Part Nine

They had been together for three months before anyone found out, although Cameron suspected that on some level Matthew knew considering Chase was often at her house when he came to collect Oliver. They didn't talk about it, they didn't talk about much except for Oliver now. She wished it could have been easier, but nothing is ever simple when you share custody.

But even if Matthew knew, his opinions and unhappiness about their relationship wouldn't really affect their everyday lives, unlike what might happen if the other people in their lives found out.

But unfortunately, it had got to a point where they had no choice but to inform people about their relationship.

"Do you know Maria in radiology?"

Chase looked up as Foreman entered his office, it had become a habit of his to walk in uninvited. But Foreman liked to remind him that he was his boss and so could do what he wanted.

"Don't think so," he replied, not liking where he thought Foreman might be going with this.

"She started about a month ago, she's the radiologist who replaced Dr Kingman," Foreman continued. "Brunette, hot, your type."

"I don't have a type," Chase countered as a matter of fact.

"Well apparently you're her type," Foreman said suggestively. "She's been asking people about you."

"Not interested," Chase responded automatically.

He was trying to sound nonchalant but inside his heart was pounding. Did he already know and was just testing him? Or did he genuinely want to set him up with this woman? Foreman had been throwing out suggestive comments about Cameron ever since she had come back and had even made them work together on a couple of occasions, but now he was suddenly changing to another woman. He wanted to ask him why but didn't want to give him any indication about what was actually happening between him and Cameron.

"Are you feeling okay?" Foreman asked jokingly. "You haven't dated anyone in months and now you're turning down an opportunity."

"Maybe I've grown out of it," Chase suggested half-heartedly.

Foreman nodded but seemed unconvinced.

At the worst timing possible Chase saw Cameron walking towards his office and his eyes widened to tell her to not come in at this moment, she nodded and turned on her heals to avoid seeing Foreman and making the situation worse. But Foreman was nothing if not perceptive and he looked out of the window to see Cameron walking away.

"It's got nothing to do with you and Cameron playing house?" Foreman asked, a grin appearing on his face as though he had just caught them in the act.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, avoiding eye contact.

Foreman raised his eyebrows but let the conversation drop, instead changing the subject to the new budget plans for the diagnostic department.

Chase let out a sigh of relief but knew that this was a conversation he would have to have with his girlfriend later that night.

"Hi babe," Chase called out as he let himself into her house.

It seemed like these days he was spending more time at her house than he did at her own. It was like the line that they had once drawn between their lives was blurred again and every day that went by they became increasingly blurred.

He saw Oliver sitting in his swing on the floor and went to pick him up as he waved his arms at him enthusiastically.

"Hi buddy," Chase greeted him as he carried on his hip and went to find his girlfriend in the kitchen.

He saw her grabbing a drink from the fridge and kissed her neck from behind making her laugh.

"Hi," she said softly. "How was your day?"

"Boring," Chase replied as he put Oliver in his high chair in the kitchen so they could keep an eye on them. "I couldn't wait to come home and see you."

"Does all of this flattery have anything to do with Foreman being in your office earlier?" she asked. "You didn't seem happy that he was there."

Chase knew he had been caught and there was no putting it off anymore.

"Foreman wants to set me up with a radiologist," he admitted. "I think he suspects something."

"Well, I'm assuming you said no to the date," she said, half-joking. "Or we're going to be having a serious conversation about monogamy."

"Actually, we're going out on Friday," he replied teasingly.

She raised her eyebrows at him, challenging him to keep going with the joke.

"Of course I said no," he gave in. "I don't want to be with anyone but you."

His insides melted when he saw her smile in reaction to what he had just said.

"But you didn't tell him about us?" she assumed based on him not wanting her to be involved in their conversation.

"No," he admitted.

He saw her look down at the floor and knew that she didn't like that answer.

"Don't you think it's better if we just keep it between us?" he suggested. "There's no one who can judge us and share their opinions about us."

"And your plan is to just do that forever?" Cameron asked him sceptically.

He made a mental note of the word forever, it was nice that she was thinking in those terms and when he thought about their relationship this time that was also the word that he thought of too.

"I don't know," he muttered. "I just want to have you all to myself and I know that when people at work find out this isn't going to be ours anymore."

She smiled sympathetically at him but he recognised that she disagreed with him.

"We shouldn't be ashamed of our relationship," she commented. "We're adults and we're doing nothing wrong, if people want to bring up the past then that's their decision."

Chase couldn't bite his tongue then.

"Does that include you parents?" he commented before he could stop himself.

He realised the mistake he'd made when she raised her eyebrows at him disapprovingly.

"Telling Foreman and telling my parents are completely different things," she argued, putting her hands on her hips and giving him flashbacks to when they used to work together.

"Not really," he muttered. "If everything you just said is true then why can't we tell your parents? They're going to have to know eventually."

"Have you ever thought that I don't want to tell them because I'm trying to protect you from them when they get pissed off about the whole situation?" Cameron suggested.

Something that amazed him was that even when she was upset she rarely raised her voice, instead she tended to get quieter and more calm.

"I think that however long we leave it we're going to have to deal with the consequences and the longer we leave it the more difficult it's going to be," he said evenly. "I know that they've asked you about spending time with them at Thanksgiving and you've been putting it off because of me."

She looked down at the floor, she didn't know how he knew that but it was true. Her agreement with Matthew was that he would have Oliver at Thanksgiving and she would get him at Christmas. Knowing this, her parents had asked her to come to Chicago for Thanksgiving with the family but she wanted to spend it with Chase, she knew that Chase wasn't really into Thanksgiving since he was Australian but she still didn't want him to be alone.

"I'll tell them," she conceded. "Not tonight but I will before Thanksgiving, I'm going to do it in my own time."

He supposed that was a start at least so gave her a grateful kiss and he dropped the subject for that night.

Foreman had taken the dean of medicine job over a year ago now and he still wasn't sure whether it was the right decision. On the one hand it was an honor to have the job and the part of him fuelled by ambition was proud of the move in his career, but when he had imagined being a doctor it had never been sitting in an office spending his days in meetings. He had enjoyed the complications of managing House when he had still been the head of the diagnostics department but managing Chase had completely different challenges.

Foreman and Chase's relationship had been up and down throughout their time as colleagues and then as boss and employee but there was no doubting that they knew how the other functioned at this point. He knew how destructive Chase could be when his life was out of balance and his tendencies to rely on alcohol and women, so he liked to keep a close eye on him both for Chase's own health and for his own selfish interests to keep the diagnostics department running.

He didn't know whether to be worried or not that Chase wasn't currently dating and was coming to work on time and doing a good job with the diagnostics department because he was definitely keeping something from him. He'd had suspicions when Cameron had come back from Chicago that there might have been something going on between the two of them, but he'd reminded himself that Cameron had only recently split up from the father of her child and Chase had reminded him about their painful divorce.

He walked into Chase's office only to find that he wasn't there when he saw something that surprised him. Chase was pulling a crying Cameron into the diagnostics office and closing the blinds. Foreman knew that he should let them have their privacy but curiosity got the best of him so he ducked behind the bookshelf in Chase's office, so they couldn't see him.

"I'm sorry babe," Chase said.

Foreman raised his eyebrows at that. So he had been right all along, they were back together and if the pet names were anything to by then they had been for a while.

"I don't know what I was expecting," Cameron replied, her voice exposing how distressed she was. "But they were so angry with me, with both of us."

"What happened?" Chase asked. "I thought you were going to wait to tell them?"

There was a second of silence as they sat down but Chase kept hold of her hand and leaned in to her.

"They asked me about thanksgiving again and asked me to go to Chicago again," she started explaining. "But when I told them I wanted to stay here they kept asking why and I told them about us, that I wanted to spend the holidays with you."

"Maybe they just need time," Chase suggested. "We knew they weren't going to take it well."

"They basically called me a slut," she cried. "They said I was moving on too fast and that I wasn't thinking about Oliver."

"We both know that's bullshit," Chase replied, running his hand over her back. "They weren't expecting it, hell even we weren't expecting this to happen."

"I know that," she said, nodding in determination. "I just wish that we didn't have to deal with this kind of thing."

That made Foreman swallow in guilt, he was now starting to understand why they hadn't told anyone yet. Even in their first time trying a relationship there had been challenges with Cameron's commitment issues from her first husband clouding every step of the way. Now there was even more baggage with the ghost of Dibala and the divorce papers they had both signed, even Cameron's son was an obstacle, as harsh as it sounded.

"They'll come around," he insisted as he pulled her close to him and held her in his arms.

At that point Foreman couldn't watch anymore so he silently and swiftly left Chase's office, still processing what he had just witnessed.

Later that day Foreman saw Chase coming towards him down the hallway, they nodded and smiled at each other.

"Hi," Chase greeted as they approached each other. "How's your day going?"

"Good," Foreman responded, stopping in front of him. "A lot of meetings but I might have just secured some extra funding for the oncology department."

"No extra funding for diagnostics?" Chase replied, half joking since he already knew the answer.

"Your department is already over funded," Foreman replied, smiling at how far their relationship had come. The ability to joke with each other without hostility and competition was nice.

"I was actually thinking of hiring another fellow," Chase continued. "I think both Park and Adams are starting to want to move on and it would be nice to have some crossover before they do."

"We can look into it," Foreman responded, knowing that it was a sensible move.

"I'll see you later," Chase said as he started to walk away.

Foreman had an internal debate for a second before calling after Chase.

"Hey," Foreman stopped him. "You and Cameron, I'm happy for you."

Chase looked taken aback but smiled in appreciation and walked away, clearly not wanting to talk about it anymore. Foreman didn't see the smile that graced his face as he walked away and the happiness that both he and Cameron were feeling when Chase told her about the interaction later that night.

"This was a mistake," Cameron said, panic lacing her voice as she waited at the airport with Chase beside her.

"This was your idea," Chase said tiredly.

It felt like the tenth time that day that she had said that. In an effort to make up with her parents Cameron had invited them to spend thanksgiving with them in Princeton and ever since she had extended the invitation there had been comments about how this was a recipe for disaster.

"Well, it was a stupid idea," she said grumpily as she spotted her parents arriving.

They walked towards the pair of doctors but didn't hug Cameron like they normally would and didn't even seem to acknowledge Chase's presence.

"Hi mom," Cameron said nervously as her mom nodded at her. "Hi dad."

Her dad gave her a tight smile.

"Paul let me grab your bag," Chase offered as he reached for his former father-in-law's bag.

But he didn't get far as it was soon pulled back again.

"I'll carry it," her dad replied shortly and Chase awkwardly stood back and put his hands in his pockets.

"It's good to see you again," Chase tried again. "Both of you."

He didn't get a reply from her dad but her mom nodded at him, not quite in agreement but at least it was some acknowledgment.

"Allison tells me you're leading the diagnostics department now?"

"Yeah," Chase replied. "It's definitely been a change to be the head of a department, Allison's been giving me some tips."

"Hmm," her dad replied. "Allison sure learned a lot by being the head of the emergency department back in Chicago."

"I'm also the head of the department in Princeton dad," she argued unhappily, sensing that her dad was going to use any opportunity to get one-up on Chase.

"Can we not start the day with an argument?" her mom pleaded.

"Sorry mom," she apologised before leading them to the car, sharing tense glances with Chase as they walked.

It had been 24 hours since Cameron's parents had arrived at her house and she wasn't sure she could handle another day with them before they went home to Chicago.

"Oliver made this for you," Cameron said as she gave her parents a picture of Oliver's handprints with the words happy thanksgiving written at the top.

That at least put a smile on their faces, they cooed over the picture and talked about how much he had grown in such a short space of time. It was clear that they missed having their grandson live so close to them.

"I know he's grown up a lot but I'm guessing he's not writing yet," Cameron's dad joked as he pointed at the written words at the top of the paper.

"Robert may have helped," she said almost shyly, knowing that her parents might not like that.

She was right, her dad glared at Chase quickly and her mom put the picture in her bag.

"It's a shame that he's not here for his first thanksgiving," her mom commented with a pointed look at Cameron.

Cameron felt her jaw clench and she took a deep breath to stop herself from saying something equally unkind back to her. But then she felt Chase's hand on her back, easing her and the tension in all of her muscles melted away.

"He's going to be spending Christmas with us though," she said diplomatically. "And that was what both me and Matthew wanted, his family go big at Thanksgiving and I'd prefer to have him at Christmas."

"Are you and Oliver coming to Chicago at Christmas?" her dad asked, pointedly not inviting Chase. "I know your brother would like to see you."

It was taking everything in her not to blow up at her parents.

"Probably not," she replied curtly. "Robert and I were planning on spending Christmas together, just the three of us."

Her dad stayed silent but his face expressed his true feelings about that.

She wondered whether they would ever get over this and accept Chase into their family again, but for now she was going to stand up for him and let them know that he was a priority in her life, as he always should have been.

Later in the day Cameron was washing dishes when her mom cornered her in the kitchen.

"Are you sure about this Allison?" her mom asked, not even bothering to start with small talk.

Cameron didn't know what to say, so she didn't reply for a minute, instead scrubbing the dishes until they were too clean. She closed her eyes and took in a breath.

"I don't want to do this today mom," she said firmly. "Robert is a part of my life and we don't plan on that changing any time soon."

Her mom seemed taken aback at her assertiveness and the cloth that she had been drying the dishes with paused in her hands.

Cameron felt her heart pound and her breaths quicken, as though her body was rejecting the conflict that they had started. It was a longstanding issue that she had been dealing with since she was a child, hating getting into arguments and in an effort to please people she had gone along with things even when she knew her happiness would be at stake.

"Allison, I saw how broken you were when you split up three years ago," her mom replied, turning her so she could look at her directly in the eyes. "You and Matthew were happy together, you had a family and now you've given it all up to be with someone who hurt you."

She wanted to scream to her mom that everything she said was far from the truth. It wasn't only her who was broken when they had got divorced, Chase had confessed how much his perspective on life had changed after she'd left and how he had drowned himself in alcohol and women, even experimented with drugs on occasion, truly living up to the party boy doctor image that had been projected onto him. Her and Matthew weren't happy, as much as they had tried to be because she had already experienced true love before she'd thrown it all away and she knew the difference.

"Mom I'm not a child anymore," she said. "I'm an adult, a mother, a doctor and I deserve for you to trust me to make my own decisions. At this point in my life Chase and I are what the other needs and wants, it's that simple."

Her mom frowned at her and her obvious disapproval hurt Cameron more than she was willing to admit.

"And what is going to happen when you break up this time?" her mom asked sternly. "Are you going to run back to Chicago and get pregnant again?"

Her chest stung in the way her cheek would have if she'd been slapped. Her mother had never spoken to her like that before and as she felt the tears prick her eyes she backed out of the room, not wanting her mother to see the betrayal in her eyes.

She kept walking until she reached the front door and ignored the calls from her dad and her boyfriend as she kept walking through the door and then down the street, needing to remove herself from the situation.

By the time she had reached the end of the street Chase had caught up with her.

"Want some company?" he asked.

She smiled at him and nodded gently, appreciating that he wasn't pushing her with this.

It was only then that she noticed he had hastily grabbed her coat as he'd left the house. He wrapped it around her shoulders and the immediate warmth it brought her put her at ease. She held his hand gratefully as they walked through the cold fall night.

"Do you know what's a ten minute walk away from here?" he asked, not sure if this was a conversation he wanted to have now but knowing that they needed to talk about it.

She looked at him and swallowed, almost with guilt.

"I know," she assured him with an earnest whisper.

He nodded and they both subconsciously decided on their destination.

There was silence hanging in the air as they passed the houses full of families celebrating thanksgiving together. Throughout all of the years they had known each other this was the first time they had spent thanksgiving together as at least one of them had always been working, it wasn't a holiday either of them had a particular affection for but with their renewal of their relationship there were new memories to make together.

They reached the wall of the gardens and memories flooded the both of them. There were visions of a white dress and promises that they made, not meaning them as much as they should have and there was love, so much love that it hurt her heart to think about how much they had betrayed each other.

"Do you think the gate's open?" Cameron asked hesitantly, curiosity getting the better of her.

They walked to the entrance of the gardens and found the gate locked but further down the street the fence was lower and there was a bench leaning against the wall.

Cameron glanced at Chase mischievously, it reminded him of the thrill they used to get when they were sneaking around, pretending that they were just friends with benefits because that was easier than admitting they were falling for each other.

"We shouldn't do it should we?" she said, almost daring him.

"We shouldn't," he agreed but his eyes betrayed him. "But when has the fact that we're professional, grown up people stopped us from doing things we shouldn't before?"

With more difficulty than they were anticipating they both managed to climb over the fence and they giggled as they realised the absurdity of what they were doing, breaking into their wedding venue 4 years after they had got married and 3 years after they had got divorced.

They walked through the grounds, hand in hand in perfect silence and watched as the water in the pond glistened in the moonlight.

Eventually they came across the exact spot they got married and it was that point when they came to a pause and he dropped her hand.

Cameron walked under the roof of the gazebo where they had exchanged vows and rings that day so many years ago, it took her breath away to think of all the time and life that had passed since then.

"I don't think I meant all of the vows we made that day."

Chase's voice surprised her as he approached her from behind, resting his hand on her hip.

"Me too," she agreed, leaning back into him. "I think in my soul I knew that we weren't supposed to get married then."

"It wasn't that I didn't love you then," he reassured her. "Because I did and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but I pushed you so hard that I think I pushed you away."

"We pushed each other away," Cameron admitted. "I got scared when you told me about Dibala because my first instinct was to protect you, to give you my absolute full attention and love which is what I'd done throughout my entire life. Trying to save people. But our relationship had never been that and when I felt that starting, I just knew I couldn't do that to you, or even myself."

Chase spun her around with his hands resting on both of her hips now as she faced him.

"I wanted you there to save me," he admitted, a single tear resting in his eyes. "Maybe that's selfish of me, but I was in a dark place for a long time after that and if there was anyone who could have lifted me out of it, it would have been you."

"It wouldn't have been healthy for us," she disputed. "I needed to work through my emotions and saviour complex by myself."

"I know," he whispered. "I think all of this needed to happen though, because I wouldn't give back this feeling that I have here with you tonight for anything."

"I want to make a promise to you," she said determined. "I'm going to love you the way you have deserved it from this moment on, I promise to be there for you, even when you're having dark days, especially when you're having dark days. And I promise that I will never take you or our love for granted again."

Chase smiled at her before starting his own promises.

"Allison, you have given me something that I never knew I wanted or needed, a family. And even if it isn't conventional, it is somehow better because we chose to make this family work, however hard it is sometimes. I promise to protect our love, our family and all of our happiness."

Looking back to that day 4 years ago Cameron knew that the promises she had made today were coming from a more true and more brave heart than they had back then. She didn't know if she and Chase would ever get married again but this commitment on a night that had drove her to tears was more than a piece of paper and a ring ever could.