CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
Lucy got up from the couch. The nausea was all gone now, but her stomach was still cramping a little. She could deal with it. As she headed toward her bathroom, Liza asked in a concerned tone, "Lucy, you're not still sick, are you?" as she started to get up and follow Lucy to the bathroom in case she needed some help.
"I'm okay, Liza. I just have to go to the bathroom, that's all." Lucy replied as she closed the door. Five minutes later, Lucy came back out of the bathroom, pulling Greg's T-shirt over her head.
"You yelled at Jim, didn't you?" Lucy said with a smile on her face. Liza just laughed and said, "Yeah, and I hit him too!" "On the head?" Lucy said with a giggle. "No, just his shoulder. I thought I'd let you do that!" Liza said with another laugh.
Lucy suddenly got very quiet. "Liza, the boys didn't hear anything or see me get sick, did they?" She wanted to shield them from that if possible. Liza put her arm around Lucy's shoulders. "Don't worry, kiddo. They're still in the pool trying to drown each other. They're completely oblivious." Lucy sighed with relief. "Thanks, Liza. I don't want them to see or hear any of this mess between Jim and me."
Liza hugged Lucy again. "Don't worry too much if they hear or see anything. They'll come to your aid like they did when Greg tossed you around in the pool. Don't forget. You're the only Mazzelli girl. It's their sworn duty and birthright to protect you!" That cracked Lucy up. "I'm just sooo special!" Lucy giggled. "Let's go get desert ready. That's why we came in the house in the first place, isn't it?"
As Lucy led the way, she wondered why Liza hadn't had any questions about finding Greg holding her or kissing her. "Oh, well, if she's not going to say anything, I'm not going to ask why." Lucy said to herself. When they got to the kitchen, Lucy looked out the window. "They really are trying to drown each other, aren't they?" Lucy said with a laugh. "Liza, let's just let them swim until they wear themselves out before we give them desert. I'm afraid I might start fighting with Jim, and I can't promise I won't swear at him!"
"Lucy, they've heard you swear before, but maybe they should stay in the pool until they get tired." Liza said as she looked at her sons. "I think we have about a half hour or so before they realize they didn't get desert. Besides, if they get tired enough, they might just sleep through until morning, give me a little break!"
Lucy got the cantaloupe and ice cream out of the refrigerator. Liza got the plates and they started dishing desert up. Lucy made a double portion for Greg, but didn't make a plate for herself.
"Lucy, why aren't you eating desert?" Liza asked, smiling to herself. "I don't think I can handle anything in my stomach right now, and Greg will steal it off my plate anyway, so I might as well just give it to him now. I'll pick from his plate for a change." Lucy answered. They went out on the patio with desert, and Liza wisely gave Jim his desert so Lucy wouldn't be tempted to dump it on him. Lucy carried out plates for Tony and Greg.
As soon as Jim saw his sister come out of the house, he stood up and was going to go over to her to see how she was, but the glare she gave him stopped him in his tracks. "Lucy, are you all right now?" he asked her. "I'm fine if you really care." Lucy said. Her voice still had that bitter edge to it. Jim's shoulders just sagged. Why in hell didn't he just say he was sorry instead of asking her how she felt?
Lucy put Greg's plate in front of him. He had been playing with Frankie, but when Frankie saw Lucy he reached for her with his chubby little arms. Lucy took him from Greg and sat down. "Lucy, where's your desert?" Greg asked as he eyed the double portion she had given him. "You're going to steal mine anyway and I'm not that hungry. I'll just steal from your plate for a change." Lucy answered.
Jim was watching the exchange between House and his sister. Houses' face was actually relaxed. He looked content. "Son of a bitch!" Jim said to himself. "What's going on here? I've never seen him look like that, even when he's drunk!"
Frankie was looking at the ice cream on Greg's dish. Lucy saw him looking. "Liza, has this boy had any ice cream yet?" Smart ass that he was, Greg had to say, "Of course I've had ice cream! I'm a big boy!" Lucy just groaned and told him to shut up. "It's not all about you, Greg." she told him. He just smiled as he continued to eat his desert. Even Jim laughed at that.
"He hasn't tasted ice cream yet, Lucy. Give it a try." Liza told her. Lucy got a spoon and put some ice cream on it. Little Frankie was smacking his lips in anticipation. Lucy put the spoon to his mouth. The cold made him hesitate a bit, but then he realized he liked it and practically licked the spoon clean. He giggled when he was finished and tried to reach for Greg's plate.
Playfully, Greg picked up his plate and took it out of the baby's reach. "Mine!" he growled playfully at Frankie. Frankie just kept giggling and trying to get out of Lucy's lap. He wanted more ice cream! Laughing hard, Lucy said, "Greg, don't be so stingy! Share! He's a little baby!" "But that's my desert!" he whined, playing along. "There's more in the house, share!" Lucy said with a giggle.
With a pretend pout, Greg put his plate back and Frankie reached for it again. "Mmmm, Mmmm!" he kept gurgling. Lucy had a good grip on him, so he didn't get too far. She gave him another spoon, but Frankie only ate half of it. He pushed the spoon toward Lucy's mouth. "Oh, you want me to have ice cream too, Frankie?" Lucy said with a laugh as she helped him put the spoon in her mouth. Greg just watched Lucy feeding Frankie, his imagination taking him to the day when he would watch her feeding ice cream to their baby.
Jim kept watching them closely. House and Lucy actually looked like a family with Frankie! He didn't know what to do. "House and Lucy?" he said to himself. "No way!" Lucy couldn't handle him. She was too inexperienced. No woman had been able to handle House since Jim had known him, not even Stacy. But Lucy wasn't anyone, in spite of her inexperience, he reminded himself. She had House's number from the day they met and always seemed to have the upper hand with him. God, he wished he had the nerve to at least call his parents and tell them what he thought was going on. Maybe they would come home early, but Lucy would kill him if they cut their trip short. His father would certainly put a stop to this, wouldn't he? He couldn't possibly want Lucy to be with House.
Greg, Lucy and Frankie shared desert, and just as everyone finished up, three little monsters came running on the patio. "Hey, where's our desert?" Jimmy demanded. "Yeah." chimed in Joey and little Tony. "We want desert too! No fair!" Lucy started to give Frankie to Greg and go get desert for them, but Liza stopped her.
In her sternest voice, the one she saved for when she was lecturing her sons or her husband, she said, "Lucy, you've done everything today, relax for a change. I'll take care of them." Lucy just did a double take and did as she was told. Greg laughed to himself. "So that's how you make her behave!" he thought.
"Frankie, do you want to go swimming now?" Lucy asked the baby, talking to him as if he understood what she was saying. Jim couldn't take it anymore. "Lucy, why are you talking to him like he understands you? He's too small to understand what you're saying or swim, for that matter."
This time, both Tony and Greg groaned to themselves. "What the hell is wrong with you?" they said to themselves. "Lucy is literally going to hurt you if you don't shut up!" Liza had just come out of the kitchen and caught the tail end of what Jim had said and she gave him such a look that Jim actually felt his balls shrink up!
Although she gave her brother a dirty look, Lucy managed to behave herself. "What makes you think he doesn't understand me? He's already been in the pool today with swimmies on and he's not too young to sit in the little raft I bought him yesterday! Besides, he should learn to swim now. At least it's better than the way I learned how to swim." Lucy said with an evil grin. Tony remembered that day very well. "Go for it Lucy!" he said to himself.
Now Greg's curiosity was aroused. "Lucy, how old were you when you learned how to swim?" "Six." Lucy replied. "Well, what was so different about how you learned to swim?" Greg wondered out loud. "Lucy, how did you learn to swim?" Liza asked. She hadn't known Tony at the time. "Jim threw me in the deep end." Lucy said with a straight face. Liza gasped in shock, looked at Jim and hit him in the shoulder again!
"That was the first year we had the pool." Lucy continued before Jim could give his own contorted version of the events. "I don't know why, but for some reason, I seemed to be afraid of the water. I had a fit every time someone tried to take me in the pool, even the shallow end. I would just sit on the steps and watch everyone else. For reasons which I still don't know to this day, numb nuts over there decided that the only way I would learn to swim was to be thrown in the water. So he did, and I almost went to the bottom. Uncle Tony was already in the pool and fished me out. I was hysterical for about ten minutes, and it looked like Mom and Aunt Loretta were going to kill Jim. Finally, I calmed down, and then they couldn't get me out of the water. I even started jumping in the deep end by myself. I stayed in the water with Dad and Uncle Tony all day. I think that's what kept mom and Aunt Loretta from killing him!" Lucy said with another glare at her brother, who was looking uncomfortable and very embarrassed.
Greg looked at Lucy, then across the table at Wilson. "Wilson, she was probably the cutest six-year-old in Princeton, and you tried to drown her?" Lucy just rolled her eyes. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself? How could you? I've never heard of anything so mean in my life! Lucy, did you get back at him?" Greg asked playfully.
"You know what? Now that I think of it, I didn't. What could a six-year-old do to a teenager?" Lucy replied. "Everyone gave him hell and he wouldn't talk to me for a couple of days because he got grounded for a month, which was probably the least he deserved. Do you think I should hit him now?" Lucy asked innocently, looking at her brother.
Little Tony, Joey and Jimmy had been paying close attention to Lucy's story while they were eating their desert. They looked at each other, and then Little Tony spoke up. "Lucy, did he really throw you in the pool when you didn't know how to swim?" "Yes, he did, Tony. Ask your father. He was here when it happened. If you don't believe him, ask Nonnie and Pap Pap if I'm telling the truth when they come home." Lucy said.
"Huh!" Joey said. It's a good thing he's not in the pool today. We'd get him for you!" Jim looked startled at that. "You mean you boys would get me for something I did to Lucy when she was your age?" he asked them in amazement. "I thought we were buddies!"
"Yeah, we would!" they said in unison. "Nobody's allowed to hurt Lucy!" Liza quickly spoke up before her sons decided to go after Jim. "Jim, I'd shut up if I were you. You know how they feel about Lucy. They're serious and they just might try to throw you in the pool in your street clothes!" Greg, Lucy and Tony could barely keep straight faces at the boy's threats.
Jim didn't know what to do or say anymore. Everything that had happened since Lucy got sick had thrown him for a loop. His world had turned upside down, and he didn't like it. Other than apologizing to his sister, which he knew he had to do regardless. He didn't know what else to do. Logically, he knew he had no one to blame but himself for the mess he was in with his sister, but his irrational self blamed Greg!
Greg had been holding Frankie and said to Lucy, "Lucy, if you want to take him in the pool, you'd better change him first." He made a face. "Afraid of a dirty diaper, Greg?" Lucy said with a laugh as she took Frankie and headed into the house. "Let's get you cleaned up, Frankie, then we can go in the pool." Greg got up and started to follow her into the house.
Lucy looked up at him. "Why are you following me?" she asked him. "You might need some supervision changing him." Greg said with a smile. Now Jim was ready to loose it. Even though he was just doing it to try to push Lucy's buttons, House on diaper duty?
"I know how to change a diaper. I think I can manage without you." Lucy said. "What is he up to now?" she wondered to herself. Liza and Tony couldn't stop laughing. "No, I think you need supervision." Greg said with a grin.
"Greg, get away from me!" Lucy said as she went into the kitchen to look for the diaper bag. Greg followed close on her heels like a puppy as she went into the bathroom with Frankie and laid him down on the floor. She took Greg's T-shirt off so she could go right in the pool when she was finished cleaning Frankie up.
Lucy pulled off Frankie's little trunks, undid the dirty diaper and reached for clean one and the wipes. Greg was being a pain as he pulled the diaper bag just out of Lucy's reach. "Greg, knock it off and let me change this diaper!" she snapped. He bent down to kiss her softly on the lips. "You have changed a diaper before." he whispered as he leaned back against the vanity and watched Lucy expertly clean Frankie up, put a clean diaper on him and put his trunks back on.
"Told you it wasn't the first diaper I've changed." Lucy said with a grin as Greg helped her and Frankie up off the floor. Greg kissed her again and put his hand on her flat belly. "I can't wait to put one of those in here." he said to her. Lucy's eyes darkened a little, both with passion and pain.
"Greg, I know you've seen my file. That might not ever be possible. You know that." Lucy said very quietly, closing her eyes as Greg's hand kept moving over her belly and near one of her tiny laparoscopy scars. She stiffened a little, just like she did when they made love and he kissed them on his way down her belly and between her legs. She had such a look of sadness and longing on her face. It broke Greg's heart. He decided he might as well tell her about the consult he had with Burke. What was the worst thing she could do to him? Lock him out of her room? She'd already done that. Hurt him? Maybe!
"Baby, I wasn't going to tell you this, but Burke and your father requested a consult with me after your last procedure when you were so depressed. We already knew you had seen your file. As far as I'm concerned, fertility treatments are too dangerous for you. I think you agree with that. You'd probably end up with another DVT. I won't let you risk your health. It's not going to be as simple as making sure we make love when you ovulate, but if the scar tissue can be kept to a minimum, we do have a shot at having a baby the old-fashioned way. It will just take a little longer." Greg said quickly, hoping Lucy wouldn't take it as an invasion of her privacy since they hadn't been involved at the time.
Lucy was speechless for a few seconds. She just stared at Greg and he almost held his breath waiting for her reaction. What the hell? This was all news to her. That consult happened after she came home, because she never saw those notes in her file! She was so depressed then, she never even bothered to sneak another look at her file. There didn't seem to be any point to it because she knew the score, or so she thought. Why didn't her father at least talk to her about it?! If they had told her more about her condition, she still would have been depressed, but not as much as she had been! Then she found her tongue.
"Greg, why didn't you tell me this sooner? Like when it happened? Maybe I wouldn't have been so depressed!" Lucy exclaimed. "Lucy, by then you had started to snap out of it, and we just decided not to. Burke just wanted to make sure everything was as right as he could make it for you. My opinion just confirmed his, that's all. It really didn't change anything. Besides, think of all the fun we'll have trying!" Greg said with that lopsided grin.
"You horny old goat!" Lucy said. "Always thinking of yourself and your own satisfaction!" but she smiled when she said it.
"Lucy, are you trying to tell me you don't enjoy making love with me?" Greg said with a smile. Lucy was trying very hard to keep a straight face. Her eyes had gotten darker again, this time with passion. "You seem awfully sure you'll be able to knock me up, Dr. House." Lucy said very softly.
"Well, if your egg manages to shut up long enough when the time comes, my boys know what to do when they meet up! We'll have a baby in no time!" Greg smirked as he leaned down to kiss her again before she could come back with a wisecrack of her own. Little Frankie just looked at both of them, not knowing what was happening, but everyone seemed to be happy, so he started laughing, and being a baby, he started playing with Lucy's boobs. To his little hands, they were a soft squeezable toy and he giggled.
Lucy started laughing. "They start early, don't they, Stretch?" "Hey, he's a smart baby." Greg said with a laugh. Lucy went up on her toes for one last kiss. "You should have told me sooner, but thanks for the consult, sweetheart." she said softly as she headed back outside.
Greg took a deep breath, but he didn't follow Lucy right away. He had thankfully dodged a bullet when he told Lucy about the consult, but most important, he was starting to get a hard on. He took another deep breath and he was under control again. Damn, what that girl could do to him without even trying!
As Greg followed Lucy outside to take Frankie in the pool, they paid absolutely no attention to Jim, which was just as well. Now he felt like he was in the Twilight Zone! House changing diapers? Or even being in the same room when one was being changed? What was going on here? Were he and Lucy playing him, yanking his chain because of what he did to her yesterday and all the accusations he made over the past week about House giving her drugs and getting her pregnant? That had to be it. There was no other explanation. It would be just like Lucy to do something like that to get even with him and definitely like House to go along with her!
Lucy looked over in the corner of the patio. Little Tony, Joey and Jimmy were sound asleep! Lucy did another double take. "Liza, what happened over there?" she asked. "What did you put in their ice cream?" Liza laughed. "You were right to let them stay in the pool. They wore themselves out, and desert did them in!"
Lucy suppressed a giggle as she picked up the little swimmies for Frankie. Very quietly, she said to Greg, "Please go in the laundry room and get that raft I bought him while I get him in the water." Greg turned without an argument or smart remark and went back in the house for Lucy. Jim's mouth dropped open.
"Lucy, do you think you and House should take him in the water?" Jim asked. "Why not, Jim?" Lucy snapped at her brother while trying to keep her voice down. "He has swimmies on and he'll be in a raft. Neither Greg nor I have any intentions of drowning him, and apparently, his parents trust us enough to take him in the water! Unlike you, I have no plans on throwing him in the deep end!" Lucy said as she headed toward the pool steps and got Frankie used to the water again. Liza and Tony never said a word. They just let Lucy land on her brother with both feet. She was ripping into him quietly and not making herself sick over it.
In the meantime, Greg had come back out with the raft and heard the tail end of Lucy's answer to her brother. "Wilson, if you're so worried about me being around a baby, why don't you come in the pool with us?" he said. "House, how can I go in the pool if I didn't bring trunks?" Jim whined. "I have an extra pair in my room." Greg said with a smirk. "They should fit you well enough and be fine for now." Jim wouldn't answer. "Oh, never mind, Wilson. You'd have to get your hair wet, and that wouldn't do, would it?" Greg said sarcastically as he went over to the pool and tossed the turtle raft in the water and dove in after it.
By now, Lucy was sitting on the steps so Frankie was up to his waist in the water and he was splashing around. Tony had taken out his video camera again and started taping. When Frankie heard the raft splash in the water, he turned toward the noise and clapped his little hands. Greg was swimming under water and pulling the raft along with him, making Frankie giggle. When he reached the steps, he came up from under water and Frankie shrieked with glee.
"Look Frankie." Lucy said to the by now squirming baby in her lap. "Greg brought you your own little boat. You can get all the way in the water now." Lucy walked the few steps to where Greg was waiting with the raft. The closer they got to the raft, the more Frankie squirmed. Lucy put him in, and put his little legs in the holes. He immediately started kicking, trying to move the raft on his own.
"I told Jim he was ready to get in the pool. He's such a jackass!" Lucy told Greg. "Lucy, take it easy, okay? Don't make yourself sick again." Greg said to her in a calm, even tone so the baby wouldn't pick up on any tension. Lucy looked up into his eyes and her anger at her brother quickly dissipated. She just smiled and started pulling Frankie around the pool. He kept kicking his legs, trying to move the raft with Lucy and he was having the time of his little life!
Greg dove underwater again and came up beside the raft. He sprayed a mouthful of water on the baby. Frankie got mad. His little fact got all red. Lucy started laughing. "Greg, I think you're in trouble now! Looks like I'm the only one who can spray him like that!" She looked at Frankie. He was still mad.
"Lucy, he looks like you when he gets mad!" Greg laughed. Lucy's guard was down because of the Valium. She didn't come back with one of her wisecracks. The look on her face now was one of total love, and she didn't care who knew it. Greg looked relaxed and happy, especially when he looked at Lucy. Tony was seeing this through his camera and smiled.
Jim was watching Lucy and Greg closely. "Oh, no!" he groaned to himself. It had finally and irrevocably dawned on him that what he had been worrying about happening since House and Lucy fell in the pool last summer was happening! Lucy was going to get involved with House if she hadn't already done so and there was nothing he could do to stop it! Lucy and House weren't doing this to yank his chain! He just sat back down in his chair and shook his head. Liza noticed that Jim finally realized the truth about Lucy and Greg and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it! She tactfully refrained from saying anything to him. He looked like a house just fell on his head!
Lucy was still trying to calm Frankie down. "Bad Greg!" she said as she put her hand on Greg's chest pushed him a little bit. "Bad sea serpent!" Frankie just looked at Lucy and Greg for a few seconds as he slowly started to calm down. Then with a giggle, he leaned toward Greg and tried to push him like Lucy did. Naturally, Lucy helped him get a little closer so he could actually touch Greg.
Greg played along and took a few steps back when Frankie "pushed" him. "Oh, good boy, Frankie!" Lucy said with a laugh. "You take care of the bad sea serpent Greg for me!" This time when Frankie tried to push Greg again, Lucy "helped" him and said, "Take that, bad Greg!" Frankie was a happy baby again.
Jim was watching from the patio, still not believing what he was seeing. Now Greg had absentmindedly put his arm around Lucy and pulled her close to him. Lucy just looked up at Greg and he had the silliest smile she had ever seen on his face, but in Lucy's eyes, that smile had "I love you" written all over it.
Valium or not, Lucy was still Lucy and couldn't resist being a smart ass. "Greg." Lucy whispered, looking up at Greg. "What, baby?" No one could hear them, and he felt safe calling her that. Frankie certainly didn't understand them! "I want a baby now." Greg's expression never changed, but Lucy could see him swallow hard. "Lucy, this isn't the time to talk about having a baby. Let's wait until everyone leaves, okay?"
"No, I don't want to wait! I want you NOW!" she said very seriously. Greg had closed his eyes in a panic when he heard Lucy say, "Make everyone leave so we can go upstairs!" When he opened his eyes, Lucy was grinning from ear to ear.
"Lucy, one of these days, I'm going to take you over my knee!" Greg said smiling back at her, resisting the urge to lean down and really kiss her and scare the hell out of her brother! He just put his hand on the side of Lucy's face in a gentle caress. "It's not even the right time of the month for that yet, you horny little monkey!" he said softly. Lucy was still smiling. "I thought we could have a couple of practice runs!"
Frankie reached up to try and push Greg's hand away from Lucy's face. They both started laughing. "They all defend you, don't they, Lucy?" Greg said in amazement. "That's what it looks like, and don't you forget it, you sea serpent!" Lucy said with a giggle.
Lucy dove under the water and Frankie was wiggling all around trying to see where she had gone. She would come up on the side of the turtle and spray him with water, making him clap his hands, or tickle his feet as she swam under the raft, making him giggle almost uncontrollably. One time as she was swimming around the other side of the raft, she groped Greg on her way up to splash the baby again. Only Liza and Tony noticed the look on Greg's face and figured out what Lucy had done. The look on his face was priceless!
They kept playing with Frankie until it clouded up and started raining again. No thunderstorm this time. Just a steady, gentle rain. Lucy took Frankie out of the raft and he started screaming his little head off! He wasn't ready to get out of the pool!
Lucy managed to calm him a little as she walked back to the patio with him. He was watching Greg over her shoulder making sure he brought his raft out of the pool. He was fighting to keep his little eyes open. It was after five now. The monsters were still asleep, so Tony and Liza decided to call it a day. Tony, Jim and Greg each picked up a sleeping boy and carried them to Tony's SUV and buckled them in. Liza gathered up their things and hugged Lucy. "Don't worry, Lucy. Everything will be fine." she said.
Lucy carried Frankie out to the car. He had fallen asleep within five minutes of being carried out of the pool. With any luck, all four would sleep through until tomorrow morning. Lucy gave Tony a hug and watched them drive down the street. Then she turned and went into the house. Unfortunately for her, Jim stayed.
Lucy went out to make sure they brought everything in from the patio and cleaned up the kitchen. She locked the back door and set the security alarm timer. Greg and Jim had gone into the family room to watch TV. They heard her walk by and Jim called out to her.
"Lucy, come in here, please. I'd like to talk to you." Lucy was too tired to deal with him and didn't want to end up fighting again. "Jim, can this wait? I want to get out of this wet suit and into a hot bath then go to bed. I'm really too tired to talk." she said with as little sarcasm as she could possibly manage.
"Lucy, it's not even seven! What's wrong with you?" Jim said with a worried look on his face. Lucy was standing in the doorway to the family room. She just rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Jim, I was sick, remember? I had a fever and everything. You and Greg keep insisting I get a lot of rest. I'm admitting I'm tired. I'm ready to go to bed!"
"Lucy, I knew you weren't up to having a cook out today!" Jim exclaimed. "Why won't you listen to me or House?" You could have rescheduled this for another time! Next week would have been better!" Greg was sitting in the recliner with a beer in his hand, wisely keeping his mouth shut, although he wanted to punch Jim in the nose to shut him up already! Looked like he hadn't learned his lesson with his sister yet!
"Jim, I would be tired regardless of what I did today and I didn't want to reschedule this. I was looking forward to it all week. All you've done is preach to me all day, and you're still at it. I really don't want to hear anymore. You can't tell me what I can and can't do!" Lucy snapped, trying not to raise her voice, but not succeeding very well. Jim turned to Greg. "House, help me out here, please!" Greg just shook his head no.
"Wilson, I tried to talk her out of this cookout this morning. The only concession I was able to get out of her was to make her take a nap until Tony and his family got here. Everyone had a good time today. Let it alone. She's tired and it doesn't look like she wants to talk to you yet. Let her go to sleep if she wants to. Her body is obviously telling her to rest and she's giving in to it. Let's just watch the game and drink beer. I don't want to try and reason with her. She's almost as grouchy now as she is when she wakes up!
Lucy had started to walk upstairs as soon as Greg started talking to her brother, but she heard him call her grouchy. "I am not grouchy!" she yelled, with the emphasis on "not" as she continued to go up to her room.
"See what I mean, Wilson?" Greg said with a shake of his head as he took another swig of his beer. He didn't know what to do for Wilson. Greg knew he came over here to apologize today, but something kept him from doing it. Lucy knew he wanted to apologize too, but every time he tried, he ended up saying something preachy, making Lucy angrier and more upset than she already was. Greg had never seen Lucy this upset over anything at all. She wasn't even this upset that night the condom broke, and he almost gave her a sedative then! Couldn't Wilson see what he was doing to her? God, what a dumb, pathetic ass!
About an hour into the game, Jim realized Lucy hadn't come back down to watch it with them. "House, do you think anything's wrong with her?" Jim said worriedly. "She always watches the games with us. She even watched with us last week after we dosed her. She can't be that mad at me, can she?"
Jim was beside himself with worry over his marriage, Lucy, his inability to apologize to her, his stupidity in preaching at her all day, and final reality of seeing that Lucy was going to get involved with House regardless of what he thought about it or tried to do to prevent it. He abruptly stood up.
"Wilson, where the hell are you going?" Greg asked, although he already had a very good idea where he was headed.
"House. Something could be wrong up there! What if she passed out or something? What if she hit her head? I have to see!" Jim was all the way up the stairs by the time Greg caught up to him. He grabbed Wilson by the back of his shirt and spun him around.
"Wilson, stop being so pathetic!" Greg whispered fiercely. "Nothing's wrong with Lucy. She just went to bed early, that's all, and I bet she probably fell asleep on that damn couch in her room. Don't wake her up, you moron!"
Jim shook free of Greg's grip. By this time, they were just outside of Lucy's bedroom door. "House. I have to see for myself! I've caused her more than enough pain this past week and I had no right to! I can't seem to apologize to her, but the least I can do is make sure she's all right!" Jim whispered loudly.
Greg threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, Wilson, but if she wakes up, I won't lift a finger to help you! I won't run interference for you! If she decides she wants to hit you again, you are so on your own! I won't hold her back this time!" Greg snapped.
Lucy's bedroom door was partially open. By the light in the hall, Jim and Greg could see that Lucy was indeed asleep, but in bed and not on the couch. Jim breathed a sigh of relief. So did Greg, because they hadn't woken her up!
Greg pulled Jim back from the doorway. "Satisfied now? I told you she was all right! Now let's get the hell back downstairs before she wakes up!" he hissed at Wilson. Little did either of them know that Lucy had heard them, but they hadn't completely woken her up. She was so tired that she thought she was dreaming Greg was yelling at Jim. All she did was pull the covers tighter around her and fell back to sleep.
The game was over around ten thirty. Jim finished up his beer and left, not even saying goodnight to Greg. He felt worse today than he did yesterday after he and Lucy fought, and lucky him, he got to go home and listen to Julie whine and complain because he had been gone all day. She still hadn't shown any remorse over her behavior at the Board dinner. He hoped to hell she was already asleep.
Greg came upstairs quietly, not wanting to take a chance on waking Lucy up. Even though he doubted she would wake up if he took a shower in her bathroom, he didn't want to risk it. He went across to his room and quickly showered there. He was ready to slip into bed with Lucy and just hold her all night. He went back across the hall to Lucy's room and got into bed with her. By now, she was sleeping on her side facing the door. Greg slipped into bed on his side, got as close to her as he could get and gently put his arms around her.
"Greg?" Lucy mumbled, half asleep. "Shh, baby, go back to sleep." Greg whispered against her hair. Lucy turned over and put her head on Greg's chest, throwing her arm and leg over him. Even half asleep, when Lucy put her head on Greg's chest, she kissed it. As usual, that always put a smile on his face.
"Tired, baby?"he asked as he nuzzled the top of her head. "Mmmm." Lucy mumbled, still half asleep. "Were you and my brother up here before?" Lucy had turned her face up to Greg, eyes only half open. "Yes, we were. He was convinced something was wrong with you and had to come up here to see if you were all tight. I warned him not to wake you up. I'm sorry, baby." Greg said softly.
Still refusing to wake up, Lucy mumbled, "Thought I was dreaming." She laid her head back down on Greg's chest and went back to sleep Greg just smiled and turned the TV on. He fell asleep about a half hour after Lucy did.
Around two, Greg woke up with a start. Lucy had kicked him in her sleep. Despite the fact that she usually slept like the dead, Lucy sometimes tossed and turned in during the night, whether there were any bedtime antics or not. She never cried out in her sleep, so Greg presumed she wasn't having nightmares, that she was just having one hell of a dream! He always held her until she calmed down. She was so deeply asleep, she never woke up when he did that. In the morning, it was like it never happened; she never remembered dreaming or tossing and turning, so he never asked her about it.
Tonight was different. Not only did she kick Greg, Lucy was mumbling in her sleep, but he couldn't understand what she was saying. "Lucy, wake up." he whispered. Still asleep, she hit him and tried to push him away. "Baby, it's Greg. What's wrong? Come on, wake up for me." he said as he tried to hold her still. Finally, she started to wake up a little.
"What's wrong? Why did you wake me up?" Lucy mumbled angrily. "Baby, you're having a bad dream." Greg said with concern. "What the hell is wrong with you! What dream? I was asleep!" Lucy said with as much anger as she could muster while still half asleep. As usual, she didn't remember anything.
"Lucy, you just kicked me and you were mumbling in your sleep. Do I need to wear a cup to bed now?" Greg asked, trying to keep her as calm as possible. Lucy started to get out of bed, but Greg wouldn't let her. "Greg, let me go!" Lucy snapped. "Where are you going, baby?" Greg said with a chuckle.
Lucy's eyes were half open, she was scowling, mad, and her curls were all over the place. She sort of looked like the Tasmanian Devil with a case of bed head, but right now Greg didn't dare tease her about it. She would probably do more than kick him if he did! "Let me go! If I'm bothering you that much, I'll sleep on the couch!" she exclaimed, still trying to get away from him.
"Lucy, this is your bed." Greg said, trying not to laugh at her. Lucy stopped trying to get away from him. "Then you go sleep on the couch, or better yet, go back to your room if I'm bothering you, and it's our bed!" Now Greg started to laugh. "Are you trying to make your husband sleep on the couch?" Lucy just glared at him now. "Greg, why the hell did you wake me up? I'm exhausted!" "Lucy, you were tossing and turning and mumbling in your sleep. What's wrong?" Greg just held her close, hoping to settle her down.
"Greg, the last thing I remember was you getting into bed with me. I don't remember any dreams at all. Can I go back to sleep now? Please? I'm so tired. I'd tell you if I remembered." Lucy cried softly.
"Okay, sweetheart, I'm sorry I woke you up. Go back to sleep." Greg said as Lucy curled up against his chest again, absentmindedly kissing it as she fell back to sleep.
Sunday morning, Greg woke up to a cold bed, as usual. Lucy always managed to slip away in the morning without waking him up. He just shook his head as he went to the bathroom. He still didn't know why she rarely slept in. He was fairly certain her brother wouldn't show up today and he wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with her all morning. That she took two Valium yesterday was a bonus. Between that and spending half the afternoon in the pool, she wore herself out and went to be before it was dark. He just wanted her to take it easy even though it was against her nature. She was stubborn all right, and Greg was realizing more and more every day that he didn't want her to be any different. He didn't want her to change for him. Whatever she did for him, whatever she did period, she did because she wanted to, not because he told her to do it. That was exactly the way he wanted her.
Greg went downstairs and found fresh coffee in the thermal pitcher waiting for him, but no Lucy. Where did she go? His mind flashed back to earlier in the week when he had come to the kitchen to find that same pitcher on the counter and no Lucy. She couldn't possibly be mad enough to take off again because he woke her up last night, could she? He almost looked in the garage to see if her car was still there when he looked out on the patio. Still in her pajamas and robe, she had taken her coffee and the Sunday paper outside, but she had pulled up a lounge chair and was enjoying the sun on her face.
Empty coffee mug and paper forgotten on the ground next to her, she looked like she was asleep. Well, after all the tossing and turning she did last night, she should be, but Greg knew she probably wasn't! He poured his coffee and drank it before he went out to join her.
Lucy heard him come outside but didn't move a muscle or open her eyes. She felt Greg standing next to her chair. "Well, do I get a good morning kiss or are you just going to stand there and take root? You know damn well I'm not asleep." Lucy asked, still keeping her eyes closed.
Greg knelt next to her chair. Lucy finally opened her eyes as Greg was leaning in for a kiss. She didn't look too tired. "Lucy, do you realize that I've never seen you sleep past eight in the morning ever since I met you?" Greg asked when he was finished kissing her.
"Greg, just because I usually wake up early doesn't mean you have to. It's just a habit." Lucy said softly as she moved over so he could get on the lounge chair with her. "The bed gets cold when you're not in it, baby!" Greg chuckled as he put his arms around Lucy. "Baby, aren't you the least bit tired after yesterday?"
"Doing battle with sea serpents does take a lot out of you, even if you have help!" Lucy said with a smile. "Sea serpent, huh?" Greg said as kissed the top of her head. "You've got some nerve calling me a sea serpent and getting those boys to pick on me, little girl! You even have a baby pushing me around!" he said playfully as he kissed her again. After a while, they had to come up for air.
"Lucy, don't look at me like that!" Greg exclaimed. "Look at you like what, Greg?" Lucy asked in all innocence. She had no idea what he was talking about. "You get that look on your face when we make love." Greg said with that lopsided grin. "It makes me want to tie you to the bed!
"We can always go upstairs for a quickie before I make your breakfast!" Lucy whispered mischievously into Greg's ear. Greg started laughing. "Why go all the way upstairs? Family room's much closer, isn't it?" Lucy stood up and took Greg's hand. "Let's go then." she said with the sexiest smile Greg had ever seen her give him. He was hard before they got to the kitchen door.
Half an hour later, they were both laying naked on the sectional couch, waiting for their breathing to return to normal. "Damn, Lucy!" Greg whispered against her neck as he kissed it roughly, scraping it with his beard. "Every time we make love is better than the last! I can't keep my hands off you!" Lucy just smiled. She was shaky from the two orgasms she had. She managed to put her arms around Greg and pulled him close to her.
Unable to resist being a smart ass, she said, "That sort of makes you a hypocrite, doesn't it, Stretch? "What are you talking about, baby?" Greg said against the top of her head. Lucy looked up at him with a serious expression on her face. ""What about the lecture I got the other morning?" she said mischievously. "You know, the one you gave me about not having to make love all the time to show you I love you?"
Greg smiled at her and kissed her nose. "Okay, Lucy. You win. Not only am I a hypocrite, I'm a horn dog, too! I want to make love to you all the time!" Lucy started giggling, but Greg knew how to stop that. He just started kissing her again, rubbing her ass gently with his hands. Very reluctantly, Lucy pushed him away.
"What's wrong, baby?" he growled into her neck. "I might literally pass out if you do me again, and what is the fascination with my ass?" Lucy wondered. "I told you, baby. I can't keep my hands off you!" Greg said as he worked his way down Lucy's neck.
"Greg, it's time for breakfast. How about pancakes? I haven't made you that for breakfast yet." Lucy said as she fought an almost losing battle with Greg kissing her neck. The mention of pancakes got his attention temporarily off of sex and onto other things!
"What kind of pancakes?" he said with a gleam in his eye. "Banana walnut?" Lucy said as she kissed him. "Oh, baby." he groaned loudly. Making love to you and banana walnut pancakes? You're going to have to call the paramedics for me today!" Lucy got off the couch giggling, and Greg playfully smacked her butt. She slipped back into her pajamas and went into the kitchen to start breakfast. Greg laid there until he smelled the food cooking. He pulled on his pajama pants and followed the heavenly smell to the kitchen.
Lucy had already made bacon, and the plate was in the oven staying warm. She had just started dropping the pancake batter in the griddle when Greg came in the kitchen. He took a deep breath and groaned again and watched while Lucy finished making a stack of pancakes for them. Lucy put the pancakes on a plate as well and put them in the oven to stay warm while she got the coffee ready. Greg took that opportunity to play a little tonsil hockey.
"Greg." Lucy managed to say breathlessly before he kissed her hungrily again, his tongue pushing into her mouth, dancing around hers. Finally, he stopped kissing her. "What, Lucy?" he growled against her neck. Lucy was half way to heaven. "I forgot." she said while she slid Greg's pajamas down a little bit and started stroking him to a full erection.
"Oh, yeah, baby. That's it." Greg groaned as they stumbled over to a chair and he sat down. He tried to pull Lucy on his lap so he could get a lap dance and do her again, but she had other ideas. "Suck me, baby. Suuuck me. Oh, yeaahhhhh!" Greg was moaning as Lucy first nibbled and sucked the head of his cock, rubbing the pre cum around with her tongue, then taking nearly all of him in her mouth, sucking hard. She slipped one hand under his balls and gently squeezed them, drawing another load groan from Greg. She licked his cock up and down while she stroked him with one hand.
Greg was enjoying the view he had of Lucy sucking him and having a hard time controlling himself. Lucy knew it. This was the one part of their lovemaking she could exert a little control over. Although she could start things and tease Greg a little, he was in charge of every aspect of their lovemaking, but that was okay with her. She didn't mind being led by Greg since she could never complain about the results! The only time she had taken the lead was on his birthday when she dressed up for him.
Greg's legs fell open a little more than they were and she slipped her hand further under his balls to that sensitive spot and pressed lightly with her middle finger. Greg groaned loudly and almost blew right then. Lucy had to admire the control he had over himself this morning. She went back to sucking the head of his cock and alternating the pressure behind his balls, first light, then heavier.
"Oh, God, Lucy! That's so good!" Greg moaned loudly as Lucy kept up the pressure. Now she could feel Greg slowly losing control of himself even though he was enjoying her blow job and trying to make it last longer. She shifted on her knees a little and pressed hard behind his balls while she took his entire cock in her mouth, sucking hard and moving her head up and down. Greg grabbed her head as gently as he could to try and stop her. Lucy gave the best blow jobs he ever had, but this might finish him off and he didn't want to end in her mouth, but it was too late. He started thrusting fast and hard into her mouth, and he exploded with the loudest moan she had ever heard from him. Even though she still had his cock in her mouth, she smiled.
Lucy gently licked Greg clean as he went soft. He had gone limp in the chair, just like she did after an orgasm, trying to catch his breath. He slowly ran his fingers through her hair as he said, "Shit, Lucy! I think you finished me off for the day!"
"If I thought that was true, Greg, I'd call the paramedics right now!" Lucy sat back on her heels and giggled as she looked up at him. She looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. Lucy kissed the inside of his leg as she started to get up. It was then she noticed a bruise on top of his right thigh.
"Greg, did we do this to you in the pool yesterday? I'm sorry." Lucy said as she ran her hand softly over the bruise.
"Lucy, you did this in your sleep last night. Don't you remember?" Greg said. "You were having a bad dream."
"Greg, what are you talking about, I did this to you? I don't remember anything except you getting into bed then waking me up later! I don't remember any dreams!" Lucy scowled again as she as she tried hard to remember. Greg stood up and helped Lucy up off the floor.
"Lucy, it's okay. It's only a bruise. Let's have breakfast outside." Greg said gently as he put his hand on her face. He got a tray out to carry their breakfast out to the patio. Lucy was still scowling, but she got the dishes, silverware & the coffee and followed Greg outside. They sat down and Greg dove into the pancakes, savoring every bite he took. Lucy had been eating, but stopped and abruptly got up and walked a few feet away, startling Greg. She looked confused. Greg stood up and went over to where she was standing. "What's wrong, sweetheart? Your belly hurt again?" He pushed her hair out of her face and put his arms around her.
"Greg, I don't remember anything from last night. All I remember is you coming to bed and waking me up later. How could I kick you and not remember anything?" Lucy's eyes were wide with confusion.
"Lucy, it's all right. Sometimes you toss and turn part of the night. I've gotten used to it. I just hold you until you settle down again." Greg said against the top of her head.
Lucy tried to get away from him. "What do you mean I toss and turn part of the night? Greg, how could I not remember kicking you or hitting you?"
"Baby, you were just having a bad dream, that's all. I'll just start wearing a cup to bed to protect myself!" Greg said one more time in an attempt to laugh her out of it. He wanted her to be all right, but he also wanted to go back to those pancakes!
Greg led Lucy back to the table and sat her down, then pulled his chair next to hers. She smiled at the gesture and leaned over to give him a kiss and put the rest of the pancakes on his plate. Greg dove in again, and devoured the food. They sat there in comfortable silence, reading the paper and drinking coffee. Out of nowhere, Greg let out a long belch. Lucy stared at him for a few seconds, her lips twitching with the effort not to laugh.
Greg noticed her trying not to laugh and said, "What?" That triggered a fit of giggles from Lucy. "Oh, you mean the burp?" he said with a grin. "That was my compliment to the cook." Now Lucy knew he did that on purpose. Being the only girl on her father's side of the family, she was used to what boys and men sometimes did deliberately or by accident. Greg had always minded his manners around her. Well, sometimes he ate like he was starving, especially her cooking, but he never burped like that in front of her!
"You're supposed to kiss the cook, Greg, not burp!" Lucy said between giggles. As the giggles dissipated, Lucy got up and started to clear the table while Greg finished his coffee. Eventually, he followed her into the kitchen to help her finish up.
They had finished loading the dishwasher, and Lucy turned to Greg and put her arms around him. "Greg, I'm so sorry I kicked you." she whispered against his chest before she kissed it. "Why can't I remember what I was dreaming about or kicking you?" she wondered.
"Baby, sometimes you toss and turn part of the night, but it doesn't last long. I think you've always done it. When you're done, you just curl up against me again, and that's it for the night. You never say anything about dreaming when you wake up. You took two Valium yesterday, remember? That might be why you can't remember kicking me. What Greg was saying made sense, but Lucy still looked frustrated.
"What do you mean I've probably always done it?" Lucy asked sharply. She was starting to think to herself that the tossing and turning was a result of her wanting to keep their relationship a secret and was surprised that he wasn't saying the same thing to her. But the more she thought about it, there were a lot of mornings long before she started sleeping with Greg that her bed looked like she had been fighting with someone.
Greg saw the look. He took her face in both of his hands. "Lucy, when I first moved here, I came home from the hospital late one night. I saw the light from your TV on and thought you were still awake. I was going to come in and say good night, but you were asleep and you were tossing and turning. I waited a few minutes to make sure you didn't fall out of bed or hurt yourself somehow, then I turned your TV off and went to bed. I'll just have to wear a cup to bed from now on! You came very close to damaging something that makes us both very happy!" He gave her that half smile of his. "Oh, and by the way, you punched me and tried to make me sleep on the couch! What could I possibly have done to make my wife try and kick me out of bed!"
Lucy scowled at him, then she remembered, at least that part. "You woke me up, you horny old goat! If my tossing and turning was bothering you, you should have let me sleep on the couch or slept there yourself!" She was starting to boil over, and Greg knew the anger was more from the fact she had no control of this than the fact that she kicked and hit him, although he knew that bothered her, too. She really was a female version of him, wanting to be in control of everything!
"Lucy, sshhh." Greg whispered to her. "You don't really want either of us to sleep alone on the couch, do you?" He tilted her face up toward him and lowered his lips to hers. Lucy wrapped her arms around him and gave into Greg's kisses and the feelings they always aroused. His hands were all over her, eventually finding their way to her butt, squeezing it gently. They were pleasantly groping each other when the phone rang.
"Damn it!" Lucy groaned as she tried to pry herself loose from Greg to answer the phone. He wasn't letting her go. "Let it ring, baby." he growled against her neck.
"Greg, it might be important, it might be the hospital" Lucy said as she looked at the caller ID on the phone. "Son of a bitch!" she said. That got Greg's attention away from her neck.
"What is it, baby?" "MacGregor." Lucy snapped. "I though you hired those three because they could think independently! Answer the damn phone!" Greg smiled. Lucy was jealous, showing no signs of insecurity, and he was the only one who would see her act like this. She would never act like that at the hospital or in front of anyone. He was starting to rethink his opinion of MacGregor, especially after the way she was butting in his life and bringing Wilson into it.
Reluctantly, he let Lucy go and she went over to stand by the door, looking outside. "Mazzelli, get a grip on yourself!" Lucy angrily said to herself. You're a doctor's daughter. You know interruptions happen. You're just pissed off because MacGregor made the call, not O'NEAL or Johnson!" She just kept looking out at the pool.
Greg picked up the phone. "House." he said curtly. "Oh, House. I didn't expect you to answer the phone." MacGregor simpered on the other end. She really had been hoping Lucy would answer so she could try to get back at her for playing her the other day. MacGregor didn't realize that it was highly unlikely that would ever happen. Lucy was young, but it was awfully hard to get her. She was too smart and nearly as devious as Greg when she wanted to be!
"MacGregor, I live here." Greg said sarcastically. "It's not all that unusual for me to pick up the phone when it rings. What the hell do you want? It's Sunday." "Well, we have a patient House. You need to come in to start the differential with us." MacGregor proceeded to run a list of the patient's symptoms for Greg.
"Run blood work to check for infections and do a tox screen for everything you can think of. I'll be there in ten minutes." Greg snapped. Lucy was still standing at the door. Greg came up behind her and she turned to put her arms around him.
"Do you have to go in?" Lucy asked, disappointment showing in her eyes. She had been looking forward to spending a lazy day alone with Greg. It was sunny and hot again, and they could spend part of the day in the pool.
"New patient, baby. I'll just start the differential and come back as soon as I can. It's only ten. We still have the rest of the day." he said. Lucy looked up at him. He could read her so well.
Greg went upstairs to get dressed. Lucy was still standing at the kitchen door when he came back downstairs, and he could tell she was still pissed. "Come on, Lucy, walk me to my car. Be a good little doctor's wife." he said, hoping to get her to smile.
"There you go with that wife thing again!" Lucy said looking up at Greg. "When did we get married? Why don't I have a ring? You're just saying we're married so you can keep getting in my pants!" she said playfully as they walked to the garage. Greg pulled her against him. "Baby, if you'd let me, I'd buy you the biggest diamond you ever saw!"
"Well, get your ass to work and earn the money to pay for it then!" Lucy giggled as she pushed Greg out the door. "Damn, you're a bossy little girl!" Greg said as he got into his car. Lucy stuck her tongue out at him. "Slave driver!" he yelled back as he backed his car down the driveway.
Lucy just shook her head and went back into the house. She went upstairs to change into her bathing suit. Back out on the patio, she picked the paper up off the table and threw it away. She got a bottle of white wine and put it in the refrigerator to chill. She didn't know if she was going to cook or order in, but she felt like having wine with her dinner. She went back outside, put on suntan lotion, grabbed her raft & got in the pool.
True to his word, Greg started the differential with his team and left them to their work. He ordered them not to call him unless they actually found out what was wrong with the patient or the patient died. He looked directly at MacGregor when he said it. He was home before noon, and saw Lucy floating on her raft. He quickly went upstairs and changed into his trunks, leaving his clothes all over the place.
Outside, Lucy looked like she had fallen asleep on the raft. Greg got into the pool quietly, or so he thought, and swam over to her, intending to flip the raft over. As soon as Lucy felt him next to her, she said in a very quiet voice, "Don't you dare even think about flipping this raft, Greg House! I will never let you in my room again!"
Greg almost jumped out of his skin when she spoke. "Lucy! How the hell did you know I was here? I thought you were asleep!" Lucy turned a little so she could look at Greg, once again giving him that unintentional view of her breasts that always gave him and Junior ideas. "I heard the garage door open, numb nuts!"
"Numb nuts?" Greg said. "You weren't calling me numb nuts this morning!" He gave Lucy an evil grin, and she knew she was in trouble. Before she could get off the raft on her own, he did flip her into the water. Lucy swam away from Greg and he chased after her. Lucy had come up for air and saw Greg had almost caught up to her. She did a quick dive and swam past him, grabbing his trunks as she when by, but this time, she really did pull them down!
"Lucy, you're in trouble now!" Greg exclaimed as he pulled his trunks back up and caught Lucy before she had a chance to get out of the water. He grabbed her and tossed her half way across the pool again, and so they played in the water for the rest of the afternoon like a couple of kids. Every so often, they would stop and act like horny teenagers and grope and kiss each other hungrily. All in all, it was a very relaxing afternoon for them both.
Around four thirty, Lucy heard Greg's stomach growl, which never failed to make her giggle. "Sweetheart, what do you want for dinner?" Lucy asked as she kept her arms around him. "How about I order some Chinese, baby? I'd rather you take it easy, okay? You did more than enough for everyone yesterday." Greg replied. Lucy's eyes lit up. "Shrimp broccoli? Maybe I can actually eat it tonight!" she said, referring to the other night when Greg had brought home Chinese and she could barely swallow it. "I have a bottle of wine in the fridge, too!" she said mischievously.
"Why, Lucy Mazzelli. Are you trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me?" Greg said as they got out of the pool. Lucy had wiped the water from her face and wrapped herself in one of the big beach towels she had brought out for them to use. "Dr. House, how could you say such a thing! Try to take advantage of you when neither one of us will be drunk? I could take advantage of you when you're sober and I don't! I'm insulted! Lucy's lips were twitching with suppressed laughter. "Order our dinner, please." she said in as stern a voice as she could manage.
"Yes, Mistress." Greg replied in a deep voice, wagging his eyebrows at Lucy. "We'll discuss my punishment later." "Horny old goat!" Lucy said as she threw the other towel at him so he could dry off a little bit. Their food arrived about fifteen minutes later.
Lucy had already opened the wine when Greg brought the food out on the patio. She hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast and the smell made her mouth water as she realized how hungry she was. Greg didn't stand a chance stealing her food tonight, although he did try to snag a couple of shrimp. After his second try, he looked so sad, Lucy just had to give him one of her shrimp, even though she knew it was an act. The wine had started to mellow her out, so she put one end of the shrimp in her mouth and got Greg to take the other end in his. Their lips quickly met in the middle and they forgot about dinner for a while.
Dinner finally finished, they went to a lounge chair and just sat back and enjoyed the rest of day in peace. They both dozed off with their arms around each other. At dusk, Lucy woke first. "Greg." she whispered against his chest. "What baby?" he mumbled as he put his arms around her tighter. "It's almost dark. We'd better go inside." "Nah, baby. It's comfortable out here. Let's skinny dip."
"Greg!" Lucy laughed. "Why not?" Greg said as he slowly opened his eyes. Lucy didn't have an answer for him. "Hmm, that's what I thought." he said wickedly as he got off the lounge chair and held his hand out to help Lucy up.
"Greg, it's not completely dark yet!" Lucy exclaimed as she looked around. With the way the yard had been landscaped with all the trees lining the property, the neighbors couldn't see what they were doing anyway, but Lucy was always hesitant when they were outside.
"Baby, no one will see. How many times have I said that? No one can see in the yard or pool." Greg said, hearing the hesitation in her voice. "Let's just go in until it gets completely dark, then we'll take our suits off, okay?" he asked with that crooked grin. Lucy caved.
The water was still warm and they started playing around again, racing each other across the pool and generally acting like kids. The darker it got, the harder it was for Greg to keep himself under control. Finally, he thought it was dark enough for Lucy to relax and he caught her as she swam by him. She didn't protest as he pulled her into his arms for a kiss, and she pressed herself against him, grinding her hips against his growing erection.
Lucy pulled Greg's trunks down and started stroking his cock. Greg groaned with pleasure as Junior got stiff. "I thought you said I finished you off for the day, Greg." Lucy said as she slid his trunks all the way down and she shimmied out of her bathing suit. "I guess I lied, baby. Time for round two." Greg said as he grabbed their suits and tossed them out of the pool, making them land on the lounge chair they just vacated. He grinned. "Two points!" he said to himself as he turned back to Lucy.
"Nice shot, Stretch." she said as she swam away from Greg. "Lucy, come back here! What are you doing?" Greg practically roared. He was ready to screw Lucy's brains out and she decides she wants to play?
I thought you wanted to swim some more, Greg!" Lucy said as Greg caught up to her. "No swimming, Lucy." Greg said as he grabbed her and pulled her against him again. He lowered his lips to hers, his tongue pushing its way into her mouth to begin the dance with hers. All those little moans of satisfaction were escaping from Lucy as Greg backed her against the edge of the pool. Greg had a raging hard on now, and Lucy was steadily stroking him, rubbing drops of cum around the head of his cock with her thumb.
Greg slowly lowered his head to her breasts and licked her already erect nipples, drawing all sorts of soft squeals from her. He took a nipple between his lips and sucked and licked it at the same time. Lucy was just leaning against the side of the pool moaning softly, her hand stroking Greg. He switched nipples and moved his hand down between her legs. Lucy moaned Greg's name as she spread her legs for him.
Lucy became very wet very quickly with Greg's fingers moving in and out of her and rubbing her clit. "Greg" her voice came out in a ragged whisper. "What do you want, your horny little monkey?" Greg responded, all the while keeping up the assault with his fingers. Lucy was breathing faster. They both knew what her response would be, but it made both of them hotter when he teased her and she begged him.
"I want you to fuck me, Greg. Fuck me hard with your big cock. Make me come!" Greg smiled. Slowly, he pushed his cock into her, relishing how tight and wet she was. When his entire length was in her, he pulled one of her legs around him and started thrusting in and out. Lucy brought her other leg around him and hung onto him. By wrapping her legs around him, Lucy was able to lean back further against the edge of the pool, making it easier for Greg to suck her nipples.
Lucy was almost ready to go over the edge now. Greg knew it, but he wanted to draw this out as long as he could. He put his thumb on Lucy's clit, almost making her scream with pleasure. He quickly smothered her sounds with his lips, kissing her fiercely as she thrust against him. Greg could feel her juices and knew she was close. He rubbed her clit a little harder, and that did it.
With another flow of her hot juices, Lucy clamped down on Greg's cock and her orgasm started coming in waves. She wrapped her legs tighter around Greg, crying his name into his neck as he shot his load into her at almost the same time, her name escaping his lips in a rough, breathless gasp. Slowly, slowly, they rocked against each other as their orgasms subsided. Lucy just let her legs drop down away from Greg's hips. As usual, her orgasm was so intense, she could barely stand. Greg was holding her up.
They just stood in the pool, holding each other until their breathing returned to normal. "Ready for that shower now?" Greg whispered against the top of Lucy's head. She was starting to shiver a little. Arms wrapped around each other, they slowly walked up the pool steps. Lucy stopped by the lounge chair to get a towel to wrap around herself. She picked up their suits, took Greg's hand and they went into the house. She headed upstairs while Greg locked up
When Greg made it upstairs, Lucy had already rinsed their suits out and they were hanging on a towel rack. She had started running the water for their shower when she heard him come in the room. He walked over to her and put his arms around her as she turned her face up for a kiss, taking his towel off at the same time. "Horny little monkey." he said with a smile as he pulled her towel off. "Horny old goat." Lucy said before Greg's lips claimed hers again.
They stepped into the shower, but they were "playing" with each other. The kisses and caresses were slow and sweet, but nothing overtly sexual. Greg washed her hair, enjoying running his fingers through the thick curls. Then he gave Lucy the best back rub of her life, starting with her neck and shoulders and working his way down to her sweet little ass. She was putty in his hands. When she couldn't take it anymore, she turned Greg around and returned the favor, and with very little effort, Greg was hard again. Greg pushed her up against the shower wall and took her again, this time not bothering to smother her screams of delight as she went limp in his arms. By the time Lucy was able to stand alone, they had used all the hot water.
Lucy tossed a towel to Greg so he could dry himself off and she towel dried her hair. When she was finished, she pulled a wide-tooth comb through the curls, pulled them back into a ponytail and turned to face Greg. He hadn't made a move to dry himself off. Even though he was pretty sure he was finished for the night, watching her take care of the curly hair was an aphrodisiac for him. He just leaned against the wall and watched her.
"What's wrong, Greg? Forget how to dry yourself off after a shower?" Lucy said with a soft smile. "No, baby, I was waiting for you to finish combing your hair so I could dry you off." he said with a wicked grin as he closed the distance between them quickly.
"What if I don't want to be dried off?" Lucy said with a very sultry smile. Greg had dropped his towel, took Lucy's off and wrapped them both in it. "Too bad, baby." he growled as he claimed her lips with his. They spent the next few minutes drying each other off, and Greg was right. Lucy had finished him off for the night.
Lucy was just "playing" with Junior now. She knew Greg was through for the night too, but that was all right. They made love three times today, not that she was counting or complaining!
"Lucy, what are you doing now?" Greg asked with a smile. "Oh, I just want to be sure Junior's all nice and dry before we go to bed. I wouldn't want him to catch a cold or anything." she replied with a straight face. Greg just chuckled. "By all means, continue. Wouldn't want to put him in quarantine now, would we?" Lucy laughed and took Greg's hand and led him back to the bedroom. Greg snuggled up behind Lucy and put his arms around her, cupping her right breast with his hand and gently rubbing her nipple. "Mmm, that feels good." Lucy said as Greg gently nuzzled her neck as she fell asleep.
Around one in the morning, Greg's cell phone rang. He grabbed it quickly, hoping Lucy wouldn't wake up. He looked at the Caller ID. "This had better be good." he hissed into the phone. It was MacGregor. "House. You'd better get here fast. The patient went into respiratory arrest and we don't know why. We just stabilized her!" Greg just groaned, then turned quickly to look at Lucy. Still asleep. "I'll be there as soon as I can." he snapped and disconnected the call. Fuck! He hated leaving Lucy in the middle of the night for any reason. He decided to wake her up to tell her he had to leave so she wouldn't get scared if she woke up and he was gone, but he would get dressed first.
Five minutes later, he went back to Lucy's room. As he sat down on the bed, she woke up and saw he was dressed. "Hospital call?" she mumbled sleepily. "Yeah, patient went into respiratory arrest." he said as he stroked the side of her face. "I don't want to leave you, Lucy." She took his hand and kissed it.
"Don't they know how to handle that without you?" Lucy asked. "Doesn't look like it, baby. They haven't figured out what's wrong yet." "Greg, what are the patient's symptoms?" Greg just looked at her. "Greg, symptoms?" "Why not give her a crack at it?" he thought to himself with a chuckle. She's going to do a rotation in my department anyway. Let's see if she's as good as she was when she diagnosed her own endometriosis!"
"Fifty-five-year-old female presented with difficulty swallowing, muscle pain and weakness in her shoulders and hips, shortness of breath, morning stiffness, fatigue, weight loss, and fever.
"Those three are morons. Your patient has Polymyositis." Lucy snapped. If they haven't already thought of it on their own, they need to run a CPK, and Serum aldolase, and do an MRI and a muscle biopsy. Treatment is corticosteroids for four to six weeks, then taper off when muscle strength improves. Maintenance therapy with prednisone can be continued indefinitely. If the patient doesn't respond to the corticosteroids, try something else to suppress her immune system." Lucy finished smugly
Greg was stunned. His mind didn't even go in that direction. "Lucy, you're way off base. How can you come up with Polymyositis as a diagnosis with just the symptoms I gave you?" he asked. "Greg, go to the hospital and have those idiots run those tests. I'm right. I'll stake my medical degree on it!" Greg blinked. "Lucy, don't be ridiculous!"
Lucy sat straight up in bed. "Five hundred bucks says I'm right then!" she declared confidently. She put out her hand to shake on it. "Deal?" she said as Greg took her hand. "Okay, Lucy, but I hate to take money from you." Greg said. "Don't worry, Stretch. You won't have to. Now get moving and get those tests run before your team kills that woman!" Greg kissed her and left.
When he got to his office, his team was sitting in the conference room. From the look of the whiteboard, they hadn't come up with anything close to a diagnosis.
"Okay, have any of you thought to run a CPK, and Serum aldolase, and do an MRI and a muscle biopsy? Our patient almost dies and you three are just sitting here twiddling your thumbs? Move it!" Greg's voice boomed through the room startling the three of them out of their stupor.
"House, why should we run those tests?" O'NEAL asked wearily. He was a little irritated. House had spent the day relaxing and they had been stuck here.
"Because I'm your boss and I told you to." Greg snapped back at his minion. "House. Those are tests for Polymyositis. Our patient doesn't have that. It's impossible." Johnson said wearily MacGregor had yet to say anything. She had been up almost 24 hours, and here was House all nice and rested telling them to run useless tests!
"Prove me wrong then!" House stated flatly. I have five hundred bucks riding on this. Move!" O'NEAL and Johnson got up to start the tests. MacGregor hadn't moved.
"MacGregor, why are you still here?" Greg snapped. "House, what are you doing? How did you come up with Polymyositis? I'm not doing any of those tests. For whatever reason, you're trying to win a bet and I won't help you!" she snapped back.
"MacGregor, are you trying to get me to fire you?" Greg demanded. "The symptoms are there on the whiteboard. The tests aren't dangerous. Move!" MacGregor glared at Greg and reluctantly went off with O'Neal & Johnson, who were waiting outside in the hall for her but had heard every word between her and House.
"MacGregor." Johnson said. "Why do you bother trying to defy House? He's probably right, and the tests aren't dangerous. If the results are negative, we will at least have ruled out something."
"That little brat Lucy gave him the idea, that's why!" MacGregor said angrily. O'Neal and Johnson looked at each other. MacGregor just wasn't going to give up on getting House for herself. "MacGregor. Cindy." Johnson said with as much kindness as he could muster. All three of them were exhausted, and if these tests were positive, House would send them home for at least half the day. The longer MacGregor continued to defy him, the worse he would make it for all three of them. "Give up on House. He has eyes for Lucy and no one else. You are his employee. Let's go and get this done."
Greg was watching them from the doorway as they went off to do those tests. He heard every word they said. "Well," he thought to himself, "the least I can do is stay here until the test results come back." He went back to his office and started to do some of the paperwork he hated so much.
Around six, all three of his minions came into Greg's office with sheepish looks on their faces, waking him up from the catnap he had been in he middle of. "Well?" he questioned.
"House, what gave you the idea the patient has Polymyositis?" Johnson asked wearily. "We started treatment with corticosteroids. She's already responding." Greg just smirked.
"Gentlemen." he said. "And MacGregor." We have just been out diagnosed by a girl who hasn't even started her residency yet and I'm out $500 bucks!" Greg got an envelope out of his desk, picked up his keys and walked out of his office. As he started to walk through the door, he turned around and told the three of them to go home and come back at one. Greg stopped at the ATM in the hospital lobby and got the money to pay Lucy. He had himself some smart woman!
When Greg got home, he found Lucy in the kitchen waiting for him. "I was right, wasn't I?" she said gleefully as she got the coffee out. "Greg just groaned. She was in a good mood and from the look of it, she hadn't had any coffee yet! He just handed her the envelope. Lucy pumped both fists in the air. "Told ya I was right, Stretch!" Lucy exclaimed as she hugged Greg.
"Lucy, did anyone call you to tell you the test results" Greg wondered. "Nope. I knew I was right, and the look on your face gave it away." Lucy was still smiling. "You can't stand it when I beat you at poker. You hate to lose at anything! So do I!" He leaned down to kiss her. "I gave them the morning off." he whispered against the top of her head. "How about we spend the morning upstairs?" "Maria is coming to clean today, remember?" Lucy said with disappointment.
"Hmm." Greg said. "She's not due here until nine, right?" Lucy nodded. "Then follow me to the family room, my horny little monkey. I want you now." Greg said. Lucy took his hand. "Horny hypocritical old goat!" she said as she led him to the family room.
A/N:
My apologies for taking so long to post this chapter. Work and life got in the way! For those of you who have been reading this from the beginning, thank you for sticking with me, and for those of you who are reading and reviewing this for the first time and adding me to your alert list, thank you so much! This is the first time I've tried doing anything like this and your reviews and suggestions mean a lot. I'm going to give you fair warning that the next chapter will be more on the smutty side than most of this story has been so far!
As always, House and his partners in crime are the property of David Shore and Fox. I'm just playing with them! This story and the OC's belong to me. And as always, thanks for playing along!
