A/N: No, I didn't forget about this story, just got too busy in real life. I'll try to have another chapter up by the end of this week or beginning of next. Thanks to all who have stayed with it and especially those who take the time to tell me about it. I still love to hear from you...

Chapter 36: A New Addition

At one o'clock the next day, Kate was waiting anxiously for Monica's arrival. She had begged House to be there when the girl arrived and he had promised to try. When he walked in the door at 12:59, she almost collapsed with relief, then punched him in the arm for keeping her waiting. She also had to stop him from pouring himself a drink. The last thing she needed was him smelling of booze when Social Services arrived.

The doorbell rang a few minutes later. Kate opened the door to Mrs. Frisk standing there alone.

"Where's Monica?" Kate asked, beginning to panic.

"She'll be here in a few minutes. I wanted to get here before her so that I could speak with you…and your husband." She added, as she entered the room and saw House there.

House looked the woman over, assessing her quickly. A low level bureaucrat, obsessed with her own importance, he concluded.

Mrs. Frisk continued. "You may think I was unreasonable in denying your request for the child, but I truly have her best interest at heart. And even the recommendation of a senator will not keep her in this home if I feel it is detrimental to her well-being. Therefore, I will personally be monitoring her progress. I will expect you to take her to a therapist to deal with her problems and I will expect regular reports from the therapist. Is that understood?"

"Yes, of course." Kate said.

"I will also be making unannounced visits to this house to be sure she is doing well."

"That's not a problem."

Mrs. Frisk turned to House. "Dr. House, you have a reputation as a brutally honest person. Therefore, I am going to be honest with you. I do not believe that you will be able to deal with this child. If I find any indication that you have caused her any unhappiness, I will pull her from this situation."

House opened his mouth to answer the woman, but Kate stepped in first. "You don't have to worry. She'll be happy and well taken care of here. Won't she, Greg?"

House looked at his wife's pleading face, and held back what he wanted to say. Instead, he ground out, "Absolutely."

"Dr. House, you can say anything you like to me. It won't bother me. You can't say anything that I haven't heard before. Be as nasty as you like to me."

He opened his mouth again to do just that, but the woman interrupted him.

"The only think I ask, no, demand, is that you not be nasty to Monica. She has had a hard enough life and she does not need that from you. If I feel that you have mistreated this girl in any way, I will take her away, senator or no senator."

They were all stopped from saying any more on the subject by a knock on the door. Once again, Kate ran to open it. This time, there was a young girl standing there with a woman from juvenile hall behind her.

Monica was of medium height for her age. She had sandy blonde hair and brown eyes. In other words, she was a perfectly plain, normal looking kid. Except that once she saw Kate, her eyes lit with joy. Kate's did the same. They were immediately hugging each other.

"Oh, honey," Kate said, "How are you?"

"So much better now that I'm here. I didn't think I'd ever be allowed to be with you."

"I promised you, didn't I? I told you I don't break my promises."

Monica just held Kate tighter. Finally, they broke apart. Still holding Monica's hand, Kate drew her into the room.

"Come on, there's someone I want you to meet. Monica, this is my husband, Greg."

Monica looked quickly at him, then looked at the floor.

"How ya doing?" House said.

"Hello, Dr, House." She said in a small voice.

Kate could feel the tension and awkwardness in the room. Deciding that easing into the relationship would be for the best, she pulled Monica with her.

"Come on, I want to show you your room. It's pretty plain right now, but I thought we could decorate it together. However you want."

"Really?" she said, excitement on her face as she looked at Kate and avoided House. They headed towards the bedrooms.

Mrs. Frisk looked at House. "Do you really think you are going to be able to care for that child?"

"I don't know. But my wife can."

The woman let out a laugh. "Don't kid yourself, Dr. House. She will be as much your responsibility as your wife's. If you can't deal with her, you could cause her more harm than good. You should consider that before you take this on."

"I've considered. We'll be fine."

"Hmmph." She snorted.

"I said, we'll be fine. Don't you have civil servant things to do? Isn't this nap time in government offices?"

She shook her head. "Not very original, Doctor. I would have expected better from you. Civil servant jokes are so overdone. Yes, I will be leaving. But remember, I will be watching you."

"I'll be sure to leave the window shades open. If you're going to be watching, you may as well get a good view."

Mrs. Frisk left and House closed the door behind her. He moved slowly to the piano. He could hear Kate and Monica's voices from the kitchen. What the hell was he going to do?

House didn't see a lot of Monica – or Kate for that matter – during the next few days. The two of them looked over the larger guest room that Kate had selected for Monica and decided what they needed to do to make it comfortable for her. The room had Kate's old bedroom furniture from her apartment. It was a light oak color and in good condition. Kate told the young girl that they could buy whatever she needed to make it her own.

Kate took her to Home Depot for paint. Monica selected pale yellow for three walls and an electric blue for the accent wall. They returned home and spent the next day getting the room painted.

When that was finished, they went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and found a comforter with a light blue background and large yellow and blue flowers. They also found curtains with a small floral print that picked up all the colors. They bought a few sets of sheets in a variety of blues and yellows. A print caught Monica's eye and Kate bought that for her as well.

Then they went to IKEA and found a desk in a similar wood color. They got a desk lamp for it in the same electric blue as the wall, as well as a desk chair with a cushion the same color. They found some throw pillows for the bed and a bookshelf in the same oak. Then they needed a comfy chair that Monica could relax in for reading.

Once again, they spent hours in the bedroom getting everything set up, rearranging the furniture until it was perfect.

The next day was spent shopping for clothes. Monica had left behind the few items from the house. She didn't want any reminders of those months spent there. Social Services had given her a few items to wear, but they were old and didn't fit her well. Kate took her to Old Navy, where she picked out jeans and khakis, t-shirts and sweatshirts. They also purchased underwear, socks and sleep pants.

Next they headed to Charlotte Russe for some skirts, blouses and dresses and Payless for sneakers, shoes and a purse. They went to Bath and Body Works and Monica sniffed every fragrance until she found what she liked: Cherry Blossom. Kate bought her shower gel, body lotion, body splash and anti-bacterial gel. She also bought some of her own favorite Coconut Lime Verbena. She had spent so long smelling like disinfectant if she got a chance to wash at all, it was nice to finally have the chance to smell nice.

One more stop at CVS to buy personal care items and make-up and they headed home.

House was there when they arrived and his eyes bulged when he saw them carting in bag after bag.

"How much did you spend? He asked Kate.

"As much as I needed to."

"Do we need to take out another mortgage to pay for it?"

Kate ignored him as she continued to unload the packages and bring them to Monica's room.

"Kate, talk to me. How much did you spend? I'm just a doctor, not Donald Trump."

"Oh, shut up. You make enough money to pay for these things. Just stop complaining."

He mumbled something under his breath and limped back to pour himself a drink.

Monica heard him and had a panicked expression on her face. When she and Kate were alone in her room, she asked, "Is Dr. House angry at us for spending too much money? Because we can take some of this back. I should have thought…"

Kate interrupted her when she saw that she was getting upset. "You don't have to worry. He loves to complain, but he doesn't mean anything by it."

Monica wet her lips. "My father always got really upset when we spent any money. My mom always had to hide things from him. But if he found out, he got really angry."

"Is this when he hit your mom?" Kate remembered things Monica had said during their kidnapping, although she hadn't talked a lot on the subject.

"Yeah."

Kate could see more in her eyes. "Did he hit you too?"

Monica shrugged. "Sometimes."

Kate knew she didn't want to say anymore about it, so she just gave her a hug and said, "Don't worry, I can handle Greg. And he has never been violent with me. Now, let's get this stuff put away."

They spent the rest of the day hanging up the clothes and putting the personal stuff away. Then they picked out an outfit for Monica to wear to school. She would be starting in a new school on the next day.

Monica was with them for a few days when Kate told House she had made a decision.

"I'm leaving the force." She said.

"Are you sure? This is what you want?"

"No, I'm not completely sure. But I know that I don't want to go back right now. I called Paul today and he told me that any time there's an opening, he'll ask me first. So I'll always have the opportunity to go back if I want to. But right now, I need to try something else. Maybe I'll get bored, miss it and beg him for a job. But not now."

"So what are you gonna do?"

She hesitated, then said, "Do you really think I could go back to college?"

"Why not?"

'It's been almost twenty years since I was in school. It won't be easy to go back."

"When is life easy? You can do it, you can do anything you set your mind to."

She thought about that for a few moments, then nodded her head. "I guess so. I can try anyway. What have I got to lose?" she smiled at him, then asked, "So what do you think of Monica?"

"I think she's a teenager."

"Of course, but what do you think of her?"

"I don't know her well enough to think anything about her. She's only said three words to me since she's been here and they've been 'Yes, Dr. House.' Pretty hard to form an opinion based on that."

"She's a little scared of you."

"Of me?" House was shocked. "God, I didn't even wear my vampire mask and fangs yet."

"She hasn't had a positive relationship with a male before. Remember who her father was."

"And I remind her of him? Oh, this is great!"

"Just be patient with her. I know that you both will be friends when you have the chance."

Yeah, right, House thought, though he didn't say that to his wife.