AN: This story is dedicated to my niece, Avery Clare, who should be making her grand entrance into the world any day now!

AN2: I forgot to thank her last time, so double thanks to my beta CalleighAryn.

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"Oh…my…God," Angela said as her eyes scanned the upstairs Jeffersonian lounge. On a normal day, the lounge boasted a diverse color palette: red and blue chairs, black tables, cream colored walls and purple carpeting.

But not today.

Today pink streamers hung from the lighting fixtures. Pink balloons were tied to the chairs. Pink tablecloths covered a long table in the center of the lounge and a smaller table off to the side. On the center of the long table was a pink vase filled with pink flowers. The small table held a pink cake, pink plates and forks, a pitcher of pink lemonade and pink cups.

Daisy, who had been hanging a pink "It's A Girl!" banner on the wall, turned at the sound of Angela's voice. "What do you think?"

Angela knew Daisy was looking for a compliment, but none of the first five words that sprang to her mind-gaudy, tacky, excessive, over-the-top, nauseating-could be considered complimentary. "It looks…pink."

Daisy laughed. "Of course! Dr. Brennan is having a girl."

"Yes, she is," Angela said, forcing herself to smile. She could have refused Daisy's offer to decorate the lounge for Brennan's surprise baby shower, but Michael had kept her up the night before and she had been too tired to argue. "You clearly put a lot of effort into these decorations."

"It was a labor of love," Daisy gushed. "Do you think Dr. Brennan will be impressed?"

Angela hesitated; she had never known her best friend to be fond of the color pink. "I'm sure she'll appreciate all your hard work."

Daisy flashed a dazzling grin. "Dr. Brennan and I are becoming quite close."

"Right." Angela doubted that was true, but decided to let it go. "Is Sweets here yet?"

"No, but he texted me a few minutes ago to let me know he was on his way. Isn't he so thoughtful? He's the best boyfriend I've ever had and the most considerate lover-"

"Okay then," Angela cut in before she could hear anything that would give her nightmares. "I'll go remind Hodgins and Cam that it's almost time."

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When Angela entered Hodgins' lab, she saw her husband holding Michael. Hodgins was pointing at something and talking excitedly. Smiling at the sight, Angela walked over to give both of them a kiss. "What are you boys up to?"

"I'm showing our son the wonders of beetle racing," Hodgins answered. "He's having a great time! Aren't you, buddy?" Michael smiled in response.

"I hate to break up this father/son bonding activity, but you need to round up your bugs and take Michael back to daycare. Booth's bringing Brennan to the lounge in twenty minutes."

Hodgins looked at his watch. "Wow. I didn't realize it'd gotten so late. Say goodbye to your friends, Michael." Hodgins moved his son's hand in a wave.

"His friends?"

"What? Our son can't have insect friends?"

Angela laughed. "Honey, I love you, but you are a very strange man."

Hodgins kissed her. "I love you too, babe."

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Angela's next stop was the autopsy room, where she knew she would find Cam. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to remind you that Booth's bringing Brennan to the lounge in fifteen minutes." Angela kept her eyes on a wall so she wouldn't have to look at the dead person being dissected by her boss.

"I know. I'm almost done," Cam answered.

"Good." Angela heard the whirring of a saw.

"You might want to leave now…unless you want to show up for a baby shower with human remains on your clothes."

Angela quickly headed for the door. "See you soon."

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Approximately ten minutes later, Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Sweets and Daisy were assembled in the lounge. Booth and Brennan arrived soon after.

"What are you all doing here?" Brennan asked her friends. Her eyes widened as she took in the new lounge decor. "And what happened to the lounge?"

"I decorated!" Daisy said with pride. "Doesn't it look amazing?"

"It looks…pink," Brennan replied.

Angela bit back a laugh. "We're here to give you a baby shower, sweetie."

Brennan noticed the gifts stacked in a corner of the lounge. "That's very kind of you all, but you didn't need to buy us anything. Booth and I have more than enough money to provide everything our child needs."

Booth wrapped an arm around Brennan's shoulders. "I told Angela you'd say that, but she insisted."

"We know you guys don't need gifts for the baby," Angela explained. "But we wanted to get them anyway. We're all very excited that you two have finally stopped denying your undying love for each other…"

Hodgins, Cam, Daisy and Sweets cheered.

"…and we're excited that you're going to have a baby together."

Another cheer arose from the squints and the psychologist.

"This baby shower is a way for us to celebrate our friends being the happiest they've ever been. So just sit back and enjoy, okay?"

Brennan gave her best friend a hug. "Okay."

As Brennan and Booth sat down at the center table with their friends, Daisy handed her a large box decorated with pink wrapping paper and a pink bow. "This is from Lancelot and me."

Brennan unwrapped and opened the box, revealing a two foot long pink teddy bear.

"Oh no," muttered Booth beside her. He knew how the woman he loved felt about toy bears.

"Is something wrong?" Daisy asked nervously. "I really wanted to get your little girl a Prince Charmington doll, but they're not recommended for children under the age of three. I figured the bear would pose less of a choking hazard."

"A logical thought," Brennan admitted. "But bears aren't really pink, nor are they an animal a child should view as friendly, as a real bear would likely maul them."

"Many children in our country grow up with a teddy bear," interjected Sweets. "And no studies have shown a link between the ownership of a teddy bear and the likelihood that the owner will suffer a bear attack."

"It is a nice looking bear, Bones," Booth added.

Brennan studied it a moment. "It is aesthetically pleasing. Soft too. Although it's factually inaccurate, I can imagine that our daughter will enjoy holding it." She made eye contact with Sweets and Daisy. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," they said in unison.

"This one is from me," Cam said, handing Brennan a box covered in pink and white "It's a Girl!" wrapping paper.

Inside the box, Brennan found a pink crocheted blanket. At first glance, it seemed like it could be a gift for any baby girl. Like the pink teddy bear.

But when Brennan unfolded the blanket, she saw what made it special: a white skeleton crocheted in the center.

Brennan laughed in surprise. "Depictions of skeletons are usually rather crude, but it's obvious that this skeleton was created by someone with extensive knowledge of human anatomy."

"Dr. Saroyan, you did an amazing job," Daisy said.

"I didn't know you crocheted," Hodgins said.

"I don't," Cam admitted. "That's the work of Dr. Tracy Ricker, a friend from med school. She's been crocheting since she was a teenager."

Angela made a mental note to ask Cam if her friend would make a bug blanket for Hodgins. "Had anyone ever asked her to crochet a skeleton on a baby blanket before?"

"No one but me." Cam smiled. "Tracy said that blanket was the most interesting project she'd done in years."

"Thank you, Cam," Brennan said. "Please pass along my thanks to your friend as well."

"Will do, Dr. Brennan."

Angela handed Brennan the last box. "And this is from Hodgins and me." The box was covered in purple paper, a welcome relief from the ocean of pink.

Inside the box was a thick pile of baby clothes.

"Ange!" Brennan gasped as she started making her way through the pile, discovering onesies, shirts, pants, dresses and pajamas, in every color of the rainbow. "There are at least a dozen outfits here!"

"I couldn't help it," Angela said. "Every time I buy clothes for Michael, I see the ridiculously cute clothes they make for baby girls. Since I can't buy them for my son, I was happy to buy them for you."

"Thank-oh!" Brennan had just seen the last item in the box: a blue lab coat with a Jeffersonian logo.

"Look at that!" Booth said, holding it up for the others to see. "A little lab coat for our little squint!"

"It's beautiful, Angela," Brennan said. "Thank you."

"It's sooooooo adorable!" Daisy squealed. "Lancelot, we should totally have a baby."

"Whoa!" Cam said. "Please wait until the shower is over before you start trying to conceive."

"I didn't even know they made lab coats that small," Sweets said, eager to change the subject.

"I made it myself out of the same material used in our lab coats," Angela explained. "I'm also making one for Michael. It'll have 'M. Hodgins' stitched in white."

Hodgins beamed. "My boy's first lab coat!"

"I'll personalize yours too," Angela told Booth and Brennan. "Once you give your daughter a name."

Booth and Brennan exchanged a smile. "We do have a name picked out," Brennan said.

"Well?" Angela prompted. "What is it?"

Booth looked at Brennan. She nodded. "Emily," said Booth. "Emily Christine Booth."

"Emily was the name of my first anthropology professor," Brennan explained. "And Christine was my mother's name. Her assumed name, actually."

"It's perfect," Angela said.

Daisy nodded in agreement, even though a small part of her had been hoping they'd name their daughter Daisy.

Angela took the lab coat back. "I'll put 'E. Booth' on it tonight. You know, Emily is one lucky little girl."

"She is," Brennan agreed. "Unlike many children around the world, she'll grow up with adequate food, housing, and access to medical care."

"That too," Angela said. "I was thinking she's lucky because she's getting two awesome parents who will love her as much as they love each other."

"You really think I'll be 'awesome'?" Brennan asked, feeling close to tears.

"Of course I do, sweetie. Being a new mom is hard, I won't lie to you, but you've always learned new things quickly. You'll adapt and you'll excel, no doubt about it."

"Thank you," Brennan said as the tears ran down her face. She mentally cursed her hormones for making her lose control of her emotions. "Thank you all for your generous gifts and for your support. Emily will be blessed to have each of you in her life."

Booth grinned at her and took her hand in his. "Well said, Bones."

"Go ahead and kiss her," Angela said. "Just pretend that we're not here." The others murmured in agreement.

Booth gave his partner a chaste kiss on the cheek, tasting one of her tears in the process.

"Come on, Booth!" Angela protested. "I know you two didn't make a baby kissing like that. Give her a real kiss!" Moments later, Angela had Hodgins, Cam, Sweets and Daisy chanting "Kiss!" along with her.

Brennan turned to Booth. "If we want to make them stop, the logical course of action would be to give in to their demand."

"Is that what you want?" Booth teased. "To give in?"

"Yes," Brennan said, grabbing her partner's tie to pull him towards her. As the partners kissed in earnest, the squints cheered and Emily kicked in approval.

She couldn't wait to meet her parents and their friends.

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Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated.