Author's Note: This story is very loosely inspired by some rumors about the last few episodes of season 4. Please don't read if you want to remain spoiler-free. This is planned as my first multi-chapter, I hope. Oh, and the title comes from a line in a Jorge Luis Borges poem: "Being with or without you is how I measure my time."

Disclaimer: Not mine. But I just love playing with them.

1. All Tangled Up

She wakes up, her feet warm in the ray of sunshine coming in through the open drapes, her hip hot under the weight of his hand.

Eyes screwed shut, she waits for the panic to set in. She counts to one hundred in her head. Then she counts his even breaths, feels his chest rising and falling. She reaches one hundred again. The panic does not materialise.

She opens her eyes. She studies her sleeping partner, his face relaxed, a faint smile on his lips. He looks young and she has a sudden glimpse of what he might have looked like as a boy.

Without opening his eyes, he pulls her closer. She moves one hand around his back, the other settling on his chest. He looks at her and smiles.

"Good morning."

She feels a little guilty and a little shy, as if she's just been caught doing something forbidden. She smiles.

"Good morning."

He pulls the sheet over their heads, a warm cocoon of sunshine and body heat. His right hand traces the line of her spine, settles at the small of her back. His left caresses her cheekbone, the line of her jaw. He thinks that he doesn't wish or need to be anywhere else.

He's almost fallen asleep again when she speaks.

"Booth..."

"Yeah," he replies, his voice still a little rough with sleep.

"Do you want to have a baby with me?"

He answers before the daylight can reach him, before the world outside can come crashing on their shoulders. Before he remembers all about who they are and what they do and what they can or cannot say. This is their time, their first time together. It is a time for a simple question with a simple answer.

"I do."

He wonders for a moment why the words sound solemn, as if he's saying them in front of an altar in some ancient ceremony, the two of them the only participants. Then, his head between her neck and shoulder, his arms around her, he settles back to sleep.

Why did Booth say yes? Why did she ask him in the first place? How is she going to react? And how is he going to react? Who's going to freak out first? How did they get here? Where are they going from here? Come on, we all know there's no easy journey for these two.

...and last but not least, do you think I should continue with this? I'd love to, and I think you'd like where this goes, but please tell me what you think!

Please review and let me know!