Part 10

"I think I want to go to the boarding house." Noel said as she came into Niall's room.

"Noel maybe you should think about this."

"No Teirza, it's her decision."

"Quiet Niall."

"Teirza." The young man said sternly. "You forget that, although I am ill, I am still older than you. Noel, please, sit."

Noel sat on the edge of his bed and allowed him to take her hands.

"I see fire inside you Noel, fire that needs to burn. But if you don't truly want this with all your heart, then all the training you'll get will be for nothing. You have a family that loves you. Teirza and I didn't have that blessing." Niall reached out and tilted her chin up so she was looking him in the eye. "Noel, as soon as I met you I knew you were destined for great things. But I feel those things can't be reached if you leave here. Your father, his team, they all care about you. Stay here, keep in touch with us, and maybe in a few years, you'll be ready."

"Alright."

"Now Teirza, why don't you and Noel go down to the cafeteria and get some ice cream?"

"I could use some…" Noel admitted.

"Me too."

"What's that on your eye?" Noel asked suddenly.

"I'm not sure." He said, instinctively rubbing his eye.

"Stop." Noel chided, grabbing his wrist. "I'll get someone up here to look at it. Just don't touch it… I'm gonna go wash my hands…"

"What's the verdict?" Noel asked as Chase walked into the conference room.

"Hey. I'm supposed to say the cool and sometimes ironic line." House whined.

"He has pink eye." Chase said, ignoring him.

"Quick." House said. "What do a candy store, Miss America, and a bee hive have in common?"

"Um… nothing?" Cameron said.

"Wax?" Chase ventured.

"Wax?" Noel laughed.

"Well I don't know."

"Sweet. They're all sweet." Foreman said suddenly.

"He has Sweet's syndrome, my ducklings." House stated. "Go forth and start treatment."

"Daddy Dearest?" Noel asked, as the team walked out.

"Yes O Bothersome One?"

"The Actor's Ball is tomorrow and I was wondering…"

"Yes…"

"Can I have some money?"

"For what?"

"A bunch of us are splitting a limo."

"You cost too much, kid." Noel smiled up at him as he reached over and ruffled her hair.

"So you've said."

Noel finally found who she was looking for. She put on her sweetest face and tried to pull off the innocent, I-have-no-ulterior-motives look.

"Hi-ya Chase." She said pulling up a stool.

"Hi Noel." He said. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to see one of my bestest buddies."

The Australian wonder finally looked up at her, a look of suspicion on his face.

"What do you want, Noel?"

"Chase. You're like an uncle to me, why would I-" His look didn't fade. "-Ok here's the thing. I need your help."

"I knew it. Sometimes you can be just as manipulative as your father."

"Please? I need your help." Noel pleaded.

"The last thing I need is another House on my case."

"I'm not on your case." She hugged him. "Please Chasey."

"I told you not to call me Chasey." She just gave him a puppy dog pout. "Fine. I'll help you."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" she said excitedly, turning to leave.

"Wait. What exactly did I say yes to?"

"I can't believe you talked me into this. Why couldn't you have asked Foreman or one of your friends?"

"Because my friends are busy and Foreman has a date. Take a left up here."

"But why me?"

"Oh come ON." She groaned. "It's not like you've never done this before."

"Well, yeah but you're my boss' daughter."

"Stop being a baby." Noel said. "Turn here. Second on the right."

They pulled up at their destination and Chase reluctantly unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Ready?" Noel asked.

"I guess so." Noel opened the door and started up the walkway, followed by a hesitant Chase. Noel knocked on the front door and it was soon answered by a pretty woman with a large stain down the front of her dress.

"Hey Noel. You must be Mr. Chase. Come on in."

"MOM! ENDORA NEEDS TO BE CHANGED!"

"OK!" she called exasperated.

"Phoenix. Why don't you just change and I'll get Endora."

"Thank you. My boss'll kill me if I'm late."

Noel took off upstairs and Chase stood awkwardly in the living room. Phoenix smiled at him and held out her hand.

"I'm Phoenix Jameson."

"Robert Chase."

"Thank you so much for coming to help out Robert. With these new hours at the lounge, things have been crazy around here."

"I expect it would be with three kids running around."

Phoenix smiled and ran upstairs, returning moments later in shimmering cocktail dress that wrapped tight around her top and flared out in a 60's style. This did not go unnoticed by Chase but this was normal because he's a guy.

"MOMMY! AIDEN TOOK MY WAND!"

"I DID NOT!"

A six-year-old in an oversized My Chemical Romance t-shirt and a princess crown came tearing down the stairs followed shortly by a boy of eight with a Spiderman towel pinned around his shoulders.

"Moooooooooom, I didn't take her wand."

"Yes he did!"

"Aiden, go upstairs and get your sister's wand. Kylie please put that wand away and get ready for bed." She turned back to Chase and sighed. "Noel knows everything about bedtimes and they've already been fed."

"And Endora's almost ready to go to bed." Noel stated, coming down the stairs. The little two-year-old gave a loud yawn and waved at her mother.

"Bye-Bye Mommy."

"Bye-Bye. I'll be back at 12:30. Ok see ya." Phoenix grabbed her keys off the hook and, with one last glance in the mirror, left.

"Ok, she's gone. You can pop your eyes back in your head."

"What?"

"Yeah I saw that look. Can you go take her while I go check on Aiden and Kylie?"

"Wait I-" Chase tried to protest but Noel handed her over anyways.

"We'll talk about this later."

Around two hours later, Chase and Noel sat on the couch with glasses of soda watching a rerun of NCIS.

"I bet I can read your mind."

"Oh really? Try."

"You're wondering why a woman of 27 has three kids and there's no father." Noel said taking a long sip of her soda. Chase looked mildly surprised.

"How did you-"

"Adoption. Phoenix adopted Aiden when she was 19, Kylie when she was 21, and Endora when she was 25. She's a great person with a big heart. I admire her."

"You meet the most interesting people."

"That comes from growing up in an art gallery."

"So…"

"Chase, do you like 80's music?"

"Yeah."

"Do you like Spiderman and Pirates of the Caribbean?"

"Yeah."

"Well then you just might stand a chance with her. She's young lounge singer with three kids and you're a young doctor with great hair. You'll make a great couple."

"You're a good kid, Noel." Chase said finishing off his soda. "Don't turn into your father."

"Trust me. That's the last thing the world needs." Noel laughed.

Chase was the only one awake when Phoenix came through the door.

"Hey." She said. "Noel sleeping?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, the kids fell asleep first."

"I can't thank you enough, Robert."

"It's nothing."

"With these crazy hours and them being so young…"

"It's not a problem. Here-" Chase walked over to the phone where a pad of paper and a pen lay. "-is my number. Call me if you need some help."

"That's really not necessary."

"I insist."

"And as a final thank you, I insist you let me buy you a drink."

"Sure. How about at The White Lion on Thursday?"

"Nine o' clock."

"I'll be there."

"Cool." She said smiling.