A/N: My SINCEREST APOLOGIES to all my readers who have been patiently waiting for another update for a couple weeks. Very hectic time of year for me. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and as always, you guys are the best! Thanks for sticking with me through this.

We are now at the eve of the trial. ENJOY! And as always, comment!

Chapter 77:

Wednesday night, on the eve before the much awaited trial between Lisa Cuddy and Robert Chase, Cuddy stood in her master bathroom at the sink, peering in the mirror as she removed her makeup she had applied that morning.

Her and House had arrived back home after enjoying a quiet, low-key evening in Princeton for dinner at Mediterra on Hullfish Street as they both unwound from the workday and tried not to focus too much on what awaited them the following morning.

As she washed her face and then dried her skin with a towel, she felt House come from behind her and rest his hands low on either side of her hips, as he caressed her hip bone through the silk night gown that clung to her body, which accenting her curves very nicely.

"Hi," he whispered, as he buried his face in her hair, inhaling the scent of her lavender scented shampoo that still lingered from that morning, as her curls tickled his stubble.

Setting the towel down on the counter beside the faucet, Cuddy slowly turned around. House readjusted his hands and replaced them on her hips, pulling her closer to him so that her pregnant belly was nicely nestled between their bodies against his stomach.

"Hi," Cuddy echoed back softly, giving him a small smile as her eyes traveled swiftly down his body. The pale blue button-down shirt that he wore to work that day was unbuttoned as he was in the middle of undressing.

Cuddy worked her hands inside of his shirt and stroked his bare back as she let her eyes travel back upwards to his face.

Bending down, House caught her lips in a gentle kiss, the kind that left her breathless every time. Once they had broken apart, he rested his forehead against hers.

"You'll do good tomorrow," he whispered, bringing his hand up from her hip bone and caressing her cheek with his thumb lightly. "It'll be fine. I promise."

He waited until she had opened her eyes, for they had fluttered closed when he kissed her.

"I know," Cuddy replied, softly as she opened her eyes and looked up at him. Withdrawing her hands from inside his shirt, she wrapped one hand around his neck while she placed her left palm on his cheek as she drew him in for a deeper kiss.

She broke apart and looked into his eyes. "I know," she repeated. "I just – it's going to be hard – talking about -" she began, apprehensively.

"I'll be with you the entire time," House interrupted, reassuring her softly but firmly, as he looked down at her.

Cuddy leaned forward, placing her forehead in the center of his bare chest, as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I know," she replied, softly, as she closed her eyes and inhaled his familiar scent as her emotions threatened to intervene.

House brought his hand that wasn't resting on her hip up towards her hair and threaded her black curls between his fingers.

"Hey, look at me."

She raised her head from his chest and met his eyes once again.

"It's going to be okay," he continued, softly.

When she continued to look at him with silence reluctance, he added, "Trust me."

She exhaled. "This is all just…coming up too fast," she murmured, glancing down once again. "Maybe I shouldn't have -"

"No," he interrupted softly but firmly. "Don't. Don't do this. You had every right to move forward with this."

He paused, moving his hand to cup the side of her face, as he forced her to look up at him once again.

"Don't doubt yourself, okay? If this is what you need to do in order to move past the accident, then that's okay…"

"Are you okay with this?" she asked him.

House exhaled quietly, still maintaining eye contact with her. "Yes. We've been over this before. You know that I am."

Taking his hand off her hip, he placed it on her stomach. "Just promise me you'll take it easy and not push yourself."

Biting her lip, Cuddy swallowed and nodded, silently, as she broke eye contact and glanced down at his hand resting on her belly, and covered his hand with her own.

"This doesn't make you a bad person, Lisa, okay? At all."

Once again, Cuddy nodded wordlessly, as she glanced at his chest, blankly.

"Say something," House whispered, after about a half minute of silence, as he wondered what was going on inside her head. "Anything."

Without saying a word, Cuddy moved her hand up to the side of his neck and leaning forward, she kissed him with as much passion she could give him.

He immediately responded, wrapping his arms around her small frame as he deepened the kiss.

In that moment, he knew she needed him, and he was determined to help her through this as much as he could.

Cuddy grinded her hips against his body and feeling the bulge in his pants grow larger, she grinned against his mouth.

"Something tells me you knew you were getting some action tonight," she murmured against his lips.

"Oh yeah?" House growled softly, as he reached around and grabbed her ass from underneath the nightgown, palming her ass cheek with his hand as he heard a gasp of surprise erupt from her lips.

His hands found the hem of her nightgown and as he pulled it upwards, House grinned wickedly as he noticed she wasn't wearing any panties. With Cuddy's help, he lifted the nightgown completely over her head and threw it on the floor behind him.

"Something tells me that you thought the same thing," he replied seductively, as he silently and hungrily gave her body a lingering once-over.

He immediately moved his mouth to her neck, sucking lovingly on the skin, while carefully maneuvering her backwards so that her backside was flat up against the bathroom sink counter. Cuddy closed her eyes as she felt House's soft lips make contact with her neck.

Cupping her vagina with his hand, House slowly caressed her black strands of pubic hair, threading them through his fingers, as he worked his way slowly down to her entrance. As he thrust two fingers inside of her, she tightened up and then relaxed, wrapping her arms tighter around his body.

As House moved his fingers faster over her clit, Cuddy began to whimper softly and she buried her face in his neck, biting on the skin lightly.

House kissed the side of her neck and then rested his forehead against hers. Knowing she was going to cry out, he captured her lips, closing the gap between them once again.

Cuddy rocked her lower body against his in eager anticipation. Helping him pull his shirt off, she gripped the elastic hem of his boxers, pushing them down with both hands.

As she stood in front of him, she gripped his erect cock, gliding her hand up and down the shaft while she pressed her mouth upon his once more. Withdrawing his hand from her vagina, House reached up and slid his thumb across her breast, gently caressing her erect nipple.

"Is your leg okay?" Cuddy whispered, breaking off from the kiss, concerned.

Slightly ashamed, House took her hand in his own and limped back into the bedroom. Giving his leg a much needed break, he sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Cuddy closer to him so that she was standing in between his thighs, her pregnant belly nestled against his body.

Cuddy bent down and kissed him passionately, her hands caressing both sides of his face. When they broke apart, she looked down at him. "I love you," she whispered, caressing his facial hair gently with her fingers.

House responded by leaning forward and grasping her nipple, taking it possessively in his mouth. Cuddy gasped, closing her eyes, surprised at the hyper sensitivity feeling of her nipple, and squirmed, moving closer to him while running her fingers through his hair.

Lifting his mouth off her swollen breast, House let his lips trail down her stomach as he kissed his way to her public hair. Suddenly, he leaned back, scooted further up on the bed, motioning for her to follow.

She followed silently, carefully climbing up on the bed with him and straddling his naked body, while being careful of his right leg.

Her hands traveled up and down his toned upper body, caressing the length of his torso before gripping his cock.

Her hand wrapped around his erect shaft, gliding up and down as her fingers gently caressed the underside.

House's hands were splayed on either side of her belly as he leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes as he began to reach orgasm from her touch.

"Lisa…I...want you…now," he breathed quietly.

He opened his eyes. "Flip over. On your back," he demanded, rolling out from underneath her.

Obeying, Cuddy laid against a pillow as she flipped over on her back, staring up at House, who had eased himself between her legs.

"Someone is demanding tonight," she commented, in a sultry tone, as she anxiously awaited his next move.

House grinned. "You like it," he growled as he gently wrapped her legs around his body, making sure she was still comfortable due to the added weight of her growing belly, and then gently and slowly entered her.

She closed her eyes, enjoying him pumping into her as she rocked her pelvis against his, deepening the penetration.

"Oh God, Greg," she whispered, breathlessly.

"Open your eyes," he told her as their hips grinded faster in unison.

Cuddy opened her eyes, locking onto his electrifying blue ones.

"You okay?" he asked softly after a few seconds.

She smiled up at him.

"Never better."

Thursday morning in the Cuddy residence, Gregory House opened his eyes. He heard the shower running and as he felt the warm empty space next to him in the bed, he glanced at the clock on the bedside table.

It was a little after 8:30 and they were due at the courthouse by 10:30 at the latest for an eleven o'clock trial.

As he was about to get up and limp into the bathroom to check on Cuddy, the ringing of his cell phone, which was lying on the bedside table, stopped him. Grabbing the phone, he glanced at the caller I.D., where a number that wasn't already in his contacts was displayed on the screen.

He wasn't going to answer but then thinking that it might be John Greene, he changed his mind.

"House," he spoke gruffly into the mouthpiece of the cellular phone.

Silence.

He was about to disconnect the call, thinking it was a wrong number, when a female voice stopped him.

A female voice which he knew all too well.

"Greg."

Silence.

Before House had a chance to even open his mouth, he cast a warning look towards the bathroom door as he heard the female voice speak again.

"If Lisa is there, don't say my name. Go somewhere where you cannot be overheard."

"How do you know -"

"Greg." Stacy Warner's voice interrupted, impatiently. "Just do it!"

And, casting another warning glance at the direction of the bathroom door, where, behind it, he heard the sound of constant running water, Greg House obeyed, limping out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him, while his mind was reeling with curiosity as to why his ex-girlfriend had called him.

A/N: Remember: Stacy DOES know John Greene and she knows about the trial...

And as always, thanks for reading!