This chapter is lots of dialogue and not a lot of action. There is some humor, though! I hope you enjoy!

Like Father Like Son

Chapter 16

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"House, you're going to have to go back to your own place. I'm moving Jewel and Ruby in with me when they leave the hospital," announced Wilson at breakfast, the day Jewel was to be released.

"Like hell, I am" replied House. "Do you know what kind of trouble you're asking for by doing that?"

"They have no place to go."

"I'll find them another box. You can help me pick it out."

Wilson and House both sighed, but for entirely different reasons.

"Wilson, what do you know about these people? I wanted you to ask her on a date, if you were interested. I didn't want you to adopt her and the brat," House argued. "She might rob us blind while we're at work. The ethics of this is questionable too."

"You don't concern yourself with ethics, so I can only assume that this is about you not wanting to move out."

"Think Wilson. What if she decides that it would be fun to extort money from you to keep silent about the sex you aren't making her have?"

"Do you ever think well of anyone?"

"No, especially the people I don't know!"

"But you know them, House!" argued Wilson.

"I avoid them! I couldn't pick them out in a crowd. Wait, I could; they would be the dirty ones."

Exasperated, Wilson sighed and tried to begin again. "Alright, you can stay. Would that make things better? You can sleep on the floor in my room and they can have your bed."

"How does that make it better for me? If I went back to my place, I would have my own bed, bathroom, kitchen, and living room!" House sighed. "You can sleep on the floor in my room and give them yours."

"But it's my apartment!"

"It's your naiveté thinking that this is going to work out any way other than badly. There is a reason they are homeless. Don't you think that you should find out what that would be before you open your home to them?"

Wilson left the room, returned with his hands on his hips, raised a finger to make a point and left the room again. Wilson returned and repeated these actions one more time. House could taste victory.

"What would you do?" asked Wilson, wearing a different tie in order to cover the fact that his coming and going was a result of House besting him.

"I would release them and never think about them again."

"House, she has a child!"

"And that would affect me how?"

"We can't just let them wander the streets." Wilson was whining.

"I can. I said we could get them a new box. I'll even spring for a can of waterproofing." Whining from kids irritated House, from Wilson it was unacceptable. "Get over it Wilson. Grow some chest hair and man up!"

Wilson left the condo, slamming the door behind him. He returned seconds later for his brief case and left again, slamming the door harder this time. House smirked realizing that one's children never really grow up.

HHHHHHHHHHHHH

Greg had time to wake and stretch before he heard his phone ringing.

"What," he answered, sounding very much like his father. "This had better be good."

"I'm not going to make it for breakfast this morning. I need to stay here and lock up the valuables."

"Huh?" said Greg, not sounding very intelligent.

"We, no, Wilson wants to bring a patient and her daughter back here to recuperate."

"Oh, Ru-…oh," Greg almost gave away that he knew more than he ought to.

"If I can't prevent it, I at least need to do a background check and make sure there isn't anything here that I care about. At least they can't lift my organ."

"Dad!"

"It's a musical instrument. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Gross. Not that. Did you do a background check on me?" Greg was fully awake now.

"Of course not; you look just like I did at that age. I didn't need to."

"Fine. You should have, you know. Maybe I have a criminal record."

"You're my son. It wouldn't matter. I would still be responsible for you. I'd know if you were hiding something, anyway. I'm that good." House smirked as Greg flinched. The young man was very glad that his dad couldn't see his face. "If you knew Wilson, I'd say to hit him up for breakfast. I enjoy spending his money. By the way, I want you to know that I intend to stay with Wilson and guard his family jewels or should I say guard him from 'the Family Jewel', but if I'm feeling too crowded or Wilson and Jewel get chummy and start playing house, or 'Playing House', his emphasis was clear, you may be getting a room mate." House hung up without so much as a good-bye.

"Crap…crap!" exclaimed Greg to no one as he climbed out of bed, wide awake now. "Crap!"

He gathered his things to shower and go to the hospital. The boy knew that things were about to crash down around him and for the first time since he had moved to Princeton he wished he had a friend in which to confide. The steamy shower felt calming as he thought through all the people that he'd met since he arrived in town. No one was his age, not even close. The ducklings were the closest but they all had a good ten years on him. Taub….no he already had a dad. Chase….maybe, but he had a reputation for kissing up to House when it benefitted his position. Foreman…if he needed a brick wall or a freezer Foreman would make a great stand-in. Thirteen…she reminded him of a painting of the Mona Lisa. She had a secret of her own to keep. She had been kind to him and made him feel included. Maybe…. He would just have to see.

Greg's stomach growled and his biggest problem became his empty belly. He decided to get to the hospital early enough to hit up Wilson for breakfast. He had his father's permission after all. Without thinking, Greg put on his jeans and a t-shirt and hopped on his bike. It was a very pleasant morning and he didn't want to wait for the bus.

HHHHHHHHHHHHH

As luck would have it, Wilson and Greg entered the hospital doors at the same time. Greg smiled at Wilson with a beguiling, cheeky grin and asked, "What's good for breakfast around here?"

"Stick with the cereal, they can't mess that up." Wilson continued walking, not having gotten the hint.

Greg step-hopped ahead of Wilson, stopping him as he turned out his pockets and looked as pitiful as possible. "I left my money in my other pants." That was the truth. He'd forgotten his wallet and keys as well, he realized.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that House was coaching you! You play his games and you're wearing his shirt. Well, one similar to it, anyway. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him wearing that one in quite sometime." commented Wilson. You haven't been going through his things, have you?" The doctor laughed before Greg had time to blither. "I'm teasing, Greg, don't faint." The color had drained from his face at Wilson's remark. "Let's get you some food. You really don't look good."

Greg nodded silently and allowed Wilson to believe that he was in serious need of nourishment. As they walked silently into the cafeteria, Greg chided himself for his carelessness. Between the possibility of House moving in and his stomach growling, Greg hadn't even considered his choice of clothing. He wondered if he should change into some scrubs after he got done eating. He didn't know if he would see House's fellows, but he didn't want to get questioned again about the shirt. As the fragrance of sausage gravy and maple syrup tickled his nostrils, Greg's worries fled into the background. He was ready to eat and Wilson was buying!

Once in line, Greg began to fill his tray. He grabbed a bowl of strawberries, and then proceeded to ask for the sausage gravy and biscuits that he had smelled as he entered the cafeteria. Along with that he grabbed scrambled eggs and a pancake. Once he got to the beverages, he took coffee, orange juice, and finally whole milk. Wilson was astounded at the boy's ability to "tuck in" the food. He wondered if all teenaged boys ate that much and how a family could keep from going into debt with such food consumption for multiple meals on a daily basis. He wasn't sure how Greg had fitted everything onto one tray.

Greg smiled and looked over his feast as he sat down to his meal. "So Wilson, tell me about you!" Greg took an entire half of a gravy drowned biscuit and shoved it into his mouth. "Mm….good!" he said around his mouthful.

Picking at his English muffin, Wilson wondered where he was supposed to begin his life story. "I…."

Cutting him short, Greg redirected his question. "How did you meet House?" He buttered his pancake and cut it into quarters and then proceeded to arrange the slices. "I need cream, peanut butter, and brown sugar, too, if they have it."

Without thinking, Wilson acquired the items and set them before Greg. The teen spread the peanut butter on the pancake, sprinkled it with the brown sugar, stacked the four pieces, and then stabbed them with a fork before pouring the cream over the top of the mound. Wilson smelled the conglomeration and thought it just might be the most heavenly scent that he had ever encountered. The look on Greg's face confirmed that he might be right.

"I'm listening but you aren't talking. How did you meet House?"

"We met at a convention in New Orleans about fifteen or sixteen years ago. There were 3,000 people there and House picked me out of the crowd as interesting" Greg choked on the sour orange juice that had made him pucker just moments before. Lost in his story, Wilson continued on without noticing the effect his statement had on Greg. "House followed me to a bar and watched as I got so mad that I threw a bottle through an antique mirror because this guy kept playing the same damned song. It wasn't pretty after that. Suffice it to say, House bailed me out of jail and we've been friends ever since. Shortly after that we ended up at PPTH. Apparently, he put in a good word for me." Greg wondered if all that happened the day before or the day after he was conceived. House left the next day to go back to Princeton, if he remembered correctly, so the day before most probably.

Somewhere between Greg finishing his biscuits and gravy and starting on his eggs, Wilson had stopped talking and was staring into space with a pensive look on his face.

"Wazzup?" asked Greg around a giant bite of egg.

"We're releasing Jewel today and I was going to have her and Ruby come home and stay with me, but House thinks I'm insane. He ought to know," Wilson said, with a chuckle.

With all the astonishment amazement and innocence he could muster, Greg looked at Wilson as though, he was a god! "Gee, Dr. Wilson, that's a really brave thing to do! Jewel looks really nice, and all, but you really never know. She could have been living where she was in that box with Ruby because she was hiding out from some bad guys…or the cops! For all you know, she could have been the driver for some sort of hold up or something like that. You are being very courageous to trust her like that. If it was me, I would have put her up in a hotel or found her a spot in a homeless shelter. You have some nerve!"

As Greg was talking, Wilson was reminded of the Dennis the Menace show on TV. He had watched that show as a kid and even though Mr. Wilson seemed to hate that kid, he could be flattered by him, too. Greg had watched Dennis, also, and he hoped that he could have the same disarming affect on his victim. Telling Wilson that he was an idiot hadn't worked for his dad, but maybe hearing it put in a different light would make the doctor see the error of his ways.

"Thank you, Greg, but I'm not trying to be anyone's hero. I just want Jewel and Ruby to be comfortable as Jewel recovers. I haven't said anything to them yet, so please don't bring up the topic. I suppose that you and House both have a point. There is a certain amount of risk involved in having them stay but I'm sure that House is running a background check as we speak. By the way, add a little sarcasm to that speech and you would just about have House down pat." Wilson smirked.

Greg wiped his plate clean with the last bit of biscuit and leaned back in his seat with a sigh of contentment. "I hope you know what you're doing," he said, "I don't want House to have to supervise me any sooner than necessary; and if you're murdered in your sleep, he'll get the job by default." The boy craned around and looked toward the food line. "Do they have any dessert out yet?"

Thanks for your positive reviews. It's really nice to hear from people who read my stories! I really appreciate it!