A/N: I would like to thank my beta, MGD. I started this fic in the Summer of 2009 and it took me several months to complete; she was there from the beginning to the end. She's was an amazing help and I really appreciated her support and dedication to helping me finish this piece. As this was part of the House Big Bang Round 3 challenge, there is artwork to boot! Thanks to both of the artists, sadpie and severuslovesme, I hope the work does justice to the high expectations set by the magnificent results of their time and creativity. You can check out their art by searching house_bigbang on livejournal and then clicking the tag 'author: tuckp3'.

Disclaimer: House & Co. belong to Fox & Co.

November 1989

The brilliant white light of winter fought hard to push its way through the lone window in the bedroom of the small attic apartment. It was fairly early; the radiator had just hissed and clanked its way on for the day, emitting unneeded warmth into a room that already sweltered with heat. Though it was uncomfortably humid inside, Lisa knew that outside it was bitterly cold - as are most Boston winters. Just the thought of that chill made her shiver involuntarily as she idly wondered how any settler that had suffered through one winter here had not packed up the colony and relocated at the first signs of thaw.

She had been awake for half and our and now laid semi-propped up on a mound of pillows stroking her fingers through her husband's curly brown hair. It still felt weird to even think that in her mind. Husband.

They had only been officially married for two days, but he had proposed a month ago. They had been sitting in a coffee shop in Cambridge submerged in their studies or more accurately she had been submerged in her studies. He had been carrying around the ring for three days and finally giving up on waiting for the perfect moment he pulled it out of his pocket and placed it in the middle of her organic chemistry textbook proclaiming that if she could figure out how to put the three band puzzle ring back together that he would marry her. Her gaze flickered between the book and his face and back, finally looking up from the silver bands and staring at him dumbfounded. She could see from the way that his body was tensed and leaned slightly towards her that he was serious.

She picked up the rings - the metal felt cool and hard in her hands - and fiddled with them. It awed her how they were able to stay connected to one another and still be so apart. Solving the puzzle on her third try, she was surprised when Greg grabbed the ring from her demanding to know how she did that. She looked at him questioningly and laughed. It was obvious that he really had not known how to put it back together. Smiling at the thought of him unsuccessfully attempting a task, she leaned forward clasped her hands around his cheeks and kissed him softly. Biting his lower lip before pulling back to present her left hand to him. He took her hand in his and slid the ring into place tracing over the silver bands with his thumb before twining their fingers together.

He gifted her with a huge smile before promptly embarrassing her by jumping out of his seat and loudly declaring to the coffee shop that she had just agreed to be his wife. The announcement was met with applause, well wishes and a complimentary cupcake. They had gone to the courthouse the next day to get a license and planned to have the ceremony performed when he came back over the Thanksgiving holidays.

Now, his head was resting on her stomach as his warm breath tickled across the top of her abdomen. They were covered by thin cotton sheets that he had managed to tangle around his waist and legs. Though it was often a source of annoyance, she loved that he was such a sound sleeper. It gave her these early morning moments where she could just watch him – boyishly calm and innocent in his slumber.

An hour later, she felt his body shift and his hands slid their way under her body and down her back; his fingertips caressing her skin and tracing along her spine. Before tilting his head up to greet her, he placed a soft trail of kisses along her stomach and the bottom curves of her breasts. When he turned his head, he blinked up at her, one eye closed against the light and a slightly goofy grin on his face.

'Good morning, Mr. Cuddy,' she teased smiling as she feathered her fingers through the hair above his forehead.

He playfully scoffed at her, "That's Dr. Cuddy to you, Mrs. House."

She rolled her eyes at him; her lips pursed in thought. "I can't believe we actually got married. It's . . ." she trailed off picking up his left hand and toying with the band there.

His ring was a solid silver band with another silver band around the center that spun around the base ring. When they were in the ring shop, as soon as she spotted it she knew it would be perfect for him. He constantly fidgeted needing something to do with his hands, and now he could just spin his wedding ring.

"It's the smartest thing you've ever done – snagging the most desirable bachelor on the entire eastern seaboard," he suggested somewhat smugly.

She shot him a cutting look, "You haven't been a bachelor for over four years now."

"Now, now, my dear, there is no need to get your panties in a bunch," he chided before he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked down at her seriously, "It is actually the smartest thing that I've ever done."

He idly traced his fingertips over her collarbone as she stared up at him. A smile lightened her face before she placed her hands around his neck pulling him down into an intense kiss and rolling him onto his back so that she could straddle him. He looked up at her. Her body backlit; her hair mussed from sleep and their activity last night. She was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen and he could not understand how he could have gotten so lucky. It was his last coherent thought as his fingers flexed at her waist, his eyes tracking her as she leaned into him and claimed his mouth with her own.