Chapter 8 – Group Therapy

Hodgins hit his wine glass softly with his fork to get everyone's attention.

"Ok…so… we'd like to thank everyone for all of their support during our pregnancy. Especially, these last couple of months," he began. The team had gathered together at Founding Fathers for what the couple was calling a "post-baby" celebration. With the Broadsky case and Vincent's death, the baby shower that was originally planned for Angela had been canceled. Time had gotten away from everyone and by the time Cam began thinking about reserving another room, little Michael arrived.

Angela, a hater of most traditional customs, was not bothered in the least, but Hodgins insisted that they at least have something to celebrate their new bundle of joy. He just didn't know it would take them at least three months to get a handle on things at home.

Hodgins continued. "Your support, encouragement, and understanding has been a great comfort, and we just want to take this time to tell each of you how much you mean to us. We knew the transition would be…"

Angela interrupted her husband, "We love you. You've been great. That's all. Now, drink!" She said lifting her wine glass filled with sparkling grape juice.

Brennan smiled, looked across the table at Booth, and sipped her cranberry juice slowly. In order to make sure she wasn't exhibiting any suspicious behavior, she'd gone to the bar and loudly asked for a vodka and cranberry. Then she quickly angled her body and quietly told the bartender to cut the vodka. Their relationship was still under wraps, but the clock was ticking. She was at the end of her first trimester so soon she would be showing. They'd agreed that they would make the announcement together, but at this point, they were waiting on the right time. Angela didn't even know. A fact that Brennan was sure would be a point of contention as soon as the secret was out.

Booth caught her eyes and leaned back, pulling his cell phone out under the table. Her cell buzzed.

"Do u want to do it now?" She read. Quickly, she looked back up at him like he was insane and then tried to cover the reaction.

"Do u?" she typed.

"Sure, why not? Everyone is here." He typed back.

Brennan picked up her glass and downed a huge gulp to calm her nerves. When she met Booth's eyes again, they were asking for confirmation. She nodded slowly. He didn't hesitate.

"Hi…. Hello… could I get your attention please?" his voice rose above the multiple conversations and they slowly stopped as the team turned to give him their full attention. "Since everyone is here, I have some news." Brennan placed her hands on the table and waited.

A big grin spread across Booth's face.

"It feels a little weird to be announcing this so formally but I think you should know that Bones and I are together. We're a couple."

Hodgins watched a grin immediately hit his wife's face, and turned to her in shock. "You knew? Oh… I can't believe you've been sitting on this information…" . Angela gave him her "sorry" look.

"Wow… that is news," Cam said, putting her wine glass down on the table. "Congratulations."

Brennan sat still as the rest of the team digested the new information. Sweets crossed the room and laid both hands on her shoulders. "I for one am thrilled! But how did it finally happen? I've been trying to get you two together for years now."

"I think it was just time, Sweets." She said, surveying the room. The nervous energy left her, instead of shock she only saw the smiling, encouraging faces of their friends.

"I just don't know how I should feel about my skills now," he said walking around to put his hand on Booth's shoulder. "I mean… I've had you in therapy and written a book. Neither one moved the needle. Now, you tell me it was just time."

Booth laughed, "Well Sweets, you know the universe works in mysterious ways, which brings me to the rest of our news…"

He stopped talking for a moment to get his thoughts together. Brennan took the opportunity to take the pressure off and jump in.

"We're pregnant." She said quickly. Her eyes darted to Angela's face first.

"You're pregnant?" Angela crossed the room to look directly at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't really know how at first. Then, we wanted to wait the standard three months."

"Wow…" Sweets said slowly and stood frozen.

"You're going to have a baby…" Cam repeated in shock and sat down at the table.

"Yep, Parker is going to have a little brother or sister." Booth said smiling. "I know we've hit everyone with a lot at one time, but we felt like it was time to come clean."

"I should say so. You guys know how to keep a secret." Cam replied.

He chuckled, "Well… I mean I am an FBI agent."

Brennan laughed. Finding the humor in any situation was one of the things that was definitely on her list of "traits she appreciated about Booth". He'd taught her how to find the one funny thing about any situation. Present situation included. While one could look at this as a completely strange, scary turn of events, Booth looked at it as an opportunity for a brand new beginning.

Instead of getting annoyed that more than one time during her second month of pregnancy she'd had the sudden urge to throw up when he kissed her, he'd just followed her to the bathroom and held her hair while she did it. Then, asked her to explain the anatomical reason for morning sickness….in laymen's terms. The more time they spent as a couple the more she wondered why she'd been fighting the move so hard. It wasn't a disaster. He hadn't asked her to be more than she was, and her heart was more open than she'd realized. It was strange to her that she'd even imagined having a baby without him being by her side.

Booth walked behind her, wrapped both of his arms around her neck and kissed her on the cheek.

"I just can't tell you how happy I am that we're right here," he told the group. "It's been a really quick journey but it's exactly where I've wanted to be for years." Brennan locked eyes with Angela and smiled.