CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

Lizzie rushed around the house, frantic.

"Slow down there love." Mrs. Pryce was nearly knocked over by the wind as Lizzie rushed past her again.

"I want everything to be perfect." Lizzie put the small vase of flowers she'd been carrying in the center of the table.

"We're having pizza dear, you needn't fuss." Mrs. Pryce helped Lizzie center the flowers.

"Mommy and Daddy are going to be in bad moods when they get home. I want to cheer them up." She smiled at Mrs. Pryce and her eyes twinkled. "They deserve something nice."

"They have something nice sweet pea." Mrs. Pryce gave Lizzie a peck on the forehead.

"Other than me silly." Lizzie ran off to the living room.

"What did you do?" Mrs. Pryce asked knowingly.

"Nothing." Lizzie smiled nervously.

"Come on, something's got you worried. You're going out of your way to please them. You're in trouble." The old lady teased.

"No I'm not." Lizzie frowned. "At least I don't think I am. Mommy's been worried about something lately. I can see it, and Daddy's been, well, he's been cooperative. That's not like him at all." Lizzie shook her head to make her point.

"No, I suppose it's not." Mrs. Pryce laughed. House was always very nice to her, nicer than she'd seen him be to anyone, but he was still a stubborn pain in the neck, and he liked it that way.

"So, I just want to do something nice for them, so they don't worry about whatever it is they're not telling me." Lizzie sighed a little sigh. She hated being left out. It was rare that her parents kept things from her. Her father especially had this idea that kids should be treated as adults, and they would let you know when they couldn't handle something.

"I think I hear their car." Mrs. Pryce leaned toward the window.

Lizzie jumped up and ran for the window before she heard the old ladies cackling laughter. "You tricked me." Lizzie stomped back to the rocking chair Mrs. Pryce was sitting on. "That's not nice."

"Lizzie, dear, don't ever confuse old with nice. Just because I look like a prune doesn't mean my sense of humor has shriveled up." The old woman smiled a dentured smile.

"I won't." Lizzie folded her arms for only a moment before laughing. She couldn't be mad at Mrs. Pryce, no matter how hard she tried. "Teach me a song."

"Please?"

Lizzie sighed impatiently. They both knew Mrs. Pryce would do what she asked. She didn't see the point in having to say please. "Please, teach me a song." She made it sound like the hardest thing she'd ever had to say.

"Alright, since you asked so nicely." Mrs. Pryce laughed.

Lizzie helped pry the old woman out of the rocking chair and walked her over to the piano. They sat side by side. Mrs. Pryce began tickling the ivory's as Lizzie watched, her fingers following Mrs. Pryce's, taping out the song on her leg.

"What's it called?"

"They Can't Take That Away From Me." Mrs. Pryce informed her, then began to sing. "the way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea, the way you sing off key..."

She was joined by a deep male voice. "No, no they can't take that away from me." House hurried to the piano and scuttled in next to Mrs. Pryce.

"The way your smile just beams...the way you haunt my dreams...the memory of all these..."

"Oh no they can't take that away from me." He watched Cuddy disappear into the other room with the pizza as he continued playing.

She returned and sat beside her daughter, swaying to the music as House and Mrs. Pryce serenaded them. When they were done, Lizzie and Cuddy clapped excitedly.

"That was lovely." Cuddy reached over and kissed House's cheek. "But we'd better eat before the pizza gets cold."

"Yay! Pizza." Lizzie ran into the kitchen, hopped on her stool and pulled off a piece. Her parents followed her into the room. "Sit. Sit. I'm going to serve you. Relax." Lizzie carried the plate over and put it in front of her mother. She wasn't surprised when she returned with the second plate and found her father had taken the first. So she put this plate in front of her mother too. Then she served Mrs. Pryce, then sat down with her own plate.

"And to what do we owe all this?" Cuddy blew on her mouth. She'd taken a hot bite.

"You're the best parents in the world and I just wanted to show my appreciation."

"What did you do?" House asked with his mouth full.

"Why does everybody assume I did something bad?" Lizzie frowned.

"I don't assume that, Lizzie." Cuddy said boastfully.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you best Mommy." Lizzie got up and threw her arms around Cuddy's neck. She planted a big wet kiss on the startled woman's cheek. "You're my favorite parent ever." Lizzie turned and stuck her tongue out at her father. Cuddy tried very hard not to laugh, well, maybe not that hard.

"Don't laugh," House snapped. "She'll turn on you too." He wrinkled his nose at his daughter and she burst into giggles.

"I would never turn on Mommy." Lizzie hugged Cuddy tighter, and her mother burst into tears.

Lizzie let go, startled. "What happened?"

House quickly gather himself. "She's just upset because she knows you really love me the most." He looked over at Cuddy who smiled gratefully. She mouthed the words thank you silently at him. "She knows I can buy your love with another piece of pizza."

Lizzie looked at her mother carefully. Cuddy was wiping her tears and smiling back at her. Mrs. Pryce was too old to hurry out of the room, so she became unhealthily fascinated by the piece of crust on her plate. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong if you don't want to. I love you anyway." Lizzie sat back down in her chair. She tried to hide her disappointment from her parents but the tone of the dinner had changed.

They all fell silent for a while. Lizzie watched her parents carefully. House was watching Cuddy carefully. Cuddy was keeping her eyes on her plate. "How did the meeting go?" Mrs. Pryce finally broke the silence. Now it was Lizzie's turn to look at her plate nervously.

"Good." House answered non-committally.

"Lizzie, Headmaster Winchester said, if you want to look into joining the band or a club, he would wave the fifth grade rule."

"Really?" Lizzie looked up.

"Don't be a joiner." House added unhelpfully.

"Don't listen to your father." Cuddy added.

"I don't know." Lizzie thought hard. "Can I sleep on it?"

"Of course. Tomorrow you should go see the headmaster. He can tell you what your choices are." Cuddy felt better now. She fought the urge to put her hand on her stomach. Lizzie was far too observant a child not to notice that.

The last miscarriage had been hard on Lizzie. It happened shortly after they told her she was going to have a little brother or sister. It was only a year ago, and Cuddy feared the memory was still as fresh in Lizzie's mind as it was in her own. Somewhere in the back of her superstitious mind, Cuddy felt that as soon as she told Lizzie, she would lose the baby.

She clenched her hand into a fist under the table. She struggled to smile. "Don't be afraid to try anything Lizzie. If you don't like it, you can change your mind."

House could see the struggle in Cuddy's eyes. "Come on, I want to do a duet." He took his daughter's hand and led her out of the room.

Mrs. Pryce walked over and put a hand on Cuddy's shoulder. "How far along are you dear?"

Cuddy burst into tears. Mrs. Pryce just held her tightly to her chest and let her cry.

"I'm here if you need me." Mrs. Pryce whispered sweetly.