Chapter 20

The next day, Cuddy prepares John for the following weeks. She provides him with one of her old MacBooks so they can FaceTime every day—he is not allowed to own a smart phone, yet—and she tells John about House's offer to drive him every weekend. They agree to see how the day goes and decide about how to proceed afterward.

"And you know the rules about using the Internet, right?" Cuddy reminds John when she shows him how to log onto her Mac. "No surfing the web without an adult in the room, no games, no videos. This is only so we can keep in touch more easily."

"Yes Mom, I know," John sighs.

"And you're aware that I have ways to find out," she states firmly.

House remembers this tone of hers very well. He shields his mouth with his hand and audibly whispers to John: "Don't worry, I'll show you how to delete it all before we come back here."

John laughs; Cuddy gives House a blank stare.

"I'm kidding, of course," he tells her.

Cuddy shakes her head mildly. "You better be."

Before House and John are about to leave, House approaches Cuddy in the kitchen who is packing them leftover cake and some fruit for the drive. "What should I talk to him about?" he asks her quietly, scratching his head forlornly.

She raises her eyebrows. "Just tell him about your hobbies." He is about to comment on this when she quickly adds: "No strippers, hookers, or porn."

"That cuts the list quite short."

"And he's not really into monster trucks."

House grimaces. "You absolutely sure he's mine?"

She chuckles. "He is extremely interested in the human body."

"That does sound like me," he says, leering at her cleavage.

She ignores him. "He regularly interrogates me about how people get sick, why skin knows when and how to regrow, why it doesn't hurt to cut off hair… stuff like that. Then, of course, video games. Oh, and we got him a guitar for his seventh birthday. He didn't have any lessons, yet, because, well, Michael got sick and we never found him a teacher. But I heard him practice sometimes."

House nods along and makes mental notes. She smiles at him with amusement. "You enjoy seeing me flailing," he states. He pretends to be annoyed, but is happy for the normal banter they share.

"Yeah. A little bit." Her smile broadens. "I'm glad you care enough to be nervous."

"I'm not nervous," he retorts. "It's a three hour drive with an eight-year-old. Just wanna make sure I don't fall asleep at the wheel."

She gives him a face of pretended shock, knowing that he was kidding, before she washes some grapes and dries them with a paper towel. "You'll be fine, House. Besides, I told him to feign sleep if he doesn't want to talk to you anymore."

His jaw drops briefly, and she chuckles.

"Here, let me text you Julia's address," she says, picking up her cell-phone. "I already informed her that you'd be bringing him." Cuddy gives him a quick glance. "I promised her you'll park your car in front of the house, so don't let me down."

House is surprised. He thought it was too soon to be making jokes about this.

She hands House John's suitcase and calls for the kids who are playing in Rachel's room. "John, Rache, it's time to go!"

They all go out to the car and Cuddy crouches down to give John a long hug. "I love you, honey. So much! We'll FaceTime tonight, okay? And you can call me from your phone anytime, you know that." He looks slightly sad, but much less distressed than last night. She kisses his face. "I'll see you again Friday. That's only five nights from now, okay?" He nods, and she opens the passenger door for him. Julia had left John's booster seat on the front porch, which House has already transferred into his car, and John climbs onto it. In the meantime, House gives Rachel a hug and gets into the car as well.

Cuddy puts on John's seat belt and sets his backpack down by his feet. "There's something to drink and to eat for you in here. You know how to share, right?" John nods as Cuddy runs her fingers through his hair. "I love you," she says again.

"Love you, too, Mom."

Rachel runs around the car to give her brother a squeeze. "See you Friday, butt-munch," she exclaims well spirited.

House closes the car door and Cuddy leans down so she can look at him. "Drive safe."

He nods. "I'll call you when we get there."

"Okay." She steps back and pulls Rachel with her so she can close the car door. They all wave at each other while House backs out of the driveway.

At first, they are mostly quiet in the car, but House soon finds ways to bring John to chat. He actually finds him easy to talk to, and they do have quite a few common interests.

"Why do Mom and Rachel call you by your last name?" John asks at some point.

"Your mom and I used to work together at the same hospital. She was my boss, actually."

"Really?" John looks at him in surprise. "How weird was that? I wouldn't wanna work for my mom." He smiles at the bizarre idea.

"She likes being bossy," House winks at him. "At the hospital, we all addressed each other by last name, and your mom and I never changed that. Rachel was still little, and she just called me what your mom called me."

"What should I call you?" John asks.

House glances over at him and shrugs. "Whatever you want. House is fine. Greg works, too. Or Captain America."

John chuckles and remains quiet, apparently postponing his decision.

They hit some traffic as they get closer to New York City, but once they pass the New Jersey boarder, everything runs smoothly. House turns on the radio and with their occasional chitchat, time goes by quickly and they find themselves in front of Julia's house faster than he thought.

"Here we are," he says, turning off the ignition. "I'll get your seat and suitcase, you take your backpack."

They cross the street together and John rings the doorbell. Julia opens up with a happy smile for John and a frosty expression for House. "Thanks for bringing him," she says politely. He wordlessly holds out John's car seat for her, but she ignores him and focuses on John instead. She opens the door further and eagerly ushers him inside. "Come on in, dear."

"Bye, John," House calls after him as John walks past Julia.

John turns around and waves at him briefly. "Bye, Greg. Thanks." 'So 'Greg' it is,' House thinks, before John vanishes from view.

Julia takes the suitcase sitting next to House's feet and places it inside. House tries again to hand her the seat. "Keep it," she says, eying him with a mixture of anger and concern. "We have plenty of them. And, knowing Lisa, you will be back here on Friday."

He just raises his eyebrows and shrugs at her, not wanting to start a fight. He is about to turn around and leave when suddenly her fist comes flying at him and hits him straight in the jaw. His head rolls with the punch and he stumbles backwards, almost loosing his balance. He is shocked for a second and feels for his face absentmindedly, completely dumbstruck. "Wow," he mumbles as he pulls away his hand and spots some blood on his fingers. She split open his lip. Then he gets a grip on himself. "I was actually expecting your left," he says dryly, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all. "But I guess you don't have that much in common with your sister."

"If you hurt her again," she hisses through gritted teeth, "or John…" She glares at him, her body slightly shaking with anger. "So. Help. Me. God." She scrutinizes him from head to toe one last time, then she slams the door in his face.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

He sits at home contemplating Julia's words when his phone goes off. In that moment he realizes he forgot to call Cuddy.

"Hey, shouldn't you be home by now? Are you stuck in traffic?" she inquires after he has picked up the phone.

"No, the drive was fine. I dropped him off about an hour ago." He sits on the couch with his feet up, rubbing his leg.

"And? How did it go?" He hears the concern in her voice.

"It was good. I drove, we talked, I walked him to the door. He still has all his limbs." He tries not to sound bitter, but fails miserably.

"Then what's the matter?" she asks softly.

He takes a deep breath and rubs his forehead. He has no real intention of sharing the moment on Julia's front porch with Cuddy; or his doubts about getting involved in his son's life. He is not sure why he is wired this way. This is not the first time he fights for something he wants, and when he acquires it he pushes it away, convinced he does not deserve it.

"Did John say something to you?" she probes when he does not respond.

"No."

"Did Julia?" 'She really does have that nagging gene,' he thinks. She never lets him off the hook. "House, please talk to me."

He sighs again. "She gave my face a do-over."

"What?" Cuddy exclaims in shock. "She hit you? In front of John?"

"No, he was already inside." He rubs his forehead, feeling defeated. "And I think that maybe she is right. Maybe you are making a mistake."

"Which one would that be exactly?"

"You wanted me out of your life for a reason. I'm no Santa Clause. I don't have joy and jingle bells tucked away in my jute bag. I've got a shitload of misery and pain. That hasn't really changed. You shouldn't let me pass any of my crap onto your kids."

There is a long pause on the other end of the line, and he just listens to her breathe for a while. "I've considered that," she says sincerely. "But how about you stop with the pity party and start painting your self-portrait with more than just black?" He is not in a particularly colorful mood and remains quiet. "House, you are great with kids! You are straight with them, you love to play, you're inventive, you challenge them to think outside the box…" She pauses for a few seconds, contemplating her words. "Rachel adores you! After you left she was all: House said this, House and I did that, when is House coming to visit?"

He feels touched, but is not quite convinced by her logic. "That honesty comes at a price, though. I don't pretend to like their cookies, I tell them when they annoy me and when they're being idiots. I teach them how to cheat and duck rules."

She sighs in slight exasperation, but her words to him are kind. "I know you're more Scrooge than Santa Clause, but it's not like you're moving in with us. You did fine the three weeks you were here, and I think you can manage to keep your crap bag to yourself for a couple of days in a row. And if you get grumpy—when you're in pain—you can always hide away in my room. Or I'll send you to sit in the quiet corner." He hears the smile in her voice.

He feels his lips twitching up as well. "Okay." He never imagined she would be the one talking him into this.

"All right, I gotta go. Rachel is cooking tonight. I better make sure nothing's on fire." Her mood is light again, her voice playful. "Sorry you got punched. Although you did deserve it a little."

"Don't tell your sister I ratted. Maybe she just needed to get it out of her system. I've got the inkling that we'll be best buds one day."

Cuddy chuckles. "Yeah, right. The day I meet Santa Clause. I'll text you her number so you two can arrange when and where to pick up John on Friday. And so you can start your pen friendship."

He hums. "Kay."

"And thanks again for taking him."

"You're welcome."