It's the first week of August, in the late afternoon, and Brennan's sitting outside at the table, drinking an ice-cold glass of raspberry lemonade.

Angela's sitting across from her, indulging in the same. She looks over at the grill, where Hodgins and Booth are standing around, in their bathing suits, talking and drinking beer while the latter cooks up some burgers. She bites her bottom lip and shakes her head, "Mmm, mmm, mmm."

Brennan follows her best friend's eyes. "Yes, I'm hungry too. Booth should be done with the burgers in a few minutes."

"Oh, I wasn't thinking about the burgers, Sweetie. I was looking at the two shirtless, muscular men standing by the grill."

Booth looks over at Brennan and flashes her a smile, waving the spatula.

Brennan smiles back and takes a sip of her lemonade, her eyes trained on his.

"That's the only good thing about this heat." Angela fans herself with a napkin. She looks at Brennan, who she can tell is not listening. "Bren?"

Brennan shakes her head and turns. "Huh, what, Angela? Did you say something?"

Angela gives her best friend a knowing smile and shakes her head. "Me? No." She pauses. "Booth really knows how to handle that spatula, doesn't he?"

Christine and Michael run over, dripping wet and shivering. "Mommy, is dinner ready yet?"

Brennan hands the two kids towels and shakes her head. "Not yet, Honey. Why don't you go ask daddy when the burgers and hot dogs will be done?"

Christine wraps herself in the striped towel and looks at Michael. "C'mon." She tugs on his arm and they head over to Booth and Hodgins.

Angela stands up. "I'm getting hot. Let's take a quick dip in the pool before the guys are done with dinner."

Brennan agrees and stands up. She sets her glass down and follows her best friend over to the pool. She removes the towel around her waist and stands on the first step. She walks farther into the cool water and runs her hand across the surface. "This is refreshing."

Angela joins Brennan in the shallow end and nods. "Ah. That's better."

"Dinner's ready! Come an' get 'em while it's hot," Booth calls about five minutes later.

Brennan dunks her head and pushes her hair out of her face, smoothing it back. She makes her way out of the pool and grabs her towel. She dries her hands and arms and then wraps the towel around her.

Angela does the same.

The two women walk over to the table and take their seats again.

Booth sets the plate of burgers and hot dogs in the middle of the table, beside the plate of buns he just uncovered and the condiments. He sets a plate in front of Brennan and smiles. "Your veggie burger, Bones."

Brennan looks up at him and smiles. "Thank you."

Christine puts a hotdog into a bun and sits on her knees.

Michael Vincent, who's sitting next to her, does the same. He reaches over and grabs the ketchup bottle. He squeezes the condiment onto his hotdog and looks at Christine. "Want some katsup, C?" He asks, mispronouncing the word on purpose.

Christine nods. "Yes, please."

Michael squeezes some ketchup onto his best friend's hotdog. "That enough?"

"Uh-huh. Thanks."

Michael looks around at everyone else. "Katsup?"

"Yep." Parker grabs the bottle from the little boy and squeezes a glob of it on his burger. He hands the bottle to Brennan, picks up his burger, and takes a bite. "Awesome burger, dad," he mumbles with his mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Parker. That's rude," Brennan chastises. She passes the ketchup down the line and refills her glass.

Booth finally takes his seat beside his wife and smiles at her. "This was a great idea, Bones," he whispers just to her.

Brennan nods. "I know."

Booth laughs and loads his burger up with ketchup.

"That's a lot of ketchup, Booth."

Booth shrugs. "I like ketchup. So what?" He flashes her a playful smile and hands the ketchup bottle to Hodgins. "There ya go, Bug Boy. Maybe next time I'll let you flip the burgers."

"Really?" Hodgins asks.

"No." Booth laughs.

"Your loss, man." Hodgins hands the ketchup bottle to Angela and grabs the mustard.

Booth takes a swig of his beer, and is about to set the bottle down on the table when Brennan clears her throat.

Brennan holds up her glass. "Here's to great friends and family, good food, and two healthy babies."

"Cheers," the group says together and then they take turns clanking their glasses together.

Later that night, when the sun has nearly set, Booth and Brennan are resting in two of the lounge chairs, holding hands, while Hodgins and Angela lounge in the other set of chairs right next to them. All four of them are watching Parker and the little kids run around the yard searching for fireflies.

Booth turns his head and smiles at Brennan. "This is nice."

Brennan nods. "Yes, very nice, indeed."

He leans over and catches her lips with his. He breaks the kiss and

lifts his hand, brushing his fingertips against her soft, warm cheek as he tucks some of her hair behind her ear. He presses another kiss to her lips and pulls away, settling back against the chair.

She lets out a breath and closes her eyes, the sounds of the summer night oddly calming.

Hodgins places a hand on Angela's stomach and smiles as his son kicks against his palm. "Whoa, he's a strong little guy, isn't he?"

Angela rests her hand on his and looks at him, smiling. "I wanted a million, but two is perfect," she whispers.

Christine runs over to the adults, her hands cupped together. "Mommy, look."

Brennan sits up and opens her eyes. She takes a peek at what's in her daughter's hands and smiles. "You caught one."

Christine nods. "Isn't it cool, mommy? He's got a light for a butt." She giggles and sighs when it flies away.

"Uh-oh. It flew away, Honey."

"I'll go catch another one. I'm gonna name him Flashy." Christine runs off again towards her best friend and big brother.

Brennan smiles and looks at Booth. "Thank you."

Booth raises an eyebrow. "Uh, Bones, for what?"

"For showing me that it's worth it."

Still confused, he asks, "That what's worth it?"

"All of this." she waves her hands around. "Thank you," she whispers.

"You're welcome, Bones." he stands up and steps closer to her. He frames her face in his hands and tilts her head back, while lowering his. He closes the gap between their lips and closes his eyes.

She closes her eyes and snakes her hand around his neck, placing her other one on his shoulder.

He doesn't break the kiss until air is necessary, and when he does, he keeps his forehead against hers. "You're welcome," he repeats, his voice even softer. He pulls back and kisses the top of her head. "I love you."

"I love you too, Booth."

He sits down again and stretches out on the lounge chair.

She takes his hand, their fingers, once again, laced together. "Tonight is beautiful."

He squeezes her hand and turns his head to look at her, nodding. "Yeah, it's beautiful."

Angela stands up and looks at her friends. "Jack and I are going to head out. It's getting late."

"Okay." Brennan manages to stand up with a little help from Booth and smiles. "We should do this again before the summer is over."

"Oh, yes, definitely, Sweetie." Angela smiles and looks over at the kids. "Michael Vincent, time to go."

"Do we have to?" Michael Vincent wines.

"Yes. It's late and mommy is tired."

Michael Vincent sighs. "Fine." He gives Christine a hug and a kiss on her cheek. "See ya later, C." He runs over to his parents and looks up at his Auntie and Uncle. "Thanks. Tonight was so much fun!"

"You're welcome," Booth and Brennan say at the same time.

Parker and Christine head over to the adults and say their goodbyes.

"Thanks for having us over, guys," Hodgins says with a smile.

"I'll walk them out." Brennan makes her way into the house, Hodgins, Angela, and Michael Vincent following her.

While Brennan's inside, Booth, Christine, and Parker clean up the backyard. The kids pick up the towels and hang them over the backs of the chairs, while Booth puts all the chairs back into their proper spots and grabs all the cups, tossing them in the trash. He lifts the bag out, ties it, and then replaces the bag.

Brennan returns to the backyard and blinks. "Oh, you're already done cleaning up."

"Yep."

"I could have helped."

"We didn't need your help." He loops his arm around Brennan's waist and kisses her temple. "Let's go inside."

She agrees and follows him and the kids inside the house, shutting and locking the door behind her.

WARNING: The rest of this story will pretty much be fluff because the beginning was basically all angst.