The next morning, they showered together before House left to take Stephen to the store to purchase video games and a Wii system for the cottage. While in the shower, Cuddy really wanted to finish their encounter from the previous night. She began stroking his body and kissing him passionately.

"God Lisa." More kissing and stroking. "I can't." She kept kissing him and grabbed his ass. "Mmmm." He groaned. He stepped back away from her. She followed him. "Please. I promised Stephen."

"I know you did. Just tell him we overslept."

"He woke us up this morning."

"Oh yeah." She was kissing him again. "Um, tell him that. I don't know. Just tell him something." She kissed him again.

"Ok. I'll tell him that Aunt Lisa was horny."

"Uh no." She was still kissing him.

"Then what?" Cuddy didn't answer him. She just kept kissing him and caressing him. He gently pushed her away from him and stepped out of the shower. She frowned. "You know I don't want to stop but we can't."

"A quick one."

"We never have quick ones."

She huffed. "I know. Go. Go get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast. He better appreciate this."

House laughed. "I'll make it up to you."

"I hope so." She watched him walk out of the bathroom naked. She admired his ass as he left. She sighed and finished her shower. Afterwards, she got dressed and went down to breakfast.

House had almost finished eating when she arrived. She leaned over and kissed him good morning before she started eating breakfast. Stephen was excited and wanted to hurry up and leave for the store. After House and Stephen finished eating breakfast, they got ready to leave. Cuddy walked House to the door.

"Be careful." House leaned over and kissed her. "Hurry back. I think I'll need a nap in a little while." She winked at him. House smiled knowing why she wanted him to accompany her while she napped.

"We'll be back before you know it." She watched him leave and just sighed wishing he could have stayed with her.

House and Stephen made their way to the store that House had gone to a few days before. When they arrived, there was one other patron looking at the Iron Man action figures. Stephen and House went straight to the video games. They picked out three Xbox games and a grabbed a Wii system with four games for it. House had been watching the man at the action figures. House felt that something was off with the man. House and Stephen grabbed all of the items they had decided to purchase and went to the checkout counter.

"Did you find everything you needed?"

"I think so. Where's everyone else? I thought everyone went out shopping after Thanksgiving."

"They do to the chain stores. Us mom and pop shops struggle."

House looked at the man still standing at the action figures. House addressed the other shopper. "Do you shop here often?"

"Who me?" The younger man responded.

"Yep, you."

"No. Um. Today is my son's birthday. He only asked for this Iron Man action figure."

"Don't they have it?"

"Yeah they have it." The man looked sad. House noticed that the man's clothes weren't dirty just worn out.

"What's your name?"

"Jeff."

"Well, Jeff. My name's Greg. This is my nephew Stephen."

"Nice to meet you Greg."

"What line of work are you in?" House couldn't believe he was asking the man questions but he just felt that it was something he needed to do.

"IT. Well, I used to be in IT before I lost my job."

"Sorry man. It's tough out there."

"Yeah, I know."

House noticed the man had something large in his pocket. "So, you gonna check out or not?"

"I guess not."

House thought for a few seconds. The man slipped his hand in his pocket and stepped back knocking over a display. Jeff jumped and tripped. His finger accidentally pulled the trigger. Somehow House realized what was happening and pushed Stephen out of the way as the gun went off. Stephen yelled as he fell to the floor and House slumped on top of him. The clerk dropped down on the floor behind the counter. Jeff yelled.

"Oh my god. I'm sorry. It was an accident. I didn't mean it."

House moved off of Stephen. "Are you ok Stephen?"

"I'm fine. Are you ok?" House nodded. "Uncle Greg, you're bleeding."

House looked down. "It's ok. Just a flesh wound."

"You need to go to the hospital."

"No. I can take care of it at home." House looked at Jeff. "What happened?"

Jeff looked at his feet. "It was an accident. I just wanted my son to get the damn action figure for his birthday. That's all I wanted. I swear."

"You were going to rob the store for a $15 action figure."

Jeff nodded. "I know it's stupid. I thought about it but I just couldn't go through with it. He's turning five and I can't even spend fifteen dollars to buy him a gift let alone buy him a cake or something."

The clerk finally got off the floor. "I'm calling the police."

Jeff nodded. "I know. I won't run. I really screwed up. My wife is going to kill me."

House looked at the clerk. "Don't call them. It was an accident. No one was hurt."

"You were shot."

"It was an accident. I'm a doctor and so is my wife. We can take care of it."

"You really need to go to the hospital."

"No. They are required to call law enforcement if someone comes in with a gunshot wound. I will be fine." House looked at Stephen and then Jeff. "My friend Jeff tripped. He's coming back to my place unless he's busy." Jeff looked at House. "I need him to set up this game system for me. Do you mind?"

Jeff looked shocked. "No. No, I don't mind. I'll help you."

"Good. Now, I'll pay you to help me out." House reached for his wallet and pulled out twenty dollars and handed it to Jeff. "This is a down payment. You'll get the rest when you're finished."

Jeff looked at House. "Thank you."

House nodded. "You're welcome." House then took off his button up shirt and ripped it to make a bandage to wrap around his arm. Then, he looked at the clerk. "Ring me up. We have some games to play."

The clerk nodded and started ringing up the purchase. House waited on Jeff to buy the action figure. As they exited the store, House began asking Jeff more questions.

"Where's your car?"

"Uh, it's at home."

"You walked?" Jeff nodded. "Where do you live? I can take you."

"It's about five miles away." House's heart sank. "Well, my car is over here. We'll run by your place and pick up your wife and son. I want my wife to meet you."

"Uh, your wife will kill me."

House laughed. "I'll protect you. Seriously, she's the Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. She's been looking for a dependable IT guy."

"A job interview?"

"Not really an interview. Don't dress up. Just a meet and greet sort of thing. We're on vacation. We'll get your family and go back to my place. You can hook everything up and I'll finish paying you."

"You've already paid me enough. I don't want any more money."

They all got in the car and Jeff gave House the directions to his place. When House pulled up in the driveway, his heart sank again. The house was really a shack.

"I have two children. Can we all fit in here?"

"Oh yeah. No problem."

"Ok. I'll be right back."

Jeff went inside to get his wife and kids. House called Cuddy.

"Hey beautiful."

"Hey handsome. Miss me?"

"Always."

"Well come on home."

"We'll be there in a few minutes. I'm bringing some guests with me."

"Ok."

"I met this man in the store. He's lost his job and I may have implied that you may have a job for him at the hospital."

"House! I just can't hire someone you meet in a store."

"I know but just listen to me." She calmed down and he gave her part of the story. "Do you think we could use him on the Diagnostics project?"

"The board would never agree." She huffed. "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes, it is really that bad."

"Let me think about it. I'll try to come up with something. We'll work something out."

"Will you ask Mom to bake his son a birthday cake? Nothing fancy just a cake."

"Yeah, we'll do it. Do you think we can get them to stay for dinner tonight?"

"I think so. I'm going to use the whole game system set up thing as much as possible."

She laughed. "Sounds good."

"I gotta go. They're coming outside now."

Jeff, his wife, and two sons came outside and walked up to the car. The children weren't dirty but their clothes looked too small and were simply worn out. They put the car seats in House's vehicle and they left for the cottage.

"I'm Greg."

"I'm Megan. This is Josh and Adam."

"So, who's the birthday boy?"

Josh timidly looked at House in the rearview mirror. "Me."

"Well Happy Birthday Josh."

"Thank you." Josh whispered.

"I hope you guys are hungry. We have a plenty of leftovers from yesterday. My mother and mother-in-law don't know the meaning of portion control."

"Uh. I thought this was a sort of job interview."

"Oh it is. My wife is expecting you. We just have all of this food left over and I just hate to throw it out. We're headed back to Princeton tomorrow night. My daughter's birthday is Sunday and we're having a party at home."

"How old will she be?"

"Four. Our son just turned one a few weeks ago. I'll just go ahead and warn you that Lisa is pregnant with twins. Watch out for the huge belly."

"Greg. I just want to thank you for talking the clerk out of calling the police. Jeff is a good husband and father. We've just been seeing it rough lately."

"It's fine. I understand. I've done some things in my life that I regret. We all have."

When they arrived at the cottage, Jeff and Megan's eyes grew wide.

"This is a very nice place you have here."

"Thanks. Let's get this hooked up so we can play. I've challenged Lisa to a bowling match tonight and I plan on winning."

They all walked up to the door and Cuddy opened it to let them in. She wrapped her arms around House and kissed his cheek. Then she noticed his arm.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. We'll talk about it later."

"No, we will discuss it now."

"We have guests."

"It's my fault. I did it." Jeff spoke up.

"It's fine Jeff. We will talk about it later while the kids are playing."

"You have to at least let me clean it up."

House agreed. First he showed Jeff, Megan, Josh and Adam to the game room to set up the Wii. Stephen asked Josh to play with him and Rachel played with Adam. Then, House and Cuddy went to their bathroom so that she could check out his arm.

"What really happened?"

"I was shot."

"Shot?"

"It was an accident. He just wanted a fifteen dollar toy for his kid's birthday. He tripped and the gun went off. He had already decided against stealing it or robbing the store."

"You were so lucky. It just grazed your arm. I can close it up with these butterflies."

After she disinfected his arm and applied the steri-strips to his arm, she rubbed his cheek.

"I'm glad you didn't get hurt worse than this. I don't think I could handle it."

"I'm fine. I promise. He didn't mean it." He rubbed his thumb along her cheek. "Thank you for fixing me up."

She kissed him. "You're welcome. Now, do you really want me to hire him?"

"Yes, I do. Can you convince the board?"

"Probably not but I know who can."

"Who?"

"Jake. If he threatens to withdraw his donation, they will agree to anything he wants to get that check."

"He's already given you the check."

"The board doesn't know. Let's go talk to him."

House and Cuddy went to find Jake. Jake readily agreed with them and called the chairman of the board. House and Cuddy went to the game room. Jeff had already hooked up the Wii so Stephen and Josh were playing. After a few minutes, Jake came in and nodded his head. Cuddy knew that their plan had worked. She began asking Jeff about his education and work experience. She actually became very impressed with Jeff.

"Well, Jeff how would you feel about moving to New Jersey?"

"Really? Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'm serious. When could you start?"

"When do you want me there?"

Megan and Jeff were both excited. "As soon as you can find a place and move."

Suddenly they both looked deflated. How could they ever afford the expense of moving and paying for a decent place to live.

"Lisa, did you tell him about the signing bonus?" House interjected.

Cuddy looked shocked. "No, I didn't. It's .." She looked at House. "It's two thousand dollars."

House nodded.

"Lisa, I thought you could go as high as five thousand if you found the right man for the job." Jake jumped in.

Cuddy raised an eyebrow at Jake and he just nodded. Cuddy chuckled. "I was trying to save the hospital some money but now he knows." Cuddy turned to Jeff. "How about a five thousand dollar signing bonus if you can start by the middle of next week?"

Jeff jumped up. "I'll be there." Suddenly Jeff looked sad. "Um.."

House spoke up. "I know you and your family won't have a place to stay in Princeton. You can stay with us for a few weeks until you get the bonus and find a place." House looked at Cuddy. She just nodded.

"That's very nice of you but we couldn't impose on you and your family." Megan added. "We'll find something."

"No, no. Stay with us. We have the room. Besides, I think Rachel has fallen in love with Adam." House scowled. "Look at them." Rachel and Adam had fallen asleep in the floor holding hands.

"Your kid better not break my kid's heart." House fumed. "I'll be watching him." Everyone else chuckled.

"It's her first crush. Leave Adam alone." Cuddy giggled. "He's only three."

"He's almost four. He's starting young."

Jake excused himself and went to find Blythe. He explained that Jeff and Megan would be staying at House and Cuddy's until they could find a place. He also asked Blythe to go with him to the store. She readily agreed. She wanted to purchase some things anyway to bake Josh a birthday cake. When they arrived back after a few hours, the house was quiet. They found Arlene, Julia, Michael, Jeff, and Megan in the den watching a movie. All of the kids were asleep. They told them that House and Cuddy were taking a nap. After the movie was finished, Blythe and Arlene went into the kitchen and baked the cake. Jake, Julia and Michael went to wrap presents. Jeff and Megan just sat there wondering what was happening.

"I can't believe this is happening to us."

"Neither can I."

"I mean, this morning we were told that we had to move by the end of the month since we couldn't pay our rent. Now, we're moving to New Jersey, staying with people we just met, and you have a job with a signing bonus."

"I know. It's a miracle."

"Yes, it is. See I told you that you just had to have faith."

Jeff hugged Megan tightly. "Thank you for never giving up on me."

"I could never give up on you Jeff." They kissed.

A few minutes later, Julia and Michael walked in the room.

"How are you guys doing?"

"We're good thanks. Is there anything I can do?"

Julia laughed. "No, we're good. Mom and Blythe are cooking dinner. It should be ready in about an hour. Have you seen the others?"

"Oh, you mean those other doctors?"

"Yeah."

"They said something about driving around to check out the scenery. They left about an hour ago." Julia nodded. "I just want to thank you guys for being so nice to us. It really means a lot."

"You're welcome."

"This is a lovely home your sister has here."

Julia laughed. "Yes, it is. Jake calls it a 'cottage' so I would hate to see his idea of a mansion." Megan laughed. "This is the first time we've been here."

"Well, it's lovely." Julia, Megan, Michael and Jeff continued to have small talk.

Meanwhile upstairs, Cuddy woke up from her nap feeling refreshed and horny. An idea popped into her head. She started running her hand down his chest. When she reached his groin, he popped open his eyes.

"I thought you were tired."

"I was tired. Now, I'm not." She smirked. She was massaging him through his pants.

He hissed. "Jesus woman." She leaned up and kissed him. "We can't." She kissed him again. "We have guests downstairs." She kissed him again slipping her tongue in his mouth. He pulled her on top of him. "God you're insatiable and I love it." He leaned up. She giggled and kissed him even more passionately. She pulled back and removed his shirt. She ran her hands up and down his chest soothingly. He started reaching for her shirt to remove it when they heard Arlene yelling that dinner was almost ready.

"Damn that woman. It's like she planted a sensor on you so she knows when we're about to make love so she can interrupt us."

Cuddy laughed. "If she had, you would think you would have found it by now."

"I'll look again tonight." He started grabbing her breasts. "Nope not here." He slid his hand down to her bottom. "Not here either." He was kissing her neck. "Nope not here."

She was giggling. "We better go before she walks in here."

"I know. I'll finish my search later. I will find your sensor."

She bit her lip. "I certainly hope you do." Actually, she couldn't wait until he started his search. She was actually daydreaming about what he was going to do to her later when he started rubbing her cheek.

"Hey, where were you?"

"Just thinking."

"Good thoughts?"

She nodded. "Very good. Help me move so we can go eat before Mom walks in and finds us like this." He helped her move off him. He picked up his shirt and put it back on.

"You know. We still have that bowling match tonight."

"Yeah so?"

"Care to make a little wager on it?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, if I win, you have to make love to me."

She laughed. "What if I win?"

"Then I have to make love to you."

She laughed again. "Deal."