This chapter took forever, I know. I hope that it's worth it and that people are still reading this story, the last two chapters I posted only got three reviews total, I'm hoping that's because they were just short and super-fluff. This definitely has more meat to it and I'd really appreciate you guys letting me know how it is since it took me weeks to get right!

August 2013

Brennan moved through the sliding doors of the emergency room as quickly as she could while carrying her sleeping daughter in her arms. As she moved through the sea of trauma patients, she finally spotted Hacker waiting to the side of the main desk and looking grim.

"What happened?" She demanded anxiously, "Where's Booth?" She didn't yell, not wanting to wake Allie up, but the panic in her voice couldn't have been clearer.

"Temperance, please, let's sit," Hacker said, concern flooding his tone. It was well-known that Brennan was currently four months pregnant with twins. Between the stress of being called to the emergency room this late at night and carrying around an almost eighteen month old, Hacker was nearly worried about her condition as he was about Booth's. Plus, he knew that if anything were to happen to Brennan or the babies, Booth would shoot him. Hacker spoke quickly to the nurse in charge, who ushered them into a private waiting room.

As soon as Brennan sank into a chair, Hacker began to speak. "The raid we were doing tonight was supposed to be quick and easy. As you know, Booth was chosen to head up our squad of newer agents." Hacker ran his fingers nervously through his hair, "Something went wrong, we haven't figured out what, but Booth and another agent were shot. He was shot in his upper right thigh, the doctors are worried it nicked the femoral artery. He was taken into surgery as soon as we arrived at the hospital, then I called you."

Brennan's face was pale and she tried to hide the fact that her hands were shaking by playing with Allie's soft curls. "Could you call Angela for me?" She asked quietly, knowing that she wouldn't be able to maintain her composure if she had to repeat what Hacker had just told her.

"Already done, Temperance," Hacker replied kindly, "I know enough that if Booth is hurt I need to call all the squints, not just you. They should be here shortly. Dr. Saroyan offered to call Agent Booth's brother and I think Angela was going to call your father."

"Thank you," Brennan responded softly. Hacker simply nodded and they sat in tense silence. She briefly considered requesting to speak to a doctor to get a more in-depth description of Booth's injury, but she knew that would require them taking time away from working on Booth.

Suddenly an alarm went off somewhere in the hospital and Allie startled awake, looking around in confusion. "Mama?" She said questioningly, looking at Brennan with sleepy blue eyes.

"Shh," Brennan replied softly, gently rubbing her back. "It's okay, sweetheart, go back to sleep." She planted a soft kiss to her daughter's forehead and watched as her sleepiness overcame her.

As Allie's eyes drifted shut, a flustered Angela entered the room. "Sweetie, how are you holding up?" She asked softly as she pulled Brennan and Allie into a hug.

"I'm fine, Ange, just worried about Booth."

"What happened?" Angela asked softly, kneeling in front of her best friend. Brennan just shook her head, unable to find the words, so Hacker stepped in to explain the situation. Angela listens closely, watching Brennan out of the corner of her eye, becoming increasingly worried by the way her friend is trembling.

"Bren, sweetie," she says gently as Hacker finishes speaking, wrapping her arm around Brennan's shoulders. "Jack's out in the car with Michael, why don't you let him bring Allie back to our house for the night?"

Brennan tightens her arms around her daughter's sleeping form, not wanting to let her go. She likes having this living, tangible connection to Booth, it's reassuring to have their daughter safe in her arms. She knows Angela is right, though. Allie shouldn't be stuck here in a hospital waiting room. She should be tucked into a nice, warm bed. She nods slowly, "Okay, Ange, but could you… could you bring her out for me? I need to stay here… I need to be here… in case… in case…" she trails off, feeling the panic she'd been controlling unfurl in her chest.

"Of course sweetie," Angela watched as Brennan held Allie closer for a moment, whispering softly in her ear.

"Thanks," Brennan said softly as Angela gently lifted Allie. "Wait," Brennan called, "here are the keys to my car so you can get her car seat and the spare diaper bag." Brennan paused for a moment to lean in and press a kiss on top of her daughter's curls. "I love you sweet girl," she said quietly before returning to her chair.

"I'll be back in a minute, Bren," Angela said, Brennan simply nodded in response, already missing the comforting warmth of Allie's small body.

Angela had been almost ten minutes when Max burst into the waiting room, followed closely by Cam and Sweets. All three immediately began to ask questions.

"Tempe what happened? Are you all right? Where's my granddaughter?"

"Brennan, what can you tell us about Seeley's condition? Have you heard anything from the doctors?"

"Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening again. But I'm totally sure Agent Booth will be fine. He's tough. Right Dr. Brennan?"

"Enough," Angela's stern voice came from the doorway. "Brennan already has enough stress to deal with without the three of you swarming around asking questions. Now," she glared around at the chastised looking group, "why don't you all sit down and we can answer your questions one at a time."

When everyone was seated, Brennan allowed Hacker, who had been hiding in the corner, to explain the situation again, before answering the more personal questions. "I'm fine," she responded to her father when he expressed his concern. "Allie's fine too, Hodgins took her home with him and Michael."

Cam and Angela exchanged a look of worry at the hollowness in Brennan's voice. "Dr. Brennan," Cam began delicately, "I'm worried your stress level and the affect it could have on your pregnancy.

"I'm fine Cam," Brennan answered curtly.

"Honey," Max stepped in, placing a hand on his daughter's knee, "it won't hurt to let a nurse check on you and make sure nothing's wrong, right? I know you're worried about Booth, but I also know that you would do anything for your babies. So why don't you and I go and find a nurse to check your vitals, the others can come get you if there's any news on Booth."

"Fine, I accept your argument," Brennan acquiesced.

"Great, let me go track down a nurse."

Twenty minutes later Brennan had had her blood pressure taken, her vital signs checked, and been hooked up to a fetal heartbeat meter. The nurse announced that everything seemed normal, but that she needed to alert someone right away if she felt dizzy or lightheaded or noticed that her heart rate was irregular.

"Have you heard anything?" Brennan asked as soon as she returned to the room

"Sweetie, if we did you'd have been the first to know," Angela assured her. Brennan simply nodded and returned to her seat and the room lapsed into silence.

"Oh no," Brennan said suddenly, "has anyone called Rebecca? Parker will need to know about this."

"I could call if you'd like," Cam offered, doubtful that Brennan wanted to make the call herself.

"I'd appreciate that, Cam," Brennan admitted. She knew Rebecca would be angry. She always was when Booth suffered any work-related injuries and that was not something she was prepared to deal with at the moment.

"Just give me her number, and I'll be back in a minute."

"Was she angry?" Brennan asked when Cam returned. Not that she particularly cared, but she didn't want this to cause Rebecca to give them less time with Parker.

"A little, but she was more concerned I think. She said that she could bring Parker by tomorrow afternoon if Seeley's awake."

Brennan breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Cam."

It was nearly an hour later when a doctor finally entered the room. He asked, "Is this the family of Seeley Booth?"

"Yes, how is he?" Brennan asked, rushing over to the doctor.

"He made it through surgery fine, now we just need to wait for him to wake up. Are you his wife?"

"Yes, it should say in his file that he has a history of poor reactions to anesthetics."

"We tried the lowest dose we possibly could. There's nothing we can do now but wait."

"Can I see him?" Brennan asked anxiously. She knew there would be time later to get all the medical facts and read through Booth's file, right now all that mattered was tangible proof that he was okay.

"Of course, but I'm afraid that he can only have one visitor at a time," the doctor replied.

Brennan quickly glanced around at her friends, "Thank you all for being here. You should go home though and rest, I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Tempe," Max began, but hesitated, knowing there was nothing he could say to convince his daughter not to stay at the hospital all night. "Take it easy, okay honey?"

"I will, Dad." Brennan replied before urging the doctor out of the waiting room and up to the recovery room Booth was in.

She entered his room slowly, noticing how small he looked laying on the hospital bed hooked up to multiple machines and drip lines. Watching him, she was immediately reminded of the last time he was in a hospital bed. Only this time his leg was bandaged, not his head.

"Oh, Booth," she said quietly, feeling tears begin to form in her eyes as she took a seat next to his bed while the doctor let himself out quietly. She took his hand, idly fiddling with his wedding band as she kissed him lightly on the cheek. "As soon as you wake up we're going to have serious talk about you and your penchant for playing hero and its adverse affect on my sanity." She smiled slightly as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Last time you were asleep like this I read you a story based on what I wished our life was like. I know you heard me, because you were so confused when you woke up. Now though, I couldn't come up with a better story than the one we're living even if I tried."

She watched as his chest continued to rise and fall, and smoothed her free hand through his short hair. "We're married in real life now. As surprising as it is, it was my idea. I realized one day that I couldn't imagine spending a single day without you. I was so used to the important people in my life leaving , but you were the only one I really hoped would stay. I don't know if I ever told you about that particular epiphany. It was a few days after Allie was born, I walked into the nursery and found you sitting in the rocking chair, holding her and talking to her so softly with such a tenderness, and suddenly I knew. My views on marriage didn't matter because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, so why not make it official? Why not tell the world that you were mine and I wanted to be yours?

"I remember at our wedding how funny it was watching Parker be your best man. He was trying so hard to be serious, but he was so excited he couldn't stand still. Remember how hard he blushed when Ange kissed him on the cheek at the reception?" She smiled softly, thinking of what to say to him next. "Our wedding night didn't go as planned. We were only able to make love once before my dad called because Alodia had a fever. It turned out that she was just teething, but neither of us really minded the interruption because we both felt weird spending a night without her."

She sighed as she felt tears fill her eyes again, "You have to wake up, okay Booth? You have to wake up for Parker and for Allie and for our twins who we'll get to meet in just a few months. I need you to wake up. I- I can't do this without you Booth." She sniffled as the tears began to roll down her cheeks, she pressed her ear t his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. "I need you. You promised once that you'd never leave me, so you have to wake up. And please- please don't take four days this time. I love you," she kissed his lips once before laying back across his chest.

She woke up in that position a few hours later with a stiff neck and back and noticed that the sun was beginning to poke through the blinds.

"Hey, Tempe." She started as she looked over to the doorway to find a tousled looking Jared Booth watching her.

"Jared, hi," she said as she got up to give her brother-in-law a hug.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, Padme and I had taken a trip to Florida for a few days. We caught the first flight we could when we heard." Jared said, accepting the hug without surprise. He knew from past experience that Brennan became much more tactile when she was pregnant. "How's he doing?"

"He came through surgery fine, now we're just waiting for him to wake up. You know how he is with strong medications." Brennan said as she reclaimed her seat next to the bed.

"So you've been here all night?"

Brennan nodded, "Allie's staying with Angela and Hodgins." Her eyes flickered to her lap for a second, enough time for Jared to notice her insecurity.

He reassured her, "That doesn't make you a bad mother, Tempe."

Her eyes flashed to him in surprise. Damn Booth men and their near clairvoyant powers. "I can't help but feel like I'm choosing my husband over my daughter." She felt slightly relieved to finally admit this aloud. The worry had been nagging her since last night when she had been talking to Booth about their wedding night.

He looked back at her with warm brown eyes that were so much like his brothers', "Right now, Allie's safe, right?" Brennan nodded, and he continued, "She's with people who love her nearly as much as they love their own son. She knows them and feels comfortable with them and you trust them too. I'm sure the last time you saw her, you told her you love her. Now, you're sitting here waiting to be able to bring her daddy back to her. How do any of those facts add up to you being a bad mother?"

"They don't," she agreed, feeling slightly teary again.

"Exactly," Jared said with a small smile. "Now, I know I won't be able to convince you to leave the hospital, but why don't you go call Angela and have her bring Allie by so you can have breakfast with her, and I'll keep Seeley company while you're gone."

"Alright," Brennan finally agreed. As much as she hates to leave Booth, she really does miss their daughter, "but if anything changes-"

"I'll let you know right away," Jared finished for her. "Scout's honor," he adds with a smirk.

She leaned over and kisses Booth and said quietly, "I love you, I'll be back soon. Thank you, Jared," she said, heading for the door, "I won't be gone too long. If anything happens-"

"I'll call you, I've got it Tempe."

Brennan headed to the hospital's cafeteria and grabbed a quick cup of tea, though she really wished she could have a large cup of coffee, as she called Angela. Less than a half-hour later they arrived and Brennan laughed as Allie squirmed out of Angela's grip to run towards her as fast as her wobbly little legs could move.

"Mama!" She cried happily, as Brennan met her halfway and scooped her into a hug and planted a loud kiss on her cheek.

"I missed you baby girl," Brennan said, placing another kiss on top of Allie's sweet smelling curls. "Thanks for bringing her Ange."

"No problem sweetie," Angela replied with a smile as she watched Allie kiss Brennan's nose while babbling incoherently. "How's our g-man doing?"

"Still asleep," Brennan replied worriedly, "Jared's sitting with him now."

Angela nodded, knowing that if Brennan wanted to talk further, she would in her own time. "So, what's for breakfast?" She asked.

"Awdermin," Allie replied enthusiastically.

Brennan smiled, "I'm sure we can find you something with watermelon in it, sweet pea." She replied as they headed towards the food line.

Meanwhile, Jared sat next to his brother's bed, watching him sleep. "That's one hell of a wife you have there, Seel." He shook his head with a small smile, "I swear, you two were made for each other. You can thank me later for making sure she eats breakfast, okay?"

Jared had been sitting there for less than an hour when Booth began to move. His eyes opened, blinking slowly, "Bones?" He croaked confusedly.

As happy as Jared was to see his brother awake, he couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Seel, you've gotta be kidding me man. Tempe sat here all night waiting for you to wake up, and you have to wait until she's been gone barely an hour and then wake up?"

"Should I pr'tendta go backta sleep til she comes back?" Booth slurred, sounding concerned through his haze of medication.

Jared laughed, "Nah, Seel. Just let me go call her and grab a doctor, okay?"

Brennan answered her phone before the first ring was even complete, "Really?" She asked happily, "I'll be right there." She hung the phone up and quickly stood, "Booth's awake." She told Angela and she paused only to kiss Allie goodbye before rushing to Booth's room.

She burst through the door, nearly colliding with the doctor who was examining her husband. She felt tears in her eyes as she looked into his deep brown eyes and he said, "Hey Bones."

"Booth," she said with a sob, moving to wrap her arms tightly around him. "I was so scared."

He could feel her hot tears against the skin of his neck as he enveloped her in a tight hug. "I know sweetheart," he replied, turning his head to kiss her temple.

"I love you so much," she turned to kiss his neck.

"I love you too, Bones," he replied, hugging her even tighter. They remained that way for a long minute until Booth realized his doctor was watching them awkwardly. "Bones, I think you need to let go of me to let the doctor finish his check-up, huh?"

"Oh," Brennan said, releasing him and swiping embarrassedly at her wet cheeks. "Sorry," she mumbled to the doctor, her cheeks flaming.

"It's quite alright," he said, equally embarrassed, "I'm nearly done anyhow." He continued to bustle around Booth for another minute or two, "Everything looks good Agent Booth, we could have you out of here by tonight if everything goes well."

Booth and Brennan both thanked the doctor as he quickly left. Jared followed too, saying, "I'm going to track down Angela so I can spend some quality time with my favorite niece."

As soon as Jared was gone, Booth reached over to tug Brennan onto the bed next to him so she was pressed against his side next to his non-injured leg.

"You were here all night Bones?" Booth asked rhetorically, his medications were finally wearing off and he was able to think straight.

"I couldn't leave you here alone Booth. Trust me, I was under much less stress being here, knowing you were doing alright than I would have been anywhere else. I was looked at last night by a nurse, and she said that the stress didn't seem to be affecting the pregnancy, so don't worry about that either."

"I love you Bones," he told her again, pulling her in for a deep kiss and gently brushing away the tears that once again had begun to stream down her cheeks.

"After this maternity leave I don't want to return to field work," she said suddenly.

"What?" Booth said, wondering where that topic had come from.

"Please don't be mad," she said, her tears falling faster now. "I've loved being your partner, you know I have, but I just can't go to work every day worrying about being shot at anymore, at least one of us should have a less-dangerous job. What would happen to our children if one of these days both of us were injured? How would our family explain that to them? As much as I love being your partner, I'm ready to be your wife now, just your wife. Please don't be upset," she begged, looking at him with bright teary eyes, and he couldn't help but kiss her again.

"Of course I'm not mad at you Bones. I could never be mad at you for telling me your feelings. How long have you been thinking about this?" He knew that his being shot was the catalyst for her decision, but he also knew that she'd probably considered this previously.

"I'm not sure, awhile. Since a month or two after returning from maternity leave with Allie," she admitted.

A look of shock crossed his face, "Why didn't you talk to me sooner?" He couldn't believe that she'd kept this from him for nearly a year, and he hadn't even noticed.

"You love what we do, Booth. I couldn't just take that away from you."

"Bones, yes I value our work and I do love working with you, but your happiness is far more important. I- uh, have actually been trying to figure out the best way to tell you that I'm considering taking a desk job." He flashed her a smile and she gave him a small smile in return.

"Really?"

"Really, actually I was going to talk to you last night. Cullen's retiring and he offered me his position."

"But, you said you'd never want to be tied to a desk," Brennan replied, and Booth reached over to brush a last errant tear off of her cheek.

"People change, Bones, priorities change. Think of how nice it'd be to never have to go to a crime scene in the middle of the night again? To not have to worry about being killed every time I go to work? I've loved being your partner, Bones, but now I'm ready to be your husband." He echoed her previous words and she kissed him. "But don't worry babe, we'll always be partners, no matter what."

"Partners forever?" She whispered.

"Partners forever," he agreed kissing her again, pouring every bit of love he could into it. "Now," he said as they paused to catch their breath, "what does a man have to do to get some pudding around here?"

Brennan laughed, "I'll see what I can do about that. Do you want me to grab Allie too while I'm at it?"

"You don't think it'd scare her too much to see me like this?" Booth asked, but Brennan could see in his eyes how much he'd like to see their daughter.

"I think it might confuse her, but not seeing you all day would probably confuse her even more. Plus, I'm sure she misses you."

"Thanks, Bones," he said, sneaking in one more kiss before she left the room.

She spotted Angela, Jared, and Allie at the same table she'd left just over an hour ago.

"Hey, Bren," Ange greeted her, "how's he doing?"

"Good, the doctor said he could be released as early as tonight," she replied and laughed when Allie's head whipped around immediately, losing all interest in the game of peek-a-boo she and Jared were playing, at hearing her mother's voice.

"Hey sweetheart, how'd you like to bring daddy some pudding?" Brennan asked, kneeling next to her daughter.

"Dada?" Allie repeated excitedly.

"That's right, Allie," she said, picking her daughter up. "Thank you both so much for watching her."

"It's not a problem, Bren. I'm going to head home, but call me if you need anything okay?" Angela replied, pulling her friend into a hug. "Oh, and Jared and I called everyone else to update them that he's awake, and Rebecca said she's bringing Parker by after school."

"Thank you, Booth'll be thrilled."

"I'm gonna head out too Tempe, but if it's okay I'll swing by again this afternoon to see Parks for a bit," Jared said, also giving Brennan a hug.

"I'm sure he'd love to see you Jared, stop by whenever you want."

Once they left, Brennan bought three chocolate pudding cups and returned to Booth's room.

"Dada!" Booth perked up immediately when he heard her daughter's voice.

"Hey princess," he said as Brennan gently sat next to him, transferring Allie to the space between them. He gave them both a kiss as he joined them and grinned when Brennan handed him a pudding cup.

"Rebecca's bring Parker by after school," Brennan told him and his grin widened.

"I must be the luckiest man on earth. I have my two favorite girls, chocolate pudding, my son's visiting later," he trailed off as he ate his pudding.

"Plus free painkillers," Brennan added and he snorted into his pudding.

"Dada pig?" Allie asked, copying his snorting noise as both Booth and Brennan laughed.

"You think daddy's a pig, huh Allie-bug?" Booth said, reaching over to tickle her lightly, smiling as she squirmed and laughed, catching Brennan's eye as she beamed at the pair of them. Yep, he thought,things don't get much better than this.