Thursday morning Cuddy was getting breakfast ready while Rachel got ready for school. She hadn't heard her daughter moving around for some time so she called to her.

"Rachel, are you ready?"

When she got no response she called to her again.

"Rachel?"

Still she heard nothing. Concerned, she looked at her watch as she walked down the hall to Rachel's room. There she found her daughter still in her pajamas sitting on her bed swinging her feet.

"Rachel what on earth are you doing just sitting there? Breakfast is almost ready and we need to get going soon."

"I don't feel good."

Cuddy sat next to her daughter on the bed, put her hand on her daughter's forehead and then looked closely at her face. "You don't have a temperature and your face isn't flushed."

"My tummy hurts."

"Rachel."

"Yes mommy."

"You are not sick. Now are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"You'll get mad."

"No I won't. You can tell me anything."

"You promise?"

"Yes I promise."

"Okay. We have a family tree project and my teacher told me I can't do it."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm adopted."

"Oh Rachel why do you think I would get mad at you?"

"I don't know." Rachel began to cry and Cuddy just held her. She was so angry at that teacher and was going to have words with her. As she held her little girl her mind conjured up a memory from a couple of years ago in a moment similar to this when her then two-and-a-half year old daughter was crying because she didn't want to go to pre-school. It was a Monday morning and House had spent the night with them.

"House will you help me and get Rachel ready for school? I've got to get to this early meeting."

"Oh mom do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Can we have sex first?"

"No."

"If I get her ready then will you have sex with me?"

"No."

"Will we have sex tonight?"

"Yes."

"Ding ding we have a winner!"

"House."

"Yes mistress!" he replied as he headed towards Rachel's room to help her get ready for school.

Meanwhile Cuddy grabbed her jacket and briefcase and headed out the door. As she got to the car she realized she forgot her sunglasses. She dumped everything in the car and headed back into the house. As she approached her bedroom she heard voices in Rachel's room. She always encouraged House and Rachel to get closer and was interested to hear what they were talking about so she tiptoed to the doorway and listened to the conversation between the two most important people in her life.

"Come on Rachel I've got to get you to school on time or your mom's gonna kill me."

"Don't wanna go."

"Why not?"

"Cuz."

"That's not good enough."

"Don't feel good."

"You don't look sick."

"Tummy hurts."

"Really? You scarfed down those pancakes pretty good this morning. Try again."

"Don't wanna gooooo" and she began to cry.

Cuddy could tell House looked uncomfortable, this was definitely out of his league. She knew she should intervene and just as she was ready to burst in and tell him she'd forgotten her sunglasses, he spoke, this time in a very soft tone.

"Rachel, you know I'm a pretty good secret keeper."

Rachel stopped crying and smiled. "I like secrets."

House smirked "So do I."

Cuddy wondered just how many secrets House knew. She continued her eavesdropping.

"Rachel, please tell me."

"You can't tell mommy cuz it will make her sad."

"Okay, just between us kid. Now go."

Rachel hesitated then spoke with a sad look on her face. "The kids make funna me."

"Why?"

"I told Maddie I dopted an only have a mommy an she told evybody I don have a daddy an now they make fun of me." Rachel began to cry again.

"Oh." House replied. Cuddy bit her lower lip. She knew House definitely did not know how to handle this. He was treading in unfamiliar territory and this would make him uncomfortable. She watched him close his eyes for a moment as if he were contemplating his response.

"Just because you don't have a dad doesn't make you any less special than those other kids."

Rachel just sniffed and looked up at House curiously.

"Look at it this way. Out of all the babies in the world, your mom chose you. She could have had any baby out there and believe me there were a lot of babies who wanted her but the only one she wanted was you. That makes you extra special." Cuddy's face was beaming.

"I am?" Rachel asked.

"Yep. More special than all those other girls. Do you understand?"

"I guess." Cuddy could tell Rachel didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Hey munchkin I'm going to let you in on a secret but you can't tell anyone." At this point Cuddy knew she would be late for work but she really wanted to hear what House had to say.

"I pwomise."

He took a deep breath. "When I was a little kid, my dad was gone a lot. My mom and me were home a lot by ourselves."

"Where was your daddy?"

"He had to work."

"Why did he have to go away?"

"Because his job required him to help other people."

"Like you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mommy says you are gone a lot cuz your helpin' people."

"Well yeah I guess so."

"Did you miss your daddy?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess I did. Anyway, some kids made fun of me too because my dad wasn't always around."

Rachel's eyes got wide. "Really?"

"Yep."

"Were you sad?"

"I was at first then my mom told me to ignore them. I let them make fun of me but I didn't care. I knew what my dad was doing was important work and he would eventually come home. Besides I loved hanging out with my mom, she was fun, just like yours." Cuddy smiled at that remark. "Now are you going to school today?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay let's get a move on, your mom laid out your clothes."

"No wanna wear them."

"Why not?"

"They itch."

"Well let's find something that doesn't itch shall we?" House and Rachel went through her closet to pick out something she liked. Meanwhile Cuddy tiptoed quietly through the hallway, out the front door and in to her car taking care not to make any noise as she backed out of the driveway. She realized again she'd forgotten her glasses but no way was she going back inside. On the way to work she thought about what she'd just heard. Sure she didn't like House and Rachel to keep secrets from her but it was worth overlooking when she thought about how they were bonding. It had worried her greatly that the two people who meant the most to her in life may not be able to build a relationship and yet there was House trying. Her eyes misted over. It was what she wanted, for them to be a family. She still couldn't get over that conversation she'd just overheard. For others it may have seemed insignificant but for a man like House, it was huge. She wiped her eyes and headed towards the hospital.

Cuddy was brought out of her reminiscing when Rachel coughed. It seemed all that crying made her slightly congested. Cuddy held her daughter and patted her back gently.

"Rachel I want to tell you something."

"Yes mommy."

"You can work on that school project."

Rachel's eyes got wide. "Really?"

"Yep. Just because you're adopted doesn't mean you don't have a family. Remember you've got me, Aunt Julia, Grandma Arlene and lots of cousins, right?"

Rachel's smile faded for a moment. "Yeah" she replied. Then she added, "I just don't have a daddy."

"I know baby, I'm sorry."

"Howse said he'd be sorta like my daddy."

Cuddy was completely shocked. "He did?" She wondered when this happened. That was not like House at all. She knew they had gotten closer but she had no idea the extent of it. Cuddy also knew House would not say something like that to Rachel unless he meant it.

As if Rachel could sense what her mother was feeling she said, "It was a secret. I told him the other girls made fun of me for not having a daddy."

"Wow." Cuddy was still in shock and not sure what to say to her daughter and then Rachel spoke again, more like a whisper.

"Mommy, I miss Howse, I liked it when he was with us. He was silly."

"I know baby, that he was." Cuddy sighed. There was nothing she could do about that situation but right now she and Rachel needed to get ready for work and school. "Come on monkey let's get you ready for school okay? I want to get there early and have a talk with your teacher."

"Okay mommy."

Meanwhile back in Princeton that same morning, House pulled up to his Baker Street apartment building on his motorcycle. He'd spent the night at Wilson's because they'd left a little early the day before to attend an antique car show in the town of Keyport and afterwards had dinner there before driving home. Since they got back pretty late, Wilson offered him his old room at the condo which he eagerly accepted.

He grabbed his backpack and headed into the building, stopping on the way to check his mailbox. Looking through the mail as he unlocked his door he noticed a familiar handwriting on an envelope with a return address in Boston. His heart skipped a beat and his head felt dizzy for a moment. He wanted to rip it open but thought twice about that. He had a feeling that letter would make or break him and he had to be in the right state of mind. He entered the apartment, which had obviously been gone over good by his cleaning lady the afternoon before. He threw down his keys and backpack and tossed the junk mail, leaving the unopened letter from Boston on his coffee table. No, he thought. I need to be in the right state of mind when I read this. He brewed a pot of coffee in the kitchen, put a blues CD in the stereo then headed to the bathroom where he stripped down and stepped into the shower. His leg was hurting as it usually did in the morning and the hot water felt good.

After a nice long shower he got out, trimmed his stubble a bit, put on clean socks, jeans and a tee shirt and picked up his phone. He needed some time alone this morning and wanted to see if the team had a case before he settled in. When Chase told him there was no case and that they were catching up on charts and doing clinic work, House was satisfied. He reminded Chase he would talk to the team soon about appointing him team leader. He'd been so busy lately he'd forgotten to do it. When he finished the call he made himself comfortable on the couch. He stared at the letter, almost afraid to open it. He was anxious. Oh hell who was he fooling? He was scared. Once again she had power over him and her words, as always had the potential to change his life. House didn't want to be dependent on Cuddy or anyone for his happiness but the truth was that he needed her, he always had and every time he thought about what he did to her, his chest hurt as if he had ripped his own heart out. It devastated him to think that finally he had wounded her so deep that she could never forgive him. He knew she had every right not to forgive him, he just hoped she would. Not having her in his life after all these years was difficult for him. Often he regretted the many years of missed opportunities to be with her long before they finally got together. He hated himself for wasting so much time hiding behind sarcasm, deflection and of course Vicodin. All those wasted years, then he had her and let her go. Now all he wanted was to see her, talk to her, just be with her. He loved her but even if she offered him no more than her friendship he would jump at the chance. Without Cuddy in his life he felt like a piece of himself was missing. He felt incomplete.

House took a swig of coffee and picked up the envelope. He turned it over in his hand. It was thick but not too thick. He thought that was a good sign because if she'd just told him to fuck off and die it would have taken less than a half a sheet of paper to do that. Hell, at least she replied, he thought. He wanted to open that letter. No better time like the present he thought. He got up to grab a letter opener from his desk. Usually he just ripped open his mail but this time he was taking special care with this letter, as if it were something fragile.

He opened the letter and returned to his seat on the couch. He felt a lump in his throat as he read the first line.

Dear House...