Sorry, it took so long. What was going to be only 3 chapters and an epilogue sort of grew on me. But I'm about finished now, so here you. Reviews are necessary to my life.

Chapter 45: Adoption

The next day, Kate knocked on Monica's door.

"Come in." she called out.

Kate entered and sat down on her bed. Monica smiled at her.

"Honey, there's something I want to tell you. It's something I've been thinking about for a while and apparently so has Greg. We discussed this last night and I want to tell you about it."

Monica stopped smiling. "Oh. You don't want me anymore, right. It's okay, I understand."

Kate was stunned. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know. You and Dr. House were thinking about something and talking about something that you have to tell me. It really is okay. It was great being with you these last few months. I'm sure they'll find someplace fine for me."

"Monica, we're not sending you away! We want to adopt you!"

Monica just stared at her, speechless. When she finally found her voice, it was barely audible. "You…want ..to…?"

"Adopt you. Yes. What do you think? Are you ready to become a House?"

Monica's face broke into a big grin. "You're kidding! You want to adopt me? Oh my God! I would love to be a House!"

Kate laughed and hugged her. But then Monica got serious again.

"Are you sure Dr. House wants to adopt me?"

"Yes, I'm sure. He was thinking about it himself before I said it."

"Oh, Kate, this is so wonderful!"

"You know," Kate said. "If we adopt you, you could call me Mom. If you wanted to."

"I think I would like that." Monica smiled, but then she looked at Kate and added, "But what about Dr. House?"

"Well, it's up to you. But if we adopt you, legally we're your parents, so you could call him 'Dad'. Again, if you wanted to."

"How do you think he'd feel about that?"

"I don't know." Kate told her honestly. "Why don't you ask him?"

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It took a few days before Monica approached House. He was at the piano playing softly. She came into the room, but stopped near the doorway, unsure if she should bother him. She was just starting to turn away, when she heard him speak.

"If you need something, Monica, don't hover at the door. Just ask."

She walked into the room. "How did you know it was me?"

"If Kate wanted me, she would just come in and interrupt. Emily would make noise. And Maxi's over there." He motioned to where the dog lay on the rug near the fireplace, snoozing."

"I did want to talk to you, but it can wait if this is a bad time."

"It's fine. What did you want?"

She hesitated, wondering if she should bring it up. His glance slid to her, annoyance beginning to appear.

"You've already interrupted me. If you have something to say, say it."

"Kate said that you guys want to adopt me."

"And you don't believe her?"

"I didn't…I don't know if that's what you want."

"Why wouldn't I?"

She looked at the floor. "I'm not the best person you could adopt."

"What's wrong with you?"

"For one thing, I killed my father. The therapist says I need a lot more time to deal with that."

"You saved me the trouble of killing the bastard. I may never forgive you for that."

She smiled briefly. "I also threatened to kill you."

"Most of the people I've known have threatened to kill me. And those are the people that like me. The ones that don't like me have actually tried."

"So you really don't mind adopting me?"

"Well, I am a little concerned that you're only after the vast House fortune, but I guess I can chance it." He looked up at her. "Yeah, kid, I don't mind. In fact, I think you will fit into the House family pretty well."

"Thanks." She was smiling now as she started to walk away. "By the way, Kate said I could call her mom."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"What do you want me to call you?"

"What do you want to call me?" He watched her face, searching for her response.

She was silent for several minutes. "My father was never a good dad to me. I never felt like he loved me or even liked me. I wanted to love him, but it was so hard. Most of the time I just hated him."

House was silent, letting her speak. He understood exactly how she felt and knew she needed to express this her way.

"In the few months that I've been living here, you've been a better dad to me than my father ever was."

House was speechless. He couldn't believe that she felt that way about him.

"I'm, um, glad that you feel that way." He told her.

"But what if I disappoint you? I don't even know what I'm capable of. My father never let me find out. What if I turn out to be a real loser or stupid or a failure at everything?"

"So what? You don't have to prove anything to me or Kate or anyone else. The only person you have to please is you. In your life, you're going to encounter a lot of people who are going to want different things from you. And you can bend over backwards to do everything they want and try to please them. And guess what? You never will. Someone's always going to find you lacking. So do what feels right to you and the hell with everyone else. If I'm disappointed in you, that's my problem, not yours, as long as you're doing what's right for you."

Monica walked over to him and hugged him. "I think I'd like to call you dad. If that's okay with you."

"I think that's the only thing I want you to call me."

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Kate and Cuddy had become friends and tried to get together for lunch every few weeks. Soon after she and House had made the decision to adopt Monica, they met for lunch again.

Cuddy looked like she wanted to ask something, but she hesitated.

"What's on your mind, Lisa?"

Cuddy finally looked into her eyes. "I was wondering about this adoption. I mean, I know you care about Monica, and she's a great kid. But you can't love her as much as you love Emily. Can you?"

Kate thought about it for a moment. "You know, I think I do. Not in exactly the same way. But I really do love her just as much. It doesn't matter that I didn't give birth to her. She's my daughter now as much as Emily is."

Cuddy stared at her wineglass and considered Kate's words.

"Lisa, why are you asking this?"

Cuddy sighed. "You probably know that I was trying to have a baby."

Kate looked surprised. "No, I didn't know. When was this?"

"A few years ago. House never told you?"

"Greg knows?"

"He was helping me with it."

"Helping you? Do you mean that he was…"

"Oh, no, not that way! He was giving me my fertility injections. He was the only one who really knew at the time."

Kate relaxed. Even though it was probably before they met, she wasn't comfortable with thinking her husband had been trying to get another woman pregnant. Especially since that woman was now her friend. She knew that they had had a brief fling, but that was a long time ago and that didn't bother her as much as thinking they had been sleeping together recently would have.

"Anyway," Cuddy continued. "It just wasn't happening. There were miscarriages, oh, it was just awful. I've gotten to the point where I realize it's never going to happen. I'm never going to have a baby."

"I'm sorry, Lisa."

"Well, you've been talking about how great Monica is and I was wondering, do you think I should adopt a child?"

"That's something you need to decide for yourself. But it really is great."

"Still, so many married couples are waiting forever for a baby. I'd probably never get one."

"Well, no, not if you want to adopt a white BABY. That's what the majority of the couples want. But if you'd be willing to take an older child or one of a different race, you might find it easier. I've been reading a lot about adoption since we started the procedure with Monica. Foreign adoption would probably be your best bet. There are so many children around the world that need homes. But they wouldn't be newborns and they wouldn't look like you."

Cuddy looked thoughtful. "That's a lot to consider. Can you direct me to some information on foreign adoptions. I'd like to check it out."

"Sure. I'll write down some websites." Kate reached into her pocket for a pen and paper.