Chapter I- My house, my rules

Cuddy stood up, straightening her clothes in the process. Her hands smoothed over her high-waist black trousers swiftly before she looked up at him, turquoise eyes glistening.

"Thank you," she mouthed in a soft voice.

"Wake her up," House pointed at the little girl with his cane, and his tone was not precisely low or nice.

"What?!" Cuddy exclaimed, still keeping her voice down. "It took me ages to finally get her to sleep. You gave her too much sugar today," she added, making sure she had assured everything was actually his fault. She knew she shouldn't have let House take care of Rachel, since he was incapable of behaving like a reasonable adult person, but with Wilson gone and the rest of the staff busy, even House seemed like a sensible option when she was in for the longest board meeting in the history of hospitals.

"I didn't. She stole my cookies. The first food item I buy in years and the runt steals it…"

"Now you know how Wilson feels," Cuddy retorted with a small smirk.

"Wake her up," House insisted upon the original subject they were discussing with greater urgency.

"She'd never go back to sleep. I can't! Why on Earth would I wake her up?"

"Because if you don't, she'll wake up crying in the middle of the night because she'll have no idea where she is!" House replied in a deliberately slow voice, as if he were speaking to a particularly stupid child.

Cuddy pursed her lips. The gesture was accompanied by a slightly worried frown. He was right. Damn him.

"Shockingly, I'm right. Again," House commented, reading her expression.

"Shut up." Cuddy hissed through gritted teeth. "I admit it, you are right. But if she doesn't go back to sleep right away, you are gonna help me."

"Why would I?"

"You're the one who gave her the cookies. And I sign your pay checks and I can think of at least twenty reasons why I should fire you."

"That threat's getting old, honey," He couldn't suppress a smirk. "But fine," he rolled his eyes dramatically, "I will help you. I don't want two hysterical Cuddys running free across my apartment," he concluded before heading for his room.

Rachel looked so peaceful while she slept Cuddy almost risked an unmanageable midnight weeping… but she knew she couldn't do that if she wanted to go back to work on Monday. House would probably murder her if Rachel was to wake him up in the middle of the night.

After a few failed attempts, Cuddy shook her daughter's tiny arm lightly, her other hand fondling the little one's blonde hair.

"Rachel, sweetie," she tried. Nothing. She was sound asleep. "Rachel?" She tried again, but this it worked.

The little girl blinked sleepily, and let out a yawn.

"Mommy?" She asked in a tone that suggested she was confused.

"Sh, sweetie," Cuddy soothed her. "We're at House's…"

"Doctor House? Why?" Not even sleep could calm that overactive three-year-old mind.

"Remember those things that carry water Uncle James fixed some time ago?" Rachel nodded.

"Popes?"

"Pipes." Cuddy corrected her, chuckling. "Another broke down and our house is so full of water we can't go in." Rachel's baby blues widened as she played the scenario in her head. She sat back on the couch, a clear sign that she did not want to go back to sleep. "We're going to be here for two days."

"That's a long time," Rachel commented, pinching her chin with her thumb and her forefinger in a thinking attitude.

"Well, not really. If you go back to sleep, little rabbit," Cuddy tickled the girl's tummy "it will go faster."

"I don't want to sleep now," Rachel pouted, trying to manipulate her mother.

"You have to."

Cuddy heard House calling after her.

"Wait here, and don't touch anything, okay?" She asked, knowing the hyperactive three year old she was raising would probably not obey her. Rachel nodded and Cuddy walked away from the living room.

"What?!" Cuddy snapped, entering the bedroom and closing the door behind her with a loud bang.

"Easy there, Cuddles," House replied. He was putting on a white, V-neck T shirt, and she caught a glimpse of the taut muscles of his abdomen for a fleeting moment. House realised she was observing him and couldn't suppress a smirk. "Like what you see?" She was sure he had called her just to mortify her over that.

"Not really. Wilson's body is hotter than yours," she replied, laughing at his mortified expression. "What do you need?" She asked, not willing to be the beneficiary of another of his witty retorts.

"The kid asleep?"

"Not yet. You interrupted me."

"Get her out of the couch so I can sleep," he said snidely.

"House, you can't. Your leg…" she began, but he quickly interrupts her.

"My leg will be fine," he assured her.

"I can't believe you are about to do something chivalrous."

"We can always share my bed, but with the kid here… most people will say it's messed-up. But, if you are up for it…"

"Rachel or not, you are not getting any," Cuddy patted his shoulder and smiled condescendingly.

"Killjoy," he narrowed his eyes.

"Should I change the sheets? With you," she lowered her gaze, "sanitation might be a problem." She realised just how inappropriate the conversation was, especially when Rachel was waiting for her in the adjacent room.

"I showered today, if that's what you mean."

"Not exactly…" Rachel was probably getting restless, and she needed to get this ridiculous conversation over. "Hand me a set of sheets and we'll take the couch."

Cuddy spun around and exited the room.

Much to her relief, Cuddy found Rachel sitting on the couch and not wandering around the living room like. There weren't any broken items, House's guitar was not on the floor and she hadn't laid a hand on the piano. Instead, she was curled up on the sofa, flicking through a medical journal she had probably found on the pile over the coffee table. She was frowning, and her concentrated face made her resemble a certain diagnostician.

When Rachel realised her mother had stepped into the room, she looked up and smiled at her. Cuddy sat next to her while she waited for House to show up.

"Mommy, what's this?" The little girl asked, pointing at the picture of an X-ray.

"That's an X-ray," Cuddy explained and before Rachel could ask her what it was, she continued. "An x-ray machine is like a big camera that takes a picture of your bones." She simplified it so that the three year old could understand.

"Can I have one?" Rachel asked, apparently finding the prospect thrilling.

"You don't need one, kid," House entered the room, a set of blue sheets folded and jammed under his left arm. "What you need is ten hours of sleep."

"No," Rachel replied crossly. "I don't want to sleep."

"My house, my rules," he dropped the sheets on the armrest and smirked.

A/N: Yay, I finally finished this chapter! Feel free to hate me, it took me forever to update. I hope you enjoyed it, I certainly enjoyed writing it :)

***SPOILERS***

Anyway, I was really hoping for some more Huddy in Saviours... and I felt terribly sad during the proposal scene. I was like AAAAAAGH JENN AND JESSE SHOULD GET BACK TOGETHER. Seriously, they're downright adorable as a couple. And now they're saying the writers are gonna kill of the Chameron storyline. I feel like crying.