A.N.: I send my apologies to anyone reading Maybe I'm Amazed. I have hit yet another wall. I have the huge problem of thinking that almost everything I think of to do with them is extremely corny. For some reason Wuddy feels so much fluffier than Huddy. xD Can't imagine why. In any case, I have merely pressed pause. It is in no way abandoned. I am sorry to be doing this so frequently, but blame my muse please.
Anyway, on with the show.
I do not own.
December
House was released shortly after he woke from his coma. Normally he would have stayed in the hospital for further observation, but all of his checks were turning up fine, and he also happened to be the worst behaved patient that PPTH had ever had. He scared off every nurse, and even some of the most respected doctors in the hospital refused to go near him. Luckily he was surround by the only doctors he really needed. Cuddy and Wilson kept close eyes on him, and only let him return home under the condition that he rest until his stitches were removed. Unfortunately House was not only a bad patient, but he was also horrible at following discharge instructions. No matter how much Cuddy fussed, he would not just rest. He chased Gwen in the backyard throwing snowballs. He went out for walks when she turned her back on him. She had never been so relieved in her life to remove someone's stitches. He had not shown any concern for popping his stitches, but she certainly did. It was hard to fuss too much, though. Cuddy knew that the fact that he could walk and even run short distances without pain was a huge feat for him. He was most literally stretching his legs. She had not seen him so happy in years. His happiness was contagious. Gwen felt it, and so did Cuddy. The Cuddy-Household was in an absolute state of bliss, but in the back of both adults the fear that it would not last was constantly there. They just built up walls around it. Enjoying it was so much more important than worrying about it. They could deal with that when the time came.
On Christmas Eve morning Cuddy slept soundly in the bed she shared with House. At some point in the night she had curled herself into a ball with her covers pulled up to her neck. Normally she would have worked on Christmas Eve since, as a Jew, she did not observe it, but House had insisted that they celebrate to 'give Gwen the chance to choose her own path'. This coming from her Atheist lover. She was certain that he was just being obstinate for the sake of it, but she had gotten his willing participation in Hanukkah in exchange for it, so she agreed. Tonight they had plans to watch Christmas movies as a family and tomorrow they would observe Christmas in the company of Wilson and his new girlfriend. She was certain that Christmas day would be full of jokes about the Jews around the Christmas tree from House, but it would probably prove to be fun none the less.
House, however, had been up for the last hour. After a failed attempt to fall back asleep he got himself up and made a pot of coffee. A brief look through the channels confirmed the fact that there was not a damn thing on tv. He was bored and a bit ancy. He decided a run would best cure this, but he refused to go alone. With that decided he crawled back into bed and poked Cuddy in the side. When that got him a groan he spoke up, "Get up!"
Cuddy groaned yet again and pulled the covers tighter around her, "It is my day off. Go annoy someone else."
"There is no one but our daughter who I will be getting up as well after you get your fat ass moving." He stated simply.
She turned her head a little and opened one eye to be able to look at him, "What a sweet talker. Is that really how you expect to get me up? And why do you want to bother Gwen?"
He smiled innocently, "First off, You know I worship your ass. Second, we are all going for a run. Her in the umbrella stroller. I will push this time."
"Sounds more like a jog."
He rolled his eyes and poked her side again, "You are just getting technical." He pulled on the covers trying to get her to release the vice grip on them, "Come on I want to go."
"Go aloneeeeeee." She whined.
"I want to go as a family. I can finally do this with the both of you, and I want to do it." He admitted
There was a sincerity in his voice that struck a cord with her. She let out a big sigh and released the covers, "Fine. Lets go."
He smiled triumphantly and practically bounded from the bed, or at least as close as any middle aged man could come to bounding.
The rest of the day passed without any significance. They later gathered in the living room and watched the Christmas movies complete with commentary from House about how lame claymation is, and how he didn't blame the Grinch from stealing from the annoying Who's.
Christmas morning Cuddy woke with yet another poke to her side, "House, not again. We ran yesterday. You know days off are rare for me. Take Gwen out by yourself."
"Merry Christmas, Mommy!" The oddly loud voice of her daughter let her know that it was in fact the three year old prodding her awake and not her lover.
Cuddy sat up and turned to Gwen. She smiled and gathered her daughter in her arms, "Good morning, sweetie." She told her as she kissed the top of her head, "Merry Christmas to you too."
Gwen kissed her mother's cheek with a loud smack and held out a black box, "I have a Christmas present for you."
Cuddy took the box with a grin. She was surprised that House had thought to purchase a gift from Gwen to her, "Really what is it?" She opened it to reveal a white gold princess cut engagement ring. Her mouth immediately fell open, "House?"
That was all it took for House to come in smiling like the cat that ate the canary, "Yes?"
Cuddy stared at him, "What is this?"
"Seems pretty straight forward to me." House said with a shrug.
Gwen beamed up at her mother, "We want to marry you, momma!"
House chuckled and bent down on one knee by Cuddy's side of the bed mostly just because he could, "Yeah we want to marry you, momma."
Cuddy hugged Gwen tighter, but kept her eyes on House, "Why? You hate marriage? We don't have to do this, House. Things are good. Why are you doing this?" She sounded like she was on the verge of a panic attack and she knew it. There were so many things running through her mind. She wanted it. She hated to admit it, but she did. She wanted the full family package, but he had told her so long ago that you can't always get what you want. She could live with what they had. What they had was good. It was working. She couldn't help but wonder what could possess him to want to do this. Was he scared she would leave if he didn't take this step? Had Wilson worked on him to make him think this was something she needed to feel fulfilled and happy?
House reached out and took her hand, "Calm down before you hyperventilate. I am doing this because I want to. I want us to be an official family. I want to adopt my daughter so she will have my name, and I want you to carry my name as well."
Cuddy raised an eyebrow, "So this is about your possessive nature?"
He shrugged a little, "Partially. You are right. We do not need to do this. It is just a piece of paper, but I want us to have that piece of paper. I want everyone to know that this is real. No, I don't normally give a fu..." He looked at Gwen the adjusted his wording, "Care what anyone else thinks, but I am tired of people telling you I am going to leave. I want to prove to YOU that I am in it for the long haul so that when someone brings it up you can flash that ring in their face."
"I can defend us without a ring."
"But it would be easier with it." He pressed, "I love you. I won't lie to you and tell you that this is my dream come true. I never wanted to be married, but for you I will be. I want to make you happy. I want my family officially. I want any idiot who comes within a foot of you to be able to look at your hand and see that someone loves you. Maybe that is selfish, but you can't tell me that you don't want this."
Cuddy stared at House for a second then looked at Gwen, "What do you think baby Girl?"
Gwen smiled brightly and pointed to the ring, "Daddy and I want to marry you mommy!"
Cuddy laughed and shook her head, "I like how you included her. Very manipulative."
House smiled smugly, "Well you know how I roll. Are you going to give me an answer?"
Cuddy nodded, "Yes."
"Yes is your answer, or yes you are going to give me an answer?"
"Both." She looked at Gwen and released her for the hug she had held her in, "Baby, go wait by the presents for us. We will come out and open them with you in a minute ok?"
Gwen nodded quickly and took off from the bed to the living room alive with the prospect of presents.
Once she was out of the room Cuddy faced House again, "This is a commitment House. Not just to me. To Gwen. You are promising us a family life. Nothing temporary. I will not enter this with you thinking a divorce will be an easy out. This is real, and this is forever. We can not put her through this on a whim."
House got up off his bended knee and sat down on the edge of the bed, "Do you really think I haven't thought this through? Cuddy you have been there for me for years. We have a child. This is not as sudden as it seems. To anyone else it would seem that way, but I wouldn't do this if I wasn't certain. I love Gwen and I would never do anything involving her unless I was completely sure. I can't promise you perfection, but I promise you that no matter what I will try my damnedest to make this work."
Cuddy looked at the ring then took it out of the box slipping it on her hand, "Alright, but for the record it is Cuddy-House. I am not simply taking your name no matter how much your chauvinist side may want me to."
House chuckled and leaned in to kiss her, "I would expect nothing less."
