End of Fall semester (Junior year)

"Congratulations, Ms. Brennan, on finishing your master's. Where are you planning to do your doctoral research?" Ray Garnett, head of the Northwestern anthropology department, asked her. Brennan had decided to forgo the big hoopla of the commencement ceremony and just pick up her diploma from the head of the department himself. He was a nice man. Dr. Garnett wasn't teaching anymore, mainly doing administration things but Brennan had formed a nice bond with him during her part time job in the anthropology office.

"Well, I've talked to the academic scholarship department and they've agreed to let me use the money to fund researching so I can stay in the area."

Dr. Garnett nodded. "You like it around here?"

"Of course. I grew up in Illinois," Brennan told him, hoping it would satisfy his question.

He nodded again. "So it has nothing to do with your boyfriend?"

Brennan blushed. "Um, no, sir," she fibbed. Booth said little white lies never hurt anyone despite the fact she didn't believe in lying in the first place.

"I know you're dating Seeley Booth. Everyone on campus knows," he told her. She blushed even more.

"Temperance, don't do what I did when I was your age. I'm glad you're focused on your studies. You are the most intelligent, and youngest, doctoral candidate this university has ever seen. But don't push away the most important people in your life because you love to learn. Granted, I'm not saying to push your studies completely off to the side but you should live a little before you become too invested in your research. Just…don't do what I did."

She looked around Dr. Garnett's office. She studied the pictures on the shelves behind him. They were of Dr. Garnett in very faraway places, places Brennan would love to go to some day. But he was alone in every picture, unlike the pictures that covered her apartment of her and Booth together. Being alone was something she wasn't sure she could handle now that she had Booth in her life.

"Do you understand what I'm getting at, Ms. Brennan?" Dr. Garnett asked.

Brennan nodded. "Of course, sir. You are saying to continue to study like I have been but to have fun as well and not to take my loved ones for granted." The old professor smiled at her and congratulated her once more on her insane amount of success at such a young age.


She walked into the diner later that night and found Booth, Angela, Jack, and some of the guys from the football team were sitting in the back corner. Brennan followed Booth's laughter back to their spot.

"What's going on? I thought it was just going to be me and you having dinner," Brennan said to Booth. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her.

He kissed her and said, "Well, I thought we'd celebrate just a little bit. Have a little party. Our place isn't big enough for everyone."

Brennan rolled her eyes and took Booth's seat. He pulled up another chair from a nearby table and sat next to her. After their dinner and several bets on how quickly Bren would get her first doctorate, Wanda, their favorite waitress, brought out dessert.

"What is this?" Brennan looked to Booth for an answer. Wanda, who made Brennan's favorite red velvet cake, brought out a whole cake and placed it in front of Brennan.

"I decorated it!" Booth boasted. The white frosting was decorated with blue, sloppy words saying Congrats, almost Dr. B. The congrats was sloppier than the rest and it looked like it had been smeared and fixed a time or two. "I tried writing congratulations but then I realized the cake was too small to fit the entire word. I got all the way to the U when I hit the end, so Wanda helped me scrape it off," Booth whispered in her ear.

Wanda chuckled and sliced the cake. "Ya know, sugar, you could've made the whole word fit if you hadn't started in the middle of the cake." Everyone laughed and went at the cake faster than a snake at its prey.

Brennan excused herself and went to the counter for a glass of milk. Wanda saw her approach and poured the milk before Brennan even asked.

"Thanks, Wanda. You read my mind," she said, smiling at the waitress.

"Sugar, I know you and your honey better than the back of my hand…when it comes to food, anyway," Wanda told her.

"Yes, you do. And thank you for the cake. It's lovely."

Wanda started walking away but said, "He loves you, sugar, more than you realize. I hope you're in it for the long run 'cause he's in it for life."