Disclaimer: So I got a new credit card with more credit... They declined it AGAIN! Those heartless bastards. I just wanted to rent 'em for a minute or two... Or forever...
Chapter Nineteen
On Christmas Eve, Cuddy and Wilson both demanded that Cameron and House leave early in order to make it to Cameron's parents' home in time for dinner. The couple left at three instead of five, and Cameron promised to exchange gifts with everyone at work the day after Christmas.
They went home long enough for Cameron to change into something more comfortable and grab the gifts before heading for her parents' home.
"Do they know that we're getting married?" House asked on the drive.
"Umm… Not exactly?" Cameron replied sweetly.
House frowned and glared at her. "You didn't tell them," he accused.
"Well, you haven't told yours!" she exclaimed in defense.
"We aren't going to see mine in a half an hour!" he laughed. "You are so in trouble."
"I am not," she responded, exasperated with the fact that it had slipped her mind to announce her engagement to her parents. "In case you haven't noticed, my mother and I don't exactly have an angelic relationship."
"Oh, I'd noticed. You two go at each other like cats. It's gonna be great to see it in person."
Cameron frowned and sighed. "Christmas is usually pretty peaceful. Easter's the fun holiday."
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They pulled into the driveway at six, which was an hour earlier than they'd originally planned. House didn't have a problem with it, especially when Adam came bounding out of the house to give Allison a flying hug. He gave House a huge smile.
"You came!" he exclaimed merrily, running to give House a hug.
House accepted the hug awkwardly, patting Adam's back. "Your sister can be deadly if you don't do what she wants," he said mysteriously. "You gonna help carry the presents in?"
"Yeah!" He ran and grabbed most of the gifts, leaving Cameron to carry only a few bags.
House waited for her and put an arm around her shoulders as they walked inside. They were met by a flurry of activity. Angie came and took the remaining gifts, placing them beneath the huge tree in the living room. Cameron's mother came and took their coats, reminding them to take their shoes off on the rug in front of the door. Her father yelled something about ham from the kitchen, and Adam was running around in circles.
"Good God," House muttered, eyes wide. He looked at Cameron. "Let's book out of here while we still can."
Cameron laughed and ditched her shoes at the door. "Dad, what's for dinner?" she called toward the kitchen.
"Ham, if I can ever get the damned thing to THAW!" he yelled, followed by a crash. Soon, a tall, stocky man with thick black hair came into the living room and smiled. "Hey, baby." He held his arms open for Cameron to come to him, which she did without hesitation. "So this is the man in your life, huh?" he asked, looking at House.
"This is Greg House," she said with a smile.
Cameron's father kept his arm tightly around his daughter's shoulders as he reached forward to shake House's hand. "Andrew," he introduced himself. He nodded to House's cane. "Nice cane."
"Thanks," he said slowly. "It use it to get handicapped parking spots. She tried to put tinsel on it, so I smacked her with it," he replied, shaking Andrew's hand.
Andrew grinned. "Glad to know someone's keeping her in check. Come on in. Make yourselves comfortable. Anything I can get you?"
"I could use a soda," Cameron said, taking House's hand. "You want anything?" she asked him.
"Depends on what's available."
"There's Tamdhu single malt whiskey and some Eileandour blended in the basement," Andrew offered.
House let out a low whistle. "So Cameron's the maiden name," he said with a grin, looking at Cameron. "I could go for some single malt."
"You got it." Andrew left the room and Cameron led the way to the couch, sitting and pulling House down next to her.
"See? It's not so bad."
"Your mother's not in the room yet," he murmured into her ear. "Are you going to hiss at her when she comes in?"
She slapped his chest. "No," she said with a small laugh. "I told you, we save the claws for Easter."
At that moment, a woman with short brown hair came in and smiled at them. "Ally, you're early!" she exclaimed, going to Cameron for a hug. "I thought you wouldn't be here until seven."
"We got off of work early." She motioned to House. "This is Greg."
"Nice to meet you, Greg," Cameron's mother said with a forced smile. "Ally's … told us so much about you."
House had to try not to laugh at the look on the woman's face. "She's told me a lot about you, too. She's a real family woman."
"She is," the woman said with a soft smile. House could tell that she really did love her daughter, and he had a feeling that the two women were almost exactly alike. "I'm Jennifer, by the way."
"The only non-A name."
Jennifer smiled brightly. "I'm the individual in the family." She heard a crash in the kitchen and cringed. "I'll … be right back."
"My dad gets stressed about cooking," Cameron explained with a grin, settling back down on the couch and snuggling into House's side. "He's a perfectionist."
"Must run in the family."
Andrew came in with House's whiskey and Cameron's soda. "Ally, we could use your help in the kitchen. That damned ham…"
Cameron laughed. "I'm on it." She looked to House and gave him a short kiss. "Adam's probably grabbing his games, if you want to play with him."
"You cook. I'll hold down the fort in here," he said with a serious nod.
Cameron snorted and went into the kitchen while House stayed in the living room, where Adam soon materialized with his plethora of video games. As House played games with Adam, Angie and Jennifer stood in the kitchen with Cameron, questioning her about House.
"I guess if he makes you happy, it's okay. But the guy's a dick, Ally," Angie said as she skinned some potatoes.
"He seems nice enough," Jennifer defended mildly, checking on the food that was already on the stove. "He's polite."
Angie rolled her eyes and left to get some more potatoes out of the basement.
Cameron laughed. "No, he's not," she said honestly. "He's just being polite right now because we've had a stressful time at work lately and he's afraid I'll grow snakes out of my head and turn him to stone if he says something wrong."
"Isn't it unethical to be sleeping with your boss, though, Ally?" Jennifer asked, ever the concerned mother. "Won't the other doctors talk?"
"They … don't really mind, Mom. It's complicated." She took the ham out of the hot water that she'd put it in to help the thawing process and placed it in a large pot before seasoning it. "And he's wonderful. Really."
"I sure hope so," Jennifer said with a sigh, spotting the ring on her daughter's finger. "How long have you been engaged?"
Cameron's mouth dropped open and she looked at the ring. She'd forgotten to take it off, damn it. "About two weeks," she muttered. "I meant to call and tell you… Work really has been very stressful."
With a smile, Jennifer embraced her daughter. "Oh, sweetie… Jackie told us that you were happy with him. We never expected you'd get married again."
Cameron fought back tears. "Yeah… Me, neither. I still have to take him to meet Jackie. I promised her."
"She'll be happy to know. She wanted you to move on once Dean passed." She started crying and hugged Cameron close to her. "I'm so happy for you."
Angie returned with potatoes and groaned. "Oh, God, not a sob-fest," she moaned, dropping the potatoes. "Why are we all crying?"
"Ally's getting married!" Jennifer exclaimed.
"What!" Angie screeched. "To… Oh, my God! Ally, are you really!"
Cameron nodded and laughed and her sister's reaction. Angie squealed and hugged her, twirling her around once. "I don't care if he's an asshole; it's okay!"
Cameron's laughter doubled at that statement, and she wiped tears out of her eyes. "Thanks… I think," she managed through her laughter.
"When is the wedding going to be? Have you picked a date? Ooh! Are you wearing white again? Do you have a caterer, because I've got a friend who would just die to do it. Does Adam know? He'll be so excited! OhmyGod. Dad! Does Dad know? Did you tell him?"
Jennifer laughed this time. "Calm down, Angela. Ally, go tell your father and Adam. We'll finish up in here."
Cameron made her way to the living room, where she relayed the information to her father and brother. House smiled as Andrew gave his daughter what could only be described as a bear hug.
"Congratulations, honey," he said, his voice soft. He looked over at House. "You planning on giving her babies?"
"We haven't really discussed-"
"If she wants them," House cut in quickly. "And if I think I can manage to stay at work for long, long days to keep away from them."
Andrew laughed and gave House a slap on the back. "Good answer." He glanced at the kitchen and excused himself to go help, leaving Cameron, House, and Adam in the living room. Adam was being eerily silent.
"You okay, Adam?" Cameron asked gently.
Adam looked at the carpet, picking at it. "How come you're getting married, Ally?"
Cameron's brow furrowed and she sat down cross-legged in front of Adam. "Because Greg makes me really happy and I love him and want to stay with him for a long time. Are you unhappy about that?"
Adam's lip was shaking. "What if… What if he gets the brain disease, too, like Dean did? And what if he has to die, too, Ally?"
"Oh, Adam…"
House sat on the couch behind Cameron, looking down at Adam with a small frown. "Hey, kid," he said softly, getting Adam's attention. "I'm not going to get any type of brain disease."
"But how do you know?" Adam asked suspiciously, still picking nervously at the carpet.
"I told you. I'm a doctor, and I know everything." He could tell that the answer wasn't what Adam wanted, and he sighed, tapping his cane on the floor thoughtfully. "You know, I had my brain scanned last year."
"Scanned?"
"Yeah. They put me in this machine and I got something called a CAT scan. It took pictures of my brain and other doctors looked at it. It's disease-free."
"You promise?" Adam asked tearfully.
"Swear it," House responded solemnly.
"So … you're gonna be my brother?"
"You could say that." He was, after all, going to be the kid's brother-in-law. "Okay now?"
Adam smiled and nodded wrapping his arms around House's waist. The crisis, it seemed, had been averted.
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After a chaotic dinner, wherein Angie spilled wine all over the table and Adam managed to knock the mashed potatoes all over the floor, the family settled into the living room to open their gifts.
Cameron received mostly sensible things, like a new watch, some gift cards, and a scarf and glove set. Adam got videogames from his family and a Nintendo DS from House. The Cameron family was, House realized, much like the Brady Bunch. Except a bit more real, which was very nice.
There was one gift left under the tree. The wrapping was messy, and the card with it was done in crayon. Adam grabbed the gift and handed it to House. "Ally said I didn't have to get you anything, but I wanted to," he said excitedly.
House was surprised, and he looked down at the gift in his hand, feeling thoroughly awkward. He was supposed to open this in front of everyone? With a smile from Cameron, he read the card to himself. Greg, it read, the writing sloppy and making him smile. I bought (spelled bawt) you this because I know (spelled no) that you like games, too. Ally said you'd like it. He opened the gift and grinned. "Thanks, Adam."
Cameron looked over his shoulder to see what it was. "Resident Evil: Code Veronica?" she asked with a groan. "How many of them did they make!"
House smirked and turned to look at Cameron's face, which was resting over his shoulder. "Enough to torture you for a long, long time," he promised with a kiss to her cheek. "And enough to have an all-night gaming party," he added, looking to Adam. "Right?" he asked.
"Yeah!" Adam exclaimed happily.
Cameron groaned. "I'm staying with Wilson if you two have an all-night Resident Evil party, because I'm not holding either of you when you get nightmares."
Jennifer and Andrew smiled at the couple and how House was handling Adam. It was good. It was very good to see Allison happy again.
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When they returned home, Cameron shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the coat rack before dusting the snow off of House's coat and pulling him close for a long, leisurely kiss. "Couldn't do that in front of the parents," she explained with a smile.
"Or Adam," House responded, setting down the bag of gifts and shrugging out of his own coat.
"Or Adam," she agreed, watching him as he took his coat off. "So … you're going to give me babies, huh?" she asked with a small laugh.
"Hey. The man wanted an affirmative answer. He's big enough to take me down; I can't run from him."
She snorted and pulled him close for another kiss. "Were you serious? When you said it?"
"Is answering in the affirmative going to get me laid?" he asked suspiciously.
"Maybe…" she answered mysteriously.
"If you wanted kids," he said slowly, his hands working on unbuttoning her shirt. "I wouldn't be opposed. I won't be a wonderful father, and I'm not going to turn soft when the baby starts crying. I will mock you when you swell to three times your normal size, and I'll probably refuse to change the diapers most of the time."
"That's brutally honest," she stated with a smile.
"You still want one, don't you?"
"…Yeah."
He got her shirt undone and off of her, slowly walking her backwards to the bedroom. "I'm not 'Daddy' material," he warned her, dropping his own shirt somewhere in the hallway.
"I don't expect you to be." She tugged on his belt to get it out of the loops.
"I'm not going to play with it," he warned gruffly, burying his face in her neck and kissing there, nipping lightly to get a moan out of her. He wasn't disappointed.
"I won't expect you to," she gasped when he pushed her back on the bed.
"And I'm not running out for late night cravings of Taco Bell."
She pulled him down and straddled him. "Good. I like McDonald's better." She teased him, running her nails lightly down his chest and being sure to scrape over his nipples.
He groaned, taking her wrists and kissing both of her palms. "Never thought I'd be a family man."
"You're not yet," she assured him, working his pants off of him along with his boxers. "And even when you are, you won't really be. Because you … are Greg House. And nothing is ever what it seems with you."
"You're not making any sense," he told her with a laugh.
"You're naked in front of me," she used. "It's a valid excuse."
He smirked and crooked his finger for her to come closer to him. When she did, he slipped her bra off of her and nodded for her to get out of the rest of her clothing. She did so quickly, which made him grin. "Eager?"
"I already told you… You're naked. I'm allowed."
"I should just walk around naked. Then you'd-" He all but choked on his words when she closed her fist around him. He looked over to see her sweet smile and kissed her, pulling her to him and getting her to straddle him again so that he could enter her. He loved the feel of her. Loved it.
They moved together slowly, both of them reveling in the feel of the other.
Neither noticed nor minded that they hadn't remembered to use a condom.