WARNING: This is going to get angsty. but I hope that it'll clear some things up for you.

CHAPTER 3

Nociception

"NOW, really. Where do you suppose Greg took Lisa?"

James Wilson used to be one of the best actors of his batch in high school. Such a day and opportunity as this allowed him to make use of that talent that no one else appreciated aside from his long lost brother. He mastered a slight dramatic frown on his forehead and allowed a wrinkle under his eyes to form. He hoped to communicate to the receiving end his falsified innocence.

Mrs. House stared at him blankly. It appeared like it didn't work this time. Damn.

"Don't take me for a fool, James. I know my son." Mrs. House said as they both watch Mr. and Mrs. Cuddy comfort the poor groom sitting beside the unaware Rachel on a wooden bench placed intentionally for the guests inside the golf course restaurant.

Wilson smiled as he brought his hands to brush his hair back.

"Where do you think he took her?" The woman asked again as she watched the guests leave one by one. Well, they couldn't hold out forever. They had been waiting for almost 4 hours now. It was about time that they must've figured that Cuddy stood the poor groom up; that maybe she was definitely not going to show up.

"I don't know," For once in their conversation, he finally answered her honestly.

"I INVITED your mom to my wedding," Lisa Cuddy finally broke the silence without having to look at House. She did not take her gaze from the view of the drifting water on the glass wall separating her from the raining world outside the park's atrium.

Immediately after they entered, just before the rain had been vicious as it was right now, Gregory House searched for the power source and turned the yellow lights on as soon as he found it. He then sat at the elevated stage at the center. He rested his chin to his hands that held his wooden cane and watched Lisa.

For him, she was still breath-taking although she looked slightly tired of their long walk. The upper part of her wedding dress hugs tightly around her making her curves a feasting ground for his eyes. Without her knowledge, House was thinking just how stupid he had been for letting this beautiful woman wear such an elegant dress for another man.

She wrapped her arms on her body, and rubbed her hands to her forearm to produce heat. He could see the short fine hair at the back of her head rise in response to the cold; while her smooth bare shoulders seduce him unknowingly.

House reached for a switch under the wooden floor of the stage to turn on the heater.

If only Lisa hadn't been so angry and flustered, she would have seen that that atrium that's been keeping them both safe from the rain looked like one of those places where Yoga classes can be held. The single storey glass-walled atrium appeared like a classic gazebo in a usual garden, only now, it looked more modern with its oak floor with river pebbles bordering the corners and yellow-dimmed lightings on elegantly disigned ceilings with floral carvings.

House wouldn't deny that he had been through a lot just to find this place. He wanted to find a place where he could control the temperature and lightlings for his precious gift to Lisa. he wouldn't deny that he had sabotaged other people's plans on using the atrium for Yoga purposes because he didn't want them to bother the little bugs as they grow up and mature until this day. The only thing that he regret was that it had to get to this day (her wedding day) until its about time for them to come out; that he wasn't able to tell her everything that he wanted to tell her until today.

"How about you tell me something about Yoga and some of its poses?" House tried to get Cuddy to focus on where he brought her rather than the rain outside.

No answer.

"Do they really make sex more pleasurable and satisfying?" he tried again.

Still, no answer.

"How about---?"

"How about you shut up or tell me why you had to do this? Why today?" She cut him out.

House was silent for a while as he battle with Lisa's hatred. Then he broke the hurtful silence, "You invited my Mom to your wedding, you said? Why?"

"POOR HARRY," Mrs. House said after Wilson offered her a glass of Margarita. "Was that his name? The groom's name?"

"Yes, it is." Wilson answered casually as he took a sip from his glass of Martini.

"Look at him..." She said again as they watch him walk away.

"It's a pitiful sight," it's all that Wilson could think of saying.

Mrs. House on the other hand wanted to tell Wilson something else. "You know, if ever my dear son Greg had something to do with Lisa not showing up in this wedding, I would understand. More so, I would be proud of him."

Wilson suddenly turned his head to the woman beside him and asked the one question that instantly sprang out of his head, "Why?"

"Because finally, he found the courage to fight for what he wants and deserves."

Wilson stared at the woman before her with admiration. If only House hadn't taken his mom as the stereotypical mom and decided that he would hate her, he would have seen just how much she loved and understood him.

Mrs. House sighed, "Would it be so wrong for me to be happy for my son while another man is in sorrow?"

James Wilson answered her with a flat smile. Actually, the same question had been playing through his mind since he called that Judge Swinston in the very beginning.

"WHY DID YOU invite my mom to your wedding?" House said, his face stoic and devoid of emotion.

Cuddy turned away and withdrew her gaze.

"Wasn't that the question you're expecting me to ask you when you told me that you invited my Mom?!" House accused and challenged her with his tone.

"Yes!" Cuddy answered him directly. "Because I promised her that I will have a life after that painful affair with you!"

It was House's turn to withdrew his eyes from her steady, fixed look.

angcatalonan: Well, that's all that I could think of for now. Better to have published this than nothing, right? Or, I shouldn't have... BTW, thank glicine for naming Harry for me. Don't worry. As soon as I have the words for my ideas, I'll upload them ASAP. Thanks guys for inspiring me to continue writing this. (Don't worry, the romance and humor is still part of this story... although there's also angst...) Please tell me what you think.