"Rules of Engagement"
ChapterFour: Obsessive
Author's note: Love all the reviews! To irock708and other loyal readers, you will have your fill of pregnancy in later chapters, don't you worry! I am not telling you anymore, I would hate to ruin the surprise..
EDITED: I had to edit this chapter as well as chapter two because of some new information I have recieved about House's parents. I have decided to be true to the script and change somethings(SPOILER-->) "Meet the parents: John, "mid-sixties", very tall, career marine. Blythe, "the same age as her husband", attractive, very well dressed." -amysusanne a tvwp. They make their appearence in the fifth episode( --END OF SPOILER)
with that said, enjoy the chapter!
"Jimmy, you are one of the slowest drivers I have ever seen. We should have been here an hour ago," House snapped as they rode up the escalator.
"Not everyone drives a constant seventy miles per hour like you do."
"They should, you get places faster," they walked toward their seats, and as soon as they sat down, House spotted a hotdog vendor. He lifted himself up, "I'll be right back. I'm starving."
"Didn't Allison feed you before you went out?"
"She's my fiancé, not my mother. Unlike you, I don't enslave my lover to cook, clean, and iron for me. "
Wilson didn't respond. Being best friends with House for many years, he knew that it was best to let him get the last word in.
Meanwhile, Cameron had just begun to take a long-delayed nap. The phone began to ring just as she closed her eyes. It had been a stressful day at the hospital, and she just wanted to take a relaxing nap. She decided to ignore it, but the phone kept ringing. It rang about eight times before Cameron rolled herself off the couch.
"Hello?" Cameron said, irritated.
"Who is this?" A female voice asked.
"This is Allison."
"Oh, you're his girlfriend. Well, it's nice to actually speak to you. I have heard enough about you, after all. Not from Greg directly because I never hear from him. He can be very stubborn."
Cameron was confused, "May I ask who this is?"
"I would think you would have caller ID. Well, never mind, because if you did, he'd never answer my calls," she laughed. "I'm Greg's mother."
"Why hello, Mrs. House," Cameron replied, now very interested.
"Call me Blythe. Mrs. House makes me sound old. Even though I am, I don't like to feel that way."
"Well, Blythe, Greg's at a baseball game with his friend. He'll be back later tonight."
"He leaves you all alone on a Friday night? He wouldn't exactly qualify for boyfriend-of-the-year award, now would he?" She laughed.
"No he wouldn't. At least not for boyfriend, anyway," she paused, contemplating whether she should say anything, because the woman obviously hadn't a clue, "Mainly because he's my fiancé now."
BlytheHouse was silent for a while, digesting the idea. She was used to surprises, not quite like this though, "Wow, congratulations. Welcome to the family!" she said contently.
"Thank you very much. The wedding is planned for May 20th. Of course you can expect an invitation."
"I'll definitely mark the date on my calendar. Well, then, tell me more about yourself. It makes sense that I should know a bit about you, considering you're marrying my son."
Wow, this was a little awkward. She was marrying House, and the woman didn't even know anything substantial about her. Regardless, Cameron spoke, "Sure. My full name is Allison Cameron, but you probably know that already. I am an immunologist and work with Greg in diagnostics. I'm thirty years old and love your son very much."
"That's good to hear. Have you ever been married before?"
Oh course she has to ask that,. "Yes, when I was twenty one I married a close friend of mine."
"What ever happened?"
"He died of cancer."
"I'm sorry. Did you know he was dying when you married him?"
"Yes..."
She was a bit puzzled. "Well, it was your decision and I'll have to respect that. Marriage is for life, his just ended sooner," she said in a stern voice. "Just for clarification, you're marrying Greg for the right reasons right?"
"I am marrying him because I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. If that is what you classify as the right reasons, then I guess I am."
"Sorry if this feels like an interrogation."
"It's alright," Cameron lied.
"You guys should come up to visit sometime."
"That would be nice."
"How about Thanksgiving?"
"Oh…I'm sorry. We're going to my parent's house in Minnesota for Thanksgiving."
"Well, then you can come to our Christmas Eve party."
"Tell you what, I'll talk it over with Greg and we'll get back to you."
"Sounds good. I have to go now, dinner is burning. It was nice talking to you."
"Same to you. Goodbye now," Cameron said just before she hung up. Well, she had finally talked to Greg's mother. The woman he talked so little about. Blythe seemed rather nice.Cameron just hoped that she wouldn't turn out to be the mother in law from hell.
It was the ninth inning. The score was tied four to four. Derek Jeter of the Yankees hit a pop fly into right field. It was an easy out, but to everyone's surprise the ball slipped out of the outfielder's glove. The happy runner rounded the bases as the fans booed, "Catch the fucking ball you piece of useless shit!" House yelled, "Game over! Another win for the Yankees"
"Watch your language. This is a family event," Wilson chided.
"Has that ever stopped me before? Come on, maybe if we hurry we can join the riot that is sure to happen in the parking lot," They got up from their seats and started walking.
"Does Allison like that violent quality in you?"
"I don't know. I'll ask her." House flipped out his phone and dialed her number. Shit, it's busy, "That woman is on the phone constantly. I haven't been able to get in touch with her tonight."
"Greg, you've become obsessed with her."
"Yeah, completely. Checking up on her every once and a while is completely obsessive," he said sarcastically.
"You called her at least five times during the game."
"I was just going to tell her the score."
"Come on, be honest. Both of us know she could care less. She probably doesn't even know what an inning is. I think you just miss her."
"Oh look at that! Souvenirs," House made his way to the large stand.
"You're changing the subject."
"Wow, you're observant. You must be like some kind of genius doctor or something. Wait, I forgot, that's my title."
"Damn, House, if your brain was as big as your ego, I wouldn't be surprised if you found the cure for cancer."
"Then, my friend, you would be out of a job, and I wouldn't want to do that to you," he looked around the stand, "What do you think Ally would like?"
"Obsessive," Wilson muttered rather loudly.
"I am not obsessive! It's just in the rules; you have to get your fiancé a gift whenever you go away, or in this case, go to a baseball game."
"What rules?"
"I would think you of all people would know this, since you've been married three times," he said in his usual sarcastic fashion, "It's just common sense. The rules of engagement, I guess."
"Did you get this off the Internet?"
"Nope. Now, she didn't ask me to bring her anything, but I can guarantee you she's expecting something. It's just how women work."
"Gregory House, expert on women. There's that ego again. Just because you found 'the one', or you think you have, doesn't mean you're hot stuff. Remember that."
House decided to ignore this, "Think she'd like a bobble head?"
"You know her better than I do" he sighed.
"A baseball hat. No, she doesn't wear hats. Maybe a shirt, but they all have Yankee signs on them!"
"Well, this is Yankee Stadium. What'd you expect?."
"That one's perfect," he said, pointing to a navy blue shirt which read in white letters 'My boyfriend went to a baseball game and all he got me was this lousy shirt.' He smirked and turned to the man at the counter, "I'll take that shirt in an adult small."
Cameron lay back down on the couch. She missed House, but on the other hand, she needed some alone time. Nestling her head into the pillow, she tried to fall asleep, but it wasn't working. It became apparent that something was missing. House had been gone for only three hours and she already felt uneasy about being alone. She couldn't help but feel pathetic. Was she turning being compulsive? She hoped not. The phone began to ring. Maybe it's Greg, she thought excitedly. This time it only had to ring once for her to answer.
"Hello?"
"Ally, it's Eric."
She couldn't help but feel disappointed, "Oh. How are you?"
"Good. How are you?"
"Lonely. House is out at a baseball game."
"I see. You're really falling for him, huh?"
"It's more like I already fell and I can't get up. It's pathetic.
"No it's not, you're in love. I don't know why you're in love with House, but I gave up trying to figure that out a long time ago."
"Yeah, thanks," she sighed, "He's my better half. Well…my more arrogant, sarcastic half."
"That's good…Hey, I was wondering if we could talk."
"Sure, I'm all ears. I need something to take my mind off the fact that the house is empty, anyway."
"It's about Chase."
"Did he tell you to call me?"
"Nope, I'm doing this on my own free will. He was just trying to be your friend."
"By aimlessly and rudely insulting both myself and my fiancé? Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think that classifies as an act of friendship."
"He thinks he knows what he's doing, but he doesn't. I'm not defending what he did, it was stupid, but I think you should lighten up on him."
"What are you talking about? I haven't been rude to him."
"Today at lunch when he sat down with us, you picked up your food and left."
"I had to go to the bathroom."
"And you took your food with you?" he asked skeptically, "You don't have to be friends with him, I'm just asking you to forgive him."
"I might be able to forgive, but not forget."
"That's all I'm asking."
"You don't feel the same way as him, do you?"
"I tried to figure you two out, but then decided not to waste my energy. I respect you both, and I have faith that you know what you're doing."
"Thanks, Eric."
"Well, I have to get going. Try to get some sleep tonight. I bet you're already stressing over the wedding."
"Not as much as I should. Luckily I have some time. Eight whole months. But I am tired, so I'll go too. Nice talking to you," As soon as Cameron hung up the phone she heard the door unlock. She eagerly rose from her seat.
House had barely walked through the door before he was greeted with a hug and a happy Cameron.
"Did you have fun?" she asked, trying (and failing) to mask the fact that she was ecstatic to see him again, even if it had only been a few hours.
He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the lips, "The Yankees won."
"That's good."
"Are you kidding me? It's horrible. Now they're in first place."
"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm talking about. Baseball's never been my thing anyway."
"That's fine. I got you something," He reached in a plastic bag and tossed a shirt at her.
"My boyfriend went to a baseball game and all he got me was this lousy t-shirt," she read, "That's so sweet. Weird, but sweet. Thank you so much!"
He gave her a small smirk, "I know I'm technically your fiancé, but that's all they had," He popped some Vicodin in his mouth, "And as much as I'd love to throw you in the bedroom and have my way with you right now, I'm tired. Do you mind if we just sleep tonight?"
"That's exactly what I was thinking. I had a long day, too" She pulled her shirt over her tank top. House sneered at her.
"Talking on the phone sure is an exhausting exercise."
"How did you know I was on the phone?"
Because I called you about ten times and all I got was a busy signal, "It's what I can expect of you."
"Guess who I talked to?"
"Cuddy? She still traumatized over the threesome comment?"
"Nope, even though she probably still is. I talked to Foreman and more importantly, your mother."
The sneer faded and his jaw dropped, "You talked to my mother?"
"Yes, she seemed nice."
"She's not the one you have to worry about."
"Let me guess, your father is a real bastard?"
"That's an understatement."
"Now I know where you get it from," she smiled. "I'm surprised she didn't know we were engaged," House looked away when she said this, "I had to break the news to her."
"How'd she take it?"
"Fine. She invited us to a party Christmas Eve, so I guess I won her over."
"Damn! Now we can't say we didn't know about the party" he said, looking disappointed.
"It'll be fun."
"Oh no, it won't. We're not—"
"We're going. No, if, ands, or buts. I have to meet your family sooner or later."
"No, really, you don't."
"House, I don't want to argue right now, I'm too tired," She grabbed his hand and pulled him off to bed. Neither of them bothering with changing their clothes, they just collapsed into bed. She wrapped her arms around him and curled up close to him.
"You just love to cuddle, don't you? It's like I'm some kind of stuffed animal. Cameron, I think Mr. Huffles is jealous."
"I can't help it, you're my Greggy bear."
"Greggy bear? Now we've moved on from 'Greggy,' which was horrifying all on its own, to Greggy bear? Seriously—"
"I missed you," she blurted out.
He shifted for a moment before kissing her forehead and reciprocating, "I missed you too." Sometimes, he couldn't help but be a softy around her. It was annoying.
"I love you. Good night, Greggy bear."
"Cameron, come on. I want to keep some of my dignity intact. I prefer Greggy to that. Greg would actually be best—"
"Just go to sleep," Cameron said, frustrated, and for the third time tonight she tried to fall asleep. Except this time, wrapped in his arms, she succeeded.