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Curious as ever, House prowled the hallway near the OBGYN lounge, waiting for the current visitor to vacate Cameron's room. She had been admitted that morning when her water had broken all over the clinic. House had used that opportunity to escape clinic duty and take on Cameron as a patient, albeit, temporarily.
He couldn't figure out why he was pacing the hallways like a nervous father. This wasn't his kid. It was Chase and Cameron's kid. Or was that 'Chase and Chase's' now? Though Cameron had kept her maiden name after she'd gotten married. Hell, he didn't actually care, except to have something to puzzle over in his head while he waited.
What the hell was Wilson doing in there? Knitting booties?
Finally, the oncologist vacated the room, leaving House with a small window of opportunity to slip in unnoticed. "Have it yet?" he asked as he stepped into Cameron's room.
She was panting through a contraction and shook her head in response. "Not yet. Probably soon," she sighed as the pain abated.
"Yeah? How far apart?" he nodded at her, indicating the contractions. He took a seat on the glider-chair, cane nestled between his legs.
"Couple minutes," she breathed, smiling.
"Damn," he swore.
Cameron frowned. "What?"
"Bad timing. That close, I'll end up being here for the delivery and not wanting to be."
"You can leave whenever you want," she growled at him through another contraction.
House scowled. "That wasn't a couple minutes."
She shook her head. "Closer now," she hissed through the pain. "Unless you're delivering this baby, get my doctor!"
House actually jumped at her tone. But, a moment later he was on his feet, calling the OB. He then found himself losing feeling in his fingers with no way to pull out of the vice grip of Cameron's grasp. "Cameron-fingers-give-back," he gasped. She was strong. Stronger than he would have ever thought.
The doctor could not get into the room fast enough - for either of them. Cameron was ready for the baby to be born; he could tell. He wanted the baby out too – so he could get his hand back. Preferably in one piece.
Not only the doctor needed to hurry, Chase needed to get his ass in the room too. This was his wife and his baby after all. House shouldn't even be here. He can't even remember why he came in the room, though that could be a side-effect of the loss of sensation in his hand.
Fifteen minutes later, Chase showed up, winded like he'd sprinted a marathon. "Got here as soon as I could. Was in the middle of surgery."
Cameron panted through another contraction and House pried her fingers from his hand, then secured them around Chase's. "Finally, I can go watch my TiVO," he gruffed and slipped from the room.
In the hallway, he stared at his crushed fingers, wondering if Stacy's grip would have been that tight and suddenly wishing he was still in the room. But why? Did he think he would feel himself in the position of the proud father, looking at the sweaty brow of Stacy as she pushed their child into the world?
He sank onto a bench just outside Cameron's room, hands resting on the head of his cane, head resting against the wall. He could hear Cameron's screaming through the wall and felt his thoughts drifting to Stacy again. Would she have screamed through the pain or gritted her teeth to bear it stoically?
When the adult screams ceased and the baby screams began, he snapped out of his reverie, feeling something wet on his face. He wiped a hand over his face to clean it.
He was rubbing at his eyes when Chase burst from the room like a crazy man. Spotting House, he dashed over, shook him and crowed, "I have a baby!"
House frowned. "Fantastic." He didn't sound impressed.
"You wanna see him?" Chase asked excitedly.
"Huh?" House was flabbergasted. "No," he sneered. "Go play with your kid. Take care of your wife." He pushed to his feet, hand on his cane, and walked away, thoughts of Stacy and the baby they never had, mingling with thoughts of Cameron and the child she'd just given birth to all but under his nose. He needed a drink.