Okay, so I did the math and Booth and Brennan's baby is due in February at the latest, but I think that, for the purpose of this FF, I'm going to make it December. This is simply a oneshot. There will be no more on this. This is a special Christmas/Hannukah/New Year/Kwanzaa/Whatever-It-Is-That-You-Celebrate present. No more. Enjoy!

The Bundle of Joy in the Snow

"Geez, it's really coming down out there, huh?" Booth said, as he stoked the fireplace in their new house, which they had finally found to coincide with all their desires and still be able to afford, thanks to a compromise in which Booth was allowed to buy all the furniture for his 'Man Cave' and the kitchen as long as Brennan could cover the surplus cost of the house, which had four bedrooms, a home office, a den, three and a half bathrooms, separate dining room and kitchen, an entertainment/living room, and a large sitting room with a toasty fireplace. Not to mention the big backyard, pool, and three-car garage.

Now, they sat on the floor in their sitting room, boxes strewn around the room, and their furniture not yet having arrived, relaxing in the warmth of the roaring fire and the comfort of each other's arms. Booth had wrapped them both in a blanket as Brennan leaned back against him, her swollen belly almost too big for her to lay down comfortably. Thankfully, though, Seeley Booth made a wonderful pillow.

Brennan nodded in agreement as she watched the blizzard occurring outside. "And just in time for Christmas." she said, smiling.

Seeley smiled down at her. "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas." He sang in a horribly off-key voice. Temperance quickly placed her hand over his mouth to silence him.

"I sincerely hope our daughter inherits my musical capabilities rather than yours." she teased. Booth gave her a mock glare and opened his mouth wide to lick her hand, sloppily.

"Agh! Booth!" Brennan exclaimed, removing her hand.

Booth snickered. "That's whatcha get for making fun of my gorgeous Crosby-esque singing, Bones."

"Crosby-esque? I don't think I know what that means." Brennan responded, wiping her hand on Booth's shirt and grinning when he sent her another glare.

"Crosby was a singer back in the day. He did a lot of Christmas songs." Booth explained. "Will ya stop rubbing your hand on my shirt, already? That's gross!"

"Why are you so disgusted?" Brennan asked. "It's your saliva."

Booth sighed. "Never mind, Bones. It's all off. Now, as I was saying, my voice will be a definite asset to our daughter because-"

"Booth, look at the time!" Brennan exclaimed, checking her watch. "We have to be at Angela and Hodgins' place in less than an hour!" She struggled to get off of him, looking very much like an upturned turtle and Booth couldn't help but chuckle at her. Brennan glared at him. "Stop laughing at me and help us up!"

"Us?" Booth asked, as he stood up and hooked his arms under hers to help her get some leverage.

Brennan stood up and brushed herself up. "Yes. Me and out daughter. She's much more human than she was a few months ago, isn't she?"

Booth grinned. "Well, yeah, I guess so. Especially since she's due any day now. Hey, imagine if she came tomorrow. Wouldn't that be awesome, Bones? We could have a little Christmas baby!"

Brennan had to suppress her amusement at the very child-like way Booth was acting. He sounded very much like Parker. "That would be very interesting, and very cool if she were born on Christmas day, but would that mean that she would get twice as many presents on her birthday, because it's also Christmas?"

"Bones, I'll probably give her twice as much everything just because she'll look like you."

"You can't possibly know that, Booth. She may come out looking like you, since most of the traits you exhibit are dominant, while the ones I exhibit are mostly recessive."

Booth shook his head. "Nope. She's gonna look just like you, Bones. I can feel it. And you know, my gut never lies."

Brennan rolled her eyes and shook her head. "We'll see." she said, putting an end to the discussion. "Now, come on. They're expecting us to be there soon." She pulled on his hand, leading him to the front hall where he helped her into her boots and coat, before putting on his own and heading out the door.

Once they were settled in the car and on their way to the Hodgins place, they settled into easy conversation. "So, which room do you think Parker's gonna want?" Booth asked, inching his way slowly down the slope of their street.

"My guess is the one that Angela hasn't already painted pink and purple." Brennan said, smiling.

"Well, duh!" Booth said, sarcastically. "But there's still two rooms he can choose one since we're definitely taking the one with the full bathroom, and the jacuzzi, right?"

"Of course. That's one of the reasons we bought the house." Brennan nodded in agreement. "I bet Parker will choose the room with-" suddenly she paused and her eyes went wide as she grabbed his arm. "Booth!" she exclaimed as her other arm wrapped around her midsection in pain.

Booth slammed on the break, though they were only going about five miles an hour in this blizzard. "What?" he asked. "What's wrong? Is the baby okay?"

"Sh-she's fine I'm sure!" Brennan ground out. "I, however, am in a great deal of pain!" Her eyes closed tight as another contraction hit her and she squeezed his arm, making him call out in pain.

"Bones, goddammit!" Booth exclaimed. "Ow! What are you- Oh my God! Is the baby coming? Those are contractions, aren't they? Oh God! We need to get you to the hospital!" With that he slammed on the gas and they began skidding up the next street in the direction of the hospital.

"Booth, slow down!" Brennan called out. "We have time and it might be best not to kill all three of us, before one of us even reached the point of life!"

Booth agreed wholeheartedly and slowed down the SUV, bringing it down to thirty miles an hour, not quite fast enough to put them in danger, but enough to get them where they needed to be in plenty of time.

"Time your contractions!" Booth said, when they stopped at a red light.

Brennan glared at him. "I'm a bit distracted at the moment." she hissed. "And why the hell are we stopped at a red light? Aren't you a (FOX bleep)ing cop? Don't you have a (bleep)ing siren?"

Booth just stared at her for a second. He rarely heard her use language like that unless she was absolutely pissed or...well, that wasn't really an option at the moment, was it?

It was Brennan's outburst that got his foot pushing the pedal again. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO, ALREADY!"

Booth zoomed down the road, turning on his sirens at any sign of life on the otherwise deserted streets, before finally reaching the hospital, and slamming on the breaks by the emergency room. As soon as they stopped, Booth hopped out and began calling the paramedics waiting by the door. "My partner! She's-pregnant- I mean...pain! She's-she's in labor! Get a (bleep)ing wheelchair!"

The paramedics looked at each other for a moment before one raced off to get a wheelchair while the other raced to the passenger side door to help Brennan out. And, of course, as soon as the passenger side door was open, Brennan pushed the paramedic aside and tried to make it to the doors herself before Booth stepped in front of her and forced her into the wheelchair ("I'm pregnant, not handicapped, Booth!") and had her wheeled into the emergency room while he quickly parked the SUV in the first available spot, which was pretty close by considering nobody else was really there on this time on Christmas Eve.

When he entered the emergency room he found Brennan squeezing the hand of a very large, burly-looking man in scrubs, who looked as if his arm was being amputated without any anesthetics. Not wanting to trade places with the poor man, he just stood to the side until the contraction had passed.

When Brennan finally let the man go, he fell to the floor, cradling his arm and whimpering like a little girl while she sat in the chair, trying to even out her breathing. Booth was about to go over to her when a nurse intercepted him. "Excuse me, Mr. Brennan?" she asked.

Booth raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh...no. My name is Booth. Seeley Booth."

"Oh, so then you're not Dr. Brennan's husband then?"

"No. I mean, well...I'm her partner."

"As in...?"

"As in professionally, romantically, every sense of the word. That's my baby she's about to pop out!" Booth was starting to become agitated, especially as he watched Brennan go through another contraction. "Bones, baby, are you okay?"

"I...AM NOT...A BABY, BOOTH!" She exclaimed, grabbing for the burly nurse again, and the man cowered away from her while one of his friends checked on his arm.

"Well, she's quite...eccentric." the nurse commented as Brennan let out a string of curses and obscenities.

Booth chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, she is."

"Booth!" Brennan called.

Booth began walking toward her again, but the nurse stopped him...again. "Mr. Booth, regardless of your relationship with Dr. Brennan, you will have to fill out these forms." She handed him a clipboard.

"Look, can't I just do these later.? I mean, if you couldn't tell, my partner's about to have a baby and, well, I sort of need to be there for her." He gave her his pleading eyes and the nurse nodded, pointing out where to get scrubs and informing him which room Brennan would be put in.

Booth then rushed to Brennan's side (thankfully directly following an earth-shattering contraction) and assured her that he'd see her in a few minutes after he called Angela and let her know where they were.

Brennan nodded and accepted a very passionate and short kiss before letting go of his hand. Booth watched her go with a tight feeling in his chest before he went off to get changed.

As soon as he finished changing he speed dialed Angela.

She answered on the first ring.

"Hey, Studly! Where are you and Bren? We're waiting on you to start opening up the presents! Michael and Jack are having a fit." Angela said, laughing at Hodgins voice in the background. ("Is that Booth? That's Booth, isn't it? Where the hell are ya, man? We're dying over here!") "Sweetie, relax!" Angela said, chuckling. "So, where are you guys? Stuck in traffic or something?"

"Not exactly..." Booth said, looking around the bustling halls of doctors, nurses, and patients. "Actually, Angela, it's funny that you mention presents because I think you're gonna need to buy one more."

"What do you...OH MY GOD! No WAY!" Angela squealed into the phone. Booth pulled it away from his ear, laughing at Hodgins asking his ecstatic wife what was happening and also listening to Angela tell her whole Christmas party crowd what was going on. (BREN"S HAVING A BABY!).

The next thing he knew, Cam was on the line. "Hello? Seeley? What's going on? Is Brennan really in labor?"

"Yeah," Booth said, "and I told her that I'd be right there, so I gotta make this quick. Use Angela's spare key to the house and get the overnight bag by the door. It's right there when you walk in. We have one set up at her apartment too, just in case."

"Okay. I might not be able to get it to you tonight, though. This snow is so bad. But I actually bought Brennan a dress and I have a few onesies for Baby Booth, if you'd like me to bring that."

"Yeah, that sounds okay." Booth said. "Thanks, Cam."

"No problem, Seeley. Good luck with that soon-to-be adorable Baby Booth."

Booth laughed. "See you later, Camille." Booth said, before hanging up and rushing off to find Brennan's room.

When he walked in, he found the doctor that delivered Angela's baby, Dr. Bannon, was checking all her vitals while a nurse timed the contractions.

"Three minutes, seven seconds." She announced to Booth. "She's getting close."

Booth nodded and went to Brennan's side, where she immediately took hold of his hand and squeezed, but not hard enough to be in the middle of a contraction. "Booth!" she whimpered. "Thank God you're here! I don't think I can do this!"

Booth kissed her forehead. "Yes, you can, Bones. Trust me, you can do just about anything. You can do this."

"B-but what if I screw up? What if I'm a horrible mother? What if she ends up hating me or I end up abandoning her the way-" she couldn't finish that thought as another contraction hit her hard and she squeezed his hand almost to the point of breaking, but Booth held on, trying to be strong for her until it passed.

When it did, they both breathed a sigh of relief. "Listen," Booth said, "I know I can't tell you for sure how this kid will feel about you in a few years or tell you that you won't make mistakes along the way, because God knows we all do, new parents that is, and even practiced parents, but I'm certain that if you treat this baby the same way you've treated Parker all these years, and you love her the way your parents loved you, then she's going to love you and think that you're the best Mommy in the whole wide world, just like your the best anthropologist, the best friend to Angela, Cam, Hodgins, Sweets, and me, the best daughter to your father, and sister to your brother, the best Aunt Temperance to Hayley and Emma, and the best partner in the whole world, in every sense of the word, to me."

Brennan stared at Booth, the man she loved, who she never thought could truly love her back, who she never thought she could truly love and for the first time possibly ever (or possibly the second) she believed in everything he said, every single word about who she was and what she was going to be to their baby. She believed in absolutely everything he said about their future.

"I love you, Booth." Brennan said, smiling lovingly up at him. "And I know our baby will, too, because she'll know that you're the best everything in this world, as well, and that you'll love her no matter what."

Booth smiled at her words and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, just as another contraction was about to hit and Brennan buried her head in his chest, screaming bloody murder until it let up.

"Two minutes, ten seconds!" the nurse called out. "Wow, she's approaching fast."

Dr. Bannon came up to check dilation. "Eight centimeters. Not quite there, but almost. I'll be down the hall if you need me, Temperance."

Brennan nodded. "Okay." she whimpered, holding on to Booth, who was wiping her forehead with a moist washcloth.

"Hey, Bones?" he said, uneasily.

"Yeah, Booth?" Brennan answered back, weakly.

"Remember just now when you told me how much you love me and how I'm the best and how our baby's gonna love me?"

"Yeah...?"

"Remember that twenty minutes from now."

"I (bleep)ing hate you! You (bleep)ing (BLEEP)!" Brennan cried out, nearly two hours later as Booth held her hand through her latest, most intensely painful contraction. Booth just ignored her language and harsh words and continued to hold her hand, trying to coach her on her breathing. "Oh, shut the (BLEEP) up! You sound constipated!"

Booth almost laughed at that, but was able to keep some sort of control over himself as she came down. "Just breathe, Bones." he said, soothingly. "Just breathe."

"I AM breathing!" Brennan exclaimed. "You need to shut up!"

Dr. Bannon came in then, smiling wildly. "Nice to hear that everything is progressing as it should." she said, before leaning down to check her dilation. When she popped back up, her smile was even wider. "Looks like it's time to push."

Brennan's eyes opened in panic and Booth reached out to squeeze her hand in reassurance. "You'll be fine, Bones." he assured. "Just keep breathing and that kid will be here in no time. And she'll love you the very second she sees you. Trust me."

Brennan nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. "Okay." she said, determinedly. "Okay. I'm ready."

Dr. Bannon nodded, and sat down at the end of the bed, between Brennan's legs. "Okay, now you're going to need to push right when you feel the next contraction, as hard as you can, Temperance. Can you do that?"

Brennan nodded. "Yes." she whimpered.

"Okay," Bannon said. "Do you feel a contraction coming on?"

Brennan nodded.

"Okay, now PUSH!"

Nearly an hour and many, many hard, painful pushes later, Temperance Brennan lay in her bed, holding the smallest, softest pink bundle she'd ever beheld in her life, while Booth stand at her side, smiling down at her and the small blue-eyed creature they'd created. "She's so tiny." Brennan sighed as she traced her daughter's miniscule features with her index finger. "I didn't think she would be this small. What if we break her?"

Booth chuckled. "We won't break her." He said. "Trust me. I had the same fear when Parker was born, and he was much smaller than this. I thought just looking at the kid would shatter him."

Brennan smiled. "Being that Parker is indeed still intact, I take it that he did not."

"Naw, he's a Booth. Tough as nails on the outside, but soft as a big ol' puppy dog on the inside." Brennan chuckled again and Booth smiled. "I hope she has your laugh." He said, adoringly.

Brennan blushed. "I think she may have your smile already." She motioned down at the baby, who was showing off a pair of adorable dimples as she smiled involuntarily.

Booth grinned. "Yeah, she does! She's got that irresistible Booth charm, huh? That's my girl!" He paused. "No boys til you're thirty."

Brennan laughed. "Booth!"

"What?"

"I'm sure Michael is going to want to play with her when she gets older."

"Nuh-uh. That weird bug kid is not going anywhere near my baby girl. No way."

"What? He's not a weird bug kid, and he shows no blatant interest in any insects of any kind. Besides, what's wrong with playing with somebody a little less than normal? That's how I was as a child after all. And what if he turns out more like Angela?"

"Then he's definitely not going near our daughter."

"Why not?" Brennan asked, laughing again.

"Because if he's like Angela, he'll be a total free spirit and you know girls can't resist that!"

"I did."

"Yeah, but you're Bones, and our kid is half me, which means she'll probably be only half the rebel I was when I was a kid, but that'll still be bad enough, so the second she's old enough I'm enrolling her in an all-girl's Catholic school."

"You will do no such thing." Brennan countered. "We agreed that we wouldn't try to influence her towards any specific belief system and that we'd allow her to choose what she wanted to believe in. So unless she's dead set on going to an all-girl's Catholic school, she will not be attending one."

Booth pouted. "But, Bo-ones!" he whined.

"No buts." Brennan said, sternly.

Booth grinned at her. "Listen to you, Bones. Sounding so much like the Mommy you are." he cooed teasingly.

Brennan grinned and chuckled.

"Aw, look at the proud new parents." Dr. Bannon interrupted, stepping into the room. "That is one gorgeous little girl you have there. She looks just like you, Temperance. But, she has your dimples." She said to Booth. He smiled and puffed out his chest proudly. "I have your birth certificate here, if you wanna sign it right now, that'd be great."

Booth and Brennan nodded as Booth took the certificate and went over her time and date of birth, his eyes widening as he made an interesting discovery. "Hey, Bones," he said, "look at this. She was born at 12:05, December 25, 2011. Isn't that awesome."

Brennan looked at the birth certificate and smiled. "That's very impressive. I have to say." she agreed.

"Hey, Bones, does this mean we can name her Holly? Like Holly Jolly Christmas."

"Not a chance." Brennan responded.

Booth pouted again. "But-"

"No."

"Fine. How about Joy, then? Like Joy to the World."

Brennan smiled. "Joy was my name."

"I know." Booth grinned and kissed Brennan on the forehead.

"I think I like the prospect of naming her after myself."

"Me too. Now, what about her middle name?"

"What was your mother's name?"

"Abigail, why?"

"Joy Abigail Booth. I like it."

"I thought we were going to hyphenate the names, so it would be Brennan-Booth."

"We were, but I find that Joy Abigail Booth sounds more pleasing than the alternative, don't you? Especially since I know you will be proposing in the near future."

"Ha. Nice try, Bones, but I told you, you're the one that's gonna be proposing to me."

"I don't think so." Brennan countered.

Booth chuckled. "We'll just see about that. So, Joy Abigail Booth, then?" Brennan nodded. "Okay." Booth signed his name under father and wrote their daughter's name on the form, before trading the form for the baby in question, kissing her little nose and smiling when she scrunched up her nose the same way Brennan always did when she smelled something bad.

When Brennan finished signing she handed the forms off to Dr. Bannon who received them graciously and left the new family to themselves.

The next day was Christmas and all their friends and family were spending it in the hospital in Brennan's large hotel room, offered on the house to their 'celebrity' patient and all their guests, though Brennan make it a point to donate a large sum of money to the hospital in payment.

"She's so cute!" Angela practically squealed when she first held Joy. "I want another one!"

"Oh boy." Hodgins sighed, looking down at the baby in his arms, smiling up at him.

"Give me that kid." Booth said, taking Michael from Hodgins' arms. "We need to have a talk, Little Man." He said sternly to Michael's smiling face. "Don't give me that cocky grin." He walked away with the little boy and Hodgins followed him, thoroughly confused.

Meanwhile, Brennan was surrounded by her nieces, Hayley and Emma, and Parker, who were all exchanging gifts and showing her what Santa had brought for them. They each gave her a onesie with a funny saying on it and a toy of some sort. Temperance thanked them profusely and promised to give them their gifts when she got out of the hospital.

When they went off to play with their toys, Booth came over, looking very pleased with himself. "Oh God." Brennan sighed. "What did you do now?"

Booth grinned wider. "I just had a very long talk with one Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins, and I must say it was very successful. I don't think he'll ever be bothering our little girl."

"Booth, it's highly unlikely that he even understood what you were saying to him, let alone that he'll remember it when he reaches the age of sexual maturity."

"Oh, he'll remember, Bones. Trust me."

Brennan rolled her eyes and smiled when she spotted something on the ceiling. "Hey, Booth?"

"What?" His eyes followed to where her finger was pointing above them and he smiled as well as he spotted the mistletoe. "Nice." he said, leaning down until their lips were only a breath apart. "Merry Christmas, Bones." he said.

"Merry Christmas, Booth." Brennan said. "I love my gift." Booth smiled and captured her lips in a kiss that took too many steamboats to count.

THE END

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