Cameron fiddled with the hair straightener for several drawn out seconds. It slowed to heat, but even so, she was lingering on purpose. She switched her balance between legs and clapped the instrument open and closed.

"Are you planning on your hair straightening itself? Because, if you posses that kind of magic then please let me know." House found his way to their shared bathroom. The jokes he shared with her no longer contained the angry sarcasm it had in previous years. Therapy proved a well aid to him as well as his lover.

Allison brought the steaming tool to her hair. "I'm just waiting for it to heat up." Smoke filled the air around her.

"Judging by the dragon-like fire flaming at the tips, I think you're denying something."

She snapped the straightener in mock attack, "Be careful or I'll get ya!"

"Oooo, scary," House patted Cameron's head, "Cute and scary."

Cameron chuckled and House sat patiently their bed. Well, not too patiently as he promptly urged her haste. "Alls, hurry up will you? We need to be at the restaurant in twenty minutes."

With that, Allison devised a plan. She strode over to House with lengthy steps. With each step, she sure to trail her eyes up and down. "Do you think we have to time to, you know," she brushed a finger up his bicep, biting her lower lip.

He wanted to. He really wanted to. But they did not have time. "Allison," he glanced at his watch but she leaned in closer.

"What's wrong? Afraid Cuddy and the other nerds are gonna worry about us?"

The lower lip pout was what did it for House. And he was oddly aroused by Allison's summing up of the diagnostic heads as 'nerds.'

"Fine," House succumbed to Allison's wiles, "but we need to be quick. I don't see that being a problem for you but-"

"Shh," the brunette urged and flopped on the bed with House following suit on top of her.

"You really need to fix your hair," House criticized. "All that rough sex really fucked it up."

Cameron checked the sun visor mirror, "Damn it." She struggled to get the strays in place, all the while frantically fixing her fly-aways.

House hadn't meant to stress her out, "Allison, relax. I was kidding. Your hair looks great. Take a breath." He knew she was anxious about the dinner. It was a meeting of several heads of the hospital: Dr. Dave Thomas (head of surgery), Dr. Luci Minh (head of Radiology), Dr. Paul Jost (head of Cardiology), and of course, Dr. Cuddy.

Cameron had not attended a meeting with these doctors while also being in a relationship with House. This night, she hoped, would go well. For the remainder of the trip, she shifted in her seat and fumbled unrelentingly with the various features of the car.

"We're here," House stepped out and opened the door for his girlfriend.

The pair walked in together, hands linked.

Inside the restaurant, the Heads sat around a table dressed with candles and flowers. It was fancier than House's liking but all he had to do was get through one night of this.

"House!" Wilson approached his friend suddenly as if waiting the entire time for him to come. "Hello, Allison," he followed.

They waved and Allison smiled.

Around the table, they each greeted one another. The mandatory 'how are you's' and 'pleasure to meet you's started off the night before drinks came.

Allison's stress was mildly alleviated when a glass of red wine appeared in front of her. If she was going to get through the night, she was going to need alcohol.

The night went fairly well. Besides the occasional off-handed remark about Wilson or Cuddy, House faired during the long dinner. He downed a bit more glasses of whiskey than he had hoped going in, but it was fine. Cameron, on the other hand, was not in the same position. House ran a tally through his mind and figured out that his girlfriend had drank more than her fair share of wine. And by the looks of it, they needed to get her home before she made a fool out of them both.

"N' nice dinner, wasn't it?" Cameron asked and looked up at House. She stumbled over a break in the tile floor and House caught her.

"Careful, Cameron. You don't want the others to see you like this, would you?"

The brunette shrugged it off, "Oh, those hard-asses? I don't c-care what they think of me. They're lame."

House simply laughed.

"And what was with Dr. Mihn? Could she have been any more subtle? Her and Dr. Thomas definitely have something to hide."

By then, Cameron was talking louder than the normal inside voice. And House worried that someone would overhear. "As much as it I'd love to talk trash about any one of those bozos, you might want to wait until we get inside the car to do it."

The brunette scoffed, "Oh, why do you care? They're not gonna do anything."

"What is with this newfound braveness in the face of alcohol?"

"S'brave, House. I'm s'brave."

House realized that he needed to take Cameron home. He coaxed her into the passenger's seat where she gladly took residence. House coasted down the dark roads, his hand relaxed over the steering wheel. Every couple minutes or so, he'd turn and check on Cameron. She had her nose pressed up against the cool glass. Her breath fogged up the glass and she wiped it away.

"Do you want kids?"

House nearly swerved out of his lane. "What?"

She acted nonchalant, as if asking what his favorite color was. "Kids. Do you ever want kids?"

He didn't know. He hadn't given it much thought but figured it might be something to consider in the future. Kids were okay, sometimes annoying, sometimes cute. But on the subject of him wanting them, House was not sure. "I don't know."

This caused Cameron to turn her head, "You don't know?"

Oh no he had upset her. "Maybe one day it would be fine to have a rugrat or two."

"Fine?" That was not the degree of enthusiasm she wanted.

"Yeah, sure."

Men. Are. Difficult.

"Well, I definitely do. I want a little girl and a little boy. For the girl, I want to name her Emily. And for the boy, Andy..." Cameron talked for what felt like hours to House. How did she have all this planned already? She seemed to have everything figured out while House had hardly given two minutes to the topic. When he unlocked the door to their apartment, Cameron was still going on about her future life; their future life. All of it was overwhelming House fast.

"I think we need to sober you up," the older man served water and coffee. Cameron had already made herself comfortable with a blanket from the couch.

"S' Greg?" She called out.

"Hmm?"

"Do you want kids?"

"I told you already, baby. I don't know. Maybe someday."

"Oh, I 'member. Said it was fine," Allison sighed. Her drunken stupor caused the small lapse in memory and she returned to a damper state.

"I don't know if I want kids, if I'm being completely honest."

Sober Allison Cameron would not have asked, "Is it 'cos of me? Would you have kids with Stacy...or...or Cuddy?" It was evident that the red wine at dinner had made the small brunette plummet into sadness.

House hated to see his girlfriend self-deprecate. And he hated even more that he had caused it.

"No," he sat beside the swaddled figure. "It's not you. If I ever had a baby, I'd want to have one with you. No one else. But I'm old. If I had a baby now, I'd be geriatric by the time the kid got his license." He felt bad. No, he felt terrible. There was Allison, at the prime of her life, perfect age for having children and House was not sure he could give that to her. Something she had apparently dreamed about forever.

"I don't think you're too old." She'd sobered up enough to realize how deep the conversation had gotten. "I respect your decision, Greg." Allison smiled, lugubriously. There was sadness written all over her face; she was disappointed. But it was not up to her to make House do something he didn't want.

Suddenly, Allison became very embarrassed. She wondered if Greg even wanted to settle down long-term with her.

With a quick stride, Cameron advanced toward the bedroom. Once there, she brushed her hair nervously. House didn't bother to go after her.

"Damn it," House rubbed his scruffy chin. He'd ruined things again.