Title: Making His Own Life
Part: 10
Author: Mlizhobie
Fandom: House, M.D.
Pairing: Wilson/OFC(Lorelai) & House/?
Disclaimer: Don't own House or any of the other characters except for MY original characters.
AN: This is a sequel to the story 'It's My Life'. Be an awesome person, read and review. A very special thanks to my Beta reader, she helps me thru my dreaded bouts of writer's block.
AN2: The next morning.
The next morning James's alarm was his 5 year old daughter jumping on his chest and half screaming, "Daddy, wake up!" James reached up and shoved Nina over onto her mother's side of the bed while saying, "Oh my God Nina, you can't do that to Daddy. You scared me half to death child!" Nina giggled and crawled back over to James and wrapped her little arms around his neck before saying, "Sorry Daddy." James hugged his daughter and laughed slightly before saying, "Alright baby girl, but no more scaring Daddy, okay?" Nina nodded against her father's shoulder and said, "'Kay Daddy, but get up now please! I wanna go see Immy." James rolled his eyes and said, "Alright young lady, let's get up and get the boys up too." Nina jumped from the bed and was out the door before James could even fully stand. He sighed heavily and quietly spoke to no one, "The joys of being 5."
A few minutes later James had gone to the bathroom and was headed downstairs when he heard the screaming voices of the children. Rushing into the kitchen James found Jay trying to be the adult in the room and telling his sister to sit down. Nina rarely listened to what her brother told her and was just starting to say, "Don't have to Jay, you're not the boss of me." James had quietly walked up behind his daughter and lifted her as he said, "He might not be the boss of you, but I am. So you are going to get up in a chair at the counter and eat your breakfast, do I make myself clear Miss Wilson?" Nina huffed and slid out of James's arms, then proceeded over to the counter and climbed into her seat. Isaac was still standing in the doorway to the hallway leading to Greg's room and looked very sad.
James went over and sat on the floor next to where Isaac was standing. He looked over and quietly said, "Hey monkey, tell Uncle Jimmy what's wrong." Isaac didn't look at James, but quietly said, "Want Momma." James knew that's what was bothering the boy and as he started to stand back up James picked Isaac up and said, "Well as soon as I can get a shower, we can all get dressed, and we get finished with breakfast, we'll head over to the hospital and see Momma, Daddy and Immy, okay little man?" Isaac nodded, but didn't look any happier, so James hugged him and went over to fix himself something to eat.
After James had finished his English muffin, he went over to the counter and said, "Okay guys, I'm going to go get a quick shower. Do you think you can be good and not kill each other for the next 15 minutes or so?" All three children nodded, so James said, "Thank you! And before you even ask Nina, yes you do have to listen to Jay. He is in charge until I get back down here, got it?" Nina huffed again and rolled her eyes, but said, "Alright Daddy." James tried to give Nina a harsh look, but couldn't hold his straight face for long before he started to laugh and had to leave the room.
20 minutes later James was headed back downstairs ready for work and hoping to find all the kids still behaving. When he didn't hear any voices at first he quickly got concerned and picked up his pace. Entering the kitchen James found 3 empty chairs at the bar where he had left the children sitting, but then he heard Atticus bark and turned in the direction from which it came. James looked down the hall for a second until he heard another noise and then he heard Nina's laughter and knew the kids had to be in Greg's room.
Leaning against the doorway James saw all three children crowded in front of Greg's closet rummaging through his clothing. James cleared his throat in an attempt to get someone's attention and succeeded when Isaac turned around and said, "We get Daddy's clowths." James nodded and started over towards the closet and said, "I see that, but can I help?" Nina shook her head and said, "NO DADDY! Uncle Greg said that you get boring stuff!" James laughed, held up his hands in defense and said, "Okay, sorry I asked, but can I at least see if the outfit matches before we take it to him?" To this suggestion Nina agreed and went back to her task.
James sat on the bench at the end of Greg's bed and watched the children continue to debate on which things to take. He then glanced at his watch and saw that they only had about a half hour before he needed to be at work. James stood up and grabbed one of Greg's duffle bags off the top shelf of the closet and said, "Okay guys we need to get this stuff packed up and you all still need to get dressed – we are running really late today! Come on, let's go get you all dressed and then we can make the final decision here."
Jay grabbed Isaac and they rushed upstairs to get dressed. James then picked up Nina and started back upstairs when Nina asked, "Daddy, you get stuff for Momma and Immy too?" James thought for a second and then said, "Uh no, I haven't gotten stuff for them yet. How about you get dressed really quick and then grab something for Immy and be sure to get her monkey. Then I will get some clothes for Momma and we'll put them in a bag to take with us." Nina headed for her bedroom to get dressed and James then went to his own room to pick out clothes for Lorelai.
Not even 10 minutes later the boys were entering the master bedroom fully dressed and ready to go. James turned around and said, "Okay guys, very good. Now um, Jay can you go put some food in the bowl for Atticus and Isaac can you go see where Nina is?" Both boys nodded and left the room, James had grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt for Lorelai and then remembered that she was wearing work clothes so she would need different shoes. Thinking to himself as he walked back to the closet, 'Damn-it it's confusing trying to dress a woman! She doesn't need any damn jewelry just some shoes.' When he had finally picked a pair of shoes James threw all of Lore's stuff into another duffle bag and went to find the children.
Stepping into the twins' bedroom James didn't see Nina, but said, "Nina-bell come on baby, we need to get going." Then from the far side of Immy's bed Nina's head appeared and said, "'Kay Daddy, but I can't find Immy's monkey!" James sighed and then remembered, "Nina, hey I think it's downstairs in the living room. Immy had it there yesterday morning before we left, remember?" Nina thought for a second and then stood up saying, "Yeah I 'member now. Here's Immy clothes Daddy, put them in the bag too!" Then before James could say a word Nina was gone, so he went over to where Nina had thrown out the clothes and packed them into the bag. He also grabbed some underclothes from the dresser and remembered that he hadn't gotten any for Lore, so he made a quick stop back in their bedroom to get hers.
By the time James got downstairs he had all the clothing for Lorelai & Immy packed, but needed to get Greg's bag finished up. Nina was in the kitchen throwing Immy's monkey on the counter next to James's keys when he entered the room and said, "Good you found it, now where are the boys?" Nina shrugged and took off towards Greg's room, so James followed. Again he found the boys in Greg's closet sorting through shirts. This time Jay grabbed on and said, "This one will work and Isaac get that black jacket off the chair." Isaac went over and yanked the suit jacket off the back of the chair and brought it over to James so he could fold it.
James folded it and tucked it into the Greg's bag and said, "Jay did you get a pair of jeans off the shelf too?" Turning back around Jay said, "Yep, here Dad. Let me just grab something outta the basket too." James grinned as he saw what Jay was remembering to get and said, "Good you thought of it too." Jay stuffed the clothing into the bag and said, "He has to have clean underwear Dad!" James rolled his eyes and quickly glanced at his watch. Surprised at the fact that they now only had 10 minutes before he was technically supposed to be at work James said, "Oh crap! Come on guys, we're gonna be late."
Zipping up Greg's bag Jay grabbed it off the bench and took hold of Isaac's hand before saying, "Okay Dad, let's go." Nina picked up James's brief case off the floor in the kitchen and said, "I got your case Daddy, I ready." James then grabbed the bag he had packed for Lorelai & Immy, looked around the room once more and said, "Okay do we have everything now?" All three children nodded so James picked up his keys and saw Immy's monkey. Grabbing the stuffed toy James handed it to Isaac and said, "Okay buddy, you're in charge of getting this to your sister. Can you do that for me?" Isaac took the monkey and nodded before saying, "Yup me can Unka Jimmy." James grinned and ruffled the toddler's hair. Then they all went out to the garage and climbed into the jeep.
At the hospital Eric, Allison, and Robert were all walking into the diagnostics conference room and didn't see House anywhere. None of them thought it was out of the ordinary at first, but then Foreman saw House's backpack sitting on the floor of the office and went in. Glancing around the room Eric didn't see House and even looked out on the balcony. Allison had followed Eric into Greg's office and was beginning to look worried. Robert had gone down to James's office to see if he was in yet and found that the door was still closed and locked, so he went back to House's office. Allison was now even more worried and grabbed her cell phone to call Greg.
Two floors down Greg was awakened by the annoying ring of his cell phone. Quickly realizing what it was Greg sat up and flipped it open, quietly barking into it, "This better be good!" Allison didn't know what to think at the hushed tone of Greg's voice, so she said, "Where are you?" Greg sat up fully and thought for a second before saying, "Cameron, is that you?" Allison rolled her eyes, but said, "Yes, now where are you?" Greg looked around the hospital room and said, "I'm in Immy's hospital room, where are you?" Ally gasped and said, "We're all upstairs. You did admit her! Oh my God, how is she?" Greg sighed and said, "Yeah princess, we admitted her and she has pneumonia. We were up most of the night, so I'm gonna hang up now and sleep." Before Allison could respond Greg hung up on her and turned his phone off.
Lore was half awake and said, "Was that Ally?" Greg nodded and groaned saying, "Yeah, the ducklings are upstairs. But I'm gonna go back to sleep now." Lorelai stretched and said, "Ok, but I'm going to go get some coffee. James is going to be here before long and I want to be back before he gets here." House nodded and watched Lore leave before he was again sound asleep, propped against his daughter's bed.
James & the kids pulled into the hospital parking lot and started to get out when Jay said, "Dad, what about my school? You need to call and tell 'em I won't be there." James had totally forgotten about that and said, "Oh yeah, good thinking. Let me do that right now." He quickly called Jay's school and explained that there was a family emergency and that Jay wouldn't be at school. Then they all climbed out of the jeep and James said, "Okay guys, we're going to take all the bags up to my office first and then I'll see about going to Immy's room." All the kids agreed and followed James into the hospital.
The elevator doors opened onto the 4th floor and the kids all ran out starting for James's office. Lisa Cuddy was standing at the nurse's counter and saw James & the children. She smiled at James and greeted all the children. Nina ran over and hugged Lisa's legs as she screamed, "Aunt Lisa!" Lisa crouched down and returned the girl's hug saying, "Hi sweetheart." Jay did say hi to Lisa, but continued on into the conference room when he saw Eric. Jay had brought his science homework and wanted to talk it over with Foreman. Isaac was still kind of shy around everyone, even though he knew pretty much everyone at the hospital, so he hid behind James's legs.
James then said, "Nina, why don't you go on in and see if Aunt Ally is in the conference room too while I talk with Aunt Lisa." Nina pouted momentarily, hugged Lisa's legs again, but then did as her father had asked. When Nina was out of hearing range James lifted Isaac into his arms and asked Lisa, "So how is Immy doing?" Lisa leaned back against the counter and said, "I haven't been in to see them yet this morning, I came up here to talk to the team. Want to go down together?" James thought for a second and then said, "Um, well let me go put all this stuff in my office and then I want to talk to the kids for a bit." Lisa nodded and offered to keep Isaac while James ran around. James then asked Isaac, "Will you stay with Aunt Lisa for a bit, Monkey?" Isaac silently nodded and went to Lisa, clinging onto her tightly.
Greg was startled awake by the sound of knocking on Immy's door. He quickly sat upright and instantly regretted it when he got a head rush. It took him a bit to focus his eyes on the doorway, but then saw Lorelai's boss, Andy, standing at the door. Greg stood and slowly approached the woman before saying, "Um, Lore's not here right now. She went to get some coffee or something, I was asleep when she told me. But do you want to wait or leave a message for her or what?"
Andy smiled at Greg's sleep-ruffled appearance and said, "I'll wait, I need to talk to her about a few things. I'm Andy, what's your name again?" Greg grinned at the woman and said, "I'm Greg House, we met before that night at the restaurant. But there were a lot of us there, so I don't expect you to remember me." Andy took a step closer to Greg and said, "No I do remember you, I've just been overwhelmed with new names lately and didn't want to call you the wrong name. So Greg House huh, wait, you're Dr. House! You have quite a reputation for being a jerk." Greg laughed and said, "Oh I see you have heard of me and yeah I do have some jerk-like tendencies."
Andy & Greg stood quietly chatting and slightly flirting until the door reopened and in walked Lorelai. She was struggling with the door and wasn't looking at them when she said, "God, there were about 900 people downstairs already this morning. What's it a freaking race to get to the coffee station first or something? Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway… here Greg I got you some coffee too." She then turned around and saw him talking with Andy. A streak of jealousy now raged through her as she crossed the room angrily saying, "What are you doing here Andy? I told you that my daughter was sick and that I wouldn't be in today. Did you think I was lying and you had to come check up on me?"
Andy took a few steps back from Greg and turned towards Lore before saying, "I needed your signature on some forms and thought we might be able to finish our conversation from the other day." Lore rolled her eyes and put the cups of coffee on a counter beside Immy's bed before saying, "Those damn forms can have your signature just as well as mine and I don't think right now is the best time to talk about my association with too many doctors at one hospital. I am not going to divorce my husband or stop speaking to my friends because you think it looks bad. I have children with 2 doctors at this hospital, who gives a shit Andy?"
Before Andy could respond Immy woke and started to cry, asking for Lore she said, "Momma, no yell." Lorelai sat on the edge of Immy's bed and pulled the tiny girl into her arms as she said, "I'm sorry sweetie, Momma will stop yelling. How do you feel this morning?" Immy wrapped herself around Lorelai before saying, "I's hot Momma." Greg approached the bed, felt his daughter's head and said, "Hey monkey, you do still feel warm, but not as bad as last night. How does your chest feel right now? Do you still hurt?" Immy looked up at her father as he spoke and thought for a minute before saying, "Kinda hurts."
Greg then reached for Immy and said, "Why don't we see about getting you a bath while Momma goes out into the hallway to talk to Miss Andy?" The comment was more directed at Lorelai and telling her to take her argument outside. Immy nodded and went to Greg, lying her head on his shoulder. Lorelai stood back up and motioned for Andy and herself to leave the room. Andy half smiled at Greg, but the left the room, closely followed by Lore. Greg then called for a nurse and asked for Immy to get a bath.
Lorelai led the way down to a waiting room just down the hall from Immy's room and sat down. Andy followed Lore and sat in a chair facing her. Lore was already angry and shouldn't have started the conversation, but did anyway, and was half shouting when she said, "You said you wanted to talk… so talk! You going to try and demand that I divorce my husband or what Andy? James is the father of 2 of my children and Greg is the father of the other 2, so they're both always going to be in my life." Andy was quiet for a bit, trying to think of the best way to apologize to Lore for what she had asked her the previous day. It was totally uncalled for and pretty much Andy's jealousy talking. Lore had the perfect life; a wonderful husband, great kids, awesome friends and there Andy was with no one and incredibly jealous.
But before Andy could say a word she saw a man quickly approaching and realized he looked familiar. She just couldn't quite place his name. When he got to them he quickly said, "Lorelai, what the hell is going on?" Lore quickly stood and said, "James! When did you get here?" The man Andy now knew as James said, "I just got off the elevators and heard your screaming. Now tell me what is going on!" Andy also stood, held up a hand to stop either from speaking and said, "This is my fault, I made some demands at work yesterday and it was totally uncalled for. I need to apologize and would like to explain myself if that would be alright?"
James & Lorelai both nodded so Andy continued, "Well first off Lorelai I would like to apologize for what I said yesterday. I have no right to tell you who you can be friends with or marry. I am very happy for you that you have such a great group of friends and someone who appears to be a wonderful husband like James. The reason I am here this morning isn't for the forms you are thinking, I have new insurance forms and also the paperwork to get you a raise – all which do require your signature before I can send them to corporate today." Lore stood there speechless for a few seconds before James nudged her and said, "Kid, say something."
Lorelai shook her head to put her thoughts back together and looked up at James, then over at Andy before saying, "Um yeah, uh I'm sorry Andy. I have a habit of overreacting and when it is a situation that involves one of my kids its even worse. So I'm sorry too, but wow you are giving me a raise even after I act like I do. Thank you Andy." Andy smiled and said, "I might not be a wife or mother, but I understand wanting to protect what is yours and that's all you were doing Lorelai."
15 minutes later Lore was walking Andy to the elevators and was saying, "I'm not sure when I'll be back yet. It all depends on how Imogen is doing and when she's released from here. So I'll call you and keep you updated on everything." Andy then said, "That's fine Lorelai, just take care of your family." She then got on the elevator and was gone. James walked up behind his wife and kissed the top of her head before saying, "See she's not totally evil kid." Lore looked up at James and laughed before saying, "Ok, you're right, whatever. Where are my kids, old man?"
James rolled his eyes and said, "They're upstairs with Lisa & the ducklings. I wanted to see how things were before letting them loose down here. Do you think Immy's ready for her brothers and sister?" Lore shrugged and said, "I'm not sure. Why don't we go back down and see what Greg thinks?"
On their way back to Immy's room they saw a nurse rolling Immy's bed back into her room with a soaking wet toddler wrapped in layers of blankets. Looking at each other quickly James & Lore both jogged the rest of the way to Immy's room and found Greg standing inside. Lore was the first to speak and said, "Greg, what is going on?" Greg sighed and said, "Her fever wasn't coming down so I took her down for a cold bath. I thought about an ice bath, but couldn't bring myself to put her through that."
When Immy saw Lorelai back in the room she started to cry and reached for her mother saying, "Momma, I's cold. Daddy makes me." Lore made eye contact with Greg and saw the guilt in his eyes before he left the room. Lore then went over to Immy's bed and sat down on the end as she said, "Baby, don't get mad at Daddy. He had to get your fever down and I know he's sorry for making you do that. Come here and let me help you get warm and dry." Immy struggled to get out of her layers of blankets and into her mother's arms.
Lore pulled a couple blankets up around Immy and quietly asked, "What do you think about seeing Jay, Nina, & Isaac? Uncle Jimmy brought them all here to see you, but if you want to sleep for awhile it can wait." Immy pulled away from Lore slightly and looked up at James, who was standing on the opposite wall. She smiled slightly and said, "Dey here?" James nodded and approached the bed as he said, "Yup, they're up in my office. Would you like me to go get them?" Immy looked back at Lore who also smiled and she then nodded and said, "Yeah, get dem Unka Jimmy." James grinned and said, "Yes ma'am, I'll be right back with Jay, Nina, & Isaac." As James left the room Immy laid her head back on her mother's shoulder.
In the hallway James spotted Greg pacing and approached his best friend. Greg looked up and saw James, but didn't say a word. James watched Greg for a few more steps before saying, "She's alright. She's totally past it now. We told her that Jay, Nina, & Isaac are here to see her and she perked right up. You want to come upstairs with me and get them? I also brought you some clean clothes if you want to grab a shower." Greg nodded and said, "Ok, yeah I'll come up with you." James grinned and walked with Greg to the elevators.
Next chapter: The kids all get to see Immy.