Title: Contemplating Change

By: TriplePirouette

Category: House/Cameron

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: They're not mine- I'm a poor and having fun... take pity...

Distribution: my site, anywhere else please ask first :)

Summary: "Pregnancy, planned or unplanned, was the ultimate goal of that oh-so enjoyable pass time of which he was a fan." HouseCam House thinking

Author's notes: I'm shamelessly addicted to Baby!Fic. Always have been, always will be. This is my response to the HUGE amount of fiction out there (some good, some bad) that believes House would encourage a child to talk back to authority figures and generally raise hell, as well as assert that Cameron would put up with that.

Feedback PLEASE at: I love anything constructive! Blatant flames, however, will be disregarded and used to roast s'mores...

House sat at the piano, his fingers ghosting over the keys, not really playing notes. He didn't want to wake the woman a few yards away in the bedroom. He didn't want to wake her, and he didn't want to face her.

If he was going to be honest with himself, he knew this was bound to happen. Pregnancy, planned or unplanned, was the ultimate goal of that oh-so enjoyable pass time of which he was a fan. Even with birth control, used religiously and properly, there was a failure rate.

House smiled a bit. If he were a different man his virility would be a big boost to his ego. But the smile dropped, and his hands danced again, feeling the cool ivory under his fingertips.

He had to hand it to Cameron. She knew him far too well. Living together for a year did that to people. He couldn't say that if he had something huge to tell her that he'd know the exact way to go about it. She had.

"Sit down." She was sitting at the kitchen table, cup of steaming tea in her hands. She'd left work on time, while he'd been forced to stay and complete some extra hours for Cuddy. He'd broken the MRI machine, again. Though this time he wasn't quite sure that it was his fault, or even how he'd managed to do it.

House raised his eyebrows, but followed suit. He hung his cane on the back of his chair before slowly sitting. Her face was serious, and she looked slightly sad. His mouth was ahead of his mind, like usual. "I didn't see any luggage by the door. So I doubt you're leaving me."

She closed her eyes, and a deep breath hissed in and out.

"You aren't leaving me, are you?" He reached across the table and pealed her fingers from her mug of tea. They immediately grasped his as her eyes slowly opened.

"Not unless you want me to." She squeezed his hand and put up a hand when he went to open his mouth. "No. Stop talking. I need to tell you something. It's very important. Ok?" He nodded, and she squeezed his hand before drawing hers back to her mug of tea. "Just let me get it out and you can ask as many questions as you want, ok?" He nodded again, afraid that he couldn't speak even if he wanted to. "I'm pregnant. At least I'm ninety percent sure I am. I missed a period two weeks ago and the home test says positive. I'm going to take a blood test when I get in tomorrow morning, but I'm pretty sure that the results won't be any different." She held up her hand when he started to talk again. "I know we haven't talked about this. And we were careful. But careful is never one hundred percent. I want this baby. I don't know how you feel. But I want this baby."

House's eyes look everywhere but at Cameron. His hands twitched nervously and he had the overwhelming urge to pop a few Vicodin, but he didn't because he couldn't seem to make himself move.

"Do you have anything to ask me?" He shook his head no, and she frowned a bit. "Anything you want to say?" His head practically twitched side to side as he bit his lower lip. Cameron reached her hand out and mimicked House's earlier gesture by twining her hand with his. His eyes snapped up to hears as she kept hold of his hand, but stood and rounded the table to stand next to him. "I'm going to let you think. I know you need to think about this. I want you to know that this doesn't change how I feel about you, or us." She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the cheek, then gently removed her hand from his. "I'll be around when you're ready."

House listened to her retreating footsteps to the back bedroom. He heard her click on the reading lamp next to their bed, and though he still didn't know what to think about anything, he thanked God that she was only in the next room, and that she hadn't left the house.

He didn't know exactly how much time had passed, but after a quiet stretch of forever he found himself limping into the bedroom, the soft light from the lamp and the window's waning daylight the only illumination there was. Cameron looked up and quietly watched as he limped into the room and around to his side of the bed, her fingers holding her page in the novel she was reading. She'd changed from her work clothes into soft flannel pants and one of his faded rock shirts, her hair loosely pulled back and her glasses sliding low on her nose.

Cameron's breath caught and held when he turned away from her, but he sat as quickly as he could, and shifted across the bed until he could lay his head in Cameron's lap, ear over the flat of her abdomen. She started breathing again.

Cameron smiled and dropped her book on the bed next to them. "Hi."

"Hi." House had the decency to look sheepish, but stayed quiet even as Cameron's short nails began to massage lightly over his scalp.

"Have a good think for yourself?" He nodded a bit. "Decide anything?"

There was a long stretch of quiet where he simply looked at her, and Cameron did her best not to squirm under his scrutiny. "No and yes. Sort of."

"Well?" She prompted quietly.

House stilled Cameron's hand in his hair, bringing it down to his lips for a gentle kiss. "I know I don't want you to leave. I know that." She smiled and squeezed his hand, waiting because she knew he had more to say. "I still don't know how I feel about this. But I think… I think it's positive. Probably."

"I'll take that for now."

That had been a week ago. He was now almost positive that this was a positive thing, and he felt good about that, usually. Cameron had been understanding, and he'd been supportive. It was working out well.

Problem was House disliked change, and he had a feeling that he'd barely be accustomed to the fact that he was going to have a baby by the time there actually was a baby to worry about. He only had eight more months.

His fingers abandoned the piano to play with a tumbler of scotch he'd poured himself. He hadn't actually drunk any of it, but he wanted to. The thought of a child, however, stopped him.

Cameron was used to his moods. She was used to the fact that he could be a grouchy, pissed off bastard that needed to bottom out occasionally on Scotch and Vicodin. She was always there to pick him up, and he had to admit that she'd needed to do so on a less often basis the longer they were together.

But tonight had scared him to his senses. He'd been thinking about a little blue eyed boy or girl, and just imagining them running around raising hell and throwing barbs at wide eyed adults. Those thoughts had been what forced him out of bed at three am.

It was funny to think about. Amusing. Absolutely hilarious. If it's not a possible reality. House knew he was a jerk. He knew what kind of disconcerting back talk he spurted, even around Cameron. He hadn't changed all that much since they'd started seriously dating. But if he didn't change now, it was a serious possibility that their child would either grow to hate him as a bastard, or become just like him. He knew Cameron wouldn't stand for either, and that led him to the only conclusion that he could come to: she'd eventually leave him and take their child.

So now he was contemplating change: something he didn't like and didn't know how to do. How could he remove the innuendo and profanity from his daily vocabulary? The sarcasm? Sure, the baby would at first laugh at his outrageous faces, but the amusement wouldn't last much longer past five, he thought.

House stood, Scotch in hand, and limped into the dark kitchen. Slowly, he poured the fine scotch down the drain and then left the empty glass in the sink. So, Gregory House was going to change. How, and into what, he wasn't quite sure. But Wilson had always told him there wasn't enough room in the world for two people with his attitude, and if he didn't change, he had a feeling he'd be raising at least one more.

House tried to be as quiet as he could when he re-entered the bedroom and crawled back into bed. Cameron curled into his warmth and he instantly felt a little better. One thought kept finding it's way into his mind as he searched for sleep: damnnit, he hated when Wilson was right.