Amber lifted the glass of wine to her lips as soon as her mom poured her some. At this rate she'd drink too much before the end of dinner, but the alternative was to get through this sober, an option she didn't much relish. Anyway, what would her family do if she got a bit tipsy? It wasn't as if being perfect had ever been good enough. The wine kept her body warm, the room light.

For the next few minutes the conversation ground down to requests for the pepper or a piece of roast beef. Sometime between serving herself potatoes and passing Aunt Jude the peas, Amber's mom managed to pour for everyone: juice for Madeleine and wine for the rest. Only Leila and Amber's mom took from the salad Eric made-- everyone else was probably leaving it for later, but Amber loyally got herself a generous serving. She appreciated his vinaigrette.

Good thing, too, because Eric looked as pissed as he got when House was questioning his authority in front of the rest of the team. Amber snuck her free hand beneath the table and ran it over his thigh. Small touches from her always did help calm him down. "I still can’t get over how different everything looks," Amber said, shifting the topic from herself and Eric. "It's almost like another house."

“Don’t give your mom ideas,” her dad said, but it didn’t sound like just a joke.