Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, but I am obsessed!

Author's Note: I finally finished this one. Sorry it took so long to get into an angsty enough place to want to finish this one. I hope that you enjoy.

Chapter 3: Distracted

Angela cannot concentrate. She has been spending months painting and sketching and making love with her husband during her extended honeymoon in Paris. This paradise had then been lost to her when she and Hodgins received matching e-mails from Caroline Julian asking them to come back to their regularly scheduled lives in order to save Cam's job. It wasn't a difficult decision to make, but she can't help breaking down and crying in the middle of the Charles De Gaulle airport. Hodgins wraps her in a gentle hug and leads her to the bathroom so that she can wash her face. He vows to her that they will return to Paris in a few weeks and enjoy the rest of their sabbatical. She smiles at him as she enters the bathroom. She doesn't understand why she is so emotional. She has had a lovely time in France, but to be honest, she does miss home and her friends. A fresh wave of tears forces her into a stall, so that she can calm herself down.

A woman lugging a heavy suitcase and a small child enter into the bathroom., just as Angela decides that she is ready to rejoin her husband Angela hears the woman speak in broken French asking for a diaper for her child. Some other traveler passes the diaper to the women and Angela stops dead in her tracks. Her hand flies to her stomach and realizes that she herself is going to become a mother. All of the symptoms were there. She has been emotional, cranky, tired, and nauseous. It can now be simply explained. She takes a few deep breaths and exits the bathroom. She instantly finds her husband and gives him the widest and brightest smile that she has ever bestowed upon him.

She whispers that she is ready to go home. He happily leads her into the first class section of the plane and she collapses into the leather seat gratefully. Hodgins looks at her with a little bit of suspicion when she refuses a glass of champagne on the plane, but she convinces him that she can't settle for a crappy California sparkling wine after being spoiled by fine French wines for seven months. She sleeps most of the way home on the plane, her hand firmly grasped within her husband's.

Soon the artist and the entomologist are reunited with their coworkers. She has to fight back tears when she shares hugs with everyone, but everyone else seems to be equally affected and she doesn't stand out. The next morning she sneaks out of the house and her suspicions are confirmed by a little stick. She can barely hold in her news when she meets her best friend for lunch. They exchange pleasantries and they talk about how much they missed each other. She can't help telling Bren that she loves her like a sister. Angela then shares her news as she also hears of Booth's announcement. Bren is truly excited about the coming baby and seems to have already adjusted to the fact that Booth has a long distance girlfriend.

That night, Angela lays in bed and thinks on the day. It has been one of the biggest days in her life and she is utterly exhausted. She smiles as her sleeping husband snuggles closer into her side and she forgets about her job and her friends and focuses on her family as she too ventures off into dream land.

Within a few weeks, her life is in a delicate balance between right side up and upside down. She is staying in DC with her husband and baby, she is back at the Jeffersonian and back to dealing with death daily. She is back to seeing her friends everyday, and aside from no longer drinking alcohol and caffeine, and feeling nauseous most of the time, her life hasn't really changed much. Yet, everything else is different, all because of a blond reporter named Hannah.

Angela doesn't want to believe that Hannah exists at first, that she is just a desert mirage, but then the woman arrives in DC and moves in with Booth. Angela is heartbroken for Bren and cannot wrap her head around the fact that Bren supports the relationship. That she in fact, likes Hannah. Angela takes a slightly hungover Bren to lunch one day and tries to grill the anthropologist, but someone in the diner orders the clam chowder for lunch and the smell forces Angela into the bathroom. Bren follows her, handing her damp paper towels and asking her about nursery room themes. It isn't until later that night that Angela realizes that Bren had played her, distracting her from the subject of Hannah with questions about the baby.

Angela is then surprised to find that she too enjoys Hannah's company. The journalist fits right in with the team, and Angela often joins in on their girls' nights. They trade stories of the places that they have seen and the people that they have met. Angela can see what Booth sees in Hannah, even if she still believes in fate and her best friend and her partner.

A week after an exhausted Angela passed on a girls' night out, she is surprised by a baby shower. She is literally showered with gifts and is impressed by the cake that Hannah has brought to share. Angela laughs at the others as they play some silly games and is not surprised when Bren wins. She doesn't realize that Hannah has let Bren win as she had been distracted by the blue eyes of her husband and the joining of their lips in a brief but passionate kiss. She congratulates her friend and moves to cut the cake, knowing how much her baby already enjoys sweet things.

Time passes and her stomach expands slowly but noticeably. She hears her baby's heartbeat for the first time one morning at the doctor's office and comes back into work, floating on air. She is brought harshly back down to earth by a frantic Booth demanding to know where his partner is. Angela herself searches Limbo and calls Booth to know that Bren isn't downstairs and that she hasn't been seen since she went over the Hoover for a briefing. Booth calls her seven more times that day, bringing Angela to the brink of panic when he finally texts her that he knows where Bren is and that she is safe. He apologizes for worrying her especially in her fragile state. Angela shoots a death glare into her phone, but merely texts back a thank you and drags her husband home so that he can rub her feet, relive their happy morning, and forget about how much she worries about her best friend.

As her pregnancy progresses, it seems that she is always hungry. She is invited to lunch at the diner fairly often, but starts to eat her lunch earlier and earlier, not being able to wait for her usual crowd to take a break. Most days she ends up at the diner twice, eating a second lunch in order to make it until dinner. It is on one of these days that she finds Bren, Booth and Sweets of all people deep in conversation about the motivation of certain suspects for their current case. As it turns out, Sweets has been joining them practically every day for weeks, and is now going out into the field with the partners. He looks positively giddy, like a boy who has been promised ice cream by his parents. Angela eyes the partners, Booth looks relieved and Bren looks... Well, Angela can't decide how Bren looks and then the baby squirms and Angela is once again lost in her own little world.

Bren hobbles into the lab one afternoon, insisting that she is fine and that she suffered a small injury at a suspect's home. Angela is concerned, but Bren waves the concern away. She merely downs a few aspirin and heads down to Limbo, losing herself in yet another ancient soldier's remains. A few days later, Hannah shows up at Angela's office with a bag of double chocolate muffins and a question. She asks Angela if she knows anything about the scar on Booth's chest.

Angela hesitates for a moment before answering. She has suspicions as to why Hannah would be asking, and Angela tells Hannah the truth. That her boyfriend had once taken a bullet for his partner. She also throws in that the entire team had spent two weeks thinking that the agent was dead, including Bren. Angela can see the questions in Hannah's eyes, but the journalist politely thanks Angela, finishes her bite of muffin and leaves the Jeffersonian. Angela finishes her own muffin and leans against a wall. Four days after that, Bren comes into the office and asks Angela for dating advice.

Angela meets Anthony once over a double coffee date. She approves of Anthony as much as she disapproves of the decaf sludge that she is forced to drink. Angela is surprised by how flirty and funny Bren is during the date and at the end, Anthony kisses Bren's lips gently and whispers that he can't wait for Wednesday night. Bren blushes as she returns the kiss and tilts her head at Angela's raised eyebrow. The eyebrow only arches higher when Bren explains that they are going on a double date with Hannah and Booth. Bren just shrugs back and says goodbye to Anthony.

Angela can't help but notice that Booth's mood grows increasingly foul over the next few weeks. Angela also thinks that most women would still be in the honeymoon phase of a relationship and that Bren looks entirely too tense for a woman who was dating a handsome and successful man. Then again, Angela reminds herself, Bren is not most women. And apparently her partner cannot suppress his overprotective and jealous tendencies. Angela wants to confront Bren about it, but Hodgins stops her. His philosophy is that if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. She can't argue with his logic as he reminds her of their own ups and downs and where they have ended up. She then leads him to the Egyptology storage room and she doesn't think of the subject again until Bren casually mentions that she isn't going to be seeing Anthony anymore.

After the breakup, the lab seems to return to its most normal point since before the group had scattered to the four winds. Booth comes around often and spends time joking with Hodgins on the platform, watching a tutorial on one of Angela's latest programs, and once, Angela notices him place his hand on his preferred spot on Bren's back. She bites on a knuckle to control a squeal, determined to find out what has made everything seem so normal again. Before she gets a chance to ask Bren about it, the world turns upside-down once more.

Angela isn't sure what exactly happened between the partners, but she has her ideas. Bren has gone back to her oldest habits, working herself to death and forgetting to eat. Booth is never around, and has even taken to using couriers as opposed to bringing over his paperwork personally. Angela is even more suspicious that something has happened between the partners after they solve a case, and Bren chooses to go with Sweets for dinner instead of joining the team at the Founding Father's. Angela tries to bring up the subject numerous times, but Bren asserts that she is fine and with the baby's arrival at any moment, that stress isn't good for Angela. The artist silently agrees, although she wishes that she could force her best friend to open up and just tell the entire story. Bren assures her that she is talking to somebody about what is going on, and although Angela can't believe that it is Sweets who has earned Bren's trust, Angela is just relieved that someone is there for her friend.

The arrival of JJ takes Angela out of the loop of all happenings at the Jeffersonian. The baby's arrival is a little bumpy, but she is thrilled with her son. The second that she holds the boy in her arms, she can't imagine her life without him. He has his father's bright blue eyes, and she can think of nothing else but the baby that she has waited so long to meet in person. She is only reminded of the partner's broken relationrship when they stop by, seperately, to bring gifts and welcome the baby to the team. Booth is barely there for five minutes, while Bren lingers over her godson. Angela smiles as she watches the scientist cuddle the baby, but she notices the wistfulness in her friend's expression. Angela remembers that Bren had once wanted this, a child of her very own. Bren tenderly gives the baby back to his mother and congratulates the new parents once again. Hodgins takes the baby as Bren says her good-byes and Angela swears that Bren wiped a tear out of her eye before exiting the room.

Angela enjoys her maternity leave, getting the chance to bond with her baby and getting away from the drama and sadness of work. Once or twice she leaves the baby with the newly hired nanny so that she can visit at the Founding Father's. She and Hodgins only stay for a little while, wanting to get back home, and although Booth's gaze always looks guilty when he meets Angela's eyes, she doesn't confront him. He is hurting enough without needing Angela to rub salt in the wound. But she gets home at night and pulls the baby close to her chest and hopes that he never gets his heart broken.

She is sipping a cup of tea and flips on the news during one of JJ's naps and is saddened by the current world events. She turns off the television and makes her way to the nursery, staring at her sleeping son, wanting to shield him from life's tragedies. She only catches on that Hannah is covering the news on location when Hodgins points out a byline from an online article accompanied by a video clip. She calls Booth and Brennan and is ignored by both of them. A call to her psychic confirms her intuition, and she allows them their privacy for a few days. Soon enough she and Bren are sharing a drink at a local cafe and Bren confirms that she and Booth are together, but taking it slow. Angela chokes into a napkin when her best friend mentions that they are in therapy, with Sweets of all people. Angela quickly sobers when she realizes how earnest Bren is to regain her friendship with her partner and how determined she is to find her way back to Booth. Angela squeezes her friend tight at the end of the day and tells Bren that she wants details.

It is a few weeks before Bren rings the doorbell at the estate and is met by Hodgins himself and the baby who is about to be put down for a nap. Hodgins points the way to Angela's studio where Angela has been working on a sketch of the baby. Angela dutifully puts down the charcoal when she sees her friend enter the room. The two hug and talk about JJ and life in general. Angela knows that there is an ulterior motive to the visit, but doesn't press the issue. She has been waiting for seven years to hear this story, she can wait a few more minutes. Eventually, all other topics are exhausted and Bren seems ready to talk about the real issue at hand.

The baby monitor's light flashes red and Bren hears JJ crying in the background.

"Ange, don't you think you should get him? He's crying."

A playful smirk appears on Angela's face. "Don't try to distract me. Jack will get him, you were in the middle of telling me a story. Now, spill."

Bren smiles and looks at Angela's matching grin. "Did you know that it is possible to break the laws of physics?"