Cameron felt a little bit like a child headed to the principal's office as she knocked on Thirteen's door. She quickly straightened her necklace and fumbled awkwardly with her watch. All Thirteen had said on the phone was to clear her afternoon and to come over.
She had sounded borderline pissed, but Cameron could think of at least a dozen other times in the hospital when she had taken an even harsher tone with House. She kept going back to him day after day so Cameron figured she probably wasn't being invited over to be dumped…or pre-dumped, or whatever it was when someone puts an end to something that's barely begun.
Thirteen swung open the door and greeted Cameron with a smirk. Cameron relaxed noticeably upon seeing how calm Thirteen was. She knew Thirteen wouldn't be amused by her nervousness if she were truly furious out.
"You and Maya are okay?" Cameron asked. Thirteen stepped aside so Cameron could come in.
"Fine," Maya answered for Thirteen. Cameron turned to see the preteen glaring at her from Thirteen's couch. Cameron got a rush of pleasure from the thought that just a few hours ago she and Thirteen had been hooking up right where the sullen eleven-year-old was sitting.
"Good," Cameron said, following Thirteen into the living room. Cameron took a seat on the chair opposite Maya. She was somewhere between pissed and enamored with the child. While she was a little bit overdramatic and inappropriate with a side of brat, she was also a near carbon copy of Thirteen.
Maya had long dark hair, currently pulled into a low ponytail, and piercing blue green eyes, currently glaring holes into her forehead. Maya was dressed in a light purple tank top, a grey sweater, and a pair of jeans. Her lips were pursed into a scowl she'd seen on Thirteen more than a few times. Cameron had to wonder how often people confused Maya for Thirteen's daughter. Assuming she didn't have Huntington's, that little girl was genetically blessed.
"I guess I should apologize to both of you." Cameron said, taking a seat across from the couch. She knew what she had done was beyond wrong. She knew better than to hit kids, though it was a slap, barely hard enough to leave a red mark. Though she hadn't stuck around to examine the girls face. Either way, no matter how she had tried to rationalize it to herself after doing it, it was always way over the line. She had spent the past few days constantly texting apologies to Thirteen who hadn't seemed to accept or reject them.
"You don't need to apologize to me." Thirteen said, giving her a warm look. "We should talk, but we're fine. It's you two who need to get to know each other better."
Maya and Cameron shared a look of confusion. Thirteen was up to something.
"Well, I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have slapped you, Maya." Cameron said. "It was inappropriate. I just don't spend much time around kids and it's definitely a learning experience. I promise to never lay a hand on you again. I don't know what came over me."
"I'm not a kid. But, I suppose I was a bit rude. You just really caught me off guard." Maya said, not looking her in the eye.
"We caught you off guard?" Cameron joked.
Maya shrugged, muttered "gross" under her breath, and looked over at her aunt.
"Maya has a school dance next weekend and she's been asked by this super dreamy boy named Casey." Thirteen said, giving Maya a playful smile.
"We're going to go shopping?" Maya's face brightened. Cameron mentally stored the idea of bribing for any future time where she had to deal with kids.
"We are not going to go shopping." Thirteen smirked, "You are."
Cameron raised an eyebrow at Thirteen. It seemed like Maya liked to push the envelope and she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to and not to let her buy. Also, she didn't want to do it.
"You're going to drop me off so you and your girlfriend can have some alone time?" Maya tried. Cameron couldn't help but to grin. Not only did she love that idea, but she wondered if this meant that Thirteen had called Cameron her girlfriend to Maya earlier.
"Wrong again." Thirteen said, "Cameron is going to take you to buy a dress while Ben and I see that new Marvel movie he's been dying to see. If you finish early enough you guys can go to the nail place and Ben and I will meet you there before we all go to dinner. If it takes a while you guys can meet us at the restaurant." Thirteen explained, glancing down the hallway presumably looking for the mentioned nine-year-old.
Cameron gulped; she wasn't sure how she felt about this. The child awkwardly intimidated her. She looked just like a baby Thirteen, she had a penchant for getting in trouble and making scenes, and she seemed to say exactly what was on her mind at all times.
A quick look over at Maya showed that she wasn't horrified with the situation though. She must really want that dress, Cameron figured.
Thirteen yelled for Ben as she dug through her bag for her keys and wallet. She handed Maya a credit card as Ben ran in.
"No limit?" Maya asked, staring at the card like it was gold.
Thirteen plucked the card from her hands and instead gave it to Cameron. "You know what the limit is." She said to Maya. Maya sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. "I could have sent you to help Cameron change bed pans at the hospital for bonding time." Thirteen reminded the girl. Cameron laughed, as a department head she hadn't touched a bedpan in years. She was, however, always happy to show a volunteer how to.
"Nice shirt, buddy." Cameron said, noticing Ben in a marvel shirt. It seemed appropriate for how he was about to spend his evening.
"Thanks. I have it in red too." He grinned. Maya gave Thirteen look.
"You buy him whatever he wants." She whined.
"When you start wanting nine dollar shirts, I will be more than happy to get them in multiple colors for you." Thirteen said, giving her a stern look. "Now lets go. I hate to miss previews." She joked, tossing Ben a sweatshirt that had been lying haphazardly on the couch next to her.
"Aunt Remy says that all I have to do is say the word and she'll dump you." The eleven-year-old spoke, seemingly absent mindedly as she stared wide-eyed at a dress in the window display.
"She said we were dating?" Cameron reacted. Maya turned around and raised an eyebrow at her.
"That's how you respond." She frowned. Cameron chuckled. She knew that dating someone with kids meant she had that many more people to have to win over. She knew she wasn't going to be priority number one, but Remy was beyond worth it. And, knowing that Thirteen really thought that they had something was enough good news to cheer her up and hopefully let her stop second guessing herself.
"Well, she's right. You and Ben are the most important part of her life right now, and if we cant get along, you come first." Cameron said. It sucked, but that's how kids worked.
"She said I was the most important part of her life?" Maya asked, her frown turning into confusion.
"It's obvious, Maya. I know you are having a hard time moving in with her, but she loves you more than anything." Cameron said, feeling the urge to put a hand on the girls shoulder.
"I can't believe she made you take me shopping." Maya changed the subject.
"Well, I'm pretty good at it." Cameron smirked, following Maya inside the store.
"We'll see." Maya said, skeptically. She began examining dresses from various racks. "Aunt Remy isn't very good at it. I think she's afraid of color." Maya held up a strapless fuchsia dress. Cameron tried hard to stifle the giggle she wanted to let out. She pulled out her phone to text Remy.
Is it child cruelty to let preteens dress themselves?
"Are you texting her? She never said I couldn't wear strapless." Maya said, trying to peak over at Cameron's phone. Cameron quickly pocketed the device.
"Not about that. Don't worry." Cameron said, examining the dress. It was so awful she kind of found it adorable. Cameron felt her phone buzz and quickly checked it.
It's going to be hot pink, isn't it? She's obsessed.
She texted back yep. Then went back to following Maya around the shop. She figured she should see what Maya picked out before she started recommending things. Everything seemed to be a slightly different mini dress in all sorts of shades of pink.
"You should try some other colors too." Cameron hinted, when Maya was going for her fifth pink dress.
"I may have to. They don't have this one in my size." She bit her lip. "Think the size up will work?" Maya held up the dress. Cameron shook her head.
"How about this blue? It will bring out your eyes." Cameron said, grabbing the size down in a sky blue color.
"I suppose I could try this on." Maya said, after staring at the dress for a few moments. "Aunt Remy would like this. She likes this color."
"She's got good taste." Cameron nodded.
"Not awful for an old-ish person." Maya shrugged. Cameron grinned. She had forgotten how funny the things kids said, and meant in a serious manner, could be.
"Did you prefer your grandmother's taste?" Cameron asked sarcastically. Then she realized it was probably a bit farther than she could joke with this girl.
"She was awful to shop with." Maya crinkled her nose in a very Thirteen-ish manner. "The last year or two, dad stopped taking me back to school shopping. The first time I went with Aunt Remy and it was fine, but then the next time I went with my grandma because Aunt Remy was too busy at work. She needs everything to be a size too big and all skirts to hit the floor. It was awful. When I lived with her, she actually used to throw away the clothes of mine she didn't like."
"My dad once found a miniskirt of mine in the laundry and threw it away. He thought it was too short." Cameron shared. Spending time with Maya was getting interesting. Maya was very open in ways that Remy wasn't.
"My dad was like that too." Maya nodded, making her way towards the fitting rooms.
Cameron took a seat outside with a few waiting parents and watched as Maya came out in dress after dress. She noticed that pink seemed to be the favored color among all the girls who kept parading in and out of the dressing rooms. There were a few rhinestone numbers as well. So, Cameron figured Maya's preteen tastes could be worse.
"So, what do you think?" Maya asked, exiting her dressing room in a pink strapless dress. It was clingy, shiny, and had a ton of tool sticking out of the bottom, which was maybe two inches past her but.
"I don't think I can ethically let you wear that." Cameron said, sitting up in the chair. Maya twirled.
"What?" Maya shrugged, "So it's a bit short."
"Go try something else." Cameron shook her head. Maya pouted and approached Cameron's chair. Cameron noticed the price tag, "I'm not letting Remy spend over a hundred dollars on ten inches worth of fabric."
"Fine, but just so you know," Maya put her hands on her hips. "The more dresses you reject the longer this will take."
"It's your manicure time we're cutting into." Cameron shrugged. Maya sucked in a fast breath and went right back into the fitting room.
Maya came out in the blue dress next. Cameron smiled; it was a million times nicer than the previous dresses had been. It had straps and enough fabric to hit Maya's leg just a few inches above the knee. The color also did wonders for the girl's eyes.
"I think this is the one." Cameron smiled.
"I think so too." Maya spun around examining the dress from all angles. "I could do neon pink nails and pink eye shadow too."
"We've got to find somewhere to put the pink." Cameron responded, half-sarcastically. Maya grinned and Cameron realized she had just agreed to buy her make up. Whatever, she figured. Maya looked both elated and adorable, so she wasn't completely failing.
And maybe while Maya would be at her little dance they could finally have some alone time.