Deal

Cameron dragged Chase through the busy airport. Her sister was visiting and he was none too happy about it.

"Stop whining, she's only here for the weekend."

Chase made a face at her and she cracked a smile. They were going to tell her sister about their engagement this weekend. She was nervous about her reaction. So nervous they had arrived at the terminal half an hour early. There were people coming out of the gate when they got there.

"It said 3:45, didn't it? Is it early?" Chase scanned the monitor above them.

"Nah, it's a different flight, must've been delayed."

They parked themselves in the corner, out of the way from all the travelers and people waiting for friends and relatives. Just about all the people had come off the plane. Cameron watched grandparents great their children and grandchildren and a woman embrace a man that looked to be her husband. She watched a teenage girl looking for whoever was supposed to pick her up. She looked almost sullen for a moment before her face lit up. Cameron liked people watching.

"Dad!" Cameron smiled a little, she hoped their children would always be that happen to see them. She followed the girl's gaze and her heart stopped. Surely that could not be her father.

And then, as if the universe heard her thoughts, House's face lit up, a perfect mirror to the girls. Cameron glanced over at Chase, he was watching a football game on his new phone with his headphones on.

The girl ran up and wrapped her arms around House's midsection and he gave her a kiss on top of her head. Completely oblivious to the woman watching them, House and the girl went about their business.

"Did you have a good flight?" House asked. The girl nodded.

"Gran is gonna ship all my furniture and stuff tomorrow."

"You're keeping the old lady furniture?" House quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Of course not, but if I leave everything there she'll use every trick she can to get me back there." The girl rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. Cameron still couldn't believe what she was seeing. Was this really his daughter? She tried to imagine House at her age and saw the resemblance between them. All except for his blue eyes. She must have gotten her eyes from her mother. That train of thought sparked a fury of other questions, some that she would never dare ask him. Her thoughts were brutally interrupted when she noticed House was staring at her. A mix of emotions crossed his face; confusion, worry, but most of all, anger. She knew exactly what he was stressing over. She put her thumb and index finger together and slid them across her lips, letting him know it their little secret. He nodded almost imperceptibly and pulled his daughter along to the luggage area.

_

House was just about to experience a heart attack first hand before Cameron promised silently to keep his secret. He could just see the staff at the hospital going nuts over this tidbit of information. He had spent so many years fighting for custody of his daughter, he would not let the rumor mill ruin his good mood. He made a mental note to do something against the grain of his personality and send Cameron some flowers or chocolates or something else to bribe her. He knew she was too much of a goody-two-shoes to hold it against him as some sort of blackmail. Still, couldn't hurt to butter her up a little.

"Can we order take-out when we get home?" Sadie asked. They were speeding along the highway, free as a bird.

"Sure thing, kiddo." He reached over and ruffled her hair, knowing full well it bugged the crap out of her when he did that.

"Daaa-aad!" She whined, but with a smile on her face. He knew by the look on her face that she was still giddy with excitement at moving in with him. He decided to get down to business before they arrived and got settled in.

"You're not expected at school until Monday, think you can handle staying home alone tomorrow? I'd play hooky, but we've got a patient."

"I'm 15, I think I'll survive." She didn't look up from the game she was playing on her phone.

"Don't answer the door, unless it's me…or the cops." He paused, as if thinking for a moment, "Then again, just me."

"Got it. Stranger-Danger."

"And no wild parties." He said sternly.

"Keeping everything on the down-low, very respectable." Sadie had clearly inherited his dry wit.

___

The next morning, House got to work at his usual time- an hour and a half late. He noticed that their patient was gone. The team had done tests overnight and found out the patient had a tumor hidden in their pancreas, causing all the unusual symptoms. He also noticed that everyone in the diagnostics department was either in the clinic, or had gone home for the day for a long weekend. He sat in his office and twirled his cane, wishing he had called in sick. Then again, he would rather just not show up and not have to get the third degree from Cuddy. He was just about to sneak out and head back home when Cameron walked in his office.

He sighed dramatically and let his cane fall on the desk loudly.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, but-" She started.

"Here we go." House muttered. He propped his feet up on the desk and leaned his chair back. Cameron rolled her eyes and sat in empty chair opposite of him.

"I just want to know more. Does anyone else know? Does Stacy know?

"Yes and no."

"Does she live with you?" Cameron asked.

"She does now." House answered succinctly. Cameron stared at him, knowing full well he would make this as difficult as possible. House dug his fingers in his eyes and gave in, knowing she wouldn't let up until she knew the whole story.

"Her mother," House began, "died ten years ago when Sadie was five." Cameron nodded, not showing any of the emotional reactions she was experiencing. She knew all too well about losing a mother at such a young age.

"She had a will and it stated that should anything happen to her, I would gain full custody. However, "Cameron sensed a giant shift in his mood. House's jaw was clenched tight and he was looking her straight in the eye, something he did when he wanted to someone to know that he was not to be messed with, "Sadie's grandmother had it in her head that she would take custody of her. There was a big legal battle and she won. She used my medical problems against me" He tapped his bad leg. "Old woman had a mild stroke last year and found out you get what you give."

Cameron nodded, not quite sure what the proper reaction to that story was.

"Ok. You got the story. Now shoo!" House waved his hands.

Cameron rolled her eyes and left. House was glad to have that over and done with. Crisis averted. Now if he could just sneak out without Cuddy seeing him. He gathered his things and made it to the elevator, but luck was just not on his side it seemed. The elevator doors opened and Cuddy stood waiting inside. He walked in, politely ignoring her.

"What's this weeks reason for skipping out on clinic duty?" Cuddy asked. She wasn't in the mood to fight him on it this particular day.

House paused a moment and then quietly answered.

"I got custody of Sadie. She just got here last night." He didn't look at her, knowing she would get all emotional and girly about it. She was quiet for a few seconds.

"You know this means I have to come see her." Cuddy gave him a piercing stare and he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please. You'll spoil her rotten, you do it every time." he said. Cuddy and Wilson (and now Cameron) were the only people at the hospital that knew about Sadie. It secretly pleased him that his daughter got along with them. More so Cuddy than Wilson. He figured Wilson was just too boring to keep Sadie's attention. However, every time she visited, Cuddy would come by and the two would gossip and giggle like school girls. Wilson had a hard time making small talk with a 15 year old girl and really, who could blame him?

"I bet she's grown a foot since last summer." Cuddy smiled, knowing House couldn't resist giving her an update. Sadie had come to visit for a month every summer and House had always made it a point to let Cuddy know. Stacy tolerated Sadie, not really taking to her. It always bothered him that she acted that way.

"Two, at least. We're gonna pig out on left-over take out tonight, wanna join us?" House asked. He and Cuddy had been going in circles around each other the last few months. He wished he had handled himself a little more smoothly around her. He had been too worried over the legal battle with the old tramp though. He had his daughter back though, and he felt a surge of confidence. He could see the surprise on Cuddy's face, but she quickly hid it and smiled warmly.

"Only if I can bring the baby." She said. House groaned out loud.

"Not another one!"

"She was on the phone with her boyfriend the whole time! Even you would have flipped if you saw last month's bill." Cuddy was practically fuming when the elevator doors opened, which was perfect. It would look like she was getting on to House for something. She followed him to the parking garage and he just then realized that she had her things with her as well.

"You devil, you're playing hooky?!" He could not believe his eyes, Lisa Cuddy was leaving work early. He wanted to take a picture and send it to Wilson, he wouldn't believe it when House told him.

"This is possibly the slowest day I've ever had, the weather is nice, it's Friday and who can resist re-heated Chinese food?" House smiled genuinely, something very few people got to see.

"An hour?" House asked. Cuddy nodded and made her way to her car.

__

Sadie was happy to see him when he got home.

"Lisa's coming over in a little while." House told her. Cuddy's first name felt foreign to his tongue. He was taking out all the containers while she sat on the counter and emptied them out onto some plates.

"Is she bringing the baby?" House nodded and cringed when she squealed with excitement. It wasn't long before there was a knock at the door. He didn't bother moving from his spot at the piano bench, knowing Sadie would get there before him. Sure enough, she flew out of her room, down the hall and was at the door. He moved over to the couch and hunkered down while they reunited with each other.

"Oh my god, you got so tall!" Cuddy admonished. She set the baby carrier down on the couch next to House. The girls began to chitter chatter and House quietly took Rachel out of the contraption. He wasn't too keen on her the past few months. It always painfully reminded House of Sadie when she was a baby. She only needed a little help sitting up now. It wouldn't be long and she would be crawling all over the place. He could just picture all the child proofed cabinets and electrical sockets in Cuddy's house. Rachel stared wide eyed around him at the new surrounding. She began rubbing his eyes and fussing so Cuddy set the carrier down on the floor and sat next to House while she fed Rachel a bottle. When she fell asleep they sat down at he table and chowed down.

"What school are you going to?" Cuddy asked Sadie.

"Jackson Memorial." She answered. It was a private school just across the street from the hospital. House was going to have some trouble if he was still planning on keeping Sadie a secret from the hospital staff, thought Cuddy. She wondered if any of them knew how close she and House really were. Of course, she got upset with him when he skipped clinic duty, or almost killed a patient. It never seemed to affect their personal relationship, save for the few last months. Things had been tense between, but she tried not to press too hard on him. He had finally told her why he was so stressed. He was making another attempt to get Sadie back. They had both agreed that Sadie's grandmother must have had some ties to the small town judge that had been overseeing the case earlier on. She knew he didn't want to jinx it by talking about it. She also knew that he had been completely clean of any drugs for the past three months. Even Wilson didn't know that. House had filled empty vicodin bottles with tic-tacs so that anyone else that knew him would think he was still popping pills.

It was late when Sadie said goodnight and went to her room. They heard her stereo playing quietly soon afterwards.

Rachel was sleeping soundly in the carrier. House and Cuddy sat down at the piano bench. He ran his fingers over the keys, but didn't play them.

"You can play. A hurricane wouldn't wake that child up." House chuckled, but still didn't play. He looked at Cuddy quite seriously for a moment before finally speaking.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

Cuddy sighed and placed a hand on his jaw.

"You know you have nothing to apologize for." He leaned into her hand. They had always been friends, but they had never crossed that unspoken boundary until he kissed her. He had wanted to for a couple years now. Wanted more than just silly banter and the occasional drink together. Now he had no reason not to. He had gotten what he wanted and so had she. There was nothing pulling them apart. No exes. No unfulfilled dreams. Just the lack of courage to follow it through. He wasn't sure if she would reciprocate after all the drama that had gone down and she must have understood that. She leaned over and made the decision for him and it made him wonder why he had bothered to second guess himself the second their lips touched.

It didn't last long. Rachel had begun to squirm and fuss. She wasn't happy being confined to the baby carrier. Cuddy sighed and laid her head on his shoulder for a moment.

"I need to head home and get her to bed." She looked up at him. He gave her a small smile and kissed her chastely.

"You working tomorrow?" Cuddy shook her head.

"Hmmm, how odd is that? Neither am I…..I suppose if you were home, say, around noon. Certain people could come and visit. They could even eat together, it being lunchtime and all." Cuddy smiled.

"Yes, they could." She played along, "They could even stop by the supermarket and pick up some bread and eggs."

He rubbed his chin, as if thinking about it for a moment.

"They probably wouldn't mind doing that."

"Deal." She said. She gathered her things and picked up the carrier. When she was gone, House scribbled himself a note about bread and milk and left it in the kitchen so he wouldn't forget. He slept like a baby that night. There were very few things he was worried about at the moment. He had spent the last 10 years trying to drown his worries in alcohol and vicodin. He used to go to sleep every night wondering if his daughter was lonely or had anyone to talk to. Sadie's grandmother reminded him a bit of his father. Religious, strict, and not at all pleasant to be around. She never liked House from the start. Didn't think he was suited to be a father to any of her grandchildren. She wasn't happy about Abby's little "surprise." She and House never really dated. They just happened to get together one night. He and Stacy had broken up for a few months one fall. He thought it would be for good, but just a short time later they had patched things up. She wasn't mad when he told her about Abby. She had dated around a bit herself. However, she was enraged when she found out she would be having House's child. She calmed down over the months and he learned not to talk about any of it with her. It never stopped him from being a good dad. He spent his free time cooing over the little baby and when she was older she would spend a week or so at a time with him. He always had a valid sounding excuse for everyone at work. He still had a reputation to uphold, after all.

Abby was good to him, never threatening to take Sadie away from him. Abby was sick for about six months before she passed away. She had temporarily moved down to Florida to her mother's house. There was a specialist there who would give her the necessary treatments while her mother could watch over Sadie. House spent a year fighting for custody and then he had his own troubles. Abby's mother used his wavering health against him and the judge agreed. That was what had sent him over the edge. Stacey couldn't understand why he would risk death over a muscle in his leg. He would have rather died than live without his daughter anywhere near him. At that time, he wasn't legally allowed any visitations with her unless her grandmother approved of it. As she got older and learned of what had transpired between her father and grandmother, Sadie had begged the woman to let her live with her dad. She wasn't having any of it, but finally relented and let her visit House for month every summer, right around her birthday.

He let go of his worries. His daughter was sleeping in her room down the hall. With no one tell him he couldn't be a father to her. He fell asleep with thoughts of Saturday and the week ahead of them.

__

They had finished lunch and were hanging out at Cuddy's house for a couple hours. Sadie was playing with Rachel in the living room while House and Cuddy cleaned up. Rachel had been valiantly trying to crawl throughout the winter and had so far managed to get on all fours. Sadie was sitting a foot or so away, trying to get her to crawl towards her.

"I've got three more months." House stated out of the blue. Cuddy turned to him, giving him her full attention.

"Until what?" She asked.

"Until she gets her license." Cuddy nodded and smiled. She could see the wheels turning in his head, trying to figure out a way to keep Sadie from driving.

"She's pretty mature for her age. She'll be okay." Cuddy set the last dish in the drainer and leaned against the counter opposite him.

House sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

___

Things as work were business as usual. House still left an hour earlier than everyone else and they were none the wiser. He knew it wouldn't last much longer and it looked like today was just the day. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, there was a new text.

'I lost my house key!'

He sighed. When it rains it pours, the best thing he could think of was for her to walk the two blocks to the hospital and wait for him to get off work. They had a patient that was sporadically going into cardiac arrest and House was sure the answer was right in front of them. He knew Taub and Thirteen would ask questions, Foreman would wait and see what the others found at first. He had quickly and quietly told Wilson and Cuddy to act naturally, as if there was nothing out of the usual was happening. Which wouldn't be hard as they already knew Sadie.

He was just about to send off all the ducklings to do more lab tests when he saw her walk in his office. He waved off the three of them, but knew they would see her on their way out. He was going to have fun with this. Mind games were his strong point. This was going to throw them for a loop, especially when they tried to hit up Wilson and Cuddy for more information.

"Hey, kiddo." Sadie beamed and gave him a quick hug.

"I tried to find my keys everywhere, I think they're gone for good."

"We'll get new ones made tomorrow." He parked himself down at his desk, digging through the drawers for a minute and finally found what he was looking for. It was his PSP that he had been attached to for quite a while, but had grown bored with it lately. He brushed off the dust and tossed to her.

"Oooh." She dumped her bag and jacket on the floor and hunkered down on the big armchair across from him, laying her head on one arm and feet dangling over the other.

"Hey dad?" She asked without looking up.

"Yeah?"

"You know the people in the next room are staring a hole through the back of my head, right?"

"Right." he had noticed this a few moments ago.

"They have no idea who I am, do they?" He heard the game make a noise, she had just blown a zombie's head off.

"Nope."

She giggled a little. He turned to the window and let a small smile escape his lips. This was going to be good.

He knew that Thirteen had asked someone at the nurse's station because every few minutes a nurse would walk casually by, looking out of the corner of their eyes. He saw Cuddy coming and knew that the hospital staff would be flipping about this, assuming it had something to do with the strange girl in his office.

"I think that's a record." She walked in and stood behind the chair Sadie was sitting in.

"What's a record?" She asked, still killing off the undead.

"It took exactly 25 minutes from the time you walked in here until I got word about it in my office." House let out a bark of laughter.

"This isn't funny! All the nurses upstairs think she's our love-child or something." Sadie chose that moment to put on her ear buds and the sounds of killing and maiming disappeared. House frowned.

"If you would just play along, this could be a whole more fun." Cuddy stood there for a moment, weighing her options. He was right. She could give them something to talk about, or be inundated with nosey questions all day. She stood up straight and tapped Sadie's shoes.

"C'mon, kiddo, we're going to have a little fun." She put emphasis on that last word. House thought she might as well stick out her tongue. Sadie grinned in response and left the game on his desk. He noticed that she had gotten out of the dungeons and was in the graveyard and cursed under his breath. It had taken him twice the time to get that far. He wondered if Cameron had kept her promise to keep quiet. If she knew better, she would. If word got out that she knew anything, she might as well call it a day.

His thoughts fell to the wayside and turned his attention back to their case. The ducklings had gathered back in the conference room. He walked in with an attitude that clearly said not to ask him any questions about it. For the next hour, they ran more tests and argued as to what could be the patient's real problem.

___

She could do this. She was a professional woman, a highly respected doctor, and she could handle a few stares.

"It helps if you stare them right back in the eye." Sadie muttered under her breath. They were walking side by side towards the elevators. She took a chance and stared down the next person gawking at them. Sure enough, they ducked their head down and made themselves look busy. She had to fight the smile and keep a stern look on her face. Luckily there was no one in the elevator when they got in. Sadie got down to business as soon as the doors closed.

"Ok, here's what I think we should do. Let's go up to your office and stage an epic fight. You can get on to me for not doing what I'm told and I'll scream 'You're not my mother!'" Sadie had a wild grin on her face. Cuddy gawked at her.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?" They both laughed, but agreed that it would be a bit much. Before the doors opened to her floor, they both agreed that they could cause much more commotion by being friendly and cordial. If everyone thought it was House and Cuddy's long lost love-child, they would give them just that.

Sadie purposely turned the wrong direction and Cuddy, loudly and gracefully, like a well trained actor, turned her the other way.

"Oh, sweetie, it's this way!" She put her hands on her shoulders and guided the teen in the right direction. Oh, she was loving this. All those intense board meetings and tedious fundraisers had paid off. The few people that were in the hall were paper-pushers, but she knew they would run to the nearest person the second she was out of sight. She could have sworn she heard the footsteps scurrying about when she closed her office door.

"I think your dad is going to be late tonight with this case, you're more than welcome to have dinner at my place." Cuddy offered. Sadie nodded in agreement and looked at all the books and pictures on the bookcases.

"How has school been?" She asked.

"Good. They make you take gym all four years though. Not a big deal, but I was going to ask dad to write a doctor's note." She took a book off the shelf and thumbed through it.

"You know, he played Lacrosse in college, I bet you would be a natural at it." Sadie looked interested in this.

"Really? I saw a picture one time, but I don't think he likes to talk about it." She sat down in a chair that was identical to the one in House's office. She had found a photo album one day. There were a bunch of Wilson's wedding pictures and all the school pictures of herself. Towards the back there were pictures of her father when he was in college. He didn't really talk about the past much.

"Yeah, that's a sore subject for him." She confirmed, "But I know it would make his day if you played it. He loves to brag about you." Sadie blushed when she said that. Cuddy pulled out some papers to sign off on and some reports to scan over for a few minutes.

"Can I ask you a question?" Sadie asked.

"Sure." Cuddy went on signing papers.

"When are you and Dad going to get over yourselves and get married already?" Cuddy dropped the paper she was holding. That was a very good question indeed. She wasn't sure how to answer it without crushing Sadie's image of her father.

"It's not that easy, kiddo." Sadie frowned, but didn't push the subject any further. Adults could be so frustrating sometimes. She flipped through the book about medieval medicine for a few more minutes.

"Ready?" Cuddy asked.

"I left my stuff in Dad's office." Cuddy nodded and they made their way the few floors down to the diagnostics department. Cuddy knew there little display had worked. There seemed to be twice the amount of people on the floor than there was half an hour before. It occurred to her that some people were actually staying late just to find out who Sadie was and what she was doing there.

House was in the adjoining conference room. He looked ready to strangle one of his employees at any moment. No doubt he was onto some bizarre disease and the rest didn't agree. Cuddy frowned but left the team to their own devices. They almost always managed to figure it out.

"I've never seen him angry before." Cuddy turned around at this. She was about to ask how that was possible, but she realized that House was a completely different person when he was with Sadie. He had begun to show that side to Cuddy as well.

"I'd be more worried if he didn't act angry with them." Sadie caught her father's attention and he barked something at his employees. They didn't look happy.

"Is the patient going to sue us for whatever you're about to do?" Cuddy asked. She didn't dare ask what they were going to do. She found lately that more often than not, House was right.

"Only a little." He joked. Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to eat dinner with Lisa. You want us to save some left-over's?" Cuddy paused for a moment, she hadn't thought about that. She smiled to herself, House would be much better off now that Sadie was living with him.

"Nah, I'll be ok. I'll try to get out of here by ten." She gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. He went back into the conference room and they heard him grumbling before the door closed. The others looked torn between being annoyed at his insistence and curious about his interaction with is daughter.

___

Two hours later and the mystery was solved. House groaned and laid his head on his desk. He was exhausted. He couldn't help but note that he wasn't as tired as he would have been if he hadn't kicked all his bad habits. He took a deep breath and piled all the paper work on the empty arm chair. It could wait until tomorrow. He'd end up making Kutner do it all anyways. He heard his office door open and knew exactly who it was without looking up.

"So, what are they all saying?" House asked. He heard Wilson sigh and settle in the arm chair.

"Everyone in the ER thinks this is all some elaborate joke you and Cuddy are playing on everyone. The majority of everyone else thinks it your's and Cuddy's long lost child. And I think this is really stupid and you should just tell them the truth."

"They trying to hit you up for some juicy gossip?" House asked. Wilson nodded.

"Good. Let 'em run around for a while. It's fun to watch." Wilson rolled his eyes but didn't argue about it any further.

"Where is she?" Wilson suddenly asked.

"Having dinner with Cuddy." Wilson squinted he eyes at him, trying to figure out if there was more to yet. He decided not to say anything. Whatever was going on, he would be hearing about it soon enough. The two said goodnight to each other and they both made their way downstairs and to their cars.

He got to Cuddy's only to find that Sadie had crashed in the guest bedroom. He made his way back downstairs.

"Guess I'll come back by in the morning." House rubbed his eyes, fighting off the sleep.

"Let me make you some coffee before you go." He followed her into the kitchen and sat down on one of the bar stools. She sat down next to him and waited for the coffee maker.

"Everything work out okay?" She asked. He nodded and she could tell he was past the capability of small talk.

"You could sleep over too if you wanted." She held her breath waiting for his reaction. He glanced over at her, gauging the seriousness of her offer.

"I snore." He said.

"So do I." She said, without missing a beat. They both they weren't talking just about sleeping over. They were negotiating a relationship.

Cuddy wondered if she should tell house what Sadie had confided in her earlier. Her gut was telling her to do it.

"Sadie said she would be okay with it." Now that really got his attention.

"When?" He was sitting up straight now. All ears.

"Earlier, when she was in my office. She told me we should just get hitched and get it over with already."

House snorted. That was something she would say. He could see why she might think that though. He could see through her eyes for a moment. The opportunity to have the perfect family unit. Mom. Dad. Sister. He couldn't blame her for mentioning it. Then he could really see it. Why not? Here he and Cuddy sat, trying to salvage something out of the mess they had made.

"So why don't we?" House asked. Cuddy wasn't sure if she was hearing things. He could see she didn't believe he was being earnest. He wasn't sure what circuit in his brain was back firing, but the more he thought it over, the more…right, it seemed to him.

"Do you really want the whole laundry list of reasons?" She asked. The coffee maker beeped, announcing that it had filled the coffee pot. She ignored it, not breaking eye contact with him.

"Please…" He said quietly. Never in her life had she heard him utter that word. Not even when he was begging for some crazy treatment for a patient. Maybe once or twice when he was short on vicodin. She could see he wanted the same thing she did. Someone to come home to, vent about work. Share a meal with.

Raise children with. That line of thought brought a few questions.

"What about Rachel?" She asked.

"What about her?" They were practically whispering now, leaning in close to each other.

"You'd need to be her father." She said almost hopefully.

"You'd have to be a mother to Sadie." This was going quicker than she expected. House really had changed since he got Sadie back. She only ever saw this side of him for that month during the summer. When his limp was not as heavy and the play list on his ipod was a little perkier than usual. In fact, for the last month he had been pleasant to be around. Outside of work, at least. He was too much of an alpha male to let his soft side show at work.

"We'd have to make it legal." She stated.

"Do we have to invite anyone?" Suddenly it wasn't a question of 'if' but 'when'. Cuddy let out a groan.

"God no. I was thinking a quick trip to the courthouse." House nodded in agreement.

"Sadie has to come though. She'll kill us if we don't take her." Cuddy chuckled. She looked at him seriously, making sure this wasn't all a joke.

"You really want to do this? Technically we're not even dating."

House sighed.

"Lisa, I've known you for 10 years. We're beyond dating. We're symbiotes at this point." She thought about it for a moment.

"Should we tell anyone? Ethically I should tell the board members about it-"

"Screw the board members," He interjected, "Who says we have to announce it to everyone? We'll tell Wilson, see how it goes after that."

She hadn't thought about Wilson. "What do you think he'll say about all this?" She asked him.

House shrugged. However he reacted, he'd get over it and eventually accept it all. Cuddy covered her face with her hands, trying to ward off all the doubts and thoughts.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this." She said, her voice muffled. He reached over and pulled her hands down. He looked at her intently and she could see he was having the same doubts she was.

"Do you want to do this?" He asked. She leaned over and kissed him. It wasn't one of those deeply romantic or passionate kisses. You would think they'd been together for years, the way it looked. He smiled in return.

"Deal?" She asked.

"Deal." He answered.

___

House woke up before she did. It was light out, but the sun still hadn't quite come up yet. He rolled out of bed, doing his best not to wake her up. He got dressed in the same clothes he had worn the day before. It occurred to him that it would be easier to move into her house. His two bedroom apartment certainly wasn't going to cut it. Sadie and Rachel would have their own rooms and there was an attic that had been converted into a home office upstairs.

He peeked in on the baby, who was still asleep. He walked a few more steps to what would soon be Sadie's room. She was wrapped up in the covers. He nudged her shoulder, gently waking her up.

"Hmmm?" She cracked open one eye. It took her a moment to fully wake up. She pulled herself up and leaned back against the headboard. Her eyebrows creased together in worry.

"You've got your serious face on." She stated. He decided to make this as straight forward as possible.

"Lisa and I are going to" he held his fingers and put air quotes around his next words, ";get over ourselves and get married already.'" He said. He watched her reaction. She looked a bit more alert now.

"Seriously?" She asked. He nodded.

She looked at him strangely, thinking it was a joke he was playing or something. She decided he was being serious and she threw her arms around his neck. He chuckled and hugged her back.

"I'm happy for you, dad." He smiled and turned his head to kiss her forehead. She was warm. Really warm. He pulled back and put the back of his hand on her forehead and then her cheeks and then her neck. That wasn't good.

"Can you stop being a doctor for, like, five minutes." Sadie protested and turned out of his reach.

"You're running a fever." He said.

"Yeah, well, new people means new germs. It's probably something I caught at school." It still bothered him, but he let it go. He heard Cuddy cooing and soothing a fussy Rachel down the hall. He wondered if he would ever break the last name habit. He and Wilson had known each other twice as long as he had known her and they still called each other by their last names.

Sadie laid down and went right back to sleep, something she definitely inherited from him. He hobbled over to the nursery and found Cuddy holding a stuffed animal above Rachel while she lay on the changing table. She dived the toy down towards the baby, making her giggle with delight.

"I used to do the same thing with Sadie." Cuddy only smiled in response. He turned and went downstairs to make something for breakfast. He hadn't told anyone, even Cuddy, but stairs weren't much of a problem anymore. He had been walking around his apartment cane-less now for about a month. He could manage small distances easily and without much pain. He wished he had kicked his vicodin habit earlier. It seemed that it had only made the pain in his leg feel worse than it actually was.

His cooking skills were not the best in the world, but he managed some toast and scrambled eggs. He emptied out the forgotten pot of coffee and started a new batch. Cuddy came down with Rachel and parked her in the highchair. House hadn't noticed it last night, but now that he looked around he saw that the house was littered with baby things. He pulled out three plates and dispersed the food.

"Do you want to move in here or find a new house?" Cuddy asked. House found he liked this new upfront, no BS thing they had going on. Maybe that's what had held them back before. He didn't think either one of them was suited for a traditional relationship that required walking on egg shells around each other and trying to guess what the other was thinking or feeling. He thought about her question a moment before answering.

"It's your house, your call. Might get a little cramped as the girls get older." Cuddy felt a little pang in her heart when he said that. It was a good pang though. She liked hearing him say "the girls". It made their dysfunctional little family seem a little more normal.

"Daddy?" They heard Sadie croak from the bottom of the steps. His heart stopped for a moment. She hadn't called him that since she was eight. He looked over and saw her hair was disheveled and her clothes were wrinkled from being slept in. What really caught his attention were her red checks and the hair that was stuck to the side of her face from sweating. In a moment he was at her side, hand on her forehead. She was burning up, much worse than earlier in the morning. He turned to Cuddy.

"Do you-" She cut him off.

"It's upstairs, I'll go grab it." She bolted upstairs to grab the thermometer out of the first aid kit. House pulled Sadie over to the couch and was glad that Cuddy's house was open, so he could keep an eye on Rachel. It seemed Cuddy was back in an instant. He stuck it in her mouth and waited a couple minutes. He much preferred these kind. He didn't trust the digital ones and wasn't sure if it was from an article or two he had read about them or because he was just getting old.

He heard Rachel fussing at being stuck in the high chair. Cuddy put her in the play pen a few feet from the couch with some toys to keep her occupied. He pulled out the thermometer and saw that she had a fever of 103. Probably the flu, he thought to himself. He covered her with the throw that was laying over the arm of the sofa. He knew to stay calm when she was sick, but a good majority of him wanted to react like the half-crazed parents he always saw in the clinic having panic attacks over a runny nose.

Cuddy had pulled out some cough syrup.

"Here, kiddo, sit up." She handed the teen a glass of juice and a little measuring cap with medicine. She swallowed it and made a face before downing the juice. She muttered a thanks and laid back down, Cuddy threw the blanket back over her.

"Should knock you and your fever out." She joked. Sadie showed a small smile, but she was already falling fast asleep.

House sighed and took the empty glass and measuring cap to the kitchen sink. They let Sadie sleep on the sofa and Rachel keep herself occupied with her toys while they finished breakfast. Cuddy thought about what House had said. They would outgrow this house pretty fast. It was cramped enough with all the baby things as well as her stuff. There wouldn't be anywhere for House's piano. She knew that wouldn't do. She liked listening to him play.

"We need to find a bigger house." She told him. He nodded, chewing on his now cold toast.

"One with a yard." He said. She knew he was thinking about Rachel. She would need a big space to play in in a couple years.

"The houses around here wouldn't do, they have postage stamps for yards." It was where a lot of the doctors lived. A smaller yard meant less to keep up with.

"I'll call some realtors Monday." She said and took her plate and laid it on top of the other dishes in the sink. "Will you watch her while I grab a shower?" House nodded. He would have to get used to having a baby again. He did okay with Sadie, but he didn't always have her 24/7. The times that he did he rather enjoyed. He went over to check on Sadie. She was still warmer than he was comfortable with. He wished she would have eaten something with the medicine but he was afraid it would all come back up later. He saw that Rachel was sitting up on her own now. She held her arms up, wanting to be held. He scooped her up and settled her in his lap. He could do this. He'd never admit it to anyone other than Cuddy and Sadie, but he liked it. He liked being a dad and having someone to take care of. He would still act like an ass at work, for his reputation's sake.

Cuddy came back to relieve him so that he could run home and grab clothes for him and Sadie. They had silently and subtly agreed to hang at her house for a while. He didn't want to move Sadie around while she was sick and he really didn't want to go back to his apartment. Why bother if they were going to move in together anyways?

He thought more about their decision during the drive to his apartment. He found he wasn't as apprehensive as he thought he would be. It didn't unsettle him, but surprised him. He thought about how he would break the news to Wilson. He could just say he moved and give the poor guy the shock of his life when he got there. He liked the idea of that. Wilson would hate him for about an hour. Maybe he would tell him about his newfound sobriety to soften the blow.

He made sure to grab about a week's worth of clothes for each of them and grabbed a few things he knew Sadie would want. He suddenly wanted to be with her really bad. Maybe it was just the thought of her sick and probably not feeling comfortable not being in her own bed. Or maybe this was what parents were always talking about, feeling that weird intuition kicking in. He reached in his pocket for his phone and realized he had left it on the night stand in Cuddy's room. He picked up the house phone and called Cuddy's cell.

"House?" She answered, she sounded stressed and his heart started beating fast.

"Everything okay?" He asked, he tapped his cane against the floor nervously.

"No, I'm taking Sadie to the hospital. Her fever isn't breaking, it's gotten worse." She sounded on the verge of tears. It took a lot to rattle a woman like herself. House kicked it into high gear. He grabbed the duffle at his feet and his keys.

"I'll meet you there." He said and snapped the phone shut.

___

He got to the hospital about ten minutes after they arrived. Sadie was laying on a gurney in an Exam room in the ER. She was shaking from head to toe and she already had an IV in her arm.

"Cameron's watching Rachel." House nodded and sat on the edge of the bed next to Sadie. She cracked open her eyes and saw who was sitting there.

"Dad?"

"Yup." He saw that her eyes were sensitive to the light and reached over to the dimmer. This seemed to ease her and she relaxed a little bit more. Her blood pressure was normal, but her temperature had risen to 105. Her heart beat was unsteady and he wasn't sure what to think. This could be a severe case of the flu or maybe something new and stronger. He started rattling of the list of symptoms in his head. Some he was sure was being caused by the fever, but he needed to know what was causing the fever itself before ruling them out.

Cuddy went out and paged Foreman to the ER. He looked confused as to why he was being called there when he got down. She led him to Sadie's room. The second Foreman got to the door, House started rattling off tests they needed to run. He saw the girl from the day before laying on the gurney. She looked like death. How had that happened so fast? She looked perfectly healthy yesterday afternoon. While he and House talked over what tests needed to be run first - blood work, CT, etc.- he saw Cuddy standing by Sadie, soothing her. The poor girl was miserable, but whatever Cuddy was saying seemed to be helping her. He picked up her chart to mark down her vitals. He noted that her blood pressure had dropped a little since she came in, and her heart rate was up. Now he knew what House was worried about. This was normal for a high fever, but it was too severe to be just the fever. He would bet money on a bacterial infection of some kind.

Sadie House. That was what the chart said. She did resemble him quite a bit, although he didn't believe all the rumors that had been running rampant around the hospital. He went to the nurse's station to see how quick they could get a CT scan.

___

Cuddy saw that Sadie was getting worse. She was shaking from the fever. Her body was definitely trying to fight something off. She tried to think of something to get her mind of the pain. She kneeled down to eye level with her, so that Foreman wouldn't hear what that were talking about.

"Will you help me look for a new house next week." Sadie looked up at that.

"W-we're moving?" Sadie had assumed they would move in with Lisa. Cuddy nodded.

"My house will be too small. We need to find a big house so we won't be on top of each other and drive each other crazy." Sadie nodded. Cuddy pushed away the drenched hair that was plastered to her face.

"And you have to help me decorate. You're father's not allowed to touch a single paint brush. I don't want to come home to a neon green kitchen." Sadie gave her a small smile. Cuddy noticed that the majority of her shaking had settled down. Foreman left the room and House came over with vials to get blood samples. Sadie saw what he was about to do and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Don't worry, kiddo." He was able to attach the vial to the IV, so that they wouldn't have to keep hunting for veins every time they needed to take blood. Sadie breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." He leaned down kissed her forehead.

__

House met Foreman in the lab and handed him the samples. He sat down on one of the stools and put his head in his hands. Foreman didn't say anything. He knew House would kick into jerk mode if he did. Eventually the silence ate at him and he couldn't help it.

"If it's bacterial, we can take care of it quickly." Foreman said. House looked up, staring at him hard.

"And if it's not?"

Foreman didn't have an answer to that. House took a deep breath and left to go back downstairs. It was a little unnerving to see House lose his edge. He knew the man was just scared for his daughter. Even this frightened Foreman. He hoped it was some type of flu or bacteria, but if it wasn't they were going to have a lot on their shoulders. Whatever it was had progressed quickly. A 15 year old's body was strong enough to fight it off for a while, he didn't want to imagine the effect it would have on a small child or someone with an immune disorder. It would be crippling, that much was for sure. He worked quickly, determined to find an answer.

___

House came back downstairs and saw that Sadie had fallen asleep. Cuddy was still sitting in the chair. He pulled the other chair next to hers and melted into it.

He didn't know if hours or minutes were passing. He didn't bother to look at the clock. His eyes were on the screen displaying all her vitals. The fever was still holding steady. Everything was about the same as it was half an hour earlier. He laid his head down on the arm of the chair and felt Cuddy wrap her arm around his shoulder and they stayed like that for an indefinite amount of time.

After a while he noticed that Cuddy kept checking her watch.

"Go get Rachel and taker her home. We'll be fine." Cuddy frowned.

"It's not that. You sent those tests off three hours ago." House looked up at the clock. They should have heard something by then.

He stood up quickly and bolted out of the room. Whatever results came back, they weren't good. He found the whole diagnostics team in the lab, looking worried and stressed.

He walked in and waited silently for someone to explain. Thirteen spoke up.

"It's bacterial, but we've never seen it before." House's patience was growing thin. He waved his hand, indicating he wanted a better explanation.

"It doesn't match anything. It's definitely a super bug of some sort. It doesn't die off right away outside the body." She slid a sample under a microscope for him to look at. He leaned down and focused the lens. It only took him a few seconds to figure out why they had never seen it before.

"It's manufactured," He said, "this is not a natural disease." The other's froze and time seemed to stand still. This was more than they had bargained for.

Reviews of all kinds are welcome. Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. *Squees* of delight as well. Flames will be politely ignored (but just as appreciated).