Daycare
Being the kids of the Hospitals' most renowned Doctors isn't always that easy.
A/N: Originally was going to write a 'Next Generation' type of fic, but I couldn't resist trying to imagine these made up characters' selves if they were younger. They're stuck in my head.
"You be a good girl, now," Thirteen told her daughter, unwrapping the scarf and hat that she donned and hooked it on along with where her jacket hung, laughing as her daughter helped unclothe herself with the unnecessary clothing, too excited to get inside and play. "Daddy and I are going to be at work, but you know where that is, right?" She asked, now finger combing the jumpy girls' dark hair out of her olive complexion.
Vera nodded her head, and said, looking at the glass windows that showed a view of the kids on the slides and more. "Yes, mommy! Can we go now? Matt and Luke are already there!" Vera said giddily, a bit jealous that her brothers were already inside.
"Yes, Yes, I know, we're going there now," she said, now walking with her on to the doors that led to the daycare, where they could already hear the screams of children. They could make out Seth trying to climb on top of the Mcdonald's like-slide, and saw Rachel desperately trying to let her own brother down.
"And don't get near Seth," Thirteen warned jokingly. "If you and Rose are bullied him and Robert again, call Rachel or Clare, okay? And watch out for Luke, please, I can only imagine what he and Seth are going to do next…"
She kissed her daughter and watched Vera go for the door, trying to open it. From there, she was instantly greeted by Katie, one of the Daycare teachers. Thirteen waved at Vera when she looked back, smiling, reassuring that she could go on.
But just as she was about to take off her shoes on the way to the slides, Vera ran back outside and opened the door with all the force she exert, making Thirteen laugh yet again.
"Yes, honey?" She asked as she approached her mom, out of breath, opening her arms as to let her mom carry her.
"Are Anne and Noelle going to be with you guys?"
"No, we have to work, baby," Thirteen told her daughter and she settled Vera on her hips. "They're at the nursery right now. Elaine is there also. If you want to see them, remember that you can page Aunt Lisa, the numbers are plastered on your desk, remember?" She and Cameron plastered all the pager numbers on their kids' round orange desk, a desk that the House, Chase, Foreman, and Wilson kids claimed their own now, just in case of an emergency, though Edward abused the privilege of calling his mother all the time.
Vera nodded. "But Aunt Allie and I will probably steal you during lunch time to see the babies. Remember where 12 is on the clock."
"Okay, mommy! I remember where 12 is on the clock. It's the one in the middle," Vera said, and tried to get down back on the floor.
Thirteen laughed. "Why are you so excited, V? I'm not going to steal you," she teased.
"They're showing us how to use a steftoscoop, today, mommy! Katie and Ruth teaching us how to use it today! And I remember seeing Daddy use it to check your heartbeat once."
Thirteen laughed again at her mispronunciation, but was proud that she knew and remembered what it was for. Five-year-olds did not usually know how to pronounce big medical words.
"Okay, kiddo, you go on. Have fun with Rosie, tell her I said hi, and never listen to anything that sounds like a lie when Edward, Tyler, Seth, Matt, Brandon, Robert, Derek, Nick, Oscar or Carrie say it," and with a pat in the head, Vera ran back inside.
Thirteen turned around and left the Day Care area, checking her watch. It was 9 in the morning. Foreman, ever the early bird, met her and the kids at the door and ran Anne to the nursery because she was late, but Oh, Well, she thought. Might as well get breakfast while Eric has break.
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"Seth!" Rachel yelled. "Down, now, or I'm going to page Mommy."
Seth scoffed, but got down from the top of the slides. "Mommy wouldn't get mad at me."
"No one here ever gets mad at you. Not even Katie or Ruth could, which is why I have to!" Rachel stomped her foot, then walked away.
She sat down next to Clare, playing with her fake stethoscope while babbling away to Vera and Rose, while Carrie sat there, with her head on the table, her twin brother Derek sitting next to her and playing 'catch the play-dough' with Robert. The Taub and Kutner children were still absent.
"Rose and Vera wants Ruth to teach us how to use a stethoscope now," Clare told Rachel. "And, Carrie has a cold!"
"Oh, you do?" Rachel said, going up to the younger girl and felt her forehead. "She is sick!"
"No way!" Robert said, and went closer to Carrie and also felt her forehead. "She has a runny nose. It's called acuteviral something.. I head Dad say that that's what it's really called when you're a doctor!"
"Acute viral naso..something," Tyler said, stopping by and felt Carrie's forehead as well. "Whoah, you are sick! You have to see a real doctor, Carrie!"
Carrie shrugged. She was nearly four, and yet she refused to talk to anyone else, really, besides her Uncle Wombat, Daddy Ugly, and the genius who deprived her of those names, Uncle Cutie.
"Carrie's sick?" Luke said, and looked at her closely. "She has snot all over her face. You have to see my mommy!"
"No, we should see my mommy," Seth said. "She's the closest! But we have to sneak out, Ruth would never let us.."
"No, mommy is probably still trying to fix those papers, Seth," Edward told his brother.
"It's 10. Daddy has break, daddy always has a lot of breaks, so they should check on us soon," Matt assured his younger sister. Vera was not too thrilled that someone she cared about was sick.
"You can go to my mommy," Rose offered. "My mommy works in the ER, remember? Carrie can be cured, mom said that the ER is only for emergencies, and since Carrie's cold is an emergency, she can be cured faster!"
"But Mommy said that she's going to check on us at 11, Rose," Tyler told his younger sister. "We have to fix her now, before she gets a flu shot!"
Everyone gasped at the word, "shots,".
"No, Daddy's checking on us at 10, Ty," Clare piped, finally breaking the 20 second silence around them. "Mom's checking on the babies at 11, they're bringing as lunch at 12."
"Oh," Tyler said.
"That's why we have to get out of here now," Ed told everyone. "We can get to Aunt Allie faster, so that Carrie can stop blowing her nose."
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It was 11 AM. House sat on his office, playing with a ball, until his door opened.
"House," Wilson said angrily. "Daddy Ugly? She's three! She 's reluctant to speak and now, her only words are going to be Daddy Ugly?"
"Oh, Daddy," House said, waving his hand carelessly at him. "Be happy that I even got her to talk. I had a one-on-one with her and well, it was either Daddy 'Ugly, Jew, or Hunkie.'"
"Hunkie would've been nicer."
"What exactly did she say?"
"Well, hmm," Wilson said, as he mocked this time in thought, putting his fingers on his jaw. "After Amber read her Cinderella, she told her to tell 'Daddy Ugly' Good night.'
House laughed and threw a ball at Wilson, hitting his table hard with his hands, Wilson staring at him ridiculously. Just then, his door opened yet again.
Chase entered with Carrie with on his hips, with Seth, Derek, Edward, Tyler, Matt, Luke, and Robert trailing behind him, their hands together seemingly acting like chains, as Chase held Roberts' own hands. The boys all sat down on the miniature Beanie Bags that lined up on the side of House's office, for once actually quiet, ready to take all the yelling about to ensue. It smelled like someone threw up.
"Why does it smell like throw-up in here?" House sniffed around.
"They escaped the hospital Day Care." Chase simply said, sitting down on the chair directly in front of House while Carrie opened her arms for her Daddy to pick her up.
"Daddy Ugly! I missed you," Carrie said, while Wilson sighed and picked Carrie up, kissing her on the head despite the comment.
"And so, since they managed to get out of Ruth's sight – which is actually unbelievable to me, since she's been the only one to control the kids –they decided that paying Aunt Allie a visit in the ER would make her happy, especially since Carrie has the sniffles. Ed thought that if they brought Carrie to her, she would be cured."
"Well, Ed," House told his own son. "Did Aunt Allie cure Carrie?"
Ed shook his head. "No, daddy, we saw Aunt Allie, but she was busy, see, and when she saw us, she started freaking out –"
"- freaking out?" Wilson repeated. "What, House, are you trying to re-modernize the younger generations' vocabulary?"
"Ignore Uncle Ugly," House told Ed. "Go on. Just, skip to the point to why Carrie smells like puke, kiddo."
"Aunt Allie asked if we were all alone, and we said yes, and I told her that Carrie was sick, see – and so she took of her gloves and washed her hands in the sink near us, then put Carrie on the bed and felt her forehead to check if she was sick, and since she was hot, Aunt Allie was going to call Uncle Ugly, - " House earned a look from Wilson – " but then these people with the bed and a sick person came in, yelling. Remember, Daddy, what did you call those? Gunnies?"
"Gurney, Ed. Gurney," House sighed.
"Yeah, and the person had blood all over, and then Carrie threw up on Aunt Allie," Ed paused, swallowing deeply, obviously intrigued by his own story, telling it with such emotion. "Aunt Allie said it was okay, Carrie cried and said sorry, and then Uncle Wombat came because it was almost 12, daddy! I checked the clock to make sure, it's their 'make love' time, remember? – " Ed said, as Chase gave House a look similar to that of Wilson's, "- and Aunt Allie said that it was okay but that Carrie needed Tyrenol and that we needed to get out because she was busy and that it wasn't safe for us to be there."
"That's why it smells."
"Yup. And apparently, when some of the ER nurses saw them, Seth told them that Lisa was actually watching them, but she had to use the bathroom because she had her monthly." Chase told House, almost laughing.
"Seth," House laughed. "You should know better. Someone was bound to recognize you guys, right?"
Seth nodded his head. "I can never hide anywhere!" Seth complained.
"You could've come up with a better lie, Seth," House explained to his son as Chase and Wilson raised their hands up in defeated annoyance. "You've come from a good generation of good liars."
"But, Mommy says that lying is bad, Dad," Ed said.
"That's what my mommy says."
"Your mom used to be bi, what did she know?" House told a confused Matt, as Wilson rolled his eyes and Chase chuckled. "Mommy is right, lying is bad. But a lot of times, Mommy is also wrong. Whenever you're doing a top secret mission, like going to see Aunt Allie, you have to lie, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy."
"And the rest of you," House announced. "Get the rest of the kiddies up here. These Beanie Bags were bought for your children and I've wasted my money on them."
The boys and Carrie cheered.
"Don't you have a case?" Wilson asked.
"Ah, but that's exactly why I have a team, Uncle Ugly."
"Right. And your team will discuss differentials in front of the kids?" Chase asked.
"Yeah, why not? Cuddy will be fine with it, she's been nagging about the money I wasted on these chairs, anyway. There are 12 of these. I thought they'd pull a fourth all-nighter sooner than later," House shrugged.
Kutner, Taub, and Thirteen then entered the room.
"Mommy!" Matt and Luke screamed, and hugged a surprised Thirteen.
"Hey, why are you guys here?" Thirteen asked as Luke kissed her cheek.
Chase laughed. "Long story. I'll tell you later," he told her.
"Uncle Shorty, Uncle Kellogg's, where's Brandon and Oscar?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah, where's Nick and Will?"
"At home," Taub and Kutner said in unison. Obviously, they were scared enough that their own kids were to be continued being influenced by House, Foreman, and Chase's children. They only brought them when there was nothing they could do.
"Right, well, lets end the chit-chat, shall we? Bring forth the kids, Thirteen, Chase, Wilson, while you two," House pointed at Taub and Kutner, "Update me on our lovely patient."
"What exactly are you going to do with 12 children in your office?" Thirteen asked.
"Oh, come on, mommyyy," House begged. "Like last time, remember? They all slept over when all of you Mommy and Daddy's were playing Doctor late at night, and we had fun!"
"Right," Thirteen sighed. "Well, I'll get the rest of them."
"Tyler did say that was a fun night," Chase said, as Tyler nodded his head frantically.
"We got to play with Uncle Cutie's guitar, Daddy!" Robert Jr. told his dad.
Chase looked at House with a confused expression. "What, did you just drop by the day-care center one day and brainwash them?"
"Exactly what I did."
"Let's go, Chase," Thirteen said and grabbed him to leave out the door. "I got work to do. Those kids have to be up here now. And that story needs to be told."
"You behave, kids," Chase told the kids, reaching his own PSP down his pocket and gave it to Robert. "There, you guys take turns, okay? Uncle House has his own, ask him for his."
Thirteen and Chase both left.
Wilson looked at him and gestured at a sick, yet happy Carrie on his arms.
"Gimme Carrie, the Baby-Sitters Club will be watching her," House said, taking Carrie from a reluctant Wilson and settled her on his lap. "Relax, I will be watching her, really. I wouldn't want Amber to divorce you, now," House said, and gave Seth his PSP when Seth tapped him on the shoulder. "Get," House told Wilson as he smiled and left.
"Uncle Cootie," Carrie said, and sniffed. "I'm sick," she said, and pointed at her runny nose.
Carrie still had a lisp. House didn't mind, Uncle Cootie was close enough.
"I know that, Silly," House reached for the Kleenex in front of him and handed one to her. "But luckily, there's a whole tissue box just for you. Did Auntie Allie give you Tyrenol?" House asked, knowing that half the clan called it that.
"Uncle Wombat did, because I made puke -puke on her," Carrie said shyly.
House fought the urge of rolling his eyes. Puke Puke. No doubt something Amber says.
"Tyrenol takes at least a day to make it work, Silly." House told her, and gave Seth a look when he tried reaching for House's amp. "And don't worry, Auntie Allie needs to get out of those ugly scrubs, anyway," he reassured her, as he threw the tissue that Carrie blew her nose on.
"Is Aunt Allie angry at me? Mommy says that when you bother someone when they're working, they get angry. Mommy was angry at me one time."
"Is Aunt Allie ever angry at anyone, Silly?" House asked Carrie and gave her yet another Kleenex.
Carrie looked up with her mouth open, thinking. She then shook her head.
"See? It's going to be alright, Silly."
"But Uncle Cootie, how come Derek is not sick? Tyler told us that since we're twins, we act the same and do everything the same, he should be sick too!"
"Tyler's daddy is a Wombat. Did I not tell you that?" House told Carrie while Seth and Robert were trying to get Taub and Kutner on their knees for a piggy back ride.
"You told me that, Uncle Cootie," Carrie sniffed again. "But why, Derek's not sick?"
"Just because you're twins, doesn't mean that you act the same. Derek is a boy, and you're a girl, right?"
Carrie nodded.
"And Rosie is a girl, and Robbie is a boy. They don't act anything alike at all."
"But, do Derek and I act the same?"
House smirked. "Yes, you do. But that's different. You're both the same in some ways, but that doesn't mean that Derek has to be sick when you are. But hey – you don't eat with your feet, like Derek and ... them," House motioned to the boys, all engrossed on getting a piggy back ride from their uncles; "right?"
Carrie nodded again.
"Okay, silly. We have to do a differential –and you remember what we do when we do differentials. We get to.."
"Write on the white board!" Carrie said excitedly.
"Right. But if you get too loud in there, you all have to be punished and stay in my office, okay?"
"Okay, Uncle Cootie. But what time do you and Auntie Lisa have 'make love' time? You told me my mommy and daddy's, and Clare's mommy and daddy's, and Vera's mommy and daddy's. Rachel said she didn't know when you did!"
House stared at Carrie. He knew he'd regret telling them how to read time at an early age.