Author's Note: Some of the stuff is canon, but I like Dr. Goodman and Cam so they are both in this, I don't know how Zack's going to play in this series and I feel like I need Sweets in this series at some point. (Also the shoe thing is actually a funny family story for my own life so it just makes me laugh)
Booth hadn't been able to stop thinking about Ruth and the similarities with Parker since the Cleo Eller case. He asked Rebecca about the shoe throwing and she laughed.
"Oh that poor scientist friend of yours. Parker was a nightmare! I would get one shoe tied and he would be throwing the other one off. It would take us 45 minutes to get out the door! I finally got to a point where we had places where we would get to where we took them off. Like the moment we got into the car to go home, the shoes came off."
Booth couldn't stop wondering if it was just a coincidence. Later that visit, he asked Rebecca for old baby photos of Parker. She thought it was sweet that he wanted some for his office or around the house. He simply nodded. His mouth hung open when he looked at them. Parker's little nose and shaggy hair were almost identical to Ruth's, her chubby cheeks seemed to mirror his. Booth tried to chalk it up to babies being babies, but the dimples threw him for a loop.
A couple of weeks went by and he found himself constantly wanting to go to the Jeffersonian. Sitting at dinner with Tessa, he couldn't help but zone out.
"Seeley?"
"Hmm?" He looked at her.
"I was wondering if it wasn't irresponsible that Dr. Brennan brings an infant around dead bodies, like wouldn't that be traumatizing for a baby?" Tessa's face shriveled in disgust and Booth felt a knot in his stomach.
"Well it's not that she brings Ruth around the remains, she just brings her into the lab, plus Bones doesn't have a lot of family, so the group at the Jeffersonian is pretty much Ruth's pseudo family, they all have taken care of her and love to hang around her. It's actually kinda sweet." He smiled as he remembered Dr. Goodman carrying the little girl around on his shoulders while they discussed their travel plans to Washington state.
"I don't see why I'm being rented out like I'm equipment, Dr. Goodman." Brennan was fuming, while Booth had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from laughing. He watched as Ruth bounced and giggled on Goodman's shoulders.
"I think it'll be good for you to get some fresh air, get out of this lab. Actually go out and see people! Experience the world!" Goodman emphasized the words and did a bounce as he did so, causing Ruth to laugh a little harder.
"But what about Ruth?" Brennan sounded like a concerned mother hen. She looked up at her daughter, her eyes wrought with worry. It was only in that moment that Booth truly saw her hesitation.
"Dr. Brennan, I have two children, my wife was the first to offer our home and you know she loves Ruth like her own." Goodman had stopped walking at this point and stared directly at Brennan. Booth saw how much of a support system Bones had at the Jeffersonian, but realized truly how close they were and how much they loved this little girl.
"Okay, fine, I will go to Washington, but I request the day off to pack and spend with my daughter." Brennan murmured and Goodman nodded, pulled Ruth off his shoulder and tossed her in the air for good measure.
"Mama!" Ruth screamed in delight and Brennan shook her head with a smile. Her and Booth left later that day, and he only wished he could have spent the day with Bones and Ruth.
"I guess if she's not letting her see dead bodies, but still, there's a lot of dangerous things in a lab!" Tessa exclaimed.
"Parker visits me at the FBI and I have a gun cabinet under my desk." Booth shrugged. He found himself becoming more annoyed with his girlfriend. It was a Friday night and rather than wanting to go home with her, he wondered where Brennan was, shooting her a quick text, he wasn't surprised when he got a response back. At the lab, finishing the report. Will be done for review in the morning. He rolled his eyes. He wasn't worried about the report. He was worried she hadn't eaten dinner or that she was overworking herself. He knew she would make sure Ruth was taken care of, but who was looking out for Temperance Brennan.
-BB-
On the other side of town, Brennan had noticed that since the Cleo Eller case, Booth had stuck around the Jeffersonian. Not only had they worked better as a team this time around, but he seemed to want to spend a lot of time with Ruth. Sitting on the floor of her office, Ruth was working on standing along the furniture.
"There you go, baby girl." Brennan murmured. Most of the Jeffersonian crew had left at this point on a Friday night, she knew that Hodgins wanted to finish up some particulate report and Angela was waiting on an update for a software program, but the rest of the lab was quiet. "Come on, keep trying." She encouraged her daughter to keep trying to walk without assistance. Holding out her hands, she pushed the papers that were in front of her out of the way to give her daughter a path to walk to her.
"Hey, Bones!" Booth yelled through the quiet lab, causing Ruth to become startled and topple backwards. Ruth's cries caused Booth to run into the office only to be met with a glaring mother.
"Booth! You scared her!" Brennan reprimanded. "I thought she was just about to walk, too!" She continued, shushing Ruth in her arms. "It's okay, baby. C'mon, look, see, it's just Booth." She had noticed that Ruth had found Booth to be a comforting figure, her daughter would even reach for Booth, but at this moment she turned away from the FBI agent and cried into her mother's shoulder.
"Oh, c'mon, Ruthie!" Booth's shoulders dropped as he reached out for the little girl. "I didn't mean to scare you." But the little girl only wailed louder when he reached for her.
"Hey, what's going on?" Hodgins walked into Brennan's office and looked at Ruth's tearful face.
"Ruth got scared when Booth yelled, she'll be okay." Brennan said as she continued to stroke her daughter's back. Booth's heart only broke more when he watched Ruth reach for Jack and he picked up the little girl.
"Come on, Babe Ruth! I'll show you some spiders I got in my office!" Jack smiled and was able to get a teary smile.
"Nothing poisonous!" Brennan scolded and Jack held up a hand.
"Of course not, I learned my lesson." Jack responded, which only caused Booth to whip his head to Brennan.
"Learned his lesson? You let him bring poisonous spiders around your daughter?!" Brennan shrugged.
"It was defanged." Booth shuddered and looked at Brennan.
"Hey, when I said get me that report as soon as possible, you don't need to burn the midnight oil." Booth started his speech only to be interrupted.
"Bren, I finished my portion of the report, it's on the server, now I got a hot date to catch!" Angela called into her office. "Hey, Studly! I thought you had a date with little Ms. Lawyer, what brings you to the Geek Squad?" She wiggled her eyebrows and he tried to ignore her implications, knowing that she was right. He had faked a stomach ache to get out of going back to Tessa's after their dinner so he could hang out with Brennan and see why she was at the lab so late.
"I just … Bones mentioned she was at the lab late."
"That was me and Hodgins. He's finishing up particulate data and I needed to finish up software updates. Plus Bren's apartment complex had that weird break-in thin-OW" Angela rubbed her arm as Brennan pinched it.
"Break-in?" Booth tried to remain calm as he asked.
"Book sales went crazy and my publicist realized that some people found my address, and then the doorman fell asleep on the job, it should all be okay now." Brennan rattled off, but Angela tsked.
"Yea, no, honey. Some guy climbing onto your balcony at 3 in the morning is not a doorman falling asleep on the job issue."
"The guy was arrested, but with Ruth, I'm not taking chances." Brennan murmured. "I should go make sure Hodgins is not letting her near the snakes." She mumbled and ran out of the office, which only caused Angela to sigh.
"I should've known she wouldn't tell you. I thought you guys were getting closer, but she's still same old 'I can take care of everything' Brennan." Angela said as she looked towards Hodgins' office. Booth shook his head.
"Someone tried to break into her place?"
"It's not the first time, it's just the first time since Ruth's been born, which scares her. Bren doesn't mind if she gets hurt, but if anything happened to Ruth, the world would burn." Angela quickly glanced around and then looked back at Booth. "I'm going to clue you in on something. We're all she has, her parents disappeared when she was a teen, her brother gave her up to the system, and that little girl is her life. So if you want to be a part of our family, you are a part of it, but if you are only going to half ass it, don't be a part of it at all." Angela then turned on her heels and walked to Hodgins' office. Booth could hear her voice as she spoke to Brennan and then to Ruth.
"Bye, Dr. B. Bye, baby Ruth!" Hodgins' voice echoed through the corridor. Booth sat on the couch in Brennan's office and listened as Brennan's footsteps got closer.
"You stayed?" Brennan asked, her voice soft. Booth looked up to see Ruth's head resting on her mother's shoulder, eyes heavy with sleep.
"Yea, just thought I'd keep you company, plus with the whole guy climbing onto your balcony thing, I'm a little nervous about leaving you and Ruth alone." He murmured and she nodded in response.
"I was so scared. He was clearly unwell, but all I could think of was what would happen if he got to Ruth's room." She shook her head and blinked back the tears. "I just couldn't let him get to her room." She whispered more to herself than to Booth. He reached out to hold her hand, she didn't pull back. It wasn't the first time they had held hands or had physical contact, but there was something so intimate about it. All of a sudden Ruth began to stir.
"Oh, someone's awake." Booth mumbled and smiled, watching as Ruth rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and looked at him with confusion and then a large grin. He felt his heart swell. From the tears earlier tonight, that smile was all he needed.
"Alright, baby girl, lemme put you down real quick." Brennan kissed her daughter's head and sat her on the floor to walk over to her desk and collect some stuff for her bag. Booth watched as Ruth grabbed the coffee table to stand and looked first at the desk where her mom was then at the couch, where Booth sat. Holding out his hands, he wiggled his fingers.
"Bones, Bones, I think she's gonna walk!" He tried to remain calm, while watching Ruth let go of the table and steady herself. Brennan looked up from her place at the desk and watched as her daughter took the few steps from the coffee table to the couch into her father's outstretched arms. The smiles on their faces were unmatched. Even from across the room, Brennan could hear Booth whisper into Ruth's hair. "That's my girl, you did it." Before pressing a kiss to her hair and hugging her tight.