Chapter Eighteen

When Cameron and Hilary came to dinner, both House and Wilson noticed something was off. "Find a dress?" House asked Cameron as she sat down.

"Yeah," she said and started serving herself from the plate of chicken.

Wilson caught his eye and shrugged, but started eating his own dinner. They ate in relative silence until Mundell couldn't stand it anymore. "House tells me you plan to elope and get married in Asheville, Princess."

"Yep."

"I thought you wanted a big wedding."

"I considered it but I know Greg isn't into that, and I'm not either."

"I jokingly suggested we elope," House said between sips of his beer. "She took me seriously. Who was I to argue?"

"Smart man. Never argue with a Langston woman," Mundell said with a chuckle. His smile faded when he looked at his daughters. They seemed depressed but he decided to wait until he could speak to them alone. Bennings told him earlier they both packed up all of his mother's belongings. He couldn't bring himself to do it and was secretly relieved they did it. All her most expensive jewelry and keepsakes were already passed on to those she named in her will. The majority went to the girls but some went to women his mother cherished.

He remembered her best friend since childhood, Elise, informing him she couldn't attend the memorial due to lack of finances so he arranged to have her brought in on their jet. He'd known Aunt Elise, as he and the girls called her, his entire life. GG left several keepsakes from her childhood along with her wedding china and a pair of pearl earrings to Elise. He made a mental note to ask Allison to invite her to the wedding. Both his girls loved her almost as much as they loved GG.

"I found a good PT and masseuse," House announced into the heavy silence. "The PT is in Asheville but the masseuse is a hooker I used. I used to get a massage with a happy ending from her. Now I'll just get a massage." He looked intently at Cameron who pushed her food around on her plate. "The hooker will relocate. Sounds good, right, Allison?"

She looked up at him with a blank look on her face, "Sure, yes."

He continued to watch her closely until she shook her head and blinked.

"Wait, did you just say your masseuse is a hooker?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Yep. But I'm not having sex with her anymore."

Cameron looked nonplussed. "Why a hooker?"

House shrugged. "She's the best one I've found. She helps my leg."

"Does it still hurt?" she asked with concern.

"Just after my workouts," he told her staring hard at her and shifting his head slightly from side to side.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are you just trying to get a reaction out of me?"

"Did it work?"

"Greg," she said. "If she's the best then use her. So long as you aren't sleeping with her, I don't have a problem."

"Then what is the problem?" he asked. "You act like someone kicked your kitten."

Hilary threw down her fork and knife. "You're an asshole! You know we spent all afternoon going through GG's things and packing them up! We're sad! Do you even understand that emotion, you thoughtless prick?!"

House shrugged and took a bite of his dinner roll. "It's just clothes and stuff."

Hilary emitted a wordless scream and lunged across the table at him. House leaned back out of her reach and watched her. Mundell jumped up and grabbed her. Suddenly Cameron began to laugh. Hilary turned on her with a snarl.

"What is so damn funny?" she growled at Cameron.

"You, this," she laughed and then began to cry. "Don't you see what he's doing?"

Hilary looked at her in confusion.

"We're not expressing our pain and sorrow. We're pushing it down. Greg knows that isn't healthy so he's getting us to express it."

Hilary burst into tears. "He's still a prick!" she sobbed.

"I think we're all done with dinner," House announced. He got up and held out his hand to Cameron. "Come on."

She took his hand and they left the dining room. Wilson stood and gathered Hilary in his arms. She cried and clung to him. Mundell wiped his eyes and looked around. Wilson held out an arm to him. Mundell allowed Wilson and Hilary to hug him as he cried.

"Well, that was interesting," House said as he and Cameron sat downstairs in the wine cellar and drank some brandy out of crystal snifters.

Cameron chuckled. "I wasn't expecting her to lash out at you like that. I don't suggest poking her with a sharp stick in the future."

"But it's so easy," he whined. "Look, I get that you're sad about GG. But being depressed about it isn't going to do either of you any good."

"I know. I just miss her so much."

He reached out and their fingers interlaced. "I know."

"It was hard going through all of her things, figuring out who gets what."

She then told House about Aunt Elise and asked about inviting her to the wedding.

"You can invite whoever you want."

"Should we invite anyone from PPTH?"

House laughed. "Like who? You want Cuddy there so we can rub her nose in it?"

"Okay, maybe not Cuddy, then. What about your parents?"

House groaned but didn't say anything.

"Greg?"

"I don't want my father there. But I can't invite my mother without him."

"Still, you should at least let her know. Let her make that decision herself."

"Fine, I'll call her."

He reached into his pocket, took out his cell and dialed, praying that his mother answered. When he heard her voice, he felt an immense feeling of relief.

"Hi Mom."

"Greg! Where have you been? I've been calling your apartment for days."

He froze. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It's just that you usually call me right back and you never did, so I worried."

"You can always call my cell phone. You have the number."

"Oh I know, but you use that for work and I don't want to bother you since there was no emergency. Anyway, I'm glad you called. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, a lot has happened. I guess the biggest thing is that I'm getting married."

There was no sound on the other end at first and he was worried she might've gone into shock. "Mom? Are you there?"

There was sniffling on the other end and she chuckled. "Yes, dear, I'm fine. I didn't realize you were seeing anyone. It's kind of sudden, isn't it? I mean, how long have you known each other?"

"A few years. Remember Dr. Cameron?"

"The lovely young lady on your team?"

"Yeah. Anyway, we're getting married on August 16th in Asheville and hope you can make it."

"I'll be there. I'm not sure about your father though. He might be away on either business or with his fishing buddies."

"Well he's invited too if he wants to be there, but you know my feelings on that. I'll email you the details."

"Thank you, dear, and thanks for calling. Oh, and tell Allison I look forward to seeing her again. She was lovely."

House glanced at Cameron and grinned. "I will, Mom. Bye." He snapped his phone closed and let out a sigh.

"You did fine."

"Thanks. Just know that if my Dad comes, there's going to be some tension. He'll belittle me and put me down, he always has, but I won't tolerate it if he does it to anyone else in this family."

Cameron reached for his hand and their fingers interlaced. "I know."

House looked down at their hands. "I hate him," he said softly.

"I remember that he said you talked about me all the time but then said he was joking about you."

House swallowed hard and looked up at her. "He abused me."

Cameron went still. "He what?"

"Abused me. Physically, emotionally and verbally. Claimed he was toughening me up."

Suddenly Cameron sprang from her chair pulling her hand free from his. She began to pace and he could tell she was furious.

"That monster is not coming to our wedding! I'll kill him!" she shouted as color exploded on her cheeks and tears filled her eyes. "Why didn't your mother stop him or leave him?"

House shrugged. "She tried a few times but he abused her, too. Besides, where would we go? She didn't go to college and he never would have let her leave."

Cameron knelt on the floor in front of him and laid her head in his lap. "I don't want him at our wedding. I'll call your mother and tell her myself."

House stroked her hair and looked up at the ceiling. "No. It's better to just hope he goes away fishing. If all else fails, we can sic Hilary on him."

Cameron looked up at him in shock. "How can you joke about that monster?"

"Wilson tells me it's a coping mechanism. He doesn't know about the abuse, by the way. You're only the second person I told. Remember the patient I got trapped into treating? The one who was raped?" Cameron nodded. "I told her."

Cameron got up and sat on his left leg, resting her head on his shoulder. "If he comes, I can't promise to be nice to him."

House stroked her arm. "Neither can I."