AN: I don't own any of the House characters. This chapter now enters into the time frame of the series, albeit in a very AU kind of way and I am taking great liberties with the timeline. This chapter jumps right in at the episode "The Socratic Method." The contents of the episode are only fleetingly mentioned, but later chapters will heavily depend on the events of later season one episodes. Thank you to all you wonderful reviewers. You're the best!

"Thought you had all the answers

To rest your heart upon

But something happens

Don't see it coming, now
You can't stop yourself"

- Bird York

Chapter Twelve: In the Deep

The Next Day

I was able to get through my shower, put on my make up and do my hair before the nausea hit me. 'This is not going to be fun,' I thought to myself as I hugged the toilet, pulling my long hair out of my face. The bathroom door slowly opened and I looked up to see Greg, barely awake and without his cane, looking down at me.

"Here." He held out a glass of water and some Saltine crackers. "These should help with the morning sickness."

I took them from him and smiled feebly. "Thanks. Where's your cane?"

He pointed towards the kitchen with his head. "Couldn't carry all three at the same time."

I leaned back against the bathtub and ate a cracker. "I'm sorry I woke you."

He just shrugged at me, leaning up against the doorframe. "I'll nap at work."

I ate another cracker as I stood up, feeling the nausea leave for the time being. As I leaned on the counter top, checking to see if I needed to do any touch ups to my make up, Greg turned on the water to the shower.

"If you can wait twenty minutes, I'll drive with you to the hospital," Greg told me, taking off his shirt.

I tried to think of a witty remark to tease him about going to work so early, but vomiting for fifteen minutes had taken all my energy. Instead, I just said. "Okay."

While I waited for Greg to get ready, I got dressed in my gorgeous Louis Vuitton wool blazer and skirt and Chanel stiletto knee-high boots. If I had to face the world as a newly pregnant woman, I was going to look unbelievable. I made my way into the living room, stuffing various files into my briefcase. I felt the nausea coming back, but I nipped it in the bud by snacking on another cracker. I glanced at my watch, noticing that is was 7:30, when I heard Greg's shuffled gait coming down the hall.

He walked over to the couch and grabbed his cane. He had quickly dressed in jeans, a black graphic tee, a red button down dress shirt and a black blazer. I loved the way he looked in that red shirt. As he turned to face me, a muted "Wow" escaped his lips. "Morning sickness agrees with you. You look hot."

"Thanks." I smiled at him as I reached up and ran my hands through his hair. "I can look the other way when it comes to your wrinkled shirts, but my God, Greg, can you at least run a comb through your hair? Especially since you are going to be seen with all of this." I gestured to myself to punctuate my point.

He rolled his eyes at me. "God, woman, the next thing I know you are going to tell me to shave more than twice a month."

"Well now that you mention it, it would be nice if you shaved soon. You are getting too prickly," I told him while rubbing his chin.

"Fine," he said exasperatedly. "But the minute you are too fat to shave your legs, I am going to stop shaving my face." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

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"If you keep eating the crackers, it should settle your stomach. Page me if you need anything. Oh, and I'll call you later today when I have time to do a pre-natal exam," Greg lectured me as we walked into the hospital lobby.

I side stepped in front of him and placed my hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. "Greg, you are not an OB-GYN."

He looked at me incredulously. "You don't think I can handle a simple pre-natal exam? I am deeply, deeply hurt."

"Of course not. Stop being so dramatic. It's just, well, are you going to deliver this baby?"

He made a shocked face. "God, no. If I do, chances are I will never have sex with you again."

"Well then don't you think we should find a doctor who will actually deliver the baby?"

His face softened a little. "Isabella, you have a stressful job and you are at an age where pregnancy can get risky. The early symptoms of serious complications are easy to miss." He leaned down close so our noses were almost touching, piercing me with his eyes. "I don't trust anyone else to pick up on those little things." He moved his mouth closer to my ear, brushing my cheek with his stubbled one. "I don't trust anyone else to take care of you. We can get an OB when it is closer to the due date."

He stayed with his face pressed against mine for a moment, until I kissed him lightly on the cheek. He straightened up, noticing for the first time that people in the lobby were glancing in our direction. I touched him lightly on his arm. "Okay, call me when you have time." I began walking towards the elevator and noticed he wasn't following. "Aren't you coming?"

He started walking towards the hospital waiting room. "Nah, I think I will hang out down here, you know, spend time with the common folk."

"Hiding from your team?" I asked.

"The longer I hide from them, the longer I can avoid dealing with boring sick people."

"This hospital is lucky to have you," I shouted to him, sarcastically, as I stepped onto the elevator.

He shook his head, watching me as the elevator doors closed, a smirk on his face. As I rode up to the fourth floor and my office, my thoughts wandered to Greg. I couldn't believe how well he was taking the pregnancy news. I had assumed he would brood and avoid me for weeks as he tried to sort through the emotional minefield of becoming a father, but he was actually being supportive. I knew I shouldn't be surprised. Greg has never shown me anything but complete devotion in our time together, but this was huge. Will interrupted my thoughts as I walked into my office.

"Ms. Gallagher, good morning," he said, standing up.

Quickly pushing all thoughts of pregnancy and Greg out of my mind, I said, "Morning, Will. Any messages for me?" I asked as I walked into my office, putting down my briefcase and turning on my computer.

He followed me in with a notepad and pen. "Nope, not this morning. I updated your schedule for today. Is there anything else I can do?"

I sat down at my desk. "Not right now. Thanks, Will."

"No problem."

As Will left the room, I took a look at my schedule. My day was busy, but not unmanageable. I didn't have any meetings so far, but I did have paperwork I needed to finish. As I pulled the files out of my briefcase and got to work, I realized I was already exhausted. "Awesome," I muttered sarcastically to myself. After staying focused and working for almost four hours, Will beeped in on the intercom.

"Ms. Gallagher, Dr. House is on the line," Will told me.

"Thanks, Will," I said, picking up the phone. "Hey, Greg."

"Since when does your mecretary pick up your phone?" he asked me.

"Since always. I am an extremely busy woman. I can't be expected to pick up my own phone," I joked.

"Do you have time for an exam now?"

"Sure."

"I'm already down in the clinic, hiding from a mom who wants me to scare her daughter off sugar."

I laughed at him. "I'll be down in a minute." I hung up the phone and telling Will I would be back in a few, I made my way downstairs to the clinic.

After a quick glance at the patient log, I noticed that Greg had signed into exam room four, the furthest one from Lisa's office. When I walked in, I saw him lying on the exam table playing his Game Boy.

He barely looked up when I entered the room. "Hey," he greeted me without taking his eyes of his game.

"Hey," I said, leaning up against a cabinet. My stomach was still feeling uneasy, but I couldn't tell if it was the pregnancy or the fact I had yet to eat anything more substantial than crackers.

His Game Boy made a noise and he let out a frustrated grunt. As he slipped the Game Boy into one of his jacket pockets, he pulled out his pills from the other and tossed them in his mouth. "Are you ready to begin the magical journey to motherhood?" he asked in a sarcastically sweet tone.

"Not if you are going to talk like that the whole time," I teased him. Smiling, he hopped off the table and started rummaging around in the cabinets opposite me. "What have you been doing all morning?"

Turning to face me with a syringe in his hand, Greg said, "Talking to a patient."

I looked at him with surprise on my face. "You talk to a patient? Is she a stripper? Cause that is just about the only reason I can imagine you actually wanting to be in the same room as a patient," I teased.

He flashed me his sad puppy dog eyes, "Your words hurt." He began setting up the equipment he had pulled from the cabinet on a tray next to the stainless steel stool. "She's schizophrenic."

"Oh, that explains it."

"I have already had this conversation with Wilson," he told me, a little frustrated. Then, softening, he asked, "Are you feeling any better from this morning?"

I hopped up on the table, "Um, not really. I haven't thrown up since I got to work, but I haven't eaten anything either."

Greg sat down on the stool and rolled over to the table, dragging the tray with him. "You should try to eat something. After we do this, do you want to grab some lunch?"

"Depends on how long this will take." It was sweet that he was being so thoughtful. Not that Greg never showed concern or care for me, but I had never been his patient and the way he was taking care of me was nice, even though I knew he didn't treat any other patient this way.

He nodded as he pulled a pen out from his inside jacket pocket and began writing some things down on the blank chart he had pulled from one of the drawers of the tray. "Okay, first I'm going to take a history, then we will draw some more blood, then I gotta do a pelvic and finally an ultrasound. Sound good?"

I looked at him shocked. "Um, no. Greg, you are not doing a pelvic."

"Why not? I am a doctor, you know. Plus, I have seen your vagina before. What's the problem?" he asked, surprised.

"The problem is, it weirds me out. I am not going to let you swab and poke around down there." I folded my arms across my chest.

"You are being ridiculous," he stood up and grabbed a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope from one of the cabinets.

"I don't care," I told him, defiantly. Greg gently grabbed my arm and put the blood pressure cuff over my upper arm. "You have to get someone else."

He put the stethoscope in his ears and began taking my blood pressure. "Fine. Now, be quiet, I'm trying to do something here," he jokingly chastised me. I sat quietly as he listened to my heart and took my blood pressure, staring at his watch. "Sounds good," he mumbled as he wrote some numbers down in the chart.

He tossed the stethoscope and blood pressure cuff into the open cabinet and turned back to me. "Alright, now for the boring medical history stuff. Date of your last period?" he sighed deeply.

"Um, November 30, I think."

"Sounds about right," he mumbled.

"What? You keep track of my periods?" I asked a little incredulously, although I knew I shouldn't be surprised that he noticed that kind of stuff.

"Not exactly, I just know it's been about five weeks since you last enforced your monthly booty embargo." I rolled my eyes at him, but he just gave me a small smile. Making a note in the chart, he said, "So that means you are about five weeks pregnant. Any medical stuff you haven't already told me?"

I smiled at him, "Nope, you know everything."

"No childhood diseases you might have forgotten to mention? Parents both perfectly healthy until they died?"

"Nope and yes."

He nodded at me. "No abortions in your high school days?" he flashed me a devilish smile.

"No, Greg, I have never been pregnant before."

"Good. I need some more blood."

I took off my jacket, revealing my silk camisole and caught Greg staring at my breasts. "Why do you need more blood?"

He shook his head slightly and refocused on my face. "I'm sorry, what was I doing?"

I leaned forward a little, giving him a better view of my breasts. "You needed to take some blood."

He shook his head again. "Right," he said slowly. He picked up the syringe and a couple of vials. He limped over to me, putting the vials on the tray. "You know, the twins are looking especially…bouncy today."

"Really? Want to get a better look?" I smiled at him seductively.

He leaned on the exam table, placing both hands up above my head. I grabbed him by his jacket lapels and pulled him down towards me, kissing him deeply. As I moved my hands to the back of his head, he deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue into my mouth. I moaned against his mouth as he moved one hand from above my head to my thigh. He began sliding his hand underneath my skirt, his kisses getting hungrier, when the door to the exam room flew open.

"House, oh God, I'm sorry," Cameron turned away as she realized what we were doing.

I immediately broke the kiss when Cameron spoke. Greg removed his hand from under my skirt as I smoothed it back down. "What?" he growled at Cameron.

"The nurse said you were in here alone." Cameron's face had turned bright red.

"Obviously I'm not. What do you want?" Greg, asked, his breath still a little ragged.

Cameron looked at me for the first time since coming in the room, then back at Greg. "The patient's son is looking for you," she said, a little sheepishly.

"I'm busy," he snapped at her.

"Fine. He's waiting outside the clinic for you," Cameron said as she walked back out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"Now where were we?" he asked, turning back to look at me suggestively.

I giggled at him, "Sorry, Greg, the moment is over. You have to finish this exam so you can go do your job."

"Aww, I hate Cameron," he said, picking up the syringe again.

"It's not her fault," I said. Greg smiled slightly at me as he filled two vials of blood. "So, why do you need so much blood?"

He began writing my name on the blood vials, "I need to run some more tests. I need to check your hematocrit and Rh factor and I am going to run screens for rubella, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell, Tay Sach's and the hepatitis viruses."

"Oh, my God, that is a lot of scary sounding things." I was feeling nauseas again.

He put a hand on my leg. "Neither of us have any family history of any of these conditions. The chances that any of these tests will come back positive are very, very low. You have nothing to worry about."

"Okay, you promise?"

"I promise," he grabbed the ultrasound machine and pulled it towards him. "Now, let's take a look at this little bugger."

He lifted my shirt, lightly brushing my stomach, sending a slight shiver up my spine. "Oh my God, that is cold," I whined, as he squeezed the gel onto my stomach.

"Don't be a baby," he teased. He began sliding the ultrasound wand over my belly. I watched his face as he looked at the images on the screen. Suddenly, his face fell as he leaned closer to the ultrasound screen. "Oh, God."

"What? Greg, what is the matter?" I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

"I should have known, the high HCG levels, early and excessive morning sickness. How could I miss it?"

"Shit, Greg, what is it?" I couldn't read his expression.

He pushed a button on the ultrasound and froze the image. Pulling it closer to us, he pointed at a little speck. "See this? This is the fetus. And see this?" He pointed to another little speck next to the first one. "That would be another fetus."

I fell back on the table. "Twins? We are having twins?"

"We are having twins," he said, pulling a pill from his pocket.

"This changes everything," I said.

Looking shell shocked, he responded, "Does it?"

"Doesn't it? We were iffy on the one baby and now two? Greg, I don't know if I can do it."

He looked back at the screen. Then, handing me a tissue to wipe off the gel on my belly, he abruptly stood up and said, "I gotta go deal with my patient's kid."

"Greg, just because we don't talk about it, doesn't make it go away," I called after him as he walked out the door. He just kept walking, ignoring me. Frustrated, I cleaned myself up and decided to go talk to James. I had to talk to someone, someone who knew Greg, someone I could trust. I knew I would be able to talk to James without the fear of judgment.

I knocked on the office door labeled James Wilson, M.D. Department of Oncology and opened it, not waiting for a response. When I entered I saw James sitting at his desk.

James looked up at me and greeted me with a warm smile. "Hey, Isabella."

"Hi. Do you have a minute?" I asked, sitting down on his couch.

"Of course, what's up?"

I looked out his window for a minute, trying to think of what to say, when the nausea overtook me. I quickly ran over to the trashcan in the corner and threw up.

James leapt up from the chair and came over to me, lightly rubbing my back. After about fifteen minutes, I finally felt stable enough to crawl over to the couch. James moved some of the pillows so I could lie down there.

"I'm sorry, James." I said weakly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm an oncologist. I have people throwing up in my office daily," he said, handing me a bottle of water.

I closed my eyes. "Meredith tells me she hasn't really had any morning sickness, but come on, she's lying right?" I asked, silently acknowledging the fact that I knew he knew I was pregnant.

"She hasn't really had any," he said, hesitantly, taking a seat at his desk.

I shot him a death glare. "Well then I HATE her."

James chuckled a little at me. "I will pass it along."

I smiled at him. Taking a drink of water, I sat up to face him. "We just found out I'm carrying twins."

With a look of surprise on his face, he said, "Wow, congratulations."

"Well, I don't know. Greg seemed to freak out a little. Honestly, I'm freaking out a little, too." I looked down at my hands in my lap, nervously fiddling with my wedding ring. "James, do you really think Greg can handle being a father?"

James looked at me, picking his words carefully. "House," he paused, "has done things for you that I did not think he was capable of doing."

"Will he resent me for making him become a father?" I couldn't look at James. He was the only person in my life I could actually voice these kinds of concerns to. I knew he wouldn't judge me and that no matter what I said, it would, without a doubt, stay between the two of us.

"Isabella, he does those things because he loves you and he will take on fatherhood because he loves you, not because he feels like he has too. Come on, you've known him how long and you really think he makes life changing decisions just to placate someone?"

I smirked at him, knowing he was right. Greg would never agree to something this big just because I asked him too. He would have to want it too.

James continued, "These babies might have been unexpected, but they won't take down your relationship. You are whom he was always meant to be with. The way he looks at you, the way he talks to you, the way you two interact with each other, I don't know, it's unbelievable. I love Meredith very much and we have a fantastic relationship, but we will never have what you two have. You two have the kind of relationship people dream of having, but very few actually attain. You two are soul mates, in every sense of that phrase."

"You are such a girl, James," I teased him. Then, softer, I said, "Thank you."

He smiled at me, "Anytime."

Suddenly, there was a loud clattering from the balcony as Greg burst into the office through the patio that adjoined their offices. "What are you doing here? He's my best friend," he said to me.

"I thought you had some emergency you just had to get to," I said, my anger at him for abruptly leaving me in the clinic rising.

"I took care of it. Now are you done here or should I just come back later?" he asked, matching my angry tone.

"You're an ass." I turned to face James, "Thanks, James, you really are the best," I said, as I gave him a warm smile. Then turning back to Greg, I said, "Come find me when you're mature enough to have an adult conversation with me." I walked out of the office, leaving Greg to sort out his emotions about the situation without my help.

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After leaving James's office, I went back to my own to finish up my paperwork, but I couldn't concentrate. The news that I was having twins was weighing too heavily on my mind. I thought of picking up the phone and calling my sister, but Greg bursting into my office saved me from such an obviously stupid move.

"Us having twins is almost laughable in its absurdity, but that is the current situation," he said immediately after closing the door.

"I am well aware," I told him, leaning back in my chair. "Look, Greg, I am freaking out about this too and you are not helping."

"Are you freaking out in an I-don't-want-to-have-a-baby-anymore kind of way or a twins-are-extremely-overwhelming-right-now kind of way?" he asked, finally sitting down across from me.

I smiled at him, even though I wasn't quite ready to let him off the hook for what he did in the clinic. "A twins-are-extremely-overwhelming-right-now kind of way. What about you? Changing your mind about supporting me whatever we decide?"

"Not yet," he said, a slight smile forming on his lips.

"Wow, what did James say to you?" I teased him.

Pretending to be hurt, he said, "Hey, this is all me. Wilson gets no credit for my emotional maturity."

"You are not emotionally mature." I reached over the desk and grabbed his hand in mine and then said, in a more serious tone. "Greg, I think we are going to be okay."

"Good to know," he said, smiling.