Me and Emily Chapter 8
Title: Me and Emily
Author: nomoretearsAS
Rating: K+/PG
Summary: When House discovers that Chase has a kid, he decides to find out more about both of them. House/Chase friendship.
Disclaimer: I don't own House, Chase, or any characters that you recognize.
Chapter: 8/?
A/N: Just a short update!
Chase took a deep breath and headed to the door. He was still holding Emily, who hadn’t quite recovered from her encounter with Foreman. It was clear that she didn’t really like him. Chase was the most nervous about Cameron meeting Emily. He wasn’t sure how she was going to handle it. After all, they’d had a sort of relationship. Chase had never let it get any further than sex, since Cameron clearly didn’t want that.
He pulled open the door. Cameron was holding a plate of cookies and Chase saw her plaster on a smile. It was a smile that clearly said, "Oh my god". She seemed to handle things a little better than Foreman. "Hi." she said, stepping into the apartment. She had never been there before. It had always struck her as odd that they met at her place, never his. Suddenly, it wasn’t so odd anymore.
"Cameron, come on in. There’s someone I want you to meet. This is Emily, my daughter." he said, carefully, gauging her reaction. If she was going to flip out like Foreman, he was going to hand her off to Maddie and pull her aside. She seemed eerily calm.
"Hi Emily. How are you?" Cameron asked, smiling at the child.
"Good." she whispered, still obviously a little shaken from her last encounter.
"Emily, Cameron is a really good friend of Daddy’s. He’s worked with her for four years. She’s pretty, just like you, isn’t she?" Emily seemed to study her for a moment, before she nodded her agreement. Cameron smiled at this.
"How old are you Emily?" Cameron asked.
Emily held up one of her hands. "Five." Cameron blinked. That meant that Chase had her for as long as she had known him. How could she not have known about this? She gave Chase a meaningful look and Chase understood. He kissed Emily’s cheek.
"Hey, Em, why don’t you go back outside with Maddie?" he suggested. Maddie took the hint and came over to her.
"Yeah, I want a turn with those bubbles. Let’s go play!" she said, taking the child by the hand and leading her outside. Once Emily was out of ear range, Cameron turned an icy glare to Chase.
"I want to talk, in private, right now." she said. Chase apologized to his guests and led Cameron into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He heard Patty turn on the stereo and felt like he could have kissed her. "How could you NOT tell me that you have a DAUGHTER?" Cameron demanded.
"I didn’t tell anyone." he said, knowing that was a bad answer.
"I don’t care, we were SLEEPING together. I had a right to know that you had procreated already." she said. "Where’s her mother, Chase? Is that why I couldn’t come over here? Did you make me the other woman?"
"No! No Cameron. Her mother is back in Australia somewhere. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since I moved here." He sighed. "It’s a really long story. When I moved here, I moved because I got the fellowship with House. At the time, Emily was an infant and I knew that if House knew I had a baby, he wouldn’t take me seriously. I had a promise from Cuddy that no one would know about her."
Cameron looked a little more sympathetic. "So, why now? Why invite us all over to meet her?" she asked.
"Were you in the ER for that apartment fire a couple of days ago?" he asked. She nodded. "It was my building. Emily and Maddie, her nanny, were both brought in. I was just sitting in House’s office when a nurse came in to tell me. House heard and followed me down there. You know how he is, he demanded to meet her." Chase sighed deeply. "Yesterday, she asked me why she hadn’t met any of my other friends from work. She asked me if I was ashamed of her."
"Hence, the party." she said, understanding a little bit better now.
"I’m sorry that I hurt you." he said.
"That’s why you broke it off, isn’t it? That’s why it couldn’t just be sex." He nodded.
"Come on, let’s get back to the party." she said, heading to the door. But before she opened it, she turned back to him. "Does she know her mother?" she asked.
"No, she doesn’t." he said. Cameron nodded and rejoined the party. Chase was thankful that the others seemed to be able to entertain themselves while Cameron and Chase had been in the other room. They were talking to Patty, asking her questions about what she did. However, the heads turned in his direction when they exited the bedroom. Chase put on his ‘host’ smile. He stuck his head outside and called Emily and Maddie back inside.
"Well, I just want to thank you all for coming. I bought hamburgers and hotdogs to put on the grill. So, tell me what you want, and I’ll go start cooking!" Chase said. He got orders from everyone and went outside to start cooking. Wilson offered to help and Chase took him up on his offer.
Patty, Cameron, and Thirteen headed into his kitchen. They pulled out all the condiments, the potato salad that he bought and got everything set up. Chase wasn’t really one to throw parties, but growing up with wealthy parents, he had been to his fair share of fancy dinner parties. He knew how to be a good host. House had put on a CD of classic rock, and Foreman had managed to find Scrabble and set up the game.
As Chase flipped over the burgers, he smiled to himself. It may have been a rocky start, but the impromptu party seemed to be doing well. Everyone seemed to be having fun, at least. Chase had never really thought about inviting his co-workers over to his home, but now he was wondering why he hadn’t done this before.
Emily had abandoned the bubbles, and was sitting on Cuddy’s lap, playing Scrabble with her, Foreman, Kutner, and Taub. Maddie was engaged in conversation with Thirteen, who it turned out, had gone to the same high school that she did. They were enough years apart that they weren’t there at the same time, but they knew a lot of the same teachers.
The food was good, House was less abrasive than usual, and everyone seemed to have a good time. After they ate, they decided to take a walk down the block to the park. Even Wilson managed to convince House to come. It was a short walk and House sat down quickly on a bench. They were at the park for about an hour when Emily finally started wearing out.
Chase carried her home, half asleep on his shoulder. When they got back to his place, everyone decided to head home. Both Wilson and Cameron offered to stay and help him clean up. Chase thanked them, but politely refused. There wasn’t really that much to do. He confirmed with Cuddy that he would be back to work tomorrow and said goodbye to the last of his guests. Except for House, of course. House was sacked out on his couch. Emily had climbed up into his lap when everyone left and had fallen sound asleep on his chest.
Chase was cleaning up the little bit of mess when he came in and saw them. House had his eyes closed and Emily was cuddled against his chest. Smirking, he quietly snuck into the kitchen and retrieved his camera. He took two pictures without a flash, then turned the flash on. He managed to get two more pictures in before House opened his eyes. "You show those to anyone, you’ll wish that you really had moved to Arizona." he threatened. He chuckled. It was hard to be intimidating with a five year old sound asleep on your chest, cuddling you like a teddy bear.
Chase picked up Emily and carried her into her bedroom. He stripped off the dress and put her in some pajamas. Then he tucked her in and kissed her forehead tenderly. He had no doubts that Emily would win everyone over. But he hadn’t really expected today to go as well as it had. She was one special girl. He watched her for a minute, before pulling himself away, knowing that House was waiting for him.
However, when he got back, House wasn’t where he left him. He was in the kitchen, pulling out the bottle of wine that Cuddy had brought. It was plenty chilled by now and he opened it, pouring two glasses. Chase smiled at him gratefully, knowing that saying ‘thank you’ like a normal person would only earn him a glare, and possibly get his wine repossessed.
The two of them settled back into the couch. House just looked at Chase. "I know that I owe you the story, and you’ll get it. You’re just going to have to be a little patient, okay?" When House raised an eyebrow, Chase added, "I know that’s not your strong suit, but this is hard for me, okay?" House said nothing and Chase took a deep breath, ready to share his story with the one person he never thought would care enough to ask about.
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