Brennan's lying on the cot, snuggled between the sheets, attempting to fall asleep. She's exhausted and today's been a good day, or at least when you compare it to the others that came before it, so she should be able to drift off to sleep no problem, right? Wrong. She's relaxed, for sure, but she's been sleeping alone for a month now, and although she's done it before, done it most of her life so far, in fact, but she misses being able to snuggle up with Booth. She misses feeling weight on the other side of the mattress, misses his warm body pressed against hers, misses his breath as it brushes against her neck when he exhales, misses the soft kiss he always gives her in the morning, misses the way his arms wrap around her protectively, almost possessively as they fall asleep together, and she misses his quiet, husky voice as he whispers 'Good night' or 'Good morning' in her ear. She's the first to admit that she's fine alone, but she misses him.
Booth rises in his chair and gives Parker a kiss on his cheek. He pulls the sheets up and tucks them in on either side of the sleeping teenager. He smiles at his son and turns around, facing Brennan. She looks so peaceful and small, and it makes him smile even wider. He walks around the chair and crawls into bed beside her. He shifts to get more comfortable and pulls back her hair. He presses his lips just below her ear and whispers, "Good night, Bones." His arm slings around her waist, as he presses his body almost flush against hers.
She doesn't respond. She just smiles, lets out a breath, and falls asleep soon afterwards.
Parker is improving. He's breathing on his own and talking and smiling, so Booth doesn't feel the need to sit by his bed 24/7. He's come to the realization that he's been somewhat neglecting of his partner and he does miss her, so he made the decision to sleep beside her tonight, the first time he's done that since before the accident. She's been nothing but amazing and he has to admit that just sleeping or being close to her is giving him strength. Maybe he'll actually sleep tonight—one can hope.
The mid-morning sun shines through the blinds and Booth wakes up to a shift in the sheets. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and covers his mouth, stifling a yawn. He buries his face into his partner's neck and kisses upwards, stopping once he reaches her ear. He smiles, his breath brushing against her skin as he whispers, "Good morning."
Brennan shivers, not fully awake yet. She smiles and grabs his hand by his thumb. "Good morning." She pauses. "I was convinced that I had been dreaming."
"About what?"
"Dreaming about you sleeping with me."
"Oh." He pauses. "It was a good day, and I've missed you."
She smiles just a smidge wider. "I missed you too. I hope this isn't just a onetime thing."
He shakes his head. "As long as Parker keeps getting better, it won't be. Before he woke up, I just, I needed to be close to him, just in case, you know? I'm his father. I'm supposed to protect him, watch over him."
She nods. "I know, Booth."
He scoots even closer to her and smiles against her jawbone.
She lets out a soft, drawn-out moan, and tugs on the sheet.
"Dad?" Parker croaks out, turning his head slightly and searching the room.
Booth jumps up and gets out of the bed. He walks around the cot and sits down in the chair. "Good morning, bub. How're you feeling today?"
Parker shrugs and winces in pain from the movement of his healing ribs and collarbone. "Okay." His voice is definitely clearer today than it was yesterday and his breathing is somewhat regular again.
Booth smiles. "That's good, buddy. That's great."
Brennan rolls out of bed and heads for the bathroom.
"Morning, Bones," Parker says, turning his head in her direction.
She stops and looks at the teenager. "Good morning, Parker." She disappears inside the restroom and comes back out a couple minutes later, joining Booth by Parker's bedside. "Did you sleep alright?"
Parker blinks. "Not really."
"Oh?" She questions, sitting down on the arm of the chair. "Why not?"
Parker swallows. "I had a, a, a nightmare," he hesitantly admits.
Brennan nods. "I understand completely, buddy."
"You do?"
"Yes. I admit that I have had my fair share of crippling nightmares in the past, especially after very traumatic experiences." She pauses. "When your father, Uncle Hodgins, and I got kidnapped by the gravedigger, I used to wake up in a cold sweat, when my parents disappeared when I was fifteen, I would have nightmares about what happened to them and what would happen to me if they never came back, and," she swallows, "when I was in foster care and I was placed in home after home after home with people who couldn't care less about me, I'd have nightmares then too."
Booth looks at her, his eyes glossy. He takes her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Bones?"
She swallows and blinks, looking away. That was definitely more information than she had been meaning to share.
The room is quiet for a couple minutes. Booth's eyes focus solely on her and he skims his thumb across her cheeks, wiping away the tears that cascade down. He sighs and then looks at Parker. "Do you want some pudding, bub?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, okay. I'll have a nurse go get you some pudding. Vanilla or chocolate or both?"
"Both, please."
Booth smiles and stands up. He drops a kiss on the top of Brennan's head as he passes by her. He calls a nurse over and proceeds to ask for pudding—four cups, two of each flavor. He comes back over to the chair and sits down, resting his hand on his partner's thigh.
Brennan's lips quiver and her breathing slows as memories surge through her brain. She hadn't meant to go into detail about her nightmares, just that she had had them in the past. The rest just popped out.
Booth tilts his head and looks up at her, caressing her leg softly. "Hey, it's okay, Bones. It's okay," he whispers.
She nods, flashing him a small, warm smile.
Booth sighs and rests his hand on the small of her back, lightly rubbing back and forth in attempt to soothe her. "It's okay, baby," he repeats, his voice softer now. He knows it took a lot for her to open up like that. He knew she had nightmares leading up to the gravedigger trial, but the other two instances, he had no clue. She never told him that, and she certainly never told Parker about any of that before.
She nods again, wicking away the moisture from her cheeks. She clears her throat and stands up. "I need some fresh air." She leaves the room, giving Booth one last look of admiration before disappearing down the hallway.
"Bones! Bones!" Booth wants to follow her, wants to grab her and pull her into his arms and never let go, but he can't bring himself to leave Parker completely alone. She'll come back. She just needs space. She'll be back soon, he tells himself and looks back at his son.
Brennan returns to the room forty-five minutes later. She doesn't say anything about what had happened nearly an hour ago. She just walks in quietly and sits on the arm of the chair again. "What'd I miss?" She asks, almost cheerfully.
Booth catches on quickly. Her smile is obviously fake, but he doesn't point it out. He knows that'll only make things worse, so he moves on, pretending like the conversation they shared earlier hadn't happened. "Nothing much. We're just talking about football."
"Christine still wants me to teach her how to throw a perfect spiral," Parker says. It's the longest sentence he's said since he woke up.
Brennan raises an eyebrow. "How'd you know that?"
"Teeny told me yesterday."
"No, no, she didn't. She told you weeks ago."
"Oh."
Booth smiles. "I told you he was listening, Bones."
Brennan nods.
As the minutes pass, Booth can't help but stare at her. He can tell she's still a little shaken from earlier. He places a hand on her knee and smiles at her.
She senses his stare and looks at him. "I'm fine, Booth. I'm fine."
Booth nods, but still not convinced she's telling the truth.
"It doesn't matter anyway. This is about Parker. You should be concerned about him, not me," she whispers directly to him.
Booth wraps his hand around her fingers. "I can multitask. I can be concerned about you and him at the same time," he assures her. "But we can talk about you later because as much as you tell yourself you're fine, you're obviously not. I can tell. That's sort of my thing."
She sighs.
"You did good, Bones. You told Parker that he's not alone and that you know what he's going through. That's exactly what needs to happen when we tell him about you know who."
She smiles.
He hooks his arm around her waist and lets out a breath. "You have nothing to worry about."
She just looks at him, the remnants of a smile on her face.
Booth turns back to Parker. "Max will probably bring Christine by after lunch. I'm sure she has lots of stuff to tell you." He pauses. "But you should rest, buddy." He grabs the remote and switches on the TV. He flips through the channels and glances at Brennan. "Hey, look, Bones. It's the Smurfs."
She laughs. "You remember?"
"Of course I remember, and I still think you're way better than Smurfette."
"You think so?"
"Definitely."
She smiles. "Thanks, Booth."
"You're welcome." He pulls her onto his lap and gives her a quick peck on the lips before she settles against him and turns her focus to the TV. He wraps his arms around her and smiles.
The three of them spend the late morning watching TV and conversing until lunchtime.
I had planned on this chapter being about them telling Parker about Rebecca, but I changed my mind and gave you guys this instead, so the next chapter will be about Booth and Brennan telling Parker about the accident and his mom. :)