I was hoping to have this up last week but things have been getting in the way. From friends' birthdays to driving lessons and even a dislocated knee (yep, mine. Turns out drinking 'til you can't stand up without help is a bad idea. Who knew?). As well as getting stuff ready to move back to uni next month. I can't make any promises for the next chapter but I know what's gonna happen so it shouldn't take as long as this did.
Thanks for the reviews and everything and sticking with me. Again, I know nothing about US law and everything here came from looking through law sites.
Michael just sat and stared at her for a few moments as though trying to figure out what to say before he stood up. When Cuddy took a step back and shot him a glare he hung his head and took his seat on the steps once more.
"I miss you, Lisa. You and Alex. It's so quiet around the house and…" He looked up at her and noticed the frown marring her features. "I keep thinking over that weekend…and it makes me sick."
"You and me both." Cuddy said with more venom in her tone than she felt.
Michael nodded. "I promised you that I would never lay a finger on you in anger again but I did and I hate myself for it." He took a deep breath as his voice started to shake.
"I have no excuses for behaving the way I did – do. I didn't have a disruptive childhood. My dad was the best husband my mum could have asked for and he would turn in his grave if he knew how I was treating you. I wasn't bullied at school…"
Cuddy watched him as his head dropped to watch his hands resting in his lap. Her anger was currently battling with her feeling of sympathy as she looked at the top of his head. He had hit her – more than once – and she was feeling sorry for him? She shook her head. No, she wasn't going to let him in to manipulate her anymore than he already had.
"I'm not interested in your justifications," Cuddy said causing Michael to look up. "Just…sign the divorce papers so we can all move on." She turned away from him and moved back to the door but stopped when she heard his voice.
"I need you." Cuddy tensed as she sensed movement behind her. "I love you and I need you." Michael placed a hand on her arm and turned her to face him, looking into her eyes. "Please, just give me one more chance."
He moved his hand up to her face caressing her cheek briefly before moving his fingers to tangle in her hair, his thumb caressing the skin in her temple.
"Please." His voice was hoarse and his eyes glistened with tears as Cuddy looked up into them. "Just one more chance."
Cuddy could feel tears welling up in her own eyes. She married this man because she loved him. She closed her eyes as a tear escaped and rolled down her cheek before shaking her head.
Opening her eyes, she pulled away from him. "No. I won't keep putting myself through this. I deserve better."
"He's better?" Michael asked incredulously. "We're good together. I love you and I can tell you still love me. I can make this better…"
"You need to leave, Michael. I just need to call him," she pointed to the door before continuing, "and he'll be out here trying to kill you. Again."
"Please – "
Cuddy took a step back, interrupting him. "Just sign the papers and move on. Get some help so that you don't put someone else through this pain." And with that Cuddy turned the door handle and disappeared inside the apartment, leaving Michael stood pitifully in the hall.
__
"What's for dinner?" House asked as soon as Cuddy walked through the door. He had listened to their entire conversation and heard nothing that he felt he needed to quiz her on.
Wilson turned from his place next to Alex on the couch and threw a glare at his friend.
"Is he going to sign the papers?" He asked, turning to regard Cuddy.
"I don't know." Cuddy sighed and moved round the couch to sit beside Alex.
House watched as she sat down and moved her arm around the young boy who instantly moved closer while still watching television.
"What did Marcus say about it?" He asked as he moved to sit in the arm chair by the sofa.
"We'll have to go to court," Cuddy replied not taking her eyes off the top of Alex's head as she ran her fingers through his hair.
Wilson looked at House to gauge his reaction to this new piece of information. When nothing else was said between the two of them, he checked the time on his watch and stood up.
"I should get back to the hospital. There're some appointments that I need to re-schedule and patients - want to check on before I go home. See ya kiddo." He said as he held his hand out, palm up, in front of Alex who looked up at him and smiled broadly before bringing his hand down onto Wilson's.
"Bye uncle James."
Cuddy looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you for everything, James."
"No problem." He grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch and looked towards House who was still had his eyes on Cuddy and Alex. When the older man said nothing in way of thanks he spoke up. "See you tomorrow, House."
House looked up at Wilson who was now standing with the door open looking back at him. He gave the oncologist a slight nod before turning back to the pair on the couch and returning to his thoughts.
It was some time later when Alex stated he was hungry that House and Cuddy snapped out of the dark thoughts thta had pagued them since they realised Michael had taken their son.
__
"Where're you going?"
Cuddy jumped as House appeared to come out of no where just as she was leaving her office.
"Do you have to creep around like that?" She asked.
"The cane makes creeping up on people a little hard don't you think." He stated facetiously. Cuddy rolled her eyes at his comment and continued walking.
House followed her not letting up. He had no idea where she was going but he knew that wherever it was he'd be going with her.
"House," Cuddy said stopping just outside the clinic's doors and turning to face him. House nearly walked right into her and the pair were now standing in their most common position; toe to toe. "Your clinic hours started fifteen minutes ago. Go finish them." She began to walk to the main hospital doors again and sighed when she heard the repetitve thud of his cane from behind her and realised that he was going to be going with her whether she liked it or not.
"It's too early to pick up Alex." He said looking at his watch. Although he wouldn't blame her if she wanted to wait outside after everything that had happened th"So are you gonna tell me where're we going?" House asked nonchalantly as though he hadn't just invited himself along.
Cuddy let out a sigh and got in her car, waiting for him to join her before starting the car and pulling out of her spot.
"Marcus called. He still hasn't received the papers so I'm - or we're - going over there now to discuss what happens next."
She spared him a quick glance to gauge hid reaction before turning her attention back to the road.
House was silent for a moment, mulling over this new piece of information.
He didn't know what other options were available other than going to Cuddy's place and beating the crap out of him until he agreed to sign the papers and leave for good. After what happened the last time though, he figured wading in there fists first probably wouldn't help Cuddy no matter how much of a good idea it seemed.
"What are the other options?" He asked after a while.
Cuddy gave him another glance as she turned on to the exit ramp leading to Marcus' office. "That's why Marcus asked me to go and see him, so we can discuss things." She said in a 'duh' tone.
House rolled his eyes at her blatant sarcasm and rolled his cane between his palms as he looked down at his feet. He'd assumed that Marcus had given her more information over the phone. He had finished with a patient and was grabbing a new chart when he looked into her office and saw her on the phone, exasperation evident in her demeanor. He had then watched as she hung up and rose from her desk, grabbing her jacket from her coat stand and discussing something with her assistant. Just the fact that she hadn't noticed him watching her and then appear beside her told him that there was something more to this.
"What did Marcus say when you spoke to him?" House asked.
Cuddy bit her lip and continued to concentrate on the road. She wasn't sure why she was choosing to tell him. He was going to find out once they got to their destination.
She let out a sigh and turned into the road on which her friend's law firm stood, looking for a parking space. Once she was parked not too far away from the building, she turned to face House before speaking.
"Marcus said something about how I might have to go to court and getting a judge involved." She didn't wait for his response and instead got out of the car and waited for him to follow suit so she could lock the doors behind him.
After he had done so, Cuddy walked the ten or so meters to the doors of the office building and walked inside, holding the door open behind her for House to catch up.
They walked into a vast lobby and was greeted by a young man sat at a large semi circular desk.
"Can I help you?" He asked with a smile on his face.
Cuddy returned the smile and answered. "We're here to see Marcus Fitz. I'm Lisa Cuddy and this is Greg House."
"Doctor." House interjected. "And can I just say how refreshing it is to see a male receptionist. You don't see many nowadays." He said with an incincere smile, flinching slightly when Cuddy slapped in him on the arm.
"Shut. Up." She warned.
The receptionist gave a thin lipped smile to the scruffy man stood before him and turned to address Cuddy. "Doctor Cuddy. Mr Fitz is expecting you. Please go straight up." He pointed across the lobby to the the elevators that would take them up to Marcus' floor. "The thirty ninth floor."
"Thank you." Cuddy smiled at young man and pushed House towards the elevator.
Once they were inside and Cuddy had pressed the button for Marcus' floor, house studied her profile. Looking at the nervousness on her face. He didn't understand why she was trying to avoid hearing his opinion on the idea of having to go to court. In his mind, that was the only other option to get the divorce. He was certain a judge would immediately grant the divorce and then state that Michael had just wasted his time.
They stepped out into another lobby, this one had small offices with glass walls along the left hand side and in the middle of the room were about a dozen desks almost all of which currently occupied by people reading through notes or typing up information. A woman exited one of the offices, laden with files and she made her way to the photocopier in the far corner of the lobby. Cuddy made her way down to the last desk where another young man was sitting currently typing at his computer. He looked up as House and Cuddy approached him and gave them a smile.
"Doctor Cuddy. Mr Fitz is on the phone right now but he said to send you straight in." He stood and led them down to a set of double doors not too far from where he was working.
Once they reached Marcus' office, the tall man knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter.
"Come in!"
He opened the door and ushered the pair inside offering an incincere smile to House as he passed him. Marcus was sitting at his desk with his phone cradled against his ear and scribbling something in a notepad in front of him. He looked up briefly, slightly surprised to see House, and gestured for them to sit while he mouthed a quick apology before speaking down the phone.
"Well, I'm going to need that evidence by this evening so I can go over it by tomorrow...If he is hiding some of his income then I need that evidence today...Okay then...yes...I have to go now, Mrs Dawson, my next client has arrived. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
"You look like you need to get laid." House said as he looked at the exhaustion on the other man's face.
"Is that an offer?" Marcus replied with a smirk.
"You seem to have enough men working with you. Surely one fo them will do some nasty things for a pay rise. That's what she does," he pointed to Cuddy, "when she's in stressed out."
"House!" Cuddy exclaimed.
"So that's why you're the best paid doctor in that hospital."
"Marcus!"
House and Marcus exchanged smirks at Cuddy's anger as well as their at their jokes.
Cuddy let out a sigh as the two men seemed to completely forget that she was in the room and joke about her imaginary sex life woith House.
"How about we discuss what we came here for."
With a smile still on his face, Marcus flicked through his notepad until he found the page he was looking for while House leaned back in his chair smirking at the exasperated look on Cuddy's face.
Marcus looked up a small smile on his lips as he got down to business. "As I said on the phone, I think we're gonna have to get a judge to oversee things."
"How will that work?" Cuddy asked.
"It'll be a case of us meeting with him and his lawyer and talking things out in front of a judge."
"Why bother?" Both Marcus and Cuddy looked at House, confused expressions on their faces. He continued. "I'll go round there this evening and sort the whole thing out. He'll have some fresh injuries but the papers will be signed."
"House, if you don't have anything constructive to say shut up." Cuddy hissed while Marcus gave him a smirk.
"Get those gladiator fantasies out of your head and stop picturing me naked." House told Marcus ignoring what Cuddy was saying.
Marcus opened his mouth to reply when a glare from Cuddy made him look down avoiding looking at either of them.
"As much as Greg carrying out alpha male heroics is a huge turn on," he looked up, "I think we should stick to the law when it comes to these kinds of things."
"Do you have to humour him all the time?" Cuddy asked him regretting not trying to slip out of the ER exit to avoid House tagging along.
"Relax, Lisa." Marcus looked her in the eye with a smile on his face. "The judge will already be in our side. This is something that can be sorted between us with the judge finalising everything. Whoever we get will be pissed that they have to be involved for the whole process. And if he's as unwilling to resolve this as he has been so far then it will definitely work in our favour."
"What if he doesn't turn up?" House asked after the trio were silent for a little while.
"That will depend on if he gets a lawyer or not. If he does then they might ask to reschedule or continue without him. If he doesn't then the judge may grant the divorce without hearing from him."
House and Marcus watched Cuddy as she worried her lower lip between her teeth. She avoided their gazes knowing what they were doing. Marcus was waiting for a decision to get everything going while House was studying her.
Why did Michael have to be so difficult? She understood that he still loved her and didn't want to let her go but hanging on and refusing to some kind of agreement was childish, especially when he was at fault. If it wasn't for his temper and paranoia then she had no doubt that they would still be together.
House was scrutinizing her carefully looking for anything thay would give away her thought process. The silence alone was enough to make him question her and the fact that they had spoken about whether or not she still had feelings for Michael was fresh in his mind.
"What is taking you so long?" He finally asked, the silence agitating him. He turned to address Marcus. "She'll go to court."
Marcus turned back to Cuddy who still seemed to be in two minds about everything. "The choice is yours, Lisa."
Cuddy looked back at her friend and the pair locked gazes. He was letting her know that not only was it her choice but he would be there with her no matter what that choice was. She turned to face House who seemed to be getting annoyed that Cuddy was taking so long to confirm what he had said and that Marcus had completely disregarded him.
"Just tell him so we can get this sorted out." He told her.
Cuddy shook her head. "I...need some time to think about it. Is that okay?" She asked Marcus ignoring House obvious outrage.
He nodded. "Take as long as you need. The choice needs to be yours."
"How is this not easy for you?" House asked, standing from his seat. "Do I really need to remind you that he hit you? More than once. Broke your wrist, got in your head and kidnapped our son." House moved towards Cuddy and bent down, placing his hands on the arm rests on either side of her and turning her to face him.
"Tell him to start court proceedings." He hissed.
"Greg." Marcus warned as he got out of his seat and made his way round the desk to the pair who had now locked gazes.
When House had first bent down to fac her she had flinched internally before remembering that she and House had gone head to head many times before and the only difference this time was that it was peronal rather than work related. She sat straighter in her seat and looked him square in the eye. House wouldn't physically hurt her and everyone in the room knew that but they all knew that he had a way with words that could hurt just as much as a slap in the face.
"I've said that I'm going to think about it." She told him slowly, his glare doing nothing but making her angry. "Now move so I can go and pick Alex up."
Marcus watched from the side as the pair of doctors in front of him continued to stare eachother out until House finally stood and took a few steps back.
"Keys." House said simply, holding his hand out to her.
Cuddy shook her head and stood up. "If you want to leave then fine, wait by the car for me but I'm not giving you the keys."
They continued to stare a little longer until Marcus cleared his throat and moved to stand behind his desk once more.
"This," he said handing her some papers out to her' "outlines the process of dealing with a judge throughout the whole process of divorce and these," he handed some more papers to her, throwing a quick glance to House as he moved towards the door, "are your ammended divoce papers."
Cuddy took the documents from him and looked down at them while Marcus moved back round the desk to stand in front of her.
"Ignore him." He said in a low voice placing a hand on her shoulder encouraging her too look up at him. "Whatever you decide we'll both still be here."
The pair shared a smile and Cuddy gave him a small nod before standing straighter to place a kiss on his cheek.
"I'll call you." She told him. "And remember, you still need to see Alex."
Marcus turned away from her and exageratedly showed her the paperwork on his desk. Cuddy smiled at the smilarities to her own as he turned back to face her.
"I'll try."
House cleared his throat causing Cuddy and Marcus to look at him before looking back at each other.
"Go take him to McDonalds or something." Marcus said with a laugh. "He's cranky so you should let him sleep too."
"Like he doesn't do enough of that at the hospital already." She turned to House was glaring at the pair of them and smirked at his expression as she walked towards him. "Come on," she placed her hand on his chest giving it a slight tap. "We'll feed you once we pick Alex up."
"You're paying." He told her sulkily as they walked through the door.
"Of course I am." Cuddy rolled her eyes at him as she turned to look back at Marcus who was laughing to himself before moving back round to sit at his desk.
__
Cuddy was sat on House's sofa making the most of the alone time she had while House dealt with putting Alex to bed. Judging from the sounds coming from the bedroom, she knew she would have to intervene in a moment and shout at House for getting Alex excitable instead of putting him straight to bed.
For now, she was more than happy sat in the leather sofa, her feet curled beneath her, looking over the papers Marcus had given her earlier that day with a hot cup of tea nestled in her hands. Since they had left Marcus' office, Cuddy had spent most of the time thinking about what she was going to do about Michael. House hadn't spoken about it since his earlier outburst but whenever she had looked at the oapers in his presence, he shot her look reminding her exactly what he thought about the situation.
There was less noise coming from the bedroom now and she relaxed knowing that House was more responsible than she sometimes gave him credit for. She brought her mug of tea to her lips and continued to read the papers in front of her when her cell phone started ringing. She quickly unfurled herself and placed the items she was holding on the coffee table before snatching the phone up from it's place on the end table.
Noticing that it was a withheld number, she furrowed her brow then quickly answered when she heard fussing coming from the bedroom down the hall.
"Hello?"
"Lisa."
Cuddy tensed as the familiar voice spoke to her.
"Don't hang up. I just need you to listen to me. Please."
"Why are you making things so difficult, Michael?" She whispered down the phone, looking over her shoulder to make sure she was still alone. "Marcus is talking about taking the proceedings in front of a judge and I just want this over with as quickly as possible. I have other things to be dealing with. I don't need this."
She was feeling calm and collected and most importantly in control. This man was nothing to fear and although sje still felt something for him, she knew that he would be getting no more chances.
There was silence from the other end of the line and Cuddy was about to hang up when she heard him sigh.
"If you really want this...then I'll sign the papers."
Cuddy felt the tension release from her shoulders as he finally agreed.
"Good. Thank you. Just move on with - "
"On one condition." He interrupted.
"You need to speak tou your lawyer if you went to make conditions," she told him, her voice conveting the control she was feeling.
"I'm sure whatever's in the papers are fine but I'm not going to sign them until I know this is what you want."
Cuddy looked over her shoulder as confusion was once more evident on her face.
"How many times do I need to tell you?" She hissed at him. She was in no mood now to play any of his games. She knew she should just hang up on him but a part of her felt she was making progress with him and she didn't want to give that up. Not now they were so close.
"No, not like this. I want to see it in your eyes that what we have is over. That you no longer feel anything for me."
"And what happened a few days ago wasn't enough for you?" She asked incredulously. She was certain that not only did her words convey her feelings about their marriage but her demeanor did too.
"No it's not. I wasn't looking for it before. I need to see it. You can even bring Marcus or James with you if you want. And we can meet somewhere in public."
Everything in Cuddy was screaming at her to say no, hang up and call Marcus to tell him to make the necessary arrangements and yet she wasn't listening. She was actually thinking about it.
"Who's that on the phone?"
The voice behind her made her jump and she quickly turned to see a tired House limping to the kitchen.
"The hospital." She said simply. House simply nodded and continued towards the kitchen. Unless there was a case, the hospital held no interest for him.
Cuddy waited until she heard the sound of the tap running and a glass being filled before turning her attention to the phone still by her ear.
"Sunday. Ten AM. I'll meet you in Starbucks."
"Thank y - "
Cuddy didn't wait for him to thank her and hung up before slumping back into the sofa feeling exhausted. House came back out with a beer and settled into the couch beside her. He put his feet up on the coffee table, deliberately putting his feet up on the papers Cuddy had placed there and reached for the remote.
He turned to Cuddy when he realised he hadn't gotten a reaction from her and scrutinised her face. Her eyes were closed and she seemed exhausted. He nudged her with his elbow and turned back to the TV screen when she turned to glare at him.
"What's up with you?" He asked finally settling on some wrestling.
Cuddy shook her head and pushed herself to the edge of her seat. "Just tired. I thibk I might go to bed." She replied standing.
Hhouse glanced at the time on his DVD player and frowned, it's only quarter to nine."
"I know but I'm tired and I have an early meeting tomorrow. That means *you* need to be up and get Alex ready for school in the morning." She said as she gathered her things and moved round the back of the couch to place them in her briefcase.
House mumbled something under his breath but Cuddy ignored him and picked up her mug to take to the kitchen.
"If I find out he was late to school tomorrow morning," she continued once she was back in the same room as him, "you'll be doing six more clinic hours this week."
"But it's Friday tomorrow. I'll be in the clinic all day." He said tilting his head back to look at her stood directly behind him.
"I know." She said with a grin. "Goodnight House." She turned from him and began walking down the hallway to the bathroom.
"Goodnight Cuddy."
Once she was in the safety of the bathroom the grin disappeared from her face as the realization of what she was keeping from House hit her.
__
Wilson briefly looked up as someone walked into his office without knocking before returning to the files in front of him.
"Are you busy?" Cuddy asked as she sat down in the chair across from him.
Wilson looked up with a raised eyebrow then looked down at the various files spread out across his desk. Cuddy also looked down and let out a sigh before standing.
"Sorry. I'll - "
"Lisa it's fine." He told her leaning back in his chair and motioning for her to sit back down. He placed his pen on the desk and took the opportunity to rub his tired eyes. "What's the problem?"
Cuddy looked down at her hands in her lap for a moment then looked up at Wilson.
"Michael called me last night." She said simply watching her friend's face for his reaction.
"What?" Wilson moved forward in his chair unsure if he had heard what had just been said. "Michael called you?"
Cuddy nodded. She hadn't planned on telling Wilson but when her work started suffering and Marcus was in meetings all day she had no other choice but to talk to Wilson.
"What did he want?" He asked leaning on the desk and watching her carefully.
"He said he'll sign the papers..."
"Really? Wow. That's great." Wilson wanted to relax but he knew something was coming. He leaned back in his chair and waited. "But..." He prompted when she remained silent.
Cuddy took a deep breath. "He wants to meet me before he signs the papers..."
Wilson's jaw dripped in shock. He raised a hand to his face and rubbed at his eyes. He knew what was coming next.
"You agreed didn't you." It was more of a statement than a question but she nodded anyway.
Wilson let a soft sigh and closed his eyes briefly tilting his head back slightly.
"Oh God." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "House doesn't know does he?" When Cuddy shook her head he let out a groan and let his head fall back.
"You can't tell him. He'll only want to come with me."
"Someone's going with you. If it's not him then it's me." Wilson told her firmly.
"That's why I came to tell you. I was hoping you'd come with me. House doesn't think rationally about these things, you do. I'll tell House once Michael's signed the papers."
Wilson was silent for a moment before nodding. She was right. If House knew then he would either stop her and prevent the papers from being signed or go and end up trying to kill Cuddy's ex and the paperrs still wouldn't get signed.
"When is it?"
"Sunday at ten."
Wilson sighed then nodded. "I'll pick you up."
"Thank you, James. You're a good friend." They shared a smile before Cuddy pushed herself out of her seat.
"Are you okay?" Wilson asked, jumping out of his chair when he saw Cuddy sway slightly.
She clutched her head as he noved around the desk to support her.
"Er...yeah. I just stood up too quickly." Cuddy took a few deep breaths before looking up and giving Wilson a reassuring smile. "I feel fine now. Really."
She moved towards the door as Wilson eyed her curiously.
"Don't look at me like that." She told him turning to face him. "It's like House is in the room with us."
He huffed out in amusement as she left the room.
__
Cuddy was in her office bathroom, perched on the edge of the closed toilet seat and took a deep breath as she looked at the stick resting on the sink in front of her. The dizzy spell in Wilson's office earlier that day had been the start of many and that, teamed with the fact that her period was a week and a half late prompted her to do the test.
She placed her hands on her thighs and pushed herself up, taking a tentative step to the sink and picking up the pregnancy test.
Positive.
Maybe it wouldn't be so easy to keep Michael out of her life after all.