Home for the Holidays

December 6, 2007 – 6:28pm (Thursday)

Cameron has been trying to get House to leave early all morning, but you know what a waste of energy that was. They finally left Princeton at 7:00am. House was disappointed that he couldn't ride his bike for the next month, but Cameron assured him that he would in fact live without it. And so, they packed their bags in Cameron's car and hit the road. They only stopped once, and that was for lunch and to switch drivers. House was getting tired of being the passenger. It felt weird, to him at least. So Cameron fed his huge ego and let him drive the rest of the way to her house in Chicago.

Cameron leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes; House didn't like this very much of course.

"Hey!" he said. He poked her in the arm.

Cameron's eyes shot open. "What's wrong?"

"We only have about a half hour left."

"Yes, I know that."

"You aren't leaving me alone," he said. "What am I supposed to do for the next thirty minutes if you're asleep?"

"You're supposed to drive."

House rolled his eyes. "That's only fun for so long."

Cameron chuckled. "Listen to your iPod."

House sighed as he plugged his iPod into the car. Cameron was satisfied and closed her eyes once more. They shot open again, though, when the loud sounds of The Rolling Stones came pouring through the speakers.

"Could you turn it down?"

"You told me to listen to my iPod." House didn't want to bother her; he just wanted her to stay awake.

Cameron knew what he was doing, too. "Fine, you want me to stay awake? I'm awake. You happy?"

"Very."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "So now that you have me awake, what do you want to do for the rest of the drive?"

Before House could answer her though, his cell phone started to ring. Cameron knew he was on call, so she didn't complain.

& - & - & - & - & - &

Wilson was busy in the kitchen as Cuddy played with Riley in the living room. They were expecting both of their parents over for dinner tonight. It was the second day of Chanukah, but they had troubles getting to Princeton on time yesterday. By the time they finally did get into town, though, it was too late to come over for dinner.

Cuddy glanced into the kitchen to see that he was busy with his cooking. She thought it would be harmless to give House one little call. So, she grabbed her cell phone and dialed his cell number. He picked up immediately.

House: What do you want?

Cuddy: I just thought I'd give you an update on your patient.

House: Did he die?

Cuddy (nervous): Why would you think that?

House: If anything else happened, I would assume that Foreman and Adler could handle it without me.

Cuddy (blushing): Adler's new though.

House: Foreman's not.

Cuddy: Fine, you don't want to know your patient's status?

House: I didn't say that.

Cuddy: Then why did you say all those things?!

House: To make you angry. Duh. Now how's Baby Girl Thomas?

Cuddy: It's Baby Boy Tobey.

House: Close enough.

Cuddy: Not really… I think we actually have a Baby Girl Thomas at the hospital.

House: Are you going to tell me his status or not?

Cuddy: He has a fever, low white count, and he's been losing weight… a lot of weight. Foreman and Adler tested him and the mother for Phenothiazine poisoning.

House (bored): Anything else?

Cuddy: Aren't you going to call them?

House: And why would I do that? I'm on vacation, remember?

Cuddy: You're going to let this baby die?

House: He's not dying.

Cuddy: You don't know that.

House: Fine. He's not dying right now. Can I go now?

Cuddy (sighing): Keep your cell phone on. I'll talk to you later.

House (smirking): I'm sure you will.

Cuddy: Goodbye, House.

Line Closes

Cuddy stroked the cheek of her son gently as she held him. How could House act so nonchalant about the health of his patient… the health of a baby?

& - & - & - & - & - &

House closed his cell phone and put it back in his pocket. Cameron looked at him curiously.

"What did Cuddy want?"

"Reassurance."

"What?"

"She thinks my patient's dying."

"Is he?"

"How should I know?"

Cameron's eyes widened, but then retained usual shape. "What do you mean she wants reassurance?"

"Cuddy has finally figured out that babies really can get sick." House smirked.

Cameron was confused. "What do you mean?"

House glanced at her briefly before returning his eyes to the road. "If my patient dies, then Cuddy has to deal with the fact that wittle baby RJ actually can get sick. Bad things actually do happen to good people."

"Oh, that's not true," said Cameron with a roll of the eyes. "She's just trying to cover your a-s so you don't end up killing your patient."

"She called me because he had a fever."

Cameron shrugged. "Maybe it was a high fever."

"She said he had a low white count, fever, and weight loss."

Cameron seemed interested. "He must be immunocompromised."

"Wow, sounds like a symptom of being a baby."

Cameron sighed. "Well, what about the weight loss?"

House rolled his eyes. "Allison, Cuddy needs to learn to trust Foreman and Adler. Otherwise, they're never going to learn. Us sitting here and discussing the case is not helping matters."

"Yeah, and the best way to learn how to swim is to jump into a tank of sharks."

"We all have to say goodbye to our water-wings sometime," he quipped.

Cameron rolled her eyes as House stopped the car. They were finally here after driving literally all day. House took in the house before getting out of the car. It was actually rather large, but not in a bad way. It was secluded from other parts of the neighborhood by a barrier of trees. There was no concrete driveway, but plenty of space to park in the dirt outside the house. There was no true front yard, but House could see a fence that obviously led to the back yard. The house itself was a light shade of yellow with white trim. There were too many windows to count. Once House saw Cameron finally step out of the car, he did so as well.

"You ready?" joked Cameron.

Who was he kidding? He was never ready when it came to things like this.

& - & - & - & - & - &

Cuddy scooped Riley up into her arms when she heard the doorbell ringing. Wilson was still busy putting the final touches on dinner, so she thought she should answer the door alone. She was expecting it to be either her parents or Wilson's, but it wasn't.

A panicked Adler stood on the other side of the door. "Dr. Cuddy, there's a problem."

Cuddy frowned. "Why didn't you just call me?"

Adler looked confused. "I did. You didn't answer your phone."

Cuddy reached for her pocket, but she realized her phone was no longer there. She had set it on the coffee table. She walked into the living room, and Adler followed her. Cuddy couldn't find her phone in there either. "Jimmy, what did you do with my phone?" she called out to him.

"You aren't going to call House again!" he replied.

Cuddy was frustrated now. She marched into the kitchen, leaving Adler in the living room, and held her hand out to Wilson. "Give it back."

"You need to let them handle this."

"Jimmy—."

Wilson handed her the cell phone. "You've got a problem, Lisa." He rolled his eyes.

Cuddy rolled her eyes in return. "I have to go to the hospital; I'll be right back."

Wilson almost gasped. "Our parents will be here any minute!"

"Tell them that I'll be right back!"

"What about Riley? I can't watch him while I'm cooking!"

"I'll take him with me," she replied quickly. "Now I've really got to go."

Wilson sighed. "Hurry up."

Cuddy agreed and followed Adler back outside. They drove to the hospital separately, and once they got there, she and Foreman filled her in on the details.

& - & - & - & - & - &

House and Cameron walked up to the door, and it was obvious that Cameron's mother had been waiting very anxiously to meet her daughter's new boyfriend. She didn't hide that fact either, since she opened the door before Cameron got the chance.

"Ally!" Mrs. Cameron opened her arms to pull her daughter into a welcoming hug. It was obvious they hadn't seen each other in a while. "How are you, Sweetheart?"

Cameron smiled. "I'm great, Mom." She turned to House. "Mom, this is Greg."

Mr. Cameron walked up behind his wife, and House looked over their shoulders to see a young man, probably a little older standing at the staircase, just watching the whole encounter.

Mrs. Cameron hugged House immediately. He hadn't been expecting that, so it was a rather awkward hug. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Greg," she said warmly.

Mr. Cameron didn't seem so welcoming, though. He looked at House carefully. He was unshaven, had crinkled clothes, and when was the last time the man shaved?! And then there was the cane at his side. If that wasn't enough, Mr. Cameron noticed the cane was black with flames running up the side. What a peculiar man. He offered his hand timidly, not really sure if he liked Greg or not.

House was about to shake the man's hand, realizing that he didn't like him much already (that's okay, House didn't like him either), but his phone suddenly rang. House closed his eyes and clamped his hand into a fist. "I swear to god, if that's Cuddy…" he mumbled under his breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out.

Cameron watched as her father looked at House with dislike. "I'm sure it's an emergency," she said to him. "He's on call all month."

Mrs. Cameron nodded in understanding, but Mr. Cameron didn't like how House had completely disregarded his handshake.

House stepped away from the conversation and answered his phone, Cameron reassuring her parents all the while.

House: This better be good.

Cuddy: Your patient had a seizure.

House (angry): I'm hanging up now.

Cuddy: House, wait.

House: They can handle it, Cuddy!

Cuddy: He threw up first.

House: Wow, that's fascinating. Can I please go now?

Cuddy: And then he fainted!

House: Are you done yet?

Cuddy: House, he could be dying!

House: And I could be on vacation, but somebody keeps interrupting it.

Cuddy: Sorry for trying to save a life.

House: You should be. Foreman and Adler can handle it—

Cuddy: Obviously not. They called me in.

House (satisfied): You're at the hospital, aren't you?

Cuddy: This isn't about me.

House: Wilson mentioned dinner with the parents tonight.

Cuddy: House—

House: Go home, Cuddy. Let them handle it.

Cuddy: House, wait—

Line Closes

House closed his phone and walked back to Cameron's side. "I'm sorry, it was, uh—."

Cameron looked worried. "Is everything alright?"

"It was Cuddy, what do you think?"

Cameron was about to smile, but didn't. "How is he?"

House almost responded, but remembered they were in front of her parents. "Um, I'm sorry about that. It was an emergency."

Cameron shrugged at her parents as if to say, "I told you so."

Mr. and Mrs. Cameron nodded and stepped aside to let House and Cameron inside. Cameron immediately led House to the living room so they could sit down, but House noticed as the young man who had been standing at the staircase disappeared and walked upstairs. House just assumed that he would meet him eventually, though, so he followed Cameron into the living room.

& - & - & - & - & - &

Wilson had just finished placing dinner on the table when the doorbell rang. Cuddy still wasn't home, so Wilson was becoming distressed. That woman had better hurry up and do a differential so she could get home and eat dinner. No way was he going to be stuck with two sets of parents while she wasn't home! He ran to answer the door. On the other side of the door were two people he'd never seen before, but based on the woman's dark hair and the man's crystal grey eyes, he only assumed that they were Cuddy's parents. The timing made sense too.

Wilson smiled at them. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Cuddy."

The man smiled politely at him and nodded, but the woman seemed to be looking over his shoulder for something. Wilson knew exactly what it was she was looking for, too.

Mr. Cuddy offered his hand to Wilson. "You must be James. Lisa has told us so much about you."

Wilson smiled and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you." He stepped aside to let them in and answered Mrs. Cuddy's unasked question. "Lisa had to run to the hospital, but she'll be back soon. Can I get you anything to drink?"

Mr. Cuddy asked for a scotch, but Mrs. Cuddy preferred water.

"I see your parents haven't arrived yet," noted Mrs. Cuddy lightly.

Wilson shrugged as he handed both of them their drinks. "They must be running late."

They both nodded. What an awkward silence. Mr. Cuddy finally broke it.

"So where's my grandson?" he asked cheerily.

Wilson chuckled. "Actually, Lisa took him to the hospital with her."

They both nodded again, and Wilson inhaled deeply. Cuddy had better get back soon, or he was going to have a panic attack. He smiled awkwardly at her parents as they all took a seat in the living room, awaiting Cuddy's return.