House and Cuddy spent a lot of Thursday and Friday looking at places with The Lovely Sarah, but none of them was quite right. They decided to have Wilson take Rachael for the weekend so they could continue their search.
Cuddy was becoming a little frustrated. She really wanted to find an acceptable house, by the end of the weekend, if at all possible. She wasn't sure how realistic that was, but her schedule once she returned to work the following week didn't have a lot of extra time for house-hunting. This was especially true if she wanted to keep her promise to House not to overdo things.
Cuddy was also concerned about the physical demands that looking for a home made on House. When Saturday came around, they had had enough bad leads that they decided that Cuddy would make the first pass with Sarah, and then, if the place had potential, she would go to the car and get House to come and look at it. That way, he wasn't trudging through every place they looked at, increasing the possibility that his leg pain would worsen.
They looked at several houses on Saturday, and none fit the bill, although they were getting closer. Sarah had one more place for them to look at on Sunday afternoon.
When Cuddy read the description of the house, it sounded like what they were looking for, but the last few days had been so disappointing that she didn't want to get her hopes up. It turned out the house was only a few blocks from her current house, in a newer neighborhood.
When she saw the front of the house, she liked it. It had a large, wide porch in front. Cuddy could imagine putting up a gate and letting their toddler run around. The child would still be safe, even if House was absorbed by his playstation and not really watching.
They went in the front door and found themselves in the foyer. Even though the house was a single story, there were high ceilings which gave the entrance an open feel. On the left was the dining room. Cuddy had allowed herself to imagine her furniture in there. The walls were painted a rich burgundy that Cuddy loved.
On the right would usually have been the formal living room. However, the previous owners had converted it to a library with bookshelves on three of the four walls. House's book collection, which had been in storage since he gave up his apartment, would go nicely here. So far, so good.
They walked through a short hallway into a huge, open family room and kitchen. The kitchen had granite countertops and an island with a stove top and a raised counter facing the family room. "You can cook here and watch your daughter in the family room, or she can sit on a stool here and watch you," Sarah said, in her best sales pitch voice.
There was an alcove in the back of the kitchen with windows overlooking the back yard. "This is a perfect spot for a dinette table," Sarah cooed. "You can take your intimate family meals here."
"By 'intimate,' does she mean we should get a table so I can do you here?" House asked in a low voice.
"Pay attention," Cuddy warned, although she couldn't keep from smiling.
Cuddy wanted to see the back yard, but Sarah steered them elsewhere.
"The master suite is this way," she said, leading down a short corridor at the back of the kitchen. They went through a door and entered a huge room with another high, vaulted ceiling. There were sky lights. "This room gets direct sun only in the afternoon, so you can enjoy the light but you won't be woken up by bright sunshine," Sarah continued with her pitch.
The bathroom was also huge, with two sinks, granite countertops, a large glass enclosed shower stall, and large tub. When House noticed all the different angles of the multiple shower heads, his mind became dizzy with the possible ways he and Cuddy could pleasure each other.
The closet was enormous. It had been fitted with shelves and drawers, and even had a space for Cuddy's extensive shoe collection. Cuddy imagined that House would still throw all his clothes and sneakers on the floor, but at least she would enjoy using it.
A back door in the bedroom led out on to a small raised stone patio. It was connected by a walkway to a larger raised stone patio that was accessed off the back of the family room. The patio continued across the entire back of the house, with another entrance off the guest room.
House and Cuddy stepped outside to look at the back yard. It was fenced in and decent-sized. They also heard music coming from the house on their left.
"Apparently, your neighbor plays the sound system a little too loudly," Sarah said with an annoyed look on her face. She obviously didn't want anything to endanger her potential sale.
"Um, that's not a sound system," House commented, "that's someone playing live music." House's statement was confirmed when the music stopped in the middle of the piece and some muffled voices were heard. "It sounds like a rehearsal."
The music resumed. "Well, it's some sort of classical piece, so at least it shouldn't be too noisy," Sarah said, thinking she was putting the best face on the annoying racket that she could.
"Actually, it's Baroque. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5." House had closed his eyes and listened for a few moments. "They sound pretty good."
"Are there professional musicians living next door?" Cuddy asked. She was thinking how wonderful it would be for Rachael and the baby to be exposed to even more music than House played on his piano and guitars.
"I think the homeowner is a professor at Princeton," Sarah said, looking at her survey of the surrounding homes. "So this may just be a hobby that won't be too bothersome."
"Bothersome?" House asked incredulously. "We get a free concert every Sunday afternoon and you think we'll be bothered by that?"
"Oh, well, I guess that is a good thing," Sarah said, somewhat taken aback. This house had been on the market for a while for many reasons, one of which was the owners only allowed showings on Sunday when the people next door happened to be "rehearsing." Every other client thus far had heard this and refused to buy.
"Let's continue," Sarah pushed on.
They crossed the walkway and the larger patio, with Sarah pointing out the built-in grill and fire pit. They re-entered in the guest room.
It was a good-sized room with a view of the back yard and a large bathroom, again with granite countertops and a separate shower and tub. This shower was smaller than the one in the master suite, but it was still quite large.
"Think Wilson will be comfortable in here?" Cuddy asked House.
"Are your kidding?" House replied. "It's bigger than his entire apartment is now. If he decides to stay here, he may never leave!"
"You make that sound like it's a bad thing," Cuddy responded sarcastically.
House gave her a knowing smile. She had already figured out how much House missed Wilson and that getting him to come over more often and stay over at least once in a while would make him happy.
The next group of rooms were two bedrooms with doors opening on to a bathroom in between. "Here is your daughter's room, with the shared bathroom, and another guest room," Sarah pointed out unnecessarily. After Cuddy and House deemed the rooms to be acceptable, they went back into the vast family room.
"This is certainly big enough to accommodate your piano," Cuddy said to House.
"I could put it in the back corner next to the guest room and play all night every time Wilson stays over," House added gleefully.
"Oh, and here is the basement you requested," Sarah mentioned, giving House the evil eye.
"Can't really manage stairs too easily," House replied. "Cripple, you know."
"Oh, I'll go look," Cuddy said in exasperation.
The basement was unfinished but looked dry, and there was quite a bit of metal shelving that Sarah said the current owners were leaving behind, which Cuddy decided they could use for storage.
"Is it dungeon-like enough to meet ours needs, dearest?" House asked Cuddy after she and Sarah had ascended the stairs back to the first floor.
Cuddy shot House a deadly look but otherwise ignored his question.
"Let's take a look at the garage," The Lovely Sarah directed, trying to keep things moving and avoid any conflict. "It accommodates three cars."
"I have a place to put my bike!" House exclaimed excitedly.
"I was hoping you would get rid of that thing now," Cuddy paused, about to say something about House's impending fatherhood, then thinking The Lovely Sarah had no need to know about her condition, "before it falls apart," Cuddy corrected herself.
"It's got years of life left in it," House said, responding to the denigration of one of his most prized possessions. "Besides, you don't actually want it sitting it the driveway full time for the neighbors to see, do you?"
"True," Cuddy replied, happy that the argument had moved off into more comfortable territory. "We'll discuss the future contents of the garage later."
'It sounds like you have made up your mind," said Sarah in her best Always-Be-Closing voice.
Cuddy and House looked at each other. "We'd like to make an offer," Cuddy said.