Disclaimer: All rights belong to Fox and David Shore.
Author's Note: This chapter is especially dedicated to my beta Ceciilee. Who in spite of being under the weather, took time to edit this chapter so everyone can have their daily dose of Huddy ;-)
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After dessert, Stacy heads over to the ladies room while House waits in the lobby.
House is still fuming at the brush off that he received from Cuddy. And he soothes his bruised ego by admiring Stacy's sexy legs from afar. He's seriously considering throwing everything away just to prove to Cuddy that he still has it, and then his phone rings.
"Dad, this is Jake."
"Hey, what's up son?"
"Are you at work?"
"No, why?"
"Mom has an important dinner tonight and Lina's babysitting the twins."
"Yeah, I know that. What's wrong?"
"Lina's landlord just called and one of the waterlines erupted in her apartment complex. Lina needs to go home to check the damage to her apartment."
"Okay, don't worry. I'm on my way home."
When Stacy returns, House thanks her for the dinner and offers to walk her to the car.
When they reach her car she says "this is it. This is my car."
House replies "okay, thanks again for dinner. The food was really good."
As House is about to turn around, Stacy pulls him back and kisses him on the lips.
House is surprise by Stacy's bold move and within a split second he thinks of kissing her back. But the image of Lisa and kids crosses his mind and he feels the pit of his stomach churn and immediately pulls away. "I can't. I'm sorry Stacy. I need to be home with my family."
Stacy feels a wave of shock hits her and asks "what do you mean by family?"
"Lise and I have three kids. If you don't mind, I really need to go home to our kids before the babysitter charge us double for overtime."
All Stacy can do is nod. After a few minutes of getting her footing back, she asks herself "he has three kids? And who is Liz?"
Meanwhile, Cuddy is within her element discussing the minutia of the planned new oncology/hematology ward. She tells Bill that with his donation, the hospital will be able to provide care for double the amount of patients. The new ward will have 36 inpatient beds, a radiotherapy department and a chemotherapy unit. She adds that the chemotherapy unit will provide specialist treatment, care, advice and support for patients (and their families) undergoing outpatient chemotherapy. Bill, whose own son died of leukemia wants to know if half of the ward can be devoted exclusively for children.
"You mean, a pediatric oncology ward?"
"Yes, can we have that? My son Luke spent a lot of time in the hospital when he was undergoing chemo and it would have been nice if there was a place he can hangout with kids like him."
Cuddy nods and replies "Of course. We can definitely modify the plan to accommodate that."
Cuddy opens her bag to pull her little notepad when she notices her phone vibrating.
She picks it up and sees that she has six messages on her inbox.
She looks through all her messages
1st- a text message that says "we love you, Mommy,"
2nd- a picture of Ethan smiling,
3rd- a picture of Charlie smiling,
4th- a picture of Jake smiling,
5th- an off centered picture of House and the boys.
Finally, another text message that says "Please, come home soon Mommy."
Cuddy can't help but smile at her boys.
Bill notices that she was reading her text messages and asks "is everything alright?"
Cuddy nods and replies "yup, my boys are just taking advantage of our unlimited text plan."
Bill smiles and asks "oh yeah, the other doctor mentioned them earlier. How many kids do you have, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I don't mind at all. My three sons are my pride and joy. My eldest son, Jake is seventeen. My twin boys, Ethan and Charlie are seven months old."
"That's really great that you are able to juggle them and the hospital."
"Yes, I love it. When the hospital gets overwhelming, I go home to my kids and vice versa."
"I love kids too. I wish my son Luke is still with me. I wish I had more kids."
"Luke's mom? Is she...?"
Bill shakes his head and replies "she passed away soon after Luke. The doctors said that she died of meningitis, but I know better. I believe she died of a broken heart. She took Luke's death really hard. We both did. I just happened to have my work to keep me occupied."
"I'm so sorry."
Bill immediately changes the topic "enough about me. How about you?"
"What about me?"
"I noticed that you don't have a ring on your finger. Am I correct in assuming that the boys' father is out of the picture?"
"Oh, he's in the picture. He's just not the marrying type."
"No offense to the father of your children but is he insane?"
Cuddy laugh and replies "there's not a week that goes by that I don't question his sanity; which doesn't say much about mine for putting up with him all these years."
"You're beautiful, smart, confident and sexy. I'm just astounded that he hasn't formally laid a claim on you. I know I would."
Cuddy is taken aback by Bill's upfrontness but flattered at the same time. She simply smiles and quickly stirs the conversation back to the oncology ward. Her thoughts are interrupted by the sight of her bag vibrating on the table.
"I'm sorry, let me get this. I just want to make sure that the boys haven't burn down the house yet."
Cuddy grabs her purse and briskly walks to the waiting area (in the ladies room).
House is yelling over loud noises in the background asking "Lise? Are you there?"
"Greg, what's wrong? Where are you? What's that sound?"
"We're trying to let the twins sleep. Do you think the twins' car seat can fit in my motorcycles?"
"No! Do not put the twins in your motorcycle. Greg, do you hear me? "
The phone intermittently cuts off and then she hears House said "yeah, Mom said it's fine."
Now, Cuddy is yelling at the phone "House! I didn't say yes. House! If I you put the kids in your motorcycle, I'm gonna…"
All of a sudden, House's voice is now crystal clear asking her "So, why are you yelling?"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear over whatever noise you were on earlier. Did you hear me when I said don't put the twins in your motorcycle?"
"Uh huh. Where are you?"
"You know where I am. I'm at the restaurant."
"I mean, where in the restaurant are you?"
"I'm in the ladies room. Why does it matter?"
"Because Bob here is waiting. Actually, we're all waiting for you to come back to the table."
"We? Who's we? And who's Bob? Do you mean Bill?" Cuddy immediately walks out of the ladies room; she looks over to where her table is and sees House seated on her chair.
House places the carrier (with a sleeping Ethan inside) on the floor and address Bill "So Bob, did you enjoy your dinner?"
"Yes, actually I was enjoying it..." Bill is distracted by a young man holding another baby carrier that pulls a chair from another table and move it closer to his table.
The young man introduces himself "Hi, I'm Jake House. I like your tie."
"Thanks."
House asks Bill if the plate was Cuddy's dessert and when he said yes, House starts eating it.
Cuddy walks in and asks the duo "what are you two doing here?"
They look at each other and begin answering at the same time.
Cuddy holds her hand up to make them stop. "I don't mean for you two to answer at the same time."
She points at House signaling for him to start explaining and he says "the twins wouldn't stop crying" he looks over to Bill and explains "they're teething."
Jake adds "we tried everything, Mom. We turned up the volume of the TV really loud, turned on the vacuum cleaner, we put their binkies in the freezer, and we even put them on top of the washing machine. After all that, we just decided to drive them around the block." He looks down at the carrier and adds "that seemed to work."
Cuddy looks at Bill and starts apologizing, but Bill seem very amuse by her family.
Bill reassures her "Oh, don't apologize. I totally understand. I used to drive my son around the block too just to get him to stop crying."
Cuddy thanks Bill and says "I will modify the proposal to include all the changes you've requested. Again, thanks for a wonderful dinner."
"It was all my pleasure. Glad to meet your family." He nods at the two men and address them "Dr. House, Jake—good meeting you gentlemen."
Cuddy says goodbye, takes one of the carriers and heads out to the lobby. Jake, who has the other baby, follows her closely. They are already by the lobby when she turns around notices that House is not with them. She looks back to where she came from and sees House still sitting on the table eating her dessert and chatting with Bill. All she can do is sigh out loud.
TBC
Author's Note #2: Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button at the bottom of this page. I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate, or even reading this story ;-)