Disclaimer: I only own the story specific characters. The originals belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
It's been awhile, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten these characters. I've been fighting my muse a bit, but I think I'm ready to go.
This is another peek into the lives of Blair and Chuck in my long running series. Timeline wise – this story takes place after 'Chuck's Dilemma'.
I hope everyone enjoys this new journey.
"Daddy, don't forget about my play on Friday night," Charlotte reminded her father as she sat in front of the computer in his office as they had a video chat during his business trip in Chicago, "We're performing 'Our Town', and you promised you'd be there."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Chuck assured her as he glanced at his day planner to be sure that he'd been properly booked to be home in time to see her theatrical debut. His flight home was going to require him to rush to the theater, but he was confident that he would make it.
"I know," Charlotte smiled adoringly, "You haven't missed so much as a parent-teacher's conference my entire life."
"I wouldn't go that far, Princess," he chuckled, "But your mother and I will have the best seats in the house as we watch our little girl make her theatric debut."
"I'm not your little girl anymore, Daddy," Charlotte rolled her eyes, "I'm sixteen years old. I'm legally old enough to drive a car."
"I'm still not allowing you to take driving lessons," Chuck shook his head as he refused to be pulled into the debate she wouldn't let drop after several months, "The New York City streets are dangerous enough in the back of our limo. I will not add to it a teenage driver that only wants her license to prove to her friends that she's superior to them."
"I don't want to drive in New York City," Charlotte insisted, "What if I go to a school out of state? What if I have to drive to and from my classes?"
"We've been through this, Charlotte," Chuck reminded her, "If you go to school outside New York City, and if you need to be driven to and from your classes, you'll be given a driver of your very own."
"But Dad," she whined.
"I'm not having this conversation with you yet again, especially knowing that you can mute me with a simple touch of a button," Chuck informed her calmly, "You are not taking driving lessons. End of discussion."
"You're being completely unreasonable," Charlotte huffed.
"Good," Chuck responded calmly, "Then I'm doing my job as your father."
"Couldn't we put it to a vote?" Charlotte pressed, "I know Mom would be on my side."
"Our home isn't a democracy," Chuck replied, "It is a monarchy. Your mother is the queen; I am the king, and you are the princess. I can assure you that the queen and I are united in this decision, which is final."
"I don't live in a monarchy," she snapped, "This is a dictatorship. I can't make any of my own decisions, ever."
"You have no idea what it would be like to live under a true dictator," Chuck responded calmly, "You can make all sort of decisions on your own. There are simply certain items that you want your mother and I to fund that we refuse to allow, driving lessons are one."
"I can't take to you anymore," Charlotte snapped.
"I'll see you Friday night," Chuck responded, "I love you, Charlotte."
Charlotte stormed out of the room without a reply.
"Is she still on you about those driving lessons?" Blair took her daughter's place in front of the monitor after hearing her daughter's bedroom door slam.
"There isn't much I deny her," Chuck sighed, "She can't let go of those few things I refuse. First those darn penguins, now these driving lessons."
"She'll get over it," Blair chuckled.
"In ten years," Chuck grumbled, "She was asking for those damn birds until she became a teenager."
"I know we agreed to not allow these driving lessons, but Chuck, I don't see the harm in it. She has already said that she doesn't want to drive in the city," Blair replied, "Don't you think we are being a little rigid here?"
"Have you forgotten how I lost my father?" Chuck prompted her, "You were there when I lost him. If I lost Charlotte like that…"
"You're right," Blair interrupted his thoughts, "I should have put that together. I know how hard that was for you. Remember I was there. I picked you up off the floor and put your shoes on your correct feet. I held you as you finally found sleep."
"If that happened to Charlotte, there would be no picking me up off the floor," Chuck told her.
"It's every parent's worst nightmare," Blair agreed, "What happened to your father could happen to any of us at any moment, Chuck. Your father wasn't even driving the car when his accident happened."
"You're not changing my mind, Blair," Chuck stopped her from wasting her breath.
"Charlotte is going to keep harping on this until she gets her way," Blair pointed out, "She's been at this for months. She asked for that penguin for over a decade. She only has a few years left under our roof. As soon as she's out of our home, she's going to do whatever she wants. Don't you want her to have the best possible tutor so she learns how to drive the correct way?"
"We're not talking about this anymore," Chuck stopped the conversation abruptly.
"Okay," Blair agreed. She knew this was a conversation which would continue when he returned from his trip. He hated arguing when he was so far away; "You have Charlotte's play on your calendar, don't you?"
"It's going to be a close call," Chuck glanced at his calendar again, "I have meetings booked through the middle of the afternoon, and you never know with Mother Nature, but I should be there before the curtain goes up."
"Good," Blair replied, "Charlotte is really looking forward to this, and it would crush her if her favorite person wasn't front and center."
"The guilt trip isn't necessary," Chuck responded, "I have every intention of being there."
"I know," Blair nodded, "We miss you."
"I miss you too," Chuck smiled slightly.
"I need my cuddle bear to sleep," she added.
"That's not a term of endearment I've heard before," he chuckled.
"I don't like these overnight business trips," she replied, "Could you stop scheduling them?"
"I'll just move all our business holdings to New York," Chuck replied, "That will solve our problem."
"Don't mock me, Bass," she scolded him, "I know I'm making an irrational request. Could you pretend to humor me for at least a minute?"
"I'll never schedule another overnight business trip ever again," he vowed.
"Now I don't believe you," she whined.
"You are the most infuriating woman I have ever met," he growled.
"I know," she proclaimed cheerfully, "It's why you married me."
He was about to respond with Blair's attention was turned towards her youngest son who had entered his father's den.
"What is it, Aiden?" Blair inquired as he came around the desk. He'd already had his talk with his father for the evening, so Blair knew he was there to speak to her.
"I can't figure out these math problems," Aiden set his homework in front of her.
"Hurry home, Bass," Blair looked at the gibberish in front of her. Chuck always helped with the math and science homework. She was in charge of the English and history lessons, "Or your son is going to flunk out of his math class."
"Good luck, Beautiful," Chuck laughed, "I love you."
"I love you too," she replied as they disconnected their video link so she could focus on the task at hand. "Come on, Aiden, let's go get the math book out. Maybe it will jog my memory, but we might need to bug Brice."
"Mom, I can't be late," Charlotte whined as she paced the front hallway of her home as she waited for her mother to appear the night of her first performance. Her hair was in curlers and her face was caked in stage makeup, but she was still in her bathrobe.
"Charlee, I'm working as fast as I can," Blair entered the hallway with her daughter's costume in her hands as she stitched away at the hem. Charlotte had accidently stepped on it as she dressed for the show and tore it. Blair was working frantically to fix it.
"Can't you finish in the car?" she moaned.
"Okay," Blair looked at the clock. Charlotte was supposed to be at her school in fifteen minutes. "Go get your brothers."
Charlotte darted out of the hallway, bellowing for her brothers as loud as she could. Blair couldn't help but laugh. Chuck was right. Charlotte was the same drama queen she'd been twenty years earlier.
"Aren't we waiting for Dad?" Brice inquired as he came into the hallway and accepted his coat from Dorota.
"He's going to be a little late," Blair replied.
"What!" Charlotte exclaimed, "He can't be late."
"I just talked to him a few minutes ago. He's not going to miss the show, but he's not going to be able to stop by the penthouse," Blair assured her daughter, "He's going to helicopter to Bass from the airport, and a car is going to drive him directly to your school."
"Aiden, hurry up," Charlotte called out for her younger brother, "We have to go…NOW!"
"Alright, alright," Aiden stumbled into the room while trying to put on his dress shoes, "I hope you never become a professional actress. You're being even bossier than usual."
"Aiden, not now," Blair scolded her son, "Charlotte is just nervous. As a family, we must be supportive."
"Get in," Charlotte commanded everyone as the elevator door opened. Her brothers dutifully filed in, but Blair was a bit too slow for her daughter as she was still trying to repair her daughter's costume and walk at the same time, "Come on, Mother, hurry up. One foot in front of the other."
"Charlotte Evelyn Waldorf-Bass, take a deep breath," Blair scolded her daughter, "We will get there when we get there."
Charlotte made no further comment, but she tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator descended into the lobby. All bets were off when the doorman wasn't quick enough to open the door for Charlotte.
"Charlotte," her mother scolded her yet again as her daughter was in the middle of a severe tongue-lashing, "One more outbursts like that and the understudy will be taking your place tonight. Now get in the car."
Charlotte fidgeted in the back of the limo each time she felt Arthur applying the brakes. She reached several times for the glass partition switch, but her mother's stern gaze halted her actions.
As they pulled up to the school, Charlotte was climbing over her brother to get out first. She couldn't even wait a few seconds to allow Arthur to open the door for her.
"Should we tell her she still has her hair in curlers?" Aiden asked his brother.
"You tell her about the curlers. I get to drop the bomb about the bathrobe," Brice snorted.
They both chuckled until their mother gave them another scolding look.
"Go get seats for the four of us," Blair commanded her sons once inside the school auditorium, "I'm going help Charlotte finish getting dressed and see if anyone else needs help. You two behave."
"Give us some credit," Brice rolled his eyes.
"Take my bag," Blair shoved her purse into his stomach, "Your father might try to call. Let all other calls go to voicemail."
Brice nodded as he accepted the purse and followed his brother into the auditorium, which was rapidly filling with many familiar faces. Charlotte wasn't just the lead in the play; she was also the number one seller of tickets to the show. Nearly anyone she'd ever been in contact with in her entire life had been approached to purchase tickets, and none she'd approached had refused.
"Brice, Aiden, we saved seats for you and your parents," Eugenia, Chuck's fiercely loyal assistant, waved them towards the front of the auditorium.
"Thanks, Genie," Brice smiled as the woman hugged him.
"Where's your mom?" Eugenia inquired as she hugged Aiden.
"Helping Charlee," Aiden explained, "She ripped her dress getting ready, so Mom had to pull out the needle and thread."
"I talked to your father about a half hour ago. The helicopter had just landed at Bass. It's a fifteen minute ride from Bass to here, so he should be here any minute," Eugenia explained.
"Good," Brice replied, "Then the drama queen can settle down."
"Its just opening night jitters," Eugenia's husband, Cedric, chimed in.
"Thankfully this is a one night production," Aiden added, "I'm not sure any of us would survive another one."
Eugenia and Cedric were both chuckling as Blair joined them.
"Crisis averted," Blair announced as she greeted both Eugenia and Cedric with a hug, "She's dressed and the curlers are out."
"Mister Bass should be here any minute," Eugenia chimed in.
"Eugenia, it's after business hours. You're at our daughter's play. I think it's okay to call him Chuck for the evening," Blair laughed.
"You never know," Eugenia chuckled, "He could be hovered right behind me. I like to irk him whenever the opportunity presents itself."
"Any room for us?" Serena approached the group with her newest fiancé. As had been Serena's trademark since her last marriage failed, she was perpetually engaged, but never had gone through with the actual ceremony. Blair knew there was no chance Serena would make things legal this time with her current flame, but she liked to show off her ring.
"You can take my seat, Aunt Serena," Aiden chimed in, "I can sit in the next row."
"That's so sweet, Peanut, but we don't want to take your seat," Serena winked at him, "We'll sit in the next row. Where's Chuck?"
"On his way," Blair replied as hugged her best friend.
"Hi, Eugenia," Serena greeted the familiar acquaintance, "You've met Lenny, haven't you?"
"At the Bass Charitable Gala," Eugenia nodded as she gave an uncomfortable wave to the man she'd met once before but didn't like one bit. She hadn't told anyone other than her husband, but Lenny had hit on her at the gala.
"Everyone is here," Serena waved at her mother and Rufus. Behind them were Eric and his husband, Magnus and their little girl, Penny, clasping Eric's hand tight as their son, Jace, tagged along behind them looking as disinterested as Brice and Aiden. Everywhere she looked, Serena saw a familiar face. "Charlotte is one heck of a sales woman, isn't she?"
"She learned from two of the best," Eugenia nodded as her phone rang suddenly, "I thought I turned the ringer off. I'd better take this. It's the fleet manager. Mister Bass must be stuck in traffic. Henry has been monitoring the car for me."
"So efficient," Serena chuckled, "I see why you make the big bucks."
Eugenia stepped away to take the call. Blair watched on anxiously. If she knew her husband, the driver was being giving a severe tongue lashing for the traffic beyond his control. Eugenia's face suddenly began to quiver. A single tear fell down her cheek as her eyes locked with Blair's. Something was wrong.
"Blair, boys, you'd better come with me," Eugenia stated as she returned.
"What's wrong?" Blair asked automatically.
"There's been an accident," Eugenia responded, trying her best to keep herself calm, "Chuck's being airlifted to New York Presbyterian Hospital."
The auditorium fell silent as the news made the round at lightening speed. All eyes fell to Blair.
"Oh my god!" Blair gasped, "Boys, let's go."
"I'll go get Charlotte," Serena chimed in as she darted towards the backstage to retrieve her goddaughter.
"I'm coming with you," Eugenia told Blair.
TBC…