(The Feet on the Beach)

I don't own Bones, but we all know that.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Once they were in her apartment, Brennan retrieved her laptop from her bedroom, flipped up the lid, opened the file containing her novel and handed the laptop to Booth. "I plan to work on an article I am writing for 'Anthropology News'. The editor wants my article as soon as possible and I've finished the research I need to write it. You can let me know when you're done with the story. Don't feel you need to finish it today. Take your time. You have all weekend to read it."

Sitting on the couch, a bottle of water waiting for him on the coffee table, Booth started to read the novel Brennan had written for him. A little nervous, he wasn't sure what to expect, but he hoped he'd finally get answers to some questions he'd had since he'd awakened from his coma.

The characters in the story were obviously based upon people he and Brennan knew. She hadn't tried to change anyone's personality. She had just changed where they worked and their professions. The two main characters were based upon him and Brennan and in the story they were married nightclub owners. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he tried to keep an open mind while he read it. He also kept in mind she had written it while he was in a coma and his coma had obviously worried her. She had written this story to help him wake up and he loved her for trying to help him.

Brennan sat at the dining room table and went over her notes making corrections here and there. Once she was ready, she put pen to paper and started to write the article. She planned to copy it to her laptop once Booth was done reading his novel. Curious, she turned to face her partner and saw the intense look on his face. She wasn't sure what he thought of the story, but she knew he needed to finish it before she talked to him about it. Not sure if letting him read the story was the right thing to do, it was too late to worry about that now. Sighing, she returned her attention back to what she was working on.

Ooooooooooo

It was late when Brennan woke up and realized that Booth wasn't lying next to her. Concerned, she left the bedroom in search of her partner. Surprised, she found him sleeping on the couch, the laptop still resting on his lap. As quietly as possible, she removed the laptop, closed the file that was open and carried it over to the counter where she plugged in the cord so it could charge. Once that was done, she walked over to where her lover was and sighed. "Booth . . . Booth, you need to wake up."

Startled, Booth stood up and tried to orient himself. "What . . . what happened?" His feet were stinging and he knew he'd been sitting too long and his feet should have been stretched before he had stood up.

Glad that she'd had the foresight to remove the laptop from his lap before she woke him, Brennan held up her hand. "Booth, you can't sleep sitting on the couch. Your back and hips can't take that kind of abuse."

In pain, Booth rubbed his lower back and knew she was right. "Yeah . . . I guess I fell asleep . . . Um . . . yeah, I need to go to bed."

"Since tomorrow is Saturday, you can sleep as long as you'd like." Brennan smiled. "I know you like to sleep in when possible on your days off."

Slowly nodding his head, Booth yawned and hobbled over to the bedroom. "I should have gone to bed earlier but . . . anyway, thanks for waking me up." Turning to look at his partner, Booth smiled at her. "Your story is really good. I should be finished tomorrow . . . well, today."

Following him into the bedroom, Brennan laid down and watched Booth remove his shirt and pants then joined her in bed. "I should have checked on you sooner."

Resting, his eyes closed, Booth sighed. "No, It's okay . . . mm sleepy."

She realized he was asleep and Brennan moved closer to him. Moving on to her side she placed her arm across his chest. "Sleep, Booth. You're not alone."

Ooooooooooo

After breakfast both Booth and Brennan did laundry, cleaned the apartment and made a trip to the grocery store. When they were back, Booth carried Brennan's laptop over to the couch to continue to read Brennan's story while Brennan put the groceries away. After she was done, she carried a glass of iced tea into the living room and placed it on the coffee table for Booth. "Would like me to order some lunch? . . . Booth?"

Breaking from the story, Booth smiled at his partner. "Yeah, thanks. Whatever you want to do is fine." His attention back on the story, he continued to read the novel Brennan had written for him.

Her partner had been silent most of the morning and Brennan was certain it was because of the story she had written for him. "Alright." Moving over to the dining room table, she settled down in front of her papers and her partially written article and knew she'd finish the article that afternoon.

Ooooooooooooo

Finished, Booth closed the file and placed the laptop on the coffee table. Chewing on his upper lip, he debated whether he wanted to say anything to Brennan. Feeling her staring at him, he turned and faced her. "Um . . . thank you. It's a great story and . . . um . . . well, thank you for writing it for me . . . Now I know why I dreamed what I dreamed and well . . . it helped me, Bones. Really . . . This story gave me refuge while I was sleeping . . . I'm not sure why Sweets didn't want you to talk to me about this or why he didn't say anything, but he was wrong. I was pretty messed up when I woke up and if someone had just let me read the novel or told it to me then I wouldn't have been so confused . . . I plan to talk to him. All he did was delay my recovery and I don't appreciate it . . . I really hate psychology. He thinks he knows what's best for you and me, but he doesn't really know us. Not really. He just thinks he does and I'm tired of him meddling in my . . . in our business."

She knew he was angry with Sweets and she wasn't happy that Sweets had interfered when Booth was in the hospital. It's possible that if she and Booth had talked about his coma and her novel they might have avoided that disaster outside the Hoover. "Booth . . . we can't undo the past. What happened happened and we have to live with the consequences . . . Do you have any questions about the story?"

Standing, Booth walked over to the dining room table and sat down across from her. "You made Jared a murderer."

It wasn't a question, but Brennan knew she needed to respond. "I have been irritated with Jared ever since I realized how much he uses you and misuses you. You have finally stopped trying to rescue him, but . . . anyway, I needed a criminal in my story and I chose to use Jared . . . alright?"

"He did help save my life when the Gravedigger kidnapped me, but yeah . . . I get it and that's okay. It's just a story. It's not like he's going to read it . . . um, you wrote about us being married and we were going to have a baby." Booth didn't know how to ask what he wanted to ask and not upset Brennan.

Slowly nodding her head. "I wanted you to have everything you've talked to me about in the past. You . . . I didn't want you to dream about Iraq or your father or being kidnapped by the Gravedigger. Those were stressful times. I needed you to be at peace while you healed. I thought that if you were happy in your dream you would want to return to us . . . to me . . . obviously my reasoning is complicated, but it made sense to me at the time." Worried, Brennan placed her hand on Booth's hand. "I don't want to get married, Booth. I just don't think I could to that, but perhaps we could have a child one day if you want one."

Surprised, Booth smiled. "You want a baby? If you want a baby then we should have one. I mean, you'd make a great Mom. Look how much Parker loves you and you took really good care of little Andy Taylor. You even helped the Grants get him proper medical care. You make me so proud, taking care of people even if you don't really know them."

A slight blush on her cheeks, Brennan looked at their hands. "I would like to have a baby with you, Booth. You're already a father and I know you would be an excellent father to our child."

Excited, Booth no longer cared about his coma dream. This was reality and he loved the direction his life was taking. "Hey, this is great . . . you and me and a little Bones . . . Thanks for taking a chance on us, Bones and thank you for your story. It did help me, really and . . . thank you."

Relieved that Booth wasn't upset about the story she had written, Brennan realized that she had been worried about nothing. "You're welcome . . . I wanted you to wake up and I wanted you to see that I was waiting for you to return to me. We weren't in a relationship at the time, but we were great friends and I think we both valued our friendship then and now . . . I do think we should have talked about your dream in more depth, but Sweets thought it was better not to talk about it. He thought it would just confuse you further."

"Sweets . . . that guy and I are going to have a little talk on Monday." Shrugging his shoulders, Booth smiled. "So, want to try to make a baby now? I'm game if you are."

Amused, Brennan stood up and walked towards the bedroom. "I am counting on you, Booth."

"You can always count on me, Bones. Always."

Ooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. I appreciate it.