Chapter 3: Arrival
Monday evening, back in New Jersey
Exhausted from the long flight and totally annoyed by House, who had tried to drive her nuts the whole flight until she finally gave in and switched places with him, Cuddy went ahead to the exit of the airport, holding her case in her left hand and her right hand dug in her pocket. House followed her a few feet behind. Cuddy gritted her teeth. She really succeeded in marrying the most childish jerk, and while being drunk nonetheless... how cliche. Such is life.
"It´s not nice to let the cripple fall behind, you know?" House muttered behind her and nearly crashed into her as she suddenly stopped right in front of him without any warnings.
"What the hell...?" Stunned, Cuddy dropped her case.
"What the hell yourself..." House growled. "What are you..." He cut off his sentence, as he glanced over Cuddy's shoulder, looking at the reason for her stopping.
Near the exit stood Wilson, together with all those other people who awaited the arrival of their friends and loved ones. He stood next to an elder man, who was dressed in a chauffeur uniform and carried a big sign with the inscription 'Mr. Brunner'. A fact that totally failed to touch House´s emotion. The fact that Wilson himself carried a big sign with the inscription 'Mr. and Mrs. Huddy' on the contrary confused him a lot.
"What the hell...?" he repeated Cuddy´s words and went to his friend frowning.
Again Cuddy was a bit faster than him and was already being hugged by the smiling Wilson as House caught up to them. As soon as Wilson noticed him, he let go of Cuddy and raised his arms. "House, old pal!" Wilson grinned jovially. "Come and give me a hug..."
"What´s that sign supposed to mean?" he asked rudely instead of a greeting and dropped his case with a loud bang while he eluded Wilson's embrace.
"This one?" Wilson replied innocently, picked up the poster, which he had laid on Cuddy´s bag before and grinned some more.
"No, the one for Hoke Colburn.°" Annoyed House turned to the guy, who still stood next to Wilson and stared at them. "We´re obviously not Mr. Brunner, so look for him somewhere else."
The chauffeur looked at House a bit choked, turned around and left. Waving her head Cuddy poked House´s arm.
"Ouch!" Pouting House rubbed his arm and glared at Cuddy. ""Why did you do that?"
"Why did you do this?" Cuddy gestured at the leaving chauffeur. "Why must you always make a jerk out of yourself?"
"Glad to see that your marriage didn´t soften you..." Wilson chuckled, but regretted it immediately as House and Cuddy glared at him. To piss them both off was really a huge health risk. Into the bargain Cuddy took that very moment to remember the sign again, which Wilson still held in his hands.
"So, what´s this sign supposed to mean, Wilson?" Cuddy asked with a stern expression on her face that didn´t tolerated any tergiversations.
"I hoped you would ask..." Wilson couldn´t stop smirking... If he had to die soon, he could at least enjoy every moment last... "I thought that could be your new last name..."
"Huddy?" Doubting, Cuddy arched a brow.
"Yeah." Wilson nodded enthusiastically. "A double name seemed too long... I also had 'Couse' in mind, but 'Huddy' has the nicer sound..."
"Huddy?" Cuddy repeated and looked at him, as if he went insane.
Arrogantly House looped his arm around Cuddy´s shoulders. " We´re an old-fashioned couple, Cuddy will use my last name of course..."
She snorted disbelievingly and tried to get loose. "How should that work? Wanna call me 'House' all the time then? You couldn´t even manage to not call me 'Cuddy' now..."
"Pfft... I´ll just gonna call you by your nick name." House replied relaxed, pulled her a bit closer and smiled at her brightly. "My little snow queen..."
Wilson laughed.
Half an hour later they sat in Wilson´s car on their way home. House sat in the backseat behind Cuddy who sat next to Wilson at the front seat, which House kicked against since he stepped into the car.
"Why did you marry House, Cuddy?" Wilson asked suddenly, still focusing on the road.
"Excuse me?" Maybe if she acted like she didn´t hear him, he would switch targets.
"I wanna know why you married House..." Cuddy´s hope faded. "I already heard House´s explanation yesterday over the phone," Wilson added. "And now I would like to hear yours..."
Cuddy gulped nervously. Now the time has come... The first ordeal for the play called 'The marriage between the beauty and the beast'.
"Well..." Cuddy cleared her throat. "House and I had known each other for a long time and I wanted a family..." she ended lamely.
"Now I get it..." Wilson smirked. "You failed to get a kid, so you married one.... A big cranky one..."
"Hey!" House spoke up offended. "That kid is attendant, so behave yourself.- Sweet cheeks, tell him to be nicer to your husband..."
Cuddy tried to stab him with her glare over the rear mirror.
Amused Wilson waved his head. "House already told me that you married while being totally drunk, Cuddy..." he admitted.
In hope that direct eye-contact would´ve a more deadly effect, Cuddy faced House. "Why didn´t you tell me?"
"And miss all the fun?" House made wide eyes. "Honestly Cuddles, I thought you´d know me better..."
He leered at her sassily, making Cuddy feel the strong urge to support her death glare with bare hands... But decided then that a dead husband was even worse than a divorced one. Annoyed, she gritted her teeth before she lost herself in the imagination of herself strangling House. Or drowning him. Or burning him... Hey, dreaming was still allowed!
"Where will you live?" Wilson interrupted her wishful thinking.
"In our apartments, maybe?" House´s voice was drowned in sarcasm. "Just because you marry someone, doesn´t mean that you lose your home... That´s what happens, when you get divorced."
"Wow, you´re so funny." Wilson rolled his eyes. "But if you two really wanna play that 'happy marriage'-thingy, living separated would crash the illusion..."
Damn. Cuddy nibbled at her bottom-lip. Wilson was right... She couldn´t believe that she missed that important detail.
House reacted more relaxed, like it seemed he already had thought bout that problem. "We will live at Cuddy´s..." he explained. "I can sleep in her guest room and she can´t mess up my apartment... I just need to get a few things out of my apartment before."
Smiling bravely, Cuddy nodded and tried to look like she wouldn´t be surprised.
"I have a little something for you..." Wilson said smiling as he, House and Cuddy arrived at Cuddy´s apartment two hours later and took something out of his glove box.
Suspicious the newly weds observed him from a save distance, standing in front of Cuddy´s door.
"Fast, open the door, Cuddles," House murmured. "If it's a grenade, we need a fast escape..."
"Funny, House..." Wilson replied dryly stepped out the car and went towards them holding a small packet in his hand.
"Damn, Cuddy, hurry up. He´s coming..."
"I repeat: Funny, House." Wilson growled and pressed the packet into Cuddy's hand.
"Thank you, Wilson." Cuddy said sweetly and shot House a glare, while she opened the packet. Within she found a package coffee beans. Cuddy looked at Wilson in question.
He just shrugged his shoulders, grinning brightly. "Espresso beans..." he pointed out. "The espresso machine will follow as soon as you both survive at least two months of your marriage..."
Sleepy, Cuddy blinked against the unsteady light of the running TV, whereon the third stupid teenie lost his life, and with all 'great' horror flicks, there was the huge man with the mask and the chainsaw, and also the totally realistic lose of five liters of that liquid falsity that was supposed to be blood...
It had been a very long day... First that long exhausting flight with House back to Jersey. Then Wilson, who found his inner-clown today. And then she had to go shopping because her fridge had been awfully empty. Of course she went without House... He would´ve only incite a rebellion in front of the cashpoint, because he wouldn´t receive his sweets/alcohol/porn or whatever else he could imagine to make her miserable... So she had placed him in front of her TV before she left, hoping he wouldn´t ruin her financially by buying stupid nonsense via shopping-TV... As she came home, he had luckily only managed to buy two very expensive knife-sets... As soon as these would be delivered, she would use one set to stab him and then she would give the other to her father as a christmas gift...
And now she sat next to House on her sofa, watching TV... Cuddy yawned and stood up. "I'm going to bed..." She made her way to her bedroom.
"Ok." House switched off the TV stood up too and followed her.
Frowning Cuddy turned around. "What are you doing?"
"I'm following you."
"Sure, but why are you following me?"
"You were the one who wanted to go to bed..."
She put her hands on her hips. "Yes... But why are you following me, House?"
He rolled his eyes. "I´m not just following you... I´m accompanying you."
"No, you´re not." Cuddy replied sternly. "You´re gonna sleep in the guest room... Your words, House."
"But Cuddy, that was just to keep my reputation in front of Wilson... He still believes I´m a virgin, you know?"
Grinning, Cuddy snorted. "And that you had only 'discussions about the weather' with all those whores?"
"He thinks that I get all my exchange advices from them..." He grinned too.
"You will still sleep in the guest room..."
"But it´s so lonesome there..."
"You´re a big boy... You´ll survive..." She turned around again.
"Can I invite some lady-friends?"
"Won´t be necessary... I bought you a little something, while I was shopping." She stifled a smirk.
"A present? Cuddy, you hot, sexy minx." Hurried, House went to the guest room just to return ten minutes later, looking crestfallen and holding a cheap Barbie-doll in his right hand. "What am I supposed to do with that doll, Cuddy?"
Cheerfully Cuddy sat herself up and laid the book, in which she had read before, aside. "That´s not just a doll, House." She grinned from one ear to the other. "That´s a plastic-doll. I thought you would appreciate this little gesture of conjugal love..."
"Sweet, Cuddy. Really sweet." House growled.
"Just like me." she fluttered her eyelashes. "Better adjust yourself to her. She´s the only plastic-doll with the permission to be in my apartment..."
"You´re so cruel."
"Right. Cruel, hot and sexy." She nodded her head in agreement and slid back under her covers. "And now close the door."
He stepped into her bedroom and closed the door behind him.
"Close the door from the outside, House."
Cranky House opened the door again. "You´re such a snow queen, Cuddles." She heard him mumble before the door closed behind him.
Self satisfied she switched off the light.
ADDITION
°Name of the chauffeur from 'Driving Miss Daisy'
THANK YOU
Thank you, Melissa for being such a wonderful and fast beta.
Thank you Di-Bee, for listening to my newest ideas for this story and for letting me whine about it too and for encouraging me so much and for many other things... Big hugs!
and thank you all for reading, alerting and favoriting (is this a word?- I don´t know, but you get the idea :D) and reviewing to this story. A special thanks to jodiesto for even reviewing to my german version and for telling me to hurry up translating the chapters... You kinda owe it to her that I post this chapter so 'soon' ;-P
BRIBE
yeah, bribe again. :) if you review, I send you a little preview on chapter four. I promise you, it´ll be worth it :D