House had always prided himself on being a parent in the least conventional way possible. As an unflinching cynic, his idea of parental care didn’t include coddling or sentimentality. But the truth was, he cared more about his daughter than he let on. And today, he was going to prove it in his own inimitable style. Eighteen and in her final year of high school, she had announced her plans for a date tonight. The only problem? House didn’t trust the kid. The boy was a high school senior, and House had already concluded that he was just another hormonal teen with little more on his mind than impressing his daughter. It wasn’t going to happen on his watch.

When she left the house with a casual “I’ll be back later,” House was already preparing his evening of oversight. He wasn’t about to let her go out without ensuring that her date would be fully under his scrutinizing eye. With a bit of creative maneuvering, he managed to slip into the restaurant where they were headed, making sure to sit at a table within earshot of theirs. It was a tactic he’d perfected over the years: show up uninvited, make his presence known, and wait for the inevitable awkwardness to unfold.

As soon as he sat down, House’s cane tapped the floor with an audible thud, attracting attention. He leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing as he watched his daughter walk in with her date, a nervous-looking boy in an ill-fitting suit.

“Really? That’s the best you could do, sweetheart?” he muttered to himself, shaking his head in mock disbelief. He could already see the date was doomed to be a disaster, and he wasn’t going to let it play out without his signature interference.