"Happiness is only real when shared"

Jon Krakauer

Chapter 36

"Happy anniversary!"

I cheer when House blows the one and only candle there is on the cake. He gives a kiss on each of the twins' cheek. Each is sitting on one of his knees and our eyes meet for a second. He slightly nods and I smile at him. I look at House's mum, Wilson, Cuddy and Rachel, Cameron, Chase, Foreman and his wife, Aaliyah. We are celebrating House's first year without drug. I hardly believe one year has passed by since he quitted Vicodin. Again. But this time he has held on. We all eat the cake joyfully, enjoying this simple but so important moment supported by family and friends. I see House wincing and I quickly join him and take Oliver, who was sitting on his right leg, in my arms. He nods again at me and Oliver cuddles up against me. I notice Aaliyah's look on me and Oliver.

"When is your turn?"

She gives me an inquiring look:

"I see how you look at the kids", I explain. "Foreman would be a great father."

"I know. I don't know if I'm ready, I don't know if we are ready."

"Stop wondering. You're never ready for it. But you'll make it."

"Let's hope so", she says, smiling.

I smile back and put Oliver down on the ground. He clumsily takes a few steps before falling brutally. Foreman rushes at him and takes him in his arms: Oliver is sobbing, but I guess it's more with surprise and fear than pain. I give Aaliyah a knowing look and she silently chuckles. I really hope they'll soon have their own family. My eyes then stare at Cuddy and Wilson. They are chatting together, Rachel is in her mother's arms, they smile and laugh. But they're just friends. Wilson had told House he had kissed Cuddy, but they decided it was better that they remain friends. I think Wilson has never succeeded in forgetting Amber and Cuddy is probably unable to trust another man after what happened with House, after all these years of both mutual attraction and disappointments. I am thinking about all this stuff when I feel House's hand in mine. I turn to him, he puts a finger on his lips, so I remain silent and he takes me into another room. Once the door is closed, he starts kissing me as if he wanted us to make love. But he doesn't undress me. After the great kiss, he just leans his forehead against mine and whispers:

"Thank you."

"What for?" I ask.

"For this anniversary, for this whole year, for the months before that, for my life since you had agreed to give me the chance to be with you."

I smile at him:

"You took this chance remember? You didn't resist."

"I remember", he says with a smile. "Maybe we should play this scene again. It was really great."

"The things that came after were so much greater, don't you think?"

His eyes darken suddenly and his smile fades away. I understand and stammer:

"Oh God… I… I didn't mean… Oh God I'm awful!"

"No, no, come on. It's okay. You are right. We have the twins, good friends, a very well paid job…"

"By the way, how did you get this raise?" I ask.

House has got a raise and he didn't tell me why.

"I just paid compliments to Cuddy's butt. She gets grateful as she grows older."

I gently slap his shoulder:

"Come on tell me."

"Well, in case you didn't notice, we have not lost a single patient for a while. So Cuddy decided to reward my awesomeness."

"Why were you the only one to get a raise?"

He is about to answer when we hear Wilson calling at him. House shouts:

"I'm screwing my wife!"

I give him a very excited look: even though we're not married and we'll probably never be, I just love when he calls me his wife. It's a powerful turn on for me and this little bastard knows it very well. I start unbuttoning his pants:

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Preventing you from saying a nasty lie."

Horny, I stick to him, kiss his neck, his jaws, his lips. Suddenly, the door opens on Wilson.

"Wilson, fuck!" House moans. "Go away!"

"Can't you wait for us to be gone?" Wilson asks.

"No!" we both shout.

House slams the door in his face and we get back to what we had just begun.

"Woh", I go, panting.

House falls on the bed next to me, panting too, in a sweat.

"Yeah, right you are".

It's the middle of the night, the kids are asleep for a long time, family and friends have left after dinner and it's the third time we've made love during the day. I sigh with satisfaction and cuddle up against him. He starts stroking my arms, laying on his chest.

"I was wondering if you'd like another kid."

I look up at him:

"What?"

"Well, I don't know, I was wondering… Most women want to live two different pregnancies. Of course I'm not really counting Gabriel because, well, it was not a pregnancy that came to a good end."

"I… I don't know what to say. I thought you had enough of kids."

He slightly shrugs and turns to me:

"I'll never have enough of your big boobs. And they're never as big as when you're pregnant…or breastfeeding."

"So you want to get me preggo so I have bigger boobs?"

"No… Come on… I'm not gonna beg you. If you don't want to, fine by me. But if you're okay, well, I just wanted you to know I'm not against another baby, that's all."

"Well, I'll think about it. I can't really give you an answer right now. But… I'd like to enjoy the twins a little more."

"Another baby won't replace these ones you know?"

"Of course I know dumbass. But I want to focus on them, that's what I wanted to say."

"Okay. I understand."

He opens his arms wide and I cuddle him with happiness. After a few minutes, while I'm still thinking about his proposition, he starts snoring and I realize he's asleep. I sigh, and stare at the wall in front of me for a good part of the night.