House's family lived far away from him, and he wasn't exactly close to anyone else, so it felt natural for Wilson to invite him to his house for the holidays.
Med school was a gloomy place at the best of times, and Christmas was the worst time to be alone. When they got to the Wilson's, Jimmy's mother made a huge fuss over House, and he was so charming and polite (apparently he was capable of it) that James was told the next year to invite him again.
So he did. It became a yearly tradition of packing up and heading to the big old house for Christmas. Then Wilson got married.
They still packed up and went to the Wilson's, but it felt different. House was treated like family, while Mrs. James Wilson was an outsider. Everyone was nice enough, but the nieces and nephews crowded around House and Wilson, and Wilson's father chatted quietly to House, and his mother talked about how handsome they both were.
It was the same every year she went, and after the divorce, everyone except Wilson was quietly relieved that things were back to normal.
The next wife heard the story from a family member who visited, and she quietly determined that House would not come this year. Wilson agreed, and House spent his Christmas drunk, watching bad horror movies.
The new wife lived a bad horror movie. Food wasn't offered to her, and when drinks were passed around, one was 'forgotten'. Anyone she spoke to either had an anecdote about House, or wondered where he could be. She cried on the way home, and while Wilson comforted her, next year, House came to Christmas, and she didn't.
The third wife simply didn't care, as she and Wilson had bigger issues. Wilson's mother quietly disapproved, but didn't have a chance to implement any removal techniques, as half way through the evening, the woman stormed out.
End of third marriage.
Finally, things were like college again. The family was happy, Wilson was happy, House was as happy as House could be (vaguely content, but paranoid about the future).
Then, one year, Wilson turned up with a look on his face that everyone present recognized. It was the patented 'I got married again…' look they'd all seen before. All eyes turned to the door, as they waited for the latest one to come through. House came in, and everyone jumped up to congratulate the happy couple. The most common comment was "What took you so long?" to which they had no real answer.
