May 15th, 2045
Chuck Bass nervously knocked on the hotel door that his daughter and her bridesmaids have been prepping in all morning. Blair opened the door, smiled at him and let him in.
"Audrey! Your father is here! You have fifteen minutes." Blair looks excited, a bit stressed, but most of all sad at the prospect of her little princess getting married. The bridesmaids all said hello to Chuck as they exited the room to go line up for the wedding procession. Once they all left the only people in the room are Audrey, and her parents (Henry was the best man for the groom, Cameron Archibald, the oldest of Nate's four children). Audrey walked around the corner, a vision in white. Her long brown hair is in a low chignon with a beautiful veil is secured within it. Her dress, a Waldorf-Original is pure white with simple, elegant tiers. Her mother starts to cry for the fifth time in two hours and she leans over to hug her. Chuck stands there, flabbergasted. His little girl was getting married.
"How do I look, daddy?" Audrey asked like the daddy's girl she had always been.
"Like a vision. Blair, you should go and take your seat before Serena starts thinking you ran away like you did at Henry's wedding." Blair sent him a look but kisses both her husband's and daughter's cheeks before leaving the room. It will take consoling and a lot of macarons to stop Blair from hyperventilating when they get home tonight, but right now Chuck focuses on his not-so-little-anymore daughter.
"Audrey. You really do look beautiful." Chuck begins to tear up and Audrey notices.
"Daddy, please don't cry. If you do I do, and once I start crying you know I won't be able to stop." She tries to wipe away a tear cascading down her face, but it slips off her cheek and slides to the bottom of her chin. Her blue eyes glisten (as she has Bart's eyes, much to her parents dismay) and her nose sniffles as she hopes to avoid major tears until later. Chuck reaches and wipes away the drop on her chin and opens his arms. Audrey hugs her father tight and for a moment, it is just as it has always been between the two of them. They part and Chuck takes Audrey's hand (the one not carrying the bouquet of peonies, because like her mother, Audrey loves peonies) and the two leave the room and head downstairs to the lavish ballroom at the Palace where the ceremony was being held.
They pause in front of the doors and wait for the ushers to open the doors. They watch everyone stand, and see blond haired, blued-eyed Cam standing at the gives Audrey's hand a squeeze and when the music starts to play, Chuck and Audrey slowly walk down the aisle. Halfway down a tear slips down Chuck's cheek, and then another. He moves to wipe them away but decides against it, as he knows more will fall in their place. Cam steps down and meets Chuck, who after giving is daughter a tearful hug, hands her off to the "love of her life".
Chuck sits down next to Blair in the front row, and notices that Blair has wasted no time on trying to hold back tears. He grabs her hand and gives up holding back his too. They watch the ceremony take place, and when Audrey says I do, he kisses Blair on the cheek, trying to distract her from the sobs probably rising in her throat. They watch as their little girl proceeds down the aisle, looking so in love with her now husband, and watch their oldest child follow the couple, and grab his wife (Audrey's maid of honor) buy the hand and lead her in the procession.
Everyone moves from the ceremony to the reception and the whole wedding is glamorous and perfect. The beautiful cake is cut, bouquets thrown, and speeches given. Chuck and Blair give one respectively, but don't make it too long, as both of them know that neither they nor Audrey could handle a speech truly from the heart. The reception moves to dancing and of course, Chuck and Blair move gracefully around the dance floor. Chuck and Audrey share a father daughter dance that causes tears to once again roll down Blair's face. Serena hands her a tissue and tries to comfort her long time best friend but knows that she won't understand until her daughter Maisy gets married. The reception winds down and the "old folks" start to head home. Chuck and Blair take the limo home and sit silently as they drive through the city.
They return home to find a dark and lonely house. The same house they raised their children in, hosted parties/weddings/and the occasional funeral in. The house that still has a bed for Monkey, the long time gone companion to the family. and a special room for the two going on three generation maid who passed away recently at the age of 97. It takes no time for Blair to collapse from the sobs she had been holding in for a long time, and this time, Chuck joins her with silent tears. After crying in the living room, they both head upstairs. They change for bed and crawl into the king size bed they have had since they first got married. For the first time in hours, Blair speaks up, as she finds herself wrapped in Chuck's arms.
"I guess it's back to us two again, isn't it Mr. Bass." She sounds sad, but the tone in her voice is the same as it has been for their entire marriage; mischievous, loving, and warm.
"I suppose so Mrs. Bass." Chuck squeezes her a little tighter.
"You know, it hasn't been this quiet in the house since the first night we spent in it. No Monkey, no children, no Dorota. Just us." She sounds like she might cry again, but her statement is clear.
"That means we can do whatever we want." Chuck tries to sound cheery, but even he can't hide the severe loneliness that is creeping in on them.
"As lovely as that is, I just don't know if I can get used to the idea of that. We have been parents for almost thirty years, and I can't accept the feeling that our babies don't need us anymore." She starts to choke on her words again.
Chuck thought for a moment. True both of them have been loving and hands on parents for thirty years. It was clear they loved their children and would do anything for them, but maybe this new time in their lives wasn't as bad and depressing as it felt. Chuck and Blair had teared up, cried, and sulked over their children growing up ever since Henry decided not to go to university in the city, but to go to Oxford in England, giving everyone a strong case of empty nest syndrome.
"True. However, Henry and Audrey will always need us, but they just need us in different ways now. On the up side, now we get time to just be Chuck and Blair again. If you think about it, we haven't been only Chuck and Blair in three decades. At first it will be lonely and sad, but after a while, I think it will get easier and become more enjoyable. Maybe we could travel the world again, or start a new business. Sooner or later we will have grandchildren to look after, too. " He stroked her arm with his thumb, trying to comfort her.
"But what if we become boring?" Chuck half laughed and half scoffed at her statement.
"Mrs. Bass, we could never be boring." She giggled and snuggled deeper into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and the two kissed each other good night. It was time for Chuck and Blair to be just Chuck and Blair again, and as was always true, they could never be boring.