First things first, think of this as related to my multi-chapter story The Anthropologist in the Dream, nothing will happen here that will affect that story. I have simply borrowed the characters again to have some fun with them. This is just like one of those deleted scenes you'd find on a myriad of DVD's.

Secondly this will last three parts, one today, one over the weekend and one finally on Tuesday morning (Australian time). This was meant to be a one-shot, but I had far too much to say!

Finally this is dedicated to the one and only Mali Bears Buddy, also known as Sophia. My brain twin and American sister. Happy Birthday sweetie! I hope that you have a wonderful day when it is your birthday, I am after all posting a little early, six days early! Thank you for everything.

Nothing is mine, I am just borrowing them all again.

The Anthropologist and the Agent in the Wedding

Part One - Hope

He watches from his pew as the beautiful woman walks slowly but gracefully towards the man.

The man is strong and confident, but with each step she takes, he can see the emotion well up in his eyes.

Many years ago he counselled him to have hope and to have patience, he seems to have had both plus one other, both of them have found love.

His hands fiddle with his tie, it seemed logical that on today of all days the damn thing wouldn't sit right. Today was the day he had hoped for but he had given up expecting. Today he was marrying Bones, his girlfriend of eight years, his partner of five years before and the mother of his daughter for the past six years. He looks up into the mirror and pulls at the edge of the knot, hoping that will make it symmetrical. He knows that his future wife likes symmetry, she responds to symmetry. He laughs to himself, before the laugh turns to a groan; he pulls the tie off and begins again, hopefully this time he will get it right. He smiles, in some way this is representative of their relationship, they'd begun again, and this time he'd gotten it right. He'd even gotten her to agree to marriage, actually she'd suggested marriage, their daughter had helped.

"Would you like more pie?" Booth questions across the table, the fingers of one hand crossed under the table that the answer is no.

The dinner guests laugh and both shake their heads, they know their friend well, they know that even letting them have one piece was enough torture for him to endure this evening, or so it seems.

"So," the female dinner guest begins, "If you two were ever to get married, would your cake be made out of pie?"

"Oh that's a good question," the male dinner guest replies, "Angela, you have a wicked sense of humour."

"Which he still hasn't answered Jack," Angela adds as she stares back to look at Booth.

"That is something I don't have to worry about." Booth answers, as he smiles towards his partner, he's almost given up hope of marrying Bones.

"Come on Booth, when are we going to see an apple pie wedding cake?" Jack questions with a glint in his eyes, "You two have been together for eight long years and you've got Isabella."

"And they danced around each other for years before that," Angela adds, with a roll of her eyes.

Brennan smiles, watching the exchange, she watches as Booth clears his throat and begins to speak. "Bones, and I," he begins, "We don't need an antiquated marriage ceremony to prove our commitment to one another."

"Whoa," Jack begins, "You sound strangely Brennan like, it's like one mind."

This time it is Booth's turn to roll his eyes, "Okay then, in Booth speak, I love Bones and she loves me, we don't need to get married to prove that," he says with a smile, as his hand reaches for Brennan's and his fingers close around her, "Right baby?" he questions, seeking reassurance.

Brennan smiles back, this is her chance, her conversation with Isabella has been weighing on her mind for the past few days, "Actually," she begins, "I've changed my mind."

Booth feels his face turn bright red, "You," he starts before he pauses, "have changed your mind?"

Angela and Hodgins look towards each other, they are both eagerly anticipating the next move in their friends' relationship, both of them feel that they want to say something, but for once both of them decide on silence.

Brennan nods, "I've decided that my answer to a question you asked me a long time ago is yes,"

"No way," Booth manages to say, as his red tinged face breaks out into a smile.

Brennan nods and smiles back, she watches as Booth stands from his chair and pulls her up with one hand.

"We are really going to get married?" he questions, as he slides on hand around her waist, pulling her closer to him, the other resting underneath her chin.

"Yes Booth," Brennan replies calmly, as her arms wrap around him, "we are getting married."

Finally Angela and Hodgins feel that they can re-announce their presence in the room and both of them begin clapping animatedly, Angela throws in a high pitched squeal for good measure and Booth takes that as his cue to kiss his now fiancé.

"That's disgusting," a small voice says with horror from the doorway.

"Leave my Mommy and Daddy alone, Benjamin," says another voice.

Brennan smiles as she pulls away from Booth, she turns to look where the sounds of the small people have come from, her daughter is standing there next to her godson, her daughter is beaming and her godson has his nose screwed up and looks exceptionally like his father.

"Benjamin Hodgins," Angela says as she now stands from the table and reaches around to wrap her arms around her son, "there's nothing wrong with kissing," she adds as she plants a raspberry on the boys small cheek.

"Mom," Benjamin protests with a pout, "you are so embarrassing."

Hodgins laughs as he joins his wife next to his son, "I'll show you embarrassing," he replies, before he spins Angela around in his arms, planting his lips firmly on hers and dipping her in his arms for a movie like kiss of passion.

Benjamin rolls his eyes, "You guys are all weird," he says firmly, "I'm going back to my DS. Are you coming Isabella Lauren Brennan-Booth?" he questions, remembering to use his friends' full name.

"You don't want to know what happened to cause so much screaming?" Booth questions, his arms still wrapped around Brennan.

Benjamin considers it for a moment, then answers, "Nope," he says with a smile, "I was kicking butt on the DS,"

Brennan stares to look down at her daughter, who hasn't said anything since she entered the room, she watches as Isabella's face crinkles, as she regards Benjamin with a look of anger.

"You were not kicking my butt," Isabella protests, "I'd beat you five times before that last shot,"

"That's my girl," Booth says proudly.

"I'm always competitive," Isabella adds as she walks over to high five her father. "Daddy," she says quietly, "I'd like to know why everyone is being so loud."

"Would you?" Booth questions as he bends down to scoop his daughter up in his arms, he smiles at her as he kisses her on the cheek, as he turns to Brennan and asks, "So Bones, do you think we should tell her?"

Brennan smiles, "I think she needs to know,"

Isabella nods excitedly, "Please tell me Daddy," she says turning her head to the side and pouting.

"Your Mommy and I are getting married," Booth tells his daughter, watching as her whole face seems to turn into a smile, even her eyes are smiling.

"I can be just a Booth?" she questions as she wraps her small arms around her father.

"Just a Booth?" Booth mouths towards Brennan, slightly confused as to his daughters' reaction.

"I'll tell you later," Brennan says knowingly, as Booth pulls her in to his other arm for a family hug.

"I'm so happy," Angela coos from the other side of the room and suddenly Booth, Brennan and Isabella all feel the distinguishable feeling of dried food hitting their skin.

"Angela, really?" Brennan questions as she brushes rice from Booth's hair.

"I'm just practicing," Angela says with a devious smile, "I've been waiting for you two for too long."

"I'm not cooking rice for you ever again," Booth says with a smile, "Didn't your father ever teach you to not throw food?" he questions.

Angela smiles, "You really want to know what my dad taught me?"

Booth considers this and then remembers who Angela's father is, "I retract my question,"

"Good choice studly, good choice," Angela answers with a laugh, as once more rice falls from her hands onto his little family.

Booth smiles into the mirror, finally his tie sits correctly, it is symmetrical. He wonders what Angela has in store for Brennan and himself today, so far Hodgins has refused to divulge any information. Booth sighs, that was the one problem with having a conspiracy theorist as a best man, he could smell a leading line of questions a mile away.

Temperance Brennan stared into the mirror in her best friends luxurious spare bedroom, actually she stared into three mirrors at the same time. Angela had taken her maid of honour duties seriously; a whole wing of the Hodgins' compound had been radically altered for the wedding that was going to take place today. Her wedding. Her wedding to Booth. She looked at herself in the mirror cautiously; she'd only had two weeks between her announcement that she had changed her mind regarding marriage and the actual marriage. She'd tried on two wedding dresses, one because Angela told her to and the other because she'd walked past a shop and it had caught her eye. She hadn't been looking for a dress on this day, she'd been looking for a new laptop. But it wasn't a laptop she'd found. At first Angela had been mad that she hadn't been there for something she'd called 'official maid of honour duties' and apparently Brennan had violated a certain code. Brennan had been able to find no mention of this code anywhere in legal information, but Angela had been quite certain. However the code had soon been forgotten once Brennan had put on the dress, it had reduced Angela to tears and still did every time it was mentioned, Brennan didn't understand this, it was after all just a dress. She could see that she was beautiful in the dress, but she was beautiful in most clothes.

Brennan smiled at her reflection as she began to think of Booth, wondering what he was doing, wondering if Hodgins had managed to get him safely home, wondering if today was every thing that he had told her he hoped it would be. Booth unlike her was a hopeful person, he relied upon his tenets of faith and hope that things would work out, Brennan had once relied on hope, but it hadn't helped her then, so she'd given up. For three years after her parents disappeared Brennan had hoped and wished them home. She'd hoped they'd come home for her birthday, then for her school science fair and then finally for Russ' birthday. She'd followed the same pattern of wishing and hoping for three years and then she'd had to give up, she'd given up on hope.

"Mommy, mommy," Isabella said loudly as she interrupted Brennan's thoughts, "Do I look like a princess?" the small girl questioned as she spun around in her pale purple dress.

"You look very beautiful Isabella," Brennan answered as she bent down to kiss Isabella on the forehead, "But it is impossible for you to be a princess."

Isabella pouted, "Why can't I be a princess?"

"It is impossible because neither your father or I are royalty in anyway. Your father isn't a king and I am not a queen, that is essential for royal lineage." Brennan explained, as Isabella's bottom lip jutted out further from her face.

"But Benjamin says he and Billy are both princes, he says that his daddy is the 'king of the lab' and you work at the lab too Mommy, and you have a bigger office than Uncle Jack and Daddy has the biggest office on his floor, it's even got a window and it used to belong to Aunty Caroline, but then she said that Daddy stole it after he got to work with you cause you and Daddy are good together. She told me 'your parents are very clever cherie' and Charlie told me that Daddy taught him everything that he knows, he called him 'super special.' So that makes you and Daddy special and if Uncle Jack is the king of the lab why aren't you the queen Mommy? And if you are the queen I have royal lineage," Isabella explained quickly barely stopping to take a breath in between words, mimicking Caroline Julian perfectly and just pausing before sounding out the last word. "So why aren't I a princess?" she asked finally and stared expectantly towards her mother.

Brennan blinked as she tried to process all of the information her daughter had just thrown at her, "You do look very pretty Isabella," Brennan began, "But you still aren't a real princess,"

"But Mommy," Isabella began, "What about Benjamin and Billy?"

"Benjamin and Billy aren't princes either," Angela answered from the doorway where she had been watching the exchange between her best friend and her goddaughter.

"But what about king of the lab?" Isabella questioned, saying the final words with dramatic flourish.

"Your Uncle Jack likes to say things like that to be entertaining, it makes him feel good," Angela explained, "he isn't really a king."

"He isn't?" Isabella questioned, "But you live in a palace house,"

"Not because your Uncle Jack is a king sweetie," Angela answered, kneeling down to be at eye level with Isabella.

"Are you hoity toits then?" Isabella questioned again.

"Isabella," Brennan exclaimed, "Where did you hear that?"

"From Daddy," Isabella said with a smile, "He said it to Uncle Sweets on the phone about my English teacher, he also said something about a spoon, but I didn't get that part."

Brennan shook her head, she'd be having words with Booth later.

"So Benjamin and Billy aren't princes either?"

"No sweetie," Angela answered, "they are just like you."

Isabella shook her head, "No, they are boys, I'm a girl."

"Indeed you are correct." Brennan answered with a smile.

Isabella smiled back, "You look very pretty Mommy, even if you aren't a queen," she said with another smile, before she turned and skipped out of the room. A few moments later her voice floated back down the hallway, she was yelling out for Benjamin, "You make things up, Uncle Jack isn't a king."

"Your daughter is a firecracker Bren," Angela said as she stood next to her friend and adjusted the back of her dress.

Brennan smiled, "I think she takes after her father."

"She's like you too, she's the perfect blend of you both."

Brennan nodded, Angela was right, Isabella was very much like Booth, but in many ways she was like her. She smiled to herself, perhaps considering today she was marrying a man she loved, the father of her precious daughter, perhaps today, she could learn to believe in hope again.