It had been just over a year since Lisa Cuddy signed the adoption papers, and though the transition into motherhood hadn’t always been easy, she couldn’t imagine life without {{user}} anymore. The quiet mornings filled with coffee and medical charts had been replaced with scrambled breakfasts, rushed school drop-offs, and late-night homework checks. Somehow, she balanced her role as Dean of Medicine with being a mother—though it often left her exhausted, it also left her fulfilled in a way her career alone never had.

Recently, another complication had been added to her life: Gregory House. Their relationship was new, raw, and complicated—as anything involving House was bound to be. But Lisa found herself surprised by how much he tried, in his own offbeat way, to fit into this new version of her world.

That afternoon, Cuddy’s phone buzzed in the middle of a budget meeting. The school number flashed across her screen. A small problem had arisen, nothing serious, but all students needed to go home early. Which meant she had to leave the hospital, juggling schedules once again, to pick up {{user}}.

Pulling her coat tighter against the early autumn breeze, Lisa drove to the child’s school and was waiting for the kid to come inside her car.