I know this is a House/Cuddy fanfiction and that Celeste is a character I made up. I also know that the last two chapters lacked Huddy action but I think it's very important to understand Celeste's state of mind as of now.

Chapter 14

The day of Mr. Thompson's death, Cuddy spent the whole day trying to reach Celeste's phone. The girl seemed to have vanished into thin air and her aunt hadn't even had the decency to pick up her phone and call Lisa back, text her or anything.

Swearing under her breath, Cuddy tried to focus back on her work. It was almost time to go home but she still had to review the latest budget report for the board. The latest stunt the Diagnostic team had pulled wasn't as expensive as she had thought, but there was still an entire glass wall to replace as soon as possible.

After checking her phone one more time, Cuddy tied her hair in a to loose ponytail and tried to complete the file in front of her.

House was sitting in his office. Completely alone in the darkness and privacy of the room, House let himself close his eyes and think.

It had been a couple of hours since she had left a now calmer Cuddy in her office. Upon seeing the look on her face that morning, House had received such a low blow that it had taken him a while to fully recover. Her blood shot eyes, the tears running down her cheeks, the way her arms were wrapped around herself and her shaking shoulders had scared him.

His boss, and now partner, had been cooped up in her office all day. He had tried to talk her into having lunch together but she had stubbornly refused to leave her office. Red puffy eyes and untamed hair from having spent too much time passing her hands through the wavy locks, Cuddy had then apologized with a sweet rushed kiss, before pointing at the door. House had silently nodded his acceptance and left her alone. Minutes later though, a nurse had entered the Dean's office again, holding a tray of food. Without saying a work, she had placed it on the Dean's coffee table and left, closing the door behind her. Cuddy looked up from her desk and into the clinic. House was staring right back at her, a file in his hand and a patient following closely behind.

It was almost twilight now and the summer breeze was starting to chill the air. House watched as the trees of the nearest park gently swayed. Snorting at the picture worthy landscape, House picked up his phone.

"What do you want, House?"

"I need to talk yo you."

"House, are you okay?" came Wilson's worried voice. "I'm still at the hospital, I can be at your place in..."

"Come to my office." the Diagnostician cut him off.

"Are you okay?"

"Just get your ass in here."

It took House almost an hour to explain everything to Wilson. The Oncologist had sat in front of him, calm and collected like always. The mop of brown hair on his head would fall on his forehead every so often, earning a mock glare from House every single time.

As House neared the end of the story, Wilson hadn't spoken a single word. He had nodded, sighed and even smiled gently at Celeste's bubbly and sometimes obnoxious personality.

"So, let me get this straight... You and Cuddy have a kid." Wilson stated, still a bit confused.

House rolled his eyes. "That's the major thing."

"And now that both her adoptive parents are dead, Cuddy's supposed to look after her because that was Mr. Thompson's last wish. And now the girl is nowhere to be found."

"She's probably with her aunt in Philadelphia" House said.

"So, now that you've told me all of this... what am I supposed to do?" Wilson asked.

"I need you to talk to Cuddy." House said, looking down.

"It's not me who got her pregnant... you go talk to her."

"You are better at this kind of thing..."

"That might be true." the Oncologist replied with a small smirk.

"...plus I don't want to sleep on the couch tonight." House continued under his breath.

"What?" Wilson spat out, almost chocking on his now cold coffee.

"I'm banging the boss."

"What?"

"We're sort of seeing each other..."

"Seeing as in... dating?"

"We haven't actually been on a real date..." House mumbled, already feeling uncomfortable.

"...yet." Wilson continued for him.

"And now with the all business with Celeste I don't know what she's feeling. This is not my division."

Wilson snorted. "I'll talk to her, see what I can do to help." he said while standing up. When he reached the door, he silently turned back and gave one last look at House. "I know it's not the best time to say this but I'm happy for you two. Try to make it work okay, I'm sure you can be good to each other."

House merely nodded at his friend. Wilson recognized it as a sign of acknowledgment and left.

"Oh and Relationship for dummies tip number one: talk to her. Your best friend is a lousy substitute even if said friend is me."

"Hey..." Wilson said as he slowly knocked on the half open door. Cuddy was sitting at her desk, hidden behind her computer and typing away. When she didn't look up, the Oncologist continued.

"House told me everything." he said calmly.

Cuddy finally looked up and sighed, her hands immediately going to her forehead, in a vain attempt to soothe the headache away.

"Wilson, I know you're worried but this is really not the time." she said trying to sound as calm as possible.

As if he hadn't heard a single word she said, he quietly sat in one of the comfy chairs in front of the desk and kept staring at her.

"Why do I even bother..." Cuddy mumbled.

"House's worried about you."

"I know." The Dean replied. "Did he send you down here because you're better than him at the whole talking about emotions thing?"

"Might be." said Wilson cheerily. Cuddy chuckled, before finally allowing her hand to let go of the pen she was still holding.

"Did he really tell you everything?" she asked cautiously.

"That he did."

"How shocked were you when he told you about Celeste?" Cuddy asked with a smile.

"I don't think I've actually come to term with that part yet. I'm slowly accepting the fact that you're finally in a relationship, a real and serious one. It might take a while to add the whole "we have a kid" thing to the mix." Wilson said, offering her friend a smile. "But as far as I can tell, House took it pretty well."

"Yes, he did." the Dean confirmed with a smile of her own. "I never thought I would say this, but House has been rather wonderful." she continued truthfully.

At those words, Wilson simply smiled. He already knew Cuddy was going to be just fine.