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House arrived at Cuddy's house at exactly eight o'clock. He let himself in with the key she had let him borrow for the night and found Rachel sitting on the couch watching a program on the television. She looked only mildly interested in what was flowing across the screen. House estimated that this wasn't Rachel's favorite show...not by a long shot.

"Hey kiddo," House said as he walked over to the couch and announced his presence.

Instantly, Rachel sat up on the couch, a delighted expression forming on her face, "Hi House! What are you doing here?"

"I'm gonna stay here until your mom gets home," He explained, sitting down next to her.

"Wanna play a game?" She asked, tapping him on the shoulder even though she already had his full attention.

House sighed, "Not really." His tone was sweet; he had to let her down easy.

Rachel disregarded his answer and pressed the matter, "Hide and seek?"

"What part of 'not really' did you not get?"

Rachel's face twisted into confusion, "What?"

He shut his eyes tightly for a few seconds then sighed once more, "Never mind...tell you what: you go hide, and I'll count to fifteen then come find you, alright?"

Instantly, she lurched off the couch and ran down the hallway, the sound of her bare feet resonating throughout the house.

He leaned back and grabbed the TV remote. Just to humor himself, he began counting out loud, though he had no intention of actually looking for her, "One, two, three, four, five...eleven...twelve, fifteen." It wasn't an honest effort, but it was one he could live with.

About thirty minutes later, Rachel came walking in slowly. She pulled herself onto the couch next to House and folded her arms across her chest. She wasn't upset, but she appeared to be disgusted.

"You stink at this game," She suddenly said, looking over at him.

House shrugged and didn't take his eyes off the television, "You can't be good looking and good at hide and seek. It's a law of nature."

Rachel shook her head, "You're silly."

He turned to look at her this time, "And hide and seek is stupid. We both lose."

[H] [H] [H] [H] [H] [H]

It was time for Rachel to go to bed now, and House wasn't entirely sure about the situation. He pushed himself off of the couch and followed her into her room.

"Time for bed already, huh?" He asked.

Rachel climbed into her bed without answering him and looked up at him expectantly.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to tuck me in?"

"Sure," House said. He walked over to her bed and pulled the sheets over her legs and stomach, then patted them down. Admittedly, it wasn't a very good job of tucking in, but he knew it would be enough to satisfy Rachel.

"Goodnight, House," Rachel said, sweetly.

"Goodnight, kid," With that, he turned and left her room. His heart was about to beat out of his chest.

He had pulled it off. House himself had his doubts about his ability to be a father, but he was trying to learn. He had to in order to be with Cuddy. House knew that being with her was a package deal.

As soon as House had made it back into the living room, Cuddy walked through the door.

"Hey," She said softly, her blue green eyes mirroring the wide smile on her lips. "How did it go?"

House gave her a crooked grin, "Fine. She's in bed."

He could tell that his words gave her peace. "Great," She said. "Thank you."

"Yep," He said, a stiff silence filling the air. He turned and sat down on the couch.

"You okay?" She asked, draping her suit jacket over the back of the couch.

"Yeah. Just thinking about my case."

Cuddy wasn't entirely convinced, but she didn't try to probe for information. "Right. You want some tea or anything?"

"No thanks. I think I'm gonna go."

She would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed, "You're sure?"

"Unless you want me to stay a little while."

She wanted to scream for him to stay, but she didn't want to seem too eager. Instead, she put the pressure on him, "That's up to you."

He looked at her face and could see the pleading look her eyes betrayed to him. "I guess I'll stay for a few minutes."

It was hard for her to hide her satisfaction at that fact. "Okay. I'm gonna go wash up and check on Rachel. I'll be back in a few minutes."

[H] [H] [H] [H] [H] [H]

Cuddy took her time and returned back to the living room about fifteen minutes later. She found House watching the weather channel. A smile danced across her lips and she sat down next to him.

"The weather channel?" She questioned. "I hardly pinned you as a guy who's interested in the weather."

House shrugged and turned the television off. "Nothing else was on."

"So...what's going on with your patient?"

House frowned, "I don't know."

"How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad. It could be any number of things but by the time we're done testing, he'll be dead." This case troubled him greatly. It was pushing him and working his mind harder than it had been worked in a long time.

"So what's the plan, then?" She was trying to assume her Dean of Medicine role while also trying to get House to open up to her on a more personal level about his job.

"I don't have one," He admitted. "I guess we'll just do what we can until we run out of options."

Cuddy understood what "running out of options" meant, and that worried her. She knew how House could get when he lost patients. It was always ugly.

A few minutes passed and House stood suddenly, "Well, I should be going."

Cuddy stood up and walked him to the door, "Alright. See you tomorrow. Thank you for doing this, House."

House nodded and stood across from her, "You're welcome."

Cuddy pulled him into a hug. House wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and they stood in silence for a few minutes. She was so proud of him for being there for her tonight, stepping up, and taking care of her daughter. When she pulled away, she kissed him tenderly on the cheek, and smiled softly up at him. "Goodnight, House."

"Goodnight, Cuddy."