Booth ran his hand over the scar on his wife's stomach. She still slept, but he had awoken a while ago. He had been patiently waiting for her to wake up, but now he hoped that a little encouragement would help. He felt her stir a little bit and smiled to himself. His hand went a little bit higher and then a little bit lower. She turned around in bed to face him, and before he could say anything she kissed him passionately. Their hands explored each other with eagerness and before long their passion for each other exploded by making love. Sweet and tender at first, and passionate and uninhibited by the end.

They lay together afterwards, still entwined; Booth loved the feeling that they were 'one', when a light knock on their bedroom door startled them back into reality. He pulled away from her and pulled the sheet up over both of them, trying to remember if he had locked their door the night before. He was pretty sure he had. His heard his son's voice through the door.

"Dad?" Parker was obviously awake. "Are you awake? I heard you yell something!"

Bones laughed out loud at the embarrassed look on her husband's face. His engrossment in their physical activity had made him temporarily forget that his oldest son was staying with them that weekend. He might have been a little more restrained if he had remembered. She was thankful that he had not.

"Go get some breakfast Parker. I'll be right down." Booth kissed his wife again, that stopped her laughter. The kiss started to get a little bit more intense, and he forced himself to part from her.

"C'mon Bones...we've got a big day ahead of us. It's not every day our son turns one year old."

"No, not every day, but two of them in a week is pretty important."

He kissed her on the tip of the nose and made a motion to get out of bed, he headed for their bathroom to take a shower, but before he went into the small, adjoining room he turned back to her.

"Are you coming? We can kill two birds with one stone." She looked confused, but got out of bed and took his outstretched hand.

"How are we killing birds?"

He didn't answer her question with words. Only actions. He kept his voice down this time.

A while later Booth arrived in the kitchen and sat beside his son, careful to not bump his still-sore leg as he sat down at the table. Parker continued to eat his breakfast, and eventually looked at his father.

"What were you guys doing in there?"

Booth turned a bright shade of red, and quickly changed the subject. There was no way he was having the sex talk with Parker yet.

"Are you excited for the party today? Your little brother is turning one. That's a pretty important milestone."

"Yeah. Bones said there was going to be a bunch of animals and stuff. It should be fun," Parker changed the subject with his usual child-like abruptness, "Hey Dad?"

"Yes..." Booth was poking his son in the ribs, trying to get him to laugh. The little boy was doing a stellar job of ignoring him.

"Is Justus going to be my new little brother?"

"Do you want him to be?" Booth really wondered how his first-born felt about the situation.

"Of course I do. He needs a big brother to look out for him. Like you did with Uncle Jared right?"

Booth felt a new, different emotion at the mention of Jared's name. Some sadness, but a different kind of sadness. That wound was healing better now.

"Yeah bud. Exactly like I did with Uncle Jared. You're going to have double duty now. Can you handle it?"

"Yep." Parker was distracted by a large truck pulling into their backyard that he spied through the kitchen window. "Dad! That truck has circus written on the side of it. That's so cool!"

Seeley wondered at that point just how big this party was going to be. He had not really paid attention to the details of the planning.

He looked over to the entrance of the kitchen and saw his younger son walking his way into the room. He held out his arms and his heart swelled when the little boy smiled his huge smile and went to him.

"Happy birthday little big man!!" He swept the boy up into his arms and made him giggle with sloppy kisses to his cheek. Parker watched the interaction with a smile.

Jax showed no evidence of the sickness he had suffered with. He was his normal happy little self again.

Temperance followed not far behind with Justus in her arms. Booth smiled at the blonde boy and he smiled back. Justus seemed to be adjusting to his new life, but he was showing some signs of trauma from his separation from his mother. He seemed to adore Booth, but he had definitely bonded with the anthropologist. He didn't like it when she left his sight. Even for a minute.

She handed the boy to Booth and he sat at the table with both little boys on his lap while his wife made them some coffee. She smiled when she looked over and saw the sight of both boys looking up at him adoringly.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked her, with a glimmer in his eye.

"I'm not laughing...It's just adorable. I never thought there would be two babies in our house."

"Never say never Bones!"

"I've heard that before somewhere..." She rolled her eyes, and he laughed out loud at her.

He set Jax down on the floor and Parker went to his younger brother. The smaller Booth obviously adored his big brother and Parker led him from the kitchen into the television room to watch some cartoons. The two adults were left alone in the kitchen with Justus still on Booth's knee. He bounced the baby on the uninjured leg and he was thrilled to hear the boy giggle.

Temperance sat down beside him with a cup of coffee for both of them. He sipped his gratefully. When he set the cup down, he just looked at her. She smiled at him, but he kept his face serious.

"Are you absolutely positive that you want to pursue adoption of Justus here? I mean, not all that long ago you said you weren't sure if you would ever be able to share your love for Jax. This little boy is going to need all the love he can get." Their eyes stayed connected while she pondered her answer.

"I've discovered something in the last few weeks Booth..."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"Well, it's hard to describe, but I have found that I don't have to share my love for Jax. I can just create more love, enough for Justus too."

He was a little surprised at her answer. His heart almost exploded out of his chest he was so in love with her in that moment. He grinned at her, and then kissed Justus on the top of his head. He turned the boy just a little bit so he could look into the little face.

"You hear that buddy... it takes her four years to realize she loves me, but it takes her less than three weeks to fall for you! What a lucky little man!" His face glowed at her, and she radiated back at him.

He leaned towards her to kiss her, and she met him half way. They were in the process of doing just that when Parker came back into the kitchen.

"Oh my God you guys...get a room. I don't know if I can handle another little brother any time soon."

"Parker...don't take the lord's name in vain okay?" Booth wondered exactly how much his son knew about the birds and the bees. Maybe he should be ready to have that talk with Parker, he should definitley start his lessons while he was young on how to be devastatingly charming to members of the opposite sex. Not that Parker was going to need a lot of help.

"Sorry Dad. Hey Bones.., did you really rent the circus for Jax' birthday party?"

Booth laughed at her when she answered,

"Not the whole circus. There were a few of the clowns who couldn't make it."

They all looked out the window at the large tent being erected in the back yard.

Booth continued to laugh.

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By mid-afternoon the backyard was transformed into the ultimate party. It wasn't just child oriented, there was a grill being manned by Doctor Gordon Wyatt, who was thrilled to be able to show off his culinary skills. Doctor Sweets stood beside the tall British man and tried to make it look like the two weren't talking about Booth and Brennan. Every time the partners looked towards him, he looked away. Booth had started to make a game of it.

Sweets had spoken to them in private when he arrived. It turned out his suspicions were correct about Manny, the woman who had cared for Jax the night he was missing. She had been diagnosed with Dementia, and they were looking for a good home for her to live the rest of her days. Any information she had about Justus and his deceased Mother were lost in the endless confusion of the old woman's mind. Temperance wouldn't admit to anyone that she was terrified that there would be someone who wanted to claim Justus. He already felt like a part of their family. She would be heartbroken if he was taken away now.

So many people already wandered around. Everyone from FBI to Jeffersonian. Immediate family and others. Temperance and Seeley played the ultimate host to their guests. They greeted everyone with hugs and kisses. Well, she did, he just smiled proudly.

The two were interrupted from a conversation with a couple of Booth's buddies from his hockey team by Hodgins and Angela. They both were grinning as Temperance leaned to give her best friend a hug. Over the artist's shoulder, she saw a familiar face and after a couple of seconds of shock she flung herself at the young man who had been her right hand man for so long.

Black-gloved hands rubbed her back when the hug lingered. She pulled back to stare the young man in the eye.

"Zack...what are you doing here? How did you get out? Did you escape again? There are court officials here...they'll see you."

Zack shook his hair out of his eyes, and smiled at Booth, his glance was quick, and he didn't want to give away their secret.

"No Doctor Brennan, someone struck a deal with higher authorities and got me a weekend pass. As long as I stay with my guardian, and stay out of trouble, they might be willing to do it on a regular basis."

"That's amazing Zack! It's good to see you! Who is your guardian?"

Zack pointed at Hodgins and Angela. Everyone chuckled. Brennan thought to herself, that whoever had pulled that off had some major sway with the higher-ups. She tried not to look at her husband because she knew he would know that she knew it was him. She excused herself from the group, noticing that Russ and Amy and their girls had just walked through the back door of the house.

They all watched her go. Booth leaned on his crutches and watched her longer than everyone else. They all watched him watching her, and they were thrilled that everything had worked out, once again, for the couple. Booth turned back to Zack.

"It's good to see you man. Thanks for coming." The FBI Agent clapped the young man on the shoulder. Angela smiled at someone who had walked up behind Booth, and he turned to see who it was.

"Gramps! How are you...?" Both of the Booths hugged warmly, and the older man held on to his grandson's shoulders.

"Seeley, don't call me that. Now...where is this new great-grandson of mine?" He looked towards the two little boys who were being closely watched by their big brother as they wandered around the yard. Jax was loving all the attention from everyone. Some of the faces were familiar to him, some were not. Parker was taking his job very seriously.

"Don't jinx it! We only have temporary guardianship so far. We're still waiting to hear about the possibility of adoption. We're still looking for any family members who might want him..."

Booth looked at the squints and the former squint who were watching the two Booth's with smiles. They were so alike it was uncanny. Booth started to apologize, he nodded towards the boys, but Hodgins cut him off,

"WE should go get our little guy some cake, while there's some left..." He and Angela both put their arm around Zack's shoulder and guided him towards the food, but not before Zack thanked Booth.

Booth's only reply was to place his finger on his lips and then point towards Bones, who had noticed the grandfather and was making her way back across the lawn with a smile to say hello.

Booth and Brennan met where the little boys were playing and Booth's grandfather picked up Justus and he had him charmed in moments. The little boy laughed at the old man's funny faces. The married couple noticed how good it was to hear him laugh. He was coming around. He would be just fine under their guidance and love.

The group laughed as Booth's grandfather set Justus down, and Jax approached his counterpart and in the exact way his father had just done to his mother, he put his arm around his new room-mate. Booth thought to himself that there was some of him in that boy after all. He kissed his wife on the cheek. The silence after the moment was interrupted by Caroline Julian approaching them.

"Agent Booth! Doctor Brennan!" She had a blue envelope in her hand and was waving it towards them.

When she got close enough to them she handed the envelope to Brennan, who seemed afraid to open it.

"What is this?" Temperance asked the lawyer.

"It's a summons to appear in court. You've been served." She let the two panic for only a moment or two before she let them in on her maybe-not-so-funny joke.

"I'm just kidding Cheries, don't panic...it's the paperwork awarding you guys permanent guardianship of Justus there. In six months, providing nobody steps forward, you can legally adopt him. It's all legal now. I brought the papers over for Samantha Cleary, since obviously my invite was lost in the mail."

She tried to glare at the couple, but they were lost in each other's eyes. They kissed in front of everybody with no inhibitions. Brennan finally pulled away from him and looked at Caroline with one eyebrow raised.

"What do you want us to do in return for this favour?" Caroline always had a price...a bargain.

"Well, I had a suggestion, but I'm guessing by the smug look on that man's face," she pointed to Booth, "That you guys already do that fairly often. I guess I just have one request..."

"What's that?" Booth asked when she paused.

"Try not to let this new one get kidnapped quite so often!"

Everyone looked at Brennan to see her reaction to Caroline's 'joke'. She just smiled and answered the phone ringing in her pocket. She turned slightly away but Booth heard her say,

"You're where? ...Okay... we'll be right there." She clicked her phone shut and turned back to Booth. He couldn't read her expression.

"Booth, can we go into the kitchen?...Let's bring the boys...there's something we have to discuss..." She turned to Parker, who continued to hover over the younger boys. "Can you bring Jax inside for us?" He nodded, and took the little boy by the hand and started to lead him into the house. Temperance picked up Justus, and Booth hobbled behind them all. He had no idea what this was about. What else could possibly have gone wrong? The rest of the group wondered what was up as well.

When they were all in the kitchen, he could no longer contain his curiosity.

"Tempe...what's this all about? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong...I'll be right back." She set Justus down in a high chair and went to the front door and opened it to let her father into the foyer. They hugged warmly and Max made his way into the kitchen and immediately picked up his grandson. He looked at him in awe, and looked back to his daughter.

"He looks just like you Tempe. He's gorgeous. Nicely done you guys." His gaze then turned to his son-in-law. "You're not going to arrest me are you Booth?" The FBI Agent hadn't seen Max since the incident in the hangar with Gus. Max had shot the unarmed man and an arrest warrant had to be issued for him. Booth was willing to let this one go.

"You know what Max? I will make you the promise that I will never arrest you on my son's birthday. The paperwork's a bitch, and we've got a pretty decent party going on out there." He pointed his chin towards their back yard. "It's good to see you Max."

Max scanned the room and said hi to Parker. He then noticed the other little boy sitting in the chair. He gaped at the two for an explanation.

They filled him in on the events of the past six months and more specifically the events that brought Justus into their lives. He was thrilled to have a new grandson. They all hung out in the kitchen for awhile when eventually, Angela came in the back door and let them know that the performers wanted to start and they were waiting for the guests of honour.

Temperance asked her father to stay, but he said he had to be on his way. His ride was waiting for him, and as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.

The family made their way back outside and into the tent that was at the back of their huge back yard.

As they all settled into the tent with their friends, Temperance finally believed that her family was complete. She remembered thinking a long time ago that maybe she was one of those people who didn't get to be in a family...

She had been wrong.

She had never been so happy to be so wrong. She kissed her husband on the cheek and they held their sons waiting for the show to start.

As the first performers started their routine, she leaned over to her husband and whispered in his ear,

"Do you think they need a knife throwing act?"

He smiled at her, and winked.

All was well.

*

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A/N:

So... here ends part two.

So far I have absolutley no thoughts for a part three, but I won't rule it out.

I do have a funny story idea about Jax and Justus in the future, solving crimes for the FBI...how their lives turned out and stuff. Might be entertaining.... watch for it if anyone's interested!!

I really do want to thank everyone who has read this story, and reviewed regularly. You all rock! You got me through the tough chapters.

Thanks again...

and peace.

Gaia

XXOO