I started breaking my promises right there and then.

Chapter 24

Don't ask for help, you're all alone…

Since Victoria intended that the baby be hers alone, she decided to select the name. She chose Andralynn and sometimes called her Andra for short. Every time House thought of the name, he thought Android.

Victoria took three weeks off from work. She had only intended to take two, but found herself too tired to go back at the end of that time. Still, during that last week, she was in her home office or on her laptop more often than not.

She loved the baby, but caring for an infant was a little beyond her. She was very grateful she could afford to hire help.

Anita took care of the baby during the day, but for later in the afternoon, Victoria had hired two girls from the university to alternate and care for Andra so that Anita could finish her work and have some time for herself.

House tried to stay away from the baby. After all, in a short time, he would be gone and not seeing her at all. Still, his curiosity got the best of him and he had to check her out.

She was so small and unbelievably beautiful. Her hair was coming in dark and thick, but her eyes were a brilliant blue. He knew that baby's eyes sometimes changed within the first year, but still, her eyes seemed so much like his own.

He found himself wandering into her room whenever he could. When she was awake, she would stare at him and then smile.

Now, intellectually, he knew that at that age, she was probably not actually smiling and that it was gas. Still, his ego had him believing that her expression was joy in seeing her Daddy and not a bodily function.

But the closer he seemed to get to Andra, the further apart he grew from her mother.

During her pregnancy, they had actually gotten along pretty well. They had sex on a regular basis and even took time to just be together and talk. Not that he was expecting anything more than collecting his money and walking away, but still, it was nice.

But now, three months after the birth, they still hadn't had sex. Victoria told him she just wasn't interested right then. He tried to be considerate. He understood that women sometimes needed time to heal from childbirth. And since it wasn't a real marriage, he didn't feel he had the right to push her on it.

But he was frustrated by it.

Victoria forced herself to pull away from her husband. It was too easy to fall into the happy family illusion. They'd just had a baby and everything seemed wonderful. But realistically, she knew that sort of euphoria did not last. Babies became children and then teenagers and the parents grew apart and eventually started hating each other.

And a man like Greg House would not pass up all of that money for a happy little family. Especially since happy families didn't really exist anyway.

So from the moment Andra was born, she began acting cool towards him. And she was determined to not have sex with him again. She knew that sex with him was really great and if she did it, she'd be a goner. It was better to do without now and set the terms of this split, than to get too close and be hurt later.

Anita saw what Victoria was doing, and being the woman she was, she called her employer on it.

"I know you're gonna tell me it's none of my business, but what the hell are you doing?"

"It probably isn't any of your business, but what are you referring to?"

"Why are pushing Doc away?"

"You're right, it isn't any of your business."

Anita glared at her. "Look, I've stood by and watched you do lots of stupid things with men over the years. But I thought you finally got smart when you married Doc."

"Did you think I married him because I was madly in love?"

"Of course not. But he's a good guy. A little rough around the edges and sometimes too honest for his own good. But the kind of guy you need."

Victoria considered her next words, but then finally said, "Well, for your information, the guy you think is so good married me so that I would pay him $250,000."

"I know that."

Victoria looked at her, incredulous. "How in the world would you know that?"

"You may have paid a lot of money for this place, but it doesn't mean the walls are real thick. I hear everything that's going on."

"Well, then, if you know, then how can you still think he's worth keeping?"

Anita took a deep breath. "Did you give him a chance to do anything else?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you tell him about the kid and give him a chance to do something about it on his own or did you lead with your money offer?"

"I…what difference does it make?"

"It makes a lot of difference. What man is going to turn down all that money? And once he accepted your offer, he was stuck with it. You never gave him the chance to choose you and the baby on his own."

Victoria pressed her lips together. She did NOT want to consider that option. "It wouldn't matter. People in my family do not have long relationships with anyone. It's better that he leave now so that Andra and I can get on with out lives."

Anita shook her head. "You know something, Victoria? You may have those fancy degrees from Penn and Wharton, but that doesn't make you very smart."