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Seeley Booth leaned over his wife, careful not to press his stomach too tightly against the growing bulge underneath her oversized night shirt, and kissed her gently, his lips lingering on hers for a few seconds before parting from her. A bright, childlike grin spread across his features as a deep chuckle erupted from within his throat. He gave her another kiss, this time a quick peck, before leaning back into the fluffy down pillows on the bed they shared.
The special agent's brown eyes were warm as they washed over Temperance Brennan-Booth's frame. Nothing but love and adoration was coming from those eyes. "So, Tempe..."
Brennan was too preoccupied to notice Booth's subtle words. Her eyes were fastened on the hump her stomach made through her clothing, and her slender hands were pressed onto it, a motherly smile on her lips.
Booth smirked. He would have never pegged Brennan for the motherly type, but when he saw her with the baby they had to take care of just a few years ago, after his mother was killed, he knew she would make a great mother.
He tried again, this time using her full name, "Temperance..."
Still, no response. Her eyes were so lovingly fixed onto her pregnant belly that Booth felt his heart give a little lurch.
Booth decided to give her a while, so he waited for the fascination with her belly would go away for the moment. After a while, he got tired of it, and put his hand on her shoulder, "Bones."
Brennan looked up and met his eyes with her own. "Yes?"
Booth found himself lost in her eyes for a moment, like he often was, and shook his head after a few minutes. "Oh. Yeah, I was just wondering...what should we name him?" His large hand wandered to her belly, moving the fabric of her shirt and pressing lightly against the lump.
The forensic genius sighed and put her hand on top of his. "Well, yes...I assume since we know it's a boy that we should come up with names..."
"Wanna brainstorm?"
Brennan's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, and Booth quickly changed his words, "Want to go over some names?"
"I guess we can start early. Probably would be a good idea."
Booth chuckled for a moment before saying, "Okay, how about Peyton?"
"No."
He looked at her with a sense of wonderment. "Uh...what?"
"No."
"'What' wasn't a name."
"I know; I was still saying no to Peyton."
"What's wrong with Peyton?" Booth said, wondering what could possibly be the problem with the name.
"It's not the name, just your reasoning behind it." Brennan raised an eyebrow, knowing what Booth was thinking when he said that name.
Booth looked at her with incredulity, "And what is my reasoning behind it?"
"I see all those Colts games you watch," Brennan began and immediately Booth's expression sank more, "and the nickelback is named Peyton."
"Quarterback, Bones. Peyton Manning is the quarterback."
"And you have just proved my point. You just wanted to name our son after him." Brennan said with smug satisfaction; she reached her hand up and lightly slapped his cheek a few times in succession.
Booth grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. "So, what is your suggestion?"
"Darwin, of course."
It was silent for a bit, Booth's eyes widening marginally with every passing second. Brennan didn't see the problem with the name, but Booth...well, Booth didn't like it. At all.
After a while, Booth finally spoke again. His voice was different. Quieter, almost reserved, as if to not anger his pregnant wife, but in reality he was reeling from the name that had just been presented in the "possible names for his future son" category.
"Darwin."
Brennan wasn't fazed by Booth's sudden change of tone.
"Darwin."
The beautiful woman laying beside him nodded unashamedly before running a hand through her caramel colored locks, "Yes, Darwin."
"Darwin...as in the monkey man, Darwin?" Booth said, his voice beginning to rise with every word. "Bones, we are not naming our kid after Darwin!"
Brennan saw his problem. "You don't like Darwin because of Charles Darwin?"
"Monkey man, yeah," Booth confirmed.
"Because of the fact that he came up with the evolutionary theory?" Brennan elaborated. "That men came from chimps. You don't want our kid to be named Darwin because of your religious beliefs?"
Booth nodded and then added, "And, well, if our son's name is Darwin, he would get the hell beat out of him on the playground on a daily basis."
"And why is that?" Brennan asked, quirking a delicate brow in his direction.
"Well, Darwin..." Booth tried to phrase it correctly. "Darwin is...a...a...squint-y name." He didn't want to say nerdy, for he didn't know what that would instill in Brennan. He didn't know if the word nerdy would trigger something that he didn't know how to deal with.
"So you'd rather name our kid after an alpha male like Peyton Manning instead of Charles Darwin, a respected scientist?"
"Yes," Booth said bluntly.
"Definitely 'one of those guys'." Brennan gave him an aggravated look and turned her head away from him, unable to turn her body fully away from him since she became pregnant. She stared out of the window while her mind was in a flurry of thoughts. This was just a little thing, but...why did it annoy her so? Must be the pregnancy hormones kicking in full swing. Strange, she never thought she'd be ruled by them.
Booth stretched, wondering if that subject would come up again. But, as relaxed as he was feeling, he also felt a little guilty for upsetting her like that when she was carrying their child. He closed his eyes, thinking of a way to make it better, when suddenly, it came to him in a flash of blinding clarity. He sat up, his bare back pressed against the wood of the headboard and began stroking his wife's soft hair, tangling some strands between his fingers.
She groaned in response. "Do you really think I'm in the mood for that now?"
Booth chuckled. "No, getting you in the mood wasn't my intention, Bones."
Brennan snorted in response as if that were the farthest thing from the truth.
"I just thought of a name."
She turned her head to look at him, weary blue eyes dreading another sport-fanatic name like Kobe or Shaq or A-Rod. Brennan was quiet for a minute, giving Booth the go-ahead to tell her whatever strange name he had in mind. When he didn't venture any further, she finally replied, "Okay, what is it?"
"Zack."
Brennan reflexively placed a hand on her round belly and a warm, inviting smile graced her features.
Zack.
It fit better than anything she could've imagined.
She turned her head to lock gazes with her husband, her eyes bright with excitement, face glowing only in the way a woman with child could be. She felt the slight pricks of tears, but didn't want to show them. However, her emotion was completely visible on her pretty features. Booth swallowed a hard lump in his throat, stunned once again at how amazing this woman was, this woman that he had managed to marry.
"Zack..." Brennan trailed off, and this time the moisture found its way down her cheeks. Booth reached out a strong hand and caught them before the tears fell from her chin.
"Are those good tears or bad tears?" Booth's hand cupped her cheek.
"Good ones," Brennan replied, still uneasy with showing such emotion; she placed her hand over Booth's and rubbed her fingers along the back of his hand. "Very good ones."
"So you like the name?"
In response to his question, Brennan leaned forward as much as her large belly would allow and gently pressed her lips against Booth's. All the while, her mind was chanting fervently, happily. Zack...Zack...our son. Zack Booth.
They parted and Brennan met his gaze. "It's perfect."
Booth chuckled and kissed her stomach, repeating the name, as if making it officially his, "Zack."
The two then huddled together in an embrace, arms wrapping around each other; Brennan's face was nuzzled underneath Booth's chin, and his hand absentmindedly fiddled with her hair once again. Booth looked out of the window, out to the night sky, and a grin made its way across his handsome features as he said, "Zack Booth." He chuckled. "Has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?"
He felt Brennan nod underneath his chin.
"Our son." Even though he couldn't see her face, he could picture the smile on her features.
He kissed the crown of her head and closed his eyes, thinking that nothing else could make this moment any better.
And he was right.