Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
I've made you wait longer than I had anticipated and for that I apologize. The results of the poll from the previous story was pretty even, so I will be doing both stories. Hope you all enjoy.
"Charlotte is starting kindergarten tomorrow," Chuck stated in total disbelief. Where the hell had the time gone?
"I know," Blair responded as she rested her head against his bare chest as they lay in bed. She was tracing random patterns across his hairy chest with her fingers. He would flinch every now and then when her caress tickled him, but he didn't reach out to stop her. "Doesn't it make you feel old?"
"You keep me young," he assured her as he kissed her forehead.
"Brice is so jealous," Blair chuckled in amusement as he reached out for her hand and began caressing each finger with his lips, "He keeps picking up Charlee's backpack and putting it on."
"I'm going to get him his own tomorrow," Chuck assured her, "He is not wearing that neon pink atrocity around this house again."
"Chuck Bass, since when do you have a problem with men wearing pink?" she laughed as she pinched his nipple playfully, "You used to wear it all the time."
"I don't have a problem with pink. I'll still wear it on occasion if it goes with your ensemble," he shrugged, "But that bubble gum, Pepto Bismol pink is too much even for me. Why you bought that hideous thing is beyond me."
"It's the one Charlee chose," Blair rationalized, "I'd like you to try turning her down when she gives you her puppy dog eyes."
"Never going to happen," Chuck sighed, "I can't turn her down any more than I can turn you down."
Charlotte had Chuck wrapped around her little finger, and she was starting to figure that out. She was a spoiled little princess, they freely admitted it, but they also made sure that she was well rounded. She interacted well with children her age, in fact, they seemed to gravitate towards her. She wasn't bossy like Blair had been at her age. She seemed to have picked up Serena's carefree attitude. Blair and Chuck were pretty sure it had more to do with Charlotte's natural self-confidence than the influence of her godmother.
"When was the last time you turned me down?" she asked playfully.
They both began chuckling as they tried to come up with an example. He denied her very little in life. They had passed their seventh anniversary that spring by renewing their wedding vows in an intimate garden setting at their Hamptons home and completely bypassed the seven year itch.
"We have to plan something fun to do with Brice tomorrow," Blair stated after giving up on trying to find an example for Chuck. "He wants to go to school so much."
"We could take him and Barty to the park for the day," Chuck offered. Barty was the newest addition to the family in the form of a golden Labrador puppy that Chuck had given his son as a reward for keeping the vow renewal ceremony a secret from Blair. Surprisingly even at the age of three, his son was very responsible with the dog. He went with for every walk in the park, made sure that he had food and water, and gave him all the attention that the dog wanted.
"We'll have to ask him," Blair responded.
"We could just ask him what he wants to do," Chuck stated as she snuggled closer to him as she began to drift off to sleep, "It will be the first time that he won't have to negotiate with his sister to do what he wants."
"They certainly do act like siblings," Blair mused with a smirk on her face.
Brice was the typical younger brother that annoyed his sister to no end. He was always around to harass her, hide her toys, or cause general chaos for Charlotte. It had gotten worse with the help of his dog who had more of a taste for dolls than shoes.
"Do you ever think about us having more children?" Chuck asked as he caressed the skin at her back softly.
Blair momentarily froze in his arms, which didn't go unnoticed by Chuck.
"Have you thought about it?" she stammered out.
"A little," he shrugged as his hand moved to gently caress her arm that was resting on his chest.
"And when you think about it, what do you think?" she inquired as she shifted so that she could look into his eyes.
"You're going to think I'm being selfish," he responded as he looked away from her.
"Chuck, what do you mean by that?" she asked as she reached up to turn his gaze to hers once again.
"I don't want more kids," he stated, "And I feel horrible for saying that because I love the children we have so much."
"I know you do, and what is more important is that they know how much you love them," she assured him, "Why would you say that you're being selfish?"
"Well, my motives for not wanting more children, aren't strictly pure," he stated, "It was absolute torture for me when you gave birth to our children. You know that. I don't know if I could go through that again. Besides, our family feels complete."
"I agree. Our family does feel complete," she stated before she mischievously added, "Besides pregnancy puts a damper on our sex life."
Chuck began laughing. He was suddenly convinced that she really could read his mind. "I wasn't going to throw that in there, but since you brought it up. That's the other reason."
"I know," she laughed softly, "It was just as hard for me as it was you during those few months when the doctor told us we couldn't be intimate."
"So, the question now is, what are we going to do about it?" he pressed, "We take precautions, but there is only one fool proof method, and abstinence is not an option as we have just discussed."
"What's all this business about 'we take precautions'?" she teased, "I take precautions."
"Well, I make sure you take precautions," he grinned devilishly.
"Do you count my pills or something," she smirked.
"Occasionally," he replied with a mischievous grin.
"You do not," she responded as she slapped his chest playfully.
"We're getting sidetracked," he stated as he grabbed a hold of her wrist to prevent further assault. There was already a faint red mark on his chest from where she hit him, and he had intended for this to be a serious discussion.
"Well, we have a couple of more permanent options," Blair stated, "I could get my tubes tied, or you could get a vasectomy."
Chuck instantly flinched at the word. Just the mere thought of anyone coming close to him with a blade scared the crap out of him. His eyes must have betrayed his thoughts.
"You want me to get my tubes tied, don't you," she concluded as she studied the sheer panic in his eyes.
"I didn't say that," he responded defensively.
"You didn't have to," she insisted as she rolled away from him, "It's written all over your face. Listen up, Mister Bass, I gave birth to those two amazing children, and I went through all the pain of pregnancy and childbirth. You could at least consider taking one for the team."
"I never ruled it out," he insisted as he rolled onto his side to face her. He could practically see the steam coming out of her ears, "You are the one that jumped to the conclusion that I had."
"So you'll get the vasectomy," she stated.
"I haven't said that either," he replied, "We should talk about this."
"What is there to talk about?" she demanded, "We have two options. One is an invasive surgery that requires serious recovery time. The other is an outpatient procedure that will have you back in the saddle in a few days."
"But someone coming that close to me with a blade in their hand," he winced.
"Men and their fragile organs," she huffed, "You all act as if the world will end if someone comes within five feet of you."
"You come much closer than that, Beautiful," he smirked.
"You know what I mean," she snapped. She was not in the mood for their playful banter.
"Let me think it over for a few days," he proposed, "This isn't something that has to be decided on right away."
"What if I said that I won't make love with you again until we come up with a solution?" she pressed.
"Are you saying you'll hold out on me until I have a vasectomy?" he groaned, "Blair, we go hours in between interludes, not days. Neither one of us will last long."
"I'm giving you a taste of what it would be like if you had me get my tubes tied," she snapped as she rolled away from him and closed her eyes. Apparently that was her signal that this conversation was over.
"Crap!" he mentally cursed to himself as he rolled onto his back and began staring at the ceiling. She seemed serious about this. She never rolled away from him during an argument. Usually they kept yelling until they resolved whatever issue they were arguing about a the moment.
"Blair," he called out to her as he tried to roll her towards him.
"Seriously, Chuck, we need to end this discussion right now," Blair stated as she fought his attempts to roll her over, "You'll end up in the guest bedroom if we continue."
"We need to resolve this," Chuck insisted. They never went to bed angry before, and he wasn't going to start now.
"You want me to go through a seriously painful procedure just so your precious male ego stays in complete working order," she hissed as she turned towards him suddenly. He nearly rolled out of bed trying to dodge her flailing arms, "Are you wanting to ensure that you'll still be able to procreate?"
"I just told you that I don't want more children," he insisted, "Where would give you a ridiculous idea like that?"
"Maybe you're wanting to wait until you move on to your second wife," she snapped.
"Now you are being outright delusional," he snarled back, "You are the only wife that I will ever have or want. You're also the only person I'd ever want to be the mother of my children."
"Then you'll have the vasectomy," she proclaimed.
"We're not even going to have the discussion, are we," he realized, "You've already made up your mind that I'm having this vasectomy, and you'll hold out on me until I do. Honestly, Blair our children are more mature you're being at the moment."
"Are you calling me a child!" she snapped.
"You need to calm down," he demanded as he rose from the bed abruptly.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" she shouted as he disappeared into their closet.
"I'm not going anywhere," he yelled back as he reappeared in a pair of track pants and cotton shirt, "But I also can't argue with you effectively while we're both naked. Put a robe on or something."
"Don't tell me what to do!" she demanded as she sat up and slipped into her silk robe that was at the end of the bed.
There was a small knock at their bedroom door that startled them both.
Chuck quickly opened the door to see their sleepy three-year-old son was on the other side with his teddy bear tucked under one arm and puppy at his side.
"What's wrong, Little Man," Chuck inquired as he knelt down on one knee as he looked at his son who had tears in his eyes. Brice dropped his bear before he quickly threw himself into his father's arms and hugged him tight.
"Don't leave, Daddy," Brice sniffled.
Chuck's heart broke at the statement as he lifted his son as he stood up. He looked at Blair with a guilty expression on his face which matched her own. They had woken their son with their argument.
While their bedroom had been soundproofed a long time ago, occasionally they had found that their voices traveled through their closet and into Brice's bedroom, which was right next to theirs. It was a rare occurrence, as they had to be really loud, but tonight must have been one of those instances.
"Daddy isn't going anywhere," Blair assured her son as Chuck lowered the small brunette into his mother's arms.
"Don't leave, Mommy," Brice stated as he then threw his arms around his mother's neck.
"Nobody is leaving," Chuck assured their son as he rubbed the small boy's back rhythmically, "We're sorry that we woke you."
"You were yelling really loud," Brice stated as he curled willingly into Blair's arms to seek out her comfort.
"You're right, we were," Blair nodded as she ran her hands through his thick brown hair, "And we shouldn't have been."
"Why are you mad?" Brice pressed as he turned so that he could see both of his parents while sticking his thumb into his mouth. Blair and Chuck felt even guiltier as they looked at their son. He only sucked his thumb when he was really scared about something.
"Daddy and I are having a grownup problem," Blair stated. Her son wouldn't understand the problem even if they told him, so she tried to simplify the issue as much as she could. Chuck could see that wasn't going to work. Their son was too smart for his own good.
"Kiss and make up," Brice mumbled against him thumb as he refused to take it out to speak.
"It's not that simple," Blair stated as she brushed his hair away from his face. He needed a haircut, she realized, but he would only do it when Chuck had his cut, which was still a few weeks away.
"Kiss," Brice demanded, "And mean it."
Chuck coughed abruptly to cover up the chuckle that escaped. He saw the twinkle of amusement in his wife's eyes as well so he felt safe as he leaned in to kiss her softly.
"I said mean it," Brice snapped when Chuck pulled away.
"I did mean it," Chuck insisted, "And so did Mommy."
Blair didn't even try to hide her amusement as her son scowled at his father. Chuck was quick to return with his patented stare. Brice had the same brooding stare that his father did although Chuck rarely used his anymore. He didn't have a lot in his life to frown at.
"Sweetheart, go back to bed," Blair encouraged him as she lifted him to his feet, "Daddy and I have to finish talking."
"No yelling," Brice scolded both of them as Chuck lifted him off their bed. Brice trotted out of the room, grabbing his teddy bear as he went with his puppy nipping at his heals. Chuck followed him to the door and closed it.
"I'm sorry," they both stated in unison when Chuck turned around.
"I'm sorry," Blair repeated, "You're right. I'm not even letting us have this discussion. My mind is already made up, and that's not fair to you."
"And I'm being irrational about this vasectomy thing. You're right. My procedure is much less invasive. I'll schedule an appointment first thing tomorrow morning," he responded.
"I don't want to force this on you," she responded quickly.
"Wasn't that what you were trying to do minutes earlier, before we woke Brice," he chuckled.
"How is it that we always agree, but not always at the same time," she laughed along with him.
"It just takes me a few minutes longer," he grinned, "We're not all blessed with your intelligence."
"I love you, Bass," she sighed as she leaned in and captured his lips. He was going to respond with his 'I love you too', but her lips pressed against his muffled his reply.
"What are we going to do about Brice?" Chuck inquired as he reluctantly pulled away, "He has this ridiculous idea that one of us is leaving. This isn't the first time he's overreacted recently."
"I don't understand where he's getting this," she added, "You and I rarely argue, and never in front of the children."
"He's getting it from his friend Devon," Chuck stated, "Her parents are getting divorced."
"Which one is Devon?" Blair inquired. Brice had so many friends that she could never keep track of them all.
"She's the curly haired blonde," Chuck responded, "Her father is the cardiologist."
"And her mother is that silicon bimbo," Blair rolled her eyes. She dreaded play dates with Devon merely because her mother was an unbearable bore. "I'm not surprised."
"Not everyone can be as blissfully happy as the two of us," Chuck smirked as he leaned in to lightly kiss her lips.
"Kiss me like you mean it," she giggled into his lips.
"I did mean it," he laughed, "Where the hell did he get that?"
"He's just so used to the two of us devouring each other, that a small peck on the lips just doesn't satisfy," she cooed as she leaned into him again.
"It doesn't exactly satisfy me either," Chuck responded as he met her half way and devoured her as she described. She began humming against his lips. It was a tune that she had been singing a lot recently. "One of these days you're going to have to name that tune."
"I can't get no . . . satisfaction," she sung out seductively, emulating the Rolling Stones classic hit.
"Seriously, if that isn't a misnomer, I don't know what is," Chuck responded in great amusement. She was throwing down the gauntlet in which he was only too happy to accept. "Prepare yourself for the greatest satisfaction you have ever known."
"That's a pretty bold statement," she whispered in his ear before she began nibbling on his earlobe, "I'm a very satisfied woman thanks to my stud of a husband."
"We've been married for seven years. You have never referred to me as a stud before," he laughed out.
"I thought that was implied," she cooed as she climbed over him.
TBC. . .
I hope the wait was worth it. Let me know what you think.