CHAPTER NINE:
Walk With Me Into The Night

Cuddy was still asleep when House awoke. The sun shone bright through the window and birds chirruped outside in the trees. He didn't feel rested; his sleep had been interrupted with restless dreams, leg pain and the constant awareness that Cuddy was by his side. She'd gotten up in the middle of the night and he'd listened to her shushing Eva as the baby cried. When she'd returned to the bed, he'd turned towards her and rubbed his aching leg while she sank back to sleep. For hours, he'd had a longing to touch her. He'd held back from wanting to shift in close and spoon up behind her.

Now that he was awake, the reality of being in her bed hit him. Nothing had happened, nothing beyond the small kiss they'd exchanged, but that had been more than enough. He needed time to think. Or maybe not to think.

He sat up and quietly got out of bed, a shiver running through his body as his feet hit the cold floor. He dressed and headed out of the room. After he pulled his coat on and picked up his bag, he stepped to the front door, but stopped just before he opened it. He looked back down the hall. Slowly, he turned and walked to Eva's room.

He approached her crib. She was asleep on her back, her arms sprawled up on either side of her head. She was making quiet sucking sounds, her pursed lips working in the motion of feeding from Cuddy's breast. He studied the slope of her nose, the tufts of hair spiking up on her head, her long eyelashes and her small double chin. Her face was still too immature to determine who she was going to take after. The only thing that was distinguishable was her eyes -- she had his eyes.

He reached into the crib and pulled the blanket up over her. She jerked her arm and turned her head and for a moment he thought she was going to wake up. The little snore she gave told him otherwise. He smiled faintly. Of all the complicated ways that everything had changed, Eva made things most complicated of all. He wanted to resent her for it, just like he wanted to resent Cuddy. He hated change. But he couldn't hate Eva. He couldn't even bring himself to resent her for the way she'd turned his life upside down. He stroked her cheek with his knuckles and gently caressed her head before he stepped back and left the room.

He stopped by the living room to scrawl a note and left it on the coffee table for Cuddy to read when she got up. He buttoned up his coat, shifted his bag onto his shoulder, and slipped out the door into the frosty spring morning.

Cuddy,

Still want me to sign that affidavit?

House.

END

Author Notes: Thanks, everyone, for reading.