The Joy in the Bundle (Ch. 3)
Title: The Joy in the Bundle
Author: youngerdrgrey
Pairing: Brennan/Booth
Summary: Snapshots into the lives of Brennan, Booth, Parker, and the baby as the years go on.
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights for the characters and the world go to their owners (like FOX). I, in no way, believe - or would lead others to believe - that I own Bones. I am merely a fan trying to survive the hiatus.
Author's Note: I am really going to try to post one every day until the new season begins - or until I run out of snapshot ideas. I have a few written up so I should be covered for this week. I'm in the market for a baby name currently; any ideas?
Prompt:#38 - Booth telling the baby he knew right from the beginning.
THE JOY IN THE BUNDLE - CH.3
"The Start in the Dream"
He had dreamed of that moment for years. After Parker was born, Booth had wanted the chance to sit on the edge of his love's bed and tell the story of them. It was never right with Rebecca. He eventually sat Parker down and told him about the two of them, but they both knew the end of that story. Booth and Rebecca didn't get married and didn't live happily ever after. There were no fireworks in the sky or grand gestures of eternal love. They were just two people who had something and lost it. For a while, Booth had worried that he and Brennan would be the same story. He feared nothing would ever happen between them. And then it did.
He sat besides a slumbering Brennan with their baby in his arms. The tiny rise and fall of her little chest comforted him. She was really real. The last nine months were real. More than that, everything he had been feeling culminated into this little family with the love of his life. He smiled just thinking about it.
He wanted to tell his daughter everything, about the world and her parents. He wanted her to be safe and happy and protected from all harm. So he began that moment he dreamed about. He whispered so as not to wake up Brennan.
"Hi, honey. It's your dad. Your mama is sleeping right now because you tired her out. It's okay. She never sleeps enough anyway. She's great - your mom. You know, the second I saw her, up there, lecturing to all of those mini-squints about removing flesh with bugs, I knew. Something inside of me just knew," he said.
Beside him, Brennan stirred, mumbling, "That's a chemical response to becoming aroused, Booth."
Booth turned towards her, careful not to jostle the precious cargo in his arms. He showed his surprise and disapproval with his face. Who said stuff like that to a baby?
"Bones!" He chided. "Not in front of the baby. We say nothing even related to s-e-x around this one until she's thirty-five."
Brennan sat up then with a shake of her head.
"That's ridiculously unreasonable. If we don't educate her, she could get into bad situations and wind up pregnant at fourteen," she said.
"We don't have to start now," he concluded. She yawned and his mind was brought back to the first thing she said upon waking up. He added, "and it wasn't arousal."
Curiously, Brennan asked, "Were you not aroused when you first saw me because I certainly-"
"The baby, Bones," he reminded. He even lifted her up. The sight of her softened Brennan a bit, but she retained her stance.
"She cannot understand us at this age, Booth. She will not recall this conversation or your story of love. Most people cannot remember anything that happened earlier than two years old, if that," Brennan told him.
"Just because she can't remember it doesn't mean it didn't happen," he said. His tone took on a harder edge than he meant it to. He chanced a glance at Brennan whose eyebrows had furrowed slightly.
"Was that comment about your father?" she asked. Booth's whole body stiffened then.
"He's definitely not mentioned in front of the baby."
"Booth-"
"No, Bones. Happy talks for the baby. Happy talks."
Brennan looked away while he turned his focus back to his lap. She hated when he shut down. He was supposed to be the open one. He started the small talk and the meaningless conversations that she remembered as being some of the best she'd had in a while. He was the strong one. She hated when she hurt him. She hated when he hurt himself more.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't be, just keep it positive," he said.
Positive. She could tell her side of the story. Booth would certainly like that. It would be sort of like telling Sweets, only without having to see the wounded puppy dog whose tail got caught in a door frame look every time they paused.
She stated. "I knew that... your dad would be important. I wanted to put him on paper when I saw him, immortalize the confidence and broad shoulders and cockiness."
Booth chuckled triumphantly.
"Ah ha, Andy is me!" he exclaimed.
"Andy is inspired by you, physically," she reasoned.
Booth's eyebrows danced suggestively as he said, "We all know what Andy does physically."
"That's sex, Booth. You said no mentions in front of the baby," she said. He shrugged.
He dismissed that by saying, "Eh, she won't remember it anyway."
Kind of like any good dream.
Thank you for reading. Any and all suggestions/prompts are welcomed along with your thoughts on the story or snapshot. Would you care to share? Also what do you think they should name the baby?