Alright all you amazing people who actually want to read this: I finally got this up (huzzah!). And I'm getting excited because I've kinda got a plan of where I'm going with this. Anyway, I'm planning on lots of writing time over the long weekend, so watch for updates!
She had seen no other way.
Her early morning 'puke-fests,' as House had so fondly come to name them, were steadily becoming more aggressive with each day, and she suspected that House was having a hard time being sympathetic when she woke him up. Of course, she had no way to know that House was even more sympathetic now that he knew the cause for her being forced out of bed every morning around six. But Cameron was getting paranoid, and finally admitted to herself that she needed help. The only problem was that she wasn't sure whom to tell. The few friends that she'd managed to make in Princeton were either guys, or were too busy with their own lives to want to helpher deal with her problems. Which was why Cameron found herself spilling her soul to Lisa Cuddy.
The shock at finding Cameron on her doorstep one morning was evident enough on Cuddy's face. She had been discharged from the hospital a few weeks before, and was slowly adjusting to not being able to go to work every day. Cameron knew that Wilson had gone to work already, and House had been giving her an hour's lenience lately so that she could get cleaned up for work. Cameron just had to hope that Cuddy could tell her what to do in under an hour.
Cuddy's reaction to the news genuinely surprised Cameron. She had expected to receive bitter shock, or at least speechlessness, but she was not expecting Cuddy to be completely understanding. Cuddy urged her to keep the baby, and told her that if House wasn't willing to help her with it, he wasn't worth staying with. This was not what Cameron wanted to hear. Though the tiny person growing inside of her was half his fault, Cameron could understand if raising a child wasn't very appealing to him. Still, the idea of leaving him made her stomach churn with something that definitely wasn't morning sickness.
"I guess what really matters is if you think you want a child," Cuddy had said as Cameron opened the door to the warm sunshine only forty minutes later. Cuddy's words had stuck with her for the rest of the day, replaying over and over inside her head. House had of course noticed something was wrong with her, but didn't say anything. It had been nearly two weeks since he discovered her secret, and he was starting to wonder if she would ever bring it up. He had been imagining himself as a father, entertaining ideas of a little House or Cameron to chase around. He hoped that Cameron didn't think that he wasn't interested in children. In the hope of persuading her to tell him herself about the baby, he would hold Rebecca during their visits with Wilson and Cuddy for as long as possible before she would decide that it was time to spit up all over him.
The night after Cameron's sit-down with Cuddy, Cameron was alone in House's apartment watching TiVo'd episodes of The OC. House had gone out with Wilson for the night, much to Cameron's relief; she was in need of some alone time to deal with the new emotions that had been brewing inside of her. She was halfway through the second episode when the phone rang. Without thinking, she picked up.
"Hello?"
"Allison?" Oh hell. It was Emily.
"Oh. Hi, Em," Cameron said, trying to sound cheerful. "Greg's not here. If you-"
"Actually, I was hoping to talk to you." She sounded nervous; like she was mentioning something she wasn't really supposed to be talking about. "Did Greg tell you what it was we were talking about that day I came to the hospital?" Cameron thought a few weeks back to the last time she had seen Emily, then grimaced as she tried to forget the earlier events of that day.
"I don't think he did. Em, is everything all right?" Cameron remembered seeing Emily storming from House's office. That, paired with the fact that House had gotten especially sulky after she'd left should have alerted Cameron that there was something wrong.
"It's mom." Emily's voice gave way to tears, but she continued anyway. "She decided to stop treatment about a month ago, and she's not doing so well. The doctor doesn't think she'll see the end of summer." Cameron heard a rustling followed by muffled sobs. She waited patiently until Emily brought the phone back to her ear. "She really wants to see Greg, before…before it's too late, but she can't travel…" Suddenly, Cameron saw where Emily was going with this.
"You want Greg to fly out there to see you?" she asked slowly.
"I know. It's ridiculous. But if you could just convince him…"
"Contrary to popular belief, I do not have control over him." A shaky laugh came from Emily's end of the line.
"I know you don't, Allison. But could you…could you please try?"
"I'll try, Cameron promised. They made a few minutes' worth of small talk before Cameron made an excuse to hand up. Talking with House's sister was always awkward. Cameron couldn't exactly say why, but it was the same every time she accidentally picked up the phone.
After the call, The OC didn't appeal to her so much anymore, so Cameron got up to go run a bath. The water rhythmically flowed into the tub as she stripped out of her sweats. The clock on the vanity showed 9:47. House wouldn't be home for four more hours at least. The occasions where he and Wilson would go out for a drink were so far and few that it usually morphed from 'just one drink, I swear,' into just one drink at seven different bars. But it didn't really bother her when House would turn up drunk. He would crawl into bed and pull her close to him and whisper sweet nothings in her ear; albeit nothings that he had no recollection of the next morning. But when he was drunk, he didn't worry nearly so much about what he was saying. These were the times Cameron took the chance to get him to open up about his emotions.
Cameron slowed the water and stepped into the tub, easing herself down so that her entire body up to her neck was submerged. Her fingers played idly with the quickly disappearing cushions of white bubbles as she remembered the very first bath she and house had shared. It had been awkward, at first, as they tried to move so that House wasn't in too much pain. But after that particular obstacle had been defeated, they'd managed to relax in the water, holding each other and talking until the goose bumps were too hard to ignore. House had gotten very close to saying the 'L' word that night.
She was just about to open the drain when she heard the front door being opened and then slammed shut, followed by the sound of a rubber-tipped cane hitting the floor harshly. The footsteps got louder and she saw House's bedroom light flick on. She imagined that his crystal blue eyes were flicking over theempty bed.Afraid that he wouldn't think to check the bathroom, Cameron made a little extra splashing when she reached to the end of the tub for a washcloth. Luckily, House leaned forward so that he could get a good look into the bathroom. Upon seeing her, he visibly relaxed, and came in to sit on the toilet lid.
"Emily called," Cameron said casually, slowly running the washcloth over her stomach. She was slightly rounder, but not enough to raise questions.
"Do we have to talk about my sister right now?" he asked in a strained voice. "What with you being naked and all, this could potentially damage any hope of me talking to her again." Cameron smiled as she dragged the washcloth up to her breasts, massaging each one gently. From the corner of her eye, Cameron could see House lifting himself off the toilet and easing onto the floor. A grimace of pain came and went, but he popped two vicodin and waited for them to kick in. Then, he turned to Cameron and said, "Gimme that," pointing to the washcloth. Smirking, she handed it over, and slid down in the water so that she was in his reach. Her eyes slipped closed as House circled his hand over her tummy, using the washcloth to scrub at invisible spots. His hand traveled to her hip, gently pressing his fingertips into her flesh. She was squirming under his touch, which was only a cue for him to continue.
House smiled slightly, and he ran his hand down her side, gliding over the soft skin inside her thighs. Looking up, he could see that Cameron had her lower lip clamped between her teeth. Ditching the washcloth, House traced his fingers over her skin, bringing them up to the sensitive spot between her legs. Cameron arched her back against his hand, moaning softly. He started to slip one finger inside her, when suddenly, sex didn't seem nearly so fun. He glanced at her stomach, envisioning the baby growing just on the other side. House withdrew his hand and rested it on the edge of the tub. Realizing his hands had disappeared, Cameron looked up, taking in the distressed look on House's face.
"I need to get something to eat," he lied, using his cane to pull himself up to his feet. " I'll just…" His voice trailed off, and he limped from the room, softly shutting the door behind him. Cameron stared at the spot on the floor where he'd just been sitting, trying to figure out what had just happened.
