A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter. It sure was nice getting the three of them back together again wasn't it? Feels like old times. As we begin this chapter, it is still Friday evening at Cuddy's house.

Apparently, House wasn't sleeping that soundly because as soon as Wilson took the picture of him and Rachel with his cell phone, House opened one eye and said, "You take one more and I'm going to tell everyone you shave your pubes."

"I do not."

"Oh but you will next time you're passed out drunk on my couch."

"Okay, okay, you win," Wilson threw his hands up in surrender as he put the phone back in his pocket. "He's ruthless you know," he said to Cuddy.

"Oh please, how long have you known him?" She asked, laughing.

Rachel opened her eyes and looked at Cuddy. "I fell sleep on House," she giggled.

"Why yes you did. Do you want to go to bed?"

"Can you read me a story?"

"I think I can do that," Cuddy said as she leaned down to gather her daughter in her arms.

"Can Hows come too?"

Cuddy looked at House. He put on his best "don't wanna" face but as he did he noticed both Cuddy women adorned their pouty faces knowing he would not resist.

"You two are evil temptresses," he said. Cuddy just shook her head and laughed at him.

"Wanna say nite to Unca Jimmy," Rachel said as she lay in Cuddy's arms. Cuddy took the sleepy child over to Wilson who kissed her on the forehead and told her goodnight.

As House followed Cuddy and Rachel down the hall, Wilson planted himself on the couch. After everything that happened, he never imagined the three of them would ever be in the same room together again. Wilson was happy for his friends but it made him a little sad that while they were drawn together by some force, he still couldn't find someone right for him. He sighed, kicked off his shoes, put his feet up on the table, and waited for his friends to return.

Meanwhile, in Rachel's room, she had changed into her pajamas and was snuggled under her covers with her stuffed duck. House sat in the rocking chair looking on as Cuddy lay on the bed with Rachel reading Dr. Seuss. House chuckled silently to himself that a modern-age toddler would like the same stories both he and Cuddy had read when they were her age. He closed his eyes and rocked back and forth listening to Cuddy read Hop on Pop. He remembered when his own mother had read stories to him when he was little. She would do it nearly every night when he was a small child. House cherished those times with his mother, when it was just the two of them and his father wasn't around. When his father was home, he'd remark that boys didn't need bedtime stories. Blythe countered that reading was good for a boy's imagination. His father scoffed at that, grumbling that soldiers didn't need an imagination.

House was so lost in the memories that he never realized Cuddy had finished reading the story to Rachel. He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder which shook him out of his thoughts.

"You okay?" She asked, concerned.

"Just thinking."

She stood before him, so petite and beautiful in her bare feet. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted him to tell her what he was thinking.

He hesitated then realized that it was important to share these moments with her if they were going to trust one another again. "I was thinking about how my mom used to read me stories and my dad would tell her I needed to toughen up if I was going to be a soldier."

"Did you want to be a soldier?"

"Nope. When he started harping on me about it when I was Rachel's age, I vowed I would do everything I could not to become like him. I admired the guys who were soldiers, most of them were pretty good guys and I thought they were brave as hell for putting their lives on the line. A lot of my friends wanted to follow in their dad's footsteps, but I was not one of them. I didn't want to be like him."

"Even when you were five years old he never gave you a break, did he?"

"Nope."

Cuddy wanted to talk more about his relationship with his father but knew they had time for that. Instead she decided to say something to encourage him. "House, I just want you to know I'm thankful to you for reading to Rachel, even if you did keep it a secret. I think I understand now why it was so important to you."

"Thanks," he said, looking up at her. There was softness in her eyes that conveyed to him she really did understand and appreciate what he had done.

She reached her hand out towards him. "Come on, let's go find Wilson and have some éclairs, they're from the best bakery in Boston."

House, not one to resist the temptation of food, practically leaped out of the rocker. As he stood, he rubbed his thigh and held on to her for support for a moment.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's not as bad as it could be. It's just a combo of working out and sitting too long tonight."

"House?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean what you said to Rachel earlier?"

"Huh?"

Cuddy wasn't sure if she should reveal what she heard but she didn't want any secrets between them. "Well, what you said to Rachel about…your leg feeling better now that you're here. Did you really mean that?"

House looked down at his feet; he hadn't realized she heard the conversation. Cuddy sensed his uneasiness and placed her hand gently on the side of his face, silently asking him to open up to her.

"I meant it. Being around you and Rachel keeps me from thinking about my leg."

She smiled. "I know it took a lot for you to say that and I appreciate you trusting me," and she kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Just don't spread the word okay? I have a reputation to keep up. If people think I'm a nice guy, bad things could happen." He just smirked at her.

"Oh come on," she said as she led him by hand down the hallway into the living room where Wilson waited.

"What took you guys so long?" Wilson asked when they made it to the living room.

"Oh I sooo tapped that," he joked, pointing his cane at Cuddy. She just looked at him horrified.

"Don't listen to him Wilson. I was reading Rachel a Dr. Seuss story and it was a big long," she replied. "She was really tired and now she's down for the night."

"Where's dessert? I'm starved," House said as he made himself at home in the recliner and put his feet up.

"Geez, we ate over an hour ago," said Wilson. "Are you a bottomless pit?"

"I'm a growing boy."

"Oy vey. I'll be right back." Cuddy went into the kitchen to grab the baked goods, returning moments later with a plate of homemade chocolate éclairs. She set it on the table and sat on the couch opposite Wilson. The two men did not hesitate to make a grab for the luscious chocolate cream-filled goodies. Cuddy had to laugh watching them; they were like two little boys.

House took a bite of his éclair and rolled his eyes in delight. Cuddy smiled, she knew he loved a good éclair and these were amazing. "Glad you like it," she said. "There's more where that came from."

"Hey Wilson, I think Cuddy's trying to get down our pants with these things cause right now I'd do whatever she wanted if she kept feeding me these for the rest of my life."

Wilson just rolled his eyes at House, but as he took a bite out of his éclair, he let out a moan. Cuddy just shook her head laughing. "I should get pictures of you guys eating those things, it's almost pornographic."

They ate their dessert in relative silence, enjoying each other's company, no words necessary. When she finished her dessert, Cuddy asked. "So, Wilson, how's your love life?"

House laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"It's just that the words Wilson and love life in the same sentence are kinda funny, don't you think?"

"Oh leave him alone," she said.

"Well it's true. I mean come on, Wilson doesn't have a problem getting women, he just has a problem keeping them."

Wilson chimed in. "I'll have you know House, I could keep them if I wanted to, and I just haven't found the right one yet."

"What about Cuddy's friend?"

"Sharon?"

"Yeah she's hot and smart and my guess is she wouldn't put up with your shit."

"I don't really know her that well."

"So? That's never stopped you before."

"She seems nice but I'm just not ready."

"Oh I get it, you're not ready for the kid, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself a father figure, would you?"

"Wilson, believe me, you'd make a great dad," Cuddy intervened figuring Wilson needed an ally.

"Thank you, Cuddy," he said giving House a dirty look. House just stuck his tongue out in return.

House turned his focus on Cuddy. "So, Cuddles, what about you? All this time you've been here and not a man in the picture?"

Wilson looked at him, "Come on maybe you shouldn't be going there."

"No, it's okay Wilson," she said. She put her coffee cup down and frowned at both of them. "I appreciate you trying to be my buffer but we're going to have to talk about things that happened in our lives after House crashed his car into my home." She watched as House cringed just a little hearing those words.

She looked at House and smiled and spoke softly. "House, I know it makes you uncomfortable, hell it still does that to me sometimes but it's in the past and we have to move on. This can't be the elephant in the room, if it is we can't move forward."

House nodded but didn't say anything.

"You have to admit it does feel a bit weird," Wilson chimed in. "I mean, you left, House went to prison, everything…well…everything changed."

"It did but House and I have been talking about this and we're working on moving past it together, but I want all three of us to finally find a way to figure out how to deal with it so that when we have moments like this," she said motioning her hand in a circle to point at the three of them, "we don't have to skip over things or try to avoid certain conversations."

"It is weird and I know it's hard for you," she said, leaning forward and putting her hand on House's knee, "but you know how I feel. If anything, I want to talk about it but for the purpose of understanding where we were, why it happened and how we can learn from it, and we can learn from it. Hell I think we already have, don't you?"

House nodded in agreement. He just watched Cuddy and was in awe of her strength and courage more than ever before. Her desire to work through this and deal with it directly rather than shove it under the rug and avoid it at all costs amazed him. He always admired Cuddy for her ability to attack problems head-on but generally she applied that methodology to her work, not to her private life. Yes, Cuddy had changed and he began to believe that he didn't have to cringe or hide his feelings when discussing what happened. It was hard not to though because every time he thought of it, it reminded him how much he hurt her…and Rachel.

"So you're okay talking about your life here and things that have happened since you moved here?" Wilson asked.

"I have to be. It's the only way to really move on," she replied.

"You guys know I suck at this touchy-feely crap, right? I mean, don't expect a miracle," he said in a tone meant to convey annoyance but both Wilson and Cuddy knew it was his way of deflecting. They both knew he wanted to deal with it and put it in the past forever.

"House, as miracles go, I think the fact we're all three sitting here right now speaks for itself don't you think?"

House scoffed. Cuddy laughed. Wilson just rolled his eyes again.

"So Cuddles, since we're baring our souls, you gonna answer my question?" House asked sarcastically.

"You mean about men? No House, there haven't been any and you know it."

"You see Wilson, nobody compares…"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Shut up House."

Looking at Wilson she said, "Honestly, I just didn't want to get into another relationship. A few people tried to set me up but….it just wasn't right for me."

House gave Wilson his "do I know what I'm talking about or what?" look.

"Anyone at your new job know about…what happened?" Wilson asked, trying to ignore House and his big fat ego.

"Not that I know of. Oh there's this guy…in Cardiology…says he knew all about me, that I'd been Dean at Princeton and he even said he heard I was a tough bitch."

"Wow, he said that?"

"Yeah."

"What an ass."

Cuddy frowned and she looked uncomfortable discussing it. House sensed it and decided to push a little.

"Cuddy, did he say something else?" he asked.

"Nothing, I don't want to talk about it."

House knew when something was bothering her; clearly this guy had done something to upset her.

"You can tell us," Wilson insisted.

Cuddy sighed. She'd always known House and Wilson were protective of her. She figured it wouldn't hurt to tell them considering the chances of them meeting that creep were slim to none and she wouldn't have to worry about a confrontation.

"Okay fine, if it'll get you to drop it." She sighed before telling them what happened. "Not too long ago, we had a meet and greet for the fellowship program at a hotel downtown. When it was over, I was sitting at the bar; I just wanted to finish my wine before I left. There was hardly anyone there and I was minding my own business. This guy introduces himself to me and then starts coming on to me."

House leaned forward twirling his cane between his knees, listening intently, trying to hide his emotions. He absolutely hated the thought of Cuddy with other men.

Wilson asked, "So what did you do?"

"I told him to leave me alone. He put his hand on my arm and started rubbing it and calling me Lise and it was just creepy. When I turned down his offer to go home with him he started calling me a… whore and cock tease or some shit like that. He wouldn't leave me alone. Finally, I ran out and caught a cab home."

House was pissed but remained silent. His hands gripped his cane tightly till his knuckles were white. If there was one thing he would not tolerate it was a man trying to force a woman into sex, what made him angrier was this woman was Cuddy. Nobody treated her like that and got away with it.

Wilson noticed House was upset about what Cuddy had told them, but figured he would talk to him about it later.

"What's his name?" House asked.

"House, don't even bother, it's not worth it. I let it go, you should too."

House didn't say another word about it but Wilson had a feeling this wasn't the end of it.

They proceeded to talk more about whatever came to mind; their jobs, Wilson's failed relationships, monster trucks, House's patients, and a whole host of other things. After Cuddy's remarks about wanting to deal with what happened by not avoiding it, the conversation between them seemed to flow easily. House felt a bit more relaxed and returned to his usual snarky self, Cuddy indulged in a lot of eye-rolling at the two men and Wilson played mediator and peacemaker. All in all, it was business as usual. Before they knew it, it was midnight and Wilson had to leave because he had to be at a panel early in the morning. He asked House if he was going back with him but House and Cuddy wanted to stay up longer and talk. Wilson hugged Cuddy and bid her goodbye for the evening and headed back to the hotel.

Cuddy and House were finally alone; the only light in the room were a few candles she'd lit hours earlier to create a more comfortable mood for the three of them. They sat on the couch opposite one another. House rubbed his leg and put it on the coffee table.

"Hurts again?"

"It comes and goes, elevating it helps."

"I'm an idiot."

"You don't say?" House's curiosity was piqued.

"Really, it took me years to figure out why you had your feet up all the time. I used to give you a hard time about it. You weren't lazy, the pain wasn't so bad when you had it up was it?"

"No."

"I also came to another realization too."

"What's that?"

"All the times I used to give you shit about not coming in to work until late…you had a good reason, and it had nothing to do with staying up too late with hookers or porn."

House nodded but didn't reply. He just kept massaging his thigh and looking down at his lap.

"You weren't sleeping well at night; the pain level was always the worst in the morning. I didn't realize that until we were together and for whatever goddamn reason I didn't just come out and tell you that I finally got it."

"It's okay Cuddy."

"No, it's not. I was so blind to so much of your pain. You were so damn good at hiding it. I should have been better at spotting it."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. Like you said, I was good at hiding it, for a reason. I didn't want people to know how much pain I was in, you know how I am."

"I know. I wish that had changed when we were together. I wish you would have let me in."

"Me too."

"Ya know, I'm proud of you."

"For what?"

"Deciding to manage your pain with something other than Vicodin. I watched you battle your pain and your addiction over the years and at times it nearly killed you. I know this must be so hard for you and I am just so proud of your resilience."

"Like I said before, it was a matter of life or death, I chose life."

"You always choose life. You're a fighter House; you're not the kind of man to go down without fighting to his last breath. I've always admired that about you."

"You admire something about me?"

"You're kidding right? You have an ego the size of New Jersey, there's no way you didn't know that!" Cuddy smiled at him. She looked as if she wanted to ask him something. House couldn't resist prodding her about it. "Do you want to ask me something?"

"How did you know?"

"You have a tell."

"Do I?"

"Yep."

"Care to share it?"

"Oh hell no, giving it away would be like revealing who shot JFK, what really happened at Roswell, or the real identity of Keyser Soze. If I tell you there'll be black helicopters, I'll disappear, hell we could witness the End of Days, or Armageddon…."

Cuddy cut him off suddenly. "Okay House, I get it," she said laughing.

"I think I'll hold on to your tells if you don't mind."

"I still can't get over how you can read people."

"It's a gift, the ladies love it."

"Sure." She laughed. "I heard the ladies are banging down your door."

"Some would say they're banging to get out." They both laughed.

"So is there something you want to ask me?"

"Yeah only I'm not sure how so I better just ask."

"Shoot."

"Do you still resent me for what I did to your leg?"

House couldn't imagine what she was going to ask him but he certainly didn't expect this. "Why would I?"

"Every time I see you in pain, I know it's my fault. I talked Stacy into it, knowing it wasn't what you wanted. It was selfish of me, of us. She didn't want to lose you and I…neither did I."

"You did what you had to do Cuddy. How is it any different from what I do with my own patients?"

"It is different. The decision left you in pain for the rest of your life. Our selfishness cost you so much."

"I could have died if you had done it my way."

"Or not," she said quietly.

"Cuddy you know the numbers, I won't repeat them. They weren't in my favor." House knew she would not let the matter rest until it was discussed to her satisfaction. He braced himself because he was going to tell her the truth about how he felt after the infarction and he wasn't sure how she would take it but she had wanted complete honesty and he was trying to give her that. He just didn't want to hurt her doing it.

"Cuddy, I don't talk about the infarction because there's nothing I can do to change things but since you want to talk about it I will. After it happened, I hated what you and Stacy did to me. I hated you both for taking away the use of my leg." House looked up at Cuddy to see a stunned look on her face. Her mouth was open but she said nothing. He took that opportunity to continue.

"You went against what I wanted; you took the control of my life away from me. You were not just my attending, you were my friend. I didn't want to use that option because I knew that I would be in pain for the rest of my life and it's not how I wanted to live. I knew I would no longer be able to do the things I used to do; I knew people would take pity on the cripple and see me as different. I didn't want that."

Cuddy swallowed hard. She wanted to cry but was steadfast in keeping it inside. She feared that if she shed tears House might clam up out of guilt. She needed him to talk about it, for their sake.

House continued. If they were talking about it, he might as well tell her everything. "I think you feel partly responsible for Stacy and me breaking up. Before the infarction, things with Stacy were already going south. If that hadn't happened we would have probably split up anyway. I loved Stacy but we wanted different things, it just took five years for us to realize it. I pushed her away knowing she was likely going to leave anyway but she didn't deserve to be treated like shit. She made the decision she did because she wanted me to live. I hated her for what she did but I eventually forgave her because I realized I probably would have done the same thing if it had been her laying in that bed dying."

"Did you ever tell her that?"

"No, by the time I realized it, she was long gone. I only admitted it to myself after she left with Mark. There didn't ever seem to be a reason to tell her after that and I really didn't want to get in contact with her either."

"That had to be difficult for you not to tell her."

"She'd moved on with her life, I didn't see any reason to bring it up. You however were a different story."

"Me?"

"Yep. You saved my life and I thanked you for it by giving you as much pain and misery as I thought you had given to me. Instead of trying every possible treatment to make my leg better, I lashed out at everyone, especially you, blaming you every chance I got."

House looked down in his lap and Cuddy just sat there, in shock at his admission. She couldn't understand where it was coming from this is what she'd been wanting all these years, for House to open up to her.

"I was too much of a fucking coward to try and fix my life. I took it out on you and that was wrong. I couldn't understand why you kept sticking by me through everything. Every time I was in trouble, you were there. I never understood, after everything I'd done to you to make your life hell."

"I was there partly because I felt it was my fault you were so fucked up but mostly because I really did care. I always cared. I just wish you would have talked to me. I think about all the anger you carried with you for so long and how it festered and hurt you and the people you care about. If you'd been able to get help, talk about it, maybe we could have found a way for you to move on and enjoy your life."

"Cuddy, you knew me in college, you know I was screwed up long before the infarction."

"But House, I remember you laughing and being happy. We had some really good times. You were so much fun and carefree."

"I was still screwed up though. Blame dear old dad for that one. As screwed up as I was, before the infarction I did feel good, I liked my life. Afterwards, I hated it. I thrived on misery and did my best to make everyone around me as miserable as I was. You can see where that got me eventually."

"Yeah."

"Don't you dare blame yourself. I had every opportunity to try and alleviate my pain through methods that didn't turn me into a drug addict but I didn't take those routes, instead I chose to medicate myself into oblivion. That was my choice; you had nothing to do with it."

"But House..." she said, her voice full of sadness, "your pain made you no longer care whether you lived or died. Look at all the stupid stunts you pulled over the years which almost killed you. You never would have done that before the infarction. It hurt so much to watch you go through it time and time again. I worried if the next one would be the one that finally killed you. That last time…in the bathtub. I can't tell you how it scared the hell out of me."

"You were there, every time. Wilson never could understand it. I wanted to believe it was because there was something still there between us." House looked at her after he said that, wondering about her response.

"There was always something there, it never left." She smiled at him and took his hand. "House, you do know that I've never judged you because of your limp and I never thought you any less of a man because of it, right?"

"I may have given you shit over the years but one of the biggest reasons I loved arguing with you is because you didn't care about my leg, you didn't hold back because I was a cripple. You came at me with both barrels and I liked it. I needed it."

"I think I did too. There are times now when I'm at work and walking up and down the halls and wishing for that same banter we used to have. There were times I felt like shit and just seeing you, arguing with you over some procedure, made me feel better."

"Cuddy, if I forgive you for the surgery, then it implies you did something that requires forgiveness. I don't think you did anything wrong but if it will make you forgive yourself then fine, I forgive you."

"Thank you," she said. Her eyes were misty; it had been a very emotional conversation.

"Oh shit, come here." He rolled his eyes and nodded as he opened his arms. She moved closer and relaxed into him.

"Have you noticed that every time we have a talk like this, we wind up in this position?"

"You don't like it?"

"I didn't say that."

They sat there a few minutes perfectly content to just be close. No words were spoken and none were needed.

"So what do you guys want to do tomorrow?" He asked as he stroked her hair.

"You want to do something with Rachel and me?"

"Well duh. Wilson's brochure mentioned something about a children's museum downtown."

"The Boston Children's Museum, Rachel loves that place. We went there once but didn't have enough time to see everything. She's wanted to go back."

"Well then we'll go there."

"Oh wow, she'll love it, thank you."

"You're welcome," he said in a sleepy voice.

"You sound beat."

"Actually, I am."

"I think we should get some sleep."

"Do you mind if I crash on the couch?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Oh," he replied wondering why she didn't want him to stay. "I'll get a cab."

Sensing the misunderstanding, she quickly added, "No, that's not what I mean, I do want you to stay, just not on the couch," she said shyly at him.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "Dr. Cuddy, are you asking me to sleep with you?"

"I'm asking you to sleep in my bed with me. Do you think you can do that and only that?"

"Hmm, I don't know."

"I'll get the sheets."

"Wait! I can do it." He wouldn't pass up a chance to be near her as they slept.

He got up from the couch and grabbed his cane as she walked quickly around the room blowing out candles, then he followed her down the hallway. They checked in on Rachel first who was sleeping soundly. When they got to Cuddy's bedroom, he automatically went to the side of the bed that was his when they were together. He looked up at her as if asking permission.

"You remember," she said, with a smirk.

"How could I forget?" He smiled at the thoughts of the many nights spent with her in that bed.

She rummaged through her drawers grabbing a pair of short shorts and tank top to sleep in. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

While Cuddy was gone, House took the opportunity to undress down to his boxers, placing his clothes on her dresser. He sat on the bed waiting for her as he rubbed his thigh. Cuddy exited the bathroom and House looked over at her. Her hair was down and around her shoulders; the tank top and shorts fit snugly against her body. To him, she looked like an angel. "Bathroom's all yours," she said. "The spare toothbrush is still there for you and I got you a fresh towel."

"Thanks," he said as he limped to the bathroom and closed the door.

As late as it was Cuddy still went through her nightly routine, putting lotion on her arms and legs and stretching for a few minutes. As she climbed under the covers and waited for House, she thought about how routine this seemed, the two of them getting ready for bed. It reminded her of the old days. She couldn't believe that he was here, in her house, at this moment and about to sleep in the same bed with her again. Her heart jumped with excitement. How she had longed to be next to him like this for so long. Ten minutes later, a freshly showered House walked out of the bathroom and crawled under the covers on his side of the bed.

"House, are you sure you're okay sleeping in here?" She asked before turning out the lights.

"Yeah, are you okay with it?"

"I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't."

"Because you know I don't mind sleeping on the couch."

"I know, but it's no good for your leg."

House frowned at the thought that she was only doing this for his leg. For a few minutes they were silent.

"House?"

"Yeah."

"I lied."

"About what?"

"I wanted you to sleep in here with me but it had nothing to do with your leg. I just wanted you next to me."

House smiled to himself. "Get over here, woman."

Cuddy smiled and scooted backwards toward the middle of the bed as House moved towards her. He put his arms around her waist and spooned her. Cuddy laid her hands over his and sighed. Neither of them said a word, hoping the other had fallen asleep. House broke the silence.

"Cuddy, you still awake?"

"Yeah."

"I missed this."

"Me too."

Cuddy turned over and faced him. They were face to face with their noses touching and each could feel each other's warm breath. House pulled her as close to him as he could. "Cuddy," he said softly but before he could say anything else their lips connected. The kiss was soft and gentle and full of longing. House parted her lips with his tongue and she opened for him, their tongues gently caressing one another, both moaning at the pleasure they felt. As they kissed, Cuddy's hands moved to massage House's scalp while House kept his arms around her waist and held her tight. After what seemed an eternity, they broke apart, both in desperate need for air.

"Wow," she said.

"Wow is right. Want to do that again?"

"Oh God yes," she said as she leaned in to kiss him again. She moved on top of him, mindful of his right thigh, and as they kissed tenderly he slid his hands under her top and ran his hands up and down her back, pulling her towards him, enjoying the feel of her warm bare skin. House could feel her pointed nipples through her tank top against his bare chest and Cuddy could feel his manhood rising to the occasion. They kissed for a long time, using their hands to feel as much of each other as they could. They came up for air every now and then but the kissing and touching continued as if their lives depended on it. They broke apart for air once again and just stared at one another. They were breathing hard and their hearts were pounding. The sexual tension between them was indescribable but given everything they'd been through, neither wanted to rush it.

"House, let's take this slow, okay?"

"Yeah," he said. Then he laughed and asked, "Did I just say that?"

"You did and I'm shocked," she said. "When this happens between us I want it to be right."

"I know. God, I have missed kissing you." He just stared into her eyes and felt like he could see straight into her soul.

"Me too, House."

"Wanna get some sleep?" He asked, yawning.

"We should if we're going to get up early and take Rachel to the Museum."

They curled up again with her back to him as he spooned her from behind, his nose in her hair, taking in the wonderful scent of her shampoo. As he held her close he whispered, "Goodnight, Cuddy."

She placed her hands over his as they wrapped around her waist protectively. "Goodnight, House."

House woke the next morning at the crack of dawn, still a bit tired, but feeling quite rested. He looked over and saw Cuddy wasn't there. He moved to her side of the bed and lay there inhaling the scent from her pillow. He loved her scent. His mind drifted to the previous night and he smiled when he thought about the pure raw passion in their kisses. It was like a dream come true for him for he never thought he would ever have the chance to kiss those lips again. Now that he was here, with her, he never wanted to leave.

He sat up and rubbed his thigh a few minutes and did some stretches before he limped to the bathroom to do his business. He assumed Cuddy was doing her yoga; it was the one thing that truly relaxed her in the mornings. As he stopped by Rachel's room, he noticed the little girl was still asleep. .

"Cuddy?" He called out as he entered the living room. There was no response.

He looked outside and noticed her car was gone. When he walked into the kitchen, he found the note she left next to the coffee pot letting him know she had run out for milk and orange juice and would be right back. He poured his coffee and went into the living room to watch some television. A few minutes later, Rachel padded her way into the living room and climbed on the couch next to him. Her eyes were still half closed as she asked, "Where's mommy?"

"She went to the store, she'll be right back. What do ya want to watch, kid?"

"Toons."

"I can handle that," he said as he switched on the Cartoon Network just in time for the Flintstones.

Forty-five minutes later Cuddy still hadn't returned and both he and Rachel were hungry. House figured she'd decided to get more groceries while she was out. He made them a couple of omelets with mushrooms and cheese. The two ate breakfast together on the couch as they watched cartoons. House had to convince Rachel to keep it a secret because he assumed Cuddy would have a fit if she found out they'd eaten on her couch.

A few minutes after they finished breakfast, House's cell phone rang. He answered without bothering to check the caller ID.

"House," he said in his usual monotonous phone greeting.

"House, it's Sharon."

"What's up?"'

"There's been an accident."