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Allison had been right. They had taken up a few bags of groceries with them, and with proper planning they never would have had to leave the suite. However even House had to admit it would be a shame to miss out on using some of the hotel amenities and the fall colors were beckoning them, so they did actually get dressed and venture outside. On Friday they arrived before noon having left in the wee hours to avoid the New York traffic. Since they had been in the car for hours they quickly put together a picnic lunch and headed for the lake that was on the property. When they got back to their room they were ready for a nap, so they climbed into the incredible king size bed and dozed for a couple of hours.

They wouldn't emerge from their suite again until late the next morning when they decided to finally don clothing and check out the nearby town. This far from anyone they knew House felt comfortable letting his guard down and they wandered from shop to shop, occasionally holding hands. They were glad they had ventured out when they happened upon the small shop of a craftsman with a display of his hand carved furniture. They both fell in love with a rocking chair, and made the first official purchase for the nursery. After arranging to have it shipped they stopped for lunch and then with just a look silently decided to head back to their room.

They only debate after that was whether they should keep the reservation they had made at one of the resorts restaurants, or once again eat in front of their fireplace in their bathrobes. Since evenings out would be in short supply soon enough they opted for the restaurant, but brought back dessert to enjoy alone.

As they settled in to eat the array of sweets (Allison hadn't been able to decide on just one) Allison pulled a package out of her suitcase and handed it to House.

"I know we didn't say anything about presents, but I found these in New York when I was shopping and I bought them for you," Allison told him.

House ripped off the wrapping to find three CD's or rare jazz recordings. "Wow," he enthused. "These are incredible! Thank you," he told her lowering his lips to hers for a kiss. "I hope you're not going to be disappointed if I didn't get you something."

"Of course not," she replied.

"That's good to know, but just in case," he said as he pulled a small velvet box from his pocket.

Inside she found a perfectly stunning pair of diamond stud earrings. She sucked in a shocked breath and let it out is a soft "Oh my god."

Dessert was totally forgotten.

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On Tuesday when they got back to the hospital it was back to business as usual. Allison started her day going through a pile of mail, separating out the referral requests. By the time Shulman and Cooper were in pouring their first coffee of the day she was on her third cup of tea and had organized the mail into manageable sub-groups. She walked over to the table where the two were sitting and handed each a pile.

"I'm not going to be here forever to do this for you and lord knows House will never do it, so you might as well get used to the grunt part of the job now. Shulman, those are upcoming seminars and conferences. Flag any that one of us might be interested in. Cooper, you have the ones that look suspiciously like fan mail, and I don't mean of the flattering variety. Flag any that are actually threatening for legal to keep on file. House likes to read the ones that aren't done in crayon," she instructed.

"What do you have?" Cooper asked.

"The referral requests. This is the tricky bunch and it will take a while for you to get a feel for these. We'll review them together as much as possible after I've sorted through them until one of you feels up to taking them on," she told them.

And so fall turned to winter.

House and Cameron hosted Thanksgiving at the townhouse for Olivia, Madeline, and Allison's brother and sister-in-law. Slowly they packed in preparation for their planned move the first week of January.

They shopped for furniture, waiting to order what they wanted until they could have it shipped directly to the new house. To be precise, Allison shopped for furniture, only dragging House out to approve her final choice. When she'd lamented that she wished one of her good friends or her sister-in-law lived closer so they could go with her Wilson suggested that she call Julie.

"She drives me crazy with her constant shopping, but I have to admit she has excellent taste and really knows some great places to get bargains," he told her.

And he'd been right. Julie had steered her away from the overpriced items that could be found in any baby's store and to several stores where she could find unique good quality pieces at a much better price. Wilson, although glad that the two women were got along well wondered if he had opened a huge can of worms.

"I hope your wife isn't giving my wife any ideas," he complained to House one day over lunch.

"Not interested in any little Jimmie's or Julie's running around?" House asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not at the moment. Julie and I are getting along great, but it's a fine line finding time to spend with her and keep up with work and still have time to enjoy a drink with a buddy occasionally. Although in a few months I guess the buddy will be unavailable anyway," he mused.

"I think he'll still be able to get away once in a while," House assured him.

"You need to wake up to the facts, my friend. You only have three months left of your freedom. Then the next eighteen years are spoken for," Wilson informed him.

House contemplated this for a moment. "Then I guess we'd better make the most of the time I have left," he announced.

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Allison hung up the phone with a frown. Greg had called once again to say he would be out with James and not to wait up for him. As if she could in her condition anyway. At seven months the pregnancy was beginning to take it's toll and sleep was becoming more necessary. She looked in the mirror and frowned. She'd think that maybe he was finding her less than attractive except for on the nights he did spend at home he was extremely attentive and loving. The sex was still great.

At least he calls, she told herself. She didn't sit at home and worry. She knew they would leave their cars at the hospital and take cabs home from wherever they ended up. Tomorrow they would take her car and leave early enough to pick up James. So she didn't have to worry about them getting too drunk to drive, or parking in a bad neighborhood.

She looked around with a sigh. All of the Christmas tasks were done. Tree up, packages mailed and cards sent out. At least her solitary evenings had been put to good use. But there were still a lot of little tasks left to finish before the move in three weeks and having taken Thanksgiving off they were both on duty through Christmas and New Years. With one more lonely sigh she pulled a box over, marked it bedroom and started packing some of her non-maternity clothes away.

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House entered quietly, not wanting to wake his sleeping wife. He wasn't surprised that there was a light on in the living room. Allison usually left one on for him. However the sight that met his eyes as he rounded the corner caused him concern. Allison was slumped in the armchair, a book of baby names in her lap, her dinner still sitting out on the table next to her barely touched. The room was starting to chill and he could see goose bumps on her arms where the blanket she'd thrown around her shoulders had slipped.

For a moment he watched her sleep peacefully, then he woke her up abruptly.

"Allison, wake up go to bed for god sakes. It's freezing in here," he commanded as her eyes struggled to open.

Obedient in her semi-conscious state she rose, dropping the forgotten book to the floor and started to shuffle off to the bedroom.

"Wait! Have you eaten?" House demanded.

She shook her head no. Truth be told she'd made the pasta only to have the smell cause her stomach to flip-flop. She'd decided she might want to stay away from it and make something else but she'd fallen asleep before she could find the energy to do so.

She saw him roll his eyes. "You need to take better care of yourself," he stated critically. Then he spotted the two boxes freshly labeled sitting in the corner. "And don't even tell me you were packing boxes in your condition."

By now she was starting to wake up enough to take offense. "They needed to be done."

"Not tonight they didn't, they could have waited for me to help you," he insisted.

Allison got very still and turned to look him the eye. "And when will that be exactly?"

"Oh here it comes. I've been waiting to see how long it would take for the nagging to start," House smirked.

If looks could have killed he figured he'd have been reduced to a liquefied puddle on the floor during the next thirty seconds. Then just as suddenly he saw her shoulders slump and her body quiver as all of the energy sapped out of her. "I'm going to bed," she whispered, and without another word she disappeared into the other room and shut the door.

The next morning Allison was quiet, but pensive. Having been prepared for anger, this mood worried House greatly. He'd always figured that if Allison ever sat back and really thought about the two of them she'd wonder what the heck she saw in him.

They had no patient that day, so they kept busy with clinic duty and paperwork. At least Allison did. House was left to ponder as he hid out in various exam rooms and lounges. That evening over dinner his worries were only slightly diminished when Allison told him what she was planning.

"I've been thinking," she began. "You probably have the right idea, kicking up your heels a bit while you have the chance. I should probably use the next couple of weekends to take a break myself. Once Christmas arrives it's going to be a whirlwind of on-call, packing, and then moving. And once we are in the new house and settled again I will probably be too uncomfortable to do much. So I called my friend Karen, and I'm going to take the train up to New York and spend the weekend with her. Do some last minute shopping, maybe see a show. You and James should plan something too," she told him.

And House, after all of his late nights over the past three weeks didn't have a leg to stand on, even if he'd wanted to protest.

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The taxi dropped Allison off on Sunday afternoon and she gave a sigh of relief. As nice as it had been to get away, and as much as she'd enjoyed seeing Karen and a couple of her other old friends, she'd missed House. As she picked up her bag and turned toward the front door she was surprised to see the man of her thoughts standing there waiting for her.

"Hi," she said pausing to kiss his cheek as she reached him.

Instead she was swept in to a passionate kiss that made her knees wobble. The bag dropped from fingers that suddenly had better things to do, and within moments they were locked in an embrace that was threatening to get out of control. Finally she pulled back out of breath.

"Greg, we are giving the neighbors a show," she chuckled. The only answer she got was to be swept into the house so quickly she barely managed to snag her suitcase. As soon as the door shut she found herself pressed up against it, once again being kissed senseless.

As clothes flew and they stumbled to the couch she managed to question, "So did you miss me?"

House paused long enough to look down at her lying half naked beneath him and answered with brutal honesty. "I'm considering locking you up so you can't ever leave again."

"Kinky," was her only reply.

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TBC