Chapter 7, in which Wilson feels at home...

Dinner was a quiet affair and Wilson quickly found himself relaxing. He felt a deep sense of belonging with House and his family and a small smile crept onto his face as he listened to the conversation around the table. Joel was talking to House about the upcoming soccer season.

"Dad, Coach Jeffries wants me to try out for the team. He says he needs someone who can run fast to play striker."

"Well, go for it then. You don't need me to tell you that."

"Awesome. The tryouts are Wednesday after school, I think. You could come watch?"

"Sure. Wilson'll come too, right Wilson?"

Wilson cleared his throat. "Uh... yeah, why not?"

Joel looked pleased. "Cool!"

"Greg," Stacy interjected. "He's a little young for soccer, don't you think? I don't want him getting hurt."

"Relax, he'll be fine. He can outrun kids five years older than him. I'm sure Jeffries knows what he's doing."

"That may be so, but I've seen some of those youth league games; they can get pretty violent."

"Stacy, it's only soccer. If he wants to start kick boxing, then you can stress out."

Joel joined in. "Please Mom. I might not get another chance."

She relented. "Okay, but Greg, you have to speak to Coach Jeffries about it. If you don't I will."

Joel grinned. "Thanks Mom."

"Daddy," Lucy said. House high-fived Joel and turned back towards his daughter. "Yep?"

"If we had a little puppy, what would we call it?"

House and Stacy shared a glance and a small smile.

"I don't know. It would be a group decision."

"Cos I like the name Rufus. Or Malley. Or Bernard."

Stacy hid a grin in her hand.

"Well," House drew out the word. "Those are good names."

Alex spoke up. "How 'bout we get an Irish Setter and call it Rufus O'Malley?"

There were smiles all round at that.

"Your mom and I will have a think," House said. "We're not making any promises."

Stacy nodded sagely. Wilson could see the longing on each child's face.

"Is everyone done eating?" Stacy asked. There was a general response of satisfied murmurs and she got up to clear the plates away. Wilson stood up too.

"Let me help you with that," he said and took a couple of plates and the salad dish through to the kitchen. He caught sight of House's expression; longing, but not for a dog, simply the ability to help his own wife clear up after dinner in his own house and obvious envy at Wilson's easy movements. Wilson cursed himself for his tactless offer and quickly deposited the plates in the dishwasher, returning to the table. Joel and Lucy had vanished, but Alex was sat talking to his dad.

"I don't want to!"

"All right Alex, I didn't say you had to! I was just checking you weren't interested."

"I don't care about stupid Joel and his dumb soccer games. I don't want to do any of that stuff."

"I know, kid. I'm sorry for pushing you into it, okay? I just don't want you to miss out."

Alex abruptly got down from the table and left the room, head down and hands in pockets. House's shoulders slumped and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I really don't get that kid sometimes. When I was his age, I barely spent any time indoors. My parents encouraged me to go out and have fun running around. I just don't see why that doesn't appeal to him."

Wilson sighed. "You don't think you're projecting yourself on to him too much? Trying to get him to enjoy what you can't?"

House nodded. "That's what Stacy says. You're both right, of course. I know it. I just don't want him to end up like me, regretting every minute that wasn't spent using his body to its full potential."

Wilson suddenly thought of something. "Don't you ever use a prosthesis? You're talking like you can never walk or run again."

The other man shook his head. "Unfortunately I have literally no femur left at all, so no hip joint, so no movement at all. Nothing to attach a prosthetic leg to. I'm stuck with crutches for life."

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing you can do about it."

Stacy came back in and squeezed her husband's shoulder. House's hand came up automatically to take hers.

"What's got you two so gloomy all of a sudden?"

"Just... talking about my leg."

Stacy leant down and kissed House. "There. All better?"

He smiled. "Thanks."

Internally, Wilson was stunned. Utterly stunned. He marvelled again at how one small choice had led to this amazing difference in just one man. He glanced at his watch. "I should probably go," he said, then remembered that he'd left his car at the hospital, House having driven them both here.

"Don't worry, I'll drive you home," House said, pulling himself to his feet and balancing on his crutches. "You can get a cab in to work tomorrow. Or call me and I'll pick you up."

"Okay. Well, thanks for the dinner Stacy, nice to be seeing you again." Wilson hoped that they really hadn't seen each other in a while.

"You too," she replied. "Drive safely, Greg."

Once they were on their way to Wilson's, House turned to him.

"So, how'd you find the family?"

"Nice. Really nice. Very strange to see you like that, but nice."

House smiled. "You did a good job of... pretending. I think Stacy may suspect something, but I've made up my mind to tell her anyway."

"Okay. I hope she believes you."

"Me too."

House stopped the car outside an apartment block. Wilson recognised it as the very same one where he'd lived with Bonnie in his world. Thank god for that.

"Are you going to be okay here?"

"Yeah. None of this is different in my world. Me and Bonnie are divorced, but we used to live here. It shouldn't be too hard to fit back into that old life."

"See you tomorrow then."

"Night, House."