House had fallen asleep in front of the TV. When he woke up he set off to find her.

"You've been busy," he said, startling her. "I thought I read somewhere that it's supposed to take nine months to pop out one of those things."

"Shut up."

Kelly had made her way back to the porch, pacing with a fussy baby in her arms that she'd absconded with so that Sarah-Beth could focus on her summer school work. In truth, Kelly was more than happy to have some time with the baby; while she had no interest in having children of her own, she was no more immune than any woman to the pull of an infant. "Actually, I HAVE been busy. Doing your laundry."

He hummed in approval, rubbing his eyes. "Marry me."

"Don't you have a housekeeper that does your laundry?"

"Yeah, but I have to pay her. You do my laundry AND you buy me stuff."

"Well, those are my most desirable traits, I suppose," she kidded. The baby was quieting. "You like babies, Greg?"

"Nah. Too small to eat. Too dumb to be manipulated."

"I'm glad to hear that," she said, placing the tiny boy in his arms before he had a chance to protest. "I need to use the bathroom and make a phone call. I'm relieved to know that when I return this little one will neither be eaten nor manipulated."

Dropping his cane, House hobbled to the nearest chair and sat down heavily. The baby started to cry, but settled again when he was shifted to lay against House's shoulder. "Just don't barf on me, kid," he said sternly, patting the child's back. He paused. "On second thought, since I don't have to wash my own clothes, barf all you want."

There was no barfing. The baby was asleep when Kelly came back carrying a car seat. "He out?"

"Yep."

"Good." She lifted the infant and strapped him into the seat, then picked it up by the handle. "Tomorrow my dad will be here and he'll try to monopolize your time, so if you want the grand tour, it may be now or never."

House darkened a little at the mention of her father but chose to follow her anyway. "Lead on."

The Campbell home was big. VERY big. But it also felt very lived in and warm. House looked around politely as they went room by room, and Kelly didn't dawdle; this wasn't the house she had grown up in, so it wasn't filled with memories for her so much as it was filled with cool gadgets and features she knew might interest him. Like the music room.

"Holy hell. The tour stops here." House immediately made his way to the row of guitars, hefting first the Les Paul. "Who plays these?"

"All of us. My whole family is really into music. That particular one is Evan's."

"The brother in the Peace Corps."

"Extra points for remembering."

"Is this my prize?" He touched the finish lovingly before setting it back down, and took a seat behind the electric drums. "Nice. Mesh heads, new module. You play these, too?"

"Uh-huh. A little. Not as well as Andrew, but I get by."

"Andrew in Sacramento who started the animal rescue organization."

"I'm not giving you the guitar, but yes, you're right."

House flipped on the speaker and played a bit, still wide-eyed and scanning the room. Finally he made his way to the baby grand. "She's pretty."

"My dad bought that for me on my 21st birthday. Best present I've ever received. I had it with me at the shelter; Daddy had them move it so it would be here when I got home." She had to smile at his boyish wonder. "Still more house to see."

"Can we come back here?"

"You can come in here anytime you want. It's a sound-proof room, so if you want to pound on the piano at three in the morning, no one is going to stop you."

"Marry me."

"You said that already."

House was noticing a definite theme in the decor as they continued on. "What's with all the Americana crap?"

"You need to understand that my parents are ridiculously patriotic. You should have seen them when I started dating a military man; they were beside themselves with happiness. But don't worry; it's still every parent's dream for their little girl to bring home a doctor."

"Is that what this is? You brought me home to meet your parents?"

"Shut up."

"You said that already."

She laughed. "So, you and Cuddy, huh?"

They had ended the tour in the main living room. House sat down on the couch and she sat across from him, picking up the sleeping baby just to have something to do with her hands.

"It's not like that. I mean..." He sighed. "I slept with her, but it was a long time ago."

"But she cares about you."

"Yeah, I guess."

"And that's meaningful to you, because you don't have a lot of people in your life that have stuck by you like she has."

He swore. "Could you NOT psychoanalyze me? If you're going to make me talk about it, can you at least talk like a normal human being?"

"I'm not MAKING you do anything," she countered, suddenly defensive. "I just think that if you're banging your boss I have a right to know."

It was so rare for Kelly to raise her voice that it prompted him to stop and think before lashing back. "I'm not banging anyone," he said quietly, then added with a leer, "Much to my dismay."

Kelly took a deep breath and relaxed. "You're such a creep."

They were interrupted when a large grey tabby walked into the room and with no warning jumped into House's lap, causing him to swear again. "Where did you come from?"

"That's Kansas. Sorry about that; you can just push her off."

House attempted to do so, but the cat dug in her claws and was determined to stay. He didn't really care, so he let her be. "What kind of a name is 'Kansas'?"

"You know. 'There's no place like home'," she explained as though it was obvious. "She's the first rescue my brother ever snuck into the house. Well, the first one he snuck in and my mom let him keep."

"So what's the deal with that, anyway? You've got this whole family of do-gooders. It's not natural."

Kelly went on to explain that from childhood they had all be brought up to find at least one thing they were passionate about, something that would help others, and then pursue it. When Philip Campbell had started to make it big, he'd called a family meeting to discuss how the money would be put to good use. It was decided that all of the income on his investments would be deposited equally into seven accounts; one for each member of the family, one to take care of Philip and Colleen's house and expenses and to pay their private staff, and one as an emergency savings account that would someday, if it wasn't used, be divided among the grandchildren to send them to university. Kelly commented lightly that if all of her father's investments were to go sour and they lost all their income, the amount protected in that seventh account would still have all of them set for life.

"The catch is that our personal accounts were to be devoted to making the world a better place. So my mom started the crisis pregnancy center, my dad provides interest-free and forgivable loans to agriculture ventures in developing countries, Andrew has the animal rescues, and I started the shelters."

"And Evan?"

"He's only 20, and he's not sure yet what he wants to do. He joined the Peace Corps so he could get some perspective. His account is held in trust for him until he makes a decision."

House was silent for a long time, petting the cat absently as he pondering all of this.

"You think it's stupid," Kelly finally surmised.

"No, I think it's brilliant," House said honestly. "So who paid for your education? I mean, what account?"

"Mine, because my education was a part of building the organization. And it covers all of my personal expenses; Andrew and I both pay ourselves a salary as employees." The baby awoke and started crying then, halting their conversation. "I imagine he's hungry; I'd better go find Sarah-Beth."

"Well, you know where I'll be." He poked at the cat. "Move it or lose it, fur-ball..."

Back in the music room, House wasn't sure where to start. The piano won out. He couldn't focus on what he was playing, however, instead wondering about the irony of someone like him getting wrapped up in a family like this.

He didn't fit, and he never could. Yet in that moment there was no place he would rather be.