Marissa, I bet you're flipping a shit right now, much like I did when I found out I was your secret Santa. Here you go bb, I hope you like it. xoxo - Syd
"This is ridiculous."
"Just answer the questions Cuddles, and no one gets hurt."
"You would never hurt me." She mumbled into his chest as she nuzzled herself closer against him.
She was completely and undeniably right. He would never hurt her. He'd been trying his damn hardest to keep her happy and he'd been succeeding. A year and a half in and they'd managed to last. There were arguments, it wouldn't be normal for them to have a romantic relationship without any arguments when their relationship in general consisted of constant arguments.
Okay fine, there had been arguments where she had ended up in tears and he had ended up sleeping alone, but he always managed to make it up to her afterwards. One of his antics would make her forget, he did everything he could to get on her good side again when he was in the dog house. She was just that important to him.
"Okay, you're right. I would never hurt you." He replied before pinching her.
"Ow! You said you would never hurt me you ass!"
"Everybody lies."
"I hate you."
"Liar."
He rubbed the spot he had pinched on her upper arm before contining.
"Are you going to cooperate, or am I going to have to pinch you again?"
"Fine, I'll cooperate."
"Good. Favorite type of candy?"
"Chocolate."
"Chocolate doesn't count in my world. Something else."
"Ugh, why are you so difficult? Lollipops."
"No wonder you know how to suck so-"
"Shut up!"
He laughed as she smacked him.
"Cherry or Strawberry?"
"Cherry."
"Blueberry or Raspberry."
"Blueberry."
"Apple or Watermelon."
"Apple."
"Grape or Mocca?"
"There are Mocca flavored lollipops?"
"Yes Cuddles, there are Mocca flavored lollipops. Hell there are fish flavored lollipops."
"That's disgusting." She replied as she laughed softly.
"You didn't answer."
"I've never had Mocca, so Grape."
"Alright. That's it."
"Seriously of that harassment just to know what some of my prefered lollipop flavors were?"
"Yes."
"I hate you, so much." She said teasingly. "You were wasting my time!"
"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't."
"Momma, where's House?" Rachel asked as Cuddy put the cookies in the oven. It was a Saturday, and they were baking. Much to Cuddy's dismay House was at the hospital working on a case.
"He's working. He'll be back before you go to bed, I promise."
"Okay."
She smiled, loving how close her daughter and House had managed to become over the last year and a half. She couldn't help but smile as she thought of the countless memories of them as a family.
Their first Christmas together had definitely been her most memorable in her adult life. They had only been together for seven months, and House had wanted to surprise her. He'd let his romantic side show and had taken her and Rachel up into the city. They had ended up getting snowed in at the hotel they were staying out due to a blizzard, but that hadn't stopped him. He had ordered room service for them all and when they had finished eating they had snuggled up on the couch, watching the various Christmas specials on.
She let out a soft laugh as she remembered the mess they had made when he had hit her with a pillow, and she had hit him back, the pillow practically combusting and covering the room with feathers. One of the things she loved about being with him was the fact that he made her loosen up more, he made her live her life more than she had ever before.
Covered in feathers, they proceded to engage in a full blown pillow fight. He had lost because she and Rachel had ambushed him. Even if Rachel had only been three at the time, Cuddy knew she had enjoyed it just as much as they had.
When she had put Rachel down to sleep in the other room, they had made their way into the bathroom. She had leaned her head against his chest as they had sat together in the jacuzzi, their hands intertwined and the flickering candles as the only source of light in the room. He had told her he loved her, something that was a rarity in their relationship and meant the world to her when he did say it.
They had made love afterwards, murmuring sweet nothings to one another in the afterglow as they had become a tangle of limbs. She had fallen asleep soon after, the sensation of his fingers running through her hair giving her the warmness needed to fall into a deep slumber.
She was pulled from her reverie when she heard the slamming of the door. She peaked out over the counter and spotted a very soggy House as he shook himself out and hung up his leather jacket.
"You're soaked!" She said as he reached her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek, something they had become so accustomed to.
"It's raining cats and dogs. Visibility is zilch."
"Well, I'm glad you made it back home safely."
She leaned up on the tip of her toes and kissed him, her hands slipping so easily around his neck. It was one of their longer kisses, where words were spoken without actually be said. The things left unsaid were passed through kisses like these, the ones where it was almost as though one was the life force the other needed in order to go on.
They were interrupted by Rachel, who had decided to take it upon herself to pull them apart.
"Momma, the timer!"
"Crap!" Cuddy cried as she pulled away, quickly opening the oven and taking out the tray of cookies and placing it on the cooling rack.
"Tsk, tsk Cuddles, you really shouldn't be cooking without me. We both know your cooking sucks." said House as he grabbed a cookie, bouncing it from one hand to another when he realized just how hot they were.
"We were bored, and I didn't know when you would be back. There was nothing better for us to do." She shrugged as she snatched the cookie from him, and taking a bite out of it.
"Since my cooking is so terrible, you can't have any cookies." She teased, half seriously.
"But mommmmmm."
"When you're good to Momma, Momma's good to you." She replied as winked, biting into the cookie.
"You know damn well I've been good to you." He argued attempting to snatch the cookie back from her. She stepped backwards and into the wall as he neared her.
"Well then, look's like Momma's got herself cornered." He replied grabbing the cookie back and stuffing it in his mouth.
"It's like dating a little kid." She responded shaking her head as she laughed softly.
"Really? Dating a little kid? Well that makes you a pedophile."
"You're older than me! Craddle robber!" She laughed again, leaning her forhead against his chest, and wrapping her arms around his torso.
"I love you." She said burying her face into his chest as his arms wrapped around her.
"Delivery for one party pants Cuddy." House said as he barged into Cuddy's office, the bouquet of lollipops he had ordered for her. He limped over to her desk and set it down in front of her, studying her closely.
"Merry Christmas."
"Really? A candy bouquet? So this is what the questioning was about the other day? Thank you, it's literally the sweetest thing you've ever gotten for me."
He watched her smile, and he knew it was fake.
"Oh don't give me that bullshit. I know you're thinking 'what the hell is this?'. Well maybe there's something else there besides all the sugar. I mean sure there's your favorite chocolates hidden in there, the ones I had to order from Switzerland, but that's not the only thing. But if you don't like it, I can gladly take it back." He feined movement and smirked when she pulled it towards her.
"No, I love it! Really." She replied sincerely.
"Well aren't you going to look for what you need to find?"
Five minutes later House watched a frustrated Cuddy took the last piece of candy out of the basket.
"There's nothing else in here."
"I never said it was in the basket. Maybe you should check the ring pops..."
He bit his tongue as she grabbed the blueberry one. Of course she would grab the right one on the first try.
He watched as she opened it, feeling his lips tug upwards in a smile as she studied the ringpop carefully.
"Look over here." He said, wanting to see her expression fully.
She looked up at him, her mouth slightly open.
"Oh my god."
He let out a low chuckle. He took the ring pop from her and placed it on her desk. Taking one of the medical texts piled next to it, he smashed it on top of the ringpop, shifting through the pieces of shattered sugar and pulling out the diamond ring that had been conceiled in the ringpop. He reached across the desk and took her left hand, sliding the finger onto her left ring finger.
"Stop shaking so hard and just say yes."
"Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes."
He smiled.
"Merry Christmas Cuddy."