Another Chance

Once again I have to apologize to all of you because I haven't updated in like more than a month I'll be updating more since I'm on holiday or at least I'll try my best.

Chapter 6

. . . . .

"Arlene..." House said entering the woman's room. She eyed him suspiciously before nodding slightly.

"Schmuck." she replied while gathering her stuff from the chair in the corner. House smirked.

"Remember to mention my name in your speech at the Oscar's." he joked leaning against the wall. The older woman stared up at him and chuckled.

"I won't forget. I'll also make sure to mention how much of a schmuck you and my daughter are." she smirked.

"Wow, you have called me schmuck twice in less than a minute. I'm impressed." House commented sarcastically.

"Plus one of the perks of being a old woman is that people can't stay mad at me for long." she said turning to face him. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from my least favorite Doctor?" Arlene asked.

"I was checking on my least favorite ex-mother-in-law." Arlene chuckled. "Where's your daughter?" House asked while playing with his cane.

"She's gone down with Rachel to get something to eat." she said sitting down on the bed. He nodded.

"How did you convince Dr Rickman to lie?" he asked intrigued by Arlene's master-plan to once again get House and Cuddy to get their head out their butts.

"Slipped him a couple bucks." she said matter of factly.

"I'm impressed, Arlene. I must admit I've never thought you could pull off something like that… But then again, you succeeded in having the hospital evacuated a couple years ago, haven't you?" he recalled sitting on the armchair next to the bed.

"That I did. You and Lisa are just too dumb which makes it impossible for me to make you both see reason without making a fool out of myself every single time." Arlene stated once again.

"Arlene, it's not that simple." He mumbled.

"It is actually." She paused. "Do you love her or not?" the woman asked. House looked up at her but said nothing. Arlene was looking at him, or better, glaring at him. When she met his eyes, she sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes. "Of course you do. And she loves you more than she realizes." The Diagnostician stood up and looked outside the window.

"I've done too many horrible things to her. She shouldn't give me any more chances." House concluded still gazing outside. And with that he slowly left the room. Arlene stared at him as he limped away towards the elevator. She shook her head and sighed. What was she going to do now?

She could easily hear the longing in her daughter and in House's voice every time they were talking about the past and the possibility of starting a new life… together. Arlene wanted what was best for her daughter and House was close to perfection for her daughter. Yes, in his dysfunctionality, House was the perfect match for Lisa and Arlene was sure of that. Call it motherly instinct or simply doing the math, they had always been a functional-dysfunctional couple, but a happy one at that.

. . . . .

After Arlene's charade had come to an end, Cuddy was finally letting herself into some sort of comfort-bubble. Rachel was right behind her talking with one of the Doctors in House's team and whose name Cuddy couldn't remember. The girl seemed to have developed a great relationship with House's team and also with the Diagnostician himself.

The woman sighed and waved as few of her old employees greeted her. She glanced behind her shoulder and saw that Rachel was now running to keep up with her strides.

"Hey mom, what's the rush?" the girl asked, rushing at her mother's side.

"Absolutely nothing, hun!" Cuddy smiled and wrapped an arm around her daughter. They walked inside the cafeteria and Rachel immediately went to high five the cashier who handed her $20. While Rachel walked back to her mother, Cuddy couldn't help but notice how smug her daughter looked.

"What was that?" she asked pointing to the money Rachel was currently rolling up and hiding in her jeans' front pockets.

"These? Oh, a bet between Clara and I." Rachel explained in a d'uh tone.

"A bet?" her mother urged her to explain.

"Yup, on how much would it take you to finally step foot into the hospital." Rachel said with a grin, obviously proud of her win.

"This is crazy." Cuddy mumbled. "Anyway you better go get us a table or we won't find one." Rachel scurried off towards a table and sat herself in one of the chairs. Lisa looked ahead at the queue and grabbed a tray.

"Lisa!" someone called out for her.

"Hi" she greeted Wilson with a smile and a hug. "Are you joining us for lunch?" she asked pointing towards the table where Rachel sat.

"I'd love to." He lined up behind her. "So… rumor has it your mother fooled everyone. Again." He said and couldn't help but smirk.

"You were there too. You saw, so yeah… she did it again." She confirmed, shaking her head in disbelief. "It's her way of dealing with my personal life. She always has to storm into my life and drive me crazy." She commented, grabbing two salads and an ice cream.

"It's good to see you again, Dr Cuddy." Said one of the orderlies walking past her, earning a wide smile from Cuddy.

"You were missed." Wilson said with s smile.

"I've missed Princeton too. Though Columbus is smaller and the job is less demanding which makes it possible for me to have more free time and do all those things I had never allowed myself to do." Cuddy said with a smile. Wilson smiled back at her and nodded in understanding. "I'm happy they haven't forgotten about me." She concluded, her smile turning into a sad one.

"Any chance to have you back?" the Oncologist asked hopeful.

"I don't think I could handle coming back. My mother's latest stunt, everything House and I had… plus I have no idea what Rachel plans to do. She's supposed to start 12th grade at the end of the summer and she doesn't look like she wants to go back home." She said while paying for her lunch, but Wilson stopped her and paid for the three of them. "Always the gentleman" she said chuckling.

"Always…" he laughed.

"Hey Wilson!" Rachel waved, immediately stealing his ice cream.

"Rachel!" Cuddy hissed.

"What?" both Wilson and Rachel asked. Cuddy stared at both of them in disbelief before shaking her head. The man and the girl shrugged. Wilson was used to being left without ice cream by the end of lunch date with either House or Rachel. He was amused by House and Rachel's interaction when the three of them were having lunch together and his best friend or the girl tried to steal Wilson's ice cream before the other could. That week Rachel was winning over House, 3-1.

"So, I was talking with your mother. She told me you're supposed to start 12th grade soon." Wilson started.

"Yup, though I'm still not sure…" Rachel said munching on her ice cream.

"What!" Cuddy hissed once again.

"Calm down! I didn't say I'm not going to finish high school, you know, I'm forced to go by the State." She said in a 'duh' tone. "I may have doubts about going back to Columbus. I like it here, mom, I like it more that I could have ever imagined and Princeton has great schools! Plus I'm sure either grandma or House wouldn't mind having me here one more year or I could use my college founds to rent a place…"

"Rachel, what the hell! You're only 17! And you are not to touch any of that money!" Cuddy screeched angrily. "I can't believe you're thinking you could actually do that! It's insane!" she continued.

"I know I haven't been the perfect daughter lately, but please mom, let me stay here. I'm happy here…" Rachel said with a smile.

"You can't and you won't stay here any longer. We're going back to Columbus next week and nothing will ever make me change my mind. So, hear me out young lady, you're coming back home with me and you won't ever dare running away from home again." Cuddy said dead serious. "You'll finish school in Columbus and after that you'll decide to do whatever you want to do."

Wilson watched as the two of them exchanged glares, till Rachel finally looked down in defeat and nodded her head slowly.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" she said standing up and leaving the other two alone.

Cuddy sighed and crawled her head in her hands.

"What am I supposed to do? I've never imposed anything this important on her and now she's a teenager and she behaves like she's all grown up and I have no choice in her life. That's not true, I'm her mother, ain't I?" Cuddy talked mostly to herself.

The next half an hour was a disaster and mostly spent in silence as the Oncologist tried to reassure Cuddy that everything was going to be alright. Deep down he knew that House this time won't have enough courage or "assholeness" to go against Cuddy and side with Rachel.

. . . . .

House had grown to love that girl.

Rachel had completely changed his life since her first appearance 17 years before. At first he was jealous of her: Cuddy's attention was all on that pretty little baby girl and he was set aside; her life had revolved around that girl's life since that moment, as it should. But he had been jealous nevertheless.

Then his relationship with Cuddy has come and gone quite fast. But Rachel had been there and he had started to grow fonder on the girl. Even though his first impression of the girl wasn't the best, she had proved him wrong. House chuckled as he recalled playing "Feed the monkey" with her and teaching her how to play with all the other toys in order to get into that preschool.

And then after so many years she had driven all the way from Columbus to get to know him. He had sided up with her when Cuddy had demanded she came back home with her. Did he really do that for Rachel of because he wanted to be his usual abrasive self and go against Cuddy? He wondered and still he hadn't figured out the answer.

"Hey…" Rachel said as she entered his office and sat on his chaise-longue.

"Hey…" he replied. "What's wrong?" he asked as he looked up at her and heard her hiccupping.

"Nothing, it's just… " Rachel shook her head and started playing with the rim of her shorts. "I'm going back to Columbus with mom next week. Not because I want to, but because she's forcing me to attend my last year of high school there."

"She's right." House said. Rachel looked up at him confused. "She has let you do all you've wanted till now. You drove all the way here to get to know your mom's ex who you barely remember from your childhood. That is actually crazy, I don't think anyone has ever done that before, unless you count that crazy blonde chick from Friends…" he ended with a joke.

Rachel chuckled. "Phoebe? She was cool." Now it was House's turn to chuckle.

"Do you really think she's right?" the girl asked.

"I do. You've done something incredibly crazy and she has let you. She came to Princeton to take you back home because she knows what's best for you. And as much as I had liked having you around, I think you should go back home, finish school, kick asses this last year of school and go to college to study whatever crazy stuff you want to study." He paused. "But trust me when I tell you that studying philosophy is for sissies who will never ever get a proper job if any." He commented.

"I've always had a thing for philosophy though." Rachel joked. She stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll come by your place to grab all my stuff before the weekend and maybe we can catch up one last time before I leave…" she proposed standing by the door.

"I'd love to." House admitted truthfully. Rachel nodded.

"Ok then. I'll call you." She said with a sad smile, while turning around now facing the hallway.

"Wait…" he stopped her. "Come here..."

Rachel immediately flung herself into his arms and hugged him.

"I'm going to miss you, kid." He said. His lips hinting the ghost of a smile.

"Me too, old man." She joked as she let him go. "I'll see you then…"

"Yup… You won't get rid of me easily now." He concluded.

Rachel walked outside the office and through the hallway till she reached the elevator. There she let herself lean against the wall. She wasn't crying, not again. She was smiling because she knew it wouldn't be the last time her feet graced that same path.

Neither of them knew, someone was watching them from the other end of the hallway. Cuddy turned on her heels as her daughter left House's office. She walked towards the other part of the fourth floor and let herself wonder just how much Rachel and House cared for each other and just how much she still loved him. After all that time.