Author's Note #1- This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful beta Ceciilee, you rock!!!. Congrats on doing great in your exams!
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"Lise,
what do think about packing up the whole family for a
vacation?"
Cuddy looks
at her husband as if he'd grown a second head and replies
"with two toddlers and a 3-month old baby?"
"Why not? Jake
will be graduating from med school next year. This might be our last
chance to go on vacation together."
Cuddy nods and answers
"you're right. I still can't believe that Jake will soon be a
doctor. So, what's do you have in mind?"
"What do you think
about RVing across the country?"
"Seriously?"
"Why not?
We can have the comfort of home with a kitchen, bathroom, and bed.
And if we get tired, we'll check-in to any hotel along the
way."
"Do you think the twins can endure the long
drive?"
House smirks and replies "there's only one way to
find out."
"Jake has always wanted to go the Grand Canyon and
Yosemite, but I never had a chance to take him."
House leans
over and whispers in Lisa's ears "now we can go as a
family."
Lisa nods her head and gazes
into her husband's blue eyes as
House gently touch his damaged right thigh and says "I didn't
think I'll ever have the opportunity to do this with the kids and I
want to make the most of it."
Cuddy kisses his lips and replies
"you will. The boys adore you and they'll always cherish the time
they spent with you—whether it'll be in the backyard or at the
Grand Canyons."
"So,
you think two weeks will be enough? We can drive west and then fly
home."
"Two-weeks on the road? I've never driven
cross-country before. Actually, one of my fondest memories is
when I was younger was when Dad crammed Mom, Rachel, me and all my
luggage
in
his beat-up station wagon to drop me off to Michigan my freshman
year. "
House smile at the fact that Rachel had mentioned the
same exact story to him. He asks "what made it memorable?"
"I
think it's because it was the last time we were together as a
family. Dad died a few months after and my drives from Boston to Ann
Arbor were never the same after that."
"And it was around this
time that you and Rachel also stopped talking to each other?"
"Come
to think of it, yes. Sophomore year, I drove to Ann Arbor by myself
since Mom had to accompany her to her freshman orientation at BU
(Boston University)."
"So,
Rachel attended a local college?"
Cuddy nods and adds "Rachel
had her heart set on going to NYU (New
York University) but after Dad
died, Mom could only afford for her to attend an in-state
university."
"How did your Dad died?"
"He died of a
heart attack."
"Did he die at home?"
"Yes, thank god
Rachel was home from school. Since Mom was away on business that
day."
"Did Rachel found him dead?"
"He had collapsed on
the floor and she called 911. Why the interest on how my Dad
died?"
"Oh I don't know maybe it has something to do with my
four spawns sharing half your genes and knowing your family health
history might save their lives someday."
Cuddy smiles, walks
over to the closet and pulls out a big old photo album. She gently
opens it and shows House pictures of her family. There was a picture
of Jacob Cuddy standing over his wife Emma carrying a baby. A
picture of a beautiful baby girl whose
curly top reminds House of his own daughter. House exclaims "god
Lisa! Lizzy looks exactly like you when you were a baby."
Cuddy
nods in agreement and replies "I know."
They see more pictures
of little Lisa in various dresses and poses with her parents.
Afterwards, there were slew of pictures of Lisa and Rachel with
various relatives. House quietly looks
through the album and asks "is Rachel your biological sister?"
A
shocked Lisa looks at her husband and replies "of course. Why
would you even ask that question?"
"What's the age
difference between you two?"
"She was a bit of an 'oops
baby' so we were less than a year apart."
"Do you remember
your mom being pregnant with her?"
"Yes, I mean no. I was too
young but I do remember Mom being pregnant. What are you getting at
Greg?"
"There were tons of pictures of you and your parents
when you were a baby and none of them show your mom pregnant. The
only sign that your Mom was pregnant was when both of you were
toddlers. I assume Emma suffered a miscarriage during that
pregnancy. And Rachel doesn't look like your parents.
Your dad has a typical Irish auburn hair and you got your Mom's
dark Mediterranean hair. Where did Rachel's blonde hair come
from?"
"You think Rachel is adopted?"
"Yes, and she
found out about it and confronted your dad. Your Dad suffered a
heart attack and Rachel not only blames herself for his death but
feels
she doesn't deserve to be part of the family."
Cuddy's face
turns red as she realizes that everything House has said
makes sense but a part of her just
doesn't want to accept it. She cries "stop it! Stop it!" as
she pounds on House's chest and begins
to sobs uncontrollably.
House
puts his arms around her and tries to comfort her by whispering "it's
alright, everything will be alright."
"Why would they hide
this from me?"
"Does it matter? Is Rachel less of a sister if
she's adopted?"
"No! I love her. She's my only
sister."
House holds
Cuddy tightly until she stops crying. As they lay quietly in bed, a
thousand thoughts go through Cuddy's head as she tries to make
sense of everything.
"Greg?"
"Hmmm…"
"You got
all of these by looking at my photo album?"
"Yes. Well, maybe
I had a little help from talking to your sister."
"What? When?
How? Oh my god! You visited Rachel in New York?"
"Yeah."
Cuddy
immediately sits
straight and exasperatedly asks "why did you do that?"
"Well,
I wanted to buy you an anniversary gift that you'll love
and…"
Cuddy interrupts House "and you think turning my
family upside down will be something I will love?"
"Wooah…first
of all, telling you the truth about your sister is not my anniversary
gift. I came across it as a result of purchasing your gift. Second,
you were the one who was perplexed as to why your sister doesn't
speak to you. I did you a big favor by solving the puzzle and
informing you of
the truth. Third, what's the big deal? Every family has secrets.
It could be worst; Rachel could be like me, a product of one
of your parent's indiscretion. Actually, that might still be true.
Fourth… I had a fourth one but it slipped my mind but you can be
rest assured that it was just
as brilliant as the others."
Cuddy is left speechless with how
insensitive her husband can be sometime but after House gives her his
signature smirk; she's reminded on how sexy he can be too. She
thought to herself, "there must be something wrong with me, he just
said something crass and all I want to do is jump him." To hide
what she's really thinking, Cuddy says "you are such a
jerk!"
"And yet you still love me. What does that say about
you?"
House leans over, kisses her and she returns his kisses
passionately.
As he lifts Cuddy's shirt, she hears a sobbing
noise on the baby monitor.
Cuddy shushes House and says "did you
hear that?"
House replies "no, you can't tease me like that
and not ..." before he can finish his sentence, one of the boy's
voices comes clearly over the baby monitor crying "Mommy, my tummy
hurts."
Cuddy kisses her husband and says "let me check up on
Charlie before he wakes the others."
TBC
Author's Note #2: Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button at the bottom of this page. I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate, or even reading this story ;-)
