Booth, Brennan, and Parker continue to stare at each other, in silence. The two adults' mouths are open and their eyebrows are arched towards their hairlines, while the teenager's are furrowed, unsure why his dad and stepmom are staring at him like that. As he works through all the possible reasons, it hits him. His eyes widen and he swallows. "I—I didn't mean to say that."

Booth nods, placing his now quiet newborn son in the bassinet. "Yeah, I didn't think so, Bub."

"Today's just been a really good day. It just popped out."

Booth takes a step towards his eldest son and places a hand on his shoulder. "Since when do you have a girlfriend?"

Parker avoids his eyes. "Uh, since lunch."

"Do I know her?"

Parker smiles, letting out a breath. "It's Cody, dad."

"Dakota, huh?" Booth can't say he's surprised. Over the past three weeks, he's seen the way his son looks at her, and has seen the smile that he wears constantly, which brightens whenever she's around or even just mentioned. It reminds him of the way he, himself, was at the beginning of his and Brennan's relationship, and if he's being honest, how he was even before that.

Parker nods. "Yeah."

Brennan shifts on the mattress and smiles at the young Booth. "She is a very nice girl, Parker."

"She's awesome, Bones, and um, she, I can just, we're—." Parker stops, unsure how to continue. "She understands. I mean, actually understands what I'm going through. Not all of it, but she knows what it's like to, to, um, lose a parent," he finally blurts out.

Brennan nods. "I see."

"Look, I didn't—I shouldn't have said that. Just pretend I didn't tell you, okay? I don't want—she told me—it was a secret. She's only told three people and it wasn't my secret to share. Just pretend I didn't mention it."

Booth can't help but smile, his heart swelling with pride. The fact that his son feels guilty for sharing a piece of personal information about Dakota makes him feel a little better about this whole 'growing up' thing. His son really is a good kid. "Her secret is safe with us, Bub."

Parker heaves a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Dad."

Booth pats his son on the shoulder.

Christine slips off the chair and walks over to her big brother. She tugs on his arm and looks up at him.

Parker turns away from his dad and looks down. "Yeah, Teeny?"

"Can you read me a story?"

"I have a better idea. How about I take you exploring?"

"Parker, I—," Booth starts.

"I don't mean literally go exploring. I'm just gonna take her for a walk around the hospital, maybe take her outside in the gardens. We won't be in the way of any of the doctors or anything," Parker whispers and looks down at his little sister again. "Do you wanna go exploring with me, Teeny?"

Christine nods. "Yeah!" She tilts her head back and stares up at her father. "Can I go eskploring with Parky, daddy? Please?"

Booth nods. "Sure, okay, Princess." He turns to his son. "Don't let her out of your sight and if you go outside, text me, okay?"

Parker nods. "Yeah, dad, okay." He takes Christine's hand in his. "C'mon, lil' sis."

Christine happily laces their fingers together and looks back at her mother. "I'll be back, mommy. I love you."

Brennan smiles. "I love you too, Honey. Have fun with Parker."

Christine stands on her tippy-toes to see over the plastic wall of her brother's bassinet. "Little Alien, I'll be back for you too, so please be awake."

"Hey, Bub, we're not done with this conversation, got it?"

Parker nods. "Figured as much." He laughs, halfheartedly.

The two children leave the room a few seconds later, making their way down the hallway and out of the maternity wing, heading for the elevators.

Booth shuts the door and walks over to his partner, sitting on the edge of the mattress and kissing her on the lips. He raises his hand and delicately traces her hairline with his fingertips, looking adoringly into her eyes. He presses a kiss to her forehead, letting his lips linger against her skin for longer than usual. He pulls back and sits up straighter.

Brennan closes her eyes as his fingers begin to caress her cheek softly.

He stands up and walks over to the bassinet. He scoops his son up when he starts to fuss again and carries him over to Brennan, placing the cranky newborn into his mother's arms.

She looks down at the baby, but starts speaking to Booth. "The kids have a half day on Wednesday."

He nods, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Yeah, I know, what about it?"

"I was thinking that we could take them to visit Hank."

At the mention of his grandfather's name, tears spring to his eyes. "Bones."

"Christine and Parker haven't seen him in a while and I know how important it is to you that Henry meets his great-grandfather." She smiles up at him sadly.

He nods and kisses her ever so lightly on the lips. He doesn't really want to talk about that right now, so he quickly changes the subject. "Here, I'll change him and then you can do your thing." He winks at her and takes their son from her again.

She rolls her eyes, but smiles playfully up at him. "I think someone's jealous."

He just gives her a smile in response and disappears into the bathroom. He returns a few minutes later and places the newborn into Brennan's arms. He walks around the bed and sits down in the chair again. He watches intently as his partner adjusts her clothing, repositions their son, and guides the three-hour old baby to her chest.

She shivers and twists her mouth up slightly as the newborn latches on right away. She'll never get used to that feeling. After about two seconds, she settles back into the pillows and relaxes, lightly stroking her son's back.

"You really think he looks like me, Bones?"

She nods, her gaze on the 'he' in question.

Booth smiles at her.

After Henry stops sucking and detaches himself from his mother's nipple, Brennan repositions him again and after Booth drapes the soft towel over her shoulder, she rests the eight and a half pound baby against it, patting his back gently. She lowers him into her arms once more, smiling at him. She takes his little hand and lets out a breath when he coils it around her finger. "You're strong," she coos.

Booth leans back in the chair, watching. When did his life become a dream? He smiles at his partner and shifts. He opens the drawer to the bedside table and pulls out a rectangular box. He decides now is the perfect time to present her with the necklace he bought her.

Brennan turns her head at the sudden movement and sound and raises an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" He holds out the box for her. "I got you a present." He cracks open the box and smiles at her.

She gasps. "Booth."

"Do you like it?"

She stares at the dangling, 14-karat, white-gold dolphin charm held by a simple white-gold chain, her eyes cloudy with tears.

"I had it custom made for you."

"That looks very expensive, Booth." She pauses. "It's beautiful, but you didn't have to get me anything, much less something that cost so much. Your personal budget is limited and—."

He doesn't let her finish. He smashes his mouth against hers, his hand cupping her cheek. He breaks the kiss, sets the box down, and takes the necklace out. He steps closer to the bed and motions for her lean to forward. He puts the chain around her neck and clasps it. "Yeah, it was expensive, but I love you and your gift to me may not have cost a dime, but it's worth a whole lot more than this necklace."

She smiles at him, despite how cheesy his explanation is, and then stares at the necklace for a long minute. Her eyes find his again. "You didn't know the baby would be born today, Booth, so how could you have possibly known what birthstone to choose? You didn't base it off your gut, did you? Or my due date? Because you know the baby could have been born any time before and up to two weeks after."

He laughs. "After I filled out the paperwork earlier, I called the jeweler. He had the necklace finished. It was only missing Henry's birthstone. When I called, he had the sapphire gem ready to go. He had the necklace finished within an hour. I asked Cam to pick it up for me on her way here."

"Oh."

He smiles at her. "I'm not an idiot, Bones." He sighs, noticing her tears. "You don't like it."

She meets his gaze and shakes her head. "I love it, Booth. I can tell you thought a lot about this because you had it custom made for me."

He touches her cheek, wiping away her tears.

"I'm crying because I'm touched, Booth. I'm not, I love the necklace, really, I do."

He smiles, pressing his lips against hers, leaning over their son, who's still cradled in her arms. "I love you," he whispers against her mouth.

She smiles, closing her eyes and kissing him back. "I love you too," she whispers when he pulls back.

"You're amazing, Bones, and I just wanted to get you something really special."

She glances down at the necklace again, staring at the three gemstones set in the dolphin's curved body. "Well, I certainly feel special."

He kisses the top of her head and sits down in the chair. "I can take him if you want to try and sleep some more."

She shakes her head. "No, I—I want to hold him."

He nods, knowing that that'd be her answer before he even asked the question. "So our son has a girlfriend."

She laughs. "It's not like he's getting married, Booth, relax."

"I'm still gonna talk to him about this."

"And as his father, you have the right to do so."

"How can you be so calm about this?"

"You're making this a bigger deal than it has to be, Booth. Parker is a mature, responsible, and intelligent young man. He's been taught right from wrong, has gotten the sex talk from three different people who love and care about him, and knows he can talk to us about anything, at anytime. We've made sure he knows that."

He sighs. "Yeah, you're right, Bones."

"I know I am." She smiles at him. "Just relax, Booth, but he does still need guidelines, so we can discuss this further later when I've caught up on sleep and can think more clearly."

"Thanks. You really don't give yourself enough credit. Our kids are more than lucky to have you as their mom."

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do." He stands up and kisses her. He pulls his phone out his pocket before he sits back down, having felt it vibrate. He looks down at it and reads the text message. "Parker is taking Christine outside."

She nods. "Okay."

"Bones, you're exhausted."

She yawns and nods. "You are correct."

"Let me take him."

She shakes her head. "No."

He smiles. "Let me put him down and then I'll get in bed with you and we can both take a nap," he says, punctuating it with a yawn.

She sighs, bringing her son closer to her body. "Okay, fine." She lowers her head and presses a kiss to Henry's cheek. She pries his hand from around her finger and lifts him up, allowing Booth to take him from her.

He swaddles him, rocks him to settle him back down, and then places him in the bassinet, fixing that pesky little hat again, tempted to just take it off completely but deciding against it.

Brennan opens her eyes and looks at him. "I made room for you."

He smiles. "I'll be right out."

She nods and removes the sheets. "Can I use the restroom first?"

"Go ahead." He goes to help her out of bed, but she just shoots him a glare and slips off the mattress. He shakes his head when she continues to glare at him as she closes the door. He walks over to his newborn son and laughs. "Your mom is crazy, little guy. Good luck," he whispers to the sleeping baby, brushing his knuckle against his soft cheek.

Brennan returns to the room, but stops walking towards the bed, watching and listening to her partner speak softly to their son.

"But I love her anyway."

"I'm finished."

He looks up and smiles. "Get back in bed. I'll be right out."

She nods. "Were you talking about me just now?"

He looks slightly embarrassed for a second, but then he smiles. "Yeah." He gives her a kiss on the cheek as he passes her and walks into the bathroom.

She crawls back into bed, grateful to be lying down again. She's sore and her head is pounding.

When Booth returns, he finds his partner in bed, snoring. He laughs and takes off his shoes. He lifts the sheets and crawls in. He feels her instantly scoot back into him and settle her head beside his on the pillow. He wraps his arms around her and closes his eyes. He buries his face in her hair and kisses the back of her head. He lets out a breath and drifts off to sleep a few minutes later. He may not be as exhausted as he knows she is, but he's still extremely tired.