A/N: Sorry for the delay. The last week and a half has been absolutely insane, with just a few highlights including my horse trying a new and inventive way of attempting suicide, me hurting my bad knee rescuing said horse, a massive and unexpected work upgrade that required total computer replacement and new systems, and all sorts of musical activities and extra rehearsals. Here's a very short update. That's all I had time for. The schedule should lighten up a little bit after today's two concerts. I do have two presents I'm making that have to be finished by Christmas, but still, it shouldn't be as long to my next update. Thanks to those who asked if I was okay, and thanks to everybody reading and still enjoying the ride in this universe. This story still has a long way to go.

(H/C)

Cuddy stopped on the doorstep, her hand short of the knob. This is my house, she reminded herself, but she still felt like a guilty teen trying to sneak into her parents' home past curfew. She opened the front door as softly and gradually as she could.

The first thing she was aware of was that Rachel was talking. Of course, Rachel would be talking, oblivious to the thick atmosphere, full of enthusiasm. With sudden concern for Abby, Cuddy stepped into the living room.

Her parents were on the couch and were watching her, obviously having noticed the surreptitious door opening. Rachel was prattling on happily. "And he has a birdle, too, and it has straps so he tells Ember what to do, and a piece in her mouth, and I got to play with it!" Susan cringed and couldn't resist a look at Rachel's hands to see if any horse residue could be spotted on a quick inspection.

Cuddy walked into the middle of the group. "Mother! Dad! What a surprise. We weren't expecting you."

"We've realized that," Robert commented dryly.

Thomas was in the recliner, trying to look casual and doing a great job of it, but Cuddy knew he was at full mental attention. His eyes met hers with a brief flicker of House's curiosity behind them as she greeted her parents, and she wondered what she had done to insert herself even more under the microscope at the moment. Whatever it was, he filed it for later. She looked quickly for her younger daughter. Abby was standing near the recliner, not actually up against it, but more on Thomas' side of the room than the other. She was watching her other grandparents steadily.

Rachel turned at Cuddy's voice and bounced down from the couch between Robert and Susan. "Mama!" She galloped over for a hug, and Cuddy picked her up.

"Hi, Rachel. Did you have a good day?"

"Uh huh. Grandma and Grandpa are here! And Grandpa Thomas was a horse, but I had to ask soft."

Cuddy set Rachel back down and picked up Abby, who had trotted over for her own greeting. "Hi, Abby."

"Hi." Abby looked from her to Thomas to the parents. "They were 'prised."

"I'm sure they were. We hadn't had time for them to meet Thomas yet." A bald-faced lie, and Robert and Susan were aware of it. Cuddy walked over to the other recliner and made herself sit down, still holding Abby. Her daughter wasn't fighting to get down, content to observe from her mother's arms at the moment. "So, what are you doing in Princeton? I thought you were heading off on a trip for the next week." Her parents, like Blythe, loved traveling in their retirement.

"That was the original plan," Robert said. "We might just stay here for a few days instead, though. We haven't had a good visit in a while." He looked at Rachel, and Cuddy felt a surge of annoyance at him deliberately bringing it up in front of the girls instead of later privately. There was no way for her to casually refuse with the toddler audience, and Robert was well aware of it.

Susan was looking at Thomas. "We stopped by on our way through just to check on Greg, to make sure he was all right after he got hurt."

That much was the truth, and Cuddy flipped back to feeling guilty again. "He's fine, Mother. All healed up. Almost all healed up, at least. I still wouldn't squeeze him too hard when you give him a hug when he comes in."

Rachel picked up her horse from between her grandparents and galloped back over, squeezing the whinny ear. "Ember says hi, Mama!"

"Hi, Ember," Cuddy replied dutifully.

Abby, in her arms, suddenly giggled. "Belle says SSSSSSTTTTTTT!" Rachel cracked up again remembering it, and Cuddy had to smile.

"Yes, your cat always takes a day or two to get used to the idea of visitors whenever we come." Susan looked back at Thomas. "Has Belle gotten used to you yet, Thomas?"

"It took a while," Thomas replied. "They don't like strangers."

Abby nodded wisely and then abruptly spoke up. "Grandpa Thomas 'prised me, too, Grandma. But he's not bad." Thomas was visibly moved by that tribute even more than by Rachel's enthusiastic acceptance.

Susan smiled at her. "We'd like to get to know him, Abby. Especially since we're all going to be family together. That's why we need to stay for a few days and spend time with each other."

"When did Thomas surprise you, Abby?" Robert asked. "How long has he been here?"

Cuddy shot him a firm look, back to being annoyed. Interrogating the kids was not allowed. Fortunately, Rachel interrupted that train of thought. She squeezed the whinny ear again. "Ember's getting hungry," she announced.

Cuddy sighed and looked at her watch. "Tell you what, Rachel. Why don't we just have a little snack now, a few crackers or something, and then we'll order a pizza to be here when Daddy gets home." Date night obviously was cancelled.

"Yay!" Rachel took another gallop circle of the living room.

Susan shook her head. "Lisa, surely you can make healthier choices for your family than that. If you can't be bothered to cook, I'm sure I can come up with something quickly." She stood up and headed for the kitchen.

"Mother!" Cuddy put Abby down and stood up, following her. Susan was looking into the refrigerator critically when Cuddy got there. "You don't need to cook."

Susan closed the refrigerator and turned to face her. The look took Cuddy back decades again, and she once more reminded herself firmly that this was her house. "I don't need to do a lot of things, apparently. Including know about major life events for my daughter and her family."

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this," Cuddy said softly.

"I'm not," Susan responded. "At least I did find out this way. Would you ever have told us at all?"

"Yes, but it's complicated. Look, we'll talk later after the girls are asleep." Which would no doubt be quite an accomplishment tonight; they were wired. "You've got a whole lot of company; hardly anybody knows about this yet. It's a lot of changes for Greg, and he was taking them slowly."

There was the slightest softening in Susan's face. She did love her son-in-law. "We will talk," she insisted. "But we are trying not to upset the girls."

"You need to watch Abby, too. She's getting a lot more persistent with questions these days. Act like nothing is wrong about Thomas when you're around her. The girls don't know anything about John yet, and they don't need to. Thomas is a good addition to the family."

Susan was reserving judgment. "You still should have told us. Meanwhile," she said, turning briskly back to the cabinets, "I'll see about a real meal."

Cuddy sighed again. "Mother," she said, "ordering a pizza is the best way to get Greg to eat anything at all when he gets home, and he doesn't need to get off schedule with his meds. You know he doesn't want to eat when things are tense. I think we really do need a pizza tonight."

That point hadn't occurred to Susan. She hesitated with a cabinet half open. Finally, she picked up a box of crackers and closed the cabinet firmly. "We are going to be staying for a while," she repeated.

"I don't want you to miss your trip," Cuddy objected.

"Finding out what's going on here is more important." Susan marched out of the kitchen. "Here, girls. Grandma has a snack for you right now, and then we'll all eat a pizza together when your father gets back."

"Yay!" Rachel replied.

Cuddy stood in the kitchen, looking at the cabinets, at the orderly counters, at her neat and tidy life. Everything was organized. Except for a few minor details like the fact that she'd been caught concealing a new grandfather from her parents. Resisting the urge to join Belle in hiding, she returned to the living room.