jaime's Guestbook

House doesn't answer right away.
He's watching Jaime too closely for that—tracking the shifts, the hesitation, the way the kid looks at the floor instead of at him when it matters.
The joke lands. Barely.
There's the faintest twitch at the corner of House's mouth, but it doesn't turn into anything real.
"Tempting," he mutters dryly. "But I prefer my victories witnessed."
His cane taps once against the floor as he adjusts his stance, not moving closer, but not backing off either. Giving space without pretending he doesn't care.
"Yeah," he adds after a beat, voice quieter, less bite in it than usual. "Because people with great survival instincts just... stop sleeping. Solid strategy."
It's not sharp enough to cut—but it's not soft enough to ignore either.
House studies him another second, then exhales through his nose.
"'One-time thing' doesn't usually come with the 'I haven't been sleeping' prequel," he says. "That's a series. You're just pretending it's a pilot episode."
A pause.
He shifts his weight slightly, leaning more on the cane now.
"Office isn't exactly a five-star hotel," he goes on, glancing around like he's critiquing his own space. "Uncomfortable couch. Questionable company. Yet you passed out here anyway."
His eyes flick back to Jaime—sharper now, but not unkind.
"That's the part I'm 'reading into.'"
Silence stretches for a second—not awkward, just... waiting.
Then, more direct:
"What's keeping you up?"
No sarcasm this time. No deflection.
Just the question, sitting there between them.

House watches him through half-lidded eyes, leaning back in his chair like he's already decided this entire situation is mildly ridiculous—but not unwelcome.

 

"Wow," Gregory House mutters dryly, tapping his cane once against the floor. "You fell asleep in my office, potentially drooled on my couch, and you're apologizing for it. Either you're hiding something or you've got the worst survival instincts I've ever seen."

But there's no real bite to it.

His gaze lingers a moment longer than usual, sharp but not unkind, taking in the way Jamie's shoulders have finally dropped, the way that tension is slowly bleeding out of him.

"You didn't mess anything up," he adds after a beat, quieter this time. "Trust me—if you had, you'd know."

House shifts forward slightly, resting his forearms on his thighs, cane angled loosely between his hands. "And for the record? If touching something in here was dangerous, I'd have died years ago."

There's the faintest flicker of a smirk.

When Jamie insists he can stay awake, House huffs a soft, almost amused breath through his nose. "Relax, kid. This isn't a test. You don't get bonus points for consciousness."

He tilts his head, studying him again—less like a doctor examining a case, more like someone trying to figure out something he won't say out loud.

"You were out cold," he says. "Which means either you're exhausted... or you feel safe enough here to let your guard down."

A small pause.

"Both are interesting."

House leans back again, settling into his chair with a quiet creak, though he doesn't reach for any files or make a move to leave.

"So," he says, tone shifting back to something lighter, but still threaded with that quiet attention, "you planning on proving your 'I can stay awake' theory, or should I grab a marker and start drawing on your face?"

Lynda couldn't help but laugh as she watched Jamie getting excited. Finally, she started speaking to him and trying to get him calmed down before somebody asked if he was ADHD. "Calm down son before someone suggests Ritalin," she told them as they were getting closer to the counter. "I'll get you mint chocolate chip ice cream," she said shaking her head playfully. "Serves me right for craving minty things while pregnant with you," she said laughing as they finally reached the counter. Lynda then placed her order for a large bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream and a large banana split, no whip cream. And after paying for it, they moved down and stood in front of the ice cream case as they waited for their order. Lynda decided to go ahead and tell Jamie what she had in her brain. "First off, this is fun work, but also a big responsibility, because you have to keep it clean," she said. "But I figured since you had your room at your father's house, which for the most part is quiet, unless your dad is being an ass, and your room at the Ponderosa is well, running like an airport with all the traffic that comes and goes in there," she said. "I figured you can have your bedroom for schoolwork and sleep, and I would get you one of those tiny houses that we can turn into a art room or music studio, or whatever you want," she told him.

"But like I said, you have to keep your homework done and your grades up in order to keep the tiny house," she told him. "And you have to keep your chores up as well," she said as their order was ready and Lynda reached up and grabbed Jamie's ice cream bowl and handed it to him. Then she grabbed her banana split and soon found the perfect table where they could talk more about what he wanted for his rooms and his tiny house. "And one other thing, I don't want you rubbing it in anyone's face about your tiny home," she said as she looked away for a few minutes. "I know that Ben had gotten something for Joe and Jennie that's going to probably make you feel awkward and that's partly why I'm doing this for you," she said as she got a spoonful of banana and chocolate ice cream. She put it in her mouth and ate it and once her mouth was empty, she began to speak again. She wasn't mad or anything, she was calm but serious. "I don't want you to think that you are going to get something every time, but I also don't want you to feel left out either," she told him. "But anyway, enough talk about that. Let's talk about everything you want for your rooms and tiny house," she suggested as she took another bite of banana with vanilla ice cream this time.

Lynda smiled as she listened to the excitement in Jamie's voice. She could also see the light in his eyes which told her that he was more than just excited, he was happy. And knowing that her son was happy made her happy. Finally, they came into Virginia City and came up to their first red light. Once stopped at the red light, Lynda began to speak to her son. "And I will always be there for you and your brothers when the storms come," she told him with a smile on her face. "And I will always listen to you, even when it doesn't seem like it, trust me, I'm definitely listening," she added as the light turned green and they began to move again, while Lynda went on speaking about moving again. "And I don't know about you, but I don't plan on moving anymore this lifetime," she said with a chuckle. "I'm already paying mortgages on three house, you're father's being one of them, and I don't need anymore of those payments," she added still chuckling as they were coming up to the parking lot of the ice cream shop that everybody always visited. Once Lynda turned into the parking lot, she found the perfect spot next to the door and quickly pulled her truck into that spot.

After parking and shutting down her truck, Lynda turned and looked at Jamie before they got out to go in for ice cream. She had a smile on her face as she began to speak to him about his two rooms, which gave her an idea for the Ponderosa Ranch house, where they stayed most of the time. "You can decorate your room however you want but as for the second room, I was thinking about your room as your father's house that you might want to redecorate," she told him and then a huge smile came upon Lynda's face. "But I have an idea that I think you would love, but it's only for the Ponderosa," she told him. "And I will tell it to you inside while we wait for our ice cream," she said playfully and though seriously as she opened her door and started to get out and then stopped. "So, if like my idea, you'll have a lot of decorating to keep you busy for a great while," she said with a smile. "But you can only decorate when your homework is done and if your grades start slipping, then I'll take over decorating and you lose what I'm thinking about doing until summer, deal?" she asked him.

"I know what you mean," she said softly. "I love rainbows too, in fact, a lot of people like them," she added and then continued her thought as she continued driving down the highway. "No matter what the storm brings, there is always going to be a rainbow in some form or another," she told her son with a smile on her face and a warm and motherly tone in her voice. She then leaned over and softly kissed the top of Jamie's head. "That's right honey, storms don't last forever," she told him. "But it can feel like they do and I think that's what you might be feeling right now," she added. "And it's okay to feel that way sometimes," she added. "But always remember that you have a mother and father and several other family members who love you very much and will be there always," she told him.

"Your father isn't such a bad guy. Yes, he has his flaws, but so does Ben, John and Bobby," she told him. "In fact, everyone has flaws, and those flaws are what makes everybody unique and special," she added smiling big knowing that her son felt better about things. "And I don't expect any of my kids to be perfect, because in my eyes, you and your other three bothers are already perfect," she told him. "The only thing I want my boys to be is happy. If you and brothers are happy, then I'm happy," she said now with a smile on her face and sounding like her old, happy self again. It was when she saw him holding out his pinky in a playful and yet serious way that she couldn't help but laugh. She knew he was doing this as a promise that she would buy this round of ice cream, and he would get the next round next time. She took her pinky and wrapped it around his pinky, making a pinky promise between the both of them. "You definitely can't break it now," she said laughing. "It has officially become a pinky promise and you know you can't break those," she said laughing.

After they got off the subject of ice cream, the subject was then changed to his room and everything he wanted in it, starting with the colors he would want to paint his room. She couldn't help but think about what he wanted and what colors went with what colors. Lynda stayed silent, thinking about all the different colors, until the city limits of Virginia City started to show. It was at that point that Lynda began to speak to her son. "We can go to a hardware store and look at color swatches so that we can see what colors go together," she told him. "And hopefully, we will get something that you will absolutely love," she added still wearing that smile. Then her smile went from being happy to being a sad frown as she spoke on what Jamie said about not really having a room of his own. "I know sweetie," she said softly. "With moving a lot and then slowly building up the hospital, we couldn't afford a big house, not like we can now, so that you boys could have your own rooms, and for that I'm sorry. But your father and I worked extra hard, and now not only do you have a room of your own, but you, my son, have two rooms," she said with a chuckle. "You should be a very happy boy right now," she added.