New House story...
In the same universe as the House Fanfic challenge by
morgynleri_fic
Title: Why?
Summary: A thirteen-year-old Aisling seeks reassurance.
Word Count: 1770
This was inspired by a fic
morgynleri wrote about an adult Aisling dealing with House. "A lie told often enough becomes truth."
“Hey.”
James Wilson dropped his file and hurried around the desk. “Aisling! What brings you in today?” Gathering his thirteen-year-old niece into a hug, he dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and then released her. “Let’s sit down. You’re wet- here’s a blanket. Did you see Aunt Allison? Where’s your raincoat?”
They settled onto his leather couch and Aisling curled her legs under her as she answered. “Not yet. My coat’s at home. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Wilson smiled “Hit me, kiddo.”
“They’re having a father-daughter dinner at school in two weeks and I wanted you to come with me.” She said in a rush.
“I’d love to, honey. You didn’t have to make a special trip out here in the rain to ask; I’ll always come. You know that.” Aisling stared down at the blanket engulfing her and fiddled with the hem.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You guess so?” Wilson arched an eyebrow.
“What if you weren’t here?”
He looked puzzled. “I’m not planning on dying anytime soon.”
“What if you moved?”
“Moved-oh.” He realized. “You heard about the job offer at Hopkins.”
“Yeah.” Aisling continued to look at the hem, and Wilson felt a rush of affection for the thirteen-year-old cool that was trying to keep her from sounding as scared as she must be. Restraining the urge to go belt House with his cane, he answered.
“Aisling, there’s no reason for us to move and a lot of reasons for us to stay here. Career wise, I’m the head of Oncology and Allison heads Immunology. The likelihood of our getting the same jobs in the same hospital somewhere else is very low. We have good research facilities. On the home front, the twins are happy in school and we like the area and our house. And,” he tipped her chin up, “we have a wonderful niece/daughter whom we’d miss horribly. We discussed it for about thirty seconds, Allison wrote a nice ‘thanks but no thanks’ letter and that was it. She might do some consulting for them, but we aren’t going anywhere.” Aisling’s cyan eyes- the only thing she’d physically inherited from her father- were a little shiny.
“Oh. Good.”
“Besides, can you picture the twins’ response to our threatening to move?” he added, hoping to provoke a laugh. Aisling’s eyes brightened.
“Guerilla warfare at its finest.” She giggled.
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me. But seriously, Aisling, we love you very much and we aren’t going anywhere.”
“Why doesn’t my father love me?” Wilson jumped. Today was clearly life pain day for Aisling. He could see her point- why, when her father was in the next office over, did she have to come to his friend for a father-daughter event? What he couldn’t see was how to explain it to Aisling.
“Aisling! I’m so glad you’re here. You didn’t bike, did you?” Cameron came into the office in her raincoat, closing the door behind her as Aisling leaped off the couch into a hug. She arched an eyebrow over Aisling’s head at Wilson. He shook his head. House, he mouthed.
No, I caught the bus.” She replied as they settled back on the couch with Aisling between them, holding their hands.
“Aisling just asked me why House doesn’t love her.” Wilson blurted out.
Cameron frowned. “Aisling-“
“Don’t tell me that he does, because I know better. He pays child support but that’s it. He never calls, he didn’t want visitation rights, he’s never so much as emailed me. He doesn’t love me.” Aisling finished in a rush, her voice rising.
“No, he doesn’t.” Cameron agreed. Wilson winced. He hoped she knew where she was going with this.
Aisling’s face went blank. Agreement was not what she’d expected.
“Do you remember when we read The Secret Garden? Martha said:
"Mother said that to me once," she said. "She was at her wash- tub an' I was in a bad temper an' talkin' ill of folk, an' she turns round on me an' says: 'Tha' young vixen, tha'! There tha' stands sayin' tha' doesn't like this one an' tha' doesn't like that one. How does tha' like thysel'?' It made me laugh an' it brought me to my senses in a minute." Your father doesn’t like anyone because he doesn’t like himself, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. Uncle James and I both tried to protect him from himself for years and finally realized that he’s only going to get better if he wants to. And he doesn’t.”
Wilson picked up then. “He wasn’t quite so bad before the infarction, but he hasn’t aged well, which is largely his own fault. He’s an addict, he doesn’t eat or sleep well, he won’t try and manage his pain. He just…” he hesitated, trying to choose the right words.
“He’s a two-year-old in an adult’s body, mom once said.” Aisling finished.
“That’s as good an explanation as any.” Cameron smiled and then turned serious. “House is trying to punish the universe for his problems. Mostly he hurts himself. Sometimes he hurts other people.
“But, honey, I want you to understand this. It’s not you. You think that if you were smarter, prettier, better behaved, lost five pounds- none of that matters. He’s allowed his problems to become his children, and he doesn’t have room for flesh and blood people. Pain got good to him- it’s all he knows. More to the point, he doesn’t want to know anything else.
“Bad things happen to us. That’s a fact of life. How we deal with it is up to us. I know,” she caught Aisling’s eyeroll, “it sounds hokey and like something off a Hallmark card. That doesn’t make it less true. House was left with a disability after surgery he felt was unnecessary. So are a number of other people who don’t ruin their lives in bitterness. He could have decided to cope, but instead he decided to throw a prolonged tantrum.”
Wilson added, “I spent years letting him guilt me for backing the surgery. He wrecked his relationship with Stacy Warner by blaming her. He blames everyone for what went wrong. Until he gets over that, he’s going to stay frozen in time. I’ve hoped on numerous occasions that he’d make that breakthrough, but he seems unwilling to try.”
Cameron slid back in. “Hon, I wish I could wave a magic wand-“
“Or bonk him with his cane,” Wilson interjected, making them laugh.
“Anyway, I wish there was something somebody could do to make him realize what he’s missing out on. He’ll wake up someday and realize that you’re all grown up and he hasn’t seen any of it. Or he may simply continue to marinate in misery sauce. Whatever he decides, you’re not like him. We all know you’ll do just fine.”
Aisling sat quietly for a minute. “I guess I don’t care anyway. I have you guys and mom and Sneaky and the twins. He doesn’t matter.”
Cameron hugged her. “I’m about ready to go. Why don’t you come with me and stay for dinner? We’re having pasties.
“Actually, I have a better thought. Why don’t you stay the night with us? It’s a Friday and you don’t have any classes until tomorrow afternoon’s Chinese lesson. The twins want to play Trivial Pursuit and us oldsters need all the help we can get.”
“Cool! I’ll call mom when we get there. She’s buried in that article she’s writing.” Aisling bounced up, the miserable figure they’d just seen now gone.
“Great, let’s go. Oh, blast. I left my keys on my desk.”
“I’ll go get them.” Aisling shot out of the room.
Wilson gathered Cameron into a hug. “Nice save.”
She snuggled closer. “I’ve been expecting it for a while, I just didn’t know when she’d finally break and ask. It’s not surprising- she’s just as smart as he is.”
“Much kinder, though that’s not difficult.” Wilson observed.
“The saddest thing is that she only half-believes that she doesn’t care. If she keeps telling herself that, in a few years she won’t care. It’ll be too late then.”
“I could talk to him…” Wilson began.
“He won’t hear you. He doesn’t want to hear anyone.” She sighed. “All we can do is let Aisling know we love her and be there for her. I wonder what brought it on today?”
“She heard about Hopkins. She allegedly came to ask about a father-daughter thing the school is having- why the hell are they still running those, anyway? Are they trying to depress the kids whose dads bailed? Anyway, we took a fast segue from that to Hopkins, which I think she’s reassured on now, to House.”
“Poor baby.” Cameron brushed a kiss across his lips. He pulled her in for a longer one. “Her or me?”
“Her,” She murmured between kisses. They didn’t have much time; Aisling would be back any minute. Marriage and children had taught them that delaying desire could be very pleasurable. She pulled back. “Early night tonight?”
Wilson smiled.
***
Aisling hurried through the deserted halls on her way back from Aunt Allison’s office. She’d been reluctant to leave the warm room, filled with family photos in which she featured prominently. Aunt Allison still had the one of her as a flower girl at their wedding- Uncle James had swapped with her for one of Aisling being bathed at three months. Embarrassing, but somehow reassuring. Just like Aunt Allison’s keycase. She’d gotten one with slots for pictures and the twins, Aisling and Uncle James were all in it making silly faces. She didn’t know how Uncle James had managed to cross his eyes like that.
There was a light on in her fa- House’s office. She glanced in, stopping. He was sitting in a chair, staring at his GameBoy. He hadn’t changed from the last time she saw him- he probably had changed his clothes in that time, since it was close to a year, and she hoped he’d showered, but he still looked scruffy. And cold- what idiot had decided to put that much glass in an office? The room looked chilly and so did he. Cold and isolated and alone… could that be her in a few years? She had his genes. What else had she inherited from him? Was that her future?
“…Whatever he decides, you’re not like him. We all know you’ll do just fine.” Aunt Allison’s gentle voice and strengthening words came back to her. Clutching the keys like a talisman, she ran back into Uncle James’ cosy office.
morgynleri_fic
Title: Why?
Summary: A thirteen-year-old Aisling seeks reassurance.
Word Count: 1770
This was inspired by a fic
morgynleri wrote about an adult Aisling dealing with House. "A lie told often enough becomes truth."
“Hey.”
James Wilson dropped his file and hurried around the desk. “Aisling! What brings you in today?” Gathering his thirteen-year-old niece into a hug, he dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and then released her. “Let’s sit down. You’re wet- here’s a blanket. Did you see Aunt Allison? Where’s your raincoat?”
They settled onto his leather couch and Aisling curled her legs under her as she answered. “Not yet. My coat’s at home. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Wilson smiled “Hit me, kiddo.”
“They’re having a father-daughter dinner at school in two weeks and I wanted you to come with me.” She said in a rush.
“I’d love to, honey. You didn’t have to make a special trip out here in the rain to ask; I’ll always come. You know that.” Aisling stared down at the blanket engulfing her and fiddled with the hem.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You guess so?” Wilson arched an eyebrow.
“What if you weren’t here?”
He looked puzzled. “I’m not planning on dying anytime soon.”
“What if you moved?”
“Moved-oh.” He realized. “You heard about the job offer at Hopkins.”
“Yeah.” Aisling continued to look at the hem, and Wilson felt a rush of affection for the thirteen-year-old cool that was trying to keep her from sounding as scared as she must be. Restraining the urge to go belt House with his cane, he answered.
“Aisling, there’s no reason for us to move and a lot of reasons for us to stay here. Career wise, I’m the head of Oncology and Allison heads Immunology. The likelihood of our getting the same jobs in the same hospital somewhere else is very low. We have good research facilities. On the home front, the twins are happy in school and we like the area and our house. And,” he tipped her chin up, “we have a wonderful niece/daughter whom we’d miss horribly. We discussed it for about thirty seconds, Allison wrote a nice ‘thanks but no thanks’ letter and that was it. She might do some consulting for them, but we aren’t going anywhere.” Aisling’s cyan eyes- the only thing she’d physically inherited from her father- were a little shiny.
“Oh. Good.”
“Besides, can you picture the twins’ response to our threatening to move?” he added, hoping to provoke a laugh. Aisling’s eyes brightened.
“Guerilla warfare at its finest.” She giggled.
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me. But seriously, Aisling, we love you very much and we aren’t going anywhere.”
“Why doesn’t my father love me?” Wilson jumped. Today was clearly life pain day for Aisling. He could see her point- why, when her father was in the next office over, did she have to come to his friend for a father-daughter event? What he couldn’t see was how to explain it to Aisling.
“Aisling! I’m so glad you’re here. You didn’t bike, did you?” Cameron came into the office in her raincoat, closing the door behind her as Aisling leaped off the couch into a hug. She arched an eyebrow over Aisling’s head at Wilson. He shook his head. House, he mouthed.
No, I caught the bus.” She replied as they settled back on the couch with Aisling between them, holding their hands.
“Aisling just asked me why House doesn’t love her.” Wilson blurted out.
Cameron frowned. “Aisling-“
“Don’t tell me that he does, because I know better. He pays child support but that’s it. He never calls, he didn’t want visitation rights, he’s never so much as emailed me. He doesn’t love me.” Aisling finished in a rush, her voice rising.
“No, he doesn’t.” Cameron agreed. Wilson winced. He hoped she knew where she was going with this.
Aisling’s face went blank. Agreement was not what she’d expected.
“Do you remember when we read The Secret Garden? Martha said:
"Mother said that to me once," she said. "She was at her wash- tub an' I was in a bad temper an' talkin' ill of folk, an' she turns round on me an' says: 'Tha' young vixen, tha'! There tha' stands sayin' tha' doesn't like this one an' tha' doesn't like that one. How does tha' like thysel'?' It made me laugh an' it brought me to my senses in a minute." Your father doesn’t like anyone because he doesn’t like himself, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. Uncle James and I both tried to protect him from himself for years and finally realized that he’s only going to get better if he wants to. And he doesn’t.”
Wilson picked up then. “He wasn’t quite so bad before the infarction, but he hasn’t aged well, which is largely his own fault. He’s an addict, he doesn’t eat or sleep well, he won’t try and manage his pain. He just…” he hesitated, trying to choose the right words.
“He’s a two-year-old in an adult’s body, mom once said.” Aisling finished.
“That’s as good an explanation as any.” Cameron smiled and then turned serious. “House is trying to punish the universe for his problems. Mostly he hurts himself. Sometimes he hurts other people.
“But, honey, I want you to understand this. It’s not you. You think that if you were smarter, prettier, better behaved, lost five pounds- none of that matters. He’s allowed his problems to become his children, and he doesn’t have room for flesh and blood people. Pain got good to him- it’s all he knows. More to the point, he doesn’t want to know anything else.
“Bad things happen to us. That’s a fact of life. How we deal with it is up to us. I know,” she caught Aisling’s eyeroll, “it sounds hokey and like something off a Hallmark card. That doesn’t make it less true. House was left with a disability after surgery he felt was unnecessary. So are a number of other people who don’t ruin their lives in bitterness. He could have decided to cope, but instead he decided to throw a prolonged tantrum.”
Wilson added, “I spent years letting him guilt me for backing the surgery. He wrecked his relationship with Stacy Warner by blaming her. He blames everyone for what went wrong. Until he gets over that, he’s going to stay frozen in time. I’ve hoped on numerous occasions that he’d make that breakthrough, but he seems unwilling to try.”
Cameron slid back in. “Hon, I wish I could wave a magic wand-“
“Or bonk him with his cane,” Wilson interjected, making them laugh.
“Anyway, I wish there was something somebody could do to make him realize what he’s missing out on. He’ll wake up someday and realize that you’re all grown up and he hasn’t seen any of it. Or he may simply continue to marinate in misery sauce. Whatever he decides, you’re not like him. We all know you’ll do just fine.”
Aisling sat quietly for a minute. “I guess I don’t care anyway. I have you guys and mom and Sneaky and the twins. He doesn’t matter.”
Cameron hugged her. “I’m about ready to go. Why don’t you come with me and stay for dinner? We’re having pasties.
“Actually, I have a better thought. Why don’t you stay the night with us? It’s a Friday and you don’t have any classes until tomorrow afternoon’s Chinese lesson. The twins want to play Trivial Pursuit and us oldsters need all the help we can get.”
“Cool! I’ll call mom when we get there. She’s buried in that article she’s writing.” Aisling bounced up, the miserable figure they’d just seen now gone.
“Great, let’s go. Oh, blast. I left my keys on my desk.”
“I’ll go get them.” Aisling shot out of the room.
Wilson gathered Cameron into a hug. “Nice save.”
She snuggled closer. “I’ve been expecting it for a while, I just didn’t know when she’d finally break and ask. It’s not surprising- she’s just as smart as he is.”
“Much kinder, though that’s not difficult.” Wilson observed.
“The saddest thing is that she only half-believes that she doesn’t care. If she keeps telling herself that, in a few years she won’t care. It’ll be too late then.”
“I could talk to him…” Wilson began.
“He won’t hear you. He doesn’t want to hear anyone.” She sighed. “All we can do is let Aisling know we love her and be there for her. I wonder what brought it on today?”
“She heard about Hopkins. She allegedly came to ask about a father-daughter thing the school is having- why the hell are they still running those, anyway? Are they trying to depress the kids whose dads bailed? Anyway, we took a fast segue from that to Hopkins, which I think she’s reassured on now, to House.”
“Poor baby.” Cameron brushed a kiss across his lips. He pulled her in for a longer one. “Her or me?”
“Her,” She murmured between kisses. They didn’t have much time; Aisling would be back any minute. Marriage and children had taught them that delaying desire could be very pleasurable. She pulled back. “Early night tonight?”
Wilson smiled.
***
Aisling hurried through the deserted halls on her way back from Aunt Allison’s office. She’d been reluctant to leave the warm room, filled with family photos in which she featured prominently. Aunt Allison still had the one of her as a flower girl at their wedding- Uncle James had swapped with her for one of Aisling being bathed at three months. Embarrassing, but somehow reassuring. Just like Aunt Allison’s keycase. She’d gotten one with slots for pictures and the twins, Aisling and Uncle James were all in it making silly faces. She didn’t know how Uncle James had managed to cross his eyes like that.
There was a light on in her fa- House’s office. She glanced in, stopping. He was sitting in a chair, staring at his GameBoy. He hadn’t changed from the last time she saw him- he probably had changed his clothes in that time, since it was close to a year, and she hoped he’d showered, but he still looked scruffy. And cold- what idiot had decided to put that much glass in an office? The room looked chilly and so did he. Cold and isolated and alone… could that be her in a few years? She had his genes. What else had she inherited from him? Was that her future?
“…Whatever he decides, you’re not like him. We all know you’ll do just fine.” Aunt Allison’s gentle voice and strengthening words came back to her. Clutching the keys like a talisman, she ran back into Uncle James’ cosy office.