CHAPTER EIGHT:

Susan woke up and looked around her. She glanced at the clock; 10:23am. Wow, I was really sleepy, she observed to herself. She was still in the same clothes she'd worn for the last several days so she changed out of them and went to the shower. Feeling much better, she got dressed and headed down to the kitchen. She hadn't been shopping and at this point didn't trust the left-overs, so she put some bread in the toaster and pulled out the peanut butter. She smiled to herself, a meal Greg would be proud of; bread and peanut butter. As she ate her toast, she opened the cabinet above the oven and looked at the row of cookbooks. As she read the titles, she noticed that some of them were worn so must have been used quite a bit. Susan opened the kitchen closet and pulled out her step stool so she could reach the cookbooks. She grabbed two of the most worn looking cookbooks and took them over to the table and sat down to start going through them. Her phone rang, "This is Susan," she said.

"Are you feeling better?" It was Foreman.

"Yes, thank you,"

"After you come in and check on your family, would you mind stopping by my office?" he asked.

"Sure, is something wrong?" she asked.

"We're having supply issues," he said. "I need to get a handle on everything."

"Mine are being stolen," Susan said. "It'll probably be a couple of hours before I make it by."

"Not a problem," Foreman said and hung up.

Susan gathered her things and picked up the most worn cookbook and headed to the hospital.

MDMDMDMD

House was walking out of an exam room when he saw Susan enter the hospital. He handed the chart to the nurse and walked out of the clinic. He caught up to her at the elevator and stepped inside giving her an evaluating look, "Better" he said.

"I'm glad you approve," Susan said.

"Vegetarian cookbook," House noted the book Susan was carrying.

"It's one of those I was telling you about. This one is worn out the most, so I'm guessing Marie's favorite recipes were in this one," Susan said. "I thought Phillip and I could look through it together for something he might like to try."

"Why do you try so hard?" House said.

"He's my son," Susan replied.

"Not according to him," House said.

"He'll come around," Susan said noting the look on House's face as she said it. "Greg, he's just a kid. To his memory, he's spent his entire life living alone with his dad. Now I've come along and invaded his space. He's not sure where I fit in with him and all he has to go by is what his friends at school are telling him about mothers and stepmothers and unfortunately a good part of that information has been unreliable. He will come around. I know he will. I just have to give him time to work it out."

Susan got off on the pediatrics floor and the door closed behind her; House staying behind. She walked down the hall and into Phillip's room. David got up and came to her when he saw her walk in. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, "It's good to see you," he said. "You look rested."

"I'm still sleepy, but I've slept long enough," she said.

"Would you mind sitting in here with Phillip while I go grab a bite to eat?" David asked with his arms still wrapped around her.

"Not at all," Susan said. She looked at Phillip, "I've got something for you." David left and Susan went over to Phillip's bedside. "Do you mind if I put the rail down and sit next to you?"

Phillip shook his head, "What do you have?"

"A book," Susan said.

"I'm not a baby, you don't need to read to me," Phillip said.

"It's not that kind of a book," she said as she boosted herself up on his bed. Phillip scooted over so she would have more room. She grabbed the cookbook she had set on the side table before she lowered the bed rail and showed it to Phillip. "It's one of your mother's vegetarian cookbooks. This one was the most worn, so I bet her favorite recipes are in here." Susan opened the book and started thumbing through the pages. It wasn't long before she came to a page that had been dog eared and was covered with splatter stains. "Phillip, I bet this was one of your mom's favorite recipes. See how the page has been marked and it has splatters all over it?" Phillip nodded. "I bet she made this dish over and over again. When Greg releases you from the hospital, we should make this dish together. Would you like that?" Phillip was quiet. "Are you feeling ok?"

"I'm fine," he said. He pulled the cookbook closer so he could look at the recipe. "Do you think it's any good?"

"I have no idea, but she must have liked it or the page wouldn't look like it does," Susan answered.

Phillip set the book down on his lap, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" asked Susan.

"I haven't been very nice to you."

"No, you haven't," Susan said. "You've been pretty rude at times lately. I really don't understand that, especially when I thought we got along so well before."

"I didn't think you really wanted to be my mom; Jerrod's stepmom doesn't," Phillip said.

"From what your Dad says, Jerrod's stepmom isn't nearly as bad as Jerrod wants you to believe," Susan said. "Phillip, I know what it is to lose your mom, I lost mine too. I miss her terribly, but she's gone and I have to move on. I want to do that with you and your father. You two are a matched set and I love both of you. I think you and I can be the best of friends if you'll just let me."

Tears started falling down Phillip's face and after a moment he said, "I don't want you to be my friend."

"Ok, you don't want me to be your stepmom and you don't want me to be your friend, what do you want Phillip?" Susan said.

He sniffed and said so quietly it was almost a whisper, "I want you to be my mom."

Susan wrapped her arms around Phillip and drew him closer into a hug, "Phillip, I would be honored to be your mom," she answered with her own tears filling her eyes.

Soon Phillip's tears turned to the heavy sobs so familiar to all parents of young children. Susan held him close and rubbed his back, "I'm sorry," he said between tears and the hiccups his crying caused.

"It's ok," Susan said continuing to hold him, "Everything is going to be ok."

MDMDMDMDMD

House and Wilson stood outside Phillip's room watching the scene unfold in front of them, "That's sweet," Wilson said.

"Yeah, touching," House said with sarcasm though secretly he was pleased. This would make things much easier for Susan. "Feeling all warm and fuzzy on the inside are you?"

Wilson gave half a smile, "Your family is growing House and you didn't have anything to do with it."

House nodded, "It seems that way," he paused. "And in probably another 36 weeks or so, it'll grow by another 20%," House said.

Wilson's eyes went wide, "Susan's pregnant? When did she tell you?"

"She doesn't know," House answered.

"Then how do you…? Never mind," Wilson said. "Why doesn't Susan know?" he asked confused, "She's nearly as good as you picking up symptoms."

"She's been distracted lately, and also at her age, she's thinking menopause, not mini-people."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Nah, she'll figure it out," House said. The two men moved off toward the elevator.

"It's risky at her age," Wilson said.

"It's always risky, but yeah it's not going to be easy on her."

"That's why you forced Phillip to acknowledge the truth, so that Susan would have one less stress in her life," Wilson said. "House, you're getting soft."

"Bite your tongue."

Wilson smiled, "Can't fool me. Hungry?" Wilson asked.

"Always," House answered.