Chapter 32
It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The twins' parents had decided to have Joyanna's clot removed; the procedure had been done two days ago. And while Tanita had recovered nicely from the anesthesia, Joyanna hadn't woken up yet. Their parents were maintaining hope for her to recover as best they could under the circumstances, but the longer Joyanna remained unconscious, the more Chase and House's ducklings worried. House had spent the past two days locked in his office with the blinds drawn. It reminded Foreman and Chase eerily of the few days he'd been without Vicodin before entering rehab earlier in the year.
Cameron had spent most of the past two days in the lab or the clinic, but both Jasper and Wilson had seen her several times standing outside the NICU, watching the twins through the glass. She always made herself scarce when the girls' parents arrived, and this did not go unnoticed by Wilson. He'd tried to talk to House, several times in fact, but House flat out refused to open his doors. As much as Wilson wanted to talk to him, he wasn't willing to shout through the glass.
Late Wednesday afternoon found Cameron in the conference room, typing furiously at her laptop. Foreman came in and started gathering his things. House had given his okay for Foreman to leave early today, he was driving to spend Thanksgiving with his brother's family, and he wasn't about to double check and make sure it was okay. Cameron paused in her typing and looked at Foreman.
"Have a nice time with your family," she said softly. "I hope it goes smoothly with your brother."
"Thanks," Foreman replied, touched by her concern for him right now. "Listen, Cameron, are you going to be okay?"
"I'm fine," she answered. "Really, Foreman, I'm fine," she insisted to his doubting countenance.
"Okay. Happy Thanksgiving, Allison." Foreman left and Cameron closed her eyes and sighed. Sure, she thought, happy. Thanksgiving had always been one of her favorite holidays. There was nothing to distract you from its purpose, just to be grateful for the goods things in your life. Somehow this year, Cameron didn't feel like being thankful. She shook her head, strengthening her resolve not to cry at work, and returned to the laptop.
Moments later Jasper entered the conference room. She sat at the table and began reviewing the file she had carried in. Cameron looked over at her and had a sudden inspiration. Normally, it was the newest duckling that got saddled with working over the holidays. Cameron didn't see why Jasper should have to spend a holiday away from her family when she herself had nothing and no one to celebrate with this year.
"Jasper, why don't you go home?" Cameron said to her.
"It's okay, I'm the newbie. I don't mind staying, really." Jasper smiled at Cameron, although it was clear that she did care.
"I'm serious, Jasper, go home. Spend Thanksgiving with your family. I don't have any plans at all, and it would really make me happy to do something nice for someone else today."
"Are you really sure?" Jasper asked, considering. Cameron just nodded. "Won't Dr. House be angry?"
Cameron barely flinched. "I don't think Dr. House would even know the difference. He always takes full advantage of his time off."
"Thanks Cameron. I really appreciate this. Do you celebrate Christmas?" Cameron nodded. "Well then you're getting a nice Christmas present from me this year!" Cameron smiled, and Jasper returned it. Jasper gathered her things and left.
Cameron returned to her laptop once more. She checked her watch, and noted that it was now past five. Cameron decided she had best go check in with Chase and make sure the girls were all right. She was quickly finishing up the file she had been working on when the door from House's office opened.
"Jasper!" He shouted as he entered the conference room, in an obvious attempt to scare his new fellow. He stopped short when he took sight of Cameron at the desk.
"I offered to cover the holiday shifts for her," Cameron said quietly, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. "It's not as though I'm doing anything." It was cruel, perhaps, but she couldn't hold it in.
"I thought you were invited to Cuddy's?" House asked, trying to sound as though he didn't care.
"No, we were invited to Cuddy's," Cameron corrected. "I assumed you'd still be going."
"That doesn't mean you can't go," House argued.
"They're your friends. It wouldn't be polite," Cameron said, now regretting coming to the conference room to work.
"They're your friends too. You should go, I can work the holiday," House offered.
"House," Cameron huffed. "I don't want to argue about this too. I'm working and its fine." Cameron stood and gathered up her laptop. "I'm going to NICU to check on the girls. Happy Thanksgiving." She left as quickly as she could.
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House knocked on Cuddy's door, and shuffled his feet impatiently. He'd only agreed to come to this Thanksgiving thing because of Cameron, and now he was stuck spending the day with Wilson and Cuddy. He'd no doubt have to watch them canoodling, a most unappetizing idea. He'd considered just not showing up, but when he thought how angry a pregnant and hormonal Cuddy would act, he'd decided better of it. He feared she'd physically chain him in the clinic, and he did like the sunshine.
Wilson answered the door and House followed him inside. He'd been in Cuddy's house before, of course, but never actually as a guest. He took the time now to look around and noticed quite a few of Wilson's things scattered about the living room. If they weren't already living together, they would be soon. House made a mental note to track down Nurse Brenda on Monday about starting a betting pool.
"Lisa's in the kitchen," Wilson said. House raised an eyebrow. "She wouldn't let me cook anything. She said it was the first Thanksgiving she'd ever hosted and she was going to do it herself if it killed her. I wasn't about to argue."
"Taken to breathing fire now, has she?" House joked. "I told you she was demon seed."
"House," Wilson whined. House just grinned. A voiced shouted from the kitchen area.
"Was that the door, Sugarplum?" House snickered. Sugarplum, he mouthed at Wilson. Wilson shrugged.
"It's House," Wilson yelled back. Cuddy emerged from the kitchen, adorned with a hideous flowered apron. House snickered again, this time more loudly. So far this Thanksgiving thing wasn't turning out so bad. He'd be torturing Wilson about that Sugarplum for months, and now Cuddy was masquerading as somebody's grandma.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Greg," Cuddy said warmly. House eyed her and almost smiled. It was so cliché, but she was glowing. She was covered with several different colored smudges, she had a large streak of flour on her cheek and her hair was slipping out of its clip in a variety of directions, but House didn't think he'd ever seen her look so happy.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Lisa," House returned sincerely. "You too Jimmy."
Cuddy returned to the kitchen and House and Wilson settled on the couch to watch football. House had already warned Wilson that any talk about Cameron would result in his caning the person who brought her up and then leaving. Wilson, not about to ruin Cuddy's day, had readily agreed. Not too much later, Cuddy announced that dinner was ready.
The three friends sat and ate well. House watched as Cuddy consumed nearly as much food as he did, and was barely able to stop himself from commenting. He just kept reminding himself about pregnancy hormones, easily three times as dangerous as PMS, and was able to hold his tongue. When they'd all eaten enough, Wilson cleared the dishes, refusing to let Cuddy do all the work, and Cuddy and House went and sat in the living room. Wilson had TiVo'd the Thanksgiving Day Parade for Cuddy, who had been too busy in the kitchen to watch, and she turned it on now.
Cuddy and House watched the parade in a comfortable silence. Soon the smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted out into the living room, and shortly thereafter Wilson came out with a tray of coffee and two sliced of pumpkin pie. There was a third plate, which carried an enormous piece of chocolate cream pie. House actually smiled at Cuddy; she'd remembered how much he loved that.
"Don't worry, I bought the pies. It won't be like last time," Cuddy smiled. House smiled too, remembering the chocolate cream pie she's attempted to make for him years ago. House grabbed the plate and dug in.
Cuddy and Wilson exchanged a glance. They'd wanted to speak to House about something, and Wilson had suggested waiting until he was well fed.
"House, Greg, we wanted to talk to you about something," Cuddy began. House gave her a warning look. "It's not what you think. We've been talking to a lawyer about updating our wills, with the baby coming, and we need to name a guardian, in case something should happen to us." House gave them a blank look.
"Would you consider it?" Wilson asked.
"Consider what?"
"Being the baby's guardian," Wilson replied. House looked at Wilson, and then at Cuddy, like they were insane. Who on earth would trust him with a kid? "Well, one of the guardians."
"One of?" House asked. Wilson and Cuddy exchanged another meaningful glance.
"We'd intended to ask Allison as well," Cuddy told him. "Our parents are older, and caring for a young child would really be more than they could handle. James' brother Richard has four children of his own."
"And there's no two people we'd trust more to take care of our child if we couldn't," Wilson supplied. House looked down, tapping his cane on the floor. He doubted very much that he'd be a good parent; he certainly hadn't had the best example growing up. But Allison, Cameron, whatever, she'd be a great mom. That thought brought up a whole bunch of other things he didn't want to think about, and he forced them to the back of his mind. Wilson and Cuddy trusted him.
"Fine, but you'd better not kick off until the kid is potty trained," House snarked. Wilson and Cuddy just smiled, typical House.
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Cameron had been in the conference room for just a few minutes. She was still waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. She'd wondered if she should really make an entire pot of coffee for just herself, but decided that she'd probably need it. It was just past 8am, and she was scheduled to be on until 6pm. She waited patiently for the coffee to brew, not all that anxious to got check on the twins.
"Hey Mikki," Chase's voice called from the hall. Cameron turned to see Chase, looking confused and disappointed. "Cameron. What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too," Cameron replied wryly. "I offered to cover Jasper's shifts for the holiday so she could spend time with her family." Cameron turned back to the coffee pot. "It's not as though I had anything to do anyway," she grumbled, but not as quietly as she'd thought.
"That bad, huh?" Chase asked sympathetically.
"I'm fine," Cameron said to the coffee pot.
"Right. I thought we were going to try to be friends. You can talk to me," Chase said quietly.
Cameron turned and looked at Chase. He was right. She was doing exactly what had gotten her into this trouble in the first place. She was trying to close herself off from what she was feeling. She was acting just like House had always done, she realized bitterly.
"I know. And I appreciate it. I'm just not ready to talk about it yet," Cameron told him. She smiled at him to him know that she really was okay. Chase smiled back. "So, Mikki?"
Chase blushed. He had thought it would be insensitive to talk about him and Jasper with Cameron, but since she'd asked, he guessed it was okay. "She's amazing," he practically gushed.
"Good for you, Chase." Cameron said sincerely. She was feeling sorry for herself now, surely, but in time she would be better and she didn't see the sense in dragging Chase into her foul mood.
"I'll take a cup of that to go, if you don't mind," Chase said, pointing to the now full coffee pot. "The coffee in the NICU tastes like sludge."
Cameron spent most of the morning in the conference room, catching up on the charting House had let pile up. She liked the quiet in the hospital on a holiday, at least upstairs. She was sure the clinic was buzzing with people, but she wasn't scheduled for clinic duty that day. She completed the last of the files, and decided to check in on the twins before beginning some research on an article she was planning to write.
Cameron arrived at the NICU to find Chase standing over the twins' crib with their parents. She waited outside, watching them through the wall. She could force herself to check up on the twins, but she wasn't so sure how she'd do with the parents. Chase looked up and noticed her outside. He excused himself from Mr. and Mrs. Ramos and went into the hall.
"How are they?" Cameron asked.
"Better," Chase replied. Cameron looked surprised. "Well, I mean not better like cured, but Joyanna's vitals are improving. It could be a good sign." Cameron just nodded her agreement. "I've got this, Cameron; you don't have to be here right now. I'll page you if I need you, okay?"
Cameron smiled at him gratefully; he really could be sweet when he wanted to be. And she appreciated it. She placed her hand on his arm to show her thanks and returned to the conference room. Once there, she began looking over the notes she'd made on the charts she had been reviewing that morning, trying to decide which case would make the most interesting article.
She'd finally decided on a case and was engrossed in her research when her pager went off. Seeing the NICU, she sprinted for the stairs and took them two at a time, nearly crashing into Chase standing outside.
"What is it?" Cameron gasped breathless. "Why aren't you in there?"
"Cameron, relax. Joyanna's awake," Chase said, pointing inside. Cameron turned and tears flooded her eyes as she watched Mr. and Mrs. Ramos, standing on either side of the crib, holding their daughters' hands. She smiled at Chase, tears glistening in her eyes. She'd found something to be thankful for after all.