AN: Well. Lookie here, I wrote a fanfic. I haven't touched fanfic in ages, because I'm trying to branch out into more original stories. But, we had a prompt in creative writing last week about babies, and naturally, my first thought went to House's nervousness at being a good father to Rachel.

Also, this is set in a beautiful AU verse where anything after 7x15 never happened and Huddy are living together happily.

Summary: House knows that in order to be a good father to Rachel, he needs to be able to prove it to himself and to Cuddy. Huddy. AU. Future-fic.

The sign was painted a bright, sunny orange with contrasting black lettering spelling out the name of the local toy shop, "Smith's Toys". When he had told his girlfriend that he was heading into the city to shop, she only rolled her eyes at him – probably assuming that his "shopping" involved lazing around in front of various snack shops, mixed with wandering into adult stores and bike shops. That was his intent though, he didn't want her to assume that he was going out to buy her daughter (well, technically since they had legally signed the documents to make himself Rachel's legal father, it was their daughter) a birthday present.

Rachel's birthday was in two days, and House was insistent to do everything right. He knew that he was always expecting himself to fail as a father, and the fact that Cuddy had been the one to decide that legally, they would both be listed as Rachel's parents, it made him feel worse. Hell, he had the worst track records with fathers – his biological father hadn't even known and John was a sorry example – so naturally, with his mind, he assumed the worst for himself. Besides, he knew that both Cuddy and Rachel deserved someone better as a father figure, instead of his broken, lonely, misanthropic self. But, either way, Cuddy had chosen him, and as he had insisted to her, she repeated the same phrase – she would always choose him.

As he pulled open the door to the toy shop, House was hit with the sounds of high-pitched toys blaring their tiny speakers to enthused children, parents scolding the whining children near the check-out lines, and of course, babies tucked on their mothers hips, wailing in the excitement and chaos of the store. Grinding his teeth, he raised his eye to the large signs in the store, searching for the aisles that he assumed Rachel would most likely enjoy. He proceeded towards the nearest one, where a mother and her daughter, who House assumed to be able Rachel's age, appeared – the girl cradling a cardboard box with a Cabbage Patch doll inside.

"Sorry," House sidestepped a woman with twin baby girls, and he glanced up at the shelves where boxes and boxes of Cabbage Patch dolls lined his line of sight. He scanned the shelves, and after hesitating, he backed from the aisle, trying to understand exactly what rational part of his girlfriend would allow their daughter to own a stuffed doll with chubby looking arms and an overstuffed head. As he returned to the front of the store, he let his eyes wander over each of the large hanging shelves, trying to find something that would gain him "father points" in Cuddy's mind.

That's it. House gave a nod, catching the glimpse of a brightly colored pink plastic guitar, and he limped towards the aisle, a smile forming on his face. He slipped between an eleven year old boy complaining about wanting a mini Gibson electric guitar to his mother, who looked exhausted and worn, and a free-standing cardboard stand of kazoos. Limping to the back of the store, he stood in front of the boxes of keyboards and child-sized grand pianos, nodding slowly in approval.

"Excuse me sir?" A woman approached him, her raven-black hair tied into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. "Can I help you with something?" She stood besides House, her eyes darting to his wooden cane, "If you want, I can take any of the keyboards or pianos out if you'd like to see how any of them look or sound."

"I'm a pianist," House snapped quickly, turning to look at the store employee, "I know what to get my daughter for her birthday." He nodded to a silver Casio piano, tapping the box with the tip of his cane, "That one." His eyes darted to the paper label in front of the boxes, and he internally cringed at the thought of Cuddy being pissed at him for buying their daughter a three hundred dollar birthday gift, but he brushed it off, knowing her happiness at his attempts to be a good father would last much longer than her anger.

– surprises –

"Okay Rachel," Cuddy settled herself on the beige couch between her daughter and her boyfriend, a bulky and brightly wrapped package in her lap. She squeezed her daughter's shoulder gently, her eyes shining as Rachel leaned in and smiled back at her mother. Placing the present in her daughter's lap, she glanced at House, who sat uncomfortably on the opposite side of the couch. After seeing Rachel smile at her actions, Cuddy reached over and grabbed House's hand in hers, dropping her voice to a whisper. "I'm sure our daughter is going to love what you got her."

Nodding slowly, House eased himself into a more comfortable sitting position as Rachel tugged the ribbons off of her mother's gift, his hand resting on the small of Cuddy's back. "You don't even know what I bought her." He hissed quietly in her ear, his gaze intently focused on the bright wrapping which Rachel was tearing to shreds in front of them. A smile appeared on his face as the discarded wrapping revealed a plush tiger pillow pet, and he brushed his thumb against the small of Cuddy's back. "Good job."

"Do you like it?" Cuddy asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice, and she collected the torn-up paper in her hands, her lips curving into a smile. She leaned forwards to kiss her daughter's forehead as Rachel nodded, cradling the stuffed tiger in her arms.

"Thank you!" Rachel's voice audibly brightened as she enveloped her mother into a lopsided hug, and when she pulled back, her gaze turned onto House's.

Swallowing a bit nervously, House pulled back from Cuddy's side, standing and reaching for Rachel's hand, "You're going to have to come out to the garage with me. I hid your present out there." He winced as Rachel dug her short nails into his hand, a broad smile on her lips, "You and your mother can come with me." Rachel squealed excitedly as she let go of House's hand, half-running and half-skipping towards the garage door, leaving her parents in the living room together.

"You didn't even wrap it?" Cuddy asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice, "House, I told you that I wanted to do something special for our daughter's birthday." She stood, following her daughter towards the garage, "I wish you had tried a bit harder for her birthday … now that you're legally her father." Biting her lip, she hurried ahead to grab her daughter's hand as they waited by the garage door.

"Ready for your gift?" House kept his distance from Cuddy, his hand on the doorknob, his gaze trained on Rachel's smile. As she nodded, House clicked the door open and nudged Rachel into the garage, avoiding Cuddy's gaze as she slipped into the garage after their daughter. "Look in the back of your mother's car Rachel."

"Look out sweetie," Cuddy pulled Rachel out of the way, opening the hatchback to her Lexus, and she blinked her eyes wide. Stepping back, she winced as Rachel jumped into the back of the car, sitting besides her father's present.

"Do you … like it?" House began after a few moments, a smile on his lips as Rachel gazed at the piano box. He glanced down quickly as Cuddy grabbed his hand and squeezed it, her eyes shining, "If you don't … we can go tomorrow … and you can pick something better."

"No!" Rachel cried, trying to ease the keyboard box out of the car, and both Cuddy and House helped her lift the large box from the trunk. She sat on the back of the car, her feet dangling from the edge of the car, and she looked between her parents, "Is House gonna teach me how to play music?" Jumping down, she clung onto House's other hand, a smile on her lips, "Please?"

"Of course he will," Cuddy glanced at House out of the corner of her eye, and she kissed him gently on the cheek before looking at their daughter again. "But we're going to make some rules about when you can play once he teaches you." She laughed quietly, "I know I don't want you to stay up all night playing it." Both House and Rachel laughed at her words, as if their laugh meant to challenge her words.

– surprises –

"You were trying House," Cuddy whispered quietly as she dropped onto the couch besides him once they had tucked Rachel into bed. She gazed at where they had set up the silver keyboard in a corner of the living room, and she leaned against his side, taking his hand in hers. "I'm sorry that I doubted you … I just think I assumed you didn't think you would be a good father so you didn't want to try to make things work."

"You know I want to be a good father to Rachel, you know it." House began, his eyes on where Cuddy rubbed small circles on the back of his hand, "I wouldn't have stayed this long if I didn't." He paused, looking up at the keyboard, "I promise you though, I am going to try for her, and if trying to teach her piano is the only way I can let her into my life then I will." Glancing up, he stopped, seeing a tear glisten in the corner of his girlfriend's eye, "Cuddy … I … I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize House," Cuddy began quickly, "I spoke too soon. I know that you want to be a good father to our daughter. And don't think that I won't help you learn how, and I'll support your choices too – if you want to teach Rachel how to play piano to get close to her, then I'll let you." Kissing him gently, she smiled as his sigh of relief, "Thank you for letting yourself try."

AN: Opinions? Thoughts?

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