A/N: Apologies for the wait - I wanted to make sure it was worth your read. Hope it's not too cheesy for you. :)

House was strewn across the floor, gasping for air. His arthritis and aching muscles meant he couldn't move around as easily as he used not - though it wasn't as though he was a marathon runner in the first place.

He laughed as a child fell on top of him and began tickling him. "Stay still, Dad!"

House pretended to be angry. "Oh no you don't, you little pirate!"

The child screamed with laughter as House rolled him onto the side, relentlessly wiggling his fingers under the child's armpits.

A melodic voice floated from the front door. "I'll be back at ten, honey!"

House continued his tickling rampage. "Don't get too stoned!"

It took him a while to become weary and eventually settle back against the couch, his son half-dozing on his chest. An old seventies movie played on the television, a half-eaten packet of chips lying across DVDs of 'Peter Pan' and 'Matilda'.

House had a simple life; a wife, a son, a country house in Montana. Every morning he would hobble outside to feed the deer before spending his days writing and learning new songs to play. His son's favourite was 'Stairway to Heaven'.

"Daddy?"

House looked down. "Yeah?"

"Is your friend here?"

"...Not right now."

"Okay. Tell me the story again. Please?" His son sat up, puppy dog-eyeing his father.

House sighed. "Once upon a time, in a faraway castle, I was a doctor. And I treated all sorts of interesting and disgusting illnesses, including a guy who coughed up part of his lung."

"Ewww!" The child sniggered.

"I had a few friends there, but only a handful that were really important," House continued, massaging his leg. "There was Cameron the lab technician, Wilson the royal physician and Queen Lisa herself. We had some..good times together, but we didn't get along after a while and they..threw me out."

His son leaned closer. "Didn't they teach you too?"

"I learnt some things from them," House wrapped his arm around his son. "Lisa taught me the lesson of love and how easily it can go to hell. Cameron taught me how to be kind and not a complete jerk to people."

"What about Wilson?"

House bit his lip. It had been a while since he'd thought of his friend. "..He taught me to never take who loved you or your time alive for granted."

"But now you've got me, Daddy!" His son threw his arms around House. "I'll be your friend."

House returned the gesture, refusing to accept that he felt the urge to cry. "Now, how about you get your old man a Pepsi, huh?"

The child saluted and marched to the kitchen. "Yessir!"

House chuckled. "Children make great slaves."

"Is that why you love him?"

His heart stopped. He directed his gaze towards the window where the voice had originated from. Amber was perched on the windowsill, dressed in pink and white. "Are you using your son as a makeshift counsellor?"

House's smile instantly faded. "You've been gone a while."

"Five years, seven months and twenty-three days, to be exact," Amber fiddled with a loose strand of hair. "You didn't really think I'd ever go away?"

"The others did."

"I'll never fade, Greg."

"Don't call me that," House snapped. "..It isn't my name anymore."

"Why don't you tell your son that? Or your wife, perhaps?" Amber smiled. "You're afraid of rejection, aren't you?"

"All I'm doing is telling my son stories using people I knew to make sure he falls asleep at night. That doesn't make him my counsellor; the kid doesn't even know his mom's pregnant again yet. He doesn't know what sex is-"

"You're using him, House, even if you won't admit it."

"It's not like I'm abusing the kid!"

"Think about it. You've got ten years of unshed tears inside you, so how do you release it?" Amber stood up, straightening her blouse. "Through fairies and ogres."

"Princes and princesses. Get it right."

"Is she there, Dad?" The child returned with a can, handing it to House. He waved at the air. "Hi Amber!"

Smiling softly, Amber returned the wave. She gave House a sly grin. "You haven't told him what I really am, have you?"

"What'd she say?"

House paused, glancing between his past and future. "That she knows I love you, James."