Sweet Tea and Lemonade

There was a general hub-bub in the living room. Grandpa Charles and Grandma Alice stood in the middle of it, hugging and kissing everyone. House hung back and watched the frenzy. Ben stood at his elbow, "You should see Christmas."

"I'm moving to Norway." House said.

Ben chuckled, "I felt the same way at first. But you'll see; you'll get used to it. Have more beer." There was a short lull and he took an opportunity to squeeze in and shake hands.

"Where's the latest addition?" Charles asked, his eyes fixing on House.

Dave piped up, "Michael and Amanda are with his folks tonight, we'll see them for breakfast tomorrow."

"No, the other one. Allison?" He looked around for his youngest.

"Daddy?" She was crammed in a corner with some of the children. She gently pushed them aside and kissed her father on the cheek. "Come meet Greg."

House tried not to show fear as he noted the exits. He leaned on his cane and waited for Charles to make his way over.

Allison reverted to manners she had learned long ago, "Daddy, this is Greg House, my…" It was never really official, although the ring said otherwise, "fiancé. Greg, this is my father, Charles."

House took the man's hand and shook it strongly. His thin fingers dwarfed by the man's giant mitts. "Nice to meet you sir."

Charles eyed him warily, "So you're Allison's fiancé? And her boss?"

House opened his mouth to say something, when Allison cut him off, "Daddy, you must be starving. Let's go get a plate." She led him away and looked at House over her shoulder.

He sagged against the wood paneled wall. Scott stood next to him. "It's not over yet. Have you thought about how you're asking for her hand?"

"Excuse me?" House regarded his future brother in law.

"Oh, he expects all the old-fashioned stuff. You're going to have to ask him for his daughter's hand." Scott took the slightly crushed beer can out of House's hand. "You've got two options. Switch to sweet tea, or finish the case."

"Yipes." House said to himself.

Allison breezed by him, handing him a Chinet plate heaped up with a sampling of country cooking. Everyone had found someplace to sit and eat; House was on the back porch, the realm of the men. He moved the food around, not really eating anything.

Dave noticed, "Come on Bubba, you've got to eat something. Meemaw will get her feelings hurt if you don't pack away at least two helpings."

"What is this?" House could identify the items as food, but it wasn't any kind of food he'd ever had before.

Scott laughed, "Oh, that there is what God eats in heaven. Only you've got the Yankee plate." Dave gave him a dirty look. "No disrespect. He's only got ham, mac and cheese, fried potatoes, a biscuit and some seven-layer-salad. She didn't give him any collards, okra, fried green tomatoes or hominy." He dug into his laden and somewhat soggy dish. "And he's going to have to go back if he wants potato salad, squash, corn or purple hulled peas." He took a mouthful, "Oh man, you've got to try the peas."

Ben smiled and chewed, "Oh, they can cook, can't they?"

Dave nodded and swallowed, "You're going to have to work out to stay thin once you join the family."

House shook his head, "Allison's not really into cooking."

The men all laughed. Ben explained, "Yeah, that's what I thought about Abby. When we first got married she would just throw something together for supper. We went out a lot. Then when she got pregnant, wham, three courses on the table every night at six. I think it's in their DNA or something." He crunched a forkful of okra.

"Pregnant?" House sat back in his chair.

The three looked at him. Scott spoke first, "You were planning on having a family, weren't you?"

"Allison loves children; she's always wanted a large family." Dave added.

"Guys, maybe she's changed her mind." Ben said, trying to help. "Bubba?"

Greg looked up, "We've never talked about it."

"She probably assumed that you wanted children. You do, don't you?" Dave asked.

"I never thought about it one way or the other. I've got nothing against them, except for that whole stickiness-thing." He let his mind wander to what their child might look like. "If we do, they better look and act like her." Suddenly his ham looked really tasty.

By the time dinner was over and cleaned up the kids had started to fall asleep and the old ladies sat in their house-shoes in their easy-chairs.

Charles and Alice sat on the front porch, exhausted after a long day of travel. House went out there to test the waters. He approached Alice first. "I think that in all the chaos that we never really met. I'm Greg." He held out his hand and she took it gently.

"I'm very glad to meet you. Allison speaks highly of you." She motioned for him to sit in the chair across from her.

House eased himself into the chair. "So I understand that you flew in from Germany."

Charles nodded, "Yes, we've been stationed there for three years."

"But you're retiring at the end of the year?" House's muscles shouted at him with fatigue.

Alice smiled, "Yes, it'll be good to come home."

"So will you settle here?"

"Yes, we have a home here and our family is close by." It was impossible not to hear the suggestion. "Where is your family?"

"Oh, I've lived in New Jersey my entire life." House said.

"I'm sorry," Alice said, unaware that she had just insulted him, or The Garden State.

He was too tired to edit his snarky tendencies, so he said nothing.

Allison poked her head out the screen door, "Hey, Abby and Ben are loading up, are you ready?"

"Yes." He turned to Alice and Charles, "We'll see you tomorrow?"

Charles nodded and stood to shake his hand, "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes sir; and we'll have a private conversation?" House said this like a question.

"I was hoping you'd say that. I look forward to it." He clapped him on the shoulder, "Y'all drive safe!" He called out to Ben.

Back at the 'Love Nest' Cameron washed her face in the bathroom. House was torn between soaking in the whirlpool (heart-shaped though it was) and conking out in his clothes. "Do you want me to fill the tub for you?"

"Arrgl." He said.

She came out drying her face. She stood in her usual night time attire of sleep shorts and a T-shirt. Her hair was still braided from earlier in the day. "Would you care to articulate that?"

"No." He said simply.

She handed him his new sleep pants and skull shirt, "Here, I washed these, go ahead."

He wiggled out of his clothes and into his pajamas. "Is there anything this cottage doesn't have?" He left his dirty clothes in a heap beside the bed.

"Nope. Self-contained. We'd never have to leave, unless we wanted to." She seemed to be speaking of something other than a long weekend. "She turned out the lights."

"My eye-lashes are tired." House said.

She slid into bed next to him and held his hand. "I know. It's been a long day. Was it horrible for you?"

"Oddly enough, no." His mind whirled with everything he wanted to say, "So what's the deal with kids?"

"My nieces and nephews?" She smiled in the dark, thinking about how she had been there when each of them was first born. Always the little helper when she was growing up.

"No, your sons and daughters." He closed his eyes, trying not to drift off.

"Oh. Our children." She heard nothing from the other side of the bed, including breathing, "What did you think, that they'd spring from my forehead?"

"I was rather hoping…" He didn't finish.

She sighed from her side, "Do you want children?"

"I always thought that I might have them one day." House felt her fingers looped in his, her hands were cold.

"Uh-huh. When you with Stacy?"

There was a long silence, "No. When I was with Stacy…we never talked about it and I never thought about it. Weird."

"So you're not opposed to the idea then?" She scooted closer to him.

"No," He yawned, "So when were you thinking that you wanted to start raising this tribe?"

"Rearing. You raise cattle, you rear children. You're leaving it up to me?"

"You're the one being inconvenienced. It's only fair that you get to choose when." He shifted to take the pressure off of his leg. "But can I make one request?"

"What?" She had no idea what to expect.

"We stay in New Jersey." He said simply.

She laughed, "What brought that on?"

"Have you ever sat back and looked at all of this from a distance? Your family, great as they are, all live in each other's back pockets." He shuddered.

"Tell me about it. How would you like to be the baby in all of that? My sisters and the Bubbas all treat me like I'm one of their kids; their kids treat me like a sibling. My parents think I'm still three-years old. It's fun for about a day and a half. Let's just say that by tomorrow afternoon if I'm not sneaking beer behind the house that you'll need to keep me away from sharp objects. Trust me, New Jersey is plenty close." She paused, "We can still spend Christmas with them, right?"

"We'll work out the holidays. I have a family too, you know." He yawned again. "Let's go to sleep, we have more of the same tomorrow."

"G'night House." She said as she rolled over into her pillow.

"Call me Bubba."