PART 8

When House finally parked the car, Wilson spoke, "What are we doing here?"

"I would think that would be pretty obvious."

"Ummmm, this is a jewelry store,"

"My God, Wilson, you're a fucking genius." House stated as he got out of the car and headed toward the door."

"Greg, don't you think we should talk to Allie about this first?"

"Why? It is the best for all of us."

"How is that exactly?"

House sighed and stopped. "For one, Allison will have something every woman I have ever met wanted: a diamond ring and a paper saying she snagged her man. The child won't be born out of wedlock..."

"What if it's mine?" Wilson shot back a him.

"What if it's mine, or the mailman's or Foreman's? What is this really about Wilson?" James shrugged and shifted his feet. House looked at him, saw the strained look on his face and pulled him into a back private room at the store.

"James, hey..." He cupped the side of the younger mans face. "Listen to me, I'm only going to say this one more time. This will not change things between us. For over 8 years I sat back and watched you marry woman after woman in hoping you would find something you were missing from me. Allie is that something and I would never take that away from you... This is something I need to do. I want to do this, please understand."

"I'm scared Greg. Scared of losing you, of losing Allie, scared of finally becoming a father, though I'm not sure the child is even mine." he said with a small laugh, "This is all happening so fast, and this is so drastic for you. I'm reeling, that's all Greg. I'll be fine." He took a deep breath and said, "Let me pay for half the ring," Greg started to shake his head no and Wilson held up his hand to stop him. "Please Greg. Let me do this, let me be involved in this as much as possible. No one has to know, not even Allie if you don't want..."

"Fine, maybe we can even get you a band or something. Something for the right hand though, it would look odd, you showing up married and no one knew about it... Oh wait, no it wouldn't - You've done this like 10 times already, no one would be surprised. They probably know you by name here."

They walked over by the diamonds and the sales man came out, "Dr. Wilson, how nice to see you again." House just looked at Jim and rolled his eyes. Wilson had that shy smile on his face, trying hard to look sheepish. "Are you getting married again?"

"No Hector, this time it's my friend who's taking the plunge,"

"Congratulations sir, you must be very excited."

"Thrilled. Can we hurry up. We only get an hour for lunch."

"Since when have you ever worried about that?" House rolled his eyes for the second time. Why did he want to keep Wilson around again?

They started to look for the four C's; Cut, Clarity, Carat, Cost. Well House didn't care about the cost so that one was down. Hector was thrilled with that development; you could almost see the dollar signs in his eyes. As for cut, House wanted something simple and beautiful... he liked the Princess cut. Clarity? Only the best. That left them with carat.

"Well House, what do you think about this one?" Wilson asked with a sigh.

House was board and annoyed. He just wanted to get a freakin' diamond put in a ring so he could give it to her. They had been there an hour and a half already, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a jeweler."

"House..." Wilson sighed, almost a whine.

"This one, it's perfect. Set it, I'll be back at six." House told Hector, before getting up and walking out of the store. Neither of them spoke on the way back to the hospital; each was lost in their own thoughts.

Allison had her head in the toilet most of the day. The morning sickness had kicked in, full force, and it didn't seem to realize it was afternoon. "Oh... make it stop," she moaned to herself. She never heard the door open up as both House and Wilson searched the house for her, only to find her laying on the floor in the bathroom.

"Allison are you ok?" Wilson was quickly helping her up off the floor.

"Wait Jim, not so fast, unless you want me to ruin your expensive shoes. I think I'm dying. I hope I'm dying."

"Have you eaten anything today?" House asked her. She turned green.

"House dammit, she is sick. I don't think you should talk about food." Wilson scolded him.

"Well, if she ate little meals, it would help keep the sickness at bay. I'm going to make you some soup. You can't afford to lose any weight."

"Oh so now I'm too skinny?" she shot at him.

"I didn't say that. I said that you shouldn't loose weight when you are pregnant."

"I know that Dr. House. In case you forgot, I'm also a doctor." she snapped at him. He turned on his heel and walked away. "Greg, wait.." She called after him, but he didn't come back. She started to cry.

"How about you take a shower Allison. It will make you feel better. You can eat something when you get out." Wilson was once again being the peace maker. She was irrational, having spent her entire day on in the bathroom. House was... emotional; it was something he was not used to, and certainly didn't like. House didn't do emotional; well he just got more prickly in the hopes of hiding he true feelings and fears.

James found him in the kitchen, making soup. "She didn't mean it.. You know that right?"

"Yeah."

"She's sick."

"I know."

"Are you going to ask her tonight?" A shrug. "Well, it may make her feel better,"

"And it may make her think I'm doing it only doing it because of the baby."

"Aren't you?" James eyed him. He was the only one who that could disarm House with a look. Cameron could read him, but it was James who saw everything. "You're afraid she'll say no. You WANT to marry her, don't you? Oh my God, I never thought I would see the day." Wilson ran his hands in his hair.

"She deserves it, putting up with the two of us. I don't know Wilson, I can't explain it."

"I can. You love her." A quick nod from House. James walked over to him and embraced him. "You're a good man Greg. This just makes me love you even more. We can do this. We'll find a way." They kissed for a few moments. It was desperate and passionate, almost violent, like their love. They broke apart as Cameron entered the room.

"Greg," she said, almost a sob and he held out an arm for her. The three of them stood in the kitchen, holding each other as she sobbed.

Allison ate the soup and drank some ginger ale. House and Wilson clucked over her like little mother hens. She almost laughed at the sight. House was right, she did feel a little better, though she wasn't sure if it was the food or them. It was a relief that they knew and were taking it so well.

During her musing, they got quiet. Too quiet. She looked at them, House shifted uncomfortably and Wilson looked strained and nervous. She swallowed and tried to find her voice; her mouth suddenly felt dry. "What?" she finally managed. Wilson looked at House and saw he had turned white.

His eyes stood out more than normal and he wouldn't meet anyone's gaze. Wilson cleared his throat, Greg glanced at him then turned the full power of his eyes on to Allison. Her heart stopped, then beat frantically with fear.

"Allie," he started. She could feel the sting of tears, he was leaving. Oh God, she thought, here it comes. "I...Wilson and I... Dammit..." He was stammering, He never stammered. Dropping his cane, he pulled out a chair and sat in front of Allison. He took her hand and noticed that his were trembling. He cursed himself silently. Allison was sitting there, her eyes huge, her heart beating a thousand times a minute with no idea what was going on. He shot a look at Wilson and wondered how he managed to do this three times, when he couldn't even do it once.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box and set it down in front of her. She looked at it like she had no idea what it was. A small black velvet box only left one of two things, earrings or a ring. She looked up at him, puzzled. He sighed, wishing she would just say yes already. Than it dawned on him: he had never asked the question.

Allison felt detached from her body. She was sitting, which was a good thing; House was across from her, looking far more nervous than she had ever seen him. Wilson stood, stone quiet and nothing was making any sense to her.

"Marry me." He finally managed to get the words past the lump in his throat.

"What?" she whispered.

House sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes as he tried to collect himself. "I want you to marry me Allie."

"Because of the baby?"

"Yes. No! Because I love you." He was, in fact shanking now.

"You love me?"

"Yes,"

She looked up at Jim, "We can't. What about James."

"It's Ok Allie. Greg and I have talked about this. It is for the best. It won't change anything between us. It will still be the three of us. This is for your parents, for you and for the baby. No one will be able to say anything bad about you, or House. Besides everyone already thinks the two of you are involved. Imagine the looks on their faces when they see this..." He smiled, trying to reassure her. It would actually be funny to see.

"Please Allie, let me do this for you. Marry me."

"Under one condition,"

House knew he wouldn't like this, but said, "Ok, what?"

"Tell me you love me again,"

He smiled for the first time all day; actually, for the first time in a long while, and when it reached his eyes making them sparkle in a way she had never seen. "I love you Allison. Marry me, and in a round about way, Wilson also. We can say our own vowels with him. It'll be our own little thing, rings and everything. What do you say?"

"Yes Greg, I will marry you, and we both can marry James. I love you both." House took the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger with steady hands. Another hurdle had been crossed on the road to happiness.