So sorry for the long hiatus guys! I'll try not to let it happen again.

House and Cuddy are just about the leave Vegas.

Enjoy!

Chapter 95:

The next morning, House and Cuddy awoke early to pack for their return flight home to New Jersey. Their 10 AM flight was due to get them in by 5:45 east coast time, which gave House and Cuddy a little time to freshen up before they had to go over Cuddy's sister's apartment for a poker get-together.

They flew in Business Class again. Stan Gisner, House's colleague, sat across the aisle from them, while David Lippman, who Cuddy had met on the flight to Vegas, was sitting two rows behind them, while his wife and child were in regular Economy class.

The plane was a full one, headed back to New Jersey, with only one seat free in Business Class, and completely full in Economy and First. House was enjoying the extra legroom as he stretched out his leg, and reclined in the seat. Cuddy had borrowed House's laptop and checked her day's worth of un-read emails.

For the next hour-and-a-half, she did some work, as the hospital was set to finalize the merger between PPTH and Princeton University Medical Center in the upcoming weeks, while House was listening to music on his headphones. Finally shutting down, Cuddy settled back in her seat and closed her eyes, as she waited for the plane to touch down in NJ.

It was almost a quarter to eight when House and Cuddy pulled down House's former street in Princeton. They stopped right across from House's old apartment, which was all lit up inside, and parked. Through the window, House could see a group of people sitting around a round card table.

When they arrived on the front stoop, House checked out Cuddy's ass, giving her a quick once-over.

"Love your ass in those jeans," he commented quietly, as he smirked. He reached down and gave her butt a squeeze. "Although it could just be huge because you're preggo."

Wearing tight fitting jeans and a gray and white striped three-quarter sleeve tunic, which accented both her belly and developing curves, Cuddy finished the outfit with black leather boots and a sterling silver butterfly pendant necklace.

Cuddy chuckled softly, before reaching over and ringing the doorbell.

"You're not looking so bad yourself," she replied in a sultry tone.

House, who had on jeans and a rumpled t-shirt with a casual suit jacket over top, glanced down and readjusted his jeans, as he groaned.

"Why did we have to come here again? We could have stayed home and had 'Returning-Home-Sex'."

As Cuddy was about to answer him, the door opened, revealing the younger Cuddy sister, holding a glass of wine.

"Oh good. I was wondering when you two were going to show up. I didn't even know when your flight was. How are you? Come in, come in."

Katherine Cuddy stepped aside to let them pass. The three of them exchanged pleasantries and greetings, and then went into the living room where everyone else was.

"Lisa, Greg, hey," Matt Gomez, called out as he stood up and went over to them. "When did you get back?"

"About an hour and a half ago," Cuddy replied, shrugging off her jacket. She and Matt kissed as Kate took her coat.

"How was Vegas?"

"Great. Conference was really good."

"Gambling?" Matt joked.

Cuddy chuckled. "I wish."

"Alright, let me introduce you to everyone. Some you may recognize...guys, as most of you probably know, Kate's sister, Lisa, and Greg House...Mark over here, he works with me at PPTH in the ER."

A brown haired gentleman who looked to be in his mid 30s held up a hand. "Dr. Cuddy, it's a pleasure. Dr. House."

"Oh please Mark, don't 'Doctor' me here, please. It's 'Lisa'...and that goes for all of you. This isn't work."

Matt chuckled. "Okay, you heard the woman." He continued around, introducing people around the table. Next to Mark was Andrew, who also worked at PPTH with Matt and Mark in the E.R., and Seth, who was Kate's friend from Princeton General, and then finally Paul, who was House's old next door neighbor with whom Matt and Kate had gotten friendly with.

"Want to get in the next round? We already started."

"Count me in," Cuddy stated. She looked around at House. "You in?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely."

Matt resumed his seat at the table after laying Cuddy's and House's jackets on the couch.

"So, House tells me you're pretty good at poker," he prodded the Dean of Medicine.

Cuddy grinned, cocking a single eyebrow. "I have my moments."

"He was actually being very tight-lipped about you," Matt continued.

"Well, I don't want to give away my secret too early, but let's just say that I have an itch to scratch."

The guys around the table chuckled.

"Well if you want to get in next, it's five card stud."

"Sounds good."

She excused herself and walked into the kitchen to find Kate, as House stayed with the guys and conversed about cards, poker and whatever else Matt and his 30-something friends bullshit about while they play cards and drink beer.

Cuddy accepted a glass of water from her sister as she sat down at the bar island.

"So, Vegas was good?"

"Yeah, you know, typical conference presentation stuff. But Greg's presentation went really well. He actually received an opportunity to lecture at Michigan."

"Did he now? That's great!"

"Yeah, these two doctors' there I guess, really were impressed with the presentation and tracked him down at the cocktail party last night and offered him a lecturing position...I have a feeling they've been following him for a while before Vegas."

"That's great!" Kate exclaimed again. "Does he want to do it?"

Cuddy paused momentarily. "I think he does," she replied, slowly.

Her sister sensed hesitation. "...but?" she prompted.

Cuddy took a sip of water before answering her. "He'll be in Michigan. I'll be here. They'll probably want him for at least a week a month, maybe more."

"Lisa," Kate told her gently, "you manage a hospital full of people. I know you can mange yourself and a baby while he's away," her sister answered.

"And besides, you have a support system here in Princeton. Remember that."

Cuddy smiled. "Thanks Kate. It'll just...be a lot."

Kate looked at her sister, knowingly. "You want him to lecture."

Chuckling, Cuddy said, "Yeah, I do. It'll be a good change of pace for him. They want him to be a guest lecturer in their infectious disease department. I haven't ironed out all the details but it'll be a course that meets once a week every month. They know he can't do anything permanently full time, at least not right now anyway."

"That'll be good for him," Kate agreed. She gestured toward the large trays with metal Sterno warmer lit underneath them. "Did you eat yet?"

They heard a loud yell from the other room.

"Somebody must have won," Cuddy remarked, as she slid off the bar stool and started to make herself a dinner plate of food.

House bounded into the kitchen, grinning like a dewy-eyed schoolgirl. "Guess who took all those suckers money?"

He limped over to the counter where the trays of hot food lined the surface.

"Me," he added, as he put down his scotch and grabbed a plate.

Cuddy yelled into the other room. "Alright, which one of you let him win?!"

She heard chuckles, and shook her head as she sat down and started eating.

'Hey, Lisa, you playing?"

"When I'm done eating, yes," Cuddy called out to Matt, who was still in the other room.

"We'll hold a spot for you!"

"You didn't say she was THAT good," Matt remarked to House, as Cuddy gathered her winnings for the third time in a row.

"As I recall, I didn't 'say' anything," House replied, smirking as he took a sip of scotch. He had a bottle hidden in the apartment that he forgot about, and Matt found it behind the bookcase.

Cuddy turned to Andrew. "Now don't go spreading around PPTH about my poker skills. I have a certain reputation to hold."

Andrew grinned. "Oh I would never," he told her, smirking. "You played in college?"

Cuddy shrugged. "I dabbled."

Matt interjected. "If you just won three hands in a row, you did more than just 'dabble'. C'mon, spill."

"Okay, okay...I played in a league in college. Damn, now my secret's out."

Andrew glanced at Mark, and then around at Matt. "You know what I think?"

He paused. "I think we should add another opening for Friday night poker..."

Matt cocked an eyebrow at him, and then glanced quickly at Cuddy, gauging her reaction. "That's not a bad idea...that is, if she wants to."

"You could come too, of course," he added quickly, looking over at House.

"I'm not sure about every Friday," Cuddy began, after a moment's hesitation, "due to hospital functions and the baby, and everything, but yes, definitely count me in!"

"Great!" Matt exclaimed.

"Don't go easy on these guys either," Kate interjected.

Cuddy grinned. "Who said anything about 'going easy' on them?" she replied cheekily, before glancing at her cards she was just dealt.

"Well, then we're not going easy on her either," Mark piped in.

"A challenge. I like it," Cuddy said, chuckling. She threw two chips onto the pile. "I'll call."

"I'll call you, and raise you," sad House, tossing chips in the center of the table.

Five minutes later, they were in another round. Andrew won a round, so did House, a few times, but it was Cuddy who largely won the hands.

"We may have to learn a few pointers from you, Lisa," Andrew told her.

"And then let you guys win? Never!" joked Cuddy.

"I'm out," House finally said, throwing his chips into the center, and folding. His leg was aching so he figured he would stand up for a bit. It was still sore from the plane ride home.

He stood up, grabbed his scotch glass and cane, and limped towards the front window.

Cuddy, who noticed his grimace as he stood up, and his slow, pronounced limp, did not get up from her seat to follow, but occasionally threw worried glances in his direction.

"I think Dr. Waterson might stop by," Andrew told Matt.

"Yes, he told me he might," Matt replied, referring to his and Andrew's boss, Greg Waterson, head of the ER Department at PPTH.

"Greg, oh sorry, Waterson plays poker?" Cuddy exclaimed. "I had no idea!"

"Yeah, he was tightlipped about it, much like yourself," Matt told her, cheekily.

"He joined us two weeks ago for a couple rounds," Paul added. "Seemed decent, too."

"You saying I have competition?" Cuddy joked.

"Not that you guys aren't," she added, hastily.

The men around the table chuckled.

"He's not THAT good," Paul added.

"Oh House, I meant to ask you," Matt called out to him, looking in the older doctors' direction.

House turned away from the window, questionably.

"The bathroom faucet won't stop dripping."

"Yeah, I had that problem for years. Just whack the underneath pipe really hard, and it'll stop."

Matt stared at him, curiously. "That's it?"

"That's it," House repeated.

"So, why not just hire a plumber to fix it?"

House shrugged. "This was easier."

"Yeah, but it's also just a temporary solution," Matt shot back at him. He glanced at Cuddy, who was grinning at the interaction.

"I just dealt with the dripping," she told him. "I knew he wasn't hiring a plumber. Hell, looking back, I should have called the plumber myself."

House took a sip of his scotch, and turned back to the window.

Bemused, Matt chuckled. "Ok then, I'll try that." He turned back to the table.

"Who's ready for another go?"

House was still by the window, staring out into the dark street, where only a few street lamps illuminated the darkness. His leg was aching, no doubt from sitting in one position on the plane, and he thought that changing positions might help. His withdrew his Vicodin bottle from his front shirt pocket and dry swallowed a pill. He felt the muscle in a spasm, and slowly dug the palm of his hand into the muscle overtop his jeans to try to loosen it.

He heard Cuddy say "I'm out," and heard someone come up behind him. Turning to his left, he saw Cuddy standing beside him.

"You okay?"Cuddy asked softly, her eyes on the street.

House exhaled. "I'm fine," he said gruffly, Pausing, he decided to be a little nicer, and said "Leg's just stiff."

Cuddy opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off.

"It's fine," House cut across her. He wanted to drop the subject.

Cuddy looked up at him. She knew he was trying not to make a big deal out of the fact that he was in pain.

But she knew he was hurting. She saw it in his eyes. She also knew he did not want to make a big scene.

"I'm fine," he repeated softy, locking eyes with her.

He grinned. "Now, go finish taking all of their money," he joked.

Cuddy smiled, squeezing his hand.

"Oh you know me," she joked, turning away from him and rejoining her sister, Matt and the others.

Around 11:00, House and Cuddy said their good-byes, and drove back to Cuddy's house.

"Well, that was fun," House said, as they were in the car driving home.

"Oh stop, you're just pouty because you barely won any hands."

"You, on the other hand," House began, snarkily, "couldn't wait to show off your mad poker skills."

"I did not," Cuddy replied, slapping him on the arm. "And I think you had too much to drink."

"I have a personal DD for the next two and a half months so you bet your pregnant ass I will milk it for as long as I possibly can!"

"Watch it there, mister," Cuddy warned him, as she pulled into the driveway.

As she stopped the car, House stopped her from opening the car door, laying his hand on top of hers.

She turned to him, questionably.

House reached his hand up and cupped her cheek. Searching her eyes, he leaned forward and kissed her lips softly.

Cuddy's eyes fluttered closed as he kissed her.

Breathless.

That was how she felt. Every. Single. Time.

"Open your eyes," she heard him whisper after what seemed like an eternity.

Her eyes fluttered open to meet his.

His hand stroking her warm cheekbone softly, he whispered, "That was worth it because I have wanted to do that all night."

Blushing, Cuddy smiled shyly. "I love you," she told him softly, leaning in and resting her forehead against his.

"I love you too," House replied quietly, his thumb stroking her jawbone. "Want to go inside?"

"What, we can't stay here all night?" Cuddy joked, picking her head up as she opened her eyes.

House chuckled. "I wish. C'mon,". He turned and grabbed his cane before opening the car door

House limped down the hallway toward the bedroom after kicking his sneakers off.

After shrugging off her jacket, and taking her shoes off, Cuddy followed, wanting nothing better than to go to sleep after the long day.

Pausing when she walked by the spare bedroom, Cuddy stopped, as something caught her eye.

She pushed the slightly ajar door further open, and let out a small cry.

"Oh my god."

The room was painted a light sky blue and there was a crib along the opposite wall from Cuddy's desk. A red and blue striped mobile hung above the brown wooden crib.

Cuddy's heart stopped.

She moved forward into the room. There was a white wooden rocking chair beside the crib with an envelope sitting on it.
"Greg!" she called, "Come in here. In the spare room!"

She opened the card. It was from Wilson and John.

"Lisa/Greg, Figured this wasn't going to get done for the next couple of weeks. Congrats. You deserve this. Now it is one less thing you have to worry about getting one due to your busy schedules'. XOXO."

When she was done reading, Cuddy wiped her eyes as she looked around the room.

House came up behind her, his mouth dropping open.

"Wow," was all he could manage.

'Wilson and John must have done this while we were in Vegas."

"Sneaky." He limped up behind her and read the card over his shoulder. "He probably figured right." He leaned down and kissed Cuddy's shoulder.

Straightening up, he said, "Crib's nice," limping over to it, and laying his hand on the railing.

Still standing where she was, Cuddy slipped her phone out of her pocket and dialed a number.

"Hey. Sorry for the late call," she said, once the other end picked up.

"Not at all. What's up?" Wilson asked her.

Cuddy put the phone on speaker. "You're on speaker. Thank you so much for the crib and for setting up the spare room."

"Oh, it was nothing," Wilson dismissed. "You're welcome."

"Yeah, thanks, Wilson," House told him.

"You're welcome," Wilson repeated. "Glad you liked it." He paused. "I figured it wasn't close to getting done."

House chuckled. "You figured right."

"Alright. I'll let you two go. Thanks for the call," Wilson told them.

"We should figure out dinner one of these nights," Cuddy replied.

"I'm sure we can arrange that."

They said their good-byes, then Cuddy hung up the phone and turned to House.

"I cannot believe they did all this," she whispered, stepping closer to him to look at the crib.

"Mobile is a nice touch," House commented, nodding up above the crib.

Cuddy wiped her eyes. "Yeah," she whispered. She felt House slip his arm around her back, and she leaned into his embrace.

They stayed still for a few moments. Cuddy noticed House's hand making its way to his thigh, rubbing it over his jeans, his fingers digging into the material.

"Here, sit down." Cuddy told him. "I'll be right back."

"I'm fine," he replied.

"Go. Sit," she commanded, and turned on her heel, leaving the room.

House smirked at her 'Dean of Medicine' mode kicking in, as he began to limp slowly towards the rocking chair, and sat down. He welcomed the chance to rest his leg and take weight off it. He felt the muscle in a spasm, and closed his eyes, his fingers digging into his jeans.

Cuddy reappeared with a pillow from the bedroom. She kneeled down in front of him, her knees on the pillow. Placing her hand directly on his thigh, she immediately felt his tense up.

"Relax," she responded.

House opened his eyes and looked down at her. "You don't have to do this," he said quietly.

'Stop," she replied. "Don't do this to yourself. You've been in pain all night."

She began to press her thumb into the muscle, trying to slowly release the tension.

House let out a slow hiss through his pursed lips, as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"Relax," he heard her repeat softly. He felt her free hand reaching for his, unclenching his fist. He let out a slow breath.

"It's in a spasm," she replied softly, her hands working to massage the tissue.

"Take your pants off."

House opened his eyes.

"I think that just made me hard."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "So I can massage your leg better, you idiot" she scolded.

She assisted him with pulling his jeans down below his ankles, and pulling them off. Laying a hand on his bare thigh, she immediately felt him flinch as his entire body tensed up.

"Relax," she cajoled again, softly. She took her other hand away from his, and began to gently massage the tissue.

Closing his eyes, House focused on his breathing, gritting his teeth in an effort to stop from yelling out as his thigh radiated with pain.

"Breathe, Greg."

"It hurts."

Cuddy looked up at him. "I know. It's going to," she said quietly, hating how vulnerable he was right now.

"But I need to work this out, okay? And you can help me by trying to relax. Think you can do that?"

He nodded slowly, knowing she had to continue.

He thought he could get through it without her help. Laura, his therapist, said the spasms could start happening more regularly, partly due to the muscles being worked on after atrophying for so long.

He knew Cuddy was just trying to help him. She was the only one he trusted, aside from beginning to trust Laura, to help him through his constant permanent pain.

As her hands worked to loosen the area around the dead muscle, Cuddy glanced up into House's face. His eyes were closed, the wrinkles around his brow and eyes were becoming less pronounced, slightly softening as he relaxed.

Cuddy could hear his breathing even out from the fast-paced breaths; the veins in his knuckles disappearing as his grip started to relax.

Fighting back tears, Cuddy laid her hand on his disfigured thigh, the gruesome scar predominantly featured along the length of his upper thigh.

"Relax," she said softly, for House had tensed up when she had placed her palm back on his thigh. She looked down past him, her hand still on his thigh.

House opened his eyes. "Thank you."

He studied Cuddy for a moment and when he realized she was not picking up her head, he waited two beats then spoke softly.

"Lisa?"

Finally picking her head up, Cuddy looked up at him, eyes glistening, as she swallowed hard, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry."

She stood up quickly, wiping her eyes. "I'll get you an icepack."

House watched her go. If he was not mistaken, that 'sorry' went a long way back.

She was feeling guilty.

He knew she could never forgive herself for siding with Stacy to go ahead with the surgery on his leg. And he knew she was doing the best she could, but he knew some days, it was too much.

Cuddy reappeared with the icepack wrapped in cloth. "Stay here for a few minutes. It should help," she told him quietly, laying the icepack on his thigh.

She turned, but not before House grabbed her hand. She turned back questionably.

House looked at her, studying her face carefully, but was unable to read her.

"Are you okay?"

She looked at him. "Yeah," she said quietly. She withdrew her hand from his, and walked out of the spare bedroom.