A/N: Hi guys. I know this chapter is considerably shorter than the other chapters, but I hope you like it anyway. As always huge thanks to my awesome reviewers.

Happy Easter.

Cuddy sat by the long table in conference room 3. She sat alone and went over the notes from the meeting before. She scribbled a few notes down, and sighed heavily. The meeting had gone beyond her expectations. The board members had been ecstatic by the news of the donation for the pediatric wing. Their monthly expenses were in check and everything seemed to be going according to plan. In fact it there were no serious complaints, and they had been clear from charges in two months. But there was still one thing that bothered her, and she wasn't sure whether she should feel relief or wary of it all.

She shook her head to erase her mind of these doubts. She was just being paranoid. She stood up and started to pack away her notes and files into her suitcase. It was well past five and she couldn't wait to go back home and just relax. She envisioned a nice hot bath with scented candles and then maybe she could curl up in bed with tea and a good book. House had a boys night out with Wilson, so she would be alone with Rachel. So she saw a great opportunity for a little alone time.

The thought of the awaiting evening made her quicken her pace, she secured her laptop into her suitcase and clasped it shut. She picked her jacket from the back of the chair and draped it over her arm before picking up the suitcase, she looked around to see if she had forgotten anything then started to walk towards the door when she noticed a figure hover in the doorway. She jumped up in surprise, and brought her hand to her chest in shock. She closed her eyes with relief when she recognized the figure, but the relief was quickly replaced with dread.

"Oh Mr. Krauss. You startled me."

Christopher James Krauss was the executive vice director of the Board of Directors. He was a highly influenced man in New Jersey. Cuddy had always felt uncomfortable in his presence. It wasn't that she felt intimidated, she was used to power hungry, biased, narcissists like him, but his cold impassive exterior made her want to cringe. His appearance did not make him any more pleasant. He was tall and thin, and his wrinkled skin made him appear even older than he was. His grey hair was thin which only accentuated the narrowness of his sunken cheeks, and crooked nose. His grey eyes were ice cold, and showed lack of any emotion. His lips donned a nasty sneer. He walked forwards patronizingly and looked at her disdainfully.

"Can I do anything for you Mr. Krauss?"

"Yes indeed you can Dr. Cuddy." His voice was papery thin, his wording slow and deliberate.

"All right. Would you like to have a seat?" He avoided her offer, his expression sour as if he were offended by her offer.

"Do you realize who I am Dr. Cuddy?" He didn't give her a time to answer and continued. "My expenses go beyond your wildest dreams, and my contribution is essential to this hospital." He said smoothly.

"I'm sorry Mr. Krauss but I don't understand how that has anything to do with me." Cuddy said evenly.

"Don't act like a fool Dr. Cuddy. I know how you threatened my nephew, Dr. Karl Saunders yesterday afternoon. I do not tolerate such threats to my own kin."

"Mr. Krauss, you are out of line. What goes between my employees and me is none of your concern. I do not play favorites, and if I find their work or behavior offensive I do not shy away from telling them how I feel about that."

Mr. Krauss took a menacing step forwards, his face was deeply set in a frown, and he looked incredibly displeased by her comment.

"Do not think that you cannot be replaced Dr. Cuddy. If you do anything like this again, I will make sure that you wont be able to find a job in the state of New Jersey ever again. Am I understood?"

Cuddy could feel the anger boil in her veins. She was a grown woman, and she was not going to tolerate that someone spoke to her like she was a child.

"Mr. Krauss, like I said before, it's not your place to handle the employees of this hospital. It's my job, and I wont tolerate threats. Goodbye sir." She said and walked past him.

"You must know Dr. Cuddy that pregnancy and administration does not go well together, and if that is the case they wont think twice in firing you."

Cuddy turned abruptly around. How dared he? She cursed those goddamn tattle tales of this hospital. Mr. Krauss stood tall, and brushed invisible lint off his impeccably straight suit tamely.

"I would be careful if I were you Dr. Cuddy. Women are so easily replaced."

Cuddy's knuckles curled into a fist, and she desperately wanted to punch that awful sneer off his face. Instead she turned around, and started to walk away with as much dignity as she could muster. She was not going to let him get under her skin, or at least giving him the satisfaction in watching her lose her dignity.

"This isn't over Dr. Cuddy." He called after her before the doors shut down with a heavy thud.

She marched down the hall determined not to let his words affect her. She felt so angry, and so humiliated. That a grown up person, a well respected man no less, dared to threaten her like this, and make her feel so easily dispensable made her even more upset and angry.

She reached her car and drove away quickly. She wanted to get as far away from the hospital as possible. When she finally came home she felt angry, tired and frustrated.

Her evening had been perfectly ruined. She wasn't in the mood anymore. She even thought about calling House and ask him to postpone their get together, but she couldn't do that to him, and she wasn't one of those girlfriends who needed to whine about every single mishap in their lives. Instead she decided to make most of the evening. She felt lazy so she ordered pizza, which appeared to be the highlight of Rachel's day, she jumped up and down and clapped her hands happily. After she had put Rachel to bed she decided to draw the hot bath she had been wishing so anxiously for before.

She lit a few candles, and placed them around the bathtub and on the counter. Then she turned on some relaxing music and climbed into the bathtub.

She closed her eyes and let the warm water work its magic on her sore muscles. She tried to concentrate on the soft tunes and erase unwanted thoughts.

But she was still worked up over the event before, and her mind kept racing over the past few weeks.

Her hands slid down on her flat abdomen. Could there be a life in there?

She could feel the fear grip her, and she tried to erase it. She took a deep breath and dove her head under the water, her thoughts returning few hours prior.

"Hey Cuddy. Are you busy?"

She looked up from her work and saw House standing in the doorway.

"Well I'm always busy, but I can spear time for you. What's up?"

House looked around and slid into the office smoothly. He shut the drapes on the paneled glass so no one could peek inside.

"What are you doing?" She questioned wearily.

House dove into the pockets of his jacket and fished up a tourniquet, needle, a tube, and a plastic hub.

"House…I don't think we should do this now." She started to protest. He approached her and put the items on her desk.

"And when should we do this? Tomorrow, after a week, hell maybe we should just wait and see so everyone can put their wages into the pot, and the first to see whether you're pregnant or not is the winner."

"House..." She started to protest.

"I know you're scared. I know that you don't want to face disappointment and rejection all over again. I know how much it hurts you, but you can't keep running away from this forever."

"Okay." She muttered. He looked at her for confirmation, and she nodded her head reluctantly and rolled up the sleeve on her shirt.

She clenched her eyes shut and broke onto the surface of the water, taking deep breaths. She had been so afraid, she was still afraid. After years of effort to conceive a child of her own, which only left her disappointment and pain, she was afraid to know the truth. She knew how it felt like to lose a child, to lose the sheer feeling of joy when the positive test came back, only to realize that it wasn't meant to be. And now when she was back in those tracks, she could feel the fear lock itself around her.

What if she wasn't pregnant? What if she was pregnant?

House had been amazing to her; he had been more supportive than she ever would have dreamt in her wildest dreams. Even though he had a rough time first she still felt incredibly grateful for his endless support. But what would happen over the course of the next months. Would he be able to handle the stress of a child? Could he give his 100 percent to a child? Was he emotionally ready for the devotion and work that involved in having a child?

All of those doubts and fears started to manifest in her head. She realized that she was being overly dramatic, that things would just have to unfold with time, but still her fears were overpowering her judgment.

Unwanted images of her alone with a crying baby haunted her dreams.

She groaned out loud and decided that taking a relaxing bath couldn't have been a worse idea. She stood up from the bathtub and dried herself quickly.

She needed something to distract her, and what was a better way than good old TV.

She sat down on the sofa, clad in her fluffy bathrobe, her hair wet and damp after the bath. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels.

Her mind was still on overdrive. Her thoughts filled with doubts and unsaid fears. She was going to set the cattle for tea when she heard a loud knock on the door. She hurried over to the front door, and looked through the peeping hole to see who it was. She threw open the door when she saw that it was just House.

He was completely rained down, his jacket was soaked: tiny drops scattered over his hair, and fell onto his face.

"Weren't you going to have a boys night out with Wilson tonight?"

He raised his arm and handed her a file she hadn't noticed that he was holding.

"The tests results came back."

Cuddy's eyes grew wide and she snatched the file from his hand. She held her breath while she scanned over the paper; her heart stopped when she saw the results. She looked into his amazing blue eyes that seemed to bore into her very soul.

The file slid from her feeble hands, and it dropped on the floor with a thud. Her eyes burned with tears, and she couldn't stop the sob that escaped her lips.

His face, which had been emotionless before, seemed to break when she started to cry. He grabbed her arms and drew her in his tight embrace.

A thunder erupted in the distance, and the soft crackling sound of the rain hitting the pavement, drowned down her hiccups.

She looked up at him, to scan his expression and to her relief she saw no uncertainty, and she could have sworn that she saw some form of happiness shine in his eyes.

"We're going to be parents." She whispered.

"Yeah." He whispered back in amazement.

"You're sure about this?" he smiled down at her, a genuinely real smile.

"As long as you are."

She could feel fresh patch of tears threaten to fall, so she buried her head in his chest and clung to him.

She felt so relieved, and so happy that every feeling of worry and dread she felt before disappeared. She could feel his lips grace the top of her head, and for that moment she felt completely content, because she was going to be a mother to his child, and nothing in the world could contain her happiness.

Another bolt of lightening erupted through the air, but that went unnoticed by the parents to be who stood in each other's embrace.