Saving Grace:
The Letter
Unnecessary disclaimer: None of the characters appearing in the TV show "House, M. D." belong to me.
Abstract: When Cameron's marriage with Chase falls apart, she decides that she cannot wait for another man to come around to be a mom. What happens when a wrench gets thrown in her plans? HC
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It had been a week with no patients, and Cameron was still exhausted when she came home from work.
She wasn't planning on admitting it, mind you, but this pregnancy thing had her beat.
She pulled the mail out of the slot and plopped down on the couch, propping her feet up down at the far end with a sigh.
She flipped through the mail quickly. Rarely was any of it for her, but she was hoping for a new medical journal to entertain herself with for an hour or so. She had almost tossed it on the pile with House's mail when she realized one of the envelopes had her name on it. No return address. Odd.
She slid her thumb under the flap, loosening it so that she could pull the letter out. She unfolded the page to reveal a short typewritten note.
Allison,
I'm sure you are surprised to be hearing from me, but I have had time to cool down and consider my decisions. I have decided that I would like to be a part of our child's life. As I am sure you are still angry with me, I think this would be best left to the professionals. Please have your lawyer contact mine as soon as possible. I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement. This is in our daughter's best interests.
Robert Chase
Allison Cameron broke down and cried.
When the tears stopped, she was left with only anger. How dare he ask to see his child after abandoning her so callously! She could never allow this to happen—what if Robert changed his mind again? Then it wouldn't be her who would be hurt; it would be her daughter.
Well, mama bear was coming out. She wasn't going to let that happen.
However, she was caught off-guard by one sentence of the letter. A sentence that hurt her and bewildered her in a way she did not expect.
This is in our daughter's best interests.
She had never told him the sex of the baby. Who had told, and why?
-
House walked in from drinks with Wilson later that evening to find Cameron pacing the apartment with yet another lawyer at his dining room table.
"What's going on?" he asked hurriedly. His mind was buzzing from the alcohol, but he tried to clear it enough to understand.
Cameron shoved the letter into his hand angrily. He read it as she paced the apartment some more.
House let loose a string of curses. "Fucking asshole British bastard, who does he think he is?" He slammed the page on the table. "I'll show him where he can shove his lawyer—"
"Greg!" Cameron admonished him, cutting him off. "Sit down, I can tell you've been drinking." She gave him a gentle shove towards the couch.
"Just let me and my lawyer handle this," she added, walking back towards the table. She was still too agitated to sit so she paced slowly around the table as the lawyer spoke.
"As I was saying, Dr. Cameron," Alan Wyatt, the lawyer stated smoothly, "You have a pretty airtight case. It is unlikely that the judge will award him visitation, and certainly not any sort of custody."
"Oh, thank goodness," Cameron said, clearly relieved.
"However," Alan added uncomfortably, "There will have to be a hearing. It would be possible to settle out of court if we were willing to concede to more of his demands, but in this case, we will need to see a judge."
The tension visibly returned to her body as she grasped the dining chair in front of her with white fingers.
"We are likely going to have to give in to some small demand such as yearly update letters or something along those lines," the lawyer continued, fiddling with his pen in one hand as he spoke.
Cameron nodded, a concerned look on her face. "I can deal with that."
"Well," he said, standing, "That's about it. I'll let you know when a hearing has been set up. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything."
"Thank you," Cameron responded sincerely as she led him to the door.
House had been watching this whole exchange from the couch. "I'm going to kick his ass," was him only comment.
"I don't want you being locked away on assault charges, I'm going to need you here during the hearing," Cameron said with a sigh as she sank down onto the couch next to him.
"Did you just admit you need someone?" House asked, giving Cameron an odd look.
She raised an eyebrow. "I guess I did," she said with a shrug.
House looked at her with a silly, contrived smile. "You're growing," he said condescendingly.
"Oh, shut up Greg!" she said with a laugh.
-
Cameron went to work the next morning seeking out one person in particular.
"Foreman," she called to the tall dark-skinned man at the other end of the hallway. "Can we talk a minute?"
"Sure, Cameron, what's up?" he asked her as he came closer.
"We can talk in my office," she said, leading him in that direction.
Foreman looked confused and concerned when they were finally in the office alone.
"Have you been in contact with Robert?" she asked him nervously.
"Cameron, you know I can't give you his address or anything…" Foreman said with a frown.
"That's not what I want," Cameron said with a shake of her head. "But you have been talking to him, haven't you?"
"Yeah, occasionally," he answered. "What is this about?"
"Did you tell him the sex of the baby?"
"I didn't know it was classified information," he said with a shrug.
"From now on, can you please refrain from telling him anything about the pregnancy or baby? I don't blame you for doing so before, of course, you didn't know," she said. "But at them moment I don't want him to have any information about my daughter that I didn't give him myself."
"I'm sorry, Cameron, I didn't know," Foreman said honestly. "I won't say another word," he promised.
"Thank you."
Foreman pulled her into a friendly hug before leaving her office. "See you later."
Cameron sat down at her desk with a sigh. She hated to do this to Robert, a person she had once loved, but her child was the only thing that mattered now.
-
