Sessions 38: Goldilocks

House threw himself against the mattress and bounced once, then twice to determine the spring action on the pillow top. He didn't go very far. It was hard. Not enough bounce. Discouraged, he sat up. No this one wouldn't do either. He turned his head to look at Cate who lay back gently like she was making snow angel in the sunshine. She looked at him, saw his expression and sighed frustratedly.

"I told you the one over there was good, " she said pointing back in the direction of the twentieth mattress they tried.

He shook his head. "Nah, I think it was the one over there with the foam thingy on top," he said pointing his cane back in the direction they'd come from.

She got up from the bed and held her hand out to pull him up. "Well, if you didn't scare the poor kid away, maybe he would have been able to keep track of the ones you liked."

House grumbled and rolled his eyes taking her outstretched hand. "The kid is an idiot. He gets a lousy eight bucks and hour to stand around look like he knows something."

"Yes but you didn't have to say that he was created by unnatural union of two siblings and that's why he was a little slow on the uptake, because that's just rude."

"Whatever, I bet you I'm not far from the truth."

"Anyway, we have to narrow it down sometime this year to at least two that you like, " she said looking around.

He stood up and leaned on his cane looking around. An idea popped into his head. "Why don't we look at king sized beds? There's more room, " he said punctuating his words with an excited wiggle of his eyebrows. She chuckled at him and wrapped her arms around his free arm hugging him to her. Of course she was having fun. He was bored ten beds ago and this was his stupid idea. He wasn't finding anything he liked.

"Ok, let's go see, " she said excitedly bringing him over to an extra large mattress further down the row. "Pillow top, soft, comfy cozy…" she sat on the edge and ran her hand along the soft mattress covering. She patted it inviting him to try it out.

House contemplated the look of the mattress. It was big to be sure. It had the pillow top, which he seemed to like more and more. So, he turned and flopped down on his back. He bounced two times and came to a cradled stop. He looked around and scooched himself up a little higher, like he was actually lying in bed. He crossed his feet at the ankles and placed his hands on his belly. It was comfortable. It felt nice on his back. This one could be a possibility.

Cate lay down beside him and wiggled herself up to where she would be if she were actually sleeping. "This is nice, " she said moving her arms and legs around. "There's a lot of room."

House rolled onto his side to look at her and was immediately disappointed. She was far away. Really far away. He reached his hand out to her and just grazed the elbow of her cream colored down jacket with his finger tips. She giggled and rolled onto her side to face him smiling at him expectantly. He shook his head against his folded arm as a pillow. "This will never work, " he said.

She pouted a little as she snuggled in deeper and he laughed. "I'd have to take a subway to touch you. I want you much closer than that, " he said reaching out again to pull her to him. She rolled in the other direction and off the bed wagging her finger at him.

"Ah, ah, no touching in the bed store, " she admonished with a saucy turn to look at another style. "If you were to pick a king size you'd have to get a new frame and headboard and then that's a whole new expedition."

He climbed out of the bed and limped slowly behind her considering what she said. She was right. His bed was a queen size antique frame like most of the rest of his furniture in his apartment. If he couldn't pick out a mattress, how was he going to be able to make a decision on a new headboard? "I don't even think a king sized bed would fit in the room, now that you mention it." He ran his hand over the back of his neck. Right now he was so confused he couldn't even think straight. He had no idea which one he wanted. None of them seemed right.

She turned around and doubled back down the aisle to him. "Well, all of these over here are king sized, are you sure you don't want a big one?"

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. He looked down into her face and whispered, "I want to feel you right next to me. I don't want to have to send out a search party for you when I want to touch you."

Her pupils dilated and she the tip of her tongue came out to moisten her lips, "Ok, I think the twin sized mattresses are over there." She pointed over his shoulder to the back corner of the store.

He chuckled and placed a kiss on her lips. "You're a smartass."

She placed her hands on the arm of his motorcycle jacket. "That's why you like me, " she said and then patted his arm. "Was there any one that you actually like enough to consider?" Ah, ever the shopper. Her focus was admirable.

"I guess, " he said releasing her and moving back in the direction of the mattress he thought might work. They came to one that had a pillow-top with a temperpedic fill that was supposed to offer support but was also soft and comfortable. He lay back down on it and spread out like she had done, making snow angels. She chuckled and climbed in next to him lying on her side. She tucked her hand under her cheek and looked at him. He sighed and rolled to his side doing the same thing.

"What's the matter, " she asked.

"I don't know, " he said. "None of them are the same."

"What do you mean, the same?"

"None of them are as nice as your bed, " he said.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "My bed?"

"Yeah, yours is ridiculously comfortable, " he said.

She smiled. "It's more than just the mattress you know."

"I know, " he muttered, "It's all the pillows and the blankets. I've just never slept as good as I've slept in your bed."

She reached her hand out and laced her fingers in his. She held his gaze for a minute before speaking. "There is one way…well there's actually two ways that are possible solutions to that problem."

"Two ways?"

"One is to buy the exact same kind of mattress, we could look it up, I'm sure I still have the paper work…"

"And the other?"

She sighed and continued to hold his gaze biting the corner of her lip. "We could move my bed to your apartment?"

House swallowed the dry lump that had mysteriously lodged in his throat and drew his eyebrows together staring back at her. "That is an option…" That was exactly the option that Wilson said he had wanted in the first place. Was he right? Is that what he really wanted? Was that why none of these other mattress worked, none of them were just right? It had to be. It had to be because he really wanted her bed at his place. Which really meant that he wanted her to move in with him.

She scrambled to the edge of the bed and sat with her feet on the floor. "Never mind, it was a stupid suggestion."

"Hey, " he said hoisting himself awkwardly up and over to her. "It's not stupid." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's not a stupid idea."

She shook her head and looked at him completely regretting what she had suggested. "I shouldn't have said that. It's all too soon, you've never even said anything about…I don't want to rush you into anything that your not ready for. Just forget I said it."

"Will you stop… " he said trying to get her to look at him. "You're not rushing me, in fact you're actually a little quicker on the uptake than I am. I didn't even realize that I've been thinking about this since I came back from my father's funeral."

"We shouldn't be having this conversation in the furniture store, " she said standing and placing her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, like she did when she was frustrated or nervous. He suspected that it was the latter. Because he was feeling the same way.

"I know this is a big step, but, I think that's what I want, " he said pulling her close to him in between his thighs. She came in reluctantly and removed her hands to place them on his shoulders.

"You have to more than think, you have to know, " she said.

"Wilson says that's what I want, " he said.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, well then it must be true."

He tilted his head at her sarcasm. "He generally tends to be a pretty good translator for my convoluted psyche, and he's usually pretty right."

"But that doesn't mean that he is right. It doesn't mean that we're ready for this, " she said trying to be the voice of reason.

"Technically no, but what I do know is that I love you and I want you by me each and every night which would imply that I want you there everyday also."

"Don't try and rationalize this because it isn't rational to want to live with someone you've only been seeing for about six weeks."

"Stacey moved in after only a week, "

"Oh, and look how great that worked out, " she said with unmistakable derision.

"That had a little bit more to do with her hacking half my thigh off than it did with any compatibility issues, " he argued and then added cheerfully, "Wilson moved in with Amber after four weeks."

"Amber's dead, " she said.

He rolled his eyes. "It's not like he killed her, " he said, "Did you and I switch personalities sometime last night and nobody told us?"

"I'm just trying to be cautious, I mean this is the first time we're actually talking about this, " she disputed.

"Who cares? Isn't what I want more important? You would move in if you loved me" said House as he put on his cutest, puppy dog eyes, as if that would make Cate just suddenly decide to grab her bags and dump her shit around his place.

She laughed and smacked his shoulder. "Don't do that to me, that's not fair and you know it."

He let go of her and she stepped back allowing him room to stand up. He laced his fingers in hers and they moved through the store subconsciously abandoning the search for a mattress for the time being.

"And besides, how can I move in if you don't even have a dining room table, " she said.

He snorted. "You don't even have a dining room table."

"I have two room apartment, that has no room for a table, " she argued.

"I have a piano, no room for a table, " he argued. "Besides, what would we need a dining room for anyway? We either eat at work, or in front of the TV."

"I'd like to say… have people over sometime, " she suggested.

He made a face. "People? Over? Why would we do that?"

"Because it could be, I don't know, fun maybe," she said. "We could actually have Wilson or Cuddy over to eat like adults."

He gasped. "Blasphemer… I will not go quietly into the adult night."

"No, but you want me to come play sleepover for a really, really, long time, " she said.

House meandered through the furniture department and looked around. "This place is a fucking maze, they trap you in here so you have to go through all of the departments before you can get out."

Ironically they were passing through the dining section of the store. And he made a face. "So if I make a commitment to the dining table, you'll move it?"

A salesman approached them like fresh meat in shark infested waters and House growled frustratedly.

"Can I help you folks, " he asked good-naturedly.

"We're having a conversation here, does it look like I want your help yet?" he snapped.

Cate placed her hand on his arm to shut him up. "We'll let you know if we have any questions, " she said sweetly to appease the man. He nodded and backed off.

She sat down at one of the tables and lifted her head to him. "Sit down, I want to talk."

He took a deep breath and pulled out one of the ornate chairs that she happened to have decided to sit in. He looked at the set and thought briefly how tacky this one was before bringing his attention back to her.

"Do you really want me to move in with you?" she asked seriously.

He did. He didn't know why but he did. "Yes."

She smiled slowly and rested her head on her hand and tapped her finger on the flat surface of the table. "You know that means that all my stuff comes too, my clothes, my shoes, my pictures, everything…"

"Of course, I'm not an idiot, " he said.

"It also means that we'll be a real couple and that we'll do holidays together and meet each other's parents, even though you've been avoiding giving me an answer about that since I brought it up yesterday morning, " she said with a critical look.

He rolled his eyes looking away from her. He didn't want to meet her dad. He was trying to avoid that for as long as he could get away with it. "Yeah, I know. I've done this before."

"Yes, one time before, " she reminded him. "And that was a huge deal."

"Yes, and how many times have you done this?" he asked her pointedly.

She stared at him. "Twice."

He raised an eyebrow at her curiously. "Twice?"

"Once during med school and once in my early thirties, " she explained.

"Obviously they didn't work out so well either, " he said.

"One turned out to be gay and the other cheated on me, " she said with a roll of her eyes.

He laughed. "Gay? I'm sure that's a good story. And anyone who'd cheat on you is a stupid asshole."

She chuckled and placed her hand on his. "I love you. I would do this in a heartbeat. I just want to make sure they guy who avoids change like it might actually kill him really truly wants to make such a huge change in his life."

He took her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. "The night I let you wear my Who t-shirt to bed sealed my fate. I've been in love with you and haven't wanted you out of my sight ever since. Does that make me an irrational, completely ridiculous romantic idiot? Probably yes. And everyone is going to say that the four horsemen of the apocalypse and end of days are coming. But I don't care. Besides, I stole your cat, she lives with me already and you practically live there anyway. Let's just make it official and bring your bed over to my place and call it ours."

She smiled brightly at him and then her eyes started to well up with tears. He shook his head and pulled her too him with a chuckle. Here she goes again."No, no, don't start crying in the store…" She sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck letting out a sniffle. He held her and stroked her hair as she cried and laughed at her own sappiness. "So is that a yes?"

She nodded and pulled back to look at him. She placed both of her chilly hands on each side of his face and kissed him soundly. "I love you so much."

"I know, " he said looking into her red rimmed eyes. She was so beautiful and she made him so incredibly… happy.

She dropped her voice and whispered in his ear, "You know this means you're going to have to have sex with me."

He laughed as he felt a little tingle stir in his pants at her audacious demand. "Oh alright, if I have to…" he said exaggeratedly.

"Because you know, what if we don't like it, " she declared gravely.

He smirked shyly and then turned to look at her. "I don't think that's going to be a problem."

"Well, you never know, " she argued with a saucy little grin.

"Shut up and get off my lap before I throw you up on this ugly ass table and fuck you right here, " he growled giving her a shove off his thigh with his hands. Her ass on his lap was doing crazier things to him than her dilated pupils and sultry voice.

She bit her lip and let out a sexy little whimper before doing as she was told. He let out a huge breath and his hands shook as he popped two Vicodin to calm himself. This woman drove him to the brink of insanity with just a simple look. The anticipation of having sex with her nearly undid him. He watched her sashay over to the salesman. "We need a dining room table that will fit in a small area but can extend to be large enough to accommodate six to eight people. Dark wood classic lines, very, very sturdy," she tossed a look at him over her shoulder and his mouth went dry. "Price is negotiable."

House had to remain seated where he was to regain control over his raging… faculties. She was the sexiest woman he'd ever known. And she as now his live-in girlfriend. That little turn of events excited him like he couldn't believe.