I intended this to be a new year's gift, but it took me a little longer than I expected to get it just right. I hope everyone truly enjoys it and HAPPY NEW YEARS! :)

Wilson looked over at Greg who was sitting in the car seat in the back with irritation. He smirked, "Sorry, it's the law."

Greg looked up at him, "You don't need to apologize to me. It's important to follow the rules, bad things happen when you don't."

Wilson adjusted the rear-view mirror so that he could see Greg in it. It was both refreshing and troubling to hear the sentence leave little House's lips. While it was nice to see that there was a time that he didn't think he was a God that the rules didn't apply to, it was worrisome as he contemplated what 'bad things' had happened to Greg. "You're not so big on rules as an adult."

Greg's shrugged, "Well it sounds like I'm pretty stupid about a lot of stuff as an adult."

Wilson's frown deepened as he noticed how Greg's lips moved in a disgusted fashion as he'd spoken about himself, something that until that very moment he'd never noticed was a 'normal' trait of House. He felt a cold chill run down his neck, how many times had his best friend displayed these same self loathing ticks. "Not going by the rules is what makes you an extraordinary doctor. You save people by going against the rules," he countered.

Greg's eyes met his in the mirror with deep curiosity, "Why do you always defend him... or me I guess, you know what I mean."

Wilson swallowed hard, there was something scary and heartbreaking about the idea that even at the age of six that Greg didn't seem to have any love for himself. "We're friends and he's a good man, better than most give him credit for." He said with confidence but still decide that it might be best to change topics, "So, how was your night with Chase?"

Greg's eyes faltered from the mirror and his left shoulder did a slight jerk as he stared at the back of the passengers side seat. "It was good," he said low and flat.

The gestures let Wilson know that something had went wrong, even if the boy hadn't brought it up. He'd been curious about the apology that Chase had made to the boy before they'd left too. "Greg, what was Chase talking to you about before we left? Did something happen?" he asked.

Suddenly a pang hit home at the small amount pride he'd clung too. "I... soiled the bed last night," Greg said ducking his head a good measure. "I'm sure I angered him, he was nice enough to offer for me to stay in his home and I made a mess, the kind of thing you'd expect from an infant."

"Stop being so hard on yourself, and I promise you that Chase isn't mad at you. Has he said or done anything to make you think he is?" Wilson asked with confidence. He saw the boy give the mirror a worried glance up while the boys mouth was set in a soft frown. "What did he do?" Wilson asked to see the boy shake his head some softly and murmur, "nothing." Wilson took a deep breath as he pulled over to the side of the road, stopping the car and turned his torso to the back of the car, "Greg, tell me what made you think Chase was mad at you?"

Greg swallowed as his heart beat quickly in his chest. He could hear the fast cars whipping past them and then the car seemed to vibrate a little as a large 18 wheeler passed, he took a breath to see a another one dart past them again. "It's not important, it's silly."

"You're important to me," Wilson said firmly, "and I doubt that anything you would say would be 'silly'."

"The way he looked at me, it changed," Greg said looking into Wilson's warm brown eyes, which made him feel compelled to talk more. "He didn't really smile anymore and there was ..." he searched for the words, "disappointment, yes like in my father's eyes, not as much, but it was there and disgust and," his cheeks reddened, "sympathy."

Wilson was confused, it was obvious that Chase's interaction had effected Greg a good deal, even if he said it wasn't important the shame on the boy's face said it had meant something to him, and Greg wasn't stupid, if he said Chase was looking at him oddly then it was happening. His lip twitched some as he tried to think of a reason that Chase would look at Greg with disgust. "And he started looking at you like this after finding out you had an accident in the bed?"

"Well, not right after," Greg said and gritted his teeth some as another big truck vibrated the car as it passed.

"What was he doing when he looked at you like that?" Wilson asked.

"Drying me off after my bath," Greg said simply.

Wilson now understood, it had been obvious when he saw Chase after the examination he'd preformed on Greg that the scars from the abuse had upset him. Chase wasn't disgusted at Greg, he was disgusted and disappointed in John House. "Don't worry about it too much, if he was upset with you, which I don't think he was, he'll get over quickly."

"Sure," Greg said distantly as he looked out the window of the car.

1111111111

Wilson smiled as he parked in front of brightly color building that consisted of 3 giant sized blocks, one red, one blue, and one glass one. Through the glass one you could see the huge play house filled with kids having fun.

Greg frowned as he took in the building they were parked in front of, it looked silly and his frown only deepened at the sight of the kids playing around in the gigantic jungle gym thing. "Jimmy, why are we here?" he asked softly.

"It's a surprise," Wilson said cheerfully as he got out of the car.

Greg had a sinking feeling as he unbuckled himself from the stupid car seat when a over excited Wilson pulled his door open. "Jimmy.. do I have to go in there?"

Wilson's smile fell some, "You'll like it, I promise," he said holding the car door open.

Greg doubted it but gave Jimmy a hopeful smile anyway as he hopped out of the car. The boy's muscles tightened when the front doors open and loud noises overwhelmed him. His eyes widened as watched a big creepy looking green cat person thing walk over to a table full children to which half the children erupted into tears. He swallowed as he looked at the 'cat' who's yellow eyes were constantly moving and smile looked both manic and evil.

"This is going to be a blast, don't you think so?" Wilson yelled over all the noise, but when he didn't hear a response he looked back to see Gregory was only two steps in the door looking around the place with big eyes. He smiled as he went back to him, "Give me your hand, I don't want to lose you in this place. I know you can't wait to play, but we need to have lunch first, okay?"

Greg blinked at him, wondering if he was being serious or joking. He latched onto Jimmy's hand tight and prayed that he wouldn't be forced to 'play' in this loud, dirty, crazed place that he'd been brought. "Lunch is good, we can come back here later.. or just go home after.." he said loudly as he turned back towards the exit.

"We don't have to leave, they serve food here!" Wilson said tugging Greg farther into the building.

"They do," Greg asked disheartened.

"Yep, come on," Wilson said as he started making his way to the back of the building when he suddenly felt Greg's hand slip from his. He turned to see a boy running and Greg glaring at the boy as he was on the floor. Greg put his hand down on the floor to get up but jerked it back as a foot slammed down beside it of another boy, chasing the first boy evidently.

"Get out of the floor, retard," the boy yelled as he ran past Greg.

Wilson bent down picking the small boy up, he could feel him tension up and look at his flushed face. "So, are you mad at the boys for running you over, or embarrassed because I picked you up?" he asked with a small smile.

Greg shrugged but relaxed some, "Both, I can walk," he said pleadingly.

"I know you can and when we get to our table I'll let you down, but until then do me a favor and let me carry you," Wilson said and added, "for me."

Greg nodded letting his head fall on Jimmy's chest and a hurting moved into his chest as he closed his eyes. It felt good to have Jimmy's warm arms wrapped around him and to smell the clean scent of his clothes mixed with his cologne and yet.. it hurt. Why didn't his father ever hold him like this? What would he father have done if he'd been there when he fell? He bit his lip as he felt a knot form in his throat.

Wilson's grin broadened as he made his way to the table, "Alright, here we are," his voice rang as he put the boy down. Greg turned around to see a large blue table with everyone at it and became confused. "One, two, three. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Greg, Happy birthday to you!" Wilson sang along with everyone else while Cuddy put a large chocolate cake on the table and lit seven candles.

"Get up here, Greg, we can't eat any of that cake till you blow out the candles," Foreman said warmly.

"Yeah, kid, take a seat," Thirteen said sitting beside Foreman.

"And we can't go to the arcade until we've eaten cake, which means I can't beat your but at Star Wars until then," Chase chimed in.

Cameron rolled her eye, "You beat me one time and now you think you're invincible," she said with a smile then looked to Greg, "don't worry, you'll beat him."

Taub let out an impatient sigh, "Can we get this on the road, I do have other things to do with my Saturday?"

Greg's eyes watered and his lip trembled as he look at everyone and more emotions that he'd ever felt coursed through him. He was so overwhelmed he didn't know what to say or to do.

Everyone's eyes were on the boy and Cuddy walked over to him as she began to worry. "Greg, honey, it's okay." She said trying to comfort him.

"Why would ya'll do this?" Greg choked out.

Wilson felt irritation run through him, he'd expected Greg to more respectful and polite than this. He scoffed as he looked at the boy, "Because it's your birthday and we all wanted to do something nice for you. I'm sorry if this isn't good enough but..."

Greg gasped, "No, it's not... Jimmy, I'm sorry it's nice... too nice. I don't deserve something like this. I'm not.. allowed..."

"You're allowed to be happy Greg, it's allowed," Wilson said loudly with clenched teeth. "Fuck your father," he said in a loud whisper and was surprised when he didn't really care as a parent gave him a disapproving look while pulling their child farther away from him.

Greg felt shame as hot tears ran out of his eyes and he couldn't stop them, "Don't you curse my father! HE LOVES ME... he... he.." his voice vanished between the sniffles and without any though his feet were moving fast away from Jimmy and Cuddy and the rest of them. When he stopped he was in a bathroom stall.

"Don't," Cuddy instructed to Wilson who was about to go after the boy, "I've got this. You have to learn how to control your hate for John, because right now the ONLY person you're hurting is Greg." She said with disapproval and took off after where she'd seen the boy going. "Have you seen.." Cuddy started but some parents pointed her toward the boys restroom before she could finish and she walked up to the door and waited. She wanted more than anything to walk in there and wrap the boy up in her arms and let him know it was all okay, but he need his space, he needed to sort through his thoughts and feelings, and considering how hard that was for House to do she figured it was going to take the boy a bit.

"What's... wrong with... me," Greg said to himself as the tears kept coming and he sobbed openly. This wasn't appropriate for a boy his age, it wasn't acceptable and yet that knowledge didn't stop the hot tears the flowed from him. He felt like he was crumbling from the inside out when his head jerked up as he heard a loud bang and realized he'd punched one of the metal walls of the stall. He could taste the tears that were on his lips and swallowed as he punched the wall again.. and again, and again, and... one last time falling into floor as he looked at his bloody knuckles in a sort of shock.

He was angry... which he couldn't understand, because it wasn't rational or logical. His friends had just done the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him and he was... mad at them? Why was he feeling this way, why was he so mad it hurt when they'd done something nice for him? He moved his hand and the pain from it took his mind off the question as it surged through him and he felt a comfort in the pain. Pain might hurt, but it was something he understood, it wasn't really scary.

"Calm down, Greg," he said to himself as he moved his hand some more and took in a deep breath. "It is the devil who is tempting you to keep anger and hate in your heart," Greg said softly to himself as he bowed his head and prayed. 'God please forgive me for my weakness. I treated my elder with resentment and disrespect for no reason. I let the devil take over me and I hope that you, Lord, and your son, my Savior, can forgive such vile and disgusting acts of my soul and behavior. I know I do not deserve your mercy but if you give it to me then I swear I will try my best not to disappoint you in the future. This I pray for in the name of the Lord, my Savior, and the holy ghost, amen.' Greg said in his head and opened his eyes. The anger had subsided and in it's wake were other feelings, guilt, shame, gratitute, and need to fix what he'd done.

He stood up on sturdier legs then the ones that had collapsed underneath him just a few minutes ago and stared at the small dents with blood that were on the wall. He sighed and walked out of the stall to get wet a paper towel, then used it to clean his blood from the wall. He was on his way out of the restroom when he caught a glimpse of himself and stopped. His hand still had a good amount of blood on it and his face was streaked with tear stains. He frowned and threw off his shirt so he wouldn't get it wet then walked over to the faucet and began washing his face and hands.

"Joseph, are you still in here?" A man asked who walked in to see Greg.

"Yeah, dad, I'll be out in a minute," a small boy's voice said.

The man's blood felt cold as he saw the scars and old bruises on the small emaciated boy as he washed his face with a bloody hand. "Okay," the man said absently to his son. "Hey, you," he said to which the boy glanced at him, "yeah, you, what's your name kid?"

Greg felt scared but reminded himself that those negative feeling were from the devil. "Greg, sir," he said as he began drying off his face and hands.

"What happened to you, Greg?" The man asked with worry.

Greg swallowed uncomfortably as he put on his shirt, "Nothing, I was just acting like a spoiled brat."

"Someone hurt you're hand because you... what.. threw a tantrum?" the man asked.

"No, I hit the wall of the stall and did this to myself, it's my fault, sir," Greg explained.

"And all of the stuff that shirt covers, did you do all of that to yourself too?" the man said with knowing eyes.

"He has ouchy!" A boy exclaimed as he came out of the stall looking at Greg's hand with wide eyes.

"Yes, Joseph, he does," the man said watching Greg.

Greg's felt his heart race as the three to four year old boy walked up to him. He swallowed not knowing why the boy was coming over to him, "Hi, my name is..." he stopped mid-sentence as the boy hugged him, "Greg," he finished looking down at the boy in wonder.

"Hugs make the ouchy better," the boy squeaked looking up at Greg and hugging harder.

Greg just stared at the kid with and open mouth, then the boy let go and started washing his hands.

"Greg, son, who did that to your back?" the man asked softly.

The bathroom was silent as the question lingered in the air unanswered. It was one he'd been asked too many time, that now there laid doubt in his mind about the scars and bruises. Greg's chin jutted out some, "I've gotta go, sir. It was nice meeting you," he said and swiftly made his way out the door, that was until he ran into a pair of legs and looked up to see Cuddy.

Cuddy swayed a little as Greg had ran into her but grabbed his shoulders to keep the boy upright and when he looked up at her with those big bloodshot blue eyes it took all she had not to start crying. "Baby, I'm so happy to see you," she said with a smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm bad, I'm so sorry," he mumbled as she picked him up.

She shook her head as the apology broke her hear, "Shhh... it's okay, you didn't do anything wro..' her heart stopped as she saw the blood on his hand.

"Greg," yelled a man coming out of the restroom.

Cuddy felt Greg jerk some and turn his head so he was looking behind her as she held him on her hip. The man saw him in her arms and stalked towards her with a set jaw and narrowed eyes and she held Greg tighter. "Don't you take on more step near him," she spat as she looked the early thirties man up and down. "Are you the one that hurt his hand you sicko," she asked as her left hand wrapped it's way around Greg's back.

The man was stunned, "Um... no, he said he hit it against the stall wall."

She scoffed, "Yeah, just like he falls a lot," she said as some bitterness leaked through her voice. "Listen, if I find out that you did this to him, I swear I'll..."

The man put his hands up in a surrendering motion and then Joseph appeared beside his dad. "Daddy, why does Geg still have ouchy. I gave him a hug," Joseph said looking up at his father who picked him up.

"Some ouchies are worst than others," he said to Joseph then looked to Cuddy who was looking between him and the boy. "Some ouchies are really really bad and leave scars that never go away, like on Greg's back," he said giving the pretty woman holding Greg and accusing look.

Cuddy blinked rabidly as she wondered how the man had found out about Greg's scars. She could feel Greg leaning more into her, he was searching for more protection and comfort. She ran her hand along the side of his face and leaned to the side placing a gentle kiss on his forehead which was barely visible. She swallowed looking back at the man who was still watching her intently. "He's safe now, I'm CPS," she said with confidence.

The man looked her up and down and then sighed deeply, "Thank God, I don't think I would have been able to get to bed tonight if I didn't know that he was okay."

Cuddy smiled at the man and the boy he held, "Is he yours?"

The man beamed, "Yep, Joseph, say hi to the nice lady."

"Hi nice lady!" Joseph said with a smile as he waved both his hands at her.

"Hi," she said to Joseph then looked at the man, "sorry if I came on a little strong, it's just... he's been through a lot and.."

"No need to explain, you were trying to protect him, I get that," he said with a warm smile.

"Daddy, can we go now, Mommy has pizza!" Joseph said looking back a woman who was sitting at a table with a nine or ten year old girl.

"Sure thing, son," the man said to Joseph then smiled at Cuddy, "It was a pleasure Ma'am."

Cuddy felt herself blush some, "Me too, thanks for watching out for him."

"That's what parents do, it's second nature to you once you have little ones of your own," he said and with that he turned walking away.

She licked her lips as she vaguely thought to herself that all the good ones where taken, then looked at Greg who had his head pressed so hard into her arm that she was pretty sure there would be a permanent indention there. "Greg, did you do that to your hand?" she asked keeping her tone even and felt him nod. "Why, sweetie?" she asked to see him shrug. "Doesn't it hurt?" she asked.

"Yeah, but it made me forget about the pain on the inside and that's worse," he mumbled against her.

A cold chill ran up her back at the little boy's response, "But you didn't do it on purpose did you?" she asked a little afraid of the answer. Greg stayed silent so she asked again.

His voice sounded smaller than usual, "I don't know, it just happened."

Cuddy swallowed holding him close, "I'll take you home, if you want. You don't have to go back there to the table or anything, we can just go home."

He wanted to say yes, he really did more than anything, but he knew it would be rude so he looked up at her, "Thanks, but I'm feeling better now."

She smiled at him as she looked his face over, "You are so brave, braver than you could ever really know." She swallowed as she look down at his bloody fingers seeing now that the source of the blood was from his already bruising knuckles. "Greg," she said softly meeting his eyes, "will you promise me something?"

"Yes, Lisa, anything," the boy said earnestly with bright blue eyes.

"Don't hurt yourself anymore, please, it scares me," Cuddy said in a thready whisper with sad eyes.

Greg's mouth opened to try and explain that he hadn't really been trying to, but then closed it and nodded. Lisa had been so good to him and he couldn't deny her anything, he'd think about what he did more carefully and make sure he kept true to his word. "I'm sorry I upset you and I will be more careful in the future."

"Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me," she said and gave the boy a kiss on his cheek, to which the boy blush scarlet with a shy smile as he leaned in her arm trying to cover his red face some. She laughed to herself and carried he back to the sanctioned off 'blue room' birithday table area. Wilson had been pacing furiously but stopped as he saw her with Greg. He gave her a questioning look and she gave him a sad smile glancing in the direction of the boys hand, to which Wilson looked and blinked back up at her and her sad smile turned into a contained frown as she looked at the boy. "You ready to give this a second go?" she asked to see the boy nod as she put him down.

Greg looked at everyone as he stood straight, "I'm sorry for the way I reacted. It was rude and stupid. Thank you, everyone, for coming together to do this for me, it's very nice and thoughtful, especially you Jimmy."

Wilson walked over to the boy and dropped to one knee so he was eye level with him. "I'm an idiot," he said looking into the deep blue eyes of his friend. "I shouldn't have said what I did about your father, it was stupid and wrong and I hope that you can forgive me for it," he said with a frown.

Greg swallowed and leaned toward Jimmy, "I forgive you, Jimmy, your my friend. Can you forgive me?" He whispered.

Wilson wrapped his arms around the boy in a hug, "Yes, of course I can," he said feeling so much better just holding him. "Let's eat some cake and pizza, alright."

Greg nodded and climbed up in the seat that was obviously intended for him and looked at the cake that still had candles on it, thought they had went out and had wax pooled at the bottom of them. Cuddy walked around a re lit them. Greg gave her a soft smile and looked back at the candles and swallowed. He'd never been given a wish and a faint smile brushed over his lips as he thought about Geppetto's wish in Pinocchio. 'I wish to know if my father truly loves me, if he does I pray this doubt will leave my soul in peace, and if not I will at least know,' he thought closing his eyes and blowing out the candles. When he was done everyone clapped and they ate a lunch of pizza and cake as he sat between Wilson and Cuddy, and Wilson bandaged up his hand with a first aide kit the place had.