House woke up groggily from his disrupted sleep as Etta rose from her deep sleep beside him on the bed. House felt great comfort as the first thing he saw was his baby girl playing with the fabric of the sheet that covered them, and chewed on the corner soaking it in dribble. House thought back to the heated events of last night as he combed through the dark hair that decorated Ettas small head. House felt his chest ache slightly as his mind gradually reminded him of all the details;

They had began to start kissing and caressing on the couch. The excitement was the same they had felt when the affair had first began. It felt wonderful. Being close to someone was something House had never been good at, or maybe even not capable of, and although he had never given his soul to Ettas mother he still enjoyed the pseudo-relationship. That was all it was ever meant to be.

House remembered her hands through his hair and whatever unresolved issues there was between them just melted away. Everything outside of themselves had always became irrelevant when they were together; Her husband, Houses misery, her emotional complexity and how they both alienated the people around them. Their fling was something that could have been compared to a heroine high. A pleasure of contentment with how the world was around them, despite all of its flaws. But the high soon wheres off and you are back to waddling through the sea of worries you were in before, after she had too leave.

House held Etta closer to him on the bed as he laid on his right side and cradled his arm around her protectively. It must of been early as the summer sunlight had only just began to crack through the small opening between the curtains. "There is nothing sadder than two people who were destined to be together, but something intervenes." That was something Houses mother had told him when he was 10. He couldn't remember what she was referring to, but the compartments of his mind had decided to retrieve that trivial memory.

Then as things began to progress further between them on the couch, Etta woke up. Things halted immediately as House stood up to attend to his child in his bedroom with her biological mother following behind him. He remembered picking Etta up and realizing what now really mattered. Despite all of the good and the bad between him and the woman that now stood leaning on his bedroom door frame, watching on in heart-breaking amazement of her daughter. This would have been the first time she had seen her since her birth. But House knew Etta and him would never be reason enough for her to stay, it didn't matter how much she loved them both she would always leave.

Houses heartbreak and grief made him appreciate his daughter all that much more. He kissed her forehead whilst she mumbled and gurgled at her fathers face and gently touched his stubble with the palm of her tiny hands. Unlike heroine the high he experienced from Ettas presence would be ever lasting.

Wilson pushed entrance to Houses apartment with courtesy of the key placed above the door frame, and was greeted by the smell of freshly baked blueberry pancakes. House was in his black t-shirt and thin grey bottoms that were both creased by the previous night's sleep as he sat back to front on the wooden chair of the kitchen in front of Ettas highchair and spooned her liquid food.

Wilson wandered over to the kitchen which was filled with the sound of baby speak and sounds.

"Looks like some yummy food," Wilson said as he leaned on the frame of the kitchen.

House blew the food before he spooned it into Ettas awaiting open mouth. "Well of course it would look great to you, most of what you eat looks like baby food."

Wilson grabbed a clean plate from the cupboard and collected a pancake from the pile that was situated in the middle of the kitchen table. He tucked into the perfectly crafted food and stroked Ettas cheek. "Haven't seen you in a little while," Wilson said to Etta in a squeaky high pitched voice.

"Its because Uncle Wilson has a new girlfriend he's not telling Daddy about," House said mockingly. "Naughty Uncle Wilson."

Wilson cleared his throat. "Well, I'm sorry I haven't been around lately."

House turned round to see Wilson shovel another mouthful of pancake and examined a small crease in Wilsons finely ironed shirt, "come straight from Mistress Wilson's place I see?" House teased.

"Wanna go to the playground?" Wilson suggested.

House frowned, "well it is a great place to meet chicks. There moms too."

Wilson chuckled, "come on. Ice cream is on me."