A/N – Alright, here's chapter nine. Warning: Kind and gentle House. I'm sad to say that I'm out of ideas for this story, so there will only be one more chapter.

Chapter 9

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House and Ariel leaned closer and closer, until their lips met in a slightly drunk, passionate kiss.

After a minute, Ariel suddenly pushed House away. Startled, he asked her what's wrong.

"I can't do this, Greg. I just can't," she told him.

House frowned, "Why not?"

"I can't do this because of Ginger."

His frown deepening, he asked, "How is this because of Ginger?"

Ariel looked down, trying to blink back tears. "I want this, Greg. I want it so bad, but I can't hurt Ginger." She saw the confused look on his face and continued.

"I never called you to tell you about her, because I thought I knew how you'd react. I've raised her, on my own, without even telling her your first name. I acted as though you didn't exist, to protect the both of you.

"Then we moved here, and Ginger somehow manages to literally run into the man who is her father: you. And now, suddenly you're back in my life and in hers for the first time. It's too much for even me to handle, so how in the world could she be coping?

"I can't do this, because I don't want Ginger to have to deal with anything more in her life right now. I'm sorry, Greg, but I just can't."

By the time she had finished her little speech, tears were streaming down her face. Seeing this, House reached over to wipe them away. Noticing this, Ariel grabbed his hand. She pulled him up and to the door, where she wordlessly handed him his jacket.

As soon as he put it on, Ariel opened the door, and gently pushed him outside. "I'm sorry," she repeated one last time before closing the door. She then turned and, leaning heavily against the door, she slid to the floor, where she started sobbing quietly.

With a sigh, House started down the path to his bike. He was sitting on it, with his helmet raised over his head when he changed his mind. Standing up and grabbing his cane, House started up the path.

He knocked on the door forcefully and less than thirty seconds later, the door opened to reveal Ariel looking worse than she did a minute ago.

Without saying a word, House reached out and pulled the woman into a warm embrace. They stood like that, for ten minutes, arms wrapped around each other, Ariel's face in House's chest, neither speaking.

Ginger had awoken to the sound of a loud knocking at the front door. Groggily, she glanced over at Marcia and saw that she was still asleep. She got up, still fully dressed, and crept across the main room to the stairs.

Ginger looked down and, gasping inside, saw her mom and dad hugging each other. No, clinging to one another as if their lives depended on it. She gave a little smirk before heading back to bed.

When Ariel had calmed down, she looked up at House. She watched as his face got closer and closer, before closing her eyes as their lips met. She was a little surprised at how gentle the man was being.

When they broke apart, she led him back inside. House noticed that she was exhausted as she closed the door. Without a word, he slid his arm around her waist, and led her (a bit unsteadily) to her room on the first floor.

He helped her lie down on the bed, and removed her shoes. He looked over at her face and saw she was sound asleep, so he pulled the covers over her before leaving the room.

He glanced at a clock on the wall and, realizing how late it was, decided to just sleep on the couch out in the living room. He had trouble falling asleep, though. He thought back to what it was like, in California all those years ago.

He had been so happy, so gentle, so passionate with Ariel. But life had made him bitter later on, after the whole ordeal with his leg and Stacy leaving him. Then Stacy came back and he pushed her away again.

He'd been terrified of what he would have been getting into when he was with Stacy, and found it strange that with Ariel back, he was reverting to his old self.

House suddenly shook his head and laughed quietly. If only Wilson could hear his thoughts; imagine all the things he would say.

Finally relaxing on the couch, House drifted off to sleep.

When Ginger woke up the next morning, she remembered the scene she witnessed late last night. She wondered if it was true, or just a dream.

She got up and got changed quickly before sneaking downstairs. She found her dad asleep on the couch before moving down the hall to peak in her mom's room.

Her mom was sleeping in the clothes she was wearing last night. Not wanting to wake her, Ginger slowly crept out of the room. With one last glance at her dad, she went back up to her room to wake Marcia.

As soon as her friend was awake enough to think coherently, Ginger started telling the girl everything she saw. The two then began dissecting and discussing every possible motive behind each action.

About an hour later, they had moved on to playing the PS3 in the family room.

Ariel woke up to the sounds of some action game. She felt exhausted, and wondered vaguely why she was still dressed. She pulled herself out of bed and took a quick shower.

Leaving her room to start breakfast, she peaked into the living room, and saw House on the couch, sound asleep. Trying to remember what happened last night, Ariel started breakfast.

About half an hour later, House finally woke up. He could hear people talking and eating, and could smell pancakes.

Stretching, he stood up carefully, watching his leg before slowly making his way into the kitchen. He was met by the sight of Ariel, Ginger, and Marcia eating, as he guessed, pancakes.

"Sit down, there's plenty more," Ariel told him, smiling.

Giving a small smile in return, he sat down and grabbed four, smothering them in maple syrup. "You know," he told them through a mouthful of food, "Wilson makes the best pancakes ever."

The girls rolled their eyes and continued eating. A while later, after everyone had finished, Marcia went home.

Ginger went up to her dad and asked him how long he's going to stay today.

He was about to answer when his phone rang. It was his team; they were having trouble with a new patient and needed him.

House reluctantly said goodbye, and headed back to his place to grab a change of clothes, at the very least.

After he left, Ginger went upstairs and started playing the drums. Ariel took a couple of aspirins to help with the headache from both last night's alcohol and the music.

She had to admit, she was a bit sad to see House go. She wondered if maybe Ginger would be alright if the two went out once in a while. She decided it was time to have a talk with her daughter.

As she went up the stairs, the noise from the drums grew louder and louder. Ariel ended up having to wave her arms and yell to get her daughter to stop.

When she finally did, Ginger asked, "What's up, Mom?"

Ariel led her over to one of the couches, and the two sat down. "Honey," she began, "I need to know how you feel about your father. I know you just met him about a week and a half ago, but what do you think?

"I'll understand if you think things are going too fast, with him suddenly offering to take you out, teach you guitar, play video games with you, and so on."

Ginger stopped her mother there. "Mom, I love how fast he's come around. I like that he wants to get to know me, because I certainly wanna get to know him. If you ask me, he hasn't been around enough."

Ariel suddenly pulled her daughter into a hug, and Ginger smirked, knowing that her Mom was very close to, if she has not already, falling back in love with him.