The room was silent.

Aside from the soft sounds of breathing, the room was silent.

Aside from the gentle taping of his shoe on the carpet tiles, the room was silent.

Aside from the steady tick of a wall clock somewhere behind them, the room was silent.

Aside from the intermittent click of a pen, and the low battery tone of a cell phone, the room was silent.

"Both of you are prepared to spend another hour of your, might I say, valuable time sat in silence. Again?" Dr Lance Sweets, respected Psychologist, sighed in frustration at the patients sat together on his couch opposite him. Shaking his head softly he considered that he perhaps wasn't quite as well respected as he ought to be.

Special Agent Seeley Booth glanced across at the Forensic Anthropologist next to him. She was resting her chin in the palm of her hand, lost in her own thoughts. "We are." He smiled at the therapist. "I think we suffer from a lack of silence. These sessions are a great opportunity to catch up."

"Dr Brennan?" Sweets pleaded. "Is there nothing at all you would like to discuss?" He sighed as his words failed to pull her from her internal musings. Sweets stood and pulled out a cardboard box from under a side table. He deposited it in front of the two partners before sitting back down.

"No way Sweets. You know I hate role play."

"Unless you have any issues to discuss then I insist we utilize the time available."

"Bones!" Booth hissed. The therapist noted how quickly her attention refocused by Booths simple prompt. "He want's us to role play. Unless we have issues to talk about. You know how much I hate role play."

She looked at him curiously. "Well… I suppose there was something that I wanted to say. But I thought it might be more suited to lunch conversation at the diner later…."

"Role play Bones!" Booth interrupted.

"OK, if you're sure." She took a deep breath. "I have decided, after much consideration, that I would very much like to..." She paused, glancing between the two men. "...have a baby."

Booth looked at her in surprise.

"I was quite prepared to take on the commitment of adopting a dog, and it struck me that a child would have similar needs.

"Bones, you can't compare a dog to a baby!"

"I really don't see why not. They are both mammals that have a complete dependency on their primary carer."

"So what? You gonna adopt some African orphan or just stick to a regular American?"

"No! I plan on conceiving a child."

"Are you sure this is what you want? I mean, you've always been so...."

"It was Andy's birthday last week and it has made me think very carefully about the options available to me. I only have a few more years of optimum child bearing age."

"You really need to be honest with yourself about your reasoning Dr Brennan." Sweets made them aware of his continuing presence.

"My maternal instincts are becoming quite intrusive to my cognitive function."

Booth nodded. "OK, I get that. So how are you going to y'know?"

"Conceive? The usual way."

"With a guy?"

"Biologically, it is necessary for semen to be involved. I thought you would be aware of that from your own experiences."

"Ha! Bones made a joke – Not funny" he retorted dryly.

"You're the one who already has a child."

"Really Bones, you're just going to go out and pick up some random guy in a bar?"

"No Booth, of course not. Aside from the STD risk of procreating with a stranger, I have to consider that the genetic contribution from the male has to be complementary to my own."

"So, a sperm donor then? Some genius with multiple doctorates"

Booth rolled his eyes at Sweets, when he noticed the kid was sat pretty smugly. The shrink knew - as soon as Dr Brennan had suggested that the father should be complementary to herself - exactly where the conversation was going.

"The trouble with a donor is you never know what you are getting until it's too late."

"I'm not sure I'm following. We've sort of covered all your options here Bones. Unless we're talking immaculate conception…. Oh God you're not?…"

Temperance rolled her eyes. "Do I even need to begin explaining how absurd you sound Booth?"

"What am I supposed to think? Tell me.. just… tell me what is going on in that head of yours."

She looked down at her own hands. "Actually Booth I was hoping that you might…" Her head tipped up and she caught his gaze. He had never seen her look so vulnerable. Was she scared that he would say no? How could he deny her this? How could he deny her anything? Her lip began to quiver and he looked away only to find himself facing Sweets expectant expression.

Booth couldn't deal with this here. He rose to his feet with purpose and strode out of Sweets office. Brennan fixed her gaze on the now closed door.

"You should follow him Dr Brennan."

"Why? I have obviously offended him by my suggestion. Or the idea of me as a mother is too absurd to comprehend." She fought back the tears.

"You're wrong. Perhaps you need to consider Agent Booths own feelings before pursuing this course of action. You need to talk to him. And soon."

oooooo

It took Booth a little over ten minutes to reach the steps of the Washington Monument. On cold windy day's like today it was always quiet. And that made it a good place to sit and think.

She wanted him to father her child. In any other circumstances this would be a dream come true. But all she wanted him for was his breading potential. This was worse than his situation with Parker and Rebecca. Bones knew how much it hurt him not to have parental rights. And now she was asking him to become a glorified sperm donor, who would have to sit back and allow jackass after jackass to come into her life, play the daddy role until she realised they had no future. No. He was not prepared to allow this to happen.

Rubbing his head with his open palms he realised he should have opted for the role-play.