House took a deep breath as he heard the knock on the door. Making sure he had everything he needed, he limped to the door and opened it.
"At least you knocked this time instead of breaking in." he said and Stacy smirked.
"I didn't break in, I used the not-so-well-hidden-key." She replied. "Danny, this is my friend Greg. Can you say 'hello'?"
"Hello." Danny said. House was just going to grunt back but a sharp look from Stacy changed his mind.
"Hey, kid." He said without his usual gruffness and Stacy smiled, pleased. Good, thought House, let's keep her happy.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
"Lead the way." He replied and followed them out. He sat down in the front of Stacy's car, waiting impatiently while Stacy assured that Danny was safely buckled in. Finally, they were on their way. "So where are we going?"
"There is a park not too far from here. I thought that would be a good place to start." She said and House sighed. It was going to be a long day.
"So, when did you and Mark split?" House asked as he and Stacy sat on a bench, watching Danny play.
"About three years ago. We tried to stay together after Danny was born but I finally couldn't handle the bitterness and guilt and he couldn't stand Danny because of whose son he is." Stacy replied. "It didn't help once Danny started talking. He is a lot like you with people he doesn't like. The final straw was when Danny found out Mark wasn't his father and didn't seem to care."
"But he was only two then. He couldn't possible remember…"
"Like I said, he's your son. He's too smart for his own good and he remembers just fine. As soon as he found out he never called Mark 'Daddy' again, not once."
"And after the divorce, where did you go?" House asked.
" Danny and I moved to Warwick, New York. " she answered. "He started first grade this past fall. They wanted to put him in second but I don't want such an age difference between him and his classmates."
"Makes sense. The kid already has a disadvantage in dealing woth people if he is mine; no sense in making it harder on him." House said and Stacy sighed.
"Would you please stop calling him 'the kid'? He is your son and his name is Daniel or Danny. I-"
"Mama?" Danny called as he ran over to them. "Will you push me on the swings?"
"Sure, H- Hey. Why don't you ask Greg to push you." She suggested and liked at House pointedly. "Im sure he would love to."
"Greg, would you push me?" Danny asked and House frowned. He wanted to keep talking to Stacy but he had to play nice with the kid- Danny- to make her happy. Crap.
"Fine." He grunted and limped to the swings. Danny climbed on and House gave him a push. The boy slowly went higher and finally House stopped pushing.
"Higher!" Danny demanded and House rolled his eyes.
"Swing your legs up as you go forward and down as you go backwards." He said and Danny did as told, missing the correct rhythm. House adjusted his form. It took a couple of more tries but eventually Danny got the hang of it.
"Look, Mom!" Danny shouted excitedly. "Greg taught me how to do it!"
"Good job, Danny!" Stacy called back as House limped back over to the bench and sat down. "You did well with him." She said quietly. House didn't reply but looked at his watch as saw that only an hour had passed. Oh yeah….a very long day.