Christine's lying down on the couch, her head in her father's lap. He's telling her all about his day and she's telling him all about hers, as he strokes her hair gently. The little girl sits up and twists her body so she's completely facing Booth. "Daddy, where's mommy? She's late again."
"Mom's working, princess," Booth explains, his voice quiet and unsure.
"Are you and mommy still fighting?"
He sighs. "Yeah, baby, we're still fighting."
"Is she coming home really late again?"
He pulls his daughter into his side and loops his arm around her. He lowers his head and kisses her hair. "She'll be home soon."
"Is mommy really mad at you, daddy?"
He nods. "Yeah, baby."
"What'd you do?"
"I'm just being me."
"Doesn't mommy love you? Why would she be mad at you for being you? That's silly."
He smiles. "I'm just very overprotective and your mom doesn't like that so much."
"You can overprotect me any time, daddy." She giggles.
"I've been overprotective of you since before you were even born, princess. It's who I am."
"Did you do something wrong?"
He shrugs. "I wouldn't say I did anything wrong, but I probably went about it in the wrong way." He pauses. "I should have talked to your mom about the whole thing before I went and asked Sweets to be my partner, but I did it for the right reasons. I did it to protect your mommy and your baby brother."
"Mommy's your partner, daddy. Not Uncle Sweets."
He nods. "And she'll always, always, always be my partner. Besides you and your brother, she's the most important thing in my life and I won't survive if something happens to her. I've been close to losing her on more than one occasion and I just want her safe. She'll be safe in the lab. Well, she'll be safer, at least."
"You should put mommy in a bubble, daddy. She'll be really safe in a bubble."
He laughs. "If your mom would let me put her in a giant protective bubble, I would do just that." He pauses. "I should have expected her to get mad, but I never thought she'd request a new partner or threaten to stop working with the FBI all together. I get the whole new partner thing, but the whole 'stop working with the FBI all together' thing is confusing. I mean, if she really did stop working with the FBI, well, then she would be out of the field and I'd win the argument. I know she just said that to get a rise out of me and baby, it worked."
"Mommy's really, really, really mad at you."
He nods. "Yep." He pauses. "She can be mad at me all she wants. I just care about her so much. I don't want anything to happen to her or your baby brother."
She nods and pats his leg. "It's okay, daddy."
"I wasn't able to protect Parker and there were times over the years when I couldn't be there for your mom." He sighs. "I'm not trying to control her. She thinks I am, but I'm not. She's very independent and strong, that's what I love about her. I'm just trying to protect her the best way I can."
"I know, daddy. Mommy knows that too."
"Got any ideas, princess?"
"Flowers and a fancy-schmancy dinner."
He laughs. "I mean, got any ideas on how I can keep your mom safe, but keep her happy too?"
"Let me think about this, okay, daddy?"
He nods. "Take your time, princess."
She closes her eyes and taps her chin as she thinks. "I got it!"
"I'm listening."
"I lost it. Oops. Hold on, daddy. I'll remember it."
He kisses the top of her head.
"It came back!"
"Okay, princess. What's your brilliant idea? Lay it on me."
"Let mommy be your partner for two more months. Then Uncle Sweets can be your partner and mommy can stay in the lab like you want her to." She pauses. "It's a good idea, right?"
He pulls her up into his lap and squeezes her tight against him. "I love you, baby, and yeah, it's a good idea. It still makes me nervous having your mom out in the field for two more months, but that's a good compromise."
"Daddy, you're squishing me!"
He lessens his grip and kisses her shoulder. "Time for bed, princess."
"But mommy's not home yet!"
"She'll come say goodnight to you when she comes home."
"Promise?"
"I promise. She said goodnight to you last night, didn't she?"
She nods. "Uh-huh. I told her not to come late again, but she did."
"Don't worry, princess. I'll talk to mommy tonight and I'll make sure she comes home at a normal time tomorrow, okay?"
She smiles. "Okay, daddy." She hugs him and hooks her legs around him as he stands up. "Say you're sorry, daddy, and make sure you tell her you love her. That's very inportant. Fix this, daddy."
He adjusts her weight. "I will. I'll fix this." He turns around and sees Brennan standing in the opening between the living room and the foyer. He smiles at her, despite the fight they're currently having. "Mom's home, baby."
She turns her head and squeals. "Mommy!"
He transfers the little girl to her mother, running his fingers through his daughter's hair. "Sweet dreams, princess. I'll let mommy put you to bed 'cause she's home now. I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, daddy. I love you."
"I love you too, baby." He looks at Brennan. "We need to talk."
Brennan nods. "I know," she mouths.
He watches the two of them disappear upstairs and then heads into the kitchen.
When Booth makes his way upstairs and into his bedroom, it's close to ten. Brennan's in bed, reading the magazine from earlier, except this time she makes no effort to conceal that fact. He pulls his shirt over his head and loses his jeans, opting for a pair of grey sweatpants instead. He crawls into bed beside her and turns his head, looking at her, unsure what to say.
Sensing his eyes on her, she lowers the magazine onto her lap and looks at him.
He takes in a deep breath and lets it out. He's been thinking about what to say for the last two hours, but he takes another few minutes to formulate his thoughts.
She just lies there, staring at him, waiting for him to speak. She sees his lips separate several times, but each time, they close again without a single word uttered. She shifts on the mattress and raises an eyebrow.
He takes that as a hint to hurry up and say something, so he takes in another deep breath and exhales. "Look, Bones, I don't wanna fight anymore. I just want you to see where I'm coming from. I'm not trying to control you. I couldn't even if I did try." He smiles at her. "I just, I don't want anything to happen to you or our son. Call me overprotective, call me controlling, whatever you want, but I love you and the thought of losing you, kills me." He lifts his hand and traces her hairline with his fingers, looking into her eyes. "I would rather you stay at the lab until the baby's born, but clearly, I won't win this argument and you'd be unhappy, which is the last thing I want, so I'm willing to compromise." He presses his lips against her forehead and pushes some stray hair away her face.
She shifts, scooting closer to him, nodding. "I called Cullen and informed him that I overreacted. I have no desire to work with anyone other than you, Booth, and the last thing I want to do is quit working with the FBI, that would be counterproductive."
"I agree."
"I admit I did make that initial call to spite you. I was angry at you. I could blame it on hormones, but I won't because I know that my rash decision-making had nothing to do with the pregnancy."
He nods, listening to her.
"I was listening to your conversation with our daughter, and I—."
"Now who's eavesdropping?"
She scowls.
"I should have talked to you before I sprung the whole 'I asked Sweets to be my partner' thing."
"I would never put our son in danger, Booth."
"Bones, I trust you, I do, but I can't really believe that."
"Excuse me?"
"When you were pregnant with Christine, you charged a suspect and knocked him to the ground, you drove into a tornado and then proceeded to walk through it, and you walked straight through a prison riot. You're not exactly the most rational person when you're pregnant."
She grunts and surges forward, choosing to pretend he didn't say anything. "I can accept Christine's idea. I will spend the last two months or so of my pregnancy in the lab working on our cases if I can spend the next two months out in the field with you. This compromise, of course, can change at any time. By that, I simply mean that pregnancy is unpredictable and I understand that there may be certain things that will prevent me from carrying out our deal as planned, such as unforeseen complications."
"Complications? Like what?"
"There are a slew of things that could go wrong with the pregnancy, Booth, so I am not about to waste time outlining them all for you. The main concern will be preterm labor, which will certainly alter our deal."
"I don't like the sound of that—of the possibility of complications. That's not helping your case, Bones."
She rolls her eyes. "Things happen and we can't always predict them or prevent them. You told Parker not to live in fear. What you're proposing for me is the very definition of living in fear. You can't be afraid that I'm going to get injured in the field. I could get injured at the lab too. I have. I was shot, remember? I could get injured walking up or down the steps. My point is, you can't let your fear rule your life. You can't beat yourself up every time you can't save someone you love from getting hurt."
He sighs. "I know."
"Do we have a deal? Two months in the field and two months in the lab, unless something should occur that prevents me from going out in the field for the slated two months?"
He nods. "We have a deal."
"Good." She pauses. "I'm not apologizing for what I said in my office yesterday. I'm not sorry. I had every right to react that way."
"I'm not asking for an apology and the only thing I'm sorry for is not talking to you first before I asked Sweets to be my temporary partner. All the other stuff is how I feel and I'm not apologizing for that."
"Okay."
"Okay." He pauses. "But I promised Christine I'd say sorry, so I'm sorry I went behind your back and asked Sweets to be my partner and I'm sorry I let this stupid fight go on for as long as it did. I know we fight because we love each other, but I still don't like it."
She scoots as close as she can get to him. She maneuvers herself so she's comfortable and rests her head on his shoulder. "I love you."
"I know, Bones. I'll never doubt that. I love you too."
She looks at him and sighs. "I've been miserable for the past two days."
"Same here." He kisses her softly on the lips and loops his arm around her waist. "I missed you."
"I missed you too. Lunch tomorrow?"
He nods. "Sounds good to me." He kisses the top of her head and switches off the light. "G'night, Bones." Tonight they wouldn't go to sleep angry, but he knows once these two months are up, they'll be having another argument, despite the agreement they made tonight. He'll think about that later, much later.
"Goodnight, Booth." She closes her eyes and draws circles on his chest with her finger. It takes her a little longer to fall asleep than she would have liked, but she manages to pass out before midnight.
He has already been asleep for a little over twenty minutes before she drifts into dreamland, having been lulled to sleep by her gentle caresses.