A/N: Alright everybody, here's chapter three! Thank you so much if you've reviewed; if you haven't I'd be really glad if you did so just to tell me what you think (: I'm always up for some constructive crit.
Enjoy (hopefully), and thanks for reading!
Responsibility
"Bones, I'm taking you out for dinner tonight." Booth stood at the door to Brennan's office. She was just starting to compile the evidence from their latest case, and looked up in confusion after Booth spoke.
"Why? We haven't solved the case yet…"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Well usually we wait until after we have caught the murderer to celebrate. Anyway, don't you think it seems a little irresponsible for me to consume alcohol at all now we know I'm expecting twins?" Booth rolled his eyes, a smile dancing on his lips.
"That's why I said I was taking you out for dinner tonight, not for drinks. C'mon, I'm not stupid!"
"I wasn't implying that you were displaying inferior intelligence, only that it seems a little strange that you would take me to a place where alcohol is regularly consumed!"
"Then have lemonade! I thought we'd go to that new Italian place on Fourth to celebrate."
"Celebrate what?" Booth placed a hand on her stomach, grinning like an idiot.
"Celebrate the fact that we're having a baby of course!"
"Not a baby, Booth. Two babies." He laughed, and pulled her to her feet.
"I know, I know. Two babies." He leaned closer, until Brennan could feel his warm breath tickling the contours of her neck. "Our babies." He whispered.
"One of the reasons I wanted to bring you tonight was so I we could discuss our relationship." Brennan looked up from absent-mindedly twirling her spaghetti into cotton reels with her fork.
"Could we not have discussed that in an atmosphere that we regularly occupy, such as the Jeffersonian?" She asked, looking around at the fancy paintings hanging at various points around the restaurant. "Not that I don't appreciate this." She added hurriedly.
"Well, yeah. But I thought it'd be better if we went somewhere we couldn't be distracted or interrupted." It was at that very moment that the waiter decided to spring up yo enquire as to if their meal was satisfactory.
After glancing between the bemused look on Brennan's face and the slightly irritated glare on Booth's, he made the smart decision to back away again.
"So what were you saying about being interrupted?" Bones' smile was one that went so far as to light up her eyes as well, and he couldn't help but return the grin that had warmed his heart.
"Okay, so that was bad timing. But you know what I meant. Anyway, as I was saying; I think it'd be good if we talked about our relationship, just so we know where we're going with this."
"What's there to discuss?" Brennan put her head on one side. "We are good friends who work together, and occasionally," She raised her water-filled wine glass to her 'colleague'. "Go out to dinner together." Booth snorted.
"Yeah, that and we've got two kids on the way. Seriously, don't you think the whole 'you're pregnant with my child' thing kinda changes it a bit?"
"Children, Booth. I keep telling you, there's more than one! You have to use plurals when referring to the foetuses."
"Okay, I'll try to keep that in mind."
"It'll be rather difficult for you to forget when they're here. I expect it's really quite difficult to misplace an infant, Booth."
"Yeah, I guess it would be." The look on Booth's face told Brennan that he was trying very hard to not burst out laughing. A contented smile traced across her rouged lips, and she curled her fingers around the hand that had sneaked towards hers over the table.
"Hey, I have something for you." Bones pulled her hand away from Booth's.
"It's not an engagement ring is it?" She asked, her tone tense. "Because you should know that it is quite common for children to be born out of wedlock in this day and age, no matter how strange or wrong it would have seemed in older times." He laughed, and drew out a little gift bag from under the table.
"No, it's not an engagement ring. Go on, open it. I know you'll like it 'cause it's not for you." He handed her the bag, and she took it with a slightly confused look painted on her face. It wasn't long before confused frowns turned to smiles of joy as she pulled out two tiny sleep suits for the babies; pale yellow in colour and with different motifs stitched on the middle- one a teddy bear, the other a dog with big floppy ears.
"Oh Booth..." She sighed, wiping away a gratified tear that threatened to fall. "Thank you, I love them!" He got up and folded her into his arms, breathing in the coconut-y smell of her shampoo.
Three months later...
Brennan smiled as Booth pushed a little toy car over her bulging stomach, making 'vrooming' noises as he did so.
"Do you think they can hear me in there?" He asked, looking up and smiling at his partner.
"Research suggests that a foetus can indeed hear sounds from outside the abdomen, and often already know the vocal tones of their parents when they are born." She stated matter-of-factly, rubbing a hand over 'the bump', as it had come to be known as by everyone close to them. Seeley's grin widened as both he and Temperance felt one of the babies kick; a common occurrence but still a wonderful feeling to both of them.
"Maybe they'll like playing soccer when they grow up," He murmured.
"Perhaps. I expect you would enjoy teaching them the rules and techniques of playing the sport adequately."
"Yeah, sure I would! And you'll enjoy teaching them about phalanges or whatever it is..."
"Oh, so you do listen sometimes!" A teasing smile played across her lips, making her eyes twinkle. Booth laughed.
"Hey, I always listen to you!" Brennan settled into his arm, sighing contentedly and trailing her fingers lightly across the skin of her belly. "So..." Booth continued. "Thought of any names yet?" Tempe looked up at him.
"Well, considering we decided not to have the genders disclosed to us at the last scan, it seems illogical to choose names that may not be suitable for their sexes..." She mused. "...Unless we choose names that are gender neutral, but it seems like a more appropriate idea to pick names when they've been born."
"Huh. So you really haven't thought about what names you do or don't like?"
"Of course; I just haven't picked any definitive choices yet. Why, have you?"
"Not exactly... C'mon, what names do you like?" Bones thought for a minute.
"Well... I kinda like Nathaniel for a boy. Or maybe Alex."
"And for a girl?"
"I once knew a girl called Maia, and she had a sister called Orla. I always thought they were unique and pretty names."
"There you go then! We have our names!" She poked him playfully.
"Booth! I said they weren't definitive!"
"I know, but at least we have some ideas!" She shrugged.
"Okay, well what names do you like?" He leaned closer to her, kissing her on the nose.
"All the ones you just said." He murmured, grinning from ear to ear. She settled back into his arms again, returning the smile that made her partner's eyes glisten and dance.
Everything was turning out exactly how it was meant to be.
A/N: The end! Of the chapter I mean, not the story,
I'm sorry for the wait! I'm gonna be honest here and admit that I couldn't really be bothered to write an extremely long chapter, and again I apologise for that.
I figured that anybody bothering to read this garble (and believe me, if you are prepared to take on said garble I am very grateful) would prefer a relatively late and fairly short chapter to a very late and normal sized chapter. (Normal being about 1000 more words on top of this.
Anyway, if I don't update before then (and I probably won't) then I'd just like to wish you a very happy and food filled Easter :D
I'm not religious, but I personally can't say no to an egg-shaped solid block of roasted and ground cocoa seeds :P
I hope you enjoyed, don't forget to drop me a review! (You have to now to wish me Happy Easter back :P)
Oh, and I forgot to put this last bit on before, but what do you guys think about names for babies? I'm really crap with them XD Ideeeeaaas?