(The Signs in the Silence)

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Entering the apartment, Booth carried his flowers over to the dining room table and placed the vase in the center. Pleased that the daffodils were in full bloom, he entered the kitchen and found Brennan slicing a bell pepper. "I thought I was supposed to cook tonight." Booth moved across the room and kissed his partner.

Her hand on his chest, Brennan smiled. "I know, but Cam and I finished the autopsy of Tommy Martini and she wants to wait until tomorrow morning before we start on the autopsy of Summer Mitchell. I have to work Saturday and probably Sunday, so I decided to come home early so that we can spend some time together."

Since that sounded like an excellent plan, Booth smiled and kissed her again. "What are you cooking?"

"I'm broiling a steak for you. I've also made you some corn on the cob and a salad." Brennan returned to her cutting board. "I'm going to eat some soup I bought from Mama's and hope for the best."

Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out a bag of peppermints and placed them on the counter. "Harris said that Susan sucked on peppermints when she was pregnant and they seemed to help the nausea. She also says to eat cool stuff since they don't really have much of a smell like hot food does and she says drink a lot of water and keep a food diary. The nausea might be triggered by something you're eating or drinking."

Slowly nodding her head, Brennan started to slice an onion. "Yes, I've read articles about morning sickness and they mentioned the diary and thank you for the peppermints. It's certainly worth trying."

Since dinner was being handled, Booth removed plates and silverware from the cabinets and carried them over to the dining room table. Once he was back in the kitchen, he grabbed the loaf of French bread and sliced it up, placing the slices on a plate. That accomplished, he carried that out to the table along with the dish of margarine and two bottles of salad dressing. "So, Bones . . . I'm going to tell Pops about the baby this weekend. I know you don't want anyone to know until your second trimester, but I don't like to keep secrets from him. Besides, this is going to be his second great grandchild and I think it will buck up his spirits. He's been a little down lately because his doctor told him he can't smoke cigars anymore . . . he thinks the doctor is meddling, but he's going to try."

The salad made, Brennan handed the bowls to Booth then opened the oven to remove the sizzling steak and placed it on the counter. "He had pneumonia not too long ago and giving up cigars is a wise thing to do."

Using a potholder, Booth moved the steak onto a plate and carried it over to the table. "Yeah, but he hates for anyone to tell him what to do."

Once Brennan had some of the soup in a bowl, she carried that and the small plate containing the corn on the cob and joined Booth at the table. "Oh, the flowers are lovely, Booth. Thank you and no one likes to be told what to do, that's human nature, but he should listen to his doctor."

Ready to eat, Booth cut open his steak and noticed some blood weeping out of the steak and onto the plate. Medium rare and just the way he liked it. "Well . . ." Interrupted by Brennan who placed her hand over her mouth, stood up and fled to the bathroom, Booth dropped his knife and fork and followed her. "Bones . . . Bones." Watching her throw up, he grabbed the bottle of Emetrol from the medicine cabinet and hovered next to his partner.

After several minutes, Brennan wiped her lips with some toilet paper and took the Emetrol from Booth. Once she had swallowed some, she sat on the edge of the tub. "Your steak . . . the smell and the blood on the plate. . . it was too much."

Embarrassed, Booth knelt on the floor in front of her and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't think we thought about that . . . I can give up steak until you're past this part of your pregnancy. That's not a problem. I can give up beef and pork and just eat chicken and seafood maybe some more salad . . . I don't want you to suffer because of me."

"This may last for a few months, Booth." Brennan sighed. "I don't think you have to give up the foods you like, its just the strong smell of the steak and the blood on your plate . . . it is unappetizing to look at under normal conditions . . . I . . ."

His hand on her knee, Booth shook his head. "Hey . . . it's okay. It is what it is. We'll get through this. In the meantime, I guess I can give up my cigars and steak and brush my teeth after I eat anything so I don't make you sick."

"I have been trying to get you to quit smoking and I think this is a good time to start." Brennan placed her hand over his hand. "Thank you."

"Well, at least until you get past the morning sickness." Booth loved to smoke a cigar at least once a week. "I just smoke them once in a while. They help me relax, but It's not like I'm addicted to them."

Brennan nodded her head. "And if you find you don't really need to smoke them at all, that will be a good thing."

Oooooooooooo

The mood in the lab was somber. Hodgins had recovered another body and had it transported to the Lab. Another child's body was in the lab and everyone was feeling depressed about the situation. Summer Mitchell's autopsy was complete and Cam planned on doing an autopsy on Grant Morgan after lunch. There were more bodies that would have to be recovered over the next two weeks and Cam hated the fact that some of Taffet's victims had been children. Grant had been thirteen years old when he'd been kidnapped and killed and his father had died of a heart attack shortly afterward. "Taffet was a monster."

Looking up from the body, Brennan nodded her head. "I usually don't say someone is evil since that is determined by perspective, but kidnaping children and letting them die alone, buried underground . . . I can't classify that as anything else. What Taffet did was evil and I am glad she is no longer alive. She can't hurt anyone else and neither can her protégés."

With Brennan's help, Summer's body was moved to a cart and then moved over to drawer E. Once the body was safely inside, Cam turned to stare at the cart containing Grant's body. "We'll do his autopsy after lunch. Hodgins will make a trip in the morning to recover another victim and once that autopsy is complete, we will stop for the weekend . . . Next week is going to be just as bad as this week was. I'm not sure how many of Taffet's victims are children since I haven't looked at all the files the FBI has sent over, but . . . anyway, once we finish the autopsy tomorrow, I'm going to send everyone home early to relax and recover."

"I have to identify a body being sent over here on Saturday by the Pentagon . . . Booth is going to go visit his grandfather on Saturday. Hank has recovered from his bout of pneumonia, but he is unhappy that his doctor has told him he must give up smoking cigars . . . Booth is going to give them up for a while too."

Surprised, Cam stared at Brennan. "Really? Because of his grandfather?"

"I can't say." Brennan was trying to be honest without giving away the fact that she was pregnant. "I am glad he plans to stop smoking them for a while, so I don't really care what his reasons are for doing it. I hope he will decide that he doesn't really need them and will give them up completely."

Another glance at Grant's body and Cam knew that she'd need to talk to Angela before she left for the day. The artist was upset that some of Taffet's victims were children and she was threatening to quit. Angela was pregnant and Hodgins felt that his wife was allowing her fears about their baby to influence her emotions. Cam planned to talk Angela into taking off for a four day weekend and just paint and do whatever made her happy. The maps they were using had names listed with them and so far the identities of the victims had correlated with the maps. She and Brennan were using the files provided by the FBI to verify who the victims were and Cam didn't think it was necessary for Angela to be involved in the identifications. If being off for a few days helped her then Cam was all for that. She appreciated Angela's computer skills and her skills as an artist and she didn't want to risk losing a valuable employee.

Ooooooooooo

Entering Brennan's office, Angela moved over to the couch and sat down. "Cam wants me to take off for a four day weekend and I'm going to take her up on that . . . I just . . . I need to paint. I need beauty in my life and I can't get it here. Not right now . . . Taffet . . . Anyway, I'm going to be off tomorrow and Monday."

Since Cam had told her about her plan, Brennan wasn't surprised. "I think that is a good idea. Hodgins told me about an art exhibition this weekend and he told me he wants to go. He likes the artist. Perhaps you can go with him."

"I plan to." Angela sighed. "I'm sorry I can't help you right now." She placed her hand on her swollen stomach. "I just . . . I just need to paint before the baby comes."

"I understand." And Brennan did. She understood that her friend hated cases that involved children just like Booth did, like they all did. "I hope you complete some paintings and bring them in so I can see them . . . or I can go to your house and look at them. I can do either."

Grateful that Brennan understood, Angela stood up and moved over to the door. "I may bake some cookies for everyone this weekend and have Jack bring them in on Monday. I'll bake you some vegan brownies. You don't have to tell Booth they're vegan. That will be between us."

Amused, Brennan laughed. "I made some chocolate chip cookies last weekend and they were vegan. Booth ate the last one last night . . . I didn't tell him they're vegan . . . Of course, he didn't ask me."

Laughing, Angela shook her head and moved into the hallway. "You're so bad, Sweetie and I love it."

Ooooooooooooo

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