Chapter 29

Still LIfe

Rodrigo Chavez had been not only kind, but helpful. He gave me information on exactly what was being said in the UN, the press and worldwide. Confident that I would be exonerated or Paraguay would lose the support of the U.S. he let me know that the Paraguayans needed to save face and keep me until they could announce to the people of Paraguay that they had conducted a full investigation and I was cleared. He had been assured by someone higher up that it would be a few weeks, maybe three and then I'd be released. He gave me a note from Susan that had been written a week after I was held "captive." Although it wasn't very recent, it was comforting.

Dear Fin,

I have Brennon. The court awarded me custody today and I am headed back to Princeton (have to work.) Dad and I are making progress on getting you released, but he says it looks like it will take about a month with as slow as things are in Paraguay.

Brennon misses you, but he seems to have taken to me. We're bonding and frankly, good luck getting him back, I kind of like the little guy. I'm buying him a proper wardrobe, lots of Ralph and Juicy Couture. I love you and miss you. Keep your spirits up.

Love, Susan

I spent my days in the hotel gym, by the pool and enjoying the free bar paid for by the people of Paraguay. I'm not much of a drinker, so I usually stopped drinking after two. Still, I became friends with the bartender and waitress who was Mexican-American, but had come down with her Paraguayan boyfriend.

I was watching the nightly recap of the so-called, "investigation." An investigation in which I had never even been asked what happened by anyone who worked for the Paraguay government. Sitting in the bar, there were very few patrons at four in the afternoon so Miguel had turned the television up so I could hear. He had switched it to CNN so that I could hear the news in English.

After a one minute recap of the latest outrage from some foreign dignitary, the news announce came on. "And in a related matter, the guardian of Dr. Doyle's eleven month old son, Susan Friday, made an unannounced visit to the State Department to lobby for the release of her friend, Dr. Doyle. The baby, Brennon Doyle, smiled for the cameras and tried to put the mike in his mouth. For more on this, we turn now to our Washington correspondent, Drake Wentworth. Drake?"

On the television was a clip of Susan holding a lively Brennon in her arms as she tried to talk while he made several squealing noises that drowned her out. She said something about my captivity, but I didn't hear it, I had crossed the room to the screen and was staring at my beautiful little boy. He looked healthy and happy, which gave me great relief.

"Miguel! That's my son!"

"Yes? He's very…guapo."

"You're right, he is handsome."

I watched as Brennon reached for the mike and tried to put his mouth on it only to have everyone laughing. The news reporter pulled it back gently and asked another question. Susan turned and handed Brennon over to someone off camera. I wondered who was holding my son.

"…yes, I have custody of Brennon for now. But I'm confident that Brennon will have his mother back soon."

The camera panned to Brennon and my heart stopped. I tumbled back, falling into a chair. Holding Brennon was Greg, looking very natural with Brennon in his arms. Together there was a deep resemblance that I had never noticed before.

He knows. He has to know. Look at how he's holding Brennon. Look at how much they look alike. Oh no. Now what?

Greg looked handsome and, by all the bouncing and the quick hug, he seemed to be fond of the baby. My heart was doing all kinds of strange things at the sight of the boys I loved the most. And then they were gone. I spent the rest of the night watching CNN just to see the clip played over and over again until they stopped showing it early the next morning.

I wished I had a DVR so I could stop the clip and rewatch it. God I missed them.

Taking his reading glasses off, the judge turned to address the petitioner, "Dr. House, you've proven to this court that Brennon Adrian Doyle is your biological son and through your witnesses it's clear that you did not know of his existence until recently. We all know that Dr. Doyle is clearly being held in Paraguay as part of an investigation into the death of their President. In light of the fact that the law favors the biological parent, I would normally grant you full custody. However, Dr. Doyle wanted her friend, Susan Friday, to have custody in case of her death or absence. Therefore, I'm going to grant you temporary joint custody along with Dr. Friday. Counsel, please have your clients meet and reach an amicable schedule for custody and submit it for my approval. I want to caution you, Dr. House, this doesn't give you permanent custody. If you want that, you're going to have to petition the court for it in California."

House turned to Susan and gave her a smile. Susan wasn't upset at all. She loved the idea of sharing custody with House; it was difficult being a single mother, even with a housekeeper. She was tired all the time and in the months since she'd had Brennon, there'd been no time to go out, relax, have a little fun. Paul was trying to be understanding, but each time he showed up at Susan's apartment, House was there playing with the baby.

Susan and House went out and bought minimal baby equipment for House's apartment, including a portable crib like the one in Susan's living room. Driving over to House's apartment, Susan wanted to scream, "Hallelujah, free at last, free at last!", But she didn't want House to know how trapped she felt watching an eleven month old. Still, Susan had to admit it had its moments. When he'd laugh and spit and squeal and play and sleep…there were times when she desperately wished she were a mother. But, there was no doubt it was hard work and on top of teaching and being a doctor, it was exhausting.

As soon as they entered the apartment, they both realized that the apartment was a death trap for the now walking toddler. House had been eating pizza when Brennon, who had been pulling himself up and walking from couch to chair to table by holding on, finally got brave enough to go after the plastic Fischer Price Truck in the middle of the floor. Three wobbly steps and he landed back on his diapered butt, both surprising him and causing House to choke on his pizza.

"Whoa! Whoa! He just walked…Suz, he just walked!"

Susan came running out from the bedroom, drying her hair in a towel. "What?"

House was now sitting next to Brennon. "He walked! He took three steps and then bam, took a six pint Guinness dive on his butt."

"Really?" She went over to Brennon, picked him up and stood him in the middle of room. "Come on Brennon, go see Daddy. Walk over to Daddy."

House held out his arms. "Come on Bren, come on. Come here."

Brennon stood pondering the situation. He wasn't sure what they wanted him to do or if he should do it. The fall hadn't hurt because of the padding, but it had surprised him. The man in front of him wanted to cuddle, but wasn't coming over to get him. What do they want?

"Dude, come on, come to Daddy."

Brennon turned slightly to look behind him at Susan. "Go on sweetie. Go to Daddy."

Brennon took one large step forward and then another before falling forward. He thought for sure he was going to fall on his face, but the guy caught him and wrapped him up in his arms, giving him kisses and telling him what a great job he did.

Susan was squealing and clapping. Kisses flew from both of them and then there was silence. "Oh, crap." Susan said quietly.

House nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Big milestone and Mommy's being held in a third world country."

"Poor Fin. This is going to kill her that she wasn't here for this."

But there was no stopping Brennon. Walking was now his favorite thing to do and House's apartment had too many furniture corners for him to fall on and hurt himself. House started picking up things that could get broken or pulled down. Susan started working on the angles of the furniture, putting them in positions to prevent injury or softening the corners with towels. Brennon was placed in the portable crib to keep him from ransacking the place while they baby-proofed it. He started jumping and screaming, eventually crying, dying to get out and explore. After an hour, the adults decided that they had done what they could until they could get to Walmart and buy some baby-proof locks.

"Come on Bren, I'll spring ya. You're outta there." House reached and grabbed the cranky baby, setting him down on the floor. Like a spring he was up and bouncing from object to object in search of the perfect object to put in his mouth and choke on.

"No! Not that, Bren. Here give it to me." Susan wrenched a guitar clamp from his hand. "Maybe he should come back with me until we have more time to spend 'Brennonizing 'your apartment."

"Why don't you spend the night and we can work on it while you're here?"

She was tempted. They hadn't had sex for several weeks and she missed feeling him between her thighs, but Susan was still hurt, hurt that he could sleep with her best friend. His only saving grace was that she had cheated too and he had owned up to cheating on her. To some extent, he had been honest with her; he just didn't tell her who it was. But, she was really trying to give him up for Paul and it hadn't been easy. "Sorry, but I have a date tonight."

"Paul?"

Nodding, she grabbed her coat and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Greg, it's over between us. I'll try like hell to rebuild my friendship with Finley and I hope that you and I can stay friends, but I'm not sure that will happen. We'll have to see."

He swallowed hard and gave her a curt nod to let her know he understood. She gave Brennon a kiss on the cheek and was out the door. Brennon broke into tears. "Bro, we don't need any women. Come on." House smiled as he bounced the baby up and down. Brennon stopped crying and started laughing as House made funny faces and quacking sounds. "Simple things amuse simple people. You're going to have to learn to be more sophisticated in your humor. The Three Stooges would be a step up with you."

After an hour, Brennon went down for the night. House grabbed a bottle of Maker's Mark and poured himself half his normal glass, sipping on it for an hour. He watched CNN to find out what was being done about Finley, but she was no longer news. An earthquake had hit Jakarta and people were rushing to get there to provide relief. Finley's captivity was back burner.

House sat back and leaned his head back, closing his eyes and trying to digest the last month. He had lost a girlfriend, gained a son, and didn't know if the woman he really loved was going to return to him and if she did, what, if anything would be their relationship? Everything in his body screamed that he should run from this…it could get ugly, more importantly he might have to feel things he didn't want to feel. He might be rejected.

Even stranger were the feelings he had for the tiny creature in his apartment. Kids need patience and patience was never his strong suit. But just one smile, one milestone, one curious moment when Brennon discovered something new in his world, made House want to be that father—the patient father, the father who was fair, the father who could actually love his son. He ached for his son, worried that he might lead the solitary life of a genius because even he could see his son was exceptionally bright for an eleven month old.

Just a few days ago, Brennon had held something up to House for House to supply the name of it. "Book. That's a book. You read a book. You get information from a book. You spell it b.o.o.k."

Brennon looked back at the book with deep curiosity, dropped it to the floor and then opened it up as if he now knew that this was a book and it had information. For a few minutes he studied the pages with a strange and solemn curiosity looking up from time to time to see if House was paying attention to this new object and to him. House thought he might tear the pages, but surprisingly Brennon handled the pages delicately.

House finished his Maker's Mark and decided to call it a night. After taking a boat load of ibuprofen, he crawled into bed and fell into a deep sleep, content that for that night he was that father, the only father his son had.

Waking up at three am was no joy, but House didn't mind. The sound of Brennon expecting House to attend to him was a call to arms and House enthusiastically answered it. A bottle of formula, a changed diaper and a onesie with puke stains on it, a little standing and rocking and Brennon was asleep again. House put him in the middle of the bed, climbed in and placed Brennon on top of his chest, next to his heart. An hour later House woke up and put his son next to him where they slept comfortably until six the next morning.

Over the next few days, House learned how to function on as little as four hours of sleep. On the sixth day, Susan stopped by the apartment and asked if she could take Brennon for a few days, she missed him.

House grabbed her and kissed her on the lips out of gratitude. "Oh, thank you sweet Goddess!"

Susan started howling. "I take it you need a break!"

"I'd be lying if I said no. I just need eight hours straight."

"Well, I'll take him for the weekend and drop him off at the daycare on Monday."

"I love you." House flittered around, picking up some odds and ends and then grabbing Brennon from his playpen. "Dude, you've got a sleepover date with a beautiful woman, don't blow it. I'll see you on Monday." There was a big grin and deep sigh as Susan left holding Brennon's hand tightly as they walked the length of the hall. Brennon turned around in the hall and gave his Dad a sad look of abandonment, the look of someone who had just been betrayed by a traitor. His little lip budded out as a tear began to form. House closed the door slowly, feeling as if he had been severely chastised by one look.

Just eight hours…I need just eight hours.

Susan looked at the clock and then at Paul.

Paul sat up in bed. "Who could that be?"

Susan knew right away. "I'm afraid I have something he wants."

"What?"

"It has to be Greg." She said as she jumped up and grabbed a t-shirt, putting it on along with some panties.

"You're going to put on more than that-aren't you?"

Susan rolled her eyes at Paul. "Paul, you are joking, right? I mean—"

He held up a hand. "Fine, I get it. I get it." He sat up on the edge of the bed.

Susan ran to the door. "Yes, yes, I'm coming. Stop your banging."

It was House. "I want him back."

"But, I've only had him—"

"Eight and a half hours. I know. I got some sleep and now I can take him back."

"Take him back? Greg! Come on. It's three am."

House pushed past her and went straight to the guest room.

A male voice yelled from the hallway. "House, can't this wait until tomorrow?"

House turned and saw Paul St. John in the hallway in his boxers, hands on his hips and a look of disgust. Susan stood a few feet from him, unable to look at House or Paul, her arms wrapped around her chest.

"I'll be out of your way in a few minutes, after I get my son."

Susan rushed forward, putting her hand on his upper arm. Softly she whispered to him, "Greg, he's asleep. Please don't wake him. It took me a long time to get him to bed. Come back for him in the morning, okay?"

House looked at her and realized that Susan deserved better than waking her up in the middle of the morning. "Yeah, you're right. I'll just sleep here in the guest room."

"Oh, no. No!" Paul said emphatically.

"Paul…come on." Susan gave Paul a look of disappointment. "He wants to be near his son."

"He can be near him tomorrow."

"Come on Greg, I'll get you a blanket. The only thing on the bed is the summer duvet." Susan ignored Paul and went to the linen closet to pull out a blanket.

Paul threw up his hands and went to bed. Susan eventually followed, but couldn't sleep. She slipped out of bed and went out to the living room where she found House sitting on the couch watching television.

"You watch CNN too?" She asked. "I keep hoping to see something on Fin. But, the news has gone cold."

House nodded in agreement.

"Greg, when she comes back what are you going to do?"

"I don't think that's the question. It's what is she going to do?"

"Do you love her enough to move to California?"

"I can't move to California. No one will hire me in California; I burned…no, I nuked a few bridges there."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

"I'm a real charmer."

"I miss her." Susan said sitting back on the sofa and putting her bare feet up on the coffee table.

"I thought you were mad at her for screwing your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, well I am. But I miss her too."

"Does that mean you might forgive us?"

"I'm getting there, but not yet. Have you told her you love her?"

"No."

"She doesn't know you love her?"

"I didn't say the words. I did ask her to stay."

"Ask her to stay?"

"Before she left, I asked her to stay in Princeton."

"But she said no?"

He nodded. "She didn't want to hurt you. By then she had already signed the contract in California."

"They would have let her out of it. Lisa would have hired her back."

"Maybe, but she chose to leave."

"Did she say that she loved you?"

"No. It wasn't like that. We just kinda understood it."

"Kinda, sorta, understood that she loves you?"

"Yeah. She said something like 'that afternoon would have to last her a whole lifetime'."

"Finley said that? Little Miss Straight-Arrow has wild abandoned sex with her best friend's boyfriend and then claims the afternoon will have to last her whole life? That's the most romantic, crazy ass thing she's ever done."

"Yes, that would be Finley Doyle."

Susan settled back and hugged the chenille pillow. "You're lucky, Greg. She's the best person I know. Despite what she did, she's usually loyal, sweet, focused, hard headed, intelligent, loving and not to mention, the best mother I know."

"Considering not many of your friends have kids, that's not much of an endorsement."

"You know what I mean. Your son has a great mother."

"My son." He said wistfully.

"Weird, huh? I never thought you'd be a Dad." She ran a hand through her hair and pulled her knees up under her chin. "I have to admit, you make great babies. He's really sweet."

"Sweet? Face it…he's handsome, brilliant, coordinated and such a winning personality!"

"And all in an eleven month old! I'm going to bed now, you should too."

"I just slept eight hours…I'm wide awake."

House was about to turn the channel when they both stopped in their tracks. "…just in. After this message from our sponsors we'll bring you this breaking story: Paraguay claims that it has completed its investigation into the death of President Villarica and have found suspicious circumstances."

House and Susan sat up straight, looked at each other and joined hands as they watched a commercial for a Ford 150.