Epilogue-Part One

A little over 6 years later

It was a bright, sun filled day and Harrington had just been seated at a table on the veranda of a café. She was a little early for her lunch with House, so she ordered an iced tea and settled into her chair, letting her mind wander, and thinking about the man she was waiting for. It had been over five years since she left PPTH and seen House. They exchanged occasional emails but kept them light; they didn't put in information about their personal lives that often and even then it wasn't the big stuff. There was a lot that has happened in hers that he didn't know, like the news she had to tell him today. She didn't know much of what had been happening in his personal life over these years and hoped that all was well. She also kept in contact with the others but everyone minded their own business and didn't get into each others personal lives, so she was really curious to find out how House was.

The waiter brought her drink and she thanked him before taking a sip and going back to her thoughts. She thought about how House and she ended up together. She had been so upset over the diagnosis of a patient, she thought she should give up medicine and leave PPTH and NJ. House had not only helped her through that time but also helped her to see that she was still an asset to the team and hospital. She and House had started seeing each after that fateful night. Wilson had been the first to know because he had gone to House's for their regular poker night and she had been there. Harrington laughed, remembering the look on Wilson's face when he was told that they were dating. It was truly priceless! House had even taken a picture of Wilson's expression with his cell. Cuddy was the next followed by Cameron and Foreman. Chase hadn't caught on for the longest time, probably because he was so caught up with his feelings for Cameron.

She and House had been together for about seven months before she got another job offer to staff a new hospital in Africa that was too good to pass up. Though over the months, they had gotten close and comfortable with each other and fully enjoyed each others company, both House and Harrington knew that they weren't meant to have forever with each other. She had left on good terms with him and they both thought of each other as friends. Harrington thought back to the night when she had told House about the job offer.

Harrington had just arrived at House's apartment. She walked through the doorway, took her coat off and hung it up, after which, House greeted her with a kiss on the forehead and a glass of scotch. She went to the couch and dropped her bag by it, stepped out of her heels and sat down, folding her legs up under herself before taking a long sip from her glass. It had been a long day. Besides the current case with House, she had been called in to help on two new ones with Wilson and she didn't get to leave the hospital until two hours after House had.

"How are the cancer cases going?" said House from the kitchen where he had gone to get himself a refill on his own drink.

"At first it was tough but Wilson and I have finally gotten them settled, at least for the time being. I just hope that we're doing all that we can."

"I'm sure that you are." House said coming into the room and sitting down next to her and putting an arm around her. She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. It felt comfortable being there with him, more than she ever imagined it would, considering that they had only been together several months. It seemed that they had been together for years. They were really starting to develop quite a friendship other than just that of "boyfriend/girlfriend". There were many times when all they did was sit on the couch and just leaned into each other, sometimes talking, sometimes watching TV or reading. They had a lot of good times together. They'd check out local acts at bars and clubs or would stay in at House's and he'd play piano and she'd dance. A lot of times, she'd have him over and cook for him. They did have arguments, no getting around that but they always resolved them without any kind of blame or pettiness. Harrington sighed again and started to relax against House. He rubbed her shoulder with his free hand.

"So do you still want to go to the restaurant tonight Sam, or stay in and order take out?"

"I think that staying in would be nice. I'm a bit tired and starting to get too relaxed to go anywhere."

"Alright. What are you in the mood for? Food that is, I know you're always in the mood for me!" He gave her an eyebrow wiggle. Rolling her eyes she said, "Hmmm…how about manicotti from that place around the corner? It would get here sooner."

"Sounds good to me."

He reached over and picked up the phone to make the order. After he did, he got up and went to the piano and started to play some soft jazz. Harrington stretched out on the couch and closed her eyes listening to him play and thinking about the letter she had received that day. She was going through her mail on a short break that afternoon and saw that an old colleague had written her. She had quickly scanned the letter and was surprised at what she read. She had known immediately what was to be done but then thought about House. She hoped that she'd be able to discuss it with him tonight. Harrington was just starting to drift off when she heard a knock on the door and House get up to answer it.

"Wake up sleeping beauty, food's here."

She groaned but got up to join him in the kitchen. They ate their meal and talked about anything but work. When they had finished they returned to the couch. Harrington saw her bag and thought of the letter that was in it. House was flipping through the channels seeing if there was a movie on. She looked at him and said, "Greg, I need to discuss something with you." He turned and looked at her and saw the serious look on her face.

"What is it?"

"I received a letter today from an old colleague. She has been in Africa the past year and a half opening a hospital. She has it almost completely ready but needs more doctors. She wrote to ask if I would be willing to join her team there." Harrington looked at him uncertainly. He looked ahead seemingly deep in thought, for several minutes before turning back to her. He reached a hand out and brushed her cheek and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "Samantha, I think that you know what you need to do."

She looked in his eyes and replied, "Yes, I do. But I still wanted, needed to talk with you about it. You have become important to me."

"When do you think that you will leave?"

"I'm want to talk with Cuddy tomorrow and give a months notice. I want to make sure that she has enough time to find a replacement if she decides she wants to. I also need time to get ready and to say goodbye to everyone." He saw the uncertainty in her eyes after saying this and said, "This is a great opportunity for you. You told me that this was something that you had always hoped to get a chance to do one day. That day has now come."

"What about us?" Harrington asked, looking into his eyes.

"You also already know the answer to that. It will be fine. I think that we've both been feeling it for a few weeks now. We've gotten to be more of close friends then lovers. Of course you're going to miss being able to scale mount Gregory but then again, who doesn't miss that?" he said with a grin.

"Greg!" Harrington's exclaimed, as she playfully hit his arm. "You are so incorrigible!"

They laughed and settled back with his arm around her and her leaning into him as before.

"I agree. Not that I didn't enjoy our time together. When you want to, you are a very charming man to be with. And of course, you're sexy as all h3ll!"

"Hey, you're not so bad yourself. Especially when you're doing those dance warm-ups!" she laughed and rolled her eyes again and said, "Even with comments like that, I know I will still miss you! I have loved my time at PPTH and our relationship. I'm so glad that I was able to have this time. But I do feel that it is time to move on."

"You deserve to be able to take this job. You'd be great for it."

"Thank you. So you really understand that we're not meant to be together for the long haul?"

"I hate to be all sentimental and sappy, but I have enjoyed, and I mean enjoyed, wink wink, our time together but I'll be honest, I never felt that we would make it a "forever" deal."

"I'm relieved. I wasn't sure how you would take it. I was afraid with the whole thing with Stacy all those years ago, that this would have a bad effect on you."

"Well, it did back then. But you helped with that."

"I think that this has got to be one of the strangest yet easiest breakups in history!" Harrington said with a light laugh.

House laughed and then pulled her to him again and they leaned against each other and watched the TV, both comfortable with each other and glad that they had meet and had this time together, no matter how short it had been.

An over flying bird caught her attention and Harrington watched it for a moment before going back to her thoughts. She thought back to another moment a couple days after she and House had their first night together. She had been sitting at her computer when she was alerted that she had an email. She went to check it and saw that it was from House. She clicked on it and the song Ticks started to play. She recognized it right and away and quickly turned the volume down afraid that someone would hear. At first she was un-amused then she laughed and figured to fight fire with fire. She figured that House wouldn't expect her to send a song back, especially a really dirty one. So she decided to do just that to catch him off guard. She got the song, Touch It ready and then wrote, "Two can play at this game!" and then sent it. He responded with, "Touché! So, tonight, my place or yours?" After that, whenever they wanted to see each other outside of work, they'd send a song clip to each other. Over a short period of time, this morphed into sending songs that they thought each would like. The team caught on to this and they all got into it, sending each other songs, sometimes just because, sometime to boost spirits, and sometimes just for fun. Harrington always thought it was a bit of a bonding experience with each other and it also seemed to help relieve work stress. When Harrington had made her plans to visit her friends, Alex, Rose and their kids, she had sent a music email to House. She had chosen I'd really love to see you tonight and wrote a brief note "Will be in town in two weeks. Lunch at the café, Tuesday the 5th, 1pm?" House replied with the song, Same old lang syne and "Sure, I'll bring the beer."

So here she was waiting for him.

The waiter came back and she asked for another refill and figured that House would be arriving soon and ordered an appetizer of bruschetta for them. When it arrived she took a bite savoring it and then remembering the evening when she first cooked dinner for House.

She was in her kitchen, making dinner and waiting for House to arrive. She was standing at the counter, pounding some chicken into thin cutlets for chicken marsala and listening to Mambo Italiano. She was swaying her hips to the music when she felt hands go on her hips and was turned around. She was slightly startled but recovered quickly while House started to dance with her the best he could due to his leg. He spun her around and then said, "You can pound my meat anytime!" She replied with a shocked "Greg!" and a slap on his arm. He laughed and they came to a stop as the song ended. She walked back to the counter and started to work on dinner again. He again, turned her around and bent down to give her a kiss on the lips. As he did this he reached behind her, took a pepper from the cutting board, leaned back and popped it in his mouth. Harrington laughed and said, "Dinner will be soon. I have bruschetta for you to snack on. Why don't you go get the wine ready and then sit at the table and look pretty for me. It's nice to have some eye candy!" She winked at him and he laughed.

A shadow fell across her, bringing her back to the present. She looked up and saw House standing by the table. He said in a dry monotone, "Harrington" and she responded in like with "House." Harrington then broke out in a smile, got up and hugged him. "Thank you for coming! It's so nice to see you!"

"Likewise. So, long time no see. How's life?" He said, taking a seat. The waiter came and took their orders before Harrington answered.

"Well, as you know I had that job in Africa. I was there for a year and a half doing steady work which was great! Then I took leave for a year before returning to the hospital for another two years then changed hospitals again and went to California, where I've been for almost two years now. It's been an adventure for me these years and I have been very happy."

"That's good. So what are you doing in town?"

"I'm visiting Rose, Alex and their kids. It was my turn. I've been so busy with work that I actually haven't been here for a visit since starting my current job! They've come to California instead. They enjoy it though. The kids love Disney and a few times when work wasn't extremely hectic, we were even able to go to Cancun. It's been fun for us all. But I've missed this area and really wanted to get a visit in while it was possible." House nodded and took a bite of his Reuben that had been delivered while Harrington spoke. She also took a spoon full of her white bean soup. They ate in a comfortable silence for a moment and then she asked, "So how is everything with you? How's life at PPTH?" Before House could answer a boy with brown hair and blue eyes of five or so, came rushing up to the table.

"Mom, Jonathan wants to know if you have any more money. We have some more games we want to play at the arcade."

"I do but before I give them to you, would like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Dr. Greg House. He and I used to work together at PPTH. Greg this is my son, Thaddeus."

"Hi Dr. House, it is nice to meet you." The boy said. House said "Hello" back but was staring at the at the boy with a bit of a shocked look on his face, which Thaddeus didn't notice because he had already turned back to his mother to get the money from her. She handed him thirty and told him that some of it was for food for him and Jonathan. Thaddeus said "cool" and rushed back to the arcade that was next to the cafe. Harrington watched her son hurry off and smiled to herself. She then turned to House and saw the look on his face. He looked back at her, trying to form words and finally asked, "You have a son? And?"

Harrington looked him straight in the eye and said, "He's your son Greg."