AN: I'm so sorry! Real life got in the way and a really good way to lose your muse is to discover Bones was taken off Netflix! I know I'm late to that realization but there you go.

This is a long chapter to make up for the delay. I love everyone who reads this crazy fic!

On with the show!

"SURPRISE!"

Booth and Brennan had walked into the house to find Angela, Cam, Hodgins, Wendell, Sweets, and Arastoo in the living room, which now looked like a living room.

"Thanks, guys. And thank you, Angela, for cleaning up my house." Booth said while he moved away from Brennan to put down the gas he was carrying. While he did that Brennan took Lizzie out of the car seat. Booth looked at Brennan and grinned seeing her hold Lizzie with the amount of care and love that is almost exclusively reserved for a mother.

Angela had replaced Booths spot next to Brennan as soon as Lizzie was settled in Brennan's arms. "Oh, she's adorable. Can I hold her?"

"No!" Both Brennan and Booth yelped as Angela reached for Lizzie.

"What'd I do?" Booth and Brennan looked at each other, unsure how to explain that their friends couldn't hold Lizzie for another few weeks.

Luckily Cam came to the rescue. "How premature was Lizzie?"

"They're not sure, but about 32 weeks."

"Yeah, her immune system isn't up to par with that of a standard new born yet so if too many people held her, she could easily contract something and it could be much worse than if she was the right age."

"I'm sorry Angela," Brennan said looking at the dejected artist.

"That's alright Sweetie, I understand." Everyone quieted down looking at the baby in Brennan's arms until Cam spoke up. "Dr. Brennan I think it would be ok if Angela held her, as long as she washes her hands. We just shouldn't pass her around and exposing her to all of us." Cam had barely finished her statement before Angela fled into the kitchen to wash her hands.

"Are you sure Cam?" Brennan said sounding skeptical. "The doctor and the nurses all said not to let many people near her, though they didn't give me an exact amount which I found frustrating. They are professionally trained to deal with living newborns, you are not. You are trained as a medical examiner who performs autopsies on dead human beings."

"Yes, Dr. Brennan I do know what my job is."

Brennan was baffled by Cam's statement and turned to Booth for clarity. "Booth, was that sarcasm?"

"Yes, it was. Good job, Bones." Brennan grinned triumphantly and turned to Cam again who rolled her eyes then had resumed speaking. "I may not be a medical doctor, but I did go to medical school and went through similar rotations as them, that is my professional opinion." By now Angela had returned and sat down next to Brennan, eagerly waiting to hold the newest addition to the crazy family. Brennan was a little hesitant then slid the still sleeping baby into Angela's arms. "Oh, she's perfect guys." Booth sat down next to Brennan suddenly feeling the exhaustion of the week, or couple of weeks, Brennan slumped into Booth's side but never took her eyes off of Lizzie who had woken up and was looking around and making little noises.

"Bones, I'm surprised you aren't telling them to stop speaking baby-talk?"

"I read that it's important to make baby noises and have animated conversations with Lizzie for her language development." Booth looked at her completely shocked and amazed. "What Booth? Why do you look so surprised? I know how to use a search engine and I looked up some facts that I thought would be helpful."

"Of course, you did." Booth wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling even closer into an awkward side hug.

"Ok, Booth, we sorted out the house and I had SO much fun shopping for her, there probably isn't one pink thing in the DC area. The boys put together all the furniture and out where I told them too." Angela said, oblivious to the partner's actions.

"Seriously man, the next time you move hire movers because that was hard!" Booth laughed while Angela glared at Hodgins who shut his mouth before he could say anything else.

"I hope everything's in the right place. I didn't unpack any boxes except for Lizzie's room. Come on I'll show you." Angela put Lizzie back in Brennan's arms before starting towards the stairs before turning around after quickly realizing that no one was following her.

Booth had started following Angela but realized that Brennan wasn't with him and went to the couch where she was sitting with Lizzie and talking to Cam. He stuck his hand out to her and smile at the confused look she gave him. "Are you coming, Bones?"

"Are you sure, Booth?"

"Absolutely." Brennan smiled up at Booth and took his hand, letting him help her off the couch. They made their way over to Angela and followed her up the stairs, oblivious to the knowing looks that the others were giving each other.

Angela pushed open the door to the bedroom that was next to the master and the spare bedroom. "Welcome to your bedroom, Lizzie!" Angela said with a dramatic wave of her arms. Angela had gone all out decorating the nursery. Booth had only purchased a crib, a standard crib with rounded tops on the end rails in light brown, and Angela had gone out and bought an entire nursery set matching the crib, changing table, a dresser, and rocking chair. The room had light purple walls with three windows along the far wall, with the closet next to the bedroom door. Angela had put the crib along the wall to the right of the door while the dresser and change table was on the opposite wall. The rocking chair was next to the window near an empty little bookshelf.

"Angela… I just… thank you." Booth stood completely stunned in the centre of the room.

"Yes, thank you, Angela. I've rarely seen Booth speechless, take pride in that." Brennan said making Angela laugh, which startled Lizzie and made her cry. Brennan started rocking back and forth gently hoping that would clam Lizzie, Lizzie stopped crying but was still fussing which prompted Brennan to make her way over to the rocking chair.

"Booth, she's ok for now but she's going to want something to eat in the next ten minutes at the latest." Booth looked at his watch noticing the time and realizing that Lizzie hadn't been fed in over three hours and was probably pretty hungry. "You're right, I hate to cut this short but Angela can you hurry this along?"

"Right, clothes are in the dresser; onesies and socks are in the top drawer, pyjamas are in the second, pants and sweaters are in the third, I've left the fourth one empty but the bottom I've put the formula and bottles that I bought. I wasn't sure where to put them. The diapers are in the drawers of the change table." Angela had walked around the room opening drawers showing them what was in the drawers as she talked. "There are probably quite a few things missing but I've got the essentials. Now, I'm going to herd everyone out of here so you can get settled." Angela gave Brennan an awkward hug with Lizzie in between them, then gave Booth a hug before leaving.

Booth went over to the dresser and pulled out the formula and bottles to make up a bottle for Lizzie. "So, how bad is it?" Brennan asked from her spot in the rocking chair.

"Not, terrible. Lots of clothes and diapers, she shorted us on the formula which doesn't really surprise me but there is enough to get through a few days, but there is stuff missing I just don't know what it is. We need more blankets and a snowsuit." Booth trailed off as he started to think, desperately trying to remember what was crucial when Parker was a baby, but since he didn't have Parker for longer than a few hours until Parker was much older Booth had no idea.

"Booth, when I don't know something I either do research by reading or asking someone who has more information in the subject then I do."

"Ok, what's your point Bones?"

"My point is that I can only think of one person who has experience in taking care of infants and she could be very helpful in this situation Booth. Plus, she needs to know anyway."

"Bones, do I have too?" Booth whined sounding shockingly similar Parker when asked to clean his room.

"Rebecca needs to know Booth. You need to tell her."

"I know, but I don't want to."

"Booth, call her you have too." Booth groaned knowing that Brennan was right and he was going to have to tell his ex about what was going on. "Ok. You're right I'll call her."

"Of course, I'm correct, I have an extremely high IQ, the odds of me being right are extremely high." Before Booth could respond Lizzie started crying in hunger.

"Booth-"

"Yep, I'm on it Bones. Sit tight and I'll be right back"

"I don't know what that means," Brennan said while Booth was grabbing the formula and bottles to go to the kitchen. "It means stay there, I'll be right back."

Brennan rocked Lizzie back and forth, stopping her crying but the little girl was still very upset. "I know baby girl, daddy's coming with your food. Normally when an infant is born they get their nutrition directly from their mothers, the hormones created while gestating urge the mother's body to lactate, but I am not lactating because I did not have the hormone increase caused by gestating. So, you'll be getting the artificial food that is a powder mixed with water. " Brennan chuckled as she realized her speaking had relaxed the baby considerably, and she was now looking at Brennan with wide eyes. "Hi, baby. Did you enjoy my squinty explanation about where you get your food? Now, squinty is not a real word but it is something your dad says. Youll probably believe in a lot of things that aren't true but you'll be so happy because of who your daddy is."

A few minutes later Booth reappeared with the bottle. He handed it Brennan and watched as Lizzie started eagerly gulping down the formula. "Is eating like you're always concerned about starving to death a genetic trait in your family? You do it, Parker does it, and I am fairly certain that Lizzie does it as well." Booth laughed and shrugged his shoulders, distracted by thinking about Rebecca. "What's wrong Booth?"

"I'm trying to talk myself into calling Rebecca." Brennan didn't know what to say so she just nodded in response. "Or, I could tell her in person. That might be better, that way she can't just hang up and cut me off from Parker."

"You're legally his father on his birth certificate, correct?"

"Yeah. I signed it."

"And you've been paying child support."

"Of course, I have!"

"Then she can't do that. You could call Caroline and get some legal protection in place, but I think the first thing you need to do is to tell Rebecca about Lizzie."

Booth groaned putting his head in his hands. "Ok, I'll call her and ask her to meet me."

"I can go with you if you want."

"No. I think I have to do this one on my own, but if you stay with Lizzie while I do it, that would be amazing." Brennan nodded at Booth's request. "Of course, Booth. I love taking care of her."

Booth had gone down stairs and was sitting on the couch in his new living room and was moving was moving his cell phone between his hands trying to figure out what to say to his ex. He finally picked up the phone dialing her number before he could talk himself out of it. The phone rang a couple of time and he thought he might get the mercy of voicemail but she picked up just before her voicemail kicked in. "Hello?"

"Hi Rebecca, it's Seeley."

"Seeley? What's going on? You cancelled on Parker for this weekend and I'm starting to get annoyed with you. You've been dropping him off earlier than normal and you won't take him overnight. What is going on? You can't disrupt his life like that." Booth sighed ignoring the last part, knowing very well that Rebecca has cancelled his weekends with Parker so often that for a while it was as rare for Booth to see his son.

"Rebecca, I've had some issues that I needed to work through and I was hoping that we could meet so I can explain it all to you?"

"If you are gambling again, so help me god I'll-"

"No! I'm not gambling!"

"Then what is it?" Rebecca said with an annoyed edge to her tone.

"I'll meet you in two hours at the diner and explain everything. Please just hear me out."

"Ok, but this better be good. If it's not, you won't see Parker again." With that Rebecca hung up leaving Booth fuming, though he was determined not to let it get to him.

Booth went back upstairs to check on Brennan and Lizzie and to tell them that he was going out for a bit. "Hey, Bones," Booth said walking back into the nursery, Brennan was sitting in the chair but Lizzie had been relocated to the crib. "I talked to Rebecca and she agreed to meet me in two hours at the diner."

"That's good. Was she angry at you?"

"She was her regularly pleasant self."

"Booth, she's hardly ever pleasant. What are you talking about?"

"She acted the way she normally acts. Was hypocritical because I cancelled for this weekend and she said I can't disrupt his schedule, then she accused me of gambling, and she topped it off by saying that if my explanation wasn't good enough I won't see Parker again."

"Booth, she can't do that!" Brennan yelped before realizing that they needed to be quiet.

"I know and I'm done with it, I'm going to talk to her but if she threatens me again I'm talking to Caroline."

"Good. Oh, while you're out can you get a baby monitor? I like sitting in here with her but at some point, I'll need to go downstairs. Can you also get more formula, some diapers, and some blankets? I don't think Angela got any, and Lizzie likes to be swaddled. The few you snatched from the hospital won't be enough." Booth couldn't help but laugh when Brennan finished speaking.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, I swear." When Brennan raised her eyebrows in disbelieve and gave him a stare that was similar to a glare, he elaborated. "That sounded a lot like a 'honey-do' list."

"Oh! I know that one! It's when a person in a monogamous relationship asks the other to run errands, or fix things when they can't. My dad used to joke about that when my mom would ask him to do something." Brennan got a faraway look in her eye that she only gets when she thinks about her childhood, before that fateful Christmas when she was fifteen.

"Are you ok, Bones?" Brennan paused and looked at Booth who was now standing a lot closer then she realized, for the first time she wondered if she should give an honest answer to that question. "Bones? You ok?"

Brennan took a deep breath before answering. "Of course, I'm fine Booth."

Booth sighed, hoping that he'd get an honest answer out of Brennan. But, he knew that she had considered telling him the truth and he was pleased for the minor victory. He knew that her walls were slowly coming down and he would give her all the time in the world if she'd open up to him completely.

"Booth, what time did you say you were going to meet Rebecca?" Booth glanced at his watch to get a more accurate time.

"In about two hours, but I have no idea how long it'll take to get there plus, I'd like to grab the baby monitor and everything else before I meet up with her. Considering it's close to four, the stores might be closed by the time I get out of the diner."

"Ok, well can you try and get a video monitor instead of just an audio one?"

"Sounds good, Bones. I'll be back later."

Booth turned and left, leaving a jittery Brennan and sleeping baby behind.

A little over an hour and a half later Booth walked into the Royal Diner looking for Rebecca. Once he scanned the place and didn't find her he picked a table and sat down. He had just ordered a coffee when the chair across from him slid out and Rebecca sat down.

"Ok, Seeley. I have been pretty patient with you now I would like to know what the hell is going on."

Booth took a breath then began telling Rebecca the story of Lizzie. "About eight months ago, Bones and I got into a massive fight." Rebecca raised her eyebrows wondering if Booth knew how much they sounded like a couple when they say things like that. "I stormed out and ended up at that bar that we used to go to. You know the one between the base and the University?" At her nod of confirmation, he continued. "I ended up going home with a girl that night. Apparently, I got her pregnant." Booth quickly continued before Rebecca could start yelling at him. "I didn't know until she left the baby at Washington General and she told them to search through the FBI database for a paternal match and they found me. She was born almost ten weeks early so she has been in the neonatal intensive care unit for the past month, and she was discharged earlier today. That's why I've been acting a little scattered."

Rebecca sat back in her seat to let this new information sink in. There were quite a few minutes of silence before Rebecca exclaimed "Holy Crap!" Another minute passed before Rebecca started to speak. "Seriously, Seeley? I would think that after Parker you would learn how to work a condom. You're an idiot." Booth just rolled his eyes at her comment. "Ok, I do understand that would cause a great amount of chaos but you have to pull yourself together Booth. You can't just disappear on Parker, he needs to see you." Booth raised his eyebrows in disbelieve at her thinking that Parker needed to see him.

"I know. I was going to introduce them next weekend but I wanted to tell you first."

"Ok, I want to see pictures." Rebecca held out her hand in a gesture that meant she expected him to put his phone in her hand. He took his phone out and opened up the pictures before handing the phone over. "She's so cute. What's her name?"

"Elizabeth Temperance Booth. We're calling her Lizzie."

Rebecca looked up at Booth in shock. "Whoa. How'd Dr. Brennan take that?" Booth thought back to Brennan's initial reaction and smiled to himself. He knew that her heart was bigger than she let on and kept herself safe by seeming aloof so having someone show the type of faith and love in her and for her that she hadn't experienced since she was a child was overwhelming. Rebecca saw Booth's expression and laughed. Booth's attention snapped back to Rebecca at her laugh. "I guess it went well?"

"It took some persuasion but she came around to the idea." Rebecca looked at Booth in disbelieve, she knew he wasn't telling her the whole story but decided to let it go. "Ok." Rebecca almost sang as she flipped through the photos. The food arrived as she was looking at the pictures, all was quiet until she came across the photo of Brennan smiling at Lizzie and holding her, while Booth looked on smiling like his whole world was sitting in that chair. Rebecca knew that he had never looked at her like that. There was always something in his eyes when he looked at Brennan but it was amplified when he saw her hold his daughter. She turned the phone towards him so he would know what picture she was looking at. "This is an adorable family photo. And please don't give me any of that 'we're just partners' crap. You were partnered with others before her and you were barely friends with some of them. I seriously thought you were going to kill Sully at one point there. But that had more to do with his relationship with her then Sully being a jackass, am I right?"

"No. Sully is a jackass and Bones and I are just partners. I swear."

"Now I think you're an idiot for another reason. Don't miss your moment with her Seeley. If you do it right, you'll be magic."

Booth was quiet as he thought about that then quickly changed the subject. "Off the topic of my non-existent love life, is there any chance you could help me a little? Most people have some time to plan for a baby, but we've been handed one and in the past month I haven't had a whole lot of time to do a lot of research. Bones has done what she could but she won't be the full-time parent, and we could use some practical advice." Rebecca didn't miss how Booth was including Brennan in his life with Lizzie and how he kept using the word 'we'. She grinned at him then started giving him practical parenting advice.

Booth came in the house carrying different bags and boxes with baby related equipment and found Brennan sitting on the floor rocking Lizzie in her car seat. "Hey, Bones."

"Booth! I was swinging her in my arms for a while and that kept her calm but then my legs and back got sore so I was afraid I'd drop her. How'd it go?"

"You're doing a great job Bones, you're a natural. Please let me take her for a bit." Booth put down the bags and picked up Lizzie, who didn't like being moved but calmed down when Booth started to rock her in a motion that was similar to that of the baby carrier. "The meeting went well actually. She yelled at me for being an idiot but she calmed down and actually gave me some useful advice. She said that she would have given me Parker's old things but she got rid of most of it except for stuffed animals and a few clothes."

"Really? What did she say?"

"Well, she said an absolute life safer was a baby swing so you don't have to spend your time swinging the baby, or doing that." Booth gestured to her position on the floor where she was still absentmindedly rocking the car seat trying to keep the baby calm. "She also said that we might want to get a basinet for a few reasons, basically we don't have to go as far to get her when she wakes in the middle of the night, and since she was in the incubator then that little crib for her whole life, she might not be comfortable in a whole crib."

"Did you get what she suggested?"

"Swing, basinet, baby monitor and other important things are in that pile. I'll start to assemble everything once I put her down.

"That's amazing Booth. I'm going to lay down for a minute if you don't mind."

"Go ahead Bones."

Brennan laid down on the couch once Booth had Lizzie comfortably in his arms and quickly fell asleep. Booth smiled seeing her fast asleep on his couch, she looked so relaxed and innocent while asleep that he hesitated to wake her. He looked down at Lizzie and realized that she had fallen asleep, he didn't want to put her in the car seat again, not knowing how that would go over with her so he decided to put her on the couch with Brennan. Once they were settled, Booth smiled at the picture they made, he quickly fumbled for his phone and took a few pictures of Lizzie laying on her stomach with her face tilted towards Booth, Brennan had draped her arm over Lizzie holding her in place. Booth looked at the picture after he took it and smiled and changed it to his phone background.

While the two slept Booth out together the different things that Rebecca had instructed him to buy. Once everything was assembled he went back to the couch to try and wake Brennan. When he tried to take Lizzie from her, she tightened her arms around the baby making it impossible for him to take her.

"Bones." He whispered in her ear and caressed her cheek with his finger hoping to wake her. When she stirred but didn't fully wake he lightly kissed her forehead hoping that would work. "C'mon, Baby, wake up." Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at Booth. "Hi."

"Hi." Booth was still absentmindedly stroking Brennan's hair and it took everything he had not to lean down and kiss her. He wished he could always see her like this, sleepy eyed and smiling up at him was a fantasy that he'd had on more than one occasion but the reality was much better than the dream.

"Can you take the baby so I can sit up?"

"Oh, yeah, sure thing Bones." Booth scooped up Lizzie so Brennan could shift into a sitting position on the couch. Brennan looked at her watch and thought that she should probably get going.

"I should be going. I have to be at the Jeffersonian early tomorrow to try and catch up on everything that happened during the time I was away. Will I see you tomorrow, Booth?" The question had the same effect as dumping a bucket of water over Booth's head.

"Oh, shit. What the hell am I going to do? I can't take much more time off before my job would be on the line and I can't put her in daycare yet, plus the Hoover doesn't have one. I could call the person I used when Parker was little, but Parker was closer to toddler age at that point, not a newborn and I don't know if they'd even do it. What do you do for daycare for newborns who can't spend much time in public?"

"Well, I think the mother normally stays with the baby until an appropriate time for the child to be exposed to a wider range of bacteria."

"That's not really an option, Bones! Hacker would love to use this as a reason to fire me, the smug asshole has always hated me and is looking for a reason to kick me to the curb." Booth's ranting had slowly increased in volume and he now was borderline shouting. Lizzie had been startled by the voices and was now screaming in frustration.

"Booth, give her to me." Booth handed Lizzie over to Brennan without question and Lizzie started to calm once she was in Brennan's arms. Brennan sang softly and swayed to quiet the baby.

"She's so comfortable with you Bones. She has never done that with me." Booth said quietly with a smile.

"What do you mean, Booth?" Brennan said as she absentmindedly rocked Lizzie to keep her calm.

"She's done that before, where something startles her, or scares her and I'll hold her and rock but she won't calm down until she tires herself out and just falls asleep. But if you do it, she'll settle right down. See, she's happy even though she was so upset two minutes ago."

"She's an easy baby, Booth. It's not hard to like her."

"Yeah, but to her, you are the most important person in her life, only tied with me."

"Booth-"

"No Bones, I'm serious I know you'd say that she's too young to understand love and who we are, but she trusts you, she knows that you are someone special and important, she's relaxed with you that means something. It means something to her, and to me."

"Thank you, Booth." Brennan smiled down at the baby who was looking up at her. "You know I've got some piled up vacation days and Cam was very upset that I hadn't taken the days yet, I also have some family days unused. Cam wanted me to take them in the next few weeks anyway. I could look after her for a few weeks, then she could stay at the Jeffersonian daycare."

"What? Bones, are you serious? That's a big deal, and I couldn't ask you take time off to babysit."

"Booth, you said that Hacker might fire you for taking any more time off and if I can do something to prevent that I will. The centre has to hold Booth and it will fall apart if you don't work for the FBI anymore. Cam was going to force me to take a few weeks off before the beginning of April, at least this way I feel like my time off is serving some purpose."

Booth couldn't believe what he was hearing, Bones, his Bones, was offering to stay home with his daughter until he could find adequate childcare. He stared at her in shock for so long that Brennan had started to get nervous. "Booth? If you don't want me too I don't have to."

"What? No, of course, I would love for you to do that, but Bones that's a huge ask and you don't have to do that."

"Then we'll do that. It is a simple solution, we're shooting two birds with one pellet."

Booth couldn't help but laugh at Brennan's misuse of the phrase. "I think you mean killing two birds with one stone."

"That's what I said." Brennan looked down at Lizzie and realized that she did not want to let her go. She sighed and reluctantly slid her into Booth's arms and gathered her things. "I better go, but I'll see you tomorrow, how about 7:30?"

"That should work." Brennan turned to leave before Booth called out to her. "Bones?"

"Yes, Booth?"

Booth came over to where she stood by the door. He looked at her for a minute then quickly grabbed her arm to bring her closer and leaned down and kissed her cheek. Lizzie was wedged between them but all either could think was how good it felt to be so close to each other. Booth lingered a little longer than necessary then reluctantly backed away. "Thank you, I mean it." Booth started rubbing his hand along Brennan's arm as he looked at her. Brennan smiled and leaned further into his touch loving the way that it felt.

They were both silent, having fallen into one of their 'moments', they were moving closer together until Lizzie started to cry, breaking the spell.

Brennan smiled before turning towards the door. "Goodbye Booth. I will see you in the morning."

Booth stood frozen to the spot barely whispering "Bye Bones." Before the door shut behind her.

Booth looked down at Lizzie and laughed at her wide eyed expression. "It looks like it's just us kid." He turned away from the door ready to face his first night as a full-time dad.

AN: There you go! There's going to be a bit of time jump in the next chapter, I'm hoping to speed this thing up a bit.

If anyone is still reading this crazy thing, give me a review! I love them!