The Happiest Place On Earth

Part III

Previously…

"Why on earth would you have a birthday party for her? She's one. Its not like she's not going to remember it."

"Uh- because she just turned one. How can we not throw her a birthday party?"

House shrugged, "I never got one, and I turned out just peachy."

Cuddy shook her head with a little laugh, "That explains a lot- and Madeline is having one…"

Her voice trailed off, when she noticed their toddler start fluttering her eyes open, and then spotting Cuddy. For a moment, she looked up at her, then House, and then up at Cuddy again, with a growing smile.

"-Uh-dy."

House looked up at the ceiling, and began to whistle, as Cuddy's eyes nearly bugged out, "Did she just call me Cuddy?"

"Uh-ddy!" Their blonde-curly haired toddler exclaimed again excitedly, as she sat up straight on House's stomach.

Cuddy's mouth hung slightly open from incomprehension and turned her eyes to him, "You taught my daughter to call me Cuddy?"

House contorted his face in mock confusion, "I did not teach your daughter anything. She overheard me call you Cuddy- apparently it stuck. She's a bright kid."

As she let a breath out to retort to his sarcastic remark, there was a loud growling noise that erupted from hi's stomach. Cuddy sighed instead, "Ready for dinner?"

House's eyes burst wide open at the mention of food, "The oven-"

"Too late. Whatever you were cooking has been blackened to death…what were you were making?"

Madeline had began to play with his hollowed stubbly cheeks. For some reason, she found the pained expressions he made hilarious. House didn't disappoint either, because he made the funniest sarcastic expressions she'd ever seen when he played with her- it even made Cuddy smile.

No one got to see that side of him, in fact, she rarely got to see that care-free side of himself that he let Madeline in on. It had never really made her sad, up until that point. There was a way about him at that moment, that made it seem like he was purposely keeping her out, until he looked up at gave her a smile that made her weak at the knees.

"Veggie lasagna. It was my mom's recipe- well, except for the veggie part- but I had to improvise obviously", House said while tickling Madeline.

Cuddy struggled not to let House see just how much that detail warmed her heart. Yes, he knew that she was a vegetarian, but it was the fact that he'd consciously made something that she could eat, that Cuddy found touching.

So she only smiled slightly instead, "Too bad, that sounded good. So, should I order in pizza?"

House shrugged, preoccupied with their toddler still, "Whatever you want."

"Well, what do you feel like having?" She pushed, letting her hand wander into his untidy hair.

He finally looked up at her, "Seriously? I don't care, I'm not really hungry. So just get whatever you want."

"House- I just heard your stomach exclaim that its famished. Are you trying to starve yourself?" she joked.

All he emitted was a shrug, and he slowly stood up, getting out of the tub with Madeline still in his arms, "Get Pizza."

As he was about to walk out of the bathroom, Cuddy felt her chest tighten and she inhaled, "Chase is stepping down."

House slowed down and turned to look at her, "What?"

She took a step towards him, and attempted to grab Madeline who backed away and frowned. Cuddy let her shoulders fall, and pursed her lips, "He said it's your position- everyone's waiting for you to go back."

His eyebrows furrowed, "Do you really think thats such a great idea?"

"You have to go back to work eventually."

House blinked at her, "Really?"

"Well, yes. I know you, if you don't get a case soon you'll drive yourself crazy with boredom. And you'll make Madeline your experiment, and try to condition her or-something."

He frowned for a moment and scoffed, giving their daughter a quick glance, "I wouldn't do that."

Cuddy raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms at him, and House sighed- letting a tiny smirk emit on his lips as he rolled his eyes.

"Fine. So when do I start boss?"

"Tomorrow. We already have a case for you."

xxxoxxxo

Next Day

"House! Get up- you're going to be late and its your first day back", Cuddy yelled at him from the closet, while running around and getting ready.

He opened one eye and grunted, "But mom I don't want to go to work."

There was a clear and audible snicker from her, that did little to comfort his still wounded ego.

"Fine, if you want to drive yourself then wake up at noon. But just so you know, your team is already waiting with a new case for you."

He hid his pallid face in his pillow and exhaled deeply. House wasn't sure why, but he was strangely nervous to go back to work at PPTH.

"I think I'm coming down with a cold", he pretended to plug his nose.

Cuddy stopped searching for something in her closet, and House listened as her footsteps made their way back to the bed, where she pulled his head out of the pillow and turned it to her, "What's going on House?"

"Nothing…I just think it's too soon to leave Madeline alone with Marina."

"She's used to Marina."

"She likes me better."

Cuddy chuckled, and gingerly placed a hand on his cheek, "What are you so worried about?"

House blinked his eyes once and gave her a blank stare, "Nothing."

The way her eyebrows furrowed, told him that she didn't believe what he was saying, so he playfully pulled down her face to kiss her.

"You know, eight is actually too early for the both of us, don't you think? Maybe we should both sleep in a little", he murmured in between kisses, as his fingers started working on her blouse.

Cuddy made feeble attempts to stop him, but he knew better, and maneuvered her back into bed, and pinned her underneath him.

They were both late to work.

xxxoxxxo

Next Day

Madeline giggled hysterically, at House who made a deep voice, while reading a baby book to her on his ottoman, as she sat on his lap.

Wilson watched from the outside of House's office, but turned to look at Cuddy as she walked up, with her hands on her growing belly.

"He seems like he's doing great."

She smiled, "I know. Madeline's ecstatic to have him back. She's completely different now that he's living at home with us again."

Wilson ever the worry wart- sighed, "I just-"

Cuddy held up her hand, "Don't start Wilson. House is doing fine. He's happy- we're happy. He's not going to screw this up. Even you said that before, remember?"

He nodded, and sighed. Having a weird feeling of dread fill the pit of his stomach.

"Can we expect you and Cameron at Madeline's party Saturday?"

Wilson inhaled deeply as they both began walking down the hall, and gave her a sharp nod- with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, "Of course, we aren't leaving for our honeymoon until sunday morning."

The morning that he'd shown up to House's hotel room, he'd lied about Cameron getting a case referral and the fact that she needed time to sort it out before their honeymoon.

What had really transpired was in fact, completely different. The truth had been that the days leading to their wedding, when House had first returned from Minnesota, after months of being gone- both he and Cameron had naturally been worried about him.

Never before had he looked as lifeless as he had when Wilson had picked him up from the airport. He'd looked close to starvation, and the confrontation he'd had with Cuddy had done little to ease their worry over him.

In fact, the more time that passed, the clearer it was becoming to them that House was falling apart at the seams. Sure, he did his very best to appear unaffected by everything that had recently happened in his life, but they both knew better.

And as they'd lay in bed the night of their wedding- also, the night before their morning flight out to St. Thomas- their honeymoon vacation- both he and Cameron had discussed just how he was deteriorating before their eyes. And they had both come to terms that they couldn't- in good conscience, leave him to what could be his death.

But of course, they couldn't very well tell him the truth, or anyone else for that matter. And when his call girl had called for an ambulance, after he'd OD'd in his hospital room, they knew they'd done the right thing.

That had been almost a week ago though, and things had changed for him. He was clean, happy with Cuddy and Madeline- therefore Wilson saw no reason to continue to delay his honeymoon.

xxxoxxxo

Madeline's Birthday Party

Two Days Later

"How can you not have made a brisket? And where is the matzo ball soup? I don't know how you can call this a party", Arlene Cuddy complained. She stood against the counter simply sipping from her white wine and watched as House placed tiny slices of sandwiches on a platter.

When Cuddy had mentioned she was going to have a birthday party for Madeline, he'd pictured a small get together with Wilson and Cameron, and a few pesky family members- not hundreds of people, ninety-nine percent of which he didn't know.

But the worst part of all of it, was when the caterer had backed out two days before, not leaving them enough time to get a replacement. Which was why he was cutting up tiny hors d'oeuvres for the hungry guests waiting in the backyard.

Out of the corner of his eye, House saw as Cuddy placed a hand on her ever growing stomach- something he knew she did now whenever she felt the onset of anxiety, "Mom…go outside with everyone else. We don't need help."

"Sure you do, a lot of those people outside go to bridge on Tuesdays and I don't want to have to hear about how disappointing my daughter is at cooking. What will that say about me?"

Something inside him cracked, and House scoffed, turning up his eyes to look at Arlene, "Ok lady-"

Cuddy placed a hand on his shoulder, "House- don't."

He inhaled deeply and picked up the platter he'd been working on, with a wide forced grin that made his dimples come out, "I'm going to go take this outside."

When he had taken his first steps into the guest-infested backyard, House surprisingly felt a wave of relief wash over him. It was a sort of a perplexing paradox, that he was quite unfamiliar with. The notion of human connection- parties, soirées, was all something he avoided and greatly disliked. In all honesty, if he had to pick any type of interaction with another person, it was the one-on-one type in the bedroom- in other words, sexing Cuddy.

He felt strange to be holding a platter of food meant to be served for other people. And he would have never done what he was doing for anyone else- Cuddy had changed him, it was sort of annoying.

Wilson smirked at him, as he made his way over to the appetizer table, and he helped himself to one of the bacon wrapped tatter tots that House had been carrying out, "Don't you think it's a little ironic for Cuddy to be serving bacon wrapped tatter tots?"

House ignored his friend's question, "You should hear her mother complaining inside…What I'd really like to do is give her some Lunesta so she can shut up. All she does is complain about everything Cuddy does wrong. Which is- not nearly as much as what she's complaining about."

"I don't know what's stranger- that you're standing up for Cuddy or that you're complaining about someone who complains about Cuddy?"

"Puh-lease- I don't complain about everything Cuddy does…just almost everything she does. She does some things right- like picking me for one, hiring me and deciding to have this kid …I guess", House awkwardly added on. Madeline had forced herself out of Cameron's arms and wobbled over to him when she saw him.

Wilson blinked his eyes a couple of times and frowned, "I'm sorry- are you saying that Madeline makes you happy? Like admitting to it?"

He realized what he'd just confessed and took his time- or a few moments at least, to think about what he'd just revealed. It wasn't a lie, and although he knew the ramifications of admitting that something made him happy, House wasn't going to deny that she didn't. There was an annoying ray of light that Madeline cast on his soul and at the same time, greatly irritated him.

"Wilson- all children are a blessing", he sneered sarcastically.

His friend rolled his eyes, clearly disappointed that he wasn't taking his questions seriously.

"It would be pretty crappy to say that my kid doesn't make me happy. Don't you think?" He asked while looking at a giggling Madeline, who's hand was playing with the stubble on his cheek. He would never understand why she found his rough cheek so soothing.

"So domestic life is working for you then?" His friend pushed, observing the interaction between House and his toddler.

He smirked at Madeline and looked up Wilson with a straight face, "Guess so."

"Care to elaborate?" Wilson pressed.

He averted his eyes, and looked at the dessert table, realizing that all the pieces of cake were gone, and took the opportunity to hand Madeline over to Wilson and grab the platter to avoid his pestering questions.

It was unusual for him to not have much to say, but in truth, House felt that if he opened his mouth to talk about anything, all his frustrations and his grouchiness at Arlene Cuddy would fall out- and he would be unable to hold anything back.

"Nope. No time- people to hungry."

"So everything is ok?" Wilson had stepped in front of him, blocking his way back up to Cuddy's kitchen, with a fussy Madeline in his arms. He looked worried, but in an annoyed way, which told him, that he was worried that he could be falling apart.

"Is this your subtle way of asking, if I've relapsed? Gone dark-side again?" House asked him irritably.

Wilson let out a deep sigh, "No…But have you?"

House scoffed and shook his head, "No."

"You're lying, aren't you?"

"Why would I do that?"

But he didn't give Wilson a chance to respond, before whisking the platter away and inside to the kitchen, to refill it with cake.

The truth was, things were good, and for once, he didn't want to psychoanalyze what was happening, because he was too good at that. He could drive himself crazy picking at the way things could fall apart with Cuddy again- but the consequence of doing that would be running their relationship to the ground. And although he wasn't banking on optimism, he was tired of a dark looming future. He wanted to stay happy, for as long as it could last.

He was only a couple feet away from the sliding door to the kitchen, when he stopped and overheard Cuddy, "We probably won't last- isn't that what you want to hear?"

"Why would you want to last? He's a mess, everyone has been asking me what you're thinking- it's embarrassing. You need a father for Madeline and for your new baby, not some junkie."

"Mom-"

"All I'm saying, as a mother, is that you should think about your future. You know he won't be in it for too long, think about your children. Better to end it now than let him take more time away from you, when you could actually be with a man."

House waited silently at the steps, waiting for what Cuddy would say back. However, she didn't say anything, making an uncomfortable black pit in his stomach.

When he realized that Cuddy wouldn't say anything back, he clicked his jaw to one side and walked in to the kitchen. Both of them instantly turned and looked over at him without a word, and he offered them a tight smile, "All the cake is gone- figured I'd get more, but If you guys need more time to continue talking about better suiters I can go back outside again."

They both looked at him stunned, but after a moment Arlene Cuddy's stone cold stare had come back, "Actually that would be nice-"

"Mom!"

She looked back at her daughter and shrugged, "He offered."

House let out a dry laugh, and kept his tongue between his teeth, as he went over to fill the platter. But heard Cuddy's distinguishable heels behind him approaching.

"House-"

He quickly turned around, backing away from her, towards the sliding door, "Sorry- no time to talk. Lots of people to feed."

It wasn't that he was angry at her, or sad, it was that he felt strangely empty to her stab. And he didn't want her to see that, or to see that he didn't care either way, because that would only fuel Wilson's thoughts about him relapsing, which in itself was ridiculous.

As House was placing the down the platter of food on the table, someone came up next to him, grabbing a small plate from the table and spoke up, "Pretty nice party. Food's not that bad either."

House froze, with his hand about to pick something up, because he knew that voice well. It was the same voice that had told him many time as he was growing up that he was a wuss. It was the same military voice that had forced him to sleep outside or send him off to bed without dinner. It was his Dad.

Sure enough, as the ability to move came back to him, House turned his head over to see his dad, wearing a blazer and a checkered blouse, with a timid expression clearly written on his face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked him straight out.

His father, for a lack of better words, looked nervous. It was as if he knew he was treading on dangerous waters to be there, to interrupt his life with Cuddy. It reassured House, that his father knew that just because his mom had died, nothing between them had actually changed.

John House took his time, and House could tell that he was examining him, surely with much to say about his still thin appearance.

"Again, what are you doing here dad?"

Finally, his father cleared his throat and looked past him to the kitchen, "Lisa and Wilson invited me."

House turned his head back, to look at Cuddy, who had just swallowed and Wilson who smiled back awkwardly because he knew that they were both dead.

Next:

Cuddy let out a sigh, regretting her fast conclusion, and guilt fill her chest instead, "House-…I'm sorry."

"Oh don't apologize, its fine", he let out with a sarcastic edge to it, as he laced up his sneakers.

"Where are you going?"

He didn't meet her eyes, as he picked up his jacket and slowly put it on, "My apartment- I need silence."

"House- please? I said I was sorry."

But he didn't turn, he didn't utter anything else, just silently closed the door behind him as he left- careful not to wake Madeline up.