Elijah was now exactly a month old and was honestly the happiest but most inquisitive baby that both Talia and Chase had ever laid eyes on. He spent most of his time sleeping, but for the few hours a day that he was awake, he enjoyed staring at lights whilst laying on his back, kicking his legs a few times and watching his parents do…well, whatever they were doing. Chase had fallen back into the swing of work life rather well, although he very much still looked forward to returning home every day, and Talia loved the role of staying home with the baby all the time.

But now that Elijah had finally had his 1 month shots, she was more comfortable with taking him around people.

And by people, she meant…

"Knock knock!" she trilled as she craned her head around the glass office door. House glanced up from his desk and couldn't stop his shoulders from slumping slightly. "Ouch," Talia joked, stepping in properly and placed the baby carrier onto the floor so that she could unstrap her yawning baby boy.

"I figured you'd be here to force the whole grandpa bonding thing…way earlier than this," House grumbled unenthusiastically, before going back to whatever he was watching on his computer.

"Yeah see I'm actually not here to force anything and it's nice to see you too, House!" Talia scoffed back under her breath. She gently eased Elijah up into her arms as he let out a small yawn, his tiny fists all scrunched and his legs all tensed up. "Hiii my lovely baby boy! Did you have a nice nap in the car, sugar? You diddddd yes you did-"

"Junior, could you take the…smaller junior, the patronising voice and the sickening cooing somewhere where I don't have to hear and thus don't feel the urge to, ya know, kill myself?" House drawled without looking up once.

"You are more and more of a pain as the days go by, you know that?" Talia frowned as she finally sat down opposite him with a sigh.

"That's because I'm in more and more pain as the damn says go by," House drawled back smoothly. Talia's jaw tightened and she stared straight at him worriedly.

"Wait," she muttered, leaning in closer. "Have you-"

"No, I am not back on Vicodin - but thanks for assuming," House rolled his eyes bitterly before she could launch into the question. "So you can loosen the grip on LijLij there." Talia sighed in relief and ran her tongue over her bottom lip.

Then she remembered something even more pressing.

"Why did you rile my husband up into punching you square in the jaw?" she suddenly asked, catching House well off guard. He didn't let his shock show, though. He glazed over it like an iced bun, in fact.

"You mean the punch he gave me two weeks ago?" he clarified.

"That's the one, buddy," Talia nodded, patting the squirmy Elijah on the back so that she could adequately burp him.

"I didn't rile him up," House stated simply. "He did that all on his own, he's on edge these days. Oh! D'ya think it could be the…" House lowered his voice, "Dibala thing?" Talia's lips parted in annoyance, now completely unimpressed. She knew that her father was just trying to get under her skin too, but she'd be damned if she actually let that happen.

"Leave him alone, House. There's no need to be such a bastard to him now that he's working for you again," she sighed quietly. House looked up at her properly then.

"I have left him alone. Well, now that he's finally got his mojo back of course."

"Um, excuse me? He always had his mojo, thank you very much!" Talia scoffed back - although she was smiling slightly.

"Nope! His mojo got all babyfied from when you had your adorable little living breathing accident over there on the once unstained carpeted floor of the second elevator," House sighed as he comfortably leant back in his chair with his arms crossed.

"Do you mind?! That 'little living breathing accident' as you so affectionately call him is your grandson!" Talia specified with a smirk. She stood up with Elijah and slowly manoeuvred her way over to her father, watching him slowly tense up the closer to him she got. "No, House - you have to relax. He doesn't like it when people are nervous around him," Talia whispered gently, still hovering Elijah over House's torso. House rolled his eyes as expressively as he could muster.

"I'm not-"

"He's your blood and ya gotta hold him sometime. Just man up and do it already," Talia groaned impatiently, stomping her foot like a child having a tantrum. House sighed and held his hands out to take him, much to Talia's immediate surprise, giving her the perfect opportunity to hand Elijah over. She could only watch on with bated breath as House took her baby from her and held him in his lap, given that his head was now strong enough to support himself. Then she leaned her hands on House's shoulders, and watched Elijah's blue-grey eyes widen as he struggled to place House's face. "Hi bubba," Talia cooed down at him over House's shoulder to show she was still around.

"Junior, that gushy little voice thing is seriously killing me," House muttered up at her. "Babies actually learn better when they're not spoken to as if they've just come around post op-"

"Sorry! Sorry, cos I know it drives Rob mad, too," Talia winced, giving House's shoulders a little apologetic squeeze. "Quick question - do you think he looks like me or him?"

"You. And by the way, you should be thankful he doesn't look like Chase," House pointed out with the smallest of shrugs, which only made Talia giggle and whack his shoulder playfully. "Actually, I'd say he's an easy mix between you both. Ya know - genetics are kinda funny like that."

"Aren't they just? Proper hilarious," she rolled her eyes back. House hummed as he kept his eyes on Elijah, genuinely intrigued by him. It was a weird, bizarre and borderline fresh feeling, knowing that this little baby was his grandson, and he wasn't too sure what he was meant to do next…or, in fact, ever. "What are you thinking, Pops?" Talia asked quietly, noticing his thoughtful silence.

"I'm thinking…that I really hope this kid won't upchuck all over me," House muttered back.

"And…?" Talia prompted him, sensing that it wasn't that simple from the complicated look in his eyes.

"Andd…that I have no idea what to do," House finally admitted quietly.

"What, now? Or…ever?"

"I…well, both."

"Well let's take it one step at a time. So…for now, just try talking to him," Talia suggested helpfully as she finally perched herself on the arm of his chair. "He really loves conversation. Chase yaps at him all day and it keeps him quiet, he just loves to engage."

"That's cos Chase is enough to bore anyone into silence - I totally get it," House whispered down to the curiously watching Elijah. "I gotta ask, though - why his name? Never really understood it."

"You? Never got something?" Talia mocked gasped. "Very simple answer. Elijah is biblical, Ezra's name was biblical, both start with the letter E… and Rowan was Chase's dad's name. Ta da! Elijah Rowan."

"Huh. Why not Greg?" House found himself itching to ask.

"Elijah Gregory Chase? Or Gregory Rowan Chase? Either one is horrendous, so…apologies," Talia smirked back at him. "If it was nicer, your name definitely would've been in the billing."

"I'm kinda offended," House frowned, looking down at Elijah again. "Kid, your mom is a meanie."

And of course - that had to be the first smile that Elijah gave.

His first ever smile was to his grandfather mocking his mother.

"Lij! Are you serious?" Talia wailed playfully, lifting Elijah into her hands and pouting at him instead. "Bub! We have spent every day of the last month together and it's your miserable and only Grandpa you wanna smile at?" she giggled down at him, then subsequently getting a little smile of her own. "Ooooh and one for Mummy! Oh my GOD! Thank you my beautiful little angel boy!"

"Did you not notice that his smile came after I started speaking to him like a regular person?" House pointed out cockily as Talia took a seat opposite him again.

"Yeah yeah you really are brilliant," Talia muttered back. "How are things doing down here, anyway? Chase gives me the basic rundown every evening but-"

"Cuddy's engaged!" House announced brightly.

Cue Talia's eminent surprise.

"I'm sorry?!" she yelp-hissed. "She…HOW? Where the hell have I been? Wait, engaged TO WHO?"

"You mean you didn't know she had a boyfriend?" House blinked. He seemed quite surprised - which was a surprise in itself.

"House, as much as you think I might - I don't keep up with Cuddy's life. Funnily enough, the only person that would keep me up to date with that woman is you! And this is the first time I've seen you in however long!" Talia expressed in annoyance.

"That's...huh. Interesting…."

"So what's the guy's name? How much money does he make? Is he good looking? Is he even nice?"

"He's just some second rate private investigator that I stupidly hired to spy on Wilson after Amber died," House shrugged simply as if it were no big deal.

Talia had so many questions to his statement - but she didn't even have the energy to start asking them.

"Course he is. As you do. And...how do you feel about it?" she asked him instead.

"Um…fine? Why would I feel any different?" House murmured.

"Well because Cuddy's engaged and you told me she was engaged. Regular House would've slid past it and then have me find out another way, of which I would then apprehend him for not telling me and he'd say "wasn't important!" before swiftly changing the subject - but this House was very careful to mention it knowing I would probe a conversation therefore implying that he, in fact, wants to talk about it with someone. Therefore, thus, proving that you're bothered about it," Talia explained without so much as stumbling once.

House squinted over at her in surprise. He was clearly impressed.

"Very good."

"Cheers."

"But also completely wrong."

"Liar."

The two of them smirked at each other slightly, both accidentally mirroring each other's faces - then the office door swung open and a gasp emitted from its direction.

"Ohhh you finally brought him down!" Thirteen cooed as she scurried into the room and made her way over to Talia to give her a hug - without crushing the baby, of course. The rest of the team followed suit within seconds.

"Well I couldn't only take him to the park and to the fresh foods market forever," Talia pointed out with an added smile.

"Wow, Chase. He actually does kinda resemble you," Foreman frowned ever so slightly as Chase shot him a pleased smirk back.

"THANK YOU! It has been a topic of discussion since the day he was born," he nodded as he proudly looked over at a baffled Elijah leaning on his mother's chest. "He is much better looking than me though."

"That I agree with," Taub confirmed quietly, earning a quiet scoff of agreement from House.

"Anyone wanna hold him before we head off home?" Talia offered up to the small group.

"Please!" Thirteen grinned, holding her hands out first.

"Coming right up! Oh my god, you know he smiled for the first time today," Talia informed her husband as she passed Elijah over to her. "Now he's even more beautiful!"

"You're kidding?" Chase huffed back in surprise. "What the hell did you do to make him smile?"

"Not what did I do - what did House do," Talia corrected him with a little roll of her eyes.

"He smiled at House?" Taub spluttered, whilst Thirteen's plump lips parted in surprise. "You mean he smiled at He Who Never Smiles?"

"No, because that would be him smiling at Foreman," House corrected him with a drawl.

"Oh! You're right - he smiled at House? You mean he smiled at He Who Never Smiles Unless It's At The Expense, Misery and Detriment Of Others?!" Taub corrected himself, adding a sarcastic gasp to finish.

"Ummm as much as I love this being about me - you are aware that we're currently dealing with a patient?" House reminded his team loudly over the 'awww's.

"CSF was negative for infection and the headaches came back worse than ever. Anddd we're all maxed out on morphine," Foreman answered breezily as he chucked the patient file down onto House's desk - just so that he could take his turn holding the baby instead. Talia bit back a smile at House's imminent frustration - so she thought she'd give him a hand.

She might as well whilst she's there right?

"May I see the file, please?" she asked him brightly.

"Go ahead. It's not like the other four are using it," House murmured back irritably as he shook his head. Talia smirked and picked it up, giving it a swift little read through to see what the case was and what they had tried thus far. There was no denying - she really did miss this.

And, as soon as she read through it - she felt totally at home again.

"Ummm guys?" she called out to them with a risen hand. They all turned to look at her a little distractedly. "I think you caused the headaches with the CSF. There must be a spinal leak somewhere, which means his headaches are increasing. Low pressure in his brain could've caused the POTS but you assumed it was the other way round. Fix the leak, put in the artificial CSF and it should eventually take the edge off again…"

The team all blinked at her as House let out a loud groan of relief - mixed with some form of disappointment.

"God. Pleaaaaase come back to us?" he whinged desperately with his hands clasped together.

"Five more months and I'll see you there," Talia smirked back at him. "But for now…I think it's best that I leave you all to it, don't you?"

"Fine," Thirteen sighed sadly, still playing with Elijah's hand from where he was now resting peaceful against Foreman's chest. "I'll see you later, lil angel!"

"You guys make me laugh," Talia grinned as she gently hoisted Elijah back into her own arms. "All of you too cool for school until there's a baby around!"

"Can't even help it, he's just that beautiful. Anyway, we'll go fix the tap," Thirteen nodded to a bored looking House, giving Talia's shoulder a parting squeeze before leaving the office.

"Good to see you again, Talia," Foreman smiled at her too, before following Thirteen out.

"Andddd I guess I'll be the one to go and tell the patient that we might have been at fault here," Taub winced, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Then his beady little eyes lit up. "Unless, you know, Patient Care-"

"Off duty, mate! That's all yours - enjoy!" Talia giggled back at him as she turned her attention back to Chase. "Eli! Wanna say bye bye to your daddy?" she gasped down at her son before passing him straight over.

"Awww hey kiddo! Daddy missed you! I'll see you when I get home," Chase told him gently as he kissed his soft cheek, and bounced him up and down slightly. Then he couldn't help but look back over at House again. "Did he really smile at you?" he scoffed disbelievingly.

"I mean, what can I say?" House scoffed, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "Kids dig me."

…

A few minutes later, after finally saying goodbye to Chase and House, Talia felt like she had to go and visit Cuddy, even if it were just for a second. She had to, because she was baffled as to what was going on with her and this whole engagement thing. In her mind, it was always her and House for the win - but apparently not.

And she couldn't cope with that possibility.

"Oh," Cuddy's face broke out into a pleasant smile as Talia swept her way into the office. "Um, I'm pretty sure you're not meant to be back for another five months…?"

"Yeah, but I felt like I had to come in and see if House could bond with Lij," Talia shrugged back, placing the baby carrier onto her sofa. "After hearing that he had been riling Chase up on his return, I thought this would make things a little easier."

"Oh?" Cuddy blinked back in surprise. "And…did he bond?"

"I think so? In…you know…his own House kinda way," Talia giggled, shaking her head. "I mean he managed to make him smile for the first time, so that was pretty impressive in itself." Cuddy's eyes shot up as she got up from her desk and tiptoed over to take a closer look at the snoozing angel.

"God. He's beautiful, Talia," she sighed longingly, reaching out her finger to gently stroke Elijah's little barely there blonde tufts.

"Thank you," Talia beamed back at her. "He's an absolute joy, honestly. Despite his extremely selective sleeping times, of course."

"He'll grow outta that, you of all people know he will," Cuddy smiled slightly. "And how are you feeling?"

"Me? I guess you mean mentally?"

"Well I mean…"

"I'm fine. As you know, the pregnancy was pretty rough for me," Talia mused, keeping her gaze on her snoozing son. "But now he's finally here and he's healthy…I've literally never been happier. No postpartum symptoms or anything. It's like I'm living in a dream or something, you know?"

"I can imagine," Cuddy nodded quietly. "Congratulations - you deserve it."

"Aww, thank you, Lisa. And…I heard there's congratulations in order for you too," Talia smiled back, finally tearing her gaze from her son and back onto her again. Cuddy's head jerked back slightly. "House…told me about the engagement," Talia filled her in, expecting to see her roll her eyes knowingly or something.

But she didn't.

In fact, she looked…shocked.

"House…House knows about the engagement?" Cuddy clarified under her breath. Talia's eyes widened as it all dawned on her too.

"You…you mean you didn't tell him?" she hissed, before directing her focus to Cuddy's hand and rightfully seeing…no ring whatsoever. "Oh…my lord. He was right - I was completely wrong."

"About what?" Cuddy asked worriedly.

"I…well, he told me that you were engaged so I assumed he shared that because he was bothered about it, which he said was a lie. Clearly he told me you were engaged because he suspected you were engaged and he knew that I'd go and tell you congrats and either come back to him and say that you weren't engaged and ask why he lied to me, or leave it alone because you were engaged thus confirming his own theories," Talia groaned, more to herself to the completely baffled Cuddy. "So basically, he got me to do his dirty work - again."

"Seriously, I have no idea how he'd even know that - I haven't told anyone. Not even…Wilson," Cuddy murmured, starting to pace her office instead.

"Okay well him knowing is not that surprising. I mean, House knew I was pregnant before I did, remember? I didn't even know my own symptoms and I'm literally a doctor," Talia scoffed back. "He just doesn't miss a thing. So I wouldn't be too freaked out about it."

But Cuddy still said nothing. She just twisted her mouth into odd shapes as she thought to herself.

"Hey, I'm happy for you, though!" Talia beamed brightly to change the tone.

"No you're not," Cuddy muttered back.

An odd response to a positive comment, surely.

"Okay…I know I'm the one that gets paid to be cynical and over-analytical all the time but…um…what gives you that idea?" Talia blinked back, genuinely bemused. "What reason would I have not to be happy for you?"

"Because you, like everyone else, thought I'd end up with House," Cuddy answered bluntly, staring Talia dead in her eyes and silently daring her to disagree. Talia opened her mouth to dispute her words - but then closed them again.

"Hm. Fair enough."

"Oh? So I'm right?" Cuddy frowned as she crossed her arms.

"I mean you guessed it without me saying a word so, maybe you are…and those words also apply to yourself," Talia blinked innocently, causing Cuddy's frown to deepen. "Look, I'm happy for you and, more importantly, I know that House tends to drive people up the wall. The relationship you have now is pretty much at arm's length and I'm happy for you both because it's better that way. Hopefully he could find love with…someone else that doesn't have to deal with him being an ass in a relationship AND deal with him being an ass in his job…and I don't blame you for not wanting to deal with both. So yeah, I am happy for you." She gave her a genuine warm smile and stood up, making sure Elijah was comfortable in his carrier before getting ready to head home.

Then she suddenly looked up at Cuddy again.

"But I would look into the fact that you assumed that I'd assume you'd end up with House. That sounded like projection, Lisa. And if it is - maybe getting engaged to another guy whilst still seeing House pretty much every single day isn't for the best…quite yet."

But before Cuddy could even argue back, Talia had already slipped out of the office again with her son.