A/N: As promised, this chapter is longer! Thank you so much for sticking with me. I know things are getting busier but I'll do my best to still update. This chapter is going to be the day before Booth's fiftieth birthday and then the next chapter will focus on all the festivities and what Brennan has planned for him :) Once again, I don't own them, just borrowing them for some fun! Enjoy!


The next couple of days passed by quietly. Brennan's insecurities to bond with Lily fading away with every time she spent with the baby. She would wake up and do early morning feedings, she'd spend extra time cuddling her and playing with her. And the more time Lily spent with Brennan, the more she became attached to her. Brennan could have sworn at one point she heard the beginnings of Lily's babbling turning into "mamma" but she shrugged it off knowing it was still too early for Lily to say her first word.

Booth had been supportive as always. He gave her the space to be with Lily 1 on 1 and when she needed him to step in, he did. He'd been in contact with Aubrey about the progression of the case and so far, they were still in the clear. They'd been close to hunting down the drug gang leader and he was hoping they'd wrap everything up before Thanksgiving.

Hank and Christine continued to be the best with her. Both kids wanted to spend time with Lily and get to play with her. Hank was really settling into his role as a big brother: making sure Lily was always comfortable when they would play, wanting to help Brennan feed her, and loving her. Christine was upset that she couldn't play as much because of preparing for her online exams but she had one more day of those and she'd be free to play as much as she wanted while on winter break.

Booth and Brennan had also decided to go ahead and begin setting up Lily's nursery in the spare room they had. The walls were already painted a light cream color so they opted to not paint it right now. But they'd both sat down one night and made a list of the things they wanted to get her. They'd gotten her a convertible crib with a built-in changing station, a rug for her room, two-floor lamps, and a small dresser. For the time being, they decided that they'd move the armchair that was in their room to hers, and then after Thanksgiving, they'd purchase another one.

Brennan had also been sneaking out of the room once she and Booth were done with their purchases so that she could purchase things for him for his birthday. She'd wait until he fell asleep and then would take the laptop into the family room and do some online shopping. Even though he'd told her that he didn't need anything and his family was enough, she still wanted it to be a memorable birthday for him and give him a good time.

She'd taken the liberty of splurging on a few outfits for herself that she knew Booth would appreciate and enjoy. Brennan had even been doing some research into memorable gifts to give and she found something she believed Booth would love given his sentimentality. She had reached out to Angela for help who was more than happy to help her best friend put it together. There was going to be a part of it Brennan would have to put together on her own because she still wasn't ready for anyone else to know they had Lily but she was fine with it.

When she woke up the morning before his birthday, she was surprised to see the bed and the bassinet were empty. Especially since she didn't hear either of them wake up. Brennan got up out of bed, stretched, and went to go do her morning routine. She donned her robe and walked into the family room and kitchen to check but she didn't see Booth or Lily. She peeked outside but didn't see them. Brennan walked down the hall to see if maybe they had gone into one of the kids' rooms but both Christine and Hank were still sleeping. She checked down the hall to see if he was with her in the nursery and sure enough, Booth was there with her.

She was shocked to see a big overstuffed cream sofa against the back wall of the room. But even more, to see Booth laying on it, one foot planted on the floor with the other stretched out in front of him while one of his arms was bent and tucked under his head. The other arm was protectively wrapped around Lily's tiny body, holding her to his torso.

She quickly ran out to grab her phone so she could take a picture of the moment. After snapping a few pictures, she stepped back and looked at them. The comparison between how big Booth was to Lily's tiny body was overwhelming. It touched her in so many ways to see her husband so protective of Lily even in his sleep. The rogue thought also crossed her mind that if they were to lose Lily, their entire family would take it hard. It'd be difficult as they all had gotten extremely attached to her in just the short week she'd been with them. God, Brennan didn't even want to think about the chaos Christine or Hank would cause.

Shaking her head, she forced the thoughts out. Lily was still with them and according to Aubrey, she would be for a while since the case was still ongoing. What happened next, would happen when it came.

She pushed off from the edge of the door she was leaning on and walked over to the two of them. She spotted the packaging for the sofa when she went to retrieve her phone and assumed that Booth had done some purchasing by himself. She knelt down by his torso and lightly traced the side of his face with her fingers. Even though her touch was soft, Booth slowly woke up.

He blinked his eyes carefully and his gaze settled on hers.

"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered.

"No no, it's okay. I must have dozed off with her," Booth shuffled gently so he didn't disturb Lily while he sat up a bit.

"Speaking of… a whole couch Booth? I thought we were going to wait." Brennan tilted her head and looked at him. Really she couldn't be angry or frustrated with him, she was just curious as to why he did.

He grinned sheepishly at her. "Well, when you left to go get us a glass of wine I took the laptop and started browsing and saw this and well… you know… decided why not just get it now."

Brennan chuckled and shook her head. "Oh Booth." She really didn't know what else to say to him. Except for being completely in love with his little endearing moments like splurging on a couch she thought they'd wait to purchase. She settled down so she was sitting turned towards him, her elbow resting on the couch propping her head up.

"Was she awake early?"

"Oh no. The sofa got delivered early and so I went down to grab it from the garage and brought it in. I was about done when I went back to our room to check on the two of you when I saw she was waking up. So, I grabbed her, changed her, fed her and we both ended up dozing off."

At that moment, Lily cooed in her sleep and she snuggled further into Booth who smiled and brought her up on his chest a little higher so her face was tucked away in his neck.

"Speaking of," he started. "How are you feeling now about connecting with her?" Booth knew that Brennan's insecurities had died down and could tell she was more confident in finding ways to connect to Lily and be her Mom but he still wanted to check in with her.

A soft smile graced her lips. "I'm fine Booth, really. The past week has been great with her. I think our biggest fear is potentially losing her but… I find myself too distraught at even entertaining the thought."

"Hey," he reached out and palmed her cheek, "Don't. We'll be fine okay. If it comes down to it, we'll fight for her. Okay?"

Though they both knew the odds of Lily being taken were slim, especially since it'd been a week already and there were no new updates on other family members, the thought still scared them. Lily cooed again and this time her little eyes opened and she propped herself up on Booth's chest. Her wide curious brown eyes looked up at him.

"Hey look's who's up," he smiled at her. He shifted so that he was sitting up and holding her upright. Lily's eyes darted sound taking everything in and when she spotted Brennan, she babbled in joy and reached out to her. Brennan stood up and Booth passed the baby to her.

Brennan lifted Lily high in the air before settling her back down on her hips. Lily's little laugh filled the air as did Brennan's. Booth smiled and tried to get up to join them but groaned as he did. Falling asleep on the couch was not a smart move, no matter how comfortable and cushioned it was. Brennan turned her head and looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, I know… I'll try to not fall asleep on it again."

"It's okay. I'll take a look at your back tonight if you're good." She winked at him. Booth grinned at her and walked over kissing her head.

"I'd really love that, Dr. Brennan." he quipped, eyebrows raised.

Brennan huffed and playfully shoved him. Booth winked at her and left the two in the room. Brennan looked around and realized that Lily's room was pretty much put together. Her crib was built, as was the dresser, the floor lamps were in, her play mats and toys were there. Including the sofa that Booth bought. All that was left was to make her bed and pack away the clothes.

The only thing she could think of was left was a few wall decor pieces so that walls weren't bare. But, given what one of her gifts was to Booth, they'd have at least one piece up on the wall by tomorrow.

"Well, baby girl, it looks like you'll be able to sleep in your new room tonight," she cooed softly, rocking Lily back and forth in her arms. Brennan was a bit reluctant to not have Lily so close to her at night but knew that it was time to start getting her used to sleeping in her room. Besides, they had the baby monitors and had been through this with Hank and Christine before so they'd be fine.

But, when she remembered that tomorrow was Booth's birthday and that she wanted to ring in his birthday with him, she felt a little better about Lily being in her own room tonight.


The morning passed by without much activity. Christine and Hank woke up not too long after Brennan had gone into the kitchen to help Booth with breakfast and the little family hung out for most of the day. Christine finished her last exam much to hers and her parents' relief. Zoom school was a mess and they were all eager for a break.

Angela and Hodgins also stopped by around midday as a quick surprise visit from the driveway.

They'd gotten Booth a birthday gift and wanted to give it to him and wish him a happy birthday in advance. Angela also knew Brennan was planning on having his actual birthday be pretty chill and laid back so she decided to stop by a day earlier to not interrupt the family's celebrations. Booth actually teared up a bit when he saw Ange and Hodgins and their kids. It'd been so long since he'd last seen them that the visit really hit home. He considered them all such an integral part of his family and with everything they'd gone through over the years, he had to admit it was challenging not seeing them as often.

"Bug boy, look at you! How've you been? Hi Ange!"

"Hey, G-man. Things have been pretty good, I can't complain." Hodgins smiled as Angela waved.

Booth spent a few minutes catching up with them and when Brennan put Lily down for a nap she snuck outside to say hi for a few minutes. Neither of them had told the kids that they couldn't introduce Lily yet so when Christine almost let it slip, Brennan had to think fast.

"Auntie Angie and guess what! We got a new ba-" Brennan stooped down and gently covered Christine's mouth.

"Bedframe. A new bed frame. That's what she was going to say." Brennan smiled nervously and whispered in Christine's ear to go get the box of the cake on the dining room table so they could give Ange. Keeping up with their cake swapping tradition, Brennan had baked a simple lemon bundt cake to share this month.

Angela looked over at Brennan with eyebrows raised, knowing that her best friend was hiding something but decided not to push it. Hodgins also figured the same thing especially with the way Booth's face turned immediately towards his wife and daughter. When Christine brought out the cake, Brennan sent her back inside to check on Hank who was supposed to be cleaning his room. While they were catching up, Angela and Hodgins updated Brennan and Booth on their daughter's eye condition.

Thankfully, it wasn't LCA but rather a mild form of astigmatism which the doctors assured could be corrected using special special corrective lenses for the next few years. Brennan was relieved to find out that her niece would be okay and that Ange would no longer be in a constant state of worry. She remembered when Ange had called about two months ago frustrated that they hadn't received any news at all. She hated seeing her best friend in distress unable to do anything to really help.

"So Booth, any big plans for tomorrow? I mean, fifty is a big one." Ange asked. She already knew Brennan had been planning a few surprises and she knew about one of them that she had helped with.

"Ahh, I don't think so. It'll probably just be a quiet day around the house I think."

"Fifty, man, that's the big one." Hodgins commented.

"I hear ya." Booth smiled. "So what have you guys been up to?"

Angela and Hodgins spent a few more minutes chatting about the things they've been doing. Hodgins' physical therapy that was being kept up, the terrors of zoom school, how much time they had on their hands and strangely missed solving crimes like the good old days. Angela had really taken off with her photography and had started her own print shop online. She built her own website and listed some of the pictures she'd taken over the years for sale.

Hodgins had given up his desire to fool around with the virus to find a vaccine. Instead, he was working on a book. With all the discoveries he'd made over the years, he found his old notes and started compiling them into an entomology, botany and mineralogy textbook. This made Brennan really happy for him. For years she'd been trying to get him to publish all of his findings into one book but Jack had brushed it off. content with the feature articles he'd been doing here and there.

Booth was also impressed and congratulated him, wishing him the best. After a few more minutes, the friends said their goodbyes. Booth and Brennan went back in the house and found Christine laying on the couch with Hank watching their TV shows.

"Do you want to open it now Booth or do you want to wait?" Brennan asked, motioning towards his gift.

"Ahh, I'll wait. Keep the suspense up."

She nodded and went to go check on Lily who was sleeping in the bassinet in their room. She grabbed the blankets and sheets and went into the nursery to make Lily's crib and get it ready for her to sleep in tonight. Booth joined her a couple of minutes later with a hungry and wide-awake baby. He brought in the baby monitors and hooked everything up while Brennan went to go make Lily's bottle.

Lunch was eaten and the afternoon passed by in a similar fashion. Brennan left Booth in the family room with the kids while she flitted around the house getting things ready for Booth's birthday. She'd hid most of his gifts in the laundry room knowing he wouldn't be going back there. She'd ordered most of his gifts pre-wrapped and there were only a few she had to bag including the ones from the kids. Brennan had told them that Daddy's birthday was coming up and they needed to get him some surprises because it was a really special birthday.

Again, she sneaked around when Booth was either sleeping or doing something around the house to talk to the kids and get their opinion on what they should order for him. She was really surprised at how well they chose his gifts and knew Booth would love them. Christine and Hank also worked on making him a hand-made birthday card too. Brennan quickly placed all of them in a gift bag, added the tissue paper to conceal the gifts inside, and added their card inside.

Next, she worked on a quick load of laundry, ducking out to make sure that Booth was still occupied. She was very proud that she'd done most of this behind his back without him catching her. Booth's sniper instincts were always on full alert and whether it was because he was well attuned to her, he always knew what she was up to. She found it endearing most of the time, in the early years of their partnership, she'd been upset by it.

When she came back into the family room, Booth raised his eyes. She smiled at him and settled down next to him on the couch. Hank got up from the floor and went to sit down with her. She gladly pulled him into her lap and held him. Christine and Lily were on the floor - Lily on her play mat with Christine playing with her. Booth turned his head and looked at his wife and son snuggled up together on the couch and his two daughters - well, Lily wasn't officially yet but he loved her like his own - playing together on the floor. As he thought about what tomorrow was, he couldn't help but feel content. Really content and at peace. For years, Seeley Booth had been trying to right a cosmic balance sheet he put in place to make up for the wrong things he'd done.

There were times it felt like he was taking two steps back rather than forward but right now, he had everything he could ever want or need. His wife, the love of his life, partner in crime, the only woman he'd ever loved so deeply was beside him and had remained beside just like she said she'd always be. She'd given him two beautiful children, a home, a safe place to call home. And now, she was giving him the chance at fatherhood again because of that big heart of hers. She'd stood with him in opening their home to a little baby they never knew existed before last week but already loved so much.

Yeah, he thought. It'd be the best birthday he'd ever had.


Thank you for reading! Please please leave me a review (they make my day) and get ready for Booth's birthday celebrations hehe :)