Title:Like Father, Like Daughter
Chapter:Part Two of my Daddy! House fic
Author:Littledragonfly23 or Swoochi (LJ)
Genre:Daddy!House fic
Rating:K
Pairing:House/Cameron – Julia!
Betas:Thanks
to lynettinspaghet
(LJ) and Nicole!
Disclaimer:
I
don't own anything/anyone. Wait, I do! JULIA is mine!
"Mama, Mama!"
Allison woke up with a start to the heart-wrenching cries of her daughter. She rolled over to see if House was awake. He was still sound asleep, and hadn't even twitched. She nudged him in the ribs weakly.
"Greg. Wake up," she told him.
"Mmhm," House hummed.
"Julia's crying," Allison stated, sleepily.
"I'm sleeping."
"Can you go check on her, please? I just got home, I'm tired." The last part came out in a soft whisper as she fell asleep.
"Mamaaaaaa!"
"She wants you, she's calling for you," House said before turning on his side, so he was facing the wall.
Allison sighed, and got up. House loved his daughter, and he was always helping; but he'd never really 'liked' his beauty sleep to be interrupted in the middle of the night. 'That's what mamas are for', he said. Allison crossed the hallway quickly. The faster she got there, and comforted her baby – because it was probably just a nightmare – the faster she could go back to bed.
Once inside her little girl's room, Allison lit the Disney Princess nightlight, and sat on Julia's bed. Big tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she was chewing on her fingers, causing bubbly drool to drip down her chin.
Allison took a tissue from the nightstand, and wiped Jules' face gently.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Allie asked, while drying the salty teardrops. "Did you have a bad dream?"
Julia continued to whimper, as she crawled into her mommy's lap. She rested her head on Allison's chest, and wrapped her tiny arms tightly around her neck.
"Shh," hushed Cameron soothingly, "mommy's here, it's okay." She ran her fingers calmingly through her daughter's curly hair, and realized that it was soaked. She lowered a hand, and felt her forehead, not surprised to find it burning up.
She scooped Julia up, and brought her into the bathroom. The little girl was still bawling with her head buried into her mother's silky hair.
"Where do you hurt, honey?" asked Allison, rubbing her daughter's back gently.
Jules didn't answer. She just clung onto her mother even tighter, and kept crying her heart out. Allie sighed helplessly, knowing there was no way she would get an answer. She rummaged through the vanity's top drawer, looking for the digital ear thermometer. When she found what she was looking for, she took her temperature. A few seconds later, and piercing Bip! was heard, and Allison's eyes grew wide. 102.3. She sat her daughter on the toilet seat, and bent down to fill the bath with lukewarm water. She stifled a yawn, and turned back towards Julie, startled to see House awkwardly kneeled down in front of Julia, trying to remove his daughter's pajamas.
Julia was still weeping; holding her arms out, so House would pick her up off of the toilet seat.
"Julie, stop squirming," he said calmly. "Mommy's making you a bath. You'll feel better."
Once the task of undressing her was completed, House ran the back of his hand over his little girl's flushed puffy cheek.
"How high is her fever?" House asked Allison.
Allison, who had grabbed the baby Tylenol while House was undressing their daughter answered,
"102.3." She bent down, and handed the dropper to Julia.
"Come on, open up. It's yummy," Allison told her not so enthusiastically.
Julia opened her mouth, and spat half of the medication out, causing the sticky liquid to drip down her chin and on her bare tummy.
"Papa," said Julia, smacking him on his arm weakly to get his attention. "Water!"
Allison handed him a plastic cup of water, and ran a hand on her face.
"Allie, you can go back to bed. I'll take care of her."
Grateful, Allison kissed her daughter on her forehead, and practically ran to their bedroom. She'd been awake since six am the previous morning, and it was now two. She jumped into her bed, and fell asleep instantly.
3 3 3
"Julie, stop splashing the water around," House told her a little sternly. She looked up at him with her eyes glazy, and her bottom lip started to quiver. Seconds later, she was crying again.
"Cold, I want to get out!" she wailed.
House could rarely ever say 'no' to his daughter. Giving into her helpless pleas, he took her out of the tub, and wrapped her tightly into a fluffy towel. He brought her back to her bedroom, where he put her new diaper on. He put her back in her bed, and rubbed her back gently, trying to lull her back to sleep. Her eyes fluttered closed under the weight of her eyelids. Thinking that she was asleep, House limped out of the room. Just as he went through the door way, Julia called out to him.
"Daddy!"
House came back in the room, and sat back where he was a few seconds ago. Jules sat up, and glared at her father with her glossy eyes. Once again, she held out her arms again, pleading him to take her.
"Want to go in daddy's bed," she said, starting to cry again.
Tired, House headed to his bedroom, Julia tucked in his arm. The only thing he wanted to do was go back to bed, and if that meant Julia sleeping with them, then so be it.
3 3 3
He laid Julia down above the sheets, so she wouldn't heat up, and covered her with a thin baby blanket. Julia cuddled with her mommy's back, and whimpered for a while, before finally falling asleep with her legs propped on her daddy's stomach.
3 3 3
The next morning, Allison woke up early, surprised to find Julia in bed with them. Her daughter was now sleeping on her tummy, her face squashed on the mattress with her mouth slightly opened. Allison smiled, and gently felt her daughter's forehead. She still had a light fever. Allison decided House could stay with her today; she had a lot of paperwork to fill out and she was already up anyway. Carefully, she got up and quietly made her way to the bathroom.
3 3 3
That morning, House woke up around nine, Julia still fast asleep beside him. He lifted his head off the pillow, and glanced towards Allison's side of the bed to find empty. He slid off of the bed, careful not to wake his daughter, and limped to the bathroom to get a Vicodin. After dry swallowing the white chalky pill, House made a quick stop to the bedroom to check one last time on his baby girl. Once he was sure she was okay, he exited the room as quickly and silently as possible, and headed to the kitchen, where he'd expected to find Allison.
"Morning," House said to an empty room. The coffee had been made, the newspaper was spread out across the table, and a plate full of crumbs had been left next to it. That's only when House realized that it was 9 o'clock, and Allison was probably already at work, working over some charts, or treating runny noses. He grabbed a black mug in the cupboard and filled it with the coffee that Allie had made earlier. As he was pouring his coffee, he noticed the little yellow post-it, stuck on the top of the coffee maker.
Greg,
I don't think Julia should go to the daycare today. Stay with her, I'll take care of Cuddy.
Al
Smiling, House went to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Turning the TV on, he flicked through the channels until he found what he was looking for: SpongeBob.
When Julia was sick, they would usually fight to decide who would stay with her. A few months ago, Allison had come up with a simple solution: they would take turns.
An hour and a half later, House heard muffled foot steps coming from the hallway. He turned his head to see Julia walking slowly towards him, only wearing her diaper. Her face was still flushed, and she was rubbing her eyes with a fisted hand. She climbed on the sofa and sat next to her daddy. House turned his head and looked down at her. His eyes widened at the sight of a rash spread across her entire body.
He quickly grabbed the phone on the coffee table in front of him, and dialed Allison's cell number.
"Cameron," Allison answered.
"Hey hun, it's me. You have to come back home," House told her slightly nervous.
"What? Why? What's wrong? Is Jules okay?" Allison asked, worried.
"She has a rash…"
"What kind of rash? Greg, is she okay?"
"Chicken pox. She has chicken pox. Now come home. I have some paperwork to do, and a Cuddy to harass."
"So do I," Allison told him a little taken aback. "I'll stay home tomorrow. You can do your 'stuff' then," she told him somewhat impatiently.
"I'm sure you don't have to hassle anybody, and you didn't ask me if I wanted to stay home today. It was your turn to stay home" House whined.
"But, but you always want to stay home. I thought you'd be happy. I'm sorry. I'll ask you next time," she said confused.
"She's contagious. Ick! I don't wanna get sick, you don't want me to get sick", he said impishly.
"House, you can only catch it once. I'm sure you're going to be okay," she told him with annoyance.
"Fine," House grumbled. "See you later." House hung up, and put the phone back on the table.
Julia hadn't said a word. As soon as she had climbed on the couch, she had leaned her head on her daddy's strong arm, and watched TV. House patted her head and asked,
"Are you hungry? Do you want some cereal?"
Julia only nodded, and started to scratch her tummy.
"Honey, don't scratch it," House told her.
"But it's itchy," Julia whined.
"Well, it's gonna be worse it you scratch it. Come on. I'll make you breakfast."
Julia hopped off of the sofa, and slowly made her way to the kitchen. She sat at the table, and waited for her daddy. House came into the kitchen a few seconds later with pink pajamas in his hands.
"Come here kiddo. You won't spend the rest of the day, wandering around naked in the house, will ya?"
Giggling, she slid off of the chair, and ran to him so he could help her put on her pajamas.
3 3 3
It was around five thirty when House woke up. The TV was still on, and the credits of General Hospital were rolling on the screen. Julia was still fast asleep, her head resting on his left thigh. Running a hand through his hair, he let out a sigh. They had probably fallen asleep while watching that stupid cartoon. 'I can't believe parents let their kids watch that crap,' he thought. They had spent the entire day sitting in front of the TV, watching some ridiculously boring comics. As House had predicted, Julia had been asleep most of the day, which he was thankful for. When Jules was sick, she would always whine and whining kids was the one thing he couldn't deal with. Don't get him wrong he loved his daughter, but the complaining was just too much to handle.
He slowly rose from his seat, being careful not to wake up his angel, and went to the kitchen. His first intention had been to make dinner while he'd read Allison's last article, but his plans changed when Julia started to cry in the living room.
An hour later, House was back in the kitchen, and Julia was sound asleep in her bedroom. Now, too lazy to cook anything, he grabbed the phone, and dialed the Italian restaurant's number. He ordered a small spaghetti for Julia in case she was hungry when she woke up, and a pizza for himself.
After putting the phone back on its pod, he sat at the table to read his girlfriend's article. He felt pride swell in his chest as he finished his reading. She had achieved so much in such a short period of time.
3 3 3
Allison came home around nine that night, to a dark and silent house. She guessed House had ordered in by the Italian smell that was lingering in the house. She went to her daughter's bedroom to kiss her goodnight, and to her surprise, the room was empty. She quietly walked down the hall to her own bedroom. As she slowly opened the door, a smile spread on her face. House was lying on his back, Julia sleeping across his stomach, his arm wrapped protectively around his daughter's small body. As quietly as possible, Allison changed into her pajamas, and slid under the sheets, where she snuggled against House and quickly fell into a deep slumber.
3 3 3
The next morning, House woke up to an empty bed. Casting a quick glance towards the alarm clock, he groaned as he tried to get up. His head was pounding, and he felt warm. Hearing Julia laugh in the kitchen, he got up to join the loves of his life.
Allison was leaning against the table, a cup of coffee in her hands. She was nodding to whatever Julia was saying.
"Morning ladies," House said, a little too loud for his painful head.
Allison looked at him, and her eyes widen in shock. Her hand flew to her mouth, trying to hide a smile. When Julia saw her daddy, she let the piece of bread she was holding fall onto the floor.
"Daddy," she said, "you have chicken box like me!"
Not able to holding it anymore, Allison burst into laughter. House, stunned, went to look at himself in the bathroom mirror. To his horror, he was covered in spots. Allison stumbled in the bathroom, clutching her stomach, still laughing.
"I can't believe you didn't have chickenpox when you were a kid," she said breathlessly.
3 3 3
Since House was in no condition to go to work that day either, he and Julia spent another day sitting on the couch, watching crappy shows.
Suddenly, House's stomach started to itch, and he instinctively scratched it. Julia saw him, and said firmly,
"Daddy, don't scratch it."
"But it's scratchy," House complained.
"If you scratch it, it's gonna be more itchy," she replied, malice glowing in her eyes.
House couldn't help, but smile. She was definitely his…
Fin