Chapter 50
Three Weeks Later – Saturday – 5:00 AM
House awoke to the sound of a baby crying. He lifted his head in confusion, a scowl making its way onto his face. "What the hell?" He mumbled, still half asleep. He looked at the clock seeing what time it was and rolled his eyes. House turned his head, looking for Cuddy, wondering if she had heard it as well; except she wasn't in bed. House sat up, giving his body time to wake up before he got out of bed. After a moment, the cries stopped and he made his way out of the bedroom and into the living room, realizing that was where the sound was coming from. As he rounded the corner, he heard a man's voice on the TV. One he had come to know well in the past few weeks. "It's a girl." The man said, his tone expressing the joy he felt. It was Nathan Porter's voice, Bella's deceased father. Ever since the home movies had been found, Bella and Cuddy had watched them constantly. Cuddy had fallen in love with the videos of Bella in various stages of life. House had even been roped into watching some of them as well but he would get himself out of it as often as he could. He still felt weird watching them. He understood that Bella needed to see them so that she could move on with the healing process, but he was getting kind of tired of watching them himself; he had seen enough.
House saw Cuddy curled up on the couch with a teary smile on her face, watching the dvd of Bella's birth. He knew she had watched it once before with Bella, but now he began to wonder how many mornings she had come in here to watch it alone.
Cuddy saw him standing in the doorway and quickly paused the movie, the image of a newborn Bella frozen on the screen as she wiped the tears from her eyes. House glanced between the screen and Cuddy. Cuddy moved into a sitting position on the couch. "Hey. Did I wake you?"
House nodded.
"I'm sorry. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so…" She replied, leaving her sentence unfinished.
"So you thought you'd come in here and watch home movies about someone else's family?"
Cuddy frowned at his choice of words, but nodded in answer to them. "I'm sorry, I'll keep it down." She told him softly.
House nodded, eyeing her for a moment longer before turning and leaving the living room, making his way back to bed. He shook his head, wondering what all of that had been about. Why the hell did she feel it necessary to watch that video over and over again. He understood watching it once, maybe twice, since Cuddy wasn't there for the birth of her adopted daughter, but any more than that was ridiculous. Unless…
"Shit." House mumbled, laying his head down on his pillow and staring up at the ceiling.
Unless…she was feeling a renewed desire to have her own child. He thought adopting Bella would be enough, but apparently she still felt a deep longing to have her own baby. She had been watching those damn videos, seeing Bella grow from a newborn baby into a six year old, no doubt wondering what it would be like to watch her own baby grow in that way. House shook his head, a deep frown taking over his face. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Talk to her about it? Tell her that she would probably never have her own kid? She knew that already, she didn't need him to tell her. Why the hell was she doing this? He didn't want to see her get hurt but that's exactly what was going to happen no matter what he did.
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4:00 PM – Thursday – 4 Days Later
Bella sat in Dr. Sloane's office with her hands clasped in her lap, waiting for Dr. Sloane to get her files ready to start their session. She had been attending her sessions every week since she had gotten back from New York and they had been talking about why she had chosen to run away. Bella had told her a little bit about Mattie, but she had not told her about what had happened to him yet. It was really hard for her to talk about what she had seen, but now that she knew that Mom and Greg knew about it, she felt braver about voicing her trauma.
Dr. Sloane sat down in her chair across from Bella on the couch and pressed the record button on the digital recorder, smiling at her.
"Shall we begin?" Dr. Sloane asked.
Bella nodded in affirmation.
"Ok…how was your week, Bella?"
"Good."
Dr. Sloane's smile grew as she nodded her head. "How's school?"
"Good. But my lessons are getting harder." She told her.
"Oh? What specifically?"
"Math and English."
Dr. Sloane nodded. "Is your Mom helping you?"
Bella nodded. "Yep, but it's still harder."
"Is it the lessons that are getting harder or are you having trouble concentrating?"
Bella shrugged. "I don't know."
"Do you find it hard to listen to your tutor when she's teaching you?"
"Sometimes. I like school, but I liked it better when my friends was there with me."
Dr. Sloane smiled at that. "That's understandable. Do you get to see your friends regularly?"
Bella smiled and nodded. "Yes. Mom fixed it so that after my tutoring, I get to go to Maya's house and stay until Mom gets off work. She comes to get me and then we go home."
"That's great. It's good that you spend time with your friends, that's important." She commented.
Bella nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's better than staying in Mom's office all day."
"Yes, I can imagine that would be boring for you." Dr. Sloane commented with a chuckle. "How are you and your Mom doing? Any problems?"
Bella shook her head. "Not really, we been doing real good since I got back."
"That's good to hear. What about Greg?"
"We been good too, except…" Bella replied, stopping mid sentence.
Dr. Sloane arched her eyebrows in question. "Except what?"
Bella shrugged her shoulders, a pout on her lips. "I wish he was my Dad." She told Dr. Sloane.
She nodded, tilting her head to one side. "It makes you sad that isn't." Dr. Sloane stated. "Do you think he's ready to be your Dad?"
"He's been my Dad pretty much ever since I met him, he just don't want to admit it." Bella replied with frustration, leaning forward on the couch for emphasis. "He thinks he ain't good at it but I think I should be the one to decide if he is, not him. Just because his Dad was mean to him, he thinks he would be mean to me but he ain't."
"Well, from his perspective, that's a valid concern, Bella. But I also think that if he's worried about being mean to you, then the likelihood that he would be is very minimal. He's aware of it, so he will be conscious of how he handles himself around you. I think you're right, he wouldn't be mean to you and he would probably be a wonderful father. But you need to let him determine when he's ready, ok?"
Bella begrudgingly nodded her head.
"Have you talked to your Mom about this?"
"No." She answered softly.
"Why not?"
Bella shrugged. "I don't know. She would say what you said, I guess."
"And you knew that, but you're frustrated about it." She stated.
Bella nodded in confirmation.
"I'm sure she would understand your frustration. Listen Bella, I'm here so we can talk about these things, but I'm also here to encourage you to talk about them with your Mom too, ok?"
Bella nodded. "Ok."
Bella watched as Dr. Sloane made a note in her file before her lip curving into a small smile. "I see in your file that your birthday is coming up. Any special plans?"
Bella allowed a smile to come to her face as she nodded. "Mom is throwing me a party. She said I could invite whoever I want."
"That sounds like fun." Dr. Sloane commented with a smile.
Bella nodded excitedly. "I can't wait. I made invitations to give to my friends and I hope they can come."
"Do you know what your Mom planned for the party?"
"No, it's a surprise." Bella answered with a huge smile on her face, her excitement growing the more she talked about it. She couldn't wait until her birthday; it would be the first time in years that it would be a celebration instead of what it had been after the loss of her parents and especially after the loss of Mattie. Last year, she didn't even remember her birthday because Mattie had just died, thus destroying her world even more than it already was. The previous year, Mattie had bought her a cupcake and a small sketchpad for her drawing. It had been difficult then to celebrate without their parents present, but they had and it had been nice; as nice as it could've been under their circumstances, at least.
Bella saw Dr. Sloane frown at her sudden loss of excitement due to her thoughts.
"Do you want to talk about what you were just thinking that made you sad?"
Bella shrugged. "I was just thinking that it's gonna be nice to have a birthday party again after not having one for a while." She mumbled softly.
Dr. Sloane nodded in understanding. "You've been through a lot to get to where you are now."
Bella nodded, averting her eyes.
"Do you feel proud of that? That you've survived through it all, primarily on your own?"
"I don't know. I didn't ever think about it like that. I just did it."
Dr. Sloane nodded once more. "You should be proud of yourself, Bella, you survived where a lot of people in your position wouldn't have. Now that you have a family again, you can allow them to do what you've had to do for so long; to take the pressure off of yourself so you can enjoy doing things, like your birthday party that's coming up."
"That's what Greg said too. That I should just be a kid and let him and Mom take care of me."
Dr. Sloane smiled. "It sounds to me like Greg is planning to stick around."
"Really?" Bella asked, a small smile coming to her face as she looked at Dr. Sloane.
She nodded. "But that's just my opinion, Bella. I don't want to get your hopes up for something that might not happen. You should still let him decide when he's ready."
Bella nodded in understanding.
"Last week when we talked you were telling me about your brother. Do you want to talk about him today?"
She shrugged, averting her eyes from Dr. Sloane. "I guess I could talk about him a little."
"Ok. What do you want to tell me about him today?"
"Ummm, he died." Bella told her softly. She knew that Dr. Sloane knew that Mattie had died, but she needed to gather her thoughts about how to proceed with the conversation. She wanted to tell her about how he died, but she needed to build up to it.
Dr. Sloane nodded, waiting patiently for her to continue.
"He…was supposed to take care of me after Mom and Dad died, but then he died too."
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Dr. Sloane asked softly.
Bella sat there silently for several minutes, remembering every detail of what had happened to Mattie. Running the scenario over and over in her mind. She bowed her head as the tears began pooling in her eyes, a sob escaping her lips. Dr. Sloane let her cry for a few moments before getting up and sitting down beside Bella on the couch.
"It's ok to cry, Bella, it's healthy." She told Bella softly.
"I know, Mommy tells me that all the time, but sometimes I don't want to cry. I hate Mattie for dying and I'm sick of crying." Bella replied with frustration, pounding her fist on the leather sofa, as she sobbed loudly into the room. "I just want it to go away. I want to move on." She continued.
"It's wonderful that you want to move on, Bella. You are well on your way to doing that, even if you don't realize it. Do you know what you've been doing the last three weeks since you got back? You have been talking about your brother. You've been telling me about him and I couldn't get you to do that before you ran away to New York. Before, I couldn't get you to say a word about him, not even mention his name. But look at you today, talking openly to me about him and ready to tell me what happened to him." Dr. Sloane told her. "Honey…you are moving on. You're doing it; it's just going to take time for you to come to the point where you feel like you have. It is a long term process, but you will get there." Dr. Sloane told her encouragingly.
Bella nodded and wiped at the tears pouring down her face. "I don't want it to take a long time. I just want it to go away."
"I know. It's painful to talk about, but talking is what's going help you to move on. You have to release it, Bella; let it go, so that it doesn't destroy you on the inside." Dr. Sloane replied. "Does that make sense?"
Bella nodded.
"You said you hate Mattie for dying. Do you want to tell me why?"
Bella sniffed and wiped more of her tears away, accepting the tissue that Dr. Sloane handed her. "Because…because he was stupid for what he did. He shouldn't have done that; he was supposed to take care of me. He promised he would and then he died and left me all alone." She told her amidst more tears and cries of sadness, frustration and anger.
"You blame him for dying. Was it his fault?"
Bella shook her head. "It was my fault." She told Dr. Sloane.
"How was it your fault?"
"Because he did what he did for me…so he could take care of me and he died for it." She explained.
"Honey, what did Mattie do?"
"He stole money."
"He stole money to take care of you. Did he steal from dangerous people, Bella?" She asked, gently coaxing her to tell her what happened.
Bella nodded. "The drug men."
"Mattie was selling drugs?" Dr. Sloane asked her.
Bella shook her head. "No, he told them he would but instead he took their money and they shot him." She finally uttered painfully, crying as the words came out of her mouth.
Except for Bella's cries, there was silence in the room for several minutes. She glanced up at Dr. Sloane as she placed a comforting arm around Bella's shoulders. Another moment passed when she looked at Bella with sadness in her eyes.
"You witnessed your brother's murder." She stated softly, looking into Bella's eyes.
Tears spilled down Bella's face as she nodded her head and wept.
She sighed sadly, as she comforted Bella. "Bella…I am so sorry that you witnessed such a horrible thing…but honey, it was not your fault what happened. You can't blame yourself for that. He was in an impossible situation and unfortunately he put himself in a dangerous position when he thought there was no other way to get out of the situation you were both in. I have to be honest here, Bella. Mattie messed up. He got himself killed…you are not to blame for his death. He should have never taken you away from your foster parents; it was dangerous for you and dangerous for him. He was too young to be taking care of you alone. Mattie was under a lot of pressure. He was grieving the loss of your parents and he thought it was his job to take care of his baby sister. And it was, but not in that way. Not in a way that put both of your lives in danger." Dr. Sloane told her softly. "Do you understand that? Do you understand how none of it is your fault?"
Bella nodded. "I want my Mom." Bella told her, choking on her tears.
Dr. Sloane nodded, and stood up, making her way to the office door. She opened it and softly called Mom into the room. "Dr. Cuddy."
Bella looked up when Mom walked through the door. Mom heard her cries and swiftly moved over to her, sitting down on the sofa beside her and taking Bella into her arms. The second Mom wrapped her arms around Bella, she buried her head in her neck. "Mommy."
"Shhhh, it's ok, baby. It's ok, I'm here." She cooed.
Mom pulled Bella onto her lap and Bella wrapped her arms around Mom's neck and straddled her legs. Mom gently rocked her from side to side, holding her tightly against her. They stayed in that position for several minutes, until Bella's cries became soft hiccups; Mom's soothing caresses over Bella's back calming her.
"Are you ok?" Mom asked her in a soft whisper.
Bella nodded before she felt Mom place a kiss on her temple.
"Bella, why don't we cut it short today?" Dr. Sloane asked her softly.
Bella sniffed and nodded as Mom gently wiped Bella's tears away with a tissue. "I want to go home." Bella mumbled to Mom.
"Ok." She replied softly.
"I'd like to talk more about this next week, can we do that, Bella?" Dr. Sloane asked softly.
Bella hesitated but slowly nodded her head.
"Alright. You did very well today. I'm proud of you." Dr. Sloane told her.
Bella nodded, not wanting to speak anymore, just wanting to go home. She lifted her head from Mom's shoulder and climbed off her lap. As she gathered her backpack, she glanced at Dr. Sloane briefly, seeing the encouragement she had spoken to her emanating in her eyes. Bella took Mom's hand and they walked out of the office together.
Bella realized she had taken a huge step today, and she was glad that Dr. Sloane had told her that she was on her way to moving on from this. It was strange, but she felt better for having told Dr. Sloane about Mattie. Mom and Greg already knew and Bella had found out the hard way that they knew, even before she had told them that one time. But this time Bella got to tell someone that had no idea what had happened, and that's what felt good. Bella realized that it was important for her to tell someone in order for her to fully move on and feel the peace she needed to feel to let go of Mattie. Dr. Sloane was the only person that didn't know about what happened and Bella felt as if more weight had been lifted from her shoulders today.
Talking to Dr. Sloane was helping and Bella felt proud of herself for talking to her about Mattie. It was hard, but she had to do it. It was the only way she would get to move on with her life.
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8:25 PM
Cuddy and Bella sat up in Bella's bed reading a book before Bella's bedtime. Bella had her head on Cuddy's shoulder and Cuddy had her arm around Bella's shoulders, holding the book up so they could both see it. Bella was reading aloud from a book that her Grandma had sent her in the mail and thought she would enjoy. It was called, Falling Up by Shel Silverstein and Bella was loving it. It was a book of silly poems for kids. Bella had flipped through the book and read several of the poems already as Cuddy watched her expression, seeing how much she was enjoying it.
…When I looked around,
I got sick to my stomach
And I threw down.
Bella giggled as she finished reading. "I love this book." She told Cuddy.
"Grandma will be happy to hear that." She told her, placing a kiss to her head. "It's time for bed, baby."
"Aww, can't I read another one?" Bella begged her.
Cuddy smiled and nodded. "Sure, one more. But after that it's lights out."
Bella nodded and flipped a few pages, choosing one, and reading it aloud for Cuddy to hear.
I made myself a snowball
As perfect as could be.
I thought I'd keep it as a pet
And let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas
And a pillow for its head.
Then last night it ran away,
But first—it wet the bed.
Bella laughed once more as she finished the poem. "That was funny. Can I call Grandma tomorrow and thank her for the book?"
"Yeah, she'd love to hear from you. We'll call her when we get home."
Bella nodded, and Cuddy stood up, placing the book on Bella's bookshelf next to her bed. Bella got under the covers and glanced up at Cuddy.
"Mom."
"Yeah." Cuddy answered, sitting down on the bed facing Bella as she fidgeted with the comforter.
"I told Dr. Sloane about what happened to Mattie." She told Cuddy in a small voice.
Cuddy nodded, already having suspected that earlier since Bella had been so upset and knowing that nothing else would have upset her so badly. "I figured." She responded, brushing a stray curl away from her eyes. "Are you ok?"
Bella nodded, shifting her eyes to Cuddy's. "Yeah. I wanted to tell her cuz…I want to move on. I don't want to think about it all the time anymore. I'm tired of thinking about it." Bella told her. "Dr. Sloane said that I should let it all out so that I'll feel better inside."
Cuddy frowned and nodded in understanding, but also knowing that she had a hard road ahead of her before she could fully move on from her past. Cuddy knew she was on the right path to doing that and she was glad that Dr. Sloane seemed to be helping her out with that. Cuddy felt extremely proud of the strides that Bella had made so far. "I'm proud of you, Bella." She told her daughter, needing her to know how she felt.
"You are?"
She smiled at Bella, gently stroking her thumb over Bella's cheek. "Always."
Bella smiled in response, giving her a shy nod before speaking once more.
"Mom, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Dr. Sloane said I should talk to you about this and I want to."
"Ok. What is it?"
"Umm, I told Dr. Sloane that I want Greg to be my Dad. Do you think he wants to my Dad? She said I had to wait till he's ready."
Cuddy was surprised by her question. She didn't know how to answer that without telling her that he had already decided he wanted to become her father, but she couldn't do that without him present. She sighed softly, trying to think of what to say that wouldn't be a lie.
"I think Dr. Sloane is right. We can't make Greg want to be your Dad; he has to come to it on his own. But I think that when he does decide, he'll choose you, because he loves you so much."
"But what if he's too scared? What if he don't want me?" Bella asked with a small pout to her lips.
"I don't think that's something you have to worry about, Sweetie. Have you tried talking to If it's really bothering you, I suggest you tell him about how you feel?"
Bella nodded her head. "Yes, but it was a long time ago and he still didn't decide. I don't want to ask him again, he'll get mad and then he really won't want me."
"He won't get mad, Sweetie. Trust me, he would never do that. House just needs time to realize that he does want you. He knows it in his head; he just has to know it in his heart too. Ok?"
Bella nodded. "Ok."
"Thank you for talking to me about this."
"You're welcome." She mumbled.
"Hey, don't worry about anything. We'll work it out." Cuddy reassured her softly.
She nodded once more and Cuddy leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek. "Get some rest. Call me if you need me."
"Ok."
"Goodnight, baby girl."
"Night."
Cuddy made her way out of Bella's room, turning the light out and closing the door. She walked into the living room, needing to finish some paperwork. She had been working on it for about an hour when she heard House's motorcycle pull into the driveway. After a few moments, the front door opened and closed quietly. Cuddy looked up when he peeked into the room, setting his bag down on the floor.
"Hey." Cuddy greeted with a tired smile.
"Hey, yourself." He replied, making his way over to sit next to her on the couch.
Cuddy moved the paperwork over so he could sit down. "How's your patient?" She asked, leaning over and placing a kiss on his lips.
"Great! Now that we've performed an unnecessary and risky procedure on him, which went awry of course, and we're now being sued."
Cuddy looked at him in shock, anger creeping onto her face. She opened her mouth to respond when he cut her off.
"I'm kidding…he's fine, he'll be going home in the morning."
Cuddy glared him, and at the same time feeling a sense of relief. "Ass."
"Hey, watch your potty mouth, Mom; little ears." He replied, nodding his head toward Bella's room.
Cuddy rolled her eyes. "She's asleep, I can swear as much I want."
"Ah, is that the rule now? So when she's asleep, I can say fuck as much as I want?"
"I doubt her being asleep would ever stop you from saying fuck or any other word you could come up with." Cuddy replied smartly.
"You know she cusses like a sailor when you're not around, right?"
"No she doesn't."
"It's so cute how you think she's so innocent."
"I know she's not innocent, but she needs boundaries and I'm trying to set them."
House rolled his eyes. "Moms…always ruining everyone's fun."
She smirked at him before changing the subject. "She told me tonight that she wants you to be her Dad." Cuddy replied with a smile.
"I am her Dad."
"She doesn't know that yet…we need to tell her soon. She was talking about it with Dr. Sloane. She's really been thinking about this, House."
House nodded. "So what's next? Are we supposed to go to a judge or something?"
"I did some research, and New Jersey allows unmarried couples to adopt together. I need to confirm that with Janine though."
"Was that your way of proposing to me, because that didn't go the way I had always dreamed it would?" He snarked.
"Shut up."
He smirked at her before changing the subject. "I'm surprised we haven't seen her around the hospital."
Cuddy furrowed her brow in confusion. "Who?"
"Jane."
"Janine?" Cuddy corrected. "Why?"
"Well, since Wilson's been doing her, I figured she'd be around the place."
Cuddy dropped her jaw in surprise. "What? Since when?"
House shrugged. "I don't know, not long though, judging by the way he's been walking around with an 'I just got fucked' look on his face."
Cuddy rolled her eyes at his choice of words. "Well…good for them." She replied, glad that Wilson had found someone. Janine was a great person, she and Wilson would be happy together.
"Yeah, lucky her, she could turn out to be the next ex-Mrs. Wilson."
Cuddy shook her head.
"How long has the kid been asleep?" House asked her after a moment.
"Just over an hour."
He nodded, leaning his head back on the couch.
"She told Dr. Sloane about what happened to Mattie." Cuddy told him softly, looking over at him as he turned his head toward her.
"She ok?" He asked, his concern evident.
Cuddy shrugged her shoulder and furrowed her brow. "It was hard on her. We left her session early and she spent most of the afternoon in her bedroom, but I think she's ok now. I'm so proud of her, House. She's really trying to deal with this."
House nodded in agreement. "Yeah." He replied softly. After a moment, he commented quietly. "Maybe the more she talks about it, the faster her nightmares will go away. They haven't been as bad lately."
"Yeah, I hope that's the case. She told me she was tired of thinking about it all the time and that she just wants to move on. She's realizing that keeping it in, isn't going to work."
"Good. She needs to get it out."
Cuddy smiled and nodded in agreement. "Is there anything you want to get out?"
House scowled in confusion. "What the hell does that mean?"
Cuddy shrugged. "You've been hurt deeply in your life, House. I'm just saying that I'm here to listen if you ever want to talk about it."
"It's too late for me, Cuddy. She's just a kid, it's different for her."
"It's not too late, House. Just think about it, ok?" She told him softly, stroking his arm.
House watched her for a moment before agreeing with a nod. "What about you? Anything you need to get off your chest? You know, besides that shirt?"
Cuddy arched her eyebrows. "Smooth." She replied. "And no, I'm good."
"You sure? No secret desires or longings you've been holding on to? Nothing I should know about?"
Cuddy looked at him with confusion on her face, having no idea what the hell he was going on about. "No…do you know something I don't?"
House gave her a short nod. "I usually do. But not about this."
She continued to stare at him in confusion. "What's this?"
"I don't know, you tell me."
"House, what…?" She sighed, more confused than ever. "If you have something on your mind, I wish you would just tell me."
House looked at her for a moment without speaking before he shook his head. "It's nothing." He replied. "I'm going to go check on the kid for a minute before I get a shower. The movers will be finished at my place tomorrow, we should talk to her then…put the kid out of her misery." He added as he stood up.
Cuddy nodded, with a frown in her brow, wondering what had just happened. She watched him stand and make his way toward Bella's room. He definitely had something on his mind, but obviously didn't feel like talking about it. She couldn't force him; she knew that. He would tell her when he was ready, but it still didn't keep her from wondering what it was. She hoped it was nothing too serious as she thought back over the past few days and what might have happened that would bother him. He had been working on a case and had been busy and distracted with his puzzle. They had hardly seen each other at home, and only glimpses or short conversations at the hospital when he needed permission for a procedure. So she wouldn't really know if there was anything that had upset him. Maybe Wilson would know, she thought. House said something about her desires or longings that she hadn't told him about, but she honestly didn't know what he meant by that. She wasn't keeping anything from him. What the hell did he mean?
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House quietly opened the door to Bella's bedroom, darkness greeting him as he stepped inside, leaving the door open a crack. He had been working on healing his patient for the last few days, barely having time to see Bella. Every night for the last few days had been this way, he would get home late and she would be asleep. He had made the effort to see her in the mornings before her tutoring lessons, even dropping her off a couple of days in a row before heading back to the hospital. But he hadn't seen her all day today, and he had missed her. House had been pleasantly surprised about what she had told Cuddy about him. She wanted him to be her Dad. He already knew that of course, but it still felt nice to hear that she wanted it so much that she had told her therapist about it.
House leaned down and placed a kiss on Bella's forehead as she slept peacefully. He allowed a small smile to come to his face as he thought about how proud of her he was. She had done well today in telling her therapist about Mattie. That couldn't have been easy. She was really trying hard to move on with her life. He hoped that he and Cuddy could provide her with the kind of life that she deserved; like the one she had previously with her biological family. He hoped that he could be the kind of father she needed.
As he watched Bella sleep, his mind jumped back to the conversation he'd had with Cuddy a minute ago. He had been trying to get her to tell him that she still had a desire to have a baby. She had been watching those videos so often, he was sure that's what was on her mind. House knew she was happy with Bella as her daughter, but he also knew how badly she's always wanted her own baby. She had gone as far as looking for sperm donors a few years ago and of course the whole adoption gone wrong incident several months ago before Bella came into the picture. There was just something in her that couldn't let it go. House sighed softly before turning around and making his way out of Bella's bedroom. As he walked down the hall, he shook his head, not having the energy to think about it anymore. His case the last four days had been a great distraction from this. He was just getting his head around being one kid's father; how the hell was he supposed to handle it, if by some freak accident, another one came into the world?
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5:15 PM – The Next Day
Bella and Maya were playing in the backyard when Bella looked up and saw Greg standing in the doorway leading into the house. Maya's mom stood beside him, having let him inside the house and over to where Bella was playing with Maya.
"Greg!" She exclaimed with surprise, running over to him and throwing her arms around him. "You came to get me today? Did you fix your patient?"
He smiled down at her, his arm around her in an embrace. "Yes and yes; we're meeting your Mom at my place today."
Bella frowned. "How come?"
"We may have a little surprise." He told her with a slight look of mischief on his face.
Bella's face lit up at his words, wondering what it could be. "What surprise?" She asked, knowing he wouldn't tell, but it never hurt to ask.
"Sorry, can't tell ya. Let's go, short stuff." He responded.
Bella spun around to grab her bag, not wanting to wait any longer on finding out what her surprise was. "I'm ready!" She said excitedly.
Greg chuckled at her, nodding his head toward the door.
"Bye, Maya. See you next week." Bella said as she waved to Maya and her Mom and made her way to the front door.
"Bye Bella, hope you like your surprise." She responded with a wave.
"Thanks."
They walked out the door and to Greg's car that was parked in the driveway. He opened the door for her and she climbed in, buckling her seatbelt. When Greg made his way around and opened the door, he set his cane down and buckled his seatbelt as well. He glanced over at her with a smirk.
"Ready to go?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. I can't wait to see my surprise; I love surprises. Can't you just give me a hint?"
"Nope." He replied, shaking his head.
She gave him an exaggerated pout as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway, heading toward his apartment.
Greg rolled his eyes at her. "You better pull that lip back in before you trip on it."
"I'm sitting down." She told with an eye roll of her own. "Just a little hint?" She asked once more, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Oh good lord…who taught you to do that?"
"Do what?" She asked with a shrug and a smirk, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
"Is that how you survived out there? With that cute little pout, batting your eyelashes at anyone who'd listen?"
"That don't make sense." She replied.
"Well you can forget it, because that crap doesn't work on me, kid."
Bella sat back with a frown. "Fine." She replied with disappointment before changing the subject to what she had done that day and what she had learned in her lessons. He listened and commented as well as asked her questions to test her.
A few minutes later they pulled up to his apartment building. Bella reached for the door handle, barely looking out at traffic, but Greg stopped her.
"Wait for it, Speedy Gonzales." He replied.
"Why?" She asked, looking back at him.
"Because this is a busy street, kid. Get out on this side or you could become a pancake."
Bella rolled her eyes. "I ain't gonna get hit; I looked."
"No you didn't. Just do what I tell you, kid. Come on." He told her as he got out of the car.
Bella left her backpack and followed him, getting out on his side of the car. Bella took his hand as they walked up to the door. When he unlocked and opened it for her to enter, she saw Mom standing in the middle of the room. What struck her the most, though, was that the room was nearly empty and there were boxes stacked up against the wall. All of his furniture was still there, but the majority of his belongings were packed up. Bella looked around the room in confusion before her gaze fell on Greg.
"You're leaving?" She asked in shock as she looked between him and Mom.
"I'm moving, kid."
Bella's eyes began tearing up and a deep frown made it's way onto her brow. She shifted her eyes to where Mom was standing and she didn't understand why Mom didn't look upset. Mom moved over to her as soon as she noticed the distress on her face.
"No…Bella, House isn't leaving us. He's moving in; House is moving in with us." Mom told her, reassuring her that nothing bad was happening.
The words took a moment to sink in and when they did, Bella's face lit up for the second time that day. She turned her head to look at Greg, moving over to him in an instant, leaping into his arms and throwing her arms around his neck. "You're moving in? You decided to be my Daddy?" She asked him happily, squeezing him as tightly as she could.
"Holy shit, kid, you're chocking me." He replied.
Bella loosened her grip on him and placed sloppy kiss on his cheek. "I love you, I love you." She told him excitedly, before hugging him once more.
He held onto her, embracing her tightly as well. "You too, kid." He responded.
"This is the best surprise ever!" She exclaimed, garnering a laugh from both her parents.
Mom came up behind Bella and placed her hand her back, gently caressing her. Bella leaned back, looking into Greg's eyes. "I thought you was moving away, but I'm glad you're not." She told him, laying her head on Greg's shoulder. She didn't want to let him go. She was so excited that he wanted to be with her and Mom forever that she just wanted him to hold her.
"Yeah you say that now, but when I kick all the boys who come a callin', off my front porch, you'll change your mind." He replied.
Bella frowned, not understanding what that meant. "Huh?" She asked him, looking between him and Mom.
"Nevermind." He answered with a laugh, gently setting her down on her feet and moving over to the couch.
Bella followed him, sitting down next to him on the couch. She scooted as close to him as she could get, looking up at him with a smile. "Do I call you Dad now?" She asked him.
Greg glanced up at Mom for a moment before shifting his eyes back to Bella. "I don't know, kid. Why don't we just see how it goes for now?"
Bella averted her eyes, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap. "But I thought you was ready to be my Dad?" She asked with an edge of disappointment in her tone.
She heard Greg sigh softly, placing his arm around the back of the couch. He didn't respond to her question for a moment so she looked up at him, quickly shifting her eyes to Mom and seeing her move over to the couch as well. Mom placed her arm around Bella's shoulders.
"Sweetie, House wants to be your Dad, but this is new for him. I think…"
"The kid is right. If I were ready for this, I wouldn't have a problem with her calling me Dad." Greg interrupted.
Bella and Mom turned their heads, looking up at him. "House…"
"So you don't want to be my Dad now?" Bella asked, interrupting what Mom was about to say and feeling slight anger rise up in her. 'He couldn't just change his mind like that, it wasn't fair.' She thought.
"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that since I want to be your Dad, I shouldn't be hung up about what you call me...it comes with the territory. It's my issue and I'll deal with it. You can call me…Dad, if you want." He told her, averting his gaze from her to something across the room.
Bella could tell he felt uncomfortable with it, but she really wanted to call him Dad. "Maybe if I say it a bunch of times, you won't feel so weird about it. You'll just be used to it." Bella told him with a shrug of her shoulders.
He looked down at her. "Not sure it works like that kiddo." He told her.
"Why not…Dad." She replied with a smile.
He frowned at her.
"Dad…Dad…Dad…Dad…Dad…Dad…" She went on.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. You sound like a freakin' baby when you say it that fast." He told her.
Bella giggled, glancing over at Mom, who was smiling at them, before looking at Greg once more. "Dad." She uttered once more, giggling at the look she received from him.
Before he could say anything, they heard a knock at the door. Bella frowned and looked at Dad and Mom.
"That's the pizza." Mom said as she walked over to her purse, and grabbed some cash before making her way to the door.
Mom paid for the pizza and moved back over to set it on the coffee table before disappearing into the kitchen for a moment. Bella looked up at Dad and smiled at him. "Dad." She said sweetly.
He rolled his eyes at her. "Are you going to keep doing that?"
Bella nodded. "Yes."
"Figures. You've been hanging around me for too long." Dad commented.
"Yep. But that's ok, cuz you're my Daaaaaad." She replied.
Mom came back into the living room with paper plates and plastic cups in her hand, setting them down on the coffee table.
"Cuddy, get your kid under control."
Mom looked at him with amusement. "She's yours now too…you get her under control. Dad." She added, making Bella cackle as she turned her attention to her new Dad.
"Stop encouraging her, Cuddles."
Mom arched her eyebrows at what he had just called her. She handed Bella a plate before handing Dad one. "Shut up and eat your pizza." She instructed him.
Bella had a huge smile on her face as they enjoyed their dinner. As they ate, she learned that Dad had called the movers to pack up his stuff this week. Most of it was done except his furniture, which would be staying here in the apartment until they could figure out what to do with it.
"What about your piano?" Bella asked him.
Dad looked at her for a moment before answering. "We'll figure something out." He replied.
"If we rearrange the living room a little, it'll fit in there." Mom suggested.
Dad shifted his eyes to Mom and nodded. "See, figured out." He replied.
"Yeah, then you could give me lessons." Bella responded enthusiastically.
Dad gave her a small smile and a short nod. "Sure, kid."
Bella smiled in response and took another bite of her pizza. They continued talking about the move and as Bella listened to Mom and Dad talk, she thought about how excited she was to finally have Greg as her Dad. She had been thinking a lot about it and had even talked to Dr. Sloane and Mom about it yesterday. Bella was a little suspicious about everything happening so quickly, and determined that Dad and Mom have known about this for some time. Bella didn't feel betrayed that they hadn't told her sooner, because she understood that they had probably wanted it to be a surprise. Bella was glad they had surprised her because it had turned out to be the best news ever. She had lost her family two years ago and now she was getting a new family. She loved them just as much as she had her previous family and Bella was finally feeling a sense of happiness again. She had lived in misery for the last couple of years, but now she felt confident in her future. She looked forward to her life now, where before, she didn't see how she could ever be happy again.
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10:45 PM
Cuddy stepped out of the bathroom after having completed her nightly ritual before bed, and saw that House was already there lying on his side, his back to her. Tonight had been great. They had told Bella that House was moving in and that he wanted to be her Dad. It had been a little rocky at first, but they had gotten past it and had a wonderful time at House's apartment. Bella was ecstatic about it and she had hardly left House's side all night, even wanting him to tuck her in. Cuddy thought it was sweet and she was so proud of House and how well he was doing with this. She was so happy that she finally had the family she had always wanted. Things were coming together and she couldn't be happier.
As she crawled into bed, she lay down behind House and began trailing soft kisses down his neck and over his shoulders, her hand stroking his arm and winding around him.
"I missed you." She whispered as she continued to kiss him and moved her hand over his chest and down to his stomach and back up again. She gently pulled on his arm, turning him onto his back, straddling his hips and placing her hands on either side of his head.
Cuddy leaned down and kissed his lips tenderly.
"Someone's horny." He replied as he moved his hands over her thighs.
She smiled at him and kissed him once more. "I told you…I missed you." She replied between kisses.
"I missed you too…but, I'm a little tired tonight, Cuddy. It's been a long week." He told her.
Cuddy hovered above him, looking into his eyes and trying to determine if he was messing with her or not. She furrowed her brow and sat up, still straddling his waist. She chuckled. "That's funny, House. You expect me to believe you're too tired to have sex?"
"I just want to get some sleep, Cuddy." He replied, gently moving her off of him.
"Are you sick?" She asked, moving her hand onto his forehead.
He swatted at her hand. "I'm fine. I'm not up for it tonight…literally." He told her, turning onto his side once more.
She sat there watching him in disbelief for a moment, feeling rejected and wondering what was really going on.
"House…are you mad at me for some reason?"
"Nope."
"Then what's this really about? You're never too tired for sex."
"How many times have you told me you're not in the mood, Cuddy?" He asked her.
"What, so…you're getting back at me?" She responded with a scowl.
"No, I'm not getting back at you, I told you I'm tired and I want to get some sleep. Is that ok with you?" He asked, his tone serious, letting her know he didn't want to discuss it anymore.
She nodded. "Fine." She replied softly, lying down on her side of the bed, feeling slightly hurt as well as confused about what his problem was. Maybe he was too tired…or the more probable possibility was that whatever was bothering him last night was still bothering him. She wasn't going to push it tonight, but they would have a conversation about this tomorrow. He was keeping something from her and she wanted to know what it was.
