Chase had been dreading leaving Talia and Elijah since the day he was born, and the fact that he was now officially back to work made his stomach drop. As he did his tie in the mirror, he couldn't help but feel saddened at the fact that he'd be away from them. "I really don't feel like two weeks of paternity leave is enough. Someone should bring that up to the union," Chase grumbled to his reflection.

"I know, baby," Talia sighed sympathetically, going to sit on the bed with a hefty sigh. "I'm already dreading going back in six months, despite the fact that it'll still be on less hours than before."

"I mean, I'd take going back full time when he's one over now," Chase muttered.

"Hey," Talia frowned playfully, scrunching up her nose. "You're the one that wanted to rejoin House's team out of nowhere. If you were still in the surgical team, maybe it could've been different." She swung her long legs off the bed and wrapped her slender arms around his abs.

"What can I say? I have serious FOMO," Chase groaned lowly, finally finishing his tie.

"I can tell," Talia smirked to his reflection. "Awww. You're so cute. D'ya know that? You're literally where Lij gets his cuteness from!"

"Oh get lost," Chase grinned back at her.

"Here, let me have a look at ya," Talia smiled, retracting from underneath his arm and spinning him around so that she could see him better. "Heyyy, look at my handsome clever babe!" she giggled, before using his tie to bring him towards her for a longing kiss. To her surprise, the kiss lasted a little longer - clearly she and Chase were a little more hungry for each other than they both were letting on.

Which, for a couple used to being all over each other for about 90% of the week up til Talia got pregnant, wasn't much of a shock.

"As much as I don't wanna go," Chase murmured as Talia kissed his neck. "I have to-"

"C'mon baby, it would only take a second - and we have all those months to catch up on," Talia whispered, her warm breath tickling his skin.

"Hey! It would not only take a second!" Chase scoffed back under his breath. "Above all, it's because you power up again like a damn snow leopard." Talia couldn't help it - she burst out laughing and released him again.

"Whatever! Go to work, get lost," she giggled, prodding his shoulder. "I need to get the house tidied whilst Eli's asleep. We'll be fine." Chase sighed reluctantly but grabbed his coat, shoving his arms into it as he made his way over to the Moses basket that Elijah was peacefully snoozing in. He pressed his lips onto his forehead and gave his tummy a loving little rub.

"Love you, little man. You be good for your mum, yeah?" he whispered down to him before standing straight again. Then he pulled Talia in for another hug, and she pressed kisses up his stubbly jaw. "I also love you, by the way - so don't feel too jealous." Talia smiled up at him proudly.

"I love you too, handsome. Go, save lives - and please, Rob, don't let House upset you today."

…

Chase's mind was…elsewhere.

As soon as he stepped into the hospital, every other word said to him by nurses, surgeons and doctors were that of congratulations and curious questions as to how Elijah was doing, how Talia was doing, how Chase was coping - and as much as Chase was thankful for the interest shown, talking about his little family just made it even harder to be away from them.

So his answers got a little less enthusiastic with each question.

"There he issss!" Taub practically sang as Chase finally managed to step into House's office a good twenty minutes after first arriving. "Father of the year!"

"Hardly," Chase smirked whilst Foreman turned up beside him to whack him on the shoulder. "Oooft. Hey, man. You didn't come to the house to see Elijah?"

"Yeah because Talia didn't let us," Thirteen spoke up as she stood up to hug him too. "She didn't want us near him until he got his shots - didn't she tell you that?"

"She may have, but these two weeks have been a total blur to me. A blissful blur - but a blur nonetheless," Chase admitted with a chuckle, hugging her back. "But she's fine and yeah, baby's doing really good."

"Well we missed you down here," Foreman admitted with a grimace, as he reached out for a sandwich from the platter in the centre of the table. "We've even missed Talia's over important self."

"Actually I've just missed her cos she's my friend - you've missed her over importance because there's no one here to challenge you," Thirteen stated smoothly as Chase made his way over to the coffee machine. He glanced up at Foreman with risen brows as he passed him.

"Anywaaay…did you read up on today's case?" Taub asked Chase instead as he slid the file across the table. "We've been working on it yesterday through to today with minimal rest."

"Sounds like my days in a nutshell. But yeah, I gave it a glance on my way up," Chase sighed back. "Well. Tried to. Hard to read something when-"

"WOW, full house! Pardon the pun!" came House's energetic call as he limped his way into the office. He froze when he saw Chase. "Well, this is exciting. And…hey, has your hair always been that short?"

"Uh…literally since the day that he got married," Taub frowned.

"Nice to see you too, House," Chase shot him a brief smile.

"I take it he hasn't seen your baby either?" Taub guessed as he crossed his arms.

"I helped deliver the kid in an elevator. If that's not the coolest 'grandpa' story then I don't know what is," House scoffed back whilst he limped over to Chase's freshly brewed cup of coffee and took it for himself.

"Uh House, he was born two weeks ago," Foreman frowned. "You can visit someone more than once-"

"So what did we get back from the lab last night?" House spoke over him instead, making Foreman roll his eyes and raise his hands in defeat.

"Nothing," Taub answered miserably. "Absolutely nothing. No cirrhosis, or scarring, or infection-"

"Greeeaaat," House growled as he sat himself down. "Well, I guess we can all-"

"Elevated albumen," Thirteen suddenly pointed out. "Could be elevated by his kidneys instead…" As the team all attempted to decipher what that could mean, Chase faded out slightly. The thought of Elijah being at home, with Talia singing songs to him and bouncing him gently to soothe his adamant wails, genuinely had him smiling to himself - which just caused House to behave the only way he knew how.

Like an ass.

"Doctor Chase! You can stay and do the kidney testing," he decided sharply, "the rest of you…well, go to lunch or something." The team all frowned at each other, but Chase's shoulders just dropped and he nodded, making his way out of the room without another word.

He didn't have it in him to fight.

"Is this how you're gonna act towards him all day? Cos if so, I'd rather get headphones from now," Taub murmured to House as Thirteen glared at him icily, too.

"Only you could turn the beauty of being a first time father into a damn punishment," Foreman muttered, before leaving the room.

…

"Good morning my little baby angel," Talia cooed down at her son softly as he blinked up at her. She had just fed him after he'd woken from his nap, and was now sitting on the sofa with her feet up and Elijah laying on her thighs, his head supported by her knees. "Hiiii gorgeous baby! Good morning! Well…good afternoon. Your daddy's gone to work and you've been asleep for three whole hours. Three hours! Wowww, you're a good boy, aren't you! You are, you areee!" Elijah opened his mouth again and let out a little whimper as if he was trying to talk back, despite him being so young. "Awww. God bless you, my beautiful boy," Talia hummed, nuzzling her nose against his tiny little button one - and then the doorbell went, startling Elijah to tears. He immediately switched from peaceful to bawling, his tiny fists clenched up.

All Talia could do was groan.

"Ohhhh it's okay Eli! Please don't cry, my love," she assured him quietly as she lifted him up before getting up to see who it was.

Once she saw via the intercom, however, she immediately considered not answering it.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered irritably whilst still bouncing Elijah up and down. She pressed the speaker button the best she could. "Allison? Really?"

"I'm sorry, I was gonna call you so that I didn't wake you or the baby up but I didn't know if you had blocked my number or not cos it didn't go through immediately and so-" Cameron started to babble from outside.

"It didn't go through because it was on 'do not disturb' so that THIS kind of stuff didn't happen!" Talia hissed back as Elijah's cries became more frustrated.

"I'm so sorry," Cameron winced regretfully. "Hey, I…I brought a gift! I mean if you want…i can just drop it and go?" Talia squinted at the intercom as her eyes properly focussed on the big gift basket in Cameron's shaky arms.

"No, you can come in. It's freezing out there and I'm pretty sure that it's set to rain," she sighed reluctantly. She pressed a few more kisses on Elijah's head before quickly buzzing Cameron in. She heard the front door click open and shut again from behind her, so she stepped back into the living room to quieten Elijah down. Within a few seconds, she felt his breathing get slower against her torso, indicating that he was successfully being soothed to sleep.

Then, Cameron finally poked her head around the living room door.

"Hey," she whispered hesitantly as Talia took a slow steady seat on the sofa again.

"Hi," she nodded back. Cameron hovered uncomfortably in the doorway. "Cameron…you can come in and sit down, you know."

"Sorry, I…I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me or not," Cameron spluttered back, taking off her shoes and shuffling across the hoovered cream carpet to sit on the sofa too. "Obviously the last time I was here it got a little…heated."

"Damn right it did," Talia scoffed under her breath. She glanced down at Elijah and let out a small sigh of success as she watched him fall further into a slumber. Of course, Cameron couldn't help but stare as well.

"He's so beautiful," she murmured out accidentally, causing Talia's eyes to fly straight back up at her.

"Thank you," she smiled slightly. She cleared her throat and stood to her feet again. "I'm gonna put him down. He should be out for about an hour - that should give us enough time to talk. Or we can sit there and stare at each other, you know…whichever one you prefer." Cameron gave her a small smile back and nodded, watching Talia sweep out of the living room and into the nursery.

Within another minute or so, she had strolled back into the living room whilst clearing her throat.

"Ahem. Sorry about that. Can I get you a drink or anything?"

"Um…just a water would be fine, actually," Cameron answered shyly. "Thanks." Talia nodded awkwardly and went to do just that, wincing to herself once her back was turned. This entire situation was just the epitome of uncomfortable. "So I'm guessing that Chase has gone back to work, then?" Cameron suddenly spoke.

"He is indeed," Talia confirmed as she poured the chilled water into a glass. "He actually went back today. Don't think he was ready but, you know - duty calls."

"Hm. But surely they'll just call him on site if they have a surgery?" Cameron frowned, taking the glass from Talia's hand. "And he should be back kinda early, right? Surgeons don't usually run over their allocated time unless something goes seriously wrong." Talia let out a short laugh and settled herself back onto the sofa again, crossing one slender leg over the other.

"Yeaaah…no," she yawned. "He's back on House's team. In fact, he literally rejoined the day you left which I'm sure, you'd find ironic." The next two seconds were rather amusing, actually. Cameron couldn't stop the surprise from falling onto her face at first - but swiftly covered it up the best she could.

But who could forget that she was dealing with Talia, the master of body language.

Ooops.

"Don't start, Allison!" was all she muttered warningly.

"I can't help it! I'm sorry," Cameron groaned as she covered her face with her hands. "I was hoping that I'd come back and you'd all have proven me wrong but now-"

"Allison, you cannot police what people do with their lives just because you're so caught up in what the 'ideal person' should be," Talia grumbled tiredly as she ran her knuckles across her forehead. "That just isn't feasible. Everyone's doing what they want and if you have a problem with that, you might as well become a recluse and not bother with having friends."

"But, that's not what I-"

"No, that's exactly what you're doing! You want like minded people around you to preserve the innocence of the world because you believe that House has poisoned us all and it frightens you," Talia spoke over her boldly, causing Cameron to shut her mouth. "And you know what? If you still want that and you haven't moved on yet, then you probably shouldn't be in my house anymore. Cos I swear to god we're not gonna get anywhere like this and I refuse to keep going back and forth with you."

"Talia," Cameron croaked out a little sadly. "I don't think you're a bad person."

"Well because I'm not," Talia scoffed back obviously. "Yet. Cos that's what you think, right? That it's only a matter of time until I crumble like everyone else did?" Cameron stayed silent and shook her head - and that's when Talia borderline broke. Maybe it was the post natal emotions, maybe she was just tired…either way, her voice was wobbling. "I…I wanted you to be his godmother, Al," she croaked out. "You have been there for me forever and a day, you were my maid of honour, you were my first real friend in over here but you threw it all away by suggesting that I'd let my son, who wasn't even born yet, be negatively influenced by someone as unhinged as my father. If you were talking about my husband being influenced, then fine. Me, even - fine. But my son didn't deserve that-"

"Talia I swear I didn't mean for it to come out that way," Cameron insisted shakily. "House is his grandfather, of course he's gonna have some kind of effect on him-"

"Yes I know, but that makes made me sound like I wouldn't keep an adequate eye on my son. That I wouldn't know when to detach him from House if House's behaviour got dangerous or toxic again. And that's what I didn't appreciate," Talia admitted stubbornly as the fist tear rolled down her flushed cheeks. "It just sounded like an insinuation. I know how t-to be a good mother. I've already failed one of my sons. I refuse…I refuse to f-fail the other," she finally concluded, her voice now barely above a hoarse whisper.

That was all Cameron needed to hear to start tearing up too, and it wasn't long until the tears began spilling out of her eyelids as a quivering hand covered her mouth.

"I'm so sorry, T," she whispered from the other side of her palm, before immediately reaching over and bringing Talia in for a huge apologetic hug as the two of them cried away in each other's arms. "You're a great mom and I always knew you would be, I didn't…I-I just get worried about how House impacts people around him. It was never-"

"I know," Talia mumbled into her shoulder. "And to be fair, you raised a good point. House is at the centre of a lot of destruction and it's impacted me negatively before, yes, but…I wouldn't ever let it impact Elijah. I just wouldn't. I couldn't live with myself if he ever did."

"I trust you," Cameron sniffed honestly. They both broke apart and gave little giggles at the state of each other's faces. "Um…I've moved back down here again. Not to start back at work or anything…although Cuddy's trying to get me back…but I pretty much hated Chicago. So I'm like, a few blocks away now."

"That means you can be a certain someone's godmother, huh?" Talia smirked as she scrubbed her tears away with her sleeve. Cameron's mouth hung open and the most dramatic of gasps escaped her lips.

"You…you really mean that? You wan't m-me to be his god mom?" she cried as new tears sprung into her eyes.

"I mean technically you'd have to share the role with Juliette, who was Chase's first choice - but yeah, I do," Talia nodded blissfully, unable to stop smiling as Cameron looked more and more beside herself. "So…would y-"

"ARE YOU KIDDING?! Yes!" Cameron laughed through her tears.

…

It was fair to say that House was purposely trying to get under Chase's skin at this point. It was obvious to pretty much everyone on the team, but the reasons why weren't so clear. Nobody understood it - but the true reason was more simple than the rest of them could ever think.

It was because House sensed change, particularly within Chase - and House didn't like change.

If there was anyone on the team that House had always respected, it was Chase. Ever since he first joined his team six or seven years ago, he had been the one that House had to literally prise off of him to get him to quit - whereas everyone else simply left on their own accord. House had gotten Chase out of a number of sticky situations, Dibala being one, the woman with the stomach ulcer being another - and had somewhat been there for him in a very paternal way.

But although it had just been a day, he could tell that Chase's mind wasn't really in the game anymore. House was unreasonable at times, sure, but he wasn't illogical, and he knew full well that it was an adjustment period to being away from his newborn and that Chase would be back to his old self in no time - but that didn't stop him being an absolute ass.

"I'm saying it's a B-12 deficiency," Thirteen took to the floor as the office fell quiet for the umpteenth time that day. The team had reached a crossroads with the case, all of them as stumped as each other.

"B-12? Nope," House shot back with a careless grunt.

"What? Why not?" Thirteen frowned back.

"You really want me to give an answer as to why your suggestion was dumb and incorrect?" House blinked at her, making her roll her eyes and slam herself into a seat.

"House," Foreman sighed from where he was slumped over the table. "Definitely not the time."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Dying patients are definitely a huge pain in the ass, am I right? Gosh. I sure wish there was someone who knew how to, you know, fix them!" House tutted back sarcastically, the frustration building up. "NEXT?"

"Bone marrow-"

"Nope! That wouldn't produce schistocytes!" House hummed. He rested his chin on his fist and looked over in Chase's direction, where he was propped up against the wall with his arms crossed and head bowed. "Hey. Misery man in the corner, you wanna add something worthwhile or…?"

Chase glanced up at him tiredly.

"Lupus?" he suggested with a sigh.

House could barely believe his ears at this point.

"Were you even…no, ANA was negative," he spelt it out slowly again. "God. Are you gonna be like this for the rest of your life? Do I need to fire you again-"

"House, it's his first day back - give him a damn break," Taub rolled his eyes as he watched Chase's jaw tighten slightly.

"- or is that you're completely tapping out?" House continued to push on louder. "Do I need to call your smarter half and get her on the phone instead? If it's not Dr. Chase Senior it's Dr. Chase the Wife, and if she wasn't so eager to get knocked up then maybe I'd have at least a fourth of a functioning team right now! That-"

Admittedly, the sudden violent punch he received in the face from Chase was rather well deserved.

…

Talia and Cameron had been giggling and catching up with each other well into the evening, especially now that Cameron had actually started bonding with Elijah. "Ohhh yeah - he definitely looks like you," she nodded down him resting peacefully in her arms as they watched Talia cook a Thai green curry. "Oh! I literally just noticed that he has your lips-!"

"I said that!" Talia gasped back gleefully, sprinkling salt into the saucepan. "He's as demanding and borderline needy as his dad though, I can tell you that much." Cameron opened her mouth to laugh - then was quickly interrupted by the sound of the front door. "Speak of the devil," Talia hummed. Chase stepped into the living room with a hefty yawn - which was abruptly interrupted once he saw Cameron sitting there.

"Smells good- oh! Well this…I wasn't expecting," he blinked, walking up to her and pulling her in for a confused but careful hug.

"Hey! Congratulations, I'm your son's godmother and I'm taking him home with me forever!" she teased back once they let go. Chase didn't look the least bit surprised.

"That…I was expecting," he admitted. Then he turned his attention to Elijah. "Heyyy bud! I missed you! Missed me? Of course you did," he cooed, gently prising him from Cameron's arms and pressing a kiss onto his little forehead. Talia approached both her boys with a content little smile, before standing on her tiptoes to give her husband a soft kiss.

"Missed me too?" she whispered against his lips whilst Cameron rolled her eyes jokingly.

"You have no idea," Chase smirked before kissing her again. Talia smiled back at him once they broke apart and loosened his tie for him.

"I missed you more. Dinner will be done soon. How was your first day back, by the way?" she smirked as she went back to stirring the creamy curry.

"Oh, it was…you know…work. Fine, I guess. Patient had to have 16 splenectomies, the team sends you their love, kinda punched your dad in the face…what else…" Chase listed casually.

But Talia and Cameron turned to Chase in surprise.

"You…did WHAT?" Cameron hissed. Talia could barely formulate the words properly.

"Robert, please tell me that's a joke," she finally groaned. "Seriously. Tell me you didn't get fired again-"

"I didn't," Chase assured her calmly.

"Then what the hell happened?!" Cameron found herself asking before Talia could even bother.

"He was purposely getting under my skin all day and I let him do it," Chase explained with a fed up sigh. "It was my fault. But he started saying mean, childish but hurtful stuff about you. And I stupidly allowed it to rattle me - but I'm fine." Talia let out a long sigh and shook her head at Cameron, the two of them fully, for once, stumped for words.

"Why can't he be happy for people like any other person? Why does he have to be so difficult?" Cameron finally groaned out in annoyance.

"Seriously, Allison? Because it's HOUSE. And House can't be happy for anyone unless he's happy himself and even then, he's still bloody well unhappy," Talia muttered, keeping her attention solely on the curry so that she didn't freak out in front of them.

"Yeah that's great and everything, and I'm glad we can all read House's misery like a book - but he can't be like this forever!" Cameron exclaimed. "How does he keep getting away with it? Chase, please don't tell me you apologised?"

"Course I did! He's not only my boss but he's also my father in law," Chase frowned back, causing Talia to look up at him with a surprised little smile. "Actually, he said he deserved it but…I don't think he did-"

"Big thing for him to admit," Talia shrugged as she took out the bowls for all three of them.

"Still, how do you make that's someone so miserable…happy again?" Cameron sighed in exasperation. "I mean let's face it - as long as he's happy, everyone else is."

"Hm," Talia hummed to herself. "I have a little idea. And we can implement it in roughly…two weeks."