A/N: Warning: Several folks have mentioned that FF net is playing selective email alerts at the moment and did not send them to everyone. So make sure that you have read all chapters.

Here's a short update out of a busy life. Sorry so little, but it shouldn't be as long this time until the next chapter.

About Jensen, yes, he is in this story, and we will have some sessions. One coming up in just a few chapters. He doesn't travel to the front lines personally in this one like in H&F or Father's Day, though. Also, please remember the time gap between stories. It's now two months since Father's Day, and you can assume that plenty of sessions have already been had on Thomas' move, as well as the ones to come.

About the patient, that's forthcoming, but this story does take several chapters to get there. You'll see what develops when the time comes.

We now have the glimmerings of another Pranks story, a fun family one, out there past the next big one. The next big one is the one that addresses most directly yet House's pain. Process of Elimination, of course, has a very long way to go, so I think you're set on Pranks for the next several months, if not year.

Thanks for all the reviews and enjoy chapter 3!

(H/C)

Cuddy stunned PPTH by closing down her office at 4:45 that evening. It was unheard of for her to leave early except on Fridays. (That she was in therapy herself on Fridays had been widely assumed by now from the rarely varied early schedule, but given what the week after the assassination attempt on the President had been like at the hospital, the employees of PPTH were quietly grateful for the fact and left it alone.) But this Monday, here she was locking the door, leaving a message that she was not to be called tonight except in true emergency, and heading out with an even brisker than usual click-clack of her heels.

She went up to Diagnostics first to collect House. The team and the egglings were off on some assignment, leaving him free to tease her about leaving early. She considered pointing out that he was all packed up himself for the day and just coming to his feet when she arrived, but she was afraid to push him too far on Thomas. He wasn't up to reciprocal teasing in that area yet.

They drove home together, the drive taking a little shorter time than usual - only a little, as Cuddy was driving, but the difference was there. She took his pointed comment on this in good grace. She knew her husband was as eager to see Thomas as she was; the fact that they had taken only one car in this morning had announced in advance that he had no intentions, however much he might long for a case, of staying late tonight.

Rachel was especially enthusiastic this evening, too. She tackled them as soon as they were through the door. "Grandpa Thomas is moving tonight!" she reminded them after a quick hug of greeting.

"Oh, was that tonight?" House asked.

She shook her dark curls in annoyance. "Daddy! You forgot!"

"He didn't forget," Cuddy assured her. She took Rachel from her husband, freeing him to pick up Abby. "Were you girls good today?"

"Yes," Rachel answered, simultaneously with Marina's more thorough assessment.

"They were good but excited." Marina was gathering her purse. She had her own anticipation from the sidelines, but the coming evening was private for the family, and she prepared to take herself promptly out of the way before the new addition could arrive. "Don't forget, Dr. Cuddy, I have that dentist's appointment at 5:00 on Friday."

"I've already talked to the sitter after I got your message. That's date night anyway; she'll just come early." Cuddy herself, with her appointment in Trenton from 4:00 to 5:00, couldn't possibly make it back in time without cancelling her session with Patterson, which she didn't want to do with so much going on. The temptation had been there, but she had successfully resisted it after a brief struggle. Talking through the week with the psychiatrist would be good for her.

"Thank you. That was the first non emergency slot he had. At least he stays open an extra hour on Fridays." She ran one hand along her cheek adjacent to the offending tooth. Marina had broken off a small part of a tooth the preceding weekend, and while it wasn't hurting, nor infected - House had given it a quick look that morning just to make sure - it needed repair before it turned into a bigger problem. Marina gave a quick kiss to Abby and then Rachel. "Good night, girls. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night, Marina," Rachel called, echoed by Abby.

Once the nanny had left, Rachel squirmed vigorously in Cuddy's arms. She liked being held, but it was harder to be excited that way. "Where's Grandpa Thomas?"

"Soon," Cuddy assured her, setting her down. "He's almost here."

"Yay!" Rachel galloped a quick circle, then ran off to fetch the stuffed Ember.

"When?" Abby asked. Abby was interested in time lately, and House, carrying her, walked over to the clock on the wall, pointing out the minute hand.

"When that gets down to the 6, that's when he'll be here. Approximately," he amended quickly.

"What's proxmaty?"

"That means sort of. He might be a little bit before that or a little after, but it will be somewhere close to when the long hand is on the 6."

Abby absorbed this and nodded. "I saw the tooth!" she announced.

House smiled. Abby also had an interest in anatomy, as far as a toddler could. She was increasingly interested in how anything fit together, bodies included. "You looked at Marina's tooth?"

"Uh huh. It's broken. But just a little broken. No canes." They had recently run into a little boy with a broken leg during a morning at the park, and while Rachel was sympathizing and asking if it hurt, Abby had been fascinated by the cast and the crutches, which she had called canes.

House was suddenly more aware of his own leg. "No, no canes. Marina doesn't need crutches or a cast for a broken tooth. You don't walk on your teeth." Abby giggled. "The dentist will just put a little patch in that part that chipped off to fill it in, and it will be all better. You'll have to ask her next Monday to let you see the fixed tooth." He gave his daughter a squeeze, then set her down. "Back in a minute, kid."

Once through the bathroom, he went back into the bedroom and removed his grandfather's watch from the nightstand drawer. Changing the watch over each evening after work had become a habit by now, but he always paused to read the inscription. Tonight, he lingered for a moment, tracing the letters. This is your time, my son. My son. He was someone's son, and the fact was a world he was still carefully exploring, alert in the unfamiliar landscape, ready for any lurking dangers in it, mapping it diligently and acquainting himself with it. He buckled the visibly old wristwatch on and put his much more modern version in the drawer. Never yet had the watch been to PPTH. He knew that eventually, work and the team would find out about the old man, but not yet. He wasn't ready yet. They all knew so much about his life anyway. For just a while longer, he wanted this to be his and not the world's, without their questions, without explanations, and without their expectations, letting him get used to it himself. Besides, if . . . well, the old man hadn't left so far. But moving up here, constant exposure, might get wearing. A deep, wounded part of him was still afraid to fully believe.

Moving up here. He had left his home, his friends. He'd lived there since the late 1970s, and he had left it, willingly, to come. House was impressed in spite of that small voice of doubt.

He heard the car pull into the driveway only because he was so focused listening for it. The quiet hum of a perfectly tuned engine, then silence. He pulled back the curtain slightly, peering through the gap between it and the edge of the window, remaining hidden himself for a moment. The BMW was beautiful, not one of the sportier models of them but with classic lines like a well-bred horse. Damn it, even he was thinking in horse analogies these days, much as he resisted the new habit. The old man opened the door and stepped out, and he stood there for a moment, giving a thorough post-trip stretch of his long frame. He was smiling. Unobserved, no one else in sight yet to put on an appearance for, he was still smiling broadly. House memorized the expression and tucked it away for further analysis, and his right hand fingered the watch. Beyond the smile, Thornton looked tired. Well, he'd had, as he'd noted, a long drive.

Rachel went off in the living room, an easily audible alert system. "Grandpa Thomas! He's HERE!" A flurry of whinnies from her horse followed, then Rachel's racing footsteps toward the front door.

House released the curtain and turned away from the window, limping quickly out of the room as he went to meet his father.