Chapter 10

A/N: Happy Australia day, one and all! Sure, most of you probably aren't Australian… but you should be! lol, jk. On this obscenely hot 40 degree day (translating to 104 Fahrenheit), I have decided to be kind, in the celebratory mood of the day, and post a new chapter! It's long, and you'll love it.

Just as a random note, guess what I did the other day… had a House marathon! That's right, I dragged my mates over to my house, and we watched the entire first season. I find it necessary to say that in the first four or so episodes, House and Cuddy have the BEST banter of the entire season. A lot of flirting… I like, I like. But yes, I made a few converts out of that!

Reviews are always such a wonderful thing, so thankyou very much GallopGirl, BookwormKiwi, prinnie, StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy, QT Roo (I have a feeling there was a problem with the review you posted, because all it was was ':) I'. So that was a bit strange), Smiling4eva, cazness (my newly converted House fan) and Princess-Leasel. You guys are spectacular! lol

Anyway, in case I haven't made this 100 percent clear, in my story Wilson is Cuddy's half-brother. More shall be explained on this particular history later.

On with the story! It's a SUPER big almost triple chapter, so be excited. hehe

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Lisa sat at her desk, forehead resting in hand as the sun began to set behind her early Wednesday evening. Anna had insisted on taking her own car to the hospital, and her and Emily had consequentially left for home a good hour before Cuddy had even so much as glanced and the stack of paperwork that had accumulated on her desk. She was finally nearing the bottom of the pile, and the closer she got to the hard wood surface, the closer she was to being late for her date.

She wasn't really that keen on it in the first place, but the girls coming home had given her a chance to look at what she'd done over the past few months, and the blank her mind had drawn wasn't a good sign. Emily was right about one thing – Cuddy hadn't been on a date in months. But it wasn't her fault (of course). She had been so busy with the hospital – sign pay checks, follow up on a complaint against Dr House, meet with new benefactors, follow up on a complaint against Dr House, organise fundraisers, follow up on a complaint against Dr House. It was a rhythm that never allowed any time for personal matters, and she had been content with that for a fair amount of time.

It always seemed easier for Lisa to ignore the romantic section of her life that constantly remained unfulfilled. She had never had time to maintain a serious relationship, or a no-strings-attached one for that matter – she always managed to get herself in too deep somehow. She always found a new way to read too much into something, until she had over analysed to the point that it was totally necessary for her to end a relationship. She found herself overwhelmingly sensible and cautious, and this new lack of daring had kept her far away from any sort of physical relationship.

Of course, she hadn't always been that way. There was a time when she wouldn't think twice before jumping head first into a purely sexual relationship. Back then, however, it had been only about her, and her needs, and a permanent emotional relationship was of no use or necessity to her. It wasn't long though until she had been thrown roughly into a life of responsibility, and suddenly something as frivolous and self-indulging as a physical relationship seemed stupid, and a far-off crazy idea that never held any weight. Her new found responsibility had effectively killed her wild carelessness and instead filled her with sensibility and a fear of loss of control. She didn't always like the new person she had become, but the thought of reverting to her old self seemed so absurd and detrimental that she clung onto the new elements of her life that she could control (and that wasn't easy).

Nothing had ever been easy. In the beginning, she had been so far from well-off that she had to constantly depend on her sister's help, and co-dependence was not something that the young, bold and independent Lisa Cuddy ever wanted to experience. She never wanted to get married or have children, that was her sister's life, and Lisa was content to just love her career; after all, that was what she was good at. Family had done her no good in the past, and she didn't see why it would in the future. But the minute that stick turned pink, she knew that things would never be the same again.

"You're the one with the fantastic career ahead of you, let me be the one with the family!"

She had always been focused on school work, and study. Her parents had expected her to be the rebellious, wild, uncontrollable child, but she had rebelled from that image in her own unique way – by being ambitious. Her sister, in her father's eyes, was the perfect daughter – her goal in life to get married, have children, and spend the rest of her life in the home, caring for her family. Lisa wanted to have a career and be successful – a thought that her father had been repulsed by. She never wanted to be the "trouble child" (as her father had once named her), she had wanted to be a better doctor than he had ever been able to achieve. But the stick was pink.

"How could you ruin your sister's life like that? You've stolen what was rightfully hers! I always knew that playing doctors wasn't enough for you, you had to cause trouble and take what wasn't yours!"

It took a long time for her to break away from the hardship her life had become. But somehow, she had pulled through and proved herself. Things still weren't right (things were never right), but she was doing the best she could. She had two daughters that loved her (well, one), and she had a job that would make her father's head explode (had she ever told him). There were still a million things that needed fixing, that she wasn't happy with, that prevented her from sleeping well at night, but she was getting somewhere.

She was broken out of her thoughts as her hand reached for a document and instead found the smoothness of the desk. She let out a deep, exhausted sigh and crossed her arms on the desk, resting her forehead tiredly on her forearms. She didn't want to go on this date tonight - there was too much swimming through her head – but Max was sweet, and she did want to meet him, and see what would happen. It had been too long since she'd had a relationship.

She pulled herself out of her chair, exposed thighs peeling off the leather, and gently tidied her desk before reaching for her purse and coat and heading out the door, determined to rid herself of these detrimental thoughts and put on a good face for Max. She deserved tonight.

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The car ride home had proved a good remedy for Cuddy's bad mood. She listened to her favourite radio show, which provided her with some good laughs and cheered her up a fair bit. She decided to embrace this evening, and look forward to the new venture it offered.

She opened the front door to have Emily come at her from the living room.

"Finally!" she sighed, quickly grabbing her mother's arm and pulling her down the hallway,

"Wha…" Cuddy protested, surprised by Emily's sudden appearance. "Where are we going?"

"I should have known you'd come home late," Emily tsked, pulling Cuddy into the master bedroom.

"What is going on?" Cuddy asked, trying to catch her breath from the tug down the hall, and dropping her handbag on the desk.

"Your date is in 45 minutes!" Emily cried, frustrated with Cuddy's lack of understanding. Upon receiving a blank look from her mother, she let out a loud groan.

"This is leaving us very limited time to get you ready," Emily continued, rushing to the wardrobe.

"Luckily," she continued, "I came in here earlier and cased out some of your better outfits."

"You're dressing me?" Cuddy asked, eyebrow raised and hand solidly resting on her hip.

"As if you could dress yourself for this," Emily said, like it was completely obvious, "you'd either end up going in one of your work outfits, something too casual, or something too dressy. You need my meticulous taste to help."

"Well someone certainly thinks highly of herself," Cuddy quipped.

"You're talking to a former prom queen here," Emily replied, holding out her arms to showcase herself. Cuddy sniggered.

"I knew there was something I forgot to tease you about," she smirked.

"The fact of the matter is, we are rapidly running out of time to make you look hot for your date," Emily replied, laying three outfits out on the bed. Cuddy let out a defeated sigh, and looked at what Emily had picked out.

"Ok, so we have… classic, sexy little black dress – very Audrey Hepburn," Emily said, picking up the dress and holding it against herself. Cuddy tried not to look too exasperated, and took in the suggestion.

"This little blue dress, which I love," she continued, picking up the second dress, a knee-length 1920s style pale blue number, holding it up in front of her.

"Or this one, which is my favourite. It's fun, it's sexy, it has everything," she finished, holding the dress up affectionately, a knee length halter dress with a low back, printed in orange, green, brown and white, the design, a sort of unusual forest creation , seemingly inspired by the dope fogged atmosphere of the early 70s. Emily lay the dress out on the bed, and Cuddy thoughtfully studied all three.

"Well, not the blue one," she replied, taking off her work shoes and sitting on the bed.

"Okay, that's a start," Emily said, satisfied that her mother was making some progress, and putting the blue dress back in the wardrobe, "but may I gently remind you that there is now less than 40 minutes until you have to be at the restaurant."

"Yes I know, I know," Cuddy dismissed, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. Unfortunately, her concentration was broken as Anna walked into the room, heavy textbook in hand.

"What is going on here?" she asked hesitantly, not quite sure she wanted to know.

"We are getting ready for mom's date," Emily smiled, "if she would hurry up and pick an outfit."

"I'm on it, Emily," Cuddy replied with aggravation. Anna padded over to the bed and hopped on, pulling herself up to the pillows, and setting her textbook upon her bent legs. Emily looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"Perhaps you could lend some insight, Anna," she said, staring expectantly at her sister. Anna scoffed.

"You expect me to have any idea about this sort of thing? That's generally your field of expertise, isn't it?" she replied, opening the textbook and starting to read.

"Well, we aren't making any progress," Emily sighed dramatically. Cuddy looked up, decision made.

"Let's go with the patterned one," she said, just wanting to get this over with.

"Yes, thankyou," Emily replied with relief, "now quickly, go shower in the putridly purple bathroom, and I'll find shoes, jewellery and a purse, and everything."

"The bathroom is not putrid," Cuddy reasoned, with a roll of her eyes.

"It's putrid," Anna confirmed, not looking up from her textbook.

"I've told you, I'm going to do it over as soon as I get the time," she replied, slipping off her work jacket and placing it on her chair.

"You've been saying that for five years," Anna commented.

"Come on, shower, shower," Emily rushed.

"Turn around," Cuddy replied, gesturing with her hand.

"What?" Emily said, confused.

"I don't want to leave my clothes in the bathroom with all the steam," Cuddy reasoned. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, it's nothing I haven't seen before."

"I'm not undressing in front of you. Now turn around," she ordered, and Emily turned her back to her mother, arms crossed, and Anna turned on the bed, still engrossed in her textbook. Cuddy quickly undressed and slid into the bathroom, while the girls faced the wall as told.

"Ok, I'm good," Cuddy called from the bathroom, the door ajar and the fan now on. Emily turned around and returned to the wardrobe.

"Do you want flats, short heels or tall heels?" she called loudly as she heard the shower start running.

"Short heels," Cuddy called back from the shower, "I get enough of tall heels at work."

Emily pulled a simple pair of black heels out of the wardrobe, and placed them on the floor beside the bed, then picked up the black dress, hanging it back up in the wardrobe. Then suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and she gasped.

"You're not washing your hair are you!" she called.

"Emily, I'm not stupid," Cuddy replied, "I have a shower cap." Emily chuckled at the visual. She went back to the bed and picked up the dress, inspecting it carefully.

"The back on this is pretty low," she called out.

"Yeah," Cuddy called back, "I'm probably gonna have to go braless."

Emily screwed up her nose, and Anna mirrored this action.

"You're my mother," Emily replied, "you are not going braless." Cuddy rolled her eyes from inside the shower.

"Do you have a stick-on?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, it's in the draw," Cuddy called, and Emily made her way to her mother's underwear draw and tried her best to censor herself as she looked for the stick-on bra. She pulled it out and put it on the bed next to the dress, and Anna stared at it uncomfortably.

"Can you not have it so close to me please," she asked, leaning away from the bra.

"You're the one who chose to sit on the bed," Emily replied.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she added in a hushed whisper, "You don't even like mom."

"I couldn't pass up on a good night of humor, could I? Watching her trying not to be irritated by you micromanaging her preparation is priceless. Hmmm… micromanagement. Sounds familiar," she hinted, and Emily gave her a glare. Anna just grinned and turned her attention back to the textbook.

"Stop being such a party pooper," Emily scolded. "And give me back my InStyle magazine."

"What?" Anna replied, looking up.

"As if you could read a textbook like that in a room that wasn't completely silent," Emily said, rolling her eyes and holding out her hand. Anna reluctantly pulled out the magazine from between the pages of the textbook and put it in Emily's outstretched hand.

"How did you even know?" Anna asked, defeated.

"You were looking far too relaxed. You get that crinkly little face when you're studying, you know, with your brow furrowed…" Emily chucked. Anna crossed her arms and sulked, while Emily returned to the wardrobe to hunt for a purse. She heard the water in the shower shut off, and she grinned as she found what she was looking for.

"Perfect," she smiled, as she pulled out a small orange clutch, and threw it onto the bed from the short distance of the wardrobe. Just as she was shutting the wardrobe draws, Cuddy emerged from the bathroom, towel wrapped securely around her, and hair in a makeshift bun.

"I've got everything ready, except for underwear. I didn't want to delve any deeper into that drawer. And please… do wear underwear," Emily said, an uncomfortable look on her face. Cuddy rolled her eyes and headed for her dresser.

"And I shall now take this as my cue to leave," Emily added, nodding emphatically. "Call me when you're dressed, cause we still have to do your makeup."

"I think I can handle doing my own makeup," Cuddy replied with a small eye roll.

"Well… fine. I suppose I can trust you to get that part right," Emily said, starting to back towards the door. Cuddy let out a small chuckle and smiled, shaking her head. Anna got up off the bed, and followed Emily out into the living room.

"Huh, and you think I'm like her," Anna said quietly with a smirk, as they walked down the hallway. Emily rolled her eyes as Anna fake coughed and muttered "micromanage".

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20 minutes later, Cuddy emerged into the living room, where Emily was sitting watching News Radio on DVD. Emily swivelled around in her seat as she heard her mother approaching, and upon seeing her, clutched her heart and started fake crying.

"Oh, my little girl's growing up," she cried, as Cuddy rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"I'm the mother," she replied dryly, and Emily ignored her.

"Now I know why all the boys in high school used to cry 'MILF… MILF… MILF…'," she continued, pretending to burst into hysterical 'motherly' tears. Cuddy shook her head with a sigh, and Emily stopped her fake crying and instead grinned widely.

"Do you approve?" Cuddy asked, eyebrows raised. Emily stood up and inspected her mother.

"Can I just… one thing," she said, walking over to her, and changing Cuddy's middle part so that her hair was parted on the side. She smoothed down the curls and took a step back, admiring her work.

"Perfect," she smiled. "You look beautiful, mom."

"Thanks," Cuddy replied, and Emily wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.

"Now," Emily said, pulling out of the embrace, "curfew is midnight…"

Cuddy rolled her eyes, and shook her head with a laugh.

"And I don't want you going out and getting… 'baked', as the kids call it these days. No drinking, no smoking, no laughing, no smiling, and certainly no holding hands. And if he tries to give you his pin, you must graciously decline," Emily said sternly. Cuddy smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll be home by eleven. No wild parties while I'm gone," she said, opening the front door.

"The keg's getting here at nine," Emily smiled, following her mother to the door and holding it open for her.

"Say bye to Anna for me," Cuddy laughed, walking out to her car.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Emily called after her.

"That doesn't leave much!" Cuddy called back, opening her car door and sliding inside.

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A/N: Ok… so I lied last chapter. She hasn't got to the date yet. But the 'getting ready' scene went for longer than I anticipated! She will DEFINITELY be on the date next chapter. Hehe! Please take the time to review on your way out.

Coming up next... Cuddy begins to worry when her date is a little late, and Anna finds herself having to cover for Emily…