Booth woke up with a start, and for a moment he was confused about what woke him up. He lay still for a moment as he listened, and then he heard it. The baby cry sounded pitiful in the night and after taking a moment to rub the sleep from his eyes, he threw the covers back and climbed out of bed. As he headed down the hallway toward Jacob's room, a second cry started. Christine was awake and not happy about it. He paused in the hallway, not sure which child to get first when he heard Temperance murmuring in the baby's room. He made his way to his daughter's room and picked her up, trying to soothe her back to sleep. He hummed a bit, rocking back and forth as he felt her head growing heavy on his shoulder. Not ready to put her down just yet, he made his way to Jacob's room to see how Temperance was doing.

He stood in the doorway and watched as she rocked in a chair with the baby at her breast. She sang to him quietly, soothing the little man into contentment. Booth smiled. Was there anything better in life than this? Temperance turned to look at him and gave him an exhausted smile.

"I'm sorry the kids woke you up. I know you need sleep." Booth walked into the room and bent down to kiss Brennan on the lips.

"Hey, you need more sleep than I do baby. I'm going to put Chris down and when you're done I'll give you a massage. How does that sound?"

"I'm not the one with the bad back."

"No, but you are the one that popped a kid out about a week ago," Booth said and kissed her again. "Don't be too long." He left her in the room as he went to put his daughter to bed. It was tough to truly describe how content he was with his life. He had the woman he loved, children who made him proud and a great job. He was just happy damn it. Smiling, he put Christine down and headed back to his room. He laid down, waiting for Brennan and began thinking about everything that had happened recently.

Finding his mother was a surprise. He'd long ago thought that she'd died since she'd never contacted him after she left. Now she was back in his life and it was up to him to decide in what capacity she existed there. He wanted to keep her there, but he still felt hurt by her abandonment. His thoughts were interrupted as Temperance came back to bed. He sat up and waited until she settled next to him before he put his hands on her back and began to knead the muscles.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are?" Booth asked as he heard her moan.

"I don't feel beautiful. I feel fat and sore."

"No," he said, "motherhood looks good on you. I think you get prettier every day."

"While I'm sure that you're just saying that to make me feel better, I have to say that I appreciate the sentiment."

"You know I would never say something to you that I didn't mean." He leaned down and kissed her on the shoulder.

"Booth?"

"Yeah Bones?"

"I was thinking that I would take Angela up on the offer to throw us a 'meet the baby' party. She insists it's the proper thing to do since we didn't have a baby shower."

"If that's what you want to do then I don't see why not."

"How would you feel about having your mother and sister there?"

Booth was quiet for a long time as he contemplated her question. Did he want his mother and sister there? His mother was going through a tough time with the loss of her son, and maybe this would be a way to help her start to heal.

"Baby, if you want to invite them, then I'd be happy to have them here."

"Are you sure because I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I'll be fine. You invite who you want." She smiled up at him and closed her eyes, quickly falling to sleep under his talented hands.

XxXxX

Grace sat in her office, her hands over her face as she tried to fight off the absolute weariness that set upon her. She'd spoken with several mortuaries and cemeteries to get quotes for her son's burial. It was mentally exhausting but she had the information she needed to arrange the funeral.

"Mom, are you okay? Do you need anything?" Jennifer asked from the doorway. Grace looked back at her and gave a sad smile.

"No thank you, I'm okay."

"You let me know if you need anything." Jennifer left the room at her mother's nod. Grace sighed and closed her eyes, opening them when her phone rang. It took all of her will to pick up the call.

"Hello?"

"Yes, may I please speak with Mrs. Hawley?"

"Who is this?"

"My name is Temperance Brennan, I'm Seeley Booth's fiancee."

"Oh goodness dear, you shouldn't be using up your energy calling me. You should be resting."

"I assure you Mrs. Hawley I'm perfectly capable of making a call. I admit that I am more tired than usual but under the circumstances it's to be expected."

"I appreciate the explanation Temperance. What can I do for you my dear?"

"I realize that you're going through a grieving process right now, but I was hoping that you and your daughter would like to join us for dinner."

"I would love to take you up on your offer." Grace smiled at the hesitant sound in the anthropologist's voice. Relief was palpable on the other end of the line when Brennan spoke again.

"Then we'll see you this evening for dinner." Brennan gave her address to Grace and got off of the line. Grace felt an odd sense of peace come over her. While Noah was no longer around, she was slowly getting the rest of her family back.

XxXxX

"Booth, can you get the door please," Brennan yelled from Jacob's room as she tended to the screaming new born. Booth trotted over to the door after checking the food in the kitchen.

"Honey, how many people did you invite for dinner," he called back, having noticed the amount of food she had cooking.

"Just some family." Booth grumbled at her evasion of a response. Jared and Padme were already there at the house, as was Max Keenan. He knew that Russ and Amy weren't in town any longer, so they couldn't be there. He frowned for a moment. Who else would she have invited? The answer came when he opened the door.

"Mom? Jennifer?" Of course she would include them, he thought as he offered Grace a hug. He stepped aside to let them in, watching as Jennifer's son ran straight over to where Christine was playing. "It's good to see the two of you."

"I must say that I was quite surprised to get Temperance's invitation, but it's definitely a welcome distraction."

"How is all of the planning going, have you made the arrangements?" They walked into the living room to find Max, Jared and Padme looking at them. Grace's eyes met Jared's as she answered Seeley.

"Yes, I have all of the details finalized." She glanced briefly at Booth and returned her attention to Jared. "Hello Jared."

"Mom." He nodded to her and cleared his throat as he stood up. "I don't believe you've been properly introduced. This is my fiancee Padme. Padme, this is my mother, Grace and sister, Jennifer."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," Padme said as she stood and hugged both women, surprising everyone. "You'll have to tell me what Jared was like when he was little. All I ever get are stories where Seeley is saving the day."

"Well, that's about all I have too. Seeley just took over as dad when Jared was born. He was always such a charming little boy though."

"Then not that much has changed." Padme let go of Grace and led her to the couch. The woman sat down as Jared gave up his seat to Jennifer. Max watched everything going on quietly, moving to stand next to Jared.

"Hey kid, I know this is probably hard for you but give her a chance."

"Why does it matter to you whether or not I talk to my mother?" Jared asked Max as the older man kept his eyes on Grace.

"Because I've been in her place before. No matter what happened in the past, she loves you."

"You aren't going to try and put moves on my mom are you?" Booth asked as he joined the other two. Max smirked and shook his head.

"There's only room in my heart for Tempe and Ruth. No one could ever take her place in my life."

"That the reason you never remarried?"

"Well that and a life on the run isn't the best environment to foster a relationship." Max smiled as Temperance joined them in the living room. He held his hands out for the baby. "There's my little cracker jack."

"Cracker jack? Really? Are you trying to tun my kids into a baseball song?" Booth asked. When Brennan gave him a curious look, all three men began to sing. "Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack, I don't care if I ever get back..."

"Ah, I see. So because of the nicknames he's given the children, you're associating them with a song about a culturally significant pasttime." She passed by Max and headed to Grace. The older woman smiled up at Brennan and held out her arms for the baby.

"Oh isn't he just the sweetest thing." Grace took hold of Jacob, her eyes lighting up as she held the baby close. Both Temperance and Seeley smiled as Grace cooed at the baby.

"This is Jacob, or Cracker Jack according to my father. The little girl over there is our daughter, Christine. We adopted her at a few days old."

"She's beautiful." Again the proud parents beamed. Grace glanced back at her boys and found them watching her. It was Max however that drew her attention. He studied her with a twinkle in his eye. That man is trouble, she thought before turning back to the baby as Temperance and Padme talked with Jennifer.

XxXxX

"...so Jared comes racing in the house absolutely hysterical and said that the Commies had Seeley and I needed to come save him right now." Everyone laughed as Grace told the tale. The atmosphere was light and happy at the dinner table, any hostile or uncomfortable feelings forgotten in the company. "I honestly have no idea how Seeley got hurt; the boys never told, but he got a nasty scar out of it."

"And I'll still never tell," Booth said and took a gulp of beer. He looked at Brennan and gave a wink.

"You know I remember one time when Tempe was a little girl she had this doll with a string in the back, what was it called? Chatty Cathy. Anyway, her brother decided it would be a fun thing to scare her, so he hid and jumped out at her. 'Boo.' Tempe took the doll and whack, she hit him with it. I said no one would ever sneak up on her again. My wife said, 'she's just like you Max, just like you." Max told the story with a laugh and a bit of sadness to his eyes. Grace looked at him for a long moment, her head cocked to one side.

"What happened to your wife?"

"She died a while back, took my heart right with her," he said quietly and turned his attention toward his drink.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Grace said and reached a hand out to offer him some comfort. For a long moment no one at the table spoke until a cry sounded in the living room. Booth and Jennifer jumped up to avert whatever disaster Alex and Christine were starting. Grace pulled her hand away from Max and turned to Padme.

"So you haven't told me how the two of you met..."

XxXxX

"I think your mother is interested in my father," Temperance said once she and Booth were in bed that evening. She heard Booth's chuckle before he kissed her temple.

"I warned him off of her, although I really don't think that's going to mean anything."

"Well I don't know how Grace would take a murderer and reformed bank robber in her life. She had to be a little cautious with her relationships after your father."

"You know what I think? I don't think there could be a better choice for her, although I still don't want to think about our parents together."

"I don't know, I think they deserve to be happy."

"That they do Bones, that they do."