Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
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"Hi, Charlotte," her riding coach, Sophia, greeted the young girl at the stables the next morning, "Licorice is waiting for you. Where's your dad?"
"Daddy is on a trip," Charlotte replied, "But I brought Mommy and my brothers."
"And where are they?" Sophia inquired looked around for the little girl's mother that she'd never had the honor of meeting. Horseback riding had always been Charlotte and Chuck's special time together.
"Aiden saw a horse he wanted to pet," Charlotte explained when Blair suddenly appeared with her two sons in tow.
"You must be the famous Blair Bass," Sophia extended her hand to Charlotte's mother.
"I wouldn't say famous," Blair greeted Charlotte's instructor, "Notorious might be a better way to put it."
"According to this little girl you are famous," Sophia explained as she patted Charlotte's helmeted head.
"What have you been telling your instructor about me, Charlee?" Blair eyed her daughter curiously.
Charlotte merely shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Well, we'd better get your horse ready to ride," Sophia urged Charlotte towards her horse's stall. "Mrs. Bass, there are some seats near the arena that you can view your daughter's lesson."
"Point us in the right direction," Blair picked Aiden up when he began to drift towards another horse a few steps away. After being given the instructions, Blair took off with Brice following along behind her, kicking the dirt in boredom. He'd been protesting his need to come along since he'd awoken that morning. He was determined not to change his tune.
Charlotte's lesson was extremely detailed and bored Brice nearly to tears. Fortunately Blair had the foresight to bring along a book for him to read to occupy his time. Aiden, on the other hand, watched his sister with fascination. He cheered every time she landed a jump.
"I jump," Aiden started to show off while he made his way down the bleacher seats while Sophia took Charlotte and her horse back to the stables to tend to her. He began leaping from one level to the next, nearly toppling over at one point as he jumped too far. Fortunately Blair's reflexes kicked in before he took a tumble the rest of the way down the bleachers.
"How about we save the jumping for when you're on solid ground?" Blair suggested as she held Aiden's hand tight the rest of the way down the bleachers even with Aiden trying to peel her fingers away.
On firm footing, Aiden began to imitate a horse as he snorted and grunted. In his mind, he was a horse jump over several hurdles.
"Looks like Daddy is going to have to buy another horse when someone gets a little older," Blair chuckled as they waited for Charlotte to finish her lesson, "Aiden, when we get home, you cannot ride Barty. He is a dog, not a horse. People do not ride dogs. Do you understand?"
"Okay," he pouted.
"Can we go home yet?" Brice whined, "I'm bored."
"As soon as Charlotte gets here," Blair nodded as she patted his head.
Brice huffed in response. "Can Uncle Nate take me to baseball practice tomorrow?"
"No," Blair shook her head, "Uncle Nate has to work after he takes you and Barty for your walk."
"He said he could if you said it was okay," Brice replied.
"Of course he would say he could. That man runs from responsibility like the plague," Blair rolled her eyes, "But the answer is still no. Charlotte, Aiden, and I will be sitting in the bleachers to cheer you on the way we were for Charlotte today."
"Do you have to?" he moaned, "None of the other moms watch."
"That's because all the other moms are too busy spending their husbands' hard earned money on Fifth Avenue or so self absorbed in their own careers to pay their son any attention," Blair replied, "That isn't your mother. I'm watching."
"Fine," Brice moaned as he kicked at the dirt underneath his feet.
Charlotte joined them shortly thereafter to soak up the praise her mother showered upon her. Charlotte was beaming from ear to ear as they approached their car. She was even happier when she was told she could pick the restaurant for lunch.
"Day two went better," Blair informed her husband as they had their nightly video chat, "And all the children are in bed."
"The question is whose bed are they sleeping in?" Chuck gave her a knowing grin.
"Only Aiden is currently in our bed," Blair state defensively, "And that is more for me than him. I need someone to snuggle with. Charlotte is getting too old and won't cuddle with me. Brice moves too much. I'd never get any sleep. Aiden is such the cuddler. He's the natural choice."
"It's really cute the way you put it," Chuck smiled, "Its complete crap, but it's cute that you almost sound like you mean it."
"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" Blair observed the tiredness in her husband's eyes.
"Maybe an hour total," he rubbed at the back of his neck.
"How were your meetings today?" she inquired.
"Dull," he stated.
"I'm sorry," she replied.
"Tell me more about your day," Chuck requested, "I'd rather not relive mine because there is nothing with you or the children in it."
"Charlotte is quite the rider," Blair beamed with motherly pride, "I'll admit that I know absolutely nothing about horse riding, but she looks at home on top of her horse. What's his name again?"
"Her name is Licorice," Chuck corrected her, "Because she's black like black licorice."
"She's really good, isn't she?" Blair stated.
"Yes," Chuck nodded, "Both horse and rider are quite skills. Licorice's mother was an Olympic champion jumper. I'm not saying that we have an Olympian on our hands, but Charlotte loves to ride."
"And Charlotte's instructor seems to know what she's doing," Blair noted.
"She is the best instructor in New York," Chuck nodded, "She was an Olympian."
"She's quite pretty too," Blair added.
Chuck shrugged his response, "I hadn't noticed."
"Liar," Blair rolled her eyes at him, "I know you, Bass. You don't touch, but you still look. I'm okay with that. Those eyes don't wander for long before they return to me."
"I don't look," Chuck held firm, and he was mostly telling the truth. He didn't look. Sure he noticed women on the street or in a restaurant or anywhere else that he happened to be, but there was never the leering stare that he would have used in his youth. There was just a nod of acknowledgement as he continued on his merry way, which was usually back to the wife that still took his breath away.
"Liar," Blair repeated, "I still look."
"At other women?" Chuck's eyes looked to her with intrigue.
"At other men," she clarified, "Does that worry you?"
"No," he shook his head confidently, "Look all you want. You'll never find anyone as satisfying."
"That almost sounds like a challenge," she cautioned him.
"You'd have to test drive the merchandise to know for certain, and you'd never give into temptation," Chuck replied.
"Are we boring?" Blair sighed.
"How could we be boring?" Chuck inquired.
"I don't know," she gave a dramatic sigh, "But here we are talking about extramarital affairs and neither one of us is the least bit worried about the other cheating."
"And how is that bad?" Chuck frowned in confusion, "Is there something that you aren't telling me?"
"Not about me," Blair shook her head quickly.
"Did Nathaniel do something to Vanessa?" Chuck inquired. "I know they aren't seeing each other any more, but do you know something I don't?"
"You'd know before me," Blair pointed out.
"So it's Serena," Chuck concluded, "What happened?"
"She's been going through a hard time," Blair took a deep breath, "Dan wants them to try again, but Serena doesn't even want to think about it because there is the potential for another miscarriage. They've been fighting a lot. She was out to dinner with Eric and Magnus. Some guy bought her a drink. She flirted and took things too far."
"Does Dan know?" Chuck inquired.
"I don't think so," Blair shook her head, "I don't think anyone else knows but me. She told Dan that she spent the night at Lily's. As far as I know, Dan hasn't checked out her story."
"But it was just one night," Chuck pointed out.
"But it's not," Blair replied as the tears began to well, "I love my best friend, Chuck, but I can't hold her hand and tell her everything is going to be okay when she comes to me saying that it was another moment of weakness and that she loves her husband. What she's doing goes against everything I believe in, but I can't tell her that without rubbing what you and I have in her face."
"Serena needs to be put in her place," Chuck stated, "She also needs to come clean with her husband. Yes, he's going to be angry, probably furious, but he doesn't deserve what she's doing to him."
"I've tried to get her to tell him," Blair insisted.
"Maybe it's time to do more than that," Chuck replied, "Maybe its time for an ultimatum. There is more than just infidelity to consider here, Beautiful. If she's sleeping with this guy and still sleeping with her husband, there are safety concerns. And what if she does get pregnant? How will she know whose child it is?"
"I guess I haven't thought about that," Blair stated.
"We both know how hard it's been on Serena. She wanted her own child more than anything, and she has been devastated two times. That doesn't give her a pass on this," Chuck stated.
"You're right," Blair nodded.
"How long has this been going on?" Chuck asked.
"I think the first time was about two months after her last miscarriage. The doctor had just told her that she could start trying for another child, but she refused to consider it," Blair explained.
"That was three months ago," Chuck responded, "Why have you kept this from me?"
"It's not my secret to tell," Blair replied.
"I could tell that something had been bothering you, but I thought it was about CB Fashions. You always seemed unsettled when you returned from those days at the loft. I thought you were wanting to go back full time," Chuck explained.
"No," Blair shook her head vigorously, "I like my involvement where it is. Eventually we'll both be going back to work fulltime, there is no denying that, but for right now the involvement that I have is enough. I'm still involved in the line. I still have creative control, but I also get to be home to tuck the children into bed."
"I still wish you would have told me about Serena," Chuck stated, "If for no other reason than so I could be a better support for you."
"You're completely wonderful, do you know that?" Blair gushed as she looked to her husband with total adoration.
"I have my moments," he nodded.
"I love you," she smiled.
"I love you," he replied.
"I'd better get to bed before Aiden wakes up and finds us in here talking. It's probably best to keep you off his mind as much as possible," she explained.
He nodded in agreement.
"By the way, I think he might be wanting his own horse in a few years," Blair replied, "He was jumping all around all afternoon like Charlotte's horse. He nearly took Barty for a ride after I specifically told him not to."
"That's why he did it," Chuck laughed, "He is my son. I never listened to those that had my best interest at heart either when I was his age."
"It's a good thing Barty is such a mild mannered dog," Blair replied, "If I'd been that dog I probably would have bitten Aiden for such a stunt."
"You love that dog as much as the children do," Chuck continued to laugh, "It's okay to admit it."
"I'd love it a little more if it would stop chewing my Jimmy Choos," she sighed, "He leaves every other shoe in the house alone. Why the Jimmy Choos?"
"They must taste the best," he chuckled.
"Same time tomorrow?" Blair inquired.
"It's a date," Chuck nodded, "Don't forget about Brice's baseball practice tomorrow."
"I haven't forgotten," she assured him, "But he's made it very clear that not happy about me tagging along tomorrow. He wanted Nate to take him. I put my foot down."
"Would you like a few words of advise?" Chuck inquired.
"Could I stop you?" Blair asked.
"Don't embarrass him by running to him when he slides into a base. Even if he breaks his ankle, he doesn't want you to fuss over him," Chuck replied.
"If he breaks his ankle, you'd better believe I'd fuss over him," Blair gasped in horror at the thought that her little boy could get hurt in such a way.
"My point is just leave him be unless he comes crying to you with blood pouring down his face," Chuck explained.
"Stop putting those thoughts in my head, or he's never going to play baseball another day in his life," Blair scolded him, "You're doing this to torture me, aren't you?"
"Would I do that to you?" he chuckled.
"Yes," she glared at him.
"Same time tomorrow," Chuck replied as he kissed his fingers and held them up.
"Sleep well," Blair replied as she kissed her fingers and brought her fingers to his.
TBC...
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