Author's Note: So I'm introducing Sweets for a different reason than the series did, because I feel like when you find out your crime solving partner is also secretly your child's mother … you might need some therapy, even if they don't believe in psychology … Enjoy

Booth and Brennan had been working on a schedule that worked for them and Ruth. Mainly Ruth. Ruth was more of a fireball than both of them were able to handle.

"You have another kid?" Rebecca sighed as she looked from Booth to the sandy haired girl.

"Don't look at me like that!" Booth whispered as he helped Ruth onto the kiddie slide. It was his first solo daddy-daughter day with Ruth and he had run into Rebecca and Parker at the park. Parker was ecstatic about having a little sister, especially when she was willing to pull worms out of the ground and try to put them in her mouth. Booth just thought he would have a little more time to think of how to introduce Ruth to Parker and broach the topic with Rebecca, so this little run in was more than a surprise.

"All I'm saying is learn to pull out, my friend." Rebecca whispered back and laughed. Parker looked at his parents before asking his dad if he could help Ruth down the slide.

"Sure, bud, just make sure she doesn't hit her head or anything." Booth was nervous. "Rebecca, how the hell did Bones do this alone? Like you barely let me take him some weekends, she had nothing." This only caused Rebecca to sigh. "I've watched Ruth try to eat bugs, she put her own foot in her mouth, my apartment is like a death trap for a toddler!"

Rebecca sat in awe at the man before her. She knew that Seeley loved her son, she knew he would die for Parker and wanted to do anything to make sure he was safe, but watching him nervously wring his hands as he looked at Ruth and talk about the random little things she got into made her see just how much he had fallen for that little in the short time he knew her. "Seeley, how long have you known?"

"Well, I guess I suspected for a while. You know how I went AWOL so I could hold Parker when he was born?" Rebecca only nodded. "I just had this feeling holding him in the hospital, like he was so small and fragile, but all babies are small and need protecting."

"But it's different when they're yours." She murmured.

"Yea." Booth agreed. "And when I saw Ruth, I just felt it again, like she pulled at something."

"But Dr. Brennan didn't tell you?" Rebecca spoke hesitantly. She wasn't sure of Temperance, she wasn't an insecure woman, but Brennan was gorgeous, she was smart, she was everything. She knew that Seeley could fall and be completely broken by her if given the chance. But she also knew Seeley, he could be idealistic and expect women to be traditional, and she knew for a fact that Temperance wouldn't play into that role.

"Well." He let out a big sigh. He wasn't one to open up about his sex life, especially with his ex girlfriend. "Bones and I hooked up after our first case, and I was honest with her when I said that I felt it was different, but the next morning, she was gone. I chalked it up to her thinking it was the tequila talking." At that Rebecca laughed and shook her head.

"Oh, Seeley, you gave her the line she's probably heard from a million guys."

"And I guess she tried to reach out to the FBI when she found out she was pregnant, but it was when they sent me on my 6-month stint underground." He whispered and Rebecca nodded. He was only allowed to tell a handful of people and she was on the list due to Parker. She could only imagine how Temperance must have felt, pregnant and the guy she was with was gone. "But I really didn't stop thinking about Bones, sure, we didn't get along, but God we hit that case out of the park! And the bureau wanted me to work with the Jeffersonian again and so I reached out to Goodman and he said fine. Now here we are." He looked back and Ruth, who was sitting in the sandpit with Parker, happily slapping her hands around. Booth couldn't help but smile and then frown as he thought of the germs and bugs.

"You can't protect her from everything." Rebecca murmured, knowing the look on Seeley's face. She then patted Booth's knee and walked up to their son. Booth watched before reaching out for Ruth, who quickly reached out for him.

Booth would go back to Brennan's apartment most nights and help with Ruth's nighttime routine. He checked the balcony four times before feeling comfortable leaving. Sometimes, he and Brennan would stay up and have a glass of wine, the baby monitor on the coffee table in front of them.

"Bones, why don't you have a television?" Booth asked one night as they sat listening to some music quietly.

"I didn't have one before Ruth was born. She watches some programs at daycare, but I just didn't feel it was necessary."

"Bones, not everything has to be for Ruth, you can do things for you." Booth murmured, pushing a curl behind her ear. He noticed the slight shiver as she looked through her eyelashes at him.

"I do things for me, I've gone on digs, I've read books. But life is mainly to provide for Ruth now." She murmured. Booth nodded. Their knees touching, they inched forward, Booth could feel his heart rate rapidly increasing, but began Ruth to cry. "I'll go grab her." Brennan mumbled before scurrying into the room. Booth did his nightly checks soon thereafter and left,

The duo now sat on a green couch in Dr. Lance Sweets office in the Hoover building.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting. My name is Dr. Lance Sweets, I'm a psychologist, I understand that I may look young, because I am young, but I promise, I'm incredibly qualified." The young man with dark hair that walked in was right, he looked like a teenager to Booth, who couldn't help but chuckle, but Brennan seemed nervous. She felt responsible for the inconveniences as she sat on the couch about a foot away from Booth. "As you both know, FBI protocol requires that when there is a significant change in relationship status, a partnership evaluation is performed. In this circumstance, you two discovered you share a child together?"

"Well, I knew we shared the child together, but Booth just found out." Brennan responded.

"You knew?" Sweets questioned and Brennan nodded.

"That is correct."

"What do you mean you knew? How old is this child?"

"She's about fifteen months old now. And well, biologically, to create a child, you must engage in intercourse-"

"Bones, I think he gets that part." Booth interjected.

"Well, I thought he did too, but he asked."

"He's confused why you didn't tell me when we first started our partnership."

"Bingo." Sweets murmured.

"Bingo? Like the game?" Brennan responded in a confused tone and looked over at Booth. He felt his heart flutter. He loved when her eyebrows would furrow and her lips would part like that.

"Just explain why you waited to tell me about why Ruth is mine." Booth whispered. He hated how Sweets took notes as Brennan wrung her hands. Booth reached out and held one of her hands. "It's okay."

"Uhm, I'm a bit confused on where to begin." Brennan finally said with a shaky breath, looking at Sweets, who looked up from his notepad.

"Why don't you start from the beginning, not the actual act of intercourse, but did you two meet at a bar or something?"

"Oh well we worked together on a case a little over two years ago and when we completed the case we celebrated. I will skip how we celebrated, although it was enjoyable." She smiled and looked over at Booth, who blushed and internally fist bumped himself. "I became pregnant and when I attempted to inform him, the bureau informed me that Booth had been sent on a handful of missions for a few months. Since I had no other way of contacting him, I thought it was best to just handle the pregnancy on my own. Until recently, we hadn't run into one another or communicated. As previously mentioned, I gave birth to Ruth about 15 months ago. I was raising our daughter when the FBI requested my help once more. Rather than just telling Booth that he had a daughter and risk him running away, I allowed him to get to know Ruth, and then I revealed about a week ago that he was the father. Does that answer your question?"

Sweets jotted down his notes and nodded along. "Yea, that does, not you said something that interested me. Why were you scared he would run away if you just told him he had a daughter?"

Booth felt Bones freeze. "Well, I didn't think he would physically run."

Sweets smiled and jotted something else down and nodded. "You know I'm not asking why he would literally run away. Does it have to do with your parents disappearing during your adolescent years?"

Booth felt a chill run down his spine. He wanted to jump up and yell at the young doctor, but instead he felt Brennan's hand slip out of his. He watched her eyes become stone cold, like the walls he was chipping at were building up right before him. He wanted to curse and scream. Brennan sat up straighter on the couch, and Sweets' demeanor seemed to change as well. His cocky mentality was no longer there and instead it was replaced by that of a child, fearful of what was to come.

"I understand now what it is you are doing here. You are treating me as a lab rat in an experiment, pushing my buttons to see how I will react until you have me writhing on the floor in pain, but I promise you, you will not find that. You're right, I have had difficulties in my life. My parents disappeared when I was a child, but if you so much as breathe an accusation that I would think to do that to Ruth, you're wrong. I do not believe that psychology is a true science, so your belief that you possess some superior intellect over me is idiotic, but if you would like to try and analyze this partnership and tell me that we cannot work together due to us sharing a daughter, be my guest. I hid the fact that we share a child because it was a one night stand after a tumultuous partnership after a single case we worked together, I believed building a partnership before springing a child onto Booth would help him ease into the idea of parenthood rather than struggle with the idea that he lost over a year of her life. I wanted to make sure that they had a firm foundation, I also wanted to know that he was a good parent before allowing him to spend time with my daughter because I did not know him very well." At this she crossed her arms and stared at Sweets, who nodded and wrote a couple things down before glancing at Booth. Booth sat with all the information he had heard. He was hurt by some of the words, but understood that Brennan had said it under duress but also she was protecting her daughter. It's true they didn't know each other well when she fell pregnant, so wanting to observe Booth with Ruth and make sure he was a good man was smart. It didn't stop the pain from seeping in.

"Uhm, Agent Booth, how have you - uhm been feeling with the added responsibility?" Booth smiled at this question.

"Great, Ruth is amazing. Sure, she's teething, which causes for some fussing, but she's really a happy little girl. I guess the only thing I wish she wouldn't do is try and eat dirt at the park." He tried to crack a joke, and smiled at Brennan, but she continued to glare at Sweets with her arms crossed. At that, he knew it would be a long meeting.

-BB-

Brennan sat in her office and looked over the x-rays from the latest case as the lab continued to buzz around her.

"Knock, knock." Cam's voice rang through her office and Brennan lifted her head from her computer screen. Cam lifted up a couple cups of coffee and placed one in front of Brennan. "I hope you don't mind, but Seeley mentioned that Ruth has been teething, so I thought I would bring some coffee for good measure."

"Oh, well thank you." Brennan replied and took a sip. She and Cam had butted heads in the first couple weeks of her employment at the Jeffersonian, but after conversations with Booth and Goodman, it seemed that the duo were on the mend. "Can I ask, what is your relationship with Booth?"

"Oh, uh, we used to date back in the day, not anymore, he kinda has his sights set on someone new." She murmured as she sipped her coffee. Brennan wondered if there was a new Tessa-esque girlfriend that would be entering their lives.

"Uhm, I have to ask, this is going to be strange, I'm sure you can tell, I'm not the best with social cues." She looked at Cam, who seemed to whip her head up and look at the anthropologist. Usually Brennan was a confident figure in the lab. "With Booth now in Ruth's life, I have to be more proactive about Booth's personal life, so I guess, how do I tell him it's not okay to be strange women around our daughter unless I've met them?" This caused Cam to spit up part of her coffee. "Dr. Saroyan, are you okay?"

"Just, wrong pipe, I - oh my god."

"See, I think I asked the wrong question."

"No, that's a good question to ask, I just wasn't expecting it. Uhm, Dr. Brennan, I don't think you have to worry about it." She responded, but saw the worry in her colleague's gaze. "Why don't you just tell him what you said to me, without the word strange, just say that if Booth wants to date women that's fine, but he can't bring them around Ruth, unless he introduces them to you first, for her safety." Brennan nodded at this. "But Dr. Brennan, he's going to ask the same of you."

Dr. Brennan tilted her head. "I haven't been with a man since I became pregnant with Ruth, it just hasn't been a priority, nor have I had time, but I would never want Booth to feel uncomfortable with men I bring around Ruth." She spoke in earnest. Cam watched as Brennan sipped her coffee and felt for the first time since she began working at the Jeffersonian that she was seeing Brennan in a whole new light.

-BB-

Sitting over dinner, Booth and Cam sipped on their beers and chatted.

"So I saw you and Bones sharing coffee? Looks like you two are getting along now, huh?" Booth was dying for information, and Cam shrugged trying not to grin like the Cheshire cat.

"We've come to an understanding." Cam said coyly as she took another sip of her beer.

"C'mon, Cam, I'm losing it here. We had therapy the other day and I got nothing, I've been going over there most nights to help tuck Ruth into bed, but other than that, Bones is a closed book."

"Well she asked what we used to be." Cam murmured and Booth began choking on his beer. "Calm down, Seeley, I mentioned that we were in the past and that you had your sights set on someone new. But that might have bitten you in the ass." She mumbled and Booth's eyes went wide.

"What did you do?"

"Well … I thought she would pick up, but then I remembered it's Dr. Brennan and not you know someone like Angela we're talking about, so Dr. Brennan turned to me and goes how do I tell Booth that I want him to introduce me to the women he's seeing before he brings them around Ruth." Cam cringed as she recounted the conversation and Booth groaned.

"Cam! I'm trying to get with HER and she thinks I'm trying to date other people and bring them around our DAUGHTER!" He grumbled and slammed the rest of his beer. He rested his head on the table. "Ughhhhh."

"Seeley, it's going to be okay. She just needs to see that you guys work well together professionally and personally. Clearly you did okay personally the one time." She giggled and Booth grumbled with his head still on the table. His phone buzzed.

"Booth." His head shot up. "Is she okay? I'll be right there." He grabbed his wallet and threw some cash down.

"Everything okay?" Cam asked as she saw the worry on Booth's face.

"Ruth, she uhm I guess she was vomiting up blood and Bones took her to the emergency room. I'm going to meet her."

"Okay, hey, hey, Seeley, she's going to be okay."

"Yea, okay." Booth tried to breathe through the panic, but he even his sniper training couldn't prepare him for the nervousness of being a worried parent.

-BB-

The emergency room was filled to the brim. Booth craned his neck to look for Bones and Ruth.

"Booth!" Brennan called out as she saw his head whip around the crowd. She was holding Ruth's tired body close to her chest. As he made his way, he saw how fragile and pale the little girl looked.

"Hey, how's she doing, when are they going to see her? I got here as fast as I could." He was out of breath, his brow was furrowed and he couldn't stop himself as he reached for Ruth. Her eyes heavy with sleep, but they seemed to brighten as she wrapped them around his neck. He buried his head in crook of her little shoulder and hugged her tightly. She seemed so small in this moment, the big personality she usually displayed was gone.

"It'll take a while." Brennan replied, pulling him to sit down next to her.

"What, why?" He looked appalled, looking at how weak his daughter was in his arms.

"Well look how crowded this place is, Booth, they need to get down the list before they get to us." She rubbed Ruth's back gently. "I thought she was done with the flu." She mumbled.

"Maybe I can tell them I'm FBI." Booth started to get up, but Brennan grabbed his shirt.

"Booth, half the guys here are FBI, I've watched them flash their badges."

"Yea, well I'm head of major crimes!" He exclaimed causing Ruth to stir and he shushed her. He hated feeling helpless, but knew that Brennan was right. This wasn't a police station or a gang where he could shove someone against a wall. He had to wait in line like everyone else. So he got himself as comfortable as he could in the chair, while Ruth's feverish body rested against his chest. He didn't care that she drooled on his dress shirt or that her hands fisted his jacket, wrinkling the fabric, which would need to be dry-cleaned. Brennan picked the skin at her fingers and clicked at her phone, he looked over her shoulder, reading articles about babies having the flu and what that could mean for cognitive development. He wanted to tell her to stop, but he knew better than to tell a mother to stop worrying about her child. After about an hour, a nurse finally came out.

"Ruth Brennan, Ruth Brennan." The trio stood up and rushed to the examination room.

"Alright, mom, dad, I'm Dr. Fernandez, and this must be the little one." The older doctor shook hands with Booth and Brennan before washing his hands and snapping on his latex gloves. He wiggled his fingers at Ruth, who was sitting on Booth lap and hiding her face into his chest.

"She's usually very comfortable around other doctors." Brennan spoke softly, rubbing Ruth's back as she spoke.

"It's common when the little one's not feeling good to want to stick to a place of comfort. Clearly dad is a very comfy spot for Ruth." The doctor said as he checked Ruth's ear's for congestion and infection. Booth felt his heart swell. In the short time that he had known he was her father, they had grown close. "But I will have to ask that dad place her on the examination table."

Booth took a deep breath and picked up Ruth. Carrying her over, he placed her down on the paper covered table. "Okay, baby girl, I gotta let Dr. Fernandez check you out, but mom and I are right here." He tried to let go, but Ruth kept an iron grip on his stomach. "C'mon, baby, you gotta let the good doctor check you out." He slowly took Ruth's hands and unwrapped them from his stomach, watching as the little girl began to cry. He looked over at Brennan, and blinked back the tears in his own eyes.

Brennan stood up and wrapped an arm around his side, whispering in his ear. "It's okay, she just doesn't understand, Booth." He nodded as he watch Fernandez try to exam Ruth, who began to thrash around, but it became too much for him and he had to look away. Brennan held him tighter. "Booth, she's okay, you'll be able to hold her soon, don't worry." She tried to comfort him, but it was breaking his heart to see his little girl struggle. Finally, Dr. Fernandez completed the exam and handed Ruth back over to Booth, while Brennan spoke to him about his results and plan of treatment. Brennan kept her arm around Booth, gently rubbing his back as he hugged their daughter.

"See, I got you, baby girl." He whispered in Ruth's ear, as she fell deep asleep.

-BB-

Brennan opened the apartment door and Booth carried Ruth in. He brought her into her room and Brennan helped undo the bed so he could lay her down. They put her to bed and turned out the lights before going into the living room.

"Why don't you stay tonight? I have a guest bedroom. It's late and with Ruth being sick, it might be best if we take turns." Brennan proposed and Booth nodded. He tried not to look too happy at the prospect of staying the night.

"Sure, yea, that would be great! Let me go to my car, I bring an overnight bag in case I get sent on a mission with work." He responded and she nodded and sighed, resting her head against the back of the couch. "You okay, Bones?"

"Yea, I just - thank you, I knew being alone was difficult and yes I always had Angela and Hodgins and Zack, but tonight was the first time I could call Ruth's dad and just - thank you." She smiled and he felt his heart swell. He nodded and smiled in return.

"Of course, whenever you or Ruth need me. I'll be here, Bones. Whenever." And with that, he left to grab his overnight bag.