House pulled into Marge's driveway and shut off the bike, unclipping his cane and making his way to the porch, tapping on the screen door. He could already hear voices inside, and was only slightly surprised when Marge answered the door instead of Kieran.

"Come on in, Greg." Marge greeted him with a smile and a quick hug, much to House's surprise. He still wasn't used to how easy and friendly most people seemed to be around here. It was almost as if Marge had already decided he was part of the family.

It was an odd feeling.

"Charley's got a pork shoulder over there on his smoker." Marge told him. "Been watchin' that baby all night. Oughta make some fine pulled pork sandwiches. Caroline, how are comin' on that slaw?"

"Just about there, Mama." Caroline answered, her back to House. She finished stirring it up and put the lid on the bowl before turning around, nearly bumping into House. "Oh! Hello."

House instinctively reached out to steady her, though she didn't need it. "Didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Caroline smiled a little. "You are awfully quiet."

She ducked around him to put the slaw in the refrigerator. "You want a little somethin' to drink?"

House eased himself into a chair at the kitchen table. "Sure."

"Got some Coke or tea."

"If it's that sweet tea…I'll take a Coke."

"Suit yourself."

Caroline brought House a can of Coke and set in front of him before taking a seat at the table herself. Before long there was the sound of tiny feet running through the house. "Mama!"

"In here, baby." Caroline answered.

Kieran immediately climbed up in Caroline's lap, snuggling close to her and waving at House. He couldn't help waving back.

Suddenly there were more voices, and House immediately recognized Celia and Rob. House was sorely tempted to make a crack when they came into the kitchen but decided against it.

It was hard to pick on the guy when he was obviously so damn happy.

"Hey, y'all." Celia started, hugging Caroline around her shoulders and giving Kieran a quick kiss on top of his head. "Where's Mama?"

"Probably checkin' on Charley." Caroline answered. "That pork shoulder oughta just about be ready."

"Good." She ran a hand along the back of Rob's shoulders. "You want somethin'?"

"There's a whole pitcher of tea." Caroline told her.

"That sounds good." Celia replied, and Rob nodded in agreement.

House heard the back door open, and Charley came in with a huge aluminum pan, Marge following close behind.

Rob immediately looked interested. "Smells good."

"Some of my best work yet." Charley answered as he placed the pan on the counter. "Give that a little time and we'll get it pulled."

He crossed over to the title, extending a hand to House. "Greg, good to see ya. You get all settled?"

House was a little surprised at Charley's casual friendliness. "More or less."

"Won't be long and he'll have that doctor's office open." Marge commented. "Then you won't have to go so far to get your checkups."

Charley grinned a little and shook his head. "Women, right? Always fussin'."

House had long since given up explaining that it would be a good long time before he got the office opened, if he got it open at all. "Right."

They all fell into casual conversation around the table while the pork cooled down, and it occurred to House that he couldn't recall the last time he had felt…included? He'd spent so many years pushing people away that he'd forgotten how it felt to be part of something.

And these people that barely knew him were practically treating him like family. House didn't know what to think.

Finally, everything was ready, and with everyone's plates full, they gathered around the kitchen table. Marge seemed extraordinarily pleased, beaming as she seemed to take in everyone around the table. "I'm so glad we did this. It's a blessin' to have all of y'all here."

"We used to do this just about every Sunday." Celia piped up. "Remember when we'd go to Granny's?"

Caroline seemed to shudder a little. "That woman scared me when I was little."

"She was a hard woman." Marge nodded. "Life kinda made her that way."

"She was so upset when I went to Memphis." Celia spoke with a note of sadness. "Told me I was a damn fool for followin' some man. 'Course she turned out to be right."

Marge gave her a sympathetic look. "It was a good opportunity at the time. Wasn't your fault it didn't end up workin' out."

Celia shrugged. "Well, maybe somethin' will come out of that interview I had. I kinda like the idea of bein' closer to home."

Caroline smiled a little. "Well, I know someone that'd be happy to have you around."

Rob instantly turned bright red and mumbled something, much to Celia's apparent amusement. "Now, y'all know better." She scolded. "I miss bein' here with y'all."

The conversation turned to more general topics after that, and House found himself drawn in. It felt oddly comfortable.

This place was really doing something to him. He didn't understand it, but he was increasingly less inclined to fight it.

"Greg, you've been awfully quiet over there." Marge commented, snapping House out of his thoughts.

House shrugged. "Just not much to say."

Marge gave him a knowing look. "Well, now's your chance. What's this I hear about you teachin' over at Vanderbilt?"

House hadn't remembered saying anything about that, but then he realized it had come up when he and Caroline were talking the previous night. "Just teaching a seminar this fall. I'm meeting up with the Dean to start setting it up."

"See, Marge?" Charley cut in. "He's gonna be too busy teachin' to open up that doctor's office."

Marge gave him a reproachful look. "I'm sure he'll figure it out. He's a smart man."

House shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Still waiting on my medical license to get transferred." He reminded them. "And so far I'm just teaching one seminar. No guarantee it will go beyond that."

"Charley just hates goin' to the doctor, that's all." Marge told him.

"Who doesn't?" Rob suddenly jumped in. "Hell, I got so tired of seein' doctors that I never went back after I got out of the hospital that last time."

"But you are seein' one again." Celia pointed out.

"Sure, but just to get this ol' thing replaced." Rob countered.

This time it was Celia giving Rob a reproachful look. "Now, I ain't gonna start on you, but…"

Rob slid an arm along the back of Celia's chair, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Why don't we just keep it that way?"

"I didn't know you'd started goin' back to the VA, Rob." Marge interjected. "That's good to hear."

Rob nodded, glancing downward. "I'm goin' for another consultation. They're gonna measure me for a new leg. Turns out I've got a whole lot of options."

"You're going to be a cyborg." House couldn't help himself.

Rob laughed at that. "Suppose so."

Eventually, the meal was over, and as everyone started the process of cleaning up, House took the opportunity to slip away to the back deck. As much as he hadn't minded spending time with these people, he was starting to hit his limit for togetherness.

The back door swung open, followed by Charley and Rob exiting. Charley gave House a nod as he headed back over to his own place. "Good seein' ya, Greg. You let me know when you've got that doctor's office open, and I'll be glad to be your first patient."

House merely nodded as Charley left. Rob soon joined him, leaning against the railing. "Man, gettin' a little crowded in there."

"It's a lot of…togetherness."

"Yeah. Damn sure not used to it." Rob answered. "And they're talkin' about wantin' to do this every Sunday. Crazy."

The two men were silent, and House listened to the activity going on inside. It was odd, seeing how close this family was. It was so unlike his own.

"You know, Celia's headin' back home." Rob broke the silence. "You up for a game of pool later?"

"Sure." House nodded. "Been a while since I've kicked your ass around a pool table."

Rob laughed. "You sure that's how that went? 'Cause I don't recall it goin' that way."

House couldn't help his own amusement. No matter how this shook out, it was guaranteed to be a good time.

# # #

House entered the bar, and Dave greeted him with a nod. "Heard you were back in town. Guess you're stickin' around?"

"Looks that way." House answered, easing himself on to a bar stool.

"Well, it's good to see you. What'll you have?"

"Sam Adams."

Dave retrieved a bottle and popped the top off before handing it to House. "Wanna start a tab?"

"Sure." House answered. "Likely Rob will be paying it off anyway when I beat him at pool."

Dave chuckled at that, then lifted his head at the sound of the door opening. "Well now, speak of the devil."

Rob took the stool next to House. "How you doin', Dave?"

"Good man, good." Dave replied. "Been a while since I've seen you, too. What'll you have?"

"Been busy." Rob answered casually. "And a Bud."

"Yeah, you've been busy, all right." House couldn't help mocking Rob a little.

"Hey now, it ain't just been Celia." Rob told him. "And you ain't got no room to talk."

House played with his beer bottle. "It's just one date. Doesn't mean anything's going on."

Rob gave him a skeptical look before turning his attention to the beer Dave had set down. "You wanna start me a tab? Ol' Greg here'll cover it."

"Funny, that's what he said about you." Dave let out a short laugh. "Don't care who pays as long as someone does."

Rob turned back to House with a little smile. "Suppose we'd best get on that pool game."

They found an empty pool table and a pair of cues. The place was quiet, even given it was a Sunday night, the baseball game playing on one of the TVs the only other sound aside from a few scattered conversations.

"Go ahead and set them up." House told him as he chalked the end of the cue.

Rob nodded, racking up the balls and removing the frame. "Your break."

House lined up the shot and let it go, and the game was off and running. He couldn't help noticing that Rob was moving a lot better than he had been only weeks before. "That trip to the VA must have done you some good." He commented.

Rob took his shot before looking up with a nod. "Yeah, the doc adjusted this ol' thing a little so it ain't rubbing. Gave me an earful for waitin' so long to deal with it."

House shrugged. "I get it."

Rob set up his next shot, tapping in another ball. "Suppose you do. Anyway, shouldn't be too long and I'll be able to kiss this ol' piece of shit goodbye."

He missed his next shot, taking a seat while House studied the table. House sunk his shot, making his way around for another one. "Sounds like things are looking up."

Rob took a long drink of his beer. "Yeah, guess they are. Movin' awfully damn fast, though."

House paused. "You and Celia."

Rob looked thoughtful. "Yeah, that too. Told he if she gets that job that she can come stay with me. You know, just until she gets her livin' situation figured out."

House took his shot, sinking another ball. "What'd you go and tell her that for?"

Rob grinned. "Wasn't exactly in my right mind when I offered. But I ain't tryin' to take it back, either."

"You're crazy." House told him.

"You're probably right." Rob answered. "I don't know. Figured on bein' alone forever, y'know? Now that maybe I've got a chance to not be…"

He trailed off, taking another long drink from the bottle with a shrug.

House missed his next shot, taking a seat while Rob set up his shot. If Rob was moving at breakneck pace with Celia, House supposed that was none of his business. They seemed happy, at least for the time being. And if somehow it fell apart, well, that's just the way things went, wasn't it?

But somehow House knew that if things went badly with Celia, it might break Rob, and House wasn't sure he was prepared to deal with that.

That he was even thinking about it surprised House. But this friendship with Rob had turned into something House hadn't expected. It certainly wasn't anything like his friendship with Wilson.

The sound of a ball dropping into a pocket snapped House back out of his thoughts. Rob had dropped a few while House's mind was elsewhere, and now he only had the eight ball left.

Rob soon sunk that, standing back and leaning slightly on his cue. "That's game. You ready to go again?"

"Sure." House answered, draining his beer bottle. "Anything so I don't have to buy the beer."

"We'll see 'bout that." Rob replied. "Go on ahead and set 'em up."

They spent the rest of the evening around the pool table, making cracks at each other as they played, interspersed with some real conversation. It turned out to be a good evening, even if House ended up having to buy the beer.

Dave merely laughed as he rang up both tabs. "That mouth of yours sure does seem to get you in trouble, Greg."

"At least I'm not going to jail tonight." House answered.

"True." Dave nodded as he took House's card, swiping it and handing it back. "You know, I'm glad you're hangin' around, if only 'cause you're gettin' this guy out from time to time."

Rob chuckled at that. "Hey, as long as he keeps buyin' the beer, I'll come on out any time."

House let out a short huff as Dave laughed. "Just wait until next time." House told Rob.

And there was definitely going to be a next time.