Chapter 19: New Years Eve

The next morning, he was surprised when Cameron entered his apartment at 11:30. "I thought you'd grow a spine and make the other two do their share of the House-sitting."

"We were all heading home, and they both live in the opposite direction. You'll see them next week."

They ate in companionable silence until House suddenly asked, "So…. any exciting plans for New Years Eve?"

She was so surprised that she almost choked on the bite of salad she had just taken. When she recovered, she answered, "no, just enjoying the fact that we have no patients. How about you?" she ventured.

House snorted. "Wilson's gonna be on call until at least 10 PM. When we were both trying to get Christmas off to go see our families, he got Rosen to cover Christmas Eve in exchange for working Thanksgiving and tonight. I mean, really, isn't that a shitty thing to do to a fellow Jew who's trying to get Christmas Eve off so he can go see his boyfriend's parents.

Cameron's lips twitched as she tried to suppress a smile. "Most department heads wouldn't have even bothered to switch. They'd just made out the schedule to suit their own purposes."

"Obviously, I haven't been enough of a bad influence on him. Abuse of power is essential for a department head."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't comment. "I was thinking of renting some movies. We could watch them together." Immediately, she regretted her impulsive suggestion, but surprisingly, he seemed to be considering it.

"What movies?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Any suggestions?"

"Nothing girly, like Sleepless in Seattle." He shuddered. "How about Attack of the Killer Tomatoes?"

She laughed. "OK! I've never seen that one. Bad 'B' movie marathon it is. What about food?"

"Chinese? The place down the street doesn't use MSG."

"Sounds good." She smiled in anticipation. "Uhm… what about the others? Should I invite them?" she asked, wondering if she'd gone too far.

House paused to consider. Normally he would never invite others to invade the sanctuary of his home, but this last week hadn't been all that bad. And it was only the one time. "Fine. Wouldn't want to make them jealous."

Phone calls were exchanged and plans were made, before Cameron headed off to the grocery store and the video mart.

At 6 PM, Wilson was heading down to the cafeteria, praying that he could find something worth eating, when he saw the light on in Cuddy's office. He detoured from his original path and tapped on her door. She looked up and waved him in.

"What are you doing here on New Years Eve? It's a Saturday!" he exclaimed.

She gestured at the piles of paper arrayed across her desk. "Year end reports, department budget requests, a proposal for a new MRI, plus the normal, everyday crap."

"Go home! Have some fun once in a while. Nothing will fall apart if you put it off until Monday." She was looking stubborn. "Fine, if you won't go home, then why not go to my home." At her confused look, he explained, "House and the kids are having a movie night."

Now she was looking shocked. "Is someone putting a gun to his head? Threatening him to make him interact with other people?"

Wilson shrugged. "I have no idea. He told me about it this afternoon. Maybe the world is about to end and no one bothered to tell me about it?"

"Don't they have two new patients?"

"Didn't you hear? They both had an allergy to soy protein. Diagnosed and discharged in less than 24 hours."

"Three patients in a week. I think we really do have confirmation that the world is about to end."

When Wilson arrived home, it was to the unusual sight of a living room filled with people. There were bowls of popcorn scattered around the room, and enough Chinese takeout containers to feed a small army. He filled a plate with food and went off to the kitchen to reheat it. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks and sat down next to the couch. "So, what are we watching?"

"Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death," House replied, saying the title with relish.

Wilson laughed. "No, really, what are we watching?"

"Can you believe someone actually made a movie with that title?" Cuddy asked. "If you haven't guessed, it's 'B' movie night. We've already watched Attach of the Killer Tomatoes and My Best Friend is a Vampire."

House was irritated. "Hey, My Best Friend is a Vampire isn't a B movie. They actually had a real budget for that one. It should be classified as classic 80's teenage angst movie."

"Aren't you a little old to have been a teenager then?" teased Wilson.

"I was in my twenties," House protested. "I always thought that the guy that played Jeremy was pretty cute," he offered, a gleam of amusement in his eyes. Instantly, all eyes in the room were upon him. "Hello? Dating a man here?"

"But Jeremy was, like, sixteen?" Chase was almost stuttering.

"So? The actor was at least eighteen. Definitely not jailbait, and it's not like I'd be attracted to him now. Younger men are fine, but not that young. The look in his eyes grew speculative. "Of course, that actor would probably be Wilson's age by now…."

"Great! Now I need to worry that you'll leave me for a has-been actor that hasn't acted in anything in the last twenty years." Wilson was trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably.

"I think he may have been in Dead Poet's Society," suggested Cameron, giggling at the glare Wilson shot her way.

They finally settled down to watch the end of Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death. As the credits rolled, Foreman was laughing. "That has to be one of the worst fight scenes in the history of movies. I've seen five-year-olds swordfight better than that."

"What about the piranha tank! That was even worse!" Chase exclaimed.

"At least there was plenty of eye-candy." Surprisingly, this was from Lisa Cuddy.

They all laughed, and then Cameron looked at her watch. "It's almost midnight!" She and Lisa hurried out to the kitchen, while everyone else managed to shut down the DVD player and turned the TV on to Dick Clark from Times Square. The two women returned, bearing bottles of sparkling grape juice and a bunch of somewhat dusty wineglasses. They had just finished pouring the juice into the glasses when the final countdown began. Grinning like idiots, they all joined in. "5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!" They set off the crackers that Foreman had brought. They were laughing and exchanging hugs when Cuddy looked over at the couch where Wilson was still kissing House. "OK you two, break it up. You don't need to rub it in that you are the only ones with dates on New Years Eve!"

When the two men finally separated, Wilson was blushing and House was looking smug. When the merriment had died down, Wilson glanced over at House, who nodded.

Wilson cleared his throat. "Hey everyone. There's something else that we need to celebrate, besides the fact that it's a new year."

Everyone turned to look expectantly at him, curious as to what he was talking about. Now that everyone's eyes were on him, he wasn't sure what he should say, so he choked out, "twenty-four weeks."

Lisa Cuddy was the first one to grasp the significance. "The baby… oh my God… congratulations!" She leaned down to embrace House. Meanwhile, everyone else were refilling their glasses to toast the important milestone, that the baby was now considered viable—able to have a reasonable chance at living if it were born now, although not without the risk of serious complications.

The merrymaking continued for a while longer, and then everyone pitched in to help clean up the living room, as House was ordered off to bed. Wilson joined him there a half-hour later when everyone else had left. "So, is this going to be an annual tradition?" He wasn't surprised when House ignored the question.

Author's note: So did anyone catch the inside joke? Hint: What actor was in Dead Poet's Society and My Best Friend is a Vampire?