Having a baby by herself? It was a daunting challenge. Mark had pulled away from her in the past year, and if she was honest, Stacy felt more like a roommate than a wife. Could she blame him? No, not really. She had lost almost all of her feelings for him, and the baby she was carrying was solid proof of that. It had brought her pangs of guilt at first, but the frosty attitude from her husband had made her sad, and brought her closer to the baby she was carrying.

Stacy knew it belonged to Greg. Her dates had perfectly matched that airport night, and all the nights they had spent together afterwards. In a way, the baby was helping her move on: she had part of him with her, and made her feel a little better. On the other hand, it often made her think of him, and whether or not she should bother telling him. In the end? Stacy had decided no. Even when she had hit thirty weeks, and had been put on bed rest after the baby had decided to try make an entrance. The doctors had been smiley, kind, and avoided the difficult questions. That had really made Stacy want Greg- as hard as those days had been, she wanted the facts, and she would always trust Greg's ability as a doctor. And it was his baby.. he should know, right?

Stacy had wrestled with that question for weeks, and had even given him a missed call or two, only to change her mind. Once she had gotten off bed rest, her mind became more occupied with preparations for delivery, new motherhood, and eventually, divorcing Mark. It had been a rough few months, and baby Chloe was the only good thing she had to focus on.

"You could have told me, you know."

"You sent me away. I didn't really want to come back."

Stacy had spent the past half an hour telling Greg all of what had happened, mostly helped along by mugs of coffee. She didn't particularly want to talk to him, but he had refused to leave, and she knew she couldn't kick him out. Not when he was holding her baby. Their baby. The tiny brunette seemed, to Stacy's surprise, quite comfortable. Carefully tucked with her back against Greg's forearm, head resting in the crook of his elbow. Small hands clutching to one of his fingers, the small girl giving the occasional yawn. Stacy would put her to bed soon: and hope like hell that she slept through the night. God, she needed some rest. Especially after today.

"Mark really didn't figure out she was mine? That's dumb, even for him-"

"Don't be mean. He probably did."

"You divorced him, I can be as mean as I want." Greg had had his suspicions about this baby ever since he had known it existed: Stacy's behaviour had been odd enough to raise his suspicions. Plus, Stacy had the darkest of brown eyes, as did her ex husband, and the vivid blue optics belonging to the baby? It was extremely unlikely that she had inherited those from Mark. Besides, he knew Stacy hadn't been sleeping with him. The baby's age was too closely fitting to his nights with her mother, too.

How did he feel about it? For once, Greg didn't know. There was a hint of fear. More than a hint. Holding this baby, and knowing half of its DNA belonged to him? That was daunting. But if that was all he was feeling, he would have already given her back to Stacy, and high tailed it back to his apartment. What else was he feeling? He couldn't be sure. These feelings were entirely foreign to him. The baby was calm, and much less irritating than the squawking infants whose mothers dragged them through the clinic.

She's mine. I'm her father.

"Can I have her back?" Stacy questioned: she had moved to put their coffee mugs in the dishwasher, and was waiting for him to give the baby girl back to her. A subtle sign she didn't want to talk anymore, but, he wasn't going to get out of her hair that easily.

"I don't know. She seems to like me."

"She's half asleep, you could be anyone." Stacy cleared her throat, and he moved to stand, shifting his weight onto his good leg. The baby girl gave a soft coo as she was transferred to her mother's arms: it tugged a little at him. Positively? He couldn't be sure, but he did know that he wanted to hold her again.

"So, when can I see her properly?"

"How about never?"

That wasn't the answer he wanted, and he found himself following his ex upstairs. He managed to keep up with her, but only as the sleepy baby in her arms slowed her down. Thanks, kid.

"She's all mine, Greg, I didn't come back here for that."

"Sure. Not like I donated fifty percent of her DNA."

"You didn't meet your real father."

"And look how that turned out." Dropping his voice as he followed her into Chloe's room. Very simple, decorated in pale colours, with several soft toys and boxes laying around. No typical baby girl pink: that didn't really surprise him. Stacy had always abhorred that colour. The lawyer in question rolled her eyes at him, and bent to gently set the baby in her cot, before busying herself with sorting the soft night light, and winding up her mobile. The soft melody quelled the baby girl's small fusses: Greg flicked the light off, and leant to study the sleepy baby. Soothed by music: a common feature in small babies, but he found himself imagining teaching her to play when she was old enough.

"You can't kick me out, Stacy."

"I can. I learnt that from you."

"That was different." Greg insisted, but the slight raise in his voice had Stacy gesturing for him to leave. She didn't need Chloe waking up: the tears were always difficult to stop. She was a good baby, but she was stubborn: Stacy wasn't particularly sure which parent she inherited that from. Though, right now? Her money was on Greg. Stacy closed the nursery door behind her, hands on her hips as she watched him head downstairs.

What did Stacy want? She wanted him to leave. She wanted to have never come back to Princeton, and to not have to look at him ever again. It still hurt. He had always been the one for her, and even though he had sent her away to avoid hurting her further down the line? Stacy had missed him. A lot. But..was it selfish of her to kick him out, and bar him from Chloe, just to try and save her own feelings?

Stacy knew the answer to that, and it made her rather uncomfortable. Brushing a hand over her hair, and following him downstairs. To her relief, Greg was in the hallway, using his cane to unhook his jacket from the coat rack.

"I want to see her." That was one thing that Greg knew for sure. It surprised him, and to be entirely honest, he did not know if it was for the best. His own 'father' had led a terrible example, and he wasn't the best with children. But the brief time he had spent holding that small girl didn't feel like enough. He wanted to see her again, but Stacy was proving difficult. Not that be expected anything different.

"I don't know, Greg. It's complicated."

"How? She's three months old, she doesn't know her history. I'm sure she'd get used to me."

"And I'm sure you would get bored of her, or do something stupid while you were looking after her."

Did she really think that would happen? No. There had been a time when she had imagined having a family with Greg. All those years ago. Just the three of them and she wanted him to be happy, to know he was loved, and that his child loved him way more than he had loved his own father. However, that was a long time ago, and as much as she would always love Greg, and want him to be happy, she wasn't sure whether it was the right time to let him into Chloe's life. However, her words seemed to deflate him a little, and that stung at her heart. He didn't seem angry: there was a sober look on his face, tinged with a little sadness.

"I'm sorry I ruined things for you and Mark."

"I think I did that myself."

"If I'd had known you'd have to deal with all this-"

"You couldn't have." He shrugged in his jacket, going to open her front door. The cold air whipped in instantly, the rather unpleasant gush of chill adding to an already frosty atmosphere. However, the look on Greg's face was enough to start to thaw the icy walls Stacy had built around her heart. Not by a significant amount, but enough for guilt, and a twinge of compassion to creep in.

"Wait."

Oh, this was a terrible idea. Something in her was screaming, her stubborn nature protesting at her slight change of heart. Greg had hurt her. Why did she care? Why should she even think about accommodating him? Stacy knew the answers to both of those questions, but she found herself ignoring them. Leaning against the arch of her doorway, and tugging the wool of her cardigan tighter around herself. The look of slight confusion, and curiosity on Greg's face almost made her sigh.

"Look, this isn't permanent. And doesn't mean I'll ask again. But I'm going out with some old work friends tomorrow, and I wasn't sure who I was leaving Chloe with." Stacy shifted a little. "I'll only be a few hours, but, if you want to come over- and bring James- that would be helpful." Wilson's presence would be almost enough to assuage the anxiety that came with the idea of her leaving the baby with Greg. Honestly, Stacy didn't want to, she wanted to stay home, and to cuddle her baby girl until she had to leave her again. But she knew denying Greg any access to her was selfish.

"So, this is like a beta test?"

"If you want to call it that, then sure."

"I'll be here."

Those three little words sent Stacy's nerves sky high, and it took all of her effort to calmly bid him goodnight, before closing the door behind him. Dear God, she was leaving her baby, her sweet little baby, with Greg House. She ha that baby with Greg House.

Was it too late to arrange an alternative babysitter?

"Do your team really think we're bowling?"

"Yup."

Twenty four hours later, and Greg was back at Stacy's house, a rather befuddled Wilson by his side. Stacy had left an extensive list of instructions about how to care for the infant, but she hadn't left just yet. She was still fussing over the little girl, not keen on leaving just yet.

"Right- if anything goes wrong-"

"I'll call you." James assured her, watching as Stacy shifted from foot to foot. Chloe was awake, and alert in her arms. Small hands batting at her mother's hair, and Greg's eyes were fixated on the small baby.

James was quite pleased that he hadn't run for it, and that Stacy had allowed him this evening with her. Now, all his friend needed was for things to go well.

"Give her to me." Greg was obviously impatient, and it made Stacy roll her eyes. Pressing a kiss to the baby's soft head, before moving her into her father's arms. She was still a little sniffly, but seemed rather curious about being held. Little hands rested on his jacket, allowing him to rock her in his arms for a few moments.

"Please look after her." "You don't have anything to worry about."

James saw Stacy to the door: her eyes were fixed on Greg, currently testing to see if the baby could grab on to the toy in his hands. Of course he would be experimenting. It made her sigh, before she shrugged on her coat, and bid her friend goodbye. The door closed behind her, leaving the two doctors alone to look after Greg's baby.

"Her cognitive skills are up to where they should be."

Now that made James roll his eyes. This was going to be a long night.

So sorry this took me so long! Been very busy with college. I hope you enjoyed, please review!