So here you go... the fourth chapter is up as promised!- Hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 4: Good morning, sunshine!

Tuesday morning

Still sleepy and desperate for a cup of coffee, Cuddy came out of the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing one of her favorite outfits, trailing down the stairs when suddenly she heard strange noises coming out of her living room.

She found her head-diagnostician, the infamous medical genius; in front of the TV, some red gummy bears in one hand, the remote control in his other, with his naked feet laying on the table, which wasn't at all surprising if you knew him outside of work. He wore one of his knitted shirts and a pair of old jeans. His cane leaned against the sofa right next to him. "House?"

"Cuddy?" He didn´t even looked up from the TV; his concentrated gaze was fully on Road Runner, which zoomed past barren landscapes with a crazy tempo to accompany the chase, while Wile E. Coyote exploded with a loud bang behind...

He laughed at that sight and threw three of those delicious red gummy bears into his mouth at once.

"Why the hell are you watching cartoons so early in the morning?"

Now he looked at her. "Because they don't show porn so early in the morning?" He said with a wry smile, popping two more red gummy bears in his mouth.

"Fine, then you won't miss anything when I do this." Cuddy took the remote control from House and switched off the TV. "Better help me make breakfast..." Her gaze fell on three or four empty packages crumbled on the table, with several yellow, green, orange and white gummy bears either sitting, lying on its side, or glued together and sticky.

That couldn´t be true! Warningly, Cuddy arched a brow. "And stop eating only the red gummy bears." She scowled at him, before she turned around and went to the kitchen.

"Why?" House called after her. "Do they feel neglected?

"No, only discriminated."

Grinning, House grabbed his cane and followed her. "If we're making eggs, I want a white and a brown one... Don't want to spread the discrimination..."

He nearly had arrived in the kitchen as Cuddy´s phone, which laid directly in front of him at the counter, started to ring. Without thinking he reached out for it.

"House, what are you doing?" Cuddy asked sharply.

"Ehm... Where I come from we call it 'answering the phone'. I don´t know how you-"

"I know how my phone works."

He took the phone in his other hand. "Then why do you ask?"

"Because I don't want you to answer it, that's why."

"But that's silly." He frowned. "You could have just told me not to answer it, instead of asking what I was doing."

"Fine." Cuddy rolled her eyes and raised out her hand to grab the phone. "House, please don´t answer my phone."

He pressed the loud ringing phone against his chest. "Why? Are you afraid I might embarrass you?"

"Of course not. I of all people would know how much you hate to humiliate other people." She fluttered her eyelashes. "Also this call will be for me anyway..." She stalled to answer her phone, her hand opened, then closed again.

"Tsk, tsk, Cuddy. This is probably the hospital with an emergency. And if it is an emergency, you would call me after hanging up anyway... So I can save us some time and answer the call now..." House pressed the answer button. "Hello, you're connected with Mr. and Mrs. Cuddy´s Castle of Love, you're speaking to Mr. Cuddy, how may I help you?"

Sighing, Cuddy buried her face in her hands, seeking temporary solace until House handed her the phone without any explanations. She watched him suspiciously as she answered it: "Hello?"

Damn.

Oh. Damn.

Horrified she pressed one hand against the speaker box. "It's my mother!" she whispered in shock.

"I know." House replied dryly.

"What should I tell her?"

"I don't know."

"Really helpful..." Cuddy scowled at him and took a deep breath before she could bring herself to talk to her mother. "Hello Mom... Yes, that was House talking, yes..." Nervously she drummed her manicured nails against the kitchen counter. Intently House looked at her. "...Yes, he said... Yes Mom, that's what he said... Actually it´s a real funny story, you know..." Her laugh sounded a bit hysterical. "I married... Yes, House... I married Greg House.... In Vegas..."

Cuddy went silent for a while, just listened to her mother, while she pressed her free hand against her now aching forehead. "Mother, please... It all happened so sudden... Yes, Mom, he..." She bit down her bottom lip and looked House in the eye. "He makes me happy..."

House relieved her of the telephone. "Mrs. Cuddy?..." Begging, Cuddy placed a hand on his chest. He nodded assuredly then smiled gently. "Yes, you're speaking to the husband of your daughter..." In his voice there was a tenderness that Cuddy had noticed before only on really rare occasions. "I know, all this happened really fast... I agree with you totally, Ma'am." His gaze avoided hers. "Your daughter is absolutely the best thing that could ever happen to a man..." Cuddy´s heart skipped a beat because of his words. She took away her hand from his upper body. "We would love to have dinner with you, Ma'am..." Agitated all of a sudden, Cuddy grabbed his arm and shook her head. "...but right now we´re really busy... Yes... Yes, we will call you... Yes, Goodbye, Mrs. Cuddy." He hung up.

A few moments they got lost in each others eyes. Drowning in the blue.

"House, that was..." Cuddy lacked of any words.

"What?" he asked cooly, all tenderness gone. Cynically he arched a brow. "Just because I can't lie to my own mother doesn´t mean that I'm not able to lie to other mothers..." He limped past her to the coffee machine.

Cuddy cleared her throat. "We need to hurry up or we'll be too late to work..."

House faced her again. "Why we?"

"Because our shifts start at the time time?"

"I repeat: Why we?"

She rolled her eyes. "And I repeat: Because our-"

"Jada jada jada..." House cut in rudely. "But I'm never on time, so why break old traditions?"

"Well, now you're my husband..." Cuddy explained. "It would really damage my image if my own husband would-"

"Pfft, Cuddles." House interrupted again. "Do you wanna make them believe that just being married to you makes me a better employee? Please, let us stay realistic..."

"Fine." Cuddy answered snippy. "If you want..."

He smiled in victory.

"... it the hard way, I´m gonna call your mom..."

An hour later they were in the parking lot of the Princeton Plainsboro heading towards the elevators, as one of the many young doctors from the emergency station joined them. House started rolling his eyes even before the doctor could open his mouth.

"Dr. Cuddy!" the doctor greeted her cheerfully.

"Good Morning, Dr. Loxley." Cuddy gifted him with a friendly smile, which House recognized as quite morose.

"Good to see you, Dr. Cuddy..." Dr. Loxley spoke up. "I've got a question-"

Just as House had suspected it... They hardly arrived and they were already bothered by incapable butchers.

"Dr. Cuddy will not waste her precious time explaining to you once again how to cure a flu..." House cut in rudely and pulled Cuddy into the elevator as the door opened.

The doctor wanted to step in the lift as well, but House locked the door up with his cane. "I heard that taking the stairs is good for thinking..." he explained arrogantly. "Try it and hope for the best..."

The young doctor gulped dryly and glanced at Cuddy, but she showed no reaction. So he decided to continue the chat with his pretty boss later preferrably when that cranky head diagnostician wouldn't be there to interrupt them, and turned around to head to the stairs.

Stunned, her hands on her hips, Cuddy faced House as soon as Dr. Loxley was out of earshot. "Wow, you're so jealous..."

"I am-"

"In time?" Wilson asked and slipped into the lift. "Indeed, House-- Great job, Cuddy!"

Cuddy grinned. "Thank you! But he's not only on time, he´s also jealous..."

House twisted his eyes. "I. Am. Not. Jealous."

"He is..." Cuddy and Wilson shared an amused look.

House snorted. "Don't flatter yourself... I'm not jealous. I'm possessive..."

"And being possessive is not being jealous?" Doubtfully, Wilson watched him.

"Nooo..." Assured once again that he was the only intelligence human around, House waved his head slowly. "I would be jealous if I cared about your feelings for the guy... Being possessive means only that I can't stand other guys playing with what's mine..."

"What's yours?" Cuddy arched a brow.

"Oh, I don't know. My video games, my cane, my, uh wife." House shrugged his shoulders. "Just like my ball or my game-boy or those other things I said... I can't stand it when others touch what´s mine..."

The elevator stopped. In silence Cuddy and Wilson stepped out.

"What?" House wanted to know and hurried to follow them. "I'm just trying to be in character... Would it be suspicious if I would be more possessive about my game boy than about my wife?"

Cuddy snorted. "Then you must prepare yourself for that special role for at least two years..." She hurried up and left House and Wilson alone.

Wilson sighed. "You're so cute together!" He fluttered his eyelashes and smirked.

"Shut up..." House growled.

Keyed up, Cameron, Chase and Foreman straighten up on their chairs, as House enters his office looking extremely cranky. "What's up?" he asked them scowling.

"You're married," Cameron replied and looked him in the eye, her chin arched forward. "With Cuddy."

"What should that be? A disease or a diagnosis?"

"It's a fact..."

"Oh my god!" House called out, gazing first at his ring on his left hand and then at Cameron. "You´re right!- Cameron, you´re a genius."

Cooly she handed him a nice looking gift which had been placed at the table in front of her all the time. "Here," she said. "From us..."

"Wow, a genius who distributes gifts!- I like that." Grinning he took the present and opened it impatiently. He peered strangely at the 'gift'---arching his brow in distaste. "A med kit?"

Unaffected, Foreman shrugged his shoulders. "First we wanted to give you a journey to Tahiti, but then we decided that you would need the med kit more..." Chase couldn't help not to smirk at Foreman's comment.

"Why did you marry Cuddy?" Cameron suddenly burst out.

"We were in Vegas, we were drunk and Elvis gave us a cut in price for the wedding... We were the thousandth couple he married, so..."

Choked, Cameron starred at him. "Are you serious?"

"Of course not." He twisted his eyes deridingly. "We sat together one evening, looked each other in the eyes deeply, recited love poems and vowed our true love before we decided to get married, or do the nasty..." He threw in with a glint in his eye.

"Yeah sure... You never even kissed her before..." Cameron threw in.

House lifted a brow. "How would you know? Maybe I'm not the only one making out with my co-workers at work like other guys around here..."

Unsure, Cameron cleared her throat and glanced at Chase, looking for some help, but Chase was suddenly totally fascinated by the fingerprints on the glass table...

House snorted. "As much as I enjoy this little chat, girls- And I mean all three of you.- But as there is no new case, as it seems, I will go now and handle some other important stuff. I have places to go, lives to save and commitments to fulfill..."

"Like ordering an annulment?"

"Funny, Foreman, really funny... But no, no annulment..." House smirked and limped to the door. "We've been in bed all weekend, therefore I'll go watch some porn now for inspiration, so we won't get bored tonight..." With those words House left them alone in the office again.

Cameron folded her arms in front of her chest. "I don't think that this marriage will work out long..."

"Why not?" Chase blinked at her in question. "They've been acting like an old married couple since I've been here anyway..."

Tuesday evening

Bored, House sat in Cuddy's office and played with a push-pen, which he twisted between his fingers while he waited for Cuddy to finish her paperwork, so they could finally go home. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a movement outside in front of the office... For a moment inattentive, he dropped the pen, which dashed against Cuddy´s desk with a hollow plop.

"Cut that crap, House." Cuddy growled unnerved and grabbed another file without even bothering to look at him.

"As soon as you cut yours and we can go..."

"My 'crap' allows me to pay your bills, House." She knitted her brows. "Besides I could work faster if I wouldn´t always be interrupted by dropping pens..."

"Always?" House snorted. "I tell you, I just dropped that stupid pen one time."

"Yeah, and if you let him lie, it will be the only time..."

"You´re such a-" He had intended to say 'smart ass' but forgot to finish his sentence as he suddenly noticed Cameron walking straight to Cuddy´s office through the half closed jalousies in front of the office windows... "I´m going to kiss you know." he said instead of to Cuddy and stood up.

"No way." Now she did look up and watched him full of suspicion as he limped around her desk towards her.

"Way." House mumbled, enveloped her neck with his left hand and bent downwards.

As his lips met hers with unexpected tenderness, Cuddy heard how someone enter her office. That someone cleared her throat soundly. Shocked, but also a little relieved, because she now wouldn't need to deal with her own desire for her annoying husband, Cuddy pulled away from House, who only straightened up smirking before he turned around to face Cameron, who now stood in the middle of the office, holding a pack of papers.

"I thought you didn't make out with co-workers." Cameron said, looking at House and went straight to Cuddy's desk to place some files on it.

House only smirked some more, while Cuddy frowned, irritated in sight of that odd comment.

"I didn´t make out with an co-worker, I kissed my wife." House explained, amused. "There's a difference." His left hand rested now on Cuddys shoulder and Cuddy was hit by the cognition that House had known all along that Cameron would enter her office, that he just kissed her to hold up their camouflage...

"Want something special, Dr. Cameron?" Cuddy asked and laid her hand tenderly on House´s. Damn him and their fake-marriage and the fact that she was actually enjoying the feeling of his warm hand under hers... "Because otherwise my husband and I would like to be alone again..." Her voice was sharp as a knife.

"Oho." House uttered to Cameron, chuckling slightly. "She hates being interrupted during fore play..." He nearly choked on his chuckle as Cuddy dug her nails painfully deep in the back of his hand. But only nearly though... The whole scene was just too much fun...

Cameron blushed slightly. "I just wanted to hand you those files..." She gestured at the files with one hand. "Please excuse my interruption..." Hurriedly she left the office.

"And on we go..." Again House bend to her to kiss her...

"Not so fast, Don Juan." Cuddy threw in and placed her right hand over his mouth which was now an insuperable barrier between their lips. "The show is over, so calm down, sit down and let me work..."

Pouting House raised himself up. "You're really as cold as ice..."

Cuddy lifted a brow. "Hey, I have a reputation to uphold being your little snow queen and all..." She smirked.

Some Thanks and some beggings (Hey, you should know me so far by now so don´t act so surprised ^.^)

Thanks to Melissa for being such a wonderful kind genius fast beta (yes, these are a lot of adjectives, but she deserves all of them!)

And thanks to all of you who took the time to review to this so far. I loved every review, it made me work faster AND better, so please don´t stop now, bring on the love ^.^ (Yeah, that was a thank you AND a begging in one sentence ^.^)

As a little thank-you I will send a preview of the next chapter to everyone who reviews as always (Yes, bribe... But as I said earlier: You should know me by now good enough to see something like that coming ^-^)