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Allison parked the car down the street a bit from the new house leaving plenty of room for the moving truck, which should be arriving shortly. They were lucky on the weather, which after a cold spell over New Years had warmed up into the forties with a bright blue sky. And since it hadn't rained or snowed in the past week mud would be at a minimum. Just about the best conditions you could hope for with a January move.
House was already there and met her on the front porch. "I hope you aren't expecting anything cliché, because I think the cripple trying to carry the pregnant woman over the doorstep is just asking for trouble."
Allison laughed. "How about we just hold hands," she suggested reaching out hers to take his.
"Hey, yours are cold. I think you just want to warm up," he complained.
"Shut up, and enjoy the moment," she said leaning in for a kiss. "Let's take a quick tour before the place gets trashed. I want to see how everything looks."
They had technically owned the house for a week, but had decided to let the painters and carpet people have that time to work with no furniture to deal with. Now the whole place had a fresh coat of a soft eggshell paint, except for the nursery, which was a pale green. All of the bedrooms had new carpet, and the wood floors in the remainder of the house had been stripped and stained. They had just finished admiring the work when their helpers started arriving.
James and Julie Wilson were first, Julie laden down with bags from the bakery and deli. She and Allison quickly laid out the breakfast items and put the deli items away for later. By the time the four slightly blurry-eyed doctors arrived they just had time for coffee and a donut before the movers arrived.
"I can't believe you got Chase, Foreman, Shulman and Cooper all to agree to help," Wilson said in dismay.
"Cooper and Shulman are trying to earn brownie points," House sarcastically pointed out.
"And the other two?" Wilson asked.
"Allison worked her charm on them," House had to admit. "I'm surprised you got Julie here."
"Are you kidding? Six male doctors and an entire moving crew to order around? This is her idea of fun," James warned.
And sure enough within minutes of the truck doors being opened, Julie had taken charge. She first ordered that a comfortable chair be unloaded and brought into the living room.
"We need to make sure Allison does nothing more than sit and point, gentleman," she commanded, and none of the men were going to disagree with that.
Even Allison had to admit that strategically placed she was probably more helpful directing traffic than getting in the way. With a minimum of fuss the truck was unloaded and to Greg and Allison surprise the bed was even set up in their room simply awaiting linens, which Julie dug out and put on.
"There, now when the house clears out and you two are ready to drop from exhaustion you can," she told them with a satisfied sigh. "Now where are the dishes? I'm going to unload some of those so you can eat off real plates tomorrow."
"Julie, thank you. And all of the rest of you, too. We couldn't have done this without your help," Allison insisted.
And finally they were alone. However just as Julie had suggested, the instant they had piece and quiet they both felt the exhaustion of the day wash over them. By silent agreement they got ready for bed and slipped beneath the covers. And while House pulled her close he barely had formed a "Love you," when they both gave into slumber.
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Two days later they returned to work tired but with a feeling of accomplishment. There was still a lot to unpack, but they had made a real dent in the chaos. Plus all of the baby's furniture had been delivered and was waiting to be put together. With six weeks to go until Allison's due date they were starting to feel like they were actually prepared. There were only a few last things on the list that needed to be done. The first was to get a car seat, which was taken care of one day when they found Chase and Foreman waiting in the conference room with a huge box. Even House was moved to thank them for the top-of-the-line car seat that they'd gone together to purchase.
Allison gave them both beaming smiles and heartfelt hugs.
"You two didn't have to do this, but we really appreciate it! One more thing we can cross off the list," she told them.
"How goes the name battle?" Foreman asked, knowing that they had been arguing over names for a month.
"We officially have a girls name. If it's a boy we may have a problem," Allison grimaced.
"Well, just remember, Eric is always a good choice," Foreman teased.
House groaned. "I can see it now, Eric Chase Kevin Larry House. You know she's too nice to hurt anyone's feelings by leaving them out," he complained.
"Forget I mentioned it," Foreman chuckled. "Are you going to Lamaze classes?"
"Absolutely not," House forcefully stated. "I refuse to sit in a room full of pimple faced young people who need instruction on how to breath," he gripped.
"What about you Allison?" Foreman asked. "You could always get someone else to go with you if you don't want to go alone."
"I'm familiar with the techniques. I think I'll pass," Allison said, leaving out the fact that she'd taken the classes many years ago. She doubted anything had changed much.
"So you really are down to picking out the names," Chase said.
"Well there is another six weeks of looking like a beached whale, and then the whole labor and delivery part to get through," Allison said wrinkling her nose in distaste.
House snorted. "Allison, even pregnant you barely top 120 pounds. I hardly call that looking like a beached whale. More like a beach ball."
"Thanks dear, you really know how to charm a girl," she teased, but she was smiling so he knew that secretly she was pleased.
"Anytime. Now I know I have soaps to watch so that must mean that you all have work to do elsewhere," he said dismissing them.
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On Friday they double dated with the Wilson's. Ever since Allison's weekend away she and House had compromised on their night's out. Friday was officially their free night to spend however they wanted. House and Wilson normally went out together, and sometimes Julie and Allison hooked up for a movie. Other Friday's Allison met up with Foreman, Chase or her new team for drinks (hers being non-alcoholic). Tonight however, James had suggested that the two couples go out to eat, and after ordering it became clear why.
"We noticed that you are missing something that will make your life a lot easier once the baby is born," James told them as he placed a wrapped box on the table.
House signaled to Allison to go ahead and open it as he looked at James with caution. "It's too small to be a nanny," he mused.
Meanwhile Allison had gotten a peak at what was inside and she smiled up at their friends. "This is perfect. What a great idea," she enthused.
"Well finish opening it so we can both enjoy," House gripped.
Allison rolled her eyes and finished ripping off the paper revealing a digital camera. "Your mom and sister won't have to nag us for pictures," she happily reported. "We can send them new ones via e-mail whenever we want."
"You can, you mean," House corrected. "But it is a great idea. Thanks," he said to the couple seated across from them.
"So how did your exam go today?" Julie asked.
"Good. Everything is progressing normally, but Dr. Lunardi wants me to cut back on the number of hours I'm on my feet. No more clinic duty," Allison reported.
"What did Cuddy say to that?" James wondered.
"She's making Greg make up some of my hours," Allison sighed casting a guilty look at her husband.
"Of course that assumes that we don't have our own patients," House smirked.
"Ah," James nodded. "I see a definite lowering of your standards for accepting cases in the very near future."
"James my friend, give me some credit. Cuddy would catch onto that way too quickly. No, I'm just going to have to make sure I get some quality referrals," Greg plotted.
The Wilsons both looked at him questioningly.
"He's paying $50 per referral, $250 for those we take on," Allison enlightened them.
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House's scheme worked well for the next three weeks, and he managed to avoid too much time in the clinic. Eventually though they were all caught up and to Cuddy's surprise for two whole days he did his clinic duty without shirking or complaining. She finally decided to check with Wilson to see what was up.
"It's pretty simple. Allison is ten days from her due date and he wants her to rest and not worry, and complaining would only make her feel guilty. He gives her a blow by blow of every case when they're at home and I'm sure embellishes the stories to death to make them amusing," he explained.
"Damn," Cuddy swore. "So as soon as she has this baby he'll go back to being the same old aggravating House, no doubt," she sighed.
"No doubt. Enjoy it while you can. At least you can go to tomorrow's budget meeting and know that he won't need a babysitter," Wilson pointed out.
"That right!" Cuddy said brightening a bit. "Those darn meetings are long enough without disrupting them constantly with staffing matters."
Poor Lisa wasn't to know just how disruptive the next day would be.
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TBC