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"So what was it?" Wilson asked as soon as House limped back into his office. House didn't reply immediately since Aiko was back and he needed to greet her first. House sat down in his chair and Kasumii gave Aiko to him to hug and hold while she got Aiko's bottle ready.

"Tell the others to come in here, too," House asked Kasumii as she went to the other room to warm the bottle. "Hello there, Little Love," House greeted his daughter. "How was your walk today?" Aiko made some experimental sounds in response and House pretended to understand – or maybe he did understand Wilson was never quite sure. Those two had a connection that seemed to be almost telepathic. He watched them exchange a few more comments but then his curiosity got the better of him.

"What happened with Cuddy?" Wilson repeated his question.

"Forbes and Taunton," House answered. "We need to plan so wait till everybody's here."

"They are up to something aren't they," Wilson sighed.

"Yeah," House nodded. "But then we expected them to be. Fortunately they don't know what they are up against."

"Is Lisa ok?" Blythe asked as she walked into her son's office with the team following her.

"Yes, Mom," House reassured her. "She is fine, but a couple of the members of the hospital board think they can stage a coup now that she is about to go on maternity leave."

"Why would they do that?" Foreman wondered. "Dr. Cuddy has made this hospital what it is today, they cannot be unsatisfied with her work!"

"That is not the point," Wilson sighed. "It's a question of power and who has it. Besides, Forbes and Taunton have always been a little sceptical about the abilities of women. They probably think that if Lisa has done a good job then just imagine what a man could have done in her shoes."

"No man could walk in her shoes," House growled as she accepted Aiko's bottle from Kasumii. "Those heels are killers!"

"I assume you mean that figuratively as well as literally?" Blythe smiled at her son.

"Absolutely," House asserted. "She is good because she is good. Gender has nothing to do with it. Except that I don't think a man could keep me even that much in line as she can."

"So, how are they planning to oust her then?" Chase puzzled.

"They are making Jimmy here take over the post of the Dean of Medicine and they are bringing in a wonder-boy to take over the administration," House explained. "They are probably figuring that Cuddy will quietly accept demotion to a mere Dean once she comes back from her maternity leave since that would be the motherly thing to do in their opinion."

"And if she won't think of it on her own they will lean on her to make her," Wilson suspected.

"Surely they cannot do that?" Cameron insisted.

"Can you think of any reason why not?" House questioned. "Other than your usual moral outrage?"

"But if they are on the board their first priority must be the good of the hospital," Cameron refused to let go.

"I presume that they think the good of the hospital requires more power to them," Foreman pointed out. "If they get their man on the Head's seat, they can better control the hospital."

"That would make sense if Cuddy wasn't so good at her job," Cameron insisted. "Nobody else needs more control of the hospital, she has it all covered."

"It is possible that they feel she might be distracted once she has children," Blythe suggested kindly. "It has always been that way, women are expected to concentrate on their family and the job is supposed to suffer for it."

"Except that anyone who knows anything about Cuddy would be insane to think she would neglect this hospital for any reason at all," Chase argued. "Sure, she didn't expect to end up with triplets once she decided to have a child, but she will not be alone with them."

"And if she suspected that she wasn't able to do her job, she would be the first one to suggest changes," Wilson stated.

"I don't think it fair anyway," Kasumii mused as she took Aiko from House to burp. "They should give her a chance to show that she can do her work and take care of her family not just assume that she isn't a superwoman and start acting behind her back."

"You said it," House agreed. "It's not fair. Besides I don't really care what their motivation is, I just want Cuddy to stay. I'd hate to have to train another boss."

"So what do we do?" Foreman asked.

"We gather information," House said. "Information is power. We need to find out everything we can about the wonder-boy and his two stooges. And Wilson, you better call Stacy and get instructions from her. You cannot object to the hiring of this guy since he obviously is highly qualified, but you need to make sure that the minutes of the Board meeting clearly state that he is hired only for the duration of Cuddy's maternity leave. And there may be some things that you need to make sure are stated in his contract. But Stacy will know."

"I'll call her as soon as I can," Wilson nodded. "Or perhaps I'll talk with Cuddy first, so that I know what they have already dealt with. I presume Cuddy is calling Stacy too?"

"Yes of course," House assured him. "What is the point of asking a lawyer to help you with something if you don't keep her posted all the way?"

"So let's gather information then. What's this guy's name anyway?" Chase queried.

"I don't know," House confessed. "Didn't come up in the conversation, but I expect Wilson has it."

"Me?" Wilson was surprised. "How could I know his name when this is the first I heard of the plan at all?"

"I think Greg means that since the board meeting is tomorrow they must have sent a memo of this man to you," Blythe suggested. "If he is as qualified as Greg thinks he is then surely his sponsors have sent everyone his resume."

"You could be right," Wilson accepted. "I'll go and check. Though they might have left me out of the loop entirely, if they mean to make me the Dean, since it could make me biased and all."

"But hiring someone to be the Head of the Hospital is a separate issue isn't it?" Cameron asked. "Though you need to excuse yourself when they decide what to do with the Dean's position, surely you need to be there when they choose the Head, as you two do need to work closely together."

"Let's hope they share Cameron's view of this," House mused. "So go Jimmy, run like the wind! And bring us the information."

Wilson rolled his eyes at House but came back within five minutes. He had indeed received a memo about the wonder-boy.

"His name is Sheridan J. Rawls," Wilson revealed.

"He's gay?" House frowned.

"No he isn't," Wilson gave his friend a glare. "He has a wife, Ruth, and two children."

"I know that, Cuddy said so. It just means he is still in the closet," House shrugged.

"What makes you think he is gay in the first place," Foreman sounded exasperated.

"Duh! Sheridan," House marvelled. "I have never known a man whose name is Sheridan and who isn't gay. Talk about name being an omen!"

"He hasn't chosen his name himself," Cameron reminded him.

"But when he got old enough he would have changed it or started to use his middle name," House elucidated. "That is unless he was a Sheridan."

"I have to admit that the only two Sheridans I have ever known were gay," Blythe gave some support to her son. "Though I think the other one might have been bisexual. But that is a very limited sample so I don't think it fair to make assumptions before we even meet the man."

"It could make things easier, though," Kasumii piped in. "I'm fairly sure that the men who object to Dr. Cuddy because she is a woman, are not exactly going to be thrilled with a gay man either."

"That is true," Wilson nodded. "I don't think I have ever met two more homophobic men than Taunton and Forbes."

"That's one point to us then," House gloated.

"Only if you are right," Foreman reminded him. "I have met men who have truly embarrassing names, but who keep using them because it has been in the family for generations and they feel that denying it would be dishonouring their ancestors."

"Oh please," House groaned. "Don't go giving our victim any redeeming qualities like honour. We need to squash him and squash him good. Humanising him will just hinder us. Besides trying to find the good in people is Cameron's job."

"Foreman is right," Cameron voiced. "For all we know he is a nice honourable man who doesn't know that Forbes and Taunton are using him to oust Cuddy."

"Yeah, and if you watch enough reruns of Gilligan's island they will actually be rescued," Chase muttered.

"It's not an unreasonable assumption," Cameron insisted. "How do we know what those two have told him? He could very well be coming here without any idea of the power games that are going on behind Cuddy's back."

"True," House agreed with Cameron making everyone stare at him. "It is possible that he has not kept his name because he is gay but because he is an utter idiot. There is no way he does not know what is going on, not if he has any kind of brain in his head and his resume suggests that he does have a brain. Power games are par for the course in Hospitals, in any Boards or similar bodies, come to that. Besides, there is no way he would have accepted Forbes and Taunton's offer without doing some research himself and anyone could have told him that Cuddy will never voluntarily relinquish any of her power to anyone. Except temporarily and even then only if she has no choice."

"So what is wrong with him if he is willing to come into this situation?" Chase wondered. "He knows he has a fight in his hands, he can only count on two members of the board for support and he has no way of knowing that he will have a job six months from now. He cannot even be sure he will get a favourable recommendation since when the fight is for power it tends to get dirty."

"We have to find that out," House said. "Hopefully it is something that will make him go away quietly."

"There might be nothing wrong with him," Foreman pointed out. "He may be waiting for an opening in another hospital and experience here will give him the necessary edge over whatever competition he has for that position."

"But I don't think Forbes and Taunton would have hired him if they thought he had no intention even to be anything but temporary," Wilson doubted.

"Rawls may not have told them," Chase offered. "He may know Cuddy's reputation and know that there is no way this is anything but temporary, so he may have decided to make use of this opportunity and just let Forbes and Taunton go hang themselves."

"I hope that is the case," Cameron was already smiling. "It would make things so much nicer."

"We definitely need to take that possibility into consideration, too," Blythe stated to her son who was looking scornful. "But for Lisa's sake we have to be prepared for the other alternatives as well. Besides, it is possible these Forbes and Taunton have a plan B as well. And Rawls may be just the point man or even a decoy. We need to keep Stacy posted and we need to make sure we don't inadvertently give up any ground we have."

"Spoken like a true military wife," House approved. "We need a defence and a strategy for all possible scenarios. Though I still say it's Rawls who Forbes and Taunton want replacing Cuddy. And I still say Sheridan is gay."

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Later that day Cuddy, Blythe and House were at the new house with their interior designer Gail. They inspected the rooms that were ready, the women made final choices for curtains and colours and what not boring House nearly out of his mind. Finally they had given their seal of approval for everything and Gail was able to give them the final schedule.

"Good, I can confirm the movers then and have the men in to do the final fittings so that Dr. and Mrs. House can move in next week-end and you, Dr. Cuddy can move a week later. Is that acceptable?" Gail asked.

"Works for me," House nodded. "You did inform the movers, that some of my things will stay in my old flat and some things from Dr. Cuddy's house will be taken into there as well, since Dr. Wilson is taking over my lease?"

"Yes, they wanted me to remind you to mark those things clearly, but other than that, no problem," Gail confirmed. "They will do all the packing and moving and all you need to do is to pack those personal items you don't want them to handle and then get yourselves here and settle in."

"Thank you," Cuddy accepted the plan. "That is acceptable."

"You did remind them that one of the items from my flat is a piano," House wanted to make sure.

"Yes, I did and I was told they will make sure they have experienced men moving it," Gail stated.

"Good," House said. "Then I'm fine and we will start the moving next week-end. Mother?"

"Yes, that will be perfect," Blythe agreed.

They finalised the plan and then Gail left them alone in the house.

"So Cuddy," House turned to her smiling his mischievous smile. "How long do you think before either one of us has to get a shovel and dig a shallow grave in the back yard for the other one?"

"I'm pregnant, I can't do any digging," Cuddy pointed out dryly. "I would need to ask Wilson for help."

"Children!" Blythe admonished them with a twinkle in her eye. "Neither one of you will do any digging or murdering either. I'll make sure of that. My grandchildren deserve to have two parents and you will provide them with that even if it kills you."

"Well, Mom, that rather was my point," House recognized.