Authors Note: Okay so I was going to make this chapter much longer but figured it'd be better to post it as is now than keep it held up. The last little section is horrible, sorry. Next chapter should be up sooner as that's when everything starts to get real good :D

Oh and in response to a few negative reviews – If you don't like it, don't read it. Neener neener.

Chapter 3

House had been watching this interaction from behind the nurses station, unseen by either woman so far. He didn't like the way Cameron was walking when she re-emerged and wondered why the hell she always looked that way after speaking with their boss. Side stepping two nurses, he made his own way into Dr. Cuddy's office.

He didn't wait to be greeted and immediately slumped down into one of the plush chairs before the woman's desk; pulling first his bum leg and then his other on top of it. "Soooo, wanna tell me why baby belly looked so upset moments ago?" Cuddy had registered House's entrance but had no desire to speak to him at that moment, especially about Cameron. "Earth to Cuddles."

She sighed and gave him a brief glance before going through her folders again. To try and ignore the man was like trying to hold your breath for as long as you could. "I don't know, why don't you ask her." She said, thumbing again through an insignificant file. "You're the one that's stalking her."

House guffawed and waved his hand at the woman. "Stalking would include following her home, and I rarely do that anymore." It was true; he had followed the woman home a few times, just to make sure she made it into her building safely. He'd stopped a month ago when he realized how much gas he was wasting and how stupidly overprotective he was being. It wasn't really his baby after all; why should he be monitoring it?

"House, seriously, just leave it alone." She gave up on her paperwork and looked over at him. So far she had managed to keep from having this talk with him, about the uncertainty of guardianship and what was going to happen when the child was born. The three had agreed to forgo any sort of Surrogacy Agreement before the insemination, which meant there were no official legal documants declaring who would be the intended parent of the baby.

He thought about it for a moment but then shook his head. "Nuh uh, something is going on between you two and it doesn't take a genius diagnostician to figure out it has to do with the spawn." Cuddy bit her lip and glared at him. "I knew it." He leant back in the chair and crossed his hands in his lap. "So, what is it? Does little miss pot belly want a bigger salary? A better parking space? My job?"

Cuddy had her own hands clasped in front of her as she thought up the best way to explain the issue. He was the father genetically and if there was going to be paternity issues, he should know about it ahead of time. "She wants to be a part of the childs life." There, that was easy. She studied House's face, looking for some sort of reaction and was dissapointed to find his expression hadn't changed. "You understand what I'm saying, right?"

This was a roadblock he really should have seen coming. "Well, there's really only one thing you can do then." He quirked his eyebrow and pulled on his version of a serious face. "You'll have to move in together."

"House! This is serious." She shook her head and stared at him in annoyance. "Would it kill you to act like any of this means something to you?"

"It does mean something to me. I'll drive the Uhaul and Wilson can help move furniture." He knew he was pushing the woman further than he aught to, but what was the alternative? Let her know that he was equally as concerned about the prospective parantage of the child? He didn't want to be the sole parent, not by a long shot, but like Cameron, he wouldn't have minded being able to see the thing every once in a while. As long as it was clean, fed and happy, that is.

Cuddy threaded a hand through her hair. "Just go back upstairs. Go do your job, go bounce your damn ball, fuck, go watch your stupid soaps, just get the hell out of my office." Her tone of voice surprised him and he actually pulled his legs off her desk and stood up. "No, don't talk. Just go." She didn't know if she was more surprised, or greatful, that he actually did what she asked.

Sighing she slumped forward over her desk and looked up at the clock hanging over the double doors House had just exited through. Two more hours and her shift would be over. Two more hours and Cameron's shift would be over. "Please let everything work out." She whispered to herself as she watched the second hand tick by.

***

Cameron rubbed her palms back and forth around the glass of lemon water on the small table before her. Her chicken caesar salad sat untouched and pushed off to the side; she had been hungry when she'd ordered it but now felt nauseous and anything but. Cuddy sat opposite her, pushing her fork around her pasta alfredo. Neither woman had said much since they'd arrived at their usual joint – The Olive Garden.

Cuddy suddenly caught their waitresses eye and flagged her over. "Can we get two boxes and the check please?" The woman smiled and nodded and headed off to the kitchen. Cameron was looking up at the older woman in surprise. They hadn't been there but twenty minutes. "I'm not really hungry either, no sense wasting a table." She offered the blonde, who nodded.

A few minutes later they were both walking across the darkening parking lot towards their cars. Reaching hers first, Cuddy unlocked the doors and tossed her bag onto the passengers seat and placed her doggy bag in the footwell. Before she got in herself she turned to her friend, "Hey, why don't you follow me to my place. We can pop in a movie or something, ya know…" She shrugged when she found she couldn't figure out how to end her sentence.

Cameron thought about this for a moment and absently ran a hand over her stomach through her coat. Her nausea had died down since their food had been boxed up. "Uh, sure." She smiled though in her head she was wondering if this was a good idea. Their outings had always been fairly relaxed, so the fact she felt awkward was nagging at her. "I need to stop at my place thought, but I think I know how to get to yours."

Cuddy returned the smile and brushed some hair behind her ear. "Okay, great. I'll see you in a little while then. If you get lost, you have my cell right?" The blonde nodded and the two quickly parted their separate ways.

***

"I'm telling you Wilson, I don't know what to do." Cuddy paced her den, her phone pressed to her ear as she confessed to the oncologist how she was internally freaking out. "This has to work out, I mean, it just has to." She paused a moment while she fidgetted with the cushions on the sofa.

The man on the other line was trying his best to reassure the woman that remaining calm was the best thing right now. Thinking about the future and worrying wouldn't do anyone any good, especially Cameron. Cuddy understood this, but it was not coming easily to her.

"Oh hey, I've got a beep, be right back." The woman pulled the phone from her ear and stood up straight. She pressed the call waiting button and answered. It was Cameron and she immediately stiffened. After a few moments she let out the breath she'd been holding and placed a hand over her forehead as she listened to the younger woman cancel on their 'movie date'.

Eventually she convinced the blonde that it was okay and that she would see her at work the next day. Finally when they'd said their goodbye's she clicked back over to Wilson. "Sorry, it was Cameron. She just cancelled; said she wasn't feeling well. I know I shouldn't be but I'm worried even more now."

Another few minutes passed as Wilson attempted to calm her again. After all, the blonde was pregnant; not feeling well was par for the course. When she was finally convinced, Cuddy thanked him and hung up the phone. "Please let her be okay." She whispered and slumped down on the sofa, burying herself in the pillows and closing her eyes.