"Why are you sat on the floor, crying over a shattered jar of jelly?" House asked as he entered the kitchen and nearly stepped on a shard of glass.
"I'm hungry and craving jelly." Cuddy replied, her voice wobbly. Her nose was congested, she had been running a fever and she knew that she had picked up the bug that Rachel had a week prior. House had told her to take the day off and to an extent, she had. there was some things she had been able to do from home with her laptop and the files that her P.A had dropped off. House had checked in every 2 hours just to check that her condition hadn't deteriorated.
"No shit Sherlock but why are you crying?" House replied, a playfulness to his tone which Cuddy welcomed.
"I'm crying because that's the last jar of strawberry jelly!" Cuddy exclaimed, the tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. House smirked, Cuddy wiped her tears on the shirt she was wearing and watched House disappear into the pantry. There was a lot of movement and Cuddy hoped he hadn't reorganised everything to find whatever it was he wanted.
The object was dropped into Cuddy's lap and she quickly snatched it before it hit the wooden floor. It was another jar of jelly which Cuddy didn't remember buying. As House swept up the glass and cleaned the floor (the best he could), Cuddy devoured half the jar while remaining on the floor. House nudged her with the broom twice and she poked his bare foot with the lid of the jar. The jelly was cool and refreshing on her swollen throat. Cuddy got up from the floor as House was putting the glass in bin and Rachel appeared in the doorway. Rachel sensed something had happened because she didn't try and barge into the kitchen. She watched her mother put the jar in the cupboard before turning her attention to her House was late for their usual bedtime story.
"Mini Cuddy, back to bed." House said without even glancing at the smaller Cuddy. Rachel huffed and skipped her way back to her room. Cuddy pressed a kiss to House's cheek before dropping the dirty spoon in the sink. At first, the nickname had irritated Cuddy for reasons she cannot remember but it had eventually grown on her. Rachel seemed to like it and would always pester House just so he would call her that. In his office at work, Rachel staked claim on the easy chair and would often doze off there if both her parents were working late and the sitter couldn't stay late.
Now House was squashed onto Rachel's bed, with Rachel tucked into his side and the book resting in his lap. He had read this story to Rachel multiple times, done all the voices each time and yet he never complained, Cuddy would watch from the doorway in complete awe. People hadn't been happy with House and Rachel bonding but their opinions bothered neither house nor cuddy. Cuddy trusted House with Rachel and over the past months, he had really taken to being a parental figure for the young girl. If Cuddy was being honest, his relationship with Rachel bought out another side of him that no one thought House had.
Three pages in, Rachel was fast asleep with her head resting awkwardly on House's chest, her body curled into House's side and her hand resting on his hip, just above his scarred thigh. Cuddy tiptoed into the room and took the book from House's hands, making it easier for him to extract himself from Rachel's embrace without waking her. Operation Bedtime was complete, leaving House to dote on Cuddy who was tired and still feeling pretty shitty.
Cuddy was already in bed when House finished his nightly routine. She had stolen another one of his t-shirts to sleep in and was curled up under the mountain of blankets with a tissue scrunched up in her fist. The sneezing had returned so had the pounding. Two capsules of flu meds, half a glass of water and one long cuddle later, Cuddy was out like a light. She had turned away from House who had returned to the bathroom to grab the sick bowl as he already predicted that she would wake up during the night and vomit all the contents of her stomach up. It saved her rushing to the bathroom and collapsing on the tile.
House woke at five am to Cuddy heaving and wiping her nose. She moaned when she felt House's hand gently make contact with her clammy forehead. Her fever had finally broken which came as a relief. Cuddy whispered that she was thirsty so House refilled her glass in the bathroom sink and helped Cuddy sip at the water. She dozed off with the blankets thrown at her feet and the tissue box glued to her side. House cleaned the bucket and checked in on Rachel who was awake but playing quietly with her stuffed sloth.
"Come here squirt, bring that sloth too." House whispered and Rachel did as she was told. House took her hand and they walked to the bedroom together. The sloth lagging behind as it dragged across the clean floor. Rachel climbed onto the bed with House's help and immediately enveloped her mother into a hug. The sloth rested on House's vacant pillow. Cuddy stirred, clearly having not been in a deep sleep and was happy to see Rachel and that silly sloth.
House didn't say anything as he joined them. Rachel started telling Cuddy about this dream she had about a unicorn, a pony and a monkey while House just watched his girls with a small smile.