Epilogue - Part E
Tony didn't know which shocked him the most–the shriek that tore through the air or the body that crashed down upon him. Either way, when he opened his eyes and looked at Jess lying on top of him, gazing into his eyes, he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face.
"Jesus, Jess! If I'd known you wanted to attack me, I'd have gotten on the sofa with you." His hands moved down her sides until they slid over the denim of her shorts, taking immense pleasure in the rounded bottom that was fitting into his palms.
"I–fell," she said simply as she continued to stare at him.
"I kind of figured that," he said as he watched her. He loved he way she felt against him, almost as if she was a perfect fit, even though she was quite a bit shorter than his towering six foot-two. He loved the smell of her skin and the smell of her hair, and he really couldn't control the arousal that began in the pit of his groin.
"I have to go now." She moved to get up, then looked around for her glasses and grabbed them. She tried to walk out of the room, but hit her hip against the swivel rocker and knocked it around until it hit the end table and knocked the lamp over. "Oh my God!"
She came back to where Tony still lay on the floor, this time holding the lamp that he caught before it hit him in the head.
"Maybe you should put your glasses on," he told her. "They're cute."
"They are not." She picked up the lamp and put it back on the table. "They're anything "but" cute."
"Alright–then "you're" cute when you're wearing them," he said as he maneuvered himself into a sitting position as he leaned back against the sofa.
"Is everything okay in here?" Allison House's voice came from the doorway as she looked in the room at them. "I heard something fall."
"I'm sorry Aunt Allison–I knocked the lamp over."
"It looks like you woke Tony up as well," Allison smiled at her. "I saw you both sleeping when I came downstairs. You looked so peaceful I didn't have the heart to wake you."
"Oh, but you should have gotten me up. I can help you make breakfast for everyone."
"There was no rush." She turned and started back toward the kitchen again, with Jess behind her.
"Good morning, Uncle Greg," Jess smiled at House, her greeting raising his eyes from the newspaper he was reading.
"Ah, Jess–this explains the crash from the room," he said as he took a drink from his coffee mug.
"Yes. I sort of fell off the couch–then I knocked over the lamp."
House looked up at Tony as he wandered from the hallway into the kitchen and started to pour himself a cup of coffee.
"And that was you lying in there on the floor?" House's brow raised in question as he looked at his son.
"Uh–yep." Tony took the seat next to his father and started sipping at his coffee..
"Since when are you above shoving one of your brothers out of their beds in favor of sleeping on a floor?"
"I don't know," Tony took a discarded part of the paper from his father, then watched as Jess went to Allison's side and started helping get dishes out of the cupboard and setting the table. "Does it matter?"
"No–not to me," House dismissed him as he went back to reading his part of the paper.
Allison turned and brought a pitcher of orange juice to the center of the table, glancing up in time to watch Tony as he looked over the top of the paper at Jess's hair that was somewhat disheveled from her stay on the couch the previous night.
"What's for breakfast?" James asked as he entered the kitchen with the small group, then moved to his mother's side as she put some bread into the toaster. "Would you like me to make the toast?"
"Yes, sweetie," Allison put her hand to her youngest son's cheek before going back to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup of the blackness. "You're always such a big help."
"Dad, can I use the cycle to get to practice today?" James asked as he waited for the first four pieces of toast to pop up.
House looked over the rim of his glasses at him. "Is there some reason you think I would allow you to take it today when I haven't allowed it since you've gotten your license?"
"I thought if I kept asking–you'd give in at some point."
"Well, you can stop asking," Allison told him, watching the way Tony was now looking at Jess's shorts as she faced the counter and reached for juice glasses on a high shelf in the cabinet. "You're not allowed until you're eighteen–the same rules for you as we had for Jackson."
A quick gasp alerted everyone that Jess had knocked one of the glasses off of the shelf as it tumbled down toward the counter top, but the quick-handedness of James averted the tiny disaster as he simply reached out and caught it.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Jess breathed as she looked at the boy.
"I don't get it–you let Tony drive it when he was only fourteen." James placed the glass on the counter as he continued watching his father.
This brought a quick snort from House as he went back to reading the paper, evidently having dismissed James's argument already.
"Your father "didn't" allow Tony any such thing," Allison told the boy as she got a carton of eggs from the refrigerator and watched Jess placing the glasses on the table, making an extra effort to not even come close to touching Tony as she reached around him to place his juice glass in front of him. "Your brother took it without asking–and look what happened to him. We very nearly lost him."
"Fine," James sighed. "So–can I use your car?"
"Practice is only five blocks away–isn't it?" House asked without looking at him.
"Yes."
"And you'll be running around a baseball field for a couple of hours–keeping yourself fit?"
"Yeah."
"Then walk–it will be part of your workout."
"Dad! None of the other kids walk."
"Ride your bike."
"I'm sixteen–I got my license last month–they'll make fun of me if I ride my bike."
"Jamey, we'll need the car here, in case Dee goes into labor today." Allison started slicing some mushrooms.
"Aunt Allison, would you like me to do anything else?"
"You could get the Swiss cheese out and shred some."
"But Mom, you've got "your" car, Dad's car, Tony's car, Ryan's car, Jess's. . ." He counted on his fingers. "That's seven cars! I don't think it'll take five cars to get Dee to the hospital!"
"Here–take mine," Tony tossed his keys to the boy, bringing a smile to his face as he gazed at the objects in his hand as if they were pure gold.
"You're not letting him drive your car!" House interjected. "Putting that much horsepower in his hands would be just as insane as putting you on my cycle when you were fourteen!"
"But, Dad!" James implored.
"He said no," Allison agreed with her husband.
"Would you mind if he drove my car?" Jess asked hesitantly.
Allison and House looked at each other a moment before Allison went back to slicing the mushrooms. Finally House went back to his paper.
"I think he can handle "your" car."
"But. . ." James started as he looked at them with obvious disappointment. "It's so small."
"Well," Jess suggested, "If you don't want to use it–I'll be more than happy to drop you off."
"No–never mind. I'll drive it."
"And what do you say?" Allison asked.
"More coffee," House grumbled as he pushed his empty mug toward the women.
"Thank you, Jess."
"You're welcome," she said as she leaned over and gave the boy a quick peck on the cheek, then giggled when he wiped it off.
"Jesssss, dooon't," James whined, turning a shade pink.
"Whatsa matter, Jamey? You afraid word will get back to Sarah?" Jackson asked as he sauntered into the kitchen and plopped into the chair on the other side of his father. "You can come kiss "me," Jess. At least "this" House male won't object."
"If she's in the habit of giving her kisses out to the House men, I think I've been jipped. You could always come over here, and I'd be more than happy to oblige you," said Tony, watching her with an intensity that made Jess's knees weak.
"Oh, I don't know. There's only one House that's worthy of my kisses." Jess took House's coffee back and leaned close to him, kissing the cheek he offered her once he realized her intentions.
"Yeah–yeah," House gruffed, all the same. "Not now, my wife's in the room. She's liable to get suspicious."
"See–seventy-two years old and he's still getting more action than I am," Jackson said glumly.
"I'll be ninety and I'll "still" be getting more action than you," House mumbled.
"Nuh-uh," Jackson told him.
"If you don't mind–I really am not in the mood to hear about my sons' conquests," Allison told them. "Jack, are you having an omelet."
"Yes, please," he told his mother. "Mushrooms, onions, swiss and tomato."
"Then get out an onion and chop it–and get a tomato too."
"So, who is this "Sarah?" Jess teased James. "I thought you were seeing a girl named Felicity?"
"Sarah is Felicity's little sister," Jackson taunted as he retrieved the onion and tomato from the refrigerator and went to the counter where he got a knife and started work on said items.
"Just how "little" is she?" House looked back at his youngest son again. "Felicia is your age, isn't she?"
"Felicity, Dad," Jackson told him. "And yeah, Felicity "is" the same age as Jamey. But Sarah's only in eighth grade. She's fourteen."
"I'm not seeing her," James said with his cheeks beginning to flame again. "She just comes and hangs out at the field sometimes."
"Yeah–every time he's there. And she's always over at the dugout when he's inside. He buys her sodas, too."
"So?" James asked. "It's hot out there–and she's hot. . .I mean–she get's hot. . .I mean–you know what I mean!"
"I know what you mean, Jamey," Jess told him as she took the tomato from Jackson and cut it into small pieces for his omelet. "It's cute. You're quite the gentleman. I'm sure Sarah is lovely."
"Mooooommmmm," Dee's voice came from the top of the stairs, using a tone that alerted her family that something was amiss.
Allison moved through the kitchen and down the short hallway to the bottom of the stairs. When she looked up, she saw Ryan helping Dee down the stairs, and she noticed the wet area saturating her daughter's pants.
"Oh my," Allison breathed as she watched Dee approaching her. "It looks like today's going to be the day, after all."
"Oh, Mom–I got out of bed and started to get dressed–and all this–stuff–started to gush out of me!"
"You're fine, honey. Your water broke. No matter what–they'll keep you in the hospital this time." She looked at Ryan. "Is everything still in your car?"
"Yes. All we have to do is get her there."
"Take her out to the car, and I'll be right there." Allison turned quickly and went back to the kitchen, seeing that House was already on his feet and on his way to join her. "Greg, her water broke. Let's go."
"But, I've got practice today," James told her. "Should I cancel?"
"No–go ahead. I'm sure she'll be in there for a while. You can come over after you're finished." Allison looked at the others still in the kitchen. "Jess, would you be a sweetheart and finish the omelets so the boys can eat breakfast? Then come to the hospital?"
"No, I don't mind," Jess told her with concern.
"We'll call if there's anything we need you to pick up on the way." Allison turned and hurried behind her husband to the front of the house where they got into the back of Ryan's car.
Tony and Jess looked at one another then toward the hallway where they heard the door slamming shut and both tried to hurry through the kitchen doorway at the same time as Jackson and James came up from the rear. The impact of running into Tony's hard body bounced Jess into the doorframe where she hit her head with an "umph," then as James came up behind her and tried to burst through the bottleneck effect, she would have gone down on the floor if all three House boys hadn't caught her; Tony by her blouse, that popped buttons off so rapidly that they sounded like popcorn popping; Jackson by her back pocket of her shorts which only ripped about an inch or so; and by James, himself who simply grabbed her arm and held her off the floor completely. They all stopped no more than a second before they again hurried through the front door where they stood staring at their parents, sister and brother-in-law backing out of the driveway, as if they were three little boys being left home alone for the first time. Jess was the last to get to the front landing as she held her blouse closed and looked after the car with a very "Please, don't leave alone with these three!" expression covering her face.
Suddenly the car stopped before it was about to speed off down the street and the House's window opened, revealing his irritated face.
"Jesus Christ! We're not even out of the driveway and you already have her blouse ripped open?" He called to them, making all three boys look down at Jess and smile widely back to their father.
"She fell!" Tony called back to him. "It's the only thing I could think of to grab."
"I didn't fall," Jess mumbled to the boys. "You all knocked me down."
House simply looked at them then closed his window and went off with his daughter to become a grandfather.
