Fic : Home for Christmas

[menolly_au]

Title: Home for Christmas
Characters: House/Wilson, Blythe
Rating: PG
Words Approx 900
Warnings: Fluff, Christmas sentiment, strangely absent Thomas
Spoilers: For Final arc
Summary: Blythe gets an unexpected gift on Christmas Eve







Wilson parked the car down the street from the house. Both man stayed seated, staring down the road.

"We could go; there are still eighteen states we haven't visited." House said, but with a note of defeat in his voice, he knew this fight was already lost.

"You agreed to do this," Wilson pointed out. "And it's twenty states."

"Nobody counts Hawaii and Alaska." House played his ace card. "She's an old lady. The shock could kill her. You don't want me to be responsible for my mother's death do you? On Christmas Eve? I'll be in therapy for the rest of my life."

"Which is why I'm going in first - to prepare her."

"She thinks you're dead too."

"She hasn't been to my funeral. And I'm not her son. She'll survive."

"What are you going to say? That I didn't give a fuck that I was making her grieve for her son? That all that mattered to me was being with my bestie? And, oh by the way Mom, you know how you always wanted me to settle down with a nice girl, well, I did - but he's a nice boy? Grandchildren are out, sorry."

"I'll find a better way to say it than that. And I'm pretty sure Blythe ruled out grandchildren a long time ago."

"But..."

Wilson opened the car door and got out. He leaned back in the open window. "It's going to be okay, House. The only thing she's going to care about is that you're still alive, and that you're happy. Trust me, I know Moms." He started to walk off and then he reached back in the car and quickly snatched the keys out of the ignition. "Just in case you get any ideas about driving off."

"Bastard!" House called after him, and Wilson flipped him the bird behind his back. House scowled and put his ear buds in, slouching down in his seat to let his music take him away. A few seconds later he snatched the buds out of his ears in disgust, a particularly cheery version of 'Jingle Bells' reverberating in his head. Wilson had filled his iPod with Christmas songs.

---

Despite his reassuring words Wilson was nervous as he walked up the immaculate path towards the house. He knew that, despite his show of indifference, House's Mom was important to him, in an abstract type of way. She represented something in his life, something important - maybe even that unconditional love he claimed didn't exist.

He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell, torn between hoping that Blythe had already gone to her sister's for Christmas and hoping that she would be there so they could get this over with.

Just as he was beginning to turn away the door opened.

"James?" Blythe put one hand up to her chest and Wilson had a sudden vision of House's gloomy prophecy coming true and Blythe expiring on the doorstep. "James! What a surprise!"

Aren't you dead? Wilson heard the unspoken thought. Eighteen months had passed since his 'five months to live' death sentence - a sentence Wilson knew Blythe had heard about at the funeral.

"I got better," he said. There was a lot more to it of course. His mind flashed over the last eighteen months, touching only lightly on those moments he'd rather forget. She didn't need the details.

Suddenly he was embraced, her arms wrapped around him. Wilson was touched by her concern. He wondered if he was standing in for the son she thought she'd never hug again.

"Oh James, Greg... “her voice faltered, "Greg would have been so pleased." She pulled back, looking at him at arm's length. "You meant a great deal to him, you know that, don’t you?"

Yes, he did. He thought that he always had, really.

They were still standing on the doorstep and he glanced down the street, the car could just be seen beyond a bend in the road. Blythe followed his glance.

"Is there someone with you, James?" She glanced down at his hand, spotting the gold ring on his finger. Her face lit up and she was about to say something when he shook his head.

"There is, but I need to tell you about them first. It's going to be a bit of a shock." He took a deep breath, he hadn't meant to do this here, on the doorstep but he didn't want to keep the truth from her any longer.

"House.... Greg survived the fire, Blythe. He isn't dead."

Her eyes went wide and she stared at him, speechless. Then her gaze flicked back to the car and she went past him at a speed he wouldn't have thought possible.

"Greg!"

Wilson quickly caught up to Blythe and as they approached the car the door opened and House stood up, standing still on the sidewalk, his stance apprehensive. His Mom stopped and stared at him for a second and then came forward, embracing him, her arms coming around and hugging her son.

House looked at Wilson over Blythe's shoulder, and smiled at him, his relief showing. He returned his Mom's embrace, holding her tightly.

"Merry Christmas, Mom."

End

ETA : third_owl and nightdog_barks wrote an awesome sequel to this : Home for Chistmas, Part Two.

Comments

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

... WAIT, WAIT, I WANTED THERE TO BE MORE!

This is so good, and it feels so right! Wilson filling up House's iPod with Christmas music was WONDERFUL. And it's so good to see Blythe again!

There's no more? Isn't there another section to this? Maybe it's hiding somewhere? :D

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

LOL - no, no more hiding :) Alas, it's Christmas Eve morning here and I have a mental list of 'things I should get done today' and... instead I've been sitting here, writing House & Wilson:) Time to venture out into the sunshine.

Thanks for reading, glad you liked it :)

[knitty-woman.livejournal.com]

Ditto everything nightdog said!!

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it. Happy Christmas!

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I'm with nightdog, i want to know what happened next!
beautifully done.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you liked it. Happy Christmas!

[pinigir.livejournal.com]

Loved this! Loved Wilson taking charge here and Blythe being reunited with her son. Also, of course, Wilson surviving. :-)

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Wilson surviving is the main thing :) Thanks for reading, glad you liked it :)

[rslhilson.livejournal.com]

Aw, I liked this very much! Adding to the chorus of "I wish there was more"!

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it :) Thanks for reading!

[brindlewolf.livejournal.com]

Love this! Wonderful (early) Christmas present! Thank you! ♥

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Have a great Christmas!

[srsly-yes.livejournal.com]

A Christmas story! You have everyone pitch perfect. Blythe is such an elusive character, but I could hear and see her clearly. And how wonderful is it that Wilson is sporting a wedding ring. He and House are couple. I wouldn't mind a flashback to how that came to be. ♥

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it :) Hope you have a great Christmas!

[pgrabia.livejournal.com]

Encore! Encore! I agree with what everybody has said before me. I could hear all three characters in my head as I read along. I, too, hope you can find a snipet of time somewhere to give us a little more, but if not, this was a lovely little gift:)

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it, hope you have a great Christmas :)

[sassyjumper.livejournal.com]

Awwww, thanks for that holiday cheer :) Like nightdog, I loved Wilson filling House's iPod with X-mas music. That little bastard.

I'll just add to everyone's request for more...you know, after the holiday craziness slows down. Thank you for sharing!

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) Wilson had great fun finding the cheesiest Christmas songs he could for the iPod :)

Thanks for reading!

[yarroway.livejournal.com]

I'd better leave a comment fast before LJ starts acting up again.

This is a perfect Christmas treat--sweet and fluffy. I'm glad Blythe got to know her son is alive and happy.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) It worries me that Blythe thinks her son is dead when he isn't - she may not be the best mother ever but she obviously cares about him...I think if he let Foreman know somehow he found a way to let her know as well.

Thanks for reading and hope you have a great Christmas!

[discofunction.livejournal.com]

Oh I love it! Perfect happy fluffiness- just what you need for Christmas! I am glad they went to Blythe- I was always a bit uncomfortable with that in the finale. Faking your death to colleagues is one thing- but you can't do that to your mother! In my own little head canon I like to believe she was in on it too!

Thank you for this and a merry christmas to you! xxx

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Like I just said to Yarroway I hope that House let Blythe know that he was okay.

Glad you iked the fluffy Christmas story, I had in mind a sad one but I just couldn't do it :)

Hope you have a great Christmas!

[sheppa.livejournal.com]

Well written and so touching...
Thank you.
And a Merry Christmas!

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it - thanks for reading!

Happy Christmas!

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

What a lovely Christmas story! (The picture in my head of Blythe seeing Greg was more the amazed howling reaction, but that isn't Blythe.)

Go Wilson! You make this right!

Yeah, it really bothered me that House let his mother think he was dead. This makes it better.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

I think I would be screaming hysterically myself :)

Yeah, I like to think House let his mother know because yeah, that's just not right.

Thanks for reading - have a great Christmas!

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

This is wonderful. The little stuff -- Wilson tampering with House's iPod in a way he knows House will hate; the name-calling and rude gestures (of love); the debate over whether Alaska and Hawaii count.

And the big stuff, all of the reasons House wants to see his mom and is terrified to go.

And of course Wilson is right. Of course. <3 <3 <3

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

rude gestures (of love) - I like that !

Thanks for reading! Have a great Christmas if you do that :)

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

Yep, I do Christmas, though not in the frantic-shopping way (lack of money and lack of people in my family who want stuff). At present I have this amazing thing in the oven, baking for a gathering I'll be going to tonight. I basically do not bake ever and yet this is so easy and so very, very good, although I tweak it: I leave the walnuts out and add about 1/4 cup of orange or lemon juice.

My brain is now trying to figure out what happens next in this story. I'm amusing myself that way while I clean up the kitchen.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Oh, that Cranberry pie/cake looks delicious! I never cook or bake but I feel inspired to try that :)

If you figure out what happens next let us know :)

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

We -- Nightdog and I -- have a draft which we are tweaking and attempting to title. :-)

This being your ficverse, if you'd like to have a look at it, we can put you on the filter for the draft. Or we can just surprise you. Whichever you choose.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! Can't wait to see what you do with it - surprise me :)

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

Here it is! http://third-owl.livejournal.com/3052.html

Merry Christmas from BlackDog. Um, I mean NightMare. You know ... the Two-Headed Ficbeast. :-D

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

I might be accidentally writing a sequel to your sequel if that's okay with you?

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes wheeeeeee

:-D

[barefootpuddles.livejournal.com]

It was lovely the way you wrote this. I wrote a similar scene in a fic that lays half finished, but Blythe wasn't as pleased. I think she would be half ecstatic, half furious. I thought how awful it was that he let his mother think he was dead like that, but then the show had changed Blythe into someone different than what i had thought her to be before, so I don't know. I hope he did contact her. Anyway, you did a great job with this. :)

I also thought the show sort of downplayed Wilson's reaction to House being alive, but that's a whole other subject.

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

I think truthfully that at some point Blythe *would* get somewhat angry about what happened (although she does seem a fairly calm character) but I wanted to write a happy fic for Christmas :) (I nearly wrote a 'Wilson dies on Christmas Day' fic but thought better of it ) I'd love to see yours if you ever finish it !

Thanks for reading!

[justjuly4.livejournal.com]

Read your fic only today, so it's little late to say something you haven't heard... I loved the story!

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it - thanks for reading and commenting :)

[annalully.livejournal.com]

I'm here following the link from Mare's second part! :D

How did I miss this? It's delightful and so, so right! Blythe should know about her son! It was such an awful thing to do with the character - since I totally ignored the 'Blythe' they introduced in S8 I'm talking about ' the character that used to be House's mother', and that one was a loving mother!

Lots of bonus points for the strangely absent Thomas - he should stay absent, as far as I care.

Lovely banter and a golden ring! And cheesy Christmas music! Classic!

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it - yeah, I'm not keen on season 8 Blythe myself (or Thomas).

Thanks for reading and commenting :)

[petitecuriosity.livejournal.com]

OMG! *sniff* This has to be the fluffiest post-finale fic I've read and I LOVE IT. How you manged to write a fluffy House-reunites-with-his-mother fic, have House and Wilson settled down together, and have it so incredibly in-character is just...I can't even. You're amazing.

I like the build up of Wilson leaving House in the car, from the joke about their unvisited states, to saying that he knows Moms (which he totally does, because he's Wilson), to yanking the keys from the ignition, and to leaving Christmas carols on House's Ipod. ;) I love manipulative!Wilson.

And the scene with Blythe and Wilson is lovely; I think she knew all along just how much Wilson meant to House, and that's apparent here. And the way Blythe runs to the car to greet House with a hug, even after he lied about being dead, she's just so happy to see that he's alive and happy as Wilson said she would. She truly is the unconditional love in House's life. *sniff* *grabs tissues*

[menolly-au.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it - it helped get me in the Christmas spirit :) night_dog and third_owl wrote a sequel which is awesome ( and I wrote a sequel to that :)