Disclaimer - House isn't mine, he's David Shore's. Some people have all the luck!

A/N - I'm essentially without internet right now! I WILL find a way to read your reviews though!

A number of you think that House is pretty OOC in this story, and a way I agree. I think that once he discovered that he had a son to be responsible for that he would try to be a kinder, gentler House and would try not to show his most difficult aspects to Greg for quite a while. I'm not sure that House has gotten his brain around the kind of responsibilities that he's taken on yet. He shouldn't have been leaving Greg alone, but he also believes that Greg is kinda perfect right now...although being yelled at about being an irresponsible parent by his own kid should be an eye-opener to House. House is also being exceedingly lenient because his own dad was exceedingly strict. Now that it's House's turn to mentor Greg at the hospital, it will be interesting to see how House goes about reconciling these two distinct personalities (Dad House v Dr. House) in the presence of his son.

To review, Wilson has just figured out that House and Greg are father and son. Let the games begin!

Like Father, Like Son

Chapter 24

Wilson, this is Greg, the hooker that I was telling you about.

"Hi, Wilson!" said Greg in the sexist voice the fourteen year old could master. "House has told me sooooo much about you!"

Wilson buried his head in his hands and just sighed. "There really are two of you. I'm….I'm…."

"Stunned?"

"Speechless?"

"Stymied?"

"Astounded?"

"Amazed?"

"Overcome?"

"Overwrought?"

"Flabbergasted?"

"Flummoxed?"

It didn't matter who was saying what. Wilson was still trying to catch up with what he was seeing. Two generations of House under the same roof was just about more than James Wilson could take at the moment. House and Greg's mischievous faces watched Wilson with anticipation for his next comment.

"Funny. Both of you are just hilarious." Wilson deadpanned. "So how long did you two intend to string me along?"

House looked at his friend wide-eyed and feigning shock. "String you along? I told you from the start that Greg had turned up and you decided that it was more likely that I was keeping a hooker instead! Since I had you on speakerphone, Greg caught the whole conversation."

"Well, I guess that wasn't one of my finer moments, was it?" Wilson colored, embarrassed that he'd had so little faith in House in Greg's presence. "What about hiding Greg right under my nose at the hospital?"

House looked at Greg as he replied. "That was all Greg. You'll have to ask him about that one. I'd sort of like to know that, too."

"I was bored?" Greg's answer explained all to House but fell short for Wilson.

"What do you mean you were bored? Boys that are bored go out and buy a new video game; they don't go get internships at hospitals!" Wilson sounded more like a dad to Greg's ears that House ever had and he decided that House really did have a reason to put off bringing his best friend into their relationship.

Greg looked to House for support, but didn't expect the answer that he received.

"I'm proud of you. That was pretty gutsy. I don't think I would have had that kind of nerve when I was your age." House thought he knew the answer to his next question, but he asked anyway. "So why leave me out of the plan?"

"I didn't want to get hired just because I was your son. I didn't want to be treated differently by everyone. I wanted to see the people that you were talking about without them feeling like they needed to watch what they were saying all the time."

"Given House's reputation around the hospital, that was a pretty smart thing to do." House and Greg, both glared at Wilson for his input.

"I didn't want you to tell me 'no', either."

House nodded his understanding and served himself and Greg some lasagna. "Are you going to eat any of this, Wilson, or are you just going to keep gawping at us?"

Wilson passed House his plate and sighed.

Turning to House, Greg said, "Well, I'm glad you know that I'm there now. I was getting a little crazed going behind your back."

"…thus, the little outburst of the other day," House reflected aloud.

"Yeah, that was brilliant of me, wasn't it? I'm sorry."

"Me too, I'm still feeling my way around this parenthood stuff and I'll try to do a little better about stepping up." House felt compelled to hug Greg, but since Wilson was present, he elbowed him instead and received a nudge back.

Wilson resigned himself to being excluded from the meaning of the present conversation, but it didn't mean that he couldn't find a way to catch up. "So tell me, how did all of this come about?"

House couldn't resist. "Well, Wilson, when a man and a woman…."

Greg interjected, "My mom and dad had a one night stand when he was at a conference in New Orleans and, no, she wasn't a hooker."

"Spoiled sport," House feigned disappointment.

"You were certainly busy making friends on that trip, weren't you, House?" Wilson asked. "That had to be the conference where we met and you bailed me out of jail."

"Cool, Wilson's a convict!"

"No," House replied to his son, "just an idiot. He never did pay back the bail money. As soon as he does that, he's outta my life. I can't stand losers."

"I'll write you a check and then we can count how many times I've bailed you out of jail and how much you owe me," Wilson replied with a smirk.

Greg was beginning to understand how these two men who seemed so different on the surface could be such good friends. As they talked it became apparent that the history between them ran deep. Greg laughed as they told stories on each other and often saw the same incidents in two very different lights. Eventually, Wilson zeroed in on Greg asking him all the questions that he considered essential and House wandered off, bored with information that he already knew.

While Wilson cleared the table and started the dishwasher, Greg moved over to the organ and turned it on. As Wilson heard the notes Greg was randomly tapping out, he quickly intervened.

"Greg, House is pretty possessive about his instrument, I wouldn't mess with that without…."

House had appeared seemingly from nowhere.

"Hey, can you play that thing?" House's words sounded accusingly.

"I play a bit" Greg responded.

"Well, let's hear it, then."

Greg poked out a sorry, one-fingered rendition of Heart and Soul. Wilson cringed knowing that House wasn't going to take kindly to his new toy being messed with.

"You're going to need to do better than that if you want to keep playing my organ. Scoot over." Greg scooted and House played the accompaniment as Greg played the melody slightly better than he had the first time.

"Hands off, young House; let me show you how it's done!" House played the song as it was meant to be played as well as singing the verse.

Greg listened patiently until his dad had finished. "You're okay, for an old guy, I suppose," the boy said, as he bumped House over to the edge of the bench and proceeded to take control of the keyboard.

Wilson held his breath. He figured that House would be patient for only so long before he'd had enough and he wasn't sure that Greg was ready for the fallout. Greg, pretending to pull up his sleeves and loosen up his fingers, didn't help Wilson's nerves at all. Instead of the cacophony that he expected to hear, Wilson was treated to a magnificent blues version of the song.

House smiled and joined Greg on one of the organ's other keyboards. The two Houses forgot all about Wilson and for nearly an hour went from one song to the next trying to outdo each other. It was clear to Wilson that this was a well established game that they played and enjoyed immensely. He'd never seen House so animated or full of joy.

"Do you two have any other secrets that you're keeping from me?"

House smiled as he responded to Wilson's question. "He plays guitar better than I do, too."

"I'll clear out my den tomorrow, while you guys pick out a bed." The comment shocked House and Greg, but Wilson said it with such conviction that they realized he'd been considering it all evening. "Greg can't stay at your place alone forever and it isn't big enough for the two of you, right? Greg has already admitted to being bored during the day and I'm tired of eating alone at night. If this doesn't work, I'll move out or you can find a place of your own."

"I'm doing okay right where I am. I don't mind." Greg tried to be convincing, but a sense of relief had washed over him as Wilson made the suggestion.

"I don't really think we have an option here, Greg." Wilson was sounding very dad-like again and it made Greg uncomfortable knowing that it was exactly what House had been afraid of. "I don't know the legalities of your situation, but I think that you might be considered too young to live alone. I've gotten to know you and I know that you're a very mature young man and that House has been seeing to your needs, but this has to be getting really old for both of you. I'm not your dad and I won't force this on either of you, but please think about it."

Maybe House had been wrong about Wilson, but before he agreed to anything, House was going to make sure. He couldn't stand the idea that one day Greg would be thinking of Wilson as his dad instead of him. It wasn't rational, he knew, but the feeling was there nonetheless.

"Wilson, your offer, it's…nice…but I don't want this if it means that you're thinking that this is your chance to raise the son you never had. You can be Greg's friend, his mentor, his uncle, even, but I'm the only dad he's going to have. I'm going to make mistakes but they're going to be my mistakes." House was acting calm but the edge to his voice bordered on threatening. This wasn't a topic for discussion; he was making his position crystal clear.

"I don't think you're going to screw this up, House, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm worried that Greg is going to end up with two dads that are diametrically opposed in their parenting styles. (I can't even believe that I'm having this conversation with you!) You're going to try to control everything and I'm not. You're going to want Greg to account for his every movement and to keep his room clean and to eat his veggies. Compared to you, I'm so laid back that it's going to look like I don't care. You're going to tell me to 'step up' every time you think I ought to intervene and then don't. You're not going to be able to help yourself; I know you too well and I don't want that for Greg and I don't want what that's going to do to our friendship." House took a breath, sighing his capitulation. "This is your loft; I'm not going to ask you to move out. Greg can move in for now, and I'll start looking for a place."

"Don't I have a say in this?" Greg had been silently watching the scene, but the thought of his dad and his best friend going their separate ways due to his presence was just too much. "Look, I think that we need to give this a try. Dad, you've told Wilson where you stand and what you're afraid will happen. Let's give it a chance before we go looking for problems that may never occur. I'm not going to get confused; I know who my dad is. I already know to keep my room clean and I do eat my veggies and I'll tell everyone where I'm going when I'm going somewhere. When I was little, my mom and both of my grandparents raised me. I didn't get confused then about who was in charge and neither did they. It just worked. This will work, too, if we don't try to hard and just see how things go. If Wilson starts getting out of hand, Dad, we can drug him or go see a movie"

"…or both!" House relaxed and smiled.

Wilson rolled his eyes and realized that Greg was pretty good at maneuvering around the pitfalls of House's bleak outlook on life.

"House, I promise not to try to take over. Greg is your son and I can respect that. He's a good kid. I think you can handle him on your own." Wilson's sincerity was obvious and House nodded acceptance of his best friend's promise.

"It's ten, just about bedtime, are you going to take our little boy home or should we set him up on the couch?" Wilson teased.