Saving Grace:

The Fallout

A/N: Please check out my new Cameron-centric one shot, Bittersweet! It's lonely and needs some love. PS. My readers rock! :)

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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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House came back late that night in a cab, sloshing drunk.

"Hey, beautiful," he slurred, leaning on Cameron when she opened the door.

"What the hell, House?" she asked angrily.

"Aw, you're no fun, it's just a little whiskey," he said drunkenly.

Cameron dragged him to the bedroom, pushing him onto the bed. "Go to sleep, House," she said, pressing him down onto the pillows. As she turned to go, he grabbed her wrist.

"Not staying, blue eyes?" he asked her.

She stared down at him with contempt. "No."

Cameron slept in her own room that night.

-

House woke in the morning to clatter in the kitchen and a terrible hangover.

After a quick shower, he walked out into the kitchen to see Cameron angrily making what looked like scrambled eggs. He glanced over to the coffeemaker and saw that it was untouched. He frowned.

"No coffee?" were his first words to her that morning.

"I can't drink it, why should I make it?" Cameron said icily.

"That didn't stop you until today," House said uncertainly. If only he could remember yesterday…

Cameron didn't deign to respond and simply continued cooking, as loudly as possible.

"Christ, can you keep that down?" House said with a grimace as he attempted to work the coffeemaker.

"I don't know, could you keep from running off and getting drunk off your ass every time someone catches you having a fucking emotion?" Cameron shouted.

House squeezed his eyes shut, flinching at every shouted word. He tried hazily to remember the past day, but the pounding headache and lack of coffee were impairing his thought.

"Okay," he said exhaustedly, his eyes closed and hand on his head. "Can we postpone this argument 'til I've had some coffee?"

"Fine," Cameron said, quieting her motions slightly. Well, it was a start.

He finished making the coffee, and soon after, Cameron slammed a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of him. House was amazed that she would still cook for him when angry.

After his first cup and halfway through breakfast, House finally spoke. "Now what the hell is going on?" he asked.

Cameron looked at him in consternation. "Do you even remember yesterday? Or were you completely successful in drinking it away?"

House rubbed a hand across his eyes. "We had pancakes for breakfast, then I didn't see you again until right before lunch…" he trailed off.

His heart began racing. She had come into his office and said…that.

"Remember now?" Cameron said knowingly.

All the fear and exhilaration of that moment had returned. And something else… a glimmer of happiness? Greg House pushed that particular thought out of his mind.

He was about ready to get up and drive off on his motorcycle never to return. But something was stopping him. A part of him wanted to stay, and he wasn't sure why.

As House battled with his own thoughts, Cameron stared at him with an indecipherable expression. House looked up at her and thought he saw both annoyance and concern. And love.

He stared intently back at her. "What are you doing to me, Allison Cameron?" he whispered, reaching out a hand to instinctively touch her cheek. Cameron closed her eyes in a moment caught between joy and pain.

House stood up abruptly, breaking the quiet moment. His hand dropped to his side. "I need time to think," he said. Cameron nodded wordlessly in understanding, but her features were etched with the fear she could not hide.

Cameron sat at the table silently as she heard the sounds of House readying himself and going out the door.

For once, House reached the hospital before her.

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The pair avoided each other like the plague except at the differential that was held just after lunchtime.

After coming to a few possible conclusions, he sent the team out to do a battery of tests. He eyed his single leftover employee, the heavily pregnant Allison Cameron.

"Cameron," he said gruffly, gaining her attention. "Go home."

She looked ready to challenge him, but she thought better of it. She was exhausted.

She thought about his words after she had gathered her things from her office. He hadn't said it kindly, no doubt about that. But the words were evidence for his concern for her. That thought made her smile, albeit briefly. She couldn't help but worry.

-

When House came home that evening, Cameron had Chinese food already at the condo for them.

She got up to grab it for him before giving either of them a chance to say any kind of greeting. She handed the plate and a bottle of beer to him before sitting on the couch beside him. House could tell something was going on.

She screwed up her courage to speak. "Greg," she began nervously.

"Allison," he warned in a pleading tone.

"Greg, I have to do this," she said apologetically. "I know this whole thing is freaking you out… and to tell the truth, it's scaring me too. You'll have to believe me that I had absolutely no intention of this happening," she said, her voice imploring him.

House stared at her with what appeared to be a blank expression. Beneath that, his heart was racing.

She continued. "I have no idea what I'm doing," she said with a shake of her head, "and I'm sure you feel the same way." She paused. "But I like it, and I hope that doesn't scare you away."

With that, she slowly pulled herself off of the couch and headed back to her bedroom. She knew that he needed to be alone.

She stayed in the room, at first reading a medical journal, then a mystery novel when the first couldn't keep her attention. The change of reading material made little difference; her heart was in her throat, and she nearly had to hold herself down to avoid going out to speak to House.

But she forced herself to stay. She knew House, and this was the only way. Little Eleanor squirmed inside her mother's belly, obviously as uneasy as Cameron was.

"You calm down, little one," Cameron whispered, rubbing her stomach comfortingly. Once she had gotten the child to cease her movement, she yawned.

It was getting late, and House hadn't come to speak to her. Disappointedly, she got up to turn off the light. She would just have to wait 'til morning.

She was nearly asleep when she heard the creaking of the door, and felt a sliver of light hit her face.

She squinted sleepily at the silhouetted figure in the doorway, who slowly limped towards the bed.

It reached out a shadowy hand. "Come to bed, Allison," said House's gravelly voice.

Cameron took the hand, which helped her up and led her to the bedroom. She smiled to herself as Gregory House pulled her tight against him in the bed. He didn't say another word, and she didn't need him to.

With a man like Greg House, action was everything. After all, everybody lies.

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