"I do honestly believe it," Cuddy insisted. "It's been studied. Babies can hear and even recognize familiar voices while still in the womb. Junior knows your voice."

Junior didn't know House was daddy but she had no doubt the baby knew House's voice. She knew it responded to his voice. Junior responded to her voice, too. She didn't know how a baby's brain processed the muffled sounds it heard but she knew Junior heard her and no one could tell her any different.

She watched, worried, as House seemed to drift away from her again, mentally speaking. For a moment there she felt like he was more present, that they'd connected, but now he was staring into the distance again. She sighed but reached over to rest her hand on his thigh. She was going to have to get used to this. She was going to have to allow for what the drugs did to him and be patient until the worst effects had subsided.

"I wanted to speak to your doctor about that, actually, but I wanted to talk to you first. I hope you'll be back home before the baby comes but in case you aren't, I want to make sure we have a plan in place so you can take get a temporary pass to be there when the baby's born. Wilson's already agreed to come get you and bring you back to Princeton-Plainsboro so it's just a matter of making sure the staff here knows what to do."

Cuddy had spoken in a rush, wanting to get the words out there before.... Well, before House could say he didn't want to make arrangements. One of the difficult possibilities she'd had to consider with him being hospitalized was the possibility that getting better might not mean he'd be more accepting of the baby. It might mean he'd decide it really, truly wasn't what he wanted for his life. And she didn't know what she'd do if he felt that way.

"It's your choice, though. We'll figure out a way to get you there if you want to be there."