Chapter 54

Cuddy went home that night to find House on the couch with Lily curled up next to him fast asleep. As she got closer she could see a box of tissues, a damp washcloth and a bottle of children's cold medicine sitting on the floor. Cuddy watched both of them for a moment. Lily's nose was slightly puffy and red and her breathing was somewhat labored, she clearly had a cold. Lily's immunity was getting stronger but she was still at some risk for more serious complications. They would probably have to watch her closely until she got better. Cuddy just hoped that Rachel wouldn't get it too.

Cuddy turned her attention back to House, he had trimmed his stubble, changed into pajamas and she could still smell the soap from his shower. He was stretched out on the couch with his head lulling to one side and a protective hand around Lily's small back.

Cuddy walked over to the shelf where she usually kept her camera and took a picture of the two of them.

"That better be for your own personal album" House said in a quiet voice.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Of course you did"

"How is she?"

"Sniffily, and whiney… and asleep because she's high on cold medicine"

"Well I got that part"

House carefully maneuvered himself into a sitting position being careful not to wake Lily. "I was just finishing up in the shower when she came knocking on the door saying she didn't feel good"

"Well at least she knocked. Fever?"

"One-hundred even, but I haven't checked it since I gave her, her last dose" He laid a hand on her forehead "She doesn't feel as hot now; I'm sure she'll be fine with some sleep and orange juice"

"I know she will, she has a great dad"

House eyed her; he loved seeing the way she was looking at him. She had confidence in him, not only as a doctor, but as a father. Suddenly a light switched behind Cuddy's eyes, House grinned. Love and admiration had quickly turned into lust and he could see that she was now trying desperately to hide the fact that she wanted to rip every scrap of clothing off him just because of something simple like giving their kid a dose of cold medicine.

He adjusted Lily in his arms fully aware of the effect it was having on Cuddy "How did it go with my patient?" House asked, breaking her train of thought.

She closed her eyes relaxing her face before looking at him "Mom had a meltdown and I had to call security; it was all very exciting"

"Damn and I missed it! So what was she using?"

"Something of her own invention, she basically distilled a bunch of poisonous plants and made her own special poison, talk about a nut job… She tried to say that the kid was the reason her husband killed himself and she just couldn't handle him on her own…" Cuddy shook her head "The boy's aunt on his dad's side came in to claim him... She says that it was the mother that drove her brother to kill himself. I guess we'll never really know for sure… although after what I saw today, I could believe it" She paused again "The boy's aunt is staying with him now"

House nodded his head "And my team?"

"They're running damage control, he's really improved but he does have some damage to his upper GI tract, kidneys and liver but it should all be reversible over time."

"Good… no kid should ever have to go through that shit…"

"Greg"

"Forget about it"

Cuddy let out a long sigh and looked at House for a long moment holding Lily. There were many things he had opened up about but there were still things she was sure she would never know… and she wasn't sure if she wanted to. He was damaged and yet so strong in so many ways and she loved him for that. She smiled and looked him in the eye "Looks like you just traded one sick kid for another"

"The difference is that I had this one diagnosed before I even opened the bathroom door."

"I take it Rachel is in bed already"

"Yeah, I put her down just before I gave Lily her last dose" House looked at his watch "That was about an hour ago."

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Sure I did, I had Kelly stay to watch them. I gave Lil her first dose and told her to watch some cartoons and then I slept until about five, sent Kelly home, took care of the girls and then Lil and I took another nap after Rachel was down. So, now I'm all rested up, I got lots of energy for whatever it is you got rolling around in that lust filled head of yours"

"I… I didn't…"

"You so want my body, don't even try to deny it"

"Greg…" she growled out menacingly.

"Growl now, scream later" House carefully moved Lily to a position on his shoulder and stood up with the help of his cane "I'll tuck this one in, then I'll be back to tuck you in" he winked.

***

When House came back into the living room Cuddy was reclining on the couch. She had turned on the gas in the fire place and was now watching the flames dance before her. "What kind of person poison's their own kid?"

"Well the little brats can get annoying sometimes"

Cuddy met his smirk with a glare. "That's not funny House"

"No, you're right. The woman's nuts, she's probably a control freak who got a bunch of attention when her husband killed himself and then when the stress of being a single parent got to her she snapped."

"I was a single parent…"

"You had help, you had a nanny, and then…"

"True"

"So what are my chances of getting any tonight?"

"Nice out"

"I thought so"

"I'd say your chances could be pretty good" Cuddy winked making House's heart skip a beat. It was amazing that after all this time she could still do that to him.

***

An hour later the two of them lay on their bed panting and gasping for air. Cuddy curled herself onto her side burying her face into House's shoulder, "You still smell like soap"

"You smell like sex"

"Gee thanks"

They were quiet for a while until Cuddy spoke again "Greg"

"Yeah"

"When are you planning on telling your siblings you exist?"

"Where did that come from?"

"I don't know"

"Rick said he would hold off on telling them anything until I was ready… I'm just not…"

"If he waited for you to be ready he'd be waiting for twenty years or more" Cuddy scoffed.

"The voice of experience"

"You're meeting them, you have until Lily's birthday to set a day with Rick to meet them"

"An ultimatum, so what's the 'or else'?"

"No sex for a month"

"Oh yeah like that's going to stick, you are just as horny as me, even more so now"

"How about if I make Wilson take you back in until you comply, I still have unopened sex toys from the shower, I'll be fine"

"You really would, wouldn't you… you'd kick out your husband just because he doesn't want to met his moronic half siblings"

"You don't know if they are morons, look at Rick, maybe they take after him like you do"

"I do not take after him"

"You're both doctors and you both have the same twisted sense of humor"

"Way to romanticize the situation. How about this one, he impregnated my mother and then slinked out of the picture to 'save their marriage' and get on with his own life, his own family, his own…"

"Your mother was there too, you know, it takes two to tango; besides that he was only trying to do what was best for you and your mother." Cuddy sat up a little so she could look at him better.

He clapped his hands mockingly.

"He wasn't there for you so you don't want to meet the kids he was there for, is that it?"

""How interesting can they be? Tom's in advertizing and Lynda's a surgical Nurse, ohh yeah real interesting. Why is this so important to you?" House said as he rolled over onto his side.

"Why isn't it important to you, is the better question"

"Do we have to talk about this now?"

"I think we do Greg, it's been how long? It might be nice just to meet them, at least once in your life. I think it would be interesting to see how they turned out"

"You just want to check out any genetic similarities, you're trying to predict what the spawn are going to be like"

"And what's wrong with that? You're the one who said that 'genes mater', remember?"

"I also told you to have a kid with someone you liked, boy was I off base with that one…"

"Just call him would you"

"I'll think about it"

"Fine, but if you haven't done it by the end of the week you're going to be on Wilson's couch"

"Oh come on, you cheated you said Lily's birthday and then you said one week that's not fair" House whined.

"You have a week to call him, and until Lily's birthday on April 9th to set up a date to met them"

House sighed and flopped back over onto his back "I'll think about it, but I tell you what, I can't stand putting up with Wilson's blow-drying"

"I blow-dry"

"Yeah, but you're much sexier when you do it"

"You are a very strange man"

"Like I haven't heard that one before"

***

The next day while House's team was scattered about the hospital either fulfilling clinic hours or searching for a new case, House sat in his office staring at his phone.

It shouldn't be this hard, just call him, you've done it before, he thought to himself. Just call to see if they got the card yet, yeah that should work, then if it comes up in the conversation… okay.

House took a deep breath and reached for the phone to dial Rick's number.

The phone rang a few times before Rick picked up on the other end "Hey kid"

"Pop"

"To what can I attribute the honor of this call?"

House rolled his eyes "Is mom around?"

"Sorry kid, she went to the market"

"Good, you're the one I need to talk to anyway"

"Is everything ok with Lisa?"

Ok, so maybe not the way he planned it, but it'll work… "Everything except the fact she threatened to kick my crippled ass out unless I called you about Tom and Lynda"

"Ahh… I see" Rick chuckled.

"So here is my official phone call, tell them about me, and if they want to meet, then I guess…"

"Your mother and I already invited them for Easter, why don't you bring Lisa and the girls and meet them then"

House's mouth suddenly went dry, "That's in… two weeks"

"They're good kids, you'll be fine Greg"

"Humm good kids yeah, really got a lot in common with them, should be fun…" he huffed.

"Don't worry about it, we'll get all the unpleasantness out of the way and maybe you'll even like each other… well I don't know about Tom, but Lynda's ok" House could almost hear the smirk on Rick's face.

"What's the deal with Tom?"

"He's, well, he's just Tom…"

"Thanks for the clarification."

"No problem, so are you coming or not? Your mom's making ham"

"Her glazed ham with the pineapples?"

"Yeah, I think so"

"Have her throw in a batch of my favorite cookies and one of her cakes and I'm in"

"I'm sure she can accommodate you" Rick said chuckling slightly.

House was quiet for a moment, "So what are you going to tell them?"

"What do you mean 'What am I going to tell them?' I'm going to tell them the truth, before I met their mother, Blyth and I parented a child, we just received conformation I am the father of that child a few months ago and now that Blythe and I are together we thought it was time for them to meet their older brother"

"Father knows best, ehh?"

"Not always" Rick sighed.

"Your guilt isn't going to change anything"

"What guilt? What's done is done, I had no control over that, but you know what kid, I have lived long enough to realize that even though the past can't be changed there is always hope for the future"

"Are you sure we're related?"

"You ruled out John, so unless you're calling your mother a slut then I'm pretty sure you're mine"

"Yeah alright, well I guess I should say thanks for getting me out of the dog house"

"No problem, I know your mother will be happy that you're finally going to meet them"

"Wonderful" House sneered into the phone.

"Speaking of which, how long are you going to wait to tell her about the twins?"

"Lisa already sent out the cards, it should be getting there any day now, we got a real good print out this time"

"Good"

"Not starting to wilt under the pressure are you"

"Hell no, just curious. It's a good thing you got a good woman in your corner, otherwise I get the feeling you would never get anything productive done"

"See, now you're starting to get to know my lazy ass"

Rick laughed "Hang in there kid."

"Yeah…"

"Hey Greg, I got to go, the car just pulled in the drive, I got to help your mother with the groceries; I'll see you soon"

"See ya soon Pop"

House turned around and hung up his phone just to find Cameron standing a few feet from him.

House puffed his cheeks out and exhaled deeply, "What do you want?"

"It sounds like you were planning on going away for Easter and apparently… that guy really was your father, wasn't he?"

"What, you think I hired an actor or something?"

"Wouldn't put it past you, you've done stuff like that before. Soooooo… what was all that with Wilson having to take you to your father's funeral? Unless that was just a clever way to get Wilson to come back… What about the guy we met a few years ago?"

"I'm not discussing this with you"

"I'm not going away House"

"Are you trying to get your old job back 'cause the positions been filled" House started to straighten a few papers on his desk.

"You have more fellows than you need already; I've come to see Cuddy"

"Ohh would you look at that, I think you missed her office, I know it's confusing now that both doors say "House" but hers is the hyphenated one on the ground floor" House snarked.

"She's in a meeting so I came up here to find Chase"

"Not here either"

"I didn't know that until I got here, now did I?"

"Are you done annoying me, cause it's getting really, really lame"

"I'm worried about you House"

"You're worried about me? For the first time in a long time I'm starting to resemble a human being and 'little miss fix-it' is worried, get out of here; no lame animals to fawn over here"

"Would you be ok with me getting my old job in the ER back?"

"Why wouldn't I be" House said it simply and coldly, clearly she wanted to get something out of him and he wasn't about to break. She was a great doctor, and he enjoyed having her on his team, but any romantic thoughts he may have entertained in the past were long gone now. And at the moment he was only thinking about how she was always able to annoy the hell out of him when it came to his personal life.

"House…" Cameron stepped closer to him resting a hand on his shoulder. House stood there looking down at her for a long moment thinking about the gesture, was it meant to be romantic? She was here to patch things up with her husband and had gone to their wedding, so it was doubtful.... apologetic perhaps? Perhaps… friendly? He didn't need her friendship… or her pity. He brought his cane up hooking her wrist and stepped to the side.

"Lisa should be getting out of her meeting soon and she will be having lunch with Wilson and me so you have a pretty tight window if you want to talk to her"

Cameron looked at him silently "Alright, I'll see you around then"

"If she gives you you're old job back that is, personally I think a long sabbatical does the body good"

"Not to mention the mind"