Hello guys! This is my first fanfic back on the site, and I thought I'd start with a story that I wrote when I was fourteen! Now, I'm 17, I have more writing experience and I've upped my game a little bit, so I'm excited to share this updated and rewritten story for you all.

This has a lot of angst at the beginning and some toward the end, but there will be fluff! You've just got to hang in there with me!

Prologue

12 Years Ago

Temperance Brennan wiped the drops away from her tear-stained face as she angrily wrote the letter that would arguably change her life forever.

To the man I thought I knew:

While normally I wouldn't do this to someone I trusted (or thought I trusted) I thought that the best way to get closure would be through a letter. Because if I talked to you face to face, then I might do something that both of us would regret.

I loved you. I loved you like I never thought I could love someone before. Until Christine came along. But you obviously didn't feel the same. You may love Christine now, but by the time this proceeding ends, she'll probably despise you even more than I do.

I hope you and Hannah are very happy together. Don't try to contact us. My phone's been disconnected, and Christine will have no memory of who her father was.

Brennan

The last tear fell from her eyes onto the letter as she sealed it and wrote his name on the envelope. She took one glance at the sleeping figure on the couch, where he had wisely decided to spend his night, then at the bags packed by the door.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the last room on the left at the end of the hall. A small snore with a little whistle to it greeted her as she tiptoed in quietly. Brennan watched the young auburn haired child, wearing her nightgown and socks, in her crib, sleeping, beginning to wonder if she was doing the right thing, in taking their daughter with her. Then she remembered how she felt when she saw her parents drive away for the last time, and couldn't even fathom doing that to her own daughter. She took ten different outfits and three nightgowns and threw them in a small duffel bag on the floor. When Brennan had all of her daughter's belongings that she knew she couldn't live without, like her stuffed dolphin that reminded her of her late grandmother, she took the bag on one shoulder and carefully picked up young Christine.

Christine stirred quietly as Brennan took a final glance at the bedroom and shut the door. Christine began to mutter in her sleep as her eyes fluttered open.

"Mommy?" Christine whispered.

"It's okay, baby. Just go back to sleep," Brennan muttered quietly as she placed the child in her car seat. She returned to the bedroom for one last walkthrough and found the box that she had been hunting for. Every moment from their relationship that mattered to her was in that box. Some of it was actual mementos, like their wedding announcement, and some of it was silly stuff, like a coffee cup from the stand they had met at when they returned from their trips over four years ago. Brennan tried not to recall that particular memory, because it reminded her of a certain blonde tramp that had ruined her life.

She took the box outside with the rest of her belongings out to her car. When she had everything else in the car, she took Christine, who had fallen back asleep in her carseat, and buckled her in quietly. Finally, she walked over to the sleeping figure on the couch and knelt down.

His face, though sleeping, seemed to tell her not to do it. She couldn't help but remember everything about them, about what they were.

The way his hand fit perfectly in hers the day they left for Afghanistan and Maluku.

The night when he finally confessed his feelings for her, and she the same about eight months later.

The night all the walls came crashing down and they gave in to each other.

The night she changed his life forever by telling him she was pregnant.

The night he proposed and the night they said 'I Do' in front of 200 people.

The night Christine was born.

Brennan couldn't help but remember their wedding, and his vows, which he had written himself, and her favorite line. "I will be there for you, just like I was when we were partners, but this time, it means more knowing that you'll be there waiting for me when I've had a long day just to tell me you love me. I will love you and our daughter more than anyone you could possibly imagine." And Brennan was foolish enough to believe him.

She leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the forehead and reached in for one more tender kiss on his softly chapped lips. She began to cry harder as she let go and realized that it was time for her to stand on her own.

She slipped off the ring, a 14 K gold sparkler that looked similar to her mom's wedding ring. She moved her fingers around, getting used to the feeling without it on. She put it on top of the envelope, looked at the house, full of their memories, and shut the door behind her.

She slipped into the car, and as she turned it on, Christine awoke once more.

"Mommy, where goin?" Christine asked in her small voice.

"We're going on a trip, Christine," Brennan answered, not completely sure how to explain what was happening to her three-year-old.

"Where's dada?" Christine replied.

Brennan bit her lip to keep herself from crying as she answered, "He's not coming with us, baby," as she pulled out of the driveway and left her life behind.

I told you this was angsty, but it will get better!

Coming up next:

Thirteen years later, we have a curious teenager who's anxious to know who her father is, and a simple vacation could change it...