Chapter 14

It was bowling night for the three gentlemen plus a few free fellows which consisted of Chase and Foreman who were in high gear to beat Team House/Ulysses. After playing a few rounds of bowling, they went over to the table to dine on some pizza, beer, and root beer for the kid who clinked his glass with the table and they chuckled at the cute gesture.

"I'm taking you two down tonight." Chase expressed pointing at both House and Ulysses. Ulysses was mindlessly eating his pizza, staring at the other players while House shook his head and smiled smugly.

"Keep dreaming. Your special ball can't help you." House replied while Wilson took a long swig of his tankard before setting it down with a satisfied sigh.

"A satisfied sigh for a round of losing." Foreman snorted, taking a slice from the round tray and took a large bite while Wilson rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, we've only gone three rounds, games hardly over." Wilson replied.

"Over enough for you to catch up." Chase laughed before taking a sip of his own beer and the table erupted in laughter which caught Ulysses eye, turning to look at them with a small curious smile.

The table watched House go up ahead and assist Ulysses with bowling a strike, he was behind him, holding his arms in a swinging motion before letting Ulysses try it himself. Ulysses gave him a surfer's signal with his hand which earned a chuckle from House who returned the gesture and Ulysses bowled a strike in the process. Turning to the table who stared in disbelief while Ulysses comedically took off his shirt and threw it on the ground with a victory shout.

"He's been watching a lot of wrestling, lately." House snorted, turning to the table before helping Ulysses put back on his shirt informing him he had to be clothed inside of establishments or else they could get kicked out.

"You mean, you've been watching a lot of wrestling." Foreman said pointedly, rising up to take his turn next when Ulysses began to sway, clutching his stomach.

"Is he okay?" Foreman asked with concern.

House looked behind him where Ulysses had been following him back to the table and it looked as if Ulysses was going to be sick. Limping quickly over to him, he signed to Ulysses quickly to ask if he were okay and Ulysses shook his head, signing that he felt sick. Wilson quickly grabbed a plastic bag already seeing what was going to follow next from the way Ulysses was gripping his stomach and grimacing with his cheeks blowing out air.

"Bleh." Ulysses vomited onto House's shirt before Wilson arrived with a plastic bag, kneeling beside the boy quickly and Ulysses grabbed onto Wilson's hands from where he held onto the bag quickly, vomiting into it. House rubbed his back, his brow construed in concern from where he sat kneeling on his good leg and a few people were whispering about what was going on. Chase had informed them, they were doctors and that the boy was just a little sick from too much pizza.

"Smells foul. Bacterial infection." House assessed looking at Wilson who was grimacing to not vomit himself from the stench alone coming from the plastic bag Ulysses was gripping his hands with.

"You're thinking stomach flu?" Wilson asked, furrowing his brow in confusion since Ulysses appeared just fine a few moments ago.

"He's starting to sweat." House pointed out, putting a hand up to push Ulysses curly locks out of the way which were stuck to his wet forehead. Foreman had brought a bottle of water, holding it for House to take and give to the kid, thinking along the same lines as House.

"Sorry, boys, we're going to have to cut the game short tonight and I won't be at work tomorrow." House informed them, scooping Ulysses into his arms when he'd finished drinking the water, no long vomiting but he looked exhausted from the wrenching and loss of food which led to immediate dehydration in his already small body. They watched House limp away with the boy in tow, hanging his arms around House's neck loosely and looking miserable.

"Damn, he was having a lot of fun too, poor little guy." Chase said, putting his hands on his hips and deciding to call it a night as well.

"You think it was the pizza?" Wilson suggested, suddenly worrying whether they all might become ill.

"No, it takes a while for bacterial infection to activate. He must have ingested it sometime in the last couple of days." Foreman informed Wilson who nodded before gathering his belongings and the remaining men called it a night, heading their separate ways.

—-

Of course, Foreman had been left in charge for the day and they'd received a new patient from the ER to which Chase was immediately on board with. Taub and Thirteen had questioned where House was which Foreman informed them about the previous night's events and they shared looks of concern, but Foreman assured them it was the stomach flu.

"Alright let's begin with what explains these symptoms." Foreman began turning to the whiteboard where a list of symptoms were listed and the team listened attentively before gathering a few ideas. They later headed out to gather patient history, labs, and Thirteen was chosen to search the patients house with patient approval of course.

"Why are you here? House is assigned clinic duty today." Cuddy said to Taub who had just grabbed a patient file from the large stack in the tray.

"House is out for the day. His son came down with the stomach flu, so he's taking care of him." Taub informed her before opening the patient file for Exam room 3 and Cuddy pushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"Oh my god, that's terrible. What happened?" Cuddy asked with concern and slight annoyance since he hadn't mentioned anything about taking a supposed sick day.

"They were out bowling last night and he threw up before sporting a fever. I'm sure he's going to be fine, House is looking after him. Who wouldn't want someone like him looking after their child?" Taub huffed before heading off to Exam Room 3 leaving Cuddy deep in thought about what House had rudely expressed to her about who she trusts watching her child. Going to her office she recalled the time when Rachel had a fever and she couldn't take a day off to be with her, leaving her in the care of a babysitter and the fact that Lucas was extremely unserious, lacking updates on her condition. She'd arrived home to find her dehydrated and needed a bath to cool her down to which Lucas replied that she'd sweat it out.

'I wonder how he's doing?' Cuddy thought about House's son, Ulysses, she hadn't actually met him or even seen a photo, but the team seemed to be very attached to the kid and spent a lot of time with him. She hadn't asked if any of them had a photo, fearing that House would get angry if he found she asked one of them. He'd repeatedly told her it was none of her business, but she thought over the past few months they were getting back on normal terms. Every time she would feel it safe enough to ask him about his son, he'd immediately change the subject or snap at her. It was obvious he didn't want her around him or to know much about him and she thought it strange. Why would he keep his son from her? Was there something wrong with him, but the team made no comments about a disability or a deformity, just that he was an adorable goofy kid who looked exactly like House.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a man stepped into her office and her face lit up at the sight of her fiance holding Rachel.

"I didn't know you were home, already?" Cuddy asked surprised to see him with Rachel since he'd been out of town for the past two days to gather intel on a client.

"I just got back, thought I'd pop in to surprise you. With a special guest." Lucas smiled, walking over to her, pecking her on the lips before handing Rachel over to him. She quickly shifted her attention to the baby while Lucas rubbed her lower back sensually and she found herself examining her daughter a lot closely now.

"Worry about who you trust watching your daughter!"

She heard his voice in her head and she looked up to meet Lucas eyes with concern, he looked at her with confusion and that stupid smile like he never knew what was going on.

"What?" He asked.

"Next time, leave her with the babysitter until I get home." Cuddy informed him and he was immediately offended, taking a step back, dropping his hand from her back and pulling it to his side.

"You don't trust me?" He questioned with a confused smile and furrowed his brows while Cuddy bounced Rachel in her arms.

"It's better she sticks with her schedule or else she'll get confused." Cuddy lied, turning from him to look at Rachel who looked up at her with bright green eyes and she wondered for a moment what color eyes Ulysses had. Were they like House's.

"Yeah, that's horseshit. Tell me the truth." Lucas denied her admission.

"I just know you get distracted easily and she's starting to show an interest in walking lately, I'm just saying to leave her with the babysitter." Cuddy cut it short not wanting to outright accuse him of being irresponsible like she did with House and that did not go so great.

"No, what you're saying is you don't trust me watching her on my own. Lisa, I would never let any harm come to her." Lucas replied firmly and Cuddy looked away from Rachel, turning her attention to him. She sighed.

"It's just, House said something to me the other day and I think he may be right." Cuddy replied sternly, swaying now while Rachel blinked up at her and cooed. Lucas' expression immediately changed from sarcastic confusion to one of irritation.

"And when did you start believing anything that lunatic says?" Lucas accused, raising his voice at the ridiculous behavior she had been exhibiting whenever House was brought up in conversation.

"Since, he made sense. Next time, leave her with the babysitter until I get home." Cuddy informed him once more, her stare was firm and he shook his head like a child.

"Like that idiot knows anything about raising a kid. I doubt he'd even make a good father, he'd probably beat and insult his own kid." Lucas let the words flow out without a care and Cuddy felt her chest swell up with anger wondering if this is how House felt when she accused him of being irresponsible, but she never accused him of mistreating his son.

"Lucas, I think you should leave. I don't want to hear from you until you apologize about what you just said. Don't worry about Rachel, I'll have the babysitter pick her up." Cuddy furrowed her brows in anger, balancing Rachel on her hip now while firmly telling Lucas to leave while he threw his hands in the air.

"Are you serious? I came to surprise you and you're kicking me out because House told you what a shit parent I am?" Lucas accused.

"Leave." Cuddy repeated and Lucas clicked his tongue leaving the office, slamming the door behind him which startled Rachel.

—-

Wilson was gathering his things getting ready to head home for the day, he clicked his computer off before grabbing his messenger bag and making a head for the door when it opened to reveal Cuddy.

"Cuddy." Wilson jumped back in surprise to see her, he'd forgotten to inform her about House taking a sick day since he'd been swamped in his own work that morning. She looked to be curious about asking something and Wilson stared at her politely waiting.

"Do you know where House lives?" She asked quietly as if she would get scolded for asking such a question and Wilson stared at her recalling House's words when they had eaten lunch awhile back about not wanting Cuddy to meet Ulysses.

"Yeah, I'm about to head over there. He asked me to bring some medicine and nutritional shakes. Chocolate flavored." Wilson emphasized the fact the supplement drink needed to be chocolate flavored or else Ulysses might not want to drink it unless House scared him about dying again.

"Can I come with? I heard about what happened to his son." Cuddy asked once more in a shy manner and Wilson wondered if it was a good idea to bring her along, but he shrugged his winter coat on and led her out the door, locking it behind him.

"Sure, you want to follow me in your car?" Wilson asked, she nodded and they proceeded down to the parking garage before making a pitstop where Wilson acquired medicine from the pharmacy and the nutritional shakes which were aimed for weight gain and Cuddy furrowed her brow in suspicion but said nothing.

She followed him down a familiar road she took when heading home, turning onto her street but at the opposite end several blocks down and she recognized the area from her morning runs. She parked, not seeing House's motorcycle or his old car, she hadn't been informed he'd purchased a new car so the car out front in the handicapped parking didn't raise any eyebrows when she passed it and followed Wilson to the front of the building. It was a dated apartment building made of red brick. There were about three flat steps leading up to the front door of the building which was a glass door, Wilson held it open for Cuddy and she slid past him holding the plastic bag with medicine inside.

"Nice place." She commented, looking around the hallway, noticing stairs that led to the upper units before Wilson began to knock on the door and she heard House shout that it was open. She hesitated following Wilson when he opened the door inward, shuffling his feet on the mat to wipe his snow covered feet.

"How's he doing?" Wilson asked, Cuddy shut the door behind him as he made his way over to House who was seated on the couch watching TV on mute with subtitles across the screen. He hadn't noticed her until she stepped forward, her heels resounding on the floorboards as she took in the new apartment. It was bigger than his last apartment, spacious and still had the same style from the old one, but a few new items littered it that let her know he didn't live alone.

"I see you decided to join Wilson as well. You two would make Florence Nightingale proud or maybe Helen Keller." House snorted while Cuddy was confused at the last part of that statement before making her way over and setting the bag on the coffee table where he was resting his feet.

She took in his appearance, he was clean, but still dressed in his pajamas probably from last night and his hair was damp but his brow was a bit tired. He caught her watching him and he smiled at her, she blushed and turned away from having gotten caught. He leaned forward to grab the bag from the coffee table, examining the contents before nodding his head in satisfaction.

"He's fine. He's resting. His fever has been a bit up and down. I tried to get him to eat some soup but he threw it all up on me. The medicine should help him." House informed Wilson, rising up now he towered over Cuddy who stood on the opposite side of the table while Wilson stood beside him on the couch.

"I'll go wake him up." House stated, moving to limp away when Cuddy reached out and stopped him. He turned to look at her with wide eyes.

"Maybe you should let him sleep. Wait until he wakes up." Cuddy informed him, trying to keep him from waking an already exhausted boy, but before he could reply Wilson turned to see Ulysses walking into the room rubbing his eyes with the back of his forearm. He was dressed in blue spaceship pajamas that hugged against his body from the bout of sweating he was releasing from his sick pores.

"Well, look who's up." Wilson announced with a small smile as the boy shuffled his way over to the couch before House quickly limped over to him, covering him with his body before Cuddy had a chance to get a look at him.

"Looks like he's already sweated through those clothes, give him a cool bath. I'll get him some spare clothes." Wilson informed House from where he could see Ulysses who was still rubbing his eyes with frustration and House led Ulysses to the bathroom near the front door. All Cuddy could see was the back of his head which was a mess of dark curls that were stuck to his moist neck.

"Let me help you." Cuddy followed Wilson to the boy's room. It was a basic room with all the amenities a child his age could need, but it had flair that let her know it was House's son. She took in the room, noticing there were no personal photos of the boy or of House, but a few posters from TV shows or California for some odd reason. She looked over to where Wilson was hunched over at the bottom of the closet where he pulled out a few drawers grabbing spare clothes for the boy to wear.

"Cute room." Cuddy commented, picking up a statue of a yellow sponge she'd seen on TV before when Lucas was up early in the morning.

"Too bad he's too sick to play in it." Wilson said before rising up off the floor and heading towards the bathroom to hand the clothes to House who took them. Leaving the door ajar like he always did when bathing Ulysses, the boy settled in the tub without complaint and actually looked relieved when greeted with the cool water.

"I was really hot." He signed weakly to House who chuckled, pushing away his long locks which had gone to the top of his shoulders now in a wavy curl mess.

"I know, you had a temperature of 103 F. That was impressive." House signed and mouthed aloud, Wilson overhead his conversation with Ulysses where he stood by the coffee table taking out the contents from the bag. He headed over to the kitchen where he placed the shakes in the fridge to cool off so they would give Ulysses some relief when drinking.

Cuddy was taking in the apartment, she was in the kitchen with Wilson before looking at the dining table where there were four chairs around it and then she noticed a door not too far off which was slightly ajar. Some of the items she could inside were similar to the ones in House's old apartment bedroom and she surmised that was his room. Wilson made her a cup of hot chocolate which she took with thanks, sitting at the dining table with Wilson while House bathed Ulysses.

"Does he always bathe him?" Cuddy found herself stupidly asking and Wilson smiled from over his cup.

"Relax, he's not going to bite your head off for intruding or else he would have kicked you out the moment you walked in." Wilson informed her, trying to get her to relax and her shoulders slumped but she was still on edge considering how upset House was last time she'd accused him of being irresponsible.

"Alright, all done." House signed and mouthed, getting a towel to dry Ulysses over before helping him dress into a new pair of pajamas which were a basic thermal gray set.

He brushed Ulysses hair gently once he was sure it was dry and not wet, the last thing he needed was for the boy to develop a cold on top of the stomach flu. It dried quickly to a mess of wavy curls and he led the boy out of the bathroom, switching off the light they made their way to the couch and Cuddy caught a short glimpse of the boy.

"Alright, we have some medicine that will help make you feel better. But it doesn't taste so good." House signed with his hands and mouthed which Wilson chuckled in response to before taking another sip from his cup and Cuddy smiled softly at House's attempt to coax Ulysses to take the medicine. She couldn't quite see him since he was seated beside House on the couch, too small she could only make out the top half of House's shoulders and head.

"How bad?" Ulysses signed, lounging on the sofa tiredly.

"Bad." House signed.

Ulysses sighed, casting his eyes downward in defeat before House rose up from the couch heading to the kitchen to grab a glass of water to keep Ulysses from vomiting. Cuddy found it strange she hadn't heard the boy talk, but House seemed to be having a conversation with him somehow. She wanted to go over to the living area to see him, but she didn't want to push House in his own home, especially with a sick child.

"Here. Swallow fast, blow out and drink some water." House held up a cup full of red liquid that smelled hot and heavy to Ulysses who grimaced at the smell. He shook his head but House insisted and so Ulysses stood up from his lounging position, Cuddy caught a glimpse of the top of his head.

"Bleh." She heard a small noise emit from behind the sofa, House patted Ulysses on the back before heading back to the kitchen with Ulysses following behind with wide curious eyes. She stood in surprise when her eyes fell on the little boy, he did indeed look exactly like House except his hair was darker and his eyes were kinder but the same shade of cerulean.

"Here." House handed Ulysses a nutritional shake from the fridge, but he wasn't paying attention instead looking at Cuddy who was looking back at him with a strange feeling in her chest.

"Cuddy, you act like you've never seen a child before." House said sarcastically from the kitchen while he tapped Ulysses on the shoulder and the boy turned to look at him taking the shake from his hands softly. He twisted the bottle with a grimace before he managed to get it open and took baby sips to balance the taste in his mouth with a frown.

"What? You always drink this." House mouthed, not wanting to sign in front of Cuddy, Wilson turned around from where he was seated at the dining table to watch Ulysses reject the shake.

"It tastes different." Ulysses signed with his hand, shaking his head with a deep frown smacking his lips.

"It tastes the same, it's because you just had the medicine. Drink some more." House informed him using his hands now from where he was leaning against the sink and Cuddy drew her brows in confusion. She tapped Wilson, leaning over to whisper to him when she noticed Ulysses still hadn't actually said a word but was communicating with his hands instead.

"Can he talk?" Cuddy asked in a whisper, as low as she could since House was distracted with Ulysses.

"Well he's–." Before Wilson could tell her, House interrupted them by joining them at the dining table with Ulysses in tow who was wide awake now and smelled like a fresh baby.

"Alright, table. Little guy wants to know who the new lady is." House sat down with a tired sigh, holding his right leg gently before seating himself fully down while Ulysses climbed in the seat beside him next to Cuddy's. He was looking at her, curiously and she stared back at him just as curiously before her lips spread into a warm smile that reached her eyes.

House was very on edge with Cuddy in his apartment, but he didn't want to overreact since Ulysses was there and not to mention sick. He was torn between worrying for his son's health and whether Cuddy would figure out Ulysses was her son with the whole motherly instincts thing being instilled in all mammals. Wilson watched the exchange between Cuddy and Ulysses, curious as to why House seemed intent on them never meeting until now.

"You're very pretty." Ulysses signed to her with a similar warm smile that reached his eyes and House instantly worried she would see herself in him, but she merely looked at House and Wilson with a nervous smile.

"He said you're ugly." House quipped.

"No, he didn't, he said you're very pretty." Wilson shook his head, telling Cuddy the truth instead, but she still stared at them quizzically.

"Ulysses is deaf. He can't hear, so try to be creative in how you speak with him." House replied bluntly, reaching out to take a sip of Wilson's hot chocolate which he glared at House in response.

"Oh." Cuddy responded with, unsure of what to say to the sudden revelation, but she still kept her eyes on Ulysses who stared at her with such kindness and fascination. She felt her heart swell from his piercing gaze.

"I'm Lisa Cuddy. A friend of your father's." Cuddy said hoping he might be able to register it and she saw him process her words before he smiled brighter.

"You're the girl in the photo!" Ulysses exclaimed, jumping off his chair and jogging over to the bookcase. He pulled out a book where he'd stored the photo behind his father's back, having found it in his bedside drawer one day when he'd been playing around the apartment.

"She's the what?" Wilson was unable to process how fast Ulysses had signed his sentence and House hadn't been paying attention, instead focusing on Cuddy's reaction to her son. They watched the boy run back to the table, climbing up on the chair, he pushed his curls from his face and handed her the photo before House had a chance to stop him. She took it from him gently, catching the apprehension in House's demeanor and the fact he was now extremely uncomfortable.

"This must be the photo that scared him." Cuddy mocked House recalling his admission and she stared at the photo in awe. She remembered that day, they had been walking from the library after she'd bombed her first exam and they had a good laugh about it afterward.

"I remember this." Cuddy said aloud, smiling fondly at the photo before handing it to Wilson who was peeking over her shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of it.

"What were you laughing about?" Ulysses signed to her, patting her hand to get her attention from when she'd turned to Wilson.

"He asked what we were laughing about." House informed her quietly and Wilson caught the tone in his voice, but kept his gaze focused on the photo.

"Oh, you don't remember?" Cuddy clicked her tongue and turned from House to Ulysses and mouthed slowly her response so he could catch it all.

"I had failed a test really badly. I was upset about it. Ready to drop out over it and your father told me how stupid I was being. Turns out it was a mock test and we had a good laugh about it afterward." Cuddy replied and a giggle erupted from Ulysses, she was surprised at the sound knowing he could still emanate sounds, but still surprised nonetheless.

"He likes you." Ulysses said aloud in a slurred manner that Cuddy wasn't sure he said what she thought he said.

"Alright, that's enough buddy. Time for bed. Say goodbye or goodnight." House put a stop to the bonding session going on between them before Cuddy replied.

"He did like me. A long time ago." She informed him and Ulysses eyes lit up with surprise, he turned to his dad with a look of shock and signed quickly about what happened between them? Did they love each other? Did they kiss? Were they gonna get married?

"That's a ton of personal questions buddy. Let's get you to bed and I might answer them in the morning if you sleep like a good little boy." House put his hands up to stop the rush of questions and was glad Cuddy didn't know sign language, but Wilson did and he turned to Wilson who was red in the face snickering.

"What did he say?" Cuddy asked with a laugh in her voice and a bright smile, turning to Wilson who was still snickering.

"He said if you loved each other or if you kissed or if you were going to get married?" Wilson replied with a laugh covering his face while Ulysses stared at him with a smile and House rolled his eyes.

"We did more than kiss." House snorted, covering Ulysses ears and moved him away from the table, leading him towards his bedroom without glancing over his shoulder, but Ulysses did.

"Bye." He slurred out loud, waving his hand at her before House led him into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Cuddy waved back at him, her chest still swirling with this unknown emotion and she felt Wilson's eyes on her.

"What?" She asked.

"I knew it. You did sleep together in college." Wilson pointed at her with a knowing smile.

"Oh please, it was over 20 years ago." Cuddy blew a raspberry, slapping Wilson's hand.

"But even after all this time, you guys still have this thing between you. That must mean something." Wilson said unknowingly before bringing up his mug that House had nearly finished and it finished the remaining contents. Cuddy said nothing but looked down at the old polaroid photo that had a date written in House's handwriting and she felt her heart skip a beat.