A/N: Well, well, well….what did everyone think of that atomic bomb of a finale? Yeah, Baby Hodgela (great name, BTW), a cool case, Max…and oh, yeah. Brennan is pregnant. With Booth's baby. (Hang on, I have to reread that again….wow.) I know quite a few of you are happy. I also know a few of you are pissed. Hey, I get that. Me, I'm choosing to stay positive about it. I love the show and I am all in, so I feel like I need to roll with this little twist, if only to see what they do with it. But the one thing I am upset about is that I was deprived of my 'morning after chat'. I know, I have never made it a secret that I wanted sweaty wall sex, too. But seriously…I knew I wasn't gonna get it. This is Fox, not Skinamax. But the post-coital after party was non-negotiable for me. So…I felt the need to fix that. For the record, I don't want hearts and flowers from Booth and Brennan. But a little kissin' would be nice, Mr. Hanson. Just sayin'.

Anyway….enjoy.

~NM

The Beginning in the Morning After

Brennan opened her eyes and immediately winced at the daylight seeping through the windows. She was relatively sure she kept her shades closed at night, but apparently she had gotten up in the middle of the night and opened them. Closing her eyes again and sighing, she tried to get her usually quick-waking mind to click into gear, an activity that seemed suddenly hard to grasp. Suddenly, a snore unlike anything she had ever heard before emanated from the other occupant in the bed, and it was then she remembered that she was not, in fact, in her own bedroom.

Rolling over, Brennan took in the sight before her. Booth, lying prone on his back, the sheet just covering everything below his narrow hips, chest bare and softly rising and falling in the early morning light. The previous night flashed through her head, and she sucked in a quick breath at the surge of emotions it brought her.

They had entered his apartment after Vincent's impromptu funeral outside the Jeffersonian. Brennan led the way into the kitchen, where Booth moved to the fridge to get them both a beer. He turned slightly to ask Brennan if she wanted anything else when he caught her staring at him, eyes wide and full of emotion.

"Bones? Are you alright?" He abandoned the search for drinks and crossed the room to take her shaking hands in his. "Bones…talk to me. What's wrong?"

Brennan called on every ounce of courage she could muster. "Last night…when we, when…"

Booth nodded, understanding. "When we shared a bed. And kissed. Yeah." He looked worried for a moment. "Are you…sorry about that?"

"No! I'm not sorry at all. I'm just wondering if it's something we could do again. Tonight." Her eyes widened at the ease of her revelation. She thought that meant something, but she wasn't exactly sure what that was.

Booth moved even closer, close enough so that he was now looking down on her. "I would love for you to stay again, Bones. I want you to." His eyes darkened and she found that she couldn't look away. "But I need you to know that if you get into my bed again, you're never leaving."

Brennan's heart stopped for a moment, knowing exactly what Booth was saying. Every nuance and hidden meaning behind his declaration was crystal clear to her. But her mouth had other plans. "Eventually I would have to leave to go to work, you know." Her half smile told him that she wasn't taking him as literally as she let on.

"You know what I mean, Bones. This is it. No more anger, no more imperviousness. Just you and me. Making this work." He smiled slightly. "You understand what that means, right?"

"You want to make love."

Her straightforward but guileless statement should have frustrated him, but only served to charm him more. He let go of her hands and placed his on her hips, pulling her against him. "Yes. I want to make love. To you." He raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem?"

Shaking her head, Brennan stood on her toes and kissed him, softly. "No, that is not a problem for me."

Pulling herself out of her revelry, Brennan continued to stare at Booth's prone form. The hand that was lying across his chest twitched once…then twice. She moved her eyes to watch his face, fascinated with the way he pulled himself from sleep. Even now, the scientist in her couldn't help but catalogue every facet of his morning rousing. With a quick look down below the sheet's line, she smiled. Yes, every facet of his morning waking was interesting.

Finally, Booth's eyes opened slowly. He struggled to focus and find his bearings, the memories of the previous night first and foremost in his mind already. He turned to look at Brennan, unsurprised to find her already awake and looking at him.

"Hey you." He rasped, his voice still coated in sleep.

"Hey." An uncharacteristic blush colored her cheeks at being caught staring.

Booth reached out and tugged at the top of the sheet covering her breasts, grinning madly when she huffed and pulled it back up. "What? It's not like I didn't get a good look at the girls already, you know." He chuckled.

"I-" Brennan smiled at his expression. His grin seemed to spread across his whole face, lighting it up. "I realize that. I am just a little…unsure. And I don't like that feeling."

Booth's expression clouded and he sat up, unconcerned when the sheet fell to his thighs. He reached his hand out, relieved when she grasped it right back with her own. "Hey, hey…I told you. This? This is us. No grand expectations, no crazy reactions, nothing you need to feel weird about. So we've seen each other naked, so what? It's just another step in our relationship…right?" He relaxed a little when the lines left her forehead and she nodded. "We're still taking this slow and steady."

Brennan lay back on the bed, no longer concerned when the sheet fell off her breasts. "I am amenable to that course of action…" She took in Booth's slight wince at her precise language with a smile. "However, I cannot help but be…I suppose the best word is scared. But not a bad scared, if that makes any sense." Booth nodded. "I want to keep our working relationship as well, without anything changing. Can that even happen, Booth? Can we continue to do our jobs with this…" She waved her hand between them. "This addition of a physical relationship between us?"

Booth sighed. This wasn't something he wasn't expecting, this was Bones after all. She needed all the facts before she took action, and their actions last night were not altogether mapped out as well as she would have liked. He got that. Running his hand through his hair, Booth tried to ease her fears. "Look, Bones…I know you. You know me. We're both workaholics, we live for our jobs. That's not going to change. And I am not going to become some crazy, overprotective boyfriend who decides that you shouldn't be out in the field or doing your job the exact same way just because we're sleeping together. My feelings for you are the same now as they were a day ago, a week ago, a year ago. So if I wasn't keeping you in some sort of cage before, what makes you think I would now? I respect you and what you do, and that isn't going to change."

"Okay. That makes me feel better, that you don't want me to…I don't know, start being someone I am not. Because I want this to work, Booth. I do. And I want to keep working with you. I just don't know how to be a typical girlfriend."

"Yeah, because typical girlfriends have worked out so well for me in the past." Feeling better, Booth slid back down to lay next to her, holding her hand loosely. "I just want you to be you. Bones. That's the woman I want to be with, not some perfect little June Cleaver fantasy, no matter what you may think."

"I know who June Cleaver is." Brennan grinned. "And I am glad that you do not expect that of me."

"Never." He whispered, leaning forward to kiss her. He could see from her expression that they had successfully negotiated the first twists and turns of this new phase of their partnership. He knew she was more open than she had been a year ago, but the reality of it still rocked him to his core, and even humbled him a bit. He didn't doubt that what they had was good, what was meant to be. And he was glad she seemed to feel the same way. Being on the same page, finally, was incredibly freeing.

"And by the way, since I didn't get to say it earlier…Good morning, Bones."

Brennan smiled, taking his breath away with her lightness. "Yes, it is. A very good morning, Booth."