Chapter 29: Consequences (part 2)

House and Cuddy sat in the front of the restaurant as they waited to be seated. Before they left they each knew that they would have to wait a while, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that for a little bit, a few hours, they were distracted from the problems that they currently faced.

With the room filled with people talking about miniscule things such as how they looked, what party to go to, it was hard to think about the things that really were important. Well, it was for a little bit. Cuddy though had begun to block them out, all she could hear was the voices all joined together to create an incoherent mumble. Blankly staring forward, she began to evaluate herself.

It was hard to forget about everything back home, especially when you knew you had to return to it soon. A little less than a year ago, she had everything planned out. Ahead of her, she had the perfect life. By now, she had planned to be married and have three healthy kids. What did she have now? A man who got too scared to marry her, three healthy kids, one sick kid and one on the way. Her and House fought every time that Elisabeth got sick, and they were now both stressed out.

Every expectation that she had, had been crumbled before her eyes. House not marrying her wasn't so bad. That she could live with, it was when she heard that Elisabeth was sick. The moment that she found out, she felt her heart being strangled. Everything that she had worked for, and everything that she had gotten was all thrown out the window with that one announcement. She loved Elisabeth, she truly did, it was just hard for her to sit there and see her baby girl sick. It was as if she had been slapped in the face, life showing her that she could never truly get what she wanted.

It was getting to the point where she wanted to give up. Rachel and Jessica were healthy, and she was grateful for that, but four babies with one sick wasn't going to be easy. Sure, Gabrielle could help, that's all fine and well until she decides to move out and start her own life. And what if this baby was sick?

Cuddy's hand protectively moved over her abdomen. That was the one thing she hadn't thought about yet. What if that baby was going to be like Elisabeth? What if they would have to spend half their time in the hospital?

House looked over to check on Cuddy. He could tell what she was thinking about, but he didn't want to talk about it. Not now, not while they were out. Maybe tomorrow. He had to get her mind onto something else. "So, what did you wanna do after this?" he questioned.

Cuddy snapped out of her thoughts and removed her hand from her abdomen, as if she were afraid that he would notice. "I don't know," she answered. "I thought we were going home after this," she admitted.

House shrugged as he leaned his head back against the wall. "I just wanted to make sure that you got to do what you wanted tonight. It might be a while before we get to go back out again," he explained. He knew that this would get her back on the topic of the baby, but, it didn't matter. With the way things were going, it would probably come up no matter what was said or done.

"Yeah," Cuddy breathed out. Her eyes drifted to the floor.

House sighed and slightly rolled his eyes. Cuddy wasn't going to be getting better anytime soon. He would just have to sit there and watch her as she thought about every little that could go wrong. There were little things he could do to temporarily help her, but nothing would last long term until that baby was born.

Badly, he wanted to be able to tell her that everything was going to be okay. That would be lying though. He had no clue as to whether or not they could handle this, if this baby was going to be healthy. These were things that they would have to wait to find out.

House put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. This action took Cuddy by surprise at first. Staring up to him with confusion, she just saw him slightly smirk, his attempt to smile. In response, she laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around him.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

It was around ten thirty as Gabrielle stood in front of the mirror. She was getting ready to go out and meet up with Andy as soon as House and Cuddy got back home.

Tonight was going to be an awkward night, she knew that was the only way that it could be. Andy still had feelings for her, and she was going to meet with him, alone. Was it risky? Yes. Was it a stupid idea? Yes. Did she need him though? Yes.

Her parents were both a bit stressed. House didn't show it like Cuddy did, but she could tell. It was the little things that were starting to get to her, the way that House was a bit more irritable, not much more, but enough for her to notice. The way that Cuddy had grown a bit distant.

She had been through this before, but that didn't mean that she liked it. She was irritated and having to hold everything back to keep those two from falling apart, and she hated it. She could talk to Cori and Ally, but Andy knew her better than most people. He and Marcy were the ones who knew the best, and right now, she didn't have Marcy with her.

"I guess now all I have left to do is wait," she said to herself. The reflection looking back at her showed how perfect she looked on the outside. Her hair was neatly done, her make up perfect with a flattering outfit. On the inside though, she was nervous. Her heart was racing, she had used her inhaler already. This was a night where everything could turn out good, or everything could go horribly wrong. There was no in between.

She grabbed her purse and headed down to the living room. All she could do was hope that House and Cuddy would be back soon and that everything would go all right tonight.

It was right after she sat down on the couch that House walked in with his arm around Cuddy. She turned around to see how they were doing, but didn't see much. The two parted and took their coats off. Not a single word was spoken between them as House took their coats and hung them up while Cuddy headed up stairs.

Gabrielle carefully stood up and walked over to House. "What happened?" she asked.

House let out an exasperated sigh. "She enjoyed herself through dinner. On our way home we got in an argument," he answered.

"About what?" Gabrielle questioned.

House shrugged. "Don't you think I would have stuck that in there if I knew?" he asked before heading towards the living room.

Gabrielle stood there and watched him walk away. She wanted to ask more questions, but she knew that he was already irritated. Besides, he truly did seem to know nothing about what had happened.

Really, she wanted to ignore the two and go off to see Andy, but she couldn't. Instead she went up to see how Cuddy was doing.

She made her way to the top of the stairs and quickly examined her surroundings before heading down the hall to her parent's bedroom. The door was wide open, so she just went ahead and walked in.

Gabrielle stopped right inside the doorway and saw Cuddy standing in front of the mirror with her pajamas on as she brushed her hair. "What?" she asked without taking her eyes off her own reflection.

Gabrielle could hear it in her voice, she had been crying. Was this really what she needed to be doing tonight? Did she really have to find out what was going on between those two? "Never mind," she responded, convincing herself that sometimes, somethings were better kept secret.

"No twenty questions tonight?" Cuddy sharply asked.

"No," Gabrielle said as she shook her head. She turned and left the room.

Cuddy sighed. Briefly closing her eyes, she lowered her head and wondered why she did that. She had just sent away someone willing to talk to her. Lifting her head back up, she opened her eyes and looked over towards the doorway. It didn't matter, she had nothing to say. There was nothing that either House or Gabrielle didn't already know. She had already pushed House away, why not everyone else?

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Andy sat in his hotel room as he checked the time. It was almost eleven forty five. He sighed as he plopped down on the bed. He was pretty sure that she had stood him up.

He jumped up as soon as he heard a knock at the door. It had to be her, he thought. He was excited to learn that he was correct. "Hey Gabi," he greeted upon opening the door.

"Hey," she responded as she walked passed him over to the bed.

Andy stood back and watched as she set her purse down and grabbed a glass of champagne that he had sitting out to wait until midnight. The young girl took a sip and then set the glass down before sitting on the edge of the bed. "Why did you want me here?" she asked.

Andy shut the door and shrugged as he went to join her. "I wanted to see you," he replied. "I thought it would be nice to meet up with each other, alone. The way we used to," he confessed as he set beside her.

Gabrielle turned to him. There was no emotion within the ice blue eyes that stared into his. She wanted to tell him, she wanted to just blurt everything out to him. There was nothing though, no sound. Instead, she leaned in and kissed him. Andy accepted the kiss and wrapped his arms around her and embraced her.

Gabrielle wrapped her arms around him and held on. As they kissed, she closed her eyes to try and prevent the tears that were threatening to fall. The unshed tears of the thigns that she had kept bottled up for a while. Both parents were stressed, Cuddy was distant, there was going to be another baby to add more stress in the house, it had been a year since her mother had died and to celebrate that her father was in the hospital in a coma. Everything that had just been building up was slowly, but surely coming out.

Andy pulled back as soon as he felt Gabrielle begin to cry and then took her back into his embrace. There was no questioning her tears, he just sat there and held her as she cried.

After a few moments passed, Gabrielle pulled back and grabbed her glass off the nightstand. "To the new year!" she announced. "I hope you're a hell of a lot better than the last," she requested before taking a gulp.

Andy sat there and watched her. He knew that she did this from time to time, but right now, she was starting to worry him. "Is there something that I should know about?" he questioned.

Gabrielle set the glass back down and shrugged. "All you need to know right now is that I need you and I am glad that you're here tonight," she stated.

The answer bothered Andy, but he didn't say anything. She was fragile right now, and he didn't need to make anything worse than it was right now. "Glad I could help you," he simply responded.

Gabrielle nodded as she grabbed his hand. She positioned herself to completely face Andy and grabbed his face with her hands and kissed him. He grabbed hold of her wrists, but didn't pull away. Instead, he just allowed her to continue to kiss him. Seductively, she sat up and knelt over him, forcing him onto his back. That was when Andy gently pushed her off of him.

"Maybe I should take you home," he suggested.

Gabrielle took a minute to gather her thoughts. "Maybe I should just go by myself," she said as she sat back. "I'm so sorry," she apologized as she hastily stood up and grabbed her purse. "I just, I don't know," she said as she left.

Andy sighed after watching her leave. "For a virgin, she sure has come close so many times," he said to himself.