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I Will Never Let You Down
by Taima Hiroshima
House stepped into the clinic. He had just run upstairs to check on Leenie at the daycare center. Well, run was sort of stretching. He had, in fact, ridden the elevator up there in time to give her a bottle. She had fussed a little when he had had to return to work. It was all House could do not to turn right around, snatch her away from the daycare worker, a plump matronly woman of fifty and take her with him to the clinic. But Cuddy was right, he couldn't drag a baby about with him. How would he hold her?
He could always put her in one of those Snuggli thingys, he realized. He quickly shook the idea off, thinking it would make him more of a kangaroo than Chase. And no one wanted that. Besides, taking her into the clinic would expose her to way too many bugs.
He checked the chart. Some woman named Pewter. What a strange name, he mused. What sort of first name would go with that? His heart froze as he read the name across the line. Leia.
"Stop it," he mumbled. "It's a coincidence. She'll probably be some result of a couple of pot smokers who watched Star Wars one time too many. Just go in there, treat her, and leave."
House opened the door and limped in. He looked up at the woman sitting there, expecting to find someone with dyed hair and tight clothes. Instead, there was a respectable looking young woman with long dark brown hair tied back in a pony tail and brown eyes.
He'd seen those eyes before.
He looked into them every time he held his daughter. Leia looked up and smiled politely at him. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. You could tell that she had recently delivered a child.
"Good afternoon," he paused and pretended to check her chart. "Miss Pewter."
"Good afternoon, doctor." She responded.
"What seems to be the problem here?"
"I have a little pain in my belly," she cupped the area. "I recently had a baby, and this pain feels a little weird." She smiled sheepishly. House set down his chart and pulled a stool up towards her.
"Where's the baby today?" he said it in a manner of someone just making small talk. "With daddy?"
"No. Yeah... Well... Yes, I guess you could say that. I was a surrogate for some couple that couldn't have a baby on their own." She sighed.
"But, no, he wasn't the daddy in the traditional sense."
Ya got that right, House thought dryly. Gently, with careful hands, he probed her belly. He didn't feel anything unusual.
"So, you were a surrogate. Do you feel like you threw your baby away?"
"NO!" she said hard. "If they wanted a baby enough... That they went through that, then I know they're taking good care of her."
"Do you want to see her?"
"I can't," she frowned. "I wish I could, just to make sure she's happy, but it's against the rules."
"Rules are for the weak," House muttered, noting something on her chart. "You know, I've got a baby, probably about the age of your kid."
"Really?" her eyes lit up.
"She's doing beautifully." He pulled his hands away. "Normal soreness. Rest. You'll be okay in a day or so." He reached into his pocket. In his wallet he kept a small picture of Leenie, taken when she was just a day old. He looked at it a moment. He had a ton, Wilson had made sure of that.
Leenie with her little eyes closed, and her puffy lips parted. She was laying in a pink blanket and had a little white hat on her head and those mittens on her hands so she couldn't scratch herself. Oh, she was beautiful all right. So beautiful.
"Want to see my daughter?" he held out the photo. Leia took it and examined it.
She smiled.
"What lovely hair!" it looked like hers. Neither bothered to voice it. The back of House's neck prickled, and he knew then that she already knew. He stood up.
"Yeah,"
"What a beautiful little girl." Leia cooed. She held the photograph out to House again, an offering.
"No, you keep it. I got plenty." He waved it away, a gift from the gods above. Leia clutched it to her chest and smiled.
"Thank you."
"No," House murmured. "Thank YOU."
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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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