Chapter 4: Daddy Dearest
August 9th 2011 (Dani's journal)
I'm writing in the journal like Bella told me I should and maybe she was right. It is nice to write all of this down. I told her what happened, but I know that she does not like our Sperm Donor at all. I met my father today. I know he doesn't know that I exist. If he does, he's a very good liar. He is a liar; I know that for a fact. Even Uncle Jimmy admitted that to me. He said that he lies to patients all the time.
I didn't tell mom about meeting my Sperm Donor, but I know that she knows that I'm not telling her something. (Phoebe: They don't know we know they know we know they know. And Joey, you can't say anything. Joey: Couldn't if I wanted to.) I think that we could be an episode of Friends. Mom would be Rachel and House would be Ross. I don't know if that would work though. Ross was married the most, so shouldn't Uncle Jimmy be him? Logic was never a strong point. Maybe we could be Grey's Anatomy. I don't have logic at midnight. Mom says the fact that sometimes I just say or do something without thinking it through is a House thing. I ignored her.
I'm debating whether or not to keep up the charade of not telling him who I am. Maybe I can learn a little about him. I'll think about it later, right now I'm really tired.
Daniela took a tentative step into the elevator. Even since she had gotten stuck by herself for two hours in one when she was six, she had not cared for them.
Daniela was stubborn and not afraid of heights or bugs, or anything other people found scary, but stick her in an elevator for too long and it might get violent.
They had gone shopping earlier for clothes and then had stopped at the office. Isabella was still writing and her mother was still unpacking, and Dani had been bored so her mother had given her permission to go see what Wilson was doing.
Her headphones played Beautiful Day and Daniela played the piano part on her leg. It was one of her favorite songs to play, and she had played it for her mother many times when she was at home resting.
In the elevator was a man with a cane. Daniela immediately realized who it was. If he wanted to talk to her he could, but she wouldn't start anything. She leaned against the back wall of the elevator and said nothing.
The floor she needed to go to was already lit up, and Daniela prepared herself for a long silent ride with her Sperm Donor. At least, that's what she was doing when the elevator jerked to a stop.
Before she could help herself, the eight year old let out a screech and tumbled to the ground. House steadied himself and didn't fall. Before she could even think, he was helping her up off the ground. From what she had heard, that was very un-House like behavior.
"Thank you." House said nothing but stared at her.
"You wander around hospitals by yourself a lot kid?"
"It's Daniela, and no. It's not wandering if you know where you're going."
"Smart kid."
"Thanks. How long are we going to be stuck in here?" Daniela had leaned against the wall, looking at the tight space with a frown.
"Could be a while, but at least it will get me out of clinic duty, and you get to sit with me so I can use you as my excuse. Doesn't that sound great?" Daniela slid to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"Hello? Anyone home?"
"What?" Daniela shook her head. "Sorry, I don't like elevators. When I was six I got stuck in one by myself for two hours. I've been claustrophobic ever since."
House watched the little girl. He knew the feeling. Days with his father discipline had resulted in some small places, but he was mostly over his fears. And now, she had something to distract herself with. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place her. Honey colored hair was loose and covered her eyes. Her face was tiny, her chin jutted out slightly.
"I'm gonna have to distract you, aren't I?"
"That would be helpful." Daniela looked grateful and House felt a pull on his heart as he slid to the floor next to her.
"Okay. I'll ask you a question and you answer. Got it?"
"Got it."
"When and where were you born?" Maybe this game could help him figure out who she was.
"At the Careggi Hospital in Florence, Italy, November 1st 2003." House did the math in his head quickly.
"Pretty small for an eight year old."
"My mother's a small person, I get it from her."
"Full name?"
"Daniela Joyce."
"No last name?"
"Well, for all I know you could be a serial killer. Once we get out of this elevator you could go after my family and me."
House laughed. "Okay next question, where'd you live?"
"Italy until I was about a year old. Then we left Italy. We moved to San Diego when I was six and a half, then moved back here two days ago."
"And from the time you were one until you were six and a half?" House was curious. He had never heard of a child who disappeared for six years.
"Everywhere. My mother is a doctor, and we traveled a lot. Over six and a half years, I went to 75 countries. We lived in Africa for about a year, when you add up all the months and Italy for almost three years, once again, adding up months, not counting the year that we lived there after I was born. Any time that wasn't traveling was in Italy. We had a little villa there. My Uncle lives in Africa, so we were there a lot too."
"Just you and your mom?"
"And my sister. She's eleven."
"What about your dad?" Daniela looked at him and frowned.
"Really, that's none of your business but I don't have a dad."
"Everyone has a dad at some point."
"I like to think of him as a Sperm Donor. I consider my Uncle Seb a dad though."
"Well, what happened to your dad?"
"He made my sister and my mom leave." Dani's voice was flat.
"And they just listened to him and left?"
"What were they supposed to do? Three years of him practically ignoring them at every turn, he was always working, always had something else to do." Dani stopped and sighed. "My sister was a baby, and all she wanted was a dad. They left before they even knew about me, not like it would have changed anything. If he didn't want me, I didn't want him."
"That's pretty harsh."
"Life is harsh. You learn to get over it and move on." House could tell he was upsetting this girl. He didn't want that.
"So, what were some of the countries you lived in?"
"Umm… Well, India was my favorite besides Italy. Italy was the best. I want to move back there someday. My mom let my sister and I get henna tattoos and Bella almost got away with a belly button ring."
"Impressive."
"I thought so."
"What about languages?"
"How many I speak?"
"Yeah."
"I speak three fluently. English, Spanish, and Italian. I'm almost completely fluent in Swahili and about halfway fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and my sister is teaching me Hindi. I can say thank you, hello, good-bye, I love you and shut up in 34 different languages."
"I'm impressed, especially with the shut up part."
Dani laughed. "Yeah, I like it too."
"Do you play any instruments?"
"Piano, guitar and harp. Harp is my favorite. My Uncle Alex said that he would get me one for my tenth birthday."
"Where'd you learn to play harp?"
"Italy. Rosamaria Mancini, our neighbor taught me how to play the harp and draw."
"Sounds smart."
"Oh she was. Her husband Bernardo was in World War II. He died but she used to talk about him a lot. She never had any kids of her own, and said that our mom was like her daughter, and we were like her granddaughters. My grandparents live in Wisconsin, and my grandma who isn't really my grandma lives in Wisconsin too, so it was nice to have a grandma in Italy."
"Your grandma who isn't really your grandma?"
"It's a really long story."
"We've got time." House spread his arms to indicate the small elevator space. "Unless you have a secret escape rout that you're not telling me about."
"I wish."
"It would be nice to get out of here." For the first time House noticed her Ipod.
"What music do you have on there?"
"Everything. Anything." She looked up for the first time and smiled. He almost gasped when he saw her eyes. It was like looking in a mirror. It was all fitting into place. An eleven year old sister – Isabella the daughter he knew about. Her Uncle Alex, Allison's twin brother who lived in San Diego. Not wanting to tell him her last name. And lastly, her eyes. His eyes. Unless he had a long lost siblings who had a kid, Daniela Joyce was his. His and Cameron's.
She was looking at him and House forced himself not to say anything. He didn't want to freak her out any more then she already was.
"What's your favorite song?"
"Ummm… I don't know. I listen to everything. One of my favorite ones right now is My Wish. I love Rascal Flatts." House looked at her blankly and she sighed. "You don't know Rascal Flatts?" At the still blank look Daniela handed him a head phone. "Just listen."
House listened as the music seemed to sooth Daniela.
"I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
and each road leads you where you wanna go,
and if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
if it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile.
But more than anything, more than anything...
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.
I hope you never look back, but you never forget,
all the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
and you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
and always give more than you take.
But More than anything, yeah, more than anything...
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish. Yeah.
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish."
Daniela was looking at him expectantly. "What do you think?"
House felt his throat close up. This was why he had made them leave. He didn't want them to have to deal with him. They needed someone to love and care for them. Not some useless old man with a cane. He wanted them to have the best life he could give them. If he wasn't part of that life, so be it. He wanted them to have all that they wanted and more. This was his daughter, he was supposed to love her and take care of her always, but instead he had made them leave. It was what was best at the time, but maybe not now.
"It's a good song." Daniela smiled, her eyes lighting up like her mother's used to when she was pleased.
"You can pick the next song if you want." House took her Ipod and began to go through the songs, humming absentmindedly. He stopped on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. They went back and forth between songs, and were in the middle of The Who's Doctor, Doctor when the elevator jerked to a start.
Daniela let out a little screech and fell sideways against House. He caught her before she hit his bad leg and held her for a moment. This was his daughter. His daughter. Suddenly, he felt anger growing. Cameron should have stayed and fought for him. She should have made him stay. As soon as he got off the elevator and got Daniela safely where she needed to go, he was going to visit her mother.
It didn't happen that way. Daniela had instead opted to go back to her mother. She had decided to take the stairs, as not to tempt fate and had disappeared, Cuddy guiding her away from House.
That was why he was at Cameron's house right now. When the door opened she stared at him but said nothing. He did.
"We need to talk."
What did you think? Next chapter will be House and Cam talking and why House made them leave... and that's the last full chapter I have so things may slow down from the one a day updates. Sorry!
Review!