Thank you all for such a warm welcome back! I'm sorry that I made all of you wait so long. This story is very child-focused and after we lost custody of my 2-year-old niece I found it almost impossible to write this story. God has helped me through and I am back for one heck of a finale! Hope you enjoy this chapter it will answer all of those questions you've been wondering about! Best Wishes! Onyx

House and Cameron stayed at the hospital till it started to get dark and only left at Aunt Virginia's insistence. They picked up a bucket of chicken and mashed potatoes from Cluck Olay and drove back to the cabin. Lusha came out to greet them, went through the doggy door and returned to her pantry within minutes.

"I have a movie you might like. I scratched off the triple x's on the label so you can get into the meat of the story."

"I'm only interested in it if it's got John O'Hurley in it."

"The boss guy from Seinfeld?" He grimaced at that.

"I don't watch Seinfeld but he's the host on Family Feud and he was on Dancing With the Stars."

"Strange I thought you were into guys like Anthony Hopkins."

"He's not bad but he's not a game show host. I also like—"

"Let me guess. Chuck Woolery."

She blushed and House began to regret prying into the conversation.

He put the DVD in and grabbed the roll of paper towels before sitting down to eat. Vivian had given it to him a few days before and he'd forgotten about it, but the footage on it was not anything new. He recognized it from an old video camera Uncle Cappy gave to him. Someone had converted it to DVD.

The date on the bottom of the screen said August 18, 1974. A young boy who was in his teenage years was working to fix a motorcycle.

"Say hello to the camera Bambino." It was the unmistakable voice of his Aunt Virginia behind the camera. He stood up and pretended to chase her and she laughed.

"Uncle Cappy lets go throw her in the duck pond!"

"We do that she'll give all our canoles to Charlie!"

"Wow you were a good looking kid?" Cameron quoted.

"Were?"

She laughed as another boy entered the screen along with a beautiful girl. She could tell by the way he stiffened next to her that they were watching Johnny Dakota and Margerite.

They put down Aunt Virginia and House picked up Margerite and ran for the duck pond. A minute of so later House and Margerite returned. House was wet and she was dry as a bone.

"Who's that guy?"

"Dakota's father. He died six months after Margerite. Doc says it was a heart attack but he took losing Margerite harder than anyone else. I don't think his heart could handle the stress." He said sadly.

The screen flashed to another and there was a barn that looked like the old one she'd seen down by the Elk's Lodge. He was kissing some young girl that was about his age. House reached for the remote but Cameron was faster.

"Uh-uh lets see how bad you really were."

"Fine but you probably won't be able to talk to Becky Larson face to face if you do."

House and Becky were getting pretty hot and heavy.

"Who's filming this?"

"Margerite. She was going to show Dakota that I won the bet."

"What bet?"

"Who Becky took to the hay loft first."

"Gregory House! You better put that canole back in your pants and come home right now. Whatsa matta with you both!"

"Aunt Virginia?" Cameron laughed.

"Yeah. I got stuck working down at the dry cleaners for a month after that. Aunt Virginia told all her bingo friends just how gentle I was at washing lingerie. I've never seen so many old lady panties and bras in my life. It did the trick though I couldn't look at any girl's panties for months. And Dakota got my pony ride with Becky."

"Wait I thought you said you were her first."

"Minor technicality. You know I'm not sure what all is on this tape."

"This outta be good." She teased and leaned back into him.

They watched close to an hour of birthdays, fishing trips, Christmas parties, and House as the lead role in Phantom of the Opera. They laughed and House explained everything and all the people.

"Be right back I need the visit the Incommunicado. You want a drink on the way back?"

"Yeah I'll take another root beer." She said.

A couple minutes later the screen turned into snow so Cameron thought the film was over. She reached for the remote that he had finagled out of her hand and as she did she heard a young man talking very gently. When she looked up she saw House sitting in a chair holding a book and reading to his baby. He was so gentle with her.

"Daddy is going to buy you a great big lion when you come home. Look at those little feet. I wish I could reach in and touch them. You want to hear a song?"

"I got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside. I got the month of May. Well I guess you say what can make me feel this way—"

"My girl." She heard from behind her.

He stood behind her, face frozen to the screen. Then slowly he moved to the TV and hunkered down next to it. He reached out and touched the screen where the baby's image was.

A man with silver hair came over to the young House and wrapped his arm around him.

"My daughter is really pretty, huh?"

"Beautiful like a sweet angel."

"She's dying isn't she?"

"Yes son she is. Don't worry though, her mom is up there waiting for her."

His fists balled tightly at his sides.

"God has a plan for her Greg and for you too."

"I hate God! What good is he? He took Margerite and now he's taking Serafina."

"One day it will all make sense, Greg."

He leaned forward looking closely at the tiny little girl. In barely a whisper he said, "Oh Serafina, my baby."

He had to collect himself for a minute and then he went on.

"I will never stop loving you, ever. I promise to become the best doctor in the world and I won't let anyone stand in my way. I promise you! Baby, daddy promises you!"

He turned to Dr. Silvano and fell apart against him. The tears came flowing without stopping.

"Greg, do you want to hold her? She doesn't have much longer in this cruel world."

All he could do was nod his head. He sat down on the chair and Dr. Silvano put Serafina in his arms. She was so small but beautiful nonetheless. Then the doctor left the room.

"Daddy's here Serafina. I got you. Your mom couldn't wait to see you. She said she left me an angel." He leaned down and kissed her tiny head, then went back to singing My Girl to her.

Cameron smiled when House finally looked at her. The tears had long since fallen.

"Who filmed this? I thought you and Margerite went there alone?"

"We did. I don't know who filmed this. I can't even believe it exists. I never even got so much as a picture of her."

They didn't wait long before they found out who the director was of the sad story. A face appeared on the screen, familiar but slightly younger.

"Hey Cowboy. As you will remember Serafina went to heaven just as you finished your song. I had them edit that part out. I know you feel guilty over losing my sister and niece. And I also know that you won't ever tell me any of it. After you arrived, Uncle Cappy drove me down and put me in a hotel. He wanted me to be there. But I knew you wouldn't want me to be so I got in when I could. Listen Greg you have been friend since we were kids. You loved me and my sister and you gave her the gift of a child. When she passed on she wasn't sad or in pain she was happy and filled with joy. I know you were upset when she died without you but she didn't die alone, I was there holding her hand. I planted the old camera in the nursery, which Dr. Silvano helped me with. I knew that someday you'd want more than a passing memory of your baby girl. I love you brother, and don't you dare hold any of this against yourself, you are this town's hero. Two more things I want to tell you. I know you've been finding blue carnations on Serafina's gravesite they are mine. I go every few months. The other is that Margerite told me to remind you about Zaeden. She said you would know what it meant. I hope this serves as some laughs and a great gift. Take care Cowboy."

Cameron waited until House got up from the floor after watching Johnny Dakota's message.

"Come on, its time I showed you the Jolly Mon Pub." He said.

Cameron followed him to a door with a sign that said "Pirates Only! All others Will Walk the Plank!"

They walked down about seven steps and came to what looked like a large living room. On the right was a bar that looked something out of an old Cagney movie. There were bar stools and some small couches, an old stereo cabinet and china closet, several old pictures, and two other doors that led to a bathroom and a spare bedroom.

"This cabin once belonged to John Gotti."

"The mob boss?"

"Is there any other? Another interesting item is that Aunt Virginia was close friends with him till the day he died. Secretly I think he was sweet on her, which made me nervous with Uncle Cappy. Rumor had it that he used to conduct secret mafia meetings here. Now check this out. Follow me."

She followed him only because she was intrigued as to why he was avoiding the events upstairs.

"This room as you can see is hidden behind the bathtub walls."

The room was small with a small couch and lamp.

"This is the original furniture when Gotti owned it. This is new carpet but under it there are blood stains. Cool or what?"

"Did you ever meet him?"

"All the time. Dakota and I called him Uncle Johnny."

"House this is all fascinating and now it makes me wonder about other things but what does this have to do with that DVD?"

"Patience Al, Geez you'd think would know my buildups by now after almost four years."

"Ok go on."

"Special agents started investigating the area. Gotti got out and left Aunt V with the cabin and enough money to take care of some of my medical school expenses. She never shared that last part with Uncle Cappy till after I graduated. But she let my parents move into it even though she said it was mine. I didn't talk to her for three years over it. I was glad when my parents left."

She waited.

"Let's have a drink. That wasn't relevant to the baby but I like telling the story anyway."

"What's your lethal combination? I got everything from bourbon to brandy."

"Blackberry brandy?"

"Umm…yes I do."

He set out two glasses and a bottle of brandy then sat beside her on the larger sofa.

"I can't believe Dakota made that video." He said suddenly.

"House, who is Zaeden?"

His breath caught.

"The rope that ties the past to the present together."

Again she waited.

"If I tell you what happened there's a good chance you'll walk out that door tonight. Cuddy and Wilson already made up their minds that I'm a pill-popping nutcase. You on the other hand know the part of the story that they don't."

"All right I'm listening."

"Margerite and I were unsure if we were having a boy or girl. She wanted Serafina after her great aunt and Zaeden for a boy after a pirate captain in a book. The pirate lived his life at sea but was really a prince. After Serafina was born, Margerite made me go with the nurses to make sure our daughter was ok. The last thing she said to me was to take care of Serafina and Zaeden. I thought she was getting delirious but when I came home after burying our little baby, there was a letter waiting for me."

He stood up and disappeared upstairs and then came back handing her and envelope.

Dear Greg,

I'm sitting here in this hospital watching the rainfall and feeling our baby move inside me. You're asleep in that make shift bed on the floor. You look so peaceful. I know your heart is breaking but you can't even understand this joy inside of me. Knowing that I am giving life to this world make me more than content. I know you can't see it now but God is working on everything to help us. From the beginning I have known that I am carrying a girl. Tomorrow I'm going to leave this planet alone and leave you and Johnny with our daughter. I want you to take care of Serafina no matter how short her life might be. Then later on I want you to take care of Zaeden. We will have a son for God has promised him to me. I won't be there when he comes along but when you find him you will know. I want you to do a few things for me. Go to medical school and become a great doctor, stay close to Johnny and your family. Then fall in love and get married. Stay strong and never forget about me. I've loved you since I was seven years old. I even waited while you dated other girls. I love you Greg. Everyone should feel as blessed as I do at such a young age. Be loved and Be Blessed!

All My Love,

Margerite

Cameron lived in that spirit of a dead woman through that letter. She understood the deep suffering he's endured, the rough edges, the unstoppable drive to cure all at any cost., and the mile-long wall he built to distance himself. The injury in his leg was just another blow and his excuse to the world to hide the real pain.

"That must've been hard to come home to."

"I left with a friend and a child. I came home with nothing."

"What kept you going?"

"My promise to my daughter. I told her I would be the best doctor so I could save a father from losing what I did."

"But you are miserable with that."

"So it would seem, but I can't get close to my patients the way you do. I saw what Dr. Silvano went through trying to help me. I can heal them. I can take pissed of punches from distraught people who see me as shallow. I can't deal with failure."

"All right I get it. So what happened while I was on vacation?"

"The night you left, remember I was trying to solve that stupid nail in the cube puzzle thing that I found in the hall?"

"You mean the wooden cube with the rings in it that Wilson had on his desk from his cancer patient."

"Same difference. Anyway I was headed out through ER because Cuddy was still there and she had been bugging me for a report on my non-existent clinic duty that day."

"Didn't you do it?"

"Yeah, my first patient was an asthmatic with hyperventilation issues when he was in the sun. I took him to the movies. Hey I care about my patients. And after that we went to the planetarium and then down to The Fire Hydrant Bar. They were all dark places. And oops my cell phone somehow turned off. I really wasn't avoiding Cuddy."

Ah this was the House she knew.

"Ok so you walked through the ER……"

"The trauma unit had just brought in this kid that had been shot. He was like three years old. The dad follows him totally cool about his son being shot. So out of sheer interest I followed. Kid lost a lot of blood and I got in there and helped save his life. The bullet had gone in at an angle and hidden behind his lung. They put him in IC and I hung out there most of the night."

"How'd he get shot?"

"Dad said he'd found his 22 in the nightstand and when he caught the kid playing with it he got scared and yelled at him. The gun dropped and went off. Now I'm not CSI but I couldn't see it happening. His dad actually seemed more fearful that the kid was going to live."

"Sounds wrong to me too."

"Anyway I got Cuddy to keep him under 24 hour observation. Much to her discouragement I convinced Walters to let me have the case. I told Wilson what was going on and he told me I'd been watching too many Diagnosis Murder episodes. Anyway two days go by the kid seems better. He talks more than Foreman, Chase, and Oprah combined. I gave him the cube to keep him occupied and when I came back later that night he was sound asleep with it all solved and under his arm."

"So he liked you?"

"Yeah go figure. I wasn't even nice to him."

"Kids know liars better than adults."

"Well somewhere in the midst of playing Candyland and him conning me into a ride on a fire truck, I ended up there a lot. I'd sleep on those couch/bench things. One night the kid comes over and curls up with me. That was the way it worked for a couple nights.

"Sounds kinda sweet. So what's the issue?"

"One night as we were watching Shrek for the fourth time, his dad comes into the room totally sauced. Says he needs to talk to me. The kid's asleep so I followed him out. He starts telling me all about his beloved wife who suffered a long time with Ovarian Cancer after the kid was born. She told him as she was dying that she would miss the kid and that she couldn't wait to see him in Heaven. Dad's pissed and decides the kid was the reason she got cancer."

"That has nothing to do with it!" She defended.

"Try telling Mr. Fourth Grade Education about that. Anyway he got really mad at me and told me how much of a heartless jerk I was for saving the kid since he was supposed to be with his mom in Heaven. I knew the loudmouth had shot his own son. I knew it!"

"Did you confront him or tell the cops?"

"They'd already been to the scene and confirmed his story. I went to Cuddy and Wilson and they said I should call Child Protective Services. But I wasn't about to it."

"Why? What's so different about this kid?"

"His name is Braeden."

Cameron looked at the letter in her hand and ran her finger over the name Zaeden. Somewhere inside of him the logical clicked off and the impossible had taken him over.

"What's his dad's name?"

"Stephen Smith."

"Oh my." She said simply.

"Hold that thought I need another shot of brandy.

"Make mine a double."

"I decided to take action and contacted my attorney. If I could set Stephen up to confess, then I could get custody of Braeden. Wilson and I took him out to the bar about 7pm. We got him plowed and Wilson had the tape recorder but he wouldn't confess just kept crying over his dead wife. So we took him home and we went back to the hospital. Cuddy was there for some weird reason. I left her and Wilson talking and I went to see Braeden. I fell asleep in the rocking chair and Braeden at some point climbed onto my lap and fell asleep."

"Yeah I really think that kid hates you."

"Well I'm sleeping good when someone kicks my foot. I wake up and Steve is standing there pointing his gun at Braeden, and he's still buzzed."

"Oh God did he shoot him?"

"No he starts telling me all about his wife and how painful labor was and how she loved her son. He loved her so much and hated the kid so much that he wanted to give her what she wanted and he handed the gun to the kid like it was a toy, cocked it and then turned it toward his chest and he pulled the trigger. He would've died if I hadn't saved him."

"Why did he bring him to the hospital then?"

"He said because he didn't want that evil little kid dying in the same room his precious wife did."

"That's twisted. So how did you get out of it?"

"I grabbed my cane by my chair and hit the gun out of his hand and then hit him hard in the ribs with it. Braeden fell on the floor. Cuddy and Wilson ran in as I grabbed the gun. Cuddy took Braeden out of the room. Then Wilson decided to play me."

"Where was Steve?"

"On the bed with me holding the gun on him. Wilson tried to get the gun from me but I shot the bastard before he got it loose. He told me there wasn't any other way to keep me out of jail now. Cuddy ran in and saw Wilson holding the gun I think she figured he was protecting me. I took off and found Braeden asleep in the lobby by the TV. I grabbed him and took off."

"You shot him?"

"I had to. He wasn't going to stop till Braeden was dead."

"Then what?"

"Cuddy comes to my house with a cop and takes him away from me. The kid is crying and trying to get back in the house with me. I make him go and promise to come get him in the morning. Then I left on my motorcycle about midnight and ended up at the Downey Street Pub, got wasted and you know where I ended up after I crashed my bike."

She sat for a minute and then leaned toward him only meaning to hug him and offer him comfort. Slowly however the kisses began. He seemed unsure like he did in his office that day but he soon pulled her close and deepened the experience. He lay back on the sofa and pulled her onto him. The stubble on his face was a little thicker than last year's kiss. Cameron felt goosebumps as his hands rubbed the small of her back. She was surprised when he pulled back.

"Sorry Al. I got carried away."

"I started it." She said looking into his eyes still on top of him. Upstairs his phone was ringing but he was not about to answer it. She put her head on his chest.

"So what do you think?" He asked her. "Cuddy and Wilson want to throw me to the wolves. Chase and Foreman will follow suit. You gonna stick me in a straight jacket too? I know how much you like my office."

"I don't know that shooting him was right but it's also the first time I've seen you do something unselfish at that hospital. Whatever happens I'm on your side. For you, Margerite, Serafina and now Braeden."

She felt all his tension drain and she didn't even have to look at him to see that he was grinning ear to ear. Cameron laid there listening to his heartbeart and now wondered what being on his side would cost her.