I have to confess that I couldn't help but smile to your reviews at the last chapter. You can't read them because I just received them into my email account... It happens when they're too short... in this case they were just one o two words (swear words in most case...)...practically the last chapter gave the same reaction at you all! Definitely a change of route to this story that you didn't expect, I guess. But I hope to continue to surprise you a little in the next chapters. Who says that I'm predictable? It's a short chapter but... enjoy!

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CHAPTER 25 - The seeds of suspition - Part 2

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Her hand began to tremble as she instinctively opened the glove compartment and the ashtray. House had never been very tidy, but his car had been washed a week earlier. She emptied the ashtray spreading the contents on the passenger seat... candy wrappers and a few crumpled note. A couple of receipts of the coffee bar. And...

Her hand shook more while she repeated like a mantra not to be paranoid, however unable to prevent the sudden feeling of nausea that close her stomach...

The bill of a restaurant in New York. Le Petit Bistrot. Dated May 9, 2013. For two.

...

Cuddy came home at lunchtime and was greeted immediately by the warmth of her house. The bad feeling that had accompanied her all morning mingled with the reassuring one of the voices and laughter coming from the kitchen. The table was set and House was at the stove. Rachel and Grace were coloring on the table waiting for lunch to be ready... or better... Rachel was coloring on the table... Grace was coloring the table.

She couldn't help but smile despite the headache still incessantly pounding into her head and the nausea that still closed her stomach.

"News from the Board?" House asked approaching her and at the same time bringing the wooden spoon closer to her lips making her taste the sauce for the pasta.

"Hhhmm... there's garlic enough to ward off a vampire..." she said smiling slightly "... but it's very good" she said, looking at him as he put the spaghetti into the boiling water.

"Because I'm a good cook... a good husband..." he said wrapping her body with an arm "... a great lover..." he added, whispering in her ear and kissing her neck.

Cuddy smiled trying to let herself go to that kiss.

Don't be paranoid... she repeated in her mind... he loves you and loves his daughters...

... But the tiny earring in her pocket weighed like a boulder...

Ask him... a little voice inside her said... there must be a plausible and probably banal explanation...

A two-hour meeting for the planning of a new Neonatal Surgery Department... budget... permits... numbers... percentages... Half of what it had been told had no way reached her left brain hemisphere... the more she tried to focus the more her mind continued to focus only on those clues.

Clues?

Of what? Of him cheating on her?

Her rationality was fought. The pure analysis of the facts wasn't enough to give her an explanation and above all a reassurance.

The earring ...

Perhaps he had simply given a ride to someone...

Um... yeah... and perhaps... not that kind of ride!

... But what about the bill of the restaurant?

... it could be not his... maybe it had been simply thrown in the trash by the same person who had got into the car with him ...

Yes... It could be...Conditional.

But the more her mind thought inconceivable the fact that House could cheat on her, the more that same mind continued to give her a different answer...

... That night he wasn't with Wilson, but having dinner in a restaurant in New York... more than an hour from home... with a woman...

"Are you ok?" House asked looking into her eyes and awaking her from her thoughts.

"Er... yes" she replied stroking his stubble as she couldn't help but getting lost in his eyes.

...

"Still that headache?" House asked grabbing her wrist as she passed by the couch after having put the girls to bed, forcing her to sit down beside him.

She had been a bit detached all the day, but House had preferred to leave her some space. They both always tried not to bring home the problems of the hospital, but sometimes they didn't succeed. And House knew that, even if they hadn't brought up the subject anymore, there was a certain patient she couldn't stop thinking about. What instead he didn't know was that Mia wasn't the only thought spinning in her mind...

Cuddy sat down next to him still massaging her neck.

"Did you take some ibuprofen?" He asked looking at her as she closed her eyes.

"I took a couple of tablets two hours ago" She said nodding "It didn't work I guess..." she added, opening her eyes to look at him.

House turned off the TV and reached for her, resting his hands on her shoulders. He massaged her neck with his thumbs from the head to the shoulders feeling her tense muscles under his fingers.

"Oh God..." she whispered, closing her eyes and trying to relax and rather ignore the swirl of thoughts that again invaded her mind.

A lump closed her throat while House continued to massage her slowly, pressing harder on some muscles and more gently on others. He could hear her breathing in and out deeply in response to his touch, and he studied the reactions of her body and the way in which sometimes she held her breath.

For once even House was mistaken. Not a reaction to pain as it could be logical to think, but to that so infinitely sweet gesture.

Cuddy continued to focus on the feeling of his fingers on her skin as he moved his hands from her neck to her shoulders and on her back, precisely following the anatomy of her muscles. Sternocleidomastoid. Trapezius. Dorsal. And every little paravertebral muscle.

Cuddy felt a chill down her spine. Not sex. Not foreplay. Just a massage. Just a caress. Just a pure and simple act of love...

"Better?" He whispered, bending down to kiss her neck while continuing to massage her.

Cuddy nodded and looked for his hands still resting on her shoulders, pulling them more towards her and wrapping them around her own chest. His chest against her back, his arms wrapped around her chest, his head in the crook of her neck as he tenderly kissed the side of her neck.

She didn't need words. Those gestures. That gesture. That was a silent I love you.

...

"Okay. See you tomorrow" House said hanging up quickly as soon as Cuddy walked out of the bathroom.

Stop it, Lisa! It was her first thought. You're really getting paranoid.

Yet she failed to prevent the sudden bad feeling that came back to close her stomach slightly.

"The hospital?" She asked, trying to sound interested just to the professional side of that calling.

House looked at her. She was wrapped only in a towel. Her still wet hair falling in waves on her shoulders. Not even he could prevent the sudden reaction that hit him. Completely different from hers. And exacerbated by the fact that they haven't been intimately together for more than ten days.

"Nothing important." He replied, nodding "What about going out for dinner on Friday?" He asked, changing the subject and getting closer to her, putting his hands on her hips "My mother offers to take care of the girls" he added, brushing her lips.

On Friday ... their wedding anniversary...

Cuddy smiled and let him embrace her, putting her arms around his neck.

"Yes" she replied stroking his lips with hers in turn.

House nibbled her lower lip looking into her eyes and a quiver replaced the feeling that she had recently experienced in her stomach while he held her closer to him and moved his hands from her hips on her butt, caressing her through the soft terrycloth of the towel.

"Fine" he said, kissing her lightly on the lips "I was planning of getting a reservation at Artemisia's" he said looking into her eyes "... so then... don't say I don't love my wife" he added, smiling at one inch from her mouth, before bridging the gap between them touching her tongue.

Artemisia's.

He felt her hesitation but he didn't have time to process that thought as at the same time his mind was caught by a voice behind him and a small body clung to his leg.

"Daddy... I'm afraid..." Rachel said, verging on tears, as House moved away from Cuddy to look at his daughter, stroking her hair and picking her up.

"A bad dream?" He asked as she nodded and hid her face in the crook of his neck wrapping her arms around his neck.

"A ghost... it tried to catch me..." she said still wrapping his neck as House sat down on the bed still stroking Rachel's back.

"Hey Rachel" he said, stroking her tearful face and looking into her eyes "Do you know ghosts don't exist, don't you?"

She bit her lip and nodded, looking at him with a serious look.

"There wasn't any ghost. None tried to catch you... it was just a bad dream..." House repeated, looking into her eyes.

God... How much she reminded him of Lisa, he thought, smiling. They didn't share any gene... not even one... yet they were so similar. The same way of frowning. The same way of biting on their lower lip.

Rachel nodded, but curved her lips again on the verge on crying. "I'm afraid..." she repeated while her eyes misted with tears.

The same way of curving their lips when they were on the verge on crying.

House looked at her again and glanced at Cuddy as she sat down next to them.

"Okay" he said, kissing her on her forehead and putting her in the middle of their bed "... but just for tonight, okay?" he added, while Rachel slipped under the sheets.

Cuddy lay down next to Rachel.

"No more ghost movie at bedtime!" She said, kissing her daughter and glaring at House.

House rolled his eyes at her.

"It was Casper, Lisa!" He said, shaking his head slightly.

Cuddy looked at him seriously, but couldn't help but smile as she leaned her head on the pillow and let the sleep push away even the ghosts hovering in her mind.