Sorry this chapter is so late, but real life got in the way and I was having a hard time figuring out what to write. Hope it was worth the little bit of wait. Enjoy :)

Brennan's sitting on the living room couch, snacking on pretzel sticks and checking her emails on her phone.

Christine leaps over to her and fluffs her tutu. "Mommy, you're not watching me. Check out my dancey skills." She jumps up and down and spins around and around, wobbling to a stop. "Whoa, dizzy."

Brennan lowers her phone and looks at her daughter. "Careful, Honey." She pauses. "Okay. I'm watching now. Let's see if all that practice is paying off."

Christine flashes her mother the biggest grin she can manage and jumps back into the middle of the living room. "Ready, mommy?"

Brennan's attention is drawn to the staircase when she hears a loud thump. "Hold on, sweetheart. Keep practicing." She rises to her feet and rushes over to the steps. "Parker, buddy, are you okay?" She walks up to where he fell and holds out her hand.

Parker slaps her hand away and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning against the railing rungs.

Brennan takes a seat beside the teenager and places her hand on his shoulder. "Where's your father?"

"Dad's in the shower," he mutters.

"Why didn't you wait for him to help you?"

"'Cause I'm not a baby! I can do this myself. I can walk down a set of steps, damn it."

"If you could do this yourself, you wouldn't have fallen down," Brennan points out, but quickly realizes that it wasn't the right thing to say. She sighs. "We all have to accept our limitations, Parker, even if they are temporary." She squeezes his shoulder and smiles at him. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"

"I'm fine, Bones. I just—my legs kinda gave out on me."

She nods. "Don't give up. If we're thinking optimistically, you made it farther down the stairs today than you've ever gotten by yourself before. That's something to be proud of."

Parker turns his head and looks at her, a smile now evident on his face. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Celebrate the small victories, remember?" Brennan balls her hand into a fist and holds it up.

Parker bumps her fist with his, his smile more visible and relaxed. "How's the baby?"

"He's seems to be quite restless."

"That's 'cause he's anxious to meet his big brother." Parker grins at her, reaching out and putting his hand on her stomach. "Ain't that right, Little Mister?"

She smiles.

"Parker!" Booth shouts as he practically runs down the hallway. He stops at the top of the stairs and lets out a sigh of relief. "There you are."

"He's fine, Booth," she assures him, knowing exactly what's going through his head. She had those same thoughts a few days ago.

Booth walks down to them. "What's going on?"

"Our son attempted to walk down the steps by himself. He made it almost halfway before his legs gave out."

Booth blinks. "Our son? Our?"

She swallows. She didn't realize that she had said that. "Yes. He is our son, isn't he?"

Booth nods. "Yeah, yeah, he is, he's ours. I'm just—you've never said that before—referred to him as our son, I mean."

She shrugs. "Would you like me to stop calling him that? I know I'm not his mom, but you said that—."

Booth shakes his head. "No! No, I don't want you to stop calling him that. He is our son, Bones."

She blinks. "Anyway, he was trying to walk down the stairs by himself. He said nothing hurts, just that his legs gave out on him, causing him to fall down."

"I'm right here, you guys."

She looks at Parker. "Yes, I know, Parker. I'm just answering your father's initial question."

Booth glances at Parker. "Are you ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. It beats repeating a year. It's only two days a week."

"That's the right attitude, bub."

"So, um, Alex is having an end of the year party at his house on Friday. Can I go?"

Brennan nods. "I don't see why not."

Booth clears his throat. "Bones, we need to discuss this first."

"What's to discuss? Parker's a very responsible kid. Besides, I think that seeing his friends will be very beneficial to him—emotionally, speaking. I'm sure Sweets and Dr. Long would agree."

"We still need to discuss this."

Parker looks between the two adults. "So is that a yes or a no?"

Brennan smiles. "It's a Yes."

Booth shrugs. "It's a maybe," he says at the same time. "We'll talk about this later. We have to get you over to the school."

Parker reaches up and grabs hold of the railing. He pulls himself up slowly and carefully, letting out a breath and wincing slightly.

Brennan stands up, and since she's in a better position, she helps him down the steps.

Booth follows close behind, ready to spring into action if needed. He hands his son his cane when he reaches the bottom step.

Christine twirls into the foyer and prances around on her tippy-toes. "Daddy, Parky, mommy, watch me, please."

"Come on, Honey. Go get your backpack."

"But you didn't watch me. You were helping Parky. It's not fair! I axed you to watch me. I said please and everything."

"I'm sorry I didn't watch you, sweetheart. Tonight when I get home from work, I'll give you my full attention."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now, grab your backpack and let's go. You're spending the day with Michael Vincent, while mommy and daddy are at work and Parker's at school."

Christine smiles and skips into the living room. She grabs her backpack off the couch and slings it over her shoulders. She walks back into the foyer and nods. "I'm ready."

Brennan smiles. "Great." She nudges her daughter towards the door and soon, all four of them are out of the house and in the car.

Brennan's tucked away in her office, flipping through a magazine. She hasn't been able to concentrate all morning. There's a knock on her door, which startles her. She quickly stows away the magazine and turns her head. "Booth, what are you doing here?"

"What were you reading just now?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing. What are you doing here?" She asks again. "I thought you said you had a lot of paperwork."

He drops a stack of paperwork on the coffee table. "Got it right here. I missed you, so I decided to come by the lab. I'd rather be bored here with you than be bored all by myself in my office."

"That's sweet, I think."

He smiles and sits down beside her. When she's not expecting it, he reaches across her lap and grabs the magazine she's half sitting on. He turns to look at her, a huge grin on his face. "Doing some light reading, Bones?"

She pushes him, yanking the magazine back and tossing it onto the table. "May I ask you a question?"

"You just did." He laughs, but sighs when he sees she's not amused. "Okay, shoot, ask away."

"Why did you say Parker couldn't go to that party? Is it because Alex has a questionable reputation at school?"

"Alex is a great kid, Bones."

"Then what's your reasoning behind your decision?"

"It's too soon."

"Too soon for what?"

"He's just getting back on his feet."

"If he can go to summer school, he's certainly strong enough to spend a few hours at a friend's house, Booth. I think it'll be good for him to get out of the house, to spend time with kids his own age, to be with his friends. He needs this, Booth. He needs a dose of normalcy. He's dealing with a lot of emotional crap right now."

"Emotional crap?"

"You're not listening."

"Yeah, I am. You think it'll be good for him to spend some time with his friends."

She nods. "Yes, I do. I believe we'll see a vast improvement in his mood after this party."

"I—I don't know, Bones."

"He's known Alex since he was twelve."

He nods. "Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"You're still wary about leaving Parker alone. I understand your hesitation, Booth, and I realize that Parker isn't 100 percent, physically, yet, he's barely 80 percent, but I honestly believe that this will be good for him and Alex knows him and will look after him. You told me a couple times that they're like brothers. This is one more step closer to Parker feeling normal again. Trust me."

"I trust you."

"Then let Parker off this metaphorical leash you're keeping him on. He's a smart kid. He may have limitations right now, but he knows when to push and he knows when to stop and take a break. He'll be fine."

"It never ceases to amaze me how much you care about Parker."

She smiles. "I love him, Booth. He's a great kid and I hate seeing him like this. I just want him to be happy. I just want him to feel like he's not damaged or broken."

He leans over and presses his lips against hers.

She scoots closer to him and snakes her hand around his neck, resting her other hand on his shoulder as she deepens the kiss.

He breaks the kiss, but doesn't pull back right away. He just sits there, his forehead touching hers, breathing the same air she's breathing. "I love you."

She leans back and smiles at him. "I love you too, Booth."

One corner of his mouth curves upwards into a lopsided smirk. "So a bridal magazine, huh?" He teases.

"Don't you have paperwork to finish?"

He gives her a quick peck on the lips and turns his attention to the mountain of paperwork on the table. After about five minutes, he sets his pen down and looks at her. "So I, uh—." He stops, unsure how to continue. He straightens his back and sighs. "I asked Sweets to be my temporary partner until the baby's born."

Brennan blinks. "Excuse me?"

"It's dangerous out there, Bones, and I don't want anything happening to you or the baby. I can't handle that right now."

"Well, you can tell Sweets that his assistance won't be necessary."

He scowls. "We're not going to debate this. I don't want you going out in the field, that's final. I want you to stay at the lab where you'll be safe."

"There is no such thing as a safe place. Some places are safer than others, but no place is 100 percent safe."

"Bones."

"I may be your partner, your wife, your mate, what have you, Booth, but that doesn't mean you can control me."

"This isn't about me trying to control you, Bones. This is about me trying to protect you and our unborn son."

"You can't control the situation with Parker, so you're trying to make up for it by controlling me. I know what you're doing, Booth, and it isn't going to work."

"That's a lot of psychology for someone who hates it."

"I will stop when I believe it's necessary. There are many women who work up to when their amniotic sacs rupture and—."

"Yeah, well most of those women don't work with the FBI. Most of those women don't have to contend with pissed off criminals or being shot at on occasion." He pauses. "I couldn't stop Parker from getting hurt, but I am damn well going to make sure that my wife and my unborn son are safe. I don't care if you don't like it. Deal with it."

"I will certainly not 'deal with it'. I know my limitations. I will stop when I believe I need to," she repeats.

"I refuse to take you out in the field."

"We're partners!" She stands up and walks over to her desk. She sinks down in her chair and powers on her computer, refusing to look at him.

He stands up and walks up to her desk. "I'm just looking out for you, Bones. I love you and I don't want anything happening to you."

"I knew this was coming. I know you. I just thought that maybe, just maybe you trusted me."

"You know I trust you, Bones. This isn't about trust or control. This is about me trying my best to make sure that the love of my life and my unborn son stay safe."

"I have nothing more to say to you. You can leave now. I'll see you at home."

"Bones, please, just hear me out."

"I hear you loud and clear, Booth, but that doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you."

He grunts and gathers up his paperwork. "See ya later, Bones." He pauses. "I'm glad we had this little chat," he mumbles as he leaves her office.

She turns her head and watches him leave. She sighs and focuses on her computer screen again.

Uh-oh. Well, that could have gone better...