A/N: First I wanted to apologize about no breaks in the story when the action moved. It wasn't until I posted it that I realized that my breaks didn't carry over. So here is chapter 2. I just wanted to warn you that I'll probably not be updating everyday. Just happened to have a couple days off, but tomorrow it's back to J.O.B. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.

Chapter Two: Father and Son

Braeden House watched the shock register on the face of the pretty young nurse who had come in with Uncle Jimmy. She stood rooted to the spot, looking between him and his father. Braeden shifted his attention to his dad, and had to bite back a smile.

"You don't need to stare at him," House sneered at her. "He's not going to sprout horns and a pitchfork and chase you down the hall."

"I'm sorry Dr. House; I'm just surprised. I didn't know you had any children ," Audrey replies. There is no mistaking this boy for anybody but Dr. House's son. He has the same face, same build, eyes, everything about him is House, except the hair. He definitely got the dark locks from someone else.

"Only got the one left. The others ran away, can't really blame them," House remarks. Braeden laughs at his father's cheekiness.

"They didn't all run. I had to pay a couple of them to leave," Braeden says with a straight face.

"Alright you two," Wilson says to the two of them. He wanted to put a stop to their antics before they really got started. They both turned those blue eyes on him, and he had to sigh. This was going to be one hell of a ride. "Braeden change, Audrey all my instructions are in his chart, and House come with me."

"I'm not leaving him," House says in a quiet voice.

"I'm not asking you to desert him, just come with me to your office."

"Dad it's ok," Braden assures him. "Plus I liked to spend a little alone time with Audrey here." House smiles at him and watches the nurse as she shakes her head. Definitely Dr. House's son.

The two friends walk out of room 313 and head off down the hall. Both are silent, lost somewhere in their own thoughts. The hospital is quiet at this late hour and House finds into be actually soothing. When they finally get to his office, he opens the door, letting Jimmy go in ahead of him.

"Cuddy is out for your blood," Jimmy says to him, as House settles in behind his desk.

"She left me several nasty messages. Some of them I'd actually like to see her do to me," House says with a smirk.

"Which one would you like me to start with?" Cuddy asks from the doorway. Both men jump, startled that they had not heard her open the door. Cuddy herself had been surprised to see Jimmy still here, but when she saw House she nearly died of shock.

"And the devil graces us with her presence," House says smiling up at her.

Cuddy ignores House for a moment, shifting her attention to Jimmy. "Why are you still here?"

"Patient who had to be admitted," he replies standing up. "And I'm going to check on him and then head off home. Do you need anything else?" Jimmy directs the question to House.

"Not at the moment, but you might want to swing pass on your way out. She might leave behind blood evidence of my murder," House says.

"Play nice," he replies walking out the door.

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"Where the hell have you been?" She asks him pointedly.

"Why the hell are you still here?" He asks her, mimicking her voice.

"Stop it House! Don't answer my questions by asking another question," she told him irritated. Something in her tone caught his attention and he looked up quickly making eye contact with her. He could see she was tired, probably even exhausted. She was rubbing her temples and he knew she was fighting a migraine.

"I had a family emergency," he replies, his tone softening. He levers himself out of his chair, grabs his cane and approaches her.

"I thought you didn't like your family," Cuddy says to him. She watches him approach warily, trying to guess what he was up to. Once he reaches her, he leans his cane against the desk and turns her around by her shoulders. She was about to protest, but his fingers began massaging the tight muscles in her neck. Lisa let out a small moan as her chin titled down to give him better access.

"I don't like my family, but that doesn't keep them from interrupting my life," he replies. "Relax I'm not going to bite, unless you ask," he whispers right next to her ear. Lisa feels his warm breath against the sensitive shell of her ear and has to bite back a sigh. His long fingers continue their relentless massage, moving on to her shoulders.

"House I'm going out of town for a few days, and I want you to be on your best behavior," she says to him. Greg is supporting most of her weight as she has leaned back into him. The feel of her pressed against him is distracting.

"House are you even listening?"

"I heard you," he grumbles. "Going out of town, me on best behavior." Something about her going out of town on this particular weekend grabs his attention, and his eyes fly open.

"Where are you going?" He knows it's the wrong question as soon as the last word leaves his mouth. Cuddy tenses and moves from against him. He immediately misses the warmth of her body pressed against his.

"Just a little ritual I do every year. Kind of like a recharging of the batteries," she says shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. Cuddy thinks about telling him more, but something about the way he is looking at her makes her bite her tongue.

House was about to say something when he is cut off by the ringing of his cell phone. "This better be good," he barks, his eyes never leaving Cuddy's face; until her hears his son's voice.

"Dad are you coming back?" Braeden asks him softly.

"Yeah, I'm on my way," House replies. Closing his phone he looks at Cuddy and sees that the hospital administrator is back in place. "Wilson needs me to come to his rescue. Someone's kid is beating him at Tetris. Says I can even up the odds."

"House, I'll be back Monday," Cuddy says walking with him to the door of his office. "Can you please leave the hospital standing?" She asks him. The small smile on her face holds him spellbound for a moment, then he blinks and it is gone.

"Wouldn't want to make any promises I couldn't keep," he tells her. He watches her walk away, her hips swaying hypnotically, and he wonders what made them mess up something that could have been so good.

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House walked into room 313 to the sight of Wilson laying across the bed and Braeden sitting on his back. The two of them had hooked up the PS2 and were involved in a heated game of FIFA Soccer 2006.

Braeden was dressed in a pair of faded flannel pants and an oversized t-shirt. But nothing could take House's attention from the iv snaking into his arm, delivering blood to his son's battered body. He felt his stomach clench and fear snake through him. He wouldn't let him die; no matter what he had to do, it was as good as done.

"Braeden time for bed," he says a little gruffly. "Go brush your teeth."

"In other words; give me and Uncle Jimmy a little time to talk about you," Braeden says hopping off Jimmy and walking towards the bathroom.

"Cheeky little brat," House says ruffling his hair.

"I come by it honestly," Braeden replies. House watches him go into the bathroom and close the door, giving him and Wilson a little bit of privacy. House turns questioning eyes to his friend.

"We are going to need to do a bone marrow biopsy," Wilson begins knowing exactly what House wants to know. "I'm asking for a Hematologist be assigned to him. While I'm at it, we'll have Fanconi anemia ruled out and pray like hell he doesn't have AML. I'll also need to have your blood drawn to see if you are a match."

"My parents will be here tomorrow, so you can test them too," House replies slumping into the only chair in the room.

"Are you going to tell his mother?" Jimmy asks knowing he is treading into very dangerous territory. He saw the flash of anger that swept across his face to be quickly replaced by one of apathy.

"I don't see why you'd want me to tell her," House says looking directly at him. "I'm still waiting to find out her side of the story."

"You may not have a choice but to tell her," Wilson says not sure why he wants to get into this with him now. "You might not be a match."

"Guess you'd be mad with me if I still didn't feel the need to tell her," House says with just a hint of sarcasm. Wilson looked at him in shock then decided to hit back just below the belt.

"No, but you'd be mad at yourself if instead you had to tell her you were burying her son because you were to selfish of an ass to ask for her help in saving him," Wilson says to him. He almost regrets his words when House looks at him as if he had just sucker punched him. Facing the possibility that his son might die was surely going to kill him.

"He stopped being her son when she..."

"Don't say it House," Wilson barks at him. "You don't have all the answers."

"And you don't always have to be in her corner," he snaps back. They both shut up as they hear the door to the bathroom open and Braeden comes out, dragging the iv pole behind him.

"You guys don't have to stop on my account," Braeden says looking at them impishly. "I could go and see what the nurses are doing, while you two continue to pound on each other."

"So not going to happen," House says pointing his cane at his son. "In bed; tomorrow is going to be a rough day. I have to play nice to grandpa."

"Are you staying?" Wilson asks him as he starts to gather his stuff to leave.

"I told you, I'm not leaving him alone," House replies forcefully.

"Dad you don't have to stay. The nurses will look after me; afterall I am the son of the legendary Dr. Gregory House. Plus sleeping in that chair is so not good for either of us."

"Well I guess we'll both have to suffer through it," House says to him with a smirk.

"I'll see what I can work out that might be a little more comfortable," Wilson says to him. He walks over to Braeden and holds out his fist and the young boy taps it lightly with his own. "Take care of the grouch."

"Sure," Braeden replies as Wilson leaves father and son alone. House looks at his son who is so much like him and wonders if he should have left well enough alone all those years ago. It couldn't be easy be his son, but Braeden never complained.

"You're only a lousy father in your own mind," Braeden says reading his thoughts. "So far in mine you're the best."

"I'm sorry that you're going to have to spend your twelfth birthday stuck here," House says helping his son get comfortable in the bed. He knew a nurse would be in soon to check the boy's vital and start the immunosuppressant drugs.

"Dad we can do Disney World next year," Braeden says to him with an expression that I so familiar. "Because I know you aren't going to let this beat us."

House realized that his son was right. No matter what it took, he would throw everything at this disease, even if it meant swallowing his pride and asking for help from the one person in the world he had never wanted to see again.

Thanks for reading and if you have a little time leave a review and let me know what you would like to see!