A/N: Because of a review I received for the last chapter, I just wanted to clarify something. House and Ann's baby does not have Down's syndrome. The child House was thinking about was a little girl he had as a patient in the clinic, and he was also thinking that if they were to have a child with Down's, he could probably deal with it. There was also some stuff about the little girl he encountered possibly opening him up emotionally to find Ann, but that's not really relevant to the plot point that their son does not have Down's. Sorry if I confused anyone.


Disclaimer: Don't Own, Except OCs

House had just returned home from work when they got a call from Ginsberg. It was the Wednesday after Labor Day.

"You need to come to a law office in Trenton on Monday to sign some paperwork."

"What paperwork?" House asked.

"Settlement paperwork".

"The case is settled?"

"Yes, it is."

"And?"

"You are not allowed to discuss any details of this case publicly."

"Damn. My Facebook page is about to get a lot more boring. I may lose friends over this."

"Oh, and they have agreed to settle for seventy-five point three million dollars."

"Say that again."

"Seventy-five point three million."

Ann was watching and saw House turn white. "Is everything okay?"

"Tell her," House almost growled at Ginsberg before handing off the phone to Ann. He was staring blankly at the wall.

"Shel?" Ann asked tentatively.

"The settlement was seventy-five point three million, Ann."

"Holy shit."

"Holy something," Ginsberg agreed. "I may just be able to sell my practice now."

"Happy retirement. Isn't that more than we asked for initially?"

"Good memory."

"And isn't that unusual?"

"Very. Let's just say that a bunch of things came out in discovery that were, well, for want of a better word, bizarre."

"Okay, that makes it good material for a movie on HBO, not necessarily grounds to settle a lawsuit for that much money. How did you get them to agree to it?"

"If what Doctor Cuddy had done and what they had let happen ever got out, the hospital would probably be shut down, and every member of the board would, at best, be publicly humiliated, and at worst, have their careers and reputations destroyed."

"But they didn't know what she had done until well after the fact."

"But it was their legal responsibility to monitor the hospital. They should have known, and they certainly can't argue lax oversight as a defense."

"And aren't these really important people? Don't important people get away with things?"

"You forget, the more important you are, the more you have to lose. And some of these people's families have invested several generations cultivating their reputations. Besides, how do you think the wealthy and socially prominent get away with something? They pay their way out of it."

"I guess. Can they appeal or anything?"

"Verdicts get appealed. Settlements don't. And challenging anything in court brings it into public view, which is exactly what they are trying to avoid."

"So, that's it?"

"Other than the paperwork, and deciding where you want them to send the check."

"Greg has a bank account."

"You may want some of this in your name, given that Greg's a doctor and can always get sued. Of course, if Greg gives you any of the money, there may be tax consequences. I have the name of an accountant, if you need it."

"Is it someone you trust?"

"It's my accountant, so yes, it's someone I trust. What about finances?"

"Well, they just got a whole lot better."

"I mean, do you have a financial planner?"

"Greg has a stockbroker, I think, although he does some on-line trading himself, too."

"With this much money, you're going to need more than a guy who sells you stocks. This is a little more complicated than setting up an IRA, a Roth, or a brokerage account."

"I have a 401K with my employer."

"And Greg probably has a 403b, and you may want to set up a 529 for college for the baby. You could set up a trust for him, too. And long term care insurance is expensive, but it's a good idea to have it to protect your assets, especially now that you can afford the payments."

"Can we have you help us?"

"No – "

"Why not?" You sound like you know a lot about it."

"Just enough to be dangerous. I do mostly civil cases in my practice, not trusts, estates, or wills. I can give you the name of my planner. He and the accountant work with an attorney who specializes in taxes and financial matters."

"Things just got a lot more complicated for us, didn't they?"

"Yeah, but in a good way."

"Can I talk to him for a second?" House interrupted. He looked a little less stunned, but only marginally so.

"Sure, baby," Ann agreed as she handed the phone back to him.

"What is going to happen to my job?" House asked abruptly. "Everyone on the board and Cuddy must want to kill me. Can I even go back to work there tomorrow?"

"Part of the settlement requires that they can't fire you arbitrarily and that they have to follow all the procedures in their HR manual to take any action against you, just like they would for any other employee. In any case, after this, they'd be totally foolish to do anything to you."

"Well, they weren't exactly geniuses to get themselves into this spot in the first place."

"True, but that was before they thought there would be any consequences for their actions. Now that they've had this experience, they know they can't get away with treating you badly."

"If you say so. I just don't want my employment situation to become a living hell."

"If they try anything, just call me and I'll talk to them. I think they'll listen now. I have to go, but let me give you the name and address of the law firm where you need to go to sign the paperwork."

House handed the phone back to Ann to let her get the particulars about location and time. Ginsberg said he'd e-mail her the information about his accountant and planner. She thanked Ginsberg and ended the call.

"So, what are you thinking?" Ann questioned House.

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "I need time for all this to sink in."

"It's good to know now."

"Why now, especially?"

"Well, if this hadn't been settled or it had been a small settlement, we probably would have stayed here and I would have started decorating David's room. Now, I have to pull out all those ideas I had for a new house and contact an architect. You should probably do some research and we should compare notes so we have a list of what we both want. And once we know how much of the settlement we're actually getting, we should talk about a budget."

"Good idea," House agreed. Frankly, he was so stunned by what he'd just found out that the idea of a distraction appealed to him. "Okay if I start now?"

Ann immediately recognized House's need to do something that didn't have anything to do with the lawsuit. "Sure."

House fired up his laptop while Ann started dinner.

As they sat down to eat, Ann could see that House was still distracted. "Find any interesting features for the new house?"

"If you wanted a new place you shouldn't have married this old, beat-up House."

"You're not old and beat-up. You're middle-aged and you've experienced life to its fullest."

"Other than the ten years I was holed up in my apartment getting stoned," House dismissed her reassurances.

"What did you find in your research?" Ann persisted.

"Well, there was the stuff I already knew, like the house should be all on one floor."

"We could have a second floor with bedrooms, as long as the master suite is downstairs."

"Do you really want to be the only one who can get the kid? I can't very well manage stairs, a cane and a baby. Not with only two hands."

Ann didn't want House to feel self-conscious. "Some of my family is getting up there in years. It's probably a better idea to have guest rooms on the first floor."

"Nice try at deflection. I can see Tom taking the stairs two at time when he's eighty-five. Unless he blows out his knee running at eighty."

"You're right, I am deflecting – I don't want you to know how lazy I am that I don't want to haul my ass up and down the stairs."

Ann was still trying to move the discussion away from House's handicap, House knew, but he decided to let it go. "All on one floor then."

"What else?"

"Radiant heat."

"What's that?"

"Instead of a standard forced-air furnace, there's a boiler and tubing under the floor. The heated water from the boiler goes throughout the house under the floors, heating it."

"I bet that minimizes the dust."

"It does, and it keeps the floors warm."

"That sounds really nice."

"And, in the master bathroom, one of those huge, walk-in showers, with a bench and all kinds of sprays."

"That sounds wonderful, too. Do you want to set up a home office?"

"I don't know."

There was a pause. Ann hesitated to bring it up, but she decided to take the plunge. "I heard how concerned you were about going back to work now. Since we're building a new house, maybe it's time to revisit your becoming a consultant."

"Ginsberg said the terms of the settlement state that they can't fire me arbitrarily or treat me any differently than any other employee."

"You and I both know that there are myriad ways to get around that. If you want to stay there, and it works, great. But I just think, since we can afford it now, we should have a backup plan, that's all."

"Just an office?"

"Well, you'd probably want a little more than that. I was thinking almost like a wing, attached to the house, but also separated, so it would feel like going to work every day. And you should have space for other people – "

"Why?"

"Suppose you needed your team to come over? You'd need an area for a conference room, at least."

"And a whiteboard."

"Or, better yet, an electronic whiteboard. That way, if some of the team were with the patient, you could still communicate."

"Would that mean some kind of teleconferencing equipment?"

"Possibly."

"Isn't that outrageously expensive?"

"The prices on that stuff have come down quite a bit, especially with the advent of computer cameras."

"Sounds like we're gong to need some help from a techie."

"You married one, remember?"

"Oh, right."

House was silent.

"Listen . . . "

"What?"

"I know this is a lot of stuff for you to, um, digest. And if you want to take things slower, I understand. And we can do that."

"I don't mind the idea of moving, it's just . . . "

"You've spent the bulk of your professional life at Princeton Plainsboro, at least that's the place you've worked the longest. It would be difficult for you to give that up."

"After everything that's happened, not as difficult as you think."

"I know, but this is a lot to absorb. Going from bachelorhood to being married, from no children to an infant, moving in less than a year from a small apartment to a decent-sized rented house to a larger, custom-built home, and then we start talking about your leaving your job . . . "

"It's okay."

"And it's also okay to admit that it's hard to deal with all of that."

"I'm fine with the marriage, as you know. As you so aptly put it, 'it's just a legal formality.' I love you, and that's never going to change. The baby will be a bit bigger of a, um, thing, just because it, I mean he, will be so demanding. But it is something I want you to have, and something I want to have, too."

House took a deep breath before he continued.

"My job, well, I'm not going to lie and tell you everything is peachy there. First of all, between everything I did and how Cuddy retaliated, it never was. Second, as much as winning this lawsuit is a financial windfall, it's not going to make anything easier. Just the opposite, in fact. And leaving, especially to go out on my own . . ."

"Scary, huh?"

"How do you know?"

"I left the soulless multinational corporation, which, at the time at least, was relatively secure, for a job with a start-up in California, during a recession in the technology industry. I knew that Bill knew what he was doing and that he was a good guy, but the rest was a pure leap of faith. For an atheist, no less."

"My situation is different."

"Yeah, you're way smarter, and world-renowned. And you have a solid financial base to work from, too."

"So, you're saying I'm being a wuss about this."

"No, I'm saying that you're better situated than you think. And that's what it's really all about, the way you think."

"You're not going to say that anything is possible if you can imagine it, or some such platitude."

"Hell, no! I can 'imagine' all I want, but given my awkwardness even walking on ice, I'm never going to be another Sarah Hughes. We all have inherent talents and abilities as well as limitations. But, in this case, you are not limited. I don't care what programming some people have given you, you are brilliant at being a doctor, and you can do that on your own, or at any hospital smart enough to hire you."

House was silent. It was true that for years he'd been told no one would hire him, that he was a mess, and difficult, and all kinds of really negative stuff by the people who he was closest to. By people who he had considered his friends. And, as much as he prided himself on not being influenced by the opinions of others, this had to have had some impact on him, he was forced to admit. If they hadn't been his friends, he would have dismissed it. But . . . House felt that old familiar pain of being on the outside looking in, of being someone people merely tolerated, of resigning himself to being alone. He snapped out of it when Ann put her hand over his.

"You okay?" she asked softly. She had seen a flash of pain cross his face.

"I am now," House responded softly as he flipped his hand over and laced his fingers between hers.

"I know it's early, but let's go to bed."

"No argument here."

They got up from the table and Ann put the leftover food away while House put the dishes in the dishwasher.

The walked down the hall to the bedroom, with Ann's arm around House's waist and House's arm over Ann's shoulder.

House was going to request that Ann wear the lingerie she had worn on their honeymoon, but then he decided against it. He still liked it, a lot, but it had been almost a month since she had worn it, and it might not still fit her. The last thing he wanted was to get her out of the mood by reminding her of how big she was getting.

Surprisingly enough, House didn't mind her size. Most of it was baby weight. And what wasn't had migrated to her boobs and butt, with a small amount accumulating on her thighs. A little breastfeeding and that would be gone. And, more surprisingly, even if the weight wasn't gone, House didn't care. He grown to love this woman and her body so much, it didn't need to be perfect, or, quite honestly, any where near it.

Before he knew it, they were in bed, naked, touching each other.

"I guess this should be celebratory sex," House ventured tentatively.

"Absolutely," Ann grinned. "It's not very often you get to stick it to the man like that."

"The only man I want sticking it to you is me," House insisted as he pressed his erection into her thigh.

"God, it's so sexy when you get all possessive and territorial," Ann responded verbally. She also moved so that she could spread her legs under him. As she pulled his body toward hers, he felt her wetness against his already-stiff cock, which made him even harder.

"God, you're so fuck-able," he proclaimed as he slid into her slowly.

Ann made the most amazing sound. It was a groan containing lust, need, pleasure and something else. She began to grind her hips against him.

House knew he was going to have to pull out, but he enjoyed being right where he was. Besides her body clutching at him, her belly was pressed against him and he felt the baby moving around inside her.

He began slowly, moving gently but with some urgency behind it. He was fucking her, after all. He picked up the pace gradually. He felt her respond as the muscles in her body clutched at him more forcefully. It only took a few more thrusts for her to orgasm. He continued pumping, pushing her to another orgasm just before he released, his body stiffening and unclenching repeatedly in the most pleasurable spasm he had felt in a long time.

After they had both come down, Ann drifted off to sleep in House's arms. Unfortunately, House couldn't do the same. As much as he had enjoyed the sex, he hardly felt in a "celebratory" mood.

As he'd already told Ann, as much as he felt vindicated by the settlement, he knew his work life, which was no great shakes before this, was about to get even worse. They couldn't really do anything to him, but the Board and Cuddy would be hostile, he was sure.

And, the settlement had cost the hospital quite a bit, more than insurance could probably cover. So, that meant smaller budgets, no doubt for every department. And, of course, given his reputation, he'd be the one who was blamed, he knew. So, even if nothing overt could be done to him, every one of his colleagues would hate his guts, even more than they already did.

House could hear his father's voice –he was a screw-up and a failure and he'd never have any friends. He was getting pretty deep into the self-flagellation when Ann sighed, stirred and moved in a little closer. She was cuddling against him, which, happily, was something he'd had the chance to become accustomed to. She wasn't even awake, he noticed. She was pulling herself toward him by reflex. A beautiful, sexy, smart, funny woman wanted to be with him, even in her sleep. Pride suddenly surged alongside his usual feelings of inadequacy.

Son of a bitch, House thought. Ann's right. Between my dad and all the crap Cuddy and Wilson have put in my head over the years, I've been brainwashed. If I have to leave the hospital, I can get another job. Or I can go out on my own. I'll survive. And so will . . . my family."

Thinking about Ann and the baby didn't exactly calm House down, but it did make him determined. He was not going to screw this up.


A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, and that the ending is so weak. I'll try to do better with the next few chapters. At least there are some interesting plot developments coming up . . .