Author's Note:Hello. I am still sort of away but I wanted to post this quick chapter for you. I wish you all a safe and happy new year, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story in 2018.

Chapter Two

Cuddy and Max stood outside the office of Human Resources waiting for House to show up. Cuddy began tapping her high heel foot on the ground impatiently.

"He'll be here," Max assured her as she leaned against the wall.

"He better be," Cuddy mumbled in reply.

Just then they heard footsteps and the distinct sound of a cane tapping on the ground and coming towards them. Both women turned around and saw House making his way towards him.

"Cutting it a bit close aren't we?" Cuddy asked, her arms folded across her chest.

"Hey," House huffed faking being hurt. "I made it didn't I?"

"Barely," Cuddy sighed.

Cuddy then turned and opened the door before walking into the HR office. With the door still wide, House reached an arm out and held the door opened. Max looked at him and grinned before she stepped under his arm and followed Cuddy.

'May as well get this over with' House thought to himself before he followed them.

**House MD**

They had been sitting in this meeting for fifteen minutes and House was already totally over it. Cuddy had explained (as professionally as she could) that she was indeed pregnant as the rumours suggested, and that House was the baby's father. She also explained and her and House were not currently in a romantic relationship, to which House gave a quick nod to confirm.

House's own mind raced a little when he heard the phrase "not currently" come out of Cuddy's mouth. He was sure it was just a slip on her part and that she didn't actually know what those words could mean.

Cuddy had also explained that Max was also their child and that she would continue to work as her assistant until she decided to do something else. The head of human resources seemed less interested in Max and more interested in the 'relationship' between Cuddy and House.

"So, how would you describe the exact nature of the…ah, relationship?" The HR represented asked.

"Complicated" Max scoffed while trying not to laugh.

House couldn't help but smirk at how honest and yet ridiculous the answer was. He looked at Cuddy from the corner of his eye and noticed that she was giving both him and Max a look that said 'be serious'. House's smirk faulted slightly.

"Well," Cuddy began, trying to be serious and professional. "Dr House and I are colleges. We're – " She paused and looked at him briefly before saying "-Friends." She quickly turned back to the HR representative and continued. "Yes we are having this child together and we will be raising her together as well."

"Hhmm," The HR rep murmured as he wrote something down on a legal pad in front of him.

House leaned to the sighed and dramatically whispered loudly to Cuddy, "Speak slowly now. He's writing it down."

Cuddy rolled her eyes and kept talking. "I believe that I can still supervise Dr House effectively. But I-We want to follow hospital policy to the letter."

"You understand that this is a very…complicated situation that the hospital is now in." The HR rep explained. "Our concern is to make sure there's no conflict of interest. No liability for the hospital."

Max leaned back in her chair with a look of amusement on her face. "You think one of us is gonna sue the hospital if things don't go our way?"

The HR rep shook his head slightly, "I know that none of you are going to sue because we are going to have relationship contracts drawn up."

"Um, that's a bit personal and incredibly intrusive don't you think?" Max snapped.

"The contracts won't have intimate details or anything." The HR rep replied quickly. "We just need to make sure there won't be any favouritism towards Dr House – "

"Does that mean Cuddy has to have a baby with everyone?" House asked, raising an eyebrow. He turned to Cuddy and added, "You're going to be so sore!"

Cuddy narrowed her eyes at him before turning back to the HR rep.

"I promise not to give him a raise or a promotion of any kind," She said and right now, with House being a slight pain, she actually couldn't have meant it more.

"Or bias against him." The HR rep added.

"So, she can't give me extra clinic hours because I slept in one morning?" House asked, looking from Cuddy to the HR rep. "Awesome!"

"That's not what he-" Cuddy began to say with a look of irritation.

"No, no." The HR rep said quickly, shaking his head. "The hospital is more concerned with Dr Cuddy firing you without justifiable cause."

"You're kidding right?" House asked as he turned quickly to look at the HR rep. He raised one eyebrow and had a dumbfounded look on his face. "If it was up to you guys I probably would have been fired long ago. Cuddy's the only reason I'm still here."

"House," Cuddy warned, looking a little startled.

House wasn't looking at her, and instead had his eyes trained on the HR representative. House had all but admitted that he owed his job to Cuddy. That was something he would never admit too. At least not to Cuddy herself.

"I'll have the contracts drawn up and sent to each of you before five o'clock." The HR rep announced. "That's all. You may go"

Cuddy and Max slowly stood from their chairs. House remained seated with a mock pout on his face.

"Awe," House sighed sarcastically. "But I was having so much fun."

Max opened the door and turned to House with a smirk, while Cuddy glared at him.

"House, now!" Cuddy snapped.

House turned to the HR rep with an expression that said 'Ah oh' like that of a dog in trouble. He then quickly stood and followed Cuddy as she left the room. Max walked out close behind them.

**House MD**

"Well," Max began. "I guess that wasn't so bad." She shrugged and turned to Cuddy and House.

House looked annoyed at having had to sit through such a boring and pointless meeting. While Cuddy looked nervous and was wringing her hands together over her stomach.

House turned to her and let out a short sigh. He should have known that she would take this more seriously than needed.

"It'll be fine." He said softly but firmly.

"Yeah," Max agreed with a nod. She paused and placed a gentle hand on Cuddy's forearm. "All we gotta do is sign some forms. I think we got off lightly."

House turned to Max and smiled. Then he looked at Cuddy and saw that she smiled back but her heart wasn't in it. She was still worried.

"Cuddy?" House began.

"It's fine," Cuddy said with a sigh. She shook her head and did her best to put her 'professional mask' back on. "We better get back to work, and you should get back to your case." She told House.

House opened his mouth to say something but Cuddy was already walking away. Instead, he shook his head before turning to look at Max.

"I'll look after her," Max said reassuringly.

Max gave House a quick knowing nod before she turned and walked quickly so that she could catch up with Cuddy. House watched them go and then gripped his cane tightly before heading towards his office.

If the hospital and their stupid contracts put unneeded extra stress on Cuddy and the baby, he was going to be very pissed, and he would not be making things easy for the hospital big wigs that's for sure.

**House MD**

It had just turned six o'clock and House was still in his office. His team had already gone home as the case was solved. House himself would have also gone home except he knew that he had to wait to hear from HR. If he left he knew that it would upset Cuddy and his goal at the moment was to not upset her. At least for a few months anyway.

Instead of going home, he sat at his desk and threw his large ball into the air before catching it again and again. He almost didn't notice Max coming into the room.

"I come bearing gifts," Max announced.

House stopped throwing the ball and turned to her. In her hands, she held some papers. He frowned as she placed them in front of him.

"And when I say 'gifts' I mean annoying paperwork."

"Yep, got that," House said with a nod. He pulled the papers towards him and flipped through them briefly then he looked up at Max with one eyebrow raised. "Do I need to actually read through this?"

Max shook her head. "Nah. I already did. It's pretty basic. You can't act out if things between you and Cuddy get 'too personal' and you have to let the hospital know if your relationship changes in any way. It's pretty basic."

"You and Cuddy signed yours?" House asked.

"About half an hour ago," Max replied. "She actually read the thing over twice."

House nodded, not expecting anything else from Cuddy. He reached across his desk and grabbed the nearest pen. Then he flipped to the last page of the contract and scribbled his signature. He lifted the papers and waved them in front of Max.

"There all done." He announced. "Now can I go home?"

Max shrugged and smiled at him. "Hey do what you want. I'm not your boss."

House chuckled slightly as Max turned to head out of his office.

"Lunch tomorrow?" He asked as she reached the door.

Max turned back and shrugged one shoulder before saying, "I'll get back to you."

House smiled slightly.

To Be Continued…