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Allison was in hell. A very carefully constructed hell only House could have managed to trap her in. You really had to admire that mind of his.

At first she'd been excited when he suggested that she participate in the interviews. After all he pointed out, she would be working with the chosen two for the next year. Besides, Cuddy insisted that someone sit in to avoid any lawsuits being filed by the candidates House so rudely turned down. It hadn't occurred to her until after the second interview that she was House's lightning rod, deflecting all attention so that he could observe the candidate. And not just any distraction, she was the bright and pretty object that dazzled the young doctors.

She tried to dress down the second day, but House had vetoed that. "I need you looking your usual stunning best," he'd claimed. "How else am I going to get a true reaction?"

"What are you talking about?" she'd quizzed him.

"Well, if the men stare or the women are intimidated by your good looks, then they are automatically disqualified," he'd explained.

"That's not a very professional way to determine the best qualified," she'd chastised.

"Well, it's the best I've got. They all are qualified, or they wouldn't have made it past Cuddy," House pointed out. "Now it's up to me to determine who will make the best addition to the team. If they can't cope with working with a gorgeous woman, I don't want them," he told her.

She'd just rolled her eyes at the 'gorgeous' comment. She knew it was ninety percent bullshit, but he did have a point. They did have to work with the two people he picked and personality was as important as the other qualifications. And the first two candidates, both male, had been a bit overly interested in her 'assets'. Besides, it wasn't like she had a lot of choices in her wardrobe now anyways.

In the two weeks since House's surgery her waist had finally begun to expand. Down to two skirts and one pair of slacks that fit, she was planning a major shopping trip over the weekend. A friend of hers from college lived in N.Y. City and they were planning a girl's day to get Allison some trendy maternity clothes. House on hearing had instantly made plans for the day with James Wilson.

Allison sighed, took a sip of her tea and read through the resumes of today's two candidates. Both were specializing in cardiology, a discipline that would be an excellent fit for their team. Both looked impressive on paper. She could only hope that one of them passed the House 'personality' criteria, whatever it might be.

She knew the instant Dr. Maureen Steffens walked in that she would never do. Dressed as if to appear as unfeminine as possible she took one look at Allison and disapproval was written all over her face. House barely let her get five sentences out before he was thanking her and ushering her out the door.

He gave a shudder as she walked out of sight. "Why would anyone want to hide themselves in such a horrible get-up?" he asked.

"Maybe Cuddy warned her about you," Allison teased.

"Oh, please. Cuddy loves every barb I throw at her. She uses them to sharpen her talons," House insisted.

"Not all women can handle your particular brand of sarcasm," she pointed out.

"Exactly, and we don't want any of those working for me. Best we get it all sorted out in the interview process," House said. "Now who is next?"

"Kevin Cooper," Allison told him handing over the file. "Extremely well qualified."

"Yeah, I've actually been looking forward to this one," House admitted. "I'm setting myself to be disappointed.

But he wasn't. Dr. Cooper turned out to be a fairly quiet guy, average in every way with a few exceptions. He was extremely intelligent, but far from condescending, his smile gave away a fun-loving nature, and he demonstrated a quick dry wit when responding to House. He was polite to Allison, not ignoring her or paying her more attention than necessary. House was surprised to find himself liking the guy at the end of the interview.

Allison had already conveyed her approval silently to him, so it was with a sigh of relief that he offered Cooper a two-year fellowship. One down one to go.

Allison offered to show their new team-member back to Cuddy's office, and the two left. After clearing his desk, House was just about to phone James to see if he wanted to go to lunch when he noticed a man hovering outside of the office. After a moment the man knocked on the open door and took a step into the office.

"I'm sorry to bother you. I'm looking for Dr. Allison Cameron, and I was told she would be in Diagnostics," the man explained.

"You just missed her. She had to run downstairs but she should be back in about ten minutes, Mr?" House pried.

"Fred Green, I'm Allie's dad," the man replied.

House was momentarily confused until he remembered that 'Cameron' would be her married name. "I'm Dr. House," he said by way of introductions, purposefully neglecting any mention of being Allison's boss or superior. Best not to emphasis that so when the man found out just what his relationship was with his daughter he didn't have that fresh in his mind.

"Forgive me for not getting up, but I'm recuperating from surgery," he explained pointing to the crutches he still had to use for another week.

"That's quite all right. Is there someplace I can wait for Allie?" Fred asked politely.

"The conference room is right next door," House pointed through the glass. "There should be coffee if you'd like some."

"Thank you," Fred said a turned to leave then he paused. "Do you know this guy she's seeing? She said he was a doctor here," he inquired.

"Yes, I know him," House replied, praying Allison would show up soon.

"What's your opinion of him?" Fred asked.

"He's not good enough for her. But then no one really is," House told him honestly. "But he obviously cares for her, and she seems genuinely happy," he added.

Fred Green nodded taking that all in. "Thanks," he said after a minute. "I'll wait for Allie next door."

House breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. Allison breezed in two minutes later. Before she could say or do anything embarrassing he pointed to the conference room. "You have a guest," he pointed out.

"Dad?" Allison asked in shock on seeing who was there. "What are you doing in New Jersey?"

"I was at a trade-show in Philadelphia. I decided to stay an extra day so I could come see you. Surprise?" he asked as if he was unsure of his welcome.

Allison however was glad to see him. Despite what she'd told Greg, she really wanted to tell her father what was going on in her life. So she stepped forward and wrapped her dad in a hug. "I'm glad you did! I just wish you would have called so I could have cleared the afternoon and spent more time with you," she told him and was rewarded by a relieved smile.

House, who had risen and hobbled over as they greeted each other, quickly spoke up. "Consider yourself officially off duty," he told her.

Normally she would have argued but since their interviews for the day were done she decided to take advantage of the offer. "Thanks. Do you want to join us for lunch?"

He wanted to decline but Allison's eyes were begging him to agree. Before he knew what he was doing he had accepted. Man, he was so whipped.

"Good," Fred chimed in. "You can tell me more about the man Allie is seeing. Dr. House says he's not good enough for you," he said, expecting an argument.

"Oh he did, did he?" Allison inquired obviously amused. "Well he should know. Dad you might as well call him Greg," she said then after pausing for a moment she clarified. "He's the man I'm seeing."

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Fred Green was not happy. The man sitting across from him was far from his vision of a perfect person for Allison to be with. Besides being far too old for her, he didn't seem the type to want a long-term relationship. But he'd learned one or two lessons as a father and he kept his reservations to himself as long as his daughter was present. When she excused herself to use the restroom however all bets were off.

House decided to beat Fred to the punch. "So I imagine I'm a huge disappointment. Don't feel bad. I have no clue what she sees in me either," he proclaimed.

"I guess the real question is what do you see in her?" was the response.

House gave a derisive laugh. "You're kidding right? Have you spent any time at all with your daughter? Because if you had you'd know that she's an amazing person."

Fred sighed. "I regret to say that my daughter and I have never seen eye to eye on much. I opposed her first marriage and her decision to become a doctor, and if it hadn't been for her mother Allison might not have ever bothered to call after that. Once Katherine died, well things went from bad to worse. I was surprised she even bothered to tell me about you, but she said that she figured I would hear from Steven, her brother."

"Well, to answer your question, besides being extremely attractive, she's smart, and probably the nicest person I've ever met. Too nice for her own good most of the time," House explained. "And did I mention that she's extremely attractive?"

"I believe that was covered," Fred said with a scowl. "Just what are your intentions towards her, Dr. House?"

House was saved from answering immediately by Allison's return, but he knew the subject would come up again later. As soon as lunch was over, House made his excuses about getting back for a meeting, and left Allison to decide when she would tell her father about the baby.

"We'll see you for dinner, right?" Allison asked. "I'll cook."

"I'll be there, about 7:00," House assured her before he hobbled out.

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House arrived home early. As the day had progressed his guilt over abandoning Allison to face her father alone had grown and so he'd left the hospital at 5:00pm sharp. When he arrived home he found Allison, just starting dinner.

"Where's your dad?" He asked.

"He left. I brought him here to see the place, and heblew a gasket about us living together. In retrospect I probably should have waited to tell him about the baby," she said with a shrug. Her attempt at pretending to be totally unaffected was ruined by the sniffle that escaped.

Now he felt like a total shit, and was surprised by the need to apologize. "I should have been here, I'm sorry," he told her moving forward to pull him into a hug.

Allison sighed and melted into him slightly. "As much as I would have liked the backup, I think it was better this way. If you'd been here you would have done something you regretted," she predicted. "At least this way there was no bloodshed."

"It was that bad?" he asked in dismay.

"Yeah. You could have taken notes on what not to do as a father," Allison said with a grimace.

House frowned over Allison's head, an expression she didn't see, and so she couldn't reassure him as his fears over being a good father resurfaced.

Hell, before he was done he would probably be able to write a book on what not to do as a father.

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TBC