A/N: Hurrah! Wedding time, at last!! And the second to last chap! (I think) Enjoy and pretty please R&R!!

Chapter 18: the wedding

By the time Cameron arrived at the park, she was out of breath, one of her heels had broken off, and she felt miserable. But at least they hadn't started yet. She hobbled over to where Susan was standing, and gave her a small smile.

"What happened to you? Oh, my god!" the other woman said, immediately getting to work touching up Cameron's makeup and fixing her hair.

"Don't ask. It's been a nightmare."

"Good news is, we haven't started yet."

Cameron looked down at her shoe, pulled the other one off and tried to break the heel off so at least her shoes would match. The heel wouldn't break.

"Come on, the other one snapped off easy!" She then began banging the shoe against the wall of the pavilion, anything that might get it to snap, to no avail.

She lost her temper then, and hurled the shoe out of sight, wincing when she heard the telltale plop as it landed in the nearby pond.

Susan came up behind her and squeezed her shoulder.

"Nothing wrong with walking the aisle barefoot," she said with a smile.

Cameron went into the pavilion and carried out her duties, helping Mary Ann get ready.

"You look beautiful," she said, hugging her friend.

"So do you, sweetheart! But, where are your shoes?"

Cameron related the shoe story, and Mary Ann giggled softly when she came to the part about throwing the shoe in the pond.

"Don't worry about it. Heels are murder, anyhow. My feet hurt already. There's no way I'm wearing these at the reception."

Once Mary Ann was ready, Cameron excused herself and went back outside into the fresh air.

"Alison! I'm so glad you're here! We were getting worried?" Doris Wilson came up to her, wrapping her in a soft hug, so unlike the ones she gave House.

She stood back from Cameron and looked around, then gave a little gasp with her hand over her mouth.

"Where's my Gregory?"

"He's parking the car. He'll be along shortly."

"I see. Couldn't have a wedding without the best man, can we?" She smiled, and sauntered off towards her son.

Cameron watched her go; her curiosity over the Doris/House connection growing with each passing minute. Then she looked around for House.

After a minute or two, she saw him carrying the paper bag of gifts which he dumped unceremoniously on the gift table, and then he went off in search of Wilson.

She groaned inwardly at the sight of the paper bag amongst all the brightly colored gifts, then out loud when she noticed he had scrawled 'To Wilson and M.A. from Cameron and her Sugar Daddy' in big letters on one side.

Her curiosity reaching a breaking point, she went to find Wilson. She found him with House, adjusting his tie, for what Cameron figured was probably the hundredth time.

"Come on, Wilson, it's fine!"

"No it isn't, it's crooked, and my shirt is too stiff, and I look like I crawled out of a garbage can."

"No you don't, I look like I crawled out of a garbage can," Cameron said by way of greeting.

The two men looked over at her, and two pairs of eyes went instantly to her feet.

"You're not wearing shoes," House said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," she said, kissing him and thanking him again for taking the car.

"Yea, yea, I told you not to mention it again. Now, would you please tell Wilson his friggin tie is straight so he'll shut up?"

Cameron looked at the straight tie, then at Wilson. "It's straight."

"If you say so," he began smoothing out his jacket.

"What?! I tell you 25 times that the damn thing's straight, and you argue with me all the way; She comes in here, tells you it's straight once, and you believe her?"

Wilson shrugged. "She's a woman. It's…different somehow, to hear it from a woman."

House rolled his eyes, and went over to a nearby when he saw Doris lurking nearby. He was too slow though, as she noticed him and waved, coming over to the tree, calling "Yoo-hoo! Gregory!" as she went. Cameron stifled a laugh, and realized it would be a good time to ask Wilson.

"Wilson, could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What is up with your mom and Greg? Something about a previous wedding of yours?"

Wilson took a deep breath. "Yea."

"Could you tell me?"

Wilson ran a hand through his hair, and led her to a bench.

"My parents had just separated. My mom had never met him before, and as you can imagine, I wasn't looking forward to the meeting. I don't think I need to say why. I introduced them before the ceremony, and my mother was…quite taken with him. I, to this day, have no idea why."

"I think I do," Cameron broke in.

"Anyway, she wouldn't take her eyes off him through the whole thing, and stayed glued to him throughout the reception. He tried everything to get away from her, even for a few minutes. He'd go get her a drink, or talk to the band about a song, anything like that. I know my mother can be a little…enthusiastic, so I wasn't mad at him or anything. He was clearly uncomfortable. And he's not used to all that attention. Naturally, he drank a lot. And, you know how it is when you get drunk. You…do things you wouldn't normally do."

"Wait, what are you saying?" Cameron's eyes took on an expression of worry. She had hoped she hadn't been right about them sleeping together. If they had, though, it was kind of weird that Wilson knew…unless he'd caught them or something. She stopped herself there before her imagination got any wilder.

"It wasn't what you're thinking. That would just be…ewww. He did kiss her though, made out with her really, which is disgusting enough. I stopped him before it got further than that. He would've killed himself the next day if it had been more than that. And I know my mother. She would have thought they were going to get married, and live happily ever after. Thank goodness she was a bit tipsy as well. Unfortunately, she didn't forget what happened, and neither did he."

"So, that's why she's still all over him. She remembers."

"Pretty much. Don't break up with him, or who knows what'll happen. I don't need my best friend for a step-father."

"She doesn't live around here, does she?"

"No, she lives in Florida. Last time, she visited me, House was with Stacey. I'm sure though, that if House became single again, she'd take it upon herself to move up here."

"Well, no worries there. I, for one, have no intention of letting him be single. Ever again."

Wilson raised an eyebrow. "Ever again?"

Cameron felt her face flush. "Well, you know, as long as he'll have me."

"I think he'll have you for quite awhile. Who knows, maybe you'll be the next down the aisle." He grinned at her and she felt herself grinning back. They shared a hug, and were broken apart by House yelling.

"Wilson, get your ass over here! You wanna get married today, or what?"

"I guess that's my cue," Wilson left her standing there for a moment before she headed back to the pavilion.

The wedding started then, and she saw Wilson get in his place, with House at his side, seemingly not paying attention. Then she went down the aisle, hearing several whispers as she did. She assumed they were concerning her lack of footwear. She passed Cuddy as she went, squeezing the hand she held out. If she had looked towards the back of the guest seating, she would have noticed another dark haired woman who had arrived a bit late, and sat inconspicuously in the back row. Susan went down next, and then the wedding march played, and Mary Ann walked gracefully down the aisle on the arm of her brother.

Cameron watched feeling a pang of sadness that Mary Ann's father was no longer around to walk his daughter down the aisle. It brought back a memory of her own wedding, and how proud she knew her father had felt. She looked from Mary Ann to House, who instantly avoided her eyes. No doubt he'd seen her observing Mary Ann with that wistful look in her eyes. She cursed herself for it; the last thing she wanted to do was scare him off.

She compensated by looking over at Doris, in the front row and dabbing at her eyes with a hankie. She was sitting between Chase and Foreman, both of whom appeared uncomfortable, and kept inching away from her at intervals, not wanting to be too close. House followed her gaze, and fell on Doris. He shuddered almost imperceptibly, but Doris had seen his eyes on her, and blew him a kiss, winking at him as she did. He fidgeted a bit, and then pretended he was looking elsewhere.

Mary Ann took her place next to Wilson, and the ceremony continued without a hitch. Cameron felt tears come to her eyes several times during the proceedings, and dabbed at them with a gloved hand. It was all just so sweet. There was no sweeter thing than being forever bound to the one you loved. This thought made her glance at House again. He kept his eyes glued on Wilson, not so much as glancing in her direction.

Once the ceremony ended, the wedding party and guests broke up to drive to the banquet hall for the reception. Cameron couldn't find House, so she went up to Chase and Foreman, who were helping to get all the gifts ready for transport to the hall.

"Hey, have you guys seen Greg?

"I think he's over there, hiding from Doris," Chase said, pointing to another tree.

"Are you gonna be ok to get to the car, with no shoes? That gravel's gonna hurt," Foreman asked.

"Yea, I'll just have him move the car up and get me so I don't have to walk. I'll see you guys at the reception." She headed off, hoping they hadn't seen their gift yet, but Chase's voice caught her ears.

"What's this?" She turned around and saw him pick up the paper bag. A wave of embarrassment washed over her as he read the writing on the side.

"Sugar Daddy?"

She flushed again. "Shut up."

"What's in here?" He peeked inside, and looked at her, confused. "Where'd you get this stuff?"

"At the gas station on Elm."

Both Chase and Foreman looked at her questioningly, and Cameron briefly related the reason for the gas station gifts.

She was saved as House grabbed her arm.

"Let's go. Mary Ann's distracting Doris! As Wilson wives go, she's not half bad."

"Can you pull the car up and get me? I can't really cross the parking lot barefoot."

He released her arm and went off without another word, eager to put some distance between himself and Doris. Cameron waited, and when he pulled up, she said her good-byes to Chase and Foreman. At that moment, Doris ended her conversation with Mary Ann and spotted them. She waved and started over. House honked the horn.

"Stop chit-chatting and get in here!! Doris is coming!" He reached over and opened her door. "Move!" She complied, and climbed in. The door was halfway shut when he took off, and Cameron quickly shut it the rest of the way.

"Greg! I'm not even buckled yet! She wouldn't have made it over here."

"Don't underestimate her. That crone can haul ass. And, you could be buckling up now, instead of chewing me out."

She buckled up and leaned against the seat with a sigh as they made their way to the banquet hall. She still had the reception to get through.

A/N: What did you think? Hope you liked it!! Thanks in advance for R&Ring.