This is the start of the fifth story in the Love series of House-Cameron stories. It takes place ten years after Three Amigos in Love and five years after This Old House.

Title: Everlasting Love

Summary: House is now a grandpa

Chapter 1.

"G'anpa, look at Sadie!" The sandy-haired toddler came running to House, stretched out in his favorite lounge chair in his backyard.

"She's a dog, A.G., what did you expect?"

"She's a funny dog." Arthur Gregory Billings giggled.

House rolled his eyes, but it was true. Sadie, the basset, was prone to un-basset-like behavior. She seemed to think she was a greyhound or a race horse. That day she was chasing the two-year-old around the yard, much to the boy's delight. Her short legs worked overtime to keep up with his slightly-longer ones.

Cameron slid the door open and came out with a beer for her husband and juice for her grandson.

"Hi, G'amma!" A.G. came over again, followed by the dog.

Sadie looked up at Cameron as she handed A.G. his drink. She reached into her pants pocket and took out a treat for the dog, then laughed as the two of them scampered off.

"So this is where everyone is!" Scott exclaimed, coming through the gate to the yard.

"Daddy!" A.G. shouted, running towards him and tackling his calves.

Scott reached down to lift the boy up. "Isn't Gretch back yet?" he asked House and Cameron.

Cameron shook her head. "It isn't often she and Emily can go off shopping together, and I think they're both excited to be pregnant at the same time. She should be back soon, though. Would you like a beer or a soft drink?"

"A coke would hit the spot," Scott replied.

"Daddy, Sadie's silly," his son reclaimed his attention. "A silly dog!"

"Then you must be a silly boy." Scott tickled A.G. and he laughed.

"So, how'd it go at Princeton General?" House asked.

"Well, thanks to the fact that the 'personal' scanners have been so well-received at PPTH, they've ordered two dozen of them. To start!" He sounded elated. The scanners were the latest invention he and Tony had designed, producing high quality pictures similar to those obtained with huge machines, but with a hand-held device. The miniaturization of chips down to a molecular size had allowed the development of smaller and smaller instrumentation.

"That's wonderful!" Cameron said, returning from the kitchen.

"Has Alex called?" Scott asked his mother-in-law as she handed him his drink and he put the boy down.

"No, not yet," she replied. She looked at her watch. "They should have just arrived." Alex had returned to Yale for his sophomore year, getting a ride from Chase and Sully who were flying their son Patrick up for his first year.

Gretchen came through the sliding glass doors from the family room, kissed her husband and prepared for the attack by her son.

"Mommy, mommy, you're back!" He grabbed her legs like he had his father's.

"Did you have a good time with Grandma and Grandpa?" she asked him.

"And Sadie!" He nodded vigorously.

"Of course." Gretchen smiled at him and kissed the top of his head.

"You want some iced tea or a coke?" her mother asked.

"Mmm. Iced tea would be great!" As A.G. let go, she was able to stretch out in the lounge chair next to her father's and rest her weary feet.

"How's Em?" Scott asked. He had a big soft spot for his step-sister.

"Very pregnant!" Gretchen replied. "Even more than I am. I think between the two of us we hit every restroom between here and downtown."

"I thought you went shopping," House said. She was suspiciously free of any packages.

"We did. We dropped off my purchases at home before she brought me here."

Cameron returned with glasses of iced tea for Gretchen and herself, another beer for House and another coke for Scott. "Why didn't she come in? I haven't seen her since..."

"...since yesterday at the hospital?" her husband finished for her.

"She and Tommy were having dinner with Clair and Arthur," Gretchen replied. "She had to head home."

"So what did you get?" Cameron asked her daughter.

"Well, first we went to her aunt's shop for some maternity clothes. Tori had the cutest outfits." She stopped to sip her tea. "Then we went to Baby Land. Did you know that the newest cribs have built-in web cams? Lots of other electronics, too."

"We have a crib," Scott reminded her. "I thought we were getting A.G. a tot bed. I can rig the crib up with any monitoring devices you want."

"Sounds good," she agreed. "But Emily ordered one."

"She only has about another month," Cameron said.

The phone inside the house rang, setting off a beep in the outside extension.

"That's probably Alex," Cameron said, going to get it. "Hi!" she told her son.

"Hi, Mom. We just got here, and I wanted to call before I start unpacking," he told her.

"Glad you did."

"Pat's in the Freshman dorm, of course, but it's not far from mine. My new roommate hasn't shown up yet."

"Well, you get settled in and we'll talk to you in a couple of days," Cameron said.

"OK. Maybe I'll message you tonight. Bye, for now." Alex shut his phone, and started hanging his clothes in the closet of the half of the dorm room he'd selected. He wondered about his new roommate. Jon Butler, his roommate the year before, had transferred to Dartmouth so that he could spend more time skiing. All Alex knew abut his new roommate was his name, Ryan Stewart. He hadn't been in any of Alex's classes in his Freshman year, and none of Alex's friends seemed to know him.

He stowed his guitar in a corner of the closet and closed the door before looking around the room that would be his home for the next nine months. It was just big enough for two single beds, two small dressers, and two desks and chairs. He placed his laptop on his desk, together with a few small electronics that could be used separately or with the computer.

The door opened and a young man entered. He was tall, at least six feet, but not as tall as Alex's 6'8". "Are you Alexander House?" he asked, consulting his handheld.

"Yes, and you must be Ryan." Alex held out his hand to shake but Ryan's only just touched his. "I took this side of the room. I hope that's all right."

Ryan shrugged, and began to unpack his bags without saying another word, so Alex went back to his own unpacking. But the silence got to Alex after a while. "I don't remember seeing you in any classes last year," he said.

"I doubt we'll have any together," Ryan replied. "You here on a basketball scholarship?"

Alex realized that Ryan took him for a jock. He smiled. "Partly." But it hadn't been just basketball that had gotten him into Yale's pre-med program. "What are you majoring in? Or have you decided yet?"

"Quantum physics," Ryan said.

"Excellent!" Alex said.

"And I'm not going to help you with your science or math assignments."

Alex chuckled. "No worries. I wouldn't think of asking."

There was a knock at the door, and they both called out, "Come in."

Chase and Sully opened the door but didn't enter. "We just wanted to say 'goodbye'," Sully said.

"Thanks for the ride," Alex said. "Is Pat settled in?"

"Yes, he seems to be," Chase replied. "Well, we'll see you, probably at Steven's wedding."

"Right. Bye! And thanks again. It was so much faster and easier than driving."

They closed the door again and left.

Ryan hesitated, but finally asked, "Who were they?"

"Chase and Sully? They work with my parents, and their son, who's an incoming Freshman, is a friend of mine," Alex explained.

"Another basketball player?" Ryan asked.

Alex chuckled. "Hardly." Patrick, who was shorter than Chase, had been a first-class soccer player at Mercer High School. But he'd also been valedictorian of his graduating class, and was attending Yale to study Nuclear Biology.

Alex wondered if he should set the record straight with Ryan, or just let him find out for himself.

Chapter 2.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go home," Gretchen said reluctantly. "A.G., time to say 'goodbye'."

The little boy began to pout. He was having too much fun.

"Can't you stay for dinner?" Cameron asked her daughter. She didn't want them to go either.

"Better yet, why don't we all go to G & G?" House suggested. They didn't go as often as they used to. The kids were grown and busy with their lives. But it was time to initiate the next generation.

Gretchen looked at Scott, expecting that he wouldn't mind. He shrugged. "I'm always up for a good hamburger and a shot at 'Hammerhead'." That was one of the newer games. He scooped up A.G. and told the boy, "Let's go get some dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, and then I'll show you something fun."

"OK," A.G. said. "Can Sadie come too?"

"'Fraid not, Scout," Scott said. "She needs to rest up. I think you wore her out."

The boy seemed to consider that but seeing the dog sprawled on the ground, he accepted it.

They drove to Games and Grub in the House's old family bus. When they walked into the restaurant, they found it as crowded as ever. It had changed over the years, but was still a popular eatery for families.

After a short wait, they were taken to a table for six and one of the chairs replaced with a toddler seat for A.G. As his mother strapped him in, the boy saw people he knew. "Nana! Papa!"

Sure enough, Clair and Arthur had just entered, followed by Emily and Tommy.

"This is where you were going for dinner?" Gretchen asked her two friends with a grin when they came over to say 'hello'.

"We all decided it had been too long since we had a G & G burger," Tommy replied.

The restaurant staff were able to move over another table and rearrange the chairs so that Emily, Tommy, Clair and Arthur could join them.

"Just like old times!" House commented, only slightly sarcastically. But part of visiting G & G was sharing meals with their friends.

"Except some of the usual suspects are missing," Tommy commented.

It had seemed lately that the only times they'd all gotten together was for weddings and holidays. In fact, the last time had been at Audra's grandfather's funeral two months before.

A waitress took their orders, and they all settled down to chat and wait for their food.

"Well, I'm ready for something to eat," Alex declared. "Wanna come with?"

Ryan looked around and realized that he'd done all he could for a while. Besides, he was hungry, too. "Sure, why not?"

They walked across to the next building which housed the refectory serving their dorm and two others. It was crowded with students, but Alex spotted Pat and a dark-haired, dark-eyed kid sitting at a table with two empty seats.

"C'mon," he told Ryan and led the way.

"Alex!" Pat greeted him. "Come meet Luis, my roommate."

"Welcome to Yale." Alex held out a hand and Luis shook it. "This is my roommate, Ryan."

Ryan nodded at the two Freshman and took one of the empty chairs.

As Alex sat too, Pat continued, "Luis wants to study robotics and medicine. Like Scott and Tony did."

"Outrageous!" Alex said and Pat laughed.

"You know someone in the medical robotics field?" Ryan asked.

"My brother-in-law and his partner started their work with that," Alex replied. "They were roommates here about ten years ago."

"They've invented some fantastic devices, not just robots," Pat attested.

Alex looked at what Pat was eating. "How are the burgers? I tend to stay away from them here, 'cause they're no where near as good as the ones at G & G."

"Edible," Pat said. "I guess I'm too hungry to care."

But Ryan was still thinking about what they'd been talking about before. "You have a sister?" he asked Alex. It figured that if he had a brother-in-law, he did.

"Yes, and so does Pat."

"I've got a brother and a sister," Luis said.

"Me, too," Ryan said.

"Well, I'm going to get something to eat. How about you, Ryan?" Alex stood but didn't leave until Ryan rose, too, and they went together.

Food was served cafeteria style with a choice of hot entrees, burgers (both meat and vegetarian) and chicken breast sandwiches, deli sandwiches, and salads. Alex and Ryan got in line.

The young man in front of them turned and asked Alex, "Are you in McDougal's ten o'clock Infectious Disease class?"

Alex nodded. "Hope it's as much fun as last year's Anatomy 101," he told his classmate, Jonathan.

"Nothing could top that, but we'll see," Jon said.

Alex found Ryan staring at him. Realization was beginning to set in. Alex smiled and looked toward the front of the line, only to freeze his gaze when it fell on the profile of a girl he'd never seen before, standing a few people in front of him. She was quite beautiful with even features accentuated by bright hazel eyes (or at least the one he saw), full lips, and long dark hair that swung as she turned her head to talk to the pretty blond girl next to her.

"Alex?" Ryan tapped his shoulder to urge him to move forward and close the gap that had opened up in front of them. "Do you know them too?" he asked, indicating the two coeds.

"No, but I'm going to," Alex said with a grin.

When they'd finally picked their food and shown the cashier their meal vouchers, they saw the two girls not far away, looking around the room, probably for two seats together. Ryan walked up to them and said, "Hi, I'm Ryan Stewart. There are some seats over there." He led them to the table where they had been sitting with Pat and Luis.

Alex followed, wondering how the four of them would be able to occupy the two seats. Although Pat and his roommate were probably finished eating, he didn't think they were ready to leave yet.