A/N-Thank you so much to all of the readers and to those who left a comment: IHeartHouseCuddy, housebound, the Guests, OldSFfan, JLCH, BabalooBlue, jkarr, jaybe61, lenasti16, Boo's House, JM, Suzieqlondon, Little Greg, Abby, vicpei1, HuddyGirl, grouchysnarky, Alex, freeasabird14, ikissedtheLaurie, dmarchl21, oc7ober and KiwiClare.

For those who are interested, I'll be posting the one-shot sequel to Living Well next and then I'll be back to this story.

-Bacon-

Arlene visited for dinner one evening after House and Cuddy had been in their home for a few months. Cuddy and Arlene were cleaning up dishes while Arlene was continuing her usual critical dialogue, and House got Rachel ready for bed. Getting Rachel ready for bed seemed like a beautiful reprieve from listening to Arlene.

"What are you doing for Father's Day this year?" Arlene asked.

"What brought that up?" Cuddy asked, "it's almost a month away."

"Your uncle called me. He said all of the men in the family are still taking their children to that park for Father's Day in the morning. All of the wives are meeting at my house to make lunch to take over for the picnic in the afternoon."

The tradition started when Cuddy was small, and as a child, it was always a day she enjoyed. Cuddy hadn't attended the party in the years since her father's death. "That's good, Mom. I'm glad they're still doing it."

"Well, a few of us were talking, and we feel it's unfair for Rachel to miss out on a rich family tradition because of your…lifestyle."

"My lifestyle?"

"Well, if you want to raise a fatherless child, I guess that's up to you, but as a family, we don't want to see her deprived any more than necessary."

"Rachel is hardly deprived."

"She doesn't have that presence in her life. I remember how close you were with your dad."

"She loves House. They're very close."

"Anyway, the men in your family are willing to allow Rachel to come with them so she doesn't miss out on the whole day. She deserves to know what it feels like to have a father…even if she doesn't."

"House does live here," Cuddy argued while she put away the plates. "She has a great relationship with him. She doesn't care about what the paperwork says, she just likes him. She's fine with that. House is fine with that. I'm fine with that. So I don't think we have a problem here."

"You're acting like living with him is actually a good thing for her. You aren't even married."

"We don't have to be married for them to get along."

"And he could walk out tomorrow. And if that happens, what will she do?"

"Husbands and fathers walk out on their families every day. Marriage and genetics don't determine stability."

"It's not just that. He clearly doesn't want to marry you. If he did, he would have proposed by now. You may be well educated, but you're still awfully naïve. He has the perfect situation. He has home cooked meals, he can play daddy when he feels like it, and he has a standing invitation into your bed. All without a single obligation or commitment."

"Except I'm the one who usually comes home to a meal. For someone who is just playing daddy when he feels like it, he does a lot of the things that aren't just for fun, and…," Cuddy paused momentarily but she was already irritated, so she hoped her straightforward response would stop Arlene from any further discussion, "…and I also have a standing invitation into his bed. So I think we're even."

"All of your clever responses won't help you when he leaves you. What will you do when you're a fifty year-old single mother, and Rachel is left without a man in her life just when she needs one the most? That man is not her dad. Because he doesn't want to be her dad."

Arlene was interrupted by a tiny whimper, and she turned to the source of the noise. House stood in the door way to the kitchen. Rachel was in her pajamas, her hair still damp, with her head leaning against House's shoulder while she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"You have to completely dry her hair," Arlene continued without missing a moment, "the child will catch pneumonia."

"No she won't," House argued immediately.

"I know you're offended, but I'm trying to look out for my daughter and granddaughter. When you get tired of this little arrangement, I need to know they'll be alright. How will Rachel feel when you leave?"

Rachel lifted her head and asked, "Where ya goin'?" in the saddest, most pathetic voice House had ever heard.

"I'm not," he answered her, "Your grandmother is old and confused. She's leaving because she's going home now."

"You can't keep this little charade up forever," Arlene told Cuddy and House after she said goodbye to Rachel. "Lisa, you're a mother. It's time to put your child's needs above your own."

Rachel was hard to get to sleep that night. She was too young to fully understand the conversation and also too young to full express how she felt, but it was clear that she was upset and things felt unsettled. Before she went to sleep, she asked House, "You leavin'?"

"No," House answered softly, "and you can't make me."

Rachel finally smiled and seemed to settle.

When House and Cuddy went to bed, she began to apologize, "My mom…I'm sorry, she's just so-"

"I know how she is. At least she didn't call me Lucas this time. So I think we're making real progress."

"I don't feel the way she feels."

"About fatherhood in general or about the fact that we aren't married?"

"Either."

"Do you think we should get married?"

"I think that marriage is never something you should do because you feel like you should. We don't need it in any way. I'm certainly not a little girl who's spending hours fantasizing about my dream wedding. I think that at this point, people should get married if they want to. It should be an expression of love or a desire to formalize a commitment, but it isn't an obligation anymore. It certainly shouldn't be done because of what my mother thinks."

"OK," he answered before he clicked off the light.

He pulled her body on top of his as he started to kiss her neck, in a way, showing her that things between them were still alright. Cuddy asked, "Do you think we should?"

"Have sex?"

"Get married."

"Nope. I'm fine with giving you the commitment free, all-access pass to my bed."

Little was said about the topics of fatherhood or marriage over the next few weeks. Rachel seemed uncertain for a few days, but she gradually returned to her normal behavior as she realized that things were still the same.

When House woke on Father's Day, Rachel was sitting on the bed next to him, "You hafta get up."

He hadn't asked about what they were doing that day, mostly because he suspected that, at some point, Cuddy would decide to send Rachel to the family gathering Arlene had suggested. He covered his head with the pillow.

Rachel tried to pull the pillow off of him, finally growling her frustration as she exposed his face. "Mommy made you somefin. But I'm not apposed to tell."

He smelled something that seemed suspiciously like breakfast. "What did she make me?"

"Not tellin'."

"Is it mittens?"

"No."

"Is it…a UFO made out of blocks that really flies?"

"No."

"Is it soup?"

"No soup for breakfast."

"So she made me breakfast!" House declared, knowingly.

Rachel scowled, "Not tellin'."

When House made it to the kitchen, Cuddy smiled and gestured to the table. She put a plate of waffles and bacon in front of him and he looked up suspiciously, "Do I need a royal food taster?"

"She already had some and she seems to be fine."

"What is this bacon made out of?" he asked as he poked it with his fork. "It almost looks real."

"Stop asking questions and eat your breakfast."

He took a tiny, cautious bite of the waffle and blinked at the flavor, "This is good. As in really good."

"How wonderful that that surprises you."

"Am I dying?"

"I can't even make you one breakfast without it igniting a firestorm of concern?"

He smirked, "What time are you Cuddys leaving?"

"The three of us are leaving at eleven."

"No breakfast in the world will convince me to go. But nice try."

"Why not?" she asked, exasperated.

"Because I'm not going to go to some He-Cuddy thing where they all play catch and talk about family values while we wait for your mother and various other females to show up and upset Rachel by telling her I don't really like her and that I'm leaving."

Rachel peeked back into the kitchen and he turned immediately and said, "I am absolutely not leaving. I'm not going anywhere." She looked up concernedly, and he added, "I like hanging out with you guys. You have the best toys. Why would I leave?"

The little girl seemed satisfied and wandered back into the hall before House leaned on the table toward Cuddy, "Actually you have my favorite toys."

"Great."

"But I'm still not going."

"You don't even know where we're going!"

House lifted a piece of bacon and took a sizeable bite, "This is real bacon."

"Yes."

"I mean, from looking at it you can tell it's not plant based, but I was sure you were going to try to sneak some turkey crap through. It's fatty and delicious."

"I can't believe we're spending this much time on bacon. It's real, it's greasy and disgusting and it would love to aid in the clogging of your arteries. It's for you. Do you have to be suspicious of everything?"

"This breakfast is actually almost enough to convince me to go. Note the very critical use of the word 'almost.'"

"We're going to the music in the park thing. You wanted to go anyway. So stop being so difficult, enjoy your breakfast and get ready to go."

"Is that at the same park where the He-Cuddys go?"

"No. They aren't even in the same town." She continued, whispering the swear word, "Now eat your damn breakfast and try to enjoy it."

She started cleaning up the kitchen, slapping pans with some lingering irritation while he ate. Rachel came out, sneaking bites of his food and giggling as she ran back to play after each taste. When Cuddy was almost done cleaning up breakfast, she saw Rachel run back into the kitchen. "Honey, where are your pants?" Cuddy asked, trying not to laugh at the half naked child who was running through her kitchen.

"Sticky," the girl said, crinkling her nose and shaking her head.

"Syrup," House commiserated, "it tastes so good but sticks so bad."

Rachel nodded with wide-eyed agreement at his astute observation. Cuddy lifted the child onto the counter to wash her up, telling House to get ready for the day.

The three had a good time that day. They listened to music as Rachel danced using the same moves to every song that she heard. House was impressed that she adjusted her dances to match the tempo of each song. In the evening, they watched a movie shown on the side of one of the buildings at the park.

Rachel was napping while Cuddy carried her back to the car at the end of the day. "So why the bacon?" he asked.

Cuddy closed her eyes with frustration, "If I promise to never make you real bacon again…will you let it go?"

"I liked the bacon, so your promise is actually in opposition to what I'd really like to accomplish," he started flippantly but realized she was not similarly entertained. "Breakfast was good. I just don't get why you did it. At first I thought it was because Rachel was going to the Cuddy party. Then I thought it was because you wanted me to go with Rachel to the Cuddy party. But it was neither. So why?"

"It would honestly make you more comfortable if I was trying to manipulate you?"

"Yea. Pretty much."

"I was trying to do something nice for you. It's Father's Day. Everyone seems to like to point out that Rachel doesn't have a father or that you aren't her dad. But what about what she does have. What Rachel has is you. And if what you are is 'not her dad' then I'm really glad that Rachel has a 'not her dad.' Maybe it's better. For us, it works."

House was quiet for the most of the ride, finally saying, "It was fun," in a way that seemed remarkably like a 'thank you.'

They parked and carried the sleeping girl inside. Cuddy looked down at her daughter, brushing the hair back from the girl's eyes. "She's cute, isn't she? Admit it," Cuddy pried playfully.

"She's a hideously ugly child," House answered fondly. Cuddy seemed to be thinking and he asked, uncomfortably, "What?"

"I was thinking about how attached she is to you."

"I guess she's not only hideously ugly, but she's weird too."

"If we break up now, we'll have to cut her in half," Cuddy stated definitely.

House breathed out a chuckle and Cuddy smiled victoriously at the rare reaction she was able to provoke. After returning to a more serious expression, he responded, "Makes sense. But I get to divvy up the halves."

After she put Rachel in bed, he asked, "Did you tell your mother you weren't going today?"

"Yes."

"That must have been a really fun conversation."

"I told her I was taking her advice…and putting my family's needs first."