Ch. 11:
I'm on a tear tonight! 3 chapters and still going. Please feed the need and send in your reviews! Tell me if you like the direction of the story or not….
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Cuddy reviewed a couple of files and gathered her things for the board meeting upstairs. She realized Wilson would be there and she slid her ring around so that the diamond was in her palm.
The meeting went as expected and Wilson hung back sitting quietly barely making eye contact. Cuddy was relieved but kept her left hand below the table as much as possible. She knew it was premature to inform the board she was marrying her employee. That was another major bridge to cross that she had yet to figure out how to handle.
The meeting descended into financial minutia and Cuddy concentrated on hospital matters for the next hour and a half.
The meeting ended on time and Wilson left quickly. Cuddy exhaled and realized she had been holding her breath for the last few minutes dreading the chance that Wilson would want to be alone with her.
Cuddy finished up and walked out with a board member who was chatting about upcoming medical conferences and happy to ride the elevator down with her. She was feeling a bit tired and was pleased to see her office was empty. She set down her notebook and files and made a fresh pot of coffee. Bringing a cup to the couch in her office, Cuddy sat down, slipped off her heels and placed her feet up on her coffee table. She stretched out her left hand and twisted the engagement ring back into its proper position, diamond above her fingers.
"What am I doing?" She asked herself out loud. She knew the Board would take issue with a marriage between a boss and employee. She'd have to figure out a way for them to both retain their positions without disrupting their reporting structure. If that was at all possible.
The rumor mill would go ballistic once the staff learned she and House were married. Too bad, let them talk! Cuddy deserved to be happy and like she had once told House, everyone knows this was going somewhere. Marriage would be a big surprise to some and expected by others. Cuddy was engaged to Greg House! She smiled and took a sip of her coffee and closed her eyes to enjoy the moment and the luscious warmth she felt throughout her body. What a day!
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Taub paced back and forth outside Cuddy's office rehearsing in his mind how to tell her the bad news. He realized after fifteen minutes there was no way to get it right. He sighed and walked over and knocked on Cuddy's office door, noting the missing glass pane by the doorknob.
"Dr. Cuddy?"
Cuddy opened her eyes, slipped her legs off the table and her feet back into her stilettos under the coffee table. "Come in, Dr. Taub."
Taub stepped in and closed the door. "May I?" Taub gestured to the chair beside Cuddy's couch.
"Please," Cuddy urged, waving her hand to the chair.
Taub cleared his throat and sat down. He stared at Cuddy, paralyzed unable to speak. Cuddy stared back.
"I know you must be wondering what was going on in Dr. Wilson's office this morning," Cuddy said uneasily. "I'm still trying to figure it out myself."
Taub felt his face blush.
"Dr. Cuddy, I have to tell you something. I…I …uh, what I mean is…are you and Dr. House getting married anytime soon?"
Cuddy looked surprised and frowned a little. "Why do you ask?"
"I thought about what you said this morning and I realized you can't marry Dr. House until after you adopt Rachel."
"What? I don't understand." Cuddy said bluntly.
"You could lose your little girl if you try to adopt her after you marry him," Taub spit out.
Cuddy stared at Taub with an angry look. Taub looked away as he spoke, "Dr. House is a recovering drug addict and a former mental patient! The state agency would never allow it."
A look of fear came over her face as her eyes swelled with tears. "Oh my god, oh my god." She whispered.
Cuddy looked down at her ring, Taub's eyes followed and stared at the diamond on her hand.
"You're going to have choose between them," Taub said softly. "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this. I really respect Dr. House but his past could cost your family's future."
Cuddy looked up at Taub. His face was etched with sadness. "Thank you for telling me. You're right, of course."
"It doesn't mean you can't marry him," Taub said quietly. "You just have to wait until after the adoption." Cuddy felt hopeful as she smiled at the solution.
"Is that an engagement ring?" Taub asked cautiously.
Cuddy smiled broadly. "Yes, it is."
"May I see it?"
Cuddy lifted her hand and Taub reached to take her hand lightly. "Wow, that's some gem! You're going to have a hell of time hiding that, you know."
Cuddy laughed. "I know, I just twist it and palm it to keep it out of sight. It's kind of fun having such a big secret. I guess I'll have to keep it a secret for a few months." Cuddy looked up ruefully at Taub.
"Don't worry, I won't say a word." Taub smiled for the first time that day. "What about Dr. Wilson?"
Cuddy's smile disappeared. "What do you mean?"
"He's in love with you." Taub paused. "He found me in the cafeteria and told me flat out he doesn't want you to marry Dr. House."
Cuddy leaned back on her couch, her hands rubbing her tense neck. "I'll handle Dr. Wilson. I appreciate your insight about Rachel. You're a brave man, Dr. Taub."
"Just one more thing, Dr. Cuddy. I feel I should tell you that even if Dr. Wilson could convince you to leave Dr. House and one day even marry Dr. Wilson, he wouldn't be an asset to you adopting Rachel."
"Yes, I see your point. Three divorces doesn't sound very good to an adoption officer" Cuddy murmured. "I'll figure this out. I'm not giving up Rachel for anything." Cuddy rose from the couch signaling Taub their conversation had ended. "Thanks again, Dr. Taub, you're a very thoughtful man."
"Congratulations on your engagement, Dr. Cuddy." Taub awkwardly stepped forward and hugged her. Cuddy smiled and hugged him back.
"You realize you can't know about the engagement, Dr. Taub."
Taub stepped back and shook his head in agreement. "I know. What I saw this morning never happened."
"That's right," Cuddy smirked. "House would kill Wilson and I can't have my best doctors in jail. I'm counting on your discretion."
"No problem. Meanwhile, I'm going to make a killing on the office pool."
"What office pool?"
"The whole hospital has been buzzing about you two for years. I'm going to put my money on marriage and win it all!"
Cuddy frowned. "What are the options?"
Taub grinned. "Uh, well, um. There's you killing House, House getting fired, House and you getting involved and um, the long shot was House marrying you."
Cuddy raised her eyebrow, "Long shot?"
"No disrespect to you, Dr. Cuddy but we're talking about House, Mr. Unhappy. He's kind of a jerk, you know."
"How big is the pool?"
"It's in the low thousands."
Cuddy smiled, "Would you place a bet for me? I'll split it with you?"
"Seriously? Uh, sure, it's a hundred dollars a bet."
"I'm in." Cuddy pulled out her purse and counted out the cash on her desk. "Here you go."
Taub came over and pocketed the cash. "This is so so surreal."
"Tell me about it!" Cuddy nodded.
Taub smiled and left her office, shutting the door once more. Cuddy glanced over at her desk eyeing the phone. She paged Dr. Wilson and sat down to wait.
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Wilson's pager buzzed him out of his daydreams. It was Cuddy requesting he come to her office ASAP. "Here we go," Wilson muttered to himself.
When he arrived, he noticed Cuddy was not preoccupied with work or files or forms. In fact her desk was clean and bare. Cuddy sat waiting erectly in her chair, a cup of coffee steaming in front of her.
Wilson entered, "You wanted to see me?"
"James, please sit. I need to talk to you." Wilson noticed Cuddy was fidgeting with a rubber band. A flash of light caught his eye and he spotted the enormous engagement ring on her hand.
"Is that an engagement ring? From House?" Wilson looked awed.
"Yes, it is."
"When…."
"This morning, before lunch." Cuddy answered.
"Lisa, I thought you were going to talk to …"
"I did, James and House wants to adopt Rachel as soon as I do."
"But you can't! If you marry House before the adoption, his drug addiction and his stay at Mayfield will come out and you'll never be allowed to adopt Rachel."
"That's funny you should say that," Cuddy squinted at Wilson. "Dr. Taub was just in here to tell me that very same thing."
James looked guilty. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Well, Taub…and you…are right. House's background could interfere with the adoption so we'll have to wait to get married." Cuddy said matter-of-factly.
"Have you discussed this with House?" James fished.
"Not yet, but I will tonight," Cuddy answered. "Don't say anything to him. Let me tell him. He'll understand."
"Riiiight." James sighed. "House is all about instant gratification. He's impatient! You really think he'll be cool with this?"
"He's going to have to be," Cuddy intoned firmly.
Wilson felt highly conflicted. He was thrilled to learn Cuddy was still the Cuddy he learned to admire and respect. Her maternal nature was pure, fierce and entrenched. Still, he was annoyed to see Cuddy had solved the situation with steely determination. Delaying the wedding was the right answer and anything could happen during an engagement. House could easily screw it up, or Cuddy could change her mind. Either way, Wilson still had a chance. The ring had surprised him, though.
Wilson smiled to himself. "Was there anything else you wanted to discuss with me?"
"Actually there was," Cuddy said. "This morning in your office, when you kissed me, you knew I had accepted Greg's proposal. What were you trying to prove?"
Wilson shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "I don't know. I guess I wanted you to change your mind."
"James, I'm so sorry things have gone so crazy since Friday night. I really never had any idea you had any feelings other than friendship for me. Are we going to be able to keep working together?"
"Absolutely, Lisa. I've always had bad timing when it comes to matters of the heart. If you're happy then I'm happy for you. I guess in my own way I pushed House to do what he's always been too afraid to do."
Cuddy nodded. "I have you to thank for House popping the question. How weird does that sound? I never pictured Greg actually proposing but something changed when you two went at each other.
"Don't all women like to see two men fight for their affections?" Wilson asked sadly.
"Not this woman! I think it's horrible and degrading! I don't care who wins the fight, I'm going to decide who I want."
"So kicking his ass again won't change your mind?" Wilson smiled ruefully.
"Sorry, no. And for the record, I'd say the fight was a draw," Cuddy smirked.
"Okay, okay. No more fighting over Cuddy. I get it."
"And no more kisses except on the cheek, okay?" Cuddy reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah. Do you think House will get over my attraction to you?"
"Give him time and I'm sure you two will be friends again," Cuddy answered.
"He'd better be good to you."
"Damn straight!" Cuddy countered. Wilson got up and came around to inspect Cuddy's ring.
"It's beautiful and it suits you," Wilson said kindly. "House is a lucky, lucky man."
"Thanks, James. Hug? And I mean just a hug this time!"
Wilson laughed. "No tricks this time."
The two hugged tightly for a few seconds. Wilson kept his word and broke apart with a long look before leaving her office.
"Well, that went better than expected," Cuddy told herself. "Now I've got to convince House he's not second banana tonight."
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Should Wilson keep trying to win Cuddy or will House's ego blow it? Your advice is always appreciated! Please review!