Back again! Has anyone else noticed how annoying FF has been lately? Or maybe it's just me, I don't know. Anyways, I'm updating again obviously. Oh I'm going to be responding to reviews in the chapters because it's just too hard for me to sit there and go through my email and respond to each of them individually. Alright well I hope you enjoy a little bit of crazy Booth and a special guest for Angela and Hodgins :p
"But you promised!" Michael whined.
"When did I ever promise you that you could ride your four-wheeler in the back yard without me or your dad watching you?"
"At Kevin and Karissa's birthday party!" He was getting impatient now, rocking back and forth on his feet.
Angela just laughed, "Baby, I promised that I would think about it not that you could actually do it."
"Nuh uh!"
She sighed, not really in the mood to argue with a four-year-old. "Look Michael I know what I said okay? There's really no point in arguing."
Hodgins came into the living room with a bag of chips and a thing of dip, sitting down next to Angela on the couch. "What's going on?"
"Michael thinks he's going to be riding his four-wheeler by himself in the backyard."
"Ha! Sorry buddy I don't think so."
"But Mommy promised!" He stomped his foot, crossing his arms across his chest.
Hodgins turned to Angela, whispering in her ear, "Please tell me you didn't promise him that?"
She scoffed, "Of course not. Michael, this is not debatable. The answer is no and I mean it."
"But Mommy!"
"No 'but Mommy's. Now you can go play with another one of your toys or you can go to your room for the rest of the night. Your choice."
He sighed, recognizing that it was already a battle lost. "Fine." He stormed off in the direction of the game room.
Hodgins and Angela both turned to each other and burst out laughing.
"Oh the teenage years are going to be such a joy," Hodgins said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Right? Oh god, at least he can't exactly threaten to run away at this age."
"Very true. So hey do you want to order some takeout or something from somewhere for dinner tonight?"
"Yeah that sounds like a good plan. We're getting Thai food."
Hodgins smirked, "Do I not get a vote in this at all?"
She pursed her lips, "Hmm, let's see. No! I'm pregnant; that will always trump whatever you want."
"Whatever you say Ange. Call it in and I'll go pick it up?"
"Now that I will do just because I love you babe." She leaned in to kiss him before getting to her feet, her six month pregnant belly giving her a bit of trouble.
Hodgins stifled a laugh and she glared at him. "Do you want to eat today Jack? Because I can arrange it so that you don't." He laughed even harder. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!" she complained, the hint of a smile of her face. "Jack Stanley Hodgins if you do not stop laughing at me right this minute I am going to come over there and do some serious damage."
"Oh yeah? You and what army Angie?" He grinned at her, leaning back with his arms crossed behind his head.
She shook her head. He was sooo gonna get it now. Taunting a pregnant woman was definitely not a very good idea. She wasn't really mad; it was just a game they played. Most of the time they just ended up making out though. It was too hard to pretend to be mad at each other for very long. "I warned you Jack," she said, starting to walk back over to the couch before abruptly stopping and grabbing her belly. She moaned and grabbed the nearby end table for support.
"That's not going to work Ange. I'm smart enough to be able to tell when you're having contractions for real. Three PhDs baby!" He didn't even seem concerned at all, so sure that she was faking him out to get a jump on him.
"Not faking!" she huffed out, bringing her head up to look at him, true discomfort clearly written all over her face. She took a couple of deep breaths as Hodgins finally came over to her, helping her sit back down on the couch. Finally it passed and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you in labor?" Hodgins asked, his voice laced with worry. He pretty much hated himself right then and there for thinking she was playing around with him.
"No, just a Braxton Hicks contraction I think. It's too early for me to go into labor remember?"
"Yeah but something could be wrong with the baby."
She reached out and lightly hit his arm, "Can you please not say that? It was a Braxton Hicks contraction, end of story."
"Sorry Angie. And I'm sorry for thinking you were faking."
She laughed, "That would be a good strategy though. I may just use that sometime, and now you won't know if I'm kidding or not since I actually did have a Braxton Hicks contraction."
He stared at her; a panicked looked in his eyes, "Are you trying to kill me?"
"I'm just joking around honey. I wouldn't do something like that."
There was a period of silence between the two as Hodgins just stared at Angela, as if he was thinking hard about something.
"Why are you staring at me like that babe?"
He brushed his hair back, "I just- are you sure you're okay Angie? I mean you didn't start having Braxton Hicks contractions until a month before your due date when you were pregnant with Michael."
"Jack, I'm fine. My feet are swollen, I'm a little bit cranky, and I have an intense craving for mint chocolate chip ice cream, but yeah, other than that, I'm okay. And come on, really babe? You've read the pregnancy books how many billion times? Braxton Hicks can occur as early as 6 weeks into a pregnancy."
"I know, I know. I worry about you Ange, what's so wrong with that?"
She smiled and kissed his cheek, "Nothing, just don't be like Booth when Brennan was pregnant with the twins. Now that was a pretty scary sight to see."
Hodgins laughed, "I swear Dr. B was thinking about killing him."
Flashback
"Oh no Bones, don't get up, I got it" Booth said, rushing to grab her cell phone off her desk before Brennan even had time to get herself off the couch.
She sighed forcefully, but accepted the phone he handed her. "You know I could've gotten it myself Booth. I'm quite capable of walking over to me desk."
"Yeah but I want you to rest."
"Booth I've been resting for the last hour and a half after you forced me to take a nap. Now I understand that you are concerned for my and our children's wellbeing, but we are at work, I would like to work."
He looked like she had just slapped him and took a good moment just to regain his composure. "I only do it because I care about you."
"I know Booth. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful. I just wish you wouldn't treat me any differently."
He laughed, sitting down next to her on the couch, "That isn't possible Bones. You're pregnant with our son and daughter. You're lucky I haven't wrapped you in bubble wrap yet."
She looked confused, "Bubble wrap would not serve any real purpose in keeping me and the babies safe- Oh you're kidding. That was funny Booth." She giggled, finally getting it. "How about this, you can be just as bad as Hodgins was with Angela when she was pregnant, but no worse?"
"Seeing as Hodgins flipped out every time he thought Angela was about to go into labor, I think that's pretty reasonable. I'll try my hardest but no guarantees. Besides, isn't it all about the experience? You live with my incessant worrying and I live with your insane hormones." He noted the glare she shot him and amended his statement, hoping to get himself out of hot water, "Uh I meant your slightly different hormones? Weren't you going to invite Angela and Hodgins over for dinner?" He attempted to change the subject.
"Oh yeah I forgot. There's no need to act like I'm going to hurt you Booth. As a scientist I recognize the random fluxuations in my hormonal levels due to pregnancy."
He laughed nervously, still not quite sure if he was off the hook. When they had spent time together, Rebecca had practically bitten his head off every time he mentioned something to do with her pregnancy. "Okay. Umm I have some paperwork to go fill out. Pick you up at 5?"
She waved him off, already dialing Angela's number. Michael was sick so Angela had come in, done the facial reconstruction, and returned home to take care of her son. He shook his head silently as he made his way out of her office.
"Bones! Hey what are you doing? Take a seat!" Booth ran up onto the platform, almost forgetting to swipe his card. He grabbed a nearby chair and gestured to a bewildered Brennan to sit down in it.
"Booth! I'm in the middle of an examination. I can hardly sit down and properly do my work at the same time."
"Wendell's here, he's a pretty smart guy, one of the best interns. He can do the examination and you can supervise, that way you can get off your feet!"
She made a face at him, turning back to her work.
"Really Bones? Sit down!" His voice was getting louder and it was clear that he was getting pretty agitated.
"No! Booth just go, I can't deal with you like this right now. I'll see you at home."
"Fine!" He shoved the chair towards the desk he had taken it from, smirking at the loud bang it made as it collided with the desk. He stalked towards the exit, not even turning back to look at the others.
"Wow Sweetie, what's up with him?" Angela asked, coming onto the platform.
"He insisted that I sit down, but I am in the middle of something right now, something that could not be done properly while sitting down."
Angela just smiled, "He's got the pregnancy jitterbug doesn't he?"
"I don't know what that means."
"It means that he's constantly worrying about you simply because you're pregnant."
Brennan frowned, "I was not aware that there was a name for that. But yes, he has the pregnancy jitterbug. I want to strangle him Angela and that is freaking me out. It's hard to be rational when he's always there, nagging me about something or another."
"Sweetie, he does it because he cares. It's just something you have to deal with. Hodgins was pretty crazy with me, but I kind of grew to love it."
"You loved the constant worrying?"
Angela rolled her eyes, "I said I kind of grew to love it, not that I actually did. Yes, it was annoying and I wanted to punch Jack numerous times, but I knew he did it because he loves me."
"I don't think I will ever get used to this Angela."
Angela laughed, touching her shoulder, "Trust me, Bren, that's exactly what I said, but remember they're willing to do anything, absolutely anything for you when you're pregnant." She winked and headed towards her office, leaving Brennan feeling slightly confused as she did not quite get Angela's meaning.
"Oh she was. I heard it firsthand from her." Angela sighed, her stomach grumbling, "Let's just order pizza, it'll get here quicker."
Hodgins laughed, leaning down to kiss her stomach, "Good call babe, I don't think this little guy can wait much longer."
She smiled, "It could be a girl Jack, remember that."
"And I would love it if it were a girl, but I know for sure that there's another little man in there," he cooed to Angela's belly.
She tipped his chin towards her, pressing her lips to his. They both sighed in contentment.
"Guess I should go order that pizza huh?"
"Definitely before I raid the freezer and just eat ice cream for dinner."
He laughed, "Okay. What do you want? Pineapple?"
"Yup. I know, it sounds disgusting but it sooo isn't."
Hodgins grimaced, just nodding his head. Some of the things his wife had taken a liking to were a little freaky, but he had to admit, some actually didn't taste too bad. He made the order and came back into the living room to see Bambi on the television. He groaned, "Oh no, not Bambi again Angie!"
"Oh come on, it's a cute movie!"
"It's not a cute movie at all! Bambi's mother is brutally murdered and Bambi himself gets shot! Tell me how that is in any way cute at all! Plus, you cry every time we watch it."
She scoffed, "Like you don't babe."
"Well at least I'm not bawling my eyes out."
"Hey! I for one, happen to be pregnant! So there!" She crossed her arms across her chest, playing being mad.
Hodgins shook his head, "Well why don't we get Michael out here and we can all watch it together?"
The doorbell rang and both turned in the direction of the front door, confused.
"That can't be the pizza guy. He'd have to be a crazy demon driver to get here that fast." Angela got up and started towards the door, "Go get Michael and I'll see who it is."
She opened the door and immediately gasped, putting her hand over her mouth, "Roxie?" She moved aside to let her ex-girlfriend in the house, her eyes crazy and wide.
"Ange. Hi. Sorry I didn't call. I was in the neighborhood and got your address from the Jeffersonian."
Angela shook her head, finally getting the words to respond, "Oh no it's totally fine." She closed the door, still in a daze.
"So you're pregnant?" Roxie said, gesturing towards Angela's stomach. Angela looked down at her protruding belly, putting her hands gently on it. "Congratulations."
"Thanks Rox. So what have you been up to?"
"Traveling mostly, seeing the world, all that jazz. I'm actually here for that big art show."
"Oh wow, you've got a piece in it?" Roxie nodded. "That's- that's really awesome Roxie. I'm happy for you."
"Ange, who was at the-" Hodgins asked, coming into the entryway with Michael sitting high on his shoulders, pulling at his daddy's hair. "Oh! Roxie! Hi." He reached out a hand to awkwardly shake her hand, grimacing in pain as Michael pulled hard on his hair. "Michael, stop that please."
"So you guys got back together. I knew that would happen. You never seemed as happy as you did when we were first together Ange. Well I'm glad everything worked out for you."
"Thanks Rox. Oh, Roxie, this is our son Michael. Michael this is an old friend of Mommy's. Her name is Roxie. Can you say hi please?"
Michael cocked his head, not quite sure of the newcomer, "Hi! I'm Michael! I'm 4!"
Roxie laughed, reaching up to shake his little hand, "Nice to meet you Michael."
"Do you want anything to drink Roxie?" Hodgins asked, "We've got wine, soda, ice tea, juice…"
She shook her, "No thank you Jack."
"Okay." He leaned down to let Michael off his shoulders, "Hey Mikey why don't you go pick out a better movie? We've all seen Bambi way too many times."
"Okay Daddy!" he skipped out of the room, humming quietly to himself.
"He's adorable," Roxie commented, noting the sparkle in Angela's eyes as Hodgins came up beside her and wrapped an arm around her.
"Yeah he can be a handful though." They both laughed, giving each other knowing smiles.
"I'm sure. So when are you due?" Roxie asked, gesturing towards Angela's stomach.
"Not until March if I actually meet my due date. With Michael, I was almost a whole week late."
"Wow, that's great. Boy or girl?"
Hodgins smiled, "Well I think it's a boy, but we won't find out until he or she is born."
Roxie laughed, not at all surprised by Angela's untraditional ways. "Well it was nice talking to you guys, but I should probably be going." She started walking towards the door before turning back to address Angela, "I'm really glad you found someone who was able to drag you out of living in the moment to think about the future."
"Me too. Listen, you'll find someone great too Roxie."
Roxie hung her head shyly, "I think I may already have Ange."
Angela smiled widely, "Well good for you Rox. Feel free to stop by anytime. We're always up for entertaining a guest."
"Okay. Bye Ange." She leaned in to hug her, whispering in her ear, "Hold onto him Ange, he's definitely a keeper."
Angela laughed, "Oh I will, trust me. Goodbye Roxie."
They escorted their guest to the door, waving goodbye as she made her way down the walk to her car before finally closing the door.
"Phew! Well that was interesting, wasn't it?" Hodgins asked, a slight smirk on his face.
"It sure was. I thought for sure she'd flip when she found out I was married to you."
"Nahh. The one thing I always liked about Roxie, she always wanted you to be happy."
Angela sighed, "Still though I think she was a little bit sad to see that we have a successful marriage and a growing family when I couldn't think about the future at all when we were together."
"That may be, but trust me babe, she was just playing the 'what if' game. You guys weren't meant to be like you and I are." He took her in his arms, holding her close, just peering into each others' eyes.
"I love you Jack. I honestly have no regrets about our marriage."
"Well that's good to hear," he joked before becoming serious, "I love you too Angie."
"Mommy! Daddy! I found the most perfect movie ever!" Michael yelled, running back into the entryway in just his Batman pajama bottoms.
"Michael? What happened to your shirt?" Angela asked, struggling not to laugh.
"Mommy, I'm a big boy like Daddy. I don't need to wear a shirt at home!" he declared, giving them a very Jack-like face of determination.
Angela finally burst out laughing, shaking her head as she looked over at her husband who seemed to be at a loss for words. "Come on we'll talk about this no shirt thing later. Let's go watch a movie!"
Hodgins sighed, "What movie did you pick Mikey?"
"The Incredibles! It's only the best movie besides Batman and Cars!"
"Yay!" Hodgins exclaimed, his enthusiasm forced. Michael had made them watch this movie just about once a week. In fact, he knew he could probably recite most of the lines word for word. But what did it matter when you got to spend a perfectly good evening with your wife and son? "Set it up, I'll get the popcorn."
Well? Did you like that taste of crazy Booth? I know we saw some of it already it season 7, but I thought I'd explore it a little more. And Roxie? Yeah didn't think she'd ever turn up again did you? :p Well you know the drill, reviews would be lovely as usual, especially they have been dwindling for the past couple of chapters. Probably because I've been absolutely horrible about updating. I apologize, but updating every couple of days is just not something I can do anymore, especially since I don't exactly have everything planned out to a 'T' as I did with the first couple of chapters. Thanks for reading and once again PLEASE REVIEW! :D
Wldwmn: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much! It took me awhile to come up with the perfect gift for each of them but I think it turned out nicely. Aww you're too kind :) Hope you keep reading
Ciza: Thank you so much! Yeah I'm better now thank goodness
HPNCISVictorious14: Right? Christmas is so fun to write :) Thanks