"You can go first, Maggie," House said as he sat in the chair facing her.

Perched on the side of the bed, she shook her head. "I'm red. Black goes first."

House smiled and moved his piece. "Have it your way."

She smiled back. "It's not my way. It's-a rules."

Yes, House mused. This is a cop's kid. He made his next move. Then Maggie began talking. She simply chatted conversationally as she took her turns and watched House take his.

As the game progressed and House captured more of her pieces, he wondered about his colleagues. Maybe they really did let Maggie win and they were just messing with him about her abilities. He had almost twice as many pieces left on the board as she did. So what if she had three king to his one? He still had another half dozen potential kings making their way across the board. "Do you gots a wife, Dr. House?"

"No."

"Any kids?"

"No, I don't."

She made a double jump. "Do you like kids?"

He stared at the board for a moment before he answered, "It depends on the kid."

She watched him make his next move, then jumped another piece. "King me," she giggled.

He made her last single piece a king and moved his king toward one of hers. She jumped another single piece that he had been ignoring. "You like me."

What was happening here? He had three pieces left. What the hell...? He moved one of those pieces. "Yes, Maggie. I do like you...and your baby."

She smiled happily...and then made a triple jump that cleared his pieces from the board. He sat there in silence and stared at the board. Just a moment ago he'd had seven pieces. Now he had none. "I know that look," came a voice from the doorway. "She just trounced you."

House ignored him. "How...Maggie, how did you do that?"

"Like this."

She placed the three pieces, including House's solitary king, back on the board and moved her piece back where it had been. She repeated the triple jump. House shook his head and looked back at the doorway at Maggie's father. "Go talk to Cameron. She likes you. I'm going to play another game with Maggie."

Goren raised his hands with a grin and blew his daughter a kiss. She waved. "See you inna little while, Daddy."

Two games later, House had lost another one and managed to bring her to a draw in the third. Foreman and Goren had not been kidding about her intuitive grasp of logic and strategy. "Are you sure you don't want to be a doctor, Maggie?"

"I'm sure. I wanna be like Daddy."

House smiled. "I suppose there's no escaping that."

The phone on the bedside table rang and she grabbed it. "Hello."

Hi, sweetheart. How are you?

"Hi, Mommy! I'm good. I been playin' checkers with Dr. House."

Really? That must be fun to watch. Where's Daddy?

"Dr. House sent him for a walk."

Of course he did. Let me talk to Dr. House, baby.

"Okay." She held the phone out. "Mommy wants to talk-a you."

House took the phone. "Mrs. Goren, what a pleasure."

Don't start, doctor. How is Maggie today?

"If your husband isn't keeping you up to date, I certainly would not want to be him."

He tells me everything you tell him. I want to hear the same from your mouth so I know you're not keeping anything from him.

"I'm not that brave. Maggie is doing great. We took her IV out last night, as I'm sure you know. We're waiting a few more days to be certain she is doing well with oral antibiotics and then we'll release her, as much as that will sadden my co-workers."

Thank you. Let me say good-bye to Maggie and I'll let you two get back to your game. Tell Bobby I'll talk to him later.

"I'll give him the warning."

House handed the phone back to Maggie. "Hi, Mommy."

You go back to your game, Maggie, and make sure you win.

"I been winnin'."

Good girl. I'm not going to be able to see you today, but Uncle Mike will come with me to see you tomorrow.

"Okay, Mommy. Give Tommy a kiss for me, an' I'll give Daddy one for you."

It's a deal. I'll talk to you later. I love you.

"We love you, too, Mommy. Bye."

She hung up the phone and turned back to the table, where she silently put the checkers away. She was thinking. Finally, she looked at House, studying him with intense eyes. "Do you dance, Dr. House?"

"Do I...dance?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He looked at his cane, then back at the child in front of him. "Maggie..."

She waved a hand in the air. "Lemme show you. Maybe if you could dance, you could find a wife."

"I don't think dancing is my problem."

But she ignored him and slid off the bed. She took his hand and pulled. He got up from the chair, grabbed his cane, and walked around the bed with her to a small area free of furniture. She pushed the IV pole against the wall and reached up to take his free hand. Then she rested her other hand on his where he held his cane. She moved slowly around the small area, pushing and pulling him to follow her lead. He moved with her and studied the child whose head barely reached his waist.

She stepped closer, resting her head against his stomach and suddenly left him to lead, which he did. She turned her head to look up at him and smiled. "See? It's not hard."

He stopped and set his cane against the bed. He lifted her up and set her on the mattress, then he sat beside her. "Who taught you to dance?"

"Daddy did. Mommy said he al'ays danced with me, from the time I was born. When I could walk good, he started teaching me so I could dance with him." She smiled. "An' Uncle Mike teached me another kind-a dancing."

"Oh? What kind is that?"

"The one where you jus' stand and wiggle."

She jumped up on the bed and wiggled her body and her head in different directions, then dropped back down beside House. He laughed and straightened out her hair. "Which do you like better?"

"I dunno. Both are fun. I al'ays have fun with Daddy and Uncle Mike, and when I'm on'y with one of 'em, we have diff'rent kinds-a fun." She looked thoughtful. "Uncle Mike is my other best guy, but Daddy will al'ays be my bestest guy."

House nodded, then leaned over to kiss Maggie's head. "Thank you for the dance, Maggie. What do you want to do until Daddy gets here?"

"Do you know how to play Go Fish?"

When House returned to his office, three pairs of eyes eagerly greeted him. "Well?" Chase demanded.

"We played to a draw."

Foreman snorted. "How many games did that take?"

"Three."

All three young doctors dissolved into laughter as House sat at his desk. "What else did you do?" Cameron asked.

"We played Go Fish, we talked to her mother, who is always a delight, and Maggie taught me to dance so I can find a wife."

They stared at him in silence. Finally Cameron said, "What?"

House raised an eyebrow. "Very good, Cameron. That's all you can think of to say?"

Chase shook his head. "She taught you to dance?"

"So you can get a wife?" Foreman added. "Has she met you?"

"I'm just telling you what she said."

Cameron leaned back against the conference table. "She's still only five. As much as her parents see in their job, they have managed to protect her from that side of life. The world is a much simpler place to Maggie."

"And a much happier place than it really is," House added. "She lives in a very happy world, and I wonder how much she'll suffer when she realizes that world does not exist outside her home."

Foreman said, "Her parents will protect her for as long as they can."

"But they aren't going to let her head out into the world unprepared," Chase put in.

Cameron said, "Like I said, she's only five. I wish we saw more children like her. Let her have a happy childhood. Her parents have plenty of time to let her know what the real world is like."

"Unless it comes around to bite everyone in the ass," House muttered dryly.

He found himself hoping that would never happen. Maggie had done something few others had ever managed. She had touched his heart.