Disclaimer: I still don't own them. And I have a feeling that if I DID, the show wouldn't get NEARLY as good ratings as it does. 'Cause I'd keep playing with 'em when they were supposed to be working. ;-)
Chapter Twenty Three
March was a calmer month than February. There was very little bickering between House and Cameron, and the incident with Chase had been all but forgotten. Cameron respected House's wishes by telling Chase less of what he wanted to know, but still kept him informed on the bigger things. Like where the wedding was taking place.
They'd found a beautiful, historic inn and rented it for the wedding and the reception instead of the place they'd originally settled on. It wasn't too far out of downtown Princeton, so everyone would be able to make it. Cameron had fallen in love with the place the first time she laid eyes on it. House had been leery, but agreed after seeing the inside and especially after the special price that the innkeepers were offering for the wedding.
By mid-march, everyone in the hospital knew that Cuddy was pregnant. After all, the woman was nearly unbearable to be around. When she wasn't getting sick, she was screaming at people. House finally broke down and asked Cameron to go calm the woman. Chase, Foreman, and even Wilson begged her to do it. After glaring at House, Cameron agreed and soon found herself in Cuddy's office.
"Hey… Got a minute?" she asked gently.
Cuddy glanced at the clock. "I've got twenty before a board meeting. Need something?"
"The men upstairs nominated me to come and talk to you," she admitted, coming in and taking a seat. "You scare them."
Cuddy frowned. "They'd be like this, too, if they had an organism growing in their stomachs."
Cameron grinned in full agreement. "Yes, but since they'll never have an organism growing in their stomachs, they'll never really understand."
With a sigh, the older woman sat back in her chair, giving up on the file she'd been working on. "I've tried everything," she said dejectedly. "Saltines for the morning sickness, fruit instead of chocolate for the sweets cravings… I've even tried drinking copious amounts of water. Nothing's working on the mood swings."
"Try McDonald's," Cameron suggested with a shrug. "It's not healthy and it's actually pretty disgusting when you aren't pregnant. But here's a secret: junk food can be your best friend with a baby in your belly."
"I'm trying to stay away from it…"
"If you want the mood swings to stop, you've got to eat the junk. I promise you'll feel so much better."
Cuddy smiled at Cameron. "I understand that it's a sensitive topic… But… James mentioned that House had said that you'd miscarried before. How long were you-?"
"I'd almost finished the first trimester," she answered briefly.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to pry…"
"You did," Cameron said with a small smile. "But it's okay. Just … take my word on it. Run out and get yourself a Big Mac before your meeting. It makes a world of difference."
Cuddy debated running out before finally grabbing her purse and keys to her car. "Thank you." She paused and looked around her office before settling her gaze on Cameron again. "Why don't you come with me? I know you guys don't have any patients right now, and you, unlike your fiancé, have completed your clinic hours for the week."
Cameron grinned. "Sure, why not? I could stand to get out of this place for a little bit."
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House sat in his office with Wilson and Foreman. Chase was off doing his clinic hours, which suited House just fine. Wilson was twiddling his thumbs and Foreman was tapping his foot absently on the floor.
"Maybe Cuddy's killed her," Foreman suggested. "She seems to be in that kind of mood…"
"She hasn't killed her," Wilson said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm sure Cameron's doing an excellent job of calming Lisa down."
"You hope she is," House retorted with a smirk. "What's it like, dealing with that? I mean, it has to suck."
"I don't live with her," Wilson reminded his friend with a smile. "I don't have to deal with it all the time."
"That really strikes me as weird," Foreman put in. "You got her pregnant, but she doesn't want you living with her? I thought women wanted the fathers of their children in their lives."
"It's different for me and Lisa. We've agreed that I'll be a part of the child's life, and I'm taking care of all of the costs of her prenatal care. I help set up appointments and everything. We just don't live together and aren't getting married. If she'd gone with a sperm donor, she would have gotten a lot less out of it."
"True."
At that point, Cameron came into House's office with Cuddy. Both of them had milkshakes from McDonald's and were laughing hysterically at something.
House grabbed up a book and hid his face behind it. "Quick! Take cover! The witches are cackling!"
Cameron tried to control her laughter and threw a balled-up napkin at House before continuing her story to Cuddy. "So then she tells me that babies are a gift from God and reminds me that beating them is wrong. I'm like… 'I haven't even pushed it out yet. You don't have to give me advice on how to take care of it.' The best thing about all of it…" She started laughing uncontrollably again. "…is that she's a lesbian!"
Cuddy wiped tears from her eyes, she'd been laughing so hard. "You tell me this before I have to go into a board meeting?" she asked, trying desperately to control her laughter. "That's not fair!"
House, Foreman, and Wilson exchanged confused looks and Wilson sunk lower in his chair. Foreman looked for a place to hide while House peeked over his book at the two crowing women. "You two done with the giggle-fest?"
Cuddy sighed and checked her watch. "For now," she said with a smile before pinning her eyes on House. "Go do your clinic hours, you lazy ass."
The men watched as Cuddy exited before turning their gazes slowly to Cameron.
"What … did you do to her?" Wilson asked hesitantly.
"Bought her McDonald's," Cameron answered merrily before sipping at her own milkshake. "It's a pregnant woman's best friend. That, and pizza."
"She was trying to have a healthy pregnancy," Wilson scolded.
"There's a difference between a healthy pregnancy and eating healthy during a pregnancy," Cameron replied with a shrug. "The latter of the two never actually happens." She polished off her milkshake and tossed the empty cup into the trash basket. "Do we have a patient yet?" she asked House.
"No one's referring. I have all of the doctors afraid of me again." He tossed a ball up and down. "Life is good."
"Life is boring," Foreman complained. "What am I doing here if I don't have work?"
"Go up to neurology," Cameron suggested. "I ran into Dr. Parkins and he said that they could use some help up there with a case. Not with diagnosing it," she told House when he opened his mouth to speak. "With treating it."
Foreman shrugged. "I'll go up there, then. Page me if we get a case."
House nodded and watched as Foreman left. "And then, there were three," he said, setting the ball down and looking at Cameron and Wilson. "We need something to do."
"Don't bother the psych patients," Wilson warned. "Lisa might kill you."
"Damn." He looked at Cameron. "Afternoon delight?"
Cameron snorted and left the office to sit on her laptop in the diagnostics room. Wilson grinned and looked at House. "Yeah… She's all over you all day long."
"She wants me," House replied with a smirk.
"She wants you, all right," Cameron drawled from the doorway. "She wants you to go find a case."
House pouted. "Come on. A quickie in the office is kinky."
"If we're going to have a quickie in the office, I want to be fucked over a desk. And you're not likely to be able to do that with your leg. So … no afternoon delight."
Wilson laughed and got a glare from House. "She so told you."
"Go deal with your pregnant lover, Jimmy. See if she wants some ice cream."
"That's all you've got?" Wilson asked. "That was a lame retort."
"Fine. I'll be mean about it. Want me to call your three ex-wives and let them know that you could've given them children if they just hadn't married you?"
"Greg," Cameron scolded.
"He taunted me!" House exclaimed.
Wilson rolled his eyes before looking at Cameron. "Good luck with that one," he said, standing. "He's a real charmer."
After Wilson left, House's gaze slid to Cameron. "So do you want to…?"
"No," she said with a small laugh, and went back to her laptop to do some more work.
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That evening after dinner, Cameron frowned and rubbed her stomach. When House asked if she was okay, she nodded, claimed it was just some indigestion, and took a couple of antacids. They snuggled on the couch, watching a movie when Cameron's hand moved to her stomach again. "I don't feel well…" she said with a frown. "Have I got a fever?"
House held the back of his hand to her forehead and cheeks before frowning himself. "Doesn't feel like it." He felt around her neck for any swelling and then shook his head. "You seem fine. Maybe dinner just didn't agree with you… Did you eat something at McDonald's that would make you sick?"
"I just had some fries and a milkshake," she responded, continuing to rub her stomach. "I'll be right back."
When he heard the door to the bathroom shut, he frowned. Then he heard the retching. Then the vomiting. Great… He got up and went into the bathroom, sitting on the tub and holding her hair back once more. "This is nice," he said as she emptied her stomach. "A beautiful, romantic night at home with my fiancé. I've dreamed of this."
She wanted to tell him to stop with the sarcasm, but she every time she tried, she had to vomit again. She had to give him credit for sitting in here with her and holding back her hair. It was a very sweet thing to do. Of course, she wouldn't point that out. He'd probably never do it again if she did.
"That sound is like music to my ears," he continued. Humor was the only way he could think of to make her feel better. And he'd use it as much as possible. "Can you do that in a higher pitch?"
When she was sure that she was done, she rested her forearms on the seat and took deep breaths. "I'm tempted to smack you."
"Just don't puke on me and you can do whatever you please." He ran a washcloth under cool water and placed it on the back of her neck, pulling her hair back with the clip that she kept on the sink. "Feel better?"
"Yeah, actually," she replied, flushing the toilet and rinsing her mouth with water in the sink before brushing her teeth. "That milkshake just didn't sit right, I guess."
"A milkshake does that to you?"
She spit out the toothpaste before putting more on the brush. "It can. You know that I don't usually drink milk. Milk is heavy."
He leaned on his cane and watched as she brushed her teeth vigorously. "It couldn't be something like… Oh, I don't know… Pregnancy?"
She looked thoughtful as she rinsed her mouth with water once more. After spitting, she filled a cup with Listerine and dropped her toothbrush in it to clean it. "It could be," she allowed. "But I don't want to get my hopes up."
"Mmm. Gonna get checked out?"
"I'll buy a home pregnancy test if it makes you feel better," she said with a grin.
"Me? I'm trying to put your mind at ease," he told her honestly. "Besides, you work in a hospital. Get the real test if you're going to do one."
She rolled her eyes and led the way back into the living room. "If I'm sick again within the week, I'll get a test. Deal?"
"Deal." After all, it was only Tuesday.
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By Thursday, Cameron had picked up a home pregnancy test. She hadn't told House; she sort of wanted to keep it a secret. Even though she hadn't gotten sick again, she was extremely curious. After work, she went into the bathroom and took the test while House cooked dinner. Him cooking was a rare occurrence, and she'd take complete advantage of it.
She followed the directions on the box and set the test on the side of the sink, tapping her fingers as she waited for it to give her an answer. She was so nervous… What if it was positive? They had three months until the wedding, so she wasn't worried that she'd be waddling down the aisle. Maybe they could even have the reception and the shower at the same time or something. They could be creative.
And what if it was negative? Well, they could just go along like they had been, couldn't they? House didn't even have to know that she'd taken the test and gotten a negative result. She'd just pitch it into the trash can and forget about it.
But if it was positive… Her hands went to her stomach and she smiled. A baby. She wanted a child so badly. And House thought he would be a bad father… She couldn't wait to prove him wrong. He wouldn't be orthodox, that was definite; but he wouldn't be bad. She just knew he wouldn't be.
Five minutes passed and she took a deep breath before looking at the test. When she saw the test, she choked back tears. She knew she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. She tossed the test in the trash, washed her hands, and went into the kitchen.
House saw her and his eyes narrowed. Her eyes were puffy. "You've been crying?" he asked, expecting her to answer.
"It's nothing," she told him with a weak smile, looking at what he was making.
"Allison…"
She sighed and picked a noodle out of the pot of spaghetti and nibbled on it. "I took a pregnancy test," she muttered quietly. "Negative."
He smirked at her. "Well don't cry about it," he said, handing her a cookie sheet with garlic bread on it so that she could put it in the oven. "I'm pretty sure we can try again."
She gave a soft laugh and kissed him. "You're only optimistic because it means more sex."
"Yes," he replied immediately. "Sex is a great reason to be optimistic."
"Leave it to you." She sniffed the spaghetti sauce and grabbed the garlic. "You're always so light on the garlic. Are you afraid it's going to burn you?" she teased.
"Garlic's potent, okay? I don't want to use too much. You'd be vomiting up dinner again."
She grinned and added a handful of garlic. "You have to measure the amount of garlic to the amount of sauce. If you've got a big pot of sauce like this one, you can add up to two handfuls without it tasting too strong."
He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "This is why you do the cooking. I do the video game playing. We both do the healing people thing." He dropped small, light kisses along her neck.
She smiled and turned to brush a kiss over his lips. "I really want a baby," she confessed quietly.
He held her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I know you do. But you have plenty of time. We won't even be official for another three months."
"I know…" She stirred the sauce and sighed again. "I just… Going out for lunch with Lisa the other day reminded me of how much I wanted one."
"You want to take a week of vacation time and have lots and lots of sex? We could do that," he offered. "Foreman and Chase can figure out a few cases. Wilson could take over diagnostics for a while."
Cameron laughed and pushed him away. "You're a sex fiend."
"I'm getting married to a thirty-year-old woman. I'm allowed to be a sex fiend. Hell, I'm expected to be." He nipped at her neck playfully before heading for the living room. "I'll be in there doing my thing, playing the games. You can do your thing in here, cooking food. We'll just do our things."
She laughed and tossed a spoon at him. Leave it to him to make her feel so much better.