Thanks again for the time you took to review. – About the theme song for the previous chapter (18); in my mind it was: Hit the road, Jack / And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more / Hit the road, Jack / And don't you come back no more / (What you say?) / Hit the road, Jack / And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more / Hit the road, Jack / And don't you come back no more.
You can find a Ray Charles performance of it in You tube :)
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On Friday, her last day at work before taking her maternity leave, Cuddy was ready to commit murder by noon. Not that anything special had happened; in fact everything had gone very smoothly. The problem was the quiet, smug gloating that was radiating from Sheridan J. Rawls. All the necessary papers were done, all the instructions that Cuddy wanted to give him were given and had it been anyone else, she would have left for the day, but she was damned if she was voluntarily vacating her own office any sooner than necessary. Fortunately House came to the rescue – no matter how unlikely knight in shining armour he was.
"Cuddy, need you," House put his head into the office where Cuddy was reading some final papers and subtly ignoring Sheridan.
"What is it?" Cuddy queried.
"Oh, come on," House whined. "We are not going to bore dear Sheridan with things medical. Leave him to deal with things he can understand and come out. I need a consult from the Dean of Medicine and I cannot wait till Monday when Wilson's stint starts."
"Fine," Cuddy pretended to be humouring House, though she was happy to leave Sheridan to his own devices. If she was lucky, he would screw something up right away! "If that's what you need."
House escorted her out of the hospital towards a small restaurant nearby; they had sometimes lunched there.
"Thank you," Cuddy told him. "I really needed to get away from him. So, are we just having lunch or do you actually need to consult me about something?"
"Well, I suppose you could call it lunch if you really want," House mused as he opened the door to the place. As he did so, several people yelled Surprise! "The hospital staff figured that since you're having triplets you really deserve a proper baby-shower and I promised to deliver you. Of course, had I found the Mother of All Monsters in your office, I would have called in and told them to run for their lives."
Cuddy felt that she really ought to have had a cutting response to that one, but she just couldn't come up with anything; she was too touched by the trouble everyone had gone to! The place was decorated with blue and pink balloons and flowers. There was food and cake and presents and festive and happy atmosphere and no Sheridan or Janelle in sight! Half the hospital was present, and the other half had promised to show up as soon as the first half went back to release them. There was live music: a pianist and a singer performing golden oldies, jazz and easy listening. Though it was clearly a baby-shower, there was nothing too cutesy about it.
"Oh, my," Cuddy looked around at the smiling faces. "This is so exactly what I needed today! Thank you, thank you all!"
Anna came over to her with a glass of bubbly: "Here, non-alcoholic for you, but it's still bubbly. And just in case Sheridan finds out about this and decides to join us with his little floozy, the cake has been frosted with my special chilli-chocolate frosting. Don't worry, you won't taste the chilli, but it's there, just in case."
"Anna, you are the only person who I know who is even better when she is evil than when she is good," Cuddy smiled and took the glass.
"Hey, what do you mean only?" House wanted to know as he escorted Cuddy to the table where a waiter was ready to serve her. She was the only one with a personal waiter, others had to fend for themselves, but there was plenty of food, so nobody minded.
"When you are evil, you are just evil," Cuddy informed House and sat down.
"I resent that," House pouted as he joined her at the table – the Household (Blythe, Dr Higa, the ducklings, Anna and Wilson plus Kasumii and Grey) were already sitting there. "I may not be good exactly when I'm evil, but I am fun!"
"Well, I suppose I have to admit that sometimes you are," Cuddy conceded before attacking her meal. But before she had actually started she looked around herself with a puzzled frown: "Where's Aiko?"
"Doing her trophy round," Chase smiled.
"Doing what?" House frowned too.
"The nurses wanted to adore her," Foreman smiled a little patronisingly, which earned him an amused look from Cameron – who had seen him do his share of adoring where Aiko was concerned.
"Brenda has her," Cameron reassured Cuddy. "She is in good hands."
"You gave my daughter into the hands of Evil Nurse Brenda?" House exclaimed. "Have you no idea how that woman could corrupt my poor baby!"
"I have not corrupted her," Brenda's voice came from behind House. "I haven't even told her anything about your true nature." She handed Aiko carefully to House, who was happy to greet his daughter.
"Hello, Little Love," House said softly. "Did you like your tour?" Aiko cooed something in response. "Oh, good. I'm glad everybody liked you." Then Aiko seemed to explain something to her Daddy. "I see! Yes, people can be stupid sometimes." To which Aiko gave an earnest opinion. "But that's because they don't know me as well as you do." Aiko frowned as she pondered on something, and then she babbled something. "Yes, you are right. Your opinion is all that matters." To which Aiko gave a nod and then she settled against he Daddy to observe the proceedings of the party.
"You..." Foreman – like all the others – had watched the exchange half-believing that House really did speak Aiko, though they knew better (right?). "That... never mind."
"Just go with it," Cuddy told him having seen these conversations before; she hadn't been able to decide if House and Aiko really had conversations or if that exchange was just a game they both enjoyed (and which did develop Aiko's interaction skills). "Now, let's eat."
Once she had eaten she wanted to see her presents; looking them over took some time, even though most came from groups of people – doctors and nurses of the same department, and so on. But since she was expecting triplets, she also got three of almost everything. She loved it all. After that, the time was spent talking and circulating– by the time Cuddy had got through the presents the shift at the hospital had changed and there were new people who wanted to talk to her.
"Excuse me for a moment," House had stayed close to her all the time (the others had dispersed all over the party), partly to monitor that she wasn't overdoing things, but now he excused himself for a moment. Cuddy saw him go to the pianist and say something to him, give a tip and then he returned.
"What?" Cuddy eyed him a little suspiciously.
"Just made a request," House shrugged innocently as he took Aiko and went towards the restrooms with her – she had been showing signs that she wanted to be changed.
As House left the table Brenda and few of the other nurses came to Cuddy with a fairly large parcel.
"We know this is a baby-shower, but we decided that you need a house-warming gift, too," Brenda explained as she handed the gift to Cuddy.
"Thank you! But you really didn't need to, I have received more than enough gifts today," Cuddy exclaimed but she still opened the package. She looked inside and blinked: "Oh! You meant a House-warming gift. I ..." Cuddy stared at the sexy outfit resting among the tissues a little uncertainly. It was ... hot! But ...
"We know. You have consistently told us that your relationship with House isn't like that," Brenda said as the others nodded in support. "But we think it should be. I mean, you and House live in a beautiful home..."
"He has his own flat," Cuddy inserted.
"But it's in the same house," Brenda insisted. "You have kids together; you really should have sex together, too. And that's what this is for: give him some ideas, please!"
"I don't think giving House ideas would be the problem," Cuddy pointed out. "But as you said, we have kids together. This, if we end up as more than just co-parents, we need to think it through very carefully!"
"Up to you," Brenda reassured Cuddy. "We just wanted to give you some encouragement! Besides, even if you won't use it for him, we think you need a reminder that you won't be pregnant forever. You will want to wear something like that again! Trust me, I know."
"I suppose," Cuddy smiled. "Thank you. It is HOT, and I do love it. But ... the rest of your suggestion, I really have to think it through very carefully."
As soon as Cuddy had seen the outfit she had remembered her super-tanker-conversation with House the other night, but that was private and if something was developing between her and House, it was still too new and tentative for her to talk about it to others; she wasn't even sure it was something she could talk about to House – yet. She didn't know how House had taken the conversation; was he still thinking that she had said those things just to distract him, to make him forget his father's words. He hadn't said anything since then, not even an innuendo had passed his lips on the subject. Cuddy looked up and saw House returning with Aiko and she quickly closed the box and gave it to Brenda to hide among the other gifts that House's team was packing up for transport to home. Brenda took the other women with her so Cuddy was alone at the table when House and Aiko reached her.
Just as House got to Cuddy, the singer finished a song she had been singing and went right on to the next song, which after a few words made Cuddy glare at House hard enough to put him six feet under – if only glares could do that! (Though this one came really close.) Talk about innuendo! And House just smirked at her as the words of the song floated to them:
When my dreamboat comes home / and my dream no more will roam / I will meet you and I'll greet you / when my dreamboat comes home / Moonlit waters will sing / cause that tender love you'll bring / we will be sweethearts, yes forever / when my dreamboat comes home / When my dreamboat, comes home / and my dream no more will roam / I will meet you and I'll greet you / when my dreamboat comes home / Moonlit waters will sing / cause that tender love you'll bring / we will be sweethearts, yes forever / when my dreamboat comes home
"Why didn't you just make a public announcement?" Cuddy hissed angrily at House.
"Cuddy, my dear," House smirked at her. "It's just a song. Nobody will think nothing of it – unless YOU give them reason otherwise."
Cuddy had to admit that he had a point, so she satisfied herself with another glare and then settled down to ignore him and the song. Though secretly she was a little pleased that House apparently did remember the conversation and might be thinking of doing something about it. But she had no intention of making things too easy for him – and especially she had no intention of making a fool of herself in case she read too much to his actions.
Before Cuddy could tie herself into mental knots about it Miss Hill joined them at the table.
"Where did you disappear to?" House wanted to know.
"I just took a piece of cake in a box to my desk at work," Anna replied with wide, innocent gaze. "I thought I'd take some home and eat it tonight. Having a sweet tooth and all."
"To your desk?" House smiled. "What do you think are the chances that it will still be there when you go back?"
"Slim," Anna acknowledged. "But I am such a trusting person, you know."
"Are you setting Ms Forbes up again!" Cuddy asked Anna.
"Well, if you have an allergy," Anna replied earnestly. "Then the last thing you ought to do is to steal food from a person who you know loves the very food that you are allergic to! One would think that Janelle would have learned that lesson by now."
"I hear repetition is the mother of learning," House observed.
"Then let's hope she learns!" Anna nodded.
"Everything is packed for transport," Cameron came to them to tell Cuddy. "Do you want to come with us or do you want to stay here still?"
"I think I'll come home," Cuddy decided. "I've seen everybody and I'm getting a bit tired. It has been lovely. I just need to..."
"No you don't," Anna interrupted. "I got your things from your office for you. Besides, if you left something behind you can get it tomorrow when the men come to move your things from your office to make room for Sheridan."
"Ok, thank you Anna," Cuddy accepted. She left the party with the House-hold and to the sound of cheery goodbyes and see-you-soons.
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"Right, you can take all the presents to the green room upstairs," House told his team and Wilson as they got home. "The blue room will be Cuddy's office until she goes back to work. The yellow room will be the nursery for the Triplets and the apricot room is Aiko's."
"My office?" Cuddy frowned at House. "What do you mean?"
"I have arranged for your office to be moved in here in its entirety," House shrugged nonchalantly.
"My office?" Cuddy parroted again.
"Have you swallowed a parrot or something?" House teased her but then relented. "Tomorrow the furnishings and everything from your office will be brought here. I know you won't be doing any hospital work, but I seriously doubt you can spend the next six months totally absorbed with maternal things. You need a place where you can work, read medical articles, get on top of your specialities again, and do research ... things like that. In addition to that, you don't really want Sheridan to contaminate your things, so they will be safe here. Besides, having you move out of the hospital will give Sheridan a false sense of security which makes the shock bigger when he finds out that he is anything but secure. And personally I cannot wait to see Sherry Darling's face when he gets to work Monday morning and finds that his office has been stripped bare of everything but the desk and chair that were originally brought into your office for him when he arrived. And I will see it, since I told the men to take the blinds as well."
"I take it back," Cuddy said filled with awe. "You are good when you are evil."
"Welcome home, MamaLisa," House smiled.
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I will not give a better description of the hot outfit in that box. I will leave it to your imagination. If Cuddy ends up modelling it for House at some point of this story (or at any point in your imagination, after all who knows what happens behind closed doors!) I will refer to it only as the outfit that she got from the women.