[A/N: First of all. I'm SO sorry for just leaving this story hanging like I did. Secondly, I'm still loving Bones but the hiatus is taking a little too long for my liking. Thirdly a very late congrats to Emily Deschanel and her son, she's beautiful and I'm thinking he has to be the cutest baby ever. Fourthly. I can't wait for the B&B baby! But I have to inform you that I'm taking my own direction in this story. It's not following the Bones timeline any more if it ever has.

Enjoy!

Uncharted Lands

14. A Gamble.

Exactly one week later Booth was waiting anxiously for Brennan to come home.

Their arrangement was going quite well, and they had only had one fight all week. It had concerned the new TV he'd bought her, and she'd been so mad at him that she had spent the night at the lab. He had been worried but he had let her, not wanting to push her, but not wanting to give in either. That one time had been last night.

But here he was. He had just gotten back from an afternoon at the mall, alone, and he'd bought her something. Something he wasn't sure she'd be able to accept. But he had to try.

He knew it was dangerous and he knew he was putting his still weak heart on the line again, and that this time it wasn't just going to be about rejecting marriage if she said no. It would be about rejecting him, just like Hannah had rejected him when he had proposed to her. But he couldn't stop himself. It was the only way he knew how to show her what she meant to him, what she meant to his existence.

So here he was, pacing the house, her house, their house, waiting for her to come home. He had considered cooking her dinner, taking her out for dinner, but he knew that wouldn't work in his favour. He wanted to do this at home, with her feeling safe and comfortable, in case anything went wrong or in case it went exactly right.

Temperance Brennan was angry at Seeley Booth, but she also desperately missed him. She had slept in her office last night, she needed space and she'd gotten it, and even though he did text her once he left her alone and she appreciated it.

Now she had finished all her work and she was ready to go home, but she didn't know what to expect. Would he be there? Or would he have gone, leaving her house empty?

She had no idea. And yes, she was scared, she wanted him to be home when she got there, but she also knew her reasons and her reaction had been a little out of balance. So when she got into her car heading for her apartment, nothing was certain in her head except that she wanted him to be home.

Of course he was home, and a smile appeared on her face as she closed the door behind him. 'Hi, Booth.'

'Hey, Bones,' he responded. 'You're back.'

'Yeah, I'm.. I'm sorry about my reaction to the television. It was.. Unexpected. But thank you.'

He smiled nervously. 'Hey, no harm done. It's already installed and ready if you want to watch anything. But first..'

He stopped mid sentence.

'First I want to shower,' she said, putting her bag on the floor in the hallway before putting her coat on the hook.

'Hey.. Come here,' he said, catching her wrist and pulling her to him. 'I missed you.'

She let him pull her close and she nodded into his chest. 'I missed you too.'

Momentarily he forgot about what he wanted to ask her as he enveloped her body in his arms again, remembering how lonely he had felt in their big bed last night. Then he realized something. Bones doesn't feel the pressure to do or act how she thinks others want her to. Did he change her in that? Did she, now, after spending so much time with him, feel that pressure? He hoped not.

'Bones.. I have something for you, but it doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to, ok?'

She took a little distance from his body, frowning. 'What do you mean?'

He reached for the small box on the coffee table which she hadn't noticed before now.

Her heart clenched. Her feet carried her to the couch and she sat down, following him with her gaze until he was in front of her. He didn't kneel, he just sat down next to her and handed her the box. 'It doesn't mean anything beyond a simple gift, Bones. Just what you want it to mean.'

She nodded. 'Ok.'

The nervousness in his voice calmed her somehow. She knew that he was not taking to this lightly, so even though it might be too big for her, it was big for him as well. And she found comfort in that.

She touched the lid with her finger, feeling the soft red surface before opening the box.

Then, her heart really skipped a beat. And then another.

In the box was a ring, a beautiful, delicate golden ring with a small ruby in the shape of a heart, shining bright in its glory.

Her heart resumed beating and she let out a sigh, her eyes watering, searching his face looking for the exact magnitude of all of this. This wasn't something that meant nothing if she didn't want it to. This was a proposal.

On his face she found love, hope, and in his eyes she found tears, mirroring hers. She saw the gambler, the man with the heart of a lion, reduced to her answer. And she didn't even want to say no. How could she?

'It's beautiful, Booth,' she said softly, her voice wavering.

'Again, Bones, if you don't want it, just take it as a gift, you know, a sign of my love,' he pleaded. She shook her head, and she saw his heart drop. She reached out to touch his chest, hoping it would comfort him.

'No, this.. This means something,' she started and he dared to meet her eyes again.

'I… I'm willing to gamble with you, Booth,' she said, and he took a minute to grasp her meaning. 'What are you saying, Temperance?' he asked, scared to misread her but daring to hope.

'I.. I believe the proper response would be.. Yes, I do,' she said, smiling at him, a tear running down her cheek, with more threatening to follow.

Again his brain took a minute to register her words. Then, his face brightened like it had on the night she'd informed him about her pregnancy. It started with a tiny smile, spreading across his features until nothing but happiness could be seen. 'You mean.. You mean you want to.. Really? Bones?' His bottom lip started to shake a little as he was trying to hold back his tears.

'Yes, I want to marry you,' she said and she found the words to be oddly liberating. 'It's strange, but I feel ready- -' she started to explain but he cut her off, his arms coming around her to embrace her, pulling her so tight she could barely breathe but she welcomed him, her arms coming around his back, holding him just as close. She felt his tears fall on the skin of her neck, and her own tears fell with his.

'I didn't think you'd like it,' he whispered. 'I thought.. I thought maybe it was too much.'

'It's beautiful,' she said, pulling back a little to look at the ring still in her other hand. 'It's not too much, it's perfect.'

He pulled back, releasing her. 'Try it on.'

She found her hands were shaking as she handed him the ring. 'You do it.'

Everything happening to her was very.. Cliché somehow, and she would've been uncomfortable with it if he hadn't been with her. But his presence was soothing and she didn't have regrets, nor doubts, she wanted this and she didn't know why but it was all very clear to her. She was going to marry Seeley Booth and she wasn't scared by the magnitude of matrimony, she wasn't doubting his commitment to her or her commitment to him. This would work out and she'd have the day she never thought she would have: Her wedding day. Their wedding day.

His hands were shaking too as he softly took her hand and slipped the ring on her finger. It fit her just right, and he lifted his gaze from her fingers to her eyes.

What he found took his breath away.

He found peace in her composure, a peace he hadn't seen before. Her life had clicked with his in a way that was irreversible, and she would have doubts but not right now. And when the doubts did come, he saw in her eyes that when that time would come he'd be able to convince her, able to take her fears away and settle her mind, and that made him happier than ever. 'I love you,' he whispered.

Her eyes met his and without words he knew what their next move would be. She fell into his arms, and he lifted her without difficulty, holding her so close, her head buried in the crook of his neck, her arms around his shoulders. He carried her to the bedroom, ready to prove to her what she was to him, only the reason for his existence.

Their bodies needed each others touch, and Booth carefully laid her down on the bed, his lips finding hers, his tongue ravishing hers, tasting his or her tears he didn't know and didn't care. All he cared about was that he loved her and that she loved him back, she loved him back deep enough to want to marry him. And as his tears mixed with hers on her cheeks, he sent a little thank you to his God, to her universe, to whoever was up there listening.

Barely fifteen minutes later she fell down onto the bed next to him, pulling him with her, her hands on his chest, his arms around her waist. Their lovemaking had been fast and frantic, beautiful and passionate, like them. However, in the silence following, Brennan had unanswered questions. Booth had known that whatever her answer was, a conversation would follow, and he felt her fingering the ring on her finger, looking for a way to start, so he helped her out.

'What is it, Bones?'

She smiled into his chest, he knew her well. Too well sometimes.

'You.. You took a big risk, Booth. You didn't know what I was going to say.'

'No, I didn't,' he answered. 'But it was worth the risk, Bones. Last time was stupid, maybe today was stupid as well but it felt right.'

She sighed. 'I'm glad you asked.'

He sighed with her, letting go of the stress that had followed him around the past hours after buying the ring and while waiting for her to come home. It hadn't felt like this with Hannah.

'You know Bones.. When I proposed to Hannah..—' she interrupted him.

'You don't have to talk about that if you don't want to, Booth.'

'I want to, it's ok,' he answered. 'It doesn't hurt anymore. And you know.. It never felt like this. So right. It just felt safe and I needed that.'

'I know,' she said. 'I needed safe too, that's why I didn't talk to you that much while you were with Hannah. I needed the distance.'

He placed a kiss in her hair. 'I'm sorry.'

She shook her head softly. 'There is nothing for you to be sorry about. But Booth.. Why did you ask me? I've told you before I didn't believe in marriage.'

He smiled at her use of past tense, and she felt it in her hair. She turned her head to look up at him and she saw his face peaceful and soft.

'I hoped it was the same with you as love,' he answered. 'You say you don't believe in love but you do, it's just that you're afraid to say it, to feel it, you know, because you're afraid to hurt me or get hurt.'

He was exactly right and the truth hit home harder than she expected. 'Yeah,' she whispered, because it was all she could say.

'You know, Hannah said she wasn't the marrying kind,' Booth continued. 'But her reasons.. She just couldn't commit, you know. She wanted a good time.'

'She never used you, Booth,' Brennan said, because she knew it to be the truth. She had had a good conversation with Hannah on the phone after Booths proposal. It hadn't been easy for Brennan to hear it, but she was glad Hannah called her.

Booth sighed. 'I know. I didn't mean to say that she had. It was just.. I'd forgotten about that, I wanted to settle down, move on.'

'Because of me,' Brennan whispered.

'Yeah, I was so stupid,' he whispered back.

She looked up. 'It wasn't your fault. I was pretty stupid myself, Booth.'

He shook his head and met her eyes. 'No, babe. I pushed you too much too early, I'm sorry. But that's in the past now.'

She nodded and put her head back on his shoulder. 'Yeah, we're having a baby.'

'No, Bones. We're having a relationship that happens to involve a baby. It's not just about the baby.'

'Would you be here if it weren't for the baby?' she dared to ask.

He sat up, taking her with him, looking straight into her eyes deep down to her heart.

'Yes,' he answered with such truth in his voice she couldn't do anything but believe him. 'Yes, I would most definitely be here if it weren't for the baby. Always if you'll let me, babe.'

She nodded softly. 'Our time has come, hasn't it?'

'Our time was always there,' he answered. 'We just had to see it.'

And he closed the distance to her face, kissing her lips with tenderness, feeling her respond to his touch with a feather light caress of her own. Her hands came to his chest, touching it, pouring her feelings into her touch. He did the same, his awareness suddenly heightened again by the fact that they were still both naked, his hands travelled to her sides, around to touch her breast and he wondered how his life could suddenly be going so great.

'There's nothing wrong with you, Booth,' Brennan whispered and he knew instantly what she was talking about. The night she'd come to get drunk with him after his proposal to Hannah. 'There's something wrong, here,' he had said. She had started to comfort him but he hadn't wanted to hear it, needing to feel pain instead of being comforted by her.

He smiled into her skin, kissing down her neck to her collarbones, and he stopped only to answer her. 'No, everything is right.'

And it was. There was nothing wrong with him as long as she was there, and there was nothing wrong with her as long as she could go to him. A safety net, someone to confide in, everybody needs it. Momentarily they had lost it when he had sought refuge with Hannah, but it was back, and it was stronger than ever. They were together and they loved each other more and more each day, each time they touched was as magical as the time before, and even Brennan who was often a scientist before a woman believed in the eternity of this love.

So again, the nightfall witnessed a man and a woman coming together in passion, a passion that was insatiable and undeniable. They had always belonged to each other, belonged with each other, and suddenly in a matter of months everything they had ever dared to hope for, whether it be openly or in secret, it was all happening. The speed of it scared Brennan, but it was a good kind of fear, she decided. The ease of it astounded Booth, but he decided it was never a bad thing to be living your dreams so he was just grateful, so very, very grateful.