Chapter 8

Titania walked into the restaurant and looked around for Wilson and Cameron. It was exactly 7pm and she spotted them at the bar. As she approached Wilson looked over and smiled at her. She had to admit that he sure did emit a boyish charm. She smiled back as she got to his side. He stood up and offered his seat and waited for her sit before he took the one next to her.

"Evening. I'm really am glad that you two were able to meet me tonight."

"Our pleasure. It will be a good time to get to know you more." Wilson said, Cameron nodding in agreement.

"I must say that it is an intriguing thought, House having a daughter. And I couldn't resist seeing the look on his face by accepting your dinner offer." Cameron said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Titania laughed saying, "Yeah, I figured that you wouldn't be able to and that it may just work in my favor to get to him."

"Yeah, you do know that there's a chance that he's going to end up crashing tonight, right?" Wilson asked.

"Oh, I'm planning on it."

"You really are conniving. So like House!" Cameron said with a shake of her head.

Titania laughed again before suggesting that they adjourn to the table waiting for them. Once seated, they looked over the menu and made their selections before continuing their conversation.

"This is a really great restaurant" Titania said, looking around.

"I've never been here before though I have heard great things." Cameron said.

"Look how the reeded glass panels glow from within the stone and steel structure. The teak, maple and stone really warm the space."

Wilson nodded, saying "It's very open and soothing, peaceful."

"I really like the diffused lighting and textured fabrics."

Before Cameron or Wilson could answer, a shadow fell on the table. Titania looked up to see House looking down at her.

"Now the party can begin. Scoot." He waved at her to move to the next seat. She raised her eyebrow and then grinned at Cameron and Wilson as she stood and moved to the other chair. House sat down and looked at them.

"So besides boring architecture and interior design, what else are you talking about?"

"Well, if you want to know boring, we were talking about this self absorbed ass of a man. You may know him. He goes by House."

House gave a half smile back to Titania and with a glint in his eye, he played along.

"Oh that guy? Yeah unfortunately I know him. He is an ass. Takes pride in it too."

"I could tell."

House nodded toward the water glass in front of her.

"So not adventurous enough to drink? How else will Wilson be able to take advantage of you?"

"House!" Wilson exclaimed.

"Oh take it easy Jimmy."

Titania shook her head in amusement and replied, "I don't feel like it and besides, I don't really need to drink to have a good time. And who says I'd need alcohol to be taken advantage of? Good looks and personality does wonders."

Cameron muffled a laugh with her napkin as the food arrived. After placing the dishes down, the waiter turned to House.

"Good evening Sir. Thank you for joining us tonight. What may I get for you?"

"Scotch, three fingers, no ice. And I'll have the lamb."

"Very good choice Sir. I will have it to you momentarily." The waiter walked away and Cameron perked an eyebrow up at House, asking, "Lamb?"

"Well it's the most expensive and I'm not paying. I also figured it'd irk little Miss Green Party here."

Titania laughed. "Just because I'm green, doesn't mean I am vegetarian. Though not my favorite, I do eat lamb. My paternal Grandparents are very posh in their menus, especially at family holidays. But it's nice to know that you researched the restaurant menu. I heard that is a popular choice."

House huffed and leaned back in his chair. A moment later, his drink arrived and he ordered another before downing the one first. Once the second one arrived, he drank half then nursed it as the others ate and talked.

"I hope that I am not being too forward, but I was wondering how you got your name." Cameron said.

"Yeah, not the most normal name out there." House spoke up.

Ignoring him, Titania answered Cameron, "Well my mother loved Shakespeare and her favorite play was A Midsummer Nights Dream. She told me once when I was little that once she saw me for the first time there was no doubt that I'd be Titania. My family and close friends call me Nia for short but not that often. The full name has always suited me more."

"It is nice." Wilson said and Cameron nodded in agreement.

"It's strange. What was Harvest thinking? I mean, didn't she remember being teased as a kid? Did she want you to go through that?" House said.

"Mom and Grandma always told me that mom really didn't get teased. She was always such a free spirit that no one thought her name was strange. Grandma wanted something different to distinguish her daughter. She had such a traditional name that she didn't want mom to be ordinary. Something that she definitely wasn't."

"You got that right."

House's food arrived and he dug in as Titania continued.

"Anyway, my middle name is Anne. I didn't do too bad with my name. My brothers on the other hand had it a bit hard."

House choked on his bite of food. After coughing and taking a swig of his drink, he turned to Titania.

"You have brothers?"

"Ummm, yeah. You think that after me, mom wouldn't have had more kids?"

"Well, you talked as if you were an only child. It is hard to imagine full spirited Harvest with a full brood."

"Mom loved kids. She had a lot of love to share."

"So what are their names?" Cameron asked.

"Well, Will, my step-dad, was an English professor with a concentration in Shakespeare. One reason he and mom were meant to be together. Anyway, one of his favorite plays was Much Ado About Nothing. Mom said that he could choose what he wanted for a first name and she had dibs on middle. They had a feeling from the beginning that the new baby would be a boy and started going through names. They couldn't decide at first what to choose. They both narrowed it down to two favorites each. I remember them going back and forth trying to choose the best combo. Then mom had a check up and not only was it confirmed that she indeed was going to have a boy but found out she was going to have twins. I remember how excited Mom and Dad..." She looked at House quickly before correcting herself and continuing, "…Will was. Anyway, they were named Claudio Lysander and Benedick Puck."

"Those aren't too bad. Claudio is nice. He was my favorite character in Much Ado, actually." Wilson chimed in. Titania smiled at him.

"I like that character a lot but my all time favorites are Benedick and Beatrice. They are hilarious. I really liked how they were played in the Kenneth Branagh film. I've seen a lot of adaptations of the play but Kenneth was the best Benedick. It was so amusing and hilarious the way they interacted. The energy was right on."

"I really did enjoy that film also. The actor who played Claudio was great in the role, did an excellent job." Wilson replied.

"He did. His acting was great." She took a sip of water before going on, "I grew up on Shakespeare as a normal reading in our house. When mom told us she was going to have another baby when I was ten I was sure I'd be having a baby sister. I said that her name would be Beatrice. I went around talking about her all the time and what we were going to do together. Unfortunately, the baby was stillborn. Mom and Will still named her Beatrice though."

Cameron reached across the table and took Titania's hand saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you but it wasn't really that bad. Don't get me wrong. We all were upset and sad about it but mom told us to talk about Beatrice, in a way remember her or at least, the possibility of her, if that makes any sense. The few ultrasounds that we had, we framed and put up with all the other family photographs. We had her buried in mom's family plot. We visited on holidays and her "birthday". We always talked about her and made up scenarios of what she'd have been like. It was nice." Titania stopped for a moment and drank some more water. House saw the sad look in her eyes and noticed her face was flushed. Deciding that it may be best to change the conversation a bit, he inquired, "So where are your brothers? What do they do?"

"Well, they combined Mom and Will's passions for theater and Shakespeare. They perform for the Globe Theater in London. It creates a hoot when people see their names on the programs. They love it. They had gone to school for theater and always have wanted to be Shakespearean performers."

"It's fitting with their names." Wilson said.

"Yes it is. Though we used to joke about them becoming athletes and what their nicknames could be or what they could change their names to. But they always said that they wanted to be performers. They took dance, theater, acrobatics, fencing and even clowning classes all through their school years. When they were teenagers, they would perform at Renaissance Faires and Celt fests as Court Jesters, acrobats and fencers. They gave lessons also. It was a riot to see them in their costumes performing. No one in the audience believed their names were really what they said. That was quite amusing. They were popular though. They would even do group babysitting and entertain the neighborhood kids. They were hired for birthday parties too. They would use the money for their costumes and props, et cetera."

"So how were they with the ladies?" House asked.

Titania laughed, "Great actually. Especially when they fenced. Many a lady swooned."

Cameron and Wilson laughed good naturedly and House shook his head amusingly.

They all paused as their dishes were cleared and they ordered dessert.

"So want to split a dessert?" Cameron asked.

"Well, I really shouldn't. I'm trying to control my sweets intake."

"Oh come on, if we split it's half the calories."

"Sure, why not. I'm on vacation anyway."

"Good! So what looks good to you?"

"Hmmm….the blood orange cheesecake is popping out at me."

"That does sound interesting." She turned to the waiter and said, "We'll take that and two forks please."

"Very good Ma'am," then turning to House and Wilson asked, "And you gentlemen?"

House looked at Wilson, batted his eyelashes demurely and said in a southern belle voice, "Well, I really should be watching my weight but mercy me the cheese cake does sound delish. Would you like to split one with me darlin'?"

Titania laughed out loud and slapped House's arm.

"ss."

"Yes he is" Wilson and Cameron said together. The three laughed as House pretended to be insulted.

"Well, I guess that's a no. I'll take two slices of the pistachio cheesecake and he'll have none."

Wilson shook his head and addressed the waiter.

"I'll take a slice of the blood orange. Thank you."

The waiter nodded and turned and walked away.

"He's probably going to spit on your food." Cameron said.

"Hey, added flavor.

"Oh that's so gross!" Titania said, still laughing.

"Hey don't knock till you've tried it."

"Ahhh." Titania's face was all squinched up in disgust. House looked at her and thought to himself that she looked cute, like her mother. He shook his head slightly and cleared his throat.

"Okay, so that was gross."

"You really are too much." Titania said.

"Oh he's too much alright." Cameron said to which House replied, "Oh you know you want me."

"Like gangrene." She answered dryly. Everyone but House laughed.

"Hahaha…please stop. My side hurts." House said smartly but still smiled.

The waiter appeared with their dessert and set it down.

"Wow that was fast." The waiter nodded and left.

"I think he wants you to hurry and leave." Cameron said, smiling.

"Hmmm, mental note to self, to insure fast service, bring Greg." Titania said.

"Ass."

"Chip of the ol' block I guess." Titania replied smartly. House's smiled faded and he turned to his cheesecake and starting devouring it.

Titania raised an eyebrow and looked at Wilson and Cameron who just shrugged.

"So Allison, how are we doing this? Take turns taking bites or splitting down the middle?"

"I don't care. I just want to dig in."

"It does look good." Titania took a bit with her fork and put it in her mouth.

"Mmmmm. Oh my goodness."

"Good isn't it?" Wilson said, before taking another bite of his own.

"If I wasn't staying in a hotel, I'd so bring a whole one back with me tonight."

"That isn't a bad idea. I may just bring one home." Cameron said.

The three continued their talk while they ate, House not contributing to the conversation. He ate his desserts in silence and seemingly deep thought. Soon they were all done, Titania paid the bill and they walked out. Standing outside the restaurant, Titania and Cameron gave each other a quick hug.

"Thank you for joining me tonight. It was fun."

"You're welcome. We'll have to do it again before you leave."

"Definitely. I didn't get a chance to pump you for info about Greg." Titania said with a laugh before turning to Wilson. She stood on tip toe and gave him a peck on the check.

"Thank you too for joining me tonight." Wilson returned the kiss on the cheek and replied, "My pleasure."

Then Titania turned to House.

"So…"

"I'm still not convinced." He said stubbornly. She looked him in the eyes and replied,

"I can be just as stubborn as you." With that said, she turned and walked away, leaving the three to watch her leave.

House, having to have the last word said, "Well, at least she knows when to leave. I'll give her that."