Chapter 10 - Height Matters

It was dark outside when House finally arrived home. He was secretly glad when he saw a light on in the apartment, part of him scared that perhaps Cameron hadn't gone back to his place. Technically it was their place now, but she still had a few more months on her old lease and so had an emergency 'out' if she needed it. He entered the kitchen and tossed his keys on the island like he did every time he came home. Only he usually didn't toss them into a scattered pile of ground coffee beans. Examining the rest of the table he spotted the plastic container of Chock-Full-O-Nuts (author: that is a coffee right?) laying on it's side in a rather good imitation of a stabbing victim. There must have been half a dozen jagged holes and slashes in it's sides, no doubt courtesy of the large chopping knife he saw laying next to it. Before he could open his mouth to ask he heard Cameron's voice behind him. "I really wanted coffee."

House turned around and felt his heartbeat reach a more relaxed pace when he saw his Duckling seated on one of their living room couches, a mug full of the liquid on the aptly named table in front of her. "Clearly. Did you ask it politely first or did you go straight for the kill?" He hobbled over and took a seat next to her.

Cameron held up her useless hand for him to see. "Couldn't open it with just my left." She shrugged and let the heavy appendage drop back to her lap.

House let out a deep breath and slowly placed his arm around his girl. When she didn't hit him or move away he grew bolder and pulled her into his embrace. With her back to his chest and her head nestled into the crook of his neck he examined her injury in front of them. "How does the other guy look?" He laughed along with her, relaxing even more now that the tension had evaporated. He still felt like the worlds biggest prick, but then again that really wasn't something Cameron didn't know could happen before they got involved.

"Funny." Cameron rolled her eyes after they quieted down. A few minutes passed in silence, each of them listening contently to the sound of the others breathing. "House," She broke the silence first, "I'm not angry with you, okay? I just- I just wish you would think before you interfered in my life like that."

House had begun running his fingertips along the exposed flesh of Cameron's arm as she spoke. "It's not just your life anymore," He countered. "I'm a part of your family, at least I hope I am. Shouldn't that mean that I get to be involved in what's going on?" He knew he was being a little unfair. If Cameron had wanted to call up and have a chat with his father, he knew he would not have been too pleased.

"You can be involved House, just don't take away my ability to make decisions where my family is concerned. I have a more than valid reason for not wanting to be in the same room with my sister and it does not only have to do with what you've heard so far." She reached for her coffee but was too far away. House pushed the two of them forward so that he could grasp the mug himself and then handed it to her. She took it kind of awkwardly with her left hand and thanked him as the two settled back into the couch.

"Then explain it to me, or give me at least some hint as to what the deal is. I'm worried about you, what with the violent outburst earlier, the sudden appearance of an entire tribe of siblings, the things you told me the other night about your past." He took the coffee mug from her to take a sip of it himself. Even with one hand and contaminated beans she still made the best coffee around.

Cameron let him finish the drink and place the empty mug on the arm of the couch. She knew from the moment she'd seen Kathryn's name on the clinic paperwork that eventually it would get to this. She thought she'd have been more prepared though. "What do you want to know, Greg?" She wasn't going to tell him anything more than what he specifically wanted to know. And even then she was prepared to alter the truth if she had to.

House pursed his lips and thought for a moment. A hundred different questions were bubbling through his mind, but the one that kept coming up over and over was the one he decided on asking first. "What's the deal with the height thing? What would have been different if you were taller as kids?"

Cameron could have put money on that being the first thing he would ask. Which was fine because without him understanding this part he wouldn't really understand the rest of it. "Alright. Well, I've already said Kathryn and I are fraternal twins. The fact we look so much alike is really coincidence." House listened intently, his arms now wrapped around her shoulders lovingly. "Basically, as kids the easiest way for our parents to tell us apart was the height difference. It may not be so apparent now, but back then she was probably a good six inches taller then me. It wasn't until puberty that it started to equal out." Cameron paused, realizing she'd have to go back and explain a bit more first. "Our parent's weren't really what one would consider, well, good. Neither worked and the little money they received from the government usually went towards drugs or alcohol. We lived in this shitty apartment from as early as I can remember until the triplets were born. It was basically two rooms, a bathroom and a small den with a few kitchen things in it." Cameron had closed her eyes as she recited her history. She didn't feel as anxious as she thought she would have.

"One room was for sleeping, the other basically housed all of their junk. The den was for 'not sleeping' activities. I don't think they ever touched the kitchen. Anyway, I remember there being this large mattress on the floor of the bedroom where the four of us slept. Mom was on my right, Ryn on my left, and Dad after her." House couldn't help but imagine a dingy looking room with a young Allison asleep between her parents and sister. It wasn't a situation that often led to healthy, well adjusted kids. "We were, I don't know, five when Mom and Dad started to fight. I mean, really fight. It got so bad that Mom kicked him out of the bedroom one night." At this, Cameron shifted uncomfortably in his arms and he placed a kiss to the side of her forehead.

"So Dad cleaned out the other room, throwing away most of the things they'd collected. He'd gotten another mattress somewhere and set up another bed in the room. That night they'd had another fight. Kathryn and I were hiding in the blankets of the original bed, trying not to listen. Only the argument soon spilled into the room and the covers were tossed off of us. He... He grabbed Kathryn by the arm and yanked her off the bed. He said that he wasn't going to let Mom corrupt both of us with lies and that Kathryn was going to sleep with him from now on." Cameron had started to tremble. "I started to cry as he threw her over his shoulder, kicking and screaming. I wanted to know why he had to take Kathryn. Why he chose her and not me." She let a little snort escape through her nose. "I was actually jealous. Kathryn was screaming because she wanted to stay with Mom and there I was, crying because I wanted to go with dad. He didn't put her down though, he just glared at me and told me the first thing that must have come to his mind. He told me that she was taller, and that's why he was taking her."

House placed a few more kisses to Cameron's face, his dry lips soaking up some of the tears that had begun to fall down her cheeks. "It's okay ducky, it's okay. You were so young, you couldn't have known what was going to happen." Cameron gripped House's arm with her good hand as she started to cry even harder.

"No you don't understand Greg, I was angry. Really angry. Not at my parents, but at Kathryn. From that night on I hated her. I hated her so much. I... I... Oh god, I hated her because I thought he loved her more than me." That was all she could get out because she was now crying so hard that words weren't forming on her lips.

"Shhhh, shhhhh." House rocked her gently in his arms as she sobbed. He felt so guilty at that moment. So angry. No, enraged. So furious that this had happened to his Duck. He wanted to scream and shout this, to show her that he cared and that she didn't have to deal with this alone anymore. But he didn't want to scare her. Instead he just buried his face into her cheek and let his tears mix with hers.

Authors Note: Holy, that was a lot more emotional than I had set out for it to be. I guess this answers some of your questions. But don't worry, there's going to be a lot more to learn about her family. And there will be a lot of happy things too. Don't forget about her brothers, especially not Ryan. But that's all I'm going to say now. *zips lips*!