Chapter 17: Christmukka

Author's Note: In 2005, the dates for Hanukkah were Dec 25-Jan 1. Christmas, was, of course, Dec 25. Also, I'm not Jewish, so forgive me if I get something wrong.

It was 1 PM on December 24th, and Wilson was alone in the living room after being banned from the kitchen by both mothers. John was at the market, picking up some last minute ingredients that had been forgotten. Greg was taking a nap in the bedroom, having been up most of the night due to spasms in his leg. At 2 AM, he'd finally allowed Wilson to help him into the shower, followed by a massage, and the pain had finally subsided enough that he'd been able to sleep.

Wilson was absently straightening books on the bookshelves when the doorbell rang. He abandoned his task, and went to open the door and usher in his brother and his wife. "Josh, it's great to see you. It's been too long." He turned to hug his sister-in-law. "Anne, how are you?" They exchanged pleasantries and then explained, "mom's in the other room. I've been kicked out of my own kitchen."

Josh laughed. "So where's dad?" he asked, looking around the living room.

Wilson ignored the sadness that threatened to overwhelm him. "He's not going to be here. Apparently I'm not a member of the family anymore."

Josh couldn't keep the look of utter shock off his face. "What the hell happened?" he asked, not believing that the perfect Wilson brother had fallen from grace. Had he quit his job? Killed someone? He looked around the room, and his eyes landed on the Christmas tree in the corner. "Is it because you're dating outside of the religion?"

At that, Wilson let out a tiny huff of laughter. "Believe me, that's the least of my problems." He took a deep breath. "No, it's because I am dating a man." He waited to see what their reaction would be.

Josh's lips quirked into a smile very similar to his brother's. "Really?" He looked to his brother, looking for a sign that he was joking. There was none. "OK." The word was drawn out, as he tried to think of a reply. None was forthcoming, so he settled on pulling his brother into a rough hug. "I just want you to be happy." And maybe that would finally be true. He'd always wondered if James was happy, or if it was part of the perfect son routine. Three marriages, three divorces. Maybe his brother had finally broken away from the many strictures imposed by trying to make everyone else around him happy, and was finally trying to grab some happiness for himself.

Meanwhile Anne was asking, "so who's the lucky man? When do we get to meet him?"

"Do you remember Greg House?" Wilson asked his brother.

"Best man at weddings two and three?" Josh confirmed.

They all sat down on the couch as James replied, "yep, that's the one."

Anne was giggling. "It sounds like a cheesy plot from a movie where the groom ends up with the best man."

"Yeah, but lately my life has been more like science fiction than gay romantic-comedy."

"What's going on?" asked Josh, puzzled.

"House is pregnant." He took a breath and then answered the questions they were about to ask, "and yes, he's a man, and always has been, and yet despite this, as of tomorrow, he will be 23 weeks pregnant."

"How do you feel about all of this?" Anne asked.

"Excited. Happy. Terrified. You name it, I've probably felt it. We're just taking it one day at a time."

"Does mom know about Greg and the baby?" asked Josh.

James nodded. "On the 15th, he fell. It wasn't his fault; some stupid kid knocked him down." He turned to his sister-in-law. "House walks with a cane," he explained, and she nodded. "He fell and almost lost the baby. I called mom and dad, and that's when they found out about Greg. Dad walked out; mom stayed."

"Are Greg and the baby all right?"

"He's still recovering from the surgery, but he's doing better. The worst part is he'll be on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy. That's the reason for all of the equipment, so he can work from home in a vain attempt to keep him from going insane with boredom." He glanced at his watch. "I'd better go and wake him up. He didn't sleep well last night, so we made him take a nap this morning. Why don't you go on in to the kitchen and say 'hi' to mom."

Just before it was time to eat, Greg emerged from the bedroom, having just showered and changed into fresh clothing. Somehow they managed to find a place for everyone to sit in the living room, even though Greg was occupying the entire couch. As they ate, James surreptitiously watched his family, who kept glancing at Greg, their eyes drawn to the curve of his belly, which he was no longer attempting to conceal. When they were done eating, they all agreed to wait before attempting dessert.

Jane reached behind her chair. "I know that it's a little early, regardless of what holiday we're celebrating, but seeing how this will probably be the only time we see each other this season…" She pulled out a present exquisitely wrapped in blue and silver paper and handed it to James, who began to carefully remove the paper.

"Come on, Wilson! We don't have all day," House grumbled.

James smiled, and silently refused to hurry. When the paper was off, he opened the box and folded back the layers of tissue paper to reveal a beautiful dress shirt, which he didn't need to try on to know that it was hand tailored to his exact measurements. He automatically looked at the cuff on the left sleeve, running his fingers over the monogram embroidered there. "Thank you." He leaned over to place a kiss on his mother's cheek. He was about to find his gift for her when she turned and produced another box, wrapped in paper identical the first gift. She handed it over to Greg who was looking at it as if it might explode.

House, at that moment, was wondering what in the world Wilson's mother could possibly have picked out for him, hoping it wasn't another dress shirt. With a gleeful abandonment usually only seen in four-year-olds, he ripped into the paper. He opened the box to find several band t-shirts. He unfolded them – Rolling Stones, Phish, Dave Mathew's Band, and The Who. One of them was identical to a shirt he already owned. He was a little puzzled, but when he glanced at the tag, he laughed.

"I thought you could use some larger t-shirts in the future," Jane explained, enjoying on of the rare times when Gregory House laughed.

Then Wilson pulled out the presents he had wrapped that morning. There was the bottle of Channel No. 5 for his mother, and the food processor for his brother and sister-in-law (practical but much appreciated). He had also wrapped House's presents for his parents – a book on the F-15 for his father and a glass figurine for his mother. Since John had retired, Blythe had started collecting them once she would no longer be forced to move every 18-24 months.

For James, there was a pair of cufflinks from Josh and Anna. Then Blythe had two presents in her hand. The first, for James, proved to be a beautiful silk tie, and the box for her son contained a set of speakers for his iPod.

Just when they thought that they were through exchanging presents, James reappeared from the bedroom with two more gifts, identical except for the wrapping—one was in blue, and the other in green paper. "These are from both of us." He handed one to his mother, and the other to Blythe. Taking their cue from James, the two women unwrapped the gifts at the same time, revealing boxes that were the trademark Tiffany blue. Inside each box was a beautiful silver frame containing a picture of Greg's ultrasound from 3 days ago. Both women wore identical smiles as they looked down at their unborn grandchild who appeared to be sucking her thumb. The frames were passed around so that everyone could see the picture.

As everyone sat around talking, James and Anne began doing the dishes, with Josh packing up the leftovers. When they were done, they dished up the dessert and brought the plates out to the living room.

After dessert, it was time for Jane to take John and Blythe to the airport, and Josh and Anne took their leave as well. James left Greg with the TV remote as he went to deal with the dessert plates. When he returned, Greg was watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, complaining as the Grinch transformed into a new person. It was a complaint that James heard almost every year, and so he only half-heartedly listed to it. After hanging out in the living room watching TV and occasionally talking, they finally headed off to bed sometime around midnight.

The next morning, they laid in bed, luxuriating in the fact that for the first time in a long time, they were truly alone, with no chance of House's parents arriving unexpectedly. House sighed. "God, I wish we could have sex."

James chuckled and then agreed, "yeah, but I can't see Barry approving that any time soon. Just be grateful he let you have your cane back."

"But wouldn't it be fun to see the look on his face when we ask him if it's OK to…"

Wilson interrupted him, pretending that he hadn't heard him talking. "So, do you want pancakes for breakfast?"

"Trying to distract me?"

"Maybe. So… pancakes?" Wilson persisted.

"With macadamia nuts?"

Wilson nodded. "And I'll even warm up the maple syrup."

After breakfast, they debated whether to watch a movie or do something else. They finally hooked up the Playstation and House proceeded to humiliate Wilson at Super Mario Brothers. Finally Wilson complained of impending carpal tunnel syndrome, and they channel hopped until they found a movie they could both agree upon. Wilson was about to head to the kitchen to warm up some leftovers when House suddenly asked, "aren't you gonna light the candles. It's after sundown."

Wilson looked over at the menorah and the package of Hanukah candles sitting beside it. Two days ago he'd dug the thing out of one of the boxes at his old apartment, brought it home, and placed it on the bookcase. He'd never had any real intention of lighting the candles; his original thought had been that its presence might temper his mother's reaction when she saw the Christmas tree in the living room.

He got out his yarmulke and after some searching, finally found some matches in the kitchen. He put the menorah on the coffee table and fussed with the candles until they were reasonably straight. "Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu…."

He used the matches to light the shamash candle, and then used that to light the first candle. When he was finished, House spoke for the first time in a while. "There's a package underneath my side of the bed. Can you get it for me?" Wilson complied, and found the package with his name on it. Smiling, he went to the closet, where he'd hid House's gift. They'd often spent holidays together, but presents had never been part of that tradition. Only takeout and a lot of alcohol, but this year there were a lot of things that were different: they were in a relationship, and they'd certainly never decorated for the holidays before.

He took both packages to the living room, and sat down in the chair nearest the couch and passed over House's present. He watched as House ripped through the wrapping paper and found the stack of PSP games. He smiled at the memory of when he'd bought them. When he'd gone up to the counter, the clerk's eyes had bulged at the sheer number of games in his hands. 'Wow', he'd said, 'I wish I had a dad like you.' Wilson had merely smiled in return, tempted to explain that they were really for his pregnant boyfriend who had been confined to the couch for the next three months.

House looked up from the stack, a pleased grin on his face. "I thought you said that violent video games were bad."

Wilson shrugged. "Yeah, but bored, pregnant 46 year olds are even worse."

House grinned, and then gestured for Wilson to open his present, which was clumsily wrapped in the blue Hanukkah paper Wilson had used to wrap his family's gifts the day before.

He opened the box, which contained a black leather jacket. He pulled it on; it fit like a glove.

House smiled appreciatively. "Someday I'll convince you to go for a ride on the bike." He watched as Wilson nodded absently, his eyes on the frame that had been hidden beneath the jacket. "You'd probably better put that someplace where no one will see it. Can you imagine the rumor that would start?"

Wilson laughed. A framed ultrasound showing up in a bachelor's office would definitely cause talk. "I'm beginning to think that the rumor mill is broken. I haven't heard a thing about you and I dating."

House snorted. "That's because the only people that know are my team and Cuddy, none of whom want to be the start of that rumor, seeing how they'll have to work with me in the future. The others that know are my doctors, and it would be a breach of doctor-patient confidentiality."

Wilson grinned. "I guess it will have to wait until you return to work." At House's raised eyebrow, he continued, "I'd give you less than a week. You like shocking people too much, and now that the team knows, I can't see you holding back."

"You wouldn't mind?"

Wilson laughed. "I've resigned myself to the inevitable." He then attempted a change in subject. "I talked to your team. As of tomorrow, you have a case." The diversion was successful, and for the rest of the evening, House kept pestering him for details, which Wilson steadfastly refused to provide.

TBC