Chapter 7
A/N: yay, thankyou for the reviews! Oh I love ya all! I am such a review whore – whenever I check my emails and there's a review alert, I always wait till last to read it, just to make it extra special! Yes, I am obsessed. By the way, it's my website's 6 month anniversary today, and has been revamped – so feel free to check it out!
So many reviews! GallopGirl, Jojo, Smiling4eva, TNIIT, QT Roo, Princess-Leasel, prinnie, StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy, BookwormKiwi, you all rock my jocks! It's great to know that more people are reading my story and enjoying it.
This is another kinda-long chapter (yay!), so enjoy, and do take the time to review at the end.
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Cuddy walked out of her office, handbag slung over her shoulder at the end of another long business day. She let the door shut behind her as she lifted her eyes to see an unusual hush come across the nightshift nurses. They all looked at her simultaneously, obviously having been talking about her only moments before. Cuddy was used to hospital gossip – she got a full work up on it from her assistant everyday. But never before had she beared the full brunt of it. For once, the gossip was about her, and this was something she was very uncomfortable with. They all knew about her daughter, and they knew that she had kept her motherhood a secret for so many years. She knew what they were thinking. She knew they were all judging her, and all wondering how she could be so ashamed of her children that she would omit them from every conversation she had for 20 years. After all, had the roles been reversed, she would be secretly interested under her seemingly nonchalant mask.
She gave a forced smile and a quick acknowledging nod – she would normally say a warm 'goodnight' - before high tailing it out of the clinic. She let out a deep relived sigh as the clinic doors shut behind her, muffling the loud whispers of the gossiping nurses. She gave herself a moment to regroup, before striding confidently towards the front of the hospital. She stopped suddenly and almost tripped over as a cane – which could only belong to one person – appeared unexpectedly and horizontally at her waist height.
"House!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"I noticed one extra red and white striped piece of hospital chow today," House replied, lowering his cane and ignoring her question.
"What's your point?"
"Everyone's talking about how 'Dr Cuddy forced her daughter to become a candy striper. How horrible!' Even I am surprised that you would subject your own offspring to such blatant abuse and condescension. But then again, you are an evil dictator," House prattled.
"The issue is between Emily and me," Cuddy said matter-of-factly.
"And the whole hospital," House added. "Oh, I'm sorry; did you forget that the nursing staff believes everyone's business is their business?"
"House, what exactly do you want?" Cuddy asked with a frustrated sigh.
"A straight answer," he replied.
"Huh. Irony," Cuddy muttered.
"What is going on in that little self-loathing world of yours?" House asked, peering down at Cuddy with analytical eyes.
"Excuse me?" she said, recoiling back for a moment, surprised by the suddenness and impulsiveness of the question, as well as the seemingly unintentional closeness between them that House had created.
"Not once today did you bust my balls for clinic duty, or anything else for that matter. Now usually, I would relish in life's little joys and treasures such as that, but not today. You are avoiding me, Cuddy," he said accusingly.
"Wh… why would I avoid you?" Cuddy stammered, trying to be confident in her comeback.
"Pssh," House replied, leaning back, and twirling his cane in the air dramatically. Cuddy stared at him, waiting for a response. He looked her in the eye, and faltered for a reason.
"Okay, so I haven't figured out why yet. But I will. I'm a diagnostician, I am paid to observe and analyze," he said, leaning heavily on his cane, in a faux-casual manner.
"You're also paid to do paperwork and clinic duty, but you never seem to find time for that," Cuddy quipped back. House rolled his eyes and clutched at his chest dramatically. He then took a moment to stare probingly into Cuddy's eyes, a move that made her suddenly very uncomfortable. It was as if he were trying to uncover all her lifetime of secrets in one single stare. She broke his unnerving gaze, and headed for the doors.
"Goodnight Dr House," she said pointedly, quickly escaping out the doors before House had a chance to reply.
Cuddy walked across the carpark, the incident with House still on her mind. Sometimes she just could not figure him out. It didn't take long for her to reach her car – after all, she was the Dean of Medicine, and had the prime parking space. Of course, her daughter was already leaning against the car waiting for her.
"You got changed fast," Cuddy commented, noticing Emily had changed out of her candy striper uniform.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to stay in the red and white forever, mom," Emily replied sourly, arms crossed.
"Oh, I was hoping we could go door knocking to show the neighbourhood your new occupation," Cuddy quipped. Emily rolled her eyes, and Cuddy fished for her keys in her purse, pulling out the remote and unlocking the car. Emily opened the passenger door and got inside, with Cuddy not far behind on the drivers side. Cuddy sighed as she got herself comfortable in the seat, passing her handbag off to Emily.
"So," she said, placing the keys in the ignition, "tomorrow is the first Saturday I've had off in ages, what do you want to do? I was thinking we'd jogging in the morning, then do some shopping – I need new shoes, and I know you can always find something new to buy as long as I'm paying. Maybe get facials in the afternoon, then rent some DVDs and order takeout. After all, you've been home for over a week and we've hardly had any time to spend together."
"Way to anally plan the day," Emily said with a roll of her eyes, but then realized a little thing she hadn't yet told her mother about.
"Oh yeah, about that… I don't think we're gonna have time to fit it all in," she cringed.
"Of course we will, you know I can always find a way," Cuddy replied.
"No, it's not that… it's just… we're gonna be kinda busy tomorrow anyway."
"Why?"
"Well… as you know, the school year is now over and -"
"No," Cuddy said disbelievingly.
"Yes. Anna is coming home," Emily replied.
"I would've thought she'd hide away at Linda's like she did last holidays," Cuddy commented.
"Well, I talked her out of it. And I think she misses you," Emily added.
Cuddy scoffed, "Yeah, that's likely."
"Either way, she's arriving obscenely early, and will probably demand most of our day," Emily replied.
"How early?" Cuddy asked.
"Like 10am," Emily said with disdain, and Cuddy rolled her eyes.
"Well there's still time for a jog," she replied, slowing the car as they reached a red light.
"With you there's always time for a jog," Emily retorted. Cuddy gave a disapproving look, but then still let out a smile in spite of herself as the traffic light turned green. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, riding smoothly down the road, both casually contemplating the thoughts that ran through their heads. As they turned into the familiar setting of their street, Cuddy broke the silence.
"So… she's coming home willingly?" she asked.
"I never said willingly," Emily replied, evoking a small pout from Cuddy.
"But she's still coming home," Cuddy reassured herself. There's hope yet.
00
Anna Cuddy nervously tapped the steering wheel as she drove through the suburban streets she once called home. She took one last drag of her burned down cigarette before putting it out on the ashtray to her right. After pushing her dark sunglasses up the ridge of her nose, she reached down to the pack for another cigarette, lighting it as she tried to focus on the road, and the tape she was listening to at the same time.
"Now repeat after me," the soothing male voice called through the speakers, "I am in charge of my own destiny."
"I am in charge of my own destiny," Anna repeated emphatically, taking a puff of her inhaler before moving the new cigarette up to her lips.
"My life is completely within my control."
"My life is completely within my control," she duplicated, nodding her head ardently, cigarette sitting precariously between her lips.
"Nothing happens by chance, but by only what I -"
"Shit!" Anna cursed, as the cigarette fell from her lips onto her lap. She immediately looked down, desperately trying to find it, feeling it burn her lap. Taking her eyes off the road however, did not prove a great idea, and she swerved into the on coming traffic. She managed to grab the cigarette just in time for a passing car to blare its horn at her. She stuck her head up and blasted her horn right back, moving to the correct side of the road.
"Crap," she muttered, placing the cigarette in the ashtray and trying to dust off her pants at the same time. All this kafuffle had caused her to loose her bearings, and before she knew it, she was outside the house she grew up in. She grabbed her puffer, taking another deep, long puff, before speeding up the driveway of the family home. She didn't get far though - her mother's car was only halfway up the drive - so the trailer Anna was hauling ended up blocking off the sidewalk. She roughly turned off the ignition and took one last drag on the half-lit cigarette, before fully putting it out, and opening the car door. The front door of the house opened, and out rushed Emily in shorts and a tank top, a wide smile on her face. Anna closed the car door and turned to see her sister standing on the edge of the driveway, smile fading.
"You're blocking the sidewalk," she commented, flicking her long low ponytail over her shoulder.
"Screw the sidewalk," Anna griped, angrily pushing her sunglasses up her nose, and moving around the side of the car.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Emily replied playfully with a mock-angry face.
"Ugh, don't taunt me with the happiness. Where is she?" Anna asked, leaning against the passenger side door, deliberately keeping her distance from Emily.
"Inside. Well? Don't just stand there, embrace me," Emily smiled, holding out her arms. Anna left her post at the car, and willing accepted her sister's hug.
"Oh, I missed ya sis," Emily said, squeezing Anna tightly, much to the darker haired twin's discomfort.
"It's not like we haven't talked," Anna mumbled.
"But it's not the same," Emily replied, rubbing Anna's back lovingly and extending the embrace a lot longer than was necessary. Finally, Anna managed to pull away, and gave a half-assed smile instead.
"Oh please, you can do better than that," Emily complained of Anna's poor attempt at amiability.
"Sorry. I'm not exactly looking forward to… going inside," Anna replied, gesturing towards the door.
"Hmm," Emily concurred. She took a step back and looked her sister up and down.
"Anna, you have got to add some more color to your wardrobe," she said, noticing Anna's dark jeans, black shirt and dark glasses.
"I'll go out and buy my fluro pink mini skirt tomorrow," Anna replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"And you should do something with your hair," Emily said, taking some of Anna's half down curly hair in her hand, only to have her hand slapped away.
"My hair is fine. And would you stop criticizing me please? I'm gonna get enough of that from mom," Anna sulked, and Emily pouted.
"Why on earth do you have a trailer, and why is it blocking the sidewalk?" Cuddy commented, stepping out the front door and walking towards the twins.
"And so it begins," Anna muttered.
"That's what I told her, and her answer was a very mature 'screw the sidewalk'," Emily replied, turning her head to speak to her mother, evoking an eye roll from Cuddy.
"Kiss-ass," Anna whispered at her sister.
"And I assume you're gonna expect us to haul all your stuff inside, too," Cuddy said, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms.
"Hi mom," Anna said dryly.
"Hello Anna," Cuddy replied just as dryly.
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A/N: "And so it begins" INDEED! This is where all the juicy stuff starts, and we start to find out about what caused all that awkwardness between mother and daughter.
Coming up next… while Emily makes a connection with one duckling, she has a confrontation with another, and tension builds between Anna and Cuddy.