A/N: thank you to Cherokee Jedi who came up with idea of a Hachel bond in this chapter!

For Max...

House drove straight to the hospital Tuesday after his trip to Hoboken. He didn't mention anything about the visit with Wilson or Chase. He decided to lay low because he knew that pissing off Stevens now was going to make things worse when he received word of the condition of the donation. It was late afternoon and because he didn't have a patient, he opted to get his weekly clinic hours out of the way. He wasn't one to willingly do clinic hours but again he wanted to keep the Dean off his ass. He was in the midst of the dreaded duty when his cell phone rang. He ignored it thinking it might be his boss. Minutes later, during a tirade in which he berated a young pregnant mother for not using birth control only months after having twins, he decided to answer it without looking at the caller ID.

"What?" He growled.

"Howse?" Came the tiny voice on the other end.

His eyes widened in alarm. "Rachel? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah."

"Hold on a minute, don't hang up," he said.

"Okay."

House covered the mouthpiece on his phone and wrote something in the patient's chart and sent her on her way, then he locked the exam room door.

"Where's your mom?" He asked.

"In the kitchen."

"Where are you?"

"In my room."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I miss you."

House's heart skipped a beat.

"Howse? You there?"

"Yeah kid. You on mom's phone?"

"Uh huh."

"You know how to use it?"

"Yes, silly," she said with a giggle. "Just in case of a mergency."

House smirked. He realized he shouldn't have been surprised, it was so like Cuddy to teach Rachel how to use the phone in case of an emergency.

"Howse, when am I gonna see you?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"Really!" She yelled into the phone and jumped up and down excitedly. House had to hold the phone away from his ear as he listened to the little girl voicing her happiness. Suddenly House heard a voice in the background.

"Rachel, have you seen my phone?"

"Uh oh," Rachel said, her back turned to her mother. House couldn't help but smirk as he listened.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Cuddy stood in Rachel's doorway, hands on her hips.

Rachel turned around slowly, the phone still to her ear.

"Who on earth are you talking to?"

Rachel looked down and mumbled, "Howse."

Cuddy walked over to her. "I don't mind if you call him, just ask me next time okay?"

"You're not mad at me?" She asked with an innocent face.

"Of course not. Here," She held her hand out. "Let me say hi to him."

Rachel handed her mom the phone and they sat on the bed together.

"Hi," she said to him.

"Hi yourself. You don't care if she calls me?"

"Of course not. You think I would?" Cuddy was surprised.

"I don't know."

"You're an idiot," she said sarcastically.

"Tell me something I don't already know."

"So what are you doing right now?"

"Actually, clinic duty."

"Willingly?" She asked, shocked.

"Well, not really but I want to get it out of the way to keep Stevens off my ass."

"Stevens?"

"New Dean."

"You never did it willingly for me."

"Because annoying you was fun."

"So, where's the new guy from?"

"NYU."

A light bulb went off in her head. "Oh that Stevens. He's a nice guy. Great doctor too."

"You administrators always stick together."

"No, really he's not bad guy House. Oh God you haven't already pissed him off have you?" She asked, rubbing her free hand over her face.

"Well...not really."

"What does that mean?"

"The guy's an ass, trying to tell me how to run my department."

"That's his job."

"He's taking Chase out of Diagnostics and putting him in charge of ICU."

"I'm guessing that didn't go over well."

"No, it didn't. You never would've done that. You know as well as I do that Chase is better off where he is."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I have a plan."

"What's the plan?"

"I'll tell you when I get there."

"Fine," she sighed. She wanted to talk to him about what Julia had told her but decided that could wait. "Not to change the subject but what's the plan for you Thursday?"

"I take the four o'clock train to Philly, be there by four-thirty, do my thing with Nolan, then hop the six-fifteen flight to Boston and be there by eight o'clock."

"Wow, nice job."

"Yep and going first class all the way too."

"Naturally."

"You know they have the hottest stewardesses in first class."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "I believe they prefer to be called flight attendants."

"Whatever. Are you jealous?"

"Should I be?"

"Not a chance. You're way hotter and less bitchier too. By the way, what are you wearing?" He asked.

"Nice segue and not now, House," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Mood killer," he whined.

"That's me. Listen, why don't you call me later when you get home?"

"I can do that."

"You better get back to work before your boss comes looking for you."

"You know as adorable as he is, he just doesn't do the pencil skirts and Louboutins like you do," he snarked.

"Yeah, yeah, get back to work. A little munchkin here needs some dinner" she said, looking at Rachel.

"Mommy, can I say bye to Howse?" Rachel practically yelled in her ear.

"Of course you can." She handed Rachel the phone and chuckled when Rachel rolled over on her stomach on the bed, and kicked her feet up in the air. She heard Rachel say yes, no, and I don't know a few times, then the pirate talk commenced and Rachel finished up with an aye matey and handed Cuddy back the phone and ran down the hallway.

"What was that all about?" She asked him.

"Nothing."

"You talked to my daughter for two minutes and yet you said nothing?"

"It's a secret. What? I can't have a secret with the kid?"

"Of course you can." She smiled at the thought of House and Rachel bonding over secrets. It didn't bother her how they did it, she just wanted them to bond. "Now get to work and call me later."

"Yes, mistress," he replied in a deep, sexy voice. House hung up the phone and looked at his watch. One more hour of clinic before he could leave. He opened up the exam room door, walked out to the waiting area snapping a newly donned pair of latex gloves and yelled, "Next!"

Cuddy stood at the kitchen island preparing a salad. Rachel had begged to help her so Cuddy stood her in a chair, gave her a plastic knife and told her she could cut up the strawberries and bananas for the fruit cocktail dessert. She watched her daughter in awe as she used great care cutting up the banana slices just so that each slice was equal in size. Her determined concentration reminded her of a certain blue-eyed diagnostician.

"So, how was school today?" She asked.

"It was fun. I got at gold star."

"You did?"

"Uh huh. I've read the most books in the class," Rachel said, beaming proudly.

"Really?" Rachel nodded. "That's very good. How was piano class?"

"Miss Rose said I'm ready for a recital."

"Wonderful Rach. When is it?"

"Next week. She gave me a note."

"Why don't you go get it for me?" She helped Rachel down from her chair and the little girl ran off. A moment later she was back with a piece of paper in her hand. She handed it eagerly to her mother.

Cuddy helped Rachel back into the chair, then picked up the paper to read it. The recital was scheduled for next Friday night. "Rachel I am so proud of you. Would you like to buy a new dress?"

"Okay! Can Hannah and Sharon come too?"

"Yep."

"Can Howse come?"

Cuddy shrugged her shoulders. "Well honey I don't know if he can but we can ask him."

"I hope he can," She said, hopefully.

"You know, House is the reason you started playing the piano."

"He is?" She asked wide-eyed.

"Yep. You used to sit with him when he played."

"Do you think he will like it when I play?"

"I think he'll love it."

The two went back to their respective tasks, then a few moments later, out of the blue, Rachel asked, "Mommy, do you think House will ever come live with us?"

That caught her by surprise. "Well...honey, I...uh...don't know. House has a job and he lives in Princeton."

"But he's all alone!" She said, a bit loudly.

Cuddy nearly cut her finger chopping carrots. She set the knife down and looked at Rachel. "Rach, what's going on here?"

"Nothing," she replied innocently.

"You can tell me."

Rachel sighed and put down her plastic knife. She clasped her hands and wrung them in much the same manner Cuddy did when something was bothering her. Cuddy helped her sit down in the chair.

"Missy says her daddy is sad and drinks a lot because he's all alone."

Cuddy recalled Rachel's playmate Missy, an adorable but quiet little girl whose parents were recently divorced. Sharon had told her it was a messy custody battle and that Missy's mother had won custody rights.

"She said that?"

Rachel nodded her head enthusiastically. "She isn't allowed to go and see him till he gets better. Mommy, I don't want House to be sad too. Then I won't get to see him."

"Oh Rach," she said, helping her sit in the chair and facing her while holding her hands. "House isn't sad."

"But he got sad before and then he was sick and he wasn't around for a long time." Her face frowned.

Cuddy tried to find a way to explain things to her daughter. "Honey, House was sad for a very long time, long before you came along. You know his leg hurts right?" Rachel nodded. "Well, his leg used to hurt a lot worse and he took pills to make it feel better but the pills didn't always help and it made him very sick. Sometimes when people are in pain all the time like House was, it can make them hurt others or themselves, when they don't mean to."

"You mean like Missy's dad?"

"Yeah. I'm sure Missy's dad doesn't want to hurt anyone but he's in pain and he's very sad because of it. I know we grown ups are supposed to know everything but sometimes we don't and we can't always make ourselves better. Sometimes we need help but we're too afraid to ask. One time House's pain got so bad, the pills didn't work and he found the courage to ask for help. It took him a long time but he got better. Remember when he was with us? He was good to us. You played with him and spent time with him. You liked that right?"

"Uh huh."

"But then I got sick and House didn't know how to handle it. He was sad and in pain and he thought the pills would help."

"Did he his leg hurt again?"

"Not exactly." Rachel looked at her confused as she tried to explain. "See, House loved us and he got used to having us around and he was happy. But when he found out I was sick, it scared him. He took a pill thinking it would help his pain but it didn't."

"Because the pain was in his heart?"

"Yeah," she said softly, ruffling Rachel's hair. "You're such a smart girl. Sometimes when you love someone, it can hurt here," she said putting her hand over her heart. She watched Rachel do the same. "And no pill can make that feel better. The pain in House's leg will never go away, not completely, but he's doing things to make it better. He exercises and he takes medication that helps him."

"What about the heart pain?"

"That's much better too. You know what helps?"

"What?"

"Love. Forgiveness. When you love someone and they love you back, it doesn't hurt, at least not much. Sometimes people who love each other hurt each other but they also forgive too and that makes the pain go away."

"Like when Hannah took my doll?"

Cuddy smiled. "That's exactly it. When Hannah took your doll, you got mad didn't you?" Rachel nodded. "And then you pushed her in the mud and got her new dress all dirty. You made her cry and that made you sad, right?"

"Yeah, I got in trouble too."

"Yes you did," Cuddy smirked remembering how she had scolded Rachel for what she'd done. "But then you apologized and made it better."

"And now she's my bestest friend."

"She sure is. Forgiving someone you love is sometimes very difficult but in the end, you'll be glad you did it, especially if they are really important to you. Do you understand?"

Rachel nodded.

"Good. And just remember, even though I'm your mom, sometimes I do stupid things and I hope that when you are older and that happens you will remember I love you and you will forgive me too."

"Oh you're not stupid mommy. You're the smartest person in the whole world."

Cuddy reached out and brought Rachel into her lap. "You know what? You're pretty smart for a kid." She planted a kiss on the top of Rachel's head. "Now as to House being alone, don't worry," she said putting her hand over Rachel's heart. "We're never really alone when we have people who love us."

"Okay, mommy."

"Now, let's finish up here. The sooner we eat, the sooner you can play the piano for me."

Hope you enjoyed. We never have enough Rachel so I wanted to throw her in there. This talk between them was very important to segue into the next chapter which is...the long awaited HUDDY reunion!