A/N: More fluffy goodness! Yay for fluff! Sorry, this should've been up last night but right as I was about to hit save, my computer died and I had to retype over half of it. Sorry about the delay. There might be more delayed updates ahead though. My aunt and cousin are flying in tomorrow from Cali and apparently, I'm the only person in my family of a bazillion who can pick them up from the airport. So, I'm spending the day with them tomorrow so I probably won't get to write or post. But I'm going to write as much as I can when I can! So have no fear! I will update…(I don't know what to rhyme. I suck at rhymes.) when I can! Thanks for all of your lovely reviews! They make my day! Enjoy! :)

All Balloons

It's only five miles to heaven
With all the usual stops
I took the right directions
But I'm farther than I was at the start

And you keep telling me this story about some killer bees
Seems I've gone crazy and they're trying to kill everybody and me

So whatever comes will come
And maybe we're all balloons full of air
And the reason we're deflating is to remind us that the ground is there

"Okay, baby, here we are," I say to her as I pull Quinn and her carrier out of the back of my SUV. She's asleep but I was talking to her the whole way here. It's a Sunday morning and it's Rebecca's weekend with Parker, so today, it's just Quinn and I at church today.

I put her carrier down on the floor next to my seat and pull her out. She's starting to wake up now and grab her pacifier out of the diaper bag.

"Oh, how precious! How old is she?" A woman behind me asks.

"She'll be seven months next week," I tell her. She ooh's and ahh's over Q for a few minutes and even brings a few other women over to see the baby. This happens every week. If Parker's with me, he can charm them over and holds their attention until mass starts. But then there are the Sundays where Bones absolutely refuses to go with and I'm on my own.

Bones will come to church with me and Q if she's being especially fussy or if I beg a lot. We've made a pact that she won't make any type of comments during church about her views on religion but, she has the entire car ride home to tell me what my religion does wrong. It seems to work fine for the most part but the worst one for her was when Quinn was baptized. She thought it was okay that since she was standing next to the priest, she could ask for the reasoning behind everything he said or did and then had some sort of anthropological response for what it really meant.

She's completely awake now and finds the urge to play peek-a-boo with me right as mass begins to start. She's giggling hysterically and I'm trying to find some way to keep her entertained but quiet too so I don't disturb the rest of the congregation.

Quinn realizes I'm not paying attention to her and starts crying. People stare, practically scolding me for either not keeping her quiet or sitting in the cry room in the first place.

I hate the cry room. It's full of moms who have rambunctious children and don't pay attention to them. It's a soundproof room in the back of the church, with windows to see the altar and speakers in the ceiling so the parents can hear Father Walter. Quinn's drawing more and more attention the louder she gets. The old woman in front of me turns around and says, "you know, her mother could've kept her at home." I roll my eyes and take Quinn back to the cry room.

The smell hits me like a brick wall and I realize I'm not the only parent here today with an infant. Dirty diapers are practically falling out of the full trash can and that's when I notice Quinn needs a change. I really wish Bones had come with me this time. I could've used some help. I haven't actually heard an entire mass or sermon since before she was born. Not that it's a big deal or anything. God knows I'm trying and I guess I earn some credit for actually showing up to church.

I add Quinn's nasty diaper to the pile on top of the trash can and take a seat in one of the chairs. I call the cry room the Siberia of the church. We're practically a mile from the altar and I can barely see what's going on, not that I need to see. I'm perfectly fine with staring at Q and watching her stare at herself in the little mirror attached to her carrier. She sees me watching and I start making goofy faces at her. She gives me an all-gums smile at first and then starts giggling.

She looks like Parker when she laughs but when she's focusing on something, she's got that Squint thing going on. I'm perfectly fine with that too. I'm glad she's more Bones than me. She looks like her too. Her nose, lips and even her ears are just like Bren's. Her blue eyes get bluer every day and her hair is already growing past her ears. Q's hair is so dark, it's almost black. But, if it hits the sunlight just right, she almost has a tint of red in it.

I've been paying so much attention to my daughter; I didn't even realize that a deacon has come back to the cry room to give us communion. After that, mass was over as soon as it had started. And thank God, too, because that room was in need of a garbage change and air freshener.

I approach the priest and ask him if he's doing confessional today. He says no, but he's willing to stay and listen to me. The confessional is locked so he asks if I mind just sitting in a pew to talk.

Father Walter is a kind old man. He reminds me of Pops almost. He asks if I want a true confessional or just to chat. I choose chatting because to me, it would almost seem awkward to have a formal confession without all the holy stuff that goes with it.

"So, what's on your mind?" he asks, watching me take Quinn from her carrier. I sit her on my lap and hold a doll for her to play with.

I tell him about Parker and how I tried to do right by him and then I tell him about Quinn and my situation with Bones. I've asked her on several occasions to marry me. Now, I went into this knowing she doesn't believe in marriage but I plan on asking her as much as possible without extremely annoying her until she finally accepts. She's stubborn enough to where I know she won't just give in to make me shut up. She'll either accept at some point or say no every time for the rest of our lives.

I tell him about the people I've killed. I tell him that I'm an FBI agent and a former Army Ranger. I tell him that I can't even count how many people have died because of me. I tell him how guilty I feel for making someone lose a son, daughter, husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, or lover.

After about fifteen minutes of telling my life story, he finally says, "You've done nothing wrong."

I'm confused now. "Wait…what?"

"The way I see it, it's not your fault your son's mother wouldn't marry you and it's not your fault your daughter's mother doesn't believe in God or religion. You killed for the right reasons, to protect yourself, your loved ones and your country. There's no reason for you to feel any sort of remorse for the life you are leading. You're a good man. That's all God asks of you."

I nod and thank him for the conversation.

Quinn and I arrive soon after my talk with Father Walter.

"Booth, is she hungry?" Bren asks instead of a greeting.

"She might be. She hardly fussed when we were gone and I changed her diaper so she should be okay for a little while longer," I tell her.

She just smiles at me and turns her attention to Quinn. She takes our daughter anyway and goes to the kitchen. I follow and sit down at the table next to Quinn's highchair.

Bones is chopping a banana for Quinn and sees me at the table, watching Quinn bang her hands on the tray to entertain herself.

I give Quinn a small smile and look at Bones.

"Is everything alright?" she asks. She's done cutting the banana and adds it to the mushy baby cereal that Q loves so much.

I nod and look back at Quinn. She can see her mom making her something to eat and she's following Bones with her eyes, just waiting for her lunch.

Bones walks over and pulls up a chair to Quinn's highchair so she can feed her. Quinn eats quickly, like we haven't fed her in ages.

I smile at them. Watching Bren and Quinn together is one of my favorite things. Bren still says she doesn't know what love is but her 'emotions change radically' when she just looks at Quinn.

I tried telling her that's love. Bren still doesn't get it but I know she feels all sorts of love for our daughter.

"Tell me what love is, exactly," she says, like she was reading my mind.

I try a different line of reasoning this time. "It's the way I hold you just before we fall asleep, the way Parker holds Quinn when she's really tired, the way you'd do anything for Quinn, the way we kiss just before you pull me into the shower with you. I could go on?"

Bones just nods but she doesn't look at me.

"So what you're saying is…there are several different kinds of love. The love between Parker and Quinn is different than the love between me and you?"

"Yes, bingo!" Quinn laughs at me and smiles back at Bones before taking another bite of food.

"She has your smile," Bones observes. She finally looks at me and says, "So do you still want to get married?"

I'm confused again. "Not if you don't want to," I tell her.

Bones shrugs. "Well, despite the fact that marriage is an antiquated ritual in your religion and the fact that humans aren't meant to be monogamous, I have accepted the fact that neither one of us want to date anyone else and that this…sacrament in your religion would mean a lot to you and I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Just willing?" I tease. I can't even believe she's saying this.

"Our discussions about love have proved to me that you are not about to walk out on me or our daughter so I can only accept your promises as truths. I will marry you as long as we don't get married in a church," she bargains.

"Deal!" I shout. I stand up and wait until she's done giving Quinn a bit. Then I pull her up too. I kiss her and thank God, she kisses me back. We stay like that until Quinn shrieks for more food and sticks her hand in the bowl of nasty mush. Bren pulls away and gently grabs Quinn's wrist before she can make a mess. I hand Bren a dishtowel and she cleans up the baby. Before she says anything, I run up to our bedroom and open my sock drawer. I had hid the ring in a pair of Halloween socks that, when I'm wearing them, are supposed to look like the bones of the feet. I thought it was only appropriate to hide her ring there.

I jump down the stairs two or three at a time and stand in the doorway to the kitchen. She's pulling Quinn out of her highchair and when she sees me, she just stands there.

"Catch!" I tell her and I toss the small box to her. She catches the box with her free hand scolds me like she would Parker for throwing things around the baby. Bren's catching abilities have improved since last month when Parker decided to teach her the in's and out's of baseball. She can pitch a better fastball than I can.

"What is it?" she asks.

"Open it, genius."

She rolls her eyes at me and flips the box open. I couldn't afford much when I bought it. I got it the day after I found out Bones was pregnant with Quinn. I just couldn't convince her to marry me until now. It's just a simple band with a princess cut diamond. Elegant, but not too fancy. I thought Bren didn't need too much; she doesn't like to be all flashy and showy with things like that.

Bren smiles and says, "Aren't you supposed to put it on my finger?"

I grin at her and she shifts Quinn to her right side so I can have her left hand. I slip the ring on and she smiles back at me.

"I love you, you know," she says to me.

"I know," I tell her. "I've always known."