A Change in Plans |House|

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Glad for a chance to finally go home and rest, Cuddy pulled into her driveway, crossing her arms on top of the steering wheel after she'd killed the engine. She let out a tired sigh. It had been quite possibly the longest day Cuddy had had for a while.

Fully intending to clock out at five, she'd just made it past the clinic doors when a doctor had paged her for a consult. She tried to get the consult over with as quickly as possible, and when she'd left, finally left the hospital and was on her way home, it was already twenty to six.

It wasn't long before she remembered that she had to stop at the store for a few things. Bread, milk, ice cream...the last had been an impulse buy. In, out, and on her way in a little over ten minutes. By the time she finally stopped in front of her house, it was six fifteen.

As she got out of the car, she noticed something in front of her house that she had rarely seen there before. She was so unaccustomed to seeing it there that she hadn't even noticed it as she'd pulled in.

If the motorcycle was here, it's owner probably wasn't far. Keeping that thought in mind she made her way up to her front door, surprised to find that it was already unlocked. Pushing the door open, she knew she shouldn't be surprised to see him there. But she was.

"How long have you been here?" she asked, the first of many questions currently running through her mind.

[Dr. Gregory House]

When Cuddy came home, House looked up from where he sat on her couch in her living room, just off the entry way. "Since quarter past five. It takes you an hour to get home?" He answered her as he shut his copy of a medical journal and set it on the table in front of him. He pulled off his glasses and arched his eyebrow at her.

He noted her grocery bags in her hand. "Ah, that explains it. You're out of milk." He said, by way of explanation, standing and grasping his cane. He made his way over to her and gently tugged the bag free of her hand. He peered inside and smirked delightedly. "Ice cream! Even better."

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Cuddy rolled her eyes, halfway through formulating an answer. "Yes...wait...you're happy I have ice cream?" She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What about my sugar ban? You got annoyed with my chocolate muffin last week," she reminded. Which he probably didn't need reminding of, but it seemed to her that House was acting more than a little off. Which led her to her next question.

"I'm not going to ask how you got into my house, because I already know. What I will, ask, however, is why you showed up at my house at a quarter after five and waited for me to come home. And you obviously wanted me to know you were here, since your motorcycle is parked outside." Something was up here, and she was going to figure it out. House had never come to her place unless she was home. Well, there had been that one time...but that wasn't the point.

[Dr. Gregory House]

House shot her an annoyed look. "I think your sugar ban is stupid. Also, I wasn't annoyed with your chocolate muffin last week. It never did a thing to me." Casually clutching the bag, he made his way to the kitchen. He had an ulterior motive, however, and got a spoon out. Eating healthy? That was a phenomenon he had abandoned the instant he moved out of his parent's house of the month and gone off to university.

"What? I now need to have a reason to be in your home? I thought I had a standing invitation to suck your blood anytime I wanted. Now if only we could do something about the curtains." House smacked his lips as he peeled off the protective seal on the ice cream and opened the tub. "Gotta rescue this before it melts," he said conspiratorially, before plunging the spoon in the tub of ice cream and popping the cold bite into his mouth. "Oh. Brain freeze. Whew!"

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Dropping her keys on a close by end table, Cuddy watched House go into the kitchen. Her eyes traveled over the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Had he just driven out here to sit and read medical journals on her couch? It didn't seem likely. She waited until he'd come back before speaking again.

"It is my home. It would be nice to know ahead of time if I'm going to have company." She made her way over and sat down on her couch. "And what's wrong with my curtains?" She picked up his journal and flipped through it. "I don't see you for two days...believe me, I was looking...and I come home to find you here. Of course, I'm going to be a little curious as to the why." She rolled her eyes slightly at his brain freeze. Yeah, she thought, he's gonna be an awesome dad. Which reminded her. "And do you know why I've been looking all over the hospital for you for two days?" Turning her eyes to House, she gave him a 'we need to talk' look.

[Dr. Gregory House]

House snorted as he made his way back to the living room with his stolen bounty of ice cream goodness. He slouched down in an easy chair and hooked his cane on the armrest. He thought about saying that the curtains thing was just an extension of his vampire metaphor, because they were lacy and didn't exactly keep out the sun, but he sighed, then shook his head sadly, "oh, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. There's nothing wrong with your curtains... If you like being an exhibitionist, flaunting your depraved personal life to your neighbours."

He stuck his spoon back in his pilfered tub of ice cream and took a lick of it this time, neatly avoiding the dilemma of brain freeze and getting the fabulous taste of the flavoured ice cream all at once. Score. "I don't know why you've been looking all over for me for the past two days. The real question is, do I care?"

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Her eyes narrowed and she put the magazine back down on her coffee table. Had he really forgotten about her appointment two days previously? "You should care." She moved to the end of the couch closest to the chair. "I've been looking for you because I have something important to tell you." Cuddy sighed. She could drop twenty hints and House wouldn't get it unless he wanted to. But since she wasn't in the mood to play Twenty Questions, she decided to come right out and just tell him.

"I've been looking for you...to tell you that I have a date for your calendar." She smiled, hoping House would come to the same conclusion Angel had. It would make things a lot simpler to discuss, at least. "And I won't forgive you if you ignore it."

[Dr. Gregory House]

Something just walked over his grave, sending shivers down his spine. Or maybe it was just Cuddy's glare at him that caused the tremor in the force. She was unhappy about something, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

House looked up at Cuddy over his tub of sweet, sweet ice cream. "Well, since it's important I'm all ears. What is this date for my calendar, for which you won't forgive me if I ignore?"

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

He really had forgotten, hadn't he? Or was he only pretending he'd forgotten to get her wound up? Cuddy sighed and leaned back on the couch, letting her head fall back against the cushions. She'd have to use his reaction to figure out whether he was faking or if he really didn't remember.

"You need to make sure you're free on October 20. No consults, no marathoning The L Word, no clinic duty, no patient. No nothing. You have to be free all day. If anything comes up around then, cancel it. If you get a case, let your team handle everything. I don't want you anywhere except with me." She turned her head to look at him. "Circle it in red, do something to remind yourself that October 20 is my due date." There. She'd spelled it out for him. Now to judge his reaction.

Though if that reaction involved him dropping the ice cream on her floor, she was going to make him clean it up.

[Dr. Gregory House]

"You had me at no clinic duty," House quipped, smirking. He jabbed his spoon back into the tub of ice cream, shifting to make himself more comfortable. "Don't you think that your due date is too precise? I mean, adding a perfect nine months to the date of conception doesn't exactly take into account the many variables that could crop up. I think you should plan the whole week completely free around October 20th. No, make that two weeks."

Hell, they were doctors. They could afford it. Even Cameron couldn't say no to doing Cuddy's job if he wasn't going to be working anywhere near the zone. Also, the L word series finale was some time in March anyway, so there definitely wouldn't be any "marathon-ing" in October. In March on the other hand... Cuddy had given him an excellent idea, what better way to send off his Tivo lesbians-with-the-mute-on than a marathon? He smirked as he plotted and schemed.

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Cuddy chewed her lip. That did make sense. She was only telling House what her doctor had told her, and she figured the two of them would go from there. But, at least he knew now, and they could plan a little bit more efficiently.

"All right. We'll plan for anytime between the 12th and the 26th. How does that sound?" she asked after a quick calculation. "I think both of us should take the time off. You can leave Foreman in charge of your department, can't you? I'll find someone to take over for me, and...we'll wait." Now that that was taken care of...

"I'm still wondering why you were waiting for me to come home." If he tried to dodge the question again, she'd ask again.

[Dr. Gregory House]

House mused, time off or leave his department in Foreman's world domination scheming hands? No contest. "You do realize that if I leave Foreman in charge of the diagnostics department, he's only going to use this as a stepping stone on his way to world domination where everyone will bow to Foreman and his evil queen of hearts Thirteen? I can hear it now, Thirteen's shrill dulcet tones shrieking 'off with her head!' for some violation of malpractice once they take over the world."

Sneaky, House grinned, but not sneaky enough. "Who said I was waiting for you to come home?" Deflection was a nice tool in his arsenal. He dipped his spoon in the ice cream again, a little surprised that he had eaten almost half of the container already. He was definitely not having any food after this for a while.

Condensation forming on the outside of the container led little rivulets of water to drip over his hand, and he shivered. He wondered what Cuddy was thinking, though by the little crease in her forehead, right above the bridge of her nose made him think that she was getting annoyed. He hid a secret smirk behind a spoonful of ice cream. He lived to serve.

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Cuddy sighed, shaking her head. She thought about mentioning that Foreman hadn't tried to take over the world last time he'd been in charge. But she figured that it would be less than productive, so she let it drop. There were roughly seven and a half months left to convince him.

Blinking, Cuddy stared at House. "You were here before me, which indicates you were waiting. I'm the only one who lives here, so I can only assume you were waiting for me." There were countless reasons House could be here, and the way things were going, it looked like 'annoying Cuddy' was in the top five. 'Raiding her fridge' was a close second, she thought, staring at the ice cream he'd stolen.

Her eyes drifted again around the room, mostly giving her time to think of something else to say should House continue to deflect. Her eyes narrowed slightly in thought as they finally landed again on his medical journal sitting on her coffee table. When she finally looked back at him, her expression was unreadable.

[Dr. Gregory House]

House looked away, half ducking his head as he did so. "I have to have an ulterior motive to see you, Lisa? Maybe I just missed you. Maybe I was just killing time until you got home, surrounded by your things. But that's okay. If you don't want me here, I can just leave."

Sticking the spoon in the half eaten tub of ice cream, House grasped his cane and levered himself to his feet. "Don't mind me, I can show myself out."

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Wait. What? Cuddy stared at House in complete and utter shock. She'd never said anything like that. "That's not what I said, nor what I meant. I just..." she stood, never taking his eyes off of him. "I'm not used to having someone already here when I get home." She bit her lip. "How could you think I wouldn't want you here?" In truth, that was all she had wanted: for him to be there. She just hadn't been expecting him to be there.

"Don't leave..." she muttered, resisting every urge to run and block the door. Instead, she moved to stand directly in front of him. "I want you here. Really."