Brennan's still driving the SUV, tapping her fingers lightly against the steering wheel. She's quiet. She's been pretty quiet since they started on their way home.
Booth's not oblivious to the silence. It's making him kind of nervous. He did yell at her at the hospital and although they talked about it and made up, things have been pretty tense and quiet since then. Plus, the whole thing with Parker refusing to get in the car had shaken them both up a bit. He sighs. "Hey, Bones, pull in here."
Brennan looks to her right and raises an eyebrow. "Do you have to use the restroom? Because there doesn't appear to be any restrooms in this particular area, and I'm sure there are more adequate and private places to relieve yourself than a patch of cracked asphalt on the side of the road."
"I was afraid you lost your ability to speak."
"I don't follow your logic."
"And no, I don't have to go to the bathroom, Bones." He looks at his son, who is thankfully still asleep. Booth scoots up to the edge of the seat and lowers his voice. "What's wrong?"
"I'd very much appreciate it if we could keep driving home. My father is waiting for us and you know how Christine gets when she's excited."
Booth nods. "Answer my question first."
"I just did. You asked me what was wrong and I told you that I'd like to go home now, instead of sitting in the SUV in the parking lot of some deserted, abandoned pizzeria."
"C'mon, Bones. I said I was sorry. What more do you want?"
"I don't recall you apologizing for making me pull over."
He grunts. "You're so infuriating sometimes," he mutters.
"Your anger is hardly justified right now, Booth. If anyone is justified to be angry, it'd be me."
He sighs. "Never mind."
"Can I drive now?"
He nods.
She shifts gears and pulls into traffic.
He lets out a breath, his attempt to calm down, and sits back again. After being caught by several red lights, his anger boils over. "Are you changing your mind?" He decides to try a straightforward approach this time.
"Changing my mind about what, Booth?"
"About marrying me."
She tugs on the seatbelt and looks at him through the rearview mirror, one eyebrow raised. "No."
"Then why are you so quiet? It's like you're ignoring me."
"I'm concentrating on the road, Booth. If you took my concentration as me ignoring you, then that's not really my problem."
He sighs.
"If you must know, I'm actually thinking about our wedding."
He coughs. "You are?" He asks, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips.
She nods. "Yes." She pauses. "I do acknowledge that as a practicing Catholic, you will need to partake in an official ceremony in a church or some other place in front of our friends and family; however, I would like to suggest that we take care of this as soon as possible."
"Take care of this? Bones, this is not something you take care of. It's a wedding, not a root canal."
"Then perhaps a compromise is in order?" She pauses and shifts on the car seat. "The reason I want to get married is for federal reasons, as we discussed earlier, and I think the most rational thing to do would be to go down to the courthouse and make our partnership legal as soon as possible, so that we can receive the benefits provided to married couples."
He's about to respond, but she doesn't give him a chance.
"I love you, so if you do this for me, I am willing to indulge your old-fashioned sensibilities and allow you to have the ceremony you require to be happy and fulfilled."
He smiles. "You'd wear a white dress for me and everything?"
"That point is negotiable."
He laughs.
"So do we have a deal?"
He nods. "Yeah, but—." His eyes drift back to Parker and he sighs. "Parker."
"Are you afraid he wouldn't approve of the change in our relationship?"
He shakes his head. "Nothing like that, Bones. Parker loves you. He'll be thrilled when we tell him." He pauses. "Your part of the deal requires me to leave him alone. I—I don't think I can do that."
"I would never ask you to leave him unsupervised."
"That's not what I mean, Bones. I mean, I can't leave him at all."
"Oh." She pauses. "I see there's a flaw in my plan. I will revise and get back to you."
"Alright, fine. You know what? I'll flash my badge and pull some strings, so we can get married without even leaving our living room."
She nods, satisfied. "For the actual ceremony, I'm not wearing a veil, just so you know."
"Oh, come on, Bones."
She shakes her head. "We've been through this before, Booth. A veil is symbol of virginity and I—."
He cringes. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but why not go all out?"
"By the time this ceremony takes place, we'd have already have been married for at least six months, Booth. There' d be no point in going all out."
"Six months? That long? Really?"
She glances at Parker and sighs. "I said at least six months, so it may be longer. The reason is because I don't know how long it's going to take for Parker to regain his mobility and strength. I assume you want him standing up there with you and I want him to be able to walk down the aisle and stand without assistance from you, a cane, his crutches, or his walker."
Booth flicks away a tear and swallows.
"In our culture, a wedding is generally all about the bride, but in this case, this wedding is all about the groom. This ceremony is for you, Booth, and Parker is a big part of you. I want him to enjoy that day as much as I imagine you will, so if that means waiting until he can walk with more confidence and stand up for more than five minutes without having to sit down and rest, then I hope you'll be willing to do that."
"I can wait. I can wait forever."
"I don't believe you'll have to wait forever, but I get what you mean." She flashes him a small smile. "I'm still not wearing a veil."
He rolls his eyes and groans. "That point is negotiable." He echoes her words from earlier. "This ceremony is for me, remember?"
She laughs, rolling her eyes, and then focuses on the road.
He leans back against his seat, his mind suddenly hijacked by visions of Brennan in a wedding dress.