First of all, let me say you are awesome. You have no idea how happy I was when I saw the many reviews in my inbox. So happy I had to go right away to Word and write the next chapter… so… here it is. I hope you enjoy it.
B&B&B
Booth was speechless for a few seconds. He felt like he was seeing a ghost, a ghost from a part of his life he still wasn't sure was real. But she was there, her perfect blonde hair just as shiny and wavy as it was when he met her in Afghanistan. He always wondered how she got to keep her hair looking like that traveling all the time and staying in places where sometimes there wasn't even water around. Another one of those dark secrets women kept…
He thought that seeing her again would bring back some feelings: anger, regret… love? Was it really what he felt for her? Because now that he was thinking straight again, he felt like laughing at the thought of saying what he felt for Hannah was love, at least if he compared it with the way he felt about Bones. Now, looking at his ex-girlfriend standing at the door of his office, he felt nothing. He wasn't ever mad at her for turning his proposal down. Hell, he probably should thank her for that. Not that he thought he would ever go through with the wedding thing, not if Brennan was still around. He realized that what made him mad wasn't the fact that Hannah didn't accept his offer of marriage, but the fact that her refusal hurt his already bruised ego. It brought back memories from the time not that longer ago when another woman told him "no". A woman who owned and would always own his heart.
"Hannah." He said finally, the surprise still obvious on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Seeley, yeah, it's very nice to see you too." She said with a side smile.
"I'm sorry, but I have to admit I wasn't expecting to see you anytime soon."
"Why? Because you kicked me out of your house after I didn't accept to marry you?" Her tone was playful. That was Hannah… she never took anything seriously. It was one of the things about her that caught his attention. She and Bones were so different that way.
"I'm sorry about that." Booth apologized sincerely. He knew he'd been an asshole with her. He'd offered his apartment to her and when she disagreed with him in one thing, he didn't even give her time to find another place to live. "I should have given you more time to find another place."
"I'm used to pack quickly, Seeley. I'm a nomad, remember?"
Oh, yes. He remembered that, alright. Seemed that he only forgot that tiny detail about her when he thought it would be wise to propose to her. That was what he deserved for getting drunk with a twelve-year-old.
"I was covering the war in Iraq, but I was called back to DC and I thought we should meet. I don't like the way things ended with us. We had such a nice thing going and then you hated me."
"I didn't hate you."
"Well, then you were really mad at me." She stepped closer to him, putting on a cute pout. "What do you say, tonight, you and me… we go out to have some drinks… and then we can talk… maybe even dance a little…"
She was flirting with him. Exactly the way she did when they were in Afghanistan.
God, he hated to dance. He was clumsy and he felt like he had two left feet. He liked dancing with Bones, though, because she was just as bad as he was. Also, he loved to have an excuse to just hold her close and smell her hair. That brought a smile to his face.
"I'll take that as a yes?" She opened her million watts smile when she saw his grin.
"What? No!" He snapped back to reality. Brennan promised to make him dinner tonight and then they would talk about baby names. He wouldn't change a night together with Bones, good food and their baby for anything in this world. Especially not for a night with Hannah Burley. "I'm having dinner with Bones tonight."
"Oh, Temperance." She exclaimed as if she just remembered the existence of his partner. And she used to call Bones her friend. Laughable. "How is she?"
He smiled even wider than before as he remembered how his partner looked that morning, in a beautiful blue maternity dress that did nothing but praise her adorable baby bump and glowing like never before. She was just incredibly gorgeous.
And she was his.
"Bones is great. Better than great."
It was then that Hannah noticed the sonogram picture next to Parker's picture on his desk. Weird. Why did Seeley keep his son's sonogram picture after all those years? She remembered he liked antiques, but that was awkward. Anyway…
"Well, I'd love if she'd come too…" She suggest, not realizing she was actually inviting herself to have dinner with them. "It would be great to talk and catch up…"
Booth was about to start to apologize again when Brennan herself opened the door carrying a bunch of papers in her hand. He was not expecting to see her until the evening, but he didn't mind at all her surprise afternoon visit. He never got tired of seeing her. And she looked even more beautiful than she did when he dropped her off at the Jeffersonian after her appointment.
He forgot for a moment the other occupant in the office.
"Temperance!"
"Hannah." Brennan creased her forehead confused. "I wasn't expecting to see you… you never answered my e-mails."
She tried to communicate with her after she left. She thought they were friends after all.
"I'm sorry…" Hannah was starting to explain the lack of response to her e-mails when she noticed the anthropologist's swollen belly and fell in a loss of words, which was quite rare, it should be pointed out. She was a journalist. A hell of a good one, by the way. "Wow."
"I know, I'm huge." Brennan looked down at her stomach self-consciously and sighed. "I'm not having not twins, I swear."
"You're pregnant!" Hannah couldn't believe it. She never really imagined Dr. Temperance Brennan as the mommy type.
"Yes, I am." Brennan raised one eyebrow. She thought it was really obvious that she was carrying a child. What else could have happened? She just gained 20 pounds and it was all concentrated in her stomach?
"I didn't know you were dating." Last time they went out together, all the guys that got near them were either creeps or just not interesting.
Well, of course you don't, we didn't talk to each other in over nine months.
Hannah looked again at Brennan's stomach and tried to guess how far along she was. Seven, maybe eight months? She must have gotten pregnant just after she left.
And then it hit her when she remembered the sonogram picture next to Parker's on his desk.
Oh. My. God
It wasn't Parker's sonogram picture. It was Temperance's baby sonogram picture. And it could only mean one thing…
"Oh my God." She spoke it aloud this time, her eyes going back and forth between Booth and Brennan. "Does it mean… you two…"
"Are together?" Booth completed for her, then walked towards Brennan and wrapped his arms around her. "Yes, we are."
Hannah smiled, despite herself. A part of her always knew Seeley never gave himself completely to her. He assure her that all the feelings he might have had for his partner in the past remained in the past, but now looking at the two of them, looking so happy together, she knew it was a lie. He never got over Temperance. More than ever, she knew she made the right decision turning down his proposal.
"You guys didn't waste any time, did you?" There wasn't malice in her voice and she was actually smiling. "Well, what can I say besides 'Congratulations'?"
Brennan felt like explaining herself, like telling Hannah the pregnancy wasn't planned and it actually happened at their first time together, that they waited a reasonable amount of time to get together after she left. But then she realized that it was absolutely none of Hannah's business.
"Thank you." What else could she say? "We are very happy."
"I can see that." Hannah smiled. She realized she was actually happy for them too. "Do you know what you're having?"
"A girl." Booth quickly told her, his proud obvious on his face. "It's a baby girl, we just found out this morning."
"But he's been calling her a "she" since I told him about the pregnancy." Brennan said. "He's been convinced the fetus was female since the beginning."
Fetus. He hated when she called the baby that.
"The baby, Bones. I thought we were making progress with that!" She's been calling the baby "baby" instead of fetus lately, after his non-stopping complaints on the subject. He didn't get her sudden turn back to clinical-Brennan.
"I told you dozens of times she'll only be a baby after she's born, Booth."
"So… a girl. I feel already sorry for her when she hit her teenage years." Hannah commented.
"Why?" Brennan immediately jumped to overprotective mommy mode.
"Because knowing Seeley, he'll threaten to shoot every single boy who tries to take her out on a date." Hannah let out a laugh and Brennan couldn't help chuckling too.
"That's true. He's such an alpha male." She rolled her eyes playfully. "Lucky thing she'll have me."
"Yeah, right. Laugh all you want, but no stupid boy is going to get handsy with my baby girl. And I'm pretty sure Max won't mind backing me up when that time comes."
"You're not going to involve my father in your silly jealous father behavior."
"We'll discuss that when the time comes. Thankfully we won't have to worry about that for at least the next twelve years."
Feeling like a third wheel in this conversation, Hannah decided it was time to go.
"I have to go, I have a meeting with my editor in half an hour." She started walking towards the door. "It was nice seeing you two. Congratulations again."
And with that, she was gone.
After a minute of awkward silence, Booth leaned down to give Brennan a quick kiss on the lips.
"So, what did I do to earn a visit of my favorite girls in this world in the middle of the afternoon?" He patted her belly affectionately.
"I hope you were referring to me and the baby."
"What? Of course I mean you and the baby!" Why on earth would she think he meant Hannah?
"A body came to the lab this morning and autopsy showed it was murder. I thought you'd like to take a look at it." She passed him the papers.
"You could have called me, Bones, I would have gone to the lab. You know I don't like you driving around town this far along in the pregnancy…"
He didn't like her driving around pregnant or was he bothered that she interrupted his meeting with Hannah?
Stop.
She was behaving irrationally, feeling jealous of Hannah, she was aware of that. But she couldn't help feeling annoyed by the sight of the pretty blonde in Booth's office. Especially now when Hannah was still glowing and shining in all her perfect Barbie beauty and she was all… well… big and swollen.
"It's perfectly safe for me to drive, Booth. I enjoy going out for a while, I'm getting really uncomfortable as the time passes. The bones had to be cleaned and I had nothing to do but wait." She frowned. "Well, I have to go back to the lab, Mr. Bray must have finished with the bones by now."
Booth noticed something was bothering her and he really hoped it wasn't what he was sure it was.
"I'll drive you back."
"No, I came with my car."
"I can take a cab back to the Hoover."
"Booth, that's really unnecessary. I'll be fine, it's just a few blocks." She assured him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay." He leaned down for another kiss before she left. "Call me when you get there."
Brennan rolled her eyes.
"Bones…"
"Fine, I'll call."
"I'll pick you up at 5."
"Booth…"
"Five, Bones, don't even try to argue."
She rolled her eyes again, shook her head defeated and left.
B&B&B
Will Brennan tell Booth what is bothering her?
Is Hannah really gone for good?
What will they name the baby? (I accept suggestions)
You know, while writing this story I just realized there are sooooooo many things Booth and Brennan left unsaid and need discussion. I hope they'll bring some of those things up next season.
And, let's not forget… ONLY 3 DAYS UNTIL SEASON SEVEN?
Can you believe it?
We are SURVIVORS!
P.s: Anyone read this chapter hearing Hannah's nasal voice as she talked? Because I did and, even though she didn't talk aloud, my ears kind of hurt. =X