Chapter 9 - The Beginning of We

When she woke up the next morning he was gone. Of course. Where else would he be? In bed next to her? Ridiculous. That would leave the possibility that he actually felt something for her. Clumsily she pushed the sheets away and stumbled into the nursery. William greeted her with wide-awake eyes and she thanked god that her son already knew how to busy himself to grant her a few more hours of sleep.

"Your father is an idiot…", she mumbled when she lifted him out of his bed.

Unsure she looked around his room pressing the small body closer to her. Slowly she sat down and took of his pyjamas. Smiling, she placed a soft kiss on his naked belly. Will laughed and grabbed her mother's hair, pulling her closer.

Allison fell back and smiled when he burrowed his body into her chest.

"As long as you're here everything is okay…" she mumbled silently while pulling a sheet over them.

She loved this kind of closeness with her son. Just the both of them. They must've fallen asleep again because the next thing she heard was the front door opening and closing. Irritated she sat up, but the abnormal footsteps approaching down the hallway calmed her almost immediately. She fell back and watched the sleeping face of her child.

"You know you can sleep in bed, don't you? It's way more comfortable."

"I've heard that before…"

"Breakfast?"

She looked up and noticed the bag in his hand and the smell of fresh biscuits. She wanted to say something, she really did. Try to explain that this simple gesture meant everything to her. But she closed her mouth and nodded.

After she'd dressed William she came into the kitchen to find the table already set. She sat down her little sunshine and seated herself at the free chair next to Greg. If something like 'family' actually had a smell it had to be the one that was actually infiltrating her nostrils. When she looked up from her plate she saw him watching her. Ice blue met jade green. A smile was crossing her face and his intense stare had her turning her face away in shame. When she caught him smirking triumphantly, she actually threw one of the biscuits at him.

"Hey!"

"Don't make fun of me…"

"Don't hit the cripple!"

House laughed and grinned at her while William attracted attention to himself when he knocked over his father's coffee.

"Fuck!"

It was Allison's turn to laugh.

House watched his son, frustrated, and rolled his eyes while blue crystals watched him challenging. Will was already so much like him. Scary. House didn't want to think how it would be when he was in High School. Shuddering he remembered his time. He had to tell Allison or she would have a mental break down when Will got there, exactly like his mother. Sighing he grabbed the apple purée and for the first time since Will's birth, Greg started to feed his son.

"Dadda…"

The little boy happily patted his father's stubbly cheek and smiled. House was stunned for a moment and looked at Cameron, who could only smile. It wasn't like there was anything left – he could only surrender. These people didn't leave him much of a choice.

When he entered the hospital hours later with Allison by his side and his boy in his arms, he felt the eyes of the staff on his back. Frustrated, he pressed the button of the elevator impatiently with his cane, before he turned to his…his…Allison.

She still looked at him the same way. Like he could disappear any time – leaving them behind. Again. Why did she let him in her life if she thought she knew him so well?

"I don't understand…" he said calmly.

"Strange. You're the one who always understands everything. I thought you've already seen through everything", Allison said.

"Enlighten me princess," he snapped.

She smiled.

"Just the fact that you want to try and tell your parents about him is giving me hope that there's something left. I never wanted anything from you during the last two years. Now I know that I don't need you to survive. William and I are fine all by ourselves. This assurance was important to me, Greg. And now you know that not everybody who actually means something to you is running away. We've always been there. You always could come, even if you screwed up. We always let you into our lives – open minded. We gave you forgiveness and after you came back in the morning you showed that you're ready to take the risk…"

She smiled when the elevator came to a stop and got out. She kissed her son's mellow cheek and his father's scratchy lips.

"The daycare is at the 7th floor. I cook in the evening so don't be late."

The doors closed abruptly and left a dumbfounded House behind. He blinked and watched the beautiful face of Allison Cameron disappear. His gaze traveled down to the little human on his left arm who was watching him happily. He rolled his eyes and pressed the button for the 7th floor. Daycare.

The End

A/N: Thanks for reading! I really do hope you enjoyed it.

A special Thanks goes to my new Beta Ekta! You're awesome! *huuuuuuuuuug*