Celeste

I shouldn't be starting a new fic, should I? This idea has been bugging me for a while now and I really needed to write it down. I swear, I'll make sure to update my other stories soon :3

So, Celeste is such a beautiful name, isn't it? When I found out Lisa Edelstein's role on The Good Wife I was thrilled to know the name of her character. I have always loved this name and now Laura Pausini, an Italian singer, has wrote the perfect song for Cuddy and House and its title is Celeste.

P.S.: I have no idea in which year House and Cuddy met at college so I put 1988 because of reasons ;p

Chapter 1

You will have your father's eyes and his melancholy... the timeless silence which pervades the tide at sunset.

You'll come with the September's moon, which will pour its milk inside me.

And I will love you, as it happens in fairytales, forever.

Michigan, ca 1988.

"Kate, I need you. Please hurry up and get here." Lisa said in between tears. She set down the phone and crawled into her bed. She kept crying for what seemed an eternity before the door to her bedroom opened.

"Lisa, what the hell happened?" her best friend asked from the doorway. "You left the lecture before the professor dismissed it. Dr Clarkson was infuriated." she continued, throwing her bag in a corner. "Lise, what's wrong?" she asked as she laid down next to her. "Is it about that jerk again? Please, tell me he hasn't called you back."

"He hasn't." Lisa mumbled in her pillow. She then turned to face her friend and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

Kate stiffened. "Is it House's?" she asked earning a nod from the girl. "Oh my god, Lise. Come here." she said, opening her arms to allow Lisa to come closer. "Shh. Everything is going to be okay." Kate tried to comfort her. Lisa let herself cry in her best friend's arms, stopping only when Kate suggested it was better for them to eat something. She then helped Lisa stand up and walk to the small kitchen. "You sit down and I'll make us something. Okay?" she said, wrapping a blanket around her best friend's small frame.

Lisa sat there on the armchair near the small window. She stared outside without really looking. She heard raindrops falling and hitting the ground, and undergraduates laughing in the rain as they ran from one classroom to the other. She heard the faint noise of a pot being placed on the stove and of cutlery being set neatly on a tray.

Lisa closed her eyes and placed a hand on her belly. A life was in there. A life she didn't want for herself. A life that reminded her of a man she'd fallen for and now was nowhere to be seen.

She missed him even though she had barely knew him; even though he probably didn't remember a her. She loved him and she felt like such a fool.

"Here you go." Kate whispered putting the tray on her friend's lap. "Eat it. It'll do you good." she said sitting on the couch.

"Thank you." Lisa replied.

No words were shared, only glances and a few tears.

"I don't think I'll be able to go through with it." she whispered in the end and Kate couldn't do anything but nod in understanding.

Michigan, 7 months later.

"Lisa, are you sure you want to do this?" Mrs. Thompson asked the younger woman. Lisa nodded her head, one hand supporting her back, the other resting on her pregnant belly.

"I can't raise a kid on my own. Not right now." she replied. "I know you will take better care of her than me."

"We won't be angry if you decide to keep her." Mr. Thompson added.

Lisa smiled. "Thank you, but I made my choice." she said, looking at Kate who was sitting next to her. "This baby can have a fuller and happier life with two caring parents. With me, she wouldn't have it." she said, on the verge of tears. "She needs you." she added in the end. Kate draped one arm around her friend and hugged her close to her.

"Have you chosen a name yet?" she asked with a sad smile.

Mrs. Thompson laughed. "We want something original but yet not too strange." Lisa nodded in agreement. "Do you have any idea?" she asked.

"No, I don't. But I'm sure you'll find a suitable name for this baby girl." she said with a smile. "It's better if I go now. My back hurts like hell tonight."

"Oh, can I do something to help?" Mrs. Thompson asked gently.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets a good massage and at least 9 hours of sleep." Kate assured the woman with a smile.

"Thank you Kate." she said, hugging the girl. "Lisa, if you need anything, call." she added, hugging Lisa tight.

Michigan, one month later.

"She's a beautiful healthy girl, Lisa" Kate said entering the room alone.

"I know." her friend said with a sad smile.

"Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are on cloud nine. You should see them." she chuckled.

"I'm sure Mr Thompson is already smitten for that little creature." Lisa said, wincing in pain as she laughed.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked.

"Yeah. Stitches." she replied.

"Don't you think you should see her?"

"No." she replied firmly.

"Not even once?"

"I said no!" she hissed one more time.

Lisa tried to keep the tears from falling, but all her efforts were pointless. Warm tears wet her cheeks and she couldn't help but start sobbing. She didn't know when Kate joined her onto the bed, but when she finally stopped crying, her friend was fast asleep and the sun was setting. Lisa closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Two hours later when someone entered the room to check on her, she was still awake.

The following day was a living hell. All her muscles felt sore and the pain in her abdomen was almost unbearable. They had told her it could happen, but she was sure something was wrong.

"Lisa, are you okay? You're as pale as a ghost." Kate asked.

Lisa shook her head and clutched her belly. Kate ran out of the room and called a nurse, who immediately followed her inside the room. The older woman rushed to her side and gasped at the sight of blood pooling between the girl's legs.

"Oh my god." Kate gasped, rushing to soothe her friend. "Call the doctor, now!" she yelled to the nurse.

"I've just paged him." the nurse informed her, rushing outside to call for help.

"Kate..." Lisa whispered, groaning in pain.

"Everything is going to be alright." she shushed her, kissing her forehead gently. "I'm here with you." she said, letting the tears fall.

Two hours later Lisa was back in the room under a high dosage of sedatives. She couldn't open her eyes, or so she thought, but she could hear all the sounds playing around her. The noise from outside her room. Patients, doctors and nurses. The tapping of a pencil on a notebook. The low sighing of another person. Then the door opened and closed.

"Kate, what has happened?" Mrs Thompson asked in a hushed voice.

"Complications. She was immediately rushed back into the OR. They stopped the bleeding as fast as they could." Kate explained, walking closer to her sleeping friend, caressing her cheek.

"Will she be all right?" Mr Thompson asked from behind his wife.

"Yes, but the doctor said it might be impossible for her to have children in the future." she whispered.

"Oh god." Mrs Thompson gasped.

"We have already told her she can come visit whenever she wants." the man said to Kate who nodded in return.

"She doesn't want to. She said it's better if she doesn't even see her." she said. "And I think she's right" she concluded glancing at her best friend.

"We still have to choose a name." Mrs Thompson said after a while.

"I don't know what your final choice will be but I can assure you that girl will have the most amazing blue eyes." Kate said with a sad smile.

The coupled laughed softly and nodded.

Ten minutes later the door opened and closed again. And Lisa finally fell back to sleep.

"House?"

"Yes, who is it?"

"I'm Kate from Ann Arbor. I'm Lisa Cuddy's best friend."

"Yeah, I got that. Why are you calling?"

"It's about Lisa."

"What's wrong?"

"She was pregnant."

"What?"

"You've heard me. She was going to have your baby."

"Was?"

"Yes, was. She has lost it."

Silence.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I thought you needed to know."

"What can I do for her?"

"Don't look for her. Forget about her." she said and with that she ended the call.

Silence again.

Princeton, 10 years later.

He was rushed into her ER that morning. Cuddy had tried her best to avoid him but the same afternoon he had shouted he had to see the Dean of Medicine of "this damn hospital", she couldn't avoid him anymore.

She observed him from the nurse station for a while. She then took a deep breath, straightened her coat and made her way towards his room. When she opened the door a woman was talking to him, hiding his face to Cuddy. She turned around to leave, but was stopped by his voice.

"Cuddy."

"House..." she said, her voice shaking. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has." he agreed and motioned for her to come closer. "This is Stacy, my girlfriend. Stacy, this is Lisa Cuddy." Stacy extended her hand and shook Cuddy's, who offered her a small smile.

"So, they told me you worked here but I didn't know you actually were the boss here." he commented.

"I am." she confirmed proudly. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I trust your medical judgment."

She snorted. "You've spent a whole semester mocking my abilities and now you're praising me. What do you really want?" she asked once again.

"He forced me to drive from Baltimore to Princeton in order to have your opinion on his own health." Stacy said. "At least, check on him."

Cuddy nodded and in that moment she knew he was going to be part of her life once again.

Princeton, 4 months later.

"I need a job." he said as soon as he sat on the armchair in her office.

"And how may I help you?" she asked from behind her computer.

"You could, you know, hire me?"

She snorted.

"Why should I?" she asked smirking.

"Because I'm a great Doctor and you have always had the hots for me." he explained seriously.

"So full of yourself, aren't you?" she joked, standing up and walking closer to him. "I knew you would come here after three months of sulking. I have set up a fund for a new Department." she said, handing him a folder. "Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital will have a Diagnostic department, with you as the Head of it. I'll supervise every your move. Every decision you take has to receive my approval..." she continued walking back towards her desk.

"Are you serious about this?" he interrupted her, while standing up with the help of his cane.

"I am." she replied.

House walked in front of her desk and extended his hand for her to shake. She was about to extend hers when he retrieved his.

"Even after what happened back in college, you still want to give me a chance?" he asked.

"I erased from my mind what happened back then. I hope you have too or working here will be a problem." she said coldly.

"Okay." he said, shaking her hand.

When he closed the door of her office behind him, she sunk down in her chair and stared at the door. Now he was officially back into her life.

Princeton, 4 years later.

They had been fighting the whole week and this time, all the efforts Wilson was putting into moderating the two of them, were pointless.

That evening he stormed into her office for the twentieth time that day.

"What the hell were you thinking when you annulled the nerve biopsy! Were you on crack or something? Because I see no reason why you should stop an exam which is of vital importance for discovering the patient's illness!" he shouted.

"House! That boy is barely 13! You cannot do a nerve biopsy on him!" she shouted back at him.

"Of course I can if it means I get to cure him afterward!"

"House! It's a no! I won't let you do such a thing to a kid!"

"Oh... come on, Cuddy! You're just upset because he's old enough to be your son!" he yelled at her, turning his back at her in exasperation.

"What did you just say?" she hissed under her breath.

"I said you're upset because he's 13 years old like your kid." he repeated.

"You have not just said that." she said, sitting down on her small couch, staring at him like she had just seen a ghost.

"Look, I'm sorry. I've got carried away..." he trailed off as he noticed the tears running down her face. "Cuddy..."

"How do you know?" she asked in a whisper.

"Kate. She called me when you were at the hospital." he explained.

"I knew she would, but I had hoped she would have been more clever and wouldn't tell you."

"I'd have found out sooner or later." he commented.

"No, you wouldn't." she said shaking her head. He sat down next to her and they sat there in complete silence for some time.

"It was a girl. A beautiful baby girl." she whispered then. House nodded than looked up at her.

"How do you know?" he asked shocked.

"Well, I gave birth to her!" she said looking at him confused. "You said Kate told you everything!"

"She told me you miscarried." he explained. "She said I needed to know and that I had to forget about everything for your sake."

Cuddy looked away from him, tears now falling freely. House stood there for a while, letting the information sink in.

"Where is she now?" he asked.

"I gave her up for adoption." she replied. "There was a couple I met at the clinic. I had debated whether to keep the baby or not. One day I went to the hospital, where I met the Thompson's. They couldn't have children. So I thought that I could give them happiness and not feel bad about terminating. Somehow I managed to convince them that my intentions were good and they accepted my offer."

"So, she's alive." he stated.

"Yes, she is." she said with a sad smile.

Silence.

"Promise me this won't change anything between us." she said a couple of minutes later.

"It won't." he said, standing up. When he reached the door, he stopped.

"Do you know her name?" he asked.

"Celeste."

And then I'll have the courage to wait for you... a little longer.

And I promise that from the windows, you shall see a sky so celestial blue.