7
The visit with House's parents had not gone well, to say the very least. Upon arriving, his mother had been home and House had time to talk to her. She had been very supportive of House's happiness and curious about Wilson and their relationship. When House's father had walked in though, finding them holding hands, it had been an altogether different reaction. He had nearly immediately kicked them out with the use of derogatory names and foul language. The fight between he and House was monumental ending with House telling him goodbye for what he said was the final time in his life.
Wilson had gotten into the driver's seat with House fuming in the passenger seat. He'd driven, where he had no idea, and he wasn't about to ask House where to go. It was nearly a half hour into driving before he figured out what he was going to do. House needed to know that family wasn't always bad. Some families were simply supportive. At the next few red lights he sent and received a few texts without House even questioning it and started driving towards his own parents' home.
With plans in place, and feeling proud of himself for handling a difficult situation, he placed a hand on House's thigh and waited for him to work through his thoughts. It was nearly an hour later when House spoke. "I'm sorry. I didn't want that to happen."
Wilson had time to think of every possible response he could say and was glad that he was prepared for this conversation. "Are you apologizing for standing up for me to your dad?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not. That's what happened back there. He got mad at you because of me and you fought for me. No one's ever done that for me before." He saw House nod and go back to staring out the window.
Only a few minutes passed before House spoke again. "Well, we were supposed to stay at my parents' tonight so I have no plans. Is there anything you want to do? Where are we going anyway?"
"We're going to my parents' house. I've already told them we're coming. Mom's making dinner."
He rolled his eyes and couldn't help his sarcasm. "Sure, let's get all of the family hating us in the same day!"
"Not all families are the same, Greg. And your mom was great!" House grumbled, but didn't put up a fight. "It'll be a bit before we get there. Why don't you take a Vicodin and try to get in some sleep. I'll wake you when we get there."
Surprisingly, House did as he suggested. With the seat reclined, he slept the rest of the way to Wilson's parents' house, giving Wilson plenty of time to think. So many things had happened in the past few days. He was a smart enough man to realize that both of them had had plenty of time to think in the weeks they hadn't seen each other. But in that time, House had come to a much larger epiphany than he had. Upon their reuniting, House had already come to terms with his feelings, understanding his love for his best friend went deeper than just being friends. House had been willing to drop everything to win his heart.
That's how their relationship worked, though. House could take various, seemingly unrelated facts, some most people would not even notice or recognize and could put all of them together to come up with one singular thing or event that tied them together. That's why he was a diagnostician. His mind worked to figure out how the pieces fit together and most of all, why they fit together and he could create a plan to act on his findings. Wilson, however, was an oncologist. People came to him with a very definite condition and he could put steps in place to react to that condition.
This brought them to their current situation. House had put all the pieces together, figured out what it meant and had created a plan to act on his feelings. House's mind was a complex puzzle in itself. Wilson longed to understand it, solve it, but he knew he never would. But it was something that kept his interest, intrigued him. Now, with all the facts brought to him by House, Wilson was left to put steps in place to react.
So far, he felt like he was failing at that. Every time it had been his turn to take a step, it had been wrong. He was determined to change his course.
As promised, Wilson woke House when they arrived. "Hey, we're here." He gave House a minute to wake up, shaking away the grogginess. "Are you ready to meet my parents?"
"I've met your parents, at your second and third weddings, remember?"
"Right. What I meant was, are you ready for me to introduce you to my parents as my boyfriend?"
"Is that what you want?"
House was challenging him and he was ready for it. "Yes."
Their eyes were locked. "This changes your whole life. Are…you…sure?"
Wilson didn't back down. He spaced his words on purpose, just as House had. "Yes…I…am." House nodded before making a move to get out of the car.
They had barely made it to the porch when Wilson's mother opened the door with arms open. "Hi, Mom, thanks for letting us come on such short notice."
In their hug, she spoke. "Don't be silly! With your schedule we hardly ever get to see you! We'll take what we can get."
She back away from their hug and Wilson wasted no time. He took House by the hand and pulled him toward his side. "You remember Greg, right?"
His mother only hesitated for a moment after her glance at their entwined hands before taking the steps necessary to embrace House as well. "Well, of course. Hello, Greg, so nice of you to come."
Feeling slightly awkward, not being the hugging type, House hugged the woman back replying, "Nice to see you again, Sophie."
As she backed away, she continued to ramble about missing Wilson, how the family had been and what she was cooking for dinner. The atmosphere was casual so far, and it didn't go unnoticed to House that Wilson hadn't let go of his hand yet. There had been these little moments these past few days where he was nearly convinced that Wilson was ready for their relationship. But every time a moment came, another came to ruin it. Of course there were also the lingered unspoken three words that for some reason he longed to hear more than any other.
House's mind had been wandering, but was pulled back into the conversation when he heard Wilson's mother say, "That must be your father home from work. He was so excited when I called him to tell him you'd be here."
Wilson felt House's grip tense as they stood. He leaned closer before whispering, "It's gonna be okay. Trust me."
Still holding hands, they waited until Wilson's father reached the kitchen, Wilson relaxed and House quite the opposite. His father entered with a smile on his face. "James, I couldn't believe it when your mother told me you'd be here." After giving his son a hug, he stepped back and his eyes fell upon their held hands and then drifted to House. House braced himself for impact.
Wilson was the next to speak. "Dad, you remember Greg, right?"
There was a slight pause before he asked, "Are you two dating?"
House wanted to answer, but knew it wasn't his place. Instead, he remained silent while Wilson responded. "Yeah, Dad, we are."
The news had shocked him, but he was maintaining his composure. "Are you…married?"
"No."
"Engaged?"
"No."
Suddenly, his father smiled. "Well, Greg, you must be special. James has never allowed us to meet anyone he was dating until they were already engaged. The first wife we didn't even meet until the wedding. Since I'm guessing neither of you is pregnant, to what do we owe this pleasure?"
Everyone laughed, the tension in the room easing. "We're just on a little vacation, Dad and with our busy schedules I didn't know when the next time would be that we'd be able to visit."
Henry raised his eyebrows, "You shouldn't lie to your father, Son, but I'm okay if you're not ready to tell me the truth. When you are, let me know." Turning his attention to his wife he asked, "So what's for dinner, my dear?"
As they were talking, Wilson turned to House. "See, I told you everything would be okay."
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you."
Henry's voice commanded their attention once again. "So, dinner is under way. James, what will it be, kitchen or television?"
Without hesitation, Wilson answered, "Kitchen."
Henry then turned to House. "Greg?"
He glanced at Wilson first who gave him a nudge of his chin, telling him to go relax. With a slight hesitation, not wanting to leave Wilson's side, "I'm gonna go with…television."
"Great, you let us know when dinner is ready, James."
Once they were seated in the living room, one man in each chair, the television turned to ESPN, Henry started with the questions House knew were coming. "So, will you tell me the truth?"
"Depends, what do you want to know?"
"Why are you here?"
House bounced his cane on the floor between his feet. "If I know your son, and I believe I do, we're here so he can show me that all families don't suck like mine."
"And?"
House glanced at Henry with a smirk. This man was smart. He liked him. Sitting up a little straighter, and with a little more confidence, he continued. "And…the truth is, I wanted to come here anyway, but I needed it to be Jimmy's idea."
Henry was very casual, leaned back, hands folded on is lap. "So are you really dating my son? The truth, please."
"Truth is, I love your son and I want your permission to give him a ring."
"So, let me get this straight. You're gay, but old fashioned."
"I'm not gay. I love your son, not men. And I'm not old fashioned either. But your son is."
"What's this ring for? Last I heard, New Jersey doesn't recognize same-sex marriages."
"New Jersey does recognize same-sex civil unions. The bill was passed last year." He could tell Henry was not satisfied with that answer, so he continued. "Jimmy has been my best friend since the day I met him. I've screwed up a lot, and for some reason, he's still here. I hurt him pretty bad, and I nearly lost him not too long ago. That's when I knew I couldn't live without him. Now, I want to show him I'm serious."
"Let's get two things straight here. One, since you're a man I'll tell you this, I can handle a woman breaking his heart. It's happened, and he lived. I think a lot of credit for that goes to you. He always ran to you and you were always there. But know, that if you, a man, breaks my sons heart, I will hunt you down and I will hurt you. Do I make myself clear?" House nodded. "Two, I know for a fact my son wants a child. I can't control whether you two have one or not, but I want your word on one thing. If you do adopt a child and it's a boy, I want you to promise me that he will carry on our name."
House swallowed hard. How had he not known that Wilson wanted a child? How had he never mentioned it? Fear started to creep in as he pondered this new fact, wondering if it could change everything. With a little hesitation, that he knew did not go unnoticed, he nodded his head in agreement.
"As long as we have an understanding, you can give my son that ring."
