So sorry this has taken so long. Been really busy and when I haven't, I wasn't really inspired to write anything. Now that I've finished uni for summer and had a break, I'm kind of back to it again. I have decided that I won't be posting any more multi-cap fics before they're already finished or I at least know what direction they're going in. I think this took over a year and I'm not really impressed with myself for that.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, added this (and me) to their favourites. I really appreciate it. I hope this was worth the wait. I really struggle with endings so I hope it fits well with the rest. There might be a few mistakes, so sorry about that. I just wanted to get it posted. Thanks for reading.

Also, I changed my screen name just because I wanted it to match the other sites I use.

"House?" Cuddy called out as she made her way out of her bedroom, one hand on her stomach and the other against the wall as she supported herself. She had gone to bed early leaving House to look after Alex and didn't know if he was still around (she had often woken up the next morning to find him in her bed and, to her inital surprise, her head using his chest as a pillow) or if he had gone back to his apartment but she called out for him nonetheless.

"House?" As she got closer to Alex's room, she sighed in relief as she saw his figure shifting in the bed as she continued walking towards him. "House, wake up." She whispered as she shook his arm gently.

His eyes opened slowly and he rolled his eyes as he saw Cuddy standing over him. He gently removed his arm from under Alex and lifted his bad leg so he could sit with his legs hanging over the side of the bed.

"What time is it?" He asked as he rubbed his hands over his face. Alex had been suffering from tonsillitis and House had spent hours trying to get him to sleep.

"House, the contractions are coming closer together." She answered him with instead.

He froze and his hands slowly slid down his face until only his eyes were showing, staring at her in a slight panic. "How many in the past two hours?" he asked, removing his hands and reaching out for his cane that was resting against the bed side table.

"Nine. And they're getting stronger." She said. Her waters had broken earlier in the day with only one or two contractions every hour and, preferring to wait in her home than rush straight to the hospital, she told House and then contacted Doctor Guerrier who both agreed there was no point in going to the hospital yet. She had changed, placed her bag by the front door and gone to bed. She had been dozing between contractions when a particularly strong one took hold followed, fifteen minutes later, by an even stronger one. That was when she had gotten up to let House know.

House nodded before looking down at Alex who was still asleep before standing up and gesturing to the hallway. He let Cuddy use his left arm to keep herself stable and they had only just made it out and closed the door when Cuddy was hit with another contraction and she gripped House's arm. House looked at his watch and timed the contraction.

"Fourty three seconds." He muttered to himself as Cuddy released her grip on his arm. He led her to the bedroom and sat her down before pulling his cellphone from his pocket.

"House, it's nearly midnight." Wilson groaned into the phone.

"Cuddy's in labour." He said, not taking any notice of what Wilson said. "I need you to come to her place."

"Why can't you take her to the hospital?" Wilson asked, getting out of bed anyway.

"I need you to come and look after Alex. He's got tonsillitis."

"Oh." Came Wilson's surprised answer. "You are going to go with her?' He asked.

"No, I'm going home." House replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "Just get over here." He said before hanging up. He looked back at Cuddy who was sitting looking up at him.

"Wilson's on his way."

Cuddy frowned at him. "I thought you called him earlier?"

"I was busy. Alex is sick in case you didn't notice." Cuddy relented and he nodded towards the top of the bed. "Move back, let me see how far you're dilated."

Cuddy scoffed. "I don't think so. Pass me the phone. I'll ask Mrs Gerrard to watch Alex until Wilson arrives."

"Cuddy, I'm a doctor." He went to her bed side table anyway and handed her the phone. "I spend hours in the clinic looking at people's crotch rot."

Cuddy just ignored him and rang the woman and a few minutes and another contraction later, there was a knock at the door.

"Help me up." Cuddy said out of breath, the last contraction having taken a lot out of her.

"You got up before to get me." House said heading to the front door to let the old lady in.

"Jerk."

He smirked as he heard Cuddy breathing heavily as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Mrs Gerrard." House said with fake enthusiasm as he opened the door. "To what do we owe the plesure?"

The woman looked at him with an odd expression when Cuddy appeared at his elbow, pushing him to the side so the woman could enter the house.

"Ignore him Mrs Gerrard. Thank you for coming. James Wilson shouldn't be too long."

"It's no problem, Lisa." Now go before I have to deliver the baby myself." She told her, ushering her through the door.

"Why would you deliver the baby when I'm the doctor?" House asked as Cuddy grabbed his arm and pulled him towards his car. Mrs Gerrard just glared at him before closing the door. "Lovely woman." House muttered. "Uh uh," he said shaking his head as he realised which car she was going to. "I don't think so. I'm not messing up my car."

"Just open the door and get me to the damn hospital." Cuddy said through gritted teeth.

House had made it to the hospital in record time and Cuddy had gone through admissions quickly and was now hooked up to a foetal monitor. She had spent twenty minutes walking around the hallways leaning on House for support and he had offered his hand for her to squeeze through the contractions and done all the things that the father to be usually did surprising not only Cuddy but himself. This wasn't even his child yet he was there through out the whole process.

Joshua Cuddy was born on the eigth of December at two fify six in the morning and House had witnessed the entire thing.

House had let himself in to Cuddy's house and upon hearing the voice of an old woman, crept past the living room and into Cuddy's bedroom to wait.

Cuddy had of course seen him but since Josh had started calling him daddy (something that had not initially been welcomed by the cranky diagnostician) she had decided that when Michael's mother was around, House couldn't be.

She smiled as the woman before her showed Josh yet another picture of her son, pointing to it and trying to get the sixteen month old to call him daddy. The boy simply laughed and shook his head, placing his chubby fingers in his mouth. This time, he attempted to climb down off her lap to join his big brother playing in the corner of the room.

"Down." He said looking up into the woman's face with a smile.

She smiled back at him, picking him up off her lap and setting him on the floor, watching as he walked over to Alex and sat down heavily with a dull thud as his diaper made contact with the wooden flooring.

"He's got Michael's smile," Irene said looking at the boys playing in the corner.

Cuddy simply smiled as she too looked at her sons. It was something she had noticed too and she hadn't exactly been thrilled by it at first. The haunting image of Michael as he smiled down at her after hitting her had haunted her for a few nights until she saw Joshua as his own person. She attempted to disconnect the two images and succeeded. To her now, that was, and always will be, Josh's smile.

"Oh, I think my ride's here." Irene announced as a car horn sounded from outside.

She pushed herself up to a standing position and made her way over to the boys while Cuddy stood between the living room and hallway. It was starting to get late and she was internally relieved that Irene was finally going, as much as she enjoyed her company, she could be a little over bearing at times.

She glanced down the hallway to see House poke his head round the door frame and pull a face. Cuddy just rolled her eyes and made a gesture for him to go back inside the room just as Irene turned to face her with Josh in her arms and walked towards the front door.

"Daddy!"

Cuddy whipped her head back around to catch House duck out of sight as Irene leaned back to look at the child's smile as he continued to look over her shoulder. Cuddy looked back into the living room to see Alex stand up and run towards her and she inwardly cursed House for not keeping out of sight of the infant.

"You see daddy?" Josh's grandmother asked him.

Josh nodded and he pointed over her shoulder as the old woman turned to smile at Cuddy.

"I've always believed children have a sixth sense." She told her as she handed the toddler over to his mother. "He's watching over his family. No matter what happened he's still looking out for you."

Cuddy smiled as sincerely as possible and fought the urge to roll her eyes while holding onto Alex's shoulder as he tried to make his way past her to see if his dad was indeed around. She didn't know what to say in reply so she remained silent.

Irene leant forward to give Josh a kiss and then did the same to Cuddy and Alex.

"Say goodbye to grandma." Cuddy said to the boys as they waved her off down the path. Before the older woman had even gotten into the cab, Cuddy could hear House make his way down the hall and Cuddy waved one last time before closing the door.

"Why do you have to make things with Irene so difficult?" Cuddy said turning to face House as the boys' eyes lit up at the sight of him. Alex freed himself from his mother's grip and rushed forward while Josh struggled in her arms. "I told you to come round an hour later." She held onto Josh even as he started to fuss and moan.

"Daddy."

House took a step closer and pulled the restless child from Cuddy's arms. "I told you not to call me that, kid." He said, although Cuddy now knew it was all a pretense. He shifted the boy until he was holding him by the waist under his arm and followed Alex into the living room with Josh laughing and clapping his hands at the different angle he was getting of the world

"Well?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"Well what?" House asked as he sat on the sofa and sat Josh on his lap facing the TV before looking up at Cuddy. "She didn't see me so stop worrying. She's gonna have to find out at some point anyway." He added, taking a wii steering wheel from Alex and placing his arms round Josh as he prepared to play.

Cuddy let out a sigh and sat next to him as Alex settled at her feet leaning against the sofa as he started the game.

"I know. I just don't know how she'll react to another man bringing up her grandson."

"Relax, Cuddy. Invite her over again and I'll be on my best behaviour. I'll show her I'm a good influence."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow at him. "She's already met you." She told him.

"Then there's no need to worry about her seeing me then. It'll be fine."

"'Fine.' When has anything with you just been 'fine?'" Cuddy muttered.

"Just trust me. Hey," he said turning his attention to Josh who was trying to take the wheel out of his hands, "stop trying to sabotage me. I'll pay you double what he's paying you." He sucessfully pulled the wheel from Josh's tight grasp and smiled slightly at the boy's laughter.

Cuddy nodded and drew her feet up on to the sofa, smiling slightly. With those simple words, she felt at ease. Michael had been dead for nearly two years now and House had stuck around and been there for her during everything. He was still a pain in the ass at the hospital and she had lost count of the number of times he had decided to seek revenge on her negative decisions to his requests by allowing the boys to do things she would never allow. Like the time he gave the boys sweets before bedtime and disappeared to his apartment or when he hid the one toy that Josh refused to sleep without.

Despite the fact that House was still House, she trusted him when it came to her and the boys' welfare. As much as he'd like to deny the fact, he had accepted his role in their dysfunctional family and everything seemed to be working well. Something that had lost many of her employess a lot of money (except House who had placed a number of bets in his favour through different people for a small share of the winnings).

"Cuddy."

House rolled his eyes and called Cuddy again before gesturing to Alex. "Cover his eyes or something. If he gets an accomplice, so should I."

Instead, Cuddy reached over to remove Josh from his lap and pulled back when he blocked her. "Let me take him and then maybe you can have a fair and honest game." She told him.

"Fair and Honest...they're names of hookers right?"

"House." Cuddy hissed glaring at him.

House simply shrugged. "Either do something to help me out or you're kids will grow up to be as blunt and sarcastic as me."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow. "Our kids."

"That one's mine. This one's a bas-"

"House!"

"Actually, so is he," he stated gesturing towards Alex again and ignoring Cuddy's glare. "But this one doesn't have a dad." He amended.

"Daddy!" Josh exclaimed, hitting House's hands and turning to look at him with a smile.

"Nope," House said, "I just said, you don't have a dad."

Josh took this as his cue to repeat his previous actions.

House glanced at Cuddy then back to the game. "Definately not mine. He's an idiot. Doesn't understand a word I just said do you, you little -"

"That's enough, House." Cuddy said, reaching over and pulling the boy from his lap onto hers. "Daddy's the idiot isn't he?" She said to Josh in playful tone, smiling as the little boy laughed and clapped his hands. House threw a glare in her direction and she simply smirked back at him as she leaned back in the chair and Joshua snuggled into her, the back of his head tucked against her neck as he became enthralled by the game on the TV and plaved his thumb in his mouth.

Cuddy looked at her family. It still sometimes felt odd to say that and include House but, whether he liked it or not, he was a part of her family - always had been, even when she was with Michael. They were in some kind of just-about-functioning relationship and between the two of them, they were doing a good job raising their children. They still fought and did everything in their power to annoy eachother but she didn't expect anything else from a relationship with House. Her sons were happy and, from what she could tell, House was...content. After everything that had happened, she was happy. Her life wasn't perfect by any means but she would take this.