14

House headed back to his apartment and proceeded to call Wilson, and invite him over for chinese take-out and beers.

"Wilson, come in." House greeted his friend.

"You spoke to Maddy?" Wilson asked as he settled himself on House's couch. House nodded, taking a gulp of his beer. "You guys are ok?"

"Yep."

"And she's where?" Wilson asked, curious. He had wanted to congratulate her on med school.

"Still at Stacy's. Celebrating." House explained, his eyes not moving from his TV show.

"She didn't come home?"

"She's staying with Stacy tonight and coming home tomorrow."

"So," Wilson began, "You didn't know that she'd applied to med school?" House shook his head. "Did you even know how her finals went?"

"She aced them." House replied, with a knowing grin, although he only knew about the finals because he had overheard her talking to Stacy on the phone about them. She had merely told him that she passed. House sighed, "How did we end up like this?"

"Huh?" Wilson asked, turning to face his friend.

"You're, what, 31, onto your second divorce, and my daughter neglects to tell me that she's applied for med school. She told you, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she needed some advice." Wilson explained, "I helped her with her application."

"I should've been the one doing that. You were too busy cheating on your wife."

Wilson shifted uneasily, reminded of his actions. "Thanks for that."

"I appreciate your helping her." House sighed, "You know I tried so hard not to turn out like my father, looks like I did. She didn't talk to me about college."

"You're not your father, House." Wilson assured him, "It was just a rough patch."

"I often wonder what would've happened if I'd let Maddy's mother have custody when she asked."

"She wanted custody, but I thought-" Wilson was stopped by House shaking his head.

"She did leave when Maddy was 3 days old, but showed up on her first birthday, wanting to come to some sort of arrangement. I sent her away."

"Oh." Wilson thought for a moment. "She didn't pursue it?"

"No."

"Well, she didn't sound that serious about it. You probably did the right thing, for Maddy by the sound of it." House looked over at him, frowning slightly. "You did a good job, House. This was a blip, to be expected. You guys weren't going to be best buddies all day, everyday. Look at her, she's well adjusted, she's off to med school..." Wilson stopped, as he noticed House smiled sadly.

"She's leaving."

"To go and be like you. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Wilson noted, smiling.

"I don't want her to be like me. Miserable." House answered, "Look at me, seriously" Wilson sighed.

"You're a good father, you save lives no one else could. Isn't that enough?" Wilson asked him. House just shrugged, his confidence as a father severely shaken by the days revelation.