AdeleParker…I agree, there is definitely some OOC-ness and I'm not thrilled with it. Every time I try to get House back to the way I want him to be, I end up writing him even more OOC than before (Cuddy too for that matter). I've resigned myself to the fact that he's just a softy in this fic. Kids can change people, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, LOL. I figure if I'm supposed to believe a man with a severely damaged leg could suddenly walk and run just fine in season 3, then I think I could believe he might secretly be able to love a child despite his curmudgeonly ways. Thanks for being honest in your review, glad you're enjoying the story.

Thanks to those who are hanging in there, this has certainly turned out to be a bigger fic than I ever imagined. And thanks to those who review, especially to those who have been here since the beginning!

Chapter 37

The next afternoon, Cuddy stood in the nursery staring down at a sleeping Mia; House sat in the living room watching his soap. Mia was finally home. Cuddy closed the nursery door behind her and walked out to the living room and sat down in the chair adjacent to the recliner.

"I can't believe she's home."

"Shhh, this is the important part."

"House, you could stop watching this for a month and come back to find them in the exact same conversation."

"Shhh!"

Cuddy frowned as she walked into the kitchen to prepare a few bottles. She found that she enjoyed making the bottles, glad to finally have someone to fix a bottle for. Mia was doing well; the nasal cannula had been removed, no more tubes, wires or lines sticking out of her little body. She would have a scar the length of her chest resembling a zipper, but otherwise Mia looked like any other baby. She was still fragile and she would require frequent visits to the pediatrician and an occasional visit with McMillen for a while and antibiotics when she needed dental care, but at that moment, she was definitely healthier than she had ever been. Cuddy was advised to keep her at home and limit her trips outside of the house until Mia's immune system could recoup.

House stood in the doorway watching Cuddy make the bottles. A twinge of fear shot up his spine at the thought of twice the diapers and twice the bottles that would be needed in just a few short months. And a distinct thought crossed his mind, he was definitely not ready to be a father.

"George is dying of cancer."

Without turning to look at him she said, "Who's George?"

"Melanie's ex-boyfriend and father of the son she thinks is Brodie's."

"How can you watch that junk?"

"It's good for diagnostics."

"Right."

"I think I'll head home for a while." House said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Cuddy looked at him confused, "Why?"

"Things I need to do."

"You'll be back?"

"I'm not walking out on you."

She eyed him suspiciously, "Okay."

He needed a break, time to think. House sat on his couch mindlessly flipping through the television channels, completely unaware that three hours had passed in seemingly the blink of an eye when his phone rang. He leaned his head back on the couch, not wanting to answer it, not wanting to hear Cuddy's concerned voice asking if he was coming back, or Wilson's attempts to find out if everything was okay. He let the machine pick up.

"House? House, I know you're there. Pick up." Wilson paused, waiting for a response, "House pick up the damned phone. Cuddy's in the hospital."

House's eyes grew wide as a ball of fiery embers settled in his gut. In a flash, he whipped around and answered the phone, "I'm on my way," he said, intending to hang up the phone as he heard Wilson shout.

"House wait, no I just wanted you to pick up."

"You're an ass." He said, placing the receiver to his ear.

"She's fine." Wilson said, smiling at how concerned House sounded in his response. "I'm just checking in. Cuddy said you left this afternoon."

"I had some work to do here."

"Watching Spongebob is not work."

"What do you want Wilson?"

"Dinner, I'm buying."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" House quipped.

"If you want to call it a date and if it gets you out of your funk, fine. It's a date."

"You always say the sweetest things."

"Pick you up in ten minutes, where something blue, it brings out your eyes."

House chuckled as he hung up the phone.

"Just so you know, cry wolf about Cuddy in hospital again, and you'll wonder why every gay man in the state has your phone number." House said, shoving a slice of pizza into his mouth.

Wilson averted his eyes guiltily, "Sorry." Looking up and hoping House would recognize his teasing he said, "So are you ready to be a dad?"

"New rule, you're not allowed to talk about Cuddy."

"Hey, I wasn't talking about her." Wilson said with a smile. House gave his friend a warning look while shaking his head. Wilson changed the subject, "So did you get your invitation?"

"What invitation?"

"I guess that would be a no. It's probably at Cu…oh never mind. Chase and Cameron are getting married in late June."

House rolled his eyes, "I'm not going."

"Why not?"

"Suit, co-workers, Cameron, Chase. Need I say more?"

"Free food and booze."

"For the cost of a stupid gift they'll just exchange later."

"You're in a great mood."

House filled his cheeks with air, raised his eyebrows and blew the air out of his mouth, "I'm too old for this."

Trying not to push his friend into talking, but hoping he would, Wilson said, "A little late for that."

"When he graduates from high school, they'll think I'm his grandpa."

"You're not that old."

"Fifty-five with a kindergartner."

"Not a whole lot you can do about it now." Wilson tried to make light of the situation, "Just imagine, you'll have plenty of time to teach him or her how to drive."

"Only because I'll be retired."

"Better than if you'd gotten some girl pregnant while you were in high school."

"Small consolation."

"You'd have a kid old enough to be a fellow."

"Thanks, that makes me feel loads better." House said sarcastically.

As they finished eating, Wilson looked at House, "So, do want me to take you back to your place or hers?"

"Neither. There's a stop I want to make first."

Wilson waved goodbye as House made his way to Cuddy's front door, carrying two shopping bags and his backpack. Once inside House looked around for Cuddy and found her sleeping in bed, so he crept back out towards the kitchen and sat at the table. He pulled his laptop out of the backpack and unpacked the shopping bags. He placed a small stack of writable cd's on the table, followed by a new ipod, a set of head phones with large ear muffs, a small, pink cd player, and a few music cd's. House set up the new ipod, downloading dozens of songs from the internet and uploading the songs from his music cd's. He then burned a cd with a handful of the songs he downloaded.

He pocketed the ipod and headphones and grabbed the cd player before heading towards Mia's room. He set the cd player up with the newly burned cd and pressed 'play'. House adjusted the volume so that the classical music played softly, took a quick glance at a peacefully sleeping Mia and then made his way back to Cuddy's bedroom.

Once there, he removed his pants and shirt, donned a clean t-shirt and crawled into bed next to Cuddy. Trying not to wake her, he checked the sound level of the headphones before gently placing them on either side of Cuddy's still flat belly. Leaning back, he placed his head on the pillow and closed his eyes, exhausted after a long day of thinking entirely too much.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, opening her eyes to look at the headphones now resting on her stomach. She smiled, turning to look at him.

"Sean read an article about music and intelligence. My son has to live up to my genius, gotta start him young."

"Your son? Seems to me I had something to do with it. And I think she's a she."

"Wanna bet?"

"What do I get when I win."

House smiled, "When I win, no clinic hours for a month."

"And when I win, double clinic hours for a month."

"Deal. Be prepared to lose." He said.

"I wonder if Mia's birthparents did this for her."

"She's playing catch up; I've got her listening to Bach right now; Juliard you know. Oscar here gets a bit more jazz."

"Oscar?"

"Uhmm. Peterson. Best jazz pianist who ever lived."

"I'm not naming my child Oscar. Kids will make jokes about him living in a trashcan and being a grouch."

"My son. It fits."

"My daughter, nope. Let me see that thing." She said picking up the ipod, "Mayer, Peterson, U2, Mozart. Denver? You've got John Denver on here?"

"Sean suggested it. Go to sleep."

"You first."

"But mooooooom, can't I stay up just a little bit longer?"

"I have one child, one on the way, I don't need a third."

Again, and just as annoyingly, though this time unable to hide a teasing smile, he said, "But moooooom."

"Do you know how annoying you are?"

"Ya, but you love me anyway."

She looked at him, rolled her eyes and leaned in to kiss him lightly on the lips.

The week passed quickly and Cuddy fell into a routine with Mia. Caring for her seemed far easier this time than before the surgery, and her days were filled with making bottles, cleaning them, baby baths in a small blue bath tub on top of the kitchen counter, washing tiny baby clothes, changing diapers, and occasionally checking her pulse ox though it was no longer needed. Much to her dismay, she had also started throwing up routinely in the morning or coming close to it and certain smells made her stomach lurch throughout the day. It wasn't bad however, and both she and House decided no additional meds were required.

She also spent her day trying to ignore House as much as possible. While he had not yet said he wanted this child or this life, he would occasionally do something sweet, unexpected. But he would send mixed signals when in the next moment he would be unusually snarky, or in need of a reason to visit his own apartment. She imagined it was a difficult transition for him to make and she didn't dare bring up the subject of possibly living together. She grew to accept that some nights he spent with her, and they were more often than not, and other nights he needed his space, spending the night at his own place. As the week progressed, she could clearly see that House was becoming bored and she was thankful that he would be returning to work soon. As much idling as he did around the hospital, she decided most of it was likely an illusion because at home, it certainly seemed House could not sit still for more than five minutes.

Despite his outbursts, and her frustration with his aggravating ways, she was happy. By the end of the week, the idea that she was carrying a long desired baby started to feel genuine. This was real. She knew House would never be the traditional father figure or boyfriend, and she accepted that.

On the evening before House was to return to work, Cuddy sat on the couch as House flipped aimlessly through the channels. She had the headphones on her belly, Mia was fast asleep in the nearby bassinet and without knowing it, Cuddy sat with her eyes closed, a smile across her face and her hand rubbing her belly, dreaming about names.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

"You don't want to know."

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know."

"Names."

"I thought we settled on Oscar, or Oscarette." He said with a grin.

"I was thinking Evan or Emma."

"And you're worried about kids picking on him over Oscar? Evan is too girly."

"What about Emma?"

"I don't care what you call her since he will be a boy."

"So if it's a girl, I can name her whatever I like?"

"Only if I get to choose the name if he's a boy."

"Anything other than Oscar."

"Fine, how about Thor?"

She rolled her eyes, "Something preferably not related to a comic strip would be good."

"Deal then?"

"Deal. Any ideas?"

"Nope."

"If it's a girl, I thought we could call her Emma Blythe." House turned sharply at the sound of his mother's name, but said nothing.

"Emma was my favorite aunt's name." She said.

He said nothing, just sat there. She wondered if she'd said too much, if suggesting Blythe had been a mistake, "Hey, did you hear me?"

He nodded almost imperceptibly, "Emma Blythe is good." Adding quietly, "We should tell our parents."

"Not yet. Not until the first trimester is over."

"Everything will be fine, we don't need to wait that long."

"You don't know that. I'm not in my twenties anymore; miscarriages happen more frequently in women of my age and with my history…" She let her voice trail off, not wanting to think of the possibilities.

House shifted uncomfortably in his seat but chose to keep quiet, not wanting to upset her with an argument. He was acutely aware that her stress levels were likely higher now than before and as unsure about this pregnancy as he was, he couldn't deny that he now shared an undeniable link with Cuddy. They had created a life and he felt responsible for it, and ultimately he felt that way about Cuddy too, though he would never verbalize it. It was all he could do to keep himself in check. He tried not to snark too much, allowing only the snarks he thought she'd find funny to be heard, stifling the more hurtful remarks in an effort to avoid giving her any additional stress. He did his best, but when he couldn't take the closed in feeling he sometimes felt when thinking about the enormity of the situation, he would return to his apartment, or take a long ride on his motorcycle (which he of course did not tell her about since she'd worry about him on the bike). He hated the domesticity of it all. It wore on his very last nerve. Never in all his life did House look more forward to returning to work the following day as he did right then and there, sitting in her living room.