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Debuts
by Taima Hiroshima
"Are you sure this is such a good idea so soon?" James asked uneasily. He was strapping Leenie's car seat into the backseat of his car. He intended to sit in the back with her. To make sure she was safe, and for some quality time hanging out with her.
She had turned a month old yesterday. House had celebrated by buying her a stuffed pink puppy dog. James had inwardly mourned, because now both of them needed to return to work.
"We don't have that much of a choice, Wilson." House said smoothly. He put his bag on the passenger seat and slipped into the driver side. Slowly, Wilson made his way up the front walk.
Leenie was lying in her playpen, eyes wide open. She gurgled when she saw Wilson come towards her. He would swear she lifted her arms up to be picked up, that she knew him and wanted him to hold her. That she loved him.
"Ready to go to the big hospital, Leenie-Beenie?" he cooed. She gurgled. He picked her up, carefully cradling her as he snatched her diaper bag too. He went back to the car.
He strapped her in, the diaper bag, loaded with formula and toys, diapers and various other baby paraphernalia on the other side of her seat. He sat down and buckled in. It was about a fifteen-minute ride to the hospital. He pulled a book out of the diaper bag and cleared his throat to read.
"Wilson, WHAT are you doing?" House peered at them through the rearview mirror.
"Reading to her. They say if you read to your child fifteen minutes a day, it'll help them learn to read and be smarter."
"Okay," House snorted. "They also used to think putting people with tuberculosis in a cold damp basement was going to help them. We know better now."
"Shut up," Wilson grumbled. He cleared his throat again and began to read aloud the story of Little Red Riding Hood.
He finished just as they pulled into House's parking space. He stretched and yawned. Leenie was watching him with wide liquid brown eyes. She seemed fascinated, not by the story but by the sound of his voice. He picked up the diaper bag and crawled out, then leaned back in to untangle her carrier.
"Does it ever strike you that maybe these things make the kid safer, but the parent more insane? I mean, the things we do to keep our kids safe. In my day, they let you stick a penny in a light socket or drink bleach." House mused from his point outside the vehicle. James stopped struggling with the straps for a moment to toss a glare over his shoulder.
"Well, that would explain you then, wouldn't it?"
"I never did those things." His lover shot out defensively. "I was the one encouraging the other kids to try them."
"I should have guessed." Wilson muttered. He finally managed to free the carrier. By now, Leenie was starting to fuss. It was almost time for a feeding, and if they didn't get her into the building, she was going to burst into tears.
House sighed and took the diaper bag, slinging it over his other shoulder. He felt lopsided sure, but quickly learned to compensate. Then, he turned to his daughter and made the most ridiculous face. She stopped fussing out of sheer shock. House chuckled.
"That'll settle her little butt for a few minutes."
**
The Ducklings were all assembled in the meeting room when House arrived. Wilson was trotting behind, toting Leenie, while House still carried the diaper bag. When the two men arrived, Cameron looked up with a smirk on her face. House knew then that she had been awake at nights trying to think of something clever to say to him when he returned.
"All right, you can stop the group orgy now. Unless Wilson and I are invited." He announced, dropping the big bag on the table. Chase stared at it, then looked up with an eyebrow raised.
"Couldn't find a rainbow tie?" he quipped.
"No. You never did return it after borrowing it for the club." House retorted. Wilson carried in the baby carrier carefully as though he were afraid she would shatter then and there. All the chatter stopped.
"That's an escapee from the maternity ward... Right?" Foreman cleared his throat.
"No, she's mine. Duh. Can't you tell by her good looks?" House struck a faux modeling pose. There was dead silence in the room for fifteen seconds before all three Ducklings cracked up.
"You really had me going for a second there." Chase brushed a tear from his eye.
"I really thought you were serious."
"That's a good joke, House." Cameron said approvingly. "Now, really, who's is she? A patient's? Do we need to test her for something?" that was Cameron for you, ready to swing right back into work.
"She's really mine."
"She's ours," Wilson stepped forward and undid the straps to life Leenie out. "She's our daughter, and her name is Samara Eileen House-Wilson."
"They're serious!" Foreman gaped. "They really did it! It's theirs!"
"She is not an 'it'." House said indignantly. "She is a SHE, as Wilson explained to you."
"I don't understand." Cameron shook her head dumbly. "How did this happen?"
"Surrogate mother," Wilson jumped in before House could try and give her the birds and bees speech. "She's a month old. Isn't she beautiful?" he beamed down at her like a proud papa.
"I never thought people like you should be allowed to breed." Chase muttered before putting his mug in the sink. He glanced at the baby before going out, presumably to go and do clinic hours.
"She's cute," Foreman shrugged as he trailed after Chase. Cameron stared at the
two of them. Without a word, she gathered her files and fled, head down like a high school cheerleader off to cry in the bathroom.
"Well, now that you've broken one heart for the day." Wilson sighed. He reached into the diaper bag for a bottle. House snatched it, and the formula, and went to go mix some up.
"Looks like I'm about to break another too." He commented, glancing over his shoulder. Sure enough, if all her low cut glory, was Cuddy.
"I came to welcome you---," she stopped short as she poked her head into the office. House was just setting the bottle in the microwave. She looked at the baby, fussing in Wilson's arms as he tried unsecessfully to quiet her.
"This was a bet somebody lost, right?"
"No,"
"She's yours?" she pointed to Wilson who shrugged. His mouth worked. No sound came out. Just then the microwave beeped and House removed the bottle. As though he had been doing it his whole life, he sat down, shook the bottle, tested the warmth, and opened his arms for Leenie. Wilson handed her off.
"She's ours, actually." He informed her. He popped the bottle in the baby's mouth. She began to suck gratefully, all the while watching House with an interested look on her face.
Cuddy was dumbfounded. Then a light hit across her face, followed by a faint blush. Wilson knew, just KNEW she was picturing them making love. He blushed as well and cleared his throat. She looked at House.
"She can stay in your office with you today, but tomorrow she's going to have to go to the daycare center downstairs." She smiled at the baby then and stepped closer.
"Strange. She looks like both of you."
"I always said Wilson was more of a girl than you. Of course, he doesn't have those lovely boobs." House grinned. Cuddy snorted.
"You have my deepest sympathy. Keep him in line." She looked at Wilson before walking out. Already exhausted, Wilson dropped into a chair. He leaned against House's shoulder to watch his daughter eat.
"This is going to be one long, bumpy ride." He predicted.
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Legal Disclaimer: The authors published here make no claims on the ownership of Dr. Gregory House and the other fictional residents of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Like the television show House (and quite possibly Dr. Wilson's pocket protector), they are the property of NBC/Universal, David Shore and undoubtedly other individuals of whom I am only peripherally aware. The fan fiction authors published here receive no monetary benefit from their work and intend no copyright infringement nor slight to the actual owners. We love the characters and we love the show, otherwise we wouldn't be here.
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