Chapter 28
It was five weeks later and just as the month of April had given way to May when Jessica House had become sick with a rather nasty cold, causing her to miss two days of preschool as well as causing her Mother to become sick with a cold of her own a few days later, leaving House to doctor his two girls while also doing everything he could for Ryan..with the exception of breastfeeding the infant.
Of course with a sick wife and daughter, along with his newborn son all needing him……….House's plans to celebrate privately with his wife as they passed the six week marker of their son's birth had to be put on hold for the time being.
And so it was not until a very long two weeks later and on a Saturday morning that House came walking into Ryan's room, whistling an old Broadway showtune with a smile on his face as Cuddy sat on the rocking chair in the corner of the room, dressed in an ivory colored silk robe while nursing their son.
"It's nine am and you're actually in a good mood? Please tell me you haven't gone out and pissed someone off already today?" Cuddy asked him with a curious expression upon her face.
House gave her a small smirk, "Play coy all you want Mrs. House but as soon as I drop Jess off at Wilson's and your Mom and Bill pick you Ryan, your ass as well as all of your other fun parts will literally be all mine." He responded, walking up to her with a lecherous grin.
"Mommy! Can I wear shorts today?" Jessica yelled out from her bedroom next to them as she stood in front of her dresser in nothing but a pair of purple, Dora the Explorer underwear.
"No Jessica ...it's still too chilly outside." Cuddy responded back to her, looking up at House as he caressed the top of Ryan's head while the baby continued to suckle on her left breast, looking up at him with wide grey eyes.
"Hmpfh!" Jessica pouted to herself with a displeased grunt, stomping her foot on the carpeted floor of her bedroom while holding the pair of pink shorts she wanted to wear today up in front of her.
"Did you make sure to pack Jessica's toothbrush and her pajamas?" Cuddy asked House as he continued to stare down at their son with a small smile on his face.
"Yes Sex Kitten." House responded, raising his eyes to meet hers.
"Don't call me a Sex Kitten in front of Ryan." Cuddy warned, wrinkling her brow at him.
"Fine," House replied, rolling his eyes at her before lowering them to their baby's face once more as a small smile formed on his lips.
"Oh Ryan if you only knew the things I'm going to be doing to your Mommy today after you and your sister leave. They way I'm gonna have your Mommy moaning out my name when I -" House started to whisper.
"Stop it!" Cuddy gasped in shock, starling Ryan who looked up at her with a 'what the hell Mom' look as his little forehead creased.
"Oh Ryan ..it's ok..honey." Cuddy quickly cooed softly down to the infant, gently starting to rock him before looking up at House once more with a displeased expression.
"What? It's not like Ryan even understands a word I'm saying to you anyway." House said to her with a wise ass grin.
"In case you've forgotten …our daughter is in the next room. What if Jessica would have overheard you just now?" Cuddy reminded him with an irritated tone before carefully handing the baby to him and closing up her robe as Ryan had finished nursing.
House let out a snort, holding Ryan with one arm while reaching for the burping cloth on the back of the rocking chair with the other.
"Jess is too pissed off at you right now for not letting her wear shorts today to even care what I just said." He informed her, placing the burping cloth over his shoulder and positioning Ryan up against it just as their daughter entered into the room.
"Ok Daddy I'm ready to go!" The little girl announced, with her dark curls spilling over her shoulders and framing her face as she stood before her parents, dressed in blue jeans and a white t-shirt with the phrase "That's How I Roll" written across it in pink lettering accompanied by the picture of a pink and black motorcycle sitting underneath the saying.
Cuddy eyed her daughter suspiciously, "Come over her Jess." She said softly as House started to gently pat Ryan on his back…watching with interest as their daughter skipped over to her Mother.
"Don't I look cute today Mommy?" Jessica questioned happily, placing her hands on her hips to show off the clothes she was wearing.
"You look very cute, but did you remember put your shorts away like I asked you to?" Cuddy questioned, while keeping her gaze focused on her daughter.
"Yep!" Jessica replied with a grin, leaning forward and placing her hands on her Mommy's knees that were covered up by the long robe she was wearing.
"Are you sure you put them away Jessica?" Cuddy asked once more as her eyes searched the little girl's face.
"Yes Mommy, I put them away in my dresser just like you told me to. Now give me a hug before Daddy's takes me to Ethan's house." Jessica responded with a very sweet smile before leaning forward and embracing her.
"I'm really going to miss you Mommy." The little girl then whispered into the crook of Cuddy's neck as she held her close.
"And I'm going to miss you too sweetie, but before you go with Daddy you need to take off those shorts you've got hidden underneath your jeans and put them back in your dresser like I told you to." Cuddy informed her daughter while reaching down and tugging at the small, pink elastic waistband that had become exposed to her when Jessica had initiated their hug.
"Ohhh….Rugrat...looks like you've been busted by the law!" House said from above them with a grin iwith his voice soon followed by the loud burp escaping Ryan's mouth.
House held out the baby in front of him, "Way to show that breast milk who's boss kid!" He then added proudly, looking into Ryan's grey eyes that were wide awake and filled with wonder.
"But Mommy! Please! I really want to wear these shorts!" Jessica protested from belwo him while stepping back from Cuddy and stomping her left foot.
"Jessica," Cuddy started to say, adding a bit of sternness to her voice in order get her point across, "I told you it's still too cold out for shorts. Now you can either take them off like I asked you to or you can keep them on and not go outside or to Ethan's today for disobeying me." She instructed.
Jessica pushed out her bottom lip and crossed her arms in front of her, "But I really like these shorts and I want to wear them Mommy." The little girl pushed before glancing up at her Daddy with a beseeching look.
"Hey don't look at me kid…Mommy told me I couldn't wear shorts today either. In fact Mommy just told me before you came in her that I had to run around inside the house naked today after you went to Ethan's." House replied back to her with a smirk while noticing Cuddy shooting him a glare from the corner of his right eye.
"Thanks again Mom." Cuddy said a short while later after House had left with Jessica for Wilson's and as Ruth and Bill stood inside the living room with her.
"Lisa …how many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to thank me for spending time with one of my grandchildren." Ruth reminded her daughter as Cuddy handed a sleeping Ryan over to her and Bill grabbed the diaper bag off of the couch.
"I know Mom……I just really appreciate how much you and Bill help out with the kids. I honestly don't know what I'd do without the both of you." Cuddy replied with a soft smile.
"Well lucky for you and thanks to Blythe decision to movie to Princeton you'll now have another doting grandparent who wants to spend time with your kids." Ruth responded as she gently rocked Ryan in her arms.
"Is Blythe still coming over to your place for dinner tonight?" Cuddy asked.
"Yes." Ruth answered.
"Is she still doing ok? I mean I know Greg's been talking to her everyday and she tells him how much you guys have been making her feel welcome here since we've been tied up so much with the kids lately." Cuddy questioned with concern.
"Blythe is doing just fine Lisa." Bill assured her, "In fact it's almost as if she's had a huge weight lifted off of her shoulders and the way she carries on and jokes with both your Mom and me makes us feel as if we've known her for a lifetime."
"That's such great news." Cuddy said with another small smile, happy that fate was being so kind to the mother-in-law she adored and who truly deserved as much happiness that her heart could handle right now.
"Greg? What a surprise!" Blythe said with a smile as she opened up the door to her apartment, leaning towards her son and kissing him on the cheek.
"Hi Mom." House replied in a soft voice, breathing in the smell of her perfume through his nose as her lips pressed against his stubble. It was the same soft and comforting scent she had worn for as long as he could remember and was the part of her that he could always conjure up inside of his mind whenever he needed to feel her presence from the miles that had stretched out between them before she had moved here.
"Hi Grammy!" Jessica said with a happy voice from beneath them with a smile stretching the corners of her adorable face.
"Hi sweetheart! Did you and your Daddy decide to come and visit me first before going over to Ethan's?" Blythe asked with another smile as picked up the petite little girl, hugging her as she balanced Jess's weight on the side of her hip.
"Yep and we also brought you something too!" Jessica announced with an excited tone.
"You did?" Blythe questioned back to her granddaughter, setting the little girl down as she glanced over at her son with a curious expression upon her face.
"Hurry and give Grammy her present Daddy!" Jessica urged to her Father as soon as her feet had touched the floor again.
"How about if we step inside first?" House prompted down to his daughter, nodding for Jess to take a few steps forward as he reached just outside the doorway for the large brown paper bag he had placed there a moment ago before stepping inside himself and shutting the door behind them.
"Did you leave your cane out in the car just so you could bring that up to me?" Blythe asked with a somewhat worried expression as she began to walk over towards the living room inside the apartment.
"I'm fine Mom." House assured her while he and Jessica followed her over to the couch.
"Ok Daddy we're inside now….so hurry up and give Grammy her present!" Jessica urged to him once more as they all sat down on the couch together.
"She gets that from her Mommy." House informed hiw own Mom with smile, amused at how excited Jess was about the gift as he then carefully placed the large brown bag onto his mother's lap.
"Surprise and happy housewarming." He whispered to her next with a small smile.
"Oh.... this is pretty heavy." Blythe commented as she pulled out the wrapped gift from inside the bag.
"Open it up Grammy!" Jessica said from where she sat between the two of them on the couch.
"Greg, you really didn't have to get me anything…" Blythe started to say before she gasped in surprised as she tore open the wrapping paper and saw what had been concealed beneath it.
Sitting on her lap was a very high-end Watercolor painting kit, complete with brushes, a very nice assortment paints in plastic tubes, a wooden artist easel as well as a wooden palate to squirt out the paint and mix the colors if the artist so desired.
"Do you like it Grammy?" Jessica asked as she placed her hand on top of Blythe's.
"I love it." Blythe whispered, looking over at her son and deeply touched by the gift he had given to her.
"I know how much you enjoy painting and wasn't sure how much of your stuff was still at the house…so…I wanted to make sure if you felt inspired by your new scenery you'd have everything you needed to paint to your heart's content." House explained to his Mom as the fingers of her right hand moved delicately over the clear, hard plastic case of the kit with Jessica's hand still resting on top of it.
"Thank you so much Greg, I can't even begin to tell you how much this means to me." Blythe whispered sincerely to him in return, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek once more.
"Grammy..... one day when I come to visit you will you paint a picture of me?" Jessica asked with a wide grin as Blythe leaned back onto the couch once more.
"Of course I will sweetie." Blythe replied in a soft voice, wrapping her arm around Jessica's shoulder and giving her a hug as she looked over at her son again. Finding him staring back at with those amazing blue eyes of his and knowing in her heart that for all the heartache they had both been through, his heart had indeed survived of all the struggles life had thrown at it..... growing all more the stronger because of them.
After dropping of Jessica at Wilson's and bullshitting with his best friend for a few minutes, House had started to make his way back home, stopping at a few places along the way before pulling his car into the garage and shutting off the engine.
Walking into the kitchen he was once more whistling a tune while carrying several bags plastic bags in his left hand, watching as Cuddy turned to face him from where she was standing by the sink, taking a last sip of her morning coffee.
"Oh great." House grumbled under his breath with a displeased expression.
"What's wrong?" Cuddy asked with confusion.
"Why did you change into that?" House questioned as he motioned with his head over at the tight pink t-shirt and faded denim jeans his wife had changed into after he had left.
"Excuse me?" Cuddy questioned back to him, arching an eyebrow as she sat her coffee cup down onto the counter top beside her.
TO BE CONTINUED............... ;)
