Holey moley…… Hmmm, write a wicked cliffie – get a lot of reviews. There has to be a connection ;)

Thank you all SOOO much for your reviews, so glad you still like this story although most of you were not fond of the cliffie, but hey, sometimes the story just has to be told that way. ;)

Coming home

Chaper 22:

My unconsciousness could have only lasted for a few minutes, because I became aware of my surroundings again when we were on our way down the stairs. The paramedics had to have strapped me into a carrier, but I didn't remember. Seeley was walking beside me, I heard him quietly talk to Angela and my father.

"Booth." I whispered and I saw his face appear in my range on view. "I'm here, Bones. Right here, okay? I'll be with you all the time, baby."

I did not object to the term of endearment, it barely registered in as I faded in and out of consciousness, the painful contractions coming way too fast. "Scared." I mumbled and Booth made an odd, choking sound. "I know, Temperance. But it's going to be alright. It… has to be."

"If…" I nearly choked on the words I so desperately wanted to utter. "If…something happens…if you have to choose…" I drew in a sharp breath as another wave of pain wrecked my body. "Choose the baby. Not me."

"God… Bones." I heard Booth sigh, his grief-stricken face hovering at the periphery of my vision.

"Promise." I urged him. I knew, I KNEW beyond doubt something had to be wrong… it was not the pain that had me passing out all the time…. It had to be something else, maybe I was bleeding internally. Fear for my child made me close my eyes for a moment, but I blinked them open again to stare at Seeley. I needed this promise.

"Bones, God, please… you have to think positively." He said, his voice hoarse and thick with emotion.

We finally reached the ambulance…. Dimly I registered the crowd of people gathering near the entrance, many of the faces familiar, all of them wearing expressions of surprise and fear.

"Promise." I fixed my gaze on Seeley, on his tear-streaked cheeks, the naked pain in his eyes. All I wanted to hear was that he would let me be a mother. I knew I would gladly die for this child, but he needed to know, too.

"Alright." He nodded and his voice nearly broke. "If that's what you want. But …. I won't lose you, Bones, so …. That's my plan, you know. I want to have you and the baby. You better … stick to it, too. You know, that's what plans are for." I heard the tears in his voice, his need to convince us both that everything was going to be alright. I tried so hard to believe it.

I forced a smile on my face, although it took a lot of effort. "I love you." I whispered, before a kind of black veil shadowed my vision yet again. The last thing I heard was his frantic exclamation "Temperance, stay with me. PLEASE."

I felt as I was floating, which was very… odd. My eyes were closed, but I could not force them open, it seemed to be way too hard. And I was content with floating, so why the effort. Floating was wonderful.

"Bones?" I heard Seeley's voice invade my peaceful state of mind. There was my incentive. I wanted to see him and talk to him.

I concentrated hard and managed to blink my eyes open on the third attempt. The room – quickly identified as hospital room - was dimly lit, a hazy shade of grey. It was day, or at least dawn. But that was all not important right now… My gaze focussed on Booth, searching his eyes. They were swollen and red and I wondered for a brief moment why.

"Hey Mommy. Glad you're finally awake." He whispered and smiled down at me.

The knowledge that I had had contractions, that there had been complications rushed back into me with full force. A heavy feeling in my chest, a tightness, made me choke. I forced out a. "Am I?" All confusion evaporated quickly, as I feared... feared...

"Awake? Well, I guess you're still pretty…" Seeley said, but I interrupted him. "A mother? Am I?" My voice was hoarse.

"Yes, God, Bones, yes, you are." His eyes suddenly filled with tears again. "It was… a close call, but you're both going to be alright." His voice was thick with emotion.

"The baby… is okay." I forced out and he nodded.

"Yes… she's in the NICU, you know…the…neonatal intensive care unit…but they say she'll be alright." He answered, stumbling a little over the words.

"She." I whispered. It was all I could manage. A girl. Our baby was alright. We had both made it. The concept was still….unfamiliar. Amazing.

"Yes, Temperance. We have a beautiful, tiny girl. Our Angelina." He cried in earnest now and I hardly noticed at first, but I had joined him, silently weeping too.

"I love you so much." Booth sobbed and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "And I'm so, so thankful you both made it."

"I am, too." I whispered, still stunned, oddly surprised and fascinated by the tears that streamed down my cheeks.

"Look." Seeley whispered and held out a piece of paper. "Angela drew a sketch of our baby. I took pictures too, but…. she…." I heard him choke. "She wanted you to see Angelina without the incubator and all that stuff."

All my attention was on the piece of paper, the drawing of our baby. Angela had drawn our little girl and signed it with.

Angelina Christine, 18th September "Your little angel says hi"

I never believed in angels. And it didn't matter, because at that very moment, I did. And more tears streamed down my face as I touched the face of the tiny infant with my finger tips, but of course felt only the crisp paper instead of soft skin. I longed so much for touching my baby, not just a drawing.

"When can I see her?" I asked, swallowing hard.

"We need to ask the doctor, Bones, you had surgery, you know. But I think they won't be able to hold you for long here, hm?" He smiled. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"Yeah." I said, my voice hoarse. "She is."

"She has your eyes." He whispered and I shook my head. "Babies usually are born with blue eyes, Booth. The pigmentation…" He silenced me with a gentle kiss. "I know that. She still has your eyes. You know, the shape of your eyes… and…. if she grows up to be only half as beautiful as you, I'll have to hide her until she's… hm, say forty or so. You know, from the boys." There was humour in his voice.

"You just want to make me laugh." I accused him, but I had to smile.

"God, yes. I love it when you laugh, Bones. I'm so happy. I have you and I have our baby and…. I thought I'd lose you both, so life is really great right now." He said sincerely, his voice husky.

"I'm sorry for scaring you." I said. He gave me a disbelieving look. "Bones, I was not scared, I was… terrified. And don't even think about apologising, there was nothing you could have done and it is most certainly not your fault, okay? You.. you nearly died."

His serious tone made me blink, the forcefulness of his words stunned me a little. "Okay." I answered meekly. Then I gathered my courage and asked. "What happened?"

And Booth took my hand in his and started to explain.

"They told me it was a spontaneous, partial placental abruption." I briefly closed my eyes upon hearing his words, he had to have heard them often by now… he didn't stumble over them at all.

Placental abruption… one of my nightmares, one of my biggest fears. The chances for placental abruption for a healthy woman my age usually were not that high, but… I had had premature contractions, too, and that made all the difference.

I swallowed hard, blinked my eyes open again and nodded for him to continue.

"They… God, Bones, they said that I should be thankful for being stuck in the elevator. If you had been resting, you might not have noticed it soon enough, but walking the stairs obviously… you know, sped things up. Helped inducing labour." He shuddered and I squeezed his hand tightly. "They had to perform a c-section. They needed to get out the baby as fast as possible."

I nodded. I knew that. It was common procedure in a case like ours. The baby needed to be delivered as fast as possible, especially since I had been unconscious. "I had internal bleeding, right? From the placental abruption." I said and Booth's eyes widened for a moment, then he nodded, pain in his eyes.

"Yeah. It took them some time to stop it, but they managed. They had to give you blood transfusions. You were in surgery for hours, Bones. God, this… was the longest night of my life." He sighed and squeezed my hand tightly.

"Angelina… " I whispered. "Her… oxygen level… and..."

"Was a little low, but not dramatically so. She is going to be alright. Of course, she's smaller than average… you know, three weeks early, but…well… in fact they said, for a premature delivery she's actually pretty big… and strong. Breathing completely on her own already. She's stubborn. Definitely your daughter."

I had to smile at his words. "As if you were NOT stubborn." I paused, contemplating the information he had given me, but he continued before I could say anything else. "She weighs not quite 6 pounds, and is one foot six inches long"

"That's… " Tiny, I thought…. But I sucked in a deep breath. "Really okay, for .. you know…being preterm." I whispered… and then I nearly yawned. Somehow, this was horrifying… how could I be tired, now that I finally had my child, now that we were able to talk about HER… I somehow felt as if I should be taking care of her, not… thinking of going back to sleep. Guilt rose in me.

"Yeah." He smiled down at me, a gentle expression on his face. "You're still exhausted, Temperance. And you're entitled. Don't worry, okay? Angelina is safe, she is fine. And you need to rest, so I can take you both home as soon as possible." He kissed me softly and all my worries… settled down. They did not vanish, but they became bearable instead of overwhelming.

"Sleep tight, Mommy." He winked at me and I yawned. And went under – again.

So, let's see, Baby okay - check. Brennan okay - check. I'm not evil, okay? Well, not THAT evil.

Soooo, reviews would be AWESOME. Please tell me what you think about this chapter, okay? THANKS!