14As they lay quietly in each others arms sharing the sadness that had suddenly and forever altered their lives, her tears slowly faded to sobs, then to hiccups, and finally to an exhausted awareness.
Dr. Temperance Brennan tentatively moved her hand across his muscular chest, risking the last scraps of her resolve to not be intimately involved with this man, her partner. She felt his breath catch at her simple touch. Bones rose on her elbow and planted a soft kiss against his lips, and breathlessly waited for his response. She smiled knowingly as she felt his arms tighten around her and pull her into a different kind of embrace. Emboldened, Bones furthered her exploration of his sensual mouth.
"Bones, are you very sure about this? If we do this, there won't be any going back from here. Our entire relationship will change. We will be together." Booth whispered against her lips.
"Yes, I'm sure." She stated with that matter of fact tone that was as unique as Bones herself. "I suddenly can't remember why we haven't done this. Life is short, we shouldn't deprive ourselves of happiness." Booth pulled her on top of him and busied himself removing the sweatshirt she had borrowed from him earlier that evening.
"Bones, do you love me?" Brennan shrugged her shirt off revealing her perfectly proportioned breasts. Booth gathered both of them in his strong hands causing her to let out a gasp of pleasure.
"Yes. So much." She whispered as she lowered her mouth to his, taking him with a kiss as deeply passionate as the fire that burned within her veins. She could feel his arousal as it connected with the heat of her sex. Bones moved her hips slightly and was rewarded by a deep groan from Booth. Booth then took the lead as he rolled Temperance beneath him, shifting to remove the remains of their clothing. Finally, with nothing between them, Temperance opened for Booth arching her hips, eager for him to fill her. Booth slowly entered his only love, sweet inch by inch, savoring the moment that they had both waited so long to experience and Temperance tightened around him immediately. Years of unrequited, pent up expectations were released in a mere moment with the melding of their bodies.
"Do you love me?" Temperance mused out loud with a low moan. Booth kissed her forehead, her cheek, and nuzzled her ear with his nose as he shifted his hips, diving deeply inside of her. Temperance wrapped her legs around his waist with an unrealistic fear that he would leave her. Booth chuckled hoarsely.
"Always, completely. Do you like this?" Booth lowered his mouth to the curve of her neck playfully nipping as Bones urged him to move.
"Yes. Please Booth."
"Not so fast Bones. I want to take our time. We've waited so long for this, I don't want to rush." Booth grasped her breast in his hand and Bones grabbed his butt forcing him deeper, but held his hips still.
"Then don't rush." Temperance kissed the hollow spot on his throat, reveling in the new sensations of having this man make love to her. She had always used sex for an outlet when her biological needs had called for it. She had never made love, not once in her entire life. This expression of love was completely new to her, and so was the way she trusted Booth to show her the way.
Booth poured every emotion he had been ignoring for the past several years into every touch and every kiss. He wanted to leave her with no doubt that she was loved, totally and completely by him. Bones matched him stroke for stroke, both giving and receiving and gave a soft cry of ecstasy as Booth brought them both over the edge. For several breathless moments, neither of them moved, not wanting to separate and return to their separate selves. Bones hugged him close to her, loving the weight of him on top of her. She dropped sweet little kisses against his throat and his shoulder, needing him to understand that this was very special for her. She had never allowed herself to experience this before with any other man.
Booth shifted them until he lay on his back with Bones sprawled across his torso. Neither of them spoke for fear of breaking the quiet spell that enveloped them. She listened to the steady rhythm of his heart with wonder and a feeling of utter contentment that flowed through her. It was something completely foreign and yet completely right. She moved her hand in a slow caress along the smooth surface of his torso, reveling in the feel of his hot skin against her palms and fingertips.
"Are you okay?" Booth couldn't help but ask, his question confusing her.
"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" Bones turned to see Booth's face, trying to read his expression.
"Because of this, because everything will be different now. We won't be just partners at work anymore Bones. We will be in a relationship, sharing each other's personal lives." Temperance raised herself on her elbow and leaned in to plant a soft kiss on Booth's lips.
"I know. For so long I was numb to everything Booth, now I'm not. I'm sad about Vincent, but I could never be sad about what's happened between us." Booth noticed the crinkle in her otherwise smooth brow.
"Then why the worried expression?" She made little pensive circles with the tip of her finger just under Booth's pecks.
"I'm afraid that something will happen to you when you face Broadsky." Booth lifted her chin with his forefinger and held her blue eyes steady.
"You can't worry about that. He's the bad guy and I will get him." She sat up in bed beside Booth, dragging the top of the sheet with her. Booth eyes absorbed her tousled hair and flushed cheeks, rosy from the most beautiful experience of his life. His heart nearly stopped.
"I just…what if he gets you first?" Booth turned and touched her cheek.
"Not gonna happen Bones."
"It could happen, you and he share the same skill level." Booth suddenly grabbed Bones and rolled her underneath of him and kissed her thoroughly as he settled neatly between her open thighs.
"I have something that he doesn't." She felt the now familiar rush of heat as her naked sex cradled his hard shaft.
"What? He trained you." Bones rasped as a breathless whisper as Booth's thumb stroked the hard nipple on her breast.
"You Bones. I have you." She sought his mouth with hers, desperate to show him the depth of her feelings with her kiss and allowed the onslaught of passion to remove any doubt regarding Booth's capabilities.
After the capture of Broadsky, they were quiet and tried to be professional at work. They were partners and each of them quietly processed their new relationship and its consequences. Would they be allowed to work together once their relationship became public knowledge or would they be assigned different partners? Neither of them spoke of it at work, but at night when they were cuddled together, it was a frequent topic of conversation, both of them agreeing that while working together had been a huge part of their lives, their personal relationship was priority because they loved each other. Booth was continually surprised by how easy it had become for this complicated, socially awkward woman to confess her heart. She was no longer an emotionally devoid person who buried herself in work to distance herself from human contact out of fear of being hurt. She had handed him her heart, and she trusted him to take care of it. Booth loved her all the more for it. Slowly, the days changed into weeks and neither had ever been so happy.
Booth stepped into Temperance's office with the intention of handing her some information regarding their current investigation, but she looked so sweet standing against the front of her desk that he couldn't help himself. He grinned wickedly as he approached her, seeing a flicker of fire in her eyes in response. Booth pulled his Bones close to him and lowered his mouth to hers. Neither of them noticed how he had sat her on the desk and had positioned himself between her legs. She had her fingers in his hair deepening the kiss. Booth raised his hand to cup her breast and she moaned leaning back just enough to give Booth access to the tender spot on the curve of her neck and she shivered slightly raising her hand to Booth's cheek. He curved his arm around her and held her tightly, his hand drifting to her thigh.
"Whoa…wow. Halleluiah." A very pregnant Angela squealed as she walked into her best friend's office unexpectedly. "This is … Oh my God. You guys look so sweet." The pair quickly pulled apart. Embarrassed, Bones put her hand to her mouth and laughed nervously. Booth's ears had turned beet red and he tried to casually lean back against the desk beside her, knocking her ink pen container to the floor. Angela only laughed.
"Really guys, I'm so happy for you. I'll just come back later." Angela gave a wicked smile. Bones could only nod as her friend turned her heel and walked out of the room. Booth was still mortified that he had been caught making out like he was a teenager in his mom's basement. Bones jumped from the desk and grabbed Booth's hand.
"I have to go after her, if I don't she will tell everyone." Bones said, her brow crinkled with worry. Their future together as partners was on the line as well as Booth's career. Knowing she was right, he nodded.
"We'll finish this tonight?" He offered a smile, letting her know exactly what his intentions were. A slow blush rose up her cheeks.
"Is that a promise?" He lightly smacked the desk because he couldn't touch her.
"That's satisfaction guaranteed Bones." He wriggled his eyebrows comically.
"I'm going to hold you to that." She said with a flirtatious wink as she quickly walked out of the room to catch Angela before the entire lab discovered their secret.
For the third day in a row, Temperance Brennan woke up with a queasy stomach. She closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, willing the feeling to subside. Booth lay sound asleep next to her with his arm slung carelessly around her middle, making it impossible for her to sneak to the bathroom without disturbing him. She still had an hour before the alarm would sound. It had been like this the day before and the day before that, but the difference this time is that she was trapped. The heat of his body seemed to amplify the sick feeling. Feeling that her body temperature had to have at least increased by fifty percent, she continued to breathe in and out as she tried to remove the arm that imprisoned her. Finally, after several attempts, she wrapped his arm around her pillow and slid from the bed as quietly as possible, before racing for the bathroom in an all- out run.
As she reached for a cold wash cloth to wipe the sweat from her brow, she looked deeply at her reflection in the mirror. Previously, she had assumed that she had caught a bug from Parker, but now she wasn't so sure. There was something amiss and she was afraid of what it would mean. How could this have happened? She was a modern woman in charge of her body and took great pains to use precautions. With a wry grin in the mirror she thought back to the night her intern had been so brutally taken away from their family. Birth control was the furthest thing from her mind. That night had been about life. A thrill settled itself in her belly. One life had been taken and maybe, just maybe , another had been created. Brennan studied her reflection in the mirror. Where had the always rational woman gone, and when had she been replaced by this evolving human being?
Six weeks had passed since the night that had changed everything. They had solved the bowling alley murder, and Bones' had a small stick in her purse that plainly showed two pink lines. As they waited for baby Michael to be born, her only thoughts were that in a few months, she would be in this same place giving birth to her child, to their child. Relief poured through her as Dr. Hodgins presented his son and she snuck in the room with her metaphorical sister, sharing her awe of the baby that Angela and Hodgins had made. Afterwards, Booth and Bones walked down the quiet after midnight streets to Booth's SUV. As always with Bones, she was consumed with the feelings of the new parents, as curious as always about human emotions she was just discovering within herself.
"They looked so happy." Bones stated, trying to find the words that would forever change them.
"Yeah…they had a baby." Booth stated.
"Their whole lives are changing, you'd think that they'd be more apprehensive." She certainly was.
"Well you know having a baby, that's a good thing." She risked a hopeful glance in his direction and stopped.
"You really think that?" She could feel her heart pounding inside of her chest. Booth stopped and turned to face her.
"Yeah, it's a great thing." Booth notices the worry on her face. "What? What?" He thought that maybe she is worried about the baby and so he did what he always did, he began to explain the miracle of becoming a parent to his partner.
"Oh come on Bones, look, the baby's fine, it's healthy, they had a healthy baby, alright? They love each other; this is the happiest day of their lives. Okay?" His concern began to grow as he watched the emotions flicker across her face. He can't remember a time when he felt her more unsure. "What?" He prodded. Bones' dropped her eyes to her feet and inhaled deeply before lifting her chin to face him squarely in the eye.
"I'm…" A disbelieving chuckle escaped her lips "…I'm pregnant." She shook her head in near disbelief, still reeling from the consequences of their new relationship. Booth's face registered a myriad of emotions.
"And you're the father." Booth's confused expression quickly turned to joy. He grabbed the woman he loved above all others and pulled her to him tightly.
"A baby?" He asked incredulously. "We made a baby?" He lifted her feet off of the ground in a huge bear hug and swung her around in a circle before giving a whoop of joy. Carefully, he lowered her feet to the ground and placed his hand over her still flat tummy.
"We made a baby." Bones laughed, relieved at Booth's obvious joy.
"A baby boy." Booth rubbed her tummy playfully.
"Or, a baby girl." She gently corrected and Booth kissed her lightly on the lips again, overwhelmed at the wonderful things in his life.
"Oh yeah." He said as he sang the lyrics to an old song. 'Having my baby, what a lovely way to say how much you love me.' Booth wrapped his arm across her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze as he led them down the street.
"I do love you." Bones placed her arm around his waist affectionately.
"I know you do Bones. I know you do." Booth's smile was miles wide as he stared down the quiet sidewalk in front of them. They were going to build a life and be a family. Their way, whatever kind of life they wanted and he had never been happier.
People say that you only live once
But people are as wrong about that as they are everything
In the darkest moments before dawn, a woman returns to her bed
What life is she leading?
Is it the same life the woman was living a half an hour ago, a day ago, a year ago?
Who is this man?
Do they live separate lives or a single life shared?
"Long day at the lab?" He asks with his voice full of concern. She had been burning the candle at both ends for days identifying remains from a mass grave for her employer, the Jeffersonian Institute.
"Yes. But, I'm finished. Now it's time for us." She promises with a caress along his thigh as she leans in for his kiss.
"Do you love me?" Her finger follows a trail along the ridge of his nose. Her new favorite hobby is tracing his bone structure with her fingertips. He feels like she is reading him, learning him, and loving him. Every touch draws them closer.
"Yeah, you want me to prove it to you?"
"Hmm, if you're not you too sleepy." She says with the husky timbered voice that lets him know exactly how much she wants him. He rolls over her and helps her remove the tee she prefers to sleep in.
A storm approaches its still over the horizon but there is lightening in the air
Are either of them even aware of the gathering turbulence?
Can they feel the crackle of electricity in the wind or are they only aware of only the power they generate between themselves?
"Oh I love it when you do that." He says with dirty delight and smothers a throaty laugh with his kiss as he rolls her beneath him.
The first hint of the storm is not a thunder cloud, it is a knock.
"You get it." She says with a grin, her back spooned against her mate.
"No, you get it." He squeezes her tightly against him and kisses her just below her ear, a spot that he knows will make her shiver.
"It's your apartment. You get it." She yanks the covers from his naked body with a sultry, sleepy, laugh. He lets an exaggerated groan escape as he swings his legs from their cozy bed and reaches for his robe lying in the floor beside the bed.
"No, it's our apartment and if you would let people know that you live here too, you could get it, but I will get it. This time." He warns. She knows that it is only a matter of time before everyone is aware of the burgeoning relationship, but this time has been just for them and she cherishes it. Her only reply is a sleepy giggle.
After adjusting the knot on his blue terry cloth robe, Seeley Booth opens his door to an exasperated Camille Soryen.
"Cam. What's going on?" The Jeffersonian medical examiner pushes her way into her former lover's apartment, not knowing about the woman drifting off to sleep in the next room.
"We have a case, and it's a bad one. I tried calling but your phone went to voice mail. I'm glad you're here. I tried Dr. Brennan, but she didn't answer either. Since when do you turn your phone off? And where is Dr. Brennan, I went to her place first." Booth offered a slight shrug. He was more interested in the case that Camille has brought him.
"My battery must have died." He offers a weak excuse and Camille's eyebrows raise in question. "What have we got, Cam and did you send out the squint squad?" Camille steps into the kitchen of the small apartment and turns to face one of her oldest friends.
"I had too, I couldn't find Dr. Brennan, so I sent Wendell. You know she hates her crime scenes to be tampered with before she gets there. She left the lab a couple of hours ago. I would have thought she would be home. But then again, she has been acting strange lately. Is she seeing someone or something?" Booth let Cam finish her rant. He wasn't going to be the one to spill the beans about Bones.
Bones listens to the low murmur of voices filtering in from the other room but has finally found comfort in the haven of Booth's bed. Unfortunately, her pregnant bladder has other ideas. With a scowl, she removes the duvet with a kick. Slowly, she slides out of the bed and slips on her favorite grey FBI t-shirt that had been abandoned on the floor. She pads barefoot out of their bedroom, knowing that she may be giving up their secret.
"Booth? Is something wrong?" She asks as she makes her way down the small hallway to the open space of their apartment's living room. She stops dead in her tracks when met with the shocked, open mouthed expression on her boss Cam's face. Booth swings around to greet his love, a hesitant smile on his face. He nods his head slightly, letting her know that he's okay sharing. Brennan smiles slightly and turns her attention to Cam.
"Bones…there's a case, Cam has sent Wendell to the scene. I need to go get dressed." Booth explains ignoring Cam's stunned expression. Bones nods and takes another step towards Booth until she reaches his side.
"Brennan?" Cam manages to say as she takes in the mussed up hair, the slight redness of Dr. Brennan's cheeks, and the faded FBI t-shirt being the only clothing she was wearing. Cam's shrewd eyes also catch a glimpse of the small bulge of her abdomen that the t-shirt fails to disguise.
"Cam. What's wrong?" Bones exchanges a nervous look with Booth who just shrugs his shoulders and offers a slight smile. They weren't supposed to tell anyone just yet, it was supposed to be just their secret while they adjusted to first having a relationship with each other and the natural progression into becoming a family, but it looks like their time had just run out.
Cam takes another second to bring her stunned mind under control, but she can't help but let a wide smile escape.
"Seeley Joseph Booth. We've been friends for over fifteen years and I have to find out about you two to this way?" Booth wraps his arm around the woman he loves more than any other and just grins. Brennan slides her arm around his waist possessively, and gives him a gentle squeeze of encouragement, and that smile. Oh, the smile that gives everything away.
"We just wanted a little time to ourselves Cam." Bones remains quiet during the exchange between the old friends but can't drop the nervous grin and shifts from one foot to another, easing the pressure on her widening hips.
"So, how long has this been going on?" Cam demands as she mentally absorbs other facts, slowly putting them together. There were items lying around that could belong to no one other than Dr. Temperance Brennan. There is a box of muesli on the counter top, a tall bottle of folic acid and a very disturbing book with What to Expect written on its cover, displayed on the end table. Cam arches her eyebrow in disbelief.
"We've been together for almost four months." He answers sheepishly, like a guilty school boy.
"Really? Is there something else that you need to tell me because that bump wasn't there before." She questions as Bones' gaze follows Cam's to her slightly swollen abdomen and she covers their child with the palm of her hand, the brilliant doctor feels a blush rise to her cheeks.
"Well, I guess the cat is out of the gunny sack now Booth." She says with unmistaken delight.
"Bag, Bones. The cat is out of the bag." He gives her his special smile that makes her belly flip flop. It isn't missed by Cam.
"Bones and me, well we're having a baby." Cam's mouth forms a warm smile and she stars blankly at the pair.
"Wow. This is. Wow. That's why you threw up on the platform the other day? And why you've been all weird with the mysterious phone calls and texts?" Bones nods.
"Yes. That would have been Booth being over protective. Morning sickness has been tough, but it's getting better." Bones replies, meeting Cam's gaze. She is pleased to find her friend's deep brown eyes filled with nothing more than warmth and affection.
"Wow. I guess congratulations are in order. This is so great. I am so happy for you guys. You don't know how long we've been waiting for you two to come to your senses." Cam lets her words out in a rush before stepping forward to give a spontaneous hug. Bones feels tears well up from such an outward display of support and friendship. Hormones, she knows, but since she had opened her heart to Booth that awful night, she is constantly consumed with feelings and emotions that she had never allowed herself to experience. Bones feels herself respond to the hug for a moment before she lets go and Cam offers Booth the same.
"Well, as wonderful as this news is, we do have a case. We need to get a move on." Cam points to the still open door, but at the last second points her finger at the pair. A giant light bulb appears above her head.
"You guys' are living together aren't you?" This time it's Bones who answers with an affirmative nod.
"We have been since the beginning. We didn't see any point in taking things any slower. It took us long enough to get here." Her bright blue eyes find Booth's and she gives him that special smile that he had learned a long time ago was just for him. His heart swells with the knowledge that at long last, she was his.
Cam is blown away from the look between the two of them which is filled with such obvious love that she feels like an interloper. "Okay. So you two are obviously in love. Am I the first to know?" Cam asks excitedly. She is rarely the first to know anything, her no nonsense approach to work being almost as bad as Dr. Brennan's. Once again she is surprised as Bones stands on her tip toes and plants a small kiss on Booth's lips. He laughs and squeezes her to him tightly.
"We didn't want to let anyone know until the first trimester was over. In case something happened, but yes, you are the first to know. Well, Angela knows we're together, but she doesn't know about Baby B. Please don't say anything. I want to tell her first, and then we'll tell everyone." Bones explains. Cam's eyebrows arch with Dr. Brennan's casual use of a nickname.
"No guys. Don't worry, your secret's safe for now. Wow. I'm just so happy for you." Cam points her thumb behind her to the open hallway. "Okay then, well Seeley, get your clothes on. Brennan, are you coming?" Cam asks cautiously, not sure if she should be at crime scenes during the middle of the night.
"Of course." She replies. "It'll only take a minute to get dressed." Booth shakes his head negatively.
"No you're not Bones. You just got home and it's the middle of the night. You need to get some rest. You can quiz the squints in the morning." Booth's eyes bore into his lover's as he lowers his forehead to hers, demanding that she be sensible, but the love of his life wasn't always sensible, rational yes, but not always sensible.
"No Booth. I'm pregnant, not handicapped. I can go out there and have a look and then come back home to nap before I go in." Facinated, Cam watches the exchange between the pair. It wasn't anything new, this struggle of wills between them, but she is more interested in the new battle waging between them, and she isn't sure who will win.
"Look Bones. We talked about this remember?" He touches her cheek with the palm of his hand and never breaks his gaze. The pair had always been able to forget anyone else in the room when they were together, and Cam is touched to see such affection between them, but she finds herself surprised when Dr. Brennan's head gives a slight nod before lowering her gaze.
"Okay." Booth rewards her with a quick kiss on her lips.
"Okay?" He asks to be sure and she nods.
"I did agree to take a step back and trust the team more. I realize that this is about more than just me." Booth pulls her to him in a quick hug.
"Good. Thank you Bones. I'm going to get dressed and when you get to work tomorrow, your bones will be ready for you." Booth left the room to change into his standard FBI suit and tie.
"Cam, please supervise Mr. Bray for me. I believe that he is going to be a great asset in the field, but I'm not sure he is ready to be unsupervised." Cam nods, amazed at how easily Booth maneuvered her decision to stay in for the night.
"Of course Brennan. I agree with you completely. So tell me, how are you doing with all of these changes in your life?" She studied Camille for a long moment. Booth had taught her that all of her friends were just concerned for her and genuinely liked her, that's why they often asked her personal questions. They want to bond with her, and share in her life. She understands this now and smiles.
"It's been a challenging time. I'm just grateful that I have Booth. At least one of us knows what they are doing." Cam reaches for her friend's arm and pats it gently.
"He's very lucky to have you Bren and let me just say, that I am proud of you. I know it was hard for you to open your heart, but I don't think you will ever regret it. Will there be a wedding soon?" Cam can't help herself from asking.
"Booth would like that, I think that he doesn't want to have another child out of wedlock, but I don't believe that I need a piece of paper to cement our commitment to one another." Cam nods with understanding. "But, I find myself questioning my earlier beliefs in everything, not just marriage. Perhaps, there will come a day when marriage becomes an inevitability that I will embrace." That matter of fact statement stuns the medical examiner. Temperance Brennan had changed so much since the night that Booth had taken a bullet for her. It was remarkable.
"Well, if that day arrives Brennan, I would like to be the first to know. It's nice having something over Angela." She replies with a grin to a confused Temperance who slowly puts the bits together and smiles.
"Oh, you're talking about Angela's uncanny ability to find everything out first. I think that I would like that Cam, very much. If it happens, I will let you know first." Cam steps in and gives Dr. Brennan another hug just as Booth steps out of his bedroom in his black suit, ready to go to work.
"Am I interrupting something?" He asks cheekily as Cam steps back, wiping the wetness from the corner of her eyes.
"I believe we were engaging in girl-talk Booth, and we're finished." Brennan announces, proud that she had used a colloquial phrase correctly. Impressed, Cam's smile grows larger, if that was even possible.
"Let's go Special Agent Booth. That body is getting colder by the minute. Good night Brennan, and congratulations again. I promise I won't say a word until you're ready." Cam spins on her heel and heads to the open door. She turns to look back just long enough to witness the couple in a warm embrace.
"Go back to sleep Bones." He lowered his lips to hers and kisses her softly.
"I love you Booth, be safe." Booth lowers his hand to her abdomen in a caress.
"I love you too Bones." He then lowers his head to her tummy, making her giggle a girlish giggle and shake her head in wonder. "And I love you too Baby B." Booth reluctantly leaves his growing family and steps across the threshold, into the night.
"Hey Booth." She calls to the man she has pledged her heart and life to.
"Yeah Bones." He watches as the playful expression of her eyes turns to something much more heated.
"Don't take too long."
"I'm on it Bones." He mutters with a grin as he closes the door to go save the world. "I'm on it."
As Bones slides back into the safety and comfort of their bed, she reflects on the words she had written so long ago and realizes that these burdens were in fact, not burdens at all, but joys that allow her to fly.