a/n: I told you there would be a few extra updates coming! Here it is, finally tweaked to my satisfaction, the baby shower. It's a long one.

I'm not sure if anyone remembers the character of Ramone, but he was in the Christmas party chapter (17) in Take the Ducklings Bowling. He makes a big return here. I hope the chapter lives up to expectations.

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"What type of business do you have at the hospital today?" Cameron was surprised by Pamela's sudden offer of lunch and wasn't about to turn it down. She was very sluggish and since Foreman was gone, being the only doctor on House's team was taking its toll. She wasn't getting a moment's peace and was finding it impossible to keep up.

"Oh, boring stuff," Pamela replied. "I'm meeting with a bunch of personnel in billing over new coding procedures. It blows."

"Hey, Pamela!" A nurse said as she passed by.

"How's it going sweetie?"

"You know that person?" Cameron wasn't surprised that after two weeks on the job Pamela was making friends.

"Her, I met her once, but I can't remember her name."

"Hi Pamela! Great dress." Another passerby said.

"Thanks much."

"Do you-"

"Nope, no clue who that is either.

"The cafeteria is this way." Cameron said, noticing Pamela's wrong turn.

"I know. I just need to make a quick stop this way first. You know, important administrator stuff."

Pamela opened the door to a large training room. The lights were off, so she reached inside, turned them on, and then let Cameron go in first.

"Surprise!!!!!" A generous crowd of people shouted.

Cameron almost went into labor right there. She saw people in party hats, balloons everywhere, and ribbons of blue and pink hanging off the ceiling with mini storks dotting them. There was a huge selection of food and drinks on one side and a pile of gifts on the other. "This is for me?"

"Oh come on," Pamela said. "You knew I was capable of doing this. Those children in you must be messing with your reasoning."

Cameron, still in shock, put a smile on her face and started moving through the crowd greeting everyone.

"Congratulations Dr. Cameron." One after another told her as she passed by.

"Thanks. Glad to see you here." That exchange went on until she and Pamela reached the food table.

"Who are these people?" Cameron asked very softly through a clenched smile.

"I don't know. You have worked here for over three years. You don't know any of them?"

"Several faces look familiar, but I don't know them personally. I don't remember anyone's names."

"Read the badge. It works for me." Pamela suggested.

"What was the guest list criterion?"

"I found a grossly underutilized food fund in the budget, so I tapped into it."

"You were able to justify that expense for my baby shower?"

"Oh, this isn't a baby shower. It is a nursing staff appreciation luncheon. They were just asked to bring baby gifts and decorate the room in baby theme."

Cameron shook her head while laughing. "How is it that I'm still surprised by the things you do?" She looked at the huge selection of premium lunch items. The large chilled shrimp was definitely a bonus. "This entire spread is very elaborate. It seems you went all out."

"I had to show the staff they were appreciated."

"Pamela!" A voice shouted from across the room. "You've got to listen to this story."

Pamela nodded, indicating she was on her way over. "Now mingle. Share your moving story. People love laughing at pain and misfortune." She headed toward the crowd that summoned her.

"Great." Cameron said to herself.

Nurse Brenda worked her way over to Cameron. "So, are you surprised?"

"I'll say. I'm so overwhelmed by all this."

"You have no idea who most of these people are, do you?"

"No, not a clue."

Brenda laughed. "Beware, a lot of the people in this room are very fond of your husband. Just remember no matter what delusion some of them might be under, you won."

"Thanks for the warning, but I still get strange looks almost everyday. I've gotten used to it."

"Good, then you can handle this crowd. Since it's your shower, I'll help you out. Time for introductions." She started pulling a reluctant Cameron through the room.

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"Lisa, you're looking mighty motherly." Pamela said as Cuddy walked in.

"Thank you. I had to check out your appreciation luncheon. This is quite a party."

"Oh, you know me. I tend to go all out." Pamela kept a big smile painted on her face, wanting to give the appearance of a gracious host.

"So the theme is babies."

"This one is, yes."

Cuddy knew she couldn't protest too much since Pamela her superior, but this was not something she would have approved if given a choice. "So, is this what my staff appreciation lunch will be like?"

"Hard to say, I'll have to check the budget when the time comes around."

"Pamela, I know you're doing your job but-"

"Look Lisa, I asked the nurses if they wanted to do something like this with a lunch I planned on giving them anyway. Since most of them are very fond of Robert and love babies, they had no problem with this. They want to celebrate something happy."

"Okay, if you say so."

Pamela kept up her smile while talking through the cracks of her teeth.

"Nice attitude. I'm sorry I took a position that you probably deserved more, but there are two reasons why you don't want this job. You hate Jerry Anderson, and you have bigger priorities in life right now."

Cuddy put on her own fake smile. "Pamela, I'm not making this personal, but take a word of advice from one administrator to another. If you make friends too quickly, they won't take you seriously."

"Thanks Lisa, but I know how to handle people. This is a party, so let's take time to enjoy it. You look hungry. The food is that way."

Cuddy nodded, agreeing she had enough of this conversation as well and headed for the food line. Pamela freshened up her smile, fluffed her hair and found another person to greet.

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"Can I have everyone's attention?" The male voice shouted from the center of the room.

"What's Ramone up to?" Cameron asked Pamela.

"He's in charge of shower games."

"You put Ramone in charge of games?"

"Brenda did, but it was a great suggestion. The boy has seven nieces. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's thrown six showers for his sisters."

"This will be interesting." Cameron knew Ramone liked to go over the top with everything.

Ramone started addressing the crowd. "First, I see many of you still have your clothes pins. So either all of you are very disciplined or you aren't playing the game right. I thought I would throw in an incentive. Pamela, what do you have to offer the winner?"

"The afternoon off paid."

That got the crowd's attention. The look of fierce competition suddenly started blazing in everyone's eyes.

"Clothes pins?" Cameron asked.

"Yeah, you didn't get one because you are the only person allowed to say the word 'b-a-b-y'. If anyone is caught saying that word, someone can ask them for their clothes pin. The one with the most wins."

"What word was that again?"

"You aren't getting my clothespin."

Cameron shrugged. "I had to try. I can tell you've generated some cutthroat competition. Great morale boost."

"It's called fun dear, try it sometime."

Ramone continued with his announcements. "Also, if you haven't filled out your cards for the jar game, the open jars are still on that back table. Everyone gets a small departing gift for filling out an entry."

That spurned a rush of people to the back table.

"Dare I ask?" Cameron said.

"There are 10 baby food jars sitting out with the lids and labels removed. You need to guess what each one is. Tasting is allowed if you're that desperate."

"What's the parting gift?"

"A Princeton-Plainsboro refrigerator magnet."

"Oh yeah, that's worth it."

"It has emergency numbers on it. It's good for the kids."

"Can't they get one of those anyway?"

"Shh, I can't give away the farm here."

Cameron threw Pamela a glare of contempt. "Oh, lighten up, they get a small box of chocolates too. What sort of a monster administrator do you think I am?"

Ramone carried on once the crowd settled. "Also, on this table are the crayons and paper. This doesn't have to just be for artistic people, stick figures work just as well. It's all for the scrapbook."

"What's that all about?" Cameron asked.

"They've been asked to draw what either of the babies will look like. I've seen some of the pictures. They aren't half bad, although most of them look like pictures of Robert."

Cameron looked over at the table. "What's that picture hanging up in the middle?"

"Oh, that's for you. Ramone's special friend Karl is quite a wizard with computer photo editing, so I got them yours and Robert's hospital picture on file and he blended them together for a 'what if they mated' type picture. It's really funny!"

"That sounds creepy."

"No, it's great. It's really interesting how if you put two pretty people together, you don't get a prettier person by far. The result is quite ugly."

"Thanks, I can't wait to take it home."

"Okay, at this time, can Dr. Cameron please come to the center of the room?"

Cameron worked her way over, her face turning a deeper shade of red as she got closer.

"Dr. Cameron, we are going to have a little fun with you. How many weeks along are you now?" Ramone asked.

"Almost 28 weeks."

"Almost 28 weeks everyone. Look at the size of her now. She's quite the size of a house, isn't she?"

Everyone nodded in total agreement.

"We all know the popular shower game, guess the mother's size, but with this being a room full of medical professionals, many of us would easily be able to guess the fundal measurement now. So, the object is to guess her fundal size just before she pops. We have already arranged to get that from Dr. Chase. Everyone is allowed to examine closely and touch if you need to. No measuring though, that wouldn't be fair. All guesses to the millimeter."

Cameron didn't enjoy the idea of being manhandled too much, but these were nurses so they would know how to behave. At least she hoped.

"I have a sheet right here on the table. Write down your guess. Pamela, what does the winner get?"

Pamela needed to have a talk with Ramone about exceeding the number of prizes allowed. For now though, she had enough intangible ideas. "First chance to hold the babies when they are born."

That response went over mildly, except with Cameron, who was not at all pleased with the idea.

"Just kidding, a half day off paid." Pamela said. That got the crowd's attention. They all lined up, ready to take their turn to examine Cameron.

I'm a freak show. Cameron thought as one by one people started feeling her up.

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Cameron plowed through yet another gift. She had been opening for a half hour straight, and it was all becoming a blur. "It's an onesie. Thank you. I'll really need those." Cameron threw the latest addition to the already growing pile.

"With twins, you most certainly will. You'll go through at least ten of those a day." A nurse said. "I'm not sure that pile will be enough."

"Every bit helps." Cameron said, really having no clue that babies wore onesies all the time.

Cuddy came forward with her gift next. Cameron opened the box to find two coordinated to the hilt outfits from the Baby Gap. One boy, one girl. "Thank you so much Dr. Cuddy, but we still don't know the sex of the other one."

"House says it's a boy and girl. I'm trusting his instincts on this one. There's a gift receipt for you to exchange it in case the slim chance happens that he's wrong."

"Either that or I'll dress up one of my girls as a boy for fun. Thanks, this is a very nice gift."

"So you think its two girls?" Cuddy asked.

"It has to be. There are no twins in my family."

Several nearby nurses scoffed. "Yeah, right. There's always a hidden set of twins in every family that no one knew about," a nearby nurse said. Many others laughed, completely agreeing with her.

A small team of nurses with a big box approached Cameron next. One of them stepped forward as the spokesperson. "We went in on this together. We used to talk with Dr. Chase all the time and are so happy about this new step."

Cameron unwrapped the box. It was a battery powered baby swing. "Thank you, this is a really great gift." That was becoming the well rehearsed line.

"That swing will guarantee hours of tranquility," the woman said. "My son spent hours a day in his."

"I'll let Robert know this was from all of you. He'll be so pleased to know you thought of him at a time like this." Cameron was sure she was about to learn all the ways to pacify a baby. She had no idea something like this was such a must.

Another box was placed in front of Cameron. She opened it and pulled out a custom-made baby blanket, complete with a large hobby horse and stitched personalized message of congratulations.

She gasped at how lovely the blanket was. "Thank you, this is such a thoughtful gift."

"I worked in the ICU plenty of times with Dr. Chase when he covered shifts. Dr. House really knocked him down a lot, but he never complained. I was thrilled to hear how something wonderful like this was finally happening to him, to you both."

"Thank you Cherie," she said reading her badge, feeling ashamed that she didn't get to know the nurses as well as Robert. Sure he was probably flirting at the time, but she didn't know he also made friends. "I'll let him know this came from you. It will be treasured."

"My turn!" Ramone said putting his gift in front of her. "This is from me and Karl."

Cameron ripped the wrap off the boxes and found two sets of mobiles, slightly used. Despite their gentle reuse, they were darling. They had cows, moons and stars hanging down from a music box that played 'Clair De Lune'.

"Where did you find these, especially two of them? They're adorable."

"A resale shop we frequent. Someone just moved their twins out of their cribs and didn't need them anymore."

All these amazing gifts were now getting to be too much. Cameron started getting a little misty. "I'm so overwhelmed by all this. Everyone has been so generous." She spoke with a cracking voice.

Many in the crowd all smiled, moved by her heartfelt appreciation.

"I'm sorry," she told everyone shaking it off. "The hormones are in control again."

While she was pulling herself together, Cameron heard a familiar thump on the floor. She looked up just as a stack of cloths was plunked in front of her. The white paper strip bundling them together was still wrapped around the middle. Heartwarming moment was over.

"Sorry, I didn't have time to wrap it." House said.

"A stack of hospital receiving blankets. How thoughtful."

House didn't even think twice about her sarcastic reply. "Fresh out of the maternity supply room. Something comfortable to swaddle around your bundles of joy." He looked up at the food table, not at all impressed with the pickings that were left. "There better be some cake left." He headed for the buffet.

"So nice of you to join us!" Cameron shouted. Another gift was placed in front of her. "Oh, this is great. Another sorely needed onesie."

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Several of the nurses had turned to their artistic side and sculpted a silly hat containing all the bows and broken ribbons from the gifts. They had counted enough broken ribbons where Cameron would end up having twenty plus children if superstition was correct. Cameron felt like telling that old wives tale to go shove it up its…

"Group picture time!" Ramone shouted. Someone helped Cameron up and guided her to the middle of the group. They placed the funny hat on her. She tried her best to muster a pleasant smile, but it ended up looking as forced as it was.

"Big smiles everyone. Say 'baby'!" With that a flash went off. The photographer checked the picture, and gave them the thumbs up.

A few people fell for the trick. "I know who said that!" Ramone gleefully shouted. "Hand over your clothes pins." He gathered a couple, but noticed on the other side he had some competition.

"Hello Brenda," he said with a wary voice.

"Hello Ramone. I think you have fallen behind." She proudly displayed her collection of clothes pins.

"I don't think so. You are going down sister."

Brenda could only laugh. "You're not worthy. That half day off is mine."

Ramone crossed his arms. "No way baby."

"Ah ha!!!" Brenda said overjoyed. "Hand them over."

"Dammit!" he said, throwing them at her one by one in disgust while she giggled profusely.

"No one likes a sore loser." Cuddy said as she walked by them. She approached House, who was in the corner strangely behaving well.

"I'm billing you for those blankets."

"Give it to Cameron. She'll submit it as a department expense."

Cuddy looked at him sympathetically. "You haven't been around to bug me lately. Are you doing okay?"

"Supremo. Thanks for asking." He replied in a biting manner.

"When are you going to stop being mad and hurt?"

"When you are going to stop pursuing me? Get over me already." House scowled as he limped out of the room.

Cuddy shook her head. He still needed time.

The crowd started breaking up. "Thanks Pamela, this was the best employee lunch ever." A person in the crowd said.

"Thanks Pamela!" She heard from numerous people as they shuffled out.

"I'll have to admit, this was a morale booster." Cuddy told Pamela.

"Thanks," Pamela said with a humble smile. "Maybe we can do it again in a couple of months."

"Maybe." Cuddy smiled back and left the room.

Pamela walked over to an exhausted Cameron, who sat at the table, eyes fixed in shock at the mass pile of stuff surrounding her, looking as stressed out as she could be. "This isn't even the tip of the iceberg. Do you know all the things I still need to care for these children?"

"All you need is a credit card and an afternoon in the baby superstore. They'll fix you right." Pamela replied. She grabbed Cameron's arm and helped her up. "Come on, I'm taking you home. You get the afternoon off work, paid."

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"So how did it go?" Chase asked as Cameron dragged herself through the door holding bags of stuff.

"You were in on this."

"Yes."

"You didn't give me any warning?"

"Now how would that have been a surprise party then?"

He grabbed the bags out of her hand. "You got all this?"

"This is just part of it. Pamela is outside unloading the bigger stuff."

"Wow, I had no idea the nursing staff would be so generous."

"It was the social event of the year. You missed out." Cameron's tired and unenthusiastic description was less than convincing.

"Didn't you enjoy it?"

"Yes, I'm just really tired and cranky." She waddled her way over to the couch and stretched out.

Chase looked inside the bags. "Good, we need lots of onesies. I heard you could go through at least ten of those a day."

"You've been talking to the nurses I see."

"When I was in the hospital several stopped by, yes. I've got to get my tips somewhere." He pulled out the stack of receiving blankets. "This must be from House."

Pamela came through the door. "Your other stuff is in the garage. Man did you mop up."

"So the party went well?"

"It was a blast. Many of those nurses were asking about you, wondering if you were recovering well. I told them you were fine, and judging by the way you are standing here I would guess I'm right."

"Yes, I'm much better. That's nice of them to ask. I'm looking forward to working with them again soon."

"Eric says you both are making big strides in getting everything in order."

"Yes, this time off has been productive."

Pamela looked over at Cameron. "Aw, look at her. Sound asleep. She was very tired in the car."

Chase looked at her with concern. "She fell asleep pretty quickly." He walked over and picked up her wrist. "Pulse rate is a little high."

He gave Cameron a nudge. "Allison." She stirred a little. "You need to lie on your left side." He assisted her while she turned over. She quickly fell back asleep.

"Is she okay?" Pamela asked.

"Sleeping on her left side will lower her blood pressure and heart rate. She'll be okay after a good nap. She probably overdid it today."

"She did have a rough morning before the party. Do you need me to stay and help?"

"No, she'll be fine. She'll wake up in a few hours and will want to eat a whole pizza by herself."

Pamela skeptically nodded. "Okay, if you say so. I've got to get back to work. I have to plow through all the emails from nurses telling me what a great administrator I am for throwing them a party."

Chase laughed. "Well as long as it doesn't go to your head."

"Have a good afternoon Robert." Pamela helped herself out.

Chase went back to Cameron and checked her pulse again five minutes later. It was lower like he hoped. She was deep asleep though and didn't notice him touching her. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Yes, this is Robert Chase. I need to report an issue to Dr. Ades."