Chapter 20: The Way it Was
Cuddy woke up in House's arms with her head on his chest. Comfortable. The morning sun was starting to shine through the small openings in the blinds. There was no use in getting up today and going through her normal morning routine. The mere thought of trying to leave him there was unbearable. Instead, she looked over to him, smiling.
Last night, was something that she needed. Lately, the two had been somewhat distant, stressed out, and starting to get short and impatient with each other. Last night was their chance to just be together, and it worked. That was the part that she loved about him that she wished more people could realize. Everyone else always saw the part of him that was arrogant, the part that made him a jerk and an ass. This was the part reserved for some people, the part of him that truly did care, the part that wanted to help people without all the acknowledgment and attention. He would do small things for her, things that meant something and then move on, if possible without even being noticed.
"You ready for an encore?" House mumbled.
Cuddy laughed. "Maybe in a little bit. Did Gabi tell you when she needs to get the kids back to us?"
House sighed. "No," he answered.
Cuddy looked up to him and smirked. "Well, then how about you call her and check while I grab us both something to eat," she offered.
House held onto her as she attempted to get up. "You know, I'm not that hungry," he told her, grinning as he eyed her body.
Cuddy looked back to him. "Trust me, if we're alone for a while longer, you're going to need your energy," she informed him.
House let go of her and watched as she got up and headed over to the dresser to grab a shirt. "I think I'm in love," he announced.
Cuddy laughed as she proceeded out the door, knowingly making sure that the shirt was pulled up high enough to show off her underwear. House laid back and smiled. Right now, he was about as happy as he could ever be, light a little kid on Christmas morning, except the difference being that he was going to have more fun unwrapping this present than he ever had with any old toy.
ooo
Andy walked into the bedroom to se Gabrielle sitting on the edge of the bed, talking on her phone.
"Ew!" Gabrielle exclaimed, her face twisted in disgust. She stood up and started walking towards the dresser. "I've already thrown up once this morning. Isn't that enough for you?"
Andy stood there for a moment, holding a couple of dvds in his hand. Watching her, he was trying to figure out what she was talking about and with who.
Gabrielle grabbed a hair tie off the dresser and slid it onto her wrist. "Please," she sighed. "If you really wanna talk about this and get competitive, I'll have Andy talk to you and tell you a few of the things that we have done. Quite honestly, we are both very creative people, and can probably go at it better than you two."
"Damn right!" Andy agreed, hoping that he had said it loud enough to be heard over the phone.
Gabrielle looked over to him and laughed. "Hear that?" While she listened to the response, she rolled her eyes. "Right daddy, you can come get them when ever you want. Cameron and Chase are dropping Erin off around five and even then, I'm sure she'll be lay with everyone else here," she explained.
As soon as he heard her mention that it was her father, Andy's mouth dropped. Now, he felt like he was about to get killed when House came by to pick everyone up. "Why didn't you tell me who that was?" he asked, clearly irritated as he watched Gabrielle hang up and set the phone down.
Perplexed, Gabrielle looked over to Andy and laughed. "You mean, that's the question that you have after you hear me discussing that with my father?" she questioned and then headed down the hall.
Andy shrugged as he turned to follow her. "Well, there are just somethings that you would rather not know," he replied. He followed Gabrielle into Jason's room and watched as she went through his clothes and picked out something for him to wear. He then looked down and saw the dvds in his hand. "Oh, yeah. Ellie found a couple of your home movies or what ever. She wanted to know if she could watch them."
Gabrielle closed the dresser drawer and carried the clothes with her to the doorway. "Which ones?" she implored, taking the dvds and examining them. There were two, each with titles written on them: Senior Project and Summer Vacation 2012. "I remember these," she stated more to herself. Nodding, she looked up to Andy. "Yeah, I don't care."
Andy stood there and watched her rush out the room and head down the stairs. After last night, he felt just that much more guilty about what had happened between him and Missy. He knew that it was still on her mind, she had been avoiding too much talking with him. Ever since they both woke up this morning, she had been leaving the room after only a brief moment. It seemed as though whenever he would enter a room, she found a reason to leave the room. Instead of standing there dwelling on it though, he just sighed and took the movies down to Elisabeth to borrow.
ooo
Elisabeth and Jessica sat up in their bedroom. It was right after they had gotten home. Elisabeth had been excited all morning to finally be able to sit down and watch these movies. There was something about them that greatly interested her. She would get to see how things were while she was little, see the things that she couldn't remember.
There was also this weird nostalgic feeling that she started getting with things ever since she had started realizing what dying meant to her. It was as if she didn't want to miss anything at all, past or present.
"Why aren't we watching these downstairs with everyone else?" Jessica asked, closing the door behind her.
Elisabeth shrugged as she turned the laptop on. Really, she didn't know. It was just easier for her to watch by herself. The first one that she chose to watch was the Summer Vacation. As the movie started to play, Jessica came up and sat down beside Elisabeth.
The movie started out with Gabrielle holding the camera, facing the mirror in her bedroom, the room that was now Rachel's up in the attic. "Okay kid," she said turning around to face her bed that was covered in clothing and an opened suitcase.
Among the clutter on the bed sat Rachel who was three years old. She picked up various articles of clothing, eyeing each of them with intent and amusement. "Pretty!" she happily announced, holding up a lime green t-shirt.
Gabrielle laughed as she took the shirt. "You like this one?" she implored.
"Yes! It's pretty!" Rachel answered.
"All right. That's all I have room for. I would like to thank my beautiful little fashion expert over here for assisting me in packing for my trip back to Ohio for a couple of weeks," Gabrielle stated. "Wave to the camera Rachel!"
Rachel smiled as she looked up and waved with one hand, and then blew a kiss with the other.
The scene then cut to Gabrielle walking down the hall towards Tommy's room and peeking in the doorway. "You mind?" she implored.
Cuddy, who was walking Tommy back and forth looked over. "It's okay," she responded.
Gabrielle stepped in and watched as Cuddy gently laid the little baby down in the crib. "This is my new little brother, Tommy. He's now a month old," she softly announced. She then took the camera off of him and looked over to Cuddy. "And here is the insane woman who likes to punish herself."
Cuddy looked to her and glared for a second before smiling and shaking her head. "You should go see what you're father is doing. He took the girls outside to go play in the little blow up pool," she informed her.
Gabrielle laughed. "Thanks for the heads up," she said and then started out the door and down the stairs. She went out to the back yard where Rachel was chasing Jessica around the pool and Elisabeth was sitting in the pool.
"Hey Daddy."
House, who was sitting in a lawn chair, looked up to Gabrielle. "Turning me in to social services?"
"Just getting some video. I wanted everyone to be in it," Gabrielle answered.
"Stop it!" Jessica shrieked.
The camera quickly went from House to Jessica and Rachel. Jessica was down on the ground, on her back as Rachel poured a bucket of water on her. Gabrielle just laughed. Then Elisabeth reached over and grabbed a plastic shovel that was beside her. As soon as Rachel went to get another bucket of water, Elisabeth threw the shovel at her head.
"Elisabeth Rose!" Gabrielle exclaimed. She set the camera down on the table and went over to pick Rachel up and comfort her.
"Thank you," Jessica said as she stood up and smiled over to Elisabeth.
The next thing on the screen was Andy, Doug, Veronica, and Marcy sitting out on a trampoline as the sun was setting. "The night before we leave everyone," Gabrielle announced.
"Yeah," Doug sighed. "And, my last couple of nights here with everyone."
Marcy smiled and looked over. "You can't miss us that much," she replied.
Elisabeth decided to stop the movie and take it out. She had an idea of what the rest of the movie was, the trip and Gabrielle and her friends getting drunk and then leaving.
"We really did always look out for each other didn't we?" Jessica questioned, blankly staring at the now black screen.
Elisabeth nodded as she went ahead and put in the next dvd. She wanted to move on before they both started thinking too much and got themselves upset and worked up.
Gabrielle sat on her bed in her room, the one that Elisabeth and Jessica currently used. "Hey! I'm Gabrielle Zbin, and I will be presenting to you, the people that are important to me. I have narrowed down a list of ten people. It took a lot of time and careful consideration, but I finally got a list together that to me, makes sense. These people include, Gregory House, Lisa House, Rachel Cuddy, Elisabeth House, Jessica House, Andy Richards, Marcy Clark, Cori Williams, Maria Zbin, and the hardest one for me to put on this list, Eloise Zbin."
The scene cut to a shot outside of the conference room as House stood before his team, writing on his whiteboard. "This is Gregory House, my daddy. He is a doctor that works at Princeton - Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. He can be a jerk, and arrogant, but he is still my father, and he really, truly does care. Only the people who know him well, know that he does care."
The scene then cut again to House sitting behind his desk. "I'm not too found of having a camera in my face while I'm pretending to work," House stated, looking down at a file.
"Lisa said that if you agree to this, you don't have to work in the clinic for the rest of the week," Gabrielle offered.
House looked up, interest sparked. "No she didn't," he argued and then went back to looking down.
"Really, she did. You can call and ask her. Besides, even if I was lying, you would have to be down there in five minutes, and I can take ten minutes, just so that you're late and you would have a good excuse and you wouldn't have to be there as long," Gabrielle explained.
House sighed. "Fine," he gave in, looking back up to her.
"Did you know you made my list of important people?" she casually implored.
House raised his eyebrow to her. "Does this mean I have to pretend to care?"
"You should feel honored," she replied.
"Why? I have to be important to you. Without me, you literally would not exist," House argued.
"Well, for a while there you were just the sperm donor," Gabrielle stated.
House turned back to the computer. "Was that your's or Maria's name for me?" he questioned.
"Her's," Gabrielle stated. "I referred to you is that one man."
There was a slightly bitter look to House as he stared at the screen. "I wish I had a witty nickname for you from before I met you."
There was a pause. "I'm glad I got to meet my mommy's sperm donor though," she said.
House nodded. "Me too," he murmured.
"Even though I hug too much?" she asked.
"It's understandable considering how much I resemble a teddy bear," House answered.
The next scene cut to Gabrielle sitting out in the lobby with someone else holding the camera for her. "The next person, Lisa House. Here though, she is still known as Cuddy, because that's what everyone got used to calling her, and she doesn't want it to be completely obvious that she married one of her employees I guess. Anyways, this woman, she is the Dean of Medicine here, but, she is also the one who risked just about everything to be able to keep me. She adopted me and I still owe her a lot. Worse part is, I still don't know why she did this for me," she explained.
The next shot, the camera was back in Gabrielle's hand as she stepped into Cuddy's office. "Got a minute?"
Cuddy, who was sitting at her desk, looked up. "Sure," she complied. She took the papers on her desk and straightened them into a neat pile.
"So, what do you do here?" Gabrielle asked, more with a child would when they were bored and nothing better to do while waiting.
"Run the hospital," Cuddy answered, mimicking Gabrielle's tone.
"Do you sometimes forget how to be a real doctor?" Gabrielle questioned.
Cuddy smirked. "Tell your dad that I still sign his paychecks, and to keep that in mind when he's talking to you or anybody else."
"Will do," Gabrielle responded. "I think I should tell you, you're in this video because you're important to me."
Cuddy softly laughed. "Thank you," she replied.
"You wanna tell everyone why you adopted me?" Gabrielle questioned.
Cuddy froze for a second, staring up at Gabrielle. She looked as though she was trying to figure out what Gabrielle was looking for. "I adopted you because I wasn't about to stand back and watch a young girl be punished because her father happens to have a few bad marks on his record," she explained, her face void of any emotion. "I happen to care about you."
"Well, I am adorable," Gabrielle stated, trying to lighten the mood a little.
"I do have a soft spot for kids," Cuddy remarked.
Gabrielle laughed, "I would hope so," she replied. "Hey! Why don't you stand you stand up?" she requested.
"Why?" Cuddy questioned.
"Proving that you like children. This morning I believe you called that tiny little bump you have cute," Gabrielle explained.
Cuddy sighed. "I don't think so."
"Your feelings sure changed quickly there," Gabrielle commented.
Cuddy rolled her eyes and stood up, turned to her side and then quickly sat back down.
Gabrielle laughed at how quickly Cuddy could get annoyed. "I love you," she mentioned.
"Love you too," Cuddy breathed out.
The scene cut again to Gabrielle in the living room sitting on the couch with her three sisters. "Now, these girls, are my cute little sisters," she announced. She then went on to introduce them from the furthest from her to the closest to her. "This is Rachel," she stated, motioning to her. "Go ahead and say hi Rachel."
"Hi!" Rachel chirped and then blew a kiss to the camera.
"Then this here is Jessica," Gabrielle said.
"Hi," Jessica said.
"And this here is the loudest child I have ever met. Elisabeth," Gabrielle teased.
Elisabeth smiled and waved.
"Now Rachel? Could you tell me what your favorite show is?" Gabrielle asked. She smiled to the camera and then looked back to Rachel.
"Green Acres!" Rachel cheerfully announced.
"That is awesome!" Gabrielle replied and then smiled proudly to the camera. "I used to sing the theme song to her all the time."
Rachel stood up on the couch and started to sing. "Green Acres is the place to be! Farm living is the life for me! Land spreading out so far and wide! Keep Manhattan just give me that country side! New York is where I'd rather stay! I get allergic smelling hay! I just adore a penthouse view! Darling I love you but give me park avenue!" She then sat back down and hugely smiled to the camera.
Gabrielle laughed. "I think someone likes attention," she mentioned and then looked over to Jessica. "And you like Three's Company."
Jessica laughed. "Yes," she answered.
"But you're not going to sing?" Gabrielle implored.
Jessica shook her head and looked away from the camera.
Gabrielle looked down and put her hand on Elisabeth's back as she smiled to her. "And this one here, I always sang the theme to the Mary Tyler Moore Show."
Elisabeth clapped her hands as she nodded.
"Because you're gonna make it after all! Right?" Gabrielle asked.
Elisabeth smiled and nodded.
The screen then cut to Andy, Marcy, and Cori sitting at the kitchen table.
"These are my three best friends. Ever," Gabrielle informed everyone.
"I was her boyfriend," Andy announced, putting his hand up and motioning to himself.
Marcy laughed. "Was. For a reason there," she explained.
"Anyways," Andy started, briefly glaring to Marcy before looking back to the camera. "I've known Gabrielle since she was like five years old. She was best friends with my little sister and then started hanging out with me later on. We have dated a couple of times. We have never been enemies though. Never."
"I'm Marcy. We met our freshman year of high school. Ever since then, even though we live in different states, Gabi and I keep in contact. She and Andy come down every summer to see everyone. She lived with me for part of her freshman year and then stays with me part of the summer. There was a Christmas in which her family came and stayed with us," Marcy explained.
"She's basically a sister to me," Gabrielle added.
Marcy laughed. "Yes, you could definitely say that," she agreed.
"I'm Cori. I met Gabrielle here while working on a project with her at the beginning oft her first year out here. She went on to save me from making the worst decision of my life. She convinced me to live when I wanted to end it all. In all honesty, I think this should really be the other way around. I'm a friend to her, but she doesn't need me. I need her. She's important to me," Cori stated.
Gabrielle stood there, silent for a moment. "Thank you, but that's not true. Believe me, it's not true," Gabrielle assured her.
"Anyways," Gabrielle said, hoping to get lighter again.
"Would you believe that she thinks that Violet should give Tate a second chance on American Horror Story?" Andy randomly asked, motioning towards Gabrielle.
"He may have murdered, and he may have raped, but he did change and I believed everything he said to Violet as he was begging her not to break up with him," Gabrielle firmly argued.
Marcy looked between Andy and Gabrielle. "You know, I agree with her. I don't know what your problem is," she told Andy.
Andy rolled his eyes and then looked over to Cori. "What about you?"
"I agree that he changed, but I don't think that he deserves a second chance," she stated.
Andy looked to Gabrielle and motioned to Cori. "Thank you!"
"What are you guys talking about?" Cuddy inquired, walking passed them over to the counter.
Andy turned back to face her. "You ever watch American Horror Story?" he implored.
Cuddy grabbed a glass and looked back to him. "No. I've heard about it, but I never watched it. Why?" she questioned and then went over to the sink and filled the glass with water.
"We're talking about Violet and Tate breaking up," Marcy clarified.
"Yeah, those two breaking up over the reason that she stated, would be like you breaking up with Daddy because he took a Vicodin and left you alone at the hospital," Gabrielle started. "Violet knew that Tate was a murderer and still stayed with him. She waited until the very end to leave him for doing things that she should have expected of him."
Cuddy just shook her head and walked out of the room.
"I still think you two are insane," Andy murmured with his arms folded as he sank back into the chair.
"But you love me for it," Gabrielle said.
Andy just shrugged.
The scene then cut to Gabrielle sitting back in her room. She looked melancholic as she stared down to a spot next to her on the bed. "All right, now, the next person on my list, cannot be on this video because she is dead. My mom, Maria Zbin," she announced and then looked up to the camera. She held up a picture of her and Maria together. "This was taken three years ago, right before the car wreck that killed her. Her last picture ever."
Gabrielle sighed as she set the picture back down on the bed beside her. "Anyways, she is my mother. She wasn't always the best, but she still did raise me. She taught me to walk, talk, dress myself, potty trained me, taught me to read a little and write a little before I started school. There were times where she would lay dress up with me, bake things for me and fix my hair. Three years now, she has been dead, and even though we didn't quite get along at the end, I still miss her greatly."
Gabrielle then sat there silently for a brief moment. "Then, that brings me to my last person. My Aunt Eloise."
Gabrielle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "All right," she breathed out. "This, is the woman that has verbally, and physically abused me. This is the woman that to this day, tells me that I am the disgrace of this family. Right now, I do not have her here to talk for obvious reasons. I don't want her here."
"Now, some of you might be wondering how a person like this could be important to me. Eloise is the worst person that you could ever imagine leaving a child with, but I was left with her regardless, and while I was there, I learned a few things. Important things. I learned how to escape and to sneak out. I learned that the world could be a harsh place, that you cannot ever trust everyone. She taught me that I have to hang onto the people that do care about me, and to never take them for granted," Gabrielle explained.
The young girl remained stoic as she obviously contained the feelings of anger and bitterness. "Without her, I would not be as independent, I wouldn't have grown up as fast as I did."
Gabrielle looked straight to the camera and forced a smile. "That is all for the most important people in my life. I would like to give a special thank you to everyone who was willing to be on camera for this. I would also like to thank Marcy for filming the parts in which I was on camera rather than behind it.
Elisabeth took the dvd out and looked over to Jessica. She told her that she thinks Gabrielle was a little off when she said that she was going to make it after all.
Jessica sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "You wanna go downstairs and find something to distract you?"
Elisabeth nodded and smiled. That to her sounded like the best idea all day.