September 2011
In the weeks after the little tryst on Brennan's desk, Booth occasionally brought up the fact that he had also harbored a fantasy involving his desk. Every time he brought it up, she told him that she was game if he could work out a safe time for them to try. But he always backed away because he told her he might never again be able to get any meaningful work done at the desk.
He reminded her that she was the one who was good at compartmentalizing, and asked if she thought of him now whenever she sat at her desk. "Booth, I think of you often while sitting at my desk. And it has nothing to do with our activities from that night." Booth stuck out his bottom lip and pulled her into an embrace. "Awwwww Bones. You think of me a lot during your day?" She nuzzled into his neck. "All the time Booth. Sometimes it feels like I've lost a couple of points from my IQ because you have so thoroughly scrambled my thoughts."
He pulled back from her and laughed. "Not a chance Bones. You're the brains of this operation and always will be." She looked up at him. "But I will admit that I occasionally look at the desktop while I'm working and get a warm feeling inside."
In fact, one afternoon that week she was working on a case. As she completed the work on the file, she picked up the folder and found herself staring at the glass desktop underneath. A sly smile came to her lips as she remembered that night a few weeks earlier. The feeling of Booth's lips on her nipples, his hands lifting her hips up from the glass.
Just then, Angela walked into the office with a file for her. "What put that smile on your face Bren? Dreaming about your hunky G-man?" Brennan laughed. "I don't have to dream about him anymore Angela. But yes, I think about him often when I'm not with him." Angela shook her head. "Oh, you've got it bad sweetie. And I'm here for it!"
The couple had passed the one year anniversary of being together, and three months of living together, and it was all so much better than they had imagined it could be. Soon after their return from overseas, they had a discussion about learning to live together. They decided that it had taken so long to get to where they were, that they were going to go to great pains not to mess it up. He had taught her about a pinky swear, so they did a pinky swear that they wouldn't sweat the small stuff. They bickered a lot, but that was just their "thing". Any time it started to edge into an argument, one of them would crook their pinky toward the other and they would both laugh and quickly resolve the issue.
The only real issue they had not resolved was finances. Brennan was used to paying for quality in everything she purchased. But Booth had spent many years scrimping to get by on his government salary while sending checks to Rebecca every month for his share of the expenses for Parker. Booth was uncomfortable with the imbalance in their spending, but he had resisted sitting down and discussing finances.
The one time he let her open her wallet was in the first month of living together. One day they were sitting in her apartment and he mentioned to her that there was just one thing in both apartments that made him slightly uncomfortable. "What's that Booth?" He hesitated for a second. "Our beds." She scrunched up her nose. "What do you mean? They're both fairly comfortable."
He looked down the hall toward the bedroom. "Do you ever think about the fact that you've been with other men in that bed? And I've been with other women in my bed? It just feels 'off' to me. But it seems a little silly to purchase two new beds when the ones we have are perfectly fine." She thought about what he had to say. "I hadn't really thought about that, but now that you mention it…"
They talked about how it really wasn't practical because they would probably purchase a whole new bedroom set when they found a house together. So they settled on a compromise that satisfied them both. They would purchase two new mattresses - nice memory foam ones like the one Brennan currently had on her bed. She said that hers was six years old now, so she was thinking of replacing it anyway. And she would purchase four new sets of sheets to split between the two apartments. Booth had often mentioned how much he loved the sheets at her place. They were from a very exclusive linen shop in town and were horribly expensive, but so luxurious that they were worth every penny. So he agreed to let her foot the bill for the new mattresses and sheets. She cleaned out both linen closets of the old sheets and donated them to an animal rescue group in town.
They were starting to grow tired of maintaining dual residences, but every time they pulled up home listings, he experienced sticker shock at the homes listed in any of their desired neighborhoods. He knew she could afford them, but he couldn't wrap his head around purchasing a home where his contribution would be so minimal.
She had a couple of meetings early in the month with her accountant and attorney, and Booth just assumed it was part of her normal routine. Around the middle of the month, they were having dinner one evening and she mentioned that she had stopped by the office of her Realtor that afternoon. He looked across and raised an eyebrow. "I just wanted to touch base with her because I haven't seen her since I purchased this place about six years ago. I told her that we are going to be looking for a new place in the next few months and would be looking to retain her services."
She could see that he was looking a little uncomfortable, but she pushed on. "Booth. We have to sit down and have a serious talk about our finances. I need you to see the whole picture of my accounts and investments - and I need to see yours. I know you want to be able to contribute your share to whatever we purchase, but you've seen the prices of the listings we've pulled up. I can't imagine buying a place so far outside the city that we have a two hour commute each way every day. And those are the only places where we can find a reasonably priced home."
He was nodding his head. "I know. You're right. It's very discouraging though." She leaned across the table and took his hand. "I want to make it not discouraging. Purchasing our first home together should be a joyful occasion. I think we just need to sit down and make a plan. If we don't end up with a case by Friday, let's both take Friday afternoon off and come back here and go over everything. You can swing by your place and pick up your financial records and we will sit here at the table and find out where we are and where we are going."
Booth drove her into work Friday morning and then picked her up at noon so they could have lunch at the diner. They then headed to her place for the deep dive into their financial present and future.
Booth put on a pot of coffee and they changed into comfortable clothes. He had set his folder containing his financial records on the table, and he watched uncomfortably as she walked into the room with a few folders and two binders.
She noticed the look on his face. "Don't worry Booth. I think once we're done, we will have a good plan to begin our house hunting. We know we can't continue to live in two places for much longer." He smiled at her. "And we promised by Christmas, right?" She smiled back. "We did. And we will."
They went with his folder first. He had a modest retirement savings account. He told her that he slightly increased the percentage going into the account any time he got a raise. But living in DC was so expensive, and he paid $700 per month to Rebecca for child support, so building up the retirement account had gone slowly. He was proud to show her that he had almost $10,000 in his savings. He felt it necessary to have an emergency fund and had built it up by forgoing expensive vacations or purchasing new furniture. Just about everything in his apartment had come from secondhand stores and antique shops.
"I love the way you've furnished and decorated your apartment Booth. The last few months, I've been thinking about how well our different styles will mesh in a new place. Neither of our places have what you would call a minimalist esthetic. I can see my things and your things co-existing very well together."
They were both starting to relax just thinking about getting into one place, and they got back to his folder. "I have no loans at all since I rent my apartment, and my car is provided by the government. I always have a small balance on my credit card, but I pay it off every month. So, there you have it. Not much there, but I keep my head above water." She smiled. "Nothing to be ashamed of there Booth. You pay your bills, provide for your son, and consistently put away what you can into savings."
She reached for the top folder on her pile. "You know that I've had meetings with my accountant and attorney this month. So I have my most recent balance sheet to show you. Now Booth. You know that I am very well off financially - mostly from my book sales. I get very large advances when I deliver each book, and then royalties each month. You also know that my books are very popular, and I notice that every time a new book is released, the sales on the old ones jump as new readers discover them. Plus, I make a very substantial salary since I work for a foundation, and they pay me well based on my three doctorates. They know I could easily leave and take any of dozens of positions in North America - or beyond. So I'm very well compensated."
Booth just sat there listening to her preamble and gulped. He was preparing himself to see the number. She handed him the sheet of paper and he scanned to the bottom to see the line labeled "Net Worth". All of the color went out of his face and she worried for a few seconds that he might pass out on her.
"This number." He pointed to the bottom of the page. "Are those numbers before the comma - millions? Those are MILLIONS?" She chuckled. "Yes Booth. I had a feeling you would be shocked by the number." He looked up at her. "I…I…" He looked back down at the paper in his hand, and then back up at her. "I'm sorry Bones. I just can't conceive of that amount of money."
She reached across the table and took his free hand and smiled at him. "Well, I guess I should feel relieved that we got together before you knew how much I was worth. At least I know you're not with me for my money." He reached for her face and leaned over to kiss her soundly. "Oh Bones. You know I would love you if you were living in a tent." She smiled back. "I know."
She continued. "Okay. Now that you've gotten over the shock, let's go onto some of the other things you need to know." He looked surprised. "There's more?" She chuckled. "Yes, there's more." She pulled out another set of papers. "This is just the summary, but about three years ago I set up several trusts to care for my loved ones. I put $2 million in each one, and now with investment income they are each worth between $2.5 and $3 million."
She ran her hand down the list to show him. "There are trusts for my dad, Russ, Emma, Hayley, you, and Parker. My dad and Russ are aware of the trusts, but we decided the girls don't need to know about them until they are adults. I debated whether to set one up for Amy, but both my dad and Russ felt that she would be able to share in the trust with Russ. Of course, we weren't together, so I didn't tell you about the trusts for you and Parker."
Booth was numb. "You set up $4 million in trusts for Parker and me, three years ago?" She smiled. "I knew I loved you then. I knew I loved Parker then. The original purpose of these trusts was to distribute the funds if I died. I also have a will that would distribute even more to each of you, as well as to charities, but these are stand alone accounts in case something ever happened to my wealth."
She grabbed both of his hands. "I think, now that we're together, that I would like to close the trust for you and move those funds into a trust for Rebecca. I see her as an important part of our family. Would you be okay with that?"
Booth had tears in his eyes. "You would do that for Rebecca?" She squeezed his hands. "Of course. She's Parker's mother. After the Christmas we had, I knew she would be a part of our family going forward."
She pulled out another folder with several sheets of paper. "Now. I had my attorney draw up the paperwork to have you added as a co-owner to all of my accounts and investments. We both have to sign each of these documents."
He sat back in his chair and shook his head. "No Bones. That's your money. This is too much." She grabbed his hands again and looked at him earnestly. "We share everything Booth. We share our bodies, our homes, our son. This is the last area of our lives that we haven't combined. If we don't do this, there will always be an imbalance in our lives."
She stared into his eyes and waited until he locked eyes with hers. "We need to buy a home. We don't want to buy so far outside of the district that we spend hours every day on a commute. To find a decent home nearby will cost a few million. But it will be a drop in the bucket from that figure over there." She pointed to the balance sheet. "By combining our assets, we don't have to worry about how much each of us is contributing to the purchase."
She decided to bring up a couple of other points she had rehearsed. "This amount of money is way more than any person should have. I've always felt that. But I love writing these books, and the money just pours in. Because I can, I believe very strongly in helping the people around me. For the last three years, every Christmas, I give my dad and Russ checks for $50,000. If you agree, I would like to do the same for Rebecca. And maybe even Jared? And we have an understanding that if they ever needed a large amount of cash - maybe to purchase a new house - I will gladly gift those funds to them. I would also love to offer that for Rebecca."
She reached over and grabbed another folder. "These are all of the charities that I currently support. I send an annual check to each one and if I hear that they need funds for a special purpose, I provide what they need. Every year I add more names to the list. Sometimes I've donated to causes that we discovered in our investigations. Most of these charities know who has donated, but I've also made many donations in the last few years anonymously. Sometimes to people I know who are going through hard times. I find a way to make the donation without them ever knowing where it came from. That's one of the reasons I don't flaunt my wealth - I would rather they not know it was me."
Booth was looking at a person he never knew existed. "Now it all makes sense. Remember when you built the bridge for the town where little Andy lived?" She smiled. "Yes. Those are the kinds of things I like to do. Like I said Booth. No one needs this much money. That's why I give so much away. And now, you can be a part of that too. I think you could add quite a few names to this list. And you could make anonymous gifts to people who are in need. I know that's something that would appeal to you."
She grabbed his hands again. "Please be my partner in this Booth. We can take care of our families and families in need. I know it would be more satisfying to do it together than it has been for me doing it alone. We have always said we would have a great life together. Now we can have a great home, take nice vacations, fund Parker's education, and do so much good for others. We're partners in everything else. Please. Let us be partners in this too."
He looked into her eyes for what felt like a long time, and then grabbed both of her hands, pulled them toward him, and kissed her knuckles. "Bones. I can't believe this gift you're giving me tonight." She let out a relieved breath. She had known that it was going to take some convincing, but she also knew that appealing to his sense of charity would help her case. Booth was a very generous man, and he would now have the ability to do so much more than he could in the past.
"One more thing. I want us to immediately raise the amount of child support for Parker." Booth's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes. That will make such a difference for Rebecca. It will take a weight off her shoulders." Brennan smiled. "Well, I think the Christmas check will help too. Maybe it will fund some nice vacations for the three of them? Why don't we sit down with her in the next week and tell her about the child support, the trust accounts, the Christmas check, the offer of additional funds when she needs them?" Booth nodded. "I think that would be good. It will be an amazing surprise for her."
Brennan pulled out the account change forms, and they spent the next 10 minutes signing everything. Booth finished the last signature and looked up at her with a big smile on his face. "I'm a millionaire." She chuckled. "Yes you are." She leaned across the table and kissed him. "Okay, moneybags. I think you should take your girlfriend out for a nice meal." He smiled at her. "Founding Fathers?" She smiled back. "Perfect."