Author's Note: This is my response to Chair Week's prompt for Day Three, missing moments. I can't be the only one who was disappointed in the lack of interaction between Blair and Henry in the flash forward, can I?
Blair reaches across the gleaming white table and swipes a juicy, plump strawberry off his plate when Henry's attention is focused on spooning the organic, vanilla yogurt into his mouth. She raises it to her lips, but isn't fast enough to escape his attention.
"Hey!" Henry protests. "That's mine."
She pulls it away from her lips, offers Henry a small pout as she tries to cajole him into sharing. She just about wins him over when the delectable strawberry and the delicate fingers the fruit is perched between are engulfed and surrounded by moist lips. Her glance to make sure Monkey is still hovering near Henry's chair to her left in anticipation of accidently – or, more likely, purposely – dropped food is entirely unnecessary because the slow swipe of the tongue against her fingers tells her exactly who has stolen her strawberry.
"Chuck," she protests as she wipes her fingers off on the cloth napkin draped across her lap with a look of disgust on her face. "Gross!"
"That's not what you said last night," he whispers hotly in her ear.
She squirms in the blue upholstered chair, tries to turn her attention back to the binder of wedding information and her half-written to-do list for the day. Yet Chuck dips his head in front of her face and captures her lips with his own. He toes the line of appropriate, deepens the kiss with such force that she sinks back against the chair as the breath leaves her body.
"Oh, ew!" A voice protests from the entry to the kitchen.
"Aunt Serena!"
Henry slides out of his chair, rushes across the kitchen, and launches himself into his aunt's arms. He gets a kiss against his cheek and a big hug for his efforts, gets his eyes covered by her soft hands when she marches him back to the table.
"There's a child in the room," Serena reminds them loudly.
His parents break away from one another as he climbs back into his chair. Neither Chuck nor Blair flush with shame or look away sheepishly as Serena leans against the white marble counter and folds her arms in silent judgment. Henry, though, is accustomed to such addition to his morning ritual of eating breakfast with his mother before she leaves for the atelier.
"I have to head into the office for a bit," Chuck informs the room, although the information is clearly for Blair. He plants a soft kiss against Henry's head and promises that he'll see the little boy in just a few hours before bending at the waist again to plant a kiss against Blair's lips. "We'll finish this later, Mrs. Bass."
Blair raises her eyebrows and smirks in a silent reply. Chuck sidles over to his sister intent on placing a peck against her cheek in greeting, but Serena holds her hand up and stops him.
"Who knows where those lips have been," she replies smartly.
Chuck raises his eyebrows at the suggestion and smirks as he replies that he knows exactly where they've been. The comment earns him a chastising yell from his wife and eyes rolled in disgust from his sister. With a grin, he bids both women a good day as he exits the kitchen and heads towards the office to collect his briefcase before leaving for the headquarters of Bass Industries.
When he is gone, Serena moves from her place against the cabinetry to take a seat at the table opposite her nephew and next to her best friend, who is seated at the head of the table flipping through her collection of papers.
"You smell like Brooklyn," Blair snaps without looking up.
"Good morning to you to, Blair," Serena replies as she swipes a strawberry from Henry's plate. The little boy doesn't protest just offers his aunt a grin over the spoon stuck in his mouth. His mother, however, raises her head in protests.
"So you'll share with your aunt but not Mommy?"
Henry removes the spoon from this mouth, looks from his indignant mother to his bemused aunt and back again. With wide, innocent eyes, he shrugs his shoulders.
"She marry Humpty today," Henry replies with palms held out upward in a shrug. "Might be last strawberry she gets."
"Blair," Serena shrieks intent on chastising her best friend. Blair looks at her with a poorly concealed smile, offers Serena her own shrug as she assures the blonde that she did not teach Henry to say such a thing.
"Out of the mouth of babes," Blair offers sweetly in her own defense when Serena replies that she does not believe her. When Serena's glare deepens, when the blonde crosses her arms with a huff, Blair changes tactics and firmly addresses her son.
"Henry, that wasn't nice. Aunt Serena has decided to marry Humphrey and however misguided that decision may be, we all must accept it and be nice to Dan."
The little boy scowls, spoons another serving of yogurt into his mouth before his mother can make his apologize. Deciding the issue has been laid to rest, Blair shuts her binder and stacks her notepad on top before gathering the materials in her arms and standing up from the table.
"Dorota!"
The Polish woman pokes her head out of the butler's pantry, nods her head and demurely promises to watch Mister Henry as he finishes his breakfast. Blair follows her husband's lead, places a soft kiss against the top of Henry's head and gentle strokes his brunette hair in an attempt to sweep it out of his eyes. Serena watches the tender moment in captivation and thus is caught off guard when Blair's hand wraps her arm and yanks her out of the chair.
"Come on, S. We need to wash the stench of Brooklyn off you before you go anywhere near your dress."
Henry ambles up the stairs, bear crawls on his hands and knees up the last flight of stairs as he heads towards his parents' bedroom. He stands when he reaches the door, pushes down the leg of his silk pajamas that have bunched around his knee with his barefoot as he forms a little fist and knocks on the wooden door.
"Mommy," he calls through the closed door. "It's Henry. Can I come in?"
He waits to hear his mother's reply, tugs on the handle and pushes open the door when he is given permission to enter. Blair is seated at her vanity clad in her white robe and applying her make-up, but she stops to offer Henry a smile when she spies him in the reflection of the mirror. She pushes the bench seat backwards in a silent gesture from him to join her, and the little boy scurries across the room to climb into her lap.
"Thank you for knocking," she says to him as he wiggles against her and gets comfortable. Already, the little boy is getting too big to sit in her lap as his legs drape over her own, and she wraps her arms around him as she tries to push the thought away.
"You're welcome," he replies before making a funny face at her in the mirror.
She smiles, laughs heartily until the little boy looks pensively at her reflection in the mirror. Before she can prompt him, before she can ask what he is thinking about, his voice drops in hushed amazement as he twists his head and gazes up at her.
"You're so pretty, Mama."
"Thank you, baby," Blair whispers softly. She places a kiss against Henry's cheek and then another against his soft lips. "You're quite handsome yourself."
Henry nods and turns his attention back to the collection of jewelry laid out on her vanity. He glances over the selection; settles on a pair of diamond earrings that he had helped his father pick out last week. He points a finger towards his choice as he speaks.
"You should wear that."
"Hmm," his mother replies. "Those are exactly the ones I was thinking."
"Good," Henry responses in a serious, business-like manner. He shifts his weight again, slides himself further back into his mother's embrace. "What are we doing today?"
Blair smiles, laughs softly at the way Henry asks his question in a solemn command as though he is the CEO asking the secretary for today's schedule. She reaches up, sweeps his hair across his forehead as she gazes at his reflection in the mirror.
"Remember what I said earlier? Mommy is going to help Aunt Serena get ready for her wedding while Dorota takes you to the park. When you get back, it'll be time for you to get dressed for the party."
"Like Daddy?" Henry asks eagerly. His father had helped him pick out his suit last week, and Henry had been intent on looking exactly like his father right down to the striped stocks and purple bowtie.
"Just like Daddy," Blair confirms. "And then Grandmère , Zaydeh, and Grandma Lily are going to come over."
"And Uncle Eric and Uncle Nate!" Henry exclaims excitedly. He hasn't seen Uncle Nate or Uncle Eric in a while, and he always enjoys joking and playing with his two uncles.
"Yep," Blair replies. "And you're going to sit quietly with Grandmère and Zaydeh while Aunt Serena gets married, right?"
"Uh huh," Henry slowly agrees. "When's Daddy coming home?"
"He'll be back right about the time you get home, okay?"
"Okay," Henry replies softly. He shifts in Blair's lap again, twists his body so he can wrap his arms around her neck. "I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too, Henry."
The two touch noses in an Eskimo kiss; hold each other's gaze even when there is a firm knock at the door and Blair bids the person to enter. Blair twists her head away when the door is pushed open, looks expectantly at the woman who has interrupted this quiet moment.
"Miss Blair, the caterer is here in the kitchen, and the florist is downstairs. She say you no order bouquet for Miss Serena."
"What?" Blair snaps. She swivels in her seat and directs her irate glare at the maid. "Of course, I ordered the bouquet."
"I tell her that, but she say that you only order garland and centerpieces for table."
"Ugh," Blair fumes. She moves Henry from her lap, moves to stand and chastise the florist for the incomplete order. "I will deal with this. Dorota, help Henry get dressed and make sure Serena actually washes her hair. It's disgusting."
"Yes, Miss Blair," Dorota calls after the woman stomping out of the room on a warpath with such force that the ties to her white robe flouncing behind her. The maid steps towards the little boy, offering him a knowing look as she glances to make sure her employer is out of earshot.
"Your mama in her party planning mode," Dorota informs Henry. "Let's go to park before she make somebody cry."
Henry giggles, nods his head enthusiastically, and races out of the room towards his own bedroom. Dorota smiles, follows him slowly out of the room but rushes after him when she can hear Blair's stern voice rising all the way from the foyer of the home.
"No, you idiot!"