Miles away and years past. It is still Christmas.

House takes in his new surroundings, recognizes them immediately. Then, he proceeds to hop on one foot. His right foot. "Okay. How did you do that?"

"I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past, remember? I can take you to visit any Christmas past. In mind. Or in body."

"So," House gestures to the small Christmas tree at the center of the small family room in which they are currently standing. "I can interact with my surroundings?"

"Oh, no no no no no." Kalvin shakes a finger. "That would be very against the rules. Here, you're just as intangible as me. But you can watch."

House crossed his arms. "We'll see."

As they watch, a boy of about ten sneaks into the room. Unaware of his spectators, the boy creeps toward the tree and picks up the first present he sees. Holding it to his ear, he shakes it softly.

"Oh—my—stars," Kalvin all but squeals. "Is that you?"

"Ssshhh."

"You're adorable."

House rolls his eyes.

The young boy completes his perusal of the presents, then steals quietly back to his room.

"You little scamp."

"Shut up," House whispers, then immediately wonders why he's whispering. "Christmas morning is in two hours. How long are we going to be standing here?"

"Two hours, ya say?" Kalvin snaps his fingers and the hands of the clock on the wall suddenly speed up. Two hours pass in moments. The boy is back in the living room, this time without stealth.

"It's here! It's time!" he yells. "It's time to open presents. Can I go first?"

The boy's parents are hot on his heels. "Of course you can, dear," his mother says.

The boy unwraps his first gift. He tears the paper off to reveal the box of a telescope. He holds it up with a self-satisfied smile.

"Do you like it, Greg?"

"Of course I do, Mom. Thank-you!"

"You don't seem very surprised," his father said.

The boy cast a glance in his direction. "I'm surprised, Dad."

Mom was reaching for one of her gifts, but Dad's eyes were still on the child as he intently studied the box. "You probably knew you were getting a telescope. But how did you know it was in that box?"

"I didn't," the boy said innocently. "I just grabbed the first box I saw."

The father regarded the son quietly for a moment, then said, "Son, I don't understand why you feel the need to lie to us on Christmas."

"John. Please."

"You snuck down here last night so you could give it a shake. You waited for weeks, but you just couldn't wait a few more hours."

The boy finally met his father's stare. "Okay. So I shook it. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that you have no respect for us."

"John. It's Christmas."

"That's right, it's Christmas. And you'd think our son could keep with the spirit of the holiday and just for once not try to play us for fools."

The boy shot his father a puzzled look. "Oh, please. You have about as much Christmas spirit as Mom has testosterone."

The father was on the verge of a response, but the mother spoke up. "Okay, you two. It's Christmas morning and I will not have you ruin it." Her tone softened. "John. Open your first present, dear."

The father reached under the tree, and the Ghost turned to House.

"Wow," was all he could say.

House's expression was unreadable, but he was still observing the scene.

"And I thought my dad was bad," the Ghost said.

House spoke matter-of-factly. "He wasn't a bad father. He had his ways. I had mine."

"What else did you guys clash over?"

The doctor looked at him bemusedly. "You're the Ghost of Christmas Past. Don't you know?"

"Unfortunately, that limits me to Christmases past," the Ghost said. "The rest of the year is out of my jurisdiction

"We serve a just God after all."

"Come on. We've got a lot of stops to make," Kalvin practically sang.

House rolled his eyes and followed.