Disclaimer: See Prologue
One Day at a Time
Chapter 1
House opened the door to his office as quietly as possible. The lights were off and no one was visibly in the room, but he knew that upon opening the door he would see Lizzie…hopefully.
He maneuvered himself deftly thorough his unlit office and his eyes came to rest upon the face of his daughter asleep on his couch. Wilson had done as House had asked. Lizzie had a blanket tucked caringly around her shoulders and a bottle of water next to the couch. House could see dried tear tracks on her face and a wad of tissues in the trashcan. He walked over to her quietly and bent over careful not to anger his bad leg.
"Lizzie Bear, time to wake up." He stoked her forehead gently in attempts to rouse the sleeping girl. She moaned and her eyelids slowly opened, heavy with the days events.
"Come on Elizabeth, let's go home." He held out his hand to help her up but Elizabeth ignored it, her mind confused.
"Home? What do you mean by that?" House sighed and smiled slightly.
"What did you think I was going to do? Leave you somewhere. Come on kiddo, you're living with me now whether you like it or not."
Elizabeth couldn't help smiling, "Um…ok. What about all my stuff?"
"Well, being the genius I am," boasted House, "I made some arrangements to have your stuff packed, loaded and delivered to my place later tomorrow. You're lucky I was greedy and bought a two bedroom apartment, otherwise one of us would be on the couch for a bit…and it wouldn't have been me." House chuckled at his own joke.
Lizzie shook her head at her dad, rose slowly and gathered her belongings before following him to Wilson's office. "Wilson gave me a ride in, so now he gets to give us a ride home," explained House.
Lizzie stifled a yawn as she nodded her head in understanding. House picked up on it. "Come on kid, lets get you home."
Elizabeth opened her eyes to find herself in a plain white-walled room with just a simple quilt covering her and the sun blazing through temporary "redi-shades." She glanced at the clock to her left, it was already 11:00 am!
'Where am I?' she thought to herself. 'I don't remember going to a party or staying at a…'
Like a hundred tons of water the memories came flooding back at once overwhelming her head. A sob escaped her lips and before she knew it uncontrollable tears poured from her eyes.
She was gone. Her mom, her best friend and confidante would never be there anymore. Lizzie felt the gaping wound in her heart pulse with each thought. The pain was almost unbearable and she curled back up in bed burying her face in her pillow.
Silly little thoughts ran through her mind. Who would she turn to when she needed to talk about boys? Or prom? Who would help her learn her way around the kitchen and pass down family recipes that had come from generations of women before?
Lizzie tried to stop the flow of tears but it was near impossible. She was so caught up in her racing thoughts that she didn't even hear her door open. She felt a wait sit on her bed but didn't move, to exhausted and depressed to do so.
"Lizzie," it was House, of course. "Do you wanna talk?"
Elizabeth shook her head but sat up and faced House anyway. He held out his arms welcoming Elizabeth into a hug.
"I know, I know it hurts. But we'll get through this together." House smoothed back her hair and continued to rock her in his arms as he sobs slowly diminished.
"I have something that might make you feel better. Wilson was over earlier and he dropped off some of his delicious pancakes. Why don't you go wash your face and I'll heat them up?"
Lizzie nodded and her stomach growled in approval. Both House and Lizzie laughed and got off the bed.
Elizabeth could smell the sweet appetizing aroma of the pancakes as she emerged from the bathroom. She sat down at the kitchen table and a huge pile of steaming pancakes was place in front of her.
"Um…I hope you plan on helping me out with these."
"Nonsense," scoffed House. "I have my own." He placed an even bigger pile of pancakes in front of himself. "Eat up, these pancakes are magical." With that House dove in with his fork.
Lizzie did the same and House was right. The pancakes were fantastic. But still, there was no way she would be able to finish her entire mountain without getting sick. She did her best but could only make it half way through. And she still felt like her stomach was going to explode.
"Ugh, no more." she grunted as she pushed her plate back. "Wimping out on me are you?" Questioned House. "Oh well, more for me." He stabbed the rest of Lizzie's pile with his fork and placed them on top of his almost finished heap.
"So Liz, I was thinking that maybe we could makes some headway on your room. But only if you want to. You just started your winter break so if you wanted to veg out first, that would be fine. But your stuff has already been delivered and…"
Lizzie cut him off laughing at his nervous rambling. "That would be great! And it'll be easier to know where my things are once it's unpacked."
They cleared the dishes and dove into the mountain of boxes that had arrived. Somewhere in the middle of putting away clothing Lizzie came across her pictures. There was one specifically of her and her mom at the Princeton University P-rade, (her mom had studied there) decked out in orange and black. Lizzie studied the image, her mom's warm face, shiny hair and the lines she got around her eyes when she smiled.
Again, tears pooled in her eyes and made there way down her face. House watched Lizzie from her closet where he had been standing, putting away her things as she handed them to him. He made his way over to her and sat down on the bed next to her, placing an arm around her shoulder.
"That's a great picture. You two look so much alike." Ok, so maybe House wasn't exactly the best at figuring out what to say in a tough situation, but he tried.
All Lizzie could do was stroke the flat image of her mom's face, yearning so hard to be able to relieve that moment and have more time with her. She just cried harder thinking about all the missed moments.
"Lizzie, look at me." Ordered House. Lizzie did as she was told. "I know you miss your mom. You may not know it but I miss her too. But you need to know that I will always be there for you. And we may not be as close as you and your mom were, and lets face it, we may never be. I'm, clearly, not a girl. Though if you do ever need someone feminine to talk to, may I suggest Wilson. He seems to have perfected that quality."
Elizabeth laughed at this comment. She knew her dad was always giving Wilson a hard time.
"Just know that you will always have a place with me and you can talk to me about anything." Not knowing what else to say House gently placed a kiss a top Lizzie's head. Lizzie sighed and leaned into him.
"Come on. I'll put on one of my oh so cool albums and we'll 'rock out' while we continue to organize your stuff."
Both father and daughter jumped, or in House's case, wobbled off the bed and got back to work.
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Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon. Your reviews always help!
