Sorry this has taken so long yet again. I've had loads of deadlines creating websites,music videos and writing scripts. I thought my course was going to be easy...they lied. When I did have time to write I was either thinking in terms of a script or had writer's block. Thanks for the reviews and for sticking with me even though I suck at updating. Hope you like this chapter...it has been doing my head in a little bit...

Also, I know nothing about British law let alone American law so it's either what I got from TV or just guess work and common sense

The drive to the police station had been an unbearably silent one. House had insisted on driving on driving and Cuddy had welcomed the opportunity to sit and think about her options. If she reported Michael, would House's reaction be justified or would he get arrested for assault too? That was even assuming anyone believed her…Cuddy rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger, attempting to relieve some of the pressure building up behind them. Then there was Thomas to think about. How could she explain to her son that his father couldn't see him because he was in jail? Or why House couldn't stay and put him to bed after a visit because of the tag around his ankle? She shook the thoughts from her head as House pulled in to the parking lot at the police station. She sat there, staring at the building sure of her decision.

House sat silently, waiting for Cuddy to get out of the car and head into the police station. He just wanted her part to over so he could concentrate on what he was going to do for himself.

"You going in?" He asked, the silence and the wait becoming almost too painful.

Cuddy shook her head. "No."

"No?"

"No."

House quirked an eyebrow in confusion. "Why not?"

Cuddy turned to look at him. "Wilson told me about what Michael said." She watched as his expression went from confused to understanding as he then turned his back to looking straight ahead.

"You need to tell the police."

Cuddy eyed him curiously. "Since when did self sacrifice become one of your personality traits?" She asked him.

House turned to look at her, a stern expression on his face. "When you gave birth to my son."

Cuddy gaped for all of a second before tears began to fill her eyes. She knew how much House loved Alex and that he would do anything for him, but she had never heard him say it in as many words. This was the closest he had come to saying what he felt as opposed to showing it and she felt overwhelmed with emotion.

House rolled his eyes at her emotional display and heaved a sigh. "Crying doesn't become you, Cuddy. Now just go in there and do what you have to do." He reached out to unbuckle her seatbelt in the hope that she would just get it over and done with but Cuddy seemed to have different plans. She reached out for his hand and held on to it, giving it a slight squeeze and waiting for House's eyes to travel up her arm to meet her teary gaze.

"I'm not going to speak to the police, House. I won't do it to you. I won't do it to Alex and I certainly won't do it to Wilson." House huffed in amusement and Cuddy smiled. "I couldn't do it to myself either. I don't know how I would have done this without your help. It's not just Alex that needs you. I need you too."

The pair sat in silence for a few moments before House finally broke the intense eye contact to look straight ahead, removing his hand from her grip in the process.

"Cuddy, what I did was stupid. I didn't think before I round there and beating the shit out of that bastard. I'm not the knight in shining armour type. I made things worse," he turned to look her in the eye. "You shouldn't have to keep protecting me." He said quietly.

"You're right. I shouldn't. You should be protecting us like you've been doing so far but you can't do that if Michael presses charges."

"Cuddy – "

Cuddy raised a had to silence him. "House, I've made a decision. I'm not going to put any of us in that position. So, for once, just give up."

House closed his mouth and hung his head, his mind trying to come up with some kind of argument to get Cuddy to talk to the police. He looked up and held her gaze. She'd made up her mind and there was no way of changing that. If it was hospital business, there was no doubt in House's mind that he could talk her into his way of thinking. This on the other hand, was a lot harder than he had originally thought. He made a mental note to speak to Wilson later about his big mouth. He was, however, internally grateful but at the same time he was annoyed with himself for acting first and thinking later.

"What are you going to do then?" he asked reluctantly.

Cuddy gave him a warm smile. "I'll call Marcus when we get back and get him out of my life – our lives – for good." She was smiling broadly and House allowed himself to return her grin, even if only for a second. If he had thought first, then Cuddy could be sure that Michael would be out of their lives for good. As it was, she was now going to have to assume that Michael would leave her alone once the divorce had gone through.

"What makes you think that he's going to stay out of your life?" He asked voicing his concerns.

"There is no guarantee but at least I know that I won't have to deal with him alone."

House avoided making eye contact with Cuddy, her words making him feel slightly uncomfortable and self conscious. He would be there to support her for as long as she and Alex needed him but having people that weren't Wilson acknowledge that made him feel uneasy. He sighed and reached for the key still in the ignition.

"Are you sure you don't want to do this? He tried one last time.

Cuddy nodded. "I'd hate for you to become someone's bitch." She said with a smirk. House tried his best to glare at her but couldn't hide how relieved he was. "Now drive."

__

The bed was empty when House woke up the next morning. He rolled over to check the time, reaching for his pill bottle at the same time. 09:37. He swallowed a pill and gave a yawn as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched. He rubbed a hand over his face as he tried to gather his bearings. He briefly remembered Cuddy trying to wake him up earlier but he had let out a groan, rolled over and placed a pillow over his head. He knew that letting her stay would mean she would try and get him to go to work earlier.

With another yawn, he pushed himself to his feet and made his way to the bathroom for a shower. Apart from their talk in the car, yesterday had been pretty uneventful. They had stopped off at the grocery store so that Cuddy could get food she figured was more suitable to feed a five year old than what was in his cupboards were currently stocked with, then went back home where Cuddy started cooking a Sunday lunch. Wilson had stayed all day and Alex was practically dizzy from the excitement of spending the day with his mom, dad and Uncle Jimmy. Eventually the excitement had become too much for him to handle and eventually ended with him throwing up, which Cuddy blamed on House for letting him eat too much ice cream, and had to go to bed early, leaving House, Cuddy and Wilson to discuss the current situation and for an argument to break out over the size of Wilson's mouth.

House got out of the shower and dressed quickly before leaving his home heading to the hospital. His team had tried to call him twice and left a message about a new patient. It sounded like a total snooze fest so he figured the patient would live until he made it to the hospital so he decided to take the scenic route on his bike so he could think. Although he didn't want charges pressed against him, he knew that the best thing Cuddy could have done was to speak to the police. Or at least get a restriction order out on the guy/. But she was just as stubborn as he was outside of the hospital.

Eventually House made it to his office. He dropped his bag on the desk and made his way to the empty conference room. He briefly glanced at the symptoms written on the board and made himself a cup of coffee before taking a seat at the glass table opposite the white board and pulling a case file towards him. He scanned through the pages before deducing that his team were indeed the idiots he constantly told them they were. The patient just needed some B12 but the idiots were doing a tox screen and an MRI. House smirked over his coffee cup and heaved himself to his feet. Jerking them around for a bit would divert their attention away from the cuts and bruises on his face and perhaps relieve some of the stress he'd been having these past few days. Speaking of stress, he placed his mug in the sink and left the room, making a call to the nurse's station on his cell to arrange for a banana bag to be hung for the patient with the strict orders not to tell his team. With a smirk, he entered the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor.

__

"I believe you, Lisa. But you have no evidence if he decides he wants to bring adultery to the table."

Cuddy's shoulders dropped slightly at the news. Marcus Fitz was one of the best lawyers in Princeton and, luckily for her, a close friend.

"Your best bet is to go to the police and get a report filed." He continued.

"Marcus, I already told you, I'm not going to the police. There's too much at stake."

"There's more at stake if you don't go." He gave a short sigh as she glared at him and looked through his notes. "If he tells his lawyer that he thinks you were sleeping with someone else during the marriage, the split will be seen as your fault and you may risk losing the house. Greg didn't make things any better either…"

"But what's done is done so give her advice she can use."

The pair looked up, slightly startled at House's sudden appearance. He had seen them talking and so had let himself in as quietly as possible and had caught the tail end of Marcus' words.

"Marcus." House greeted curtly.

"Greg." Marcus replied, matching his tone.

Cuddy smirked at the two men feigning indifference to one another. All their greetings had begun this way. Cuddy had known Marcus since college and when he had been offered partnership at a firm in Princeton, Cuddy had taken him out to dinner and House had turned up, hoping to ruin another date. Cuddy had taken a great pleasure in seeing House's face when Marcus made a move on him.

"Is that a pill bottle in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?" Marcus asked with a wink.

"Wilson started something he couldn't finish and I heard you were in the building so…" House retaliated with a shrug, sitting beside Cuddy on the sofa.

"Would you two like some privacy or can we get back to the situation in hand?" Cuddy asked. The two men raised their eyebrows at her double entandrè and she rolled her eyes. "Grow up." As much as she enjoyed listening to their innuendo filled banter, she did want to find out exactly where she stood with the divorce.

Marcus cleared his throat. "As I was saying before I was distracted by false promises…" He and House shared a smirk before both becoming serious again. "If he doesn't bring up adultery or the assault then we're looking at a fifty/fifty split. There's not really much I can do until I serve him with papers and hear from his lawyer." He looked at his watch and began to gather his papers together.

"That's it?" House asked. "You get paid obscene amounts of money and don't even do anything."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Cuddy said, glaring at him as he childishly poked his tongue out at her. She turned back to Marcus. "He was still at the house on Saturday so you may as well send the papers there…"

"Marcus raised an eyebrow. "So you're staying with House?" Cuddy glanced at House and he gave a short nod. She was going to stay with her parents but if he didn't mind then wasn't going to argue. "Looks like I've got a reason to visit more," he smirked.

"You should visit anyway." Cuddy told him sternly. "Alex hasn't seen you in months."

"I know. I'll take him out this weekend but right now, I have another appointment to get to." He and Cuddy stood from their seats to say goodbye. As he got to the door, he turned to address House one last time. "Net time, I expect you to put out."

"Buy me dinner first." House retorted and with a chuckle, Marcus left the room.

Cuddy moved over to her desk to do go through some of the files that were piled up on her desk, momentarily forgetting House was still in the room until he moved to stand over her desk, casting a shadow over her paperwork. Slowly, her eyes moved from his shadow to his body and eventually his face.

"So…" He started, sitting down in one of the chairs opposite her.

Cuddy looked down at the pile of paperwork on her desk then back up at House and let out a sigh. "If he brings up the affair he thinks we're having then I may lose the house and…" Cuddy took a deep breath before she spoke again. "He could also ask for regular visits to see Alex – "

"Not a chance!" House replied, anger surging though his body. "That bastard is NOT going anywhere near Alex." He went into his jacket pocket and pulled out his bottle of vicodin, pouring one into his palm and throwing it to the back of his throat.

"I know. I don't like it either. That's why I have Marcus, to make sure that never happens. If Michael thinks that he was a big part in Alex's life – which for three years, he was – he can try to get some kind of regular visitation rights."

House stood from his seat, a hand extended in front of him. "Ya'see, this is why you should have spoken to the police. That way, we would've known that you would get the house and he wouldn't have any contact with Alex what-so-ever."

"House, I told you, I'm not going to the police. Marcus is one of the best and he will do all he can to make sure Michael is not allowed anywhere near us. Now, I have a lot of work to do and no doubt you have some you want to avoid so if you don't mind..." Cuddy nodded in the direction of the door and pulled a file from the top of the pile, looking through it briefly before signing it, adding it to a different pile and then pulling a new file in front of her. House frowned, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to get more from her, no matter how hard he tried.

"We'll talk later." He told her and stood up, making his way to the door. He looked back at her, glaring at the top of her head when he noticed that she didn't appear to acknowledge his words. He pulled open the door and made his way back to his office. What he needed now was to screw with some people and luckily there were four of them waiting in his office right now.

__

"We wasted time and money conducting unnecessary tests for a B12 deficiency all because you were bored." Foreman shook his head and rose from his seat.

House shrugged as his fellows looked at him incredulously. "Dull weekend." He lied, making his way into office.

"I'll be in the clinic."

House sat at his desk, swinging his legs up on the table, a smile on his face as his employees left the conference room passing Wilson on their way to the elevator.

"What did you do?" Wilson asked as he entered the room and occupied the seat in front of the desk.

House gave a small shrug and placed his hands behind his head as he leant back in the chair. "They couldn't recognise a simple B12 deficiency…"

"…so you jerked them around for a bit." Wilson finished, shaking his head with a smile as House nodded. "So…did you speak to Cuddy?" He asked, suddenly becoming serious.

House glared at his friend for a moment then gave a soft shake of his head. "Her lawyer was here earlier."

Wilson waited for him to continue and frowned when he didn't. "Well…what did they say?"

House lowered his arms and removed his feet from the desk, pulling himself to the table and resting his forearms on the surface. He looked down at the table for a moment then looked at Wilson. "He could tell his lawyer that Cuddy was having an affair – "

"With you?!" Wilson interrupted incredulously.

House rolled his eyes. "Does it matter who?"

"Wait, you aren't actually having an affair are you?"

"You're an idiot. I'm not sleeping with Cuddy. And she's not having an affair. He just thinks we are – "

"But you're not." Wilson interrupted again.

"No. We're not." House let out a sigh as Wilson gave a nod apparently satisfied by the answer. "I'm guessing I don't have to explain to you what happens in a divorce if adultery's involved."

Wilson shook his head and leaned back in his chair eyeing House curiously. "There's something else you're not telling me…" House narrowed his eyes. "Oh my God. You are having an affair. That explains why you let her stay – "

"No." House interrupted. "Her being the mother of my child explains why I let her, and my son, stay. We're not sleeping together." House turned his chair to the computer and opened up his web browser.

Wilson continued to stare at him. "There is something else though."

House let his head drop forward before turning back to face the annoying oncologist. "He could claim he had some kind of fatherly role with Alex and ask for regular visitation."

Wilson's mouth hung open. "But…He…I mean…Can he do that?"

"I just said so, didn't I?" House turned his attention back to the screen. He wasn't doing anything in particular, just looking for a distraction.

"So what are you going to do?" Wilson asked, recovering from his initial shock.

House's jaw tightened. "There's nothing I can do. If you hadn't told Cuddy about what he said, then she would have reported him and he wouldn't be able to go anywhere near Alex or Cuddy – "

Wilson held up a hand defensively and stood from his seat. "You're scared, I get it. But my keeping you from adding to your criminal record is a good thing." He walked towards the door and turned back to his friend. "Just be there for her, House. She's going to need you."