Ch 8- Settling Old Feuds
"Why don't you come over tonight and hang out with me and Rachel for a while," Cuddy suggested to House before leaving for home. "I'll make dinner and we can put her to bed early." She winked suggestively and House felt his lower extremities tingle…one in particular twitched in anticipation.
"Sounds like a plan," he told her after a long kiss. "But could we leave out the Rachel part?"
Cuddy swatted at him. "No. I'd like you to spend some time with my daughter."
"I know, I know," he said quickly. "Just kidding." Cuddy smiled and kissed him again before disappearing from his office. They had been together nearly three months and she had just started feeling the need to include him in her familial endeavors. House didn't mind spending his time with Cuddy, but he was a little uncomfortable with the baby. Rachel was almost a year old and ordinarily he would have been ok with being around a non-talkative being, but he didn't exactly know how to react to Cuddy's non-talkative being. With a sigh he headed down the hall to invade Wilson's office and demand advice that he would most likely ignore.
"You seeing Cuddy tonight?" Wilson asked, straightening the stack of file folders on his desk. He was finished with his work for the day as well.
"Yes…and the cretin," House told him, settling himself onto the couch in a lounging position.
"Well I suppose we all have to endure hell sometimes," Wilson replied sarcastically. "What's with you? Usually you prefer people who don't blow hot air all the time."
"She does blow hot air, just not from the end that she eats with," House muttered.
Wilson rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."
"I don't know. That's the problem. I mean, I don't exactly make a habit of burping the little bundles of joy, but this one makes me uncomfortable," he confessed.
"Really?" Wilson raised his eyebrows. "Interesting."
"What is it? You've got that look…"
"You actually like her."
"I don't hate her…but I don't really think we go together like peas and carrots."
"Not Rachel, Cuddy."
"Well yes, that is an unfortunate side effect of long term sex festivals…" House began.
"You want to be with her, possibly forever."
"That would be the general idea, isn't it? Well I mean, at least 'til she gets so old those gorgeous breasts start to sag and…"
Wilson cut him off again. "No. You're uncomfortable with Rachel because you're nervous about making a move toward stability with Cuddy. Which means you want to make a serious move. You're in love with her."
"Don't talk like that," House replied. "You'll start some nasty rumors…like the one that someone wrote on the bathroom wall about you and those six strippers from 'Pussycats.'"
"This is real love. Wow…I'm happy for you."
"Please don't get all mushy," House asked. "I don't want to have to vomit on you before leaving to sit in my office and ponder out the weird mystery that is Cuddy's baby."
"There is no mystery," Wilson said with a grin. "You want to spend time with them…so do it."
"You know what," House said as though suddenly inspired. He swung his legs over the side of the couch. "I think I'll do that now." He walked out of Wilson's office to sulk in his own. Wilson grinned hugely. House was really in love!
Three hours after his chat with Wilson, House was holding a smelly baby as far away from his person as possible. Cuddy had asked him to change the child while she checked on the status of their dinner, but the offensive smell coming from Rachel's diaper was nearly gagging him. He was definitely not pleased. He did, however, want sexy time with Cuddy, so he laid the tiny creature out on the table and cautiously opened the sides of her diaper.
"WOAH!" he exclaimed as the full strength of her smell hit his nostrils. "I don't know if she's worth this kind of work," he muttered holding the soiled nappie between two fingers and depositing it into the special trash bin Cuddy had in the room specifically for smelly diapers and other baby products. House disgustedly took a handful of wipes and cleaned Rachel's bottom quickly, powdered her and put on a new diaper before plucking her off the table and settling her into her crib. She fell asleep as he watched her wriggle into a comfortable position, not minding her presence quite as much when she was fresh and clean.
"You ready to eat?" Cuddy asked, wrapping her arms around him from behind. He hadn't even heard her approaching and jumped a bit. She giggled. "The food's ready."
"Great," he said, keen to get away from the adorable faces Rachel was pulling and the sappy ones that Cuddy made in response. They ate the chicken parmesan quietly; most of the noise coming from the classical music Cuddy had turned on in the background.
"So, how was the rest of your day?" she asked him after taking a sip of red wine.
"Great," he said shortly. "I got the results back. The patient is responding to steroids. Probably back to his old self in a few weeks. Foreman's happy."
"That's good." She cleared her throat. "I wanted to ask you to come to my sister's place with me for Christmas dinner," she told him after a moment and another bracing swig of the wine. "Unless you had other plans…"
House nodded. "Ok. Should I bring a covered dish?"
"No. Just show up here at six next Thursday and we'll go." House's nerves didn't calm down until Cuddy had cleared the plates away and asked if he wanted to dance. He had snorted at first, but she had stood him up and placed his hands on her waist. He had reluctantly started moving a bit on the spot against the back of her couch and that connection had led him to kiss her. They had moved to the bedroom shortly after that and enjoyed a bout of slow sensual sex that House had enjoyed, but also found strangely tame. He decided to chat with Wilson about the experience the next day and hoped to hell not to get an overly sappy answer.
Wilson was, however, not someone he expected to change. "I think I need to freak her out or something," House had told his friend. "We're just getting…boring."
"It's only been three months," Wilson said. "And you're bored?"
"Don't act like you're surprised," House countered. "It's not like I'm easily entertained."
"I don't think you're bored," Wilson told him. "I think you're getting too emotionally close for your own comfort."
"Right and because of that I need to push her away?" House laughed. "Maybe I'm just bored."
"You're never 'just bored,'" Wilson told him. "You're never 'just' anything."
"I am magnificent…" House faux-preened.
Wilson rolled his eyes. "You're probably going to go against what I suggest, but I'll say it anyway: enjoy life with Cuddy…You don't have to have a rollercoaster of emotions going all at once to be happy. Do yourself a favor and try to avoid causing misery."
"Because I like being miserable," House retorted.
"I think you do…you might actually be a masochist…or at least a sadomasochist. Emotionally, anyway."
House sighed. "Why do I talk to you again?" He retreated to his office, determined to shake things up with Cuddy.
