Chapter 22

House Plans

It had been a year ago that they began their road trip and Teagan allowed herself the rare pleasure of remembering her time with him. Lying on her bed, she closed her eyes and remembered his long, masculine body next to hers. It had been a long time since he, or any man, had touched her or held her. She remembered his warm, long hands gliding over her body, touching and playing with her. The memory of the way he felt inside her, moving together in rhythm, made her feel tingly all over. The baby cried and the memories sank back into her mind as Teagan concentrated on the day ahead. Gregory was looking up at her when she went in to get him ready for the day. Grinning he held his arms up for her to take him. Picking him up, Teagan brought him automatically to her lips for a good morning kiss. The smell of her baby, so unique and sweet, made her smile.

After breakfast, Teagan attached the baby carrier and put Gregory on her back, starting out for their morning trek to the Blackberry Patch. When they arrived, she took the burlap bag and started to fill the bag with the sweet ripe blackberries. It was hard work with a baby on her back, but she didn't dare put him down while he was awake because he would just start to howl. Gregory couldn't stand to be left on a blanket. He liked movement and being touched. Always observant, Gregory was also always demanding something of her. He was greedy.

She lifted up and remembered making love with House on the grass, smiling to herself. She was pretty sure Gregory was conceived at the Ahwahnee, because she hadn't known they were going to stay overnight and she didn't have her diaphragm. Plus the timing would have been right. Maybe she should have named Gregory, Ahwahnee Furey. It had a certain ring. Gregory started crying so Teagan bounced him on her back, but he was getting louder and her milk was letting down. If she didn't get him off her back and nurse him her shirt would be soaked.

She went over to a rock and pulled the carrier off of her back. Lifting her shirt, she put him to her breast ane watched as he latched on. "Owww." Her nipples were chapped and sore from his aggressive feeding. The pain was actually getting better, a month ago she cried every time he nursed it hurt so bad. Mewing and sounds of contentment came from him as he nursed. The break from picking blackberried gave her an opportunity to look around and enjoy the summer morning. She sang to her son as he nursed.

Can you tell me what happened to the blossom

Blackberry blossom when the summertime came?

The blackberry blossom, oh the last time I saw one,

Was down in the bramble where I rambled in the spring.

The bramble was wild I was torn by the briars.

My love he wooed me as I lie there

With a flower in my hair and my cheeks all flush

Was the blackberry blossom from the blackberry bush.

When I picked the berry I didn't miss the blossom

The blackberry blossom was white as the snow

But the berry that it brings is sweeter than molasses.

And black as the wings of the Arkansas crow.

The Arkansas crow is a devil and a demon

Known for his cackling and his screaming

Driving away the swallow and the thrush

From the blackberry blossom and the blackberry bush.

I was picking berries when that crow flew above me

Carrying my lover so far away

Now each spring I lay a blackberry blossom

By a cold gravestone on the Arkansas clay.

The Arkansas clay is rocky and hard

With weeds growing over in the old graveyard

And the day settles down to an evening hush

Over the blackberry blossom and the blackberry bush

Gregory smiled up at her as she sung to him. He liked music, just like his Dad. She wished she had a stronger voice.

They had worked out a routine over the months and Teagan was feeling much more capable and healthy. She had come to know her son needs from his different cries and the feelings she sometimes felt from him. She appreciated Tuesdays, when she took Gregory to Yolanda's, allowing her to take long naps or get some things done that she had been unable to do during the week.

The hospital bill had been a shock. It came to $12,333, almost half of her savings. She thought of all the things she could have done with the money and it made her sick to her stomach. But life was steadily getting better as she figured out how to be a Mom to her son.

She took off his diaper and he had a little redness on his bottom. He was nodding off so she just left the diaper off of him so his bottom could get some air. She put the sleeping Gregory down on a blanket and went back to picking the berries.

Xxx

House finally found Wilson in the locker room taking a shower. He shoved the brochure up against the glass of the shower door. Pointin to it, he yelled over the sound of the water, "Look, a medical convention at the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite."

Wilson, annoyed that House was hunting him down in the shower, yelled back, "House, it's an oncology seminar. Why do you want to attend an oncology seminar?"

"A good twenty percent of my cases involve cancer or ruling out cancer. I think I would benefit from it." He said with a staged look of seriousness.

"And this has nothing to do with Teagan?"

"If I'm in the neighborhood, I could drop in to see her." He suggested.

"That's not fair to Teagan or to Patricia."

"I want to know why she opened the gate." House went over to the bench and started filling out the registration form.

Wilson grabbed the navy towel and wrapped it around him, "She had a fever, she probably didn't know she was doing it. Let it go, it's been two months."

"Blah,blah, blah, blah. Now go get your registration form, it's on your desk. We'll take it down to the prey with the big ass. I'll attack Cuddy from the front and you cover my flank."

Lisa Cuddy was unconvinced that House needed this specific seminar, but he did need several continuing education credits to keep his license and since he actually volunteered to go to the seminar, she was willing to work with him.

"We'll pay for the room and the seminar but not the plane trip. You have to spring for that. There's several seminars that you could go to that are within driving distance."

"But none with Dr. Theodore Thompson as the speaker...that's worth the plane trip itself!" House suggested.

She directed her question to Wilson, "Who's this Thompson guy?"

"I haven't got a clue; he's not someone I know." Wilson admitted.

House raised his eyebrows and motioned to Wilson, "See, that's exactly why we need to go...to find out who he is and why he would be speaking at such a prestigious seminar instead of Wilson." House smiled like a small boy who wanted something.

"Wilson, you can go and we'll pay for all of it, because it's oncology and it does look like a good seminar, but you have to pay your plane fare or you can forget it."

House relented, "Fine, I'll pay for my plane fare." She signed off on the request form and they went down to the administration office and turned in their forms. The seminar was for Wednesday night through Saturday morning. Wilson's plane ticket would be provided by the hospital, but House had to arrange his flight. He went to "Cheap Fares" and found a round trip ticket to Fresno flying out on Wednesday and coming home on Monday for $439 total. The seminar was to be held the following week in July. House warned his team that he would be gone and was surprised by the various reactions. House noted that they seemed a little too happy about it.

That night Patricia, Jennifer, Wilson and House went to Princeton University to see the University production of "The Importance of Being Earnest." Afterwards they were having a late supper at the local steakhouse when Wilson brought up the trip.

Wilson looked at House, "What's the weather like in Yosemite during the summer? Should I pack for cold or hot?" House looked as if Wilson was giving away important secrets. Wilson felt a kick under the table, "Ow, what was that for?"

"What's this talk about Yosemite?" Patricia asked.

Jennifer answered her, "There's a seminar at the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite and these two are going. Wilson bought me a ticket and I'm going too. They have a whole program for spouses and partners while the doctors are in the seminar. Patricia, why don't you come with us?"

Patricia looked at House, letting him know she was upset that he hadn't told her or asked her. Her face was long and downcast and her lips were pressed tight. She stabbed at a piece of steak, making a loud clanking noise with her fork.

House stopped chewing his food and let out with a stage sigh, "I was going to tell you. Don't give me that look."

The subject was changed but when they got back to House's apartment Patricia laid down the law, "Do you want this relationship or am I just a convenience to you?"

House liked Patricia, a lot. She made him laugh and he liked that she enjoyed jazz as much as he did. They shared a lot in common and she was more than adequate in bed. There was no getting around the fact that she turned heads when she went places with him, her body was curvy and her face reminded him a little of Kim Novack. But he hadn't asked her to move in just yet. He didn't feel like he could completely commit to her until he had seen Teagan one more time.

"I want the relationship."

"Then I'm coming to Yosemite."

"But why? I'll be in the seminar each day; we won't have much time together."

"Because I know she lives near Yosemite, doesn't she?" she looked at House with steely eyes, "Doesn't she?"

He raised his voice, hoping that he would sound more convincing by doing so, "Yes, but she's at the other end of the Park and it's a huge park. She'll be two hours away from where we'll be staying."

"Greg, either I come or I'm walking out that door." She was serious and House could see that.

"Alright, I'll buy you a plane ticket for the seminar. But you come home with Wilson and Jennifer. I'm staying an extra day to go down and see my Mom. I'm not ready for you to meet her; I have enough issues to deal with when I see her, let alone introduce a girlfriend into the mix."

"I can accept that."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When they arrived in Fresno they rented two cars just in case they wanted to split up to do things in the Park. They drove up through Oakhurst and Fish Camp and then on up to the south gate of Yosemite. When they arrived at the gate, Bill leaned out of the ranger hut, "Hey, aren't you Teags' boyfriend? We met last year. I never forget a face."

House quickly glanced at Patricia just in time to see a flash of anger wash over her face. "Well I wish you'd forget mine." House remarked as he put his hand out for his change and the map. Bill gave him a look of confusion as House drove away from the booth. He waited to the side, under the sign pointing to the road to the Mariposa redwoods, just inside the south gate. There were two stands of these massive trees in Yosemite, Mariposa and then the second stand close to the Park exit on the way to Teagan's cabin.

"Let's come back and walk the redwoods later on." Patricia suggested.

"Sure." House wasn't really listening, he was thinking about the last time he was in Yosemite and how relaxed and happy he was. Wilson followed then the twenty miles inside the park to the Wawona. It was a beautiful old clapboard hotel with pines growing around it. Across the main road was a golf course with a small river running through it.

They all checked in, went to their comfortable rooms and then had lunch in the restaurant downstairs. The girls were excited and making plans for when House and Wilson were in their seminars.

"You know the most beautiful hike in Yosemite is up on the Tioga Pass at Tuolumne Meadows. It's the hike to Glen Aulen. The drive is about an hour from here and the hike another two hours, but it's worth it, you'll never see anything like it again." House suggested, remembering the day that he and Teagan had hiked to the cascades with Teagan. They didn't make it to Glen Aulen because of House's leg. But, he wasn't lying to them about how beautiful the hike was. However, he did stretch the truth on how long the drive and hike were. The drive was more like two hours each way and the hike was at least a five hour round trip. It meant that they would be gone all day.

Patricia smiled, "Well if you think it's the best hike in the Park then I'd like to try it. What do you think Jennifer, up for a good hike tomorrow?"

"I love hiking, sounds fine." Jennifer was athletic, one of the things that Wilson liked about her.

"You need to take lots of water, some food, rain gear and a good sun hat. More importantly, you need to get an early start before it gets too crowded in the Valley and you run into traffic. It's cooler up on the Tioga pass than it is the valley so be prepared for anything." House warned them. He showed them on the map where the trail head was located. Wilson listened and watched suspiciously, knowing that House had something up his sleeve.

That afternoon they drove up to Glacier Point and looked out over the Yosemite Valley. The view of half dome and Yosemite Falls, were breathtaking. The Ahwahnee was a large speck on the valley floor, a reminder to House of his night with Teagan. Everything he saw reminded him of Teagan and he felt incredibly lonely. House was quieter than usual.

"This is incredible, absolutely beautiful. I've never seen anything so grand in my life." Wilson was duly impressed. Glacier Point had been closed and covered with snow when Wilson and Jennifer had been to Yosemite in the late fall. House had to agree, the more he saw of Yosemite, the more he loved it.

The next morning Wilson and House packed the women up and sent them on their way in Wilson's car. Wilson wasn't sure how it was decided that they would take his rental, but it just happened. As they drove off, House pulled his keys out of his pocket.

Shaking his head, Wilson barked, "No! You aren't going to go see her. What about Patricia? You can't do this to her."

"I wouldn't have been doing this to her if you hadn't opened your big mouth about Jennifer coming. Don't worry, I'll be back before her. They're going to be gone all day; the drive and the hike are twice as long as I told them. Now, do me a favor and pick up my badge and materials so that I can catch up when I get back." House jumped into his car and smiled wickedly at poor Wilson, who stood staring into space and shaking his head.

House made a beeline for the Big Oak Flat entrance point. It took him over an hour just to get to the exit for the Park. It was 8:30 a.m. and he wondered if she would be home. He turned right on Evergreen Road, the road to Hetch Hetchy. He was getting excited. He knew she would feel him coming.

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