Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Rhett called Emily every day to tell her he would not be in the next day and what her work assignment was. After one of those phone calls, Scarlett said, "Why don't you tell her that you aren't going to be back until Monday?"

"Why would I do that?"

"So, she knows. So, she could plan her week. Or since you weren't there, she could take some time off."

"Oh."

The next time Rhett talked to Emily; he still didn't tell her that he wasn't going to be in until Monday. Scarlett decided he saw no reason for Emily to know his plans, so he wasn't going to tell her. A lot of people would see Rhett as being a horse's behind for not sharing, but to him there just wasn't any reason to share. Therefore, he didn't. Scarlett smiled sadly when she thought, 'Making someone else's life easier was just not a valid reason for the brainiacs. Of course, Emily being a brainiac too she probably sees nothing wrong with Rhett's behavior.'

After the couple was back in DC, they went and cleaned out Miguel's apartment. Besides, his clothes there wasn't a lot of items in the apartment. There was a TV and a bed. Scarlett sold the TV and the bed to one of her fellow agents who was going through a divorce. Rhett shipped all the other items out to Miguel.

One night Rhett said, "Dr. Goodman has hired someone to take Miguel's place."

"I know you are missing him, but the job needs to be filled."

"I know."

"But it is hard to say goodbye even if he is happy and doing well."

"Yes."

"You should call him tomorrow."

"Yes, I should."

Scarlett hoped he did, but even if he did, he wouldn't tell her about it.

The next night over dinner, Scarlett asked Rhett what the new forensic artist was like. He said, "It takes her twice as long as Miguel to give a skeleton a face. She is really slowing things down."

A week later, Rhett said, "Not only is that woman slow, but now Dr. Hodgins is spending all his time down there."

"I'm sure Emily isn't happy about that."

"Why?!"

Scarlett smiled and said, "Emily has a crush on Hodgins."

"Oh."

"What is this woman's name?"

"Karen Gibson."

"How old is she?"

"I don't know. I would say twenty-eight or more."

"Is she pretty?"

Rhett paused and thought about Scarlett's question. He finally said, "I guess so. She has blonde hair. She looks physically fit."

"What color are her eyes?"

"I don't know. I don't like making eye contact with people."

"What do you do when you have to make eye contact with someone?"

"I look at the bridge of their nose."

Scarlett smiled. She said, "You made eye contact with me from the beginning."

While looking into Scarlett's green eyes, he said, "How could any man resist looking into those beautiful eyes?"

Scarlett smiled and squeezed Rhett's hand. Once and a while he did rise to the occasion. She said, "I am going to assume she is attractive. Honey, you are going to have a turbulent workplace for a while. I don't know Karen's feelings, but I know Emily is going to be sad for a while because Hodgins prefers someone else. Hodgins is trying to date Karen so he will be anxious."

"This is a workplace. Not a nightclub."

"A lot of married couples meet at work. Where did we meet?"

"Over a body."

"On the job."

"So, is this going to be my life for a while."

"Yes."

"Well, damn."

"You can continue to share with me though."

"Thank you."

After a few minutes, Rhett said, "I am going to call Miguel tomorrow. This is making me anxious."

"Alright, Dear."

Rhett did call Miguel. They talked for about thirty minutes. Rhett asked about Miguel's life in LA and actually listened to the responses. Rhett now knew that was what a friend did. What Miguel had always done.

While on the phone Rhett asked Miguel, "What do you want me to do with your car?"

"I would say sell it, but it is worth more than you can get for it. I just replaced the tires and had a tune-up done on it. Where is it now?"

"At my condo."

"It needs to be driven regularly."

"I can drive it to work every once in a while. Or I can let Ms. Addy use it. She doesn't have a car."

"If she pays the insurance on it sure."

"I will give her your number so you two can make arrangements."

"Great. Bye."

"Bye."

A couple of weeks later, Emily said, "Would you drive me to your condo so I can pick up Miguel's car? My insurance is affective today."

"Sure."

Rhett didn't know what arrangements Emily and Miguel had made and Rhett being Rhett didn't ask any questions. He just handed over the keys to the car to Emily.

In the middle of November, Scarlett told Rhett, "We have been invited to spend Thanksgiving with The Gatsbys. Do you want to attend?"

"Who are the Gatsbys?"

"Daisy and Jay. We had dinner with them after we got back from Thermopolis." Judging by the blank expression on Rhett's face she knew he didn't remember them. She said, "We had dinner at Red Lobster."

"I don't remember them at all."

"Daisy kept saying she didn't know why she had agreed to go to Red Lobster because she didn't like fish."

"Oh, I remember her. She was stupid."

"Yes, Dear, she is, but Jay loves her."

"Then he is stupid too."

"Undoubtably. Do you want to go?"

"No."

"Will you go?"

"Yes, but we are leaving as soon as dinner is over."

"Of course, Dear."

"And I'm not going to sit around and watch football."

"Of course not, Dear."

"What time do we have to be there?"

"Jay said to be there by noon."

"Good. Good."

Much to Rhett's unhappiness, although they were told to be there by noon, the meal wasn't served until three. Furthermore, Daisy had decided that the reason Rhett kept leaving the party was because he didn't know anyone. Therefore, she kept going and getting him. He fortunately for Daisy's sake was much too polite to tell her to leave him the hell alone.

When Rhett and Scarlett finally got in their car, he ranted all the way to their condo about what an idiot Daisy was. Scarlett had an enjoyable time at the dinner, but she didn't mention that to him. She did agree that Daisy was an idiot, but in her opinion, Jay wasn't much smarter. She thought they were fun. That was why she continued to socialize with the couple.

The year moved along, and Christmas was upon them. Scarlett invited several of her colleagues, Steve, Nick, Jerry, and Amber to Christmas dinner. She invited Dr. Goodman and his family. Dr. Goodman had twin eight-year-old daughters. She invited Emily, Hodgins, Karen, and Marvin. Marvin brought his three children. He had a boy and two girls. The children appeared to be twelve, ten, and eight. Scarlett invited Melly and Beau. Scarlett had only invited Karen so she could get a look at her. The condo was full.

Scarlett cooked a turkey, dressing, gravy, and rolls. Everything was out of a box or a jar except the turkey, of course. Rosie had prepared the turkey. All Scarlett had to do was slip it into the oven at the right time and take it out at the right time, of course.

Several people brought dishes. Mashed potatoes, yams, green beans, a salad, a Jello salad, and numerous other dishes. There were three types of dessert. They were pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and cherry pie. There were paper plates and plastic utensils.

There were no spirits. There was no point in tempting Rhett. He was going to be stressed and just might take a sip of the eggnog to calm his nerves. The only people Scarlett invited from the bureau were people without families.

As people were leaving Scarlett gave all the guest a Christmas card and said, "It is just a little something from Rhett and me."

It was really all from Rhett. He had willingly paid for all of the gift cards. He knew how a little good will went a long way. He also knew that Scarlett had a way of giving people things that didn't make them feel awkward or uncomfortable. Maybe because she wasn't awkward or uncomfortable about doing it. Rhett often wondered how he had managed to get such a socially competent woman to fall in love with him an inept social man. It was that fact that made him allow the possibility of there being a higher power into his mind.

Emily opened her envelope and found a gift card for three hundred dollars to On the Run. There was a note inside that said: If this isn't enough, let me know. Your help is keeping Rhett's relationship with me happy which is priceless. Even if he doesn't know it. Scarlett

Emily smiled. She would keep her other shoes at the lab for when they had to put on their jumpsuits and their cheap shoes. Because from now on they would actually be her cheap shoes.

Emily went to the store that very Saturday. She found a pair of walking shoes that were like walking on air. They were two hundred and fifty dollars. After taxes, she was able to get a couple of pairs of socks also. She was so happy.

After everyone had left, Scarlett started cleaning up. She stopped when she saw Rhett sitting in the living room, reading a magazine. She smiled and said, "This is where you come help me clean up. We have to get everything into the kitchen. We have to put the food that will spoil in the refrigerator. Alice will take it from there when she comes to work tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is Tuesday. She doesn't work on Tuesdays."

"She will this week. She wants to make up her hours."

"Alright."

Rhett stood up and started carrying everything to the kitchen and placing them on the counter. He said, "We aren't going to eat all this food. Besides, I hate leftovers."

"No, Alice is going to take it home with her and feed her family." Scarlett paused and looked at Rhett. She gently said, "Your life is going to be chaos for a while, but Hodgins and Karen will not be dating."

"How do you know?"

"Karen is gay."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

Scarlett could have told Rhett, "I know she is gay by the way she looked at me." He wouldn't understand so she didn't elaborate. She didn't think he would like knowing that people lusted after her.

Rhett sourly said, "So do you think Dr. Hodgins and Ms. Addy will start dating?"

"No, Hodgins has ruined any chance with Emily by pursuing another woman in front of her after not noticing her as a woman all this time."

"Is Dr. Hodgins obtuse for not noticing Ms. Addy's affections?"

"A little bit, but in truth Emily hid her affections. She wanted Hodgins to see her as a woman and make the first move."

"I'm confused."

"Call Miguel. He will explain it man to man."

"I will."

Scarlett didn't believe that Rhett would understand Miguel's explanation any better than hers, but with both of them saying the same thing he would believe them.

Rhett did call Miguel the next day and the artist had not been surprised to hear that Emily liked Jack. Miguel said, "That is why I never gave Emily the time of day. She was into Hodgins."

"Scarlett said that Hodgins doesn't have a chance with Emily now."

"That is correct. In Emily's mind she would think that Hodgins considered her second best."

"I am so confused."

"You don't have to understand. You just have to take Scarlett's word for it. You and all your scientist friends can't see what to Scarlett and me is as plain as the nose on your face."

"Alright. Scarlett said she could tell that Karen was gay, but she wouldn't explain. How can she tell?"

"You aren't going to like my answer, but here it is. Karen gave Scarlett an appreciative look. Not that you can blame her. Scarlett is a beautiful woman."

"I don't like that."

"You don't have to like it. It is just another thing you have to accept. Don't worry about it until Scarlett starts looking back."

"She wouldn't do that. She loves me."

"Yes, she does and no she wouldn't."

"Goodbye."

The conversation had made Rhett uncomfortable, and he wanted to end it. Miguel said, "Wait, Rhett."

"What?"

"No matter how much you think you are doing just to make Scarlett happy, she is doing twice as much."

"How can you say that? You have no idea what I do to accommodate Scarlett."

"Buddy, just take my word for it. I know from personal experience you are not an easy man to live with and you don't even know it."

"Goodbye."

Miguel was not surprised Rhett had hung up on him, but Miguel knew Rhett would take his words to heart. He knew Rhett wanted to make Scarlett happy.

Karen Gibson's name is a blend of two famous forensic artist. Lois Gibson who holds the 2017 Guinness World Record for most identifications by a forensic artist and Karen Taylor who has been in the field for over eighteen years and teaches at the Forensic Anthropology Center in Austin.