Thank you everyone who has reviewed and added this to your alerts!
It's short. Sorry...
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
The trip into the city had little troubles. The couple contacted child services and informed them that the couple was taking custody of Madison. They didn't give much of a fight when Madison provided a paternity test.
The House-Wilson family had added a new flat screen TV and a BMW to their home among other things. A lot of furniture that they needed, Wilson was sick of the ugly orange sofa and crappy table. Madison let House have the BMW her mother had willed to her. They had met with a real estate agent and the Upper Eastside, penthouse apartment next to the park Angela had owned was valued at $1 million. Which shocked Madison.
"I'm going to be one million dollars richer! Fuck yeah!" Madison declared with glee already planning on what she was going to do with it.
"Just don't go spending it all before college." Wilson told her. Which was true, it wasn't like House had been saving up to send he to college one day.
"Don't worry about it. My mom had a college fund for me already." Madison told her step-father. "Oh! Maybe we can go on a vacation this summer!"
"That sounds like a good idea." Wilson said as they drove into their county. Wilson thought about going on vacation with House and Madison. It would be interesting.
"I want to go to Russia. My mom was born in Moscow before her parents came to America." She told him. "I've never been there. I've to a lot of other places. When are we going to stop for dinner? I'm out of soda." Madison shook her Big Gulp and the ice rattled inside.
Half way home the three of them stopped at a road side dinner to grab dinner. While Madison sipped on her ice tea her parents ordered, when the waitress turned to her she told her she wasn't eating anything.
"You need to eat." Wilson told her. "You didn't eat much for lunch."
"I'm not hungry." Madison claimed.
"Eat." Her father ordered with a stern look.
"Fine." Madison turned to the waitress with a sigh. "I'll have a salad with vinaigrette please." She told her.
"So what are you going to with your money?" House asked his daughter.
"Oh! I told Wilson that we should go on vacation." She told him her plan of going to Russia. House said they should go to Cancun. Wilson offered a tour of Europe. Which both Houses couldn't disagree with.
"Wait, I thought that your mother's name was Mason?" Wilson asked her.
"She changed it when she joined the team at CNN. Her real name is Angela Vasilyev." She told him. "The other reporters couldn't pronounce it and she thought she had a better chance with a more Anglican name."
"I thought you were going to say you were going to buy more creepy, geeky dolls." House teased her. Madison glared at him.
"My dolls aren't geeky or creepy!" She objected and took a sip of her diet coke. "A lot of work goes into making them. It's a work of art and you're just being a douche." She told him making Wilson choke down a laugh.
"My doucheyness is not what we are discussing." House told as the food came out. House started on his fries and noticed the look of disgust that was briefly on Madison's face. "Why didn't you go live with your grandparents or uncles? Why did you chose me?"
"Well, maybe because my grandmother died of a brain aneurism, like...ten years ago. My grandfather was murdered in the 80's by a Russian spy when they found out he was a double agent. One of my uncles was a firefighter, he died when the second tower fell on 9/11. Another uncle moved to Texas after he married a crazy born-again Christian and joined her church. I didn't want to live with them because they have rules about not dancing or talking to boys and no video games or TV or internet and they home school their kids and teach them that creationism is real and evolution is blasphemy. I was raised Atheist and I would rather die than live with them. Then my last uncle is in Sullivan Correctional Facility. His cell mate is the Son of Sam! How awesome is that? Well, not the selling meth to middle schoolers part...So yeah...I mean, you were my first choice anyways. Even if my family wasn't a freak show." She confessed as she sucked down her diet coke. "Oh my God, Uncle Craig would lose his shit if he knew you were gay!"
"That sounds a little farfetched." House replied.
"You don't have to believe me. He is a born again Christian and his kids go to church five days a week. He's creepy. He made me go to church with them and made me pray and ask God for forgiveness three times again." Madison told them. "I told him to go fuck himself and that God doesn't exist and he's wasting his time that one time I was staying with them. I also super glued all the crosses in the house upside down and painted the Halo of the Sun from that video game series on the outside of their house when they left me at home when they were at church. They flipped out and tried to give me an exorcism because his wife was weeping and calling me the devil. She lost her mind when I told her that her husband participated in a black mass with her brother. It was awesome. I put the video up on YouTube."
"I meant your spy father." House said.
"Are you kidding? He hated the Soviets and volunteered when he first moved to America." Madison replied, taking in her third mouthful of salad. "He spoke Russian, Romanian, and Ukrainian and he was forced into the Army. He knew his way around and he was a natural choice."
"If you say so..." House replied as he watched his daughter eat. In the fifteen minutes that had passed since they were served she had taken three bites and spent most of her time pushing her food around and talking.
"So...you asked me a personal question do I get to ask you one?" Madison said with a grin. Wilson shifted in his seat.
"Sure." He replied.
"How did you two get together?" She asked them.
"Well...I was dating a woman that was a lot like your father. You father said 'Oh my God, you're dating me', he didn't freak out...later that night I did. We've been friends for a long time, longer than most people stay friends. I did a little soul searching and realized I-" Wilson began but House butted in.
"Your step-father broke up with his girlfriend, got drunk, and came to my apartment to confess his undying love to me." House interrupted earning him a glare from Wilson. "I went to the hospital and when I got out he was still there. We bought the condo a year and a half ago."
"Yeah, since then we kind of became a married couple." Wilson said a little uncomfortably. Madison pushed her plate away and went back to her drink.
"Cool." Madison said. "Oh! You should totally adopt me Wilson! I've never had two parents before. That would awesome!" House and Wilson couldn't reply, they just stared at her.
()()()()()()()
"Chase, what was Madison's BMI?" House asked looking over the chart in his hand. He tried to find her weight and height on the chart. "Shit, Chase, you didn't even think to mention my daughter is underweight?"
"Her BMI is 17.9, that's barely underweight." Chase retorted, a little delayed after being questioned right after House walked through the door. House grumbled and left to go to Wilson's office.
"Maddie's anorexic." he told him. Wilson put down his pen and stared up at his lover. "Her BMI is 17.9 and have you ever seen that girl actually eat other than the first night she was in our condo?" He asked him.
"Ah, what do we do then?" Wilson asked him.
"Shove calories down her throat and watch her eat." House responded.
"Greg, she needs to see a councilor." Wilson told him. "It won't be much use if she doesn't fix the problem that made her become anorexic in the first place. But if she's anything like you it might be impossible."
"True. I'll try talking to her." He said and left the office. House finished his work for the day planning to talk to the girl before Wilson came home and hoped that little douche bag Brad wasn't being tutored at their home tonight.
()()()()()()()()()()()()
"She locked herself in her room." House told Wilson when he came home that day. He had a bewildered look on his face as well as what smelt like orange juice. Apparently, Madison had thrown a cup of juice at his head when he confronted her. The plastic Wal-Mart cup still lay on the floor in front of the TV. Wilson sighed and knocked on Madison's door.
"Madison, it's me. What did you dad do?" Wilson asked her through the door.
"He accused me of being anorexic and then called me fat!" Madison told him. Wilson glared at his boyfriend.
"I did not call you fat!" House protested. The intensity of Wilson's glare went up. "I didn't! She's lying!"
"Oh, like a House would never lie. She is your daughter." Wilson told him. "You obviously did something."
"I might have tried to blackmail her into eating a hamburger." House replied. Wilson was still glaring, now with his hands on his hips. "Ok fine, I might have said 'chubby girls are pretty and you can stand to gain a few pounds'. That was it!"
"And you thought that was the right thing to tell a 16 year old, hormonal teenage girl with a self-esteem problem, that shares half of your genes?" Wilson asked sarcastically. "You're an idiot and have no idea how to talk to women." He turned to the door again. "Let me talk to you Madison." The lock clicked open and Wilson opened the door.
"What?" Madison asked, sitting on her bed, he sat down a respectable distance from her.
"You've been here for over a week now. I've seen you eat twice. You weigh 119 pounds, Madison, honey, we know you're anorexic." Wilson told her bluntly. "We need to fix this. You need to be healthy. You can be skinny and healthy Madison."
"I'm fine." She told him.
"You're not. You're underweight, we need to get your BMI up." Wilson told her. "Do you know the risks of being anorexic? Loss of muscle mass, osteopenia, ruptured esophagus, damaged liver, stomach lining, and kidneys, infertility, cardiac arrest, and death to name a few."
"...Ok..." Was all Madison replied.
"Why Madison? You're pretty, you don't need to be anorexic." Wilson asked her.
"I don't want to talk about it." She told him, turning away from him.
"I promise not to tell your father." Wilson said.
"Mom was anorexic, I was a fat kid and teased for it. Mom called me fat all the time. I didn't want to be fat anymore." She told him honestly. She was too weak to think carefully or to care at all. She usually combated the weakness and fatigue with copious amounts of coffee and diet coke. She was woefully under her quota for the day.
"How long?" He asked her.
"since I was 13." She told him. "I started off eating under 1,000 calories then 850 and now 600." She confessed.
"We can help you. We'll start you off at 850 calories a day and work up." He advised her. Madison was amused by his doctor tone of voice.
"I don't want to." Madison replied as she turned around to look at him. "But you and dad are going to do it anyways. I can't promise I won't fight you."
"I'm used to fighting your father." Wilson told his step-daughter and wrapped an arm around her. "If you're only half as bad as your father I can handle it." Madison laughed at him.
"Is dad really that bad?" Madison asked him. Wilson smiled, still not used to the feeling hearing the teenager call his lover dad.
"You have no idea. I'll have to tell you about it someday. I think your father might kill me if I told you." Wilson said with a laugh. Madison laughed as well before it tapered off to a sad frown.
"Do I need to see a therapist again?" She asked him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Wilson nodded, noting that she trusted him enough to ask him about it and be open with him. "I'm too weak to carry my cello now. I ate an extra 200 calories. I felt disgusting and threw up."
"We'll take it slow, don't worry." Wilson said, rubbing her back before getting up.
"Ok." She said before she flopped back on the bed. Wilson opened the door and caught House trying to eavesdrop on them.
"What did she say?" He asked.
"That she won't go easy on us but she'll do it." Wilson told him. House didn't have time to reply before Madison came out of her room.
"Hey dad! Let's play Silent Hill 3!" She declared and pulled her father to the sofa.
()()()()()()