Hi I must thank the people who have so kindly reviewed my fic! You have no idea how lovely it is to get even a few words of encouragement!

Chapter Twenty One

Dom and House were lying in bed; the coffee they had consumed was only part of the reason that they were still awake at 4am. Dom was still a little shocked at the content of Greg's dream and the fact that even though it wasn't a real happening, his father was still such a destructive force in her husband's life. She lay with her head on his chest and her hand lay on his heart, his fingers stroked her arm lazily.

"You OK?" He asked tentatively. House didn't really want to talk further about what had happened but knew Dom was brooding about it and was trying to support her, it was not something that came easily to him.

"I am fine but a little scared" Dom lifted her head to meet his eyes "Lets never stop talking to each other again, it scares me just how we let this escalate"

"I'm sorry" House said softly he couldn't hold her gaze "I never meant to hurt you like that"

The pain and sincerity in his voice sent a shiver up her spine, when he was at his most vulnerable and stripped of the bravado that he used to insulate him from the world, Dom felt privileged to be in a place she knew few people had ever been with him.

"It was hardly intentional! I was kind of bitchy if you recall! I was terrified of losing you." Her voice was soft and a little shaky "You just don't know what you mean to me, I wish I could prove to you just how special and loved you are". Dom could feel House withdrawing from her; he found it so difficult to accept praise or love.

"You should get some sleep!" he deflected

"I'm not tired" she had slipped her hand and arm up and under his T shirt, House smiled. Dom would, when sitting watching TV in the chair they always snuggled in, or in bed would sometimes even in her sleep do this. Ania and Billy would always roll their eyes and comment when it happened as she dozed in front of a movie embarrassing Dom, but it seemed like an automatic thing.

"You're hand and arm begs to differ! Not that I'm objecting, my chest is the equivalent of Sophie sucking her thumb or Will rubbing his eyebrow!"

"You have no idea how I've missed it!"

"My chest?"

"Mm, I love your chest!"

"Ditto" House added in a thoughtful voice "Dom, how would you feel about adopting Billy?"

Dom lifted her head sleepily "I thought we had!"

"Yeah but not legally, when we had the problem with the fight, it stuck in my craw to say that we're his guardians, we are the only parents he's got, but legally we're never going to be that! I'd like to do it before he turns eighteen."

"Have you talked to him about it? He may not want to; his name is the only thing he has from his parents!"

That is unless of course, you count his criminal record, and his scars and broken bones! It's not about his name he can keep his name as is. I just want to be more that some guardian"

"Wow I didn't know that you were still so angry with his parents!"

"Yeah, I hate them they didn't deserve a kid like him!"

"You have to be careful Greg he still has a selective memory about them, you can't run them down without making him feel bad, and he doesn't believe any of it was intentional!"

"Yeah they accidently burnt and beat him."

"We don't know what happened; please don't let him know how you feel about them!"

"I won't, it's just good to be able to vent! Do you think he'd rather let things be, you know stay as they are?"

"I don't know. I do know that this is a really sensitive matter in which we could all get hurt! Are you sure you want to do this? "

"I think he is more than worth the risk! Let's talk with him in the morning, don't worry if he's not keen I won't push it." He gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her head "Go to sleep, I'll help your mom in the morning, you just sleep. I have an appointment with the pain Doc at eleven; he emailed he's back in town for a special case and wants to discuss some things, I'd like you to come."

"Ok I'd like to meet him."

House lay beside Dom, he felt so relieved it made him shudder to think of how close he had come to screwing up the most important thing in his life. "Good old dad, you're dead and you can still get to me" he thought.

The next morning House was heading up to give Dom her morning cuppa, he had been helping Ania with breakfast, when he saw Billy.

"Hey Billy have you got a minute?"

"Patrick's mom was going to pick me up; it's pretty wet out there!"

"Text Patrick and tell him I'll drive you."

"Okay….?"

House looked over his shoulder "You coming? Dom's awake."

Billy was curious and a little anxious; he knew House and Dom had been going through a rough patch, House looked exhausted but up beat so hopefully this had nothing to do with their relationship.

House handed Dom her tea and she shot him a loving smile, Billy felt relief wash over him. He was still unprepared for what came out of House's mouth.

"Billy, Dom and I want to formally adopt you!" House paused at the surprised look on the boy's face, the little he could see that was not obscured by his hair. "I know you have a Mom and Dad, and, we will always respect their place in your life" House was a little unsure how the boy was taking this information when he didn't respond he continued "You don't have to change your name or call us mum and dad, it will just give us the legality of being your parents. We want this a lot but if you don't just say! You don't have to….."

"House! You had me at hello!" Billy ran his hand through his hair and House and Dom got a rare look at his face, it was emotional and had tears running unashamedly down it. The boy reached out with his super long arms and pulled both House and Dom into a hug. "Of course I want to be a House, my name means nothing to me, and it's probably not my real name anyway." His voice was shaky and full of emotion "You guys are my family, and I love you so much!"

They stood in the three way hug, all quite overcome with the emotion of the moment when House spoke.

"Chick flick Wednesday has to stop!"

House was referring to Wednesday nights when he was playing with the band in the restaurant and Ania was at the front desk, Billy and Dom always hired a DVD to watch. "You had me at hello! What the hell are you doing to him!" he turned to Billy "from now on for every 'Notebook' or 'Jerry McGuire' you see with her you have to watch two 'Dirty Harry' movies with me!"

"Greg has watched Jerry McGuire three times with me!" Dom said to Billy who was laughing and crying.

"That must have MADE HIS DAY!" Billy quipped

"I had an ulterior motive!" House leered at Dom then turned to Billy "it's acceptable to watch that crap with someone you love if it's going to put them in a loving mood!"

I'll remember that if I ever get a girlfriend!" Billy laughed "We'd better go or I'm going be late for school!"

That afternoon House and Dom returned home after going to the hospital and then they went on to their lawyers. They wanted to see what they needed to do to start proceedings for the adoption. They returned to the apartment, Will and Sophie came running out of the kitchen to greet them. They could hear Ania laughing with someone in the kitchen, and were surprised to find her drinking coffee with Michael Tritter. Dom was introduced as she looked curiously between the tall detective and her mother; it had been a long time since she had seen her mother look so animated.

"I have some news regarding your boy, I had a high court judge, who is friend of mine review the case, and he believes if you as his guardians and the boy himself relinquish any liability for compensation he can wipe the slate clean!"

"You mean the whole good behaviour thing?" House asked

"He seems to think what happen here was so far outside the law that Billy's convictions should be erased. I've a lot of information which I can't legally show you, that points to so much wrong with his case, the kid could conceivably sue the state!"

"So if we sign a waiver to say we will make no claim for compensation, the whole thing just goes away!"

"Pretty much, I have been trying to find more information about his case but everything that happened after his parent's death has been conveniently lost! Small town policing at its worst I'm afraid. I managed to find finger print information on his parents; I ran it and it turns out they had been arrested for drug offences in another state."

"So you have their real names?"

"Andrew John Williams and Greer Alice Timms"

"How sure are you that they were legit?"

"Documents they both had driver licences and passports, they had a son John Peter Williams, who is eighteen in ten days." Tritter handed House a copy of what was surely Billy's birth certificate.

"Where did all this happen?"

"California, but evidently his parent both had southern accents"

"Really according to whom?"

"A social workers report, they were arrested for drug offenses and their son was taken and put into a foster home, he was five years old." He took some photos out of a file, two mug shots of which were almost defiantly Billy's parents and of an older couple "These two ran the foster home, the boy was there for three months, there was numerous complaints from them that the boy's parents were always hanging around their home. Then after three months they reported the boy missing saying his parents snatched him."

"Big surprise!" House commented "Was there any evidence of abuse?"

"No they were junkies, but the social workers commented that their son was articulate and well care for." Tritter leant back "They were charged with dealing, but those charges were later dropped through lack of evidence, but it was during this time they were in custody and the boy was taken into care. They had no money for a lawyer so they were having trouble getting him back."

"How old we they?" Dom asked

"Twenty three, they were both twenty three."

"They must have been so desperate!" Dom's eyes were welling with tears "they must have had him when they were just a bit older than he is now!"

"Don't feel sorry for them Dom, Billy or John is the victim here!"

"His injuries seem to have happened while he was in the foster home; it was closed down six months after Billy or John disappeared." Tritter paused "A twelve year old boy told his teacher some weeks after John disappeared that a boy died in the home sparking an investigation. It seems there was an accident with a pot of oil as far as we know some object, possibly a ball landed in the pot splashing John or Billy, the boy panicked and bolted but tripped at the top of the stairs, the witness said that he was lifeless and he saw the foster father take the boy wrapped in a blanket out the back door. They dug up the yard and looking for a body. The foster parent confessed to giving the injured boy to his parents who we think were living in their car somewhere close, the trail goes cold until the death of the parents five years later."

"Billy was right! He always said his parents were never violent or abusive until his dad started taking some drug that made him crazy!" House rubbed his chin "They obviously drove out of the area as quickly as they could, taking the boy to hospital would have been out of the question. Shit, the burns and the fractures it's a wonder he survived. Luckily the oil splashed rather than spilled, his burns which at some stage were infected are quite uniform, that's why we all presumed they were inflicted by a cigarette or such like. The kid must have been in agony!"

"What are we going to tell him?" Dom asked House softly

"The truth, he deserves no less." He turned to Tritter "Would you be able to stay and answer any question that he has? I'll tell him but he may need to hear some of it from you."

Remember a few words are a great gift! Have a nice day!