Ok guys after many promises to do so in the past and many more nights of wondering if I could pull it off …finally….I present to you the sequel to October/October….titled…."Little Souvenir" ….but first a few things before you read.

1. If you have not done so already please read Oct/Oct on this site so that you will be able to follow along with the sequel.

2. I doubt this sequel will be as long as Oct/Oct was, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

3. All of the OC's are back including of course Ruth, Bill and Cindy.

4. The original ducklings may be seen in the story from time to time, but they are not the main part of the story.

5. Jessica House is now a very cute, very intelligent and very witty 3 year-old.

6. THIS FIC IS HUDDY TO THE CORE!! Nuff said! LOL!

And now…….please enjoy…..

Little Souvenir

Chapter 1

On a warm and sunny July afternoon in the suburbs of Princeton, three year old Jessica House sat on the stool in front of the center island inside the kitchen of her parent's home with her little legs crossed at the ankles and her elbows resting on the counterop before her.

Her brilliant cerulean blue eyes were open wide. Filled interest and excitement as she watched her grandmother Ruth Martin, standing on the opposite side of the kitchen counter from her start to place a batch of freshly baked peanut butter cookies onto the cooling rack in front of them both.

"Nana… Daddy likes dem da best …huh? Dem nudder ones....just like me? " Jessica stated to her grandmother in a voice as pure and innocent as her smile while looking down at the warm cookies as she licked her lips and her shoulder length, ebony curls fell softly from her around her small shoulders.

"Yes honey, your Daddy likes those peanut butter ones the best…just like you." Ruth agreed with a smile of her own, placing the cookie sheet off to the side of the counter and away from them both after she had emptied it.

"I have one dem cookies now?" Jessica questioned next as she produced another sweet smile while pointing to herself.

Ruth let out a small laugh, as her granddaughter….even at this young age, knew how to melt your heart with just one well place look.

"Not just yet honey. They have to cool first." Ruth explained to the sweet little girl who had been sitting so patiently in front of her as she had baked the cookies.

Jessica furrowed her tiny brow for a split second.

"Nana….you put one dem in dare for a lil bit. Then it won't be too too hot." The toddler informed her grandmother while pointing over to the refrigerator.

"Is that right?" Ruth questioned with amusement, arching an impressed eyebrow as her granddaughter, once again had found an alternate solution to the problem before her with the skill of child much older than her.

The trait, one the little girl had repeatedly shown throughout the first few years of her life on this earth.

"Ah huh…it's cold in dare." Jessica confirmed with another nod.

"Alright." Ruth agreed. "Which one do you want me to put in there?" She asked, reaching for a paper towel which she then folded in half in order to place the cookie on top of it.

Jessica gazed down at the cookies, sucking in her bottom lip as she pondered the very important decision.

"Dat one!" She exclaimed pointing to a cookie in the center of the rack.

"Ok sweetie." Ruth replied with a smile, carefully lifting the cookie off of the tray with the spatula before placing it on the paper towel and moving it inside of the refrigerator.

Satisfied with what her grandmother had done, Jessica clapped her hands.

"Thank you Nana…I love you dis much." She then announced in a sign song voice as she stretched her arms wide open.

"You young lady are a ham." Ruth commented back to her, "Now before you eat that cookie, we have to get this placed cleaned up since your Mommy and Daddy will be coming home from work soon." She then informed her young grandchild.

"K…I help you." Jessica responded quickly, getting off of the stool all on her own before going to the closet and retrieving the child sized broom and dust pan Ruth had bought for her a few months ago.

"I'm a sweeping. K?" The little girl then announced, dropping the dust pan on the floor and giggling at the sound it made.

"Are you really sweeping or are you making noise?" Ruth asked, placing her hands on her hips as she gave her granddaughter a mock stern look.

Jessica laughed once more, picking up the dust pan and throwing it down onto the floor again.

"I'm a sweeping Nana!" The toddler said with glee as she hopped up and down a few times before picking up the dust pan and throwing it down at the floor once more. Liking very much the new game she had just invented.

"Hmmm I don't know Jessica…..maybe you're too little to sweep." Ruth remarked as she walked towards her granddaughter, while knowing the best way to stop the little girl from having a half hour game of 'throwing the dust pan onto the floor' was to remind her of the task at hand.

"Nana…I not little." Jessica responded in the best grown-up voice she could muster, picking up the dust pan and walking over to the far corner of the room.

She then bent down and carefully placed the dustpan onto the floor while glancing up at Ruth to make sure she was watching.

Standing up straight again Jessica held onto the broom with both of her small hands and started to sweep.

"See I's a big girl." She stated with nod as her big blue eyes were now fixated on the ceramic tile at her feet.

"I get dat dirt Nana." Jessica added triumphantly while sweeping the small speck of a crumb into the dust pan beside her.

"I guess you really are a big girl." Ruth agreed as her face was beaming with love for the little girl who had filled her life with complete and utter joy from the moment she had been born.

Looking up at her grandmother, Jessica produced a mischievous smirk that had been passed down by her very mischievous father.

"And now…. I get dat cookie." The little girl said in a clever voice well beyond her years while placing her hand on her hip.

Unable to contain herself, Ruth burst into a laughter over the little girl who continued to amaze her more and more with each passing day.

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"I don't know why you're this upset about me going to a conference. It's not like I haven't gone to them before." Cuddy argued in the car back to House as she rode in the passenger seat beside him.

"The last time you went on a conference, all you did was have sex the whole time with your new husband. And since I'm not going to the conference with you....I can only assume you're planning on getting married to someone else this time and having hot monkey sex with them." House replied back to her without missing a beat.

Cuddy sighed in frustration, watching him steer the car to their left.

"Quit acting like a twelve year old." She muttered back to him.

"Never." House responded before reaching over and grabbing her left breast.

"Really nice. What's next, peeking down my shirt in hopes of seeing my bra?" She asked him as he gave her breast a gentle squeeze.

"Already did that earlier today in your office remember?" House countered, removing his hand and glancing over at her briefly with a smart ass grin before focusing back on the road.

Cuddy studied his profile. "Are you really going to be that lonely without me here?" She then asked softly.

House slowed the car as they reached the driveway of their home, applying his foot to the brake pedal before turning to face her.

"God…your need to be needed is really pathetic, but believe it or not I did manage to survive for years on my own without you breathing down my neck." He responded sarcastically as he watched his wife trying to hold back her smile that told of how she was not buying his line of bullshit for one second as he pressed the remote to the garage door opener.

"Well then I guess I have nothing to worry about." Cuddy answered back to him calmly as he pulled the car ahead towards the garage.

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Hearing the sounds coming from the inside the garage, Jessica looked up at her grandmother with an excited expression displayed upon her face before getting down off of the stool in the kitchen where she had just finished eating her cookie, running towards the door that connected the kitchen to the garage just as Cuddy opened it up and stepped inside.

"Mommy!" The young girl yelled as Cuddy lifted her daughter up into her arms and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey sweetie! Where you a good girl for Nana today?" Cuddy asked her daughter, balancing the little girl's weight on her left hip as Jessica's tiny arms stayed wrapped around her neck.

"A HUH!" Jessica told her proudly wit a big nod that made her ringlets of dark hair bounce before glancing over her mother's shoulder.

"Daddy come home wif you?" The little girl then asked with concern, knowing even at this young age that there were times when her Daddy would not return until later in the night…..or sometimes not until the next morning.

Cuddy gave her daughter a puzzled look.

"Umm…I'm not really sure Jessica. Maybe you should go and check." Cuddy responded with a small smile as she placed her daughter back down onto the floor beneath them.

That cue was all the little girl needed to hear and within the next second she carefully peered out into the open doorway of the garage while placing a small hand onto her mother's knee.

"Daddy? You out dare?" Jessica asked while trying to hold back her laughter.

"Muwahahaha!" House growled loudly before appearing in the doorway and grabbing hold of his daughter.

"Ah….Daddy you da monster!" The young girl squealed, giggling uncontrollably as House swept her up into his arms, having left his cane behind in the garage.

"Mmm just what I wanted for dinner! A nice little girl who tastes like chocolate!" House said in an evil voice while pretending to 'gobble up' his daughter.

"Ah…Daddy! I not a chocolate!" The young girl squealed again as she turned her petite little body away from him and towards her mother.

"Mommy …a help her!" Jessica then pleaded with a fake cry of terror while reaching her arms out towards Cuddy.

"Stay away from my little girl you bad monster!" Cuddy told House sternly while trying her best not to laugh. Promptly taking their daughter out of his arms before moving a few more feet inside the kitchen with Jessica latched onto her tightly.

"Ah hah! You take dat you bad one!" Jessica told her father, pointing a finger at him with a delighted smile uponn her face, looking back at him while resting securely in her mother's arms.

House gave her a stern glare and reached for his cane that he had placed on the opposite side of the door before walking toward Jessica and resting his lips against the soft skin of her ear while also placing his hand onto the small of Cuddy's back.

"Who's girl?" He then whispered to her with a rough but playful voice.

"Daddy's." Jessica whispered back to him with a smile.

"Hey…what did you just say?" Cuddy asked with concern as she turned her head to look over at her daughter.

"I said I a Mommy's girl." Jessica answered innocently with a sweet smile on her face.

"That's what I thought you said." Cuddy responded before loudly kissing her daughter on the side of the cheek by smacking her lips while placing a hand on the back of Jessica's head.

"Wait a minute…I thought you were my girl?" Ruth joined in with a smile on her face as she stood behind the center island of the kitchen.

Jessica turned her head to face her grandmother. "I all girl." She then told her Grammy seriously as well as her mother and father as she placed both of her hands onto her chest while letting them know she loved each and every one of them equally.

"Ok honey." Ruth replied with a nod, letting her granddaughter know she understood her reasoning.

Happy with her grandmother's response, Jessica wrapped her arms around Cuddy's neck and hugged her.

"I miss you Mommy." She then told her mother while looking back at her Daddy.

"I missed you too sweetie." Cuddy responded with a smile while taking in the sweet scent of her daughter's hair.

"Who's girl?" House mouthed to his daughter once more as her big blue eyes stayed fixed upon him.

"Daddy's." Jessica responded back to him by mouthing her words back to him as a small giggle escaped her lips.

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A few minutes later while House, Cuddy and Ruth were talking inside the kitchen, with Jessica now standing beside them and holding onto her Daddy's hand as he chewed on a freshly baked peanut butter cookie, Bill opened up one of the French doors to the kitchen before stepping inside of it.

"Papa look! Daddy and Mommy home!" Jessica informed him, watching as her Grandpa wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Hmmm are you sure that's really your Mommy and Daddy?" Bill questioned with a smirk as he walked up to her.

"Ah..huh…dem my Mommy and Daddy." Jessica confirmed with a nod as Ruth opened the refrigerator door beside her and pulled out a large pitcher of iced tea before turning and reaching for a drinking glass in the cabinet beside her.

"Bill….I told you before …you don't have to mow the lawn for us." Cuddy scolded as she looked over at him.

"It only took me a few minutes on the rider and beside I know there's a little girl who'll want to go swimming after dinner instead of waiting for her Daddy to mow the lawn." Bill told her casually before glancing down at Jessica and giving her a wink.

"Papa I'm a big girl!" Jessica informed him, pointing to herself as Bill took hold of the glass of ice tea that Ruth offered him.

"Thanks honey." Bill said to Ruth before looking back down at his granddaughter.

"I don't know sweetpea……are you really sure you're a big girl?" Bill asked Jessica with a serious tone.

"Yes! I'm a big girl!" Jessica stated to him proudly before she suddenly paused while her blue eyes grew wide once more.

"A…a Daddy….come…come mere. You need go outside wif me." She then said, tugging on House's hand as he had been silently watching her the entire time.

"Honey, you have to wait until after dinner to swim." Cuddy told her daughter gently watching as Jessica continued to try and pull House towards the French doors.

"A no… Mommy…..out dare. I want Daddy see." Jessica tried to explain as her little hand continued to pull at her father's much larger one.

"Papa…..dem bugs." She then added while looking up at Bill, asking him for help in explaining her thoughts further.

"The ants?" Bill questioned as he saw the determined look on the cherub like face of his granddaughter.

"Yeah! Dem ants….mon Daddy!" Jessica confirmed as she tugged harder on her father's hand.

"Ok kid." House agreed before reaching out with his free hand to snatch another cookie.

"I think you've had enough." Cuddy told him with flat tone as he promptly bit off a huge chunk of the cookie.

"Good thing you're not my Mom." House replied back to her before shoving the rest of the cookie into his mouth and opening up the French door in front of him.

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"You need dat cane un yours?" Jessica asked her father as he limped beside her after shutting the front door.

House looked down at her, pausing briefly in his response while thinking once more of how at very earlier age she had understood his need for the object.

"I'll be ok." He informed her, having gained more flexibility out of the leg thanks to his continued therapy.

"K." Jessica replied with a nod before tugging at his hand again and guiding him towards the far right corner of the backyard.

"Shhh…dem might be a sleeping." She then told her father, letting go of his hand and pressing her index finger up to her lips while slowing down her pace as they reached the remnants of a small ant hill.

"You see dat?" Jessica asked with a whisper, looking up at her father as her blue eyes squinted in reaction to the sun shining down upon them.

"Yeah…I see it." House responded, studying his daughter's face with great interest.

"You..sit dare…..be a careful…not wanna hurt dem." Jessica instructed him as she pointed to the grassy spot next to the ant hill that she wanted her father to sit down on.

"Ok." House agreed, slowly getting down onto the ground as he watched Jessica inch closer to the hand hill, resting her small hands onto her bare knees as her tiny pink sundress swayed in the summer breeze.

The small girl then crouched a little closer to the ant hill as her eyes where now focused directly onto it.

"You see dem?" She then asked her father, glancing over at him quickly after she had spotted the ants on the hill.

"I see them." House replied with a nod as he watched his daughter turn her head towards the small hill of sand once again.

"Dems a fixing." She then told him as her eyes continued to watch the tiny black ants carrying the grains of sand back onto the side of the small hill that had collapsed earlier.

"Papa stepped on dem. He said he sorry. I sad…….I not want dem be hurt. But Papa said dem bugs will fix it……just give dem time…and now day fixing it!" Jessica then rattled off in an exited voice, totally engrossed in the sight before her as the ants continued to crawl up the small hill that was a mountain to them.

House sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the expression on his daughter's face as she drew in her bottom lip and told him of what had occurred in her world today that was so very important to her.

"You see dat one!" Jessica then exclaimed with surprise whisper, watching one of the ants carrying a tiny twig that looked like a huge log of tree compared to the size of the insect.

"Uh huh." House replied softly as his daughter carefully sat down beside him, placing her hand onto his thigh.

"He a strong one! Him have a big muscle." Jessica said with awe, glancing over at her father to hear of his opinion on the matter.

House nodded. "Think he's stronger than Daddy?" He questioned with a wiry smile.

"A no one stronger dan Daddy." Jessica said dismissively while shaking her head.

"A see a big muscle Daddy?" She then asked, looking over at his right arm.

House chuckled and rolled up the sleeve of his t-shirt a bit before flexing his bicep for her.

"Dat's a big muscle Daddy!" Jessica informed him with an impressed tone, leaning forward and touching the spot on her father's arm where the muscle had hardened.

"That's what your Mommy says all the time." House remarked back to her with a pleased grin.

"Mommy likes a big muscle…. huh?" Jessica asked her father innocently.

"She sure does kid….which is one reason why you're here." House answered before grabbing his daughter and lifting her up into the air above them while she giggled, kicking her feet as she cupped his face between her tiny hands.

"I a Daddy's girl!" Jessica then yelled out into the yard. With a smile that exposed every inch of her heart to him. Looking down at her father with pure adoration as House pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the cheek.

"Damn right." House muttered into the softness of her hair.

"Yep a damn right." Jessica repeated back to him as she looked up into his eyes with the smile remaining on her face.

With every ounce of strength he had in him, House held back his laughter at hearing his sweet little girl say a word that his wife would surely ring his neck for teaching it her.

"Listen Jess….don't say that D word again ok?" He told her softly.

"What a Dee word Daddy?" Jessica asked with a puzzled expression, completely forgetting the curse word she had just spoken.

"Nevermind." House whispered as Jessica stared up at him while her small hand rubbed against the stubble of his chin, causing an ache deep inside his heart.

He never knew a child could do that to him. Make a bee-line straight for his heart with the casual touch of her hand and her tiny fingers gently touching him as her big blue eyes crinkled at the corners of her lids with her happy smile pulling on a part of him that he never knew existed before she had come along.

Sure he liked most kids….except the few annoying brats that he ran across from time to time inside the clinic, but he never fathomed how deeply he would come to love the little girl resting in his arms now who looked at him as if he held all the answers to all of the questions she would ever have. Sharing her thoughts with him while wanting nothing more than for him to listen to what she had to say before giving his opinion that she held with the highest regard her.

"You's a porkapine Daddy." Jessica then told him with a giggle, as her small fingers continued to play with his prickly beard, breaking the spell of silence between them.