Chapter 10: Grinning Omens

Chapter 10: Grinning Omens

House mused that he was in trouble.

He watched Cuddy and Katy take the chair and he dropped himself smoothly onto the couch. He propped his leg on the coffee table and Cuddy was so engrossed with Katy that she didn't even spare the time to glare at him. Katy seemed equally as pleased to see her long lost friend in Cuddy and gripped Cuddy's pearls in one tiny fist rattling them soundly against her collar bone. Cuddy's colour was still high from the incident in the clinic that morning. She had been cute when she had finally detached herself from around his neck, stammering on through her embarrassment as if she hugged and smooched her employees everyday. As kisses went, one on the cheek was not what he wanted to settle for, but it would do for now, because he knew he could get so much more from her. She had dismissed him, blushing up at him but unable to hold back her smile. Unable to stop herself from letting Katy grip her finger…and from letting her fingers trail over his arm when she finally moved away.

He wondered if she knew how much she gave away just by being. He wondered if she knew that he hadn't been the one to start a rumour about the affair between them, she had done that all on her own, just by the way she interacted with him. Not that he was ever going to let her know that he hadn't done it. He had a reputation to keep up, a reputation that had taken quite a beating today since he had been toting the 'cutest little blonde curls' around in the crook of his arm for most of the day. There were advantages to be had though. He had spent most of the day testing just how far the nurses had softened up to him because of Katy and they had made an unstoppable force in the lunch queue that afternoon. Good times. Finally he felt he'd spent a long enough time away from Cuddy before ambling down here at five.

Which led him to be sitting in her office watching her and Katy grin at each other and have a fairly one sided conversation.

There was something about it.

Something about seeing Cuddy with a baby, happy with a baby, that did strange visceral things to House. He felt the low burn of lust in his gut, the singing sensation under his skin that itched to press up against hers, but it was more than just lust. He was…happy at seeing Cuddy and Katy together. It did good things for his insides. Filled in that gaping instinctual part in his hind brain that demanded propagating the species and, though Katy wasn't his –and neither was Cuddy yet- the alpha male sitting proudly in the back of House's mind had absolutely no doubts that it would only be a matter of time.

He had the baby, the woman would follow.

"House?"

Crap, she had been talking to him. He grunted in the back of his throat.

"I said have you decided what you're going to do?" Cuddy shifted Katy on her lap so the tot could see him. Katy recognised him even at the distance between them and she shouted happily, arms raised for him. House took time to gather his thoughts by shifting along the couch so that his knee brushed Cuddy's and he could lean over into her personal space under the pretence of taking both Katy's hands in his.

"I'm keeping her, that's as far as I've got."

Cuddy's skin flushed again and he watched with satisfaction as the rosy hue spread over her throat and up over her cheeks. He never figured her for a blusher. She didn't usually. She hadn't before last weekend, not matter what he'd said to her…a smile quirked his lips.

That meant he was having an effect on her.

His gaze dropped to her mouth, her tongue traced over her lips and he wondered if she had any idea what that did to him. His eyes rose to meet hers again and he took in the sight of her dilated pupils, her parted lips. Oh yes, she had an idea.

"You really haven't thought this through, have you?" She swallowed hard and he dipped his gaze to watch the movement of her throat.

"I've thought enough." He assured her in a low rumble. He wanted her. Katy was perched between them on Cuddy's knees, babbling away, oblivious to the tension between the two adults, but he still wanted her. All wide pale eyes and wild dark hair, the image of her spread out on her bed, mussed from sleep flashed before him only to be replaced by the much more pleasing image that his mind rendered of her naked and spread out, skin flushed, and the mussing from the rough sweet sex that he wanted from her.

He would have it too, just not now.

He sat back from her and suppressed a smile when he noticed the flicker of something that looked suspiciously like disappointment in her gaze.

"What do you think I need?" He challenged her, he needed to buy time. Formulate a plan. He would have her. That was certain. How he was going to get her though, was still up in the air.

"Well," Cuddy ran her tongue over that lush mouth again and House shifted in his seat. Sometimes she really was the devil and he meant that in the nicest possible way. "You can't keep her living out of a bag, you're going to need more things for her." Cuddy shifted Katy again so that the now dozing child could pillow her blonde curls against the curve of Cuddy's breasts. House tried his best to suppress the lurch in his gut. The shock of 'mine, want, have' that ran straight up his spine and knocked him on the back of the skull like an electric current. He was still rational enough to recognise that instinct was driving most of his decisions at the moment. This morning he had signed the adoption papers for Katy out of an instinct to protect her. That had been paternal instinct. What do you know, it did exist.

It would seem that you couldn't have just one set of instincts, you had to have them all.

"So, another trip to the mall for us." House murmured, his eyes never leaving Katy cuddled in Cuddy's lap.

"Us?" Cuddy bleated and House grinned suddenly. Of course. When he had spoken he had meant himself and Katy, but this was perfect. If he was already affecting Cuddy in what could only be a good way, judging by the rate of her pulse when he stood close to her, then continued exposure to both him and the rugrat would only mean good things for him too. Katy too by association because he knew he couldn't do this entirely on his own. He'd need Cuddy to be a steadying influence. He was smart enough to recognise that at least.

"Yeah, I don't know what to buy. You'll need to come with."

"But I…"

"What? You didn't have any problems with dragging me there on Saturday morning." House shrugged one shoulder and dry swallowed a Vicodin. Just one.

"Well…okay." She swallowed again and looked anywhere but at him. "And you'll have to get a bigger place. She can't sleep in a drawer forever."

"I've lived in that apartment for fifteen years." House scowled at her.

"Life's about change. You made your bed, time to lie in it." She glared back at him and he was glad to see the old fire. That was something he could work with.

"You first." He smirked at her and that smile that she could never quite suppress when she was around him tugged at her mouth.

"Oh no, I'm here on a strictly advisory capacity." Cuddy sat back in her chair sliding Katy onto her back so she could sleep on undisturbed. "Au pair level, nothing higher."

"Oh goody, all the best au pairs end up doing the horizontal honky-tonk with the master of the house." He bobbed his eyebrows at her and she rolled her eyes.

"You can forget that for a while too." Cuddy smirked at him evilly.

"Oh really?" House's answering smile did not reassure her at all.

In fact, the last time he had smiled at her like that, he had ended up doing the opposite of what she had said and gotten exactly what he wanted.

Was that some kind of omen?

The End

Don't kill me!!

This is just the first part of a longer series. I've discovered the reason I get bogged down and keep deleting stories is because they're too chunky and long. So, I'm gonna start trying to write shorter stories to keep them fresher.

And how I said I was thinking about winding down my fanfic career, totally lying. I might cut down on the amount of stories I'm writing, but I don't think I'll ever really stop.

Yes, so, next instalment would be…whenever I get around to writing it. I'm going to try and finish two of my other stories before I start the sequel to House Breaking, because it really is past time I got started on that one. I just need to figure out a plot on that one.

The only story that I'm seriously thinking of scrapping is the Godmother, because it's very similar to where I'm thinking of heading with this story so there wouldn't be much point in writing two of the same thing.

And I know this chapter was short, but you've got another two stories at least that have to come from this plotline so content yourself. You haven't seen the last of Katy or even Angelina by a long shot.

Prank 2 Far chapter 18 is started. Love Stinks Part II is also started but I dunno if I'll keep what I've written. There's a Harry Potter story on my deviantart account as well as an original character smut fest on there too, still pondering Marcus' revenge on Nicole for those of you who are already following that one.

Thanks for reading, review if ya luv me!!