Hello! Since so many of you know so much about me by reading my author's notes, I don't know if you already know this or if I've never mentioned it before now? Anyhoo, I don't have any contact with my biological parents. I've never actually even met my father. But I'm lucky. I have a mom. While she didn't give birth to me or even raise me in my early childhood, I have a mom. She loves me, unconditionally, and deeply, and I love her deeply right back. It's part of the reason I was so touched by Chuck's honesty in being able to love, truly love, a baby that wasn't biologically his. It is a beautiful thing and I think Chuck's capacity to love would make it easy for him to fall deeply and forever in love with Blair's baby. I wrote this from that idea. I set it as if the car accident never happened. Here we go...
Chuck held her tight in his arms, loving her and the way her hands gripped his jacket. They'd just pulled into the underground of the consulate, and all that was left for her to do was get out of the car and face the man she could not bring herself to marry. She had to tell him the truth. Her heart lay with another, it was where it had been since she was sixteen years old, it was with Chuck Bass.
"I want to come with you." He told her agitated. He wasn't worried that she'd change her mind but he was worried about Louis' reaction. He knew what it felt like to feel like you had lost Blair Waldorf.
Blair smiled nervously at him and stroked his jaw to try and sooth him. "I know, but it will be better if I do this on my own."
He nodded and kissed her forehead.
She smiled at him, and despite the nervousness in her gestures, Chuck could see the happiness under it. "I'll be right back." She promised and she kissed him again.
He waited, it felt like hours but he waited, until finally he say her come out the garage door and walk to the car. He had forced himself to sit inside because he knew the security cameras would be all over the car. Finally the driver opened the door for her and they were alone again.
"Well?" He asked worriedly. Her hands were shaking and he caught them in his and brought them to his lips.
She let out a ragged breath. "He was upset, but it's done. The wedding is off. I gave him back the ring... But I need to call Daddy and Cyrus... I think... things might get ugly over the baby..."
Chuck shook his head. "Things may get messy over the baby, but the baby is still beautiful. Still loved."
She smiled and nodded.
"I know you want to run, but I meant what I said. We can raise the baby right here. This is our city, and a few pathetic people with cameras won't change that... it never has."
She nodded again. "You're right... Then where do you want to go?"
"Wherever you're going." He said with the same honesty that he'd had back at the Empire just a couple of hours ago.
Had it really been only that long? She'd reconciled herself to being lost to the level of happiness she only seemed to experience when she was with him. She'd told herself she had her baby and she was Blair Waldorf, that would be enough for both of them, but now their lives stretched out before her and seemed to be filled with endless possibilities... and love. She was happy.
She kissed him again because she couldn't not.
"I love you!"
"I love you too." He grinned. Chuck Bass grinned. "... But we still need to decide where to go... even if it's just for tonight."
"Bass, are you getting soft on me?"
"I've yet to experience getting soft around you, but do go on..." He teased.
"We've spent the night in a limo before... on more than one occasion." She alluded with a sultry smile.
"This is a town car." He corrected with a fake frown that pretend to take offense to it being compared to the sanctity of his limo. "And you need a bed."
She smiled at his tone. "I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I'm wonderful!"
"You are... and you're stalling. Do you want to go home?"
She shook her head. "It's been breached. I don't want to go back till Dorota's shored up security. Can we go to the Empire?"
He looked unsure.
"What?"
"I just don't think it's a good place for the baby."
"Agreed. Luckily from its current vantage point it will be unable to tell. You can clear out the sharp objects, pictures of women's underwear... oh, and the motorcycle later." She teased. "Let's go there... at least for tonight?"
They walked in and Blair was once again grateful for Chuck's excellent security team that got them in under the radar and would keep the world out for as long as they wanted. They'd been holding hands in the elevator but separated as they walked into the suite. By the time the door binged closed they were on opposite sides of the room. The tension crackled in the room as each tried to look anywhere other than at each other.
When they're eyes met they clashed with sparks. They hadn't been alone like this without almost any obstacles in a very long time... and yet they were nervous.
Changing the subject Blair sat down on his couch to a daunting task, possibly the biggest one of the night. Calling her mother. After only nearly having to fake fainting once the job was done and all her parents were on the first flight out of Paris in the morning. Chuck was speaking to Ramon about the details when Blair stood from the couch and quietly turned and walked into his bedroom. From the second she'd stood his eyes had been locked on her watching her disappear into his room, bring a more rapid end to his conversation. They'd find their way here eventually, if not, he could give a fuck at the moment.
He followed her as if by invisible tether, and when he got there she was sitting on the edge of his bed. He shut the doors and leaned on them, trying to relax. Her eyes finally met his again, and in an instant there was no distance between them and they were kissing like they'd dreamed of kissing for months, even when they knew they shouldn't, even when they had told themselves they were over. As they started to pull each other closer they both hesitated. It ripped their mouths apart.
"What?" They said at the same time.
"You don't want too?"
"I want to, do you?"
"Yes."
They fell silent. Chuck spoke first. "I just don't want to hurt you... or the baby."
A warm smile crept across her lips in understanding now of his hesitation. "You won't hurt us."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." She nodded urgently. "I promise."
He smiled, reassured, and took an eager step forward. He was dying for her.
Her face froze and she took a step back. "You won't hurt us... but..."
"What? You don't want to?"
She bit her lip before speaking quickly. "I want to! Believe me, I want to!"
He smiled at her exuberance and he tried to reach for her again. She jumped away and was waving her hands over her body to indicate her dress. "There's just... a lot going on under here... things you haven't seen... things that don't look like they did the last time you saw them..."
He looked unnerved for a moment as he looked her up and down. "A third breast? I might enjoy that... I know you would..."
She gasped at the snide teasing and then laughed before hitting him in the shoulder. "Shut up!"
He laughed and caught her in his arms. They could feel the bump between them. The laughter faded and Blair took a small step back before she turned and wordlessly he pulled down the zipper of her flowing dress. She turned back towards him and they stood inches apart as her hands slowly drew the dress off her shoulders and allowed it to fall and pool at her feet.
She couldn't meet his eyes as she stood before him in her lacy black bra, panties, and gartered stockings. In any other moment she'd feel sexy and confident. The swell that grew out of her mid section made her hesitate. Since she wasn't watching him, she was surprised to find him falling to his knees in front of her. Both his hands came up to caress her stomach with awe. Tears filled her eyes.
"This is your baby?"
"This is my baby." She made the first formal introduction.
He stood up and swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bed as if she was the most precious cargo in the world, and to him she was. In the warmth of the bed that had once been theirs and now was again, they made love so gently that it surprised even them.
Afterward they lay in each other's arms, Blair's head on Chuck's shoulder. He kissed the top of her head. "Go to sleep."
"I'm not tired." Her eyes already drifting closed. She felt him smile.
That's when they heard the whining. Both their heads popped up.
"Sorry!" Chuck said earnestly as he got up and headed for the bedroom doors. "He usually sleeps in here, but I'll put him in Nate's room tonight."
As soon as he opened the door his dog ran in and scampered up onto the bed and right into Blair's laughing arms. He called to the dog firmly, but was ignored.
"I see the obedience training we've been taking is clearly paying off." Chuck said sarcastically as he joined them on the bed.
Blair was still laughing as she scratched him behind his ears and he tried to lick her face. The dog that is. Chuck had already been there, and done that. Chuck chastised the dog again, but Blair interceded.
"It's fine!" She smiled at Chuck as the dog flopped into her lap, his head rested on her blanket covered knee. "I've always wanted a dog... Handsome is wonderful, but very much my Daddy's dog. I like yours. He's sweet."
"He isn't sweet. He's a guard dog... with killer protective instincts." Chuck informed her proudly. The dog cocked his head at them before tilting in back to invite back Blair's hand.
She looked down at the dog and giggled again. "Are you sure? I think he'd agree he's sweet... My Sweetie!"
Chuck rolled his eyes and tried to order the dog to his own bed by the window. His dog ignored him.
Blair smiled. "Okay, Sweetie, listen to Daddy and go lie down."
Much to Chuck's disgruntlement the dog jumped up and trotted over to his own bed. Chuck flopped back on the bed and pulled Blair down with him. "I guess since you're sharing your baby with me... I have to share my dog with you..."
She smiled at the put upon lilt to his voice and tease back. "It is only fair... But my baby is going to smell better than your dog."
"You clearly haven't spent much time with babies..."
Later in the night Blair woke up on fire, and not in a good way. She was sweltering and it was only when she sat up that she realized why. She was covered with the sheet, the duvet and two throw blankets, all of which had caused sweat to drip off her body and wake her from her sleep. She looked around smiled because of where she was, but frowned when she saw Chuck wasn't there. She got up to go look for him as she pulled a robe he had laid out for her over her shoulders and tied it above what had once been her trim waist.
It wasn't hard. He was sitting on his couch.
"Chuck?"
"What's wrong? Were you cold?" He asked with concern.
She shook her head.
"Chuck? What's wrong?" She could see his clenched jaw from across the room.
"I'm behind. I have to catch up and be ready with you... for you. For the baby."
"What are you talking about?" She asked as she came to sit beside him. It was then that she saw that he had several windows open on his computer and a myriad of books on pregnancy, birth and parenting.
"I registered for infant and child CPR... I registered you too because I wasn't sure if you'd done it already or not? I've also registered in several other classes... bathing, diapering, feeding... but I think that's up to you to start? You do want to breast feed don' t you? It's up to you, but it does seem to have many benefits for the baby... I also contacted my real estate guy, and he can take us around to places as soon as tomorrow morning, unless you want to stay in your own home? It is close the the Park, so it's good for both the baby and the dog. I'll live wherever you both live. Speaking of which, I've spoken with the dog trainer and Sweetie starts Baby Preparation classes on Tuesday. Oh, and I've upped my therapy to two sessions a week."
Blair's mouth was hanging open. She hadn't heard him talk this much at one time in years. She grasped his face in her hands and kissed him hard. That shut him up.
The next day they sat with her parents to discuss the future. Upon their arrival, Blair would swear Chuck blushed under Eleanor's stiff gaze. It was thrown off by Cyrus' bear hug.
Eleanor rolled her eyes then looked at Blair. "I used to think that I should have shipped you off to a convent run boarding school after the first time I caught him in your room-"
"Mother!" Blair gasped aloud looking towards her fathers.
"Please. Did you really think I'd believe the you'd just fallen asleep after studying with Chuck Bass? Besides your headband had been crooked."
Blair sighed. It had been a dead giveaway back in those days. She ignored Chuck's smirk.
"As I was saying... I should have shipped you away then... But I think even then it was too late."
Blair and Chuck's eyes sought each other's and held on. It was. Their fate had been sealed long ago.
After an explanation filled lunch, they all sat back.
"It won't be easy..." Ramon said softly.
There were many head nods and Chuck squeezed Blair's hand where it held it in his on the table.
"There is one thing that will substantially increase your chances of gaining primary physical custody and being able to stay here in New York..." Cyrus said as he and Harold made brief eye contact, both knowing the answer.
"Anything!" Blair said quickly, understanding that Louis had just as many rights to the baby as she did, but wanting to keep the baby with her and Chuck as much as possible.
"Well, Blair-bear... A single mother with a boyfriend is one thing... a stable married couple is another in the eyes of a judge..."
"What?" She gasped. "That's ridiculous!"
"Blair, darling, if Louis were to bring in yours and Charles' history... you can see how... temperamental it could seem to a judge..."
"Youthful confusion!" Blair declared adamantly. "We've always loved each other. It just took a little while to sort itself out..."
"Excellent! Then there's no reason not to have a wedding!" Cyrus said happily.
Blair turned quickly to Chuck who had sat quietly through it all. She was shaking her head as she grasped his hands. "Chuck, you don't have to feel pressured. This is 2011... 2012 by the time the baby is born, I'm an intelligent, wealthy woman, and you don't have to marry me to secure the baby. I'll make a judge see that we're where the baby should be."
A lump formed in her throat as he pulled his hands from her tight grasp. She blinked back tears.
"I had hoped to ask your many parent's permission first, but..." She slipped down to one knee before her. "Blair Waldorf, would you marry me?"
For a moment she was too stunned to say anything. Then he pulled the ring from his pocket.
"My ring!" She half shouted as she threw herself into his arms.
A collective gasp rose of the ring, and Eleanor gave a "My, my." because after all... it was the most perfect ring Blair had ever seen. He had to pry her arms off of the death grip they had around his neck.
"Is that a yes?" He tried to joke, but he really wanted to hear the answer he'd been dreaming of hearing for a year and a half since he bought it.
"Yes. Chuck Bass, I will marry you. YES!" She went back to her choking hug and ignored the 'thank gods' from her parents who were exhausted by the back and forth nature of their daughter's romance. There was the sense, however that this was it. There would be no more breaks, they would be going forward together.
Two weeks later they were married quietly in her mother's apartment, surrounded my close family and friends, and ever peony Chuck's florist could get his hands on.
The conflict over the baby raged on with Louis, but the majority of the issues were settled. Since the baby would not be born in wedlock with Louis, his mother refused to acknowledge the child, which made things harder on Louis, but easier on Chuck and Blair. The biggest point had been the hardest to win. Louis ceded sole physical custody of the child for the first five years, but with full visitation rights. It was more than Blair could dream of, but it had come at a price. He wanted to be present at the birth of his child, fair enough, but he refused to allow Chuck to be there as well. Louis felt that this was their child, and while Chuck was her husband and step-father to the baby, he hadn't been there at conception and he shouldn't be there at the birth. Blair and the lawyers had fought, but Louis had begun to threaten to back track, which was when Chuck agreed to not be present for the birth. Later, when they were alone and tucked together in their new bed, bought fresh for their new home, he whispered his assurances. They'd have their whole lives together with the baby. They'd let Louis have these few moments and then have the every moment after that as the only us that mattered. Her, him and her baby. He moved down her body to press his lips to the skin of her stomach that shielded her baby.
It was easier said than done a couple of months later when Blair's water broke. Chuck stayed through the labour, but when the delivery was about to start, Louis was allowed in and it was Chuck's turn to leave. Already in a state she clung to Chuck hand. Chuck looked down at her in the bed, in pain and sweating despite the drugs that were supposed to make this pain free. Her eyes pled with his to stay. His eyes were wet as he leaned down to cup her face and intensely look into her eyes.
"I'll be right outside. You can do this. You are Blair Waldorf." He kissed her and tasted the tears that had slipped out, but he didn't know if they were hers or his. "Now, hurry up and push so I can come back to you... and meet the baby."
"Okay." Blair nodded and put on a brave face. "It's probably better that you don't see what's about to happen. You'd never want me again."
"I'll always want you." Chuck said and kissed her forehead hard and then left before he couldn't bring himself to.
Louis tried to hold her hand but she ripped it away to hold onto the rail of the bed. "You're here for the baby, not me." She told him firmly.
Louis had agreed to allow Eleanor in as a support for Blair, and so held her other hand out, where it was taken by her mother. She wished with al her heart that Chuck could have been with her, but it didn't lessen the total joy and elation she felt when she finally pushed the baby from her body. With an ear piercing wail her baby was born. They placed the baby on her belly. Even Eleanor was crying as she clung to her daughter's side and gushed over her first grandchild. Louis was stiff and shocked at her other side as he cut the cord and held the baby for several minutes.
"It could have been different..."
"Not really... I'm sorry, Louis, I was always meant to be with Chuck... timing has just never been our strong suit till now."
Outside in the hall Chuck was going crazy. They'd been getting regular updates from nurses and doctors in the room, with the final one being that the baby had been born. Everyone was safe and healthy. Nate, Serena, Lily, Dan, all Blair's dads, Dorota and Rufus were just about ready to tie him down.
About twenty minutes later Louis came out and was greeted by his handlers. He made no comment to anyone as he left the hospital. Eleanor came out a few minutes later with a smile on her exhausted face. Before she could say anything, Chuck was running to Blair.
He stumbled into the room but caught himself. The private suite was quiet and dimly lit. All he saw was a tired, but elated looking Blair laying in the bed with a small, white swaddled, bundle in her arms. They'd agreed to wait on the sex of the baby, so he had no clue. He walked slowly to the bed, smiling like a man so happy that he'd lost all his mental facilities. He perched on the edge of the bed beside her and she angled the bundle to show him a tiny splotchy, pinched, disgruntled looking sleeping face.
"She's beautiful." Chuck gasped, believing it. His eyes sought hers now. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "I may never cross my legs right again, but I'm fine."
"Well, I don't really have a problem with your legs being open, so we'll do alright."
She rolled her eyes at him and then they both stared at the baby again.
Blair smiled, her eyes wide as she carefully shifted the baby into his arms. She knew he'd be able to hold her properly. He'd taken more baby classes than she had. He'd been given a perfect score for all holds, diaper changing, and burping. "Chuck, this is our daughter."
His eyes shot quickly to hers, and she amended. "Louis is the father of this little girl, but you're going to be her Daddy. That's much more important."
Chuck nodded in agreement. He unconsciously began to rock with her and Blair smiled running her hand up and down his arm.
"I didn't think it would happen this quickly..." He admitted.
"What?"
"That I would love her this much so soon." He looked down at the baby that already had him wrapped around her little finger. "Did you hear that? I love you, Vivian Eleanor Waldorf, with all my heart... Just as I love your Mommy."
"Mother." Blair corrected.
Chuck shook his head. "Mommy."
"Fine." Blair huffed. "But you can't make it dirty anymore."
"Fine."
Even though there were a million people waiting outside to get in the three of them cuddled together a little longer, and they knew this was it. This was the us that mattered to them, and the one that they would always fight for.
TahDAH! Okay so this was designed as a one shot, but I'm going to leave it open just incase the mood strikes me to add to it. I also got a massive kink in my neck. It feels like the tendons are trying to rip themselves out of my skin.
Okay, I should also say that for personal reasons I am unable to refer to Chuck's dog by his given name. I went with Sweetie. Apologies.