It's been ages since I last published a chapter of this story but it's always been dear to my heart, constantly haunting me. I have taken a long break from writing, so it'll take me a little bit to get into it again. I really like this story and it's important to me, and I hope you will grow to like it too. It'll just continue from where i stopped.
Enjoy reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl, sadly.
Blair was still shocked when Anna and CJ left her office an hour later. It was something she didn't expect, not in the next few years at least, but here she was, not even forty, about to become a grandmother. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples, trying to calm herself down, but it wasn't as easy as Blair would want it to be. Without looking, she grabbed her phone from the desk and hit the button that automatically connected her with Chuck. She slid against the side of the desk, sitting on the floor, her legs in an awkward, uncomfortable position, and started sobbing just when Chuck picked up.
"Hello, Blair" he said, slightly absentmindedly.
In return, he heard more sobs.
"Blair?! Blair, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Chuck's voice no longer absentminded, it was frantic. Blair hardly ever cried at all, not to mention sob uncontrollably. "Blair, tell me. I can jump the plane and be there in a few hours."
"No. Finish what you have to do." Blair managed to say through the tightness she felt in her throat. "I just needed to hear your voice to calm down."
She wiped tears away with a sleeve of her crisp white shirt, staining it with a non-waterproof mascara. She was a bit calmer now, but her voice stayed affected by the tears. She couldn't tell Chuck over the phone, she just couldn't. But how could she not tell him?
"Why would you need to calm down?" he asked as calmly as he could while being nervous.
"Sit down, if you're not already." she said in a small voice, so unlike her that Chuck simply followed her direction without questioning it, even though he normally would have.
"Ok. I'm sitting now. What is it, Blair?"
"Anna just came to my office and dropped a bunch of positive pregnancy tests on me. Our 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. With Justin Baizen." Here. She said it. She shared the burden of knowing with her husband. He would come up with a solution. Or so she hoped.
The only thing she heard on Chuck's side now was very heavy breathing and him whispering "Annie-Bunny" and "this fucking Baizen" every now and then. She didn't comment on it, just let him calm down enough to be able to talk. It took him close to 5 minutes.
"Ok. Ok." he said, in a faux-calm voice. "I'm coming back tonight. Don't try to stop me.".
And she didn't.
XOXO
Blair stayed up till Chuck came at 3 in the morning. She couldn't sleep anyway. Not after everything she's found out that night. Dorota made sure the kids would go to bed without any discussion and brought Blair the biggest pot they had, full of strong tea with no sugar. She didn't ask any questions, just wished her a calm night. Blair doubted she would have one.
She tried reading a book, but couldn't focus on her Kindle for more than a minute, so she gave up and was just staring out the window at the city, illuminated with hundreds, thousands of lights. The city that never sleeps. She sipped on her tea one more time when she heard Chuck's shoes making their soothing noise against the marble in the hallway.
"Hello," she said, her voice tired. She didn't feel like getting up, just waited for him to come to her. Chuck came into the dimly lit dining room and leaned against the wall, looking at his wife, so tired, worn out, but still as beautiful as she was when he first fell in love with her, over 20 years ago.
"We've got a problem, don't we?" she just looked at him, closing her eyes, too tired to say anything, and just nodded her head.
A few seconds ago, he had her arm around her, stroking Blair's side lightly.
"We've been through more difficult things, Blair." Chuck said in a soothing voice.
"Like what?!" Blair got some new energy into her and stood up, shaking his arm off. "What exactly was more difficult than a pregnant teenage daughter, huh?!" She had tears in her eyes again when she looked at Chuck expectantly.
Chuck rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had a hard day, and it only got harder and harder.
"We had four children, a pair of them at nineteen, you nearly died from being pregnant with Tim and then Christy. We're running a successful multibillion dollar company, and we've been doing it since we were still teenagers. We survived Serena going through cancer and now going crazy and abandoning her children with her cheating husband. We've survived so much over the years, we can deal with Anna being pregnant." He said the last sentence with just a hint of doubt in his voice.
Blair sat back down next to him and started crying uncontrollably, wetting the front of Chuck's shirt. He sighed and picked her up, putting her on his lap and bringing her close. They sat like this, not saying a single word because there was nothing to say anymore, no words could make them feel any better. They both knew it was no ordinary problem. They were going to be grandparents. There is no solution to that.
XOXO
They woke up with back pains and massive headaches after spending what remained of the night on a dining room chair, Blair on Chuck's lap, both still in their clothes. To say they looked bad would be an understatement.
"God, you look awful…" said CJ, walking into the room wearing his school uniform, his hair perfectly parted, smelling subtly of cologne.
"Oh, shut up, Charlie," said Chuck, smacking him on the head. "Dorota!" the maid appeared in the doorway instantly. "I need a strong coffee, make it a triple espresso, and a bacon bagel. I'm going to take a shower and get changed."
He left the room, stumbling a bit as he tried to walk straight.
"What's dad doing here?" asked Christinne, yawning, and grabbing a croissant on her way to the table. "Wasn't he meant to still be in Chicago?"
Blair looked at her with her half closed eyes, trying to comprehend her daughter's question. It took her a minute, during which Christie kept on tapping her foot on the table expectantly, making Blair's steady headache turn into a pounding nightmare.
"Stop with this tapping, Christinne, now," she said cooly. "Dad came at night. Eat your breakfast and get ready for school." At that she left, without looking back and took the stairs up to Anna's room. Anna was sleeping peacefully, but her pillow was surrounded by used tissues, her face red and slightly swollen. Blair thought of how childlike her daughter looked when she was sleeping and of how much it would change in the coming months. She lightly tapped her arm and Anna opened her eyes, reluctantly.
"Mom?" her voice groggy after sleep, her eyes bloodshot, just like Blair's.
"You've an hour to get ready." Blair said in a cool voice. She couldn't manage to put any motherly warmth into it, not today. She looked at Anna once more, then turned and left the room, hearing quiet sobs as she was going through the door. She didn't turn back.
XOXO
"Dad is coming?!" screamed Anna when she saw Chuck getting into the limo with them.
"Stop making so much noise, Anna," said Chuck in a low voice, pushing his daughter into the car. "I've a headache, so does your mother. I'm coming to the doctor with you, you're my daughter. I don't want to hear any discussion now, I'm not in the mood."
Anna listened obediently, too tired to protest, and leaned against her father. Chuck put his arm around her and brought her closer, whispering "It's going to be alright" into her ear.
XOXO
"Blair, Chuck, Anna Holly," Elisabeth greeted them with a nod. She was the one who delivered all of Bass babies, the one who forbid Blair to get pregnant again after the twins, then saving her when she went against her advice and blood clots nearly killed her. The choice of the doctor for Anna was an obvious one. "I'll be able to see you in half an hour or so, I've a visit before yours. In the meantime, Anna should get some tests done." She handed her a piece of paper and called over a nurse, who looked as if she was Anna's age, but she couldn't have been. "Natalie will take you."
After hearing those words, Anna started shaking.
"I'll go with you." Blair volunteered, taking her daughter's hand and pulling her towards the exam room, following Natalie. "Wait for us here, Chuck."
Chuck nodded quietly and sat at the closest chair. He hated waiting.
XOXO
"Ok, Anna, I have your results." Said Elisabeth, looking at the half of the Bass family sitting in front of her desk.
Tears started flowing down Anna's face and both her parents simultaneously grabbed her hands, Chuck rubbing the knuckles with his thumb.
"Is everything fine, Liz?" asked Blair, looking expectantly at the doctor who grew to become her good friend and who was now about to confirm that her older daughter was pregnant.
"Not exactly," replied Elisabeth. "Your results are, surprising, so to say."
Blair took a deep breath, waiting for what was to follow, her heart pounding in her chest. She looked at Chuck, his face looking as strained with nerves as hers. And then Elisabeth delivered her verdict.