Thank you for the posts; it's nice to know what people think of my story :)

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Monday found House alone in his office. He had been quietly brooding all morning and Chase and Foreman had made themselves scarce. Cameron had tried to talk to him – first to lecture him despite having been told not to, then, when he didn't pay any attention to her words at all, she had tried to find out what he was feeling or what was wrong. That got House's attention enough to make him order her to the clinic to do his hours. Now he was alone trying to understand love, of all things.

It didn't make any sense to him. Loving Aiko was reasonable, to him, despite Cuddy disclaiming the biological imperative: Aiko had been trusted into his care it was a biological imperative to care for the next generation and those instincts had just kicked in and he got attached to Aiko; nothing to wonder about in that. Surely there was a biological imperative behind Cuddy's feelings, too. She was expecting his children, so it was natural – in the literal sense of that word – for her to want to attach the father of the children to her with closer ties; to make sure that he wouldn't stray but would stick around to care for the kiddies. Of course, Cuddy – being a rational human being – didn't consciously think that way and House absolutely trusted her word that she was not trying to manipulate him or tie him down or force him into something that he wasn't ready for. But the instinct just had to be there behind her feelings. Why else would she love him? He had never been nice to her – well, almost never. Until recently they had rarely had a conversation that didn't either start or end in yelling. He was rude – in the extreme, he was uncaring of people's feelings, even when they were dying, he was ... he was House! And that name made most people either grind their teeth or turn pale in fear.

One exception to that rule was, of course, Miss Anna Hill, who right then strolled into House's office and made herself at home on the couch.

"What do you want?" House glared at her.

"Just wanted to check if your ears are still attached to your head," Anna replied uncaringly. "I heard Dr Cameron was planning to chew them off."

"What do you know about that," House frowned.

"Everything that James does, obviously," Anna scoffed. "You know perfectly well that he is incapable of keeping secrets. He just has to tell someone."

"And you? Do you need to tell someone," House inquired.

"Nah," Anna denied. "But I just wanted to see if you are still in one piece. Mind you, she is only a slip of a girl so you ought to have no problems in dealing with her. Though, oddly enough, your present demeanour seems to suggest that something she said has affected you?"

"I wasn't even listening to Cameron," House replied absently. "I sent her to the clinic over an hour ago."

"Then who has got under your skin then?" Anna tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as she examined House. House felt like he was under the microscope – as, apparently, he might have been since suddenly Anna said: "Of course! Dr Cuddy. She told you."

"Told me what?" House asked cautiously.

"That she loves you," Anna stated calmly.

"She has said that to you?" House wondered. Somehow he hadn't thought Cuddy would have shared her feelings with anyone, she was a very private person. He was surprised that she had decided to tell even him.

"Of course not," Anna scoffed. "She doesn't indulge in that kind of girl talk. Makeup, drinks, old dates – especially those that went horribly wrong – things like that. But I'm not blind. She is good at hiding her feelings but not 24/7."

"Does anyone else know?" House asked worried. He didn't want Cuddy to be fodder for the hospital gossip, not with this, especially as he could well imagine what they would say. He had overheard enough of the things they said about Cameron and her incredible crush.

"I doubt it," Anna reassured him. "They do suspect you two have the hots for each other, but nothing deeper than that."

"Ok, that's good," House nodded.

"It seems to disturb you?" Anna observed.

"I don't know what to make of it," House shrugged. "It doesn't make any sense. She is funny, smart, has a great body – even with the Trips let alone when she isn't pregnant, she really could have anybody. Why would she want a grumpy old cripple?"

"Cause she does," Anna pointed out. "There is no rhyme or reason to love. You just have to live with it." Anna stared at him for a moment. "Do you want my advice? I'm not giving any if you don't want, because this is really none of my business, interesting though it is."

"Go ahead," House invited. "I'm certainly clueless on my own with this thing."

"File it away," Anna said. "I'm sure you have already considered the possibility that her feelings are just part of her pregnancy – a sort of biological side effect. If it's fleeting, then you can ignore it. If, in time, it turns out to be the real thing, then it's quite possible that your subconscious mind will have already processed the information and by then you will know how to deal with it."

"That's it?" House was surprised at Anna's words. "That is your advice?"

"Yep, for now," Anna nodded as she got up from the couch. "Just remember one thing: regardless of the nature of her love, it is you she loves. So please respect her and her feelings by not trying to be something you are not. Don't try to do or be something you think she might want you to be or do or feel because she loves you. Don't fake it. First of all, you don't know what she wants and secondly you couldn't keep it up anyway. Whether it's permanent or fleeting, it's you she loves. So be you, be the man you are. The changes you need to make for Aiko and the Trips are all the changes she wants you to do. Other than that all she needs for you to be is a friend, in your normal, irritating, dastardly way. That's what we all want."

Anna was about to walk out of the door when House stopped her: "We all who?"

"We all who love you," Anna replied nonchalantly. "Of course, some of us love you like you were the irritating family pet that just, somehow has managed to reach some kind of a soft spot in our hearts. I'm talking about those who have hearts, that is."

"You know, that feeling could even be reciprocated," House growled at her. They exchanged a humorous look of mutual understanding: The Dragon and the – house dog?

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Later that day House was going back into his office from the cafeteria. He was standing in front of the lifts impatiently, but when one finally arrived, he stopped dead. Ruth Rawls was coming out of the car. House stepped aside to make way for her; since it was reasonable that he would recognise her from the picture Sheridan had on his desk (as he indeed had) he nodded and said: "Mrs Rawls."

Coming face to face with House so suddenly had startled Ruth, though she had taken into consideration the possibility that she would see him at the hospital. She nodded back and made to walk past him. However, she had only just got half a step past him, when she changed her mind. She put her hand on House's sleeve stopping him from entering the lift. She turned her head towards him, but not to look into his face; her gaze hovered somewhere near his shoulder. House didn't look at her either, his eyes fastened on her right hand which was resting on his sleeve. They didn't stand very close to each other, but to anyone who happened to look into their direction there was something strangely intimate about their stance – intimate, but yet somehow distant.

"I just wanted to say: thank you," Ruth said quietly.

"For what?" House wondered. "I didn't really help you; quite the contrary I would imagine."

"I wasn't your responsibility, yet you chose to ..." Ruth turned her face enough to capture his eyes with hers. "Nobody could have talked me out of it then, but you cared enough to make sure I don't have additional regrets. You protected me from ... You protected me and I thank you for that."

House nodded his understanding: "How are you? Otherwise, that is."

"Not exactly on cloud nine," Ruth smiled wryly. "But then, I didn't expect to be."

"And did you come to see Sheridan?" House asked as Ruth took her hand from his sleeve and turned a little more towards him, though stepping half a step further away from him at the same time. He, too, turned a little.

"No," Ruth denied. "I made us an appointment for marriage counselling. We have children together; I'm not making any more hasty decisions."

"Good," House stated. Just then the lift opened its doors again and House made his way into it. As he turned towards Ruth again he said: "Take care." She nodded her acknowledgement as the doors slid close.

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That afternoon Sheridan stormed into House's office. The ducklings were in the conference room, but when they saw Sheridan's face, they decided that they had something important to do in the lab. Or actually, Chase and Foreman did, Cameron was all for staying – for whatever reason – but the guys nearly carried her with them, so House and Sheridan were alone in the Diagnostics department.

"What's going on between you and my wife," Sheridan asked from between gritted teeth.

"Nothing that I know of," House said. "What makes you ask?"

"I saw you by the lifts today," Sheridan explained. "I was with some important clients, so I couldn't come over, but when I got to my office she wasn't there. If she didn't come to the hospital to see me, then why was she here? And don't try to tell me it had nothing to do with you, since anyone with eyes on his head could see that there was something going on between you two."

"Then you have sharper eyes than I have," House observed. "There is nothing going on between me and your wife; unlike you and your secretary. Which rather makes me wonder why you are so upset over this imagined connection you think I have with your wife? You spend most of your time with Janelle, why do you care how your wife spends her time? I was quite under the impression that you have an open marriage or something. You certainly behave like it."

"I love my wife," Sheridan stated. "My affair with Janelle has nothing to do with Ruth."

"I can't imagine her agreeing with that sentiment," House shook his head.

"You don't understand," Sheridan paced the office. "Ruth is a lady; she is everything delicate and fine. Janelle – well Janelle is more, I don't know, earthy. A man needs something more basic every now and then. I couldn't do the things I do with Janelle with Ruth. She would be shocked."

House stared at the younger man. What century did he think he was living in? "Tell me, Sheridan, were you born that stupid or does it take special training?" House asked conversationally. "Personally I rather think you must have trained. What kind of reasoning is that? She is a lady? What has sex got to do with being a lady or anything?"

"You just don't understand," Sheridan insisted.

"No, I don't," House agreed. "I don't understand you at all. Your wife has given birth to two kids and let me tell you that is not a delicate process. She does look the lady, I give you that, but she also looks like a woman. I can't believe I'm giving you marriage counselling, it's so not me, but let me tell you: if there is something you can't ask your wife to do then you have no business doing it anyway; or then you have no business to be married."

"You have never been married, and you don't know Ruth," Sheridan was already forgetting his initial irritation at House with this new direction the conversation was taking – not that it made him any less irritated, just for a different reason. "I respect her too much to expect her to, well, to be more like Janelle."

"That's a unique view, I must say," House mused. "I don't think even I would come up with that one. I've never been the faithful type, but it has never, not even once, occurred to me to claim infidelity is a sign of respect. And I'm quite certain that explanation will not go down very well with your wife, either."

"I'm not going to tell her about Janelle," Sheridan insisted.

"You don't have to," House decided to inform him. "According to the latest hospital gossip your wife walked in on you and Janelle last Saturday night."

"What!" Sheridan turned pale.

"That might have been the reason why she didn't come to see you today," House pointed out.

"Then what was she doing here?" Sheridan tried to understand what was going on; his world had just turned upside down.

"You have to ask her," House said. "Your marriage is none of my business. But even so I'll give you one final piece of advice: try to drag your mind to the new millennium. Ladies, in this day and age, have a very healthy sex-life. And if you go out to find what you think is missing at home, there is nothing stopping her from doing the same. Now, get out of my office; my soap is about to start."

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That night Cuddy called House again.

"Are you ok?" She asked him.

"Me?" House exclaimed. "I'm not the one who is pregnant."

"But I did rather drop a bomb on you last night," Cuddy reminded him.

"Yeah, you did," House acknowledged. "And I'm still a little reeling from it. But I'm digesting it."

"Good," Cuddy said. "I'd hate it to create any awkwardness between us."

"I rather think there will be plenty of things that will create all sorts of things, difficulties and problems between us," House laughed a little. "That one won't probably even make the top ten of them."

"Yeah," Cuddy agreed. "Knowing us and how obstinate we can be you're probably right."

"So, how are the Trips behaving this fine night," House asked settling on his bed, ready to talk as long as Cuddy wanted.

"Surprisingly well," Cuddy answered. "It's even possible that they are starting to listen to me."

"Well, you have always had the House-touch," House smiled in response.

Cuddy could hear it in his voice and she smiled too.