Disclaimer: Don't Own, Except OCs, okay?

The two weeks before Christmas passed rather quickly. House had already given Ann her gift, and they were planning for her Valentine's Day present, so he was off the hook to get anything else. He had purchased something for her, anyway, although he supposed it was as much a gift for him as it was for her.

They had decided that he would cook both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve dinners for them, while she was going to make Christmas day dinner and New Year's brunch.

They planned to be alone for the holidays, because Chase and Danielle would be away, and neither Bob and Deidre or Tom and Sharon wanted to travel when there was a chance of bad weather.

House knew he wouldn't be spending Christmas with Wilson because of Sam. He felt a little badly about that, until he realized that the last few Christmases with Wilson had been memorable, but mostly for the wrong reasons. Wilson had been convalescing the previous Christmas because he'd been an idiot and given an alleged friend of his a piece of his liver.

So, House had spent the time at PPTH, sitting at Wilson's bedside. He hadn't minded doing it at the time, but the way Wilson had treated him after Sam entered the picture had made him regret the worsening leg pain he'd felt sleeping in the chair by Wilson's bed, not to mention how bored he was sitting there while Wilson slept.

The Christmas before that had been spent trying not to think about Cuddy and what was going to happen now that she had Rachel. House really should have given up on things with her then. It would have saved a tremendous amount of trouble and pain. He and Wilson had tried to spend some time together, but it was strained because what had happened with Amber was still lingering between them.

House hadn't totally hated the year before that. Being with The Donkey Show Hooker had been sort of fun, he guessed, other than the emptiness he felt after she left.

The year before was House falling apart from withdrawal and Tritter's harassment, and Wilson abandoning him in a pool of vomit. Certainly not House's proudest moment, and, he was beginning to see, hardly Wilson's, either.

So, it had been at least five or six Christmases since they had really had any fun with each other. It had taken House long enough to realize that Christmas with Wilson wasn't really worth it. He had begun to think that was true of other things involving Wilson, too. But he set those thoughts aside to try to enjoy his time with Ann.

Christmas was on a Saturday, and they had both finished work the Wednesday prior. They were off until Monday, the third. Ann hoped House wouldn't be bored with her, and House hoped Ann wouldn't get pissed off at him. They both also wanted to enjoy themselves.

They had finished their gift shopping. Other than quick trips to the supermarket to get items here and there, they were staying at home and having a lot of sex – three times a day. So, things were actually going well until Christmas Eve.

House was preparing dinner and Ann was talking to him in the kitchen when Ann's cell phone rang.

Without looking at the caller ID, she picked up the phone. "Hello," Ann said. "Oh, hi . . . Fine, how are you?"

Ann put the phone down on the counter after she had put it on speaker and picked up a magazine. She glanced through it while she was talking.

House didn't know who it was, so he listened to Ann's voice for clues. It was weird because she sounded completely flat.

The voice on the phone declared, "I'm doing well."

Ann replied, "Well, that's good."

"Joe and Kathy are well, too," the female voice informed them.

"That's nice, "Ann intoned blandly.

"What are you doing with yourself these days?"

"Just working, mostly."

"Kathy's sister is here with her husband."

"Uh-huh."

"Are you doing anything special for the holidays?"

"Nothing much."

"What's that noise I hear in the background?"

"Um, cooking."

"It seems a shame that you're alone. It's too bad Tom and Sharon didn't invite you."

"They're concerned about me and didn't want me to be driving in bad weather."

"Oh. That's right; I forget it can get pretty snowy up there. How is the weather?"

"It doesn't get really cold in New Jersey until January. Not as cold as it used to get in Schenectady, certainly."

"It must be quite a shock from California, though."

"I don't really mind it."

"Would you like to talk to your brother?"

"If he wants to, okay."

There was a pause as the phone was being passed to someone else. Ann continued to leaf through her magazine, and didn't even look up at House. There was something really strange going on, he thought. He was hearing something he never heard before – her voice lacking any emotion. Even when she was in that ice cold rage about what Cuddy and Lucas had done to him, she wasn't shut down like this. It scared him a little. He tried to get her attention but she kept her nose buried in the magazine.

"Hey, Ann, Merry Christmas," a male voice stated.

"Same to you, Joe," Ann replied.

"Mom says it's cold up there."

"It's not too bad."

"You should have come down here, at least for as long as you had time off."

"I'm going back to work after New Year's."

"How's business?"

"Fine."

"Doing anything exciting?"

"Not really."

"Well, I guess time away from work is good enough, even with nothing to do."

"I guess it is."

"Well, I gotta go. Kathy and her sister have the meal ready."

"Sounds good."

"Take care of yourself."

"You, too."

"Say hi to everybody up there."

"Same to you."

"Happy holidays."

"Happy holidays."

Ann reached for her phone and turned it off. She put it in her pocket. She was staring off into space.

"Dinner's ready," House informed her, snapping her out of her reverie. "Do you want to eat here or in the dining room?"

"Here is fine, if that's okay with you," she said quietly.

"Sure," House agreed. He put some food on her plate and handed it to her, along with a napkin and some flatware. She went to the kitchen table and sat down. The table was long and fairly narrow. House usually sat at the head of the table, and Ann sat to his left, just so they could sit close together. However, this time she sat at the other end.

House knew from personal experience that sometimes people needed their space. So, he sat down at his usual place. It felt like she was miles away, and, in a way, maybe she was.

They ate in silence, as they had done on occasion, but it was never this uncomfortable before. They finished and she got up to take her plate to the dishwasher. She began to clean up and put things away. House brought his plate and she put it in the dishwasher for him.

"I'm going to the living room to watch TV," House informed her. "The 'A Christmas Story' marathon is on. Care to join me?"

"I think I'll just go to bed . . . " Ann replied.

House raised his eyebrows in anticipation.

". . . To go to sleep," she finished her sentence.

"At seven?" House asked incredulously.

"I'm tired."

"You know Santa won't come any earlier just because you try to go to sleep now."

"I know . . . "

"Annie, what is it?"

"What's what?"

"Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"Why? Just because I won't watch some stupid TV show with you or let you screw me?"

"You told me once you didn't care what you did as long as you were with me."

"You know, that's one of your less than endearing qualities."

"What?"

"Your self-centered-ness."

"What?"

"Just because you're the Great Gregory House, Diagnostic Genius, doesn't mean the world revolves around you, you know."

"What did I say that was self-centered?"

"That I should want to be around you all the time."

"No, I said that you said you were happy when you were around me."

"Same thing."

"No it's not and you know it. Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"Of course not. You're being arrogant and I just called you on it."

"Annie . . . "

"Whatever."

"Besides, if anyone has the right to be upset, it's me."

"How in the hell do you figure that?"

"I'm standing there while you're talking on the phone and you don't even acknowledge me. They asked you what you're doing for the holidays, and you said, 'Nothing.' "

"Well, it's not exactly like we have ambitious plans. We're just hanging out together."

"Is being with me really 'nothing'?"

Ann saw the hurt in House's eyes and she felt a pang in her chest. "Oh, God, baby, I'm so sorry."

Ann went over to House and slid her arms around him. She hugged him as tightly as she could, and when she was done, she pulled back and covered his face in kisses.

This was the Ann that House knew. It wasn't the pod-Ann she had been replaced with when her family called. "How about going to the living room with me for a little while?"

"Yeah, I will."

They went and sat on the couch. He turned on the TV and tuned to "A Christmas Story."

Of course, with the crisis resolved, House's curiosity intensified. It would have been much wiser for him to hold back and not to push things, but when, since the age of five, had he ever held back and done the wise thing?

"Can I ask you something?" he questioned quietly.

Ann sighed. "I guess."

"Do they know about me, I mean, about us?"

"Nope. Does your mom know about us?"

"I'm going to tell her tonight when she calls. I figure she might want to know before any potential grandchildren graduate from college. Don't you think your mom would want to know, too?"

"I guess I just don't see her as a part of my life. I don't think she has the need to know."

"You don't think they need to know about me? Why? Are you ashamed of me or something?"

"No, of course not! If I were, there is no way I would I have spent six hours at the hospital Christmas party practically having sex with you in front of everyone."

"That was the people I work with, not your family. I still don't know your family."

"What the hell are you talking about? You met Bob less than a week after we started dating. And Tom the week after that, and Danielle within the month. And you met Deidre and Sharon less than six months after we met. Geez, they've all stayed at our house with us!"

"But, that's not your mom and your brother . . . "

"No, but they're my family! I already told you Bobby went with me to every hearing and trial proceeding against my attackers, and Tomaso saved me from falling into the abyss of addiction again by coming out to California and dragging me to a therapist for my PTSD. And Dani, Shari, and Dee took care of me when I came home from the hospital."

House noted the use of diminutives and nicknames. He already knew she felt deep affection for these people. He probably didn't know just how much.

She continued without his prompting. "And do you know what I mean by 'they took care of me when I got home'? You know I was raped in the ass. Well, not only was I torn up from that, but the bastards decided to cut me there, too. I was such a mess they needed to do a temporary colostomy until I healed."

Ann stood up and peeled down her pants on the left side. "You've seen this scar, haven't you? You're a doctor. You know this is from a stoma, don't you?"

House had noticed a scar on her lower abdomen, but it was under some extra flesh, so, in case she was self-conscious about a little extra weight, he hadn't wanted to draw attention to the area by examining it. That meant he had never looked at it closely enough to know what it was. Now that he really saw it, the configuration was familiar. Shit.

"So, taking care of me wasn't just holding my hand and reading to me by my bedside. They fed me when the last thing I wanted was to eat anything. They gave me baths and washed my hair when I stank. And they emptied that bag for me I don't know how times a day! There's no biological connection, but these people love me. They're the only family I want or need. And they know all about you. And they know I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. More than I ever thought I could . . . "

Ann's voice had gone from angry and insistent to soft, and starting to break. House hadn't thought about who she considered her family. He, of all people, should understand that sometimes, for better or worse, it wasn't about biology.

"And I'm sorry for not telling you everything that happened," Ann said quietly. "It was just so painful and humiliating . . . "

"I haven't told you much about my infarction, either, but I don't want to right now, okay?"

"Yeah, enough ugly stuff for Christmas Eve. But I do want you to tell me soon. Right now, let's watch the movie."

They settled in on the couch, with their arms around each other and Ann's head resting on House's shoulder. Eventually, they found themselves laughing over Ralphie's single-minded quest for a Red Rider B-B gun.

House's cell rang at about ten. He set it down on the coffee table in front of them.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hello, Gregory. How are you?"

"I'm pretty good, Mom. Listen, I just want to let you know that I have the phone on speaker."

"Is that so James can hear?"

"He's not here right now, Mom."

"Does that mean you're alone, dear? That's too bad."

"I'm not alone, Mom."

"Who's there then?"

"Um, this is my, um, Ann's here with me."

Ann couldn't help but smile at House's awkwardness. He was a brilliant, world-famous physician, but there were times when he behaved just like a self-conscious teenager. It was totally adorable.

"Hello, Mrs. House," Ann jumped in.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone as Blythe attempted to process what she was hearing.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Blythe asked hesitantly.

"Since we're not in seventh grade, that would be a 'no,' Mom," House snarked.

"Don't be a smart aleck, Gregory," Blythe admonished. "So, Ann, is it? You're Gregory's, oh, what do they call it these days? Significant other?"

"Yes, I am, Mrs. House," Ann replied.

"Call me Blythe, please," House's mother said. "How did you meet Gregory, then? How long have you been seeing each other? Do you have any plans for the future?"

"Mom," House jumped in, "It's Christmas Eve and we're not going to give you a minute-by-minute history of our relationship and what we're planning to do for the next twenty years."

"Well, if you talked to me more than once every six months, I might not have to ask all these questions," Blythe informed him. "And I'm not going to apologize for wanting to know something about an important person in my son's life."

"Blythe," Ann said, "Greg and I met at the hospital last summer."

"Are you a doctor?" Blythe inquired.

"No," Ann answered. "I'm a consultant. I'm computerizing the patient files for Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. In fact, I'm almost finished."

"Oh. Are you leaving then?"

"I might have been, if I hadn't met your son."

House couldn't help the faint smile that ghosted his lips. "Mom, it's getting late, and we really have to get to bed soon. How are you, anyway?"

"I'm fine," Blythe informed him. "I get a little more tired than I used to, but I'm older than I used to be, too."

"What does that quack say?"

"Doctor Sampson is not a 'quack,' Gregory," Blythe insisted. "I haven't been to him in a while, anyway."

"How long?"

"My annual physical is in January, so it's been almost a year."

"You shouldn't wait, Mom. You should go to the doctor as soon as you don't feel well."

"Who said I didn't feel well? I'm fine, Gregory. And I promise I'll talk to him about the fatigue when I go to see him next month."

"Don't let him give you some bullshit about it being age-related."

"Watch your language, Gregory!"

"Sorry, Mom. Have a Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, son. And Merry Christmas to you too, Ann."

"Thank you, Mrs., er, Blythe. Happy Holidays."

"Goodbye, dear."

With that, Blythe hung up.

"Well, that went reasonably well," Ann noted.

"Are you kidding?" House responded. "She's not going to rest until she knows everything about you . . . oh, shit."

"Afraid of what she'll find out?" Ann joked.

"What? No, of course not."

"Then why do you seem so perturbed?"

"She's going to call Wilson to get the scoop, especially since she knows he's Jewish and she won't be disturbing him on Christmas."

"What do you think Wilson will say?"

"If she's able to reach him, he'll probably just deflect, which she'll think is a little odd, but it won't be a big deal. What I'm worried about is if she gets Sam, instead."

"Yeah, that could be a problem. Well, we can always straighten her out later, can't we?"

"I guess. Besides, there's nothing we can do about it now."

"We can keep each other warm with some Christmas Eve sex."

"Brilliant idea! Have I mentioned that of all the qualities you have that I admire, your intelligence is one of my favorites?"

"It thought it was the fact that I have a high sex drive and I can't keep my hands off you."

"That's in my top five, too."

"Shall we go to the bedroom and discuss rankings?"

Ann stood up and offered her hand to House. He took it and followed her into the bedroom. Ann used the bathroom first. After House was done, he found Ann in bed with the covers up to her chin. After he stripped and climbed in, he found that she was naked under the covers, too.

He began to caress her, running his hands across her face, neck, and back. He lightly stroked her boobs and bent down to lick them softly. He kissed her in the valley of her breasts and moved slowly downward. Just when Ann thought he would dive down to her hair, he veered off to the left side. He began kissing her lower abdomen.

It took Ann a moment to realize he was kissing the scar where the stoma had been. She made a noise in disgust and pushed his head away.

"Ouch," House exclaimed, although Ann suspected she hadn't really hurt him. "Why did you do that?"

"You know what came out of the site where that scar is now, don't you?"

"Yes. And let me point out that I'm a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases, so it's pretty tough to gross me out."

"Really?"

"Did you happen to glance at what I was reading when you sat down at my table the first time we met?"

"No . . . you mean it wasn't 'The Ladies Home Journal'?"

"Hey, they have some good recipes in there, and those exercises to get off that stubborn belly fat from my last pregnancy really worked! But I wasn't reading that, I was reading The Journal of Tropical Infectious Diseases and Parasites."

"Well, that sounds spellbinding. I know what to get Lucas for Christmas now."

"Only if you can't get him his own pet scorpion. My point is that I'm pretty much immune to things making me sick. And a scar from a stoma isn't even close."

"Yeah, but when you think of what came out of there . . . "

"Fecal matter, you mean?"

"Uh, yeah . . . "

'It's not coming out of there now. Besides, it's not like people don't like being, um, stimulated on that part of their body, and they use various methods of stimulation, including, um, parts of their mouths."

"Are you going Victorian on me?"

"What?"

"You're dancing around this. You know I'm hardly a prude."

"Yeah, but you were, um, attacked in that part of your body."

"I appreciate your trying not to upset me. But you can say to me that some people like having their assholes licked."

"Okay. So, then, what's the big deal about my kissing your scar?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"An anus is a part of one's body. A stoma is unnatural. You have no idea how much I felt like a freak when I had the colostomy bag . . . "

"More freakish than a guy with a huge hole in his thigh? A permanent, gaping hole?"

"Well, maybe you do have some idea . . . "

"What difference does it make? I love your body. All of your body."

"Then I guess you can go back to showing me."

House smiled slightly and resumed kissing her scar. He then moved on to her curls and ran his fingers through them. His lips traveled over her mound, kissing her.

His tongue found its way to her lips and he ran it along them, causing her to shiver. His tongue went underneath and found her clit. He licked lightly at first, causing more shudders. Then he made direct contact. It was enough to bring Ann over the edge. Her orgasm was intense, spreading heat through her entire body.

He was rock hard. "Are you ready for me now?" He asked Ann.

"Oh, yes, Greg," she answered breathlessly.

He positioned himself so his cock was just outside her opening. He paused for a moment, savoring the feeling of anticipation. He heard her sigh and he plunged in. It felt fantastic, of course. But it also felt like something else. Like there was nowhere else he should be. Like his body had been waiting for all his adult life to finally be here, inside this woman.

He began to pull out and push in, and Ann met his thrusts. As usual, her body clutched at his. He felt her need for him and it put him over the top. Her climax came almost as he was finished, spreading intense pleasure through him a second time.

They collapsed next to each other. As their senses returned, House decided that during the afterglow was a good time to ask her something. "You know, tonight, um . . . "

"What, baby?" Ann responded contentedly, still riding the endorphin high.

"When your mom and brother called, um . . . " House could feel her body tense up. Damn.

"Greg, you have no idea how sorry I am about that. Talking to them makes me feel empty, like a void. I shouldn't have inflicted that on you."

"You can't help the way you feel."

"Yeah, but I don't have to share."

"Don't worry about it. Now that I know what it is, I can deal with it. As long as I know you're not feeling empty about me."

"Empty? No way! The opposite. You fill both my body and my heart like no one ever has and no one ever will . . . "

House never knew what to say to her when she said things like this. Simply saying he loved her seemed inadequate. Well, there was always the honest approach.

"Listen," House stated. "I'm totally crappy about expressing how I feel. All I know is that I want today with you, tomorrow with you, and every other day I can imagine after that. I lived fifty-one years without you, and, right now, I just can't fathom how I did it. Piss poorly, I guess . . . anyway, I love you and, you know, um, damn . . . "

Ann's smile was a mile wide. "I get it, baby. I love you, too. Let's go to sleep, okay?"

"Yeah."

They held each other as they fell into a deep sleep.


A/N: I wanted to make Christmas Eve and Christmas Day one chapter, but I thought this was getting a little too long. Anyway, House and Ann's first Christmas, up next.

Oh, and just to let you know, I'm going away mid-week through Sunday, and I may be away from an internet connection, so Christmas may be a while in coming. Thanks for your patience!