Alright, here it is! Adoption time! Thanks for the reviews, they make me so happy! Please enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar with House M.D.

Chapter Eight: Arrangements and Adoption

Cuddy was bristling with excitement from the very first moment she awoke. She took even more superfluous care, wondering what to wear and essentially being nit-picky about everything and anything. She wanted this day to be perfect even though she hadn't even imagined herself doing something like this. Now, she sat in her office, twiddling her pen between her slender fingers, waiting for House to arrive. They had both agreed to meet in her office before Cuddy went even looking for Ms. Charles. As a matter of fact, House was suppose to be in her office about twenty minutes ago, but he was late, as per usual. She swore that he did everything in his mind to make every fiber of herself infuriated at him.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, House strolled in to Cuddy's office leisurely, grinning at Cuddy's glare. "Aren't you just a little ball of sunshine in the morning, Cuddy." He said, collapsing roughly on to Cuddy's couch. Cuddy scowled and noticed that he had dropped his stuff off in his office. Maybe he was on time, which would have only been an act of God, but was taking his sweet time walking to her office. "Well, what did you want to talk about?"

Cuddy let out a sigh and got up, walking over to the couch and sitting beside him, leaning back somewhat nonchalantly. "We need to talk about arrangements, House." She said breathlessly, looking over at him. They needed a plan for how Kara was going to live with them. Well, not with both of them but with each of them individually.

House perked up slightly. "It would be less of a hassle if she just lived with two people that were together." He muttered, looking over at Cuddy.

She looked at him outlandishly. "Of course it would but we don't and won't live together. So, we have to decide who gets Kara when."

House nodded though he felt very guilt-ridden. Kara was basically going to be like a plant that they can hand over to each other to nurture separately. "Okay then. So, um, how do you want to do this?" He asked Cuddy, turning slightly to watch her.

"House, you don't want to send her to your house on one day and mine the next either, do you?" She asked miserably. He agreed, leaning his head back. "Do you just want to come over whenever you want then? Well, not whenever you want but at a reasonable hour...that I confirm." She offered, looking over at him.

"Sounds fair enough." He muttered, looking over at her. Again, their eyes locked and everything around them seem to freeze. House felt like he was in college again. "Cuddy..." He started but his throat closed up on him.

"I think we should go now. No time like the present, my mother always said." Cuddy said, finally tearing away from House's electrifying eyes. She stood up, smoothing down any wrinkles that had appeared on her clothing. She turned to him, watching him stand up. "And maybe we should go on a first name basis for the adoption bit."

House nodded, raising his eyebrow slightly. "I guess the funbags have to be tucked in today." He told her, grinning wickedly causing Cuddy to scowl at him with a slight amused expression twinkling in her eyes.

"Lead the way." Cuddy said sternly, a slight smirk now playing on her lips as she pointed to her door. House turned and limped out of the office, followed by Cuddy.

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House was fortunate enough to catch Ms. Charles before she entered Kara's room. "Ms. Charles." House called out boisterously, causing both Skyler and Ms. Charles to stop. Cuddy stopped by his side quickly. "We need to speak to you...privately." He said, stretching his lips into a strained smile.

Ms. Charles nodded to Skyler and she turned around and headed into Kara's room. Ms. Charles walked to House and Cuddy, smiling undauntedly at them. "Yes?" She asked, looking up at both of them.

Cuddy and House exchanged glances. "Can we talk in my office?" Cuddy asked, smiling back at the cheerful woman. Ms. Charles nodded, her bright red curls bouncing as she did so. Cuddy turned around and started walking back. House rolled his eyes and followed. What was the whole point for both of them do head to Ms. Charles just to usher her back to Cuddy's office where they had been just a few minutes ago.

Cuddy sat at her desk, hands together as if in prayer, and her right leg bouncing up and down underneath the safety of her desk. House was standing behind her, leaning on his cane, watching Ms. Charles' response. She seemed to be in a state of shock rather than surprise. She looked up at House and then Cuddy and the back off into space for a moment. "Are you sure about adopting?" She finally said, looking over at the two.

"Yes, of course. Ho...Greg and I have been in very deep thought about this." She said, correcting herself quickly. Ms. Charles looked over at House with a disbelieving look.

"Lisa and I are very certain about this decision." He agreed, placing his hand on Cuddy's shoulder. He felt her tense underneath him and he couldn't help but grin. It took all of Cuddy's will to not look over at House with some sort of death glare. She knew he was enjoying this. The injudicious narcissistic man would go to the farthest lengths just to piss her off, but she had to admit that she was sort of flattered that he took that time to mess with her.

"Well, alright then. Ever since you told me that you two were Kara's parents, I took the liberty of finishing my part of the paperwork. I had a feeling that you would want to adopt her." Ms. Charles said, pulling out a stack of papers from her hideous carpet print bag. When she had said that, she was looking precisely at Cuddy, not House. House couldn't blame the woman. Cuddy was the maternal one. "You just need to read over the first page and then begin signing." She told them.

House's grin faltered. Paperwork?! Guess it was a good thing that Cuddy, Dean of Medicine, was use to paperwork. Cuddy grabbed the sheets of paper from Ms. Charles and swiftly began reading over them, clicking her pen. She signed her name and then handed the pen to House. She looked up at him when he didn't take the pen from her. His eyes were slightly wide as if telling Cuddy that this was almost like paperwork. "You have to sign this too, Greg, since you are the father." She said through clenched teeth. She raised an eyebrow slightly as if daring him to say no. House gloomily took the pen and scribbled his name onto the piece of paper.

"Good. Now, all we have to do is get Kara's approval." Ms. Charles said, taking the papers from them after they finished signing and reading everything that they needed. She hoped that Kara wouldn't be horrible to them. Dr. House and Dr. Cuddy seemed like two nice people. She believed that Kara would be in good hands with them.

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Kara and Skyler were laughing when Ms. Charles walked in, followed by House and Cuddy. The laughter stopped and both of the children looked somberly at Ms. Charles as if she brought terrible news. Cuddy and House exchanged glances at this sudden turn of emotion. Ms. Charles frowned. "Kara, now you're turning Skyler against me?" She chided, crossing her arms. Both of the children grinned madly and laughed lightly.

Cuddy let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. To tell the truth, Cuddy was shaking. What if Kara said no? She was wringing her wrists apprehensively but quickly put them to her sides thinking about how stupid she looked. Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand. She looked up, seeing House smiling reassuringly at her. She smiled bashfully back and turned her attention back to Kara.

"Kara, I have some good news." Ms. Charles said, going over to her bedside, pushing the swinging table in front of her. She placed the stack of papers on the table and grinned. "Your mother and father want to adopt you."

Kara blinked quietly and stared at the papers in front of her. Slowly, her eyes traveled to Cuddy and House. Cuddy looked excited and nervous at the same time. House looked sort of calm but a bit worried. She glanced up at Ms. Charles to find that she was ecstatic. Of course she would be happy for Kara and for herself. Then it was time for Skyler's evaluation. Skyler was shocked and happy for Kara at the same time. Ms. Charles placed a pen on the table next to the papers. "All you have to do is sign it." Ms. Charles added.

"No." Kara said quickly, averting her gaze to her hands. She really didn't want to see what would happen after that. She handed the pen back to Ms. Charles.

The word cut through Cuddy hard and she took a step back, shaking her head slightly. This wasn't happening. It couldn't happen but the word was still ringing in her ears. Cuddy blinked back tears and she felt a thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand. She could faintly hear House whispering something to her but it all was jumbled up and she couldn't comprehend it. She stared at Kara, who was watching her hands with forced interest.

House was a bit surprised that Kara had said that too but he was more worried about Cuddy. He had a feeling that Kara wasn't speaking the truth though. His eyes shifted to Skyler. Her facial expression was one of pure horror. "Why not?" Skyler suddenly cried out, scowling at her best friend. Cuddy looked up at Skyler's sudden outburst.

Kara slowly raised her eyes to meet her friend's. "Because I can't." She said firmly.

Ms. Charles shook her head. "Why can't you, dear? All you have to do is sign a piece of paper and then..." She started, befuddled.

"I made a promise, Ms. Charles. I can't break my promise." Kara told her mellifluously, finally looking at Cuddy and House. House and Cuddy were both looking at each other and then back at Kara.

"You made a promise not to get adopted? Kara, what kind of..." Ms. Charles began, wishing that Kara wouldn't be obstinate.

"No!" Skyler cried, causing everyone to jump. "Kara, no! No, no, no, no, no!" Skyler shook her finger at Kara.

"I have to. We made a deal. I can't let you be in that orphanage all by yourself." Kara told her, frowning at Skyler.

Skyler blinked, looking at Ms. Charles before taking a deep breath. "Kara...today's my last day as an orphan. I got adopted yesterday. I was going to tell you when I first got here but..." She drifted off. She was kind of worried about how Kara would act.

Kara stared at Skyler for a moment. "Thanks a lot, Skyler. Now I might actually look happy when I sign this adoption paper." She said sardonically, looking at Ms. Charles. "Pen." Kara stuck out her hand, looking at her expectantly.

Cuddy felt her heart jump and she squeezed House's hand hard. House winced, frowning down at her but her smile was contagious as the frown changed. Cuddy turned back to watch Kara uncap the pen and set the tip of the pen on the paper for her signature. She paused looking up at Ms. Charles. "What am I suppose to do again?" She asked suddenly.

House frowned, stepping forward, letting go of Cuddy's hand. "Sign your name at the bottom of the paper." House answered, watching her inquiringly.

Kara nodded and went to write again. Her pen began to move and she wrote something down. House suddenly took it from her even though she wasn't finished. "House, what are you doing?" Cuddy suddenly snapped. She took it from him and went to hand it to Kara, but stopped seeing what Kara wrote. It was just a bunch of swirls that looked like cursive writing. "Aphasia?" She asked inaudibly, turning to look at House.

"Brain fog." House said, nodding to Kara, who was looking at the pen as if she didn't know what she was doing with it. "Isn't this the best time for brain fog?" He added with fictitious cheerfulness. Cuddy couldn't help but laugh slightly. It was kind of a bad time to have this symptom but it was pretty funny when House said it.

"Brain fog? What does that mean?" Ms. Charles asked, looking at Kara with trepidation.

"It's another term for a neurocognitive symptom." House explained, watching Kara. "She's suffering from a part of brain fog that makes her unable to write."

Cuddy sighed. "So I guess we have to wait to finalize the adoption then?" She asked somewhat desolately.

Ms. Charles smiled. "Yes and no. Kara did agree. She just needs to sign. But I'll just say this now, congratulations! You're parents." Cuddy smiled and turned to House, who was nodding his head. She was so ecstatic she could have kissed House! As an alternative, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She pulled back only when she noticed that House wasn't hugging her back.

"Ho...Greg, are you okay?" She asked. Why wouldn't he find some way to enjoy this? Every time she did try to hug him or something, he tried to feel her ass.

"I'll be back." House just said, limping quickly out of the room. Cuddy frowned, looking around the room.

"I'm just going to see what's up with him." She said, following him.

Has House figured out what is wrong with his daughter? Will Kara be able to fully consent on this adoption? Please review! The three C's are loved and appreciated!