Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of House, M.D.

House awoke with a start. For once, it wasn't the pain in his leg that woke him. He glanced over at Cameron, who was still sleeping deeply next to him, burrowed under the covers. Her soft snores soothed him, and he carefully got out of bed. She must be really tired if this noise isn't waking her up, he thought.Giving her a gentle kiss on top of her head, he slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed. Making sure that he didn't jar Cameron awake, he grabbed his cane and eased himself off the bed. Shivering a bit from the cold, he limped towards the source of the sound that had woken him up in the first place.

He didn't have to go really far. The crib lay just a few feet away from the foot of the bed. Cameron had taken up the first shift of taking care of the triplets when they awoke. Three, he thought. I can't believe we have three babies all at the same time. I guess I'm making up for all the ones I didn't have while I was younger. He quickly picked up the crying infant and patted him on the back. He made quiet shushing sounds, trying to keep him from waking up the other two. One crying baby he could handle; three—that was pushing his paternal skills.

"C'mon, kiddo. Give your dad a break. Haven't you cried yourself out, yet? At least wait until it's your mom's turn again. C'mon…shhhh," House whispered, all the while bouncing him. Jimmy, just like the man he was named after, ignored House's words. He waved his tiny fists in the air, refusing to be calmed down.

House was just about to limp over to the other room with the piano when one of the girls started stirring. No, please, don't wake up, House silently pleaded his daughter, acting as though she could understand him, let alone be able to read his thoughts. But even though she was daddy's little girl, she was in no mood to listen to him and started crying alongside her brother. House let out a resigned sigh and awkwardly picked her up in his other arm. Thankful that they were both still tiny, he paced back and forth across the carpeted room, making uneven, muffled thumps as he tried to get the two of them to sleep.

He debated over going into the next room, not wanting to wake Cameron up but also not wanting to walk barefoot on the wooden floor. House froze as Cameron mumbled and turned in her sleep. He waited for her breathing to return to normal before moving again. Looking at the crib, he watched his other daughter sleeping peacefully. At least one of them will be like their mother, he thought and smiled. With one final glance to make sure that his other baby girl was still asleep, he limped out of the room and went as quickly as he could to the rocking chair. The cold from the evening air and the wooden floors seeped through the thin material of his pajama bottoms and the soles of his feet. When he reached the plush rug on which the rocking chair sat, he let out a sigh of relief.

By now, the two infants had quieted down some. Their cries had turned into the occasional sniffle or hiccup; but neither was sleeping peacefully, yet. Letting out a big yawn, House pushed against the rug, rocking back and forth in the chair they had gotten as a gift from his parents at Cameron's baby shower. As the two infants rested against his chest, House hummed parts of a jazz song from the CD Cameron had gotten him for his birthday. Upon hearing their father's voice, the babies slowly began drifting back to sleep and stopped sniffling. When he felt their breathing slow down, he carefully got up and headed back into the bedroom. Then, he gingerly placed them back in the crib beside their sleeping sister and tucked them into their respective blankets. Gazing at the three of them, he smiled, his heart feeling full of paternal pride.

Crawling back under the covers of his own bed, he looked at Cameron curiously, unable to figure out how she could have stayed asleep this entire time. It had taken him a while to calm the babies down; and their crying could have woken the dead. House stared at her face, becoming suspicious when he realized that she was smiling. He lifted his arm and gently her hair away from her face. It was then he noticed that she had ear plugs. Feeling House's hand graze the ear plugs she had shoved in before going to sleep at the end of her shift, Cameron smiled wider.

"See, I told you that you could handle it," she whispered, her voice husky with fatigue. Not opening her eyes, she lifted her hand from under the covers and placed it on top of his. Lifting his away from her cheek, she turned her head and pressed a kiss to his palm. Letting go, she wrapped her arm around his waist and cuddled closer into his embrace, falling back asleep almost immediately.

Smiling at Cameron's sneakiness, House tucked her head under his chin. It seemed that he wasn't the only one that had tricks up his sleeves. With the long, sleepless nights ahead and future mischievous antics of his wife, his family would be the death of him. But, House thought, as he gradually fell back asleep grinning, I wouldn't have it any other way.