A/N Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed the first two chapters. I tried to respond to everyone; but, if I missed you, please forgive me. This one contains one small spoiler for 'Small Sacrifices.' As usual, it's fluff and the Huddy haters will want to skip it.

Disclaimer No, I don't own House or Hugh Laurie…but a girl can dream, can't she?

House stood in front of the stove stirring a pot of Marinara sauce. He dipped a spoon into the sauce and took a careful taste. He added more oregano and continued to stir. The garlic bread was already in the oven. Cuddy was taking a shower and changing out of her work clothes. He figured he could wait until she was finished before he put on the pasta to cook. His idle thoughts were broken by the feel of two little arms that wrapped around his left leg. He looked down to see Rachel trying to burrow her way between him and the stove.

"Hey! Careful! The stove is hot. You don't want to get burned." House tried to maneuver both of them away from the stove without falling over. Rachel refused to loosen the grip she had on his denim clad leg.

"Rachel!" At her mother's loud, angry shout, the little girl tightened her hold and looked up at House with wide, pleading eyes.

House was still trying, without success, to pry the toddler from his leg when he heard the clipped strides of his girlfriend. He looked up from Rachel in time to see Cuddy stalk into the kitchen and stop in front of him. House's brain registered the thought that a forty-three year-old mother shouldn't look so hot in a pair of leggings and one of his old t-shirts.

Cuddy stood with one hand on her hip. In the other she clutched a tube of lipstick. She was momentarily stunned by the sight of her daughter trying to hide behind House's long legs. House was clearly confused by what was going on.

"Rachel, turn House loose. I want to talk to you," Cuddy demanded.

House took advantage of the distraction to scoop Rachel up and plant her on his left hip. He leaned against the counter while the obviously scared toddler tried to wrap herself around his neck. He had no idea the picture he made as he instinctively put a protective arm around Rachel.

"What's going on?" House asked Cuddy.

She tapped one foot on the hardwood floor. She refused to be deterred by the sight of the two of them. "Someone used my lipstick to color on the bedroom wall."

House looked at the top of Rachel's head where it was buried into his shoulder. "Rachel did you do that?"

The little girl sniffed and nodded her head, still not looking up. House looked to Cuddy and raised an eye brow. He unwound the thin arms that had a choke hold on his neck and put Rachel on the floor.

House turned the little girl towards her mother. "You're on your own this time, Kid."

Rachel peered up at House with a look of total betrayal in her huge eyes. She turned back to her mother and looked at the floor. She leaned back against his legs and House heard a soft sniff.

"Rachel, come here," Cuddy pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat.

Head still downcast, Rachel shuffled her way to stand in front of her mother. House kept his position leaning against the counter. He folded his arms and waited to see what Cuddy would do. He was openly curious to see how his rational, always in control girlfriend would discipline her daughter. He realized that, despite his age, this was his first opportunity to witness such an event with a normal parent.

Cuddy had taken a few seconds to calm down. "Rachel, did you take my lip stick?" She held the item so that Rachel could see it.

When Rachel nodded, Cuddy asked, "Did you draw on the wall with my lipstick?"

Again the toddler nodded and her mother said, "That was not nice. You aren't supposed to take my things. And, you shouldn't draw on the walls. You shouldn't have done that."

Rachel stuck one finger in her mouth and looked up at her mother through her lashes. "Sorry," she mumbled around the finger.

"Well," Cuddy rose and put her hands on the little girl's shoulders, "let's go. I expect you to sit in the time-out chair until I come get you."

House watched as Cuddy ushered Rachel into the dining room and sat her in an extra chair that was pushed against the wall. The toddler sat with her hands in her lap. She was the picture of abject misery.

Cuddy crossed back to the kitchen and stopped in front of House. "Where did you put the Fantastic?"

"On the shelf in the laundry room." House hesitated and then asked, "How long?"

"How long does she have to sit there, you mean?" Cuddy waited until he nodded. "Fifteen minutes."

Cuddy retrieved the bottle of cleaner and a hand-full of rags from the laundry room and headed back to the bedroom. House tried to ignore the sniffles and melodramatic sighs coming from the dining room. He turned the temperature down on the garlic bread. He stirred the sauce and then put a pot of water on to boil. He dug through the cabinets and found a package of pasta that he added to the water. If he just happened to glance at the clock a couple of times, well, it was just because he had to time the pasta.

Cuddy had thrown the soiled rags in the bathroom trash and washed her hands. As she entered the dining room, she slowed and looked at her daughter. The toddler hadn't moved from the chair. Head down, she snuck a peek at her mother and sniffed. Cuddy refused to be moved by the pitiful sight. This new habit of coloring on everything that didn't move had to stop. She kept walking and then stopped in the kitchen doorway.

The sight in front of her was more painful than the one in the dining room. House was standing with his hands braced on the edge of the sink. He was staring out of the window into the darkness of the backyard. Cuddy could see the muscle in his jaw twitch.

She moved to stand behind him and put a hand on his broad shoulder. "What are you doing?"

House hung his head and stared into the sink. He sighed, sounding an awful lot like Rachel, "Trying not to cave."

Cuddy snorted softly and patted his shoulder. "Marshmallow."

She checked the clock and verified that Rachel had been in time-out for fifteen minutes. She had to deal with that situation first. She would deal with him later. Cuddy turned back to the dining room and squatted in front of her daughter.

"Rachel, look at me," she demanded quietly.

When the little girl looked up, Cuddy asked, "Can you tell me why you had to sit in time-out?"

"Yes," Rachel answered.

Cuddy didn't allow herself to smile. "Why?"

"I color on the wall. That bad," Rachel mumbled.

"That's right." Cuddy patted her leg. "You can't color on anything except your coloring books or your drawing pad. And, you can't take other people's things."

"I won't, Mommy." Rachel was the picture of contrite seriousness.

"Okay," Cuddy straightened and scooped Rachel up from the chair. "Let's go wash your hands. I think House has dinner ready."

She kissed her daughter on the cheek as she carried her to the kitchen. Cuddy stood next to House and holding Rachel with one arm around her waist helped her wash and dry her hands. House still hadn't moved from his post at the sink.

"Here," she thrust Rachel at him. House instinctively took the toddler and held her as he watched Cuddy begin to fix their plates.

"That's it?" he asked as Cuddy bustled around them.

"Yes, House. That's it." Cuddy spared him a glance. "She did her time-out. I talked to her."

"But…" House hesitated.

She patted him on the arm. "She's two and a half. Fifteen minutes of time-out is long enough. Now, can we eat? I'm starving."

House watched her carry plates to the table. He slowly realized Cuddy meant what she said. He wasn't sure what he had expected; but, this definitely hadn't been it. He realized his own experience had led him to anticipate something dramatically different. Rachel's punishment had indeed been age-appropriate and not traumatic in the least. Well, at least not for her.

"Hows, I hungy," Rachel interrupted his musings. He put her down and watched the little girl scamper to her high-chair. He limped to the table without his cane and pulled out Cuddy's chair. She already had Rachel in place with her plastic plate of food in front of her.

As she ate, Cuddy snuck looks at House. He was distracted by intently studying Rachel as she used her fingers to eat the pasta and the special breadstick he had fixed without garlic. Cuddy smiled. Despite her daughter's recent picky phase, she always ate whatever House cooked.

Her thoughts were broken by House's soft words when he stated, "I'm going to be useless at discipline."

Cuddy took a drink of her wine and studied him over the top of her glass. "I think I already figured that out."

"How did you know what to do?" House looked at her and frowned.

"When I signed up to foster her, I had to take mandatory parenting classes." Cuddy smiled. "It's a good thing, too. They don't come with instruction manuals."

House pushed the food around on his plate. "Maybe I should take those classes."

Cuddy knew she had to tread lightly. "I can get you the information."

"Hows," Rachel held out her plate. "More, please."

House smirked as Cuddy took Rachel's plate to the kitchen. He called after her, "Maybe we should video this and send it to your mother. Prove we aren't starving her."

"She would just say this isn't a balanced diet and tell us we shouldn't be drinking in front of her," Cuddy replied as she put the refilled plate back on the highchair's tray.

House ate a few bites before he commented, "I didn't like the way she talked to you in front of Rachel.

Cuddy paused with her fork half-way to her mouth. "House?" she questioned.

"You're Rachel's mother and you're doing a damned good job at it. Your mother should keep her opinions to herself when Rachel's around." House picked up his wine glass and studied the contents. "Didn't sound to me like she had any right to criticize anyone else about their parenting skills."

He looked up and was shocked to see the tears that had filled Cuddy's blue-gray eyes.

"House that is the sweetest thing you've ever said to me," she mumbled as she used her napkin to wipe her eyes.

"Mama sad?" Rachel asked as she watched her mother.

"No, baby," Cuddy choked out. "These are happy tears."

"Deliver me from weepy women," House groused as he wiped the Marinara sauce from Rachel's face.

Cuddy rose and moved to his side of the table. She bent and placed a kiss on his cheek. "You're secret is safe with me."

House scowled. "What secret?"

She whispered in his ear, "That you're a fraud. Underneath that gruff exterior, you're a softie, Greg House."

He tried to look affronted. "That wasn't what you were saying last night."

"Deflect if you want. I know the truth." Cuddy ran her fingers through his hair. She leaned close again and whispered in his ear, "And, I happen to find it incredibly sexy."

House put his wineglass down with a thud. The missing piece of the puzzle clicked in his brain and he experience the thrill of one of his epiphanies. His view of their relationship had just undergone a dramatic shift. He ran his hand under Cuddy's t-shirt and splayed his long fingers over the smooth skin of her back.

"So, all I have to do to get you hot is let you see that I really do have feelings?" House looked at her in wide-eyed surprise. After all these years, he was shocked to realize that the answer was that easy.

Cuddy smiled at the expression on his face. She understood. To say that how to have a normal relationship wasn't House's strong point would be a gross understatement.

"Took you long enough to figure it out. For a genius, you certainly can be dense about some things." Cuddy put all of her own feelings in to the long, gentle kiss she gave him.

"Mommy, want down." Rachel's demand broke them apart. House placed his shaking hands on the table and tried to control his breathing. It had taken a half a century, but he finally got it. And, as he watched Cuddy free Rachel from her high chair, he realized he had found the one woman he could trust not use his feelings as a weapon against him.

"Do you want to do the dishes or help Rachel with her bath?" Cuddy looked at House and was stunned by the look on his face.

House drained his wine glass before he responded. "I think I'll do the dishes." He paused and then his voice was husky as he admitted. "Dealing with a slippery, wiggling toddler probably wouldn't be safe with my leg."

"You're probably right." Cuddy kissed him again. "Will you please fix a container of leftovers for my lunch?"

"You just love me for my awesome cooking skills." House teased. A lifetime habit of protecting himself wouldn't be easily broken.

"That's not your only skill I love," her response was sultry and suggestive.

House smiled as Cuddy herded Rachel towards the bathroom. He sat back in his chair and surveyed the table. He looked first at his empty plate and then helped himself to the remaining pasta on Rachel's plastic plate. After years of stealing food from Wilson and scrounging leftovers from the doctors' lounge, he figured a few kid germs wouldn't kill him.

He didn't see the look on Cuddy's face as she looked back and watched him. She smiled as she thought of how far he had already come in their relationship and in his relationship with Rachel. She had confidence that both of their hearts were safe with this incredible man she had decided to let into their lives. And, she would make sure his heart was safe with them.