A/N: Thank you all for the lovely, encouraging reviews. It's so nice to get regular positive feedback in my inbox and it really encourages me to write more. I'm glad there are so many Dair fans out there. I know they're not the favourable couple but there was a scene in this season with those two walking along towards the priests' townhouse when Dan said "we can't keep doing this, Blair". The way he looked at her and the love between them and that was essentially the start of this story and my love for Dair. I now have an adorable five week old kitten that thinks distracting me from writing is totally cool so it's been a while since I posted, and I've just broken up with my boyfriend. Let's get this show on the road!

CHAPTER THREE

Blair flopped back into the luxurious armchair in the sitting room, and rather unceremoniously threw her shoes off to settle in properly. She grabbed her Playbook off of the coffee table and flicked the screen, waiting a second for the search bar to appear. As of that moment, Blair had been totally clueless about names. She only had a few months to choose at least a few names from the extensive lists her mother had helped her put together, but nothing was grabbing her. Dan refused to have anything too outrageous for a name, so she had to cancel out the fruits, neon colours and exotic places groups. She could do the noble thing and name the child after one of their parents? Blair shuddered at the thought of naming her child Rufus. She pondered about names she actually liked for a baby, and although she'd been pregnant before, names had never really entered the mix at such an early stage. With Louie she wouldn't have had a say in their child's name, he or she would have been given one of the family names and that was that. Blair tapped at the screen, scrolling through the hundreds of names on this site. Her child could have a French name, or a Norwegian name, or even named after one of the US states. It needed to sit well with Dan too, of course. She couldn't stay on it too long though, today was the day Blair was interviewing housekeepers to run the place. Blair couldn't stand not having someone to do her menial tasks, and in her opinion filling the dishwasher once was one time too many for Blair Waldorf.

It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes later that the doorbell went off, breaking the silence in the huge townhouse. Excellent, her fifth candidate was five minutes early, which was usually a good sign. Blair was putting her shoes on when she saw Dan reach for the door handle and invite the lady in to sit on the winged armchair in the hallway. She was impressed by his manner towards the candidate; Blair knew he was less than impressed about hiring people. Paid Intruders, he referred to them as. Blair finished doing the buckles on her shoes and quickly passed the mirror to smooth her hair into place again and readjust her headband. She straightened her scarf, checked her tights for any ladders and then confidently strutted out into the hallway to meet the candidate. Blair was greeted by a short, stout woman in her early thirties, with some wispy hairs plastered into place with what looked like industrial grade hairspray. Her nails were long acrylics, boasting glittery plum tips with three small diamantes stuck onto each one. Her heels were high and the fronts were pointed dangerously, warning children and small animals not to get in her way as she'd march from room to room. She'd poured herself into a tight pencil skirt that stretched around her thighs and just finished above her thick knees. Her sheer stockings glistened in the light of the hallway and Blair looked her up and down as if she was their meal for the night.

Blair motioned to the sitting room, "Please, come and sit down." She sweetly offered, and as the woman walked past, Blair shot a look at Dan. Dan obliged and also took a seat in one of the armchairs. After all, she'd be looking after Dan's space too. Blair lowered herself into the chair daintily and folded one leg over the other carefully, smoothing out her top as she did so. Dan had placed himself pretty sloppily into the other chair, sinking into the backrest with his legs apart, one foot balanced on the other now turned on its side. His arm half hung off the chair as he ran his other hand through his curly mop of hair. This woman seemed fine to him, but it was Blair's call. Blair cleared her throat and smiled again, "Do you have any references with you…" She picked up the woman's resume off the pile and peered at name on top of the first sheet, "Edith?" the woman nodded, and the voice that emerged from her was not what Blair had expected at all. Edith's thick Northern accent filled the room as she confidently answered Blair, "Yes ma'am, Edith Robinson. Originally of Sunderland in the North, I've been living in London for close to ten years now. Moved with a family and once I left their employment I just stayed here. I have no interest in being married again or having children, so I'm free to pack up and move if you do so." Blair nodded as she spoke, writing the occasional note on her Playbook. Dan made the occasional noise of approval as his mind went into overdrive while thinking about his book that he should be writing instead.

Blair opened her list of questions on the Playbook, scrolling through them quickly. "So Edith, do you have any objection to being a live-in housekeeper? I'd like someone who can stay here all the time. Not work all the time, but it would just be convenient to have someone who can be around to start at 7AM on the dot and finish at whatever time they need to. This house has a separate entrance to the back bedroom, which I think would be perfect for a live-in housekeeper." Edith looked delighted at the prospect of living in the house she was currently sat in. Out of the five housekeepers the agency had sent over, Edith was looking like the most promising one of them all. Blair levered herself off the armchair and Dan soon followed. "Edith, would you like a tour of the house? I'll ring the agency later today and tell them I've chosen one of the candidates for the job." She had resigned herself to the fact that Edith was possibly the most genuine, organized person the agency was going to send over, and she wanted someone right now. Blair would probably even grow to like her in time. Edith was no Dorota but maybe Blair needed a change now that she was in a different country, and all of the eastern European people sent over just made her homesick and pine for her former housekeeper. Change was definitely a good thing, right? As they all climbed the stairs, Blair listed the thing she wanted done in the next week.

They stopped at each room, "In the next few days I'd really like to have the other bedrooms set up for guests. All we have done at the moment is the master, one guest bedroom and two of the bathrooms with all of the reception rooms downstairs furnished. I'll be here to direct and help, of course. I'd also like the study to be cleaned and organised for Dan's work, I have a party organised for the house in two weeks' time and I've invited most of the people living in this street as well as some colleagues from where I'm currently working, and other people such as Dan's agent and publisher." Edith nodded as she inspected the rooms, occasionally picking up an item or clicking her tongue disapprovingly. Dan eventually feathered off into the study to work some more and Blair was left with Edith in the lounge again. The newly appointed housekeeper settled down onto the couch again to discuss pay and conditions with Blair, who was more than happy to let her have 8 weeks of leave if she could help to find a suitable nanny when the time came. "It was great meeting you, Edith. I'll see you on Wednesday to start." They both walked to the front door and said their goodbyes. As soon as the front door had clicked closed she darted back up the stairs to the study. As she opened the door, Dan was swinging around on the swivel chair, his head tipped back towards the ceiling. "So" she started, sitting on the plush winged armchair in the corner, "What did you think of her? I'm counting on her to make sure the house is absolutely perfect. It's going to be so nice having someone else to do all of that housework for me. If I see another dishwasher tablet or dustpan and broom I'll probably scream."

Dan sighed and turned back to the computer, "Blair, we were fine without someone helping us. Housework isn't that bad." He shuffled his pages, aware of the possible storm that was going to hit next. To his surprise, Blair just sighed and sat back in the chair. "Dan, let's not even start this. I have other things to do than clean and cook. I want to be out with the charity, having a cocktail with the girls from the committee, shopping. I don't have time to be a housewife, if you want one of those I suppose you'll have to find someone else." She pushed up off the chair and made towards the door, but Dan caught her before she reached it. "Waldorf, why would I want anyone else? I love you." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead, keeping the things most precious to him closer than anything else.