a/n: This chapter is a little more serious, but should push the plot along nicely. Enjoy!

"It's about freaking time you figured it out. I thought I would have to draw you a map!" Pamela didn't feel like granting her husband a lot of mercy. He shouldn't be that clueless.

"Pardon me for being a man and not being in tune to female warning signs."

"Isn't that your freaking job? You would have noticed it with a patient. Hell, I noticed something and I don't work with her everyday."

"Why would I be in diagnostics mode on my female co-worker?"

"I bet your asshole boss figured it out."

"If he did, then he stole personal information or took a wild guess and assumed he was right. No way would she have admitted it to him."

Pamela toned down her attack over that point. "You are right there." She gazed out the car window and took in a deep sigh, replaying the evening events as the world whirred by. "So how hard did Robert take it when he figured it out?"

"I don't think he was displeased. Just surprised. He'll get over it."

"Yeah, but will she?"

"Good point."

Pamela resumed her window watching, getting lost further in thought. She wished she could have seen Robert's face when he figured it out. She thought Eric was holding back in his description of the moment. She also pictured the conversation going on between Robert and Allison right now. Neither were good at pretending, so she doubted that they could keep stringing each other along too much longer.

"Are you still content with it just being us?" Foreman asked noticing her quiet ponderance.

"Me? Heavens yes. I know it was a bit of a surprise when we found out I couldn't have children, but I'm positive I wouldn't want a child anyway. I'm not sad about it at all."

"So, adoption or surrogacy is still out of the question?"

Pamela's face showed her natural shock over the question. "Absolutely. We already talked about this. Why are you asking? You changing your mind?"

"No. Of course not." He grabbed her hand and gave her a smile. "It's my job to check every once in a while. Women love to change their minds."

"My mind ain't changing about that one. I'm perfectly happy growing old watching other people's children grow up." After another look out the window, Pamela started giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I just had a flash of Robert and Allison trying to care for a baby. That will be a very bizarre moment."

Foreman joined her by snickering, finding that picture funny as well. "You...you don't suppose we will be asked to babysit?"

Pamela broke into much harder laughter. "They would be that desperate, wouldn't they? How do you feel about their kid calling you Uncle Eric?"

"Aunt Pam. Has a great ring to it."

Pamela could top that. "Yeah, well as long as the kid stays away from Uncle Greg, all will be fine."

Foreman started laughing so hard a few tears were coming from his eyes. "If House babysat, then children's services would have to get involved because of gross negligence."

"Not if Aunt Jimmy was the there too." They gave each other a look with quivering lips trying to keep a straight face, but that didn't last long as neither could hold back their gut-wrenching howling.

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"Oh my god," Cameron repeated over and over again as she stretched out on the bed after their rather intense tryst. "Have you like, gotten better? How is that possible? That is the most intense sex we've had yet."

Chase smiled. "It's all those hormones flooding you. Still, even I felt it. You must be transmitting some my way."

"Maybe being knocked up isn't so bad. There are perks after all." They both laid flat on their backs staring upward, still trying to catch their breaths. She reached over and grabbed Chase's hand. "You know, we should probably talk about this."

"Now? Are you up for it now? It can wait until another time."

"I'm scared."

Chase rolled over to face her and propped up his head with his right arm. "Why?"

"This is the greatest responsibility anyone could be given. The challenge here is far greater than anything I had to put up with House or anything else in my life. We will be required to physically, mentally, emotionally develop a young life for a good number of years. There are so many ways we can screw that up."

"There are also so many ways we can do right for this child that we didn't have growing up."

"What about our careers? Being doctors will get in the way of all those dance recitals or soccer games, doctor appointments, parent teacher conferences and whatever other crap parents are supposed to be there for. How can this child be normal when it will never know if its parents will be there or not?"

A huge frown hit Chase as he rolled back over and resumed his intense study of the ceiling. That question struck too much of a nerve. He was all too familiar with the downside of being a child of a doctor.

Cameron leaned over to him showing her look of worry. "Ouch. You weren't ready for that question yet, were you?"

"No, but we do have to face it. I don't have an answer yet. I only know I don't want to be the absent bastard my father was, but I also can't ask you to sacrifice your career either. You could end up being a miserable drunk like my mother who kept cursing the day her son was born."

She brushed her hand across his cheek. "We may not have answers, but one thing I know for sure, we are better than that."

"Are we? How do we know that circumstances won't drive us to that, even though we don't mean it to?" Cameron looked away, accepting that he was dead on about that one.

"I'm sorry," Chase continued, "we shouldn't dwell on the 'what ifs' right now."

"Were you an accident?" Cameron blurted out.

Chase's eyes popped wide open. He accepted long ago that Allison often came out with out tough questions at anytime, so avoiding them was never to his benefit. Still, he wasn't prepared for it. "Yes," he sadly admitted. "A bit of irony here, don't you think?"

Cameron turned away, not sure what to do with her new piece of information. "Wow, I was hoping you would be able to calm my nerves about this."

"You're right. We are speculating too much. For now, let's not let our fears stop us. We should approach this one day at a time. If you think about it, we both have been left with scars that won't heal, but we didn't turn out too damaged now did we? We can function in normal society."

"I work for Greg House. Define normal."

Chase let a huge smile creep on his face at the mention of his former mentor. "Promise me we will never let creepy 'Uncle Greg' near the kid?"

Cameron laughed hysterically and Chase followed soon after. They needed a light moment. Once the laughter died down, he pushed her hair away from her face with a gentle brush and looked deep into her eyes. "We'll get through this. We both have doubts, but I know we can do it."

She got an alarmed expression on her face, as if she was about to fire off a very serious question. "You going to hold my hair back every time I barf?"

"Anytime I'm there, yes." He replied lovingly.

"Good, because it's happening right now. Start running." She bolted out of the bed and dashed toward the bathroom with Chase following close behind.

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"Allison, time to get up."

Chase gave her a little extra time to sleep this morning. She had a miserable night after a miserable couple of days at work. Her sickness wasn't letting up and it was impossible for her to hold anything down, even water.

She didn't respond at all to his first request, so he went over to give her a nudge. She let out a little moan and Chase could see the glazed look in between the thin slits of her barely open eyes. He put his hand to her wrist and felt the rapid heart rate.

A sense of panic briefly swept over him. He rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of Gatorade out of the fridge and rushed back. "You've got to drink this," he said with urgency as he propped up her head and put the drink to her lips.

She took a sip and choked a little. "I feel sick."

"You're dehydrated. Either you drink this or I'm taking you to the hospital now."

Even in her incoherent state she knew he was right. She continued to drink more even though every sip turned her stomach.

"Do everything you can to keep this down."

She nodded and after having great trouble choking down several more sips, Chase gently placed her head back down on the pillow.

"Must sleep," she said just before drifting off in utter exhaustion.

Chase leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before leaving her to rest. He opened his cell phone and started making the calls to both their places of employment informing them they wouldn't be in.

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The loud grating sound of his cell phone woke him up from quick nap. The magazine he was reading was still in his lap. He must have drifted off.

Chase glanced at his watch before answering the phone. He was overdue in waking Allison up to give her more Gatorade. He had been doing that at the top of the hour all morning. He glanced at the number on his phone. Damn, he had to answer this.

"This is Dr. Chase...When?...Start her on prednisone...I really can't get away right now...Okay, I'll see what I can do."

Chase dolefully closed the phone with his left hand while rubbing his eyes with his right. He questioned whether Allison would be okay alone for a few hours. His biggest fear right now was her risk for a miscarriage. He knew as a doctor it was way too early in the pregnancy for anything to be done for the baby. He accepted that miscarriages were common and for her sake he wanted to be there if it happened.

"You have to go Robert." He turned around to see his pallid wife shakily standing in the bedroom doorway.

"I can't leave you. They have other doctors at that hospital."

"I'm much better and I'm a doctor too. I can call you if I have trouble. I've only gotten sick once since this morning. I just need sleep."

"I can't leave you."

"I'll be sleeping. You won't be missing anything."

Chase nodded, accepting that she was probably right. "I should only be a couple of hours, but if I get stuck I'm sending over help."

"Okay, I'll allow that." In reality she was too haggard to argue. "I'll keep drinking the Gatorade. It's going down better than water was."

He pulled her close and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "You scared the crap out of me today."

"I'll be fine. Now go."

Chase broke the embrace and never once took his worried eyes off of her until he was closing the front door. "I love you," he said just before the door knob clicked.

Cameron let her brave front down as soon as he left. This was the worst she had ever felt in her life. She picked up the bottle on the table and forced down with complete repulsion more Gatorade. After shuttering for several seconds she wearily worked her way back to bed. Robert was gone, so now she could finally cry.

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"Hello? Anyone home?"

The front door was unlocked as promised so he let himself in. The room was still and quiet, until he heard a flushing noise come from the bathroom. The figure that emerged was not all that surprised to see the visitor.

"Robert said that he would send somebody by. How did you end up with babysitting duty Dr. Wilson? Lose a bet with House?"

"Foreman had an emergency with your patient. I volunteered."

"I'm alive. You can report back now to my over-concerned husband."

Wilson put his hands on his hips, not about to accept her act. "According to Chase, you were in near shock from dehydration. I don't call that being overprotective. Lay down on the couch and let me check you out."

Cameron did as instructed complete with scowl on her face. She accepted that the examination was necessary, but she wanted her protest known anyway. She wasn't a piece of china.

Wilson began to take her pulse. "Cameron, some of the anti-nausea medication prescribed to cancer patients is allowed for pregnant women as well."

"Thanks, but I've only been this way for a week and a half. It's too soon for that. I just need to be more careful."

Wilson nodded, deciding not to argue. Since her husband was also a doctor he could talk some sense into her. "Your pulse is a little fast, but not too bad."

Wilson started going through the end table drawer where Chase told him they kept some medical equipment. "So, have you thought about baby names?" He asked as he pulled out a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope.

Cameron scoffed. "Hard to think about baby names when we barely had time to think about baby."

He smiled at her cynical comment as he put the arm cuff on.

"You were married three times. How come you never managed to accidentally have children?"

"I shoot blanks," Wilson responded. "Lucky me because a baby would have made those bad situations even worse."

He took her blood pressure and didn't let his concern show over the results. "It's a little low. Chase will need to check it later." As he removed the stethoscope from his ears he couldn't avoid noticing Cameron's distressed look.

"Cameron, it will be okay. You and Chase are more than able to handle this. When you see your baby for the first time, you will honestly know for the first time the meaning of pure joy."

"Yeah, only seven and a half more months of pure hell before that happens."

Wilson let out another smile and patted her shoulder. "Get some sleep. Chase said he'll be home in a couple of hours."

"Thanks Dr. Wilson." She rolled over on the couch and her eyes were closed in no time.

Wilson quietly let himself out. As he closed the door gently behind him, he had a quick thought of what it would be like to be a parent. The mere thought freaked him out. Better Chase and Cameron than him.

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"She what?"

"She's still sick House, give her some time."

"What did Chase tell you? Is she still dehydrated?"

Foreman knew House was insensitive, but he thought he was being too much of a jerk here. "No and pulse and blood pressure are back to normal. She is tired and still getting sick all the time."

House chose to blow off Foreman and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" Foreman asked, already suspecting his destination.

"House call. You got 10 bucks?"

"What for?"

"Baby gift."

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Cameron was stretched out on the couch, wet towel draped on her forehead. Her rumpled sweats and lack of makeup only exaggerated her gaunt features. She didn't know how she would live through this pregnancy, let alone work during it. Her distress was only multiplied when she heard the knock on the door.

She first tried to ignore it, but the knocks kept getting louder and louder.

"Go away and let me die in peace." She heard a key in the lock trying to force the door open, but she smirked when she knew it wouldn't work. Robert had the locks changed when he moved in. He didn't want to risk House barging in on them when it suited him.

After an irritated cry from the person on the other end, the knocking turned into full fledged pounding. "Let me in Cameron or I start breaking the door down with the cane."

She knew that threat didn't hold water and she would have loved to see him try. She resigned herself to the fact though that he wasn't going away and tenderly rolled herself off the couch. She walked to the door hunched over using baby steps while feeling like a ninety year old woman. Eventually she opened the door, startling the annoying visitor on the other end.

Cameron gave House a piercing look and then slowly headed back to the couch, leaving the door open. House entered, doing a quick examination of the apartment. He hadn't been there since long before Chase and Cameron got together. "I love what you've done with the place."

"We haven't done anything."

"Chase's stuff is here now. That's different. Apparently you both are pretty ignorant when it comes to décor."

"You didn't come here to critique my decorating skills," she said lying back down on the couch and putting the towel back in place. "Make your point."

"You aren't the first woman ever to get pregnant, and you certainly aren't the first woman to get morning sickness."

"Morning sickness??? I have all day all the time sickness. My case is a little more severe than normal."

"Still no reason to be missing work."

"I can't work like this. I'll kill somebody."

House settled himself on the chair next to the couch. "Last I checked you didn't need a steady hand to read a file and differentially diagnose. The distraction would do you good."

"Men really should get pregnant. Then you wouldn't be so hard on me."

House chuckled. "Okay, since our little trip to fantasyland is over and we know that reality for you sucks, let's get back to the fact that you should be working. I work in unbearable pain everyday. At least your condition is only temporary."

"Look at me! How can I possibly function right now!" She began to get a little teary. Damn hormones, messing with her emotions as well.

"That thing growing inside of you is stealing all your brain power. Haven't you treated enough pregnant women to know that there are strategies to help with the side effects? Hell, forget pregnancy, even cancer patients know how to get around this. You just don't want to accept the fact that you have to grow up now and take a lifetime of responsibility for another being."

Cameron as usual responded to his lecture with no words and a major pout.

House pulled out something from the paper shopping bag that was in his hand. "Here read this and I expect you back tomorrow."

"What To Expect When You're Expecting?"

"The only manual you will ever need. Now start acting like the responsible mother-to-be that you have dreamed about becoming your entire life."

Cameron looked at the book's cover and saw the very pregnant woman sitting on the rocking chair. She busted out into sobs. House rolled his eyes over the fact that a hormonal surge was turning his tough doctor into the emotional equivalent of jello.

"I'm actually going to look like this eventually. I'll have to wear ugly maternity clothes."

"Trust me, once you push a watermelon through a hole the size of a quarter, ugly clothes are the least of your worries."

Cameron began to sob harder. House knew it was wrong to provoke her emotional state, but he couldn't help it. He gave her a minute for release, playing with his cane and trying not let his uncomfortable feeling look too obvious. He chose to divert the attention. "So where are you and Chase moving?"

Cameron wiped the tears from her face and tried to fix her clouded mind on what he was asking. "Huh?"

"You aren't seriously planning on raising a child in this one bedroom apartment. You've got to go get a house in the suburbs with trees and a yard with other little ankle biters around so you can set up play dates. You guys can both afford it."

Cameron calmed her sobs enough to ask the perplexing question. "Play dates?"

House broke into laughter. "Oh boy, you both are screwed. Never mind. Read the book and you better be there first thing in the morning. No excuses or I send an ambulance over to take you to work."

He left without letting her get in another word. She looked at the book in her hand again and broke into more sobbing.

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a/n: Did anyone feel sympathy for Cameron? Boy is it really hard to put her brittle character into a sympathetic situation, so I hope I succeeded.