Disclaimer: Bones belongs to Kathy Reichs, Hart Hanson, and Fox.

A/N: Necessary Repost! So I have mentioned this before, but I will say it again, there are certain people who endlessly support me through my writing process, and I am beyond thankful for them. So when it was brought to my attention that a line I had wrote didn't quite work, I reread it and found that I concurred. I dedicated myself to correcting the issue and feel that the end result was better for it, and I hope you give it a 2nd chance. Special thanks to: BonesnBooth, mustanggirlz07, and csimesser1!

Chapter 26

A Family Tradition, Part Four

"I'm home," Bones called as she closed the door behind herself.

"Hey Bones," Booth yelled back.

"Where are you," she asked as she kicked one of her shoes off?

"Kitchen. Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah…"

After she had removed her other shoe, she sighed in relief.

"Could you get me a bottle of water," she asked while she shrugged out of her jacket?

"You got it."

They met in the hallway.

With a beer in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, he leaned in to kiss her.

She immediately melted into him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

After the kiss had ended on its own accord, he murmured, "I'll never get tired of this."

"Tired of what," she asked even though she already knew the answer?

"Kissing you."

Her hands slide from his neck to his shoulders.

As she slowly rose up on her toes, she deliberately pressed every inch of her body into his.

He groaned.

When her lips were a breath away from his ear she whispered, "For the record Agent Booth, she paused to lightly nip his ear lobe, I might feel the same way about you."

Before he could form a coherent response, she began to move.

As she purposefully brushed her body down the length of his, he came perilously close to losing control.

When her feet were flat on the floor she grabbed the water bottle from his hand.

Leaning back so she could see his face had been a mistake.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat.

The searing look in his eyes was nearly her undoing.

"Might," he growled?

Flashing him an impish grin, she answered the challenge in his tone, with her own brand of stubbornness…

"Yup."

As soon as that word left her mouth, she spun on her heel and quickly headed for the living room.

He caught up to her in two steps.

"Well, he said as his hand came to rest on the small of her back, you leave me with no choice but to keep on trying until you are sure!"

She laughed.

"Good plan, because as you know, the results of an experiment are only valid if they are repeatable."

He grinned because the last time that she had said those words to him, was when she had told him that she was pregnant.

"I remember," he whispered as his hand shifted from the small of her back to rest on her rounded tummy.

She placed her hand over his.

As they entered the living room Bones gasped in surprise.

She slipped out of Booth's embrace as she moved forward.

The bookcase had been assembled and stocked, and all of the pictures had been unpacked.

However, it was the latter that had really captured her attention.

Some of the pictures were placed, others hung, but each one served to fill the void in the room, that Temperance had recognized, but until that moment couldn't name. Shots of herself with Booth, Parker, the squints, her father, Russ with his girlfriend and kids, all of them lead to one absolute truth, they were all family, and all of them were necessary in their own ways to her wellbeing.

She didn't voice that revelation.

Instead as she made her way towards the couch she said, "Wow it looks like you were busy today."

"Actually I had some help. Your father was here and…"

As she sat on the couch her eyes instantly settled on the tape that was sitting on the coffee table.

She froze.

"He left that for you," he finished as he sat down beside her.

"Listen Temperance if you need to watch this on your own…"

"Stay."

Their gazes locked.

The silent plea in her eyes tore at his heart.

He gently brushed the back of his hand over her check.

"Ok."

He grabbed the tape from the table.

Barely breathing, she watched him as he popped the tape into the VCR.

When he was back by her side, she wordlessly took his hand.

After giving a reassuring squeeze, he pressed play.

A/N: So, I didn't get those 10 reviews, I only got 7, but that is at least one more than I usually get, so I decided to post anyway. However, as you can tell by yet another cliffhanger, my magnanimous streak is overshadowed by pettiness. If you review I promise to work on that.