Cover of a Book

by gorblimey2

A female Navy doctor gets assigned to study under House. He thinks he knows a secret about her, but the truth is much more interesting. Can House fall for someone in the military or doe she remind him too much of his Dad? Love, humor, romance, action.

4. Chapter 4

For the next week there was a media circus culminating in a twenty minute piece on Murphy on Dateline. Murphy was at the hospital running assays for a patient when it aired. House and Wilson were at the apartment drinking beer and watching it. The piece showed Murphy as a young Junior Naval ROTC candidate in high school with long blonde hair and a freckled face to which Wilson stated she hadn't changed much, except her hair was slightly redder. It went on to show photographs of her as a midshipman in the ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) program in college and medical school. The announcer said she had exemplary grades, graduated in the top ten of her class in med school and had served on the Mercy.

It showed photos of Murphy after her first purple heart wound. Her leg bandaged and several officers and enlisted standing or sitting near her. Each one accredited her with saving their life in the field. One of them was Pick. Then it recapped her coma from the second injury and after the commercial there were clips of interviews that Murphy had just given after the bombing.

There was a photo of Murphy and House taken surreptitiously. They were having dinner at a local restaurant, both of them laughing about something.

"It's a good photo of you. People won't be able to tell your such a jerk from that picture. You almost look human." Wilson remarked. The announcer said that currently the brilliant but mercurial Gregory House and Murphy were living together in a one bedroom apartment in Plainsboro, New Jersey.

"Dr. House is not only famous for being the best diagnostician in the United States, possibly the world, but is also known for having been shot by his own patient. He's not known in the medical world for having a great bedside manner. In fact, most people we talked to said they couldn't stand being in the same room with him but if they were sick they'd want him as their doctor." Pictures of House and Murphy were flashed on the screen, "Dr. House and Commander Morrighan's courtship has been rather stormy. In fact, it was Dr. House that had requested that the Commander be sent back to Iraq."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE. I never asked for her to be sent to Iraq." House cried out.

"Ohhhh...I'm glad I'm not you. Everyone's going to think you almost got Murphy killed." Wilson was chuckling to himself.

"Despite his misanthropic nature and the fact that he was responsible for her being transferred to Iraq, the two seem happy together." Another photo of them walking hand in hand into the hospital was shown. House was in shades and Murphy was talking to him, her hand extended in a gesture of laughter. The narrator went on to talk about Murphy's nervous habit of singing to her patients. They interviewed several of the soldiers in Iraq.

"She sang 'Streets of Laredo' to me and made me sing along. It did take my mind off of things. When we were done she told me I was going home and she was right."

"She sang 'City of New Orleans' to me and everyone in ten feet of us had to sing the chorus. It made the time go quickly and when it was done, I got to go home, just like she said."

There were others and then finally it was Peter Berkshire's turn. "I had no clue what she was singing to me. But I tried hard to listen to the lyrics and have determined it was a Peter Paul & Mary song from the 60's. I went out and bought the cd of it. It is a sad song but for some strange reason it brings me comfort. I think she is Bril. I just hope Dr. House knows how lucky he is."

House pointed at the television, "That prat! He's been making moves on Murphy. He's been seeing her as an outpatient and whenever he leaves she's all girlie and high. I know he's talking trash to her."

"You better watch out, he's smart, he's handsome and he's got an English accent. You only have one out of those three going for you." Wilson snickered.

House squinted his eyes at Wilson in a silly gesture. "I know, when he shows up for his next appointment, he's going to get me."

"HOUSE...NO THERMOMETERS." Wilson was frantic.

"You're taking all my fun away." He smiled wickedly, "No thermometers. But don't you think he needs a prostate exam?" House coughed a couple of times to emphasize the matter.

"You're are incorrigible."

Murphy found herself daydreaming about Peter and it made her uneasy. She was very comfortable with House and was enjoying living with him. But Peter had a way of looking at her that said, "You are hot and I could really get into you." It made her melt. He had asked her out for dinner again...just to thank her. She finally said yes, she would have dinner with him on Saturday.

Murphy was home, washing the blankets and comforter when House came in.

"Where are you?" He was sticking his head in the kitchen, the bathroom and bedroom. No Murphy. He threw the backpack down and took off his jacket. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a V8 out of the refrigerator. Murphy came up from the basement where landlord kept the washer and dryer. "Ah, there you are! Need any help?" House asked.

"No, I was just waiting for the bedcovers to dry. When was the last time that you washed that comforter?"

He looked at her and shrugged, "You're suppose to wash it?"

"Come and help me put it on the bed." She walked into the bedroom and he followed. They put the blanket and comforter on and while they were doing it she said, "I'm going to go to dinner Saturday night with Peter Berkshire. He wants to thank me for saving his life."

"I don't think so."

"Excuse me? You are joking right?" Murphy put her hands on her hips.

"You're going on a date and I'm suppose to say 'fine'?"

"May I remind you of Vicki and Emma...I chose to trust you on those issues. You need to trust me on this. And besides, this isn't a date, it's a thank you."

"You said you would always be honest with me."

"That's why I'm telling you. I could have pretended I was going out with Cuddy or the nurses or some other lame excuse."

"Then answer this question, are you attracted to him?"

"What do you mean attracted?"

"Now President Clinton, are we going to have to get into definitions before you give me a straight answer?"

"Yes, I find him attractive. Did you find Vicki and Emma attractive?"

"Yes."

"I rest my case." Murphy smiled.

"I don't want you to go." He said it as if that was the last word on the subject.

"Yeah, well I don't want cramps every month. I'm going to go and if you're good I'll even come home." She turned and went out to the kitchen to start dinner.

He followed her and watched while she got out a skillet and began cooking the hamburger meat, onions and mushrooms so that she could make spaghetti sauce. She pulled out a Dutch oven to cook the pasta. She kept sneaking glances of him out of the corner of her eye. He was thinking because he kept rubbing his eyebrow. He tended to rub an eyebrow, his hair, his cheek, or maybe even his lips whenever he was deep in thought.

"Ok, damn it, if you don't trust me I won't go." She was really annoyed at him and wondered how she was going to explain it to Peter.

"I just don't trust him alone with you." He was happy and he poured on the charm. He even offered to clean up the dishes after dinner by himself. He was whistling in the kitchen when he heard her make the telephone call.

"Hi, is this Peter? Peter, it's Murphy, I won't be able to make it tomorrow. It's not something, it's someone. He's not comfortable with us having dinner alone." There was a long pause, "Really? Fine then. Yes tomorrow at 7:30 p.m."

House stuck his head out into the living room, "That didn't sound like you said no."

"He's invited you to go with us. I said yes."

"No, call him back and say no." He was stern but he could see he had finally hit the chord in Murphy that usually meant screaming...not quite fists flying yet.

Her voice went to a level 8 on the Richter scale. "I can't believe you. You don't trust us to be alone and now you don't even trust me when I'm with you. That's it. You can come if you want or you can sit on your sorry butt and mope tomorrow night, but I AM having dinner with him."

House yelled back at her, "If you go you can sleep on the couch tomorrow night."

She screamed back, "Forget that, I'll find a hotel room."

She grabbed a coat and got in her car. She wasn't sure where to go at that time of night so she went to the cineplex and found a movie to see. House was sure she'd be back in just a few minutes but was alarmed when she was gone for three hours. When she walked through the door he was secretly relieved that she had come back but didn't let Murphy see it. He continued to play the piano.

She stopped and crossed her arms over her chest, "Am I allowed in the bed tonight or do you want me to take the couch."

Without looking up he simply said, "Bed."

About half an hour later he joined her in bed but she was at the far side of it. Murphy was used to sleeping in cramped spaces and military cots so she simply rolled on her side to the edge of the bed and went to sleep. When House came to bed he turned on the bedside lamp (waking Murphy) and saw that she might fall off the bed at any moment. He exhaled in frustration, climbed in bed and turned off the light. Then he moved to the middle of the bed, but his arm around her and pulled her into her normal place, let her go and rolled over to his side of the bed. Murphy pretended to be asleep during all of this and smiled to herself.

The next day was very tense between the two with little or no talking. Murphy went to Costco in Jamesburg about twenty minutes away. She picked up some toilet paper, paper towels, the chicken bakes that House liked, some margarine spread without transfat, dvds and other items. When she got home she didn't ask for House's help and he didn't give it. He simply sat and watched the television while she hauled it all in and put it away. She made him a sandwich and put it out on the counter, went and got her keys and left again.

House went in to the kitchen at noon to get something to eat and saw the sandwich. There was a note on it that said, "Since you're already full of it." Inside the sandwich was bologna...something he rarely ate.

She came home with a new outfit. A black skirt with wide bands of cream lace topped with a black form fitting top that had cream lace around the v neck. It looked great on her and as she took her shower, put on makeup, picked out earrings and slipped on shoes, House was boiling. She packed a little overnight bag and put it out in the living room so that he could see she was a "Man of her words."

At 7:15 she picked up the bag, her handbag and left. He went into the kitchen to fix something to eat and stood at the table for a minute. He was getting angrier by the minute, he didn't even know where she was going. Wherever it was, it was within 15 minutes of home because Murphy was military and she was NEVER late. He saw one of her matching coffee mugs on the table and as hard as he could he took his arm and in one deliberate move swept it off the table shattering it against the kitchen counter. He walked out to the living room, grabbed his keys, jacket and went to get some dinner.

Murphy arrived at "The Melting Pot" at exactly 7:30 p.m. and Peter greeted her at the door. "Is Dr. House parking your car?"

"He didn't make it." She said with a look that said, 'drop it.'"

"Too bad, his loss. I hope you like fondue." He smiled at her while he took her coat and handed it to the receptionist.

"It just so happens that I love fondue and rarely get it. This is going to be a real treat."

They were escorted to a quiet booth with low light and candles. She looked around, "This really is a nice restaurant. I haven't been here before."

"Good, I wanted it to be special. I really feel like this is a drop in the bucket compared to what you did for me. I think I will be trying to think of ways to pay you back for the rest of my life. But I do have this," He reached in his pocket and brought out a box. "Merry Christmas and thank you."

"Oh dear, Peter, you shouldn't...I mean Greg will flip if I come home with presents."

"I would have brought Dr. House something too but he did not save my life, you did. It would hurt me terribly if you did not accept this small, insignificant gift."

She shrugged her shoulders and took the box. The waitress came over as Murphy opened it, exposing a beautiful diamond and emerald ring, which fit perfectly on her right ring finger.

The waitress squealed, "OH my God, what a gorgeous ring! Are you celebrating getting engaged tonight?"

Murphy panicked, "No! This is a Christmas gift from my friend here, nothing more."

"Wow!" The waitress turned to Peter, "Can we be friends?"

Peter and Murphy chuckled and then ordered drinks.

"Peter, this is a little much. I honestly can't take it. It would set off World War III at home."

"If he is threatened by a ring from a friend, then he is very insecure. You must keep it because I refuse to take it back." He smiled at her. "Besides it doesn't fit me."

"Oh, he's insecure about everything except his own greatness."

"He also seems to be rather cruel and indifferent to his patients and friends."

"Oh, I hear that all the time and if I didn't know him, I'd say the same thing. But he really is a sweetheart when you tie him down and beat the crap out of him." They both laughed. "Thank you for the ring...but I think you are giving me more headaches than pleasure by giving it to me."

"Ah, but such a lovely headache."

"That it is."

They spent the rest of the time in the restaurant eating, joking, sharing stories about England, Iraq, the night of the bombing, the Field Medal...his other awards. He seemed more impressed by her medals and Purple Hearts than anything else.

"I just received an invitation to the White House. They want to award the Silver Star in person. I'm a PR princess."

"When do you go?"

"Next month."

"That must be exciting for you."

"I get to take my family but I have none. So I am going to take Greg's parents and Greg, that is if we're still talking to each other after this ring." She laughed.

"He will get over it."

"You don't know Greg. But, I guess he's got to learn that I can be trusted."

"Can you? Are you sure he is someone who you want to stay with? I am just asking because of his demeanor towards you."

She knew what he was really asking but she chose to ignore the underlying question. "He drives me nuts, he's a jerk, he makes me want to kick him in the gonads at least once a week. But when I am not with him, I think about him, I worry about him and I want to be with him. Pathetic, yes, but it is what it is."

"Well if you ever find that he cannot give you what you want, please feel free to give me a call. I am staying on at Princeton as a guest lecturer for the next year."

"I'll do that."

They spent the rest of the evening talking about odds and ends and when the bill came he paid it, helped Murphy with her coat and then walked her to her car. "Murphy, you are beautiful, delightful, entertaining and incredibly intelligent. Dr. House is a very lucky man. Thank you for saving me." He gave her a peck on the cheek and they parted for the evening.

Murphy drove to Cuddy's house. Murphy had called her, explained the situation and she told her to feel free to use her guest room. When she arrived, Cuddy let her in and greeted her with a quick hug. Murphy liked Cuddy a lot. She admired her spunk.

"How did it go?" Cuddy asked.

"Really well...too good. He is so charming, so educated and so handsome. I think I need to introduce the two of you to each other."

"It sounds like he's already smitten with you."

"I don't think so, but if I were to give him the least indication that there could be something between us he'd be here in a nanosecond. He gave me this for Christmas and to thank me."

She held the box out Cuddy opened it, "Holy Mother of God. Those are some large diamonds and that emerald is incredible. This has to be worth a good chunk of change."

"I know, I know. But he wouldn't take it back. Can you keep it for me? I don't want Greg to see it."

"Murphy, you need to get this insured and put in a safety deposit box. I don't want the responsibility and besides, you need to deal with House."

"I guess so, I think I can reason with him."

Cuddy started cackling, "Yeah and the sun will come up in the west tomorrow. Keep dreaming. He's going to act like a child when he sees this. Be prepared."

Murphy shook her head yes in acknowledgment. "Well, I better get some sleep if I'm going to face him tomorrow."

Murphy got up around nine and took a shower, dried her hair and put on her jeans and top. She put the ring in her purse and steeled herself. She went out, left Lisa a note thanking her and then drove to the Westin Hotel to get some breakfast. The hotel's restaurant had one of the best breakfasts in town. She bought a newspaper and sat down to read it. She just didn't want to go home and face House yet. She drank her Mimosa and sat back. She finally paid the bill and got up to leave. She looked across the restaurant and she saw Peter trying to get her attention. Murphy smiled and waved back. She walked over to say hello.

"What are you doing here this morning?" He asked.

"Just having breakfast."

"Alone? Please do not tell me he kicked you out because of the ring."

She started laughing. She sat down at his table to get out of the way of the waitress, "No, he didn't, he's at the hospital and I wanted breakfast."

He looked at her and smiled like he knew she was lying. She thought to herself, "How come I meet men who can read me like a book."

"Well, join me."

"No, I'm already done. I must go...but again, thanks for everything last night. Look, before I go I have your ring in here and I just can't take it." She stood up and started to hand the ring box to him.

He took the ring and put it into her purse. "Please, do not do this. I do not want the ring back and if you get it out I will leave it here on the table. It is your ring now." He was holding his hands up in a stop motion.

"Oh, you do like to make things difficult for me." She said.

"It should not be difficult. I am sure he will understand." He stood up and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Across the restaurant was Cameron, out for breakfast with a friend. She wondered what Murphy was doing with Peter Berkshire, the patient they had just released last week? Cameron watched as Murphy and Peter talked and then handed a ring box back and forth to each other and then he kissed her. Hmmm.

Murphy drove home and opened the door, she took her bag into the bedroom but he wasn't there. She took the ring and stashed it away in her bottom drawer. She felt guilty about hiding it but wanted time to think about how to tell Greg about it. She wondered where he was, but then she knew he wanted her to wonder where he was...oh he was such a player. She made the bed and straightened up. She could play the game as well as he could. She took her shower, shaved her legs, put lotion on, brushed her teeth, brushed her hair (which was now about two inches long), put on mascara and dressed in a black low-cut Merry Widow with lacing going down the middle with garters to which she attacked black silk stockings. Over the stockings she put on her french cut panties. She put on two inch feather mules and a see-through black robe. She put an apron over her outfit and went out to make dinner. Once the dinner was made and simmering in the crock pot, she took off her apron and sat on the bed reading a book while waiting for Greg to come home.

Around 5:40 p.m. she heard his key open the apartment door but she didn't move. When he came in, she smiled to herself. He put his keys down on the desk and started to take off his jacket as he peeked around the edge of the kitchen doorway but didn't see her. He could smell dinner cooking. She came down the hall and he turned to look at her, he did a double take. She was dressed like she was going to pose for Victoria's Secret. He wanted to touch but didn't dare give in to temptation if he wanted to hold the high ground in their disagreement.

She just looked at him but said nothing. She went over to the couch and bent over suggestively to pick up the old newspapers. House, staring at her sweet little behind, smiled and shook his head...he really wanted to touch. She went past him, threw the papers in the recycle bin and then grabbed some plates and took them out to the dining table she had set up. He was blocking her path so she stopped and raised an eyebrow. He slowly started to smile realizing it was no use, he was a pushover for a beautiful blonde in sexy lingerie. He reached out to grab her by the waist but she jumped back.

"Put the plates down, I want to bend you over the table and have you." he ordered her.

"Get cleaned up, Wilson will be here in about ten minutes." Murphy barked back.

"Wilson?" He couldn't believe his ears, here she was dressed and ready to be taken, taunting and teasing him with her body, getting him hot and bothered and Wilson was coming over? Oh, she was good.

She took the plates to the table and went back into the kitchen to get the silverware and napkins. She turned around, looked at him, walked over...slipped her panties off and stuffed them in his pocket. She went into the bedroom, slipped on a skirt and blouse and came back out. She raised the skirt and mooned him while showing him she still had the Merry Widow and garter belt on but no panties. She laughed at him just as the doorbell rang.

"This is not funny." House shook his head at her.

Murphy opened the door and let Wilson in, "Jim, thanks for coming over for dinner. Can we get you something to drink?"

"Gin and tonic?"

"Sure. Greg can you fix Jim a gin and tonic while I work on the pasta for the dinner?

Greg gave her the most frustrated look in the world and then went to make Wilson a drink. They sat down and Murphy began the meal by serving each their own garlic dripped artichoke. Greg was across from Murphy. He watched her pull each leaf off of her artichoke, dip it in butter, put it into her mouth and then pull it slowly back out through her closed teeth while looking at Greg . She slowly licked her lips after each leaf. House was watching this very erotic dance. Wilson was telling a somewhat convoluted story about the bomb and aftermath of the attack. From time to time Murphy would smile and pretend to be listening but underneath the tablecloth, her foot was finding its way across the table and tracing the seam on Greg's left trouser leg until she reached the promised land. She chuckled when she realized he was already starting to get hard. He was clenching his teeth and trying to maneuver away from her foot.

She got up and took the remains of the artichokes to the trash and brought in the spaghetti with meatballs and string beans. She dished the plates out and took them to the table and also delivered the fresh grated Parmesan. This time she sat across from Wilson and next to Greg. About half way through the meal, she put her hand on his leg and started to follow it the same way her foot had. When she finally touched his pride and joy, he grabbed her hand and put it back in her lap. She grabbed his hand back and put it up her skirt, resting it on her thigh. He jerked his hand back so fast he hit the underside of the table banging it and causing him to cry out in pain. She let out a quick little snort of laughter and Wilson looked at the two of them like they were nuts.

"What is going on?" Wilson asked.

"Murphy went out on a date last night, I got pissed, she came home and got all tarted up, pranced around getting me hot and bothered just before you got here and now she's feeling me up with her feet and hands. Oh, and she doesn't have any knickers on. Honey, does that about sum it up?" He said sweetly to Murphy.

Wilson's mouth dropped open and Murphy smile and nodded yes in agreement. "Maybe I should leave," Wilson said.

"Oh don't leave Jim, he deserves to be taunted and harassed. He was invited on my date with me and wouldn't go and then insisted I not go either. Then he told me that I could sleep on his sofa. So Jim, you can ignore him, let's go sit on the sofa and talk. She got up and escorted Wilson to the sofa. Wilson was nervous.

"I think you two should have some time alone to figure this out." He started to get up.

"Jim, I tell you what, why don't you and Greg go down to the Triumph for some drinks and I'll join you in a few minutes?" She really didn't want Wilson to feel bad about coming over.

"I don't want to go to the Triumph for drinks." Greg said.

"Murphy, I enjoyed the meal but it's gotten a little weird. You need to have some time together. House, you need to get over yourself." Wilson got up, gave Murphy a peck on the cheek, grabbed his coat and looked at House and shook his head in disbelief. House looked at him, asking with his body language for Wilson to believe in him. "House, come on. We both know you test people until they push back. Stop it." He closed the door and took off.

Murphy stormed into the hallway and grabbed a blanket and then into the bedroom to grab a pillow. She threw the blanket and pillow on the couch and then looked at him, "Excuse me, but you're in my bedroom and I'd like to go to sleep."

He threw up his hands, "Go to sleep? You just made a fool of me in front of my friend and I'm suppose to go off to bed?"

"When haven't you made a fool of yourself in front of Wilson? So you want to talk? Ok, are you still angry with me for going to dinner?"

"Where did you stay last night?"

"On no, you don't get to ask. You banished me from our bedroom. I was with a friend."

"A friend? Is Peter Berkshire a friend?"

"That's it, I want to go to sleep. We need to talk about this tomorrow. If I talk to you right now we'll both regret it."

He didn't know what to do, but he didn't want her sleeping on the couch. He collapsed, "Let's call a truce tonight. We'll talk about this tomorrow. Come on into bed, it's your home too. I promise not to bother you, touch you , yell at you ...you'll get a good night's rest."

She looked at him crossly and went over and grabbed her pillow. She went into the bedroom and took off her skirt, her blouse , the nylons and the merry widow. She was standing there naked trying to find a gown in her drawer. He walked over to the chest of drawers and put his arms around her before she could put the gown on.

"I'm sorry." he said.

"I thought you weren't going to touch me or bother me?" she said quietly.

" I lied." He kissed the crook of her neck and buried his face in her hair. "I'm sorry, I just don't want to lose you to anyone. He's younger, better looking, intelligent and has two legs."

She turned to him, "You idiot. I've had lots of intelligent, handsome, young men in my life but I'm living here with you, not them. Doesn't that tell you anything?"

"That you've had a lapse in judgment?"

"I'm beginning to think you're right." She said. He was rubbing her back and kissing her ear and cheek.

She was the one who broke away and pulled his hand towards the bed. She pulled back the covers and climbed in. He undressed and then climbed under the sheets. They faced each other and kissed. He slipped his hand down to her bottom and pulled her closer so that she could feel him respond to their kisses. She felt his chest and the little brown and gray hairs that curled up on it. She was enjoying his warm, warm body and breath. He slipped between her legs and felt her welcome him in with a deep sigh. He propped himself up on his elbow so he could watch her as they made love. He was deliberate and slow, enjoying every movement and every reaction of hers. Eventually, he closed his eyes to concentrate on the sensations coming from the thrusts. She watched him as long as she could before the pleasure filled her from her groin through her abdomen and up into her breasts. She started to cry out and he joined her. They both started to laugh as soon as the waves of pleasure dissipated.

He looked down at her, smiled and stroked her hair and cheek. He couldn't look at her because he didn't want to see her reaction and then he said, "I love you more than I thought I could love anyone."

Murphy stopped laughing and tried to make eye contact with him but he kept looking just slightly to the side of her face. "Greg, can't you look at me and say that?"

"I'm afraid I'll see in your eyes that you don't feel the same. And if I do see that you feel the same, that scares me too. It means that I could be happy and that's not something I'm comfortable with."

"I love you too. Now you find a way to deal with that Greg, because I do. You're going to have to learn how to be happy because we are going to be happy. Not all the time, not even most of the time. Most of the time, we'll just be living our lives and glad we have each other, but there will be enough moments of happiness that we'll stay together to experience those. Does that make sense to you?"

"In my world, happiness doesn't make sense, I'm struggling with the idea of it. But if it feels as good as your body, then I'm in." He said looking straight into her eyes.

"I'm just shocked you said the "L" word first." She kissed his cheek.

"What? I called you a lesbian a long time ago." He chuckled.

"Tell me again." She stroked his chest.

""You're a lesbian."

"Tell me again. This time look at me."

He looked at her, shook his head, swallowed hard and said, "I love you."

"It's about time you said it."

"That's your allotment of "I Love Yous" until your birthday."

He rolled onto his back and grabbed the remote to turn on the television, Murphy fell asleep with her head on his chest.

House and Murphy arrived at 9:30 in the lobby. Murphy went to HR to fill out forms again and get the malpractice insurance back on line. House found Cameron lingering in his office. He looked at his messages and waited for her to say something. She had her hands in her lab coat pockets. He could tell she had gotten over the break up with her boyfriend because her eyes were no longer puffy. He wondered if she was going to turn her attention back to him. She cleared her throat and just stood there in front of his desk.

"Are you going to tell me or am I suppose to take my belt off and beat it out of you?" House looked up at her.

"I just wanted to know if everything is ok between you and Murphy?"

"Cameron, I appreciate that you think I'm charming, witty and sexy, but don't you think it's time that you moved on?"

"It's not that! I was at the Westin hotel yesterday morning and I saw Murphy having breakfast with Peter Berkshire. I think he gave her a box. I just wondered if you two had broken up?"

"You saw her yesterday morning in the hotel restaurant with Peter Berkshire?"

"Yes."

"What did this box look like?"

Cameron hesitated before saying it, "A ring box."

House didn't want to show Cameron how shocked he was to hear that but his face registered surprise. He jumped up, grabbed his keys and left. A few minutes later Murphy showed up in the office and looked for Greg.

"Where's House?"

"He left. I don't know where he was going." Cameron told her.

Murphy picked up the phone and dialed Greg's cell phone. He either didn't pick up or he was in an area where he wasn't getting the signal. She sat down to read about the additional steps the authorities were taking at both Princeton University to prevent another terrorist bomb attach. It had been determined that it was a sleeper cell from Al Qaeda.

House opened the apartment door and thought that the only place in the apartment that she could hide something was either in the closet or her drawers. He went straight into the bedroom and felt around in the top drawer for a box. There was nothing, he went through the next two, nothing. He finally felt around the last drawer and there was something stuck way in the back the size and feel of a ring box. He pulled it out and opened it. It was a very impressive emerald and diamond ring. It wasn't something you give a stranger. He closed it and put it back.

She had lied to him, she was sleeping with him and now Berkshire was giving her expensive jewelry. So the friend she stayed with was Peter Berkshire at the Westin Hotel. House just kept thinking over and over, "Everybody lies, everybody lies." And then he heard her voice, "I'm honest with you." He shook his head, "Everybody lies."

When he got back to the hospital he discovered that their patient was being checked out, having been diagnosed and treated by House and the team. The next patient was being checked in at that very moment. Murphy was reading the chart when House walked in, he gave her a cold look that took her back. But then, House was different with her in front of people.

He went over to the white board and grabbed the chart out of Murphy's hands, he wrote

Fever 104

Severe headache

Myalgias

Anorexia

Cough

Sweats

Chills

"Looks like garden variety flu to me." Murphy said.

"Well then you would be a moron. If we assumed every disease with these symptoms that came through here was the flu most of our patients would be dead. Cameron, get a history. Chase do reconnaissance at his house and Foreman, do a CT scan and screen his blood and kidneys for our usual villains."

They all jumped up and left. Murphy looked at him but he had his back to her, "Greg, what do you want me to do?"

"Go down and do my clinic hours." He said abruptly before leaving the office.

She felt like he had just slapped her in her face. She ran out of the office after him. "Why am I going to clinic? Won't I be more useful if I help Chase or Foreman?"

"Useful? If he gets an RPG in his side, you'll be the one I call. But the best use for you today is the clinic so that you can free up my time."

The look on her face was just what he wanted. That feeling of rejection and hurt. Maybe she felt a tiny bit of what he was feeling. He turned and kept walking. She stood in the middle of the hall looking at him as he walked away.

Clinic duty was boring but once her hours were over she went back up to the office and noticed that they must have had another meeting because more was written on the white board.

Lived in mobile home

foundry worker

pleuritic chest pain

Hawaii -two months ago

rodeo-last week

no known allergies

blood count - normal

Murphy looked around for House and the team, but they were all gone. She went up to see the patient. He was a long lanky guy with wavy black hair and nice features like Clint Eastwood or even House. The chart said he was 21. The kid open his eyes and looked at her, "Hi, who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Morrigan, I work with Dr. House. How do you feel?" She noted that the whites of his eyes were yellow.

"Tired, my head hurts and, (cough, cough) I have this dry cough. My chest has pains up here."

"Yes, that means the sac around your lungs are inflamed, we call it pleurisy. Any nausea, vomiting or diarrhea?"

"No...at least not yet." he managed a weak smile.

"Ok, kiddo. We're waiting for some results, we'll let you know something in a little while. Keep getting some sleep."

She went to the lab and found the entire team and House inside. House looked up from sipping on his straw to watch her. He told her, "Why don't you go down and cover Cameron's clinic duty so she can continue her lab work."

"But House, I just finished my lab..." Cameron stopped when House gave her a stern look.

Murphy didn't want to acknowledge to the team that she was being treated like an intern. "Sure, not a problem." She almost gave House the Nazi salute but held back. "Oh, by the way...has anyone talked to your patient in the last hour?"

They looked at each other and shook their heads "No,"

As she opened the door and began to leave she said, "I ask because he has jaundice, I think your patient has developed hepatitis...gosh, I wonder what that means?" She left the lab, walked down the hall and then turned around to see what House was doing. She couldn't hear through the glass of the lab, but she could see House giving the team hell for not knowing this. His hands were flailing and he was gesturing all over the place. After a moment he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye watching him. He turned and sheepishly gave her a look of frustration. He walked out to the hall. "Ok, go get a liver function test and a blood sample to test for Q Fever."

"I thought so too, especially after seeing on the board that he had gone to the rodeo." She said as gently as possible to him but he wouldn't make eye contact, "What's going on Greg?"

He started to leave, "Maybe YOU should tell me." She had no idea what he meant.

House correctly diagnosed Q Fever, which is transmitted from cattle, and started the patient on Vibramycin. After running the tests and confirming the diagnosis, Murphy went down to clinic and started to handle Cameron's clinic hours. Cameron showed up a half an hour later.

"Murphy, why are you handling my clinic duties?"

"Because House told me to or don't you remember?" Murphy said.

"That was before the diagnosis. I can handle them now." Cameron took the file from Murphy's hand.

"Cameron, do you know any reason that House is upset with me?"

"You need to talk to him about whatever is going on between you two."

"Yes, you're right." She agreed.

Murphy and House left at 5:00 and the ride home was quiet. She went straight in and started the kettle for a cup of tea. House went through the mail and checked the phone messages.

"Boy, that took a lot out of me. I can't tell you how exhausted I am after just one day."

she looked at him hoping he would start talking.

He just raised a single eyebrow and then walked in and got a beer. She followed him into the kitchen. "I thought we made up last night? Am I crazy but didn't you tell me you loved me?"

"Murphy, you need to ask yourself why I might be angry. Once you come clean, then we can talk. For right now let me just kick back and watch some television."

She wanted to say something back but didn't want to start crying. So she went in to start dinner. She reheated the spaghetti and left it on the stove for him to get a plate if he wanted some. She took a bowl of it and went into the bedroom to watch television by herself. Later, she came back out, rinsed her bowl, saw an dirty plate in the sink and looked to find that the spaghetti was gone. She went back to bed, started to watch some more television but was asleep by 8:00 p.m.

The next morning was a repeat of the night before. They rode into work quietly with the occasional exchange of necessary information. As they were pulling into the garage at work he said, "I have a dental appointment this afternoon so I'll come back and get you when I'm done."

She shook her head and then got out of the car. Since they didn't have a patient Murphy went down to do her clinic hours. She was waiting in one of the offices when she looked up on the wall and saw the calendar photo of El Capitan in the afternoon sunlight. It's golden granite was gleaming in the photo. She started to ache for California, for Yosemite, for Big Sur, for the Sequoias, for Torrey Pines, for Laguna Mountain, for Lake Cuyamaca. She decided that as soon as she had two weeks of leave saved up she would go home and do some back country hiking.

She looked at the calendar and realized for the first time that her birth control medication was way overdue. CRAP! It should have been changed out in January but with the move into the apartment and trying to get back into shape, she had just completely forgotten it. She called down to renew the prescription for the birth control ring and then she went into an empty exam room, drew some blood and sent it down for a pregnancy check, just to be safe.

The day was uneventful but that afternoon at five House didn't show up outside. She called him but he wasn't picking up. She went outside and looked around, it was starting to get dark. She waited in the little ante room near the exit. Around 7:00 p.m. she took a taxi home and was surprised to find him laying on the couch watching the Knicks play. When she walked through the door he looked at her and then his watch and said, "Ah crap. I forgot. I'm sorry. MY bad." And then went back to watching the Knicks play. Murphy went back to the bedroom, sat on the bed and just stared into space wondering what was going on with him. She crawled up onto the bed and watched television until she fell asleep.

She tried to talk to him over the next few weeks but he wouldn't tell her what was eating him. He did start to say more to her but on a superficial level. More importantly, they hadn't had sex for the whole time he had been angry. She knew he was beating off because she walked in on him in the shower. Murphy was confused, she wish he would stop playing around and tell him what was pissing him off. She talked to Lisa and neither of them understood what was going on in his head.

Things were so strained around the apartment that Murphy was constantly stressed. Murphy started to go to the movies, the mall, rowing or just walking by herself to get out of the apartment. House assumed she was going out to meet up with Peter.

Murphy flew down to Washington D.C. a few days before the presentation at the White House at the request of the Navy. She took her dress blues and some civilian clothes. The Navy had her visiting various government buildings to meet with a handful of Senators, Congressmen and the entire Cabinet. They wanted to promote her war record and her visit to the White House so the press followed her all over D.C.

She was getting excited about the visit to the White House even though she tried to stay cool about it. She knew that her parents would have been so proud of her if they were still alive. It was nice that she could share it with Greg and the Houses. She met the Houses at Reagan International and drove them in her rental car to the hotel. The presentation at the White House was to be held the next day.

"Where's Greg?""

" He'll be here this evening."

"You look tired, what's wrong?"

"I've been running around all over D.C. trying to please everyone in the Navy or military by having my photo taken with them. My hand is red from shaking it so often."

They had a great time at dinner and when Greg hadn't shown up she called his cell phone. He immediately saw it was her on the caller i.d. He answered with a snarl. "Yeah."

"Where are you? I thought you were going to drive down tonight?"

"I'm not coming." He said bluntly. He had never intended to go. In fact, when she returned he would have her things packed and waiting for her. He was tired of the charade.

Her heart sank, "Is there a patient?"

"I need to go, my program's on." The phone went dead. She looked at her phone in shock. He hung up?

She told the Houses that Greg had a patient and couldn't make it. But since they were going back to Princeton with her, they would still get to see him. The Houses could tell how disappointed Murphy was and how hard it was for her to put on a happy face.

They had all been asked to get to the White House two hours early for several ceremonial presentations and that the President would meet with her after those presentations were through. The next day it took half an hour to get through the White House security even though she and the Houses were on the schedule. They were led into the Blue Room where the brass was waiting for her. Over and over the admirals, generals, senators, congressmen all got up to take their picture with her. Some presented her with commendations, medals or plaques from their state or constituency. The press was there in droves and occasionally she answered a question posed by one of the presenters.

"Are these your parents in the front row?" One of the senators asked.

"My parents are dead but this is General and Mrs. House, they have taken me under their wing and treated me like their own."

"Let's bring them up and have a photo taken with you."

The Houses joined Murphy and the press all took photos.

In the meantime, Foreman was checking his email when he received a patient notification for Murphy Morrigan. Since Foreman was her doctor of record, whenever a medical test came back on a patient the doctor of record would get notified of the result by email. Foreman clicked on the email and read the results. He started laughing. Murphy was pregnant.

"I thought that you were going down to Washington to see Murphy get the Silver Star?" Chased asked.

House looked up, "Obviously I'm not."

"But she was looking forward to having you and your parents there, why didn't you go?"

"Yeah, well boo hoo, I had other things to do."

Foreman was sitting by the computer bursting at the seams. He wanted to tell House but it would have violated the patient' confidentiality. "When is Murphy coming back into the office?"

"Don't know, don't care." House said.

Foreman was surprised by his response. Everyone had noticed House's treatment of Murphy was fairly callous lately. It had gone beyond the House quips and badgering. Something was wrong between them and maybe a baby wasn't the best thing for their relationship.

Cuddy stuck her head in and had a scarf with her. She looked at House and asked, "What are you doing here? Aren't you suppose to be in Washington D.C. with your girlfriend and your parents?"

"Christ everyone has their nose in my business. Do you have something to say or was this just a visit to rattle my cage."

Cuddy held up the scarf, "I keep forgetting to give this back to Murphy. She left it when she spent the night at my house last month."

"Last month? When last month?" House's face went blank.

"The night she had dinner with the mathematician. You know you told her to sleep on the couch so she came over and stayed with me." She watched as House looked away and started to stare, "House what's up?" She asked cautiously.

He looked at her standing there in her Tahari suit, "Did she show you the ring?"

"Yes, it's gorgeous isn't it? You know she tried to give it back to him several times. She told me that they almost got into a fight over it the next morning when she saw him at breakfast. What's going on? You look like you just thought of something."

"I've got to fly down to Washington." House said.

Chase said "It's too late, turn on CSPAN."

Lisa Cuddy motioned to House and he turned the tv on to CSPAN and saw a beautiful, but skinny Murphy standing to the side of the podium with the President of the United States as he pinned the Silver Star on her chest. His parents were being called up to the stage to stand with Murphy. The President read out a long list of Murphy's accomplishments in Iraq and she began to blush. General House started smiling as he heard the President read paragraph after paragraph of her accomplishments. He felt like a Dad, he was very proud of her.

"Oh God, I'm in trouble." House knew he had really hurt her by not going. She had spent all week packing his bag and deciding what suit he should wear. She had gotten his shoes out and shined them for him. Even though they were barely speaking, just about every other word out of her mouth had been about going to D.C. The whole time she was getting ready, getting excited and anticipating the trip, he had planned to crush her by telling her at the last minute he wasn't going. House had accomplished what he had intended. The whole time Murphy was on the stage with the President she felt sad and distracted. This scene wasn't what she had envisioned in her mind. She had always imagined that Greg would with her to crack jokes and make snide remarks to make her laugh.

Murphy went to the podium to speak. She was so distracted by Greg's absence that she simply started to read her little 5 x 8 index cards. "I'd like to thank the President, Secretary of State, Admiral Cleary, the Navy, Senate and Congress for this honor. I would also like to thank Dr. Gregory House, General and Mrs. House for being here today." Then it hit her that he wasn't there, "I mean, General House and Mrs. House for being here today. Dr. House couldn't make it. Uh..." Murphy started to sweat and then a tunnel of black caved in from the sides or her vision. Without any warning, Murphy fell like a lead weight to the floor. There was a huge commotion on the television.

House jumped out of his chair. "What the.." He said to the television. He watched as everyone went to Murphy's aid except of course him because he wasn't there.

Foreman realized that Murphy would be fine in a minute. Pregnant women frequently experienced dizziness or passed out in their first trimester. It was just a matter of her cardiovascular system undergoing some pretty dramatic changes. During pregnancy the heart rate goes up, the heart pumps more blood per minute, and the amount of blood in the body expands by 40 to 45 percent. The blood pressure gradually decreases in the beginning, reaching its lowest point in the middle of the pregnancy. It then begins to rise, returning to its regular level by the end of pregnancy. Most of the time, the cardiovascular and nervous systems are able to adjust to all these changes, but occasionally they don't, which can leave the pregnant woman feeling lightheaded, dizzy or as Murphy was, faint.

"She'll be ok in a minute." Foreman told House with some authority.

"How do you know?" House demanded.

"Just a hunch."

House was now suspicious of Foreman. But he was too concerned about Murphy to do anything. He turned to Cuddy, "I need to know, did she sleep with this Peter guy?"

Cuddy was shocked and showed it, "Oh my God House, no. Is this why you've been treating her like crap lately? You think she had an affair with Peter Berkshire?" Cuddy could see from House's refusal to make eye contact and the look on his face of a six year old with his hand in the cookie jar that he did, indeed, think she had been unfaithful. "I don't believe you. If you had talked to her about this you would have straightened it out a long time ago. But no, you gave her the silent treatment and she's been utterly miserable. Well done Dr. House, once again you figured a way to screw up a good thing."

Foreman was shaking his head in disbelief. Chase gave House a look of contempt.

House threw his hands up in despair, "Yes, I'm an ass." Now he needed to figure a way to get back in her good graces."

The CSPAN announcer interrupted, "Commander Morrigan apparently is fine. Apparently she had not eaten breakfast and has been exhausted from her duties here in Washington and, as a result fainted briefly. It certainly would make sense, the Commander is still getting over three gunshot wounds and a two month long coma. We'll wait a minute and see if they are going to continue."

Murphy did continue and she gave a beautiful speech about the United States, Abraham Lincoln and the Last Full Measure of Devotion. She honored those who had died with tears and her sincerity in calling them the true heros received a hearty applause from the audience. When it was over, Murphy could have been elected to Congress.

The next day the Houses and Murphy drove up to Princeton in her rental car. Murphy drove them straight to their hotel and made plans to meet them at six p.m. for dinner.

She dreaded going home. She knew now it was over and it was killing her, zapping her of her energy.

She walked in and House almost pounced on her. "I'm sorry for not making it. I was a jerk. I really am sorry."

"You're parents are here for three days and I plan to put on a good show for them. But after they're gone, I'm moving out. It's over Greg. I can't stay on this roller coaster. I fainted in D.C. from the stress of wondering why you didn't come."

"I saw it on CSPAN. Murphy please, just listen to me. Cameron told me she saw you having breakfast at a hotel with Peter Berkshire and that he gave you a ring box. I came home and found this." House pulled the ring box out of his pocket and showed it to her. "I thought that every time you went out on your own you were going to go meet him. I wanted you to tell me. I wanted to see if you were going to be honest with me. "

She sat down and put the puzzle together and realized what a FUBAR this was. "It doesn't matter Greg, the problem isn't what you thought happened. The problem is that you couldn't just come and ask me or talk to me when you found the ring. Which, by the way, was an invasion of my privacy. We...no...you don't communicate. It's over Greg, let's just salvage a friendship out of this so that we can work together."

"No, I won't accept that. Murphy, I love you. I want you to be around when I need diapers and false teeth. I want you to have our baby or, God forgive, babies...I want to marry you."

"Don't do this to me Greg. Please, don't do this to me. I've had several weeks to think about it. Besides, have a baby with you? I'd never know one day to the other whether we were going to make it or not. I couldn't bring a child into that."

"Murphy, this was an honest mistake. Even you can see that your actions could have been interpreted as an affair. Why didn't you show me the ring and tell me about it?"

"The ring meant nothing to me but I knew it would fuel the fire in you. I just thought it would be best if I kept it from you. I see that was a mistake, to keep it from you. But you were vicious the last few weeks, just vicious. You made my life stressful at work and at home. I didn't have anywhere to go to get away from it except that bedroom. I felt so alone in that bed, even with you in it."

House was sitting on the chair staring down at his feet and rubbing his forehead. He looked up at her and said, "Every time you walked out that door I thought you were going to him. I couldn't stand the idea of having sex with you knowing you had been with him. I just wanted you to be miserable too. I wanted you to come to me, confess your sins and then I would forgive you like a priest. I Fucked up ...don't leave."

"Greg, let's get through the next few days with your parents and then we can talk. Maybe if I move out we can date and see if we can be decent to each other. Maybe you can learn to talk to me, not try to manipulate me into some artificial response. I told your parents that we would pick them up for dinner at 6:00 p.m. It's 3 p.m. now, I'm going to go lay day for awhile, I am exhausted." Murphy took her bag and went into the bedroom. House followed her and sat on the edge of the bed as she took her dirty clothes out of the bag and put them in the hamper.

"Well, let me see it." He said softly. She pulled it out of her bag and handed it to him. He opened the box and there it was. It was actually a five pointed gold star with a tiny silver star in the center surrounded by two olive branches. The star hung from a red white and blue striped ribbon. "Your speech was incredible. Really, even I was moved by it. I am really proud of you."

She layed down on the bed and grabbed her throw. House pulled it up and over her. He crawled up into the middle of the bed and spooned her. She remembered how safe this made her feel and she wanted to feel that way again. But right now she was in so much pain and so tired that she just wanted to go to sleep.

At five Murphy got up and put on fresh clothes. House drove his car and Murphy drove the rental over and dropped it off. They picked up his parents at the hotel and went out to dinner. Murphy tried hard to pretend that everything was fine between her and House. Even House tried hard to be nice and pleasant to his folks and to Murphy.

The evening went well, his parents enjoyed their time with both Greg and Murphy. Blythe was surprised at how well Greg treated Murphy all night long. It was a first. He hadn't been that attentive or kind to any of the women she had seen him with in the past, including Stacy. Murphy seemed a little anxious, but then a lot had happened to Murphy in the last year and she had a right to be a little anxious. When Murphy went to the restroom, his mother gave him the box and said, "I thought you should have this, you'd inherit it anyway. I hate to see it just go to waste."

House dropped his parents off and then he and Murphy drove back to the apartment. She was looking forward to climbing into bed and sleeping in the next morning. She went into the bedroom and took off her clothes. House brought in a bottle of water for her and one for him. After getting into bed she turned out her lights and sank into a deep sleep. She woke up around 4 in the morning with Greg's arm around her and his snoring in her ear. It was somehow very calming and relaxing. She went back to sleep. When she woke up Greg still had his arm around her but he was on his stomach and she was on her back. She got up and went into the bathroom, brushed her teeth and took a shower. He came in and took a leak while she was in the shower, brushed his teeth, trimmed his beard and then opened the shower door and got in with her.

"This isn't kosher. Please get out of the shower while I'm in here. Greg, after tomorrow, I'm out of here." She turned around and put her arms around her breasts. As usual, he didn't listen. He just grabbed her and kissed her as the shower beat on her back and over his arms. She wanted so much to give in and enjoy the feel of him and explore his body. They hadn't made love in several weeks and she desperately wanted to feel him inside of her. She pulled away and stepped out of the shower.

House was angry with himself and frustrated with the situation both mentally and sexually. He stood in the shower trying to decided what he should do next, besides finish washing his hair.

They dressed and went to pick up the Houses at the hotel. They all went down to Atlantic City and spent the day walking around, shopping and gambling. That night they went to a brasserie because John House felt like a good ol' American steak. After everyone was done and they were enjoying their coffee House turned to Murphy, "Murphy," he pulled out his mother's engagement ring which she had given to him the night before, "I know I haven't given you a good reason lately to say yes, but please marry me."

Murphy jumped up in horror and almost choked. "This isn't fair." She ran to the front of the restaurant and out the door. The Houses looked at Greg for an explanation. "Let's just say I knew this was a risk, I kind of screwed up this last month and she was going to leave me tomorrow." He looked at them and then towards the front of the restaurant. He threw $200 down on the table. "Dad, that should pay the bill, I'm going to go try and find her." They shook their heads in agreement.

"We'll be back at the Casino around the slot machines." John said.

House ran out the door as fast as his bad leg would let him. He looked up and down the road and didn't see her. His leg had gotten a real work out around Atlantic City and now he had to run after her. His leg was giving him signals that this was going to be a painful night.

Murphy was feeling terrible. She didn't want to disappoint the Houses, they were such good and caring people. She knew that they wanted more than anything for her to marry Greg and just one month ago she would have. But she didn't know then just how cruel he could be. Or course it all came from hurt and anger over a mistake but it was still cruel. She loved Greg so much that the proposal had cut and sliced everything that was holding her together. She ached inside and just wanted to sleep. She was so tired.

Murphy looked around, she didn't realize that she had walked so far. She turned around and started to go back. She was walking at a fast clip, looking at the ground and thinking when his hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Murphy, please stop, I really need to rest my leg, I've been walking all over looking for you." She could tell from his face that he was in physical pain. He sat down on a nearby bus bench. "We need to get my parents back to Princeton so that they can get packed and ready to go home tomorrow."

She looked at him in a daze and nodded yes. "Why did you do that in front of your parents? They must be terribly upset. They must think I'm horrible."

"No, they don't think you're horrible, they'll blame me. I explained why you reacted the way you did. They weren't surprised, I'm not known for being an angel. I asked you in front of them in the hopes that you would find it harder to say no."

"A cunning plan...where did you get the ring?" Murphy was curious.

"It's my Mom's engagement ring. She brought it out to Princeton and gave it to me last night. Dad gave her an anniversary ring several years ago and so the engagement ring just sat in her jewelry box."

"It's beautiful. Are you ok, can you walk back or do you want me to go get the car?"

"I'm ok, let's go."

They started walking past the various casinos and crowds. "That was a very mean thing to do. I can't believe you did it even after I told you I was leaving you."

"Murphy, you're going to marry me eventually. Let's just get past this. Let's do what we have to do to move forward and get where we need to be."

"I don't know what to say to you Greg. I like that you're being optimistic but I wouldn't be."

They all drove home to Princeton in silence. Murphy said her goodbyes and thanks to the Houses for coming out to the ceremony. They both kissed and hugged her and John said in her ear, "I understand why you don't want to marry him, but I would have loved for you to be my daughter, legally." She said her goodbyes and House drove her back to the apartment.

They went to bed and just like the night before he kept her close to him and she felt safe. House got up at 5:00 a.m. and took his parents to the Trenton airport to catch a Delta flight. He went from the airport to work at the hospital. He arrived at 7:00 a.m. and was surprised to see Chase already in running some tests on the new patient.

Murphy drove herself into the hospital and when she got into the office, House was sitting at his desk. He smiled at her when she walked in. Foreman jumped up and asked Murphy to take a walk with him.

House was already suspicious of Foreman's comments the other day and wondered why Foreman wanted to talk to her. Murphy and Foreman were friendly but not the type to go off in a corner and gossip. House then realized that they shared another relationship, that of doctor/patient. He started typing away, trying to hack into Murphy's medical file. Using Cuddy's password, which he had discovered she kept taped underneath her top drawer on a piece of paper, he pulled up Murphy's file. House took one look and jumped up and took off in the direction that Foreman and Murphy had gone.

Foreman and Murphy were in the presentation theater, they took seats in one of the aisles. "Apparently a few days ago you sent down a pregnancy test to the lab. It was positive. They notified me of the results. You fainted in D.C. not just because of the stress but also because you're pregnant."

At first she didn't know what he was talking about but then she remembered the test she took a few weeks back. "Oh noooo. This can't be happening to me. She bent over in her chair. Oh Foreman, if you only knew."

"I think I do Murphy. You love him but you're not sure you can stay with him."

"Yep, that would just about sum it up. What would you do?"

"I wouldn't have fallen in love with the bastard. I don't know Murphy, you need to ask yourself if you want the baby. If you do, then you need to decide whether you want House to help you raise it."

"You won't tell him will you? I need time to sort this out. We've had a falling out and I'm going to start moving out over the next few days."

"Where are you going?" Foreman was concerned, he really liked Murphy and thought that she was good for House.

"I don't know. I have a storage unit, so I'm going to store most of my things and then get a room until I can find an apartment. Then, when my tenant's lease is up, I'll move back into my house."

The door burst open and House came in, "I found you. So, what are you two doing here?"

"We needed to talk about my rehabilitation and what I should do next."

"I suggest Folic Acid and a pelvic exam." House smiled.

Murphy looked at Foreman in surprise. Foreman was just as surprised. She turned back to House, "You hacked into my records?"

"Were you going to tell me about the pregnancy?" the look on her face said no, "I thought not. Foreman, you can leave us, we need to talk."

Foreman was no dummy, he wanted out of there as quick as possible. He left and then House turned to Murphy who was holding her head in her hands like she had a terrible headache.

"Are you ok?" House asked with sincere concern.

"I'm dizzy and my head hurts. Greg, this changes nothing."

"Are you on crack? It changes everything." He looked at her face and it registered some shame and guilt, "You aren't thinking of an abortion?"

"I'm thinking about all my options. The one that seems least likely is me having the baby and marrying you."

"Murphy, don't be a fool. I love you, I have all my teeth, a regular job and I'll behave. What more could you ask for in a father?"

"Greg, I'm really not ready to talk about this, I just learned about it myself. Please, just give me some time to absorb it." She stood up quickly and then crumpled back down again. House caught her and gently sat her back down into the theater seat.

She came through almost as fast as she past out. "Whoa."

"You stood up too fast, your blood pressure is too low to handle that. You need to remember that you're pregnant. Just rest a minute and then we'll leave." He had his arm still around her shoulders and she leaned onto his chest. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I think I can get up now." He kissed the side of her head and then helped her stand up. She was fine and started to leave.

As they walked down the corridor he looked at her, "Don't move out just yet until we figure this out. Don't make any quick decisions."

"Just for a few days. I think I need time to think before I take on the challenge of finding an apartment."

Murphy asked House if she could go into the lounge and lay down on the couch for a minute. He smiled and nodded yes. She took off down the corridor to go lay down, she still felt a little light headed.

House had a moment to think. Did he really want a baby? No, not really, but it was his only ticket to Murphy. It was the wild card that he could play. The baby would become his obsession and Murphy would have a hard time taking that away from him. He chuckled and pushed the door open into his office. Cameron was sitting at his desk opening mail.

He thought about Cameron and what she had told him about Murphy and Peter. He couldn't fault her for what she saw, it was his interpretation of what she saw that had gotten him into trouble. Still, why did Cameron feel the need to "tattle" on Murphy? Sometimes Cameron's righteous indignation was more than just a nuisance, sometimes it was a tragic flaw. He didn't have enough digits to count the times she went running to Cuddy or Wilson to tattle. Even Cuddy was annoyed. But Cameron's heart was in the right place, she just needed an outlet for it.

Foreman was in the presentation room. He looked at House and smiled one of those knowing smiles. Foreman knew things were going to get interesting, House was in battle mode. He was going to battle to keep Murphy with him.

"Where's Murphy?" Chase asked innocently. He looked around. Chase liked Murphy and enjoyed her company. They had some great times together and she made him laugh. Plus, she did a mean imitation of House.

"She's resting. Now, my minions, let's start the differential. Murphy will catch up."

"She's staying in this department?" Cameron asked.

"Why wouldn't she? She's assigned to me."

They conducted the differential and then Murphy joined them . She went with Chase to get a CSF and a liver panel. Chase looked at her, "Murphy, I just wanted to say that I was really proud of your speech. If I was allowed to vote over here I'd vote for you. But are you alright, why did you faint?"

"I'm pregnant."

Chase's eyes bugged out and he stopped in his tracks. "Oh no Murphy, not House."

"Who else? What, you think I'm some tramp sleeping around?"

"I wish! Then I would have nailed you."

She slugged his arm. "What would you do Chase?"

He looked at her as if she had just asked him to eat some poison. "If I was a fertile female, I wouldn't have gotten within ten feet of House's tackle...that's for sure. But obviously you were a little closer. I don't know Murphy, having a child with him means you will be forever connected, even when things go bad."

"I know, it is scary. You know what's scarier and makes me wonder about myself? Even though he screws me over, I keep going back to him. I feel like Cameron."

Chase laughed. "Yeah, but when you go back you give him as much of a headache as he gives you. You should have seen him the other day when you were in D.C. and he thought he had lost you. I thought he was going to cry. He looked petrified. I don't even think Stacy did that to him. For what it's worth, whatever hold he has on you, you've got it on him too."

"Chase, when did you get so wise?"

He laughed and they both entered the patient's room.

At noon, House, Cuddy and Wilson went to lunch in the cafeteria. Murphy was already going through the lunch line with Chase, Foreman and Cameron. She was laughing at Foreman making fun of Chase. Murphy saw House out of the corner of her eye and turned to wave.

"Why doesn't Murphy join us?" Cuddy asked.

"I don't usually eat with the team and so she doesn't want to be singled out." House watched Murphy go down the line, he loved her little nose and ears and the way her mouth went up higher on the right side when she smiled or laughed. "Murphy." House yelled down the line, "Honey, don't forget lots of vegetables with folic acid for the baby."

Murphy stopped and looked around at him. She noticed that the whole cafeteria was staring at her. Cuddy's mouth was slightly open in shock. Murphy turned red and quickly shot him the finger. The whole cafeteria started laughing.

"Is she really pregnant or are you just making her life miserable?" Cuddy asked.

"I assure you, Murphy is pregnant and I am proud to say that I did the deed. See Cuddy, I told you my little men weren't dead."

"House, this is serious. What are you two going to do? She's just about ready to leave you, what does this do to the equation?" Cuddy was worried.

Wilson looked back and forth at them, "Pregnant? Leave you? Where have I been? My God House, I can't believe the havoc you can create in just a few days."

They paid for their food and sat down. House smiled as he watched people going up to Murphy to congratulate her. Now the whole world knew, if she got an abortion now, she'd have to explain it to the whole hospital.

"I asked her to marry me." House said casually.

Wilson threw up his hands in surprise and frustration, "I'm your best friend and you don't even bother to tell me?"

"Don't worry, it doesn't mean that you and I are breaking up, I'll still love you. Besides, she said no. But she'll say yes, who can resist the charms and genealogy of Greg House? She's lucky to have gotten my donation. That baby will be off the hook. How do you think I'll look in one of those baby slings?"

Wilson looked at Cuddy who had the same look of disbelief. They all ate their lunches and pondered the idea of Gregory House being a father.

After lunch, Cameron and Murphy were alone in the presentation room. Murphy closed the drapes and sat down at the table across from Cameron.

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Your meddling. You told Greg that I had breakfast with Peter Berkshire at a hotel, that he gave me a ring and that he kissed me."

"It was all true, I thought House should know."

"You knew that Greg would take it the wrong way so why tell him?"

"The wrong way? What's the right way?"

"I did not have breakfast with Peter, I actually ran into him as I was leaving and the ring was a Christmas gift. You could have come to me and asked me what was going on. As it is, you may have destroyed my relationship with Greg."

"Murphy, I did nothing but tell House what I saw."

"I know that you only told him what you saw, but you knew the import of what you saw and you knew that Greg would interpret it to mean that I was having an affair. Anyone else would have come to me and asked me what was going on." She paused as Cameron gave her a dirty look. "You know Cameron, I could make your life a living hell on earth. But I just realized I'm not even angry at you. I feel sorry for you, for your need to be the righteous crusader who has to fix everything. And that's what it is, every time you snitch to Cuddy or House or anyone it's because you want to be the catalyst of fixing the situation or the person. You want everything and everyone to be perfect. You know, the reason I'm with Greg instead of you is due to one thing, I don't want to fix Greg. Frankly, I don't think Greg can be fixed. For God's sake, he's 47 years old. That's a lot of imprinting. I love him as he is, flawed, cynical, sarcastic and mean. The best one can hope to do is prove to him that you are trustworthy so that, on occasion, he'll show you his other side. Cameron, I'm asking you as an adult, please stop interfering. If you do it again, I may just get angry and Cameron, I fight dirty."

"Well Murphy, this is all great but how do you think I feel? For two years I was the target of his sexual innuendos, he little flirty looks and touches. I helped pick up the pieces when he was in rehab, I've patched him up and what do I get for it? I get ignored the minute you come into his life."

"Oh Cameron, I am sorry but House doesn't need a mother, he needs a woman, one who lives her own life and can take him head on. Anything less and he'll eat you for lunch. I really hope you can find someone who can appreciate you and only needs to be fixed a little. I would like to see you happy."

Murphy got up and went to the bathroom. Cameron started crying and wondering when it would be her turn to be happy?

When Murphy and House got home, House ordered takeout and propped her up on the couch with a juice and plate of Chinese. He handed her the remote and brought her the magazine she had been reading in bed.

"Oh, you are so funny. This special attention is funny coming from you. This is fun, but I don't think I can take too much of the kinder, gentler Greg House."

"Murphy, let's start all over again. Let's live together for awhile. If we make it for a few months without killing each other then maybe we can talk about getting married. Ok, one step at a time?"

"I need to know what you think about having a baby. I have to make my decision quickly or it will soon be too late."

"I want that baby because it's the best thing we've done together. It's a piece of what's good between us."

"Sex?"

He pretended to laugh, "Ha, ha...no the intimacy we have. The intimacy I have with you that I don't have with anyone else in my life. I want you to have the baby and if you don't want it, I'll raise it."

She was insulted, "How could you think that I would just give up my baby to you?"

"Well, if you're willing to kill it, abort it, I just assumed."

She was taken back...she hadn't thought of that and it stung. "It's a fetus right now, not a full grown baby."

"Yeah, I guess you want to hang with Roe v. Wade, just a itty bitty fetus...except that right now he has eyes, fingers, toes, a tongue, and his intestines are developing. He's 1/5 of his way to being born." House told her. From the look on her face he knew he had gotten to her.

"I liked it better when I just thought of it as a fetus...it was easier."

"Yeah denial makes everything feel good."

He let her think about it and sat back to watch television. When they went to bed he crawled in behind her and held her he whispered in her ear, "I want you and I want the baby. Turn over."

She turned and looked at him. Her eyes were a little glassy. He kissed her forehead and then her lips while he fondled her breasts which were noticeably bigger. He pulled up her gown up and over her head. He kissed her breasts and her belly. He pulled her head up to him and kissed her deeply while his hand explored her body. She was warm and soft and he wanted her. He pulled her on top of him and she guided him into her. She looked down at him with her strawberry hair just below her ears and her breasts riding up and down. He reached up to cup them and she came down to kiss him. As she began to kiss him he could feel her own orgasm traveling through her and grabbing him with it. He opened his mouth as he reached his climax. She didn't cry out but he did. It was so delicious, all of it, all of her. He grabbed her to stop. She collapsed onto him and then rolled to his left.

He knew at that moment that she was going to stay, that they were going to get through this. He needed her. No one had ever been able to give him a run for his money like she did.

After a few minutes he asked her, "So will the Navy kick you out?"

"They don't do that anymore. Pregnancy isn't an excuse to leave the Navy. They had too many women getting pregnant aboard the ships just to get out of the Navy and get shipped back home. Doesn't happen now."

"How many years do you have left?" He asked.

"In this enlistment or in the Navy?"

"What do you mean? After this enlistment, won't you get out?"

"Why should I?"

"Answer my first question. Then we'll talk about you getting out."

"I have three years on this enlistment. At twenty I can go out on a retainer. It's not officially a retirement, but I would get a monthly pension. You don't officially retire until you hit your 30th year. So they could call me up between the 20th and 30th year."

"Assuming we are together, what do you plan on doing with me when you get stationed in Hawaii or San Diego or Naples or Iraq?"

"Cross that bridge when we got there. People face it all the time Greg. We can work it out."

"Gee sports fans, that sounds like a big, 'I DON'T KNOW what we'd do" to me." But he did like the idea that she was talking in present terms.

"Which is why having a baby isn't such a good idea. Maybe we can't work this out."

House back peddled, "Of course we'll work it out, I'll just grow a teat and I'll breast feed the baby while you're gone. We'll work it out...we will work it out."

"You're scaring me, you've become so pollyannish."

Murphy was still undecided what to do and House didn't make it any easier. He spent every waking moment trying to make her pregnancy more comfortable and he even went out and bought a baby sling, which he tried on for her. He put a bag of sugar in it and stood smiling and patting the sugar bag like a baby. She had to laugh, he looked so silly. By March Murphy still hadn't made a decision about the baby or House, but every day she stayed in the apartment, the harder it was to leave even though she knew he was putting on an act.

The first Monday in March at work they were diagnosing a patient when House realized that the patient had a viral or bacterial infection that was possibly lethal. He banned Murphy from the patient's room. "We have three doctors in there already, it's not like we need one more. You can run some of the labs, but only the ones that keep you at a distance from the bodily fluids." There were no jokes, no snide remarks, nothing funny, he just said it and kept going. Murphy was going to protest but how could she argue with logic and a very serious House? Was he really taking the idea of being a father seriously?

Murphy and Lisa went out shopping on Saturday and while they were having lunch Murphy asked Lisa what she would do.

"Look, I know and like both of you. But Greg is a real steamroller, you won't have a chance to think clearly if you stay in the apartment. Why don't you give him something to think about and move in with me for awhile. I'm going to be gone for most of the next two weeks on training seminars and to get my continuing education credits, so you'll have the run of the house."

This was ideal. It let Murphy get away without making a commitment one way or another.

When she got home she sat House down. "I'm moving out for awhile. I don't know if it is permanent but I need to think things through. I can't think things through while you are holding me and kissing me. I'll leave most of my stuff here until I make a permanent decision or if you want I can move them into storage."

Greg's mind was racing. He was upset that she was leaving but if he kept her things here she;d have to come here to get them. "You don't have to leave to make up your mind. I hold you because I want you near me, always."

"Greg, you sound so sweet it scares me. I feel like, no, I know that you are trying to manipulate me."

"Well, if you do have to go, leave your things here and keep your keys."

"Ok."

Murphy moved into Lisa's guest room the following night and enjoyed staying up with Lisa gossiping and giggling. On Monday they had lunch together and were eventually joined by the team and Wilson. When House finally made it to the cafeteria he hesitated to go and eat lunch with the team. But everyone else was at the table and they were laughing like mad. He sat down and they all looked at him.

"What?"

"Chase was just telling about us about his growing up in Australia and the Kangaroo races." Murphy said to him.

"Did your Mom let you stay inside the pouch or did she make you get out to lighten the load."

They all chuckled and House began to eat. The time at the hospital went quickly and when Murphy got home to Lisa's house she realized then how quiet it was. In some ways it was nice to just have time to herself and not have to think about House. But it was also lonely in some respects.

House was bored without Murphy. He spent most of the days thinking about how to get her to move back into the apartment. On Thursday night he called her and asked her out on a date for Friday. She accepted the date and smiled to herself when she hung up. They had never really gone out on an official date. Murphy went shopping Thursday night and bought a new outfit to show off her new, enlarged, breasts and her still gorgeous legs. He put her hair up, put on some earrings and makeup.

He drove over to Cuddy's and picked her up at 6:00 p.m. When she opened the door he looked at her with a very sly, sexy smile. She was lovely in a low cut wrap around dress that came to just above her knees. The dress had it's own built in underwire bra that pushed her breasts up and together to give her lots of cleavage. He hoped that she would look this sexy after the baby was born.

She invited him in and he stepped forward, grabbed her and kissed her like he hadn't seen her in months instead of two hours. She was surprised at how passionate the kiss had been. She gave him a look to acknowledge that it was a very special greeting and then grabbed her coat. The went to a new French Restaurant, "Le Aubergine." They were sitting next to each other and House had his hand on her knee under the table. Every few minutes he would move it just slightly higher up her thigh and it was driving her crazy. House ordered wine for himself and water for Murphy. They talked about France and French wines, of which Murphy knew nothing. House eventually admitted that Stacy had been a fan of everything French and so they had spent a weekend in Napa learning the differences between Californian, French and German wines. He was very entertaining as he mimicked a French waiter.

"Did you two ever get to France?"

"No, I suspect Mark has taken her by now though."

"Have you been to France?"

"When I was a teenager. I was there with my parents in between duty stations. I don't remember much about it."

"What about you?"

"My sister and I toured Europe for a month after I got out of Landstuhl the first time. I liked Italy much more than France. I think it was the waiters. They cracked us up and were always teasing us."

"If we got married soon, we could go to Italy for our honeymoon."

"Nice try. Tempting."

His hand was rubbing the interior of her thigh just lightly and she was going to remove it but it felt so good and when she reached down to his thigh, she could feel that it was getting to him too. He had to remove his hand to eat. She could tell from his looks that he wanted the dinner over with so he could have her for desert.

His phone went off. He looked at it, shut it off and put it back in his pocked, ignoring it. Her phone went off. She looked at it, realized it was the hospital and shook her head at House.

"Just pretend you didn't see or hear it."

"I can't, it's my job. You can finish here, I'll catch a cab to the hospital." She answered the phone, told them she would be right in and looked at him.

"Aghh." He groaned, "Ok, let me pay the bill and we'll go."

They arrived at the hospital and everyone gave Murphy a wolf whistle as she went through the corridors. One of the passing nurses said, "Lookin' hot Dr. House."

And Murphy agreed. He had worn his tailored dark blue suit with a medium blue shirt and a Jerry Garcia tie. He looked very hot.

When they walked into the office the guys smiled slightly. "Were you two on a date or something?"

House grimaced, "Obviously I'll have to have my 'or something' later.

"Murphy, as beautiful as ever." Chase said.

"Thanks."

The case was that of a young woman who lost her ability to function at her job as an accountant. The tests had shown that she did not have dementia. She was admitted in emergency when she started to vomit blood.

Murphy did the initial examination and found that the liver and spleen were enlarged. House ordered a hepatitis test and CB3 and CB4. They showed that she had low platelet and white blood cell counts in the blood as well as high levels of amino acids, protein, uric acid, and carbohydrates in urine. Murphy looked at House who was giving her a look of disappointment.

House told Chase and Cameron to run the tests stat. He told Foreman to get an MRI.

He told Murphy to follow him. As they walked down the corridor House was looking in each of the windows of the doors and finally he looked in one, opened the door and dragged Murphy quickly inside. He pinned her up against the door itself and unwrapped the front of her dress putting his left hand on her breast and the right hand down the front of her panties giving her pleasure and bringing her close to climax. He grabbed her and bent her over the table, lifted the back of her dress and pushed it up onto her back, pulled down her panties and within minutes they both were exhausted from the spasms and sensations that went through their bodies at the same time.

"Ah, God...I needed that." He pulled out of her and leaned forward onto her back as he rested for a minute. He straightened himself and Murphy pulled up her panties and closed up her dress. "I thought I was going to have to screw one of those nurses at the charge desk."

"That...that was hot. I can still feel it." She was breathing heavily. He pulled her to him and kissed the tops of her breasts and then her lips. She pulled away and straightened herself. They looked around the room to see if anything was out of place and the left. When they got to the presentation room they waited for the results to come back. The team came back with them and House began to review them.

"Murphy, if you weren't the mother of my child I'd have to take you over my knee and spank you...oh, but then you like that. Well, Murphy what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I know, I screwed up the exam. I'm sorry, I'll go back and look at her eyes again."

Cameron gave a quizzical look but Foreman had figured it out. "It's Wilsons, isn't it?"

"Yes..." House said quickly.

Murphy took out a scope and looked into the cornea. It wasn't very prominent yet but it was there. The patient had a rusty-green circle around her cornea which was an indicator for Wilson's disease. Cameron was already walking in with the D-penicillamine to treat it.

"You two need to be more careful."

"What?"

"I saw you two down in the little meeting room. That picture will be forever branded on my brain. It seems as if you two have sex at the drop of a hat."

"More like the drop of his pants. Cameron, that wasn't planned and I certainly didn't choose the venue. But Greg likes, well...it doesn't matter what he likes. You're right, we should be more careful. Cameron, I wish we could be friends...or at the least, friendly. I actually like you a lot and respect you. Please, don't say anything right now, just think about it."

When House took Murphy home he laughed uncontrollably at the thought of Cameron snooping through the glass in the door.

"Well, maybe she picked up some pointers."

"I don't think it's funny. We need to be more careful about that."

"I tell you what, you stop looking hot and I'll stop jumping you. Murphy, why don't we just go back to the apartment for tonight. I want to practice being careful."

"Greg, take me to Lisa's. I need to think. I enjoyed the evening."

Murphy had one little habit, ok there were several, but this one in particular drove Greg crazy. She would walk half way across the Princeton campus to buy a smoothie. She could get one at PPTH, but they didn't make the kind she liked, banana, peanut butter and chocolate with yogurt ice cream. Sometimes, rather than get lunch in the cafeteria, she would make a trek across campus for a smoothie at the student union. In fact, she was known to make the trek in the dead of winter when she got a craving for one. Since she had gotten pregnant the craving for a smoothies, her smoothie, were strong.

For Murphy it was more than just the smoothie, it was the walk and then the kicking back at the student union to enjoy it that gave her a reason to make the trek. Sometimes it was nice to have a little time off from PPTH and from House. He just didn't understand the need to hoof it for miles just to get a smoothie.

It was a windy and rainy day in late March. Lisa had just come back from her trips and told Murphy to take as long as she needed to make a decision. But Murphy needed to make a decision soon, her first trimester was almost up. Murphy grabbed her rain slicker and bundled up, grabbed an umbrella and walked into House's office. He gave her a look of disappointment and frustration, "Ohhh, Murphy, you aren't going to go out in this weather for a smoothie?"

"Oh Greg, chill out. It's only a mile there and a mile back. It's good for me and the baby."

"I'll buy you lunch in the cafeteria if you don't go out."

She laughed, for Greg to volunteer to pay for food in the cafeteria, he was desperate for her to stay. "When you gotta have it, ya gotta have it...sorry."

"Are we on for tonight?" he asked.

"You didn't ask me. So no."

"We go out every Friday and Saturday night, why would this one be different?"

"Because Peter Berkshire just called and asked if I would meet him for drinks."

House gave her a very serious look. "Peter Berkshire is getting my Friday night?"

"He's getting this Friday night. And don't worry, I told him I was pregnant and that you had been the one to do it. We're just going to catch up. He's going back to England in a few months."

"Not soon enough."

"Why don't you come over after your date with Peter?"

"It's NOT a date."

"Ok after your, 'It's Not a Date.'"

"I can't promise, I get tired really easily." she grabbed her purse.

"Well especially if you hike two miles in a gale."

"House...why don't you come?"

"In a gale?"

"No, tonight. I don't think Peter would mind...you just have to promise to behave."

House smiled mischievously and said, "Sounds good to me. What time and where?"

"7:30 at the Triumph."

She turned and made her way out the door. As she walked along in the howling wind and rain she thought that it was whipping up a lot like it did aboard ship during a storm. She was enjoying it and when she finally got to the student union, she saw that her favorite clerk, Rodney, was making the smoothies. He always gave her extra banana.

"Dude." She said with a straight face.

"Dudette." He said back with an equally straight face. "Did you see it the other night?"

"God yes, I love the show, he really is a character. Lots of tragic flaws. I hope the cop gets a good tongue lashing by the court." She gushed.

"You want a Black Captain Crunch?"

"Yeah baby, load me up." She started digging out her money.

He put in the extra banana with a wink at her and then hit the blender. Within seconds she had her smoothie. She went over and sat down on one of the empty couches. There were several food vendors in the student union and so she wasn't surprised when a guy sat down near her with a felafel sandwich. She tried not to watch him but there was something that seemed familiar about him.

"Hi." he said with a nod.

"Hi." She said back.

"I'm Jack." He said with a smile as he licked the sauce that was running down his fingers.

"Murphy." She decided he must be close to her age, maybe a little older and he was bald on top with black hair on the sides. He wasn't bad looking, not handsome like House, but not ugly.

"Man, what a storm outside. I had a tree blow down on my street."

"Yeah it is windy and wet." she acknowledged.

"You don't sound like you're from the east coast."

"I'm not, I'm from California. You?"

"Philadelphia."

"Visiting family?" He asked her.

"No, I work at the hospital." Murphy said.

"Which one, General or the teaching hospital?"

"PPTH." Murphy was still sipping her smoothie.

"My wife was treated there almost two years ago for some weird disease."

"Oh, well I hope they were able to help her."

"Yeah, eventually, but she died a few months later."

"Oh, I am sorry. That must have been horrible. Was it from the illness?"

"No, suicide. You know I've seen you in here before with one of those."

"I confess, I'm hooked. They hit the spot. I'm pregnant and it seems I can't get enough of them."

"Congratulations! I bet your husband is happy."

"My boyfriend is."

"Well, I have to go. I'll probably see you again because I eat in here a lot. Take care Murphy."

"Bye Jack."

Murphy got up, threw the smoothie container in the trash and jumped back out in the storm for her trip back to PPTH.

Murphy debated on what to wear that evening. She wanted to look attractive, but not so attractive that House would think she was coming on to Peter. She decided to wear a long sleeve sweater and some black jeans that had scrolling down the sides of them. She looked good, but not overtly sexy.

Murphy arrived and saw Peter at a booth in the bar. She walked up to him took off her rain coat and hung it up on the hook by the booth and stood so that Peter could give her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. She sat down and smiled broadly. "It's so good to see you! How have you been?"

"Fine. So where's House?" He looked around.

"How did you know he was coming?"

"Pregnant girlfriend having drinks with a single guy? I don't think even I would be happy with that."

"I don't understand men, I mean, I'm pregnant, less likely to be out doing the deed if you know what I mean." Murphy said.

"Still, it's a territorial thing, protecting your young maybe. So, are you two going to get married?"

She looked frustrated and because she was. That question kept coming up and she was nowhere closer to answering it than when she was living with Greg, "Not sure yet."

"That cad knocked you up and then would not ask you to marry him?"

"Oh, no, no, no, he asks me every day of the week, sometimes every hour of every day of the week. I just feel like I have cotton balls in my head and can't think straight. I invited another friend tonight, Lisa Cuddy, I hope you don't mind. She's Dean of Medicine at PPTH."

"Is this a setup?"

"You'd be lucky if it was, but no, we had planned on going out tonight before you called."

"Well good thing I got a booth." he looked up at the door and in the best Austrian accent said, "I think that's the Impregnator is here..."

House walked in scowling and wearing sunglasses and his motorcycle jacket. He looked sexy but oddly out of place and costumish.

Murphy waved at him and he came over and slid into the booth next to her. "Peter you remember Greg. "

"Good to see you again. Last time I saw you, you gave me a prostate exam."

"Yeah, we were doing a special at PPTH, a free prostate exam for every bomb victim." House smiled wickedly.

"What? When did this happen?"

"Don't worry Murphy, it was fine. Greg was gentle." Peter patted her hand.

"Did I forget to tell you your prostate was fine, little, but fine?"

"Thank you. May I get you something to drink?" Peter asked Murphy and House.

"Virgin Mary for me." Murphy said.

"Guinness." House told him.

Lisa walked up to the table before Peter went to the bar. She looked great in her tight jeans and ribbed sweater. Her hair was pulled back and her makeup was subtle.

"Lisa!" Murphy smiled widely, "This is Peter Berkshire. Peter, this is Lisa Cuddy, my friend."

They exchanged pleasantries and Peter asked her what she wanted from the bar. After everyone was settled. Peter began to ask Lisa a lot of questions. It was clear that he found her attractive. The conversation turned to House and his background. House mentioned that he was fired by three hospitals before coming to PPTH.

"Who at PPTH took a chance on you after being let go three times?"

"I hired House."

"You? You hired Greg?" He wanted to ask why but shut his mouth quickly so as not to sound rude.

"You want to know why don't you?" Lisa volunteered. "I get asked that question more than any other."

"We slept together and I know where her G spot is. She likes me to be around."

Murphy looked surprised at both House and Lisa. Lisa gave a sheepish look and Murphy realized that there was some kernel of truth in what Greg said or Lisa would have made a quick comeback Murphy filed the information away.

"The truth is that Greg was a legend at Michigan State and I was an undergrad. Despite his brilliant mind, he kept getting himself fired. I needed a hook at PPTH, someone to give us something different from other hospitals. I decided to build the Diagnostics department around House and publicize that we only handled the really hard cases. It worked. House doesn't generate a lot of revenues in his department but he does generate buzz and people started looking at PPTH as a top notch hospital. Our revenues overall jumped 10 after Greg came on board. And his department has actually turned a corner and is making the hospital money. I think that has something to do with Murphy though because having her has generated a lot of good P.R."

Murphy was fascinated by what Cuddy had said. House looked bored and Peter was enchanted. Lisa sounded intelligent and she was talking math to a mathematician. "That's an incredible risk you took. Greg's not exactly touchy feely so you're not promoting him as a person but his skills."

"Yoo hoo. I'm right here. I can hear everyone. PPTH is lucky to have me, I did have other offers but this one meant I would have my own department. Which reminds me, I want an LCD screen to run my Digital screenings on, a large LCD."

Lisa just looked at him like she had heard this whine before.

"I like being the center of attention, but let's find out a little about you. How long are you going to be in Princeton?"

"I have three months left on my contract."

"Do you have your ticket home yet?"

"No, not yet."

"It's better to buy them early so that you get the best price. I could hook you up with my travel agent."

"Dr. House, I assure you that I intend to leave when my time is up. Are you still worried that I might whisk Murphy away from you? Don't you have any faith in her?"

"People do what is expedient and makes them feel good." House said with no emotion.

"What is that suppose to mean? Are you insinuating that if I felt like screwing Peter I would do it without any thought about you because I could and it would feel good?"

"You do have flawed logic. First there is no evidence that you would enjoy screwing Peter. Nonetheless, if you thought it would make you feel good and it was convenient, I think you'd do it."

Her mouth dropped open. "So we just walk around like animals, screwing when it is expedient and would feel good?"

"Pretty much." He said quickly.

"Then it begs the question, when you are at these seminars and there are some "expedient women" around, you're telling me you wouldn't think twice about sleeping with them?"

House's mouth went dry and he knew he better get himself out of this one. "Welllll...ok, I see your point. Honey, I wouldn't dare, you'd have an RPG up my ass."

Everyone at the table laughed. Even Murphy relaxed. By the end of the night House was at east. It was clear that Peter had shifted his attentions to Lisa and everyone was having a good time (even Greg) talking and laughing about the antics of the Princeton Math department and PPTH faculty.

It was a slow day, they didn't have a patient and as soon as clinic was done she grabbed her purse and a sweater and made her way over to the student union.

"Dude."

"Dudette."

"Black Captain Crunch?"

"You're the man."

She got her smoothie and sat down. She saw Jack and he waved at her. This was the fourth time they had met in the student union. He was really a funny guy and made her laugh a lot. He was working at a small software company just off campus. He usually ate on campus because it was cheap and filling.

She discovered that Jack's wife had found out he had been involved with another woman and couldn't take it. She was already depressed and that sent her over the edge. She took her life one sunny afternoon and it was Jack who found her. She could tell Jack was very broken up about it.

They talked about her being in the Navy and winning the Navy Cross, Silver Star and two Purple Hearts. "That's a lot of weight on one little chest. It's a shame your parents aren't alive to see it."

She agreed and they talked about loss. He seemed to really understand how much she missed her sister and her parents. They shared a lot about death and loss.

"What about your boyfriend? Is he supportive?"

"He's an odd duck. Sometimes he's very supportive and sometimes he tells me to get over it, that I can't bring her back. And he's right, I can't."

"He sounds a little prickly to me."

"Yes, but he's also good to me and now that I'm pregnant, he's been incredibly good to me."

"Does your boyfriend want the baby?"

"He seems to. Got to go...see you Jack."

Jack smiled and waved at her as she left. "Bye Murphy."

Murphy had told Lisa that she had overstayed her welcome. She had been with Lisa for over a month now although Lisa had only been there the last two weeks. Lisa was having a blast with Murphy. Murphy was funny and cynical and easy to get along with. Lisa realized that House would be an idiot to lose Murphy.

"You don't have to move out if you don't want to."

"I gave my tenants notice that I was moving back into the house. They're going to let me buy out their lease, they want to get something closer to Trenton. If I give them $500 to help move then they're gone and I can move back into my own house. I realized that I'm going to need a bigger place than Greg's anyway. I have decided that I am going to have the baby but I'm not making any decisions about Greg yet. I get to move in next weekend."

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that you're going to have the baby. We all are curious as to what a House baby will be like. But I am so glad that you'll be raising it and not me!"

"Gee thanks." Murphy rolled her eyes.

"Has House gone with you to your appointments?"

"Not since the second one. I forget to tell him about them until it's too late and he's doing something already. I did put him on notice of the next one and hopefully he'll show up."

"Do his parents know?"

"I haven't told them yet because of the uncertainty but we will soon, I think."

When she saw Jack at the Student Union he was reading a newspaper. He mentioned that he had just bought a used truck.

"Oh, I could use a truck this weekend, I have a lot of stuff to move from storage to my house."

"Won't your boyfriend help you?"

"He's got a bum leg and this weekend he's going to a jazz festival with his buddy. I moved it by myself, I can move it back."

"Does he know you're doing this?"

"Nah, if I told him he would freak out and go ballistic."

"Look I have something to do in the afternoon but I'll help take a load or two over in the morning if you want me to."

"Jack, that's very nice but I hate to take advantage of your kindness."

"Please, it's just a couple of hours of my time."

"Oh wow, great, if you could help me with the heavier stuff, I can get the smaller stuff by myself. "

"Fine, just tell me where and when."

Murphy gave Jack the storage facility address and asked that he meet her there at 8:00 a.m. They parted and Murphy gave him a wave of thanks as she left the student union."

On Saturday Murphy spent the night with Greg and packed him and Wilson off to the jazz festival at 7:00 a.m. The festival was three hours away and started at 9:00 a.m. It just so happened that one of Wilson's favorite jazz trumpeters was going to sing at 10 a.m. After sending them on their way, Murphy grabbed some water and left for the storage facility."

She was happy to see that Jack was already there ready to go. He brought her a smoothie and she was chuffed. He was funny as they were loading the truck and she thought she was going to pee her pants. He was making fun of some of her stuff and she had to admit she had an eclectic choice of junk in her life. There was a life-size cardboard cutout of Jean Luc Piccard, given to her by some of the guys in Germany, a flock of pink plastic flamingos and a collection of Star Trek action figures.

When they got to her house, Jack helped her move in the chest of drawers, the bed and other heavier items. "I wish we had another strong back, I don't like the idea of you moving heavy things while you are pregnant." Jack told her.

"You're doing the lion's share of the work! It's ok, after this piece the rest is easy."

They got the last of the heavy things into the house and she handed Jack a beer. They talked for a few minutes and then he had to take off. Murphy moved the rest of her things into the house and then drove to House's apartment to get the rest. She left some clothes and toiletries but got her pots and pans, uniforms and the pictures she had on the night stand.

House got home late that night and looked in the bedroom but she wasn't there. House was disappointed. He had hoped she'd be in the bed. He turned on the light and noticed that her photos were gone. He opened up the chest of drawers and noticed that most of the clothing was missing. He sat down on the bed and looked around and thought about it. She had mentioned briefly that the tenants were moving out of her house, but he hadn't realized that what she meant was that she was moving into the house. He brushed his teeth, got undress and got into bed. He had trouble getting to sleep at first, he had really wanted to cuddle up to her, but eventually he went to sleep.