Brennan's standing near a clothing rack, one hand resting on her stomach. She stifles a yawn and blinks slowly, watching Angela move frantically and excitedly through the racks of baby clothes.

Angela pops her head up and smiles. "Sweetie, look how cute this is."

Brennan looks over at her best friend and notices the miniature tuxedo she's holding onto. "Ange."

"Your son is going to look absolutely adorable in this."

"You know, Angela, that outfit is highly impractical."

"But it's cute." Angela gives her a knowing smile.

"Though it is impractical clothing for an infant, I can picture my son dressed in that and I imagine he would look quite handsome and adorable." Brennan smiles. "However, as cute as he would look in that, Booth and I haven't set a date for the ceremony yet, so it would silly to buy a wedding outfit for my unborn baby, especially a newborn sized outfit."

"Fine." Angela puts the mini suit back.

Brennan leafs through the rack and then pulls out a sky blue onesie. Her eyes flash with excitement. "Oh." She walks over to Angela and smiles, holding it up.

Angela stares at the onesie. "You would pick that one, Sweetie."

"Do you get it?"

"Yeah, Honey, I get it."

Brennan proceeds to explain the joke anyway. "Future Genius, except Genius is spelled using the symbols of four elements from the periodic table: Ge for Germanium, Ni for Nickel, U for Uranium, and S for Sulfur." Brennan laughs, completely amused by the onesie.

"Clever."

Brennan stops laughing, catches her breath, and corrects Angela, "It's genius." Then she resumes her chuckling.

Angela shakes her head, but can't help but smile at her best friend's utter delight. "Oh, Sweetie, I told you this would be fun."

Brennan puts the onesie in the shopping cart, her mood lifted. "This is fun."

After another few minutes of perusing, Angela lets out a deep-throated laugh. "Hey, Bren." She carries the onesie she just picked up over to where Brennan is. "Now, you gotta admit this one is cute."

Brennan stops and turns around to face her best friend. Her eyes fall to the navy outfit in the artist's possession.

"Does this remind you of anyone we know?"

Brennan flicks her eyes up to meet Angela's. "Booth actually has a similar looking tie in his collection. I've seen him wear it on several occasions. I believe he'll find this outfit very amusing." She takes the hanger and sets it in the cart with the other clothing they've accumulated over the last half hour.

"I'm hungry. Let's buy what we have here and take a break."

"I, too, have worked up an appetite." Brennan smiles and pushes the cart towards the cash registers. Ten minutes later, they're on their way to the Food Court, bags in hand.

Brennan and Angela are sitting across from one another at a table in the Food Court. Brennan's enjoying a garden salad, while Angela's having fries and a fruit parfait, as the two best friends catch up.

Brennan sets her fork down and takes a sip of her unsweetened iced tea. She swallows and decides to break the comfortable silence that hangs between the two women. "How is Michael Vincent reacting to the prospect of being a big brother?"

Angela blinks and finishes eating her current bite of salad before responding to Brennan's seemingly random inquiry. She smiles. "He's gotten used to the idea. He's starting to get excited now. He's been helping Jack paint the nursery."

"Is that wise? I mean, having a seven year-old help paint the baby's room, that doesn't sound like a very good idea."

Angela laughs. "No, Sweetie, we're hiring professionals to paint the room. We're just trying to select colors right now. Michael Vincent is helping paint blocks of color on the wall so we can see what they look like in the room."

"Oh, I see."

"Christine sounded pretty excited about being a big sister this morning when she was over playing with Michael. She kept going on and on about the little alien in her mommy's tummy."

Brennan nods "Yes, she is very excited." Her eyes fall to her half eaten salad and she chases a tomato around with her fork.

"Sweetie?" Angela drinks her water and tries again when her first attempt to regain the attention of her best friend fails. "Bren."

Brennan looks up, forcing a smile. "I'm worried."

"Worried about what?"

"Booth and I haven't told Christine the sex of the baby yet. I'm worried about how she'll react. When the subject came up this morning, she expressed that she wanted a little sister because she already had a brother. When I asked her if she'd be upset if the baby was a boy, she just repeated that she wanted a little sister."

Angela nods, understanding her best friend's predicament. "I'm sure once you tell her, she'll be excited."

"Booth says if there is an issue, he'll talk to her about it." Brennan finishes her iced tea and closes her salad container.

"Michael Vincent wants a little brother. When he talks about the baby, he calls him Baby Bro. I tried to tell him that the baby could be a girl, but he doesn't seem to care. He's sticking with Baby Bro."

"Well, that's better than little alien."

Angela smiles. "How's Parker doing?"

"He's doing better. PT went well today. He took a couple steps without his cane."

"Wow, that's fantastic."

"I agree. I'm very proud of him. He's making great progress physically, but I fear he isn't making such great progress mentally."

Angela shifts on the chair. "Is he still seeing a shrink?"

"Yes. Dr. Long seems to be helping a great deal." Brennan sighs. "Parker told me this morning that he feels like a burden, which he isn't, but I can understand why he feels that way. Booth and I have, in a sense, put our lives on hold, especially Booth. We've made changes to our lives to accommodate Parker's needs."

"What are you going to do about that?"

Brennan shrugs. "I wasn't aware he was feeling that way until this morning when he told me, so I haven't had much time to think about a solution. I informed Booth, so hopefully we can come up with a plan together."

"I can't even imagine how difficult this is for you guys. The biggest problem Jack and I have to deal with right now is what color to paint the nursery."

"It's not about Booth or me, Angela. It's about Parker. As difficult it is for us, it's more difficult for him."

"Poor kid."

"I'm ready for all this to be over, but I'm starting to come to the realization that it may never be over. It's only been four months and he's only been living with us for half that time, so I have to be patient. I know that two months isn't a sufficient enough length of time to make a long-term assessment."

Angela places her hand on top of Brennan's. "You're doing an excellent job, Hon."

Brennan smiles. "Thank you, Ange."

Angela smirks. "Have you and Booth had any time alone?"

"If you're asking if Booth and I have had sexual intercourse since returning home from the hospital, then the answer is yes."

"I'm not just talking about sex, Bren."

"We have spent adequate time alone together. Booth and I are fine, better than fine, in fact. I actually believe our relationship is stronger than it's ever been."

"Did you come to that conclusion before or after you said 'I do'?"

"After," Brennan draws out.

Angela smiles.

Brennan just shrugs. "There is no correlation between the strength of my relationship with Booth and our recent legalized partnership."

Angela nods. "If you say so."

"There's not," Brennan says, raising her voice just slightly.

Angela nibbles on a fry, watching her best friend's scowl deepen. "How's Booth?"

"I'm worried about him too." Brennan pauses. "I think he needs to return to work, at least part-time, but I don't know how to broach the subject. Parker's starting summer school in a week. Booth will need something to focus on. I hope that when he returns to work, things will begin to settle down."

"That makes sense. Has he said anything about wanting to go back to work?"

Brennan shakes her head. "No, at least not to me, he hasn't."

"He's been afraid to leave Parker alone since the accident, but Parker's getting better. He sees that."

"Examining ancient remains just doesn't give me the same thrill that it used to. I miss my partner. I miss crime fighting."

Angela smiles. "Even if Booth does go back to work, do you really think he'll let you in the field?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Brennan licks her lips. "If you're suggesting that he won't let me in the field because I'm pregnant, then your conclusion has some merit; however when I was pregnant with Christine, I was in the field well into my third trimester, Ange."

"He'll try even harder to keep you out of the field this time around."

"Yes, I believe he will, that's who he is, but he won't succeed. I know my limitations and I know when to quit. I won't put our son in danger. He knows that."

"What do you say we continue shopping?"

Brennan nods. "Sure, okay, but let's stop at the restrooms first."

Angela stands up, tosses their trash away, and grabs her half of the bags.

Brennan gathers up her bags and the two of them walk towards the other end of the Food Court.