Sorry about the wait (again). I just haven't been in the mood to write AT ALL. Writer's block has been so bad that i just started to get fed up with it all and I've been having serious problems with House's character in this kind of situation so a House/Wilson conversation has been skipped in this chapter. Things have changed now though (except the OOC paranoia) and I'm on a roll. It looks like there is only one chapter left after this and possibly an epilogue (maybe, haven't decided yet). Hope you like this chapter - kind of seems like a filler looking at it now - and, as always, thanks for the reviews and sticking with it.

Cuddy made her way to her office in a daze. She hadn't planned to do any work on a Saturday, she had told House that she was needed at the hospital, but she didn't feel like going back to House's apartment just yet. Once she let herself in, she locked the door behind her leaving the blinds drawn and moved to lie on her couch in the corner of the room.

Once the shock of seeing the positive test yesterday had subsided a little, she had called to arrange an appointment with Doctor Guerrier to confirm what she had discovered. Guerrier had overseen her pregnancy with Alex and had understood the need to keep things completely private and low key, especially after House had turned up at one of her appointments.

Her grip on the pieces of paper in her hand tightened as she squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to hold back the tears that had threatened to fall since the previous afternoon. How was having this baby going to make divorcing Michael any easier? How was she meant to sit with him tomorrow knowing that his child was inside her? How was she going to get rid of him for good?

After a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes and brought the papers in front of her face. The first was a prescription for pre-natal vitamins which she placed on the coffee table beside her, and the second was a fuzzy picture of the seven week foetus currently in her womb. She sat up and swung her legs round, staring at the picture. Everything had appeared so much easier the last time. House had agreed, taken part in the tests, donated and not long after, Guerrier was confirming that she was in fact pregnant.

This time, Michael was involved. Before they had married, they had spoken about having kids together and she was more than happy to have another child especially with him. They had even spoken to Alex about a little brother or sister and now...he was about to get one. Cuddy sat staring at the picture, unsure whether she was happy or saddened by the new part to her life. Yes she had wanted a child with Michael but not now. She had even been relieved, once she'd left, that she hadn't had his child. It would have made the whole thing even more difficult than it was.

"But here you are." Cuddy whispered rubbing her belly while staring at the scan.

She leaned back on the couch and rubbed her temples feeling a strong headache forming. She had known for less than twenty four hours and she was still having problems processing the news, how was House going to react when she told him?

______

Before Cuddy entered House's apartment building, she could hear the noise coming from within and let out a sigh. As much as she loved the fact House had fun with Alex and the pair had the relationship she never thought they would have, the way House managed to lead the boy astray was tiring. She had discovered that staying with House often meant looking after two children.

Soon to be three.

Bracing herself, she placed the key in the lock and turned the knob letting herself in to find Alex sat on House's lap with his guitar. She smiled at the sight but flinched as House strummed and the sound came out of the amp sitting beside them, adding to the pain that was still pounding inside her head.

Both House and Alex knew she was there but Alex was completely focused on making his fingers stretch to hold down the strings his dad was showing him while House just chose to ignore her presence for now.

Once Alex managed to play the chord, with a little help from House, he turned his head to look at Cuddy.

"Did you hear that?" He asked with a smile on his face.

Cuddy smiled back at him. "Uh huh." She nodded walking over to him to run a hand through his hair and placing a kiss on the top of his head before heading off to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

The sound of the guitar continued as she grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. She drained half the contents then poured the rest down the sink, rinsing it out and placing it on the draining board. She gripped the counter with both hands and let her head drop taking a few deep breaths when House's voice from behind her startled her.

"You're going to have to get him his own guitar now." He said looking at her curiously. He had noticed she was behaving oddly the night before and he had put it down to the fact that she still hadn't told Marcus what she was going to do. He had told her to stop being an idiot and do what she needed to do before turning on the TV and completely ignoring her for the rest of the night.

"No," Cuddy said, turning to face him, "you're going to have to get him his own guitar and keep it here." She told him.

House gave her a small smile, leaning against the door frame as he continued to watch her. She looked tired and stressed and her posture was slightly slouched, a far cry from her usual domineering, 'woman in charge' stance.

The intensity of House's gaze was off putting and she attempted to stand a little straighter before making a move to the door way to walk past him. She jumped slightly when he swung his cane out and jammed it against the frame to stop her.

"What?" She glared at him, watching as a frown appeared on his features and she knew that she would have to tell him the news now before he found out for himself and reacted even worse than she had already envisioned.

Cuddy let out a sigh. "We need to talk." When he showed no signs of moving his arm, she looked pointedly into the living room where the noise of the guitar could still be heard. "Bedroom."

Had something not obviously been up, he would have made a joke about her wanting to go to the bedroom but while the phrase 'we need to talk' instilled fear in most people House was either curious or not interested. In this case it was the former. Reluctantly, House moved his arm and followed her down the hallway and into his bedroom. He stood by the doorway and watched as Cuddy slowly turned to face him, her eyes however, looking anywhere than directly at him.

"Sit down." She said, trying to sound calmer than she actually felt.

House didn't respond or even acknowledge that he heard her and she let out a sigh knowing that this was going to be as difficult as she envisioned.

"I'm pregnant." She said quickly, figuring the 'band aid' technique would be best. The quicker the better. She glanced at him to gauge his reaction.

House's jaw dropped as he stared at Cuddy. She could not just have said what he thought she said.

Cuddy took a step towards him and placed a hand on his bicep. "House?" She questioned. She knew that it was going to be a shock but she figured they would be knee deep in an argument about whether or not she kept the baby right now.

"House?"

House closed his mouth again, attempting to relieve it of it's current dryness. When that didn't work he opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it again as he gathered his thoughts.

He wanted to tell her to get rid of it, it was a feotus and what did it matter if that bastard's kid never saw the light of day. He knew that wasn't going to fly with Cuddy though but being House, he couldn't care less. He could easily gear himself up for an argument.

"Get rid of it."

Cuddy removed her hand from his arm and sighed. "I'm not getting rid of it, House."

"How is keeping it gonna do anyone, any good?" House asked taking a step back from her. "You're trying to get a divorce from that..." he paused before throwing his left arm out, pointing at her stomach, "thing's dad. What happened to 'getting him out of our lives for good'?"

"It's not a 'thing' House." She placed a protective hand over her stomach. "I don't care what you think, this is my child, House. And I am going to love him or her as much as I do Alex."

House placed his free hand over his eyes and rubbed them. He would never understand her logic. Getting rid of the thing that could possibly keep that asshole on her radar was the best thing she could do and he was seething at the fact that she couldn't understand that.

"House, I didn't tell you because I wanted your advice on what to do. I told you because I felt that, after everything that we've been through, you deserved to know." House opened his mouth to argue with her but Cuddy held out a hand to silence him, shaking her head firmly. "No, House. This is my decision. I respect you and, although I don't agree with them, your opinions but when it comes to my child, my choices, I will not let you belittle them." She took a deep breath and turned away from him slightly.

"You may not like or understand it but I need you to respect the fact that I have decided to keep this child." Cuddy moved closer, placing herself right in front of him. "Please?" She said softly.

House looked into her eyes, his fave completely void of emotion. He didn't like her decision and he definitely didn't understand it and he had no intentions of respecting her for it. He turned on his heel and left the room, grabbing his leather jacket from the closet and his keys off the desk. Alex was still engrossed in strumming loudly at the guitar when he passed him. He ruffled his hair quickly before heading through the front door. He needed time to think.

Cuddy was making her way out of the bedroom when she heard the front door slam shut. She knew he wasn't going to take to the idea but she was hoping it wouldn't result in him riding for hours and then ending up in some bar.

She headed towards the living room and let out a sigh. "Time to put that away now, Alex." She told the boy, as she walked around the sofa and unplugged the guitar from the amp.

"But -"

"But nothing." She told him firmly as she lifted the guitar from his grasp and placed it into the guitar case on the coffee table. "Go and get the book you're supposed to read and you can read to me. I just need to make a phonecall first."

"Ok." Alex nodded and walked towards the closet to get his school bag out whil Cuddy headed to the kitchen to get her cellphone from her purse.

Cuddy scrolled through her numbers then pressed dial and held the phone up to her ear. After a few rings, Wilson's voice greeted her.

"Hey, is everything ok?"

Cuddy smiled softly at Wilson's concern. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" She asked instead of answering him right away. Its not as if Wilson just sat around on his days off waiting for one of his friends to need him.

"I was just about to play some tennis...it can wait though. What did you need?"

"I'm pregnant." She figured using the same tactics with Wilson would have better results.

Her statement was met by silence.

"James?"

"Um...yeah. I mean..." He let out a low sigh and ran his hand up his face into his hair. "Wow. That's...That's big, Lisa."

"I know," Cuddy replied, her response almost inaudible. "I just told House."

"Aah. And he didn't take it well." Wilson deduced.

"He told me to get rid of it. I told him no and he walked out. I don't where he's gone."

"Don't worry. He's probably on his way to my apartment now. Have you tried calling him?"

"I figured I'm the last person he wants to talk to." She told him.

"Right. Well, don't worry. I'll find him and talk to him. And...congratulations, Lisa."

"Thank you."

"I'll let you know when I find him."

"Thanks, James. Bye."

"Bye."

Cuddy hung up with a relieved sigh. Sometimes the only way to deal with House was to have Wilson deal with him.

"Mooooom!"

Cuddy snapped out of her reverie and moved to the kitchen doorway. Alex was sat, looking in her direction and holding hid book in the air.

"Ok," she told him, moving towards the couch and placing her cellphone on the side table. She sat down next to her son, placed an arm around him and pulled him close as he began to read to her. This, she thought, is why she could never get rid of her unborn child.

_____

"Where're you going?" Wilson spun around at the sound of a familiar voice.

"House. I was just coming to look for you." Wilson said, taking a step towards the older man.

House figured that Cuddy would call Wilson to look for him. "I guessed. I knew you were here. Came to sit and mock - I mean watch. Sit and watch." He said with a smirk.

"Let's go some -"

"Just play your damn game. I wanna see if anyone else looks as gay as you do in their tennis outfit." House smirked and walked away towards the courts, his motorcycle helmet in his left hand and leaning heavily on the cane in his right.

He didn't want to talk right away. The only reason he turned up was so that he knew where Wilson was and wouldn't have to worry about him interrupting his thoughts. This way, he could think and mock Wilson at the same time. If nothing useful came from the former, at least the latter would cheer him up a little.

_____

Cuddy was sitting in Wilson's car, staring out of the window, heading to the coffee place where she was to meet Michael. Wilson glanced at her as she cluthced her divorce papers to her stomach. He knew what that part was like except he was usually the one being sent them.

When House had come back home some time in the evening, he had said nothing to her, sat down on the couch, taken the remote from her hand and switched to the wrestling. They had sat side by side for the rest of the night, in silence and Cuddy had assumed that his conversation with Wilson had resulted in this non-verbal 'acceptance' to the situation. And Wilson hadn't told her anything that they had spoken about either.

"Are you sure you still want to do this?" Wilson asked, seeing the far away look upon her face.

Cuddy simply nodded and continued to look out of the window.

Wilson turned his attention back to the road ahead. When he had spoken to House he had 'agreed' to take Cuddy somewhere the next day to talk to her. He knew House didn't know that he was already taking Cuddy out and he definitely didn't know that he was taking her to see Michael.

They continued the rest of the journey in silence and Cuddy was glad to get away from Wilson's constant glances wheb they arrived at the coffee shop. Although she wasn't too happy about sitting across from the man that used to hit her, at least Wilson would be too busy glaring at him than looking at her in sympathy.

She waited for Wilson to walk around the other side of the car and the pair walked together into the coffee shop. Michael was already there sitting in a corner at the back at a table for two. She could tell when he suggested that she bring someone with her that he wasn't actually expecting her to.

Cuddy walked towards him, her posture the same as if she were stalking the hallways of the hospital for House, with Wilson close behind her walking as equally tall.

She stood at the table casting a shadow over the man sitting there causing him to look up. Now that she was closer she could see that he had let himself go.

"Lisa..."

Wilson stepped out from behind her, grabbed a chair from the table next to them and placed it between Michael and Cuddy before sitting in it, leaning back and crossing his arms across his chest.

Cuddy sat in the the other chair, looking at Michael as he gave Wilson a wary glance. He really hadn't expected her to bring anyone along. She looked at his pale face, the black facial hair that he had allowed to grow and his hair unruly. His eyes were blood shot and she had a feeling that he had started drinking every night after their last meeting.

He had let himself go but she couldn't tell if it was genuine or simply done to make himself look weak and pathetic as some kind of game plan.

Cuddy got straight down to business. "Say what it is you wanted to say, sign these," she threw the envelope with the divorce papers across the table towards him sending and empty cup into his lap, "then disappear." She told him sternly. She ignored Wilson's curious look and continued to stare down the man in front of her instead.

"Do you want a coffee?" He asked looking at Cuddy then Wilson and placing the cup back on the table. They both shook their heads and he sighed, getting up anyway. "Is it ok if I get another one? I haven't been sleeping well recently."

Cuddy just shrugged in response, slightly annoyed that he was tryong to make her wait around longer than she actually had to.

When he was out of ear shot, Wilson turned to face her. "You're not telling him about the baby?" He asked.

Cuddy looked at him with a frown on her face before her features softened.

"I don't know." Cuddy looked over her shoulder as Michael moved forward in the queue to place his order. "He should know but," she turned to look back at Wilson, "I'm just not sure I want him to."

Wilson nodded. He didn't really know what else to say. Not one of his divorces had a child involved and if they had, he was pretty sure his ex wives would have told him but then abuse hadn't been on the table when he was getting divorced.

"I might tell him," Cuddy said, glancing over her shoulder to see Michael now coming back to them, "if he signs the papers and agrees to give up on 'us', I'll let him in my child's life."