Saving Grace:
The Aftermath
A/N: SO sorry about the long wait! At first the site wouldn't let me upload, then I was without internet for several days. I hope the conclusion is worth the wait!
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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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Cameron was holding her daughter close and gazing at her lovingly when her brother and sister-in-law came through the door.
"Jim!" she said joyfully when she glanced up.
"Allie!" he responded with a grin. "I hear I have a new niece!"
House observed this exchange from a chair across the room. Jim appeared to be nearly a decade older than Cameron, but in looks he was the male version of her. Tall, thin, with unruly brown locks and blue eyes.
Jim's wife, Marie entered behind Jim and ran up to give Allison a small hug. "She's beautiful, Allison," Marie commented. She had honey blonde hair in waves falling past her shoulders and squared off glasses magnifying golden brown eyes.
The pair hovered over Cameron's shoulders to get a good look at the child, now sleeping peacefully.
"What do I call her?" Jim asked.
Cameron's voice was soft. "Eleanor Grace Cameron."
"After mom…" Jim said, his voice soft now as well. His eyes were glistening. He hadn't been so young when their mother died. His memories, and the wounds from them, were still fresh even after twenty-five years.
At this inopportune moment, House yawned, causing Jim and Marie to notice him for the first time.
"Jim Thompson," Cameron's brother said, briskly walking over to shake House's hand. House's eyebrows jumped up almost imperceptibly at the enticing piece of information that was the man's last name. He wasn't one for shaking hands, but he did so this time. He needed more information. "Greg House," he stated.
"I'm Marie," his wife said, stepping over to them.
Jim gave House the once-over, having clearly heard about him before. House was prepared for an interrogation, but Jim turned his attention to his new niece.
"May I hold her?" he asked his sister.
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Jim and his wife had left, begging off to get some sleep. House was still there, essentially running on caffeine and vicodin.
"You should go get some sleep…" Cameron said, yawning. The endorphins from the experience were finally wearing off after several hours.
"You should get some sleep," he countered. "You look like hell." Actually, she looked beautiful.
"What if Eleanor needs me?" she asked, looking lovingly down at the child in her arms.
House rolled his eyes. "You take a nap and I'll watch the kid."
Cameron looked dubious.
"Don't worry, I won't try to take care of her," he added sarcastically. "I'll wake you up if she needs anything."
Cameron looked satisfied with that answer, and laid the child in a cradle set up right next to her bed. After making sure everything was perfect for Eleanor, she laid herself down and fell asleep promptly.
While Cameron slept, several whispering visitors entered for a peek at the baby. It was just the time of morning that everyone was coming into work, and as the news went around, everyone wanted to see the baby and new mom.
House didn't let them wake Cameron, but they all got to take a quick peek Eleanor sleeping soundly in her cradle by the bed. House hadn't let the nurses take her away, telling them that Cameron would panic if the child was gone from her side. This was against the usual protocol, but the nurses were intimidated enough by House to let it slide.
Among the visitors were Cuddy, Wilson, and Foreman. Foreman was the last visitor before most people had to get to work.
Foreman had walked around the cradle to get a good look. "Huh," he said quietly, with a thoughtful look on his face.
"What?" House asked gruffly.
Foreman answered without thinking. "She looks just like Chase."
Foreman hadn't noticed a change in House's expression, but the impact of his words lasted long after Foreman had left the room.
As Cameron slept, House recalled the conversation they'd had just after Jim and Marie had left.
"So, Cameron was dead hubby's name?" House had asked as soon as the door was shut.
"Yes," Cameron answered simply, prompting House's next question.
"Why?" he asked.
Cameron shrugged. "It was the only part of him I could keep when he died," she stated simply.
"Except the frozen sperm," House muttered.
Cameron ignored that comment. She was in too good of a mood to spar with House.
"You know, Allison," House mused, "Even after all the time we've known each other, even after living together, I hardly know you."
Cameron smiled slightly, her eyes sparkling. "Was your secret agenda the whole time we lived together to unravel the great mystery of Allison Cameron?"
"No… that was just a fringe benefit," House said with a shrug. "One that you cheated me out of," he added with a pointed frown.
Cameron's eyes softened. "Part of getting to know someone is learning to ask the right questions."
Apparently, House had no idea what the right questions were. He wondered if he would ever really get to know or understand Allison Cameron.
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Cameron awoke in a wonderful mood, despite the aching pain radiating throughout her body. Having her new daughter beside her was all she needed right now.
"Thank you for watching her," Cameron said to House after she had checked on Eleanor. In reality, he had done nothing; nurses had been in and out of the room constantly to care for the child.
Cameron suddenly thought of something. "Before you go get some sleep, do you want to hold her?"
House had been silent up to this point, but at this, something inside him erupted. "We've been playing happy family for months now, but the truth is, this child isn't mine."
"Chase should be here, not me," House said in a low voice. "If that was my child…" he trailed off before suddenly turning on his heel and limping out of the room as quickly as possible, with no destination in mind but 'away'.
Cameron was silent, the joy of her day gone as she watched the man she loved walk away from her.
The pain she felt as he left wasn't her own; it was for him. She wished, more than anything, that she could take that pain away from him, but nothing she could do would change the fact that it was Chase's child.
Just then, Eleanor started to fuss. Cameron hit the nurse call button before taking the babe into her arms.
When the nurse entered the room, she asked, "Want me to take her?" Cameron just shook her head.
"Can you page Dr. Wilson?"
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When Wilson found House, he was leaning on the low wall of the roof, looking out over Princeton.
Wilson came up behind him silently. For once, House spoke with no prompting. "I've been living in some kind of twisted fantasy," House said in a low, broken voice.
Wilson expression changed to that of worry. He had expected House to freak out, but he hadn't expected him to get hurt. He stepped up beside House and leaned on the wall, giving him silent companionship.
"I've been pretending for months that I'm a part of this, but I'm not," House continued after a long silence. "The kid doesn't know me. I'm no one to her."
"You took Cameron in when she needed someone. You've done more for her than anyone else has, hell, you probably saved that baby's life!" Wilson said emphatically. In a softer voice he added, "She's in love with you, House."
House finally looked at his friend, a hard look in his eye. "Those are the things I am to Allison, not Eleanor."
Wilson shook his head. "You need to talk to Cameron."
Wilson stepped back from the roof's edge and went back inside, leaving House alone with his thoughts. This wasn't something that a few words from a friend could fix.
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When House reentered the room, Cameron was looking down at her child, glowing with love. She looked so natural, so maternal. It was something he would never be a part of.
"Greg," she said in a relief-filled voice when she saw him.
"I'm only here to say goodbye," he said immediately, preempting her speech.
Cameron's eyes filled with tears. "Please don't do this, Greg."
"I've been living in a fantasy world where we, the three of us…" he trailed off. "Where we're… something. But in reality you two are something, a thing that I'm not a part of," House ranted at the foot of her bed.
"Greg, that's not true," Cameron said, her voice pleading. "You mean something to me. You mean something to Eleanor."
"The kid has no idea who I am!" he shouted. Eleanor let out a wail.
"See?" House yelled in consternation.
"Take her," Cameron said, holding the girl out to him.
House did so at Cameron's insistence, giving her a confused, accusing look the entire time. Eleanor continued crying.
"Now sing," Cameron instructed.
"Sing?" House echoed in disbelief.
"She knows your voice," Cameron said softly.
At first his low voice could barely be heard over the baby's cry, but as she quieted, his voice gained strength.
"Once there was a way, to get back homeward, once there was a way to get back home. Sleep pretty darlin' do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby," he sang, doing the Beatles' ballad quiet justice.
Cameron stared up at him with tears forming in her eyes. When he finished, she looked down, fiddling with the bedsheets.
"I tried it before," Cameron said in a low voice. "Singing for her," she clarified. Cameron shook her head. "She never calmed down for me."
House said nothing, only stared at the baby girl in his arms.
Cameron spoke up again. "Look," she said. "I can and will do this alone if I have to. I'm prepared to deal with that possibility. But for once would you think about someone other than yourself?"
House looked at her in confusion.
"She's already been abandoned once. She's never met her father and won't know what it is to lose him. But she knows you. Your loss will mean something," Cameron said passionately.
House looked down at Eleanor and then back up to Cameron. He stepped close to the bed wordlessly and placed the baby back in Cameron's arms.
Cameron looked up at him with terrified eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes silently begging him not to do what she feared.
"Relax," House said exasperatedly. "I just wanted to do this." He grabbed her head and pulled his lips to hers, uniting their mouths in a perfect union.
House grinned when he pulled away. "I've chosen the fifth term of our delivery room agreement," he said.
Cameron's eyes were wide, still in shock from House's actions. "And what's that?" she asked, trying to get her racing heart under control.
His voice was gentle as he reached out to Cameron's cheek. "Give me the chance to learn the right questions."
House brought his lips to hers a second time. Her kiss was her consent.
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THE END
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A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews and kind words! You really encouraged me, and for that I thank you. I hope the ending was good enough for you all!
I am considering a sequel (or even making this part of a trilogy)! Tell me what you think. Should I continue the story or leave it be?
Epilogue coming up soon!
