Chapter 11 – A Familiar Face

Booth nearly tripped on the small truck that sped by as he entered the cramped Babies "R" Us aisle. A little boy appeared from around the corner and nearly bumped into him running to catch it as it slammed into a huge stuffed bear sitting against the wall. He shook his head, and looked back at Brennan. She was in the educational aisle putting ever y science and math related early learning toy into their cart.

"So you're going to spend all of our money on geek toys?" He said. He picked up a teddy bear and held it in the air. "We do have to leave some room for cuddly, stuffed things."

"Cuddly, stuffed things don't encourage critical thinking." She said matter of factly, pulling a "baby's first computer" down from the fourth shelf. She turned it upside down to read the summary, but it slipped out of her hands and hit the floor. Booth watched for a moment as she considered picking it up and thought better of it. Then, she glared at him for not moving fast enough. He walked towards her quickly and rescued the device from the floor.

"A kid's got to have silly things, Bones. You can't just expect the child to write a dissertation at 6 months old."

Brennan smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I know, but I do want our baby to be challenged intellectually. Think about it this way, our genes together guarantee an extremely bright, strong, funny, street-smart, wise, logical, attractive son or daughter. I just want to be sure the intellect part is cultivated."

"Ok, so that automatically puts me in the cultivating personality camp. I can't have my kid getting teased for no social skills. As my first official duty, I demand that we buy Mr. Sock T Pus here." He grabbed the stuffed octopus, jostled it in the air and dropped it in the cart.

"I can cultivate personality, too. I'm funny." Brennan had to defend herself, even though she knew deep down that he really was the expert on this particular subject.

He nodding his head sarcastically, "Yes, of course you are."

"I am." She pushed him in the shoulder, turned and grabbed the cart to continue down the aisle.

"Absolutely, I'm actually working very hard to hold the belly splitting laughter in right now." He said as he kissed her in the side of her head. They walked down the rest of the aisle and turned. "Ok so… there are a couple of other things that we're missing in the fun department."

"And those are? " Brennan replied. She stopped the cart and tried with no success to squeeze between it and the shelf to reach a play mat.

"The kid's got to be introduced to the joy of sports. I think I saw a baby's first basketball and hockey set on aisle 2," he said grinning from ear to ear.

Brennan sighed, "Go…"

With a joyful, bounce in his step, he quickly turned on his heel and took off toward the front of the store. As he sped by aisle 4, he spun to dodge a cart and two toddlers, and caught a glimpse of something familiar. He stopped and backed up to take a second look. Immediately, he wished he hadn't. Hannah was standing in the aisle engrossed in thumbing through a book with a large elephant on the cover. Before he could run, she looked up and saw him.

"Wow…" she said, putting the book down. She walked towards him and smiled. "Hi Seeley…"

"Hi Hannah, how are you?" Apart from one letter she'd sent about how sorry she was, he hadn't seen or heard from her since she'd packed her stuff and left. He'd assumed she was jetting all over the globe following the stories she was most passionate about at the moment.

"I'm good. And you?"

"Good. What are you doing here?"

"Oh… my sister is having a baby. I decided to swing in and get a book for her before I go back out of town. It's really good to see you."

"Same here. I hope everything's going well. You look happy." He said. He truly hoped she was. She'd actually done him a favor when she walked away. She'd opened the door for him to be where he belonged. He was infinitely more happy now than he would have been if she hadn't had the strength to say no.

"I am, Seeley. Are you?"

Before he could answer, he heard Brennan's voice around the corner. She was talking to Hodgins about some lab results. "But the decay around the femur break wouldn't support her being dead less than two weeks…" She said, as she turned the corner with the cart. When she saw Hannah, she immediately stopped and cut the conversation short. "Just see what you can find and have Angela run it through the computer. Got to go." She closed the cell phone. "Hannah?"

"Temperance! It's so good to see you!"

"You too?" Brennan replied, shooting a quick look at Booth.

"I should have known you wouldn't be far away. What are you guys here for? Going undercover as parents? What's the story?"

"Well, we're not going undercover…" Brennan began stepping from behind the cart to unveil her round stomach.

"What? You're pregnant?" Hannah hugged her.

"Well to be exact, Hannah…WE'RE pregnant." Booth said looking at Brennan. "Some things have happened while you've been gone."

"Whoa… you guys are together?"

"Yes. We're together." Brennan said, examining Hannah for a reaction.

She stepped back a moment and considered the news. "I know this is going to shock you, but I'm glad."

"That is interesting…" Booth replied.

"No really… Something in the back of my mind always told me that I was only borrowing you. That's why I was fairly certain I wouldn't have to worry about you getting serious. Subconsciously, I think I knew you really loved her. Call it women's intuition."

"You never seemed worried."

"I wasn't, at least before you told me about your past and the request to have another chance."

"But I thought we were okay after that. You told me we were. Did you lie?" Brennan seemed genuinely concerned.

"No, Temperance. I didn't lie about that. I just knew he wasn't going to leave me no matter how bad he wanted to." She looked at Booth. "It's that damn stand up character he has."

Brennan was not enjoying this trip down memory lane. It was a painful time in her life that she didn't really care to revisit. She'd locked her feelings for Booth in so tight that she nearly broke into a million pieces when they started to leak out. His real, tangible rejection was the final blow that sent her spinning into several days of crying all night. Something she hadn't allowed herself to do since she was a kid in the system.

She changed the subject, "So what are you doing now? Where has the job taken you?"

Booth understood her motivation instantly. He didn't really want to be reminded of the pain of not being together either. He would replay that terrible five minutes in the car over and over in his mind until they were old and gray and never get over the pain he caused her.

"Here and there," Hannah replied. "I've actually been assigned to some really interesting stuff. Just came back from Greece."

"Wow, much more exciting than this traditional, domestic baby stuff," Booth replied.

"I don't know. That could be debated." She said, looking at her watch. "I've got to get on the road to make a plane. It was great seeing both of you. Really…" She hugged them and quickly walked down the rest of the aisle. When she got to the end, she suddenly turned. "I'm so happy for the both of you."

"Thanks, Hannah." Brennan smiled back, and grabbed Booth around his arm.

He leaned into her and put his hand on hers. "Yeah, don't be a stranger."

Hannah smiled again and turned on her heel to rush out of the store.