"He said that?"
"Yes. Those exact words."
"Oh…my god. Brennan, this is huge!"
"I really don't understand what you mean and please keep your voice down. Everyone is still sleeping."
Angela sighed and took a sip of her coffee thinking about how to approach the topic. "Sweetie, he admitted to you last night that he'd still give you that donation to the baby machine! Are you going to take him up on that offer?"
Brennan looked over at Booth, who was dead asleep on the sofa. His arms were folded over his chest and his head rested against the arm of the sofa while his snores filled the silence between Brennan and Angela. She was surprised the smell and sound from the coffee maker in the kitchen didn't wake him up, but they had stayed up late, watching Max help Hadley and Parker conduct experiments with the things they could find around Brennan's apartment. Max had fallen asleep on the futon in Brennan's office and Hadley and Parker were awake late into the night and early morning, chatting away as Parker laid on the floor beside Hadley's bed.
"I'm not sure. I really need to think about this. This is a big decision," she whispered.
"Okay, well at least tell me this: if you decide to have a cute little Booth, are you gonna go the old fashioned route or go back to that clinic?" Angela asked with a suggestive look on her face.
"Well, the clinic still has our files and Booth's semen wouldn't need to be retested again-ˮ
"So no steamy, hot, loud, animalistic sex?" Angela asked, disappointed.
"No, that actually sounds unpleasant."
"Bren…" she wanted to say something but couldn't continue. She knew getting Brennan to admit her true feelings would be harder than fitting a Boeing 747 into a single car garage.
"Bones?"
Parker was awake. But barely. His mop of curls was sticking up in every direction and he vigorously rubbed his eyes to adjust to the light.
"Yes, Parker?"
"I'm hungry."
"Well, you are a very lucky boy, Parker, 'cause guess what I brought," Angela said.
"Hmm?"
"Doughnuts. A whole bunch of them. I'll even let you have two," Angela told him, a wicked grin covering her face.
"Really?" Parker spied the box full of doughnuts from the nearby bakery and licked his lips hungrily.
"Of course, baby Booth! Although, you might not be baby Booth for much longer," she muttered.
"Ange!" Brennan spat out through her teeth.
"What'd you say?" Parker asked.
"Nothing. Why don't you go wake up Hadley and we'll get you two fed, huh?" Angela said, making a move to get a stack of plates and some glasses for milk.
"Okay!" Parker took off down the hall.
"Angela, could you please stop making comments like that? I want to think things over and talk with Booth first," Brennan said, finishing off her cup of coffee.
"Talk to me about what?" Booth stood where Parker had just moments before. His shirt was rumpled and his socks were twisted on his feet. "Oooh, doughnuts!"
When he reached for one, Brennan slapped his hand away. "Hadley and Parker get first choice. And you know what I want to talk to you about…" she finished, giving him a pointed look to indicate what she had meant.
"Huh? Oh…Oh! Yeah, didja think about it?" Booth asked, nervously glancing between his partner and her friend.
"I haven't had enough time to think. But, I will give you my decision soon."
"Hmm, and you know?" he asked Angela.
"Yes. Although, I think you know how it should be done," Angela said.
"Right…well the kids aren't here so they've lost their time. I want…this one," Booth mumbled, taking a doughnut from the box.
"Dad! Those are ours!" Parker cried, Hadley right behind him, "And I wanted that one!"
"There's another one just like it in the box, bub."
"Nuh-uh. You took the one with sprinkles."
Three weeks later…
"Tempe, you look like you've been thinking too hard. Why don't you take a break, come sit and play a game of cards with me and Hadley?"
"Come on, Bones! Max keeps winning! I need you to show me how to beat him!" Hadley begged.
Brennan looked up from her anthropology journal and smiled. "I will give you the necessary pointers so you can, ugh, how does Booth say it…properly open a container of whoop ass."
Max let out a laugh from deep in his gut. "Honey, its 'open a can of whoop ass.' Should you really be saying things like that to a fifteen year old?"
"Hey! I'm almost sixteen!"
"When?" he asked.
"In five months."
"You still have a ways to go, short stuff. Now, let your…Bones teach you how it's done." He caught his slip up, but he should've seen it coming. Hadley and Temperance were bonding like any normal mother and daughter would. Max sincerely hoped that the young girl would be around for quite some time. The positive affects she was having on his daughter were starting to show and he knew if the system took Hadley away, she'd be devastated. He knew what his daughter and her partner were planning. She had never quite come out and told him, but after the funeral for Hadley's father, Brennan had made the decision to take Booth up on his offer. Booth had become an essential part of Hadley's life with Brennan and Max could see his daughter's family forming around him. And after much insistence from both Booth and Parker, full custody had been handed over to Booth. Rebecca had put up a fight, but after only two days of being back with his mother, Parker started lashing out again. The boy had become attached to Hadley and vice versa. Neither had ever had a sibling before and Parker didn't mind being the younger brother. Rebecca noticed he was calling Brennan's apartment at least three times a day: once when he woke up, then again when he came home from school and one last time before he went to bed. Hadley even talked to Rebecca and promised her that Parker would come stay with her on weekends and select days after school if she agreed to let Parker live with Booth. Rebecca had a hard time saying no after that and Max took the two kids to celebrate with pie at the diner while Booth and Brennan continued discussing what would happen should she get pregnant.
"I'm quite tall for my age, thank you," Hadley retorted. Brennan whispered secrets of the game in her ear and Hadley won the next game with ease. There was a knock on the door and Hadley jumped out of her chair to get it. But Parker and Booth walked in before she could pull open the door. She lunged at Booth and he pulled her into a hug. As he placed a kiss right on the crown of her head, Parker pulled something from his backpack.
"I brought my Wii! Let's go play! I'm gonna kill you at baseball."
"No way, Park. I'm gonna open a can of whoop ass," Hadley said laughing as the two ran toward the TV.
"Where in God's name did she hear that?" Booth asked Brennan and Max.
"Tempe said it," Max accused.
"You had to correct me."
"Well, you still said it first."
"Bones, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"I'm, uh, gonna go hang out with the kids," Max said, excusing himself from the room.
Booth took Max's seat at the table, staring for a while at the discarded playing deck before he spoke. "Bones, are you for sure you want to go through with this?"
"Yes, Booth. We've discussed this several times. All I need to do in order for a successful insemination is keep my stress level down. I'm oversimplifying it, of course, but I'm sure you understand what I'm saying."
"Well, yeah, but Bones…a baby is a big deal."
"Hadley is quite excited about the idea. She and Angela have already decided they want to plan a nursery."
"Wow, I guess it's settled then."
The two fell into a comfortable silence, listening to the sounds of Hadley and Parker's baseball game.
"So do you want me to…uh, you know…come with tomorrow?"
"Booth, I'm not sure you'll want to be there when I'm inseminated. I'll probably be all exposed and I'm sure it would make you quite uncomfortable."
He nodded slowly. "Okay, but just call me as soon as you're done."
"I will…Prude."
"I am not prude!"
A/N: So I'll probably add more to what happened in those missing three weeks in the next chapter, most likely as how Brennan would see it (But not necessarily from her POV). This story is coming to a close quickly, probably only two more chapters. I just want to say thanks to all who have reviewed. Your kind words mean a lot to me :) so thank you!