3
House impatiently followed the other doctors on the round, easily outshining many of them with his knowledge, time for his first break and he knew that he would have to call his parents for help. He checked daycare where Maddy was sleeping, then found the payphone.
"Hello, mom?"
"Greg, how are you? Did she come home?"
"She didn't. I've had to take Maddy to work with me today, daycare have her for today."
"John," she could hear his mother talk to his father, "she didn't come home. We need to help him out."
"Oh for God's sake Blythe, he's old enough to have a baby, he's old enough to fend for himself. She's only four days old, how can he have messed things up already."
"He needs us, our grand daughter needs us." Blythe pleaded with her husband to help out their son. "We'll just pack some things and come straight down. Will you be at the hospital?"
"Yeah, mom. Thank you so much."
"No problem, Greg." And she hung up the phone.
Later that afternoon
"Excuse me, we're looking for a Dr Gregory House." John House addressed the receptionist at the front desk.
"Just one moment," the receptionist answered, "I'll put out a call. Would Dr Gregory House, Dr Gregory House please contact the front desk."
A few minutes later, a flustered House arrived in reception, "You called for me?" The receptionist merely pointed in the direction of the waiting area where his parents sat. He instinctively hugged his mother, and shook his father's outstretched hand. "Thanks for coming down." His parents could see the stress on his face.
"No problem, now where is our grand daughter?"
"I'll take you to daycare." He led them to the elevator and headed for the third floor, and walked into daycare. "Mrs Phillips?"
"Ah Dr House, just can't keep away can you?" She smiled, "She's absolutely fine, just had her diaper changed."
"Thank you, this is my mom, Blythe House and my dad John House." He introduced his parents, who shook Mrs Phillips hand in turn.
"I believe you helped our son out this morning, thank you." John surprised House, he certainly seemed to have mellowed out on the drive down.
"She's been no trouble."
House walked over to her stroller, where she lay awake. "Hey, angel." He picked her up and held her close to him. "Meet your grandma." He turned around and handed her to his mother.
"Greg, she's beautiful." He could see tears coming to his mother's eyes.
"She really is something." His father commented, all previous remarks forgotten. "Hi Maddy." He waved at her.
"Would you guys mind taking her back to the apartment?" House asked, fishing his spare house keys out of his pocket and handing them to his father. "I'll just get the car seat from the car for you." His father followed him out, while his mother settled Maddy into her stroller, and thanking Mrs Phillips again on her way out.
"I'm due off at 5pm, should be home for 530pm." House was explaining to his father as he tried to fit the seat into his car. "She's just had a diaper change, probably want a feed soon."
"Greg, I think I know how to look after a baby, you survived didn't you?"
'Not without some scars,' House thought to himself, but dismissed the negative thoughts, when he glanced at the way his father was smiling at his daughter.
"Ok, well, help yourself to anything you need, and I'll be home soon." House felt a tinge of sadness as he watched them drive away.
They drove to House's apartment, not sure what to expect, as they hadn't visited since House and Jane had moved in. "Cosy." Blythe remarked as she placed Maddy into her crib, awkwardly positioned in the small lounge.
"Tiny. They expected to raise a baby here? There's barely enough room for those two on their own." Her husband remarked, looking in the bedroom, opening random closets. "Uh-oh, looks like Greg had a visitor." All of Jane's clothes seemed to be missing.
"There's a note on the table."
"What does it say?" John had rejoined his wife in the lounge.
"Dear Greg, I hope you understand why I've done what I've done. I know Maddy will be better off alone with you, than with both of us. Tell her I love her. Please don't hate me, this was just too big for me. Love Jane." Blythe read aloud, "She's left them, for good." She sank down onto the sofa, watching her grand daughter sleep. "That poor baby."
"We need to get groceries." John remarked as he continued his inspection of the apartment, "God knows what he was planning on eating."
"John, you know as well as I do, newborns come before shopping lists. He's 23, just qualified as a doctor and his girlfriend has just abandoned him and their baby." She joined her husband in the small kitchen. "Why don't we go and get those groceries, one less thing for Greg to worry about." John nodded in agreement, and they headed to the store.
House finished up the rest of his shift and eagerly drove home. He opened the door to the apartment and went inside. The apartment was quiet, his parents were nowhere to be seen, more importantly his daughter was missing too. He assumed that his parents must have been out with her. He went to his bedroom, intent on changing from his working clothes. He opened the closet door, most of Jane's clothes appeared to be gone. Panic rose in him as he thought about the empty crib in his lounge, what if she had taken more than just her clothes? He walked back into the lounge, feeling sick, and noticed the note. He read over it, twice, to make sure he hadn't misunderstood. The message was clear, she wasn't coming back, from now on it was just him and Maddy. He didn't know what to feel. Sadness that his relationship was over? Anger that she had abandoned them? He didn't have time to think about that as his parents returned.
"Hey, oh here let me take those." He took the groceries from his father's arms. "Thanks." He put the food away, then came back into the lounge. "How's Maddy?" He asked Blythe as she picked her out from her carrier.
"She's fine." She smiled at her grand daughter, then handed her to him. "Missed her daddy." His daughter opened her eyes to stare at him. "Why don't you make her up a bottle? I'll start dinner."
He followed Blythe through to the kitchen. "You saw the note?" He asked her, as he measured out the formula. "She's not coming back is she?" She shook her head. "How could she?"
"Some people just aren't cut out to be parents." Blythe commented, trying to hide her anger at Jane. "I don't understand how anyone could leave their child."
"How am I going to cope? I work 50 hours a week. Daycare won't take her until she's 3 months old."
"You'll be fine. Dad and I are here. We can help out. Maybe we can rent an apartment until she's old enough for daycare."
"And what does Dad think of that?"
"I'll talk to him. We'll check into a hotel for the next few nights. Hardly enough room here for all 3, sorry 4 of us." She started to chop some potatoes. "Why don't you take her out to your father? He needs to brush up on his baby skills."
House walked back into the lounge with Maddy and sat beside his father on the sofa. "Thank you for coming, dad, it means a lot to both of us." He smiled down at the baby, "You want Grandpa to feed you?" He looked hopefully at his father who wordlessly took Maddy from him, and started to feed her.
"She looks a lot like you when you were just born." His father remarked, "So, what do you do now?"
"Daycare can take her when she's 3 months old." House explained.
"And your mother has offered to look after her until then?" His father asked, not looking up from his grand daughter.
"She mentioned something." House started, "I'm not sure what's going to happen. Maybe if I explain the situation, daycare would make an exception."
"You could transfer back home. Your mother could look after the baby until she's old enough for daycare."
"I could try for a transfer. I work shifts so daycare would only be ok for through the daytime. I don't want to have to ask mom to raise my daughter for me, I'm her father damn it." He sighed, "Mom shouldn't have to clean up my mess."
"I sincerely hope that you didn't just call my grand daughter a mess." Blythe had walked out of the kitchen. "I would be looking after her, not raising her. That's still your job. You're doing great so far."
"Think about it." John suggested, burping Maddy. "Dinner?"
"20 minutes." Blythe answered.
After dinner
"We should go and see if we can get booked into a hotel for the rest of the week." John suggested.
"The Clansman is supposed to be nice." House offered.
"We'll try there first. What time do you need us to take Maddy at tomorrow?"
"I'm on shift at 9, so maybe 815?"
"We'll see you then." Blythe smiled at him, putting her coat on, and hugging her son.
"Yeah, thanks guys." And his parents left, to find a hotel.
