Foetus

This was bad. This was very bad! Lisa Cuddy knew that this was possibly one of the worst things that could ever happen. And yet, she had the biggest smile imaginable on her face. Twenty minutes previously, she had been furious at Greg House's latest prank, but now, not even he could ruin her day. Actually, he was kind of responsible for the smile.

Sitting at her desk, Cuddy turned on the computer and placed the small photograph in the scanner. In less than a minute, she had it as her desktop background. Even with it staring her in the face, she couldn't believe it. It was too surreal. She'd been assured that it'd never happen, she had given up, she had, finally, come to terms with the impossibility of it all, and yet, there it was staring her in the face.

But what about him? He was House. He'd never … he wouldn't care. And yet, she remembered the look in his eyes that night, when it had all come crashing down, he looked almost human, like he felt her pain. Maybe he would, maybe, just maybe, it was worth a shot.

"Mr. Kitts, I'm Lisa Cuddy, I was told there was some sort of problem" spoke Cuddy in her most professional voice.

"Yes, in fact there is! That madman is refusing to do what I say! I have power of attorney for my wife! She would want this baby, so we'll wait!" he said pointing to House who was sitting in his office throwing and catching a ball with his cane.

"Ah …" nodded Cuddy "If you'll accompany me"

"House!" there was the sound he'd been expecting: Lisa Cuddy's angry call.

"Moi?"

"House! What is going on?" she asked motioning for Mr. Kitts to take a seat in one of the visitor's chairs.

"He wants me to keep his wife on life support for the next three months rather than operate now and save her life!"

Cuddy looked at Mr. Kitts

"If you operate now, our son will die!" he shouted "if she could make the call, she would say wait!"

"House, I think Mr. Kitts has made his desires quite clear. She stays as she is" spoke Cuddy in a calm, rational voice.

"Oh please! You would always side with the one of us who wanted to save the baby! Listen to me! Right now, it is a parasite! It's living off your wife and stopping us from making her better! We could save her!"

"House!" shouted Cuddy

"She would have wanted him to live!" shouted the husband

"She can have another one! It's isn't that hard unless you're Cuddy!" House shouted as he stood up

"House!" she shouted standing up as well and continued to speak while looking directly at House "Mr. Kitts, don't worry, your son will be fine, Dr. House here won't be on the case for much longer"

"Thank you" he said nodding and leaving.

"You just condemned that woman to her death!"

"It's her choice!" spoke Cuddy

"No! It's not! It's his! Are you telling me that, were she fit to make a choice, she would chose to die?" he asked

"She might! We can't decide that she wouldn't!"

"And he can't decide she would!"

"Yes he can!" she shouted "he has her power of attorney! Legally, what he says goes!"

Exhaling, House looked at her with a piercing, blue stare "he is killing his wife, for a foetus!"

"To him it's not a foetus, House! It's his son!"

"Does it speak? Does it say 'dadda' and cry? No! It's a foetus! It doesn't even look human yet!"

"House! She will stay on the life support, she will have the baby and you will respect the father's decision!" as he opened his mouth to argue, she spoke calmly "House, you are Off. The. Case."

"Fine, Dr. Cuddy. If that is all, you know where the door is" he said turning around in his chair.

Sighing, Cuddy stood and quickly left the room.

Or maybe it wasn't worth a shot. Maybe he really wouldn't care. She had no evidence to say he would. All she had was his hurtful comments and the constant reminder that, to Greg House, any living thing residing within a human being was no more than a parasite. To him, a baby was just a foetus, a technical term. It came after zygote and before infant.

'He won't care' she sighed to herself just as her office door opened and James Wilson walked in.

"I heard" he said taking a seat, somehow he always ended up clearing up the mess that inevitably resulted from a House/Cuddy confrontation.

"The team?" she asked wondering who had told him

"No, I mean I actually heard you shouting"

"Oh"

"Are you alright?" he asked

"I'm fine" she said and she really was. Even with House being a jerk, even with everything about him that made the current situation a problem, she was completely fine. Actually, she was more than fine, she was perfect.

"You know that if you need to talk …"

"I know, Wilson. And thanks, but I really am fine"

"Alright. Well, you know where to find me if you need anything" he said standing up

"I do. Thank you"

Once he was gone and there was no one in the room, Cuddy moved her mouse and the bouncing letters that read "Princeton-Plainsboro" disappeared and there was the image again. Looking at it, Cuddy thought back to what House had said. But somehow, looking at the small bean shaped image, the term 'foetus' didn't seem to apply. It wasn't a foetus, it wasn't a zygote, it wouldn't be just an infant, it was her child, her son or daughter, hers and … 'No' she thought. It was just hers.

And that's how the idea of telling everyone that it was a result of IVF came about. She couldn't tell anyone that she had conceived the baby the traditional way, firstly because too many questions would be asked and secondly because the father wasn't stupid enough to ignore the math.

TBC