Chapter 20

House and Kate agreed that their wedding would not be the traditional type. Neither of them wanted people to make a fuss about it. They thought, briefly, about just eloping and getting it over with, but somehow that didn't seem right either. They still wanted it to be special, just not fussy or fancy.

"But what do we want? Do we want friends to be there? Do we want just maid of honor and best man? What will work?" Kate asked.

House groaned. "God, if I don't invite these people, they'll make me miserable. They seem to believe that intruding on your personal life is their right."

"Yeah, and they call that friendship. Go figure." Kate said. "Well, I guess the first thing to do would be to find a place to have it that wouldn't make me puke."

"Puking at your own wedding could be bad."

Since it was a beautiful fall Sunday morning, they decided to take a drive. They strapped Emily into her car seat and set off. They rambled through the back roads of New Jersey and soon found themselves on Route 202 and crossing the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. They drove through the quaint town of New Hope, PA and decided to find a place for lunch. As New Hope was full of antique shops, art galleries and cozy inns and restaurants, that wasn't hard. House stopped the car when Kate exclaimed at an old stone house. The small sign outside announced it as 'Marsden House – built 1754'.

"Wow," Kate said, "That place is beautiful."

"Sign says they're serving lunch, wanna go in?" House asked.

"Absolutely."

It was beautiful. The house was very old, but had obviously been well built. The stone exterior had weathered to a soft grey. The doors and windows were framed in dark mahogany that had been lovingly preserved. A parking valet took the car from them and they walked into the house. There was a vestibule where they were greeted by a hostess who quietly led them into a larger room that would have been the drawing room when the house was first built. They were given a table by a window that looked out on a wonderful view of the gardens. Even though it was autumn, there were chrysanthemums in bloom in an array of yellows, golds, and fuschias.

Kate wasn't usually entranced, but something about the house touched her. Her life had very little permanence in it. She and her mother had moved a lot. After her mother died, there had been too many foster homes. She had lived in a run down apartment that was more a place to keep her stuff than a home. Suddenly her life was growing roots. A baby, a house, and a man whom she loved to share it all with her. She appreciated the permanence of a place like Marsden House. It was a nice symbol of where her life was going.

As she read the menu for her lunch choice, she saw a small notice at the bottom: Rooms available for private parties. She looked around the room with it's elegant restored wallpaper, stone fireplace and wood beams, she smiled.

"This is it." She said.

"That's good. If I knew what it was, it would be even better." House replied.

"No, this is the place."

He looked at her as if she were losing her mind and patted her hand. "Yes, this is the place we are now. Later, we'll be somewhere else. Do you want me to let you know when that happens?"

She ignored his quips and cast glances around the room. "This is the place for our wedding!"

He continued to look at her as if she was crazy. "You expect everyone to come all the way to New Hope to see us get married?"

"It's only about a forty minute drive when you come straight here. It's not that bad."

"This place is probably booked months, hell, years in advance. But that's good, we can schedule it for Emily's college break, so she won't miss it."

"We could ask. You never know. There might be something for the spring. Spring would be nice here. We could get married in the spring." Kate said hopefully.

House rolled his eyes. "Sure, let's get the Mormon Tabernacle choir to sing as well."

She just stared at him, then said. "Please?"

He rolled his eyes again and as the waiter approached, asked, "How do we find out about having a private party here?"

"You would have to speak to our event coordinator. Usually, she's not here on Sunday, but as it happens, she is here today. Would you like me to tell her you wish to meet with her?"

"Yes!" Kate said enthusiastically.

They had just finished eating when a woman came to their table and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Pat Anderson. Kevin said you wanted to plan a party?"

"Actually, our wedding." Kate replied before House could make any comments.

Pat smiled. "Weddings here are lovely. May I sit?" Kate nodded and Pat took a seat at their table, smiling at them and the baby that House was cuddling. "Large or small?"

"Small." House said. "Very small."

"We have a small dining room that can accommodate up to 25 people comfortably."

"That would be perfect." Kate said excitedly.

"Well, I must tell you that all of our rooms are booked for at least eighteen months in advance. When were you planning on getting married?"

Kate's face fell. She didn't want to wait a year and a half to marry House. "We were hoping for this spring."

Pat shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't think we'd be able to do anything for you then."

"Oh, well, that's really a shame. This place is so perfect."

"Yes, most people feel that way. That's why we're booked. I really am sorry." Pat started to rise. "It's a shame you can't get married this Friday night."

"Why?" Kate asked.

"Because we just had a cancellation. That's why I'm working today. A wedding that was planned over two years ago and they just called it off. The bride called me on my cell this morning. I came in to try to book another party."

"Don't you have a waiting list?"

"Yes, but no one is prepared to have their event in five days. I don't like cancelling my staff this late. They depend on their work hours being constant. Also, food and flowers have already been ordered, some things are already here. We'll pay a cancellation penalty for everything. Even with keeping the deposit, we still end up losing money. And even though this place has a lot of bookings, it's also expensive to maintain. We don't like to lose money."

Kate looked at House and smiled slightly.

"You can't be serious." he said.

"Why not?" she replied.

"We couldn't do it."

"Maybe we could."

House turned to Pat. "Since you've already bought stuff and would lose money without a party here, if someone did take it, could they get, say, a discount?"

Pat looked at the intense blue eyes that were staring at her. "I think we could work something out that would be beneficial to all involved."

"How beneficial?"

"Okay, let me lay it out for you. If you agreed to use the menu and the flowers that have already been ordered, I could give you those at our cost. Then we won't lose money on them. I could give you the room at a discount of twenty percent. I have to charge full price for the open bar, if you want that."

House looked at Kate. She smiled at him again, then turned to Pat. "What are the menu and the flowers?"

"They had selected surf and turf for dinner, petite filet mignon and baby lobster tails. They would start with escarole soup, followed by Caesar salad. Dessert is tiramisu."

House's mouth was watering and he nodded. "I can go for that."

"Flowers? " Kate asked.

"This is why this would cost us. They had ordered roses. Roses aren't easy to get in Pennsylvania in November. Pale pink and deep red roses with grey satin ribbon."

Kate smiled again and looked at House. "That won't make me puke."

"This isn't going to be easy to do."

"I know, but if we can pull it off, it would be the perfect wedding. And our friends wouldn't have time to fuss over it."

"There is that." He said.

Pat took them to see the small dining room. There was a large stone fireplace that dominated the room. There were three long mahogany tables.

"We can arrange them however you would like. One long table or three separate. Most people seem to like a U shape arrangement, with the bride and groom and their attendants at the bottom of the U and the guests around the sides."

House thought for a minute, then said, "Pat, can we hold this and call you later? Maybe tomorrow morning?"

"Absolutely. I told you, I can't find anyone else to take it on short notice. I'll be glad to work with you on it."

She gave them a few more details that they would need, and her business card. They left with their heads reeling and drove home making a million plans.

As soon as they got home, House dialed Wilson's number. When he answered, House said without greeting, "What are you doing Friday night?"

"I don't know, I might have a date, but…"

"Good, bring her."

"Bring her where?"

"Dinner party. 8 PM. I'll give you the address tomorrow."

"But…"

"Can you be there?"

"I guess, but…"

"Good. See you."

Kate called Joanne.

"Oh, hello, Katie dear. How are you and that lovely little girl?"

"We're all fine. Do you have plans for Friday night?"

"No, I don't think so. No, I'm free. Why? Do you need a babysitter?"

"Nope. Dinner party."

"You're having a party? How nice. At your house?"

"No, it's still a mess. I'll give you the location tomorrow. Just wanted to see if you could come."

"Yes, of course I can."

"Great. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She hung up and smiled at House. "Maid of honor and best man, check."

Next, House called Cuddy's voice mail at the hospital to tell her that he had family business in the morning and would be late. He usually didn't care about being late, but he didn't want her trying to call his home or cell.

"All set for getting the license." He told Kate.

"Check." She said.

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At 9 AM Monday morning, they were at the county courthouse applying for their marriage license. They filled out the paperwork, paid their fee and were told the license would be ready and valid on Thursday. They smiled, looked at each other and said, "Check."

Later that morning, House entered the hospital and made his way to Cuddy's office. She looked up when he entered. She had been surprised that he actually called to say he would be late, and she was concerned.

"Is everything alright? Kate and the baby?"

"No, everything's fine. We just had some personal business we had to do. Here." He said, thrusting a slip of paper at her.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Address where we're having a dinner party on Friday."

She looked at the paper, then back at him. "You're having a dinner party in New Hope?"

"Yep. Can you come?"

"I guess so."

"Good. Dress up. A great time to put the twins on display."

He left her office with a smirk, whispering to himself, "Check."

Meanwhile, Kate was at home, calling Joanne. When the woman answered, she said, "Write this down." She gave her the address of Marsden, but not the name.

"Alright," Joanne said. "I wrote it down. What is it?"

"The address of our dinner party. Give it to the guys as well."

Joanne knew what Kate meant by "the guys"—the two cops that Kate considered her friends on the force.

"I can do that. Is there anything else."

"Just tell them to dress up. Oh, and do you still have that pale pink dress you wore to the police benefit last year?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"Good, wear it. Tell everyone 8 PM, don't be late."

Joanne agreed and said goodbye. Kate smiled and kissed Emily while saying, "Check."

House walked into the conference room where his team were at their normal activities. Cameron was sorting mail, Foreman was reading a medical journal, Chase was doing a crossword puzzle.

House looked at them and said, "I need all of you to meet me Friday evening at this address." He passed a piece of paper to them across the conference table.

"What for?" Chase asked.

"I'm your boss. When I tell you to be somewhere, you go."

"We're off duty Friday. Unless there's a patient." Foreman said.

"Maybe there's a patient there."

Cameron said, "You'd make him come here. You'd never travel to…" she looked at the paper. "…New Hope to see him."

"Wow, you're smart." House answered. "Okay, it's a dinner party. Be there at 8, get dressed up. And if you're planning on bringing a date, let me know."

"A party?" Chase said. "You're inviting us to a party?"

"Yeah, I bet even in Aussie land people get together over a camp fire and roast koala bears." House quipped.

"Why are you having a party?" Cameron asked.

He mock-cried and pulled a face, "Because I love you guys so much and want to spend every waking minute with you."

"Please," Foreman said, "Leave us with some appetite for the dinner."

"So you're coming?" House asked.

They agreed that they would. House went into his office, closed the door and said, "Check, check and check."

He knew it was only a matter of time before Wilson came to see him. When he did, House passed him a slip of paper.

"What's this?" Wilson asked.

"Address for the party."

"You're having a dinner party in New Hope?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Is there a law against having parties in New Hope? Do the artists attack?"

"No, I just never saw you as a New Hope kind of person."

"Hey, I've looked at an antique before. Lots of times."

"Sure, every time you look in a mirror. Oh, wait, you don't do that much."

"Ooh, good one. Insult the old cripple. Are you coming?"

"I said I would."

"Okay. Do you have a grey suit?"

"Yes, what shade of grey?"

"There's more than one?"

"Of course."

"And you probably have a suit in every one of them."

"Well…"

"You're pathetic. Doesn't matter, you pick one."

"Why do you want me to wear a grey suit?"

"Because I don't want you to clash with me. I'll be wearing a mauve evening dress."

Wilson gave up and left the office.

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That evening, House babysat while Kate went shopping. She hated shopping for clothes for herself and she didn't want anything that screamed bride. White and virginal was out. She had passed that phase long ago. Ruffles and frills were wrong too. And considering the color scheme that they were locked into, selecting the right color would be a challenge as well. She passed by many dresses before she found one that was perfect.

She smiled and said, "Check."

The next night, they asked Joanne to babysit while Kate forced House to buy a new suit. He grumbled and complained, but finally went along with her choice.

Check again.