House ; Stacy/Cuddy ; #032, 051, 062, 087, 095
Title: Sunrise, Sunset ; Changing Tides ; Hibernation is Over ; Cookie Crumbs ; Happy New Beginning
Fandom: House
Characters: Stacy/Cuddy
Prompt: 032 - Sunset ; 051 - Water ; 062 - Spring ; 087 - Life ; 095 - New Year
Word Count: 392
Rating: G
Summary: Since when did times of day represent life?
Author's Notes: I felt like doing some. *shrug*
She wonders sometimes what happened to her life. It had all gone by so quickly, and now it was as though everything was catching up to her. It seemed only yesterday she was going through her belongings, packing everything into boxes and sealing them as her mother cried in her doorway as her daughter was ready to leave for med school.
It seemed only yesterday that she hung her ballet shoes up for the last time, her broken ankle raised on a pillow in a cast, still drying her tears from the hurt of losing the biggest love in her life.
It seemed only yesterday that she met Stacy for the first time. It had all been slightly drunken laughter, an innocent pat on the shoulder, Stacy toppling into her and nearly spilling her drink on her good sweater. And House just rolling his eyes and pulling his girlfriend away. It had been a good party, Lisa remembered so many years later.
She never really remembers the first time she had a boyfriend, or the first time she kissed a girl. She doesn’t recall the first time she danced at a ball, or dressing up for one of many weddings where she would be the bridesmaid. She doesn’t remember the first time she held Stacy in her arms, or when she felt her baby kick. All the happiest memories blur into one, so she can never tell where one starts and another finishes. Maybe that’s just the way things were meant to be. Maybe that’s the way, she thinks, that it is for everyone. It doesn’t upset her. The blur is better. One big happy memory, instead of lots of little ones, which are disjointed and all over the place and make no sense whatsoever. Isn’t that happier than lots of little ones?
She’s not in the twilight of her life, by no means, but Lisa still catches herself reminiscing of times that were, and even looking forward to times that will be. Not even middle aged, and when she catches herself thinking of it, she can’t help but laugh. Maybe the afternoon of her life, she’d think, if she were to be going by the times of day, with the twilights and mornings. Before the sunset… enough time to watch the sun go down. That’s what she wanted. But didn’t everyone?
Word Count: 605
Rating: G
Summary: It’s the lingering effect that hurts.
Stacy took a long sip of water to wet her mouth. She had no idea why she was going to do it. She’d planned it in her bathroom mirror as Mark was in physio, rehearsing what she planned to say, any answers to Lisa’s questions… she knew there’d be questions. There were bound to be questions.
‘Lisa,’ she said, setting her glass down. Lisa looked up from her crossword in a magazine she’d picked up at the store. A trashy one, but Lisa always claimed they had the best puzzles. They did. That’s why Stacy bought them. ‘Lisa,’ she started again, realizing she’d let herself get off track, ‘we need to talk.’
‘Okay,’ Lisa replied as she capped her pen and set it down, closing the magazine over it to save her page. It was surprisingly professional. Maybe she had been anticipating it.
Stacy drew in a breath. ‘It’s about us.’
‘Yes?’ Lisa replied, slowly. She had a hand on her stomach. Stacy had begun to pick up that she did that when she was beginning to become anxious. Mostly when Stacy was about to say something clearly nerve-wracking.
‘I think Mark may be beginning to pick up that there’s something going on between us.’
‘Why do you say that?’
Stacy set her hands flat on the table. ‘Just that he’s started to ask why I’m visiting you so much.’
‘We’re friends,’ Lisa replied slowly as she stood. Reaching over, she took the plates that held the remains of their chicken and salad lunch. ‘I’m pregnant. Doesn’t he realize that?’
‘Oh, he does,’ Stacy answered. ‘But… there’s more to us than that.’
‘I know.’ Lisa’s answer was short. She set the plates in the sink. The rattle echoed around the tiled question. ‘I never thought of it as a separate part of our relationship, though.’
Bewildered, Stacy took a step towards Lisa. ‘So what do you think of us as? Friends or lovers?’
‘Friends,’ Lisa replied softly. ‘Maybe lovers. But always friends first.’
‘Oh.’
The single syllable echoed louder than the dishes. Lisa drew in a long, soft breath and closed her eyes.
‘I wanted you to be my child’s godmother.’
‘I can do that,’ Stacy replied quickly.
‘I don’t think you can,’ Lisa replied. She turned, both her hands on her stomach, curling around the pale pink material of her shirt. ‘I understand what you’re getting at, Stacy. We’ve been intimate for far too long. To change anything in our friendship now would be difficult. Too difficult. For you.’
‘What’s that meant to mean?’
Lisa laughed softly, shaking her head. ‘If things change drastically enough, you can’t handle it. Look at House. Look at Mark. Look at me. Things get hard enough… you have to turn your attention elsewhere. With House, he was there, constantly. He relied on you. You had to leave. And now with Mark… you’re turning back to House.’
‘So where do you fit into the picture, then, huh?’ Stacy crossed her arms over her chest, an eyebrow raised.
‘I’m the constant. But now Mark may be cottoning on, and you need to get out of it, stat. It won’t work if we stop… everything but keep speaking to one another.’
Stacy lowered her head. ‘So you’re saying…?’
‘What you were going to.’
A soft sigh escaped one of them. Both of them. It was difficult to tell. Stacy nodded, uncrossing her arms.
‘You’ll tell me when the baby’s born, right?’
‘Yeah.’
She nodded again and swallowed thickly, stepping out of the kitchen. ‘I’ll speak to you later, okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘Bye…’
Lisa didn’t reply. Maybe that’s what hurt the most later.
Word Count: 342
Rating: G
Summary: Spring time is here again.
It wasn’t a spring birth, but somehow the burst of new life brought a whole world of change. She was exhausted after the first week of bringing Charmaine home, but the overwhelming sense of motherly duties ran through her veins as natural as blood.
She didn’t cry as often as Lisa expected her to, but Charmaine wasn’t as quiet as she wished. After three weeks, she started to cry every morning at 3:00. Lisa slept with Charmaine in the same bed as she wanted to, but kept a cot a foot away in case one of them was having a restless night. Lisa hadn’t need to place Charmaine in there yet, and doubted she would ever need to.
Her breasts were full and heavy with milk. It took Charmaine a few days to take to her breast, but she learnt quickly. During those three-AM wake up calls, Lisa stroked Charmaine’s head, running her fingers over her arms, across the creases and curves of her arms. A habit quickly formed where the baby girl would curl her fingers around one of Lisa’s, squeezing as hard as she could until she fell asleep, sated, and even then her grip lasted.
She had House’s eyes and philtrum- so deep. A perfect groove between her nose and mouth. But she had Lisa’s lips and eyelashes.
Stacy visited Lisa in early February. Few words were said, and when Lisa returned after making a coffee for them, she saw Stacy cradling Charmaine in her arms. The baby was sleeping, the soft, breathless snores that sent Lisa to sleep night after night.
‘She’s gorgeous.’
Lisa never knew what to say to that. ‘Thank you.’
‘She looks like Greg.’
‘I’d hope there would be a bit of me in her.’
‘There is,’ Stacy replied. ‘She has your eyes.’
‘I saw them more as House’s,’ she replied, setting the coffee mugs down on the table. Stacy handed Charmaine to Lisa.
‘They’re his shape, but they’re your shade.’
‘How can you tell?’ Lisa asked, looking at her child’s closed eyes.
‘I know.’
Word Count: 183
Rating: G
Summary: That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Stacy had never expected much out of life. Oh, she had her dreams- always becoming a lawyer. Getting married. Being happy. Typical things that teenage girls dream about after their first crush, all giddy smiles and bashful giggles as the recipient of the crush walked past. But as she neared fifty, she often wondered if she had fulfilled life as much as she could.
She was happy. She had a happy life, as far as she could tell. It had its ups and downs like any other life, but for the most part, Stacy was content.
But now she was nearing fifty. She stared at Charmaine that lay in Lisa’s arms, sleeping soundly, her breath soft. She’d always wanted a child. A little girl to call her own. To dress up and dote upon and hold close. Lisa had one, and Stacy couldn’t help but feel a sting of jealousy.
But that’s the way life pans out, she decided as she took a sip of her coffee. If she could no longer be a mother, she’d be the best godmother she possibly could.
Word Count: 228
Rating: G
Summary: It’s almost time.
She was heavily pregnant by New Year’s. Her stomach swelled, and she could tell she’d be holding her child in her arms soon. Her father had told her it would be a boy- some old house wives tale from long ago. Lisa laughed and stroked her stomach. She wasn’t dismissing her claims; it was just she didn’t care. Boy or girl, she couldn’t wait to hold them in her arms.
She celebrated the New Year with a salad made of red peppers, crisp green lettuce and carrot and a tin of sardines, with two squares of chocolate for desert. No exactly luxurious but she grew tired early and her cravings for salad couldn’t be sated. At least it isn’t unhealthy, she told House who had stared at her third helping of salad two days earlier.
House told her that afternoon he’d be giving the kid McDonalds at any opportunity. It was the first time House had made any notion of intending to have some involvement in the child’s upbringing. Lisa was still musing over whether she liked the notion or not.
Looking over the photos on her mantelpiece, she settled back, nursing the plate on her stomach idly. There was one of her and Stacy on a picnic she half-remembered. Before the pregnancy. Before Stacy slept with House. Before now.
She still wanted Stacy involved with the child.
Fandom: House
Characters: Stacy/Cuddy
Prompt: 032 - Sunset ; 051 - Water ; 062 - Spring ; 087 - Life ; 095 - New Year
Word Count: 392
Rating: G
Summary: Since when did times of day represent life?
Author's Notes: I felt like doing some. *shrug*
She wonders sometimes what happened to her life. It had all gone by so quickly, and now it was as though everything was catching up to her. It seemed only yesterday she was going through her belongings, packing everything into boxes and sealing them as her mother cried in her doorway as her daughter was ready to leave for med school.
It seemed only yesterday that she hung her ballet shoes up for the last time, her broken ankle raised on a pillow in a cast, still drying her tears from the hurt of losing the biggest love in her life.
It seemed only yesterday that she met Stacy for the first time. It had all been slightly drunken laughter, an innocent pat on the shoulder, Stacy toppling into her and nearly spilling her drink on her good sweater. And House just rolling his eyes and pulling his girlfriend away. It had been a good party, Lisa remembered so many years later.
She never really remembers the first time she had a boyfriend, or the first time she kissed a girl. She doesn’t recall the first time she danced at a ball, or dressing up for one of many weddings where she would be the bridesmaid. She doesn’t remember the first time she held Stacy in her arms, or when she felt her baby kick. All the happiest memories blur into one, so she can never tell where one starts and another finishes. Maybe that’s just the way things were meant to be. Maybe that’s the way, she thinks, that it is for everyone. It doesn’t upset her. The blur is better. One big happy memory, instead of lots of little ones, which are disjointed and all over the place and make no sense whatsoever. Isn’t that happier than lots of little ones?
She’s not in the twilight of her life, by no means, but Lisa still catches herself reminiscing of times that were, and even looking forward to times that will be. Not even middle aged, and when she catches herself thinking of it, she can’t help but laugh. Maybe the afternoon of her life, she’d think, if she were to be going by the times of day, with the twilights and mornings. Before the sunset… enough time to watch the sun go down. That’s what she wanted. But didn’t everyone?
Word Count: 605
Rating: G
Summary: It’s the lingering effect that hurts.
Stacy took a long sip of water to wet her mouth. She had no idea why she was going to do it. She’d planned it in her bathroom mirror as Mark was in physio, rehearsing what she planned to say, any answers to Lisa’s questions… she knew there’d be questions. There were bound to be questions.
‘Lisa,’ she said, setting her glass down. Lisa looked up from her crossword in a magazine she’d picked up at the store. A trashy one, but Lisa always claimed they had the best puzzles. They did. That’s why Stacy bought them. ‘Lisa,’ she started again, realizing she’d let herself get off track, ‘we need to talk.’
‘Okay,’ Lisa replied as she capped her pen and set it down, closing the magazine over it to save her page. It was surprisingly professional. Maybe she had been anticipating it.
Stacy drew in a breath. ‘It’s about us.’
‘Yes?’ Lisa replied, slowly. She had a hand on her stomach. Stacy had begun to pick up that she did that when she was beginning to become anxious. Mostly when Stacy was about to say something clearly nerve-wracking.
‘I think Mark may be beginning to pick up that there’s something going on between us.’
‘Why do you say that?’
Stacy set her hands flat on the table. ‘Just that he’s started to ask why I’m visiting you so much.’
‘We’re friends,’ Lisa replied slowly as she stood. Reaching over, she took the plates that held the remains of their chicken and salad lunch. ‘I’m pregnant. Doesn’t he realize that?’
‘Oh, he does,’ Stacy answered. ‘But… there’s more to us than that.’
‘I know.’ Lisa’s answer was short. She set the plates in the sink. The rattle echoed around the tiled question. ‘I never thought of it as a separate part of our relationship, though.’
Bewildered, Stacy took a step towards Lisa. ‘So what do you think of us as? Friends or lovers?’
‘Friends,’ Lisa replied softly. ‘Maybe lovers. But always friends first.’
‘Oh.’
The single syllable echoed louder than the dishes. Lisa drew in a long, soft breath and closed her eyes.
‘I wanted you to be my child’s godmother.’
‘I can do that,’ Stacy replied quickly.
‘I don’t think you can,’ Lisa replied. She turned, both her hands on her stomach, curling around the pale pink material of her shirt. ‘I understand what you’re getting at, Stacy. We’ve been intimate for far too long. To change anything in our friendship now would be difficult. Too difficult. For you.’
‘What’s that meant to mean?’
Lisa laughed softly, shaking her head. ‘If things change drastically enough, you can’t handle it. Look at House. Look at Mark. Look at me. Things get hard enough… you have to turn your attention elsewhere. With House, he was there, constantly. He relied on you. You had to leave. And now with Mark… you’re turning back to House.’
‘So where do you fit into the picture, then, huh?’ Stacy crossed her arms over her chest, an eyebrow raised.
‘I’m the constant. But now Mark may be cottoning on, and you need to get out of it, stat. It won’t work if we stop… everything but keep speaking to one another.’
Stacy lowered her head. ‘So you’re saying…?’
‘What you were going to.’
A soft sigh escaped one of them. Both of them. It was difficult to tell. Stacy nodded, uncrossing her arms.
‘You’ll tell me when the baby’s born, right?’
‘Yeah.’
She nodded again and swallowed thickly, stepping out of the kitchen. ‘I’ll speak to you later, okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘Bye…’
Lisa didn’t reply. Maybe that’s what hurt the most later.
Word Count: 342
Rating: G
Summary: Spring time is here again.
It wasn’t a spring birth, but somehow the burst of new life brought a whole world of change. She was exhausted after the first week of bringing Charmaine home, but the overwhelming sense of motherly duties ran through her veins as natural as blood.
She didn’t cry as often as Lisa expected her to, but Charmaine wasn’t as quiet as she wished. After three weeks, she started to cry every morning at 3:00. Lisa slept with Charmaine in the same bed as she wanted to, but kept a cot a foot away in case one of them was having a restless night. Lisa hadn’t need to place Charmaine in there yet, and doubted she would ever need to.
Her breasts were full and heavy with milk. It took Charmaine a few days to take to her breast, but she learnt quickly. During those three-AM wake up calls, Lisa stroked Charmaine’s head, running her fingers over her arms, across the creases and curves of her arms. A habit quickly formed where the baby girl would curl her fingers around one of Lisa’s, squeezing as hard as she could until she fell asleep, sated, and even then her grip lasted.
She had House’s eyes and philtrum- so deep. A perfect groove between her nose and mouth. But she had Lisa’s lips and eyelashes.
Stacy visited Lisa in early February. Few words were said, and when Lisa returned after making a coffee for them, she saw Stacy cradling Charmaine in her arms. The baby was sleeping, the soft, breathless snores that sent Lisa to sleep night after night.
‘She’s gorgeous.’
Lisa never knew what to say to that. ‘Thank you.’
‘She looks like Greg.’
‘I’d hope there would be a bit of me in her.’
‘There is,’ Stacy replied. ‘She has your eyes.’
‘I saw them more as House’s,’ she replied, setting the coffee mugs down on the table. Stacy handed Charmaine to Lisa.
‘They’re his shape, but they’re your shade.’
‘How can you tell?’ Lisa asked, looking at her child’s closed eyes.
‘I know.’
Word Count: 183
Rating: G
Summary: That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Stacy had never expected much out of life. Oh, she had her dreams- always becoming a lawyer. Getting married. Being happy. Typical things that teenage girls dream about after their first crush, all giddy smiles and bashful giggles as the recipient of the crush walked past. But as she neared fifty, she often wondered if she had fulfilled life as much as she could.
She was happy. She had a happy life, as far as she could tell. It had its ups and downs like any other life, but for the most part, Stacy was content.
But now she was nearing fifty. She stared at Charmaine that lay in Lisa’s arms, sleeping soundly, her breath soft. She’d always wanted a child. A little girl to call her own. To dress up and dote upon and hold close. Lisa had one, and Stacy couldn’t help but feel a sting of jealousy.
But that’s the way life pans out, she decided as she took a sip of her coffee. If she could no longer be a mother, she’d be the best godmother she possibly could.
Word Count: 228
Rating: G
Summary: It’s almost time.
She was heavily pregnant by New Year’s. Her stomach swelled, and she could tell she’d be holding her child in her arms soon. Her father had told her it would be a boy- some old house wives tale from long ago. Lisa laughed and stroked her stomach. She wasn’t dismissing her claims; it was just she didn’t care. Boy or girl, she couldn’t wait to hold them in her arms.
She celebrated the New Year with a salad made of red peppers, crisp green lettuce and carrot and a tin of sardines, with two squares of chocolate for desert. No exactly luxurious but she grew tired early and her cravings for salad couldn’t be sated. At least it isn’t unhealthy, she told House who had stared at her third helping of salad two days earlier.
House told her that afternoon he’d be giving the kid McDonalds at any opportunity. It was the first time House had made any notion of intending to have some involvement in the child’s upbringing. Lisa was still musing over whether she liked the notion or not.
Looking over the photos on her mantelpiece, she settled back, nursing the plate on her stomach idly. There was one of her and Stacy on a picnic she half-remembered. Before the pregnancy. Before Stacy slept with House. Before now.
She still wanted Stacy involved with the child.