Chapter 20

Wilson walked in and stopped in his tracks as he saw the unthinkable. Cuddy was sleeping the drugs still in effect. And there, was his best friend sitting in a rocking chair in the corner with a tiny baby. House looked up at Wilson. He got up being careful not to wake Emily (which with his leg was a feat) and he handed the baby to his speechless friend. Wilson looked at Emily a smile slowly spreading on his face. House sat down in the chair looking absolutely exhausted. Wilson asked;

"House, isn't she supposed to come in like, two months?"

"Yeah, she's premature, you'd think a great doctor like yourself could tell by her size" House replied tiredly.

"Is she ok? Healthy? What about Cuddy? Is she going to be alright? What happened?" Wilson fired question after question. House closed his eyes as he replied.

"Emily is fine, she's a tiny, but her heartbeat is good her vitals are ok they'll keep her for a while to do the necessary tests. Cuddy is alright. She too will need to stay a while and get some tests done but for now they're both fine. As to what happened, Cuddy's water broke while I was there tonight and I brought her here, and she had the baby." House opened his eyes again and popped two Vicodin. Wilson returned his gaze to the dormant baby in his arms after muttering "Good" that everyone was alright. Emily was a beauty. Wilson rocked her gently.

"She's gorgeous House" Wilson said after a while.

"I know" House answered. Just then the nurse came back.

"I need to take the baby now doctor House" she said.

"Ok, one second." House limped to Wilson and took Emily from him. He kissed her gently on the cheek ignoring Wilson's stupefied look and held her a minute before handing her to the nurse. He felt so protective of his daughter. It was a new sensation for him. As the nurse walked out she took a minute to ask;

"Are you alright doctor House, you look a little pale, not well."

"I'm fine" He answered her. Truth was, all this worrying and everything had worn him out. He was feeling a bit nauseous and a bad headache was starting but he ignored it. The nurse nodded and took her leave leaving House and Wilson standing in Cuddy's room. House glanced at Cuddy who was still sound asleep and the guys took their leave.

"House you should get some rest" Wilson told him. "You really don't look good."

"I'm fine, I'm going to go sleep in my office" House answered. No way could he go home. Not when Emily was here. If something was to happen to her or Cuddy and he wasn't there, he would never forget himself. He couldn't bring himself to think about what would have happened if he wouldn't have been there tonight. The thought gave him goosebumps.

…

When House awoke the next morning he got that feeling that he was being watched. Of course, once he opened his eyes and saw the ducklings peering down at him, he got annoyed.

"Can I help you" He snapped rubbing his eyes.

"We wanted to congratulate you. Wilson told us about Emily this morning." Chase answered. Cameron had a sour look on her face and Foreman had a blank stare. House muttered "whatever" and limped over to the coffee pot and poured himself a mug. The three followed him. They couldn't believe House was a father now. They wondered how this would affect him.

"Well, if you three are done staring me down, I'm going to the bathroom, and then I'll be around the hospital if you need me. By the way, Cameron, since you look so miserable this morning I think it fitting for you to take my clinic hours today. Chase snickered.

"And Chase, thank you for volunteering, you get my hours for tomorrow. And I hope you have fun because tomorrow I have two extra hours. Foreman, I got a case this morning, though I have already diagnosed the patient, you will try to diagnose her yourself and I'm not helping you and you will do the necessary tests. When you think you got it, page me and I'll okay the treatment. Ok, so, see you in hopefully, a couple of days" House walked down the corridor as the three looked at each other with a different look. Foreman looked smug, Cameron looked angry, and Chase looked disappointed. As the men went to start their work, Cameron chased House.

"Where are you going to be?" She asked rudely.

"Here" House responded.

"Then why are we doing all the work" she asked.

"Because, I will be otherwise occupied, unless you haven't noticed Cameron there's a baby in the maternity ward with my name on her" House answered happily. "So, I will be too busy to work for the next couple of days." Cameron fumed and walked away. She was taking this whole baby thing just as House had expected. Badly.