Hi everyone,
I've posted a one-shot called 'Not the Life I Need' (House/Stacy) which came to me after watching 'Hunting'. Check it out!
Now, back to 'Catching His Heart'.
Chapter 64:
By that Friday, John had all the information he needed from Cuddy to start working on her case.
"When I sit down with Greg Monday or Tuesday afternoon after going through these notes, I'll call you and we can discuss further," he had told her.
John noted that Cuddy handled his questioning quite well. They only had to stop a few times, for Cuddy's emotions took over. But, knowing this was hard, John was extremely patient.
"You did great with me. Really, Lisa. I'm proud of you," John said, "Now, it is going to be a bit more nerve-wracking when you are in front of a judge and other people in thirteen days. Picture that you are talking to me. We're just having a conversation. That's it. Just talking."
Saturday morning, House was lying in Cuddy's queen size bed. He was propped up on two fluffy white pillows, his left arm was lying across his bare stomach while his right arm was wrapped around the front of Cuddy's shoulders.
Cuddy was curled up on her right side, her backside facing House. Opening her eyes and yawning, she glanced at the clock, which read 9:45 A.M., while rubbing her belly with her hand. The indigestion from the night before was better but still not gone.
Figuring walking would help, without waking House, she carefully moved his arm and sat up, stretching.
After walking into the bathroom and doing her business, Cuddy flushed, closed her eyes and breathed deeply, exhaling slowly.
Turning around, she lifted the toilet seat up and, carefully dropping down to her knees, retched into the toilet bowl.
She stayed in that position for a few seconds, taking deep breaths and rubbing her belly before bending over and vomiting once more into the porcelain bowl.
"Morning sickness in the second trimester?"
Hearing House's voice, Cuddy picked her head up from inside the bowl, glanced toward the door and shrugged.
"It's probably dehydration," she said, wincing as she stood up, gripping the seat for assistance.
"And stress," House deduced, as he watched her grab a washcloth, wipe her mouth then flush the toilet before putting a hand to her lower back.
Cuddy rolled her eyes. "That too."
House motioned toward her with his hand after popping a handful of Vicodin.
"What?" she said tiredly, as she padded over to him.
"Turn around," he commanded.
Obeying, she turned. House laid his hands on her shoulders and gently massaged her neck and shoulders with his hands, his thumb digging into the base of her neck in a circular motion.
Letting her head drop and loll forward, Cuddy closed her eyes and moaned.
"Oww…"
"Shh," House told her. "Relax. You're so tight." He moved his hands to her upper back, massaging the tight muscles.
"Relax, Lisa," he repeated, as he heard her wince. "Breathe."
House walked her back into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, inching back and spreading his legs apart. He beckoned for Cuddy to sit on the bed in front of him, facing the bathroom door.
"That a new sex position?" she amused.
House rolled his eyes. "Oh ha ha. Just shut up and come here."
Cuddy did as she was told.
"This way, I can work on your lower back better than having you stand up," House told her as he placed his hands on her waist and began to make circular motions over the sacrum at the base of the spine. Alternating between that and stroking upwards and out from the base of her spine, House exerted a gentle force with his hands, just enough to assist the aching muscles to loosen.
After about five minutes, House noticed Cuddy's eyes closed. "Lean back," he commanded.
After leaning back into House while being mindful of his leg, Cuddy relaxed. "Ow."
"Feel better?"
Cuddy opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Yeah," she whispered, cradling the bottom of her pregnant belly with her hand. "Thank you."
Moving his hand forward to rest against the side of her belly, House felt his son move. "You're welcome," he breathed in her ear before bending down and kissing her shoulder. Nuzzling his nose against her neck and closing his eyes, he caressed the side of her naked stomach with his thumb.
House didn't ask her about her talk with John from the previous day, or about the trial in general. Clearly, she was stressed and right now, she seemed to be relaxed. More relaxed than House had seen her in a couple weeks.
"You need to relax," he whispered in her ear. "You've been way too stressed."
For the next few minutes, they lay in silence. Cuddy caressing the underside of her belly while leaning back against House's chest. House's thumb repeatedly stroked the side of her belly while he rested his chin on her shoulder.
Suddenly, Cuddy looked up at him.
"Oh I almost forgot! We're moving your stuff here today.
When she received a perplexed look, she clarified, saying "Remember, before all this shit happened, you were going to move your stuff here?"
"I have my stuff here already," House replied, to which he received a light slap on the arm.
"I meant -"
"I know what you meant," House interrupted her. "Although a cripple and a preggo moving stuff into a house…"
Another slap on the arm.
"I called people to help, you idiot!"
"Aww, don't be mean to the cripple!"
Rolling her eyes, Cuddy untangled herself from House's embrace and picked herself up from the bed, and then turned around to face him.
"Who'd you call?" House asked, as he scooted forward on the bed.
"Wilson and John are coming. Kate and Matt may stop by to help too," Cuddy told him.
"What if you get sick of me and toss me out? I'll have nowhere to go."
Bending down so she was level with his face, Cuddy grinned. "Then I suggest you keep the apartment."
As an afterthought, she added, "You could always keep it if you wanted to, oh I don't know, bring a couple hookers there if you get bored with me."
"Ouch," House replied. "Words can hurt you know."
"Touché," Cuddy laughed.
"When is everyone coming?" House murmured, as he brought his forehead down to rest on Cuddy's stomach. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.
"Not for a few hours." Letting go of his hair, Cuddy walked over to the head of the bed and climbed onto it, placing pillows behind her back against the headboard, and then grabbed her book off the bedside table.
House looked at her, curiously. "Is 'reading in the nude' a 'thing' now? I gotta try that!"
Cuddy smirked, said nothing and continued to read.
Being mindful of his leg and shoulder, House slid up next to her, his hand inching upwards on her naked thigh.
"You're breaking my concentration, you know," Cuddy told him, her eyes never leaving the page.
Smirking, House ignored her, as he brought his lips to her collarbone, kissing his way down to her shoulder and then up her neck.
Exhaling, Cuddy set her book down and placed her hand on House's face, drawing him to her.
As she kissed him, she opened her legs wider so that he could climb over and be directly in front of her. Being careful of her protruding belly, House straddled her, bringing her flat on her back.
As his lips trailed next to her ear, he growled, "Now is this better than any book you've read or what?" before entering her.
Five hours later, in the middle of the afternoon, John Greene wiped his face on his t-shirt as he placed yet another book from House's huge bookcase into a storage box.
Surrounding him were about seven boxes, already full of old textbooks and various medical books.
"You sure you want all these down?" John yelled to House, who was in the bedroom going through his closet.
"Yeah," House replied, as he limped out into the hallway. 'I'll go through them later."
Limping to where John was standing, House grabbed the textbook out of the lawyer's hands and read the cover.
"Oral Anatomy. Harry Sicher," he read, running his finger down the worn spine. "Now why do I have a book about oral anatomy? There's probably so much shit here that I don't need." He tossed the book aside into a box and unscrewed his Vicodin bottle, popping a handful into his mouth.
"I'll say, John replied, as he tossed another book into a storage box.
As House limped back to his bedroom to finish going through his closet, the front door opened. Katherine Cuddy and Matt Gomez had returned from taking another load to Cuddy's house.
"How many more loads?" Matt asked.
"With your truck, I'd say probably two more, if that," John replied. "How are you guys doing at Lisa's?"
"Pretty good," Kate told him. "She and James are putting stuff away." She picked up a box of books. "These go too?"
"Yup."
Matt lifted a box as well. "God House, how many books do you need?"
"Apparently a lot," John told him, chuckling. House, who had gone back into the bedroom, didn't hear him.
As Kate and Matt went outside to load the truck up, House came back out into the den and leaned against the bookcase, facing John.
"How'd Lisa do yesterday with your questioning?" he asked, nonchalantly.
Glancing up at him and then returning his focus to grabbing books off the shelf, John placed two books in a box before answering House
"She did fine."
When he didn't get a response, John looked at him. "Lisa knows it's going to be harder in front of other people, but with me she did the best she can. Great, actually."
House was just about to respond when the front door opened and Kate and Mat came back in, empty handed.
Turning to the younger Cuddy sister, House said, "So, Kate, I heard that you are looking for a place."
Kate looked at him, surprised. "Yeah, we are." She looked around at Matt.
"My commute is a little rough. An hour on a good day," Matt told him. "Hers is about an hour to an hour and a half without traffic," he finished out, motioning towards Kate.
"Wait, you two don't live together?" House asked, looking from him to Katherine.
"Yes and no…," Kate replied.
"What if I offered this to you?"
Kate's mouth dropped open. "What – your apartment?"
House shrugged. "Yeah. Seeing as I'm moving in with your sister, I don't need the extra space. Rather than listing it and paying all those realtor fees, I'll offer it to you two, that is if you want it."
Looking around at her boyfriend, Kate asked him what he thought of House's offer.
"I'm game," he said.
"I own it, so rent is not going to be an issue for you. You'd only have to pay for utilities and up-keep," House told them.
"How much do you want?"
"Nothing."
Gaping at him, Matt shook his head. "No, no, no. There's absolutely no way I'm taking a free apartment from you, House. Especially one you bought."
Rolling his eyes, House turned to the younger Cuddy sister. "Can you please talk some sense into your boy-toy?"
He turned to Matt again. "Look, if you don't take it, I'll have to deal with realtors and crap. This is easier," he told the E.R. attending.
"Matt, he's giving us a free apartment," Kate told him, "Both our commutes will be a hell of a lot closer."
"You'll have the bed, coffee table, television, couch and whatever else I leave here," House told them both.
"Well," Matt said slowly, "it IS almost fully furnished…." He paused. "But I'll definitely give you some money. There's NO WAY I'm taking -"
"Yeah, yeah, Shut up already," House interrupted him. "Fine. If it makes you happy, then I'll gladly take your money. But shut up about your gratitude. You're boring me. You're welcome."
Matt rolled his eyes. "Fine. Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah. Those boxes aren't going to move themselves," House said impatiently, as he turned and limped to his bedroom.
Thoughts?
I thought it was appropriate to have a tender moment between House and Cuddy. He's worried about her.
Don't worry - there's more drama in the next chapter.
And thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story since the beginning.