Title: Chapter 1
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Non yet
Warning: AU, MPREG
Summary: The other doctors at the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital are about to discover something different about one of there own.

House walked into the conference room a little too chipper for the hour of the morning. He moved as someone who might have had a bit too much coffee during one sitting.

"Good morning," House greeted his ducklings. His usual sarcastic enthusiasm in tack. Today, it only seemed to make Chase frustrated, and a little bit queasy. From his position of leaning against the sink, he watched as House limped over to the white board. How could someone, who was so against the world, sound like they should be leading a Catholic retreat group for pre-teens? Chase was half-tempted to stick out his foot to knock out the cane, and watch House humiliate himself by falling to the floor. Chase realized it might not have been the kindest of ideas, but House was not the kindest of people, and today was not the kindest of days.

Uncapping the marker, House turned to the board and started to write and read aloud. "Male. Symptoms are: stomach cramps, back pains, fatigue, nausea, headaches, lose of weight, frequent urination." House turned back to the others with a sly grin. "What's the diagnosis?"

"We need more information." Foreman concluded. "Where is he getting these headaches? How often? What's causing his fatigue?"

"Exactly where are the stomach and back pains?" Cameron added. "Is he urinating from a stimulant, or is he having problems holding it in? Is he getting nauseated after eating, or from being active?"

"Oh, he's been very active," House grinned, then turned his gaze to the young intensivist. Chase's brow was furrowed in thought, gnawing on his lip for lack of anything else to chew on.

"Muscle pain, anemia, weight lose," Chase mumbled to himself. Then he glanced up to find the others staring at him. "Lupus?"

"There's no rash," Cameron interjected.

Foreman leaned back in his chair. "Doesn't mean it can't be SLE. There's no rash in SLE."

The three simultaneously turned to watch House to see what his reaction was. He is the Head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine, after all. House smiled broadly, which was never a good sign. "Very good. But, WRONG!"

"What do you mean 'wrong'?" Foreman demanded. "It's the fitting diagnosis. The only other thing would be cancer, but how is it possible to have that many different types of cancer all at once?"

"There is one more thing it could be." House sing-songed. He underlined 'fatigue, nausea, stomach pain, and weight-loss'. "What are these the first stages of? Come on, now, children!"

"Pregnancy." Cameron murmured.

"By Jove, I think he's got it." House said in a British accent, glancing at Chase, but turned towards Cameron. He took a seat, and leaned back with his hands behind his head.

"Pregnancy?" Foreman asked incredulously. "There's only been a handful of cases of male-pregnancy. This would be about the strangest thing to have walked into the hospital. Let alone New Jersey."

"Ah, but it's been walking into the hospital for at least a month and a half now. Hasn't it, Dr. Chase?"

--tbc--

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