Disclaimer: All rights belong to Fox and David Shore.
Author's Note: This chapter has been modified since its original publication. Special thanks to my beta TwiSagaAddict.
***
As Wilson and Jake joined House in the family room, Wilson noticed two black consoles over by the coffee table.
"Are those PlayStation 2 consoles? Did she get you a PlayStation 2 too?
"Well, technically it belongs to boy wonder over there" House points to Jake. "I'm just giving it a test drive."
"How come he gets gifts?"
"He helped Lise packed her stuff, and after he's done slacking off here, he'll start painting the nursery room too."
"I helped you pack and unpack. Do I get anything?"
"Yeah, you get the pleasure of my company" House replied with a grin on his face.
Wilson asked "Shouldn't we be helping Jake?"
House replied, "He'll be fine. He's young and strong as an ox" and handed Wilson a beer.
House was flipping channels like a maniac until he came across The Black Adder marathon on BBC America. Wilson was a little bit tired from unpacking so he decided he'd rest for a few minutes. He ended up watching about four episodes, then his guilt & hero complex kicked in.
"I'm gonna go and help Jake."
"Go, suit yourself."
"Where's the nursery room?"
House half-hazardly pointed behind him towards the kitchen.
Wilson walked past the kitchen, through the hallway and tried to guess which of the four doors the nursery room was. The second door on the right was slightly open so he took a quick peek. He immediately spotted Jake dressed in old sweatpants, torn band t-shirt, and a baseball cap. Wilson wondered, "Did he bring a change of clothes with him? I don't remember him wearing that earlier."
Wilson said, "Hey" but got no response. He moved a little closer and realized that Jake has his iPod on. Wilson waved his hands and got Jake's attention.
"Hi, I'm sorry. How long have you been standing there?"
"No, not that long. I was going to volunteer my services, but I can see that you're almost done."
Wilson looked around and observed that Jake has covered the entire floor with drop cloths. He also meticulously placed painter's masking tape around the edges and the bottom half of the room. Wilson noticed that Jake painted the upper half of the room with at least two coats of soft yellow color but left the bottom part untouched.
"Do they know the gender of the babies yet?"
"Nope. I think yellow and white are pretty gender neutral, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it's very soothing and calming too."
"Well, I'm almost done here. I just need to clean up and take the tapes off.
"This is a pretty good size room and you went through it real quick."
Jake snorted and said, "It's a mind-numbing task. I wanted the painting done before mm…Liz comes back. The paint fumes aren't really good for her and the babies."
"That's awfully nice of you, Jake. By the way, are you leaving the bottom half unpainted?"
"Yeah, the deal was I paint the room and dd…Dr. House does the wainscoting."
"Knowing House, he'll find a way to get out of doing that too."
Jake simply shrugged his shoulder. "So, did he give you the grand tour of the house yet?"
"Are you kidding me? House has been glued to that sofa since you set up the TV."
"Well, I need to let the paint dry before I can peel the tape. Would you like me to give you a tour?"
"That will be great, thanks."
"This is the nursery. It's one of two bedrooms on the main floor. There's a large size closet for all their fabulous outfits and the bathroom for their not so fabulous you know what…" Jake doing his best Robin Leach imitation. "And across from the nursery room is the laundry/mud room, which also leads to the garage. And at the end of hall is the master bedroom." As they entered the master bedroom, Wilson noticed familiar furniture such as House's huge bed, his drawer chest, his nightstand, his chaise lounge, and his TV. Intermixed with them were a dresser, another drawer chest, a bench, and a semainier that he assumed were Liz's. On the other side of the bed was a see-thru double-sided fireplace, which Jake pointed out "heats both the bedroom and the master bath."
At the far side of the room was a 'his and her walk-in closet' with dressing area. Wilson noticed the rows of business suits and expensive high heels. He concluded that Liz must be a high-powered executive (or maybe a lawyer like Stacy). Wilson thought to himself "House couldn't afford this place on his salary alone, does he earn more than me? Well, he doesn't pay two alimonies like me maybe he can afford it. No, she probably earns the same or more than him."
Jake took Wilson up to the second floor and showed him three more bedroom and two baths. Wilson commented on how the two bedrooms were already furnished. Jake replied that one room was furnished with her old bed and the other is furnished with her old guest bedroom furniture. They never went down to the basement since it was only half-finished.
"Thanks for the tour, Jake. You probably know more about this place than House."
Jake smiled and added, "Yeah, I practically live here."
By the time they came back from their mini-tour, Wilson decided to help Jake clean up and remove the masking tapes from the wall.
"Hey, do guys want pizza, Chinese or Indian for dinner?" House yelled.
Jake looked at Wilson and asked, "Do you mind Indian?"
Wilson nodded to say Indian was fine with him.
Jake yells back at his dad, "We'll have Indian food, please."
The three spent the rest of the night eating, watching TV, playing video games, and watching more TV. They could have broken the Guinness world record for the longest time spent sitting on the couch if Wilson's wife didn't call for him to come home.
"So, wanna come over for dinner tomorrow?"
"Why? So you can get me to do the wainscotings in the nursery room?"
"Of course not! I don't trust you with a screwdriver, much less a pneumatic nail gun."
"Then, why would you want me to come over tomorrow?"
"Because, Lise will be back tomorrow and I just thought you'd want to finally meet her."
Wilson eyed House suspiciously and said "Julie has her book club on Sunday nights. I guess, I can come over for dinner."
"Good. We'll see you then."
After Wilson pulled out of the driveway, Jake stood next to his dad and asked, "Are you going ask him to help you do the wainscotings tomorrow?"
"Hell no! Wilson can't get a picture to hang straight even if his life depended on it."
"So, you are actually going to install the wainscotings yourself?"
"Of course not! One of the guys whom your mom hired to finish the basement will be here tomorrow morning to install them for me. It's quick work and easy money for him, meanwhile, I get brownie points from your mom."
"Are you really letting Wilson meet mom or have you cooked up another plan?"
"Yeah, why not? Your mom plans to inform the Board about her pregnancy on Monday. Wilson just became a member of the board last week, your mom needs all the support she can get."
"So, you're inviting him to lobby for his support."
House smirked and replied "Of course. It has absolutely nothing to do with your grandmother being here."