Written for 14 Valentines Day 6 – Motherhood.
Title Moral Fibre
Pairing None
Disclaimer Much as I would love to own House M. D. I am not connected with it in any way. This is a not-for-profit fan work and I make no money from it.
Cuddy had let House think he'd won the war over the carpet. The man had just been shot, after all, and if he was so afraid of change that a new carpet got this response, well, better to give in now, pander to him and wait. His behaviour is childish but that's not all it is, and his manipulations can't just be ignored, no matter how much she wishes they could be. They can't be stopped, either.
The IVF had failed, again. It was only what she'd expected, but this time the part of her that is grieving for a dream of a baby is balanced by a small, secret whisper of relief. She couldn't make a decision about asking Wilson to be the father, and though she knew that House would quite like to be asked and part of her was tempted, a bigger part of her knew what a terrible idea that was, and so she let it lie.
"Are you really going to let him keep it?" Cameron asked, apropos of nothing. For a moment, Cuddy thought she was talking about the baby, but then she realised.
"The carpet? No way," she scoffed. "I'll just let him keep it for long enough for him to get distracted by something else, and then it's out of here."
Cameron nodded, looking relieved. Cuddy looked at her thoughtfully. The younger woman, realising that she was being assessed, looked back steadily. Cuddy nodded, more to herself than to Cameron, and Cameron made her excuses and left. Cuddy watched her leave, thinking about the date the younger woman had been on with House, wondering about the rumours about her and Chase.
'Sabotaging herself,' she thought with a flicker of contempt, before catching herself.
Alone, Cuddy pushed aside all thoughts of House and his deviousness and a child with those astonishing blue eyes and turned her mind to more important things.