Little girls

"Interesting, isn't she?" Nyx observed as she, once again, appeared in House's dream.

"I wouldn't have her in my team if she wasn't," House shrugged.

"I was talking about the other student you've been teaching," Nyx smiled. "Much smaller and with a much better grasp of the realities of life than Masters."

"Rachel?" House wondered. "I'm not sure if she is interesting. She is much smarter than I gave her credit for and I admire her ability to lie, but I'm not sure I would call her interesting."

"Ok, if that is what you think," Nyx accepted – if sceptically. "I find her interesting. But then I always find children interesting. They have no past that could tell you what their future will be like. They are mysteries in that way. It will be interesting to see who she will be."

"The kids may have no past," House stated. "But their parents do."

"But the kids rarely respond the way parents think they would," Nyx pointed out.

"Unless the parents control the environment where the child grows," House mused.

"You're thinking of Masters," Nyx decided. "Usually it is impossible to control it totally, and that's where the surprises come in."

"I doubt Masters has really surprised her parents," House scoffed. "Not once they got her IQ results, if even that was a surprise."

"Probably not," Nyx agreed. "But she is young yet. And now she is out in the real world."

"And the real world may well crush her," House sighed.

"She may be more resilient than you think," Nyx assumed. "Or even she herself thinks. People sometimes surprise themselves more than they surprise others. Though I don't think Rachel surprised herself; just you."

"How did we get back to Rachel?" House demanded.

"I just suspect you worry about her," Nyx shrugged. "You wanted her to get into a good pre-school."

"I didn't!" House exclaimed. "Cuddy did. And I just didn't want her to be disappointed because I wouldn't have known what to do to cheer her up."

"But you did know what to say to cheer her up," Nyx countered. "You told her that Rachel will be ok regardless of her preschool."

"Yeah, well, that was after I found out that she was smarter than I had assumed," House mumbled. "I still don't think she is what that school would consider gifted, but she's smart enough to be just fine. Unless Cuddy tries to put her in a similar bubble Masters' parents put her."

"You worry about that?" Nyx asked mildly.

"Not really," House said. "Cuddy is a good Mom and she knows what real life is like and that kids do need to survive in that. But she is very protective."

"She may be," Nyx agreed. "But trying to raise someone in a bubble with you around just isn't going to happen. You will always be there to remind her that no matter how much she might want to keep her kid in a cocoon, Rachel will have to eventually face the world on her own and she will need to be prepared."

"I don't know if I'll be there 'always' as you put it!" House barked. "I don't even know if I'll be around next year. We're still feeling our way Cuddy and I."

"True, it's early days with you and Cuddy," Nyx concurred. "And there is no telling if your relationship will work. The odds are definitely against it. But that doesn't mean you won't be around. You were friends before. In all likelihood you will be around as a friend for a long time even if your romance ends. You both got into this with open eyes. You both know how difficult this will be. You will work it out even if this ends. Just remember that you now have a relationship with Rachel regardless of her Mother as well as through her."

"Why?" House asked simply. "Lucas was there, too, as her Mother's boyfriend. Is he keeping in touch with Rachel now?"

"Lucas was a babysitter," Nyx responded brutally. "You are establishing yourself as a father figure."

"I don't know how to be a father figure!" House yelled. "I have no example to go by."

"Well, you know what not to do," Nyx offered. "That's a start. And it seems that Cuddy had a good father. She could give you some pointers. Also you have a good Mother."

"Unlike Cuddy," House muttered. "Though I doubt Arlene was as lousy a parent as my Dad was. But she definitely made Cuddy want to do everything differently."

"Maybe you ought to swap parents?" Nyx suggested with a smile. "You give her pointers on good mothering and she'll advice you on good fathering."

"If only it was that simple," House sighed. "The same sex parent is the one who is the primary role model and the one who leaves deepest marks."

"So I've seen," Nyx admitted. "But it is possible to overcome those 'marks', those obstacles the upbringing has created. You are an intelligent man, Cuddy is an intelligent woman. You can figure it out."

"Masters has intelligent parents," House pointed out.

"You think they failed raising her?" Nyx wondered.

"No," House denied. "Not exactly. I'm just not sure how good she is at surviving. She is 23 and still unsure of who she is. Other than a genius, that is. Though, I do have to say, She doesn't dress like that's all she wants to be."

"She dresses like she doesn't know if she's a fish or a fowl," Nyx shook his head. "Short skirts that show a lot of leg, but the rest is almost bulky and definitely covering her up – the hazmat suit revealed her body better than her clothes do. Apart from the legs. It's like she wants attention but doesn't quite know how to pull it off without risking slutty. Repressed but secretly wanting to be more adventurous."

"Virgin?" House ventured, though doubtingly.

"Probably not," Nyx mused. "I'm pretty sure she has had at least one boyfriend. If 'boyfriend' is the right word."

"You think she, too, is bisexual?" House asked surprised.

"No," Nyx said. "But I think her - probably only - boyfriend was one of her professors. She doesn't really know how to relate to people her own age and given her family history she would have been a pretty easy mark."

"You mean because her parents found each other that way, she would have been ready to believe it could happen to her, too?" House noted. "But would she really be willing to have an affair based on that?"

"Given her high moral ground," Nyx pondered. "I'm fairly sure the man was single, divorced or widower. She would not have had an affair with a married man. But she would 'date' someone even against the rules if she believed he was serious."

"But she survived the break up," House realised. "She must have some resilience after all."

"If he made it all look like he was setting her free for her own good, she may never have realised that she was just one in a long line," Nyx sighed. "And if she hasn't been in touch with anyone in the know she may not even know that she has, most likely, been replaced. So if I'm right about her sexual history, that won't tell you anything about her survival skills."

"So I'm still in the dark about whether intelligence can overcome shortcomings in parenting," House said.

"Well you're smart," Nyx pointed out. "You got out of the shadow of your Dad to become who you are and not what he wanted you to be. How is it going with you?"

"Me," House raised an eyebrow at Nyx. "I'm screwed."