Hello lovelies, I hope you're all well and making the best out of the current situation.

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 31: Kids vs. Parents

The tension between House and Cuddy ceases slightly after his renewed apology, but they stick with the routine of House picking up the kids once a week after school and once at the weekends. Seldom, she invites him to stay for dinner, and she continues avoiding his proximity.

Shortly before the summer break he hears from Rachel that Cuddy started dating. Obviously trying to keep the details away from the kids, Cuddy either stays late after work or goes out on Saturdays when House is with John and Rachel, and she makes sure to always return alone. House feels uncomfortable about the topic and never encourages Rachel to inform him, but she seems eager to share any sort of news about Cuddy's love life with him, so he lets her.

House is out shopping with John on the Saturday before school restarts. Rachel had no interest in joining them, so House and John spend a fabulous father-and-son day in Princeton, indulging in their shared interests. They visit a music store that sells instruments and special equipment, a video game shop where they try out the latest PlayStation releases, and they have milkshakes in the park. They also run by Wal-Mart to buy notebooks and other equipment John and Rachel need for the new school year. Cuddy had texted House a list for John the previous night; Rachel had texted John a similar list around noon—she figured that since they were out anyways, they might as well obtain her stuff.

House and John wind up the day with dinner and a movie, and return to the house quite late. When they enter the front door, House hears yelling inside. John had mentioned that Rachel and Cuddy had been fighting rather regularly lately, but House had not pictured it to be this bad.

"You just don't want me to be happy," House hears Rachel shout as he enters into the living room, carrying the bags. John follows on his heels.

Cuddy and Rachel are standing in the middle of the room, tense and on edge, snarling at each other like hyenas. Neither of them seems to notice him and John entering, or they are simply reluctant to be the first to break eye contact, unwilling to leave the respective opponent out of sight.

"That is absolutely ridiculous, and you know it!" Cuddy's face is on fire, her eyes flaring. House remembers this side of her well and sympathizes with Rachel.

"You're afraid that he might actually want me. That I'll get out of here, and be gone. That I'll leave you, too." In a flash, House's sympathy vanishes.

That was definitely a mean blow, and it hits Cuddy hard. Her face falls, and she stumbles backwards as if she had been hit. "Wow!" she says with her eyebrows raised, but she composes herself and shoots back: "And what exactly do you think I'd be missing? You telling me every day what a horrible mother I am to you?"

They are taking each other down, and House is about to intervene when Rachel screams: "I hate you!" and rushes out of the room, slamming the door to the hallway behind her.

The three of them stand there quietly for a moment, staggering in the silence after the storm, until House clears his throat. "That was quite some entertainment."

Cuddy turns towards House and John, her shoulders slumping and all the tension leaving her body. "Welcome to Rachel versus her mother, round 231." Her tone is dire and sarcastic. She walks towards them slowly. Looking at John, she says quietly. "Sorry you had to witness that, honey. Again." She runs her hand through his hair. "Did you and your dad get everything you need for school on Monday?"

"Yup." John holds up the bag containing his stationary. "And we got a capo for my new guitar."

"That's great. Whatever that is." She gives him a weak smile. "You wanna go put your stuff in your room and get ready for bed? It's late."

"Okay. You gonna come read to me?" John asks.

"Of course. Just call me when you're ready." Her voice is sweet but very tired.

House takes the moment to study her more closely. He has not seen her in a while. The kids were at camp over the summer, and he could not think of an excuse to go over and check in on her. She looks stressed and weary. What concerns him most is that she lost quite some weight.

John bumps fists with House and tells him goodbye.

"Have fun Monday," House says, rubbing his knuckles over John's head. "When anyone kicks you, kick back!"

"Okay," John laughs and ducks away, heading for his room. "Good night."

House turns to Cuddy who stands with her head hanging low, looking defeated. "You think we can sue the school system?" he tries to lighten the mood. "I'm not too familiar with curricular milestones, but after five years of schooling, shouldn't he be able to read by himself?"

She stares at him blankly. "I'm going to read him a bedtime story as long as he wants me to."

House shrugs and changes the subject. "Those were quite some low blows." He nods towards where Cuddy and Rachel were standing while fighting, trying to sound casual. "Not that I wasn't cheering you both on internally."

"I know," she admits. "I'll apologize to her later. I didn't mean what I said." She shakes her head. "It's just… She drives me insane sometimes."

House walks over to the coffee table and sets down the bag holding the things they bought for Rachel.

"She knows exactly where to poke a sharp stick," Cuddy continues. "And lately, it seems to have become her new hobby." She sighs. "She is so angry."

House shrugs and sits down on the edge of the couch, needing to rest his leg. "She's a teenager. It's her job to drive you nuts."

"I know that, and things have been ugly before, but since she came back from camp, it's become so spiteful. You heard her: She hates me." Cuddy shakes her head helplessly. "We used to be so great together."

"Oh come on, every mother gets those words thrown at her from her adolescent child at some point," he downplays their dispute. "I know it goes against your nature, but stop making this about you. You're not that special!"

"Gee, thanks! I'm sure your mother has heard it plenty," she looks at him with spite.

"And yours hasn't?" he retorts calmly.

Noting the truth behind his words, she remains quiet for a beat, and her expression turns less hostile. "Well, she deserved it. She was a—" She stops herself, realizing that she was about to call her dead mother names. "—a monster. She manipulated me and everyone who was part of my life intentionally."

"Every teenager thinks that. And every parent will assure you they only had the best interests."

Cuddy has no response to that and simply stands there, looking lost.

"Don't take this so personally," he says more gently.

She sighs. "Easy for you to say. You're still her number one hero."

House shrugs. "Out of the two of us, I am definitely the cooler stud."

She looks at him, annoyed.

"Plus, absence makes the heart grow fonder," he offers, trying to appease her. "She is just taking it out on who's available. If I were around 24/7, I'm sure she'd hate me, too."

"She misses her old friends," Cuddy elaborates. "She saw some of them again at camp. I think it was hard for her. She accused me of having moved her away from them."

House squints at her. "I thought that was a family decision."

"It was! She claims I didn't leave her a real choice but to say yes." She wraps her arms around herself. "She knows it was so we could be closer to you. 'Well, see how that turned out.'"

House hangs his head with guilt.

"Those were her words, not mine," she clarifies.

At this moment, John calls out for Cuddy. "Mom, I'm ready!"

"All right, sweetie, I'll be right there," she hollers down the hallway before she addresses House again. "By the way, Rache is gonna ask you to give her driving lessons. According to her, I'm too impatient and hysterical."

"She has a point," he teases. "You'd be cool with that?"

Cuddy throws her hands in the air helplessly. "Be my guest. I'm not going to force her into a car with me." She turns towards the hallway. "Thanks for taking John out today."

"You don't have to thank me for spending time with our son," he says sincerely. "I don't thank you for unnecessarily reading to him. Or for having wiped his butt until he was able to do that by himself."

She raises her eyebrows at him as if to say 'It wouldn't hurt if you did', but holds her tongue and heads for John's room. He makes a mental note to maybe buy her flowers for Mother's Day next year.

House waits a moment after she is gone, turns on the water boiler in the kitchen, picks up the bag for Rachel, and follows Cuddy down the hallway. He is on a mission. First he makes sure Cuddy is in John's room, reading. Next, he presses his ear against Rachel's bedroom door. There is no sound behind it, so he quietly hangs the bag on the handle in such a way that it will drop down and make noise if she were to open it. Lastly, he sneaks into Cuddy's bedroom: the actual scene of his crime. He searches it for pills because he is worried she might have fallen back into old habits. Remembering his favorite hiding places, he systematically goes trough her drawers, night tables, dark gaps behind furniture, and pillowcases. He is relieved to come up with nothing but dust and an interesting collection of vibrators.

On his return to the living room he also skims through her purse, which she has dropped next to the couch, finding nothing more serious than Advil.

When he hears her footsteps approach from the hallway, he quickly steps into the kitchen, pulls out two mugs, equips them with tea bags, and pours the hot water over them just in time before Cuddy turns the corner.

"Making you some tea," he explains as a reaction to the quizzical look she gives him, which silently asks why he is still here.

"That's… nice of you," she says slowly, seeming suspicious. "I get two?"

"Didn't know which one you'd want," he shrugs. He used two different flavors. "Now you get to pick." He places both mugs on the cooking isle in front of her so she can check the labels. The second one was actually meant for him—if she were to let him stay for a little longer.

She squints at him, trying to figure out whether he was up to something. He keeps a straight face, and she eventually gives up trying to figure him out and decides for a mug.

"Care to share what your fight with Rache was about?" He actually has an idea, but is unsure about whether she is willing to confide in him. "Who might want her?" He holds his breath.

Cuddy hesitates for a moment, and he assumes she is pondering whether or not to open up to him even more than she already did tonight. She pulls in her bottom lip, then sights heavily as she sits on a stool in front of the isle. Without looking at him, she pushes the other mug in his direction before her hands close around her own. He releases his breath, heaves himself up on the other counter so that he sits at a perpendicular angle to her, and rests his head against the door of the cupboard behind him.

"She wants to get in touch with her father."

This is what House has expected. "You are legally bound to conceal this information, but Rache knows you have his name, and now you're the bad guy for getting between her and her fantasy super-dad."

Cuddy's jaw drops slightly, astonished about his insight. "Yeah. Did she talk to you about it?"

"Nope. It's not exactly a story unheard of: An adopted child wanting to know whose sperm and egg ended up together and turned into them." Rachel had asked him a year ago if he had gotten to meet her biological parents. He had denied it, which was not a lie, and told her that his team and Cuddy had mostly handled her birthmother's case.

"I've explained to her numerously that the process was confidential. That her father and his parents insisted on an anonymous adoption, and that I could get sued for giving out his name." Her hand travels to her neck to rub out some of the tension. "But she's convinced he'd be delighted to see her, and I'm the one standing in the way of that."

Before, House would have offered to massage her shoulders. Now he only watches her fingers kneading her muscles. "Did it occur to her that this road actually goes both ways? That if he had wanted to get in touch with her, he could have called the hospital and asked to speak to you?"

"I told her that, but to no avail. She figures that he might just be too afraid of a rejection; that he might feel too guilty to reach out." Cuddy sighs heavily and buries her face in her hands. "She is so stuck on the phantasy of a happy union she dismisses my every argument."

"Again, not an uncommon story. Teenager feels treated unjustly, rebels, idolizes other people slash lifestyles, dreams of a better future, a better place…" House sips on his tea.

She turns her head out of her hands to look at him with raised eyebrows. "Better than here?" Her voice is low and rumbling. "Because I'm such a monster?"

"Why are you taking this so personally?"

She rests her lower arms on the counter, her eyes focusing on the steaming tea. "I guess I was hoping that if I handled this well, if I was a good enough adoptive mother who provided her with everything she could possibly need, she wouldn't yearn for… I don't know…" She searches for words. "Someone who loved her more?!" She seems to be near tears.

"Christ, Cuddy," House exhales in irritation, shaking his head. "Your goddamn perfectionism and your need to succeed are spiraling way out of control." She furrows her eyebrows at him, looking slightly perplexed about his coarseness. "And they are completely misplaced!" He raises his voice a notch, but still feels calm and controlled. "You really wanna measure your abilities as a mother on a rollercoaster scale of teenage drama and hormones?"

She hangs her head again, remaining quiet. Lost in thought, she sips on her tea. Eventually, she raises her eyes to his, a beseeching expression crossing her face. "I can't do it, right? Give her the name?" His opinion is clearly important to her.

"Not unless you want your daughter scarred for life. And a mortgage on the house. Because her coward of a father is definitely gonna sue for a shitload of money."

"How can you be so sure?"

House had actually seen the whole situation coming, and hired a private investigator last summer to find out Simon's whereabouts. Once he had an address, House spent three consecutive days following and observing Simon in New York City, obtaining information about his character and living situation.

House has no intention of sharing his knowledge with Cuddy, though. "The guy obviously had the morals of an octopus, and that's probably an overstatement and an insult to all octopuses. He scratched a girl from his list of friends because she was the one getting pummeled, sold her tons of booze to fuel an addiction, and then pretended to be her secret boyfriend so he could bang her. Boy, he must be on the edge of his seat to finally share his spilled over love and compassion with Rache."

Cuddy stares at him in surprise, wondering about his familiarity with the story regarding Rachel's birth parents. Then it dawns on her. "You know, don't you?" she whispers.

Damn. He should have kept his mouth shut. He forgets sometimes how well she knows him. For a second, he considers denying it. Then he gives her a small nod.

"Oh my God!" she exclaims incredulously, trying to keep her voice down. "How could you not have told me?" She looks at him with wide eyes.

House remains relaxed. "You're a horrible liar, and you fold easily. Rachel knows how to pressure you," he states matter-of-factly.

"Oh God." Cuddy presses her hand against her forehead, fighting to get a grip on herself. "So, it was bad?" She turns her head to search his eyes, holding her breath. "What you found out?"

He shrugs. "He's a lawyer in NYC. Works sixteen hours a day, has an attractive blonde and two little boys who he hardly ever sees. He's still the snobby rich kid he used to be, with absolutely no room in his life, and I doubt he told his wife about the fat girl he knocked up in high school, let alone the child she gave birth to before she died."

Cuddy starts to tear up, and shakes her head in defeat. "Shit." She thinks for a moment, her fingers rubbing her forehead. "How did you even get his name?"

He puffs out some air and tilts his head, throwing her an expression of self-evidence. 'Did she really need to ask?' he thinks. 'We're talking about the father of her child.' After it became clear Cuddy would adopt, House had, of course, interrogated his team about all the details, especially regarding family members.

She nods understandingly, still slightly astonished. "What if we told her this? What you found out?"

House shakes his head. "She's not gonna believe it. She'll want to see for herself." House had already considered the option and decided against the idea. Rachel could be unbelievably stubborn. "So, either you let her make that experience, a rejection that will probably haunt her for the rest of her life, or…"

"I continue to be the bad guy," Cuddy finishes for him, sounding sad and helpless.

"Yeah," he nods. There is nothing he can think of to improve the situation.

They sit in silence while they finish drinking their tea.

When he is done, House slides off the counter. "She won't always long for a better place. It'll blow over. She'll grow up."

"When?" Cuddy looks so desperate and miserable he wants to touch her, caress her back, but is too afraid she might flinch away from him.

"A year. Maybe two."

"Can you induce me into coma until then?" she jokes weakly.

"I've occasionally had that same fantasy," he quips, which at least gets him a small smile. "I'm gonna head out."

She nods. "Okay."

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From then on, House stops by their place more regularly again. He and Rachel arrange to meet twice a week so he can teach her how to drive. He usually goes there straight from work and combines his visits with cooking dinner. When Cuddy is there, he insists for her to sit down and eat with them; when she returns late from work, he reheats a plate for her and makes her comprehend that eating was not debatable. He also regularly checks her room for anxiety meds and sleeping pills.

Cuddy and House coordinate their schedules such that the nights he is at the house do not collide with her date nights. He could not stand watching her dress up and get ready for another man. Also, he would not want to sit there and imagine what she was doing as the hours passed by and it was getting late.

The constant battle between Cuddy and Rachel ebbs down a bit, and although Cuddy seems more comfortable around House again, things remain strained.

This is also reflected in Cuddy's decision to spend Thanksgiving at her sisters', aware of the fact that House is not welcome at their place. He is not sure whether she is doing it out of spite or whether she just cannot help herself.

They also refrain from celebrating Christmas together. On Christmas Day, the kids are at home, and go over to his place in the afternoon. Rachel received her license on her birthday a couple of weeks earlier, and Cuddy lets the kids borrow her car.

House tries hard for the three of them to have a good time, but all of his efforts fail, and they sit rather gloomily than gleefully at his table after dinner.

"So, who's up for dessert?" House makes one last attempt.

Rachel and John both decline.

"All right," he sighs, "what's going on? Did the Christmas Grinch storm your house last night?"

"Mom has a boyfriend." Rachel finally discloses. "Ethan." She makes the same face she does when she eats something bitter or otherwise distasteful. "She made us meet him last week." Her voice sounds far from thrilled.

House attempts to stay diplomatic. "Well, it's nice for your mother to have someone. You should try to be happy for her." He is amazed by the shallowness of his phrases. Not even he believes a word of what he is saying, and is surprised by the hypocrisy flowing from his mouth.

"Mom has enough someones," John declares. "You, me, and Rachel. What does she need Ethan for?"

"Yoga poses?" House offers. "And by yoga poses I mean—"

"Ugh, stop," Rachel interrupts him. "No pictures, please."

John looks from House to Rachel. "Well, he's weird!"

"He was probably just nervous," House downplays their concerns. "You two can be quite nerve-wracking. Give the guy a chance."

"He's a complete douche!" Rachel agrees with her brother.

House shrugs. "As long as he makes your mother happy, you'll—"

"Mom's not happy," Rachel cuts him off. "She's just… less unhappy." She fiddles with her fork and looks down at her empty plate when she quietly asks: "Why did you shoot her down?"

House drops his head into his hand. He does not want to have this conversation with them. "Because it wouldn't work. We've tried. And, unlike the majority of morons out there who seem to make a sport out of repeating their mistakes over and over again, I tend to learn from mine and accept reality."

"Doesn't learning from mistakes include trying again? Do better next time?" John suggests. He could be such a smart-mouth sometimes, and House is usually proud of this character string, but right now all it does is annoy him.

Wondering whether they were being obtuse intentionally, he explains it to them slowly. "Your mom and I have known each other since her first week of med school. We were friends for years. It wasn't always ponies and roses, but everything was good. Until we decided to have a relationship. We lasted for a few months. After that, I blew it, and we didn't speak for almost a decade. You really think this is worth giving it another shot? You'll both be out of school next time we talk to each other again, Rachel even out of college."

John seems uncertain for a fraction of a second, but then asks: "Don't you love mom?"

House sighs again and hangs his head. "It doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Rachel exclaims. "Isn't that what everything is always about? Every movie, every poem, every song on the radio?"

House is turning angry and defensive. "Seriously? This is your great argument? Mainstream Hollywood triteness and meaningless bullshit cranking from the radio?" Why did they have to corner him like this? On Christmas, for all sakes.

Rachel looks hurt and fails to come up with a retort. Eventually, she reveals information he thinks she had initially meant to keep to herself. "She said she asked you to marry her," she whispers.

House is shocked for a second. He cannot believe Cuddy would share this snippet of their conversation with the kids. And completely out of context. "That's just fantastic!" he says sarcastically, his eyes rolling up towards the ceiling.

"She didn't really mean to tell us," John defends his mother. "She was upset."

"Because we refused to meet Ethan," Rachel adds.

House can perfectly imagine the scene, Cuddy crying helplessly in front of the kids. Of course they would be siding with her. "Why does it always have to be all or nothing?" he asks impatiently. "There is no happily ever after! You see it with your friends' parents all the time. They either don't have anything to say to each other anymore, and everyone sits mutely at the table, staring at their cell phones. Or they are divorced, hate each other's guts, and also don't talk anymore." He rubs his leg, tired of the discussion. "Why am I an ass for taking the middle ground here? Doesn't it count for anything that I value my friendship with your mother?"

Rachel and John both hang their heads, not looking at him. "You're not friends anymore," Rachel says quietly, sadness ringing in her voice. "Not really. You're this close to talking about the weather." She holds up her hand, leaving a tiny space between her index and her thumb. "She's completely closed off to you."

House sighs heavily. Rachel has a point. "It will get better." He tries to sound confident, but apparently fails to convince them: Rachel rolls her eyes at him, and John actually looks as if he might start to cry.

"It's been almost a year," Rachel points out.

House intently hopes that he is right, that their relationship will keep improving, albeit slowly. He has no idea what else to do. "Maybe not this Ethan guy, but once she has a permanent boyfriend and we all have our roles straight, it will be easier to be friends again."

"We don't want her to have a boyfriend!" John protests.

House sighs. "Well, this is one of the major lessons we all have to learn in life, and better sooner than later: You can't always get what you want."