I'm in such a writing mood right now that I have decided to continue with as many stories that I can. I want to apologize for not updating all of these and how long its been but I've been uninspired lately and very busy. No more excuses. I'm going to try to stay on top of all of this. I hope you enjoy and please don't hate me for taking so long to update.

This is the final chapter and I hope it ended satisfactorily.

He won. They won. House won and he got to keep Ronald.

That wave of realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He just adopted a child. A human being is now in his care. House tried to comfort himself, thinking about how well he's done so far. But he also thought of the bad things. The strong words that were said, the tears that he made Ronald shed.

He didn't think of himself as a father figure at all. And now he wasn't even forced into becoming one-he volunteered. Even fought to become one. What was happening to him?

Cuddy found him sitting outside the courthouse on a bench staring into space.

"Everything okay?" She asked, trying to hide her satisfied smile because she noticed that he looked upset.

"It's fine. I won." He said monotonously.

"You don't sound fine. What's wrong?" She asked sitting next to him.

"Nothing." he stated simply and she knew better than to push him. Even though she's pushed before, this was a huge ordeal and she needed to let him have his space.

"Okay. I'm going to get Ronald and we'll be out in a second."

House gave a slight nod and let her go.

What has he gotten himself into?

He sat there, pondering the events. He kept thinking- that was his problem. He thought too much. Just as he was going into deeper and deeper levels of thoughts, Cuddy led the child of his concern toward him.

He forced himself to look up and seem like nothing was on his mind as Ronald practically jumped into his arms. He hugged House with all of his might and House sat there stunned. Ronald had never hugged him before. He let the embrace go on for a bit longer before pushing him off him gently.

Ronald looked up at him smiling. "I get to live with you?"

House nodded. "Yep, now let's go." His tone was gruff but Ronald dismissed it. Cuddy, however didn't let it go and made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

They drove to House's apartment with House completely silent and Ronald talking Cuddy's ear off. Telling her how awesome it was going to be to live with them forever, and how great school was, and he even asked about Sammy when he thought that the conversation had stopped for too long.

Cuddy answered all of his questions and listened with fervor and patience the entire ride, but cast sideway glances at House when Ronald paused for a moment or two.

Once they got to the apartment and Ronald got into a bath that Cuddy ran, she sat beside House on his couch as he stared blankly at the television.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." He answered shortly.

"Greg, you need to talk to me." She said sincerely, leaning in closer to him.

"I don't have to do shit." He said with a hateful undertone.

Her eyes widened at his animosity. "Fine. I'm going to cook dinner. You just sit here and stew."

House rolled his eyes and kept his spot, and his silence as she messed around in the kitchen. Ronald got out of the bath and got himself dressed. He walked into the living room and noticed that House was still not talking and it made him uncomfortable.

He sat on the floor near the couch and House looked at him.

"What are you doing?" He asked gruffly

"Nothing." Ronald said looking down innocently. He was scared of House when he was like this.

House softened a bit when he noticed the fear that seemed to radiate off of the kid. "You can sit up here." He said in a quieter tone.

Ronald looked up at him, questioning his sincerity. When he decided that it was safe to do so, he climbed up next to House.

After several moments of silence, except for the television and Cuddy cooking, Ronald spoke up.

"Elvis?" He addressed quietly.

House looked at him questioningly.

"Are you mad at me?"

House looked at him concerned, "No. Why?"

"You seem angry."

"I'm not. I'm just tired."

Ronald waited a few more moments, "Elvis?"

House sighed slightly, "What?" He asked, not looking at him this time.

"Can I tell you something?"

House turned down the TV and turned himself to look at him. "Sure."

"One time, I got water on the bathroom floor after taking a bath…and my daddy spanked me. He used a belt." Ronald was in tears now, " I asked him to stop, 'cause I was crying and it hurt but he didn't and it scared me 'cause he was so angry and he was yelling."

House stared at the small boy who was letting House in. Giving House information that was terrifying for him to remember. House paused momentarily and looked at him before reaching for his hand. He led him into his bedroom and picked him to set him on his bed.

House knelt down in front of him and looked down for a moment before asking, "Are you scared of me?"

Ronald nodded somewhat with tears still in his eyes.

"Do you think I'd do that to you?"

Ronald looked at him for a long moment before shaking his head gently.

"Good. I would never, ever, lay a hand on you. I get angry sometimes because my leg hurts and sometimes things happen that make me angry. I'm sorry that I have taken it out on you, I really don't mean to. I forget, sometimes that you are just a kid and you don't really understand what is happening. But in no way will I hurt you. Do you understand that?"

Ronald nodded. "Okay." he said gently. He moved to get up and House reached for him, keeping him in place.

"Can I tell you something?" House asked very quietly.

Ronald nodded paying close attention to the man in front of him.

House didn't hear Cuddy come to the doorway, she paused not realizing she had stepped into a private moment. She was about to turn around when House said something, almost too quiet to hear.

"My dad…he hurt me too." House said, not making eye contact with the boy.

Ronald cocked his head to the side, waiting.

"When I was your age, he used to scare me too. I was afraid of everything about him. I really understand what you are going through and that is part of the reason why I'm glad that we're friends. Man to man. I'm not going to let what happened to us, ever happen again. Okay?"

"Okay." Ronald said, grasping the seriousness of this situation. House reached up to wipe the tears off his cheeks and Ronald fell into House's arms.

Cuddy stood behind them both, with tears in her own eyes, before she turned away and waited for the boys to return.

As Ronald walked away from him he turned toward him, "McDonald…"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." House offered quietly, not believing what he was saying and how much he genuinely meant it.

Ronald smiled wide, "I love you too, Elvis."

And with that, House somehow knew that he could do this. That he could make this work. That everything was going to be okay, no matter how hard it would become. As he stood up and limped out of his room, Cuddy came over quickly and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. As she pulled away she kissed him with so much passion he thought he'd lose his balance.

When she let him go he smirked holding her by her waist. "What was that for?"

"You are the most amazing man I've ever met. That's all." She smiled widely and kissed him again. "I love you." She stated for the first time, making his eyes widen a bit.

He looked at her, deep into her eyes and smiled slightly. "You know I love you too."

He leaned in and kissed her tenderly, letting her separate completely from him and headed into the kitchen where Ronald sat waiting for food.

The symbolism overtook him as he realized that he has a family. And he wouldn't change any of it for the entire world.