Author's Note: As previously noted, this series jumps around, so I'm still working through season 1 and some of its plot points, but wanted to bring in characters like Cam and Sweets because I grew to love them. I also might not get the episode spot on because it's been a while since I've watched season 1, so please don't be upset if I butcher your favorite episode.

Brennan sat in her office when the refrigerator was wheeled into the Jeffersonian. She and Booth had been discussing the idea of letting Ruth stay the weekend at his place while he had Parker.

"Well I want you to come to the baby store so you can help me with the crib, because I have no idea what I'm buying." Booth said as he looked at the shipment. Before they could make it to the fridge, a voice shouted from the catwalk.

"Tempe!"

She looked up, squinty at the tall figure. "Michael?" She asked and grinned. It had been years since she had seen her former professor and lover. Seeing him brought back that nostalgia of old budding romance, like being a giddy schoolgirl, but then the remains in the fridge in front of her reminded her of the job at hand.

"Michael? Who's Michael?" Booth asked, as he jotted down notes while she posited different facts about the remains.

"My old college professor."

"Hot, steamy college professor?" Angela inquired. "The one you used to, ya know?" Angela did her exaggerated wink and Brennan rolled her eyes, but grinned, causing Booth's stomach to turn. He felt even more uncomfortable as he watched Michael Stires criticize his partner's abilities, almost as if Stires was grading her next paper.

Both Booth and Brennan received a text from daycare regarding Ruth. "Shit, she threw up." Brennan mumbled, snapping the gloves off and looking at Booth. "I'll go grab her and bring her to my office. Maybe she can sleep it off there."

"Bones, do you think it's the flu again?" He asked, his voice wrought with worry, but she shook her head.

"The daycare has a policy, she might have just spit up, but because she was sick so recently they want to make sure she doesn't get the other kids sick." She replied before leaving the platform and heading toward the daycare facility. Booth watched her leave and then turned back to the other scientists, before making eye contact with Stires.

"What was that about?" Michael asked and Angela smirked.

"Our daughter got sick at daycare, so Bones went to go grab her, she'll be back in a moment to continue review of the remains." Booth knew it sounded like they were a couple, but he also wanted to put Stires in his place.

"Tempe has a kid?" Michael sounded surprised and a bit disgusted. At this Hodgins and Angela stopped working and looked at the professor. He held up his hands in a faux surrender. "She just always talked about not wanting children." He mumbled.

"Well, she was practically a teenager when you two were a couple." Angela mumbled under her breath before going back to her sketchpad. Hodgins, who Booth realized was incredibly protective of Ruth and Brennan, just glared for another moment, before returning to his particulate removal.

"Uhm, well she was an adult-" Stires began speaking, but Angela just held up her hand. Booth walked over to Brennan's office and waited for her to bring Ruth, when she arrived, he was surprised at how energetic the toddler was for just getting sick.

"Is she faking sick just so she can come home like I did in high school? I thought we had more time before she started doing that." Booth joked, which made Brennan roll her eyes.

"I'm assuming this what Sweets would call a coping mechanism and you're actually worried. I asked the woman at the daycare facility, who has two doctorates, one in early childhood development and the other in anatomy, she said that this type of reaction could be due to nervousness. The changes in Ruth's life could be causing her stress and she's simply getting used to it." Brennan spoke in her clinical tone, but Booth noticed the way she stroked Ruth's back.

"Do you think we pushed her too fast?" Booth asked, but Brennan shook her head.

"We needed her to be around you, we've been having you come over and be in her space. I think if we would have just sent her to your home, she would have been scared. But Ruth likes you, she reaches for you, she looks for you." Brennan said and Booth knew she was right. Ruth always seemed to look for Booth and Brennan. "But maybe we need to continue to ease her into more changes."

"So maybe not letting her come this weekend with me and Parker?" Booth asked.

"Well not entirely." Brennan responded. "Why don't I come to the park with you guys?" He could see she was trying to compromise.

"I get it, that way, Ruth has you there, and maybe she won't be so stressed out."

"But, she gets to still spend time with Parker, who doesn't get to see her very often." Brennan responded.

"I think I can work with that." Booth smiled and Brennan grinned in reply. There was a knock on Brennan's office door and Michael Stires stood there, looking dumbfounded. He stared at the toddler, who was sitting between her two parents and attempting to take off her shoes.

"Uhm, Tempe, I was just going to ask if you were free for dinner?" Michael asked and looked at Booth, who was now attempting to reason with a 16 month old baby to keep her little shoes on.

"Oh, well, it's just Ruth isn't feeling well and -"

"Ruth, shoes need to stay on." Booth said in a calm tone, interrupting the conversation.

"Bababa." Ruth babbled as if responding to her father's statement.

"No, I get that, but you need to keep them on, we're about to go outside, and there's glass and rocks, and you could hurt your feet." Booth replied to his daughter's gibberish.

"Babababa." Ruth became more animated, throwing her hands around and Booth looked at Brennan, as if to ask for help.

"Michael, although it was kind of you to offer, as you can see, I have my hands full here." She smiled at her former professor and watched as Booth attempted to retie the shoelaces on Ruth's left shoe, only for Ruth to throw her right shoe across the office.

"That's it, little lady, you're being carried to the car." Booth replied in an exasperated tone.

-BB-

The weekend had arrived and Brennan watched as Booth played with Ruth and Parker. She noticed that Ruth would continue to look and make sure that Brennan was sitting there, and every so often, Ruth would waddle her way up to her mother at the bench, sometimes she would give her mother something, a leaf or a rock, and other times, she would just hug her mother's leg. She realized in those moments just how much reassurance her daughter needed, Brennan had been the only blood family that Ruth had before Booth came back suddenly a couple months ago, and to suddenly have that sprung into a toddler's life is jarring.

Ruth didn't have the cognitive understanding to rationalize what was happening. Brennan couldn't sit her down and explain why Booth was back or why Booth wasn't around in the first place. All Brennan could do was sit and watch as Booth slowly built that relationship. She knew that Ruth and Booth had an innate trust in one another. She saw it in the way Ruth held out her hands to Booth and hugged him, or the way she would visibly relax when she saw him after losing her parents in a crowd. But Ruth still needed Brennan even when Booth was around, and Brennan didn't know how she felt about that. She didn't know if she should feel guilty, or sad, or frustrated, or all of the above. In some ways, she was even a little happy that Ruth still needed her, and that made her feel guilty all over again because she wanted Booth to be able to be a father to Ruth without Brennan there to hover.

Parker suddenly ran up and sat on the bench next to Brennan. "Hi, Bones!" He smiled and she chuckled and smiled back.

"How are you, Parker?"

"I'm okay."

"Can I ask you something? And I want you to tell me the truth." Brennan looked at Parker and he nodded. She and Parker had spent some time together and he had liked that she didn't treat him like he was stupid or just some kid. He nodded and she continued. "How did you feel when your dad told you that you had a little sister?"

"I was confused at first. Mom and dad always said that to have a baby you have to come from mom's tummy, and I didn't remember mom's tummy getting big and round. You know, my buddy, Sam, his mom's tummy got huge and she ended up with two babies. I was really scared because Sam said that his house was super loud and he couldn't sleep! But when dad told me that my sister wasn't in mom's tummy and that she was actually your baby, I had a lot of questions." Brennan chuckled and nodded. Parker had always been an inquisitive boy. "But dad said I had to wait until I was a little older for some of my questions." Brennan bit her tongue, she knew how she wanted to parent her own child, and wanted to allow Booth and Rebecca to parent Parker on their own. "Then mom and I went to the park and saw dad and Ruth and well, I was nervous. She seemed happy and nice, but small. I want to be a good big brother, the best big brother, and I want to make dad happy, but I'm scared."

Brennan's eyebrows furrowed. "Why are you scared?"

"Well Ruth is so small, we were playing and she tripped and started crying and I didn't think she got hurt, but she started crying and I just got scared. She's so small." He whispered and Brennan scooted closer to Parker and placed her arm around him.

"I saw when she started crying, she was scared, just like you. You see, Parker, she's new to this world. You've been here for three years longer than she has, so you know more than she does, you know that when you fall, it might hurt for a second or two, but you're okay, she doesn't get that right now. She's still learning. So when she fell, she got scared that she was hurt and she started to cry. Want me to tell you a story about your dad and Ruth?" Parker nodded vigorously. "When she was first learning to walk, she was standing in my office, and you dad scared her by screaming my name and she fell down. She started crying, not because she was hurt, but because she was scared, and she wouldn't look at your dad for a really long time. Dr. Hodgins at my office had to go and show her the bugs in his office to get her to calm down before she would look at your dad again." Parker giggled. "She's new to all this stuff, so sometimes she'll get scared or she won't know what to do, and I'm so happy that she has you to look up to and help her." Brennan smiled at Parker, whose face broke out in a megawatt grin.

"I get to help her?" Parker asked and Brennan nodded. "But dad said that I can't give her anymore worms." Brennan laughed.

"Well she tried to eat three of them today, so I think he's just trying to stop her from putting them in her mouth." Parker laughed and nodded. Brennan watched as Parker ran back over to Booth and Ruth with a newfound excitement. At the end of the day, Ruth walked over to Brennan and crawled into her mother's lap. The four of them walked out of the park with a better understanding of one another.

-BB-

Angela chased after the naked toddler in Brennan's apartment. "Bren, what has gotten into her?"

"I don't know, I've looked it up on the internet and in my parenting books, it could be that she's entering a rebellious phase." Brennan said while trying to grab the toddler, who had only gotten faster and steadier on her feet, laughing as she ran down the halls.

"Honey, rebellious phases are for teenagers, she's a toddler!" Angela stood at the other end of the hallway holding out a towel like a matador ready for a bull. "By the way, how's everything going with Booth?"

"Fine, he loves spending time with Ruth, he and I went shopping and bought a crib for his apartment that can convert into a toddler bed since she will likely grow out of her crib soon."

"Awww, she's growing up too fast!" Angela squealed as she snatched Ruth and squeezed her in the towel. Ruth's infectious laughter rang through the apartment and Brennan couldn't help but smile. "But I meant more between you and Booth." Angela wiggled her eyebrows and Brennan rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't see me in a romantic way." Angela's mouth hung open at that response.

"I'm sorry, he doesn't see you romantically. Is this-" Angela held Ruth out in front of her, causing Ruth to giggle once more. "Not evidence enough that Booth sees you romantically."

"Ange, we had a one night stand, which resulted in a child. Many people have one night stands and do not hold romantic feelings."

"But you have feelings for him."

"My feelings don't matter."

"Honey!"

"They don't, I'm not going to complicate my life and Ruth's life by attempting a romantic relationship that will inevitably fail. Booth has to remain in our lives because Booth is Ruth's father, if we attempt a romantic relationship and it fails, which statistically speaking it will, then it will cause tension and Ruth is the one that suffers." Angela sighed heavily and continued to dry off the toddler and help dress her for the day. She knew her best friend was being logical, but she hated that her best friend was actually making sense.

"Well I think mommy needs to tell daddy how she feels don't you?" Angela whispered to Ruth, who gurgled and smiled.

-BB-

"Dada, c'mon, Ruth, da-da." Booth sat in Brennan's office while the squints worked through various examinations on remains.

"Ba-ba." Ruth responded and Booth laid his head back on the couch. He felt the frustration and sadness begin to trickle into his mind. He tried to push it away, but it always crept in during these quiet moments. He felt like he was failing as a parent or maybe as a partner to Bones. Sure, they still weren't romantic partners, but he felt there was something there and he wanted to take that next step. He just didn't know how.

-BB-

Booth slowly walked into Brennan's office, he saw Brennan tracing the dolphin belt buckle. The tears that slipped down her cheeks uninhibited showed just how little she was paying attention.

"I got in trouble after borrowing this without asking, my dad had this specially made for my mom due to her love of dolphins." Brennan said. In the months since their partnership had restarted, she had been able to sense his presence. "I-She was wearing this when she left for work that morning. She and my dad told us they would be back that night, they never came home."

Zack approached his mentor's office with the file. Booth tried to stop Brennan from listening, but she forced Zack to read the contents. "She's been here as long as you have, Dr. Brennan." This only made the tears run faster.

"Zack, why don't you give us a minute?" Booth said as he began shutting the door, but Brennan looked up from her desk.

"Can you-can you get Ruth?" She stuttered, and Booth could only nod. Walking to the daycare center, he looked in and saw their daughter sitting amongst the other toddlers, stuffed animals and blocks laying around, a couple of adults watching as the children played quietly. Booth knocked lightly on the glass window next to the door.

"Yes?" The receptionist asked.

"Uhm, Ruth Brennan, I'm Seeley Booth." Booth grabbed his wallet and pulled out his ID.

"Ah, Peggy, can you go grab Ruth, her dad is here to pick her up."

An older woman with light eyes and heavy rimmed glasses came walking up with Ruth in her arms. "You must be the elusive FBI agent I've heard so much about." Peggy mentioned and Booth lifted a brow. "Dr. Brennan and I have been grabbing tea every Wednesday since she found out she was pregnant. I have a doctorate in early childhood development and she wanted to research to make sure she was prepared. I had questions of my own." Peggy explained and Booth nodded.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Bones never mentioned that she had tea with you, only that she would speak with you at daycare." He mumbled, feeling uncomfortable knowing that this woman likely knew way more about him and Bones that he would like.

"Ah, she keeps to herself, hides that heart of hers." Ruth began to fuss, reaching for Booth.

"Baba!" She exclaimed and Peggy chuckled, handing over the toddler, who immediately smiled and snuggled into Booth's neck.

"I see someone's a daddy's girl." Peggy smiled, but noticed the sadness in Booth's eye. "Something wrong with that?"

"Well, uhm, could we talk somewhere?"

"Sure, Sharon, I'm just going to go to the courtyard for a moment." Peggy signaled for Booth to follow her and they sat just outside on a bench. "So, what's bothering you, Agent Booth?"

"Uhm, well, I'm sure, Dr. Brennan mentioned that I wasn't involved during the pregnancy, really I've only been involved for the past couple months, and I know I shouldn't rush Ruth, but well, she doesn't say 'dada'." He rushed out and Peggy smiled.

"Ah, well for one, you're doing great for only a couple months in, I've seen a child scream bloody murder when meeting their parent for the first time. But that mainly has to do with Dr. Brennan socializing Ruth so early, she was a single parent and it required that she brought her to daycare, which meant that Ruth had to be comfortable with other adults. Ruth is incredibly comfortable with you, which should be cherished." At that, Booth nodded and smiled at the little girl, who was currently enamored with his brightly colored tie. "When it comes to saying 'dada' from what I recall, she said 'baba' when you walked in, that might just be her way of saying it at the moment. She might have a speech impediment that we don't know about, she might have a delay, or she might have a nickname for you in her head, saying 'baba' might feel good to her. Continue to try and say 'dada' but don't kick yourself if she continues to call you 'baba' okay?" Booth smiled and nodded once more. "Okay, well I have to go wrangle up the troops for naptime. Hopefully I'll see you around more often, Agent Booth."

Booth carried Ruth back to Brennan's office and watched as Brennan pulled the little girl into her arms. Brennan cried silently as Ruth traced the buckle with her little fingers and looked at Booth with her big blue eyes. He made a promise in that moment that he would protect those two with everything he had.