So, here it is, the final chapter. Firstly this has been a nightmare to write. Its taken forever and I'm convinced its too long but there was just so much to cram in. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing both this and Carpe Diem and I just want to thank everyone who has read this story but especially those of you who have reviewed:

This-Family-Affair, readergirl828, siddika, mpredrox, InfernoRed2937, Scipio'sgirl, bones4life, HolidayArmadillo, Addictt, a911chic, mendenbar, Bones4Booth, pagan-seijou, Bellabun, bb-4ever, YouAndMeKelly, ilovepeterpetrelli, angel6.d, will girl, DeanParker, SupernaturalFan666, graceful phoenix, Kates Master, Chanelle Brennan, canadianagurl, Organa46, Kyizi, Khitie Ethrin, Muppet madness, bonesluvers456, Brenna mars, Elliesmeow, caroldpb, strider84, Lu78, FauxMaven, Sarali1983, VegasButterfly, inurdreams21, Alphie13, mumrulz, inzaghina, Leena7, Cali1043, LAIsobel, cass.101, KB22, yurface9311, Dirty Little Butterfly, kairbear1980, daisy07, imprinter, HawkAngel XD, fairytalelovestory, Amelibum, seeleyswifey, Angel1002, angelaeh1121, laura-az, (and anyone else I'm sorry enough to have missed)

Also a great big thanks to anyone who has favourited this or me and put the story or me on alert, it means a lot :) As some of you know I was inconveniently let down by my beta in the early part of this story and have been unable to find a replacement since. As a result I think the story probably has suffered grammatically but I hope to have a fully edited version up in the next few weeks so all those annoying little typos should disappear for those who have favourited this story.

I am well aware that this hasnt been the most cheerful of tales and after I finish my other story 'What a Difference a Year Makes' I hope to be back with a more upbeat fanfic. This chapter contains some references to events that took place in the final chapters of Carpe Diem so if you havent read it or need reminding a suggest a quick read of the last few chapters :)

Finally I am still extremely unsure about this final chapter since it contains a plot twist that has been planned since the beginning and now I'm not sure if it fits, I have a feeling you'll either love it or hate it...I hope for love obviously lol. Anyway enough of me and on with the(extra extra long) finale...enjoy :)

Chapter 46

Quid Latine dictum sit altum viditur - Whatever had been said in Latin seems deep

Seven months later…

'Can we go yet?'

Parker's whine rang through the house for the third time that morning and Booth laughed at his son.

'Calm down, we'll be leaving soon I promise…at least I hope we will.'

Booth bent down and helped his son tie his laces before shouting up the stairs that adjoined the living room.

'Bones, you nearly ready?'

Nothing, no reply. Booth straightened and glanced up the stairs where his partner had been firmly shut away in the bedroom for almost and hour.

'Bones are you OK up there?'

The reply was slow coming and cautious.

'Errr…yeah…I'll…just give me a few minutes…'

'Bones…we kind of need to go…Angela will kill us if we're late and we still have to get Cam…'

'Fine…I'm coming…just…just…there, coming…five more minutes…'

Booth smothered a smile and turned back to Parker who was swinging his legs to and fro from his position on the sofa. Booth knew boredom when he saw it and he couldn't blame the kid. They seemed to have been waiting for an age for Brennan to get ready so they could all depart for a family day out at the Jeffersonian Summer Fair.

'Why's she taking so long?'

'I don't know Parks', I guess she's just trying to make herself look nice.'

Parker frowned in confusion.

'But she always looks nice.'

Booth smiled at his son and remembered once more how blessed he was that his son loved his partner almost as much as he did.

'She's nearly ready Parker, we can go soon.'

Parker frowned again and stared at his shoes as they shifted with the sway of his legs.

'I got up early and everything. Dr.Jack says there's going to be a merry-go-round and a pony! And auntie Angela said there's going to be food and cakes and icecream. I asked Zach if he liked ice-cream but I'm not sure if he does or not because I didn't really understand what he meant when he answered. He said he's looking forward to helping judge the junior science fair. That's why we need to hurry dad, the contest…'

Booth sighed, it was the millionth time that weekend he had heard about the science contest and his girlfriend hadn't exactly helped to dampen his sons enthusiasm.

'Don't worry Parker, they're not judging the competition until gone twelve and its only…'

He glanced at his watch.

'…half-nine.'

'Yeah but dad, what about the pony? I told Jenny's cousins brother about the fair and he said…'

Booth momentarily ignored his son as he heard the unmistakable sound of the bedroom door opening and his partners footfalls on stairs. He saw her feet first as she slowly stepped down the stairs. She wore black patent mary-janes that gave way to opaque black tights that covered slender legs. Booth forced his eyes upwards as she walked further down the stairs revealing the hem of her deep blue summer dress, the thin cotton sweeping across the flare of her hips and her toned stomach. He took in the curve of her breast and the creamy tone of her skin at the spot between her collar-bone and her neck which was adorned with a simple silver chain Booth himself had bought her a month earlier for her birthday.

Her eyes met his hesitantly and she offered him a wobbly smile as she stepped into the living room. Parker uttered a desperate 'finally' under his breath but Booth didn't even hear him.

'You look…'

She chewed nervously on her bottom lips as she silently sought his approval.

'I wasn't sure what to wear…'

He almost asked why. She wasn't usually one to stand on ceremony or care what others thought of her so it struck him as odd that she was concerned about what she looked like. It also struck him how truly endearing she was. It wasn't the first time she had doubted her own appearance and he wondered who in her past had ever made her feel less than perfect.

'You look great Bones.'

He was rewarded with a grin and she grabbed her bag from the banister, declaring they could now leave. Parker muttered another barely discernible 'finally' but Booth let him off, after all there's only so long you can expect a kid to wait for ponies and merry-go-rounds.

Brennan ushered Parker to the car and watched as Booth locked the door. Their door she though with a smile. When things were finally settled with Cam and Toby and everything was back to being as normal as it could be at work Booth had stayed true to his vow and re-asked Brennan to move in with him. She'd agreed on one condition, that rather than him moving in with her or vice versa, they looked for a completely new place, a fresh start. That was how three short months later the pair found themselves the proud owners of a three bed roomed, Victorian house in a pricey area of D.C., white picket fence and all.

Compromises had of course been made. For example several of her artefacts had been moved to the lab to make room for sports memorabilia and he had foregone a games room in favour of her office but other than that the move had gone better than either had anticipated and she could honestly say she loved her new home. She loved the wooden floor in the dining room, she loved the granite work surface in the kitchen, she loved the tyre swing hanging from the tree at the end of the garden and she loved the man she got to wake up next to every morning.

Cam had also moved and it was to her new apartment the three were headed. Having taken up the position as head of pathology at the Jeffersonian she could now afford a much nicer place and the museum day-care meant that she no longer had to worry so much about caring for Toby. She had moved to her new apartment three weeks after leaving hospital after declaring it 'the perfect home for herself and her son' just four minutes into the real estate tour. As they pulled up outside Brennan was forced once more to agree with her, it was the perfect place for them. The comfortable two bed roomed home was situated not half a mile from a local park, local schools were good and the neighbourhood had some of the lowest crime statistics in D.C. All in all Brennan could see why her colleague would be happy to see her son grow up there.

'Right, wait here, I'll be right back.'

Brennan smiled at Booth as he hopped from the car and strolled into Cam's building.

'Are you excited about the fair Tempe?'

She twisted in the seat to talk to Parker.

'It'll be fun.'

'We're going to miss it all if dad doesn't hurry up.'

'Your dad'll be back in a minute, he's just helping Cam with Toby.'

It had been agreed the week earlier that Booth and Brennan would give Cam and her son a lift to the fair, it made the most sense after-all since they only lived ten minutes apart and Cam didn't have a car.

'Toby's OK, he's better than Lilly. Girls are silly.'

Brennan grinned at Parker's mention of his new baby sister. Despite his protests, and apparent disappointment at being gifted with a sister rather than a brother, it was common knowledge that he was fiercely protective and, according to Rebecca, doted on the little girl.

'Surely all girls aren't silly?'

He caught on to her teasing and giggled.

'Not you, you're ok….and mom…and Cam and Angela are ok I 'spose…'

'And Lilly, is she silly?'

Parker nodded, his characteristically unruly curls flicking in front of his eyes.

'She cant play any games and she cries all the time and she smells funny…'

'Parker don't be mean about you sister.'

Parker turned at the sound of his fathers voice and smiled sheepishly.

'Hi Parks.'

He smiled a hello at Cam as she settled Toby's car seat beside Parker and moved to help Booth with the stroller. Brennan took the opportunity to get a good look at Toby.

The infant seemed to have visibly changed almost every time she saw him. He was now equipped with a full mouth of pearly baby teeth which he exposed as Parker tickled him. His hair had grown thicker and was identical in colour and texture to his mothers. His eyes remained ever-unchanged, dark chocolate disks that often inferred an intelligence beyond his comprehension.

Brennan now rarely though of Cams betrayal all that time ago but one look into the eyes of the child that had been at the centre of all that heartache and pain and she was back in her apartment, a crumbled mess as she packed her things ready to leave her partner and friends forever to avoid an event she had no control over, the birth of this very child. She was happy with the way things had turned out, she was happy with Booth but…sometimes she couldn't help but wonder how different life might have been if Toby didn't exist or, even more worryingly, what it would have been like if Booth hadn't stopped her at the airport that day…

'Everyone ready?'

Booths question produced a chorus of 'yes' from the other members of the SUV and they smoothly pulled away from the sidewalk and were at last of their way to the fair for a day full of fun, relaxation and ice-cream.

The party was in full swing by the time they arrived, with Jeffersonian employees, benefactors and various families and friends all enjoying the days activities whilst basking in the warm atmosphere of the summer's afternoon. Parker had immediately begged permission to go and play and Booth had laughingly agreed, pulling Brennan along as they headed for the bouncy castle. Cam declined the offer of joining them, choosing instead to walk the perimeter of the gardened area that had been chosen for the event.

She smiled politely at the colleagues that approached her and answered good natured questions about the well-being of herself and Toby. She swapped anecdotal tales with museum benefactors and chatted easily with the wives of her superiors. Twenty minutes of mingling later she pushed Toby's stroller through the improvised picnic area and settled on a wooden bench, pushing the stroller to and fro in a soothing motion, her son sleeping in the heat of the midday sun.

She watched parents play games of hide and seek with their children and infants squeal as they rode a small white pony from one end of the garden to the other. Young wives, bored with the working lives of their high powered husbands, huddled together sharing in idle chatter as they shaded beneath one of the three white tents erected on the grassy lawn.

In the distance elder members of the gathering settled themselves together on benches, sharing tales of times gone by and the way things used to be and there, in a grassy area away from the commotion of the rest of the fair and sheltered by flowering blossom trees, a young couple were settled neatly on the ground lounging against each other, a blond-haired whirlwind running circles round them until his father grabbed him, forcing him to the ground and smothering him with kisses and tickles, his partner acting as a willing accomplice.

Cam smiled and something stirred within her as she watched Parker run off to play again, Booth and Brennan watching him go. She didn't recognise the feeling that stirred in the pit of her stomach. Jealousy? Regret? Resignation? Maybe a little of each. She couldn't work it out, she was happy for them, she really was and she would never try anything with Booth, any feelings she may have harboured for him in the past had long since dissipated, leaving behind nothing but a lingering friendship and the trappings of a long acquaintance and yet...And yet in some ways she still envied what Brennan had, a nice home, a family, a partner who adored her, the respect of her colleagues.

It was everything Cam had once wanted and everything she knew she would now probably never have. The dream of the perfect family had fast dissolved with Toby's birth. Make no mistake, she loved her son, but even she could see the difficulties of finding the perfect man and producing a brood of beautiful children when you already had a son, and one devoid of a father at that. Cam had come to terms with that, she was content with her life, with her son but...it never hurt to wonder.

'Perfect aren't they?'

Cam didn't turn as Angela settled herself beside her on the bench but stayed staring resolutely forward. Her communications with the usually perky artist had been cordial the past seven months but they were far from friends and never socialised outside of work. It seemed to outsiders that Angela had stilled not forgiven Cam for the hurt she had caused a certain anthropologist but Cam had other ideas, believing Angela's harboured resentment to go deeper than that although she was unable to put her finger on the exact reason for the cold shoulder she had received from the young woman.

'They seem happy enough.'

'Well that's the understatement of the century, he dotes on her and she couldn't live without him.'

Cam had to agree with that. Their devotion to each other was clear to even the most oblivious and seemed to have possibly even intensified these past few months.

'They seem to be finally getting back to normal.'

Angela nodded.

'They've not had it easy but they'll be OK.'

Cam turned to her, a quizical expression on her brow.

'I know, I know they will.'

She wondered what Angela wanted, why she had chosen to sit with her today of all days and preach her friends undeniable happiness.

'I hope you know.'

'I do.'

For a moment they were silent whilst they watched together as Booth leaned in to kiss his partner quickly before throwing her beneath him and attacking her in the same way he had his son. Even from that distance the laughter in Brennan's eyes was clear and her cheeks were visibly flushed.

'She only just made it you know. I know for a fact she's thought about giving in, leaving him and throwing in the towel, more than once.'

Cam turned Toby's stroller around so that he was facing her and watched as he slumbered on. She ignored Angela who seemed not to notice and ploughed on.

'And we all know for a fact he's considered leaving her.'

The comment was a barely veiled allusion to the events of the previous year and Cam had had enough. She stayed facing forward, never once looking at Angela but her voice now held and edge that told the artist she wasn't messing about.

'Ok, Angela, what the hell is this about. What exactly do you want from me?'

'The truth.'

Cam said nothing and stared once more across the lawn to watch her friends. She suddenly sensed that Angela had been waiting for this moment for a very long time and she was filled with a sudden sense of foreboding. Beside her Angela let out a long sigh.

'I know.'

This time Cam did turn to her, more in surprise and curiosity than anything else.

'What?'

'I know Cam. I have done for ages. I know your little secret.'

Cam said nothing but watched carefully as her son murmured in his sleep.

'How long did you think you'd get away with it?'

Cam sighed, finally caving to the other woman's interrogation.

'I was hoping for forever. How long have you known...in fact, no, for starters what exactly is it you think you know?'

She stared at the artist, unwilling to reveal her most precious secret until she knew it was too late.

'That night in the hospital, you were so ill, they were worried about you. I came to check on them and...and I saw...I saw Booth with Toby and I knew, how I hadn't seen it before I don't know, its so damn obvious. Toby is Booth's son, isn't he?'

Cam smiled sadly as she spied Parker on the merry-go-round, his father watching cautiously on, Brennan at his side. She looked down into the stroller where Toby was waking and looked right into his dark eyes, his fathers eyes. Cam suddenly found her mind being drawn back to a conversation that took place a full fifteen months earlier in a bleak side room in the maternity unity of Washington General and wondered how different things could be...

#Flashback#

She knew she'd pushed her luck but desperation had taken hold and she wasn't able to stop the words coming out. He was so worried about Brennan all the time he was only ever half there anyway and now...now she was leaving maybe...His voice cut through her thoughts.

'But you did want to split us up?'

Cam said nothing then decided it was too late for everything now and let her bitterness and anger take over.

'She was always there, always in the way. Even when we were together you were half with her, your head was at least. Everyone thought she was so perfect but I knew, I knew Seeley she could never give you what you wanted, what you really wanted: a wife, children. I can give you that.'

'But it doesn't matter Cam, I'd give all that up for her.'

He was telling the truth, she knew he was and that stung more than anything else ever had, the truth that he'd go without the one thing he so desperately wanted just for a woman that wasn't her. No one had even thought to love her that way. After his truth hers came spilling out and her plan was revealed to the world.

'I know, that's why when I found out I was pregnant I saw my opportunity. I knew she wouldn't stay, she wouldn't want to be a family wrecker after all.'

'How can you see being pregnant as an opportunity?'

'Because up until the minute I found out about you and Brennan I was going to get rid of it!'

Another truth, she wasn't lying and though it would hurt in the months to come to know that she had ever not wanted her child it had been true once. Booth wasn't sure what to say but found his voice again quickly, glad that a nurse hadn't yet interrupted them.

'You...you...How could you think of...'

'Oh calm down Seeley, it's the twenty first century and you might be catholic but I'm not. I wanted rid of it and then I saw you and Brennan together and I knew we could be a family, that a baby would be just the thing to get rid of her once and for all.'

'I can't believe you're being like this. How could you use a baby like this? My baby?'

And that's when it happened, the defining moment that would shape the rest of both her own and her childs' life. She saw it all then in his eyes, he never wanted her, not really, it was only ever about Temperance and what followed was, for the first time in months, an act of love and not, as others see it, revenge. It took all of three seconds for Camille Olivia Saroyan to perform both the most slefless and selfish act of her life.

'No Seeley, my baby.'

She said it, she'd uttered that most soul destroying of lies and for a moment she wanted to take it back, horrified at the ease with which it slipped from her lips.

'What, don't I get a say in this?'

Cam couldn't help it; she let out a small sick, curdling laugh, standing up to face him. She was angry now, she'd made her bed and she was well prepared to lie in it.

'You still don't get it do you... it's not yours.'

'W...what?'

'I'll spell it out shall I. The. Baby. Isn't. Yours.'

'I don't understand.'

'What's to understand?'

She wished he'd just leave, just go to Brennan, just go be happy and leave her with their baby and her secret.

'W...Who's is it?'

'I don't know but I know it isn't yours, that's all you really need to know isn't it.'

'You lied?'

She almost laughed at the irony, now she was lying about a lie.

'Yes I lied and you believed every minute of it. Why would it have been such a bad thing Seeley? You would have been a dad again and everyone would have been happy, no one would have ever known but you had to ruin it didn't you, you had to fall in love with her. You know what Seeley we are so alike.'

'I'm nothing like you.'

'Oh yes you are because we both want the same things and we're both so incredibly desperate. I was so desperate I lied to you and you we're so desperate you believed every minute of it. I may seem like the bad person for lying, for deceiving you, but you loved every second of it. Face it Seeley, you wanted the lies, you wanted to be deceived.'

The pair stared at each other long and hard before Booth finally blinked at her and took a step back.

'I think we're done here Camille.'

He turned to the door and Cam knew he wouldn't be coming back, not for her at least...

#End Flashback#

Cam sighed as her memories faded and stroked a finger down Toby's cheeks. He watched her with curious eyes.

'Yes.'

'Say it Cam, I think you need to say it.'

'Yes Booth is Toby's father.'

Angela shook her head.

'Why did you do this?'

Cam turned to her, suddenly annoyed at the way Angela seemed to think this was any of her business.

'Why the hell do you want to know?'

'Because they're my friends and I...I'm trying to understand why you would do this to them, to him, to her...'

'You don't get it do you? I didn't do this to them I did it for them.'

'What? I...?

'I took one look in his eyes that day at the hospital, the day she left, and I knew...it was never about me, never. It was always about them and for him it always was, and always would be, about her. If he'd stayed with me, if he'd let her go, he'd have hated every moment of life with me. He'd have hated me and he'd have resented Toby and in the end he'd have hated himself for letting her slip through his fingers. I couldn't let that happen.'

'So you...did this for them?'

Angela seemed to be struggling with the concept.

'Its better this way, like you said, they're happy now. I'm not proud of what I did but its done now. I'm content and Toby has the perfect family, I mean its not like he'll never see Booth'

'Still...its not the same...how could...you know how badly Booth wants another child.'

Cam nodded.

'And he'll get one.'

It was Angela's turn to be confused.

'What?'

Cam smiled gently and nodded in the direction of their mutual friends.

'Look at her, she's practically glowing.'

'You mean...?'

Cam nodded slowly.

'How long have you known, did she tell you, has she told Booth?'

Cam shook her head.

'I'm not sure she even knows herself but she is, I promise you she's pregnant. Maybe its some kind of mom radar you only aquire when you've suffered severely swollen ankles and had another being dictate when you pee for nine months.'

Angela supressed a smile and bit her lip.

'Do you think...?'

She trailed off, not wanting to ask this particular question. Cam nodded again, understanding the unspeakable question as she lifted a fussy Toby onto her lap.

'She'll keep it. She...I think she wants a baby almost as much as he does, she's just too scared to admit it.'

Minutes ticked by in silence and they watched as Parker returned to Booth and Brennan and the family disappeared from view.

'Will you ever tell him?'

Angela's eyes were now fixed on the young boy in Cams lap. Cam wrinkled her forehead.

'I don't know...maybe...one day.'

Angela nodded and in that moment they both knew. Cam knew Angela would never divulge her secret, not even to her best friend, and Angela knew that Cam would almost certainly never reveal Toby's parentage to Booth. And, as the pair gazed wistfully at the spot where their friends had been, Angela's hand reached across to encapsulate Cam's and suddenly, after secrets had been revealed and truths spoken, on that warm summers day when they least expected it, a friendship was healed.

A short distance away from the drama and excitement of the fair Booth and Brennan lounged against a tree, blissfully unaware of anything Cam had said. Parker was playing under the watchful supervision of Hodgins meaning the pair finally had some well earned alone-time and it was exactly what Brennan had waited for all day.

She'd thought long and hard about what she was about to do and knew it was now or never, she had to do it before she talked herself out of it. She gazed up at Booth from the place where her head rested on his shoulder.

'Booth? Will you...?'

She stalled and he looked at her, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

'What?'

She sighed and frowned deciding the direct approach was probably best. She shuffled around to sit between Booths legs. She looked him in the eyes, hers today the colour of a clear blue sky, his molten chocolate.

'Booth, will you marry me?'

For a minute he just stared at her, mouth slightly agape, and she worried that perhaps the direct approach wasn't the right one after-all. Then finally he recovered the power of speech...just about.

'What?'

She sighed.

'Okaaay, this isn't exactly going the way I planned.'

She rolled away to sit back beside him against the tree, absently brushing an errent piece of cherry blossom from her hair as she went.

'Sorry, I just...I'm a little surprised.'

She smiled, she could forgive him that.'

'I thought you didn't believe in marriage.'

She nodded slowly, she was prepared for this question.

'I think, I was against what I thought marriage was if that makes sense. I used to think that marriage was all about ownership and oppression and ownership and now...now I don't.'

'So...what do you think it's about?'

She reached across to hold his hand.

'Now I think that marriage is about commitment, its about making a statement to the world, about telling everyone that you're here and you're together and that you want to be together for the rest of your lives and I...I want that, I want that with you. I want to be your wife...if you'll have me that is...'

He didn't answer, just leaned down and kissed her, a soul searing, earth shattering, proposal accepting, kiss.

'Of course I'll marry you. I would love nothing more than to let the world know that you, wonderful, brilliant, amazing you, are going to spend the rest of your life with me. I love you, you know that'

'I know.'

They were silent for a few minutes, silly smiles mirrored on their faces.

'You do know this means you'll be Parker's step-mom.'

She nodded slowly basking in her new-found happiness.

'I'm strangley ok with that.'

He grinned again.

'I love you.'

She laughed.

'You said that already.'

'And I'll keep saying it everyday for the rest of our lives.'

Brennan smiled and they kissed again, before she broke off suddenly, her eyes deadly serious.

'I just have one condition about getting married...'

Booth raised an eyebrow.

'Yes?'

'Can we please have an outdoor wedding, I've had enough of churches to last a lifetime.'

At the mischievous glint in her eyes Booth couldn't help but laugh and pull her to his side.

'I think we can manage that.'

Hours later, when the party was long over and Jeffersonian patrons had declared the day a complete success, two lone figures remained, curled together under the bow of a cherry blossom tree. Parker had departed just half an hour previously, jumping at the chance to spend time with Cam and Toby, and Booth and Brennan would not have to pick him up for a couple of hours. Many of the party guests had also left some time ago leaving the the pair isolated in the Jeffersonian garden.

'We've been through a lot this past year. Who'd have thought eighteen months ago that we'd be together let alone engaged?'

Booth smiled and stroked Brennans hair as she dozed in his lap.

'I think I kind of always knew we'd get together.'

She smiled up at him.

'Really?'

'Yeah well everyone told us we would.'

She laughed softly and he knew he would never get sick of that sound.

'It hasn't always been easy though has it?'

'No but, well, that's us isn't it. We never do anything the easy way, and anyway, it was worth it.'

She sighed gently, a smile still dancing across her lips

'Well I think from now on we should maybe try the easy way...at least some of the time.'

He chuckled and bent to kiss her.

'Ok...just some of the time.'

Her eyes suddenly darkened, turning serious again.

'Do you think it'll be OK, our future I mean?'

He nodded and kissed the crown of her head, a easy smile gracing his lips, something he suspected would become a permanent fixture if, no when, he married her.

'I think we'll be just fine, after-all 'amor vincit omnia''

She smiled gently, rolling her eyes at him attempting to show off with his Latin knowledge as she settled into his chest and together they watched from their secluded spot as other party guests, reluctant to leave, enjoyed their final moments of fun in the dying hours of sunlight. She laid a hand across the stomach where she was as of yet unaware new life resided. They would be happy, joyous with or without a baby but one thing was for sure, time would prove Temperance Brennan to be a great mother, just as Zach had suspected and Seeley Booth would be an ever-dutiful and loving husband.

As the sunlight finally faded into a glorious sunset Brennan snuggled closer to her fiance. She had wanted to scoff at Booth and his romantic ideals, to question how he could believe so unequivocally that they would be OK but she didn't. She was content in her new-found knowledge that he was probably right. After all if past events had taught her anything it was that his Latin sentiment was almost certainly true. Love really does conquer all.

finis