Amazing Grace- A House/NCIS story

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything House related except DVDs. Ryan is mine, though.

Chapter twenty:

"Mom, I don't want to make a big deal of it," Cameron was talking on her cell phone as she entered the office one snowy day after New Years. House looked up from the computer as his girlfriend entered, curious as to what they were talking about.

"No, I'm not embarrassed! I just want to do something quiet. I know, Mom, that wasn't my fault. Of course I do, and I'm glad everyone thinks it's so important, but I'd rather save my holidays. Mom, come on! Mom, can I call you tonight? Please, I promise we'll talk about it then... I haven't talked to Greg about it. No, I wasn't. Fine, I'll talk to you tonight. Bye, Mom."

Cameron sighed as she hung up the phone and groaned slightly.

"You haven't talked to me about what?" House asked in interest after a moment.

She smiled slightly and rested her chin on her hand. "My parents want to throw me a birthday party at home," she said lightly.

House frowned. "Ok, but you don't? I thought you love going home."

"I do. But I just don't want my birthday to be a big deal!" she protested.

"You're turning thirty! It is a big deal!"

"Says the man who doesn't even know when his birthday is, let alone celebrates it," she retorted dryly.

House waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, that's me. This is you."

"Yes, but I think the only reason, well partly, that they want this is because I wasn't home for Christmas."

House looked guilty. "Oops."

She laughed. "It's okay. I haven't been home for Christmas since I've been working here," she assured him. "Besides, I missed it for a good cause."

House smiled fondly at her. Over Christmas, he had taken her to Vermont to meet his parents, for the first time. Blythe and John House both adored her, and were thrilled even more by the fact that their son was actually home for a holiday, voluntarily.

"Plus, mom and dad still think they're responsible for the fact I didn't have a twenty-first," Cameron was saying.

"You didn't?"

"No, Dan was too sick. I didn't want to do anything," she said softly, her eyes glazing over as she recalled the memories.

"What about your twenty-fifth?"

"I was working," she replied.

House paused thoughtfully. Since their big fight after the "Novak incident" as House called it, the couple seemed to be stronger than ever, and none but Wilson were aware of the incident in question.

"I think you should tell your mom yes," he said finally, startling Cameron.

"What?" she frowned.

He shrugged. "Yeah. I'm guessing we'll be invited, which means we can close down the department for it. It's no big deal."

Cameron hesitated. "Really? Because, you know that NCIS will be invited too, which means the house will be just as squishy as last time," she pointed out.

He grinned at her. "With one difference. The boys can have the spare, Ziva and Abby can bunk with Jacqui, and that leaves you with me."

Cameron laughed. "True. I think I'd rather sleep with the girls," she teased.

"So would I," he grinned in reply, and she threw his oversized tennis ball at him as she left the office to call her mother.

Nina was ecstatic to hear her youngest daughter had agreed to the party, and ordered her daughter to "not worry about anything, sweetheart. Your father and I will organise everything"; which left Cameron slightly worried.

"Why is there no coffee?" House demanded that afternoon, looking slightly worried. Cameron rolled her eyes at him as she rose from her seat.

"Will you relax? The boys finished off a pot before lunch, and I hadn't made anymore, because I didn't feel like any. You know, the three of you are perfectly capable of making coffee too."

"Yours is the best," Foreman and House replied in unison.

"I'm not allowed," Chase grumbled, although he didn't really sound as if he cared.

"How could you not feel like coffee? You drink, like six cups a day!" House asked her.

"It's not that many!" she protested.

House proceeded to count on his fingers. "Morning, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon, and night."

"That's five," she smiled smugly.

"Yeah, only because you gave up your before dinner cup," he retorted.

She rolled her eyes again. "Anyway, I just don't feel like any. I have plenty of energy today to not need caffeine."

"More for me then," he smiled at her, taking his mug off her.

Two weeks later, Foreman came into the office one morning and handed an envelope to Cameron.

"What is it?" she frowned.

"Just open it," he grinned, while House watched nosily over her shoulder.

Cameron did so, and pulled out a brightly coloured invitation, inviting "Dr. Eric Foreman to attend the thirtieth birthday celebration of Allison Elizabeth Cameron at the Pillan Istu ranch in Black River Falls, Wisconsin."

Cameron read it and winced. "My parents are overcompensating for the fact they didn't get to throw me a twenty-first," she explained.

"I wonder who else they invited?"

As the day progressed, Cameron found out those among the invited guests were Wilson, Chase, Cuddy and the NCIS team, as well as most of her graduating class, including Ryan, Pete, Sam and Josh. Although a handful of her high-school acquaintances couldn't attend, all those in both Washington and Princeton had agreed to attend, and as the date neared, Cameron grew more enthusiastic about the idea.

"She's bouncing," House grumbled to Wilson one day, about a week before they were due to fly out.

"Huh?" Wilson frowned in confusion.

"Allison. She's doing that little kid, 'it's almost my birthday' bounce. It's sickening...especially when she's not drinking any coffee."

Wilson was shocked. "Seriously? No coffee? Allison? Why?"

House shrugged. "She's just gone off it. She said it's a phase, she did the same thing with ice-cream when she was eighteen. She voluntarily ate no ice-cream for six months!"

"And yet she survived," Wilson said dryly, trying not to laugh at his friend's expression.

"It's weird. I have to make my own coffee now!" he complained.

"You poor, deprived soul," Wilson deadpanned.

There was a knock on Wilson's office door, and a smiling Cameron stuck her head in.
"Are you done whinging to Wilson yet?"

He pouted. "I'm not whinging!"

Wilson snorted, and they both turned to him. "Sorry, same symptoms. Allison, please take him!" he begged. "I actually have work to do."

She chuckled. "Sure. Come on Greg, I'll buy you a ruben."

House considered her offered and stood up. "You're on. No pickles."

Wilson and Cameron laughed as the couple left.

Nina Cameron, as a mother of six, aunt of eight, godmother of two and grandmother of fourteen, was considered in Black River Falls as somewhat of an expert on pregnancy and childbirth. Her friends, and her friend's children would often seek her advice, and she took pride in knowing when a woman was pregnant. So when her daughter and her co-workers landed in Wisconsin the following week, five days before her thirtieth birthday, and she saw her glowing complexion, sparkling eyes, and the fact that she was coffee-free, she knew almost immediately that her daughter was expecting. It was an old tradition that had been passed down from the Ferguson (Nina's maiden name) family, that when a woman was pregnant, they lost all favour for coffee throughout the pregnancy.

However, she also knew neither her daughter, nor her daughter's boyfriend were aware of their impending arrival. So, wisely, she didn't mention anything of the matter, simply kissed her daughter and held her extra tightly, and smiled extra brightly at House.

"Hey, mom. The plane from DC not here yet?' Cameron asked her mother.

"No, it's due to land in about half an hour. Why don't we all get some coffee?" she suggested.

"Sure. Oh, mom, this is Dr. Lisa Cuddy. Lisa, this is my mom, Nina," Cameron introduced the two as they all headed for the cafeteria.

"It's nice to meet you," Cuddy smiled, nodding politely. They found a table and sat down, plopping their luggage onto the ground beside them. Cameron and Wilson went to get everyone's drinks and when they returned, and Cameron handed House a ruben silently, that her daughter had substituted her coffee for an orange juice.

"No, coffee, Allison? Are you sick?" Nina asked, feigning surprise.

Cameron sighed in exasperation. "No, I just don't feel like coffee lately. It's a phase. When is everyone going to stop making a big deal out of it?"

"Never," House assured her, through a huge mouthful of his sandwich. "Gibbs is going to hit you."

Cameron laughed, knowing of Gibbs' coffee addiction. "He's worse than I am!" she giggled.

Cameron went to meet the NCIS team at their gate half an hour later, bringing them back to the cafeteria. As soon as they sat down, House 'helpfully' mentioned to Gibbs that Cameron was "currently on coffee hiatus", and she glared at him. Gibbs looked surprised at this, and shook his head.

"How do you get through the day?" he asked her, after greeting her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Cameron giggled and shrugged. "I'm eating a lot of chocolate lately."

"Yeah, because that has the same effect," Tony said sarcastically, stealing Foreman's crisps off the table.

"Shut up, DiNozzo," she glared at him.

Abby looked wary. "You must be doing something, Ally. I tried to give up caffeine once, well, the Caf-Pow... it was so hard to focus on anything!"

McGee laughed, remembering. "Gibbs ended up just shoving a coffee in your hand!"

"No problems staying awake here," Cameron grinned.

"Okay, guys. Let's get moving, I've got steaks to cook!" Nina declared, rising from her seat and gesturing for the others to do the same. When they arrived at Pillan Istu, and Ted and Cameron's siblings had greeted them, and they had all settled into their rooms; Nina asked her daughter to accompany her to the vegetable garden to help her gather vegetables.

"So, you and Greg are going okay?" Nina asked curiously, as they left the house.

Cameron smiled at her mother. "We're going great, mom. Everything's fine."

"It's your anniversary soon, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It will have been eight months two weeks from tomorrow," Cameron said proudly.

"So this is serious?"

Cameron sighed. "What is this, mom? I thought you liked Greg?"

"I do, honey. It's obvious he loves you very much," Nina said hastily. "I was just kind of wondering how serious it was. Should I expect to be paying for a wedding, or to have more grandchildren?"

Cameron laughed. "Mom, it took him three years to admit he liked me. I don't really think marriage is part of his plan. And I think the only way you can count on more grandchildren is if Jacqui or Nick pop another one out."

Nina chuckled. "You don't want kids?"

"Mom!" Cameron whined. "Of course I do. But there's no rush, is there? Besides, Greg... I don't think kids..."

"Are part of his plan?" Nina finished.

"Yeah. He's not exactly the Father Of the Year type."

They returned to the house, and mother and daughter enlisted the help of the other Cameron children to help prepare dinner. Dinner was delicious, as before, and Cameron, Sophie and Jacqui nominated their brothers to clean up the kitchen afterwards.

"Ok, what are we going to do now?" Sophie asked when it was all done.

"Let's watch a movie," Cameron suggested, from the couch. She was sitting next to House, with her feet resting on the shoulders of Tony, who was sitting on the floor in front of her.

"Or we could play charades?" proposed Andrew.

"NO!" cried Matt, Jacqui and Abby in unison.

Nick stood up, picking up Lana as he did so. "Why don't I put a movie on for the kids upstairs, then we can pick something?"

They agreed, and when he returned, it was decided at Fiona's suggestion that they watch Knocked up.

"Ooh, yes, I've wanted to see that for ages!" Cameron cried enthusiastically.

"What are the kids watching?" Heather asked her partner.

"The Wizard of Oz," he replied.

"I might go watch it with them. I've seen this movie like ten times already, and Lana doesn't like the Wicked Witch of the West."

"I always wanted to be Glinda," Cameron confessed.

House and Wilson gave her strange looks, and Tony stifled a snigger, to which she kicked him lightly on the head.

"Shut up, Tony. She was pretty, and she arrived in a bubble! I thought that would be cool."

"What about Dorothy?" Chase asked her.

Cameron wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "No...I like Glinda. Don't ask me why, 'coz I couldn't tell you."

"The munchkins are cute," added Abby.

"Ding Dong the Witch is dead- which old witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding Dong, the wicked witch is dead!" sang Matt, in a high pitched squeaky voice, and his sisters doubled up in laughter.

They watched the movie together, and then Ted and Nina cleaned up the kitchen and sent their children and guests to bed.

"You're giddy. Why are you giddy so late at night?" House asked her tiredly as they got ready for bed.

She chuckled. "I'm at home with my family, friends and boyfriend, it's nearly my birthday, and Ryan's arriving tomorrow. I'm feeling happy."

"Ok, but can you be happy and not glow?" he asked and she swatted him.

"Shut up. Goodnight, Greg."

"Goodnight Glinda- OW! That was my kidney!"

"Ssh!" she hissed teasingly. "People are trying to sleep!"

House turned off the light and pounced on her.

When they entered the kitchen the next morning, Cameron gasped. There, sitting innocently at the kitchen table, telling several of Cameron's nieces and nephews of Irish superstitions was Ryan.

"Ohmigod! You're here! When did you get here?" she demanded, squealing happily as she ran across the room to hug him.

"About twenty minutes ago, I got in last night," he grinned at her.

"How was your flight?"

"Good. A little turbulence over Canada, but it's okay. You're awfully bouncy, angel. How much coffee have you had today?"

"She hasn't had any coffee in about eight weeks, and she's still bouncy," House informed him from where he stood in the doorway.

Ryan's jaw dropped in shock. "No coffee? Seriously?"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Cameron rolled her eyes, and moved away to get some breakfast. When everyone had made their way downstairs and was eating varying forms of breakfast, Ted spoke up.

"So, Princess, what's the agenda for today?"

Cameron angled her head to look out the kitchen window and mused it over. "I vote for a bludge day. Then, tomorrow morning, we go food shopping, decorate the barn and have a party. Is that okay with everyone?"

Everyone agreed, and then Cameron disappeared upstairs to get dressed, shivering slightly although the day wasn't that cold. She returned wearing sweatpants and a large hooded jumper with Wisconsin State University across the front. Ryan, casually glancing at her as she entered, let out a sudden yelp.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "That's mine! I've been looking for that for years! You stole it!"

Cameron paused and put her hands on her hips. "For your information, Ryan William McMahon, I've had this for ten years, the first year of which we were still dating, and you never claimed it back. So, it's Finders Keepers, loser. Tough luck."

Ryan pouted. "That was my favourite sweatshirt!"

She rolled her eyes. "You bought it for the 'college experience', wore it once, then threw it in the back of our closet. I found it when I was cleaning, and it's been mine since. So get over it."

Ryan hung around the ranch all day, and just before lunch, he and House volunteered to get the kids inside from the barn; or rather, Cameron volunteered House and Ryan offered to accompany him.

"Ally seems happy," Ryan said softly as they left the house.

House thought of his girlfriend's glowing face and smiled slightly. "She is, I think."

Then he hesitated and decided to take the plunge. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Ryan replied easily.
"Ally told me a while ago, that.... that you two had your entire life planned. Whenever I ask what it was, she clams up. What was it and why won't she tell me?"

Ryan sighed, and nodded. "Ok... hang on." He went ahead to the barn, and sent the kids into the house for lunch, then stood in front of the stables and sighed again.

"Well, we decided... after we graduated college, we'd get married. I suppose you could say we were 'unofficially engaged'. Small town wedding, either here or in Ireland, we hadn't decided yet. Then, we were going to get a house. Just a small, country house. We decided we were going to have four kids. She wanted three, and I wanted five, so we compromised. We both agreed we wanted a girl, then two boys, and then another girl. We also agreed to give them Irish names, so they could know and be proud of their heritage. Ally and I sat down the day after our three year anniversary, and picked them. It was going to be Emma, Connor, Dylan, and then Katie."

"So, why won't she tell me about this?"

Ryan paused thoughtfully. "Knowing Ally... she probably doesn't want to make you uncomfortable. It wouldn't be easy for you to know her best friend is her ex. Very few of my girlfriend's are okay with it."

"Some days it's not," House admitted. "But you're part of her life, and I think she'd be lost if you weren't."

Ryan grinned in agreement and they headed inside for lunch. After lunch, Nina and Sophie made coffee and passed it around to the adults, and Cameron slouched on the couch with a strange expression on her face.

"Ally? Are you okay?" Andrew asked her.

She gave a faint smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I must have ate too much. I don't think the coleslaw agreed with me. Probably because it was store-bought, not mom's homemade."

"So, what was one of the more interesting cases you've solved?" Abby asked House curiously.

House's eyes lit up eagerly at the chance to tell one of their stories. "Ooh, story time! It's hard to pick..."

"Try," Foreman, Chase and Cameron answered in unison.

"Buzzkills," he muttered, and sighed dramatically.

"What about that time when that homeless woman gave Foreman rabies?" Cameron suggested, her voice not as cheerful as it had been recently, as Foreman glared at her.

House grinned. "Oh, good one!" He went on to tell the story, Chase and Cameron chiming in occasionally when House glossed over a detail.

"Ok, you're turn!" Chase told Abby when they'd finished.

Abby turned to Gibbs. "Gibbs, pick a case!" she begged.

"You really expect me to be able to pick one case, Abbs?" he asked her, amused.

"I've got one!" Tony contributed. "What about the ghost ship?"

Cameron and Cuddy frowned. "The what ship?"

Ziva laughed and explained about a naval ship where a man died of a mysterious illness, but when the team arrived, they found the ship abandoned.

"But Ziva's spidey-sense picked up there was someone on the ship," McGee added.

"Was there?" Wilson demanded.

"The radio operator was helping terrorists," Tony informed them.

"What was the virus?" House asked, interested.

"Oh, it was creepy. The guy that died, he just started bleeding from all openings!" Tony replied, almost gleefully.

Picturing it, Cameron's stomach squirmed, but she ignored it, although Gibbs was watching her carefully.

"He had this fever, and the shakes. He threw up all over someone at dinner, but that may have been the food, not necessarily the virus. When he died, everyone freaked out and abandoned the ship. They stuck his body in the freezer, and he was all stiff-"

Cameron interrupted Tony as her face whitened, and she jumped up from the couch and practically ran out of the room, one hand pressed over her mouth.

Tony looked worried. "Should I have picked a less gruesome story?"

"We don't have a less gruesome story," McGee replied, and House stood up and followed his girlfriend.

He found her in the downstairs bathroom, vomiting into the toilet, retching miserably.

"Are you okay?" he asked her in slight concern, as she sat against the wall, trembling.

She nodded weakly. "Yeah, I think so. It must have been the coleslaw."

House helped her stand, and felt her forehead. "No fever."

"You don't get a fever with food poisoning," she said dryly. Then she made a face. "I really, really want to clean my teeth now."

"Yeah, good idea," House agreed, but his brain was ticking.

She returned to the room ten minutes later, still shivering. "Are you okay, Ally? Sorry," Tony apologised, but she waved a hand at him, dismissively.

"It wasn't that, idiot. I'm a doctor remember? Lunch didn't sit well with me, that's all. I think it was the coleslaw.

"It tasted fine, Princess," Ted frowned at her.

Cameron sat gingerly on the couch and sighed, shrugging slightly. "It was something."

"It sucks that you're getting sick right before your birthday," Ryan said sympathetically.

Gibbs, however, had begun to share Nina's suspicions, although he had no idea she knew. "Are you sure that's it?"

Cameron looked over at him in confusion. "What else could it be?"

Gibbs couldn't suppress a smile. "I thought you were a doctor?" he teased.

"Gibbs!" she moaned, pouting.

Gibbs gave in. "Allison, have you ever considered that you could be pregnant?"

The room went silent, and House's jaw dropped. Cameron paled again, this time in shock. "What? No....no....no, no, no.... there's no way!"

"That would explain a lot," Tony said thoughtfully.

"Tony!" She protested.

"No, it would!" exclaimed Sophie in agreement. "It's tradition on mom's side. Women get pregnant, go off coffee. You know the stories, Ally."

Cameron was speechless, still trying to get her head around the idea, and not even daring to look at House; when Nina spoke up.

"Actually, I thought that myself when you got here, honey. Why don't I go into town and get a test for you?"

Nina took her daughter's silence as a 'yes', and nodded, picking up her purse and car keys from the end table by the door.

Cameron spent the next ten minutes sitting frozen on the couch, thinking of the past two months. Could she be pregnant? It was possible certainly, but they were being so careful; neither ready for a child. She had never felt so nauseas in her life, except for the one time, just before Ryan's mother had been diagnosed when she had missed a period. She and Ryan had spent three days walking around on eggshells, until she finally discovered she was not pregnant.

House spent those same ten minutes, silently panicking. What if Allison was pregnant? He couldn't be a father! Him? Responsible for a child? Were they serious? He jumped as Wilson tapped him on the shoulder, and gestured for him to follow him to the kitchen.

"What do you think?" he asked his friend.

House swallowed hard. "I don't know. It's possible, I guess, but she was on the pill!"

"Yes, because that's so reliable," Wilson rolled his eyes.

"What if she is? I can't be a father!"

Wilson paused. "So, what are you going to do if she is? Walk off and leave her pregnant?"

House looked horrified. "No! Are you insane? I'm not that much of an ass!"

Wilson was relieved. "Good. I just wanted to know."

"I'd be terrified, but I'd be there," House replied fiercely.

"Ok, I'm glad."

"Yeah, I know. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me," House rolled his eyes.

His friend laughed. "Yes. But also, she's strong, and she's been through a lot, but if you abandoned her and your child, it'd break her."

"Well, you don't have to get out the superglue," House quipped, sighing heavily. He registered there was no noise coming from the living room; in fact, the entire house. The only sound was the kids playing in the backyard. When they heard the front door open, both men jumped as though burnt, and hurried into the room.

Nina smiled at House, who stood in the doorway to the living room. "Ally?"

Cameron looked blankly at her mother for a moment before standing up and walking over shakily. She took the box off her, and stared at it nervously. Then she nodded slightly, and headed upstairs, taking House with her.

While Cameron went to use the bathroom, House entered their room and sat on the bed. She returned within a minute, and sat the stick on the dresser, before collapsing onto her bed, burying her face in her hands.

"Wahfhcngsve?" she mumbled.

"Huh?" House asked her, startled.

"What if it's positive?" she repeated clearly, and dreading the answer.

House thought back to when they first got together eight months ago, and Cameron telling him how she had "nothing I always said I wanted growing up and I hate that!" House remembered how he had pictured her in Cuddy's position, trying for a baby when her chances were next to impossible, and how he had decided he couldn't bear to see Cameron going through that.

"If it's positive, we have a baby, don't we?"

Cameron looked up at him in confusion, sitting up. "What?"

"Generally, the positive sign means there is a baby, in which case, the aforementioned baby is eventually going to exit your womb."

Cameron glared at him. "Greg."

He sighed and took her hand. "Ally... I love you. The thought of someone depending on me for the next eighteen years terrifies me, especially when I have no idea what I'm doing... but the thought that we've made a person, and it's going to grow inside of you... that's not so scary. You're a born mother, you may as well have a kid, even if it is with me."

Cameron laughed, on the verge of tears, embraced him tightly. "I love you too."

He held her as they both counted the seconds, and then she turned to him again. "What if it's negative?"

House shrugged. "Well, in that case, you or Wilson or someone downstairs will probably convince me that we should have a baby."

She giggled. "Yeah, that sounds right. Probably Wilson."

"That does sound like something he'd do," House agreed, kissing the top of her head lightly.

When the time was up Cameron pulled herself out of his arms, and went to check the test. House, carefully observing the wallpaper on the walls, turned with a start as he heard her begin to sob.

"Ally? What does it say?" he asked hesitantly.

AN. Ha ha ha ha... suspenseful... maybe I won't update for a bit...