Cameron's cell-phone vibrated inside her purse. She frowned guiltily at the interruption, but House ignored the noise and continued grilling Foreman about their latest patient. Chase was on honeymoom in Sydney, having gotten married two weeks earlier.

She glanced at the text message she had just recieved. A wide grin broke out across her face and she moved across the conference room to use the office phone. Quickly she dialled, and upon hearing the answer, pressed the speakerphone button. House and Foreman looked at her, bewildered, then smiled when they heard Amy's voice saying "Hello? Am I on speaker?" Three voices impatiently replied, 'yes!' and they could hear Amy laughing.

"We both got into Hopkins!" she said excitedly, and moments later was overwhelmed by the sound of her parents and Foreman all congratulating them at once.


"Guys this is so cute!" Amy gushed, angling the card that Ben and Lucy had made so that Tom could view it over her shoulder.

"We couldn't spell 'congratulations' so we wrote 'Well Done' instead." Ben supplied, and Lucy pressed her foot on his.

"Tattletale."

"Lucy, go and sit in time out." Greg said sternly, and Lucy flounced sulkily out into the hallway. They could all hear her pounding her feet on the floor as she sat on the time-out step.

"Ben, why don't you tell Amy what your teacher said?" Allison said, diverting attention from Lucy. Ben beamed and climbed up to sit on the sofa beside Amy.

"If I get good enough I get to do a solo for the class play next year."

"Good job, buddy." Tom said, and Ben – if it was possible – beamed even more. He adored Tom almost as much as he adored his dad.

"Am I done yet?" Lucy yelled from the hallway. Greg checked his watch and called back;

"You can come back in." The five year old flounced in sulkily, and faced her parents, who were sat on the sofa together.

"What do you say to Ben?" Allison asked, and Lucy turned around to face her twin brother

"Sorry Ben." She said grumpily. Ben shrugged. "Can we go to out now?" To celebrate Amy and Tom's acceptance to Hopkins, Greg and Allison were treating them to a meal at Amy's favourite restaurant. Ben and Lucy loved the place because it had it's own soft-play centre in a building off the actual restaurant.

"If you put your shoes on, and run a brush through your hair. We can leave in about 10 minutes." Ben and Lucy raced through to the hallway to grab their shoes. Both had just learned to tie their shoelaces, and the four adults could hear them repeating the little rhyme that helped them remember where each lace went.


"I'll give you a hand." Tom offered, following Greg to the bar to get drinks. Allison and Amy were left with the twins, who were squabbling over the kiddy-pack that the waitress had given them. Lucy wanted Ben's crayons, because one of hers was broken, and Ben – finally learning to stand up for himself against his more confident sister – was trying to refuse.

"Lucy, use the crayons that aren't broken, and then when Ben's finished with the colour you want, you can ask him nicely if he'll let you borrow it." Allison scolded, sighing exasperatedly and rolling her eyes over the heads of her children. Amy suppressed a giggle.

Over at the bar, Greg and Tom were deep in conversation, not noticing that their drinks order had been placed in front of them.

"And if I say no?" Greg asked, and Tom grinned.

"You wont." Greg tried not to smirk. Tom and Amy had been together for almost the whole four years they had been at Harvard. Tom was one of the family as much as either of the twins.

"Have you spoken to Amy about it?" Greg realised their drinks were on the bar in front of them, and took a sip of his beer. Tom took a sip of his own beer and drummed the fingers of his free hand on the bar.

"Not exactly. I love her Greg. Ever since the first time I saw her on campus I knew I wanted to be with her." Tom avoided the older man's gaze, and took another hurried sip of beer. Greg cleared his throat, taking the tray of drinks in his hands. As he turned around, he said,

"You have my 'blessing'."


The phone rang shrilly, shattering the silence of the room. Allison groaned, and shifted underneath the covers. Beside her, Greg eased himself into a leaning position, reaching out one hand to flick on the bedside lamp. Light filtered the room, and his hand swiped around, trying to reach the phone that lived on his bedside cabinet. He pressed the 'answer' button and held the phone to his ear, yawning as he did so. The familiar voice resonated through the otherwise silent room, and beside him he felt Allison move onto her side.

"Daddy?" the excited voice asked again, when it recieved no answer.

"Are you ok?" Greg asked, by way of a greeting. Allison glanced at the clock on her bedside cabinet; 2.30am. She felt her heart pound as she signalled to Greg, asking what's wrong.

"I'm fine!" Amy's voice was dancing down the line.

"It's the middle of the night Amy, what's going on?" Greg asked, as Allison grabbed the phone and held it between them.

"Is everything ok?" she asked, and recieved a giggle in response.

"Amy..." Greg warned.

"I didn't realise the time. I'm just so happy; I wanted to call you right away." Amy babbled, and Allison and Greg looked at each other. Another giggle came down the phone line. "I have news. Tom asked me to marry him tonight. And I said yes!" More giggles came down the line, accompanied by the laugh Allison and Greg had come to recognise as Tom's. Allison broke into a huge smile, her hand at her mouth. She glanced at Greg, who was also smiling.

"Congratulations!" they exclaimed."Can I be bridesmaid in a pink dress?" Lucy asked for the thirtieth time that weekend. As soon as she had heard the word 'wedding' she had been brimming over with excitement. Tom and Amy's graduation from Harvard hadn't even stopped her whispering suggestions about ponies and sparkle.

"I don't know if I'm having bridesmaids, sweetheart." Amy answered apologetically, earning a slightly confused look from her fiancée.

"You don't?" he questioned and Amy shrugged.

"You have eight nieces; I think nine bridesmaids might be a little excessive. Don't you?" She looked at Lucy again. "I promise you can wear a pink dress though."

"But I wanna be a bridesmaid!" Lucy whined. Ben rolled his eyes next to her, and tapped out a rhythm on the tabletop.

"Have you set a date?" Greg asked, setting platters of food down on the table. Allison added more dishes, and then they both took their seats as Tom answered,

"We were thinking about sometime this summer actually."

"Are you pregnant?" The four adults were stunned, and Lucy giggled at her twin brother's question.

"No Ben. I'm not pregnant." Amy replied firmly, with a confused look at Allison.

"We just want to get married before we go to Hopkins, ok Ben?" Tom elaborated for the little boy.

"When you have a baby, would it be my brother?" Lucy asked, through a mouthful of the chicken Allison had dished onto her plate. Ben scoffed.

"No, stupid. He'd be your cousin."

"Benjamin, don't insult your sister." Allison scolded, at the same time as Greg said;

"Actually, if and when Amy and Tom have a baby," here he shot a small glance at the newly engaged couple, both of whom looked as if they couldn't decide whether to laugh or be embarrassed. "If and when, the baby would be your niece or nephew."

"Which is which?" Lucy asked.

"A baby girl would be your niece, and a baby boy would be your nephew." Tom answered, reaching underneath the table and taking a hold of Amy's free hand. He ran his thumb gently over the band of her engagement ring – it was a simple gold band with three sapphires set in it.

The twins seemed satisfied with Tom's answer, and ate their food quietly while having a foot war under cover of the table. The four adults were busy discussing Greg and Allison's latest patient when Ben interrupted, asking;

"Where will the baby come from?"