Chapter 10

On Saturday, Karen was up early once more with clipboard in hand. House opened one eye, then closed it again.

"I'll make coffee and leave it on the counter." She told him. "But I have to go and get Donna from the train. She's coming in at nine. And James will be here soon too, so you'll have to get up then,"

"Who says?"

"Greg, let's take advantage of the fact that we have our friends helping us today. We can get a lot done."

"Yeah, yeah."

She leaned down and kissed him, then quickly left.

She arrived at the train station a few minutes before nine and by the time she made it to the platform where the train from New York was coming in, Donna had just stepped off the train.

The two women squeed and hugged each other.

Donna was tall and slim, but with nicely shaped breasts. She had black hair cut in a stylish bob. Even though she was dressed casually in jeans and t-shirt (with a designer name splashed across it), she still looked as though she had come out of a fashion magazine. And yet, there was also an openness, a warmth about her that was plain for all to see as well.

The two women tried to catch up on everything in the first five minutes of their meeting as they walked to Karen's car. Donna tossed her overnight bag in and they drove away. First stop was a coffee shop, because they needed to take a little time to catch up.

"So, what's the plan for today? Because I am sure that you have one." Donna said.

"Well, first we go to IKEA and pick up the stuff we ordered and…"

"IKEA? Oh, man, slap in my brother's face! I love it!"

Karen just smiled. "Then back to the house, get that stuff inside and start putting it together. Then, I thought you and I would just attack the kitchen."

Donna nodded. "Okay, I can handle that."

They finished their coffee and headed to IKEA. It didn't take long to get the furniture and soon they were pulling up in front of the house on Ginger Court.

Donna was impressed. "Very nice. I like it."

She was even more impressed when a dark-haired man came out of the house to help them.

"Oh, very, very nice. Greg is very yummy." She said.

"That's not Greg." Karen told her. "That's his friend James."

"Even nicer."

"Taken." She whispered, just as Wilson got to them and she heard Donna mutter "damn" under her breath.

"Hi, James!" Karen said. "Thanks for coming by."

"No problem. Sam would have come, but she had to, uh…"

"Oh, that's fine. Don't worry about it. This is my friend Donna."

The two shook hands and Wilson started to get the boxes. "I'll get these. You ladies go inside."

"Thank you so much!" Karen led Donna into the residence..

Where a very angry House was yelling to someone on the telephone.

"I don't care! You said you would be here today. I expect you here TODAY!" He paused. "No, Monday won't do. I can get any piano tuner here on Monday. I hired you because you said you could be here TODAY!"

Karen watched and waited while he railed at them some more, then hung up with a bang.

"God-damned, stupid, moronic idiots! How hard is it to make a fucking appointment and keep it?"

Karen took a deep breath, then said, "Greg, this is Donna."

House finally registered the fact that Karen was in the room as well as someone else.

"Uh, yeah, uh, hi. Uh, sorry about…"

Donna smiled. "That's okay. I fight with service people all the time."

"Stupid piano tuner was supposed to come today. Now he says he can't come until Monday. What the hell am I supposed to do until Monday?"

"Uh, unpack?' Karen asked.

He sighed. "Sorry. I just wanted….oh, never mind. Sorry, Donna."

"It's perfectly fine."

He nodded and went to help Wilson with the boxes. Donna watched him leave.

Once he was out of earshot, she said, "Did I say yummy before? I take that back. MAJOR yummy."

"You think so?"

"Sex on a stick, girlfriend."

Karen just smiled.

"Oh, that smile tells me he knows how to use it too."

The smile got broader and the eyebrows lifted.

"Oh, man! Well, you deserve it after my dear brother dropped the ball on that for so long. But hey, if you two ever break up, I want a shot at that."

"Donna! You would want my ex-boyfriend?"

"Not as a boyfriend. I just want one night. He is too good to pass up."

Karen shook her head. "I've never heard you ask for my cast-offs before."

"That's because your only other cast-off was my brother. Ew."

"That's true."

They laughed and went to the living room to see what the guys were doing.

Wilson had brought all the boxes inside with House supervising and commenting. They were starting to open them, but Karen stopped them.

"No. It's easier to carry the boxes to the rooms where they belong and then put the furniture together there. It would be harder to carry the finished furniture."

"Good idea." Wilson said.

She directed them as to where the boxes belonged and set Wilson and House at following the directions for putting the stuff together, while she and Donna returned to the kitchen. They worked for about an hour or so and went to see the progress.

In the dining room area, there were pieces of table everywhere. Wilson had an open tool box in front of him and House, with glasses perched on the end of his nose, was reading the directions and yelling at Wilson,

"No, that's not the right part!"

"That's the part you told me to get."

"No, I told you to get part A."

"This is part A."

"Well, then the other part A."

"There is no other part A, House. There can only be one A. Next is B, then C."

"Instead of proving that you passed kindergarten, why don't you just get the right part?"

"Why don't you find me the right part?"

The two men glared at each other and the women tried to hold back their laughter. They turned and glared at the women instead.

"I've got a better idea." Karen said. "Why don't we help? Two separate teams can get more done."

They separated. Karen and Wilson went upstairs to put together the sofa bed in the loft area and also the kids' beds that had been dropped in their rooms by the movers. House and Donna continued what the men had started in the dining room.

Karen could see Wilson stealing glances at her as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't get the words out. She decided to let him out of his misery.

"What's on your mind, James?"

He still hesitated, then said, "I'm really happy that you two are together. But I just want to be sure you understand how he can be."

"How can he be?"

"He can be … unbearable. But he's worth taking the time for."

She looked at him and smiled slightly. "Did you think I didn't know that?"

"I'm not sure what you know, but…"

"James, I know that he's not an easy man. I don't think he'd be as interesting if he was. I'm not a saint either. But we're both going to try to do this. We'll make mistakes, but who doesn't?"

He nodded his head, then smiled and gave her a hug. At that moment, House was walking by downstairs and looked up to see them in the loft.

"Hey!" He yelled. "Get your hands off my woman and get to work."

Karen smiled, feeling warm and squishy when he called her his woman.

House returned to the dining room where Donna was laying out the pieces for the table. She looked up at him and saw him staring at her.

"What's up?"

He inclined his head toward the ceiling. "My friend is up there giving Karen advice about me. Are you going to give me advice about her?"

"No."

"You aren't going to warn me not to hurt your best friend or anything like that?"

"No."

He stared at her, not really believing what she was saying.

She sat back and looked at him. "Karen is a big girl. She doesn't need me to protect her."

"How are you handling this?"

"Handling what?"

"She was married to your brother. Now she's with someone else."

Donna sighed. "Ah, my brother. I love my brother. He's a good guy, he really is. He's a wonderful father. And for lots of years, he was a good husband. Then he stopped being one. When that happened, I actually told her to get rid of him. She doesn't deserve that."

"She said you told her to come and see me.'

"I did. Karen is a very loyal person. She didn't take her vows lightly. The fact that she slept with you in Philadelphia told me that you had to be special and that she really liked you. I thought you might be someone she could enjoy."

"What if I had rejected her or blew her off when she called?"

"I also gave her a hundred dollars for a hotel room in case that happened."

He chuckled, then sat on the floor and started reaching for the pieces.

"No, not that one." She said as she handed him a piece. "Start with this one…"