A.N.: An attempt to write for Maybe I'm Amazed completely flamed out, so I am adding on to this one again instead. Someone please pray to the Fanfiction gods for some assistance for my other fic, please.
I do not own.
House could not believe he had actually agreed to see his parents. He wasn't ready for this. It had been years since he had seen them. They had come to see him shortly after his surgery, but they had not stayed long. If there was ever a time that House had been inclined to believe in a higher power it was when they mercifully stayed only two days. His mother had seen that his father's presence was not exactly aiding the healing process, so she took pity on him and convinced John to go home. That had been when Cuddy first met them too, though it had been under much different circumstances. She had been his boss, and he had been with Stacy at the time. Blythe had liked Stacy very much, but really Blythe would have liked anyone who dared to give her baby boy a fighting chance at a happy life with someone. John, however, had spent the entire time trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with her since she was with Greg. He figured that his father would probably do the same thing to Cuddy. Actually it would probably be worse with Cuddy since they had Gwen.
After a bit of dicussion both he and Cuddy had decided it would be best for the two of them to meet them for lunch first, then if his parents agreed they could go out for supper and bring Gwen. House had a fair bit of explaining to do as did Cuddy, and neither of them wanted Gwen to hear any of it. When it came to their daughter it was best not to assume that she either wouldn't remember or understand. Gwen was a bright girl, and there was really no telling how much she would actually retain.
Pressure on his hand brought House out of his thoughts. He looked down to where his hand was joined with Cuddy's on the middle console of her car then raised his gaze to meet her eyes. She looked amazing. Instead of one of her regular power suits she had opted to wear a red, cotton off the shoulder dress that hugged her in all the right ways with a pair of black pumps. Her hair was pulled back into some sort of twist against the back of her neck. House had never really understood why women spent so much time on their hair, but he could at least admit that she looked nice.
Lisa gestured with her free hand towards the restaurant, "House, we have been here for ten minutes. They will probably start to wonder if you bailed on them if we keep them waiting any longer." She could tell he was nervous, which was why she let him stay lost in his thoughts for so long, but they couldn't put this off forever. They needed to get in there.
House took a deep breath and shook his head, "Can't we just bail? We can take a family photo, slap it on a Christmas card this winter, and they can find out that way. At least John won't be able to act like the huge dick he is from three states away."
Lisa rolled her eyes, "He can still call and act like a dick."
"I won't answer."
Lisa took her hand back from his and opened the door, "Enough, House. We are doing this." She was not going to fight with him any longer. To her, she felt like they owed it to Gwen to at least try to get her other set of grandparents involved in her life. At least this way if she had Blythe it would make up for Arlene's less than stellar role as a grandmother. She could have a good grandparent on either side of he family.
House sighed and extracted himself from the car. When he got around to her side he silently took hold of her hand again. It was almost as if he was trying to draw the strength to survive this meeting through her.
It only took a few minutes for the hostess to bring them to their table. John and Blythe House were waiting, glancing through their menus. When she saw them Blythe immediately got up and hugged her son. John, however, stayed at the table and eyed Cuddy having noted the fact that they were holding hands when they arrived.
After properly greeting her son, Blythe turned her attention on Cuddy, "You are Lisa, right? I believe we met the last time we were in New Jersey."
Lisa nodded, "We did. It is a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. House."
John spoke up, curiosity having won him over, "Aren't you his boss?"
House rolled his eyes knowing exactly why his father asked that, "She also happens to be my girlfriend. Convenient, right?" He moved to sit in the chair that would be facing opposite his father. Normally he would have sat across from his mother, but he didn't want Cuddy to have to sit across from him. He logically knew it wouldn't matter much, but something in him still felt better putting as much space between them as he possibly could.
Blythe's face automatically lit up, "Girlfriend? Oh how wonderful! Please sit down, dear." She gestured for Cuddy to sit down, "Tell me how long have you two been together?"
Lisa sat down and picked up the menu, "It will be two months in a few weeks."
John chuckled and looked over at House, "That is a surprisingly long time for a woman to put up with you."
Before House could say anything Lisa spoke up, "Actually he puts up with me more than I put up with him. I have a bad habit of being a bit of a wet blanket. I get so caught up in work, but Ho.. Greg makes me remember I need to have a good time too." She moved her hand up to his arm and rubbed it affectionately. She knew that he knew she would normally never talk that way, and that it was pretty much bullshit but she didn't care. John House was already pissing her off, and it had been partially true. House was nothing if not fun. Under the table she felt House's hand on her thigh giving her an appreciative squeeze. At least he seemed to get the picture that she was here for him.
Blythe was eating it all up, thrilled to see a woman with her son that seemed to appreciate him so much, "Well that is wonderful. All work and no play is not a life worth living."
John snorted, "Please. He should be taking lessons from her. The boy never did have a good work ethic. I tried to teach him one, but he was so obstinate."
House rolled his eyes, "Was that what that was? Trying to teach me work ethic? I must have missed the memo because I didn't get the impression that that was what you were doing at all."
Blythe raised her hand to John's shoulder to keep him from responding, "Can you two not do this now?" She pleaded, "Greg, tell me what you have been up to."
They got a brief reprieve to place their orders when the waiter walked up then House looked at Cuddy receiving a nod to prompt him to go ahead and tell them, "Well.. We just celebrated our daughter's birthday last week."
John choked on his water, "You're what?"
Blythe's mouth hung open in shock, "Greg, what are you talking about?"
Cuddy spoke up for House, "We have a daughter. She is three. Her name is Gwen." She took a deep breath then soldiered on, "We spent one night together a bit after Stacy left him, then I found out I was pregnant after he left for California. I was afraid he wasn't in the right place to have Gwen in his life, so for eleven months of her life she didn't know about him. When he came looking for a job at my hospital, he found out about Gwen. He has been a constant in her life ever since, and now that we are both in good places we decided to be together." She tried her best to explain their situation in the simplest terms, but she braced herself for the backlash.
Blythe looked right at House, "Why didn't you tell us?"
House looked down at the table, "I wasn't ready for either of you to know." It was technically true, but he was holding back a lot. He didn't want to embarrass Cuddy or Blythe by starting a verbal war with his father in a crowded restaurant.
John shook his head, "It took you two years to decide you were ready for us to know? That is pathetic Greg. We have the right to know we have a granddaughter!"
"Well you know now." House practically spit the words at him.
Blythe cleared her throat and placed her hand back up on John's shoulder to keep him from saying anything more again, "Can we meet her?"
Cuddy smiled at the older lady and nodded, "Tonight if you want. We could go somewhere family friendly, and you can meet her."
Blythe returned the smile, "We would like that very much."
The rest of lunch was tense, but the two women tried their best to keep at least some semblance of conversation going.
House drove with Gwen to the restaurant to meet his folks for dinner. Lisa was running behind in a board meeting, but she promised to meet them their as soon as she could.
Gwen was still trying to understand why exactly she had to put on one of her nice dresses. Usually she was not allowed to go out when her parents went for grown up dinners, "Daddy who's gunna be at this place?" She asked from her seat in the back of the car.
"My parents." He answered flatly trying to focus on getting them to the restaurant without getting into a wreck.
"Are they my granparents like mommy's parents are?" She asked curiously.
House sighed, "Yeah I guess."
Gwen was not used to such short replies from her father and scrunched up her face in confusion, "Are you mad at me, daddy?"
House parked the car then closed his eyes. He mentally kicked himself for letting her think that he was mad at her. He turned around and looked her in the eyes, "No, squirt. I'm not mad. I am just nervous. I don't see my parents very often."
Gwen gave him a big smile, "Don't be nervous, daddy! They love you like you love me cause they you parents." She seemed so sure of this fact simply because she believed this was how a parent should be. A part of him was happy that he had been a part of making her feel that way because she knew he loved her, but the other part was pissed that he had left her so unprepared for disappointment. She shouldn't have to learn at such a young age that sometimes people were just bad. He was positive that she would soon find that out in the form of John House.
House smiled back at her and helped her out of her seat. When they got inside John and Blythe were waiting for them by the door.
John gestured to the hostess, "She said it might be a bit." He looked down at Gwen, "This her?"
Gwen smiled up at both her parents, Blythe had moved to John's side to greet the girl, "Hi, I'm Gwen. I'm tree years old." She recited these things to her grandparents proudly and held up three fingers to be sure they got the picture about her age.
Blythe squealed with delight, "She is absolutely adorable!" She bent down and held her arms out, "Can I hug you, sweetheart?"
Gwen nodded excitedly and moved into her grandma's hugs, "I like hugs! What's your name?"
Blythe hugged her tightly and tried to fight back tears of happiness over her new granddaughter, "You can call me Oma." She decided to take on the name Greg used for his grandmother who had passed many years before.
"Ok." Gwen drew back and looked up at her grandfather expecting him to tell her what she could call him.
John cleared his throat and fidgeted a little, "You can call me grandpa." He was not about to let that kid call him Opa or pops or something equally ludicrous.
Lisa burst through the doors still dressed in the same outfit from earlier, "I am so sorry I am late." She kissed House briefly then focused on his parents, "My board meeting lasted much longer than I thought it would."
"Don't worry dear. We understand. We don't even have a table yet." Blythe assured her.
Gwen, who was happily holding on to her Oma's hand grinned up at her mother, "Look momma I have a Oma!" She proclaimed proudly as if she had found Blythe like she would a lost puppy.
Lisa leaned down and placed a kiss on her daughter's cheek, "I see that! I am very happy for you, baby girl."
The hostess came to show them to their seats, but Lisa veered off to go to the bathroom first, "I will meet you all there."
House sat next to his father at the table leaving a spot open for Cuddy next to him. Blythe sat next to John with Gwen on her other side who would be on the other side of Lisa once she made it to the table.
The conversation focused on Blythe chatting with Gwen. She was completely entranced by the little girl. She smiled fondly and looked at Greg, "She is the spitting image of Lisa with your eyes." She had always loved her son's eyes. Just like everything else about him, they were special.
John laughed, "That's a good thing. At least she is an attractive child."
House glared at John, but forced himself not to say anything more. Instead he focused on Lisa who was making her way back to the table followed curiously by a brunette man who looked at least five years her junior.
She grinned awkwardly at the man and placed a hand on House's shoulder when she made it to the table, "See. I am meeting family." She was uncomfortable. The man had complimented her shoes then proceeded to blabber mindlessly all the way back to the table with her no matter how many times she insisted she was busy and needed to meet her family.
House set a hateful gaze on the man and put his arm around Cuddy's waist, "That was her way of saying quit stalking her. Beat it creep."
The man quickly made his apologies and stumbled off.
Lisa shook her head and took her seat, "That all started with him complimenting my shoes."
"He didn't like your shoes. He liked your legs." House insisted.
"Either way it was weird."
"Your shoes really are pretty, mommy." Gwen told her with a smile.
Lisa leaned over and kissed the top of her head, "Thank you, sweetie."
"Things like that never happened with your mother. It was probably a combination of the fact that she dressed modestly, and she had a ring on her finger letting people know she was spoken for." That was a double whammy. A blow against just Cuddy then a blow against them as a couple. What a way to start the evening.
"I think Lisa looks lovely." Blythe insisted trying to keep John from offending Lisa too much.
"If by lovely you mean, looks like a call girl then I agree."
House glowered at his dad, his mood already soured by the appearance of the unwanted visitor, "Stop calling the mother of my child a prostitute."
Lisa ran her hand over House's back to soothe him, "It's alright House. I am used to narrow minded opinions of men who think that woman who are proud of the way they look and unafraid of their sexuality are obviously hookers." She met John's gaze evenly letting him know she was by no means afraid of him, "As for not being married, that is our decision. We have just started to be together. Marriage can wait."
"That is probably just your way of saying you would never marry him." He shrugged off Blythe's warning hand. He was tired of playing nice with these two.
"I would be proud to marry your son when and if the time came, but should we never decide to marry it would be our choice. Trying to force us into a decision is by no means helpful or effective. No one's opinion but ours will matter either way." Lisa explained confidently.
"Would you really?" John shook his head and smirked smugly, "Is that why you waited so long to let him know about his daughter? Because you were proud of him? Or how about how long you waited before you dated him? You were proud of him then too?"
Lisa rolled her eyes, "It amazes me how you can sit there and act like you know exactly what we have been thinking and what we have been through. House and I have come so far together and separately. How we got here is a testament to how much we have grown. He is different. I am different. We are together now because we are ready to be." She now saw exactly why House didn't want to be around his father. The man was infuriating. She was glad that House seemed to be letting her take the reigns on the verbal sparing so far. She was doing a better job of holding her temper.
Gwen was oblivious to the tension she was surrounded by. She happily bounced in her seat humming along to the music playing overhead. She was just happy to be out with her parents. She didn't much care about what they were discussing.
John caught her erratic movements out of the corner of his eye and it was getting on his last nerve, "Stop squirming!" He snapped harshly making up for the fact that her parents obviously did not discipline her enough to know that a child was to sit still and quiet unless addressed.
Gwen's eyes widened with shock then filled with tears. She was not used to his harsh tone or being fussed at unless she had done something blatently wrong. All she had been doing was bouncing and humming. Was that so wrong?
That did it. House stood up and towered over his father, "You have managed to insult Cuddy, our relationship, and made our daughter cry within the span of five minutes. We are definitely done for the night. I think Cuddy made herself damn clear that we do not need or want you intruding on our lives. If you want to see your granddaughter you come and abide by our rules. We do not yell at her for simply being a child and moving around a bit. We are done here. Should you decide to see us during the rest of your trip you can call me, but you better remember to keep your god damn mouth shut." During this time Lisa had scooped up her crying daughter ready to make their exit with House. Blythe's eyes were tearing up as well, but she didn't try to stop them. She knew that John had pushed his luck. She would later call and see Gwen on her own multiple times before she returned home with John, but this would be the last time John would see them for now.