Hank was two weeks old and slowly improving. Booth and Brennan would take Christine to school then spend the day with Hank. They would pick her up from school, have dinner and spend time with her until Max got there then Booth would drop Brennan off at the hospital 'while he went to his meeting. After Booth finished his meeting they'd both spend time with Hank before heading home It made the days long, but it worked for them. It was just after midnight when Brennan's phone rang, she was instantly awake when she saw the hospital's number on the caller id "Yes. We'll be there as soon as we can…."

"Bones?"

"Hank is sick. The doctors don't know what is wrong with him right now, but his numbers are dropping and he has a fever."

"Okay, call Ange and tell her we're dropping Christine off." Booth quickly slipped into his jeans and t-shirt from the night before and headed for Christine's room. He put the clothes Brennan laid out the night before and Christine's shoes in a duffel bag and grabbed her toothbrush before gently lifting her out of bed. "Daddy…"

"Shhh baby go back to sleep, mommy and I have to do something. You're gonna stay at Angela's." Booth rubbed her back as he walked down the hall. He found Brennan in the kitchen, "Bones, did you call Ange?" Brennan shook her head. "I'll do it from the SUV. Come on." Booth guided Brennan out of the house and into the SUV. Ten minutes later Booth pulled to a stop Infront of the Hodgins residence , thankful that Angela met them at the curb and got Christine out of the SUV and got her bag and they were on their way to the hospital in less than three minutes. Once they were on the main road Booth turned on his lights and siren.

"Booth…"

"Hey he's gonna be okay, he probably has an infection and his body is trying to fight it off."

"He was fine when we left. If I'd thought he was sick I wouldn't have left him …"

"I know. We'll be there soon and we'll get him taken care of…"

"But we can't take care of him…"

"We can. We can talk to him, hold him while his feeding tube is running . It's not like taking care of Christine when she's sick, but it's still taking care of him…"

"Yeah…"

A few minutes later Booth killed his lights and siren as he ,pulled into the hospital parking garage. Brennan was out of the SUV as soon as it stopped and didn't wait for Booth. he quickly caught up to her and wordlessly took her hand. They quickly made their way through the hospital to the N.I.C.U. A nurse stepped up to them, "Mr. and Mrs. Booth, I'm Sarah. I'll let Dr Warner know you're here." Booth nodded and watched Sarah walk behind a curtained area. A few minutes later Dr. Warner walked to them, "Mr. and Mrs. Booth, Hank is very sick he has an infection, we're waiting on his blood cultures to tell us what type of infection we're dealing with. We've started giving him a broad-spectrum antibiotic to hopefully stop the infection from getting worse. We have to take this minute by minute his body is getting stronger but he's not as strong as I'd like him to be with this infection. You can be with him, talk to him, touch him. He's not stable enough to hold, his blood pressure is low. He'll get through this but it's going to take a while. He'll probably be here a little bit longer than we originally planned. Don't worry about the curtain around his incubator, we did that for privacy." Booth nodded and the two of them followed the doctor to Hank's incubator. Despite having washed their hands before entering the N.I.C.U. Booth and Brennan grabbed a squirt of hand sanitizer. Brennan gasped as soon as she saw Hank, he was pale despite having a fever. Booth put an arm around her. Shannon looked over her shoulder, "I can't let you hold him, but talking to him will help…" Brennan nodded and went to Hank, "hey sweetheart. I'm sorry you're not feeling well, but you need to keep fighting so you can come home and be with daddy, Christine, Parker and me."

"Try touching his hand, it might set an alarm off, but he'll be okay." Brennan nodded and carefully ran her finger over Hank's hand. "He feels warm…" Shannon looked at one of the monitors, "his temp is 101.6, it's going down. We've bumped his oxygen up a little to make him more comfortable. He's also on a cooling mat to bring his temp down." Brennan nodded

Booth walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Shannon left and Booth took her spot.

"Hey tiger mommy and I are here you just need to rest and get better."

They settled in for a long night, Hank decided to keep everyone on their toes by spiking a fever around 2 AM. The nurses got him settled and taken care of.

"Hey tiger, how about no more high fevers? Mommy and I can't take it…"

Brennan smiled a little, "I wish I could hold him…."

"I know. You'll be able to soon…"

A little bit later Shannon came and checked on Hank, satisfied that he was okay she picked him up and placed him in Brennan's arms, " You can hold him for a little while."

"Thank you." Shannon nodded and walked away.

"He feels so fragile, more than this afternoon…."

"Aww he'll get better and get stronger soon…"

"I know. I don't like this ."

"Neither do I. I've been though lots of stuff with the Army and the FBI, but this is worse."

"Yes…" A little later Shannon put Hank back in his incubator. "His heart rate and tempture have gone down… that's a very good thing. You can hold him later We need to let him rest a little." Brennan could only nod. After some time, Booth took a break when he walked back into the N.I.C.U. he knelt down next to Brennan and touched her shoulder. "Why don't you take a break, Bones?"

"I'm fine…"

"Bones, you've sat in the same spot since we got here… You need to get up and stretch, grab a coffee, they have other stuff too."

"I can't leave him….."

"I'll stay right here with him. I'll come get you if ANYTHING happens, but I think he'll be fine… take fifteen minutes."

Brennan looked at Hank a few minutes and then nodded at Booth, "Okay." Booth kissed her cheek and helped Brennan to her feet. Brennan quickly walked to the exit.

Booth sat down in the glider Brennan had been sitting in.

"hey bud, I hope you're starting to feel better. I hope mommy actually takes a break and isn't

just standing outside the door waiting for fifteen minutes to be up…"

Brennan just turned the corner leading back to the NICU when she saw Booth coming toward her "He's fine, Bones. They're changing his lines; I couldn't watch then do it…" Brennan nodded and walked into Booth's arms. "Are you doing better, Bones?" Brennan shrugged.

Booth rubbed her back, "you smell like strawberries…"

"When I got coffee I noticed they had those strawberry cake rolls. Mom used to put them in my lunch sometimes… I used to love them. Now I think they're gross, but I ate it anyway…." Booth chuckled and kissed the top of Brennan's head.

"Mr. and Mrs. Booth, we're done changing Hank's lines…."

Booth nodded and put his arm around Brennan and led her back in the NICU. Shannon was waiting for them by Hank's incubator.

"He handled everything like a champ, but I think he could use some cuddles…"

Brennan looked at Booth, "Go ahead, Bones…" Brennan smiled and sat down in the rocker and Shannon placed Hank in her arms. "Hi sweetheart. You feel a little cooler. I hope you're starting to feel better." Booth touched Hank's cheek and sat down on the stool next to Brennan. A little before 7 in the morning Kristen walked over to them "I heard he gave us a scare last night…"

Yes…"

"He's doing okay right now. His cultures aren't back yet, but he's responding well to the antibiotics You two should go home and get some rest…"

"I can't …"

"Dr, Brennan…."

"I can't…"

"Kristen give us a minute…" the nurse nodded and walked away. Booth knelt down in front of Brennan. "Bones, we haven't slept in almost 24 hours. We need to sleep…"

"I don't want to leave him in case something happens…"

"I know. There's a nice hotel down the street we can get a room there for the day more if we need it…"

"But…"

"Bones, we need sleep you want to be close to Hank. Honestly, I'm too tired to drive home, so it's either the hotel or I can move the SUV to a shady spot in the parking lot and we can sleep there."

"That wouldn't be good for your back."

"No, it wouldn't be.

"I am very tired, but I'm scared Hank will spike a fever or something and we won't get here in time."

"I'm worried too, but if something were to happen we can be here in three minutes or less…."

"Booth, I don't know what to do…"

" I don't either. Lets go get a room and sleep a little bit. Bones, things will be okay."

Booth kissed Brennan. Booth pulled Brennan to her feet and they went over to Hank's incubator, " Hey tiger, Mommy and I are gonna go take a nap for a little while, no funny stuff and No high fevers while we're gone, Okay?"

Brennan smiled and touched Hank's hand, "What daddy said. I love you sweetheart. We'll see you in a little while."

Brennan took Booth's hand and leaned into him as they let the NICU. When they got in the SUV Brennan turned to Booth "Booth, how do you know where the hotel is?"

"I stayed there when…."

"Oh…."

"Thanks for not cutting off my credit card…"

"Of course, Booth, as angry as I was at you I didn't want you to struggle. I did change your spending limit. You could only spend two hundred dollars a day." Booth chuckled and squeezed her hand.

Five minutes later they were in room, "This is a nice room."

"Yeah…." Brennan yawned and leaned into Booth. "Bones go change and get some rest…"

"I don't have clothes."

"I grabbed our go bags from the SUV…." Brennan looked over her shoulder and stood up walking to their bags , grabbing one of Booth's FBI t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. Booth grinned and shook his head. They'd just laid down when Booth's phone rang, Brennan tensed in his arms, "it's Ange…"

Booth answerer and Angela's face filled the screen, Brennan cleared her throat, "hey Ange…"

"Hey sweetie, how's the little guy?"

"Hank is okay. He has an infection of some kind, they're we back waiting on his cultures to come back. He's responding to his current antibiotic. He still has a fever, but he's no longer hot to the touch, he's just warm. His day nurse told us to go home and get some rest, I didn't want to be that far from the hospital so we're at a hotel down the road…."

" that's good, sweetie. Christine wants to talk to you she's worried that Booth's gone again…"

"It's okay put her on.." After some maneuvering Christine's face filled the phone screen.

"DADDY!"

"Hey Angel!"

"How come I'm at aunt Angela's?"

"We had to go to the hospital last night because Hank got sick and we needed to spend the night with him to make sure he's getting better. "

"Oh…"

"We're going to spend tonight at the hospital too."

"No! I want daddy to come home!" Christine threw the phone down and ran from the room.

"Sweetie, don't worry about Christine, I'll go talk to her. Just rest."

"Ange…"

"I got it."

Angela disconnected the phone and Brennan tuned to Booth. "Now I'm worried about both kids…"

"they'll be fine. Get some sleep."

"I can't…"

Booth didn't say anything, he just pulled Brennan to him and started whispering that everyone was going to be fine and he loved her and he was never going to leave again, in her ear until they both fell asleep.

B&B

A few hours later Brennan's eyes slowly opened when Booth kissed her. "Hank?"

"He's fine. I called the hospital when I got up. His fever broke, they got the cultures back he has a bacterial infection from one of the lines. They added an antibiotic he's turning the corner. As soon as you get ready we'll go get Christine from school and take her to the diner for dinner then back to Angela and Hodgins'. I'll hang out with you and Hank until my meeting then I'll pick you up and we'll come back here for the night and tomorrow will be like usual."

"Okay."

B&B

Thirty minutes later Christine happily ran to Booth when she saw him standing outside the SUV.

"DADDY!"

"Hey Angel."

"Are you coming home now?"

"No, mommy and I are going to take you the diner for dinner then we'll take you back to aunt Angela's for the night."

"I don't wanna go back to Aunt Angela's. I wanna go home with you and mommy!" Booth picked Christine up and kissed her forehead before putting her in her seat.

"We'll talk about everything at the diner."

"K."

Once everyone had their food, a burger for Booth, salad for Brennan and a grilled cheese for Christine, Brennan got Christine's attention

"Sweetheart, Hank got really sick last night and daddy and I had to go to the hospital to be with him. That's why you had to go to Aunt Angela's."

"Oh. Why did you have to go be with him?"

"Because when a baby as small as Hank is gets sick it's very dangerous because their bodies can't fight the germs like yours or mine can…"

"What happens if they don't fight the germs?"

Brennan looked at Booth, he nodded and squeezed her hand.

"Well, they can die…." ]

"Is Hank?"

"He's getting better he's taking antibiotics so we don't think he will die, but that could change."

"I hope the medicine doesn't taste bad…"

Brennan chuckled softly and wiped a ketchup smear off Christine's face. "I'm sure it does, but Hank doesn't taste it because the nurses put the medicine though an IV in his belly button."

"Why do they put it there ?"

"Because when babies are small it can be hard to put an IV in their arm so they put it in their belly button."

"Oh. If Hank is getting better why do you have to spend the night at the hospital?"

"Remember when you had the stomach flu last year and even though you were better I slept in your room for the night?"

"Yeah. I liked that you were there in case I puked again…"

'Even though Hank is a baby he likes having us there. daddy and I hold him a lot. I held him a long time last night. I think it made him feel better."

"Oh."

They finished their dinner in science. When they were getting ready to leave Christine reached for Brennan to carry her.

"Christine, I can't carry you.."

"But I want you to…"

"I know. Let daddy carry you and I'll sit next to you in the SUV."

"Okay." Booth picked Christine up and kissed her forehead and headed out the door. Booth put Christine in her seat and smiled as Brennan climbed in the other side. A few minutes into the drive Christine piped up, "Mommy, wish daddy never went to help Aunt Cam…"

"Why honey?"

"Because daddy wouldn't have left and that man wouldn't have come to the house and made you sad. Then daddy wouldn't have had to leave again, and Hank would still be inside you and you and daddy would be home with me…."

"Oh Christine, look at me…" When Christine was looking at her Brennan took her hand, "Christine, daddy helping aunt Cam, that man coming to the house and everything else that has happened the last few weeks has nothing to do with Hank being born early. He would have
been born early anyway…"

"How do you know?"

"I just do it's a mommy thing. Saturday daddy and I will spend the day with you, doing whatever you want."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Yea."

Fifteen minutes later Christine was cuddled on Angela's couch watching a movie with Hodgins and Michael Vincent with a dozen blankets and pillows. Booth and Brennan were on their way to see Hank Brennan was in the front seat of the SUV she put her hand on Booth's "Booth, what I said to Christine is true. nothing that has happened the last two weeks is your fault. I had a feeling from the beginning of this pregnancy that it was very different from Christine's. I've had the feeling that he was going to be born early from almost the day we found out."

"I should have let Aubrey handle the gambling case and I wouldn't have relapsed ."

"That's true to a point . I think all of the things we've been through the last few months have all contributed to your relapse."

"Maybe, but I still feel like everything's my fault…."

"It's not, Booth…."

"Christine thinks it is…"

"She doesn't. She's just having a hard time adjusting to everything. She'll be better once we can spend some time with her this weekend."

"I hope so."

Kristen smiled as she saw Booth and Brennan walking towards her. "Perfect timing, I was just about go change Hank and start a feeding. Hank is doing good; I think he's turned the corner. He's responding well to the antibiotics; he's no longer running a fever. He's a little sleepier than usual but that's okay. You two can change his diaper and hold him as much as you want tonight."

"Okay. Booth, you can change him and hold him first…"

"Sure…"

Booth carefully changed Hank and then with Brennan's help he got settled in the rocker with Hank in his arms while Kristen started his feeding, "hey bud, I'm glad you're feeling better. You really scared me and mommy. Don't do that anymore, okay?" Brennan smiled and kissed Booth's cheek.