A REASON TO STAY
Booth has a girlfriend and an incident between him and Brennan a few months ago has left things awkward between them. When she is offered a six month trip to Africa, it could seem like the perfect chance to get away. But will Booth realise what he feels in time and give her a reason to stay? BB, angsty and romantic. Please review!
This one is dedicated to my saviour and favourite person in the world right now, Ronata21, for putting season 3 of Bones on Youtube for me!!!! You rule!
Italics is flashback.
Here we have the epilogue, finally. I am sad this story has come to an end. It was angsty, it was controversial, but in the end it is all fluff!!!!
"Jack! Give me a hand here!" Angela called, clutching a tiny baby and trying to drag a two year old out from under her desk. Baby Sophia was crying and little Jamie was clinging to the leg of her chair, trying to stay under the table.
"Come one, Jamie, we're going to see Auntie Tempe!" Angela said in a last desperate attempt to entice the child out. Jamie clung to the wood with a defiant expression on his face.
"Jack!" Angela called, exasperated.
"Do you need a hand there, Angela?" said a voice from the door and Angela looked up to see Zack standing there, grinning.
"It's not funny!" she said. "Zack, get Jamie out from under there and find Jack."
"What's going on?"
"Brennan's gone into labour, that's what's going on, and no one, not even Booth, thought to tell us until now, and it's nearly over and if we're not quick we're going to miss it!"
Zack whistled and pulled Angela's son out from under the table. He then took Jamie's hand and lifted him into the air.
"Let's go and find Daddy, little man." He said so the squealing curly haired two year old and dashed off. Angela lifted her bag and headed out of her office, shutting the door.
Cam stood in the lab, an amused expression on her face.
"Cam, look, I'm sorry. But we'll be back as soon as we can, ok?" Angela said.
"Probably with Dr Brennan with us, knowing her." Someone said behind her, Angela turned to see her husband, changed out of his lab gear.
"Oh, there you are. Where have you been?"
Cam just laughed. "No. You can tell Dr Brennan that I am personally forbidding her to come back to work for at least three months, and if she violates that rule I'll have her fired."
Angela laughed. "Right. Though I don't think Booth will let either of them out of his sight for three years, let alone three months."
Zack came up behind them, dressed in normal clothes too.
"Dr Saroyan, can I-"
"Don't say another word, Zack." Cam said. "Of course you can go. It's a squint thing." She smiled. "Say congratulations to Dr Brennan and Booth from me."
"Will do." Hodgins said, smiling, lifting his son into his arms. Jamie had stopped kicking and screaming now and was looking around in the dazed way he always did when he was at the Jeffersonian.
"See you, Cam. Thanks." Angela said.
"You're welcome."
The three of them, plus Angela and Hodgins' children, practically ran from the Jeffersonian.
They drew up at the hospital and rushed in, Angela running to the desk.
"I'm here to see Temperance Brennan. She's in maternity." She said quickly, her fingers tapping out a nervous rhythm on the desk. The woman looked at her computer.
"Did you say Temperance Brennan?" a woman said behind her. A nurse was standing there, smiling.
"Yes!" Angela squealed.
"She's just given birth to a healthy baby girl. She's in there with her husband now. Are you family?"
"No, but I-"
"Are you Angela?"
Angela nodded wildly, her face half wild with excitement.
"Then she asked for you. Come with me." The nurse said. Angela handed little Sophia to Hodgins and kissed him on the cheek.
"I'll come get you when you can come say hi." She said.
"We're going to get burger king." Zack said and Angela rolled her eyes. She walked away, turning round once to shout: "It's a girl, by the way!"
The nurse showed her the room. For a moment she just peered through the glass. What she saw brought tears to her eyes. Brennan was sat in bed, her hair loose around her shoulders. Her face was pale and she was clearly exhausted, but a tiny smile played on her lips. Booth sat next to her, perched on the bed, his arm around her shoulders. In Brennan's arms was a tiny bundle of what Angela knew was their daughter. Booth and Brennan's daughter. After everything that had happened, there they were now, holding onto their tiny little daughter. Booth had his hand on the little girl's head. Then Brennan looked up at Booth and smiled, an expression of such pure joy that Angela had to swallow hard and force herself not to cry. Then she knocked on the door gently and walked in. Brennan looked up and smiled at her friend as Angela walked in, and when Booth looked up he had tears in his eyes. That was the last straw. Recognising the beauty, and the truth and the love of the situation, Angela broke down into noisy sobs.
"You haven't even seen her yet, Ange." Brennan said, and Angela edged towards them. The baby in Brennan's arms had her eyes wide open and was staring around, looking with wide eyes at the new and amazing world around her. She had blue eyes, like all babies, but there was a slight grey tinge to them that Angela could see turning into eyes identical to Brennan's within a few weeks. She already had a head of dark hair, darker than Brennan's, Booth's colour. Angela looked at her perfect little face and could already pick out both her mother and her father in her face, and even her critical artist's eye couldn't find the tiniest imperfection. She remembered the feeling of absolute perfection she had had when she had first held Jamie and Sophia and when she looked on Brennan's face she could see the same expression there. She had never seen her friend look so…radiant. Not even when she had come running into the Jeffersonian, Booth trailing behind her, gabbling out something in a totally un-Brennan-like manner about not going to Libya after all. Not even the day she had rung Angela ecstatically, only whispering the words: I'm engaged before her words were silenced with kisses and the dialling tone was piercing in her best friend's ear. Not even the day she had got married, Angela at her side as Matron of Honour, smiling ludicrously and laughing right in the middle of the ceremony when Booth said, "I, Seeley Booth, do take this woman, Bones." She'd been so beautiful that day, more beautiful than Angela could even have imagined. Marrying Booth, having been opposed to marriage all her life, she had loved every moment of it, and her eyes had shone all evening.
But today was different. This happiness was on a whole new level. She was practically shining from the inside out.
"Ange," she said, and you could hear the smile in her voice, "This is Sara Angela Booth."
Angela's words caught in throat and she said nothing, just bent down and kissed the baby on the forehead. The little girl's eyes widened even more and she put her hand up and caught Angela's long dark hair.
"Congratulations, you guys." She said softly, and Booth and Brennan smiled and leant their heads together, bent over their baby. Suddenly someone burst through the door.
"Surprise!" shouted Parker and ran through to hug his dad. Booth put his finger to his lips but when it became clear that Sara was oblivious and hadn't started crying, they all laughed. The nine year old boy sat on the end of the bed, smiling broadly.
"Dad, Mom's gone home, cos Lucy's sick. She said to say congratulations. You're taking me home." He nodded to Angela. Angela smiled, still overwhelmed with the tiny baby in front of her. And then Hodgins and Zack came through the door, carrying Sophia and Jamie. Everyone gathered around the bed to stare at the beautiful little thing that was half Brennan, half Booth.
"She's going to be anthropologically very well structured with her genetic combination." Zack said, and Brennan and Booth shared a look. Parker looked blank.
"He means that Sara's gonna be hot when she's older." Angela said blankly, "She's gonna have so many boys after her."
"No she isn't." Booth said through gritted teeth, and Brennan laughed, and kissed him, stroking his cheek gently, her wedding ring flashing on her finger as she did. Then Sara gave a little gurgle and closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
For the first time, Brennan cried.
"She's so beautiful, Seeley." She whispered, and rested her head back against him. "And I'm so tired."
Booth kissed her forehead. "Right." He said, turning to the others. "Everybody out."
Slowly they filed from the room, darting last glances at the little baby girl. Then Booth took his daughter from his wife's arms and held her tightly. He bent down and kissed Brennan on the head, smiling.
"Well done, Bones. You did good."
"I did good." She said, and smiled. "Scientifically, you did good too."
He chuckled at her, as her eyelids fluttered towards closing. "I did good too." He said.
"She's perfect." Brennan said. "I love her so much."
"I love her too." Booth said. "I love her and I love you. Now sleep."
Brennan already was.
When she woke, someone was sat at the foot of her bed. A tall, blonde woman, smiling from her eyes.
"Hey, Tempe." She said softly. "I'm proud of you."
"Sara?" she said groggily.
"Yeah." Her foster sister smiled. "Thank you for solving it. For finding me."
"S'ok." Brennan said sleepily. "This isn't real."
"Maybe not." Sara said, "But can I ask you one thing? How's Alice doing? I've never blamed her, you know."
"She's great." Brennan said with a smile. "She's training to be a doctor now. She still has nightmares sometimes, but she's gonna be ok."
"Good." Sara said with a sigh. "Thank you."
"S'ok." Brennan said again, her eyelids drooping.
"You came out all right, you know that, Tempe? You got the job, an amazing husband, a beautiful little daughter…"
"I know." Brennan murmured, "I know…"
"You know what?" Booth asked, jerking her from her dreamings.
Brennan paled, looking around.
"What is it?" Booth said, "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Don't be silly. It's technically impossible for ghosts to exist." Brennan said, and Booth hugged her.
"Oh, that's why I love you." He said, and kissed her gently. Brennan smiled into his shoulder, breathing in the feeling of absolute love and realising that she had something to fight for, forever.
Hope you liked it. I am sad that it is all over, but I am going to do a couple of fluffy one shots right now.
Thanks to all those who read and reviewed the whole way through, and to everyone who reviewed in general.
xgreyslostwhox