A/N: This story is a little shorter than normal. A year has gone by in the life of House between season seven and eight, so it seems appropriate that a year go by in the life of Susan as well, so the story picks up where House returns to PPTH and is timed to start the day after "Transplant", so in the story actual story, House is back, he's on parole, his hair is longer and he has Dr. Park on his team and Adams as well, although in the actual story line Adams didn't show up until Charity Case.
A lot has happened to Susan in the last year, the major event in her life being her marriage to David. Laura doesn't figure prominently in this story although she is mentioned on several occasions, with the focus being between Susan and Phillip and how House helps them grow in their relationship.
I hope you enjoy, and as always – I'd love you hear what you think.
Clp66
Story Seven:
CHAPTER ONE:
David was propped up against his headboard with his eyes closed listening to his wife hum softly as she prepared to take her shower. They'd both taken the day off together yesterday and this morning she'd woken him up in a most pleasant manner before his alarm had even gone off. He was basking in the afterglow and thinking that this was a much more reasonable way to wake up in the mornings than the abruptness the alarm clock provided. He turned his head toward the door and smiled as she progressed from humming to actually singing. She really had a nice voice and could probably have gone places with it if her life had taken a different path. They'd been married for nearly three months and while it had seemed forever to him before she was ready to take the plunge, their engagement hadn't really even been a year. Shortly after he'd proposed, her brother had gone off the deep end. He'd stolen some of the compound from Dr. Riggin's study and as Susan had feared, the inflammation markers she was seeing in the rat serum samples were due to tumor growth. When Susan realized what he had done, she went to his apartment to make sure he was OK, not knowing that he had already developed tumors in his injured thigh and like an idiot tried to remove them himself. Dominique was babbling in her native tongue and led Susan to the bathroom. Her tone and gestures made it quite clear to Susan that Dominique felt this was not in their contract and that she had no intention of cleaning it up. When Susan saw all the blood and the surgical tools, she knew immediately what had happened and after a few phone calls determined he was in the hospital and recovering. Dr. Cuddy had come to his rescue during the night. Susan cleaned up the mess and when David finally found her, she had just finished cleaning his bathroom and was sitting on the floor with silent tears coursing down her cheeks. Of course she had blamed herself because she had been the one to introduce Greg to the compound, not realizing that in his current state of mind that he would take that information to do something so drastic. It had taken a lot of talking on his part to make her finally accept that House's self-destructive nature had taken control after the breakup and if anything she had helped stabilize him preventing him from doing something even worse, although he wasn't sure what 'worse' would have been at that point. David shook his head to clear himself of the memories just as he heard the shower start to run. He smiled to himself and counted to 30 to give the shower time to get nice and warm and for Susan to adapt to the temperature. He got out of bed and quietly opened the bathroom door. He stepped up next to the shower curtain and opened it halfway.
Susan was fully under the water with her eyes closed allowing the hot water to course down her body. Her eyes snapped open with the sudden rush of cold air, "David! Close the curtain, it's cold," she exclaimed.
"I can see that," David said enjoying the particular display Susan's body was providing. Susan crossed her arms hiding his source of enjoyment.
"Either get in or get out, but shut the curtain," Susan said.
"I thought you'd never ask," he said stepping inside.
A half hour later, David and Susan were back in their room and getting dressed for work. "You know, you don't have to be in the lab before 9:00am he said coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. Better yet, we could take today off too."
"You're insatiable," Susan laughed as she tilted her head back to accept his kiss. "No, I need to go in to work. It always seems that life falls apart in the lab when I'm gone, even for just one day. Besides, Dr. Foreman sent me a text last night that he needed to meet with me early this morning."
"What do you suppose that is about?" David asked releasing her so she could finish dressing.
"Probably wants to tell me I have to cut back in the lab again. I don't know how he expects us to get all the work done if he keeps cutting the laboratory budget. I suppose I should just be thankful I still have a job after everything that happened. The board wasn't exactly pleased with anything related to diagnostics. Dr. Foreman being named Dean is the only thing that allowed me to stay there."
"You weren't a charity case Susan; Dr. Foreman respects your abilities. You weren't the only candidate for that position and you got it because you were the best, not because of anything related to House or his former team."
"Still though," Susan said.
"Still nothing," David replied as he started tying his tie. "You deserve that job and you do it well."
Susan came over to him and straightened his tie, "You're good for my ego," she said wrapping her arms around him.
David returned the hug, "I'm good for a lot of things," he replied followed by a quick kiss and a smile at the beauty that was his wife.
"Nothing wrong with your ego," Susan said as she gathered her things. "I've got to go. Are you taking Phillip to school or is he riding the bus today?"
"I'm dropping him off," he replied.
Susan walked out the bedroom door and found Phillip in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. "Your dad will be out in a minute. Are you ready to go?" Phillip pointed at his backpack on the chair next to him without responding. "Is everything OK?" Susan asked.
"Its fine," Phillip said and continued eating without further comment.
Susan looked toward him a little longer and decided not to follow-up for the moment. While they got along well, Phillip hadn't yet adjusted to her continual presence, and she didn't want to push things with him. He'd come around on his own in time. She looked at her watch, "Well, I've got to go. See you tonight." Phillip was unresponsive as Susan took her leave.
