Sorry for the half-day delay in posting! Here's a - we hope - heart-warming chapter to make up for it. Enjoy little Elena's fifth birthday!

Chapter 26

Hours passed, and the small family grew closer as they slept in each other's arms. Days passed, and Brennan started to regain her energy, allowing them to enjoy days at the beach together with Hank and Jared, if he had the time. Weeks passed, and Russ said that he would be moving in with Amy and her girls, just as Brennan was about to announce she and Elena would be moving in with Booth. That left one vacant house, and Elena waved her early childhood goodbye. Months later, Brennan had adjusted to her parttime job at the university and Elena was going to school for half-days. Next year, she was ready to go full-time. She'd also be skipping two grades, since Brennan's homeschooling had put Elena so far ahead of the other pupils. Elena's IQ had been tested and Booth boasted about it being so high. Elena's social skills had developed and she had three best friends. She also went to gymnastics with them. Today, it was Elena's fifth birthday, and they celebrated it at their new house. Elena was wearing the white princess dress Jared had given her, complete with the crown on her head. Max, Angela, Russ, Amy, Emma, Hayley, Jared, Hank... everyone was there, helping out to make it the best birthday ever for Elena.

Booth had gone out to pick up his girl's birthday cake and returned when Jenny, Kate and Alexis arrived, Elena's three best friends. Booth opened the door for them and called out, "Princess, look who I found!"

Elena yelped in excitement and ran to the door. She fell into her friends' awaiting arms and they all jumped and danced through the room as they admired the decorations.

Booth chuckled proudly at Elena's antics and greeted the rest of the guests. He moved to the kitchen, where Brennan and Angela were pouring drinks. Approaching Bones - her nickname had changed ever since she'd found a job working with bones - he pressed a soft kiss to her bare shoulder. "Hey darling," he murmured quietly.

Angela rolled her eyes and grabbed the tray, which held the plastic cup. "Oh, get a room you two," she teased, then left to get everybody their drinks.

Booth put the cake down and opened the box. It was shaped like a castle. "Do you think she'll like it?"

"Of course she will. It's either something to do with princesses or gymnastics these days," Brennan chuckled. "This is all great, Booth. You're going to be her number one parent for months to come," she joked.

"It was your idea to get her a cake," Booth told her as he opened a drawer and got out a knife to cut the cake. He changed his mind and put it on a plate first. "Darling! Mommy has a surprise for you!" He smiled at her. "See? I can share," he teased.

"You're so generous," Brennan smiled at him and stuck the candles in the cake, then lit them. "You take it into the room, I'll cut the lights. I know how to share sometimes, too," she winked at him.

Booth walked over to her and embraced her for a quick passionate kiss. "As long as it's not you or my daughter I have to share, I don't mind." He kissed her again, grabbed the plate and walked into the living room. "Happy birthday to you..." Soon, everyone had chimed in.

Brennan turned the lights off and joined in with the singing. Elena was beaming. She'd never had a birthday quite like this. Everyone was singing for her and Elena just sang along. Angela picked her up and put her on the table next to the beautiful birthday cake.

Booth kissed his daughter's cheek and wrapped an arm around her, just to be sure. "Blow out the candles and make a wish, princess."

Elena pulled as much air into her lungs as she could and blew out across the candles. All five of them went out, and she jumped up and down in excitement. "I won't tell what I wished for," she told her guests secretively.

"You're not supposed to tell, dear," Hank replied, "How about you let Shrimp cut off a piece of that princess cake and you bring a slice over to your Grampa Pops, huh?"

Elena chuckled. "Yes, Grampa Pops."

Max cut in. "What about this Grampa over here?"

Elena nodded. "Grampas first."

"And what about this aunt?" Angela chimed in, laughing.

Elena stopped, not knowing where to go first. "Now I don't know where to go!" she said and raised her arms, then let them fall down again in despair.

Booth chuckled. "I'll help." He cut half of the cake into pieces and whispered into his daughter's ear, "Which piece do you want?"

Elena pointed to a corner piece, because it had extra marzipan on it.

Booth put it on a plate. "Then this one is for you." He cut another piece off. "This is for Grampa Pops." Booth continued to cut the pieces of and he told his daughter where to bring each piece. "And this last one, princess, is for me. Here," he handed her her own plate, "Enjoy."

Elena was relieved that her dad had helped her fix her confusion. Elena went to sit at the little princesses table with her gym team mates and they crossed their forks before attacking the birthday cake.

Booth walked over to Brennan and sat down next to her on the couch. "She seems very happy, doesn't she?" Booth whispered softly as they enjoyed their cake.

"She's got so much better. She's become so confident. She has a big life, now," Brennan smiled. "Thanks to you, Booth."

"Thanks to us, Bones." Booth bumped her shoulder with his. After Booth finished his slice of cake, he got up. He walked over to Elena and winked. "Hey princess," Booth kissed her cheek and tickled her, "Guess what?"

Elena's eyes widened in amusement and Booth knew that his baby girl knew what he was referring to. She shrieked and ran over to her uncle Russ. She kissed his cheek, tickled him and ran out the back door yelling, "You're it!"

Russ looked confused for a moment, until Booth explained. "Tickle tag."

Russ smiled and got up. "Tempe," he sing-songed and ran after his sister who had followed her daughter out the back door. Soon everybody but the grampas was running around, playing Booth's silly version of the popular game.

They played for a while, until the girls were laughing so hard they were lying on the grass, holding their bellies as their abs hurt.

Booth had been tagged by Angela and he had his eyes set on a very specific target. He ran after Bones, who wasn't even trying to escape, and caught her in his embrace. "Guess what?" he whispered as he leaned in close.

Brennan's chest was heaving from running and laughing so hard at the same time. Everyone had become giggly from this game and Brennan just hung in Booth's arms. "I don't know. I guess you're going to kiss me," she laughed.

"Yup," he kissed her, but this time it wasn't a simple peck on her cheek. His lips were pressed against hers as he held her closely to his chest. "You're mine," he whispered in her ear as he held her, knowing it would provoke her.

"Am I, now?" she cocked an eyebrow, but her witty reply was silenced by another kiss.

"Ew!" the little girls exclaimed as they saw what Elena's parents were doing. They all covered their eyes with their hands and giggled until Jenny sighed, "It's so romantic, though..."

Booth chuckled. "She's right," he added in a soft whisper. "Maybe we should stop being romantic now and continue tonight. When we're - you know -" he wiggled his eyebrows. "Alone."

It was again as if her body was drawn to his by a magnetic force. "Can't wait," Brennan told him breathlessly.

Booth chuckled and kissed her again. "Patience, Bones. As soon as we are home alone, I promise I won't let you out of my sight again."

He allowed her to stand on her feet again and she felt she had a lot to look forward to. "Okay, girls, how about we have some fun?" Brennan suggested.

The girls jumped up and were redirected to Elena's aunt. She was, after all, the most fun person they'd ever meet, according to Elena. The girls would be making birthday paintings and afterwards had access to all kinds of brightly-coloured sweets to decorate cookies with.

Booth enjoyed watching his little girl enjoying herself with her friends and her aunt Angela, while he got started on Elena's favourite meal: pancakes with blueberries.

Brennan helped out, paying special attention to Hayley, who was receiving oxygen this month. Her tube got in the way sometimes, and she couldn't stress about anything. So, Brennan paid extra attention to make sure Hayley was having fun despite her illness.

Pops went to help him, so Booth had more time to make his famous hot chocolate. When everything was ready, he rounded up the girls and got them each a pancake and a cup of hot chocolate.

Elena was almost emitting light, she felt so happy and special on her birthday. She never thought she would have so many friends, and cousins! She didn't even know she had a father, either. She loved every member of her family, they were all fun. Uncle Jared knew exactly what princesses should look like, and their rooms, too. Daddy had told her that Uncle Jared had never met a princess before and he always did just guys stuff, so it was a surprise that Uncle Jared turned out to be a princess specialist. Elena loved them. She loved everyone, and she was as happy as a real princess.

Booth went to get everybody a pancake and some syrup and everybody enjoyed themselves. Around 7PM, Elena's friends started leaving and a bit later both grampas and Jared did, too. Then, Angela left and so did Russ, Amy and their girls. They said goodbye and Booth was looking forward to spending some time with just his partner and his daughter.

Brennan picked up Elena and nuzzled her neck with her nose. "Oh, sweetheart, this was such a great day, wasn't it?" Elena yawned and looked at her mother with a happy glow in her eyes. She nodded and rested her head on her mother's shoulder.

Booth approached his girls and wrapped his arms around his Bones. "Let's tuck this little girl into bed," he suggested.

"No, I don't want to go to bed," Elena protested. "Daddy..." she pouted.

"Princess..." Booth could pout, too. "It's bedtime." He kissed her cheek and rested his forehead against hers. "But since it is your birthday, you get to pick one thing we can do before you go to bed."

"More hot chocolate," Elena said with a serene sigh.

"You got her addicted, Booth," Brennan admonished him, "It's all she ever asks for."

"Well, if she has to have an addiction, this is a pretty good one to have." He focussed his attention on his daughter. "Okay, princess, but you have to go with Mommy and get ready for bed. Then it's hot chocolate, brushing your teeth, a bedtime story and then you go to sleep. No comments."

Elena smiled and reached for her father. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, princess." Booth embraced her and kissed her cheek five times. "Now be a good girl and go with Mommy." His girls left and Booth went to the kitchen to make his little girl a small cup of hot chocolate. She'd already had more than her fair share, so he made sure it wasn't too much. He also made sure that the champagne he had for Bones and himself was chilled. Once he was satisfied that it was, he poured the warm chocolate into a cup and carried it up to Elena's room.

Brennan had helped their little girl change into her nightgown and they were settled in her reading corner with a blanket.

Elena was very tired from a long, but wonderful day, and had picked out her favourite book. It remained Moby Dick. She was holding her Mobys and her bear against her chest as she leaned against her mother's soft chest.

Booth entered with the cup of hot chocolate and sat down on the floor in front of them, after he had handed the cup to his daughter. "Who do you want to read to you, princess?"

"Mommy can read and then you have to do voices," Elena said. Brennan was best in reading the descriptions and narrative of the story, whereas Booth always made Elena chuckle as he did the voices of the characters.

"Deal," Booth smiled at her. He got up and went to sit next to Brennan, so he could read with her. They enjoyed reading the story, doing the voices and watching their daughter enjoy their family time. They read two chapters and once the cup was empty, Booth stood. "Come on, baby girl. It's bedtime now."

Elena chuckled, "You forgot I have to brush my teeth and you have to comb my hair, Daddy."

"Good point." Booth lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth as he combed her long curls. "Did you have fun today, baby?"

"It was the best day of my life," Elena told him. She liked using that sentence. Mommy said that the day she was made was the best day of her life. Mommy really loved her, and that made Elena happy, because she loved Mommy, too. A lot! And she loved Daddy just as much, now. Sometimes, she was brave and a big girl and she stayed with Grampa Pops all by herself. She then brought her bear, the one they'd made when she got hit by a skateboard, and because Mommy had the same bear, Mommy was with her, sort of.

"I'm glad you liked it." Booth handed her the cup of water, so she could rinse. Once she was done, Booth lifted her into his arms and carried her back to her bedroom, humming a lullaby.

Elena grabbed his ear as he carried her. "Just checking!" she told him. It was a silly game they played. Elena was not sure what it was about, but it was fun.

Meanwhile, Brennan had cleaned up the reading corner and fluffed up Elena's pillow and covers. She was so happy her little girl had had such an amazing birthday. It had been just perfect.

Booth chuckled as his little girl grabbed his ear. Brennan had pulled the covers back and he laid her down in bed and tucked her in. "Now be a good girl and go to sleep." Booth kissed her and crossed her forehead, asking God to protect his little girl.

Brennan kissed their daughter goodnight and they smiled as she reached for her teddybear, not even asking her mom anymore to lie in bed with her.

"Sleep tight, princess."

"Sweet dreams, Elena. See you in the morning, our big five-year-old girl." Brennan blew another kiss at her daughter, who pretended to catch it and put it on her cheek. Elena also blew a few kisses back and then got comfortable with her Mommy-bear and Moby. She soon fell asleep.

So, how do you feel about the progression in our story? We've tried to keep up a good pace to keep things interesting, and we hope we're succeeding. Next chapter will cover another milestone in this story (one that several of you have been asking for and which we won't deny you!). It didn't start out as a fairy tale, but will it end like one? We hope to hear your thoughts on this chapter and that you'll be back for the next chapter!