Brennan's standing in the middle of her son's nursery, looking over the newly completed project. They decided on pale olive green walls, with green, yellow, and blue accents to go with the baby turtle bedding they picked out. Last weekend, Booth and Parker spent the afternoon putting up shelves and securing a bookcase to a portion of one of the walls, which Brennan promptly filled.

She sits down in the glider chair with a hushed grunt and props her feet up on the ottoman. She leans back and closes her eyes, moving forward and back slowly.

There's a light knock on the door and when she opens her eyes, she finds herself staring right into her daughter's blue orbs. She jerks back, startled by the proximity, and then smiles.

"Daddy sent me on a mission to find you, mommy." Christine pauses. "I found you."

Brennan nods. "You did." She pauses. "Is your father downstairs?"

"Yep—with pizza." Christine sits on the ottoman, which was recently vacated by Brennan's tired feet. "Why are you in little alien's nursery, mommy?"

Brennan scoots forward and shrugs. "There's no reason, Honey. I was just admiring Parker and your father's handiwork and I guess I'm a little anxious for your baby brother to be born."

"How much longer, mommy? I wanna meet him."

"About fifteen weeks, sweetheart."

"How long is that?"

"A little less than four months."

"That's a long time. Can't you just tell him to get out right now? What if you say please?"

"I could, it's possible, but he's not ready yet. He needs to stay where he is for a while longer. His heart, brain, and lungs still need more time to develop and he needs to grow more. He's only about a pound and a half right now. He'll come out when he's good and ready, Honey. We just need to be patient, even if it's hard sometimes."

Christine sighs. "He's really tiny."

"Yes, he is, that's why he needs to stay exactly where he is until he's a lot bigger."

"Okay, he can stay in there, but only for a real little bit, mommy. I wanna meet him so, so bad."

Brennan nods and takes her daughter's hand, placing the tiny hand on her stomach and resting hers on top. "Do you feel that?"

Christine's eyes widen. "Whoa." She pulls her hand back, but immediately puts it back where it was. "Is that him?"

Brennan smiles. "Yes. He can't wait to meet you either."

"Does it hurt? You know, when he kicks you?"

Brennan shakes her head. "Not really, no. If he kicks me repeatedly in the same spot, it's a little uncomfortable, but I wouldn't say it's too painful."

"Good." Christine leans forward and presses a kiss to her mother's stomach. "Don't kick mommy too hard, little alien, okay? It's me, by the way, baby, the best big sister in the whole universe. I love you." She leaves another kiss and sits up. "What if he doesn't like me, mommy?"

Brennan shakes her head and touches her daughter on the tip of her nose with her finger. "He'll love you, sweetheart." She smiles and tucks a few loose strands of Christine's hair behind her ear. "Okay?"

Christine smiles. "Okay. If you say so, it's gotta be true."

Brennan pushes herself out of the chair and smoothes down her shirt. "Come on, Honey, let's go downstairs. We don't want to keep your daddy waiting and we don't want the pizza to get cold, now do we?"

Christine shakes her head. "Nope." She leads the way out of the nursery and down the steps.

A couple nights later, Brennan's sitting on the couch in the living room with Christine lying beside her, her head in her mother's lap, her legs tucked against her. Brennan's looking at a photo album and stroking her daughter's hair as she sleeps, at the same time.

The front door opens and then Booth walks in. He sets his wallet and keys on the table as he walks into the living room. He turns back and stops at the couch, kissing the top of Brennan's head. "Sorry I'm late."

She turns her head and smiles at him. "I got your message." She pauses. "How was your meeting?"

"It was a big waste of time." He walks around the couch, looks down at his daughter, and smiles at the sleeping child. "I'll bring her up to bed." He stands up and scoops Christine into his arms. "Come on, Princess," he whispers.

Christine subconsciously hooks her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and buries her face into the crook of his neck. "Daddy," she mumbles.

He adjusts her weight and steps towards the staircase. "Hi, baby." He rubs her back and heads upstairs.

Brennan watches the pair ascend the stairs and then turns her focus to the photo album in her lap.

He comes back a few minutes later and joins his partner on the couch. He presses his lips against her cheek and smiles. "Parker says goodnight."

She nods. "Did he tell you that he walked around the house without his cane? I mean, there were some instances in which he had to use his cane, like going up and down the stairs, but other than that, he was walking by himself."

He smiles wider. "He did. That's great."

"Yes, it's wonderful. His ultimate goal is to be cane-free by the start of September, so this is definitely a step in the right direction." She laughs at her own pun.

"Good one, Bones."

"I thought so."

He looks over her shoulder and raises an eyebrow. "Whatcha looking at there, Bones?"

"I'm looking at pictures." She flips back a few pages and smiles. "I can't believe how much she's grown."

"Oh, wow." He stares at a picture of Christine, a picture which was taken at the house a few days after she was born. "She's so tiny and perfect."

"She was a beautiful baby. She still is beautiful, though." She turns the page. "Look at her and Michael Vincent. That was the day they met."

"He kept blowing her kisses. I remember that day."

She smiles.

"I can't believe it's been six years and I still can't believe Parker's seventeen and that he's going to college in a year. That's crazy to me."

"It's not crazy. It's inevitable that we age." She lifts her eyes and nods. "But I know what you mean."

"A lot has changed in seventeen years."

She tilts her head and smiles at him. "It sure has."

"A lot has changed in the fourteen years we've known each other too."

She nods. "Yes, and even though change is necessary and inevitable, there's one thing I'm glad hasn't changed in fourteen years."

"What's that?" He asks, with a smirk, knowing exactly what she's going to say.

"We're still partners." She pauses and twists her upper body towards him. "Sure, our partnership has been tested over the years, but we've always figured it out and our partnership and relationship has only gotten stronger as a result of those challenges. I'm glad that we're still partners."

He lowers his head a smidge and brushes his lips against hers, scooting closer to her as he kisses her. He pulls back and smiles. "Me too, Bones, me too."

She looks away from him and shifts uncomfortably on the couch. She places her hand on her stomach and clenches her jaw slightly.

He raises an eyebrow. "Bones? Bones, are you okay?"

She swallows. "Yes, yes. They're just Braxton Hicks contractions. I'm fine. Everything is fine." She winces, closing her eyes and biting back a groan.

After a few seconds a panicked silence, he clears his throat. "Bones?"

She looks at him through blurry vision. "Booth."

"Oh, God." He reaches for the phone and quickly dials. He manages to explain everything to their next door neighbor, even though his breathing is becoming erratic and his heart is racing. He looks at Brennan and grabs her hand, squeezing somewhat tightly. "It's gonna be okay, Bones."

She nods, choosing to believe him.

A couple minutes later, the doorbell rings and their next door neighbor walks through the open door. Booth and Brennan leave the house not even a minute after that.

Horrible place to stop, I know I'm evil. All I can say is don't worry. I hope that helps. :)