Alright, well this is the final chapter so I thought that I would give a bit longer of an authors note here, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to. I want to thank again everybody who has read and/or reviewed my story; you have no idea how much those reviews mean to me. This is a story that I thought of so long ago and I finally decided that I wanted to see what others thought of it and I'm glad that I did. I am so honoured that you read my story and I thank you again. I hope that this ending satisfies you, and I would once again love to hear your final reviews. Thanks so much, One-Two-Buckle-My-Shoe.
Disclaimer: I still only own Chase's daughters, Leandra and Stephanie Dashund.
Final Chapter:
Cameron walked into Chase's hospital room just as he was buttoning up his white shirt. He had on black pants and his black leather jacket sat beside him on the bed.
"Hey, Chase," Cameron smiled.
Chase looked up and grinned at her. "Hey, Ally," He replied, "Can you believe it, I'm free of this place." He smiled but he noticed the sad look on her face and walked up to her just as he finished buttoning the last button on his shirt. "What's wrong?"
Cameron smiled, "Nothing, really." She sighed, "I'm just going to miss you."
Chase looked her up and down and bit his lip. Carefully he reached out and pulled her into a hug, which she gratefully returned.
She sniffed when they pulled away a moment later. "I thought that you didn't like touching people." She whispered.
Chase looked into her eyes, "What, it's not like you've got cooties."
Cameron laughed. "I'm going to miss this; we were a team the four of us."
Chase smiled. "Ally, we still are."
Her eyes widened. "What?" she asked, trying to contain her excitement.
"I'm not leaving, Ally," he said. She grinned happily and hugged him again. "Okay, one hug is enough." He laughed. "I'm not completely comfortable, here."
"Hey, Chase, are you ready to go?" Chase and Cameron both looked towards the door where House and Foreman stood.
"And what was that you said about not leaving?" House asked, needing to hear it for himself.
"Well, I was thinking that it would be a shame to pull my kids out of their schools in the middle of the year." Chase replied and everyone smiled. "Now, I want to go home."
"Thank goodness," House said, "I don't have to go through interviews now." He said it as though that were the only thing that made him want Chase to stay, but they all knew that he would miss Chase and that this was just his way of trying to hide it.
They talked about patients as they made their way to the elevator, and it wasn't until they were inside the elevator and the doors were closed that House said: "I'm going to draw up the paperwork for you to sign after your fellowship is finished next month so that you will stay working in diagnostics. All of my ducklings will get this when their time comes."
And there it was. There was House finally telling them how much he cared, even if you had to read between the lines to get it.
They had barely stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby before Wilson and Cuddy approached them.
"Hey, Chase," Wilson said, "We're going to miss you around here."
"Yeah, you have a good life." Cuddy agreed.
"Alright," Chase smiled, about to tell them that he was staying when he saw the smile on House's face as he looked behind Chase's back and Chase turned towards the door to see his best friend Stephanie Dashund standing in the doorway as well as his three blonde-haired, blue eyed girls.
"Daddy!" The oldest two yelled and ran towards him, Zannia held tightly in Stephanie's arms as she walked over to meet him.
Chase bent down and picked up Allah, hugging her tightly to him. "Oh, honey, I missed you so much!" he had tears in his eyes.
"Daddy; can't breathe." Allah sputtered.
Chase laughed, "Sorry, baby," he said putting her down and lifting up Aliah giving her just as big of a hug. "Hey, honey, were you good for Auntie Stephanie?" He asked.
"I was an angel, daddy." She grinned as he put her down.
Little Zannia was looking at him strangely, her thumb in her mouth. Chase smiled at his youngest girl. "Hey, you." He whispered to her, bending down to her eye level. Suddenly a huge grin spread on her face and she reached out for him. He pulled her into his own arms and smiled at her. "How are you?" he asked with a smile.
"Daddy, I miss you." She said, looking sadly into his eyes that were a perfect match of her own. All of his daughters looked exactly like him, not one looked like his wife, much to his dismay. He always told Steph that he would have loved to have a mini-Melissa running around.
"Daddy missed you, too," He said as he bent down and proceeded to hug all of his children to him. "I missed all of you so much." He put Zannia on the ground next to her sisters and stood back up pulling his best friend into a tight hug which she returned, crying into his shoulder.
"I was so scared," She whispered into his shoulder between sobs. He rubbed her back soothingly. After a moment, she pulled away slightly and slapped his arm.
"Ow, what was that for?" Chase asked, rubbing his arm.
"That was for scaring me! Don't you ever do that again."
Chase smiled and reached into his pocket and pulled out two bottles of pills and she looked at them, they were his anti-depressants and his ulcer medications. "Nope, not again." He said, hugging her again. "I love you."
"I love you, too." She whispered, relishing being in his arms.
When they pulled away, Chase picked up Aliah and Stephanie picked up Zannia, leaving Allah to walk holding Chase's other hand. "I'll see you all on Monday," he nodded to them with a smile before they made their way to the exit.
"I thought that he quit." Wilson said.
"Yeah, well, he changed his mind." House smiled after his youngest duckling. Everything would be okay now.
H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C H C
So, there it is the final chapter of Buried Secrets. I know that it was really short, but I didn't see the need to put anything else in there. One thing I do like about it, though, is that it's got no angst or drama in it! I really hoped that you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and that this ending works for you. Thank you again to everyone, One-Two-Buckle-My-Shoe.