Sabbaticals - 127 days left

They both reached their destinations by Saturday afternoon. They immediately emailed each other, so they knew their first video call of the last four months was a go for Saturday evening.

Booth initiated the call at the usual time, and they both let out a deep breath when their faces appeared on the screen. She spoke first. "Hi." "Hi." He playfully held up a small piece of paper that read "127". She gasped. "Is that the real number?" He explained that they probably wouldn't know the exact date for a month or two, so he just decided to go with May 15th and they would adjust when it was finalized. She held up her calendar with seven very emphatic black Xs and it made him smile. "I have one that looks just like that. What a great idea that was Bones. I feel such a sense of accomplishment every day when I mark off the previous day. And you were right. It feels proper to have a dedicated Sharpie."

It felt so good to see each other's faces again after being apart for the last 48 hours. Brennan held up the small wrapped package she had found in her suitcase. She smiled, knowing what it was for, but not knowing what was inside. "What's this Booth? It has a sticky note on top that says, 'Do not open until January 10th'." She gave him a knowing smile. He chuckled. "Oh c'mon Bones. You're a genius. You know it's your birthday present. You're just going to have to be patient and wait two more days."

After a couple of minutes of cajoling, and then begging, he finally capitulated. "Okay. I'm only going to let you open it now because I know we won't be able to talk on Monday, since it will be our first day back to work. Happy Birthday Temperance."

She clapped her hands in glee, and carefully peeled off the wrapping paper. It was a heavy glass paperweight, about 4" x 4". When she turned it over, it took a second to register, but she gasped, put her hand over her mouth, and started to tear up. Imbedded inside the glass was a photo. She was sitting on a chair and Parker was kneeling on the floor in front of her holding up a present he had just opened. Both Brennan and Parker were looking at each other with huge smiles on their faces. Booth was squatting on the floor behind Parker. He had a loving smile on his face as he watched the glee on the faces of the two most important people in his life. The backdrop to the photo was the Christmas tree sitting less than a foot from them, with the lights from the tree lighting up their faces.

It was so perfectly shot and framed, that it looked like it could be a photo on a greeting card. Brennan remembered the exact moment it happened, because she was so happy to see Parker's excitement over his present. In the moment, she didn't realize that Booth was watching them so lovingly. Or that anyone was taking a picture of them. "Where did you get this? Who took the photo?" He told her that when he was doing the Christmas shopping with Parker, they stopped at the store in the mall that makes personalized gifts. He paid for the paperweight and told the proprietor that he would email him the photo after Christmas. Then he showed a photo of the gift to Rebecca and asked if she would take pictures of the three of them on Christmas Day. He didn't want a staged photo - he wanted something candid. So he asked her to just take a few photos whenever she had the chance.

The day after Christmas, she told him that she had one that was spectacular, but she sent him about a dozen others just in case. He loved the one she chose and had it sent to the store. Rebecca went and picked up the gift a few days later. "Oh Booth. I'm going to treasure this forever. I will keep it right here on my desk until it's time to pack up and head home." Booth was thrilled that he had made her so happy. "When we get home, I'm going to have him make another one just like it for me to keep on my desk at work."

They spent the next hour recounting their travel adventures over the past two days. They speculated over what date in May they were expecting to leave. Their original plan was to spend three nights in Paris. But now that they had spent so much time together, and their keen desire to get home to Parker, they made the decision to cut it to two nights. One night just wasn't practical - to fly in one afternoon, and then fly out the next morning. So two nights was the best compromise. As soon as they knew the dates, Brennan would contact the hotel and try to book the same suite they had in December.

Brennan told him that, during her flights, she had started making her list of excursions for Parker. One that sounded really fun would be a weekend trip to the Shenandoah National Forest. She told Booth that they have cabins for rent up in the mountains, and she thought Parker would really enjoy that. Booth agreed that it would be fun for all of them, and he said he would start his list later that week.

Brennan was starting to yawn, so they cut the call short. They both needed sleep, and they would be on a call with Parker the next evening. Booth teased her just before he hung up the call. "When I see you on our Wednesday call, you'll be an old lady of 35. But I'll tell you a secret. I think 35 is the perfect age." She smiled at him. "Well, I certainly think it's going to be a lucky year for me."

Sabbaticals - 103 days left

As they started their call, Booth held up his piece of paper "103". "Oh Booth. We will be in two digits in a matter of days. Look at my calendar - we've filled up our first month." She held it up to the camera - 31 bold Xs. They were both feeling just a hint of excitement.

As with every one of their twice weekly calls, there was a lot of conversation about what was happening in their workplaces. They both were now familiar with the first names, as well as the antics, of the other's co-workers, and the stories often had them laughing together. They talked about Parker, and the reports from Rebecca - which she now emailed to both of them. They talked about how much they missed each other, but they both always worked to keep up the other's spirits. They continually reminded each other of the joy they felt because they were finally together.

Sabbaticals - 61 days left

The end date had been determined. Booth and Brennan were due to meet in Paris on Thursday, May 12th, and then fly home to DC on Saturday, May 14th. They had the 12th circled on their calendars, and Parker circled the 14th. He showed it to them on their video call - he had circled it with a wide purple marker, and then drew stars and hearts inside the square. All three of them now had two full pages of emphatically crossed out dates.

Brennan was able to book them into their "honeymoon suite" again at the hotel in Paris, and they talked about things they wanted to see on this trip to Paris in the springtime. They were looking forward to their first night back together, but talked about how this would be the start of their real life going forward. So they decided not to hole up in their room for the entire day, but to spend the day exploring Paris. They hoped that May would provide them nice spring temperatures so they could wander in comfort around the "City of Love".

They were so excited to finally begin the planning for their return. The flights had been booked, and Rebecca would be bringing Parker to the airport to greet them. Back in January, Brennan had contracted with her cleaning company to clean both of their apartments once per month until they returned. And now she set up deep cleaning for both apartments a week prior to their return.

In addition, she arranged to have her car detailed and returned to her apartment the day before their arrival. Booth tried to arrange the return of his SUV, but department regulations required his return to work before releasing the vehicle back to him. In talks with both the FBI and the Jeffersonian, it was decided that the pair would take a week off to decompress and return to work on the Monday - a week after their return.

On this Saturday night call, Booth held up the paper that said "61". Brennan smiled. "Do you realize that we just passed the hallway point?" He smiled back. "I know. I keep counting. We'll have to celebrate with Parker on our call tomorrow."

As was the case with most of their Wednesday and Saturday calls, they were both reclined on their beds with their laptops on the bed next to them. Before December, it was a relaxing way to talk, and gave them a glimpse into the future when they hoped to share a lot of pillow talk. Now, post-December, it was almost a reliving of their early morning and late night conversations. It was keeping that flame going until they could, once again, experience the intimacy of conversations in the same bed - first thing in the morning and just before falling asleep.

Sometimes they talked about past cases. This night, Booth brought up a very old one. "I have something to confess to you Bones." She looked a little concerned. "Okay. What is it? You know that you can tell me anything." He nodded. "Do you remember the case where we found the bodies of the immigrants from El Salvador? And you beat up the gang leader, right in the hallway at the FBI?" She responded. "I do remember that case very well. That poor family went through so much. There were several good reasons for my response to the gang leader after he entered my personal space in that manner. So I don't regret what I did. Is there something about that case that you withheld from me?"

Booth looked a little sheepish. "At the time of the case, we had been working together less than a year, and I was becoming more and more impressed with the way you really cared for our victims. And then you insisted on paying to bury the father and daughter. Do you remember that I was late to the burial?" Brennan was feeling sad just thinking about the immigrant family that she had helped. She nodded. "You actually missed the whole service. You said you had something important to do."

Booth looked down and then back to the camera. "It was important Bones. A few days after the encounter you had with that gang leader, I was given a message from the FBI Gang Task Force. Ortez had put out a hit on you." Her eyes opened wide. "Bones. A hit from a gang as violent as they were was very serious. I didn't know what to do, because they would have been able to get to you very easily. I knew that if anything happened to you that I would never forgive myself."

"Because I was your partner?" She saw the despair in his eyes as he remembered. "Yes, but it was more than that. I was falling in love with you." Brennan scrunched up her forehead in thought. "I might be wrong, but wasn't that before the Cuguni case? You said that was when you knew you were falling for me." He chuckled. "But I told you - I knew right from the start. There were just different levels of falling. Kind of like a video game - I just kept going down level after level. I think by now I might be so far down that I could easily dig to China."

Brennan started to sputter out a rejoinder when he held up his hand and laughed. "I know, I know. It's not physically possible. I was just joking. Anyway, I WAS falling in love with you, so I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to protect you. I was leaving to drive to the cemetery when I decided to take a detour through Little Salvador. I spotted Ortez on the street and followed him down an alley. I decided to threaten him."

Brennan's eyes widened again. Booth continued. "I'm not proud of this, but I grabbed him and put my gun right up to his face and told him I would kill him if anything happened to you. Then….well, I stuck the barrel of my gun into his mouth." Brennen brought her hand up to her mouth and gasped. "It was the only thing I could think to do Bones. I warned him again that if anything happened to you that I would hunt him down and kill him. I only removed the gun after he said he would take the hit off you."

"But you wouldn't have done that Booth? You wouldn't have murdered someone?" She could see him pondering the question. "I don't know Bones. If you had been killed, I might not have cared about what happened to me. I've told you this before - I would kill for you, I would die for you. But if you died, would I actually kill someone after the fact? I don't know the answer to that Bones. I just know that I will do everything in my power to make sure I never have to find out the answer."

Brennan was ruminating over what she had just heard. "I'm not sure whether I should be horrified or grateful. Maybe a little bit of both? I appreciate that you want to protect me, but I wouldn't want you to throw your life away if anything happened to me. There are many reasons not to, but the first consideration has to be Parker. You understand what I'm saying, right?" He nodded in understanding. "But I'm a little ashamed to say that I sort of love that you would go to such great lengths to protect me. Pissed off, 'going all FBI', Booth is kind of hot, to be honest."

He laughed loudly at that one. "Hmmmm. Maybe next time we're together, I could 'go all FBI' on you?" He could see she was thinking. "Would it include handcuffs?" He leered at her through the screen. "It certainly could." They smiled at each other in contemplation of the fantasy. They were both relieved that they had broken the tension of his confession. "I'm glad you told me Booth. But if something like that ever happens again, let's talk it over first, eh?" He shook his head. "Nothing like that better ever happen again, but yes, we'll talk it out."

"I have a confession too." He looked at her, startled. "Okay, Bones. Spill." She bit her lip. "I'm not afraid of snakes." He looked at her skeptically. "Yeah, right. I saw your reaction that night when we walked into that room full of snakes. You jumped up on my back, and then shot me in the leg!" She looked chastened. "I'm sorry about that, but you jiggled my arm!" He looked at her in astonishment. "But why would you need to jump on my back if you weren't afraid of snakes?"

"Ummmm. Because I wanted an excuse to jump on your back and feel your body? To have a reason to explore your chest with my hands? Booth! You were looking so hot in that squint costume with the Clark Kent glasses. I think I was hoping you would turn into Superman. I always had fantasies about Superman."

Booth was laughing. "Superman? Oh, Bones. I'm learning so much about you tonight. So, maybe when I get home I can find some Clark Kent glasses and we can have a little role play?" Her eyes sparkled. "Oh, I would like that!" Booth stopped laughing. "Wait. So you're really not afraid of snakes?" She shook her head. "Actually, I'm the chief snake handler in our camp here." Booth shook his head in disbelief.

"Okay - I have one more story for you. Not a confession, just a story. When your dad was working in the lab, he came up to me one day and asked if I was sleeping with you." She looked a little perturbed. "I told him no, that I wasn't sleeping with you. And he asked me if I was gay?"

Brennan laughed. "Well, even then, I could have disabused him of that notion. Not only did I know you were sleeping with women, but there were a few times that could tell you were attracted to me." She gave him a sly smile. "I felt it, Booth." He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You did, eh? I'm not surprised. But you might be surprised how often I was hard when I was with you. I tried to control myself when we were working, but when we were off the clock? Well, pretty much every night I went home and lay on my bed fantasizing about you while I took care of my problem." She had a soft smile. "That's sweet Booth - I had very similar experiences. And nights fantasizing about you while I masturbated. Most nights after being with you I needed that release. And look at us now - we've fulfilled several of those fantasies. And I have many others running around in my head that I can't wait to try."

Booth looked up to the ceiling and smiled. 'What did I do to deserve this amazing woman?'