Chapter 12

Various hues of red and orange enflamed the sky as the sun sank behind the tall trees of the park. People were starting to pack up and leave. The cool air blew through the leaves, causing Cameron to shiver.

But she didn't seem to notice any of that. She was too busy wrapped up in her own thoughts. She was still sitting on the bench, staring at the path that House's retreating figure took when he left. Although he was long gone, she was still staring at that open space, hoping that perhaps he would turn around and come back.

She sat there until her butt was numb, but he didn't return. When nightfall was seconds away from draping over the sky, the twins ran up to their mother.

"Mommy, can we go home now?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, we're tired," Matt pleaded.

She smiled sadly at her children. It pained her to know that her children might never know their father. From the moment they took their first breath up to this day, she regretted not telling him.

Matt looked around the park. "Mommy," he asked, "where did that man go?"

Tears began to fill up her eyes again. "It was getting dark so he had to go home. We should be heading home too." She stood up and walked over to the tree to pick up the backpack.

"Who was that man, Mommy? Why he look like Daddy?" Alex asked. She stopped mid-step. She didn't know what to say. She quickly shook her head and hoped that the twins didn't notice her pause.

"What are you talking about?" Cameron laughed softly, covering up her quiet sobs. She didn't turn around to face her children until she wiped her tears away. She was grateful that it was dark so they couldn't see their Mom crying.

"That man," Alex began again, "he looks like Daddy. You remember the picture, Mommy? The picture with you and Daddy? He looks like Daddy."

Cameron took a deep breath and blinked furiously to stop herself from crying again. The picture of her and House.

A few years ago, she was cleaning out her closet when she came across a small box. She lifted the lid and inside it laid piles of letters and pictures. She picked the letters out of the box and looked over each one.

They were all addressed to House but she had never sent them. Throughout her entire pregnancy, she wrote letters to House telling him about the progress of their unborn twins. From the moment she found that she was carrying twins all the way to their birth.

She turned every single feeling that she felt into words. She never had the courage to mail them because she didn't know how House would respond to it. Instead of sending them out so at least he'll be updated, she kept them in a small box.

Setting the letters aside, she had picked up the stack of pictures from the bottom of the box. The ones on top were the pictures of her sonogram. She kept every one. As she flipped through them, she could see how the twins developed. The doctor saw Matt and informed her that she was going to have a boy. Cameron barely had enough time to register that fact when the doctor surprised her with Alex. She was carrying twins.

She smiled softly to herself at the thought of her initial surprise. At first, she cried out of happiness. She was having twins! Then the tears of happiness turned to rivers of sorrows when she thought of all the things the babies would need. She had just quit her job and hadn't found a new one yet. She was glad that her parents were understanding and helped her during and after her pregnancy.

She flipped through the pictures until she landed on the one with her and House. She was still looking at that picture when the twins came into the room. They were getting bored from watching TV and wanted to go outside. They walked quietly to their mother's room, expecting to find their Mom sleeping. Instead, they found her sitting on the floor, surrounded by clothes, shoes, and boxes of stuff.

They walked over to their mother and looked at the picture she still held in her hand.

"Who's that, Mommy?" Matt had asked, as he peered over her shoulder.

Cameron jumped when she heard her son's voice. She was focused so intently on the picture that she didn't hear the twins come in. She looked up at him, them looked back down at the picture.

"That's your Daddy," she said softly.

"Daddy?" Alex had exclaimed as she looked at the picture more carefully. She grabbed the picture from her Mom's hands and hugged the picture against her chest. "Daddy!"

She smiled painfully at the sight and tried to place the picture back into the box, but Alex wouldn't let go. She held stubbornly onto the picture. Alex wanted Cameron to put the picture on the mantle in the living room, where it stayed until this day.

"Mommy?"

Cameron snapped out of her daydreams. She had been reliving the past and didn't noticed how cold the air got.

"Are you okay, Mommy?" a voice asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "I'm fine. Let's go home."

She slung the backpack over her shoulder and took her children by their hands. Then the three of them made their way to their car.

The entire ride home was quiet. The children were tired from all that running around. Cameron was glad for the tranquility. Even though she loved their chatter, she still longed for some quiet time.

When she pulled into the parking space in front of her apartment complex, she turned around to face the backseat. The children were slumped against one another, fast asleep. She smiled at the sight.

Quietly, she made her way out of the car and opened the rear doors.

"Alex, Matt," she said in a singsong voice. "Wake up. We're home."

The twins groggily opened their eyes and looked around to see their surroundings. When they recognized their building, they tiredly climbed out of the door and headed for the apartment.

Cameron quickly locked the car doors and followed her children into the building. She saw that David, the doorman, was holding the door open for them to go in.

"Thanks, David," they said sleepily as they walked past the man.

"Thanks, David," Cameron said when she reached him.

"No problem. They look pretty tired so you should get them to bed quickly or they'll fall asleep right in front of the elevators," he chuckled, pointing to the twins.

"Yeah. Bye David."

"Bye."

The elevators dinged open and they twins walked in, waiting for their mother.

Matt pressed a button and the number five lit up above the door. Pretty soon, the doors opened again and the twins walked out, heading towards their apartment.

She quickly opened the door and they headed straight for their bedrooms. Cameron decided to let them go one night without brushing their teeth because they were so tired. By the time Cameron locked the door behind her, placed the backpack on a chair, and took off her coat, the children were already asleep.

She changed out of her clothes and headed for the kitchen. She reached into the back of one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of wine. After the confrontation with House today, she needed a drink.

She poured the drink into a wineglass and carried it into the living room. She sat down in the armchair with her legs tucked under her and turned her head towards the fireplace, or rather the mantle.

Pictures of her and the twins littered the mantle. There were also some pictures of her parents. In the very middle of the mantle was the picture of her and House. She studied the picture from her seat for a long time, taking a sip of her drink occasionally as she did so.

When her glass was finished, she placed it on the table and walked over to the fireplace. She picked the middle picture frame up and rubbed her thumb over House's face. Quietly, she made her way to her bedroom, picture in hand.

She carefully placed the picture on her nightstand. When she was settled under the covers, she turned over to lay on her side, facing the picture.

Perhaps it was the confrontation or from the alcohol, but whatever the reason was, that night Cameron softly cried herself to sleep, as she did many nights before.

The bright sun shining in his eyes amplified his headache. Although his eyelids were still closed, they didn't provide his eyes any shade. The bright light made his head throb even more, as if a jackhammer was pounding inside his head.

House groaned and flipped over, onto his other side. The other side of the bed was cooler, making him drowsy again. He was starting to fall asleep when his alarm went off. He cursed as he pulled his pillow over his head, hoping to drown out the noise.

It didn't work so he reached over and hit the snooze button. Sleep was about to conquer him once more when this time a different alarm woke him up. This alarm was from nature.

House wanted to catch a few more minutes of sleep, but his bladder wouldn't let up. If he stayed a second longer in bed, he would have to buy a new mattress.

Propping himself up and off the bed, he cursed again as he reached over for his bottle of pills on the nightstand. After swallowing two, he stumbled his way to the bathroom.

As he exchanged pleasantries with the porcelain god, he thought back to what happened the day before. His mind was still hazy, but he remembered most of it. He remembered that after his talk with Cameron at the park, he went straight to a nearby liquor store and bought two bottles of vodka, one bottle of brandy, and one bottle of whiskey.

He had already drank one bottle of vodka and three-fourths of the bottle of brandy when he passed out. He suspected that Vicodin also caused him to pass out because usually one and three-fourths bottle of alcohol usually didn't affect him…much.

When his bladder was done, he moved until he stood in front of the mirror hanging over the sink.

His hair was tousled from sleep and gray ones were starting to radiate from his temples. The deep wrinkles in his forehead were more profound than ever. His two-day stubble became a four-day one. His eyes were sunken and bloodshot, but his irises were still as blue as ever. He scoffed at his image.

When he came out of the bathroom, he headed towards for the bed when the ring of the telephone stopped him. He decided to ignore it and climbed into bed. After several rings, his answering machine picked it up.

His gruff voice bounced off the walls and echoed through the still apartment. "You know who this is and you know what to do."

After the beep, he heard Cuddy's voice cutting through the silence. "House, get your lazy ass out of bed and drag it down here to the clinic. You better be coming in today to make up those clinic hours or I will triple it!"

House sneered at the message. It was Saturday and he didn't feel like going to the clinic to deal with the idiots and the hypochondriacs. On top of it all, he was supporting a headache. He sighed and pulled the covers over his head.

Ten minutes later, the phone rang again. It was from Wilson. "House, you better come in. Cuddy's on a rampage and she is hunting down doctors that owe her paperwork, like a hungry lioness. I'm one of them! She just cornered me in the elevator and asked for them. I had to--"

The sound of a door opening could be heard over the phone.

"Wilson!"

"Gotta go," Wilson said quickly before hanging up.

House chuckled at the thought of poor Wilson being ripped to shreds by Cuddy. He sighed again. It was time to get his daily lecturing from the Lioness.

He got out of bed and looked around for fresh clothes. Clothes were scattered on his floor so he didn't know which ones were clean and which ones weren't. He limped over to a corner of the room and picked up his red shirt. He sniffed it, decided that it was clean enough, and put it on.

Once he was dressed, he picked up his cane and limped out of the bedroom. A few minutes later, he was in his car, on his way to PPTH.

The hospital doors slid opened and he walked in to find that the nurses at the reception desk were already trembling. Apparently, Cuddy was still on the hunt.

The nurses saw House and decided not to tempt fate. Whenever they see that House sporting his sunglasses, they knew that they should leave him alone.

Happy that Cuddy didn't catch onto his scent yet, he shuffled towards the elevator. He quickly walked into his office and closed the blinds. He walked over to his desk and sat down on his chair. He opened the first right-hand drawer and took out his I-pod. His sunglasses made it impossible for him to see his playlists in the dark office, so he took them off and placed it on his desk. When he found what he was looking for, he put the earphones in and began listening to the Who. Leaning back into his chair, he began to drift off to sleep.

A short while later, the cool air blowing into the room from outside alerted House that somebody entered his office. He knew that only Cuddy or Wilson would dare enter his office when the blinds are closed. He kept his eyes shut, hoping that if it was Cuddy, she would go away. If it was Wilson, he didn't care.

The sudden quiet made House open his eyes. Wilson appeared in front of House and in his hands, he held House's earphones.

"Gimme," House said as he reached over for them.

Wilson rolled his eyes and threw it on the desk. He walked over to the chair he usually occupy and sat down.

Wilson knew that something was wrong with House. The moment that he saw House had closed the blinds, he knew something was amiss. When Wilson pulled the earphones away, he heard the Who. Add those two together, plus House's bloodshot eyes, Wilson knew something was bothering his friend.

He also knows better than to ask. The more you ask House, the more he clams up. So Wilson just sat back, enjoying the silence. It also gave him a place to hide from Cuddy. Wilson internally rolled his eyes. Great, I'm acting like House, he thought.

The two doctors sat there, in darkness and silence, for what seemed to be forever. Finally, House broke the silence when he pulled his earphones off and said, "I saw her yesterday."

Wilson blinked in response. He didn't know what House was talking about. Then everything clicked together in his mind. Oh, God. Crap is going to start flying now, Wilson groaned inside.

"Where?" Wilson asked. He hoped that his expression wouldn't give him away.

"At the park."

The park? What park? House goes to a park? Wilson had all kinds of questions running through his mind, but he only voiced, "Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah." After a short pause, House added, "I met her kids too."

Wilson was still surprised at the fact that House met Cameron that he didn't notice that House said "kids" and not "kid."

House chuckled bitterly and continued, "The real shocker was when she told me that I was --or am-- their father."

Wilson's face expressed astonishment but his wandering eyes gave him away. He couldn't bring himself to look at House in the face.

A moment passed of House examining Wilson's expression. "You don't act very surprised, Wilson," House said without any emotion.

Uh-oh, trouble's brewing. "I am!" he replied quickly. His quick response made House even more suspicious. "It just…it…it made me speechless."

Wilson quickly looked away from House's gaze and looked down at his shoes.

"Uh-huh." A moment of silence passed until House said, "Tell me, Wilson, how long have you known that I was a father to twins?"

Wilson's head snapped up. "Twins?" Twins?

"Yeah, a boy and a girl. Matt and Alex."

"Really?"

"Don't try to change the subject. How long have you known?"

Wilson shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "A few days before she left," he mumbled. He hurriedly added, "But I didn't know it was twins."

"Ah," was all House said. Wilson braced himself. He knew that House was loading his ammunition. Wilson was right.

A second later, House exploded, "So you knew that I was a father? Why didn't you fucking tell me? How could you do that? You know how I feel about her! And here you are, keeping a secret this big from me after all these years!"

Wilson waited for House to catch his breath before saying something.

"Even if I told you, what would you do?"

House just glared at him, his chest heaving up and down with anger.

"She begged me not to tell you," Wilson said.

"I'm your best friend! Have you forgotten the number one rule? Bros before hoes, man!"

"Just shut up, House! That girl cared for you. She was afraid that if you knew, her children wouldn't get they deserve--"

"What am I, a cannibal? Is she afraid that I'll eat them or something?" House spat.

"No, she was afraid that you would abandon them!" When House didn't answer, Wilson continued. "She thought that it would better for her children to blame her instead of blaming you. She wanted them to know that she left you and that it wasn't their fault why their father aren't in their lives. She left you and that's what she's going to tell them. She saved them the heartache from their father abandoning them."

"She didn't know what I was thinking! How the hell could she have known? She never told me so how can she be so sure that I would act that way?"

House was refusing to let this go. He didn't want to get off light; he may be a bastard, but if he is a father, he will play his role as one.

"She didn't have to tell you for you to know! For God's sakes, House, the entire hospital knew! She spent every morning running off to the bathroom! Being the brilliant diagnostician that you are, I find it impossible for you not figure it out!"

"Well, I didn't!" he replied indignantly.

"Perhaps you would notice it if you focused on anything else besides Stacey. You spent days pining over Stacey. Cameron saw that. She didn't want for you to deal with two babies that you didn't want--"

"How the hell does she know I don't want them?"

"Probably because you never cared for their mother!" Wilson shot back angrily. He was beginning to lose sympathy for his friend. "Think about it, House! You said it yourself that you wouldn't commit to anything. Being a father is a big commitment! You can't just pick up and leave whenever you want to.

She let you escape from the father role. You don't want to be a father. Hell, she's even willing to take the blame for you if they ever ask what happened to their dad! Yes, she did leave you. She did leave you heartbroken. But how in the world could she have known how you feel about her? You treated her like crap, even worse than you do Chase! But she still took it all in without complaint.

Now, you're here, grumbling over how much she left you heartbroken. For one second, Greg, think about her instead of yourself. She was a widow at 21. She went through the pregnancy alone. She's a single mother raising two children. She had no help, except probably from her parents. Yet, she made through it all. You had a girlfriend that left you and an infarction. You complains about it everyday; she doesn't."

The friends glared at one another, daring the other to say something. Finally, House slumped back even further into his chair, shoulders sagging. Signs of defeat.

Wilson decided that House needed a little push in the right direction. "You can sit here and brood about this all you want. I said what I had to say." He stood up to leave.

Wilson opened the door, but before going through it, he stopped. Without turning around, he said, "Go see the kids. They are innocent bystanders that got dragged into this mess. The least you can do is go see them. Five years too late is better than never, Greg."

And with that, he left House sitting there, pondering his next move.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: What do you think? Wilson's speech was a little long and a little awkward, so I may have to fix that. If you see any mistakes or have any criticism, review! They are always more than welcome!