A young boy peered into the window of the pet store. "But mom, please…" he whined. His mother shook his head. "I already told you Gregory, you cannot have a puppy in the house. Your father would have both of our heads," his mother said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

House looked at the Golden Retriever Puppy. "But…I want him…" he said, smiling at the puppy. His mother took his hand in hers. "Come on now, Gregory. You need to get washed up for supper…" he said, leading him down the street.

Gregory turned to look at the puppy, and saw the puppy tilt its head in what looked like to be disappointment. Gregory frowned, before turning away. He looked up at his mother. "But he will be gone soon…" he said.

His mother sighed. "When you are older maybe you can have your own puppy,"

Gregory turned around to face the puppy again. "But…I want…him…"

Gregory was led around the corner by his mother, and his dream disappeared from his sight.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Almost thirty years later, Gregory House sat in Exam Room One. He was thinking about anything but puppies. Puppies hadn't crossed his mind in years.

Instead, he was questioning whether or not the elderly woman in front of him had half a brain or not.

"Could you…maybe explain this to me again? I'm not sure whether you really said something pointless or maybe I was just hallucinating," House said, cocking his head to the side.

The woman inhaled deeply, before speaking again.

"I just got this beautiful new mattress yesterday. Now every morning I have this ache on my back, and it's a new mattress too!" she complained.

House stared at her for a second. Somehow he found this fascinating. He had met slow patients before, but this was definitely in his favorite 'Top Ten'. "Is this a hard mattress?" he asked, as if he were talking to a baby.

The old woman nodded. "Oh, very firm indeed…" she said. House narrowed his eyes in amusement, before standing up and walking towards the counter.

"Do you have a prescription or something?" she questioned.

House pulled out a notepad. "Yep. There are two options for you actually. Choose wisely, I personally recommend the first one…" he said, ripping off the piece of paper and handing it to her.

She smiled at him gratefully, before looking down at the piece of paper. She read the words:

"A SOFTER MATTRESS: AT YOUR LOCAL SLEEPY'S OR MATTRESS GIANT!"

Before she could comment on his little remark, she looked up to see that he had already left.

……………………………….

House headed back towards his office, shaking his head. He didn't understand some people, and he knew that he never would. Some people no one could understand.

He pushed open the door to his office, and looked towards his test before freezing.

Sitting in front of his desk was a golden retriever puppy. It raised its ears at him, before barking twice.

House tilted his head to the side. "What…" he started, obviously confused. Then he remembered.

"But Dad please…let me keep him!"

"Gregory, you take that puppy back to the store now! I will not have that little monster in my house!"

"He's not a monster, Dad!"

"Gregory, you take that damn puppy back or I will leave it on the streets!"

"But…but…"

"No but's! Get that puppy the hell out of my house!"

House looked down at the floor for a second. He remembered his father's hand coming across his face. He remembered the puppy falling to the floor, and racing out the door before running into the street during rush hour.

House sighed, and shut his office door. "Cuddy!" he yelled, hobbling down the hall.

……………………………………..

Lisa Cuddy looked up to see Dr. House walking in her office. "Greg, what are you doing here? Isn't there a patient that needs stitches or something?" she asked.

"Oh sure. I'll take care of that patient right after I get that stick out of your pretty little tush! I know you put that puppy in my office. You know I don't like puppies! They go potty everywhere! They'll go potty in your office, in your car, in your bed!" House snapped.

Cuddy furrowed her brows in confusion. "What? I didn't put a puppy in your office, Greg…" she stated.

"This is just a comeback for all those patients that have batted their pretty little eyelashes at me isn't it? You don't need to be jealous. Say the word and I'll whisk you onto my noble steed and we can ride off into the sunset together," House said, his eyes boring into hers.

Dr. Cuddy leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

"I…did not…get you…the puppy," she replied.

"Oh, really? Then who…" House paused. "Cameron," he said, before walking away.

Dr. Cuddy shook her head, and started to write in her files again. "If I were going to get you an animal, trust me…it would have been a predator…' she muttered.

………………………………………..

House began to walk down the hallway, looking for Dr. Cameron. He was beyond furious now. He didn't want the puppy in the first place, and he sure as hell didn't want to remember what happened during his childhood.

"It's gone…the puppy is gone…"

"Serves you right, boy! That puppy died a better life here then what he would of endured while in this house…"

"Dad, how can you say that? He was just a puppy!"

"And you're just a boy! So don't get an attitude with me! Now get inside and help your mother with the dishes!"

House walked past his office, but then paused. He walked backwards and did a double take. He saw the puppy, laying on the floor and next to it was a chair whose leg was slightly chewed. That's when he noticed something small and orange in the puppy's mouth.

He pushed open the door, and stared at it. The puppy dropped what was in it's mouth and looked up at him, panting.

House looked down and saw the small tube that held his Vicadon in-between the puppy's paws.

"Oh no. As is your presence wasn't enough. You gotta take my pills too?" he asked, walking in.

The puppy snatched up the tube in its mouth again, and raised its real end in the air, wagging it's tail wildly.

House sighed. "Don't even try the cute act with me. You've been with me for about five minutes and I can already tell that Cameron gave you to me," House said.

He bent down and lifted the puppy off the ground. He grabbed onto the tube of Vicadon, and attempted to pull it free, but the puppy held on tight.

House growled and pulled harder on the tube of Vicadon. The puppy growled and shook its head vigorously. With a small 'pop' the top popped off and the pills spilled all over the floor.

The puppy panted and wagged its tail again, before barking at the scattered pills.

House looked down at the puppy. "You are in so much trouble Mr. Yappy Snappy," he said, carrying the puppy out of the room with him.

……………………..

Cameron sat in the lab, going over some test. So she had been for the past two hours.

"Cameron!" called the voice of House.

Cameron turned to see House walking in, carrying the puppy. Her smile faded slightly.

"House…what are you…"

"I thought I'd give this little…furball of joy back to you…" he said, handing the puppy off to her.

Cameron looked at the whining puppy, before looking back at House. "House, he's supposed to be for you…" she said.

"I got that when I saw him in my office, I don't want him…" he retorted. "Well, why not?" Cameron asked.

"Well, let's see….I just don't want it!"

"House…"

"Look, when we all decided to share little private stories about our personal lives three weeks ago I didn't expect you to fix all of my problems for me!" House snapped.

"You never mentioned a puppy. I just thought a puppy would help get your mind off of Detective Tritter trying to get you in jail. You never told me a story about a puppy…" Cameron replied, calmly.

House stared at her for a second. He knew she was just trying to be helpful, and deep down he admired that about her. In fact, he also loathed that. He was jealous of the fact that Cameron could just reach out to anyone.

He could see it in her eyes. She genuinely cared about him, and every member of his team in a special way.

House turned his gaze back to the panting puppy, before sighing. "Fine…you little…soul snatcher! You really know how to get to the soul, and that's harsh…" House said, to Cameron.

Cameron handed the puppy back to him with a small smile. "It's a gift…." She said.

House looked down at the puppy, smiling slightly.

"Maybe you should give Foreman a cat. That way he can observe how it sneaks around and he won't get caught stealing my potato chips again…" House said, turning away.

Cameron laughed slightly. She watched him walk away a few steps. "House?" she called. House turned around to face her. "What are you going to name him?" she asked.

"Gregory Junior…" he said.

Cameron gave him a look. "Seriously…" she replied, rolling her eyes.

House looked back down at the puppy for a second.

"No matter what my dad says, I'm going to take care of you. I'm not going to let some really mean bad guy take you from that pet store. I promise to look after you, Timber…"

House smiled slightly. "Timber," he said, before turning away and walking out of the lab.