Here's day 5 for you all. I enjoyed writing this one and because a couple of people were a bit apprehensive about the angst I had planned for this day, I decided to tone it down a bit and I'm a lot happier with this version.

"No, no, no, no." Cuddy threw her arm over her eyes, refusing to acknowledge the small figure jumping on the bed. She screwed her eyes tight together, drowning out the sounds of the screaming two year old trying to wake her up.

"Alright, alright. We're up." House sighed, scooping her up and putting her on the floor. "Go wake up your brothers."

Cuddy removed her arm in time to see Molly run from the room and House turning towards her reaching out. She moved sharply from him, jumping out of the bed and began pacing round the room.

"No. I can't do this anymore. I was just getting used to things. I thought everything had gone back to normal. I made my decisions. I wasn't going to let this get to me – "

"Lisa –"

Cuddy stopped pacing and held her hand up. "Don't. Just, don't." She told him walking to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She turned on the shower and as she waited for it to heat up, grabbed a towel, placed it to her face and screamed. Long and loud.

Why me?

Whatever higher being had put her here she was going to inflict serious pain upon them and revel in it because right now, that's what it felt like. A husband, kids. It was what she had wanted for so long and here she was having to live this life on and off every other day. Seeing a life that she had just been placed in instead of being there from the beginning. She knew nothing of her 'marriage', hadn't actually been there for the births of these children, she had no idea about vacations, school plays, first words and it hurt. It hurt even more when she was thrown back to 'real' life the very next day everything having been taken from her. She heard a knock on the door and, ignoring it, stepped into the shower, letting the boiling water run over her turning her skin pink and letting the steam envelope her.

I can't let this continue.

After ten minutes, she could hear shuffling coming from outside the shower. Knowing who she was, she ignored him, waiting for him to leave. Instead, he chose that moment to open the door to stare at her.

"What's going on?" He asked his brows furrowed together taking in her exasperated look.

She growled at him, pushing past him to grab a towel. Wrapping it around her body, Cuddy moved from him as he put an arm out to wrap around her wrist and headed back to the bathroom to change. She could hear him shuffling against the carpet as he followed her and she had to bite back another scream.

"I need to go to work."

"Yeah, and so do I but you don't see me acting like that."

"Acting like, what?" She glared at him.

"Look at you. You're pissed off for no reason and now you're tying to avoid – "

"Oh please." She cut him off. "You're the poster boy for avoiding things."

"Meaning?" Now it was House's turn to glare.

"It doesn't matter…" Cuddy sighed. There was no point talking about his feelings now. It was obvious this House had admitted to them. "I've got an early meeting I need to get ready for."

"And what about the kids?" He asked and she could see the anger in his face at what he knew was coming.

"They're not just mine. You can sort them out." She told him, grabbing some clothes and disappearing back into the bathroom to change.

"Yeah, that's right, leave the cripple to manage THREE children!" He shouted at her through the door before she heard the bedroom door slamming as he left.

Cuddy fought back the urge to start crying and instead got ready for work. Why should she feel guilty.

It's not like I asked to be here.

If she had had the choice, she would have chosen to stay ignorant to all this. Why did she want to see something that she knew she would never have? What she needed was normality and the only way she was going to do that was to throw herself into her work in the hope that it would make the day go quicker and she would be back in the real world tomorrow.

She finished doing her hair and headed out of the bathroom, slipping into a pair of heels and making her way down the hallway. There was screaming coming from the kitchen and shouting coming form the shared bathroom. Trying her best to ignore the guilt bubbling away inside of her, she grabbed her briefcase, opened the door and walked straight into Wilson.

"Lisa. Hi." He said carefully. "I got a call from House. What's up?"

"He's in there," She pointed over her shoulder making her way past him and out into the spring sunshine. She flung open the car door, and Wilson caught it in time to stop it from slamming into the family car parked beside it.

"Where are you – "

"Work. I have a meeting." She told him, her face giving nothing away.

He scrutinised her carefully. "And you're not going to…" He trailed off nodding his head at the noisy house behind him.

"I have somewhere to be, James." Cuddy told him sternly as she got into the car. She attempted to close the door behind her but Wilson's hold was too strong for her.

"You can't just go. He needs help. Molly won't eat unless you're the one making the breakfast, and I found that out the hard way, and the boys can't do their own school ties yet and you know House doesn't know how to tie one…"

"I'm sure that's why you're here." She told him, once again attempting to close the door.

"Wilson! Get you're ass in here!" Wilson spun round to look at see House standing in the doorway, while Cuddy looked anywhere but right at him.

"Looks like you're needed." She said, taking advantage of his momentary lapse of concentration and finally pulling the door closed. Ignoring his confused look, she backed out of the drive making the familiar journey to the hospital.

"What the hell was all that about?" The doors to her office had been flung open, House's signature move stolen by Wilson.

"Doctor Wilson, I'm in a meeting." Cuddy drew Wilson's attention to the other person in the room with a thin smile.

"Don't worry, I can wait," he replied heading to the couch in the corner of the room. Cuddy looked him over before turning her attention to the man seated in front of her.

"Mr Sellers, this is Doctor Wilson. It was his proposal I gave you and your wife last week. Doctor Wilson," she turned back to Wilson, "Mr and Mrs Sellers have taken a keen interest in your plans for the children's oncology ward. Perhaps the two of you could discuss it."

Wilson's jaw tightened as Mr Sellers spoke up. "I think that would be best," he said with a grin. "There are a few things we wished to bring up and who better to ask than the head of oncology himself."

"We need to talk." Wilson told her.

"Yes," she ignored Wilson's comment, speaking instead to Sellers, "and maybe Doctor Wilson could give you a tour of the current facilities." Cuddy added with a bright smile. "If you'll excuse me, I have an induction to carry out. The new head of radiology starts today and he's just settling in." She stood from her seat, saying goodbye to the important benefactor and escaping before Wilson had a chance to stop her.

She really didn't want to talk to Wilson right now. She already felt bad enough, her 'perverse sense of guilt' getting the better of her and weighing heavily on her conscience. She made her way to Radiology, taking the stairs in case she bumped into House, thinking over the whole situation. After the events with Adam yesterday she had thought about other possibilities. House wouldn't admit how he felt about her, so why wait for him to. Adam was nice and he liked her. He didn't care about how demanding her job was and she was sure there was something between them. Yesterday she had resigned herself to the fact that a relationship with House was never going to happen and was okay with that. She had seen what was possible and understood that it wouldn't happen but being here after she had made decisions about her future was going to be hard and the best thing she felt she could do was to distance herself from it.

After meeting with Bolt, she headed back to her office, watching out for Wilson, just in time to catch her cell phone ringing.

"Lisa. About time. I need saving." Yvette's voice came through from the other end.

"Mother in-law from hell?"

"Yes. Please. The coffee shop round by the hospital."

"I'll be there in a bit." She smiled, hanging up. This was exactly what she needed. A chat with her best friend to help put things into perspective.

She grabbed her purse and her jacket leaving strict instructions with her assistant that no one, including Wilson and especially House, was told where she would be. If she was needed she had her cell that only he was to contact her on. Luckily her lunch meeting had been called off so she was able to escape the confines of the hospital.

"She said what?"

"That I had never been, and never would be, good enough for her son. Apparently, I keep an untidy home and don't look after my children properly."

"And you said…?" Yvette was not the kind of person to take things lightly.

"I told her that if she didn't like it she could leave and take her son with her."

"Are you and Evan having problems?" Cuddy asked surprised.

"No, but he's been pissing me off since she's been here. Agreeing with her over everything and not standing up for me. You know, he was supposed to take time off this week so I could go back to work but he decided not to. Thought that it would be alright for me to have two weeks off instead."

"I would have given him the time off if he'd asked but he didn't."

"I know. I found the damn holiday form in his pocket last week. He doesn't even want to spend time with her but it's okay for me?"

"Where is she now?"

"At home. I told her I was going to pick up some things from the store." She gave an angry sigh, taking a sip of her coffee and tried to calm down. "Anyway, enough about me. What's going on between you and Greg? You didn't call me."

Cuddy shook her head not wanting to talk about it but Yvette's warning glare told her she was not getting away with this. "I walked out this morning. Left him to deal with the kids and went to work."

"Has this got anything to do with Adam?"

Cuddy nearly choked on her Danish. "Adam?"

"Yes. I told you not to get involved with him. You need to speak to Greg about your problems, not have an affair."

Cuddy could have sworn time had stopped. An affair? This had seemed like the perfect little life, and here she was being told that she had lined up someone to have an affair with.

Yvette raised her eyebrows at her. "You've spoken to him again haven't you? Lisa, don't do this. You came close to getting caught last time…"

Last time?

"It's a good job he's a salesman, otherwise I don't know what you would have told him." Cuddy was stuck for words. "Oh God, Lisa. Please tell me, you haven't slept with him already."

Cuddy shook her head. "No."

"Lisa, speak to Greg. I'm the first person to admit that he's jerk but he loves you. Don't break his heart." Cuddy had to stop herself from throwing her head back and laughing at that. He'd already broken hers and now she was being told not to break his.

"Lisa?" Cuddy shook her head as Yvette snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Hmm?"

"I said, are you picking up Molly today?"

"No, House is. I need to go back to work…" She got to her feet, putting some cash on the table. She grabbed her things and walked off, forgetting all about Yvette.

"I'll give you a lift. I need to pick up the boys anyway."

"No it's fine. I could do with the fresh air." She needed time to think and work out what exactly was happening here.

"If you're sure…" Cuddy nodded, giving her friend a hug. "Do the right thing, Lisa." Yvette whispered in her ear before letting go and heading to her car. Cuddy watched her leave and then headed off back to the hospital.

She had decided to take the scenic route back to work, and in the process, missed an important meeting with the board to discuss Doctor Fischer's laid back work ethic and the amount of vacation time he was taking. When she got back, she discovered the minutes form the meeting, her assistant giving her a viable excuse for not being there that the board seemed willing to accept. After spending fifteen minutes staring at them without taking anything in, she gave up, turning instead to the photos on her desk. She made the decision, pushing her chair back and going to the office doors, striding through the clinic and the lobby.

"Cuddy!"

She continued as Wilson caught up with her. "I'm going Wilson." She told him as he tried to take a step in front of her.

"Oh. I was just going to…" He was obviously at a loss for words and she smiled.

"Yes. I'm going to speak to him."

"Right. So I don't need…"

"No." The pair had reached the elevators and she pressed the 'up' button, waiting for the car to arrive.

"And you're going to…"

"Yes." The doors opened and she stepped inside. "It was good talking to you, James." She said as the doors closed on him, smiling at his flustered expression.

She looked into House's office, seeing him sat in his recliner, his arms wrapped around Molly lying on top of him, both asleep. She opened the door quietly, sitting down carefully on the foot rest beside his feet. She reached forward, moving Molly's hair from her face and watched as she stirred under her touch.

"Mommy!" The little girl removed herself from House's grip, waking him in the process, and threw herself at Cuddy.

"Hey. Sorry I wasn't there this morning." She told her, wrapping her arms round her. She spared a glance at House throwing him an apologetic look. He frowned back at her, getting up and moving to his desk. She held Molly out to look at her. "Nice, House. Please tell me you put her in this after playschool."

Molly was wearing a plain back t-shirt with 'If you think I'm a bitch, you should meet my mom' written in white across it.

"I felt it was appropriate." He told her simply, turning to his computer.

She walked over to take the seat opposite him, taking Molly with her, grabbing a pen and paper from the desk and placing it in front of the little girl on her lap and then turned her attention to House.

"Greg, I don't know how to explain."

"Don't bother."

"I need to explain, want to, but I don't know how." She reached out for his hand like she had the previous day in the car, this time he let her. She watched as he stared down at her hand on top of his and then turned to face her.

"Really, Greg, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me," she offered. She did feel guilty and wished she hadn't reacted like that, but after what happened yesterday, here was the last place she wanted to be. He had told her to get on with her life. 'Go be happy, Lisa."'She was ready to move on and here she was, thrown back into this life, once again having to confront the feelings she had for House. She looked into his eyes. "I need you to know that I love you."

"Are you leaving?" He asked and she could see the fear in his eyes.

"I would never leave you, Greg." She squeezed his hand tightly, trying to stop the tears from flowing. "Never." He nodded, seeming to accept her apology and stood up.

"The boys are finishing early today. I'm going to get them." He walked past her and quickly removed Molly from her lap, putting her back in the chair, and went to catch him before he left. She placed her hand on his arm, causing him to stop and turn to face her, and without thinking, she reached up kissing him deeply, showing him just how much she cared. When they broke apart, neither of them could stop from grinning.

"Does this mean I'm getting laid tonight?" He asked with a smirk.

"I think we can work something out," she gave him a smile as he left the room.

"What are you making?" Cuddy turned round to see House enter the kitchen. She threw him a smile and went back to stirring the food.

"Vegetable stir fry." She told him as his arms snaked round her waist, grabbing a piece of green pepper from the wok.

"I take meat with my vegetables." He told her.

She added the noodles to the pan. "Tough. You were out-numbered. Three – two."

She heard him go back to the dining room, where the children were children were waiting, and spoke to them. Pan in hand, she headed to he dining room and began dishing up the food.

"First oncology and now vegetables. It's a good job you like monster trucks, otherwise I'd send you to live with Wilson." House told Tommy. "And even though you don't like monster trucks," he told Jakob, "because you asked for meat, you can stay too. And you," he pointed a finger at Molly, "are going to stay with your grandparents."

Molly's lip wobbled as she turned to look at Cuddy, her eyes quickly filling with tears.

"Greg," she hissed at him. "You're not going anywhere, you don't like monster trucks and you like vegetables, means you can stay." She bent down kissing the top of Molly's head and laughed as the little girl poked her tongue out at her dad as he stuck his out at her.

"Children," she warned with a grin, putting the wok back into the kitchen and coming out in time to catch House throw a bean sprout at Molly.

"Do I get to be tucked in now?" House asked from the bed as Cuddy entered the room, having just put all three children to bed with ease.

"I guess it is," she told him with a smile, joining him.

And as she kissed him, she decided that she was happy, she just needed to make it happen and she wasn't going to give upon House so easily.