YAY! Chapter 4 is up and running. I had a very difficult time starting out with this, but I pushed myself and got the ball rolling. Anyway, sorry to those of you desperate to meet her family, you'll have to wait until the next chapter or two. Sorry 'bout the wait. Enjoy!
"Is that my Ally?"
House felt Cameron tensing beside him as a plump woman barreled through the door he imagined lead to the kitchen. In a frenzy of her flowered dress, Cameron's mother enveloped her daughter in a bone-snapping hug.
"Hey, Ma," Cameron said, her voice soft from the way her mother was currently crushing her lungs.
Nearly throwing Cameron out of the way, she turned to House. "And you must be Greg. I'm Martha, Allison's old mother." She beamed, clasping her fingers tightly together in front of her. "Ally warned me not to hug you, so I won't." All of this was very amusing for House, who smirked in Cameron's direction to show off his approval, only to find that she was holding her head in her hands. He had gathered that her relationship with her mother was about as great as his own relationship with his father. Though, knowing Cameron, to have earned this warm a greeting, something must have happened between them. Something disastrous.
Jack spoke then, shaking House from his musings.
"Marty," Jack said in a low tone, that Cameron knew was used only when her dad was trying to keep himself from yelling. "The kids are probably tired. Don't you think we should show them their room?" Martha clapped her hands together, as though it had been her idea all along.
"Absolutely! Greg, Ally, follow me. We'll give you the guest room just off the den. How's that sound?" It seemed that she wasn't actually looking for a response as she took them both by the hands, bringing them to a cozy little room, where their suitcases were' waiting for them on the bed. "Now, be sure to be up by eight tomorrow. Everyone's here and I was –"
"What?" Cameron nearly hissed, spinning on her heel so she could fix her mother with a harsh stare. "Everyone. You don't mean…everyone?"
Her mother nodded. "Yes they're all here; upstairs, downstairs, and I think Carolyn is staying in a tent out back." Flashing them one more smile, she left the room, calling out "Remember, eight o'clock!" as she closed the door behind her.
"What was that?" he asked slowly. Though it had been funny to watch Cameron's mother bustling around and chatting as though she'd known him his whole life, it had been a little overwhelming.
Cameron sank down onto the bed, her jaw gone slightly slack. "That…was my mother."
"She's kind of…" he trailed off, waving his hand in the air vaguely.
"Psychotic?" she suggested.
"Actually, I was going to say excitable, but that works too." He sat down beside her, stretching out his leg as he popped a couple pills. It had been so long since he'd last taken any, and his leg was burning. Pocketing the bottle, House wrapped an arm around Cameron's shoulders, pulling her close to him.
"Is it too late to leave?" she asked softly. House had himself another puzzle. What had happened between Cameron and her mother that resulted in this animosity on Cameron's part?
"I'm afraid so. We've already made our appearance."
"Oh God," she groaned, resting her head on his shoulder. "Everyone is here, though."
"And who…?"
"My aunts, uncles, cousins. Everyone with Cameron blood in them is apparently in this house." She shifted her gaze to the ceiling, as though she was expecting to find her entire family peering down at her. "Christ. What have I done?" House amazed himself by managing to refrain from saying the rather snarky comment that had just made itself known inside his head. Instead, he scooted them back on the bed, gently laying them down against the soft pillows. He was running a hand in gentle circles over the slight bump of her tummy, and Cameron lost the battle with sleep, drifting off with her head resting of House's shoulder.
The next morning, Cameron woke to the sound of a door creaking open. At first, she guessed that it was House, using the adjoining bathroom, but when she opened her eyes, she saw her younger brother, Kyle peeking his head around the door. Her vision was still blurry, but she was fairly sure that her seventeen-year-old brother –the one she'd driven to kindergarten every day before she left for medical school – was smiling back at her from under a mop of bright fire-engine red hair. She noticed that House's arm was protectively shielding her stomach, and she slid it off, creeping out of the bedroom so as to not wake House.
"Hey Ally Marie," he said casually after she'd silently closed the door behind her. Kyle had been calling her that – Ally Marie – since he'd been able to talk. It didn't annoy her nearly as much as people expected it to. In fact, it had always been like a secret between them.
"Kyle. What did you do to your hair?" She ran an experimental hand through it, checking to make sure it was real. Her brother laughed.
"I knew that would be the first thing out of your mouth." His fingers wrapped around her wrist, bringing her hand away from his head. "Don't you like it?"
"It's…Yeah. We don't have to worry about losing you anymore," she joked, earning her an eye-roll from Kyle.
"So…" He dug his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans. "That him?" Since Cameron had gone off for school, she hadn't kept in touch much with her family, aside from the occasional Christmas she spent at home. She'd talked to Kyle a lot though, and had mentioned House in more detail to him than the rest of her family.
"Yeah." She couldn't keep herself from smiling. "You've just caught him at his best." Kyle raised an eyebrow at her, but knew better than to say anything. That was when they heard rustling on the other side of the door, followed by a strained 'Cameron!'
"Just a minute," she sighed, pushing open the door, not quite closing it behind her. House was sitting up in bed, clutching at his thigh.
"My pills," he muttered through clenched teeth. "I can't…they're in my jeans." His eyes were screwed shut and he was rocking slightly. Cameron searched the floor for his discarded pants, easing the bottle out of a pocket when she'd found them. He palmed two, quickly swallowing them dry. It took a few minutes, but slowly he began to relax, his hands falling away from his leg.
"Better?" she asked quietly. She knew how much he hated being pitied, but he'd started to accept that caring was something she did.
"Yeah." Nodding, he opened his eyes so he could meet her worried gaze. "Thanks."
Cameron didn't need to check, she could still feel her brother's presence on the other side of the white door. House had his head resting against the headboard, eyes closed once more.
"I'll be right back," she said. He held up a hand, so she knew that he'd heard her. Cameron slipped back out the door, almost colliding with Kyle. He blushed, his cheeks almost as bright as his hair. "You shouldn't eavesdrop, Kyle," she scolded, though she was sure of what he'd say to that.
"Are you kidding? We used to do it all the time!" There it was. She hardly needed to be reminded of the several times the two of them had stationed themselves outside the kitchen door, listening while their parents argued over their older brother, Bobby. They always wanted to know what was going on with their older brother, who'd announced that he was gay before being practically disowned by their father. Last Cameron had heard, her father had relented somewhat, allowing his oldest son to be invited to family gatherings.
"That's not the same."
"Whatever," he said dismissively, before his face became serious. "So…is he in…a lot of pain?" His head tilted toward the room. Cameron glanced at the door, silently cursing herself for not thinking to close it. Then a smirk found its way onto her face as House's voice forced its way into her head.
"Have you ever been shot?" She didn't enjoy the perplexed look on his face for too long, quickly going back into the room, this time locking it behind her. From the broad grin on his face, she guessed that he had been listening.
"That's my girl."
Cameron couldn't help but smile at him. "You should get up. It's already…" She glanced at her watch. "Damn. It's nearly noon. I suppose that means we missed breakfast." House didn't need to know her to hear the relieved tone in her voice. She dropped her arm back to her side, glancing back up at House. "Shower?" House scoffed at that.
"You have to ask?" Swinging his legs gracefully over the edge of the bed, he got to his feet. Cameron was glad to see that he was obviously feeling much better than he had been five minutes earlier. He reached for his cane, following Cameron into the bathroom.
Nothing too…strenuous took place under the warm spray of water – not only because Cameron was afraid of being to loud, but also because, having grown up here, she knew that the lock on the outer bedroom door could be easily picked from the outside, and she had no wish to be discovered in a compromising situation by anyone. House had lovingly soaped her, moving the delicate white suds over her milky skin as he braced himself against the cool tiles. She felt herself relaxing under his callused fingers as they worked over her.
About half an hour later, as they got themselves dressed, Cameron asked House what he was interested in doing while they were here.
"Is there anything to do?" he asked skeptically.
"Not really. But I could take you into town and show you around. It's not exciting, but it's better than sitting around here." House knew what she meant. He could tell how stressed she was over being around her family. He had to figure a way to get the information out of her, because otherwise the puzzle was going to haunt him. "So?" Cameron asked.
"To town it is."
Cameron braced herself for whatever was ahead as they made their way though the den and into the main part of the house. She had the backpack – House's pack – slung over her shoulder, and just having it there felt like protection to her. Her plan was to either borrow her father's truck, or see if one of her cousin's could spare their car for the day. They turned into the dining room and she was surprised to find her father, Kyle, her cousin Sharon and Bobby all gathered around the table. Sharon, who was closer to Kyle's age, glanced up from her magazine and smiled briefly. Bobby, on the other hand, had gotten quickly to his feet, sweeping his younger sister into his arms.
"Alison," he whispered into her hair. He was only slightly taller than her, and had a tiny frame. House stood back, as though he was afraid the younger man would try to hug him as his mother had the night before.
"It's great to see you, Bobby," Cameron said, patting him awkwardly on the back. He had always been a little too touchy-feely for Cameron's comfort, but she loved her brother, and knew that it was only a part of his nature.
"I brought Chris," he said eagerly, pulling away. Cameron had heard about Chris, Bobby's longtime partner. She'd met him once, and from what she could tell, he was an awful lot like Wilson in his need to love everyone. She had liked him.
She noticed Bobby glancing over her shoulder at House, who was leaning against the doorframe. "Oh, Bobby. This is Greg." Grabbing House's wrist, she urged him forward. "Greg, this is my older brother, Bobby." The two shook hands, trading their nice-to-meet-you's.
"What are you kids up to today?" her father asked, apparently feeling the need to end the introduction.
"Actually, we were going to go into town. I was wondering if we could borrow your truck, Daddy." Jack glanced up from the paper he was reading, tilting her head at her.
"I don't know, Buttercup. The last time you drove it…"
"The last time I drove it I was sixteen," she pointed out.
"You can take my car," Sharon volunteered, setting down her magazine. That she had a car hardly surprised Cameron. Her parents, Jeff and Sarah, were probably on the highest end of the Cameron family social class scale.
"You don't mind?" Cameron asked.
"No. What is there to do around here anyway?" House scoffed lightly in her ear, but Cameron ignored it reached forward to take the keys from her cousin's outstretched hand.
"Thanks, Sharon." She waved her goodbye to the people in the room, smiling at Bobby as she went past him.
"That's what you've been so worried about?" House asked once they got outside. Cameron found Sharon's car – a brand-new Toyota-something – and unlocked it as quick as she could. Though it had yet to snow, the air was still bitter cold, stinging any exposed skin.
"Are you kidding? Those people are probably the most…subdued of my bloodline. Besides," she added as she backed out of the driveway. "It's my mom and her sisters you've got to watch out for."