Saving Grace:
The Move
A/N: To those who said that my House and Cameron are in canon—Thank you! It means so much to me for you to say that! However, I feel I must warn you, as time goes on, House will become a little less in character—House in love and caring about another person does change up the status quo.
To those who made guesses and requests about the baby's gender—It's all been decided already as I'm working on chapter 15 out of about 20ish at the moment. Whichever way it goes, I have reasons for doing things the way I do. You'll find out the gender soon!
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Unnecessary disclaimer: None of the characters appearing in the TV show "House, M. D." belong to me.
Abstract: When Cameron's marriage with Chase falls apart, she decides that she cannot wait for another man to come around to be a mom. What happens when a wrench gets thrown in her plans? HC
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"Okay, now stack it on that box." Cameron was directing the move with Wilson, whom House had recruited, and Foreman, whom she had recruited herself. House sat on the couch watching TV and complaining about them bothering him.
"Aren't you guys done yet?" he asked in an annoyed voice.
Wilson sat a box down in front of him. "No, but it would go faster if you would help."
House pointed downwards. "Bum leg," he stated smugly, setting said bum leg and his working one up on top of the box Wilson had put down.
Wilson sighed and rolled his eyes, but didn't press the matter. He was impressed enough that House would willingly offer his home to someone. Of course, House was acting like it was a huge inconvenience. He had to keep up his reputation somehow.
After the guys had left with Cameron assuring them that she could unpack without their help, she was sitting on the couch beside House, rummaging through boxes.
"So, when did you get the two bedroom?" she asked him.
"Shh, TV," he said, pointing.
Cameron rolled her eyes, but waited until the commercial break to ask again.
He kept his eyes on the TV. "Wilson was over here so much that I ended up just moving across the hall to get the extra bedroom. I was sick of his damn whining about sleeping on the couch."
She smiled to herself at this. The man claimed that he didn't care about anyone, but she knew better than to believe that.
"Well, he'll only have to be stuck on the couch until I have the baby, then he can have his bedroom back," she said, glancing over at House with a smile.
"Yeah," House replied gruffly, his expression unreadable. He turned away from her to go to the kitchen.
Cameron frowned, confused. Wouldn't he be happy to be rid of her? This wasn't like House.
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It was her first day back in Diagnostics, and they already had a patient. She sat in on the differential, but didn't contribute too much. She was trying to get in the swing of things again, but it felt good. She had really missed the challenge.
After they had determined a course of action, House sent his team out on various tasks. Cameron sat at the table waiting for her own assignment until she remembered—it wasn't her job anymore. Sure, she might get asked when they needed extra help, but she wasn't actually required to work with the patient.
"Got anything for me?" she asked House as he retreated to his office.
"Go do some paperwork or something," he responded over his shoulder.
"You sure your team doesn't need help? I haven't forgotten how to do that stuff," she reminded him.
"You just stay here and do charting or whatever it is you do," he answered through the open doorway, rummaging through his desk.
She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "I'm pregnant, not useless."
"Same thing," he quipped, limping back in her direction. Without giving her a chance to respond, he added, "I believe this belongs to you."
He handed her a white envelope.
She looked wide-eyed at the envelope now in her hands, and then up at him. "Did you...?" she asked.
He nodded.
She sighed. "These were supposed to be for him." She hadn't spoken Chase's name since he had dropped the bombshell about moving.
"I had guessed as much," House responded. His voice got darker. "He doesn't deserve them."
With that, House turned abruptly and headed into his office, shutting the door behind him violently and closing the blinds. Taking that as her cue to not follow him, Cameron left the conference room and headed into her own brand new office.
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Cameron returned to the apartment before House that evening. Contrary to popular belief, he actually did have work to do. She felt strange being there without him. It wasn't really home yet.
When House got home, he found her sprawled across the couch, frowning and scribbling at a piece of paper, a book on baby names thrown onto the coffee table beside her.
"Let me see!" House said, grabbing the page from her hands before she could protect it.
Cameron blushed crimson as he examined the list.
"Hmm… let's start with girl names, shall we?" House said, pushing her over to allow himself to sit.
"Let's start with you giving the list back," Cameron replied, reaching for it as House leaned away, pulling it out of her reach.
"You're no fun," he said. He examined the page.
"Grace is circled," he said, waiting for an explanation.
"Grace is the first name I picked out. The others are middle name options," Cameron answered with a sigh, giving in to House's curiosity.
House read through the list. "Rowan, Ibis, Briar… What the hell kind of names are these? Are you some kind of hippie?"
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with those names!" Cameron said, offended.
"Ugh. Young people these days," House said with a shake of his head. "Really, who names their kid Thistle?"
Cameron huffed, turning away.
"Hey now," he said, putting an arm around her to pull her back. "We haven't even gotten to the boy names yet!"
Despite herself, Cameron turned back. She could never resist House's touch.
House skimmed the boy names list. "Alistair, Colin…"
"Gray, really? Don't tell me you're really considering that," he said with disgust before something caught his eye. He paused. "Gregory is on there."
Cameron blushed. "I was hoping… if you didn't mind, I'd like to give the kid your name as a middle name."
House looked surprised.
"I mean, you've done a lot for me and the baby lately, so I wanted to show my appreciation." She shifted awkwardly in her seat, trying to mask her embarrassment.
House was gruff. "If you wanted to show appreciation, you could have cooked dinner or bought me a damn hooker or something," he said, getting up abruptly and exiting the room.
Cameron's eyes stung with tears. It had really meant something to her to name the child after him. How could he be such an ass about it?
House was hiding out in the kitchen. When she had told him, it made him happy. He shouldn't be feeling anything at all! She was just a friend, and the baby (fetus, he reminded himself) was just his friend's kid. Why should he care at all if she wanted to name it Gregory?
He poured himself a glass of scotch. He was confused. He needed a drink.
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