Note: This chapter is long and contorversial. Please read the whole thing before you judge and please don't judge.

House and Kate spent a quiet Christmas together. Neither was very experienced in celebrating the holiday, so neither had any expectations. Because of that, both enjoyed it more than they would have ever thought.

Both had been unsure about gifts, knowing that they should buy something, but uncomfortable about what was appropriate or what would be appreciated. House had received unsolicited advice from Wilson, Cuddy and Cameron including suggestions like lingerie, silk scarves and, especially, jewelry. But he rejected all of that. He didn't know much about most women, but he knew Kate. He bought her a leather jacket, similar to his, just a bit more feminine that she could wear riding with him or to work. He also gave her a first edition Agatha Christie book and the complete video sets of Lethal Weapon and Die Hard.

Kate had also received suggestions from Joanne and other cops she worked with. Their ideas for House's gifts included sweaters, ties (yeah, right!) and a watch. But she presented him with a set of old jazz records (yes, actual RECORDS) that she had found at a flea market, as well as the latest video game on the market.

They spent Christmas Day unconventionally. House convinced Kate to skip her workout that morning and stay in bed with him, fooling around. A good trade, Kate thought. They rose around eleven. Kate made coffee and House toasted some bagels. Then they sat and played his new game for a while. After that, House made Kate have her piano lesson and practice, but after she finished, he sat beside her and played some himself. Then, they heated up lasagna that they had brought home the day before from a local Italian restaurant and drank wine with it. Before long, they were back in bed, ending the day as they had started it.

All in all, the best Christmas either of them remembered in a long time.

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Almost two months later.

Maybe it was just winter that was causing Kate to hate getting out of bed to do her workout. She just found herself too exhausted to leave the warm bed and the warm man that was in it. Maybe it was mostly the warm man. But House was sound asleep when she got up. She rarely even used the alarm, since her internal clock usually woke her up. But lately she was just too tired to rouse herself. She thought maybe she had the flu. In that case, sleeping in and skipping her workout wouldn't be uncalled for.

House slowly opened his eyes, sensing something was not quite right. The light peeking in through the closed blinds in his room told him it was probably around 9 AM, his usual time to rise, so that wasn't it. The pain in his leg that he experienced every morning after extra hours without his meds combined with the normal stiffness from sleeping also wasn't unusual.

A small noise beside him alerted him to something. He turned his head and saw that Kate was still in bed, sound asleep next to him. He looked at the clock on the nightstand just to be certain and, sure enough, it read 9:10 AM.

Why was Kate still here, let alone still in bed, he thought. She was usually in her office no later that eight each day. He reached over and shook her softly. She didn't stir.

"Kate," he called, "Wake up."

Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Wha-what's wrong."

"Do you know it's after nine?"

"What are you talking about?" She said groggily.

"It's after nine."

Suddenly she started to awaken. "In the morning?" she asked.

"Unless the sun decided to start shining at night."

She sat straight up. "You're kidding me! It can't be!"

"While that might be an amusing joke, I don't think you'd appreciate it."

She shot out of bed and started frantically running around the room, looking for clothes. "Oh, no, this can't be," she said again. "I was only going to skip my workout, sleep for a little longer."

House had been watching her in amusement as she ran around, but now he looked more closely. Her eyes, usually so bright, were tired looking.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Just really tired, probably have a bug or something." She continued to look around, not sure what she was searching for.

At her words, Dr. House kicked in. "Come over here and sit down."

"No, no time. I have to get ready. God, I'm so late!"

"Kate, don't make me tackle you. COME HERE!"

At his tone, she sighed and went over to sit beside him. He took her face in his hand and looked in her eyes.

"What are your symptoms?"

"I don't have any symptoms, doctor. I'm just tired. Probably too many late nights with you."

"Yeah, that would make sense, if you ever actually stayed up late with me. You're usually in bed by nine at the latest. And ready to sleep by ten." He added with a slight grin. Not to mention, he thought, that the night before she had fallen asleep on the sofa at seven while he was playing the piano. He had hauled her off to bed, tucked her in and left her to sleep.

"Open your mouth."

"Greg, I don't need…"

"I didn't mean open it to talk. I want to see your throat."

Resigned, Kate opened her mouth. House couldn't see any sign of infection. "Any soreness?" he asked her.

"No, just tired, like I said."

"How's your appetite?"

Kate hesitated, and then said, "Fine."

"Right. That's why I had so much pizza left over last night."

"Okay, I've been a little off my food, but no big deal. I could stand to lose a few pounds. The holidays did a number on me." Kate sat back with a smile. "That's probably why I'm feeling tired. I usually keep my weight in check. I must be getting lazy since I moved in here."

"Laziest person I ever saw. Most people get up earlier than you and do more than an hour long workout."

"How would you know? You're asleep when I work out."

House ignored that. "Come into the hospital today and I'll check you out."

"God, no. I'm not going into the hospital. I'm just a little tired, probably from overweight. Let it go, doc." She rose and went to the bathroom to shower.

When she came out, House was waiting in the bathroom with something in his hand.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm going to take some blood."

"Are you a vampire? Leave my blood alone."

"You don't want to come in, let me get the blood and I'll take it and test it. There are a lot of very basic things that could cause fatigue and weight gain. Thyroid, for instance. If it's something like that, we find out, get you on some medication and you'll be back to normal in no time."

Kate considered that, and then nodded her head. House prepared her arm, then using the syringe, filled two vials with blood.

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When House arrived at PPTH, he went straight to the lab. He was hoping ideally, that no one was there, so that he could run the tests himself. Failing that, a technician would do. He could give a fake name for a patient and instruct the tech to bring the results directly to him. But to his dismay, when he entered the lab, Dr. Alison Cameron was there.

"What are you doing here?" He barked.

"Good morning to you too."

"Don't change the subject."

She rolled her eyes. "Our patient from last month came back for a follow-up and I'm just running his levels. I want to be sure our treatment worked." She stopped and stared at him. "What are you doing here? We don't have a case…that I know of."

He considered for a moment, then said, "I need you to check this blood for me. It's not a patient, just a favor for someone." He handed her the two vials.

"What am I checking for?"

"Just run the basic tests. I'm not looking for anything unusual. In fact, it's probably something simple. As I said it's a favor. And I'd prefer if you kept this between us."

"Is it a man or a woman?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. If it's a man, I won't bother with a pregnancy test."

House just looked at her, trying to keep all expression off of his face.

"It's a woman." He said, and limped out of the lab.

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House was at his desk, his back to his door when he heard the door open and a quiet tap, tap of high heels.

"So," he said, "Tell me."

"It's positive for pregnancy."

House just sat there, a million thoughts running through his head. "Anything else?" he asked.

"No, everything else was normal."

House just nodded, but didn't look at her.

Cameron was about to leave, but decided to take a shot. "House, was the test for Kate?"

House turned to look at her, no expression on his face, then turned back.

"House, that's wonderful! You're going to be a father."

House turned again, this time the look on his face was murderous. "Don't you have something else to do?"

She knew that he wasn't going to talk about it, so she walked out of his office.

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House decided to wait until he arrived home to tell Kate the results. Of course, she was late and came in looking even more tired than she had that morning.

She could tell by his face that something was up.

"Oh, God," she said, "What's wrong with me? Am I dying?"

"You're fine, you're not dying."

"But something is wrong. Just tell me."

He tapped his cane on the floor, not looking at her and said, "You're pregnant."

She looked at him incredulously. "That's ridiculous. I can't be pregnant."

"Well, I'm only a doctor, we sort of learned this right away, but why don't you tell me why you can't?"

"I'm on the pill."

"99 percent effective. Know why they say 99 percent? Because that little one percent means that you can be."

"I just had my period, last week!"

"Women sometimes get their periods in the first or second month of pregnancy. What else have you got?"

Now Kate looked panicked. "I can't be PREGNANT! What the hell kind of mother would I be?"

"Back at you on that one. Your choice of father for this wasn't a great one."

Kate started pacing around the room. "What am I going to do? I don't know how to be a parent. I never had a real family life. My mother didn't know the first thing about being a mother. And I am not exactly the nurturing type."

House just looked at her. "Your decision, Kate."

She stopped pacing. "It's probably best. Neither one of us are ready to be parents."

House nodded. "You should call your gynecologist tomorrow. Schedule it."

"Right. I'll do that. First thing." She nodded her head, as if telling herself that this was right. "I'll do that tomorrow."

House just watched her.

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The next day House was in the conference room when Kate called and told him that the "procedure" was scheduled in two days, at ten in the morning.

"Okay," he said, "I'll take off work."

She stared at him. "You don't have to come."

"Sure I do. You won't be able to drive yourself home."

"I can take a cab."

"No, you can't. I'm going with you."

"Okay." She said and they hung up.

House turned to his team and said, "I'll be out on Thursday." With that, he turned and went into his office.

Cameron had heard his side of the conversation. It didn't take much for her to realize what he was talking about. She followed him in and closed the door.

"House, don't let her do that."

"Do what?" He asked.

"I know what you were talking about. I realize you don't want this, but you can't just let her …"

"First of all, none of your business. Second, it was her decision."

Cameron looked like she wanted to cry, but she knew the conversation was over.

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Two days later, House was sitting in a waiting room at Princeton General with Kate. They had decided that it would be best to not do it at Princeton-Plainsboro. Everyone knew House and it would be all over the hospital.

House turned to her. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course." She said. "This is for the best. You know that."

"Right. That kid wouldn't have much of a chance with us."

"No way."

The nurse called Kate into the procedure room. House walked in with her. Dr. Akiro walked in. Kate introduced her to House.

"Of course I know of you, Dr. House. Actually, I sent a patient to you last year."

"Did I cure her?"

"Yes, you did."

"Well, that's good. I wouldn't want you working on Kate if I didn't. Could be bad feelings."

Dr. Akiro smiled and looked at Kate.

"Kate, we'll be ready to do this in a few minutes. I just want to be sure that you are aware of all of the ramifications."

"I know what I'm doing." Kate said.

"I'm sure you do and it's your choice. But as your doctor, I want to make sure you know that many women who do this regret it later."

"Are you trying to talk me out of it?"

"Absolutely not. I am just making sure you are prepared before you do this. Once done, it can't be undone. So, are you prepared? Are you sure?"

"Yes." She said. "I'm sure."

"Okay." Dr. Akiro smiled. "Then, I'm going to leave the room while you get undressed. There's a gown on the table for you. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Kate looked at House. "I'd rather you not be here for it." She told him.

"Okay." He said. "I'll be in the waiting room."

House returned to the waiting room and sat down. He tried to look at a magazine, but couldn't concentrate. He knew it wouldn't be long, it was usually a quick procedure. Still it seemed like he was waiting forever until the nurse came out to him.

"Dr. House? Could you please come in?"

He nodded and rose. He limped after the nurse and went into the room where Kate was. He was surprised to see her sitting up on a chair, wearing the hospital gown.

"How ya doing?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She replied. "But I couldn't do it."

"What?"

"I couldn't go through with it. I'm sorry."

"I thought you said…"

"I know what I said. But when the time came, all I could think of was that this was a part of me and of you." She looked at him. "I just couldn't destroy something that was a part of you."

He took a breath. "You realize what you're getting into."

"Yes, I do. And believe me, I'm scared to death."

"Me too."

"Greg, you don't need to…I mean, this wasn't in the plan, wasn't what you signed on for. I understand if you don't want to be a part of this."

House went to her and picked up her hand. "I am probably the worse choice you could make for a father. You think your example was bad, you have no idea. But if you're in this, I'm in this. That is, if you want me to be."

She looked at him and smiled. "I want you to be." She rose and went into his arms. "God, are we nuts? What kind of parents are we ever going to be?"

"I don't know. But at least you can teach the kid self-defense and I can make sure he's healthy."

"Oh, God help us. We're certifiable. But I guess we're going to do this?"

"I guess we are."

Author's Note: I know there are a lot of very volatile opinions on abortion. Personally, I'm against it, but I believe each woman makes that choice on her own. In the context of this story, given House and Kate's upbringing, I didn't see them immediately embrace the idea of a child. So if you don't like the fact that they would even consider it, I'm sorry, but it just made sense to me. (And it made for some good drama.)

Thanks to all of my reviewers. Even though I can't reply to each of you, I do appreciate the support. There is definitely more to come with this story.