Author's notes: First let me start with a huge apology. With this chapter almost done Muse got all prima donna and refused to write a word. At first I wasn't worried, because I was busy anyway. Then I was all ready to sit down and type only to discover she had locked herself in her room and wouldn't come out. Having raised two teenagers I knew the best strategy was to ignore her. Eventually she would have to come out for food and water.Let me tell you, she can really last a long time. But she's back (I hope for good) and we have the final chapter at least mapped out, so hopefully it will only be a couple of days before I can put 'Complete' on this saga. Thanks for sticking it out!

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Katherine Rose House weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz. Within eighteen hours she had a legion of admirers. Named for Allison's mother and Greg's great aunt who had raised Madeline after her mother died and was therefore the 'grandmother' House remembered, she was an instant hit with both families before they'd even seen a picture of her. Even Allison's father had approved, and promised to visit.

But it was the interest she stirred in the hospital staff that amused Allison and annoyed House to no end. Because it wasn't Katherine that fascinated them so much as the rumored effect she had on one Dr. Gregory House. In the first day of her life there were tales of him changing diapers, bathing her, and humming her to sleep. And the nurses on the maternity ward swore that he had smiled more than once. James Wilson who had been witness to most of these events was happy to acknowledge them to all that asked, thus totally destroying House's reputation as an unrepentant grouch in one fell swoop.

Allison for her part was overjoyed. She'd worried more than a bit about how Greg would react once the baby was here and a real part of their lives. As much as she may have wished otherwise, her gut had told her that House might need an adjustment period before he would even be comfortable around their daughter. To see him totally under her spell alternately brought tears to her eyes and made her laugh in delight.

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Who would have ever have guessed that a pair of eyes as blue as his own would be his total downfall. Not that he'd had very far left to go. Allison had already pretty much brought him to his knees, but at least he'd been able to maintain his edge around his peers. Now however he was totally done in, and his final tumble had been in full view of the entire hospital. Somehow, holding Katherine and seeing his own eyes reflected back at him, he didn't really care what anyone else thought. He was too busy trying to determine if this new light in his life seemed more like a Kathy or a Katie, or perhaps a Rosie and plotting all the ways he was going to spoil her rotten. He looked over at his sleeping wife and smiled. Allison was really going to have her hands full with the pair of them.

Allison and Katherine would both probably be cleared to go home the next day, and he was taking a week off. Plenty of time to plan different ways to strike fear in the hearts of the minions that he had to deal with on a daily basis. In the meantime it was getting late, and the nurse had already come in and given him one warning that it was past time to leave. He put Katherine in the portable bassinette, bent down to kiss Allison, and wheeled his daughter to the nursery. He might as well go get his last night of real sleep for the foreseeable future.

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Bright and early the next morning he was back on the Maternity ward. He checked in at the nursery and saw that Katherine was already gone. He was about to head to Allison's room when one of the nurses flagged him down.

"I hate to bother you Dr. House, but I have a baby boy born last night that I think is having problems. I paged his pediatrician but there been no response yet and I think this one needs to be moved to neo-natal. Unfortunately all of the doctor's there are tied up at the moment," she explained.

Within five minutes Greg had confirmed the nurse's suspicions, picking up a heart murmur, and had whisked the small infant to neo-natal and gotten him hooked up on a heart monitor. At that point one of the neo-natal nurses took over and he was free to go back to Allison. He stopped back at the nursery however and let the nurse know that her good instincts had probably saved the newborn from further damaging his heart. It was a move he would have never considered before, but knowing that the woman had cared for his own daughter, he felt the need.

God he was definitely getting soft.

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Their homecoming was a quiet affair. James and Julie had offered to help, but the new parents decided they wanted some time to themselves to get organized. House pulled into the garage and shut the door behind them to keep the cold away as much as possible and then helped Allison out of the car. She waited while he un-strapped Katherine from the car seat and then they all went into the house together. Katherine was unbundled and put into her bassinet, which was in their bedroom, still asleep from the car ride. Allison collapsed on the bed next to her, just barely removing her shoes before closing her eyes, worn out from the excitement of packing up and getting them home. After making several trips to the car to bring in the amazing amount of stuff that had managed to accumulate in Allison's room in less than forty-eight hours, House checked the fridge and decided a quick trip to the store was in order.

He made it back with just enough time to unload the two bags of groceries and start lunch before Katherine woke up and demanded her own lunch. Once changed and fed, she was content to sit in a bouncy chair on the kitchen table while her parents ate.

House began to wonder just what he'd been so worried about.

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Five days later Olivia and Madeline arrived. They would be staying with Allison for the first week that House was back at work. They arrived to find the house in total chaos. Dishes piled in the sink, dirty clothes waiting to be washed, and baby stuff littered the living room. Greg and Allison looked like hadn't slept in months and Katherine was showing off just how good her lungs were as House tried to rock her and sooth her even as he greeted his family. Allison burst in to tears at the sight of them.

"Thank god!" she exclaimed. "I don't think we would have made it another day without you!"

Madeline smiled sympathetically and instantly took Katherine in her arms. She issued a few quick questions as to feeding and sleeping schedules and shipped the two walking dead off to bed. Assured that their daughter was in good hands they both fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows, and it was a good four hours before either of them stirred.

Allison was the first to awaken. She hadn't gone more than three hours between feedings for a week, and it was extreme discomfort that forced her from the bed. She left House to sleep a bit longer as he needed to catch up if he was going to make it work in one piece. She already pitied everyone there having to work with a sleep deprived House.

She found Olivia in the kitchen just getting a bottle out of the fridge.

"Ah, perfect timing!" she declared. "Katherine is hungry again," she informed her sister-in-law.

"What a surprise," Allison replied with a small sigh. "Let me gather a few things and I'll settle into the recliner."

Five minutes later Katherine was at Allison's breast suckling as if she hadn't been fed in days, when in fact she'd had a bottle barely three hours earlier. Madeline shook her head in dismay.

"No wonder you are so tired," she sympathized. "She eats like there is no tomorrow!"

"She does. I can practically set the clock by her. Three hours is her max currently," Allison told her. "The real problem is getting her to sleep. Greg is wonderful at getting her to fall asleep, and during the day she'll take naps that last a couple of hours, but at night it seems she's up every hour."

"Does she sleep in with you?" Madeline asked.

"Yeah, in a bassinet," Allison told her. "But it's nice and quiet and dark, so I don't think she's being disturbed in anyway."

"Let's try putting her in the nursery tonight and leaving a night-light on with soft music. Some babies sleep better with a little stimulation," Madeline suggested.

"I'll try anything at this point," Allison agreed.

So over the course of the next week, with Madeline's help, they managed to get Katherine on a schedule. House went back to work two days after Olivia and Madeline arrived feeling somewhat more human than he had two days prior. He promptly scared an intern into submission, which made him feel immensely better. A few swipes at Cuddy and he was back in the groove. He ruled over his kingdom with sarcasm during the day, only shedding the persona when he was home with his girls who had him wrapped around their little fingers.

Even Madeline and Olivia were surprised by the transformation. Both understood that the sarcasm and grouchiness were a defense mechanism, but neither expected him to drop those defenses so completely. One evening after he had put Katherine to bed and Allison and Olivia had quickly followed suit, his mother used the quiet time to question him on it.

"You seem happy," she commented with smile. "I'm glad."

His first instinct was to deny it, but he couldn't lie to his mother. "Of course I'm happy," he proclaimed. "I'm not a fool."

"No, you certainly aren't, but you are stubborn. I had begun to believe that you were too stubborn to ever let yourself be happy again," Madeline told him.

"I was there for a while," he admitted.

"What happened?" Madeline inquired.

"Allison scared the crap out of me. She had a health crisis, and I was more scared of losing her than of getting hurt. Then once I let my guard down an inch it turned out she was even more stubborn then me," he confessed. "Don't let that wide-eyed innocent look fool you. I think she's a witch in disguise."

Madeline just chuckled. "Well she and Katherine certainly have you under their spell, so maybe that's true."

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All too soon their helpers left, and the new parents struggled to fall into a routine. Eventually after another couple of weeks things started to go smoothly. House gave Katie a bottle in the morning so that Allison could sleep for another hour. That made all the difference in the world as she then had the energy to clean during Katie's morning nap. If the weather wasn't too bad they would often run an errand or two just before lunch, and afterwards Allison would nap along with Katie. When House came home it was usually to a home that was relatively tidy and dinner that was at least planned if not started. He would then settle into some quality time with his daughter while Allison got dinner ready.

One evening as House was changing Katie, Allison happened to walk by the nursery and heard him rambling through the day's events at the hospital. She could help but stop and listen and watch in wonder. Two years ago she couldn't have imagined this scene in her wildest dreams. Now it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. She would almost be jealous of the bond between father and daughter if she didn't have ties just as close with each. Greg routinely swept her into his arms for a kiss on arriving home as if he hadn't seen her for days. And while sex was still a few weeks away, they tried to spend a bit of time most evenings wrapped in each others arms snuggled under the covers.

She could only hope that they would manage to keep the closeness once she went back to work full-time.

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House stood at the doorway to the lab and studied his wife quietly as she bent over the microscope. Life had been so hectic in the past month that he hadn't had much time to simply stop and admire just how beautiful she was, or to notice how tired she looked. Now he was glad he'd taken Wilson up on his offer. He moved into the room tapping his cane to ensure that she heard him. She looked up with a bit of a frown of concentration still on her face, but it evened out as she saw the look in his eye.

"I think I know what's wrong with Mr. Sanders," she told him, pointing to the scope.

He took a minute to see what she was looking at, and then turned to her again. "You were right. Vibrio sepsis. Good work, Sherlock. Let's get him started on IV hydration and tetracycline. Looks like we get to go home early tonight."

She smiled at the thought. "I won't argue with you there," she agreed.

"Speaking of which, I believe the two of us could use a night out. James and Julie have offered to baby-sit again, and I agreed this time. So what do you say? Nothing too fancy, just a couple of drinks and a nice quiet dinner and then wild monkey sex at a cheap hotel before we head home?" he asked hopefully.

It sounded really tempting, especially the sex part which had been lacking in the month they had both been back to work, but Allison had a better idea.

"Ok, but what do you say to picking up take out and spending a leisurely couple of hours at the cheap hotel," she suggested.

"I like the way your mind works, Mrs. House. You know I have a spare key to Wilson's place. If they are at our house minding Katie, we could spare ourselves the cost of the hotel," he mused as they headed back to his office to let the rest of the team in on their diagnosis.

"Don't they have a hot tub?" Allison asked.

"They do," Greg smiled knowing he had her hooked.

"It's sneaky, and I love it. It's a date," she declared.

House breathed a sigh of relief. He knew they had both been uncomfortable leaving the baby up until now, but Katie was four months old and they needed some time to be a couple instead of just parents. Now if he could just convince her that they should make it a monthly date, or even semi-monthly.

He entered his office happily scheming. He loved his daughter to pieces, but he missed making love to Allison with wild abandonment, something that was always hard to do with a baby in the next room. Besides, he wasn't getting any younger and he'd known almost from the moment that she was born that he didn't want Katie to be an only child.

He wondered just how shocked Allison would be when he told her he wanted one or two more children.

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TBC