They pulled up to the large two story house at 5:45 pm. "You're sure about this," Wilson asked looking to Greg.

House put his hand on Wilson's crotch, "Yes," he said with a wicked smile.

"Um, Greg," Wilson started but stopped as the hand caressed his hardening member, "why are you…mmm"

"I figure that we should go low key in your brother's house, therefore I need to get my PDA in before we go," House said as if it was completely normal to be molesting someone in there brother's drive way. He'd started it as a joke but he couldn't help getting hot and bothered by the action.

Wilson kissed Greg and what was meant to be a peck turned into a needy sloppy kiss. He pulled away panting and watching the man with hungry eyes. "There's a park at the end of this block," he said with desire.

House licked his lip at the thought, "No," he said stopping his touching and taking a deep breath. "We can make out in the park after this," he said his eyes lowering to look at James's straining member. He couldn't help licking his lips as he thought about what it would be like to suck him off right now.

Wilson could read Greg's mind and he highly considered unzipping his pants and letting the man go for it, but then he saw his brother waving as he came out of the front door. "Oh boy," he said as his brother started towards the car. Greg chuckled as he saw Mark walking around the car to Wilson. "You are going to be the death of me," Wilson whispered glancing at with a grin before opening his door and smiling at his brother. "Hi, Mark," he said getting out of the car and hugging his brother.

Mark gave his brother a good squeeze before pulling back, "Hey is that a thermometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me," he said jokingly and then his eyebrows shot up. "Hell, that is a rocket in your pocket," Mark said with a laugh. "You know if you two need a couple of minutes…" he said leaving the sentence open.

Wilson turned crimson at the vocalization of the situation, "That's not necessary," he said walking around to the passenger's side back door to get the wheelchair out.

"We decided to make-out in the park after party," House said loudly to which Mark chuckled more and James gave him a menacing glare.

Wilson got the wheelchair unfolded and opened the passenger door, "You promised to be on your best behavior," he said in a reminding kind of way.

Mark looked at the wheelchair and at House. Something had changed, though House had never looked healthy, he'd not been that thin, or worn, or cripple before.

House could sense the man's thoughts, "My leg has gotten a little worse," he lied as Wilson helped him into the wheelchair. He could feel Wilson looking at him and refused to meet his gaze.

"Oh," Mark said looking to James, "yeah, he'd mentioned that you weren't feeling a hundred percent. I hope it isn't anything too serious," he said seeing the sorrowing features of his brother.

"Nope," House said as he pushed the wheelchair toward the door.

"Everything okay?" Mark asked James as they followed Greg to the door.

Wilson gave him a grimaced smile, "Yeah, um… no one sick is here, right?" he asked with concerned features.

Mark shook his head, "No," he answered, wondering when he would get a chance to talk to James on his own and figure out what was going on.

"Good," Wilson said with a little more life in his smile and walked in.

House rolled into the dining room to see James's family sitting around the large table. Everyone was looking at him, "Hi," he said with a forced smile.

Jennifer got up from her seat, "It's so nice to see you, House, here," she said as she removed one of the chairs so he could roll the wheelchair in the spot. "Are you alright?" she asked with concern.

"He's been having some problems with his leg," Wilson said as he came to sit down beside Greg.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Jennifer said as she made her way back to her chair and Mark joined her.

"Thank you everyone for making it tonight as Danny turns twelve," Mark said as smiling putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Our youngest son, just one year from his bar mitzvah. I don't know what is going to kill me first, the heartbreak as I have to see my children leave the nest or the bank robbery I'm going to have to pull off to put them through college." He said as he sat down there were chuckles along the table.

"Mark," Martha said in a slightly scolding tone.

"I'm joking, Ma," Mark said with a smile and turned to his son. "Danny, would you please lead us in blessing before we eat?" he asked.

"Sure, Dad," Danny said with a warm smile. They all joined hands and Danny began, "BA-RUCH A-TAH A-DO-NOI ELO-HAI-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM HA-MO-TZI LE-CHEM MIN HA-A-RETZ, BO-RAI PRI HA-GA-FEN, BO-RAI PRI HA-A-DA-MAH, SHE…" he stopped as he tried to think of the rest of the blessing.

House could see the worry on the boy's face as everyone looked at him expectantly, "SHE-HA-KOL NI-H'YAH BI-D'VA-RO," he finished for him. Everyone looked at him with utter shock, along with James. "Amen," he said letting go of James's and Martha's hand. The food was passed around.

"You know Hebrew?" Wilson whispered as everyone was fixing their plate.

"I know nine languages, you didn't think I knew Hebrew," House said more than asked as he gave James as if he was a dumb child.

Wilson felt a little foolish, "But why would you know our blessing's," he asked as he fixed his own plate.

"Thank you, House, I didn't know you were… so versed in our religious practices," Martha said looking at the man with appraising eyes.

House swallowed as he looked at her eyes, " האדם שמקבל או מכחיש את מה שאינו ידוע לו הוא טיפש, ולכן החיפוש אחר הידע של כל פרקטיקות חייב להיות העדיפות של האדם (The man who accepts or denies what is unknown to him is a fool, this is why the quest for knowledge of all practices must be the priority of man)."

Martha's eyebrow raised slightly as everyone at the table looked highly impressed, "I agree," she said with a smile.

"Your Hebrew is very good my son," David (James's Father) said.

"We're glad to have you here, though I had hoped that James would be dating someone," Martha said glancing over at James who almost choked on his food.

House started to eat as he didn't know what else to say. Wilson on the other hand stopped eating as his time had come. His heart was racing, "I am dating someone," he said with smile.

"Oh, well that's great!" Martha said with a smile, "Why didn't you bring her tonight so I could meet her?"

Wilson felt his mouth go a little dry, "I did bring him with me," he said and took a sip of water.

David seems to catch on first as he gave an understanding smile and then continued to eat while Martha looked stunned. Danny smiled too, Jennifer just blinked at the surprising news before looking to Mark.

"Welcome to the family, Greg," Mark said with a warm smile.

House flushed and Martha looked from Mark to House and James, "Is this some sort of joke?" she asked with confusion clear on her face.

House watched as she eyed James. "No, we love each other and…. we're engaged," James said putting a hand on Greg's shoulder.

"That's awesome," Danny said with a smile, "does that mean you will teach me how to play guitar?" he asked looking to House.

House looked completely surprised by the boy's enthusiasm over the news, "Sure," he said matter of factly.

Martha looked at House, "Are you gay or bi?" she asked in a more curious manner.

"Bisexual," House answered. He was a little surprised that she hadn't just assumed he was gay like most people did.

She sighed slightly as she let her dreams of more grandchildren slip out of her mind. She looked to James and smiled some, then to House. "It was always in the air that things might someday turn this way and I am comforted that it is by a more cautious hearted man than my James."

Wilson blinked at this with confusion, "What do you mean by, "it was always in the air that things might turn this way"?!" Wilson said standing.

Martha stood up and hugged her son, "Oh, James, you were always such an emotional sweet boy," she said with loving eyes as she looked at him. "You liked to talk, while most boys liked to fight. You preferred cooking and organizing to sports. I was not blind to the possibility and I love you all the same."

Wilson looked at her and then his father, "So… wait, you… both thought I might prefer men?"

David shrugged, "We'd talked about it," he said with an amused smile. "It never really mattered to us which way you decided, though this is a little later in the game than we had both anticipated for the switch of teams, but I can't say it caught us off guard."

There was a roar of laughter and the entire table turned to House who seemed unable to contain himself. He looked to James, "Your parents and I knew before you did," he said chuckling some more.

Wilson flushed with embarrassment, "Well maybe I should call up your parents and see if they know about you," he spat bitterly. At these words House's laughter died abruptly and his face blanched as tension grew in the air as Greg looked at James with disgust and (thought it was unnoticeable to the others) wounded eyes. Wilson's red anger faded as fast as it had overtaken him and he heard those unconscious please of Greg after the 'spanking'. "Greg," he said softly to begin an apology but didn't get the opportunity to finish as the man rolled away from the table to the bathroom.

Martha had been shocked to see the sudden change in House and thought she didn't know why her son's words had affected him so, it was easy to see that it had cut the man as deep as any blade could have. "Let him be, I'll check on him," she said giving James the first disapproving look of the night.

Wilson sat down silently in his chair as the guilt ate at him.

"What's wrong with him?" Mark asked in a soft tone.

Wilson shook his head, "I shouldn't have said that," he said looking at the still fairly full plate of Greg's that he knew wouldn't be touched for the rest of the night.

Mark swallowed, "I'm talking about physically."

Wilson looked up at his brother, who was looking at him with caring concerned eyes, "Ummm, his leg," he said lamely.

David put a hand on James's hand, "You don't have to tell us what it is. All I want to know is if you and he are okay?"

All the emotions from the night had finally broken though his wall as tears welled up in his eyes, "No," he said in a broken whisper, "we aren't. It… it's cancer and it's bad."

"Oh God, James," Jennifer said with a deep sympathy as the rest of the family at the table looked mournful.

1111111111111111111

House washed his face after he'd thrown up for the last time. The cold water felt more like a slight pressure on his skin than refreshing, another side effect of his cancer treatments. He dried it on a towel and felt exhausted. He slowly rolled to the door and opened it to see Martha looking at him with those same overly concerned eyes that her son had. "Come on, dear, you need to rest," she took hold of the handle and gently rolled him into an unoccupied room and started readying the bed for him.

"I'm fine," he said avoiding looking at himself in the mirror on the opposite wall.

Martha didn't stop her work or look at him as she spoke, "Dear child, I have raised three children and I can say with certainty that you are not fine. Now you will take a rest or so help me I will go and tell James that you want to speak to him."

Even as tired as he was he could appreciate the intelligence of the woman. "It's not what you think."

"It's none of my business," she said in a dismissive way but the fear in her voice gave her thoughts away.

House waited until she was done and looked at him, "It's not AID's, it's … cancer," he said looking her in the eyes.

Martha let out a slight sigh of relief but still felt horrible. "I knew," she said to see real surprise on his face and she shook her head. "Not about the cancer," she explained, "I knew you always loved him. I could see it in how you interacted with him. You looked at him as if he was your world."

"He is," House said moved by her acknowledgement of his love for her son.

She felt her eyes water up some, "He was taught better than he acted tonight. He always was easy to anger when he was scared and with your health and him building up telling us about you two, he lashed out. I know he didn't mean it."

House was felt bitter sweet about the woman's reaction. She seemed to care for him more than his own parents showed and it both hurt and warmed his heart. He tried to stand so he could get on the bed but his arms refused to move him more than a couple of inches out of the seat. Martha grabbed him around the torso and felt him flinch hard. She didn't react to it though as she helped him on the bed.

Martha frowned as she let go of him, "He isn't feeding you enough," she said with concern over thin frame. "I'll start bringing food over, I cook all of the time," she said moving the pillow so his head fell gently into it as she looked at this torso.

House felt a wave of emotion at this woman's real concern of him. "Why do you care about me? I mean… I know I'm not what you want for your son." He said to see true confusion and surprise come over her features.

"Why on earth would I not want you for my son?" She asked looking at him with caring eyes.

House blinked as his own eyes dampened, "Because you… I thought you hated me."

Martha shook her head as she pulled the covers over him, "No, my child, I have never hated you. I admit that I was not always in agreement with James being so close to you, but that had nothing to do with you. I could see him ignoring his wives and I didn't think that was good, but I never disliked you." She said gently and as she could see how much her words had meant to him her love for him grew more. "I'm glad to get you as a son, my child, and I only hope that I can be as good of a mother as you deserve."

Something in him broke as his chin shook and silent tears fell he looked at her through blurry eyes, "No one's…. ever wanted me… as part of their family before," he admitted brokenly to her.

She felt her own eyes dampen as she saw more emotion from then man than she'd ever thought possible, "Baby, I'm sure that isn't true. I'm sure your family loves you beyond words," she said holding him.

House shook his head in her embrace, "They hated me," he said softly.

"They couldn't hate you, you're their son," Martha said tenderly as she pulled back to look at him. He didn't think about as he pulled up his shirt, showing her his chest, he just did it. She looked at him with confusion until she understood what the silent scars were, they were his statement, his proof of his parent's hatred. Her jaw tightened as she pushed his hand down with the shirt to cover his scars again, "Then they are not worth your concern, now you need to rest." she said with a fire in her eyes.

She watched him as he laid on the bed breathing deeply with a loose face. She could see the tension under the superficial layer of calm that was there for her benefit. He was in pain and tired beyond words. She closed the curtains to make it dark and stood beside him raking her fingers softly through his hair, "Now little one it's time to sleep, close those eyes without a peep, and let all your worries fall away, when you wake it will be a new day….," she sang to him and he fell asleep faster than she would have ever suspected.

11111111111111

Wilson was sitting at the table, feeling unburdened as he'd explained Greg's illness and treatment to the rest of his family, when his mother came out of nowhere slapped his arm with the back of her hand. He pulled back from her looking stunned.

"I can't believe you said that! You… oh, I taught you better than that," Martha said with disappointment in her voice as she took her seat. Wilson was so stunned by his mother's sudden concern over House that he was speechless. Martha shook her head watching him, "I mean, it's pretty obvious somethings wrong between him and his family when they don't even get together for the holidays and you just threw it in his face."

Wilson visibly shamed at this statement, "I know. I'll go and talk to him," he said rising.

Martha caught him by the arm and pulled him back into his seat. "No, you will not," she said tartly. "He has just gone to sleep and you will not break that peace for him, especially when your words made him so sick had to flush his supper," she said and though her voice was stern there was a lot of concern in it too.

Wilson's eyes moved to the door of the down stairs guest bedroom with sympathy, "I've got to have more control. He's already dangerously underweight and I can't be the reason he doesn't make it through this," he said with self-loathing and damp eyes.

Martha reached out and put a hand on her son's shoulder. "James, you aren't going to lose him. He's too stubborn to die," she said with supportive smile.

He looked in her eyes, "He shouldn't make it through this, not in his condition, not as hard as this treatment is on the body. Most patients lose 25% of their body weight going through this and he doesn't even weigh 130."

"Well, that's going to change," she said with confidence, "because I'm going to be stopping by with homecooked food, now that I know what's going on." She met eyes with Jennifer, "And Jennifer will bring this to the temple for prayer," she said to receive an earnest nod of agreement.

"Also, I'm getting Greg a new wheelchair," David said and held up his hand to stop James's abjections that he knew would come. "I was going to bring it up before you even said you were dating. I helped design the wheels for the most innovative wheelchair in the last 5 years so that people with disabilities could feel more independent, confident, and free to live their life." He said to see his son let out a sigh, "It's free so there isn't any reason to be prideful about it and I think Greg could really help us design something even better with his feedback."

Mark felt a little left out as he tried to think of something that he could do to help and it hit him, "Danny and I will install a ramp for the steps up to House's place. Would you like that?" he asked looking over to his son.

"Yes! I want to help Uncle Greg anyway I can," Danny said with a smile as he looked to James.

Wilson took a sniffling breath as he looked around at his family, "I can't believe you guys. Thank you, for everything. I never thought… you would be this accepting of him."

Martha put a hand on her son's shoulder, "Greg has treated you like family ever since that night he bailed you out of jail…"

"You… you knew about that," Wilson interrupted with surprise.

"Yes," Martha with a smile, "and anyone who has been there for my baby boy like that has this family's support through anything."

"I thought… I thought you didn't… like him," Wilson said truly shocked by his mother's touching words.

"I like Greg," Danny said looking around the table and everyone let laughed a little.

"He can be aggravating," Mark said seriously with a slight smile, "but I don't know that I would said he's anymore aggravating than the brother that I already have," he said looking at James.

Wilson tried to look wounded, "Me, I thought I was perfect," he said smiling at his brother.

"I've always thought it would be nice to have a genius for a son," David said to see the family around him nod with smiles as his two sons gave him humorous looks of indignation.

"That's settled, from this time forward, Greg, is part of this family," she said giving James's hand a squeeze as they started back in on their meal.

It wasn't long before Danny had opened his presents and the table had broken up. Mark and Jennifer were watching and playing with him in the living room. David had taken up a seat in the study and was enjoying a cup of coffee while reading the paper, while Wilson and his mother cleaned up the kitchen.

"If you liked him then why did you tell me to stay away from him?" Wilson asked as they cleaned now that they could speak in private.

"Because you seemed to prefer spending time with him to that of your wives," she said with a smile and shook her head, "but now it's the way it was supposed to be."

He thought about that and smiled too, "True, but it's just… odd that you seem to like him more than you ever did the women I married," he said watching her.

Martha took a step closer to her son and put a gentle hand on his arm, "Honestly, dear, you had terrible taste in women. I never felt very close to them because… well, they didn't seem to love you." She frowned as she could see some hurt in James's eyes. "I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you, but I never saw them look at you the way Greg has always looked at you."

Wilson's eyebrows shot up at that, "You mean, you knew?" he said in a whisper.

She shrugged shaking her head a little, "I knew he loved you, wiether it was like a brother or like a lover I wasn't sure, but I never questioned his love or devotion to you." She looked deep in her son's eyes, "I've never seen you happier than you are with him and he adores you, just the way you are."

Wilson's felt his eyes water up some, "He loves me more than I deserve. He forgives my mistakes too easily."

Martha smiled as she kissed his cheek, "Baby, that's what a soul mate is supposed to do. You've been taking care of women your whole life, but that's not how a marriage is supposed to work. A marriage is two people who love each other more than they do themselves. It is a partnership stronger than any force or sin in the world." She cupped his cheek in her hand, "I love Greg because he loves you like I love you my son."

He wrapped his mother in a tight hug, "Thank you," he whispered in her ear as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"All I ask is that his family not be invited to the wedding," She said with some concern and James pulled back to look at her in the eyes. "The emotional scars on that boy were bad enough, but the physical ones on his chest," she said with a deep anger as she shook her head. "I swear if one of them ever touches him like that again I will be the tool God uses to smite them down."

Wilson shook his head, "Not if I get there first," he said feeling closer to her than he ever had. "He was treated worse than an animal."

She frowned and was about to speak when she heard a noise from the bedroom. Wilson heard it too and his eyes saddened. "He's having a nightmare," he said softly and left to check on Greg. He walked in the dark bedroom to see Greg twisted up in the covers. He put a gentle hand on the man's chest, "Greg, wake up," he said.

House opened his eyes and took several deep breaths as he looked around the room and remembered where he was, "I wasn't too loud, was I?" he asked.

"No," James said, as he rubbed the man's chest. "Are you okay?"

Greg nodded as he sat up some, "How long was I out?"

"Two hours," James said running a hand through Greg's short hair, "I'm sorry about..." he stopped as Greg put up a hand and shook his head.

"Don't, it's fine," Greg said and gave him a reassuring smile. "Did everything go well?"

"Yeah, it went great and they all seem excited to have you as part of the family," James said with tenderly.

House nodded, "Your mom is a great woman."

James chuckled, "Yep, the best mom in the world. She really likes you," he said as he put his hand on Greg's.

"Duh," Greg said with some humor, "I'm all that and a bag of chips," he said watching James. "So, since she likes me so much, you think she would mind if we made out," Greg said wagging his eyebrows some as he started to kiss James.

"Now boys, I you better not be doing anything tawdry in there," Martha said loudly from the kitchen.

James and Greg both started laughing in the middle of the kiss.