Chapter 32

House and Cuddy talked for a while. Emily lay asleep in her mother's arms as they discussed. They only stopped when Cuddy was sick which only happened twice. Of course, after the first time Emily was moved to House's arms where she remained. They talked about living arrangements. They talked about Blythe, they talked about the new baby. It was decided that House would move in officially at Cuddy's. Now that Cuddy was sick and they had Emily House couldn't bear to be away in case something happened. The deal was, House could move in if he patched things up with his mother. Cuddy had been very stubborn about this and House ended up giving in. Cuddy also wanted House to ask Blythe to stay for a couple of days, and help take care of Emily. She saw House get very angry very fast at this suggestion and hurried to add that she wanted him to get some rest and get better. House was beginning to get silent at this point and he reluctantly agreed. He then said goodnight and walked off to his office to put the baby to bed.

When House got to his office, Wilson sat there with a glass of what House suspected was whiskey.

"You're here, and you're drinking. Why?" he asked.

"I spoke to your mother, she's getting a hotel room and says any time you need her to baby-sit, she'll be glad to."

"Good, that's one less thing I have to do" House answered thinking of Cuddy's agreement."

"It should have been something you did do" Wilson replied. "She's your mother." House didn't respond. He lay Emily into her carrier and sat down. Wilson stared at him for a while and then left the room without another word. House noticed that the number for his mother's hotel had been left on his desk. He waited a second or two and then picked up the phone and dialed the number.

"Hello, you've reached The Mariott, how may I help you?"

"Hi, I need to speak to a Mrs.Blythe House in room 245" House answered annoyed. The guy on the other end was way too cheery for this time of night.

"Ok, just one second sir and I'll connect you" The man waited for a thank you or some kind of acknowledgment, and when none came he simply began to dial the extension to the room.

"Hello?" Blythe's voice was somewhat muffled as if she had a bad cold.

"Mom, it's Greg" House was extremely uncomfortable, he knew she had been crying and that irked him.

"Oh, hi Greg, I'm sorry I kind of ran out on you earlier, but I felt I had pestered you enough for tonight" Her tone suggested she was really upset and House winced as he listened.

"Don't worry mom, I'm sorry too. I was wondering if… you could maybe take Emily for a while tomorrow, I need to do some…errands, and I thought maybe you'd like to spend some time with her…" House's voice trailed off. After a second or two Blythe answered in a more cheery voice.

"Oh Greg, I would love to take her! What time? This will be such fun!" House thought about it and made a quick decision.

"Well, I know you're an early bird mom, so how about 9:30? We'll still be here and you can pick her up then." Blythe was so happy that she nearly dropped the phone.

"Of course!! That's great I'll bring her back before supper, I'm guessing you'll still be at the hospital. Is that ok?" House heard the nervousness in her question.

"That's fine mom. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Greg! I love you!"

"Love you too bye" House answered and hung up the phone quickly. He then got into his lounge chair, and fell into a troubled sleep.

…

The next morning House got up, got Emily changed and fed, and packed all her things. She smelled real good because he had snuck into the maternity ward late last night when there was nobody there and given her a bath. She had been a little miserable at being woken up from her slumber but House didn't want to be seen bathing his daughter. He didn't need nosey people watching. Now he held her close and thought about what he was going to do today.

"Well, there you go little girl you're all set!" He said as smiled down at her. He gave her a quick kiss goodbye now before his mother arrived. Not five minutes later, his mother showed up looking slightly nervous and excited.

"Hello Greg" she answered still standing at the door.

"Hi mom, come on in" he said feeling uncomfortable. Blythe walked in and House handed her the baby. He also gave her the baby bag filled with stuff.

"Her bottles and stuff are in there we got them all ready last night (House blushed slightly as he said this), her soother's in there too with some toys. The diaper's are in this compartment here, the wipes are here, and the powder is here. In the big compartment there's a hat in case you go out and the baby monitors are in there too. Her last bottle was about a half hour ago so she should be good till about noon." House walked over to his desk and wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"Here's my cell number in case something's wrong." Blythe nodded and smiled.

"Everything will be fine Greg. You get some rest and we should be back here after supper."

"Ok, bye mom" House watched as his mother walked out carrying Emily. He wondered why he felt so guilty.

House limped over to Wilson's office. He sat there for five minutes before the man in question showed up.

"House! What are you doing here? You scared the crap out of me!" Wilson shut the door and stared at his friend.

"I'm leaving for the day, I need you to check on Cuddy for me and watch over the ducklings. We have a new patient and I'm not sure if they can handle it." House twirled a pen he had taken from Wilson's desk in his fingers and stared unblinkingly at him. Wilson thought about it for a second.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Out, my mom's got Emily" House threw the pen back and began to rise and limp towards the door.

"But wait! Where are you going?" Wilson tried in vain to get an answer but House had already opened the door and was leaving.

"What the hell was that all about?" he wondered.

…

House got into his car and started the ignition. He drove in silence for a while just completely lost in thought. When his phone rang, he debated on whether or not to answer it.

"Naw, if it's important they'll leave a voice message." House pulled the car into the parking lot and got out. He took one look at the tall brick building and then walked inside.

"Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?" asked a young man with red hair and freckles.

"My name is Gregory House, she is expecting me" House answered. He was trying real hard to be polite. She was doing him a favor.

"Yes sir, Mister House, right this way." The young man showed House to the room at the end of the hall, knocked and then motioned him to go in.

"Actually it's doctor House"

"She's ready to see you sir."

…

Cuddy sat in bed breathing heavily. She was furious. The doctor had came in only an hour ago and made her day, and in ten seconds it had all gone to shit.

"Hello doctor Cuddy, I have some good news. It seems you are feeling better and if we don't have any fevers or vomiting fits we should be able to discharge you this evening." The doctor had smiled and Cuddy had grinned from ear to ear. "Here is your prescription, you will need to have it filled depending on how bad you feel and how frequently of course, and the nurse will explain everything later" The doctor then gave her another smile and walked out. Cuddy had practically shouted in glee. She had tried to phone House on his cell, but he had either not been near it or he was ignoring it. She had been so excited to tell him her news, until…

Cuddy had been sleeping when the nurse had woken her up. She needed some blood for one more test and Cuddy knew as soon as everything became clear that she wasn't going home that night. She motioned for the bucket and the nurse hurried to get the object in question. Cuddy hurled so violently that the nurse ran to get the doctor. Cuddy began to cry.