That same afternoon, House got in the shower and washed all the sawdust and sweat from his aching body. He felt the familiar pain in his leg but when he'd come home he'd left the Vicodin on the shelf. He instead grabbed a bottle of extra strength Tylenol and popped four. It was three-thirty when he slipped on his jeans and navy blue t-shirt and threw his bag in the trunk of Vampire Jane. The drive to Ruthie's house took less than ten minutes. When he pulled up he saw Braeden swinging on the tire swing out front. Ruthie's house was small but in all of Margaretville, there wasn't a warmer house to visit. She loved to bake in between shifts at the diner and she also owned a sewing shop off of Merring Ave. She and Charlie had lived there for many years after Charlie's dad divorced Ruthie. It was, however, commonplace to see Dan Brady's pickup truck throughout the week. Mrs. Cregol who lived across the street, told the ladies at bingo that Dan was such a sweet and handsome man and that he should marry Ruthie. She also raved about the fact that Dan never spent the night at Ruthie's house and in her opinion he was a knight in shining armor.

"Uncle House!" The boy jumped and ran into his stiff legs.

"Whatcha doing Popcorn? You got your sleeping bag?"

"Yup! Be right back." He said and made a mad dash for the door. Dan Brady pulled in a minute later.

"My back is killing me. I guess I haven't been working hard enough at the mill lately." He said shaking House's hand.

"No it's because Vivian and the rest of the squawkers around this town know that you've tied your boat to the dock known as Ruthie. You aren't being chased anymore."

"Let the record stand pal that I did nothing to encourage that."

"Vivian to this day calls you Lee Majors with a beard in a tighter pair of jeans. Well I guess I can't blame her. Bruce is beginning to look like Archie Bunker in flannel."

"I have never made an indecent gesture towards any of those gals. Vivian started watching my every move after someone spread a rumor that the cup I wore to play football in high school was two sizes too small. Which it was because when Coach Richards gave me my running back jersey and gear, he had mistakenly grabbed his son's out of the garage instead of mine! His son played on the junior league in Little League!"

House smirked betraying his guilt.

"I would've thought you would have appreciated that rumor. How many girls wanted you to take them to the senior prom?"

"You're only lucky that you were living with Aunt Virginia at the time. You were such a punk back then cause you didn't have to go to school like the rest of us."

"Perks of having a dad who was in the military and only showing his face when he needed to practice his combat moves on me."

"You still see your old man?"

"About the same as I always did before. He shows up, tries to impress my mom with all his fatherly advice for me, calls me a week after that to tell me that everything I do is useless, and then they vanish for a year. The only difference is that now he doesn't try to kick the crap out of me. He told me a couple years ago that only cowards beat on cripples."

"You should've let me teach him a lesson way back when."

"Probably good that he did what he did. As far as I'm concerned he's just the tadpole. There isn't anything that I need from him and trust me if anyone gets to teach him a lesson it will be Uncle Cappy. He's the only man that I respect as a father. And Braeden's not getting anywhere near either of my parents. My old man's just the kind of guy that all the kids look up to, but when the battle lines are drawn it's a hell of a lot of unfriendly fire."

"Don't worry about it Greg. You forget I know it all firsthand. Not even Ruthie knows about it."

"Keep it that way."

Dan wanted to change the subject.

"Lee Majors with a beard?"

"The women in this town like the mountain man look. I, on the other hand, stay scruffy because I don't want to be known at the dad from Stuart Little."

Dan thought about that for a minute. "You know now that you mention it, a bad comb over, a shave, and bow tie….."

"Watch it mountain man or the next time I bring Braeden over I let him have the Brainbuster Icee at Circle Sammy's."

"Uncle Danny!" Braeden yelled with Ruthie behind him.

"Hi Greg. Come in here for a minute I made you and Braeden some dinner and snacks for your campout." She said with a smile and walked back inside.

"Pay dirt! I knew if I left B with her long enough he'd weasel goodies out of her." He said slapping Dan on the back. Dan grimaced and House laughed.

"Uncle Danny can Rusty come camping with us, please?" He pleaded.

"What do you say Greg? You want to take him along?"

"I gotta have someone to hump my leg. Lusha is out of commission with her sudden illegitimate pregnancy. By the way, where is Bruno?" He said looking for the blue healer that Charlie had raised from a pup.

"He's running in the woods." Charlie said laughing.

"You better quit laughing, Charlie. After all, you are a grandfather to those puppies." House teased.

"Charlie, will you go and get Rusty for me? He and Amos should be in the pen." He tossed the keys to Charlie who immediately left through the back door.

"You keeping the pups?" Dan asked.

"Just two, Zorro and Roxie." House said as he watched Braeden from the corner of his eye.

Braeden looked at him in horror. "Uncle, we have to keep Sully!"

He ruffled Braeden's hair.

"Sully? But he's a whiner and he only sleeps with you. Can't I give him away?"

The boy nearly leaped into House's arms. "No! Uncle please don't give Sully away. We can watch Cars I promise!" House did all he could not to laugh at the little boy's plea-bargaining.

"All right I guess we can keep Sully. But who do we give Zorro to?"

"Uncle Danny! And Auntie Allie can have Domino."

"Ok but tomorrow we watch Cars. I like that tow truck. He's the best."

"His name is Mater! Like Tow-Mater, Uncle."

Braeden ran out front to wait on Charlie and Rusty.

"We've watched the same Disney cartoon for a week now. I like monsters as much as the next guy but I'm not about to watch it again." House confirmed.

"That's how little boys are. When Charlie was a boy all he wanted to watch was Peter Pan. To this day, every time Danny and Charlie go fishing, Charlie tells me he's bringing me home a codfish." Ruthie said with a smile.

"Captain Hook got a bad rap. You let Johnny Depp play Hook instead of Dustin Hoffman, I guarantee he'd have kept all his limbs!" House chuckled.

"Have you talked to Allison?" Ruthie asked.

"Not since she left. It doesn't matter though. Braeden and I can burp like real men in our own domain. Al had no idea what she was running from but that's how chicks are. Hey Dan by the way, you listen to all that old hillbilly country; do you have any Glen Campbell?"

"Something in particular you're looking for?"

"Not sure let me look at them." House said innocently.

Dan and Ruthie exchanged a glance when House became preoccupied with the albums Dan directed him towards. They both knew how much House missed Cameron. Braeden was their greatest little spy.

Dan sat down at the table and looked at House with a serious tone as House settled on two CD's.. "Greg I wanted to ask you something while you're here."

"I'm not going to break Ruthie in for you. That ship sailed in the sixth grade." He teased.

"You better watch your mouth, this happens to be my future little Mrs."

"All right so what else could it be? You planning on getting rabies the night of your honeymoon?"

"Greg, will you hush up for a minute? This has been on his mind all day."

House wasn't about to argue with Ruthie. Like Aunt Virginia, Ruthie would cut off his meal ticket if he got on her bad side. He was a powerless man.

"I've been talking to Charlie and he really wants to escort his mama down the aisle so he leaves a bit of a vacancy for me. So I was wondering if you would do me the honor of being my best man."

House was smirking until he asked the question. Then he rubbed the back of his head. He sat in silence for a long time and then finally he said, "Does that mean I get to remove the garter belt with my teeth?"

Ruthie blushed and then giggled.

"You poor sap, all the animals of the forest and I'm the best you come up with. But don't even think you're going to get me to wear a cumber bun. I want to look Rat Pack style; you got it? And I want a smokin' cane too. Frank Sinatra should roll over in his grave with envy." House said pointedly.

Dan laughed and smacked House on the back. It was his turn to grimace. Then Dan turned to Ruthie and without any embarrassment he pinned Ruthie to the kitchen counter in a kiss. She came back up and swatted Dan in the head.

"Go out there and take care of your horses, Dan Brady. They wandered down the pasture again."

"They know where home is, sweetheart. Greg I'll see you in the morning so we can get that sign nailed and finished up before the decorations come in." He put his cowboy hat back on and headed out into the pasture.

House nodded. "I'll have Braeden here around 8 tomorrow."

"Bring him down to the diner. I told Donna I would work breakfast till nine tomorrow. She's taking Libby to the dentist. Braeden can eat breakfast and help Charlie paint the shutters before we come back here to make pies."

House nodded in agreement and then leaned forward to kiss Ruthie on the cheek. "On second thought it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to break you in. You can give Danny Boy the proper instructions then"

"For Pete's sake go away before one of my boys hear you. And take this cooler with you. It has all your food in it."

"Thanks Ruthie. If Dan hadn't married you I might have had too. A woman who can cook like this could be feeding a different guy every night of the week." He said and marched out the door.

House loaded Rusty and Braeden in the car along with the cooler and both of their fishing poles.

"Bye Uncle Danny!"

"See ya little guy!"

They drove down to House's boat singing Jimmy Buffett's Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was Braeden's favorite song on House's favorite CD. It took them about fifteen minutes to load the boat. House was still sore and was still limping considerably.

"Uncle, why are you walking like that?"

"I hurt my leg, Popcorn."

"I can fix it!" He declared.

He ran down the steps to where the bunks were, he rummaged in his backpack and then ran back out. With the most fearful look on his face he handed House the bandaid. His face made House tremble inside.

"Thanks pal. I'll go put this on. Will you do me a favor and sit there with Rusty till I get back. And stay away from Aunt Ruthie's cookies or I'm making you swim with the sharks tonight!"

"Ok. Gosh!" He said with almost a pout.

House went into the cabin for a quick minute and then came back out. Braeden had put a life vest on Rusty. House burst out laughing. He suddenly felt much better.

The doorbell rang around 4 o'clock that afternoon. Aunt Virginia had just taken her veal Parmesan out of the oven.

"Hold on. I'll be right there." She hollered.

A minute later she opened the door and found a vase full of red and white carnations sitting at her feet. She looked outside and saw no one so she brought the vase inside and closed the door. Uncle Cappy came in from feeding the dogs.

"What is that?" He asked.

"You mean you don't know?"

"Well if no one else takes credit, I will." He said. "But if flowers were delivered where's the card and where's George Hanover? He usually makes all the deliveries in town."

"These look like Vivian's carnations. The red is so vivid and she has the only garden that breeds them like this."

"I think I'm jealous. No one but your Big Ragu here knows how much you like carnations."

"Oh now you're jealous? Wasn't it just you who claimed that he'd sent them?"

Again the doorbell rang. "Whatsa matter with this door?" She opened it again and this time Cameron was standing there with a pink carnation in her hand.

"Allison!!! My baby came back!" She shouted throwing her arms around Cameron. "Carrado, look it's Allison!"

"Well let go of her so I can hug my Bambina." He said happily.

"Come in here right now. Let me feed you." She said pulling Cameron into the kitchen. "Did you drive here on your own?"

"No, actually I wasn't going to come but someone talked me into it." She said.

"Tell me who it was and I am going to make them the biggest tray of cannolis they've ever seen."

"I'm sure Johnny Dakota will be thrilled with that reward."

"My Johnny came and got you?" She said is awe.

"We'll let's just say that he paints nice pictures but some things I want to see for myself." Cameron said.

"Well God bless him! Have you seen Greg?"

"Not yet and I want to keep it that way till tomorrow. Have you seen him today?"

"Uncle Cappy has. All of my boys have been working at the restaurant getting it ready for tomorrow's grand opening. He just came home. Carrado come here!"

"You miss me already?" He teased.

She ignored him. "Where was Greg going after the restaurant?"

"He and Braeden were going on an overnight fishing trip on that boat of his."

"Good, because this town is so small. Dakota said he wouldn't tell anyone I was here."

"Where are you staying little one?" He asked.

"Down at The Lazy Huron."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I can fix up a room for you."

"I'm not sure how long I'm here for."

"Well you listen to me now. There have been a lot of changes since you've been gone and you won't believe Greg when you see him. I want to tell you so badly what he's gone and done but I can't ruin things. All I can say is he has given you a reason to be proud and that's saying something." Aunt Virginia gushed.

"He's never disappointed me Aunt Virginia, that's the point. When he's at work in the hospital he is so completely different then he is here. But somehow even though he was a jerk at times and he took risks that I couldn't endorse, he made me love him. I don't see myself disappointed when I look at him; I see this desperation. I want to break him out of his misery but he seems to love being in it. Then I see him here with all of you and he's happy and more peaceful. How can he go back to what he was? And how can he bring Braeden into that lifestyle?"

"Oh my sweet little girl. You really have been trampled in all of this. I can't convince you that he's going to be all right or that he's even going to stay the way he is now, but I can promise you that he loves you so very much."

"How can you decide between what he says and what he feels?"

"Are you calling you're Aunt Virginia a liar?"

"No, not at all. It's just that he has built his life around this shattered image of himself."

"Honey, wait till this weekend is over. I promise you, you'll have all the answers and more. Now onto topics I am allowed to discuss freely. Dan Brady proposed to Ruthie and she agreed to marry him."

"Agreed? More like knocked the poor man over with all them kisses!" Uncle Cappy hollered from the living room.

"Oh you hush in there! It was romantic! She adores that man. I could see it even when they were working together at the deli as kids."

"I'm so happy but not surprised. Dan was going to propose the day I left. They're so right for each other and it gives Charlie a good man to imitate as a role model."

"That it does baby girl. Now if you don't mind I'm telling Ruthie you're here because you are part of the festivities."

"You didn't even know I'd be here." Cameron protested.

"Oh I knew you would. Something's I know for certain. I know how long my veal Parmesan has to cook without a clock in sight. I know when Carrado is coming down with a cold even before he sneezes, and I know Greg has messed up a lot in his life, but he's never crossed his own heart. I knew you'd be home and I know the ending of this story. I'll bet my Italian soul on it."

House and Braeden were playing checkers, when the line on Braeden's pole began to tug.

"I got one!" He screamed in triumph.

"Hold on there, Captain Nemo." House said getting out of the chair. Braeden, however, was too excited. He grabbed the tiny pole, kicked over his bottle of Hawaiian Punch and slipped on it. Before House could grab him, Braeden slipped over the side of the boat.

"Braeden!" He yelled and within seconds Braeden was under the water. House quickly pulled off his shirt and shoes and dived in. He was frantic and quickly because the water was getting darker with twilight approaching.

House came up for air just in time to see Braeden's foot go back under. He dove under and saw Braeden for a split second before he disappeared again. All of the old fears came back about losing Braeden to Stephen's gun. House came up one last time for air and then giving himself a very hard thrust downward, he shot through the water headfirst. It took him just a few seconds to find Braeden right below him, struggling to swim upward. House grabbed the seat of the boy's shorts and twisted his first and middle finger through the belt loop. Giving it every ounce of strength he had, House swam for the surface. He pulled Braeden above the water and was relieved to see the boy coughing up water. Amazingly he had not let of his fishing pole. House pulled them up into the boat and immediately realized that Braeden's hard work wasn't in vain. The line was still tight and the look on his tiny little face told House that he'd go right back in that water if it meant catching the fish.

"Give me the pole, Braeden. Let's get this guy up here." Braeden handed over the pole but he still refused to let go. House grabbed the pole and pulled and reeled until the mouth of the large fish began to surface. The perch was enormous about a foot in length and a hefty two pounds by House's estimation.

"Nice work Popcorn. I've never seen a fish that big except in cartoons."

The little boy said not a word but beamed from ear to ear. "I didn't let go Uncle!"

"No you didn't kid. You look short and soft but you're a tough kid. Now let's get you out of those wet clothes and then we'll take Rusty over to the cove."

"Uncle did you bring marshmallows?" He said watching the fish flop around in the big empty cooler.

"Yup. They will make good pillows."

He giggled. "You don't sleep on marshmallows Uncle. You eat them."

"Really? I thought they were just sweet so we had sweet dreams."

"No, my mommy said they cleaned out my tummy."

House looked down at Braeden. It was the first time Braeden had mentioned his mother.

"Do you miss your mom, Braeden?"

"No."

House raised an eyebrow as he led Braeden down into the cabin to get him dried off. He pulled his sweat pants and top out of the backpack. Questioningly he turned to look at Braeden. His hair was matted to his forehead and he was biting his lower lip. Suddenly House felt fearful. Braeden was at a crucial juncture and House was unsure of how to get Braeden to talk about his feelings of home or his mother. He thought of Aunt Virginia and then Cameron. He had to get out of there before he messed everything up.

"Here use this towel to dry off and put these clothes on. Throw the wet clothes in the bathroom sink. I'm going to bring the ship to the dock. Come up to the big chair when you are dressed, ok?"

"Ok Uncle."

House thought the minute he stepped up on the deck that he'd feel better but he was suddenly racked with a horrible feeling in his gut. He looked over at Rusty who was still watching the fish and then at him.

"Don't tell me pooch. There is no way I am feeling guilty." The dog made a slight whimper and House shook his head. "You sound just like Cameron."

By 6:30 that evening Aunt Virginia had convinced Cameron to come with her to play cards at Vivian's. Many of the ladies who played bingo were also card players. Aunt Virginia left Cameron playing penny poker at the kitchen table with Uncle Cappy. Cameron had declined playing cards with the ladies because she didn't know much about Texas Hold Em'. Uncle Cappy said he would teach her while Aunt Virginia got ready.

"How did I get roped into this Uncle Cappy?" Cameron asked.

"You folded with a pair of tens, sweetheart."

"I don't mean that hand, I mean the game at Vivian's. I was trying to lay low till tomorrow."

"Oh that. Well the old saying goes, don't give your beef to a Sicilian women, she'll make stew and give it away for more beef."

"Is that saying real?"

"If you know Virginia Caponera it is!"

"Well I guess as long as House doesn't find out I'm here then I'm all right with that."

"Allison, you ready to win some money?" Aunt Virginia called from the bedroom.

"If playing with Uncle Cappy is any indication, then don't count on it." She yelled back.

Aunt Virginia came into the kitchen. "I should've told you that he cheats."

"Hey hey hey! You keep telling people that and their gonna start counting meatballs at the restaurant." He teased.

"Speaking of the restaurant, I have a question to ask." Cameron said turning in her chair to look at the short woman beside her.

"Braeden picked the name." Uncle Cappy said before Cameron could finish.

"What?" Cameron said in utter astonishment.

"We had a little contest in town. We put an ad in the paper saying that we were taking submissions for a name for the new restaurant. There was like twenty or thirty submissions. Well Uncle Cappy and I went through them one by one and we narrowed it down to about ten good ones."

"And Al's House of Pasta was an entry?"

"Yes ma'am it was. In fact I didn't even notice the similarity until Vivian pointed it out. Anyway, we couldn't decide because they were all good names. So Charlie suggested that we read them to Braeden and let him decide. Al's House of Pasta was like fourth in the list. He chose that one and even though we read him the others, he would only go with that one."

"So who put that entry in then?"

"We don't know. To make a fair decision we made it completely anonymous so that we could judge the names and not the creator." Uncle Cappy added.

"So what did your nephew say about it?"

"He tried to talk little Braeden out of it but that little fella isn't going to move in a hurricane. So we let the name stand. It's more of an inside joke with the family really." Aunt Virginia said.

"Sounds about right. I 'm guilty by association." He agreed.

"Now come along Allison. Your Uncle Cappy likes to watch Law and Order on Friday nights and he'll be a zombie until all four of his shows end."

"You got a lot of nerve there, mama. The way you carry on about the guys from CSI. If those guys walked into the supermarket you'd be a clean up on aisle 3." He said standing over her.

Cameron looked at Aunt Virginia. "Grissom?"

"None other! He pops my tarts I can tell you that!"

Cameron nearly doubled over laughing. Aunt Virginia fanned her face with her hand and Uncle Cappy threw his hands in the air and walked into the living room.

"To be honest I felt the same way the first time House walked into the lab I was working in." Cameron confided.

"Looks he has for sure but his mouth is bigger than Texas." She said with a nod.

"Just like the rest of your family!" Uncle Cappy bellowed from the living room.

"I'll be right back." A moment later Cameron was met with an understanding of where Aunt Virginia went. "Ouch! Leave what little hair I have alone woman!"

"I'm going out Carrado and when I get home you better have learned something about my family or else the dogs are going to have their own pillow in the doghouse!"

"Win lots of money Allison! I'll see you girls later!"

"Just a quick little aside on that. Wait until Greg's hair starts to thin before you use that as a weapon to get what you want."

"If I still know him by then." Cameron said getting into Aunt Virginia's car.

"As Ol' Blue Eyes would say, 'He's got you under his skin."

Wasn't Cameron amazed to hear the radio come on and that very song was playing.

"Allison, you should know that Uncle Cappy is fond of saying this little phrase when strange coincidences happen that prove me right."

"There'll be no living with you now, is what he says."

Aunt Virginia laughed and all the way to Vivian's she had a new Sinatra song to sing.

Love and marriage, love and marriage…….