Booth came back a little over an hour later and went directly over to Brennan and sat on the bed, taking both of her hands. "Hank is doing as well as he can be right now. He started to really struggle to breathe so they put him on a ventilator…"
Brennan sucked in a breath.
"Bones, I know it's a scarry thought, but watching him struggle to take a breath is even scarier. His heartrate and blood pressure is good. All of his organs look good, no brain bleed."
"That's good…"
"Yeah. He's not quite stable yet, they're working on it. He can't maintain his body temperature by himself yet. They said you can see him whenever you're ready. "
"I'm ready…"
"Bones, it's 2:45 in the morning. You need to rest."
"…I can't sleep…"
"I know. Just rest, Hank needs a little rest before he meets you. They let me touch his hand, as soon as I did monitors went off. They said he's fine just over stimulated. I pulled my hand back and everything went back to normal. He's had a big night on the outside, he needs to get used to not being inside you."
"I know, I just want to see him, really see him…"
"I know. I took a few pictures…" Booth handed Brennan his phone.
Angela walked over and looked over Brennan's shoulder. "He's cute, Bren. I'm gonna head home. Do you need me to get Christine to school later?"
"No, dad said he'd take her and pick her up."
"Okay. I'll call you later."
"Okay. Thanks for everything, Ange."
"You're welcome, Brennan. You too, Booth."
B&B
After Angela left Booth pulled the chair he had been sitting in a few hours before and sat down again and took Brennan's hand and rubbing his thumb across her knuckles again.
"What are you doing, Booth?"
"I'm holding your hand until you fall asleep, it worked before…"
Brennan smiled, "Hank looks like you…"
"All babies look like their dad's when they're first born, you taught me that a long time ago. Something about bonding…"
"Yes, but I hope he always looks like you…". Booth smiled and kissed Brennan's forehead as her eyes closed. A few hours later Booth quietly opened the door to Brennan's room only to find her sitting up in bed, scowling at the breakfast tray in front of her. "Hey Bones. What's wrong?"
" I cannot eat this breakfast. It's scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, a severely underripe half of banana, milk, and some very weak decaffeinated coffee…"
Booth smiled and scooted the tray over, "that's why I got you this…" Booth sat the bag down and watched Brennan open it and pull-out a to go cup of rice Chex and a small carton of soy milk. "I know it's not the cereal you normally eat, but it was the only non-sugar cereal they had in the cafeteria. I got a couple blueberry muffins too."
"it's better than the hospital breakfast. Thank you." Brennan opened her cereal and poured the milk on it.
"You're welcome. How are you feeling?'
"Better. I'm still tired and I'm still slightly under the effects of all the medications . Where did you go?"
"I had to call Gavin…"
"Are you okay?'
"Yeah, I…had the urge to go to the pool hall about 5 this morning. I'll have to go to my meeting tonight at 7."
"Booth…"
"I promise I'm okay. I stopped by the N.I.C.U. on the way back, Hank is still the same as he was earlier. He's sleeping."
"That's good. I called dad before the nurse brought in breakfast. He said Christine had a hard time falling asleep and then staying asleep. He said she finally fell asleep for good about 1:30."
"About the time Hank was born…" Booth smiled.
"Yes. I asked dad to keep her home from school today. Can you go home and get her and bring her here so we can talk to her about everything?"
"Yeah, I'll go around lunch time so she can sleep in."
"Okay. Can you stay here with me tonight? I don't want to be here alone in case something happens…"
"Of course. I'll go to my meeting and be back here by 8:30…."
"Okay. Thanks."
"Bones, Hank will be fine, it's just gonna take him a little while…"
"I know. I've never experienced anything like this…"
" I haven't either, Parker was four days late…Becca was probably ready to kill me ."
"Why? It wasn't your fault."
Whatever Booth was going to say was interrupted by the nurse, pushing a wheelchair. "Temperance are you ready to go meet your little guy?"
"I'm more than ready…" Booth helped Brennan into the wheelchair.
"Good. I'll let you wheel her down. You know the way?"
"Yeah…" The nurse nodded and smiled before leaving the room.
"Ready, Bones?"
"Yes…No…I don't know…"
"I get it. Seeing Hank in the N.I.C.U. is scary at first, but once you see him all the monitors and stuff disappear…"Brennan nodded as Booth wheeled her out of the room.
When they got to the .U. the nurse at the desk looked up from the computer when Booth wheeled Brennan up. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, we're here to see Hank Booth…"
"Great, I need to scan your wristbands…" Booth and Brennan held out their wrists and the nurse scanned them then led them to Hank's incubator and scanned the band on his ankle band. "You're all set."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Hank's nurse should be here soon to answer any questions you have." She walked away.
Booth helped Brennan to her feet and held her hand as she walked to the incubator. "Booth…"
"I know. He looks a lot better this morning than he did earlier, his color is better."
"That's good."
"Yeah…"
A nurse walked over, "Mr. and Mrs. Booth? I'm Kristen, Hank's day nurse. He's doing well for the moment. The next six to eight weeks are going to be marathon with ups and downs and a lot of standing still. You're going to have to take some days minute by minute. We're giving him oxygen support, but that's normal for babies born at 33 weeks. We had to put him on a feeding tube, he hasn't got sucking swallowing and breathing down he gets too wore out . Every time we move him his heartrate either goes up or down. It's normal for premature babies, sometimes they can't handle the stimulation of being picked up in the beginning. He might get more tolerant as the day goes on then you can hold him. You can touch him, hold his hand and talk to him. It helps, he knows your voice."
"Thank you."
Kristen nodded, "if you have questions or need anything I'll be around."
Booth nodded, not taking his eyes off Brennan, who was watching Hank.
"You can touch him, Bones…"
"I can't…"
"You can, you won't hurt him…" Booth reached around Brennan and slipped his hand into the opening in the side of Hank's incubator and lightly touched his arm. Hank flinched a little. "Hey tiger, it's daddy. Mommy's here too, but she's not ready to hold your hand yet… I love you so much. Your big sister, Christine, will be so excited when she finds out you're here. She'll be disappointed she can't hold you or play with you yet, but she'll get used to it…. Your big brother Parker, will be here in a few months, he'll be excited that he has a little brother " Booth turned when he felt Brennan's hand on his shoulder. "Ready?" Brennan nodded. Booth smiled and stepped aside and put his arm around her as she put her hand through the incubator opening and touched Hank's tiny hand, his eyes opened for a second. "Hi sweetheart, I love you so much. I can't wait until you are strong enough for us to hold you. I'll be here every day until you're well enough to come home. Daddy will be too." Booth smiled and kissed Brennan's cheek. After a few minutes Booth pulled the glider over and wordlessly eased Brennan into it, she never let go of Hank's hand. It was a little before lunch Booth lightly put his hand on Brennan's arm, she startled a little, "sorry Bones I didn't mean to scare you. It's almost noon I'm going to get Christine, why don't you go back to your room and take a nap while I'm gone?" Brennan surprisingly nodded. "We'll come back later."
"Bye sweetheart, I'll be back later. I love you." Booth helped Brennan up and into the wheelchair. Booth wheeled Brennan back to her room and helped her back into bed
"Do you want me to bring you anything?"
"My hospital bag is packed on the chair in our room. Take Hank's clothes and the baby blankets and diapers out and put in my toothbrush, no makeup…."
'Got it. How about I get us all lunch from the diner? it might help if we have lunch together."
"Sounds good to me, you know the hospital lunch will be inedible. I'll take a salad, unsweetened decaffeinated tea and a brownie if they have them."
"Your standard pregnancy diner lunch…"
"Yes…"
Booth smiled and kissed Brennan, "I'll be back in a while. Get some sleep."
"I'll try."
B&B
Booth pulled in the driveway and sat in the SUV for a minute before he went in the house.
When he opened the front door Max looked up from the paper. "Hello
Booth. Tempe said you'd be by to get Christine and take her to the hospital to see her and talk about Hank being sick and needing to be in the hospital for a while."
"Yeah. I'm going to get Bones' suitcase. Where's Christine?"
"She's getting ready, I told her we'd go to the park. I think she'll like spending time with you and Tempe better though. When she's ready to come home call me and I'll come get her."
"Thanks Max." Booth headed for his and Brennan's room. He found her bag on the chair, he took Hank's clothes and blankets out and carried them across the hall and laid them on Hank's dresser. Back in his and Brennan's room, Booth got Brennan's tooth brush and a few other things he thought she'd need. With her bag packed Booth headed for Christine's room. He stood quietly in the doorway; it only took the little girl a few seconds to notice him. "DADDY!" Christine ran to Booth, he scooped her up.
"Hi angel!"
"Mommy's at the hospital…"
"I know. I'm going to take you to see her right now…"
"is she okay."
"Mommy is fine, she just misses you."
"I miss her too. you too…"
"I miss you too."
"Then come home…"
"I will soon. Let's go pick up lunch at the diner and go eat with mommy."
"Okay." Christine molded herself to Booth as he carried her down the hall. "Can I have chicken fingers?"
"Yes. Do you want mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans with it?"
"Un-huh."
Forty-five minutes later Booth quietly opened the door to Brennan's room, when he realized she wasn't sleeping he guided Christine into the room. Brennan smiled, "come here, sweetheart…" Christine slowly walked to the bed.
Booth set the bag of food on Brennan's over the bad table and kissed her. "Did you sleep?"
"I tried, but a nurse came in and woke me up then somebody dropped off lunch…"
"What is it?"
"A veggie burger that smells weird, cold fries, canned pears and Jell-O…" Booth grinned and picked up the tray and relocated it to the fold out. Then he picked up Christine and sat her on the bed on the other side of the table. Booth unpacked the food. "Salad, hold all the good stuff, and iced tea for you." Brennan smiled as Booth sat the container in front of her. "Chicken fingers, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and applesauce, and milk for you."
"I didn't want applesauce…"
"Eat it anyway…"
"Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, for me…"
Brennan opened Christine's takeout container, that's when Christine noticed Brennan wasn't pregnant.
"Mommy where's the baby?"
"The baby decided it was time to be born. We'll talk about everything after we eat. Everything is okay. Eat before it gets cold."
"Okay." Christine picked up a chicken finger
When everybody was done eating Booth cleaned up their containers he sat on the side of Brennan's bed and tried to pull Christine into his lap. "I want mommy…" Booth kissed the top of Christine's head and smiled a little as she crawled up into Brennan's arms.
"Last night when I got here the doctor checked on the baby and saw that he might be born sooner than we thought. The doctor tried some things to keep the baby from being born, it worked for a while. Then early this morning before the sun came up, your brother was born…"
"I have a baby brother?"
"Yes…"
"Can I see him?"
"No…"
"But you said I could see the baby as soon as it was born…it's not fair!'
"Sweetheart, we also told you that the baby wouldn't be born until two weeks after school was over and you still have five weeks of school… Since your brother, whose name is Hank, was born so early he's really sick and he's in a special part of the hospital. You can't see him right now. You probably will be able to see him when he gets better."
"But I want to see him now…"
"I know. Daddy and I wish you could see him now too. Daddy saw him right after he was born and took a few pictures you can look at." Booth brought up the pictures and handed Christine his phone.
"How come daddy can see him and I can't?"
"They don't allow kids in the part of the hospital that Hank is in…"
"Why not?"
"Because sometimes kids have a lot of germs that could make babies really sick. Plus, sometimes the special area that he's in can be scary."
"Oh. What's that thing?" Christine was pointing to the breathing tube.
"That's a tube to help him breathe …"
"Why does he have it?"
"Because sometimes when babies are born early they have trouble breathing on their own. Hank's lungs haven't grown enough yet to allow 'him to breath without the tube."
"Oh. Will he always have it?"
"No, in a few weeks he should be able to breathe on his own."
"Oh, when can he come home?"
"Hank should be able to cone home around the time school is out for the summer."
"Do you have to stay here till then, too?"
"No, I'll be home by the time you get home from school tomorrow."
"Daddy too?"
"Yes, daddy and I will be home when you get home from school tomorrow. Daddy will even pick you up from school. Grandpa will take you to school in the morning though."
"Okay."
"What do you think of Hank, Christine?"
"He's okay I guess. He looks weird though…"
Booth laughed and kissed Christine's cheek, "all babies look weird when they're first born."
"Why?"
"Because it's hard to be born and it makes babies look weird when they come out."
"Booth, that's not-"
"Bones, she's five years old…"
"I don't see what her age has to do with it…."
"Who wants a brownie?" Booth got up and pulled a container from the food bag. "I got everyone a brownie…" they ate their brownies and listened to Christine fill them in on the goings on in her last year of preschool. After a while Booth could tell Christine was getting restless. "Are you ready to go home, Christine?"
"No, I wanna stay here with you and mommy!"
Brennan kissed the top of her head, "Where would you sleep?"
"Here…Daddy can sleep over there…" Christine pointed to the fold out
Brennan laughed and kissed the top of Christine's head, "I love you so much, Christine. You can't stay here., neither of these beds are that comfortable. You need a good night's sleep for school in the morning."
"I gotta go to school?"
"Yes, we let you stay home today so you could come down here and see me and daddy and we could talk to you about Hank needing to stay here for a while. I think if you ask grandpa he'll take you for ice cream and then to the park to feed the ducks…"
"Okay. I love you, mommy…."
"I love you too, sweetheart."
A half hour later Max walked into Brennan's room. "Hi honey."
"Hi dad."
Max walked to Brennan's bed and kissed her cheek. "How are you?"
"I'm doing better. I'm still tired, but that will get better once I go home and get some actual sleep."
"Yeah, hospital's aren't that restful. How's the little guy?"
"Hank is doing okay, he's still on the ventilator. The doctor says he'll be in the hospital until his due date. We haven't been able to hold him yet, his heartrate goes up whenever someone picks him up. The nurse says that's a normal reaction for premature babies to have. Booth took some pictures of him." Brennan handed Max Booth's phone.
"He's cute. He looks a lot like Booth, but I see you in him too. You'll be holding him before you know it."
"I hope so.."
"Grandpa, can we get ice cream and go to the park to feed the ducks?"
"You bet short stuff. Are you ready to go?"
"Uh-huh."
"Tell mommy and daddy goodbye then we'll go."
"Okay." Christine turned to Brennan and hugged her. "Bye mommy. I love you"
"Bye Christine I love you, too. have fun feeding the ducks and enjoy your ice cream. Daddy and I will call you before you go to bed." Brennan kissed her cheek.
"Okay."
Booth scooped Christine up and hugged her tight. "Bye daddy, I love you."
"I love you too, Angel. Have fun with grandpa. I'll walk you two to the elevator. Be back in a few minutes, Bones."
"Okay."
B&B
Booth was back a few minutes later pushing a wheelchair. "I thought you'd want to go see Hank again."
"I do."
"Bones, did you really mean it when you told Christine I'd be home when she got home from school?"
"Yes. I want you to move back in the house. I can't do this by myself, I need you with me. Christine needs both of us home, I don't think she understands what is going on with
Hank. If something were to happen to him I don't want to be stuck waiting on you to get here or worse be the one calling you and telling you something happened. You'll need to complete your program and stay sober of course, otherwise we'll have to reevaluate our relationship."
"Of course, Bones, I'll do anything."
"Good."
"I'll leave for my meeting a little earlier than I planned to and go by the hotel, get my stuff and check out."
"Okay."
Booth helped Brennan into the wheelchair and they headed to the N.I.C.U.
B&B
They got their wrist bands scanned and were led to Hank's incubator. This time Brennan didn't hesitate reaching in the incubator and touching Hank. "He looks better than he did this morning."
"He does."
"Hi sweetheart, I told you daddy and I would come back. I love you so much."
"I was hoping you two would come back before shift change. Have a seat, Temperance." Booth helped Brennan sit in the glider. Once she was sitting Kristen opened the incubator and gently picked Hank up. "He's been tolerating being picked up. You won't be able to hold him long today, we'll have to build his tolerance every day. A few minutes is better than nothing."
Brennan nodded as Kristen placed Hank in her arms and adjusted all of the tubes and wires. Brennan gasped, "he's so light and fragile."
"Babies are tougher than they look…"
"Hi sweetheart." Hank opened his eyes. Booth put his hand on Brennan's shoulder, "hey tiger…" Hank stretched a little and went back to sleep as Brennan slowly started rocking him. Booth stepped around Brennan and took a picture, she looked up. "You need to hold him too, Booth."
"I will tomorrow, you can hold him today…" Brennan nodded and looked down at Hank. "He's so small."
"Yeah, but he'll be growing like a weed before you know it…"
A few minutes later, Hank's monitor started alarming, Kristen hurried over. "He's fine, he's just overstimulated right now." She gently picked him up and placed him back in his incubator and smiled as his heartrate returned to normal and his monitor fell silent. "He's fine now. You can touch him; it won't be too much for him…"
"Thank you." Brennan slipped her hand through the opening and ran a finger over Hank's tiny fist.