[A/N: Thanks to Butterfliesandmudpies and SweetSouthernGal for keeping me straight.Don't ask me how I flubbed and called Rebecca Booth's ex-wife. I know they were never married. That text was added last-minute, and I can only claim temporary insanity. Sorry for that. I've pulled it out. I'm adding this note at the top of this chapter in case I accidentally repost the whole chapter in my attempt to edit….LOL.]

Chapter 18: Translation Complete

"There are few efforts more conducive to humility than that of the translator trying to communicate an incommunicable beauty..." ~ Edith Hamilton

"If the dream is a translation of waking life, waking life is also a translation of the dream." ~ Rene Magritte

When she hurried as quickly as she could to his bedside and placed her hand over his to comfort him, Booth surprised her by gripping her hand tightly and pulling her closer, "Bones. Be honest. I need to know. Was it another dream?"

"What?"

"Our conversation in the alley. When you said...," his voice trailed off painfully as he searched her face for some sign–some translation of his fragmented memories into a version that meant his heart shouldn't shatter into a million pieces. He felt as if he were hanging on the edge of a cliff—her response could either renew his faltering hope or crush it completely.

He could hardly breathe as his partner looked at him intently. He felt as if he were one of those bodies she examined on a microscopic level. However, because he was her partner, because he had skin and bones and a heart being tortured, he feared that she couldn't see him clearly at all. It had been another dream. It had been a horribly twisted dream, he thought, aching as he resigned himself to the knowledge that he really hadn't ever had a chance with her.

Brennan watched as Booth swallowed hard and appeared to reach some sort of conclusion. She hated seeing the hope bleed out of his expression. She ached with the knowledge that his first thought would have to be that he had been alone in hoping that they could build something amazing upon the friendship each of them had long treasured as his most important relationship.

Reaching out with her trembling hand, she pressed his cheek into her palm and guided it back so that he had no choice but to look into her eyes despite his gut-wrenching pain. Blinking back tears, she whispered, "You mean the part when I told you that 'I knew,' too?"

He nodded almost imperceptibly, hope and fear swirling equally in his tortured eyes. Surely the pain meds were making him dream this, too.

"No, Booth. That wasn't a dream. It was real. I did know-from the start; I still do."

He said nothing, but his heart monitor raced wildly as he stared at her in disbelief.

She smiled at him, understanding his pain and confusion and wanting nothing more than to rid him of both, "Booth, calm down. It's okay. We can talk about it later. You need to rest..."

Booth surprised her by reaching for the button to raise his bed. "Wanna sit," he mumbled, struggling to work the controls he'd normally have no difficulty managing. She'd expected some sort of dramatic reaction—acceptance, happiness, yelling, denial, or even confusion. But absolute dismissal of what she'd just said to him for some inane physical reason? It just didn't fit with the way Booth would react to her telling him life-altering news. Unless it hadn't been accepted as life-altering by him. Oh, no...

Tears of regret filling her eyes, Brennan replaced his hand on the controller with hers and raised the bed so that he could sit up. She turned away from him while the bed lifted her partner to a sitting position so that she could swipe at her falling tears, determined to hide them so that she could be his partner—his friend. Apparently that was all he wanted from her now.

But when he had sat up and looked at her with an unreadable expression, Brennan suddenly felt angry with him. He asked her for water and then grimaced as he choked down a few sips after she brought a cup and straw to him. Booth sighed. He'd brushed his teeth earlier with some serious help from the nurse after she'd shaved him, but his mouth still felt dry and disgusting. Spying the bottle at his bedside, he asked her for mouthwash. They'd informed Brennan that he'd want lots of fluids and mouthwash after waking up, but she hadn't expected those needs to overshadow the entirely significant conversation she'd been trying to have with him. A burning rage building deep within her, she brought the cup of mouthwash and a bin for him to expectorate and glared at him as he swirled some around in his mouth and spit it into the container she'd held out for him.

Brennan had been too devastated to think clearly, and that simple fact had been impetus enough for her to start rambling angrily as she placed the tub on his nightstand. "Even if you don't return the sentiment, you could at least acknowledge the fact that I just made a very difficult confession, Booth. I've sat here for days worrying that I could lose you. And then I pour my metaphorical heart out to you and you... you ask me to help you raise the bed and bring you things? You know how difficult it was for me to talk with you about my feelings. How... how can you be so inconsiderate?"

He smirked at her as only someone on pain medication could do, and she'd have slapped him if he hadn't just had surgery-of all the nerve. "Are you one of THOSE men who just like the thrill of the chase? Once you get what you want, you turn all selfish and insensitive? Was it all an act? All those times you were considerate and thoughtful and not so self-absorbed?" With the bed rail down, she towered over him glowering at him, and he loved every moment of her rage.

Damn, he loved it when she was furious with him. Irrational, irritated Bones was one of his favorite sparring partners because only he could bring her out to fight with him, and she didn't appear to him very often. Even though it sent pain searing through his torso, Booth grabbed one of her hands and used it to pull her closer to him. After he had yanked her close and surprised her, he slipped his hand out of hers, placed it behind her neck and used it to pull her even closer to him. Ignoring his wounds and his discomfort, he pulled her whisper close and stared at her for a long moment.

"Tell me again. I need to hear it."

Tears filling her eyes as they connected with his and saw the emotion there on display for her alone, her heart slowed enough to allow her to realize that he'd never rejected her or pushed her confessions aside carelessly. Now that he'd pulled her so close, she realized that he'd asked for the mouthwash for her sake as much as his own. He'd wanted to sit up to meet her on her level. He was still Booth, he was still her best friend, and he was still reaching out to her and thinking of her. Her heart clenched as she watched him stare at her as if he could see through her into her brain or her heart or whatever organ or body part made her helpless to stop loving him.

Confident that he shared her desperation for them to move past the impasse they'd been stalled in for years, she now spoke to him more boldly than he'd ever dreamt possible, "I knew you were the one when we first met. There's no one else Booth. Nobody but you. It's always been you."

"Bones..."

Afraid her heart would explode if she heard any heartfelt confession from him just then, Temperance leaned in and kissed him, softly and tenderly at first. Each felt the other's pause as the air had been pushed out of their lungs from the shock of the sheer pleasure of that hope-filled kiss. Booth held her close and caressed her lips with his own, worshipping at the altar of Temperance Brennan he'd admired from afar for too long. Time had been suspended for him the way it always had been in times of danger. There had been nothing dangerous about this experience-except for the fact that he had already become wholeheartedly addicted to kissing her. He savored every moment, every sensation, and every chance to experience something new with the woman he loved. Brennan had been reeling, too. Her heart pounded, and her nerve endings pulsed as if lit by some physiologically impossible fire. She felt him show her his feelings through their intimate contact, and she didn't hesitate to accept his offering and to proffer her own to him in kind.

They took turns exploring the taste and touch of one another, lingering in tender as well as more steamy, wet kisses as long as they could stand it. Pausing only when breathing had been required to continue living, they embarked upon a new type of wordless communication they both craved to pursue. As emotions shifted from pure joy to amazement to intense need to tender care, the partners immersed themselves in one another they way they'd been destined to do so many years ago. Neither tequila nor mistletoe, nor family obligations nor pressure from psychologists could impinge upon this most precious set of real first kisses.

When he finally released her from his fairly tight grip, she smiled at him and squeezed his hand. Despite the pain, he pulled her back to him so that her face had been mere inches from his. "So Bones," he asked earnestly, fighting back the pain of overdoing it because this mattered too much to leave any room for doubt. "Did you really mean it? Do you want to give this thing with us a try?"

She smiled at him, a tear trailing down her cheek before he could stop it. "It's what I've always wanted, Booth. You weren't the only one. I was scared... terrified... immobilized by my fear. But I knew, too. From our first case. I... I was so afraid I'd lost you... I..."

Her words evaporated as he pulled her closer and covered her lips with his own. Without the tequila and without an audience, and without his desperation that he was losing her tempering the magic, they lost themselves in an even more epic kiss—one that was devastatingly open and honest and full of only hope and love. It was also fairly intense considering that one of them had been confined to a hospital bed and the other wasn't yet fully mobile.

When she finally pulled back far enough away to look down at him, she had been startled by the intensity of the way that he had been gazing up at her. It was clear to her now that he'd only shown her a portion of what he had felt for her all these years.

"That was worth the wait," he whispered. "You... you have always been worth the wait." She then crushed his lips again with her own, showing him more skillfully than she'd ever have been able to tell him that she thought that he had always been the one for her, too. They were so lost in one another that neither of them had heard the knock at the door. It had only been when Rebecca cleared her throat loudly while tapping Temperance on the shoulder that they realized that they were no longer alone.

"Rebecca," Booth said breathlessly, keeping his grip on Bones so that she couldn't move farther away from him even though she was now trying to do so. He smiled as he noticed the blush creeping up Bones' face. God, she was even sexier when she was embarrassed, he realized. Rebecca needed to leave and fast. "I don't wanna be rude, but Bones and me... we're kinda having a moment here," he said, raising his eyebrows and nodding to the mother of his child to ask her to leave them alone.

"It's OK, Booth," Brennan said as she turned to smile at Rebecca. "Parker's probably outside waiting to see you. He's been so worried about you. You should talk to him."

"Park's here?" Booth asked, trying to look around the women to see his son. He smiled as he saw Parker's messy mop of curls bouncing up and down outside the window on his hospital room door.

Smiling at Booth, Brennan pulled upright and out of his grasp, crossed the room, and swung the door wide open. "He's awake, Parker. Come in and see your dad."

"Thanks, Bones!" Parker squealed, running into the room and leaping up on the bed before anyone could stop him. He landed with a thud partially on Booth's left side, not knowing or caring that he might have caused his dad pain as he wrapped his arms around his neck and let his tears fall once more.

"Hey, it's OK, pal," Booth said, rubbing his son's back to console him. "I'm fine… Everything's OK." Booth carefully nudged his son to the side so that he could sit beside him on the bed. Brennan noticed Booth exhale as if he were still in pain from the way that Parker landed on him. He shook his head slightly, letting her know that he was fine and that the boy hadn't done any damage. At least he'd landed on the side least injured. She smiled, watching the way that he interacted with his son. Without saying anything, she turned and left the room so that they could have some private family time.

T R A N S L A T I O N . . . T R A N S L A T I O N . . . T R A N S L A T I O N . . . T R A N S L A T I O N . . .

About fifteen minutes later, Parker bounded out of the room with his mother following closely on his heels. "You can go back in now, Bones," Parker said with a grin. She looked up at him and smiled, and he literally threw himself into her arms. "Thanks for saving me Bones. My mom said we won't ever forget how brave you were and how you saved me and Dad," he whispered as he turned and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

"Parker's right, you know," Rebecca said, tears filling her eyes. "We owe you. Thank you so much for all you did for him... for both of them."

"I... It was nothing. It was what partners do...," Brennan stammered uncomfortably.

"It wasn't nothing," Rebecca admonished and she hugged the woman herself despite how uncomfortable it made Brennan. Then she winked at her approvingly and said, "And next time, don't leave the room on our account."

"Oh, I just wanted you to be able to have some private family time," Brennan insisted.

"Silly Bones! You are family! You're part of our family now," Parker said with a huge grin. "Right mom?"

"Right, Parker," Rebecca said with a wink in his direction. "I think that's why your dad was asking us to send her back in."

"Goodnight, Bones! See you soon!" Parker said as he took his mother's hand and pulled her down the hallway.

"Goodnight," Temperance replied, a huge lump in her throat as she watched them walk away. Slowly, she gathered her composure and returned to the doorway of Booth's room.

As she looked in, she noticed that he looked tired but it was obvious that he had been waiting for her—a smile on his face as he nodded in her direction. She stood there for a long moment realizing how the very sight of him had become for her something sacred—she felt at home with him wherever they were together.

"That son of yours is quite a charmer," Brennan said as she made her way slowly back into the room.

"Like father, like son?" Booth asked with a hopeful expression on his face.

"Give him a few years," Temperance teased, "and he'll be giving you a jog for your money."

Booth laughed and then winced with the pain that wracked his frame. Trying to breathe normally, he didn't bother with correcting her gaff this time.

"Are you OK? Can I do something for you?" she asked, concern flooding her features.

"Yeah. This other bed rail. Can you move it back up?" Booth asked, trying to adjust the railing on that side of the bed one-handed.

"Of course. But why?" she asked as she lowered the rail and looked at him curiously.

Booth just grinned, moved over a bit and patted the other side of the mattress to indicate that she should sit where Parker had been earlier. Smiling, Brennan walked around, lowered herself gently onto the mattress, slipped off her shoes, and slid underneath the covers with her partner. Maneuvering in the crowded space without hurting Booth had been difficult and took some time, but she had finally settled her head upon his uninjured shoulder. He held her close, relishing the feel of her lying there peacefully with him.

"So this story you were telling me last time in the hospital. Back at the beginning, did the characters take it slowly and keep their relationship..." he paused, suddenly choked up with the reality that they were really doing this. He and Bones were going to try a relationship. It almost seemed like cheating even to admit that in his head. "Did they keep their relationship under wraps for a while?"

She smiled at him, mesmerized by the warmth and the hope flooding those beautiful brown eyes of his. "Well, after five years of flirting and foreplay, I think they dispensed with formalities because she wrecked his world."

Booth laughed out loud, but the pain brought tears to his eyes and made him stop. He pulled her close and kissed her again, letting the magic of their touch heal him more quickly than medication could have. "Rocked his world, Bones. We'll just have to see who rocks whom when I'm out of here and healed."

The End.

[A/N: Ridiculously long epilogue chapter to follow. Scary long. Might even have to be broken into epi-bits.]