Whoa! What a long wait. I apologize. Most likely this is the last chapter but I'll probably update at the end of season eight.

There will be another time jump.

To not confuse you, this chapter is five years after the last one. (The flashback is only one year after the last chapter.) So Andrew is now 14 and Rachel is 10.

Disclaimer

"House, could you please come here?" Cuddy yelled from her spot in the bed.

"Now what do you want, woman?" House called back from his spot on the couch. He was being intentionally annoying. He didn't mind waiting on her.

Cuddy had successfully avoided getting the chicken pox all her life. She dodged it when both Andrew and Rachel had it.

But when Cuddy adopted her third and more than likely final child, he caught the chicken pox and he passed it to his mother.

Initiated and very much wanted by House, surprisingly, the family of what used to be four adopted Kevin Juan Rodriguez. He was of the black, white and Hispanic races. He was a bright four year old boy.

His biological mother, a young African-American female, was a patient of House's. She was from Oklahoma with an unknown disease who was seeking out House's expertise. She crashed and died of heart failure on her third day of stay.

The aunt, who was babysitting, had no choice but to drop the baby off with the dad when she had to work. His father, mixed with white and Hispanic races, was there the whole time and disappeared shortly after her death, leaving the baby at the hospital. They never found him afterwards.

The nurses found the baby alone in the hospital room and immediately called Cuddy who immediately called social services, who took their sweet time showing up.

[H] [H] [H] [H]

House wandered into his wife's office. He caught sight of the baby boy sleeping in his car seat.

"Whose child is this?"

They had been dancing around the subject of adoption for about a year and every time House had successfully avoided it. At least Cuddy thought he was trying to avoid it. He was actually listening to her and carefully considering it.

"He was abandoned in the room of your patient." She answered him, finally looking up from her work only to find her husband staring at the kid. She recognized that look. It was the same look he uses when he looks at their ten year old son and six year old daughter. His gaze read pure fatherly love.

"Selfish bastard." House said, referring to the baby boy's father. "What's going to happen to him?"

Cuddy carefully thought about her next words as she stood up from her desk. She walked around it and sat on the desk. House turned to face her. "What's going to happen to him?" He repeated.

She couldn't find her next words. Instead she softly smiled at him; a smile in which he returned.

[H] [H] [H] [H]

"Is there some type of unwritten rule I don't know about stating that I must take of you when you're sick?" House asked when he entered their bedroom.

"That vow – something about 'in sickness and health.'" She said.

"Oh yeah, that's where I heard it from." He said, sitting on the end of the bed. "You look like crap." He said, studying her profile. Her face was red and swollen. She was sweaty and her hair was going in every which direction. And to top it off, she was covered in rash cream.

"Thanks." She said, her voice muffled by the tissue she was using to wipe her noise. "You need to wake Kevin and give him a bath in that Aveeno oatmeal you just bought. Then you need to pick up Rachel and Andy and take them to my sister's. I know that they already had the Chickenpox but they could catch it again…"

"Chances are small…" House said, but he doubted that she heard him over her rant.

"…I completely forgot you had PT and massage therapy today…"

"I could cancel it…" He said again, but she still probably didn't hear it.

"…I would hate for you to have to cancel it."

"Lisa, I said I'll cancel it. Don't worry; I'll handle the kids today as long as you think you're well enough to handle Kevin for a half an hour." House said calmly trying to help her relax.

"Mommy…" House and Cuddy heard Kevin groan as he entered their room. He sat on the bed next to his dad and completely leaned on him. House rubbed his son's back in soothing circles. Cuddy looked depressingly at her sick son.

"Talk about unplanned parenthood." House said causing Cuddy to look at him questionably.

"All three of our children have had chickenpox. Plus were doctors; we can deal with it."

"I was joking." House said rolling his eyes. "Chickenpox screws with your sense of humor."

"Yeah, what screwed with yours?" Cuddy asked smiling at him. He sarcastically smiled back and then looked down at Kevin.

"Are you hungry?" Kevin shook his head.

"Just itchy." Kevin answered. He scratched almost as if to prove a point.

"Don't scratch, baby." Cuddy said to him.

"But it itches, mama." Kevin whined still scratching.

"I know. Daddy's going to give you a bath that will help stop the itching." House stood and stretched out his hand for Kevin to take.

"Get some sleep." House said to Cuddy. "I'll wake you in a couple hours before I leave." Kevin took his hand and House led them back to Kevin's room to get him ready for his bath.

House sat on the toilet seat as he watched his son play with his action figures in the tub. "I have to cut your nails, Kev." He said as he grabbed the nail clippers off the sink.

"Why, Daddy?" He asked out of pure four year old curiosity as he held out his hand for his dad.

"See the blisters on your arms and all over your body?" House began to explain calmly. Kevin looked intriguingly at his arms. "When you scratch them, it gets under your nails and where ever you touch, it'll transfer there. So if you scratch your arms and then touch the couch, well now you got germs on the couch."

"Germs? Like the cooties?" Kevin asked as he gave House his other hand.

"Yes, Kevin you have the cooties."

Kevin broke into giggles. "I don't have the cooties, Daddy! Girls have the cooties!"

"Speaking of girls, any girls at school whose pig tails you're pulling?" House asked finishing up with Kevin's nails. Kevin scrunched up his face and shook his head.

"Daddy, I don't touch girls! They got cooties!" He tried to convince his dad.

"Okay, okay." House put up his hands defensively. "How is school going? Are you having fun?" Kevin dejectedly put his head down and shrugged. "What's wrong?"

Kevin had only been in school for a couple of weeks. It was his first year in an actual school; a private school's four year old program. He had been in the hospital daycare.

"The other kids pick on me because… because…" Kevin began almost on the verge of tears, but just like his parents, he pulled himself together and showed no signs of breaking. "They said that my real parents didn't love me and that's why I have a mommy and daddy that aren't really mine."

"Preschool is worse than office politics." House muttered mostly to himself, but judging by the confused expression on Kevin's face, he was trying to figure out what his dad meant.

"Do you call me Daddy?"

"Yes."

"Do you call your mom 'Mommy'?" House thought about the awkward wording of his last question, but Kevin answered nonetheless.

"Yes." He replied. House helped him out of the tub. He wrapped a towel around Kevin's small body.

"Are we real or are we not?" House asked as they made their way back to Kevin's room.

"Yeah, but Carlos said…"

"Carlos is an idiot. Did you tell Carlos he was an idiot?"

"Yeah and I had to sit out for recess because I called him an idiot."

"Who did you call an idiot?"

"No one." House answered before Kevin could. House shot Cuddy, who was standing arm crossed in the doorway, a look saying 'I'll tell you later.'

The front door to the house slammed open and then slammed shut just as quickly. "Dad!" House, Cuddy and Kevin heard Andrew yell out. "I waited for you forever." Andrew said angrily to House as soon as he found him.

Andrew used to be the sweet little boy version of Cuddy, but since had hit puberty and turned into the angst-filled teenage version of House.

"Why are you not in school?" Cuddy asked her son. "You just got out of suspension."

"We were released early. Not that you'd care." He answered and began to walk off toward his room. House and Cuddy sighed. Both have obviously forgotten.

"Well where's Rachel?" Andrew, Rachel and Kevin went to the same private school. Rachel and Kevin went to the Elementary/Junior High School and the Senior High School where Andrew went was on the other side of the street.

"She's in school probably waiting for you." He said as he closed the door to his room.

"That kid is starting to tick me off." House said grabbing his car keys.

"He's just going through a phase in puberty." Cuddy defended. "It'll be over before you know it."

"Yeah, well… I'm going to go get Rachel." House said and turned to leave. That's when Cuddy noticed.

"House, you caught it…" Cuddy voiced trailed off. House stopped and faced his wife.

"Caught what?" Cuddy grabbed his arm and gently twisted it to show the backside. "Oh. It seems we have a pox on our House. Ha, get it?" He chuckled at his corny joke and then sarcastically sighed at Cuddy's worried expression. "It's nothing, doctor. I've had the Varicella virus in my childhood years. But I'm at high risk seeing that I'm taking care of two sick beings with said virus. And, yes, I most likely will break out into a few blisters here and there and maybe even develop a fever. But it's highly unlikely that I'll get the full virus seeing how my immune system knows how to fight it already." House said to Cuddy. "But you knew that already. I'll be back." And with that, he left.

House and Rachel came back around forty-five minutes later carrying McDonald's bags.

"Lucy… You know what? That's become clichéd. I'm not even going to say it." House said as he and Rachel took a short walk down the hall and into the kitchen. Cuddy was sitting at the table on her laptop. "Kevin! Andy!" House yelled to his sons. Cuddy shot him a death glare as his voice boomed through her ears.

"I got lunch. The huge sacrifices I make for my family."

"Small sacrifices. Miniscule considering its McDonald's." Cuddy said demonstrating her disapproval by picking up a McDonald's bag and tossing it uncaringly back on the table. "You know I hate feeding my babies this poor excuse for food."

"Relax, Mom." Andrew said entering the kitchen and sitting at the table. "God, it's nothing but a slaughtered cow." Rachel gasped and screamed all the way to her bedroom.

"Andrew!" Cuddy followed Rachel to her room.

Andrew rolled his eyes and scoffed. "They both make every small problem larger than life."

"Get out." House all but growled.

"The house?" Andrew asked not at all fazed at his dad's tone of voice.

"Go to your room and don't come out until I say so." Andrew harshly pushed away from the table and left taking his food with him.

"We've tried the carrot or stick approach. What do I have to do next? Beat him with the stick?" House stood in the kitchen talking to his self. "What the hell is wrong with that kid?"

"Daddy, that's a bad word."

House slightly jumped at the unexpected sound of Kevin's small voice. He was sitting at the kitchen table eating his nuggets from his happy meal. "Yes it is, Kevin."

"And Mommy says that Mommies and Daddies and Grandmas and brothers and sisters shouldn't say those words."

"I guess that would be the family practice."

Cuddy rounded the corner and into the kitchen after coming from Rachel's room. "She's clutching to that god damned stuffed cow…" She stopped when she saw Kevin staring at her.

"Daddy, this family needs more practice." Kevin said as he took his happy meal box and made his way back to his room.

"'Kevin is so impressionable at this age.' You must remember this since, you know, you said it to me."

"It slipped…"

"You look so hot right now." House interrupted.

"I look like crap. I'm sick…"

"It really doesn't matter." House interrupted again, this time moving into her personal space. "I think you look hot. You never get two stories from me. I think you look hot and all the time. Period." He kissed her lips and she let him, but she didn't let him go as far as he would've liked.

"How can you think about sex right now? Our son is… well… acting like you."

"That, as a father, has always been my dream to hear. It's more of an insult to both me and Andrew right now."

"Our middle child," Cuddy continued, "thinks her older brother has killed every cow in the world. And she's very pissed at him."

"I bet."

"And my baby is covered in blisters from a highly contagious virus."

"In which he so kindly shared it with you." He ended before answering her initial question. "Sex is recession proof."

"Okay." Cuddy drew out the word cautiously letting him know to further elaborate.

"Through rain, hail, sleet or snow, we can always…"

"I get the idea." Cuddy interrupted. She took a short pause before speaking. "What are we going to do about Andrew?"

"Oh, nothing; it's just a phase in his prepubescent years." House mocked.

"I said puberty. He keeps dropping random bombshells on us. Sort of like –"

"Me. Yeah, I get it."

"It's not a bad thing… all the time."

House opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the youngest House in the family. "Mommy, where's my blanket?"

"In the basement; I threw it down the chute." Kevin considered this and ran towards the stairs that led to the basement. "Wait, where are you going?"

"To get it out of the chute." He answered his mom.

"Kevin, it needs to be washed. I promise you'll have it in a couple hours, okay."

"But Mommy, I'm tired and I can't go to sleep without my blankie!" Kevin pouted, his behavior indicating to Cuddy that he was truly tired.

"Stop with the tantrum, Kevin." Cuddy said walking over to her son. She took his hand and led him back to his room.

House stood to go talk to his daughter just to see how upset she still was. On his way, He found Andrew walking down the hall.

"Drew," It was another name House and Kevin called Andrew. "I thought I told you not to come out of your room?"

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Geez, Dad, I was just using the bathroom."

"What's wrong with the one in your room?"

"I share it with my four year old brother. And I remember distinctly my mother telling me not to use it until Kevin is over the pox, so…"

"Oh, so now you listen to us." House said walking closer to Andrew. House's comment caused Andrew to roll his eyes again.

"Dad, I listen to you guys all the time."

"So your behavior lately?"

"All I did was told Rachel the truth about cows. I didn't know she was going to spaz out. That's hardly a fall from grace."

"It's not like today is the first time." House leaned on the wall of the hallway to take pressure off of his leg. Andrew shrugged honestly with no answer to give his dad. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Andrew shrugged again. House studied Andrew's profile. His face expression was peaceful and his shoulders slouched over. He was relaxed and completely open. House knew whatever his son said would be honest.

"It's just school, I guess." Andrew answered. "High School is a huge difference from middle school. I had to find that out the hard way."

"Just wait until you get into college." House stated bluntly.

"Thank you for your comforting words." Andrew sighed and entered his bedroom.

"You're in high school now. It only gets harder from here." House followed him inside the room and took a seat on Andrew's bed. Andrew roughly sat on the chair to his computer desk causing it to roll across his carpet. "Your relationship with me and your mother doesn't have to change."

"Really? We haven't been to a Rally since I've started school."

"Didn't know you were still interested." House smoothly replied, genuinely taken aback.

"Come on, Dad! Any chance to see The Dig, I'll take!" Andrew gave House an authentic smile.

"The Grave Digger? He's good but isn't as good as Jurassic Attack." House smiled back, happy to see his son smiling again.

"Jurassic Attack sucks."

"He does." House agreed. He suddenly changed the subject back on topic. "You've got to learn to deal with your stress."

"This coming from… you?" Andrew smirked.

"Touché." House smirked back. "High school is hard but not all changes are bad."

"This coming from… you?"

"Alright, so I'm not the right person to be giving advice." House used his cane to help him stand up off of Andrew's bed. "Just be yourself." He said grabbing the doorknob to the door. "And apologize to your sister and then we might catch a Rally." And with that, he left.

Cuddy saw House leaving Andrew's bedroom as she left Kevin's. "I finally got him asleep after reading every single book in there."

House walked up to Cuddy, put his hands on her hips and leaned in to kiss her. "We were interrupted earlier. The temptation is too great."

"We are standing right in the middle of all three of our kids rooms. So when I cut your balls off, it'll be your last temptation." She said as she placed a hand on his chest, trying to create a small distance.

"So why don't we take it to our bedroom?"

"House for the last time, I'm sick!" Cuddy said, extracting herself from his clutches.

"And for… most definitely not the last time… I don't care!"

"What did Andy say to you?" House frowned, thrown off by her question. "You just came out of there, what did he say?"

"Something about not adapting to changes… I'm just really horny right now." Cuddy looked at Rachel's bedroom door to make sure she wasn't standing there. She grabbed House by the hand to lead him away from that side of the house and to their bedroom.

"Are you on drugs?" She asked incredulously. He put his hand to his heart as if he was offended by her question.

"That's a sensitive topic for me." She almost felt bad until he spoke again. "I do have an addiction and sex is the fix. I want to do what we love to do after hours: the horizontal horror."

"Anyways…" Cuddy unsuccessfully tried to change subjects. Instead House kissed her avidly and her knees almost failed her. They finally came apart and Cuddy turned abruptly towards the door. She stopped at the door and locked it, smirking at House when she turned to face him.

He smirked back.

"Moving on from a sex god like me is impossible." He said as they fell on the bed.

"Yeah, okay, House."

Chapter's longer than usual. I've fascinated myself with these characters. I might make them into a story. =) Please Review!