Disclaimer: Bones belongs to Hart Hanson, Kathy Reichs, and all the grand high mucky mucks of course. No copyright infringement is intended and no money was made from this little ficlit. Any similarity to any other fic not my own is coincidence.

Title: In Our Next Thirty Years
Genre: Bones; Booth/Brennan; fluff
Rating: G
Timeline/spoilers: Set a few months after the season 6 finale; very definite spoilers for the last few seconds of the finale.
Notes: Okay, so to be honest, I'm not entirely certain how I feel about the finale, just because I kind of feel like the characters had to be OOC due to real life considerations. *shrug* But anyhoo, this little plot bunny bit as a result of considering the finale and OOC thoughts and all that jazz.

Oh, and the song; this is just one version of it of course, but I thought of it as a lullaby just because we sing a lighter version of it as a naptime song at my school.




“Bones?”

I felt her shift uncomfortably next to me, her elbows almost sharp against my side as she tried to disentangle herself from the bedsheet.

“Hey Bones, easy there.”

She sighed almost painfully and abruptly gave up her struggle with the bedclothes, her limbs falling exhausted to her sides. Gently, I reached out and carefully helped my partner untangle herself from the slightly damp sheet, silently cursing the lack of air conditioning on what was turning out to be the hottest night of the summer.

“Better?”

“We should have stayed at my apartment,” Temperance replied in a low voice.

I sighed myself and rose to walk over to the window. I pushed back the bedroom curtains in a vain attempt to cool down the room and prayed for some kind of breeze.

“With the brownout, it'd be just as hot there,” I reasoned as lightly as I could.

Temperance sighed and pushed the bedsheet completely away, heedless of where it fell to the floor. It pooled in cool blue folds next to the bed and I picked it up as I walked back to where she lay.

“I have more windows,” she countered stubbornly.

I made no reply as tossed the sheet onto the foot of the bed before walking around to settle myself back into place next to my partner.

“And a bigger bed,” she insisted in something close to a petulant tone.

“You've never had a problem with the size of my bed before.”

“I've never been seven months pregnant with twins before, Booth,” Temperance replied in a somewhat aggrieved voice.

I bit back a smile I was certain she wouldn't understand. I had missed all of this with Parker; all these moments, good and bad, of watching him grow, seeing his mother carry my child within her. I didn't want to miss a second of it this time around with these children, or with their mother. I hated seeing Temperance uncomfortable, but I loved seeing her pregnant with my children. I kissed her lightly on the temple.

“The power will come back on soon,” I reassured her as I brushed her hair back from her face. “Just try and sleep.”

“I can't when they can't,” Temperance said, smoothing her hands over her belly.

I slid down the bed until my breath whispered over the thin fabric of the nightgown that cover her heated skin.

“Okay you two,” I said softly. “We've kept your mother up long enough, let's let her get some sleep.”

Then quietly, in a rough, admittedly off-key tone, I started to sing.

“Down in the valley, valley so low, hang your head over, hear the wind blow...”

“Booth, what are you doing?”

“My mom would sing to me...” I murmured before picking up the melody once again.

“Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow; hang your head over, hear the wind blow.”

“Booth...”

“When I just couldn't sleep... I remember she would sing...” I said softly before placing a kiss on Temperance's swollen belly.

“Roses love sunshine, violets love dew; angels in heaven know I love you; know I love you, dear, know I love you; angels in heaven, know I love you.”

“Booth...”

I expected her to say something more, something scientific about fetuses and the nature of pregnancy, something I silently acknowledged that I probably wouldn't have understood. Instead, she sighed and slowly slid her hand from her belly and over to my head. Gently she stroked her fingers through the short strands of my hair and I smiled as I began to sing once more.

“Writing this letter, containing three lines; Answer my question, "Oh will you be mine? Will you be mine, dear, will you be mine? Answer my question, "Oh will you be mine?"

If you don't love me, love whom you please; Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease; Give my heart ease, dear, give my heart ease; Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease.”

I heard Bones sigh peacefully as her tension finally started to ease.

“Throw your arms round me, before it's too late; Throw your arms round me, feel my heart break; Feel my heart break, dear, feel my heart break; Throw your arms round me, feel my heart break...

Down in the valley, valley so low, hang your head over, hear the wind blow; Hear the wind, dear, hear the wind blow; hang your head over, hear the wind blow...”

Temperance's fingers stilled.

“Seeley, I'm not impervious anymore...” She said unexpectedly. “With you... with you, I'm no longer impervious,” she said softly.

I took a moment before whispering, “I know, baby, and I'm going to cherish that...”

I kissed her belly softly and pulling myself back up. “And you, for the next thirty...”

I kissed her temple lightly.

“Forty...”

I kissed her cheek.

“Fifty years...” I breathed before kissing her lips, savoring the sweet taste of hers on mine.

“Fifty years...” Temperance whispered back, her lips moving against mine, the hint of a question in her voice.

“At least,” I assured her, pulling back to see her thoughtful expression.

“While factoring in the effect of the additional amounts of hormones produced to support pregnancy may be necessary, as well as my belief in the likelihood that several things will have changed between us in that amount of time, I must admit that I find your assertion very pleasing to hear,” she said finally, everything about her speaking of contentment.

“Good to know, Bones,” I replied, grinning a little bit like an idiot.

Temperance returned my smile with a quiet one of her own.

“Very good to know,” I whispered again, brushing another kiss over her still smiling lips just as the air conditioner whirred back to life.