Disclaimer: As always, I do not own House MD, any of the characters or any of the other things in here whose ownership you might question. Though, I really would like to own Hugh Laurie …

A/N: Hello, all. I am now back from my awesome end of year trip and, apart from my tan, I have also brought back a load of ideas for this story :D

I'm sorry to only update today but after arriving on Wednesday night, I was too tired yesterday to write anything. But I did manage to write this today and I hope you like it.

I'd like to thank you all for your amazing reviews because, as any fanfic writer out there knows, there's nothing better than to know that your work is being read and liked. So, thanks, guys!

Enjoy!

That night, Cuddy, House, Danny and Becca sat around the small coffee table in House's living room, each with a slice of Pizza. Always one to look out for her children's health, Cuddy had opposed the chosen meal at first, however, after finding House's fridge empty and not having the energy to go shopping, she had, much to her kids' happiness, agreed.

"Mommy?" Becca called leaning her head onto her mother's shoulder as she sat on the couch

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm sleepy" the five year old rubbed her eye

Checking her watch, Cuddy nodded. Becca was used to going to bed at 8:30 every night, it was now 9:30 and, with everything that had happened over the past few days, it was no surprise the girl was exhausted.

"Ok, baby, you want to go to sleep?" Cuddy asked turning to her daughter

"Do you mind if I put her on your bed for now?" Cuddy asked House as she put down her slice of pizza "when we're done with the food, I'll go get her"

Half-way through a bite of pizza, House nodded and watched as Cuddy stood and, taking the little girl's hand, led her towards the diagnostician's room.

After a few minutes, Danny turned to House

"What's going to happen to him?" he asked out of the blue

"Who" House asked taking another bite of his pizza

"Dad" Danny hung his head

Moving the pizza away from his mouth, House looked at Danny with a puzzled face "well, once he's recovered, he'll go to trial and then to jail" he explained looking like what he was saying was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are you sure?" the boy insisted "are you sure he won't come back?"

"Yes" House replied, not knowing what else to say

"Can you promise that?"

House looked surprised for a moment then replied truthfully "I can't, no"

After that, there was a moment's silence in which House studied the boy's face as he stared at his pizza "I hope so, though" he added, not quite sure why he was saying it but feeling Danny needed a little more than his previous answer.

"So do I" agreed Danny as he picked up another slice of pizza and joined House in silently eating it.

An hour later, Cuddy, as her daughter had done previously announced that she too was beginning to feel tired.

"I'll go get Becca" she said standing from the couch "Danny, you're sleeping here" she pointed at where she'd just been sitting "and Becca over there" she pointed to the other side of the couch "so start getting ready, ok?"

The boy nodded in response.

As he reached the doorway to his room, House stopped and watched the scene before him in silence. Sitting on his bed, Cuddy was slowly stroking her daughter's hair as the young girl slept.

"You can leave her" he heard himself say before even processing the thought.

"Huh?" Cuddy asked not having been aware of his presence, as she turned her head his way

"Let her sleep, there's plenty of space for me on the other side, so long as she keeps to her place, I'll be fine" House could barely believe what he was suggesting, yet, he was.

"Are you sure?" Cuddy asked turning completely towards him

House nodded "if you wake her up now, she'll take forever to get to sleep again, so you might as well leave her" sure, mask a nice action with a practical one.

"Thank you" Cuddy smiled as she stood from the bed and covered Becca a little better.

"Well, good night" she said, hesitating a little next to him as she passed by him in the doorway

"Night" he replied with a small nodded moving into the room.

That night, House awoke to the sound of sobbing. For a moment, he felt disoriented. Then he noticed the small bump in the bed sheets next to him which was shaking in time with the sobs.

"Becca?" he asked in a low whisper as he turned slightly towards her

"Mom" he heard her whimper

Unsure of what to do, House quickly stood from his bed and, his limp extra pronounced in his sleepy haze, he headed towards his bedroom door to go get Cuddy.

However, he stopped when he reached the end of the corridor. Apparently, Becca wasn't the only woman sobbing in his house that night.

"It's ok mom" House heard Danny say as he hugged Cuddy "I love you"

Sighing and hanging his head, House chose to go back to Becca. He wasn't sure why, but something in him made him want to comfort and protect her. Hell, if an eleven year old boy could do it, why couldn't he?

"Becca?" he called again as he sat next to her on the mattress.

"I'm scared, Dr. House" she cried turning towards him

Struggling for words, House nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder "Shh, it's ok"

Shaking her head, Becca sat up in bed and quickly latched onto House crying into his chest "I don't want him to come back"

Closing his eyes for a moment and placing a hand on Becca's head, House nodded "I know, kid, I don't want him to come back either"

"He'll hurt mommy again" she cried

"Shh" House tried to sooth her "he won't Becca, its ok"

She shook her little head again "he will, mommy can't stop him because he's too big and strong and neither can Danny …"

House's anger at John was growing by the second. And it wasn't just because of what he'd done to Cuddy; it was, much to House's surprise, because of what he'd done to Becca to make this happen, to frighten her to that point.

He knew what it was like to grow up hating his father, the constant desire to flee, to escape, the insecurity and the fear, but at least he'd been older, more mature, more capable of dealing with it. Becca was five, and John was a bastard for giving her a single reason to feel the way House knew she was feeling.

"Becca, listen to me" House heard himself say as he pulled her head back from his chest and looked at her tear stained face "I promise you, he's not going to hurt her anymore, ok?" He couldn't promise to keep him in jail, and he couldn't promise that he'd never come back into their lives, but at least he could promise that he'd never lay a hand on Cuddy or her kids again "I promise you he won't hurt you again, ok?"

Sniffing and whipping away her tears, Becca nodded. A few hours ago, House was, to her, only a friend, a goofy adult who let her do things she knew she wasn't supposed to, but now he was someone she was counting on, and while that made the little girl feel safe, it scared him to death.

When she woke up the next morning, Cuddy carefully moved away from Danny who had fallen asleep next to her so as not to wake him. She remembered last night, the nightmares and the fear. She'd known all along that she was safe, that John was locked away somewhere and wouldn't get to them again. She'd also know that House was there, that, no matter what, he'd never lay a hand on her or her kids, and yet she'd felt insecure and scared.

She'd seen plenty of women in her position over her years as a doctor, and always she'd seen the empty look in their eyes and heard about their fear as they cried before her. But now she was in their place, and, even though she'd thought, back then, that the fear must be terrible, it was proving to be more than she'd ever imagined.

She knew it was irrational, that there no longer was anything to fear. But while there was, she'd been strong and kept the fear at bay while thinking only of her kids, now that she could think about herself knowing they were safe, it was like a tidal wave of emotion had swept over her, and she wasn't sure how long it would take for the damage to be fixed; or even if it could be fixed.

As she walked towards the bathroom, something caught her eye as she passed House's door. Not quite believing her eyes, Cuddy moved into the room and stared at the sight before her.

There, on his large bed, were House and Becca, both sleeping peacefully. Ok, that wasn't so much a shock. What was, however, was the fact that Becca was lying with her little head on House's chest and that he had his hand protectively wrapped around her. Cuddy knew House well enough to know he wasn't exactly a robot, that he was capable of human feelings, yet, it had been so long since she'd witnessed anything like that from him, that it absolutely stunned her.

As she stood there watching the scene before her, she was completely unaware of it. But later, Cuddy would be able to say that the moment she saw her little daughter snuggle closer to House as his arm kept her safe at his side, was the moment she began to fall in love with him again.

TBC

So, I hope you enjoyed that. I know a couple of you were hoping for some House-kids bonding, so I hope you liked that. I'm, surprisingly, finding it harder to make him bond with Danny than with Becca, but I promise there will be more bonding with both the kids in future episodes (as well as a whole lot of Huddyness to go with it :D)

Thank you for reading!

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CJS-DEPPendent