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"It's small."

"Give it a chance."

"And wriggly. Is it supposed to be wriggly? I thought it was supposed to be still."

"Don't drop it."

"I'm not going to drop it. I'm a doctor. I'm not totally incompetent. Some of the patients I treat however…"

"You still have to do clinic duty."

"I hate you."

"Oh, that's a real nice example."

"What? Like it cares."

"Be careful with it."

"I AM being careful!" Pause. "Is it supposed to be this wrinkly?"

"Why are you asking me? You've seen one before!"

"Not this close."

"I'm sure you have."

"You read minds now?"

"You're an ass."

"Now look who's setting the example."

"I'm going to kill you."

"You didn't follow through on that earlier."

"I had my mind on something else."

"Like breaking my hand?"

"No, that was just a perk."

"I'm not getting up in the middle of the night."

"Oh, yes you are."

"Not for eight weeks, anyway."

"You are if you don't want the eight weeks extended."

"That's bribery! And I might get up…but only to bring it to you."

"You're so predictable."

"What? I still say some of these new rules you've recently brought in smell distinctly of…what is that?"

"That's your cue to change it."

"I don't think so."

"Rules are rules."

"You have a sadistic streak. One that I wish would rear its head in the bedroom more often."

"I'll give you a kick in the rear if you don't get to it."

"At least it didn't pee on me."

"Give it time."

"Oh god. This is worse than I imagined."

"Suck it up, Dr House."

"Who needs nuclear power when you have this weapon of mass destruction?"

"You're overreacting."

"You're still high on drugs."

"Where do I put it now?"

"That in the bin. No! Not that!"

"You need a sense of humor."

"Sit down and stop acting like a child."

"Fine. But consider that as one of my duties being fulfilled."

"You've got a long way to go before your penance is done."

"Penance for what? I wasn't the only one who did this."

"You were certainly a willing participant.

A pause. "You did good in there, Dr Cuddy. Out of all the performances I've seen, yours sucked the least."

"Well, you did help with rehearsal."

"I like to think I gave a good performance."

"Oh I can assure you that you received a standing ovation."

"I may not have, but someone certainly did."

"Enough sex talk around it. Therapy bills don't need to start this early."

"It has no idea what we're talking about. We could be talking about anything and it'd still look at me."

A yawn.

"Get some sleep before the drugs wear off. Pity. I knew my luck had to run out sometime."

"Jackass."

Greg House looked down at the baby boy in his hands. It was tiny, but had proved its strength earlier with the screaming that had almost burst eardrums.

"We've got a lot to discuss. Did you know the changes that have to be made because of your arrival? The most disturbing one being no sex for eight weeks. Your mother's orders. She has a cruel streak."

He glanced over to where Cuddy had fallen asleep. He looked back down to the little boy.

"Don't tell her I said this…but you're kind of cute."

Eyes still closed, Cuddy smiled.

FINIS