Chapter 19: Need
Gabrielle walked into the house with House and Cuddy. She still had Jason with her. "Hey! Get ready! You're all coming to my place for the night!" Gabrielle announced up the stairs.
"Lovely," Cuddy stated as she passed her to head upstairs.
Gabrielle watched Cuddy for a second and then looked over to see House looking through the book shelf for something. "Hey daddy? You mind if I talk to you for a second?" she requested, looking to him with concern.
"Yes, but you're still going to keep talking anyways," he responded. He slightly bent over, staring closely at the bindings of the books.
Gabrielle watched him for a brief moment, wondering what he could be doing, but soon decided that what she had to say was more important right now. "In the kitchen?" she asked.
House stood up and looked to her. He wanted to tell her that she should just go ahead and say it instead of dragging it on and annoying him, but she was truly concerned for him. "All right, let's make it quick," he sighed.
Gabrielle softly smiled and then followed him into the kitchen. What she had to tell him, she knew that he would never believe, but eventually he would see what she was talking about. She quickly sat Jason down on the floor and got him a cookie that she had gotten for him earlier that day, knowing that he would need it if he got too out of hand.
Once Jason was taken care of, she turned and looked to House. Her hands on her hips, with her blue eyes staring straight into his as he casually stood there. "I think that new doctor, Morgan, has the hots for you," she sternly announced.
House suspiciously raised one of his eyebrows. "You got that from the two seconds that you saw her today?" he implored, pointing to her. "Wow. You're either just that good, or, you're insane."
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Remember, I was the one who helped you pick her out. I know how she is, she questions things, she tries to figure things out that she doesn't know. It doesn't matter what it is, just as long as she can figure out everything that's going on around her," she curtly explained. She dropped her arms to her sides and softened her expression. "She didn't question why I was there, or even who Jason was. I know that you keep your person life a secret to the new ones, you use it to screw with their heads."
House sighed. He did have to admit, she did have a point there. She should have at least glanced over at Gabrielle, but she didn't. She barely even noticed that she was there. He wasn't about to let Gabrielle think that she was right about this though. "Her and Chase had just come back from searching through a patient's home. All she had was black mold, but she was still high off her rush from breaking in. Besides, she knows who you are, and probably was able to figure out who Jason was. It's not a complete mystery," he argued.
Gabrielle laughed. "Did she know why we were there?" she questioned. It was no surprise to her that House would offer every argument against her that he had, especially in this situation.
"You've stopped by plenty of times just to stop by. She figured that she had better things to do than ask questions that she already knows the answers to," he stated.
Gabrielle looked over and checked on Jason real quick before crossing her arms. "You already know don't you? You just don't want to admit it," she inquired.
"Yeah, that's it," House sarcastically replied. He turned and headed towards the fridge. "That way, when she gets in me in bed, I can use the excuse that it wasn't my fault. She pulled the date rape drug on me."
"I don't care whether or not you'll admit it right now. But I do care that you be careful and talk to her. I know that you and Lisa love each other, but the last thing either of you needs is someone giving off the wrong signals and getting hit on," she sternly warned him.
House turned to her and glared. "You really think that I would cheat?" he bitterly questioned. The mere idea did offend him. He could be called rude, harsh, snarky, sarcastic, arrogant, any of that stuff, and it was all true, but, he was not a cheater.
Gabrielle shook her head. "Of course not, but I do know a few things. I know that Morgan acts shy, but when it comes down to it, she's pretty confident, which probably makes her aggressive, meaning that if she feels like it, she'll lay a kiss right on you, and not just some plain kiss either, she won't be afraid to use the tongue. I also know that mom is a little emotional right now, probably a little sleep deprived, both bad things if something causes her to be a little paranoid. And another thing I know, is that even though you are still House and you can still observe the absolute hell out of everything and be obsessive and notice everything, I'm sure that lately you are a tiny bit distracted. You won't exactly be looking for Morgan's signs of affection."
"I'll brogan my squirt bottle to work with me from now on," House remarked.
"I just don't want anybody getting hurt," Gabrielle explained.
"You should know by now that that's impossible to avoid," he replied and then left the room.
Perplexed, Gabrielle watched him. It was as soon as she turned to go get Jason that she realized how true that was. It seemed liked every few months there was something wrong. There was never going to be a long time period in which everything was fine. She could hope for one, but it didn't seem likely that her wish would come true.
ooo
House and Cuddy sat in the car together on their way back home. House was wearing a button down short and jacket while Cuddy in her red low cut dress that came down to her knees and the earrings that House had gotten for her. The dinner was nice. There wasn't too much talking between the two, some casual little things here and there, but they avoided the topic of Elisabeth. Not her all together, but her situation. Tonight was for them to forget and to enjoy each other, not dwell on the things that were going wrong or them.
"Thank you," Cuddy said, staring out the window. She was happy to just get out for one night without having to worry about Elisabeth. Usually, she would hate to leave her at home, wondering constantly if she was okay. Ever since that one time when Gabrielle and Wilson watched the babies and they went out alone, that night that they got the call that Elisabeth wasn't breathing well and was in the hospital. Ever since then, she had been nervous about leaving her.
"How thankful are you?" House asked, hinting at the fact that he was expecting a little something in return.
Cuddy laughed. "Thankful enough," she assured him. "Don't worry."
"Good."
Cuddy sighed as she watched the passing scenery out the window. There was something that was still bothering her. One little thing that they had talked about, but never really resolved. It was something that would temporarily ruin the mood, but she had to ask. She just had to know. Apprehensively, she looked over to House and watched as he concentrated on the road.
"What?" House questioned, pulling up to a red light. He looked over and saw her look away from him and move her eyes down towards her lap.
"Are you going to leave when she dies?" Cuddy implored.
"I won't be there that night, but I will come back," he answered. The entire time, he kept his eyes on the light before him. The last thing he wanted to do was look over and see the hurt in her eyes, her begging him to not leave. He didn't want to see the way that he could be hurting her. The most he could promise though was that he would return. He might stay with Wilson one or two nights, but he would come back. To Cuddy though, he wasn't sure that that was enough. She would need him most the first night. There was no doubt in that, but he just couldn't do it, he himself would be hurting, so he figured that he would be useless that night anyways.
Cuddy nodded. She knew that, but she had to ask. As soon as the light turned green and he started to drive again, she turned and continued to look out the window.
The rest of the way home was silent. As soon as he pulled into the driveway, House turned the ignition off and looked over to Cuddy. Even though he hated it, this was one time where he knew that he had to force himself to be a little vulnerable. "Wait," he instructed, stopping her before she opened the door.
Cuddy looked up to him. The seriousness in his voice struck concern within her. "What is it?"
House looked down to the steering wheel for a moment, allowing himself to collect the words that he needed to tell her. "I promise you that I will be back," he flatly announced and then looked over to Cuddy. "I can promise you that because I need you too," he carefully forced the words out. His eyes stayed glued to her to see her reaction.
There was a slight hint of a smile on her face. The reassurance that he would be back, it helped. Without saying anything, she leaned over and kissed him. Slowly, she pulled back. "Thank you," she said and then got out of the car.
House just sat there a moment, watching her walk away from him and towards the front door. He did need her. He needed her before they even started seeing each other, he needed back when she was the only one who would give him a job, he needed her when Tritter was after him, and he needed her when his leg was better for a short period of time and then started going back to how it was.
ooo
Elisabeth and Jessica sat upstairs in the bed in the guest room, the one that was soon going to be turned into another room for the baby. They were both about to go to sleep, but Elisabeth looked over and got her sister's attention.
"What is it?" Jessica asked. She was about to lay down, but sat up completely.
Elisabeth took a second before she asked the question that she had been needing to ask for a while now. She asked her if she was jealous of her and Donnie.
Jessica stared to her for a moment, disbelieving the fact that she would even ask that question. Then again, it was common sense that she would be a little jealous. Adverting her eyes, she shrugged. "A little I guess," she went ahead and admitted.
Elisabeth nodded, understanding. She went ahead and asked Jessica is she knew that they had kissed already.
"Actually, I was watching from Tommy's room. i saw everything down there," Jessica explained. She knew that she shouldn't have been watching, but she wanted to see. She was curious.
Elisabeth looked to her, her face revealing the small amount of pain that she currently felt as she thought back on that night. If she could tell anyone about it, it was going to be Jessica. She trusted her with everything else. She asked her if she knew that she had been invited out on his Uncle's boat next summer.
Perplexed, Jessica just stared to her for a moment, trying to figure out what that piece of information had to do with anything. "No," she replied.
Elisabeth sighed. She told her that she can't go, no matter what, she can never go.
That was when it hit Jessica. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened. "Oh," she barely breathed out, looking towards the wall, anything to keep from keeping her eyes on her sister. "I see," she stated. She knew that Elisabeth was dying, but this was the first time that she had hear Elisabeth say that it hurt her. Cautiously, she looked back up to her, seeing the pain presented in her eyes. No fear, just pain. She saw the tears forming in her eyes as she sat there and thought about it.
"I don't want you to die either," Jessica informed her, holding back her own tears for Elisabeth's sake. Without any hesitation, she leaned forward and threw her arms around Elisabeth, embracing her.
Elisabeth went ahead and hugged her back. The tears falling from her eyes. The part of her life that she had been getting herself ready for, was now becoming all too real for her. It was more than just a thought anymore, it was actually happening, and as it was, she was slowly realizing everything that she wanted to live for.
ooo
Gabrielle lay in bed next to Andy. It was late at night, and she was sure that Andy was already, but right now, that didn't matter anymore. There was something stuck on her mind, something that had been bothering her none stop. She turned over to face Andy and gently grabbed his shoulder. "Andy? Honey?" she quietly called out.
"What is it babe?" Andy mumbled, still half asleep.
"You got a letter from Missy," she said, letting him know that she knew.
Andy turned over to face her and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I opened it a while ago," he responded and then started to doze back off to sleep.
Gabrielle watched him for a moment. There was no visible guilt, so what ever was in that letter could not be that bad. Still though, she had to know. "Andrew?" she tried again, hoping that he would stay awake this time.
Andy moaned as he forced himself up off the pillow and then propped his head up on his hand. "You wanna know what was in the letter?" he inquired, trying to wake up.
Gabrielle nodded. "Very much so," she confessed. It had been bothering her, even if it was something innocent, she still had to know.
"I have a son," he casually announced.
Gabrielle looked to him for a moment, her brow furrowed in confusion. "So do I," she replied.
"No, you have one," Andy stated. "I have two. One with you and one with Missy. Johnny is six years old," he explained.
Gabrielle just watched him, disbelieving his words. "Seriously?" she nearly yelled. Right now, she was more surprised than anything. "Did you just find this out?" she implored, hoping that he had.
"Yes," Andy answered, starting to fully wake up and feel guilty about everything.
Gabrielle just nodded. "I see," she said and then turned over to go to sleep. "Good night then." Right now, she was a little upset, but she didn't actually want to really deal with this right now. It wasn't anything that broke her trust with him, so it wasn't high up on her list of priorities.
Andy sat up and looked down to her. This was not the reaction that he had expected from her. He thought that she would be mad, that she would be yelling at him. He figured that there would be a lot more than a simple goodnight. "That's it?" he questioned in disbelief. "No yelling? You're not mad at me?"
Gabrielle turned her head and looked back over her shoulder. "Listen, six years old. That means that he was conceived and born while we weren't together," she stated. She could see the look on his face, calling for more of an explanation. Sitting up completely, she sighed, "Look," she started, grabbing onto his hand. "I have enough to worry about as it is. Jason has learned how to get through a few of the child proof locks around here, so I have to start watching him a lot more closely. My little sister is dying. We found out that my little brother handles things like me and daddy. My parent's marriage is probably starting to slowly fall apart. My daddy is slowly becoming more and more distant while my mom cries once a week. I don't have time to worry about a child that you had while we were separated from each other," she firmly explained. "Besides, I'm still only three months along here, I don't want to get too stressed out or something and lose this baby. I just want to keep my stress level down to a minimal right now, and your other son is not causing any immediate danger."
"So you're not mad?" Andy asked.
"Until you do something stupid?" Gabrielle questioned. "No." She turned back over to start to fall asleep, but suddenly, something occurred to her. That was around the time that he was cheating on her. She sat back up and looked over, to see that Andy had laid back down and fallen asleep already. Instead of waking him up again, she herself laid back down and tried to remind herself that since they had been engaged, he hadn't done anything to lose her trust. That he had been good her so far and that he had been treating her right.