parking lot of the Jeffersonian.

"Just to warn you, Perotta has my cases, so be prepared to deal with her at some point today."

"I know Booth; she already called to set up an appointment with me this morning."

"Okay, just be nice to her okay Bones. Those are still our cases."

"Okay, but I won't be as nice to her as I am to you." She was now walking through the parking lot, slightly distracted by talking to him. She didn't notice Angela come up beside her.

"I am very glad to hear that. I could get jealous, or a little turned on!" He laughed. She rolled her eyes. He knew even from across town that she had rolled her eyes. "See you tonight Temperance."

"See you tonight Booth." She tucked her phone back into her jacket pocket and squealed loudly when she finally noticed Angela walking beside her.

"So, you're going to see him again tonight are you?" Angela looked at her best friend with a smug grin, "Anything that you might wish to share with your best friend in the whole world?"

"I don't know what you mean." Temperance looked her friend in the eye and hoped more than anything that she wasn't blushing.

"Fine, don't tell me... but I'll find out eventually. I saw you and your FBI agent making serious eyes at each other in the diner yesterday." Angela continued to grin as they walked through the door of the Medico-Legal lab. Brennan just walked towards her office, hoping that Angela would let it go. She wasn't sure if lying to her best friend was an ethical way to approach the situation, but for now, she hoped the ends justified the means.

Perotta was waiting in her office. After they discussed the death of Booth's brother for awhile, they spent the better part of the morning comparing notes on active cases, and discussing the evidence that had been found in the new case. The body found yesterday. Brennan could see Cam, Hodgins and someone who looked to be Wendell, leaning over the remains on the platform. She let Perotta know that she should probably go check in with the team and get an update.

The rest of the morning and the afternoon flew by, and it was Five o'clock before she realized that she should get going if she was going to get to Booth's place by the agreed upon time. She left all of her work behind her, and headed home to change her clothes and shower, so that she didn't smell like decomp and chemicals when she met Booth's Grandfather.

The next hour was spent thinking of this man, whom she felt such great respect for, and she only knew of him from what Booth had told her. She sensed Booth's respect for him, and picked up instinctually on that. Before she knew it, she was walking up her partner's steps, and knocking on his door. She heard the child's laughter and the footsteps approaching the door.

The door swung open and there stood an almost identical version of Booth, but with a few years added, and a little more around the middle. His hair was silvered, and he had the same dark brown, expressive eyes, though they had quite a few more wrinkles around them. He held Parker, who was wearing an oversized football helmet, under his arm, like a football.

Parker lifted the mask up so he could see better, flashed her a charming smile, and said,

"Hi Bones!" He was definitely his father's son. In all the good ways.

"Hi Parker. How are you?" Brennan made her way into the foyer, as the eldest Booth set the youngest Booth down on his feet.

"I'm good. Me and my dad are cooking dinner for you. I should get back and help. We're in the kitchen." Parker ran off towards the kitchen, as Booth came around the corner with a dishtowel on his shoulder. He held back, waiting to see how his partner would make her first impression on the man he respected most in this world.

They stood looking at each other, sizing each other up. Their eyes never lost contact, but their peripheral vision was straining to take it all in. Her body was slightly fooled by the older man's resemblance to her Booth, and she knew she had been hooked by another Booth man. She smiled at him. He smiled back, oozing charm and confidence. He looked over his shoulder at his grandson, who was currently trying to hide his smile behind his hand but his eyes gave him away, and said,

"Seeley, my boy, you were right, she is beautiful!" He turned back to Brennan who had blushed slightly.

"I am very pleased to meet you Mr. Booth, I'm Doctor Temperance Brennan." She reached out her hand to shake his, but he didn't reciprocate.

"I know who you are. I don't shake hands though." He took her outstretched hand and pulled her into a huge bear hug. When the hug had gone on for what Brennan felt was in an inappropriately long time, Seeley intervened by reaching between them and pushing them gently apart. He kept one hand on Brennan's shoulder, and pushed the older man gently toward the interior of his apartment.

"Easy there, old man, I happen to have it on very good authority that she is spoken for." Booth's eyes smiled and lit the entrance. His grandfather winked over his shoulder as he followed Parker into the kitchen.

"About time," he muttered the statement, but both of them heard it just fine. They smiled at each other.

"Hey you." Booth wrapped his arms around her and kissed ever so gently on the lips. She was a very responding recipient to the welcome.

She scanned his face, and made note that his bruises were fading just a little bit, and the red marks were fading, but the dark, dark circles under his eyes remained. "You look tired Booth, are you holding up alright?"

He took her coat and hung in up in the closet.

"I'm doing okay," he tried to smile her worry away, "I'm glad I got to spend the day with Parker, and now the old man is here. My day is really getting better by the minute." He kissed her forehead and guided her towards the room where the other boys had settled. Before they entered the room, she stopped him by putting her hand on his chest and asked him,

"I thought we weren't telling anyone about us yet."

"C'mon Bones, it's my Grandfather, there are no secrets between us, and I asked Parker this afternoon what he would think of us together and he said 'cool', so I guess that means you're in!" She smiled at him and took his hand as they entered the kitchen.

As they settled around the table and began the dinner, Brennan was amazed at the family dynamic that played out before her. The three generations of Booths bickered and bantered and teased and complemented each other in a way that amused her. They, by no means, excluded her in their relations. She almost felt as though she belonged to this family. It felt fantastic. The conversation took an awkward pause when, in his childhood innocence, Parker asked Brennan,

"Did you know that my Uncle Jared died and went up to heaven? He's gonna wait for us there and when we see him again, we're gonna play a game of football. I get to be the quarterback."

Brennan glanced quickly at Booth; he nodded slightly, implying that she should speak freely. She was getting better at this non-verbal communication thing.

"Yes, Parker. I know. I'm very sorry."

"That's okay Bones." He swirled around the last of the chocolate sauce on his dessert plate. He obviously didn't understand the full ramifications of what death was, but she could tell that Booth had definitely spoken with him about it.

"So, Park, I think it's time to say goodnight to our guests, and get ready for bed." Parker didn't whine or argue, he just very politely stood up, pushed in his chair, and said goodnight to two who were left at the table. He went to his room with his dad and prepared for the night time ritual that was habit to him.

The Grandfather and Brennan sat in silence for a few moments, before he began,

"You know Doctor Brennan; I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for Seeley, not just over the last few days, but over the last few years. He makes it pretty clear that he wouldn't be here without you." His smile made her smile.

"He says the very same thing about you. I guess I should thank you too. Booth tells me he is who he is today because of you, that you made him the man he is, and I happen to think he's a very good man."

"He thinks you're a remarkable woman." Brennan looked into the familiar brown eyes and saw the sincerity behind their depths.

"Thank you." That was all she was able to reply before Seeley came back to the room.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked with a sparkle in his eye. They both replied in unison,

"You."

Author's note:

I'm not a big fan of footnotes, and I won't leave many, but I felt I really needed to take a few lines here and thank everyone profoundly for their kind reviews of my story. You make my day. Keep reading.

Peace!