FYI, I don't own House, M.D., but I kind of wish that I do. But no matter. This is kind of a sweet story. Told from House's pov. House is a father now and feels like he doesn't know his daughter very well, even though she's only three years old.
My Daughter's KeeperFlashback
It was dark, probably going on 1:30 am. I heard someone in the hall and saw a light on. I sat up and was about to get out of bed to investigate when the light clicked off. I heard footsteps coming to our room. I laid back down so it would seem like I was still asleep. I heard sniffling and the light in the bedroom turned on. I sat up groaning, rubbing my eyes. I saw Cameron standing in the doorway crying into her hands. No wait, that wasn't crying, that was sobbing, which is much worse.
"Cameron, are you all right?" I asked. I got up and limped over to her.
"No," she said through sobs. "I…I…I'm…"
"Your what, Cameron?" she looked into my eyes and said the two words that made me excited and scared all at the same time. "I'm pregnant."
I didn't know what to think. How could I be that stupid. It's as if a small part of me wanted this kid but most of me didn't. There were so many things I couldn't do. Not with this damn leg. Cameron and I weren't even married. How could I do this to her. I didn't think I was right for her anyway. Why me, why not Chase? He had better hair. I bet he gels it every morning before work. I bet he died it too. What did she see in me anyway? It couldn't be charm, good looks, good hair, nice body. What could it be? I know I piss her off at work. I'm a total pain in the ass and she knows it. I didn't know what to think. No, I couldn't go through with this. I couldn't be a father. I'd have to keep up with my job and baby-sit a little munchkin. That would really suck. Come home from work and have to work some more.
"Oh, House, what are we gunna do?" She was still sobbing. She came over and hugged me. My mind raced. What should I do? Should I tell her what I really feel? Should I hug her back? What's my conscience telling me to do? Nothing. Silence. Some help you are ya little cricket. I couldn't tell her how I felt. I couldn't let her take care of a child by herself. I slowly hugged her back. Maybe having a child wouldn't be so bad. Besides the fact of long nights with barely any sleep trying to put a baby to sleep I was warming up to the idea.
"It's ok Cameron," of course I wasn't as sure as I sounded. "It's gunna be alright. I'm here. I'm won't leave you."
"House?" she was finally staring to calm down a little.
"Hm?"
"Do you even want a child?"
"Yes…well…now I do." She frowned.
"Did you not want to?"
"Well…I…" She stood up.
"If you didn't want a child, then why the hell did you get me pregnant!" she was starting to yell now.
"Cameron I didn't mean to…"
"Oh sure, like you thought 'ok, we'll have sex and that won't get you pregnant.' Is that what you thought!"
"CAMERON…" I was starting to get a little angry too. I stood up. "SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME," she cowered back. She looked scared to death. "Cameron, I'm sorry." We sat down on the bed. "Cameron…Cameron look at me," I lifted her head until her eyes met mine. "Cameron, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me. You just wouldn't let me talk. It's just… I don't know. I didn't know what to think at first. At first I didn't want the kid. Then, I guess, maybe it won't be so bad. "We'll just have to work together. We'll get through this together, ok?" She nodded and held out her arms signaling a hug. I followed suit and hugged her.
End Flashback
It was getting late and I was still in this hell house I call the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. I wondered where Cameron was. I couldn't stand being in this place another second. I already spend all day in here, I really don't want to spend the night like they do in Girl Scout's where they sleep over at the mall. The probably steal everything they can. Oh there she was, turning the corner her long brown hair flowing. I liked the way she did her hair today. Oh God, I'm turning into a girl. Damn.
"All right, Greg, ready to go?" she asked.
"Oh no, I don't want to leave. I love this place so much. Can we stay one more hour? Please?" I love sarcasm. If I didn't have sarcasm I'd be a nervous wreak. She gave me an angry yet loving glare. Then it turned into confusion and she stopped walking. Uh oh, mood swing.
"Aren't we forgetting something?" she asked slowly. We were both thinking the same thing.
"I'll check in the clinic," she said quickly and dashed off.
"I'll check in my office," I called after her and rushed to my office as fast as my leg would allow me to. Damn leg. Damn Stacy. Damn her for leaving me and making me go through so much pain. I opened the door to my office and looked around. And then I saw it. A sweet little girl with straight brown hair curled up on the couch. "There you are," I said quietly. I picked her up and stooped down to get her little blanket. I tucked it under her arm so it wouldn't fall. I walked out of my office, closed the door and locked it. I saw Cameron rushing down the hall, looking frantic. Then she stopped and looked at me and sighed.
"Oh, thank goodness." She said, relieved. "Where did you find her?" she asked.
"The one place we should have known. Curled up in a little ball on the couch in my office." Cameron smiled. I loved her smile. I bent down a little and kissed her. We started walking to get to our car. "Wilson, what are you doing here? I thought you left."
"I thought you guys did." He saw the little girl still sound asleep in my arm. "Oh, this must be little Vicky. I saw the baby pictures in your office. Does Cuddy know about her?"
"Yes, unfortunately."
"Unfortunately?"
"She always wants to baby-sit." Wilson raised his eyebrows. "I wouldn't trust Cuddy to baby-sit a squirrel." The thought about Cuddy baby-sitting a squirrel made me smile. I wondered what would happen if we locked Cuddy and a squirrel in a room together and see who came out. That would be a nice experiment. Cameron must have seen my smile.
"I know that sly, devilish smile, Gregory House, what are you up to?"
"Up to? Nothing. I'm just thinking of a fun experiment that could change the world." I winked at Wilson and he seemed to know what I meant
"Man I gotta get home. I promised my wife I'd be home before midnight. Goodnight House, Cameron, Vicky." Cameron and I continued to walk.
"I guess we'll have to bring her to work again tomorrow. We have that meeting."
"Yeah, about that," I said. Oops, once again I forgot to tell her.
"What now?"
"Are you annoyed? Because that was definitely annoyed." I strapped Vicky into her car seat. Somehow she was still sound asleep. "I call shotgun" I called and got into the passenger's seat.
"Oh darn," said Cameron. Sarcasm again. Hey that was my thing.
When we got home I went upstairs and put Vicky into bed. I took her little frog stuffed animal and said 'gribbit,' like I do every night. I put the frog under her arm, covered her up and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight Vicky," I said. I saw Cameron leaning against the door. What kind of look was that? Oh, right, that was the 'there's-something-you-didn't-tell-me-that's-probably-really-important' look. "What?" I knew I was in for it now.
"All right now, what about the meeting tomorrow?"
"Oh, yeah, that. Well, Cuddy gave me the day off." That was definitely something Cuddy would never do.
"Don't give me that crap, Greg." I knew she wasn't gunna fall for that. "You and I both know very well that Cuddy would never ever give you a day off just because."
"Ok, you got me." This was the truth. If I told her and more white lies I was done. "I took the day off so that I could spend some time with Vicky." Ha, top that. That was no white lie.
"Oh, Greg that's so sweet," I knew she would like that. "Why are you taking the day off to spend the day with Vicky?"
"I just feel like I barely know her. We never get to have father-daughter time. We're going to walk in the park, get some ice cream, gunna teach her how to play golf." I knew the last part wasn't gunna happen. "Maybe get a puppy." Cameron laughed. She knew I hated ice cream.
"Ok, you can have some father-daughter bonding time. I'll cover for you." She reached up and kissed me, and I kissed her back. "You know, Greg, she has your eyes."
"Well she has your hair"
"She has your sarcasm…well…not yet, but I know she will."
"She has your smile." Cameron smiled at this. "See?" I sighed.
"What?" she asked.
"It's just that, I'm not sure I'll make a good father. I can't do a three-legged-race on the fourth of July, I can't even teach her how to swim. I can't teach her how to ride a bike." I sighed. It was more of a cross between a growl and a sigh. "It's all Stacey's fault." It was true. Because of her, I couldn't even teach my own daughter how to do things.
"I know honey," she was always so caring. "There are other things that make up for that. Like, you're a famous doctor, that's one thing."
"Oh yeah, the paparazzi was at the hospital today. Couldn't get them off my back." Sarcasm again. I really hope Vicky inherits sarcasm from me. Cameron rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'm going off to bed. Night sweetie." She kissed Vicky on the forehead. "Night honey" I kissed her. She started to walk out of the room. "Are you coming Greg?"
"Be there in a minute." I ran my hand through Vicky's hair. It really was like her mother's. After a few minutes, I went to my room, and went to bed. I was actually looking forward to tomorrow. Cameron was already in bed starting to doze off. I kissed her on the cheek and fell asleep. Before I fell asleep, I could have sworn I saw a flash of lightning.
I was dreaming about all the things I could do with Vicky if my leg wasn't in terrible shape. Swimming, riding bikes, jogging. Then all of a sudden…
"Daddy," it startled me out of my dream. My eyes flashed open to see a little girl, barely two feet tall, standing there clutching a small stuffed animal frog. It was pouring buckets outside. Summer storm. "Daddy, I'm thcawed of the thtowm." The poor thing.
"All right, come up here." She smiled and climbed up as if she were trying to climb a mountain. In a Dora the Explorer nightgown with a stuffed frog in her hand. I picked her up and settled her between me and Cameron. Cameron stirred.
"What's going on?" she asked sleepily.
"I think we have a visitor." I looked at Vicky, barely visible between the two of us. She held her frog in one arm, and had her thumb in her mouth She looked at Cameron, then she looked at me. Then she snuggled down as if to get more comfortable. I felt pain and icy cold at the same time I winced.
"What? Are you okay?" asked Cameron.
"Well for one thing, her feet feel like they've been stuck a freezer for 3 days. And the second thing is she's on my right leg." Luckily before we could do anything, she rolled over. I could tell Cameron was about to blow. Before she did I covered her mouth. She yelped into it.
"Oh my God, your right. Her feet are freezing." Eventually we got her feet warmed up. Every now and again I'd wake up in pain because her little foot was on my right leg. Either that or I was accidentally lying on top of it.
Later that night, after the storm was through. I got up, picked Vicky up, frog and all, and carried her back to her room. After I tucked her in…again…I thought of something. I had the perfect life. Perfect wife, perfect job (even though it's a pain in the ass to be there), and now, a perfect daughter. There was only one thing missing from my perfect life: A perfect leg. Every time I thought about it made me want to kick Stacy as hard as I could…then again beat her with my cane. I smiled at the thought of that. I kissed Vicky, looked at the clock (it was 3:04 am. Shit), and limped back to my room for a few more hours of sleep. As I lied back down, I thought about how perfect my life was.