Disclaimer: Don't own Bones.

A/n: I hope the quickness of this update makes up for the lack of alacrity the last time! Much love to jerseybones for the awesome and super-fast beta'ing! Here's to hoping the finale doesn't crush our hearts!

Epilogue: Shouted in the Silence

He woke up alone.

For just a second his heart raced faster, before his brain engaged and he rolled out of bed in search of his partner. Almost seven months later and there was still that tiny, unconscious second of anxiety whenever he woke up without her next to him.

Booth didn't have to search long, he knew where she was. Walking barefoot into the living room, he found her on the rocking chair Max had insisted they needed. He leaned against the entryway and watched her rocking slightly, one hand holding up a book, the other palm-down over her stomach.

"So, I guess your dad was right about the chair," he said, walking forward and dropping a kiss on top of her head and one on her swollen belly. "I keep waking up alone and finding you here."

"It is very soothing," she admitted, running her fingers through his sleep-tousled hair as he crouched in front of her. "I've been reading out loud to the baby and I didn't want to wake you."

"I know," he said softly, cupping his hands around her very pregnant belly. "So, she can really hear us now, huh?"

"Yes, now talking to her makes sense," Brennan teased; they had covered this particular ground from day one. Even when her stomach was completely flat, he had stretched out on the couch, head on her lap, talking to the baby. She had explained over and over that the baby wouldn't be able to hear until about the sixth month or so, but he had insisted and she really couldn't put up much of a fight when he turned those shining brown eyes on her.

Closing her own eyes now, Brennan smiled as he brushed his lips whisper-light over her tummy. "Hello, princess," Booth said earnestly. "Now, the first time you meet Mommy she might be screaming, but don't worry …"

"Booth!" Her eyes snapped open and she tugged on his hair playfully. He chuckled softly, brown eyes twinkling as he rested his cheek delicately on her belly.

"What are you reading her?" he inquired curiously.

"The collected poems of Edgar Allan Poe," Brennan answered, showing him the book.

"What?" He shifted a little to get a better look at the book, shaking his head in disbelief. "Jeez, Bones, that's some heavy reading."

"The poems are very lyrical, it gives my voice a rhythmic quality the baby can recognize," she defended quickly, voice going soft when she added, "Dad told me that Mom read me The Raven and Annabel Lee when I was still in the womb."

"I think I read The Raven in college," Booth commented casually, but his eyes had gone soft the second she mentioned her mom. "But not the other one."

"Annabel Lee," she repeated, fingertips whispering absently along his nape. "It's very romantic."

"Romantic?" he teased, palms stroking over her belly lovingly. "Ah, Bones, I've definitely been rubbing off on you."

Brennan rolled her eyes and he merely laughed, standing up and tugging on her hand.

"C'mon, Bones," he cajoled. "Come back to bed and read me Annabel Lee."

She considered protesting, but she was still tired—no surprise there—and going back to bed with him did sound appealing. Book in one hand, Brennan allowed him to guide her back to the bedroom.

With a contented sigh, Booth got back in bed, sitting with his back propped against the headboard. With a sigh of her own, she settled between his legs, her back against his warm, bare chest as his arms wound around her, palms resting automatically over her rounded stomach.

"I hate waking up without you," he admitted, nuzzling her hair and pressing his lips to the side of her neck.

"I know why," she said softly, closing her eyes in regret. "I know it's my fault …"

"What?" he frowned, aware she was winding herself up. "What are you talking about? I just like to wake up with you in my arms."

"Yes, I know," she conceded. "But I also know that all those mornings when I left … I know they hurt you and when you first wake up your mind is still a little disoriented and if you wake up alone, it might take you a moment to …"

"Okay," he interrupted. "Who are you and what have you done with my partner?"

"Booth …"

"That's psychology, Bones," he pointed out. "Since when do you put any stock in psychology anyway?"

"I don't," she said quickly.

"Of course you don't. It's a soft science," Booth reminded her teasingly.

"Booth …" she sighed. "Just … don't brush it aside, please."

"Okay, look, you're right," he admitted, resting his chin on her shoulder. "It did hurt and I know it hurt you too, which kills me, Bones."

"Booth, don't-"

"Let me finish," he said softly. "You're right, when you first wake up, the mind is not fully engaged and my heart races a little bit when I wake up without you. Not because of what you think, okay? But because for that one second, my mind almost can't comprehend that it's real; the last seven months and the six before that, okay?"

Brennan turned her head, pressing her cheek against his shoulder, nodding slowly in understanding.

"But when I wake up next to you, it's definitely real," Booth explained, dropping a soft kiss on the crown of her head. "There's no second of confusion, you know. It's all real, all of it. Those six months of silence and the night we said to hell with silence and every night after."

"Sometimes, I still can't believe we made a baby that night," she whispered faintly, placing one hand over his on her stomach.

"I'll say," Booth chuckled as he remembered. "You totally freaked out, Bones."

"I did not!"

"Baby, you were almost hysterical," he recalled, kissing her shoulder tenderly.

"That is false," she gasped in outrage. "I have never been hysterical in my life."

"You wanted Caroline to prosecute your birth control manufacturer," Booth reminded her. "And you wanted to sue them for … what was it again … product failure, right?"

"Shut up," she growled, pointedly raising the book and flipping it open. "You want me to read this or not?"

"By all means," he chuckled, raising one hand from her tummy and sweeping her hair to the side, better exposing the column of her neck.

Brennan read the first two stanzas of the poem, but gave up before starting the third.

"I … I can't concentrate when you do that, Booth," she complained breathlessly, throwing the book aside.

"What? This?" he whispered innocently in her ear, bringing his hands to the thin straps of her lilac nightgown and tugging them down.

"Booth …"

"Mmm?" he murmured distractedly, running open-mouthed kisses up and down her neck. Booth pushed her nightgown down around her waist, his hands immediately cupping her oh-so-sensitive breasts gently.

"Is this … ohh … is this why you wanted me to come back to bed?" she asked, placing her hands on his thighs and rocking back against his erection.

"No," he groaned, sweeping his hands down her body and fisting the silky fabric bunched around her waist. "This is just what happens when I have you in my arms … oh please, take this off."

"Well, because you asked so politely," she teased, wiggling the nightgown down her hips and discarding it over the side of the bed.

"These too," he breathed, hooking his fingers on her panties and lowering the scrap of lace as well. "Oh yeah." Booth made a little satisfied sound in the back of his throat as he divested her of the last stitch of clothing, his hands skimming lightly over the inside of her thighs. "Oh, Bones, I love getting you naked."

"Touch me," she moaned softly, head falling back against his shoulder.

"Say my name, baby," he growled playfully, nipping one earlobe lightly.

"Booth, c'mon, don't tease," Brennan panted, thighs falling open in invitation. "Touch me, touch me … ohhhhhh."

He splayed one hand protectively on her stomach and slipped the other one between her legs. His middle and index fingers slid easily inside her and Brennan wound an arm around his neck, hips moving on his pumping fingers.

"That feels so good," she breathed heavily, her pregnant, over-sensitized body nearly vibrating in his arms. "Oh yes … yeeesss, just like that … Booth, oh my god, I'm so close …"

The hand she had around his nape gripped tighter and he turned his head to kiss the inside of her arm. Her free hand came up to cup one breast and Booth stroked up from her stomach, palming her neglected breast and rubbing the tight peak with his thumb. Between her legs, his fingers stroked all the way out, smoothing over her clit, before plunging back in slickly.

"So sexy," he whispered hotly in her ear, rocking forward a little. "So hot and soft and …oh baby, yeah, come for me."

For a second, her body stilled, suspended in that plateau right before pleasure shuddered through her, making her quake uncontrollably. Brennan didn't even realize she was saying his name over and over again as he settled her back down with soothing kisses along the slope of her shoulder.

Gently, his fingers slipped out of her body and she whimpered a little, eyes still closed. Booth popped his fingers in his mouth and sucked them clean, moaning softly at the taste of her. The sound made her open sleepy eyes and rest her hands on his pajama-covered thighs.

"You're so hard, Booth," she noted huskily, rocking back into him.

"You make me cra-" His words ended on a gasp as he grabbed her hips, helping her little rocking motion. "Oh baby, god yes, feels so damn good."

He buried his face in her neck, grinding her back into him and letting her scent and her body and her sharp little nails digging into his thighs ratchet up the delicious pressure.

"Say my name, Booth," she ordered, voice low and seductive the way she knew drove him crazy.

"Temperance!" he gasped, shuddering in relief, opening his mouth on the tender spot between neck and shoulder and sucking on it. "Oh, Bones. Bones, Bones, Bones."

He chanted the word softly, wrapping his arms around her, but as always, careful not to squeeze too tightly. Eyes closed, Booth rested his head back against the bed's headboard, his fingertips drawing circles gently over her swollen belly.

"Mmm …we're kinda sweaty, sticky messes, Bones," he said lazily, leaning forward and swiping the back of her shoulder with his tongue.

"Angela once told me that if it wasn't messy, it wasn't being done right," Brennan recalled with a laugh.

"Well, we're definitely doing it right, then," Booth chuckled, shifting a little and realizing that the mess inside his pajama pants was likely going to get uncomfortable very soon. "Hey, you want me to draw you a bath?" he offered.

"Mmm …" she mumbled sleepily, feeling lulled by the soft caress of his hands on her stomach. "In a little while … I don't think I can move; I'm so comfortable."

Booth smiled at the soft, slightly slurred voice. He loved getting her like this, all warm and pliant and oozing satisfaction.

Brennan's eyes drifted shut in delicious lethargy, her voice barely audible when she whispered, "I love you."

Soft and sleepy, the words still hit him like a blow. They always did, leaving him nearly breathless.

"I know," Booth murmured. And he did.

He'd known long before the night they made their baby that she did. For those six months they hadn't said a word, but he couldn't hide it and neither could she. Because there were some things that could always be heard bright and clear, even when shouted in the silence.

-x-

p.s. Thank-you so much to everyone for sticking with this story despite the posting gaps! Every review, comment, and PM was truly awesome and absolutely kept me motivated to finish this! Hope u take a sec and comment on this final chapter and more importantly hope you've enjoyed the ride! :)