Thank you once again for the lovely reviews :)

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House was sitting in his office at the end of the week. He was reflecting – once again – on the irony of life. Usually when he applied his diagnostic skills and curiosity to the private lives of people he got yelled at (and often sued). When he had done it with Perri, not only did he get thanked by Grey – the girl's guardian – he also got rewarded by Cuddy (and that still put a smile on his face! talk about wow!). Maybe he could learn this parenting thing after all. Perri had certainly been in a lighter mood since all the stuff had been got out into the open and still nobody had judged her. The women had totally adopted her and the next day shopping expedition had lasted over five hours, with a complete beauty-treatment thrown in as well, not just the hand-thing, manicure or whatever it was called. Cuddy had stopped back at the house after a little over three hours (that was when Kasumii was choosing Perri's working clothes) to fill the bottles for the Trips and to inform the men that all the women were going to the beauty-salon.

When the ladies had returned Perri had actually been smiling. She was wearing black jeans (normal waist, not the low one her previous ones had had), a pink t-shirt and a purple cardigan. It turned out that pink and purple were her favourite colours but the black look had been partly a reflection of her mood and partly an attempt to get a reaction from her mother (nice try, no cigar!). Now that she was feeling more accepted, more a real part of a family she didn't need that much black, though she still liked it, just not so much of it. As soon as they had got in, Perri had come over to House to show her hands. The nails were short and though there was some nail-polish on them, it was almost colourless giving only the slightest pink hue to the nails. House decided to approve. He was also forced (Blythe, Cuddy and Kasumii ganged up on him with glares) to approve the use of mascara and lip-gloss when Perri was not working. The ladies explained to him that she would stand out among other kids her age if she had no makeup at all. Grudgingly he gave in and was rewarded with a big smile from Perri.

House had to shake his head at the pretty much over-night change in the teenager. Not that he thought her saved yet, she was bound to have bouts of depression and moodiness; first of all she was still a teenager and secondly parental neglect was not something you just shrugged off. But Blythe and Grey had talked with Perri and she had agreed to see Cecil; in fact the first meeting had taken place on Thursday with both Blythe and Grey attending it with her. Cecil had made sure that all understood that though Perri was definitely responding well to the change in her environment, the actual healing would happen in baby-steps. Well, since most of the people in the family were doctors, Cecil didn't need to be very heavy-handed in getting that message across.

Baby-steps or not, Perri was still obviously thriving in her new family. She was immediately considered as the big-sister for the babies, and now that she was being treated as a child, it was obvious that some of the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. She did take part in the decisions concerning her (except when it came to her job of helping with the children, then it was House who said what was what), but Grey took his position as her guardian seriously and he made the final decisions about where she was going to school, what and how many classes she was taking and other things like that. She was starting the night school next month and was quite looking forward to it and seeing how things in the States differed from the UK.

And Grey had been right: Perri adored kids. She was interested in everything about them and she was happy to do anything Kasumii asked her to do. She paid attention and learned most things the first time they were explained or shown to her. Though she was practically never alone with the kids – as indeed nobody was since there were four of them – she was clearly taking her duties seriously and responsibly. Apparently she knew herself well enough to know what she really wanted to do for a living. Kasumii was of the opinion that she would make a great Nanny once she was old enough and had had her training. Too bad she couldn't keep her hair, though. Norland had very strict rules about the appearances of their Nannies. Of course, that was still at least two years away, so Perri could keep her stripes for quite some time still.

This had been Cuddy's first week at work, too. Her return was felt all over the hospital. Sheridan had been ok for the short term – once he got it through his head that that was all he was going to be – and Cuddy had made sure that all knew she was coming back, so nobody had really been slacking. But now that she was back and the decisive click of her heels could be heard in the corridors everyone was looking sharp. They knew that they would not get away with anything when Dr Cuddy was in charge. They had, for a moment, thought that having kids might have softened her, but that thought had been thoroughly demolished on her first day by lunch time. The only one, who didn't change with Cuddy back, was House. But he had his kids with him, so he was in a good mood and everybody sighed in relief. The routine of taking care of four kids was not quite the same as it had been with Aiko, but Kasumii was nothing if not efficient and with Perri's help, things were under control by Tuesday. Cuddy visited House's office regularly – even when she didn't need to yell at House - as the kids still got breast-milk and she had to "do the delivery" regularly (she usually did that in the maternity ward where it was easiest and then brought the bottles to House's office and the second fridge there).

The first time Cuddy had brought the milk over House had been changing a diaper (Perri and Kasumii had their hands full with the other kids) and when he saw Cuddy and the bottles he had said to his son (who was the one getting his diaper changed).

"Look, it's the Dairy Maid!"

"Shut up House," Cuddy had told him mildly. "You are not funny."

"Would it have been funny had I said here comes the cow?" House had asked facetiously.

"No!" that answer came from all the women, not just Cuddy. House had a feeling it was a good thing Gilmar and Chandrakanta hadn't been there as well or he might have busted an eardrum.

"Ok, if you have to be that way," House whined and then went on to complain to his son: "I don't understand what it is about being around kids that just kills any sense of humour women have. Now if you ever have kids, Ben, remember that. Women have no sense of humour at all."

He had earned a real barrage of glares for that one, even from Perri, who was still a little wary of him, feeling her way under his authority; though she had already learned that she could defy him a little, as long as none of it involved the kids. House was actually quite happy to let Perri test things, because he didn't want to break her spirit (it had received enough of a battering from her parents already), she just needed to find her place in the House-hold and learn to be a kid again. She would be responsible for herself quite soon enough as it was. Two years wasn't that long a time.

House looked out of his office to the other side of the corridor. Chase's new office was there. He had got his team – all male since he claimed that he needed the protection to ward of the wafts of oestrogen that were coming from House's Harem (they had never told anyone about that conversation but even so, House's new team was dubbed by the hospital staff just that: House's Harem) – and they were busy taking care of House's rejects, which was most of the cases House got consultation requests for. House hadn't had any cases that week, which was sort of ok, since the first two days had gone in interviews for the third harem maiden and once she was found she needed to get to know the rest of the team and adjust to the unique environment that was the Department of Diagnostics combined with House's Nursery.

Quanda Washington was the third woman in House's new team. She was African-American – or black, as House insisted (he wasn't going to use a hyphenated mouthful when there was a short, succinct word that said exactly the same thing). Her mother was a teacher and her father a lawyer, they both were the first people in their families to go to college and education was important for them both. Quanda had learned their work-ethic and values and had applied herself to her studies with single-minded earnestness that was still very characteristic to her. She didn't have street-smarts, her home was middle-class professional, but she was tenacious, she paid attention to details – though sometimes that meant that she wanted all the Ts crossed and Is dotted quite literally, which annoyed House – and that was the quality House wanted. She was also a genuine tee-totaller, a fact that just a year ago would have made it pointless for House to hire her, since she wouldn't have lasted a week.

So there they were, his team, his Harem. Quanda Washington, Otolaryngologist; second speciality: internal medicine. Petra Gilmar, Dermatologist; second speciality: gastroenterology. S. Chandrakanta, Pediatrician; second speciality (and the thing that had peaked House's interest and got her the fellowship) forensic pathology (and the story behind that one was the one House really wanted).

House was well into his musing – and his video game – when Petra opened the door between his office and the conference room.

"We have a case," Petra informed House quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping Trips.

"Do we now," House asked a little sarcastically.

"Apparently she is the grandmother of an important donor," Petra revealed. "Dr Cuddy insisted."

"Ah, then we do have a case," House agreed and got up from his chair. He walked into the conference room and Kasumii and Perri, who had just come back from a stroll with Aiko, went into his office to look after the Trips. Aiko stayed with her Daddy and the team. House sat down on a chair and started to divest Aiko from her coat and boots and other outdoor clothing she didn't need inside. "Ok, talk to me and Gilmar, you can write on the board. But only what I tell you to write, don't go creative."

"The patient is a 60 year old female and she came to us because of renal failure," Gilmar explained writing the symptoms on the white board after receiving a nod for each of them from House. "She has been treated for cardiac arrhythmia for the last month but her doctor could not find any reason for it. Or so he said, personally I think the large bottle of Gin she consumes every day might have something to do with that. But in addition to the renal failure which made her family bring her in, she also has a rash, nausea, abdominal pain and she is peeing blood."

"Sounds like there might be something wrong with her kidneys, too, not just heart," House observed as he got the last of Aiko's outdoor clothes off her and was able to set her on the floor near her toys. He stood up and took the marker from Gilmar. "Anything else?"

"Hypotension," Washington added as she read the file and patient history that Gilmar had gathered before coming to House. "That might explain the dizziness she has had for a few weeks, but it could also be a different symptom as she has also had repeated headaches."

"More like repeated hangovers," Gilmar pointed out.

"If she consumes a large bottle of gin every day, she probably won't have time to have a hangover," House decided. "Not unless she just empties it at one go first thing in the morning."

"I suspect she takes her first portion in her morning orange juice and then keeps on mixing it to whatever it is she drinks during the day," Chandrakanta shrugged. "Her social class and her age suggest that she is used to that kind of drinking. She probably hasn't even realised she is an alcoholic, or at least didn't realise it for a long time, as the amount of gin has just gradually increased over a period of time. Probably took a while for the family to catch on, too."

"So she is sixty?" House wanted confirmation. "Where does she work?"

"Nowhere," Gilmar said. "She has never worked. She used to chair some charities but for the last seven or so years she has stayed home."

"Drinking I presume?" House concluded.

"Yes," Washington responded still reading the history. "What are G&Ts?"

"Gin and tonics," Gilmar dismissed. "I already told you that she drinks a bottle of gin every day."

"With tonic?" House was suddenly alert.

"How many?" Chandrakanta was also intent on something.

"This says she drinks about twenty G&Ts a day," Washington read from the patient history.

"Why didn't you mention the tonic, Petra?" Chandrakanta asked puzzled.

"What would be the point? If she is drinking gin and tonic it's not the tonic water that will ruin her health," Gilmar insisted.

"You're a moron," House told her pithily. "You don't leave anything out. I'm the one who decides what is relevant and what is not. Not you. You tell me everything because you don't have the brains to know what is relevant and what is not."

"And how exactly could tonic water cause all these symptoms our patient is having," Gilmar huffed. "It's a soft drink!"

"Chandrakanta, explain it to the white chick," House invited capping his marker and setting it down.

"I'm Jewish," Gilmar ground from between her teeth.

"Half-jewish," House stipulated. "And it sure as h... (House looked down and saw Aiko watching her Daddy with a frown) blazes isn't the dominant half. Chandrakanta, your patient. Assess the damage, treat and discharge." House walked into his office with Aiko by his side leaving his team to sort the patient out.

"Ok, what is it?" Gilmar turned to Chandrakanta.

"The patient is suffering from cinchonism," Chandrakanta explained gently. "Tonic water has quinine in it though nowhere near enough to cause problems normally. It was developed to be a health drink in the tropics but you need to drink ten G&Ts a day to get enough quinine to prevent malaria, and then the gin will definitely be the unhealthy part. However, our patient has drunk twice that amount of tonic, every day for a long time. She has cumulative cinchonism and indeed, it is the tonic water in the G&T that has ruined her health. I have to go and find out how badly."

"I hate House," Gilmar said with feeling. "Damn him!"

"No swearing, Gilmar," House called from his office. "There are children in here."