Maggie looked around the room as the nurse pushed the head of the bed against the wall. Slowly, she nodded her head. "It's a good room."

The nurse laughed. "I'm glad you approve."

Dark eyes examined the chair that was in the corner. "Daddy?"

"Yes, mouse?"

"Is that chair okay for you?"

"It's fine, baby."

Satisfied, Maggie settled back to play with her brother. She perched her teddy bear on his truck and he crashed it into the side rail of the bed and giggled. "Can we play onna floor?" Maggie asked.

"No," Eames replied. "We want you to get better, baby. The floor is not the place for you to be right now."

She looked at her father, who nodded. "Mommy's right, mouse. It's not like the floor at home. There are a lot more germs in a hospital that can make you sick."

"But isn' a hopsital for makin' peoples better?"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Logan said. "The best place in the world to make people better also houses the bugs that can make us the sickest."

From the doorway, an answer came. "Oh, darn. The secret's out. How did you think we get rid of people?"

"Doctor House!" Maggie said happily.

House raised his eyebrows at the happy greeting. "Hello, Maggie. Looks like the whole family's here."

"Where else would they be?"

That made sense, coming from her. House looked at Goren. "You look better. Get some sleep?"

"Yes."

"Mommy takes good care-a Daddy," Maggie added.

Logan turned away, trying to hide his laughter. The corner of the doctor's mouth quirked up in amusement, as much as at what Maggie said as at the reaction of her parents. A light flush touched Eames' cheeks and Goren leaned back against the wall, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. "Out of the mouths' of babes..." Logan said with a chuckle.

Eames reached over, grabbing Maggie's teddy bear and throwing it at him. He laughed aloud at that point and gave the bear back to his favorite girl.

House couldn't keep back the smile any longer. Yes, this child--and her family--would definitely be bad for his reputation if he didn't get Maggie well and send her home soon. "Well, that being said...how do you feel, Maggie?"

"I'm better. Can I go home now?"

Logan had leaned against the wall beside the window. "Every day I see more and more of her dad in her. That's always his first question, too."

"My toys are missing me, Uncle Mike. An' I get bored here."

"Already?" he laughed.

House leaned on his cane. "It's not time for you to leave yet, Maggie. We're going to keep you for a little while longer. I'm sure we can somehow manage to keep you entertained for a few days." He looked at the skeptical faces around him. "She's five. How hard can it be?"

House found that keeping Maggie entertained was much more difficult than he anticipated. With the little girl well on her way to recovery, everyone returned to New York, except her father. They decided it best to keep Tommy away from the hospital environment as much as possible, and it would only be a few more days. So Eames took him home. Every afternoon, she left him with her father and drove to Princeton-Plainsboro to spend the afternoon with her husband and daughter.

And every afternoon, the doctors urged them to spend at least some time alone while one of them sat with Maggie. Cameron and Chase were most at ease with her. Cameron played Monopoly, Jr, with her and Chase brought in a video game system, amazed when she beat the pants off him in Mario Kart and Super Monkey Ball Adventure. She giggled at him. "Daddy's been playin' video games with me since I was two," she informed him.

"That puts me at a distinct disadvantage then. I only started playing when I was ten. Do you beat Daddy, too?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes he wins. An' sometimes I let him win," she confided.

Chase laughed. "I'm sure he would appreciate that, if he knew."

"Don' tell him, Doctor Chase."

"I won't, Maggie. Your secret is safe with me."

Foreman wasn't quite as comfortable with the little girl, but he soon discovered she had an aptitude for strategy games. She beat him at checkers and gave him a real run for his money with mancala.

They left word with the nurses to call the office when Goren was going to be gone from the room and one of them always went to sit with her until he came back. Sometimes they would stop by when they had the time just to visit, and they always got suckered into a game with her, while Goren sat back and watched his little girl make them work for only a possible victory. It was a coin toss who would win.

In the office, House heard his three Wunderkinder discussing Maggie's prowess at games and he snickered. "All three of you were beaten by a five-year-old? And you aren't hanging your heads in shame?"

"Not at all," Chase said. "She really is that good. She's been playing these kinds of games with her father for most of her life."

"She's really smart," Foreman put in. "She has an intuitive grasp of logic that a lot of adults never get."

Cameron smiled. "I had a long talk with her mother the other day. Maggie's father is a brilliant man, and she has inherited his intelligence. Her mother's very smart, too, so this kid started with all her ducks in a row. When she asks why, she honestly expects a real answer. She isn't content with simplistic explanations. She's a thinker."

"Go visit with her, House," Chase said. "See for yourself."

"I think I will."

House stood in the doorway and watched father and daughter bent over a game of checkers, both studying the board intently. The similarities were striking. Maggie made a move, then sat back and giggled. Goren smiled and made a countermove. With another giggle, she jumped three of his pieces. "Gotcha, Daddy!"

He sat back and laughed. "Got me good, mouse."

House came into the room. "Checkers, huh?"

"Daddy's gonna teach me chess next year."

He leaned against the bed. "I heard from my colleagues you like lots of different games."

"I do. I have lotsa games at home. I'm gonna teach Tommy to play, too. Then I don' gotta wait for Daddy to be home."

"What about Mommy or Grandpa?"

"Mommy and I play a game after my bath and Grandpa and I play after lunch when Tommy takes his nap. But I like playing with Daddy because I don' al'ays beat him. An' he likes the hard games. He's teachin' me Othello and Battleship. We got a whole stack-a others he's gonna teach me when I'm a little older."

"Does Daddy let you win?"

She looked at her father. "No. I don' think so."

Goren shook his head. "Maggie wins of her own accord most of the time. She has a knack for strategy and she can come up with moves I don't expect. If I try to play at what I think is her level, she'll beat me every time."

"How do you feel about that?"

Goren was puzzled. "About what?"

"Getting beaten by a five-year-old."

"I don't look at it that way, Dr. House. The way I see it, she learns what I teach her, and she learns it well enough to challenge me when we play. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"No, it's not. Maybe in a few years she'll be ready to work for me. She can already beat my Einsteins."

Maggie smiled. "That would be fun, but I'm gonna do what Daddy does."

"Oh? You want to chase bad guys?"

"Daddy does more than that. He tries to unnerstand what makes 'em bad. He's a..." She frowned. "What'sa word, Daddy?"

"Profiler."

"That's it. Daddy's a profiler. He uses his brain to get the bad guys, not his gun. I don' wanna hurt no one, and Daddy doesn' either."

House looked at Goren. "Impressive. A cop who doesn't like to shoot."

"Only if I have to. I prefer to talk my way out of a situation."

"Your children can learn a lot from you."

"They do."

House looked thoughtful. "Can you do the Times crossword, detective?"

"Yes."

"What a surprise. Go for a walk. I want to play checkers with Maggie."

Goren laughed. "Fine." He kissed Maggie's head. "I'll be back in a little while, mouse."

"Bring me a cookie?"

"Sure."

She watched her father leave as House set up the checkers and sat down to play.

A/N: Mario Kart and Super Monkey Ball Adenture are by Nintendo. Monopoly, Jr., is by Parker Brothers, Battleship is by Milton Bradley, and Othello is by Mattel.