Thank you to housefan53 for telling me it didn't suck.
Disclaimer: I don't remember if I put one of these of chapter 1 or not, so…not mine. Except Dani. And Helen. And...other stuff. Like Percy! No…he's not mine either, actually.
A/N: This was going to be the last chapter. And it was, for a while, until I realised how terribly long it was, and that I can be cruel and keep you in suspense for a while longer, so I split it in two. Muaha.
Chapter 5 - Mommy's Girl
Cameron found a note from House in the office when she arrived, with a patient's file.
It read: Run tests for standard drugs. Get Foreman to get you up to speed.
"How's the patient, Foreman?" she asked the man who was sitting with his back to Cameron.
"She's fine," Foreman said distractedly.
"Are you talking about the same one I'm talking about?" Cameron asked sceptically. "The one we were treating yesterday for church-strauss?"
"Yeah." Foreman took a sip from his mug, gazing at the wall.
"You want to talk about it?"
Foreman's eyes snapped back to Cameron.
"Talk about it?" Foreman asked, suspiciously bright. "About what?
Cameron nodded slightly.
"Ok. Well…tell me about the patient. And where's House?"
"Cuddy finally caught up with him," Foreman told her with a grin. "She's kept him captive in the clinic for not doing his morning hours."
Cameron couldn't help a smile, and rolled her eyes. Typical House.
"Where's Chase?" Foreman enquired, looking around, as if expecting him to appear.
"He's looking after my niece."
"He's what?"
"Looking after my niece," Cameron repeated. "He offered."
"He offered," Foreman echoed. Cameron frowned, suddenly realising what Foreman was implying, and interrupted his next sentence with one of her own.
"Tell me about the patient."
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Cameron walked through the front door an hour later to find an empty sitting room. She thought about calling out, but something stopped her. She moved silently towards the room she and Dani had been playing in earlier, following the sound of voices.
She smiled at the scene in front of her.
"Percy gave a toot, and the people waved as he pulled out of the station." Chase turned the page of the picture book he was reading from. Dani was staring at the book, her forefingers in her mouth. Chase was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Dani on his lap.
Cameron leaned her head against the doorframe, and must have made a noise, because Chase and Dani's faces turned.
Dani immediately jumped up and put her arms around Cameron's legs, and Cameron stroked her hair fondly.
"Having fun?"
Chase stood up also.
"I'm all played out. Does she ever get tired?"
"She'll sleep well tonight."
Hoisting Dani up to her hip, Cameron gave her a kiss. Dani put her head against Cameron's shoulder.
"She's a cute kid," Chase remarked as they moved out of the doorway, and Cameron was sure she could detect a smile on Dani's face, although she appeared asleep.
"Come and have a drink," Cameron offered, tilting her head towards the kitchen.
"Sure." Chase stood a moment, apparently unsure where to put the book.
"Just drop it," Cameron instructed him nonchalantly. "I'll get it later."
Chase shrugged, and complied.
"Chase…" Cameron said, rolling her eyes. "I didn't mean drop it."
"You said…" he began to protest, then thought better of it. "Never mind."
Cameron retightened her grip on Dani, leading Chase into the kitchen.
"So what did House want?" he asked.
"Like you said, ran some tests. We're probably going to hear how right he was when he gets the results tomorrow."
"Yeah, probably. I can't help hoping he's wrong."
"That would mean we don't know what's wrong with her," Cameron pointed out.
"You know what?" Chase continued, as if he hadn't heard her. "I wish that one day, he'd misdiagnose a meningitis case as…the flu, or something."
"Chase!" Cameron reprimanded. "Meningitis is really contagious. If we don't treat it, it could-"
"Ok," Chase said, raising his hands in defence. "I take it back."
"Water? Or you want something stronger?"
Even Cameron couldn't interpret Chase's grin as a 'No, thanks'.
She placed Dani gently on the sofa where the girl released her grip around Cameron's neck, and curled up amongst the cushions.
"You don't have anywhere you need to be?" she asked him, taking out a couple of wine glasses from a cupboard.
"Not tonight, no."
"Want to stay for dinner?"
The silence that followed went unnoticed only by Dani.
"I made casserole," Cameron explained hastily, relieving the tension slightly. "I never know whether Helen'll be around for Dani's dinner time. Sometimes she leaves, sometimes she stays, and sometimes Helen joins us. There's enough for you."
Cameron stopped talking, realising how much she had said in a very short period of time.
"Ah, I…ok."
"Good," Cameron smiled, handing a glass to Chase. "Come sit down." Chase followed Cameron out to where Dani was still lying.
"It's Dani's birthday next week," Cameron stated, looking over at her niece.
"Four, right?"
Cameron glanced curiously at him.
"Right."
"You…told me," Chase said. "Last time, in the park."
Thinking back, Cameron couldn't really remember the trivialities they exchanged.
Cameron took a sip of wine. The clock ticked. She watched Chase's eyes shift restlessly around the room, but always drawn back to one spot. He opened his mouth, closed it again, then repeated the process a few more times, clearly undecided whether to speak.
Before Cameron could follow his line of vision, his eyes had moved again. He seemed quite uncomfortable, and Cameron was about to say something to try and ease the atmosphere, when she heard a knock from the front door.
Cameron got up off the sofa quickly, putting down her glass on the coffee table.
"That's probably Helen. I won't be a moment. Oh," she hesitated. "Would you wake up Dani please? We can eat."
Leaving Chase with minimal eye contact, Cameron answered the door. She distinctly heard "Wake up, kid." from behind her, and smiled.
"Hey, Al, have you had dinner?" Helen greeted her.
"No, not yet. We were waiting for you," Cameron replied, though not entirely truthfully. She had been quite ready to eat, and was about to suggest it.
"Thank you." Helen threw her arms around her sister. "I can't be bothered to feed myself tonight."
"Come on in. I'm hungry."
"Was she good?" Helen asked, shrugging of her jacket in an attempt to unwind.
"As always. She might still be asleep.
"Cameron?" Chase appeared in front of her, looking desperately worried.
"Ah, Helen, this is Robert. Chase, Helen."
"Cameron…" Chase persisted. "She won't wake up."
"What?" Cameron started. "Are you sure?"
"How did you try and wake her?" Helen asked Chase, surprising Cameron by acting very calmly.
"I shook her a little, and prodded her a bit."
"She won't respond to that. Watch." Helen grinned at him, striding over to the sofa.
"Up you get, Dani." Helen pulled her daughter into a sitting position. Her eyes still closed, Dani hugged her mom.
"Hi, Dani, did you have fun?"
Dani gave a sleepy nod, while Chase watched on in amazement.
"How'd she do that?" he asked Cameron, moving to stand by her side.
"She's a mom," Cameron replied simply.