She was beyond tired when they arrived back.

The ride back home had been a bit odd with her dad, but it seemed like he was more used to the idea of her having a baby though it was going to take years for Rufus to accept this fully.

When they parked Charlie was already asleep in the car seat he had managed to somehow put in the car without much trouble.

"You got him?" Rufus watched by as Jenny carefully removed the straps around Charlie and picked him up. A loud wailing erupted soon as he was lifted and she closed the car door. Her dad stood still behind her, nervously twitching as the little boys crying caught him off guard, "Jenny, please be careful with him." He was worried sick when he watched her carry the fussy baby in other arm and a big diaper bag on the other arm.

She smiled back at him, "I've done this a thousand times dad."

It was odd to hear him be so concerned of Charlie when he didn't even know he existed a few days ago, "He's just grumpy because we interrupted his sleep, right baby?" Jenny made a pouty face at her adorable little chubby cheeked boy. She dabbed his nose and offered his favorite pacifier to Charlie who seemed to calm down, "You just wanted your binky didn't you?" She kept murmuring soothing nonsense with the hope of him staying happy for the next minutes before putting him to sleep. She was not ready to face full screaming-baby mode tonight, "You're past your bedtime, no wonder you're fussy baby."

Rufus followed Jenny to the door and couldn't help but to be in awe of her. This was not the same person he had seen when she visited them for a couple days during the past summer and other holidays. Obviously now thinking about it she had been hiding Charlie at Hudson the entire time so she must have missed him. He just figured she was going through a phase of some sorts and was maybe depressed- so this was a relief in some extent. The glow on her face when she talked to her baby boy was comforting during this struggle to understand what had gone wrong with his parenting.

"You have the keys?" She asked and he nodded, opening the door to their penthouse.

He was dead tired himself and yawned, "Are you staying for the night?"

"I think me and mom will just go the hotel since he has a crib there," Jenny whispered quietly as Charlie's eyes started to close again, "It's like five minutes from here so it isn't a problem."

"You sure? We could figure something out for one night-"

"Dad," Her daughter grinned back at him, "Thanks for the offer, but I think everybody will be more comfortable if I'm not here. I mean he sometimes wakes up wailing like it is the last day on earth and I don't want you guys to lose your sleep."

"Fine if that's what you want," Rufus squeezed her shoulder and smiled, "I love you."

"I love you too dad. I will see you in the morning don't worry about it." Jenny joked, sensing the need to lighten the mood.

"Thank God you're finally home." Lily rushed into the hallway, giving Rufus a quick peck and then turned her attention on Charlie who was sleeping in Jenny's arms, "Oh the little one is all tuckered out," A small smile broke out on her face, but soon turned into a worried expression, "Are you okay?" she asked with a nervous twinge in her voice and looked at Jenny.

"I'm fine." She whispered back, biting her lip, "Could you go and get my mom so we can go back to the hotel?"

"She didn't call you?" Lily asked, sounding unsure now, "She already went back after…"

"What?" She dropped the diaper bag on the floor and held her son more firmly.

"Well after you and Rufus left she was talking to Dan and he, well he had a few things to say to her," She explained, "I didn't hear everything, but I think she just needed a time out from everything."

"Typical Allison! She should have waited for you," Rufus blew out a stream of air, warm and frustrated, "I'm gonna go and call her right now-"

"No don't." Lily stopped him and took Jenny's hand, "I have something I would like to show you."

Jenny blinked in surprise, and followed her lead into her old room.

"I know it's not much, but it will do for one night won't it?"

She didn't know what to say as she was overcome with a rush of emotions. In the far corner by the window, there was a crib, made of sturdy gorgeous dark pine. The bedding was vanilla white and looked heavenly soft and so did the baby blue blankets at the end of the crib. Next to the crib was a new table with the same coloring. The table was filled with stuffed animals, teddy bears and fluffy, oversized puppy dogs. It looked like an army of teddy bears meant to protect her little one. There was also a mobile hanging over the crib, a large plush half-moon dangling in the center, surrounded by a handful of small crystals and shining stars. Near her bed was a 'Welcome home' balloons and a vase filled with yellow daisies.

"Lily…" She sighed, distressed, "I don't know what to say. This is… this is…"

"Too much?" Lily huffed out a quiet little laugh, "I know Eric just wanted to buy all the toys for him and I haven't bought any baby stuff in years- well long story short, things got out of hand."

"Did your credit card survive this or should I just call in for a bankruptcy?"

She recoiled and slapped Rufus in the chest playfully, "Oh Rufus, not mine credit card, yours darling."

Jenny snickered at them, but then turned to Lily with a melting smile, "I was going to say perfect," She walked closer to the crib and ran her hand along the smooth wood, "It's beautiful."

The young mom looked at her sleeping son for a while before settling Charlie in the crib, trying not to jiggle him too much.

The boy doesn't even stir as Jenny lets him go.

Finally she bends down to kiss her son's forehead and tuck him in, "Sleep well baby boy."

All of a sudden it got quiet, the only voice being Charlie sucking his pacifier.

Jenny backed away from the crib and looked up, watching Rufus and Lily, "He really seems to like it, but really you didn't need to buy all of this."

Lily smiled again, with her soft, kind eyes, "You're our family. He needs his own bed when you're visiting after all."

She flashed big genuine happy smile before rushing to hug her.

It had been a long time since she had felt truly so happy and loved.


Silence filled her room as she stared into the silent wall, she couldn't help but feel secure. She was glad her mother was not home, she was glad that she was all alone. It was perfect. Silence swallowed everything, every sound, every picture and every emotion. Here, safety of her room she could be herself.

There would be no one to judge her when she cried like she was crying now.

There is no one there to act like they care when they really didn't.

There was only her.

Here, she could be weak and this alone was the reason why she loved the silence in their big house.

It was the only solace she received in these four cold walls.

The dark-haired beauty closed her laptop and looked at her bed before sitting down on it.

With a hand she reached out to the empty space and stroked over the neatly laid lavender colored sheet. This was the place where he was supposed to be lying in, but just like always, it was empty. He would have been there if he just had not been like that… a manipulative cheating bastard.

Every night she opened her eyes and looked at the place next to her, she saw nothing. Some people cried at the sight of something particular, but her heart broke at the sight of nothing. She wanted to laugh at the irony. She couldn't believe how pathetic she had become.

Blair shook her head and got rid of the tears in her eyes with her hand. It felt like her heart was being torn out of her chest.

Jenny Humphrey had a baby with Chuck- her Chuck.

It was like she was too numb to even feel anything anymore.

This relationship had drained her to the point where she didn't even know what to do anymore with herself. It was like everybody else moved on, but she was stuck in the moment. The moment when she realized it was all for nothing. Blair Waldorf had allowed herself to fall in love so deeply it left a permanent mark in her soul.

When the picture of that blonde tramp popped up her whole world crumbled again. Seeing her was bad enough, but seeing that she was holding a baby… a toddler maybe, with the same brown eyes as his was the last straw.

Right now her head was a mess.

Her thoughts were menacing and mean. She even for moment allowed herself to think that they had been sneaking behind her all the time, that they were laughing behind her back and screwing each other's brains out at the same time, but she knew- Chuck knew better than that. Though then again Jenny was probably enjoying this. Every last bit of it. She would forever be a part of their lives.

She liked to believe that her absence would wake something inside him, that it would leave him cold and lonely when she wasn't there. The last time they saw each other she was packing for Paris. He had forced himself in and asked for forgiveness one last time. It turned into a shouting match from both sides. She didn't know whether her last words were spoken out of malice, intended to make him hurt, but this seemed to be a rather foolish thought, since he probably didn't even care. He just wanted her back because Chuck Bass always got what he wanted.

That moment she knew, she would never return back to him.

Blair wiped her tears one last time.

The memory brought back something she thought she had lost. Her drive. Her drive to accomplish something.

Blair Waldorf would rise again and there was nothing stopping her this time around- not even Jenny Humphrey from Brooklyn.


When she woke up the next morning, she smiled triumphantly and exhaled. Her eyes were glassy and soft. Jenny flipped her blanket over and smelled it. This would be a long day since she was going back to Hudson. It was very strange to sleep in the same bed and the same room that had sometimes felt like a trap.

She got up from the bed and got to the crib, but the crib was empty.

In a moment of panic she staggered out of the bedroom.

"Charlie!" She yelled a few times before stepping into the dining room.

Eric looked at her and laughed for a moment before chuckling out, "You've just walked in on some male bonding, Jenny." He patted Charlie's bottom, "We were just discussing about his new friends that I bought him yesterday. He seems to be very fond of them."

She smiled at the sight, "Well I hope he thanked you," The blonde in her pajamas walked over to her baby, taking him from Eric, "Why didn't you wake mama up Charlie?" Jenny gave Charlie many kisses all over making the baby laugh outrageously.

Seeing Jenny happy, laughing and bright-eyed was a sight Eric had missed.

It was like something dark had swallowed her and now she was finally free.

She placed Charlie on the mattress and took a seat on the table and poured herself a glass of juice

"Anyways," She swallowed nervously, "Where is everyone?"

"Dan and Serena took off early," He explained, "Mom and Rufus are still sleeping. I figured you guys needed some more sleep."

"Thanks for that," Her lips curled into a smile, but soon her expression turned more stressed, "Eric I meant to talk to you yesterday, but everything… I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry, for everything."

"You don't need to apologize," He replied, "You didn't hurt me. I can only imagine what you were going through… I mean Chuck out of all the people in this world…"

Jenny shot him a confused glare.

"I meant- out of everybody in this world you end up with a kid with Chuck Bass. Who would have thought?"

She stiffened as the conversation was getting uncomfortable, "Yep. Well it did happen," Her voice trembled a little as she picked up Charlie from the mattress, "I don't really think of him as his though."

Jenny hesitated, trying to choose the right words. She didn't know if he was really aware of everything that had happened, "But without this one I don't know where I would be," The proud mom stroked Charlie's soft hair, "It's the only thing that matters right now- him."

"What are you going to do about Chuck though?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"I offered him the chance see him and he declined," She kissed the baby boy on the cheek, "We are going back home and everything is going to be just fine." Her eyes did a slow blink, and she looked confident, with her unbrushed hair that Charlie tried to pull every waking second.

Eric nodded, distressed, and rubbed his hand against his knee, "It's not going to be easy today."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't see the pic?"

Jenny's eyes widened in concern, "What are you talking about?"

Eric reached for his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He searched something for a while before handing it to her.

She looked at it for a second before giving it back, "So they all know."

"I didn't want to upset you."

"It's okay," When she looked up into his eyes, he saw fear, hope, love, and a thousand nameless things that made him shiver, "I'm not afraid of them anymore."


"You didn't need to come along." Dan finally spoke up as they walked in the crisp mid-August air.

"I needed some fresh air myself," Serena said gleefully, "I need to get ready for what's to come."

"Blair." Dan acknowledged the problem.

"Blair." She nodded, "This is going to be a mess."

He said nothing for a moment, merely grinned at her, "Isn't this a mess already?"

She chuckled back and they continued walking around the park.

"So you're an uncle." Serena flicked a glance at him and smiled, the simple movement lighting up her face.

He was still lost in confusion, "I need a little more time with adjusting to that."

"Jenny and Chuck have a baby…" She noted to herself in disbelief, it was more of a frustrated whisper, "Do you think she can handle this? Being a mom this early?"

"Apparently she has been one for seven months." Dan said in a bitter stern voice.

"I heard you fighting with your mom last night… You wanna talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about," He snapped, "Allison always does everything without thinking about the consequences. From Jenny I would expect her to be scared and not wanting to talk about her and Chuck's lovechild, but mom- she is a grownup! I thought she was finally acting like one, but then they slam this across my face like they did this to protect me. I'm not ready to accept this like everyone else seems to," The older brother was clearly hurt, "I can't just start playing family with them."

Serena was happy that he was able to be so honest with her.

Not knowing where they stood as a couple- it helped that they had something else to think about than their own problems.

They stand in the middle of the street looking at each other for a moment.

"You think our lives will ever be normal?" Serena started, then paused, laughing, "Maybe one peaceful day surprises like this aren't dropped to our laps, who knows…"

"I'm really starting to doubt there is even possible to have a normal life here."

"One day maybe, but apparently not any time soon."

Dan smiled back at her, "Coffee?"

She gladly accepted his offer.


Lily paused in the doorway before going in the room. She wanted to watch Jenny and Charlie just a little longer.

She was bouncing him up and down on her bed and laughing with him. Next the young mom scooped him up in her arms, embracing him tightly as she swayed him from side to side while making funny voices.

She knocked the door lightly before stepping in, "Hey there little boy. Did you sleep well?"

"I think he did, didn't you?" Jenny looked at the boy and smiled, "Maybe you should go and give Lily a kissy as a thank you."

Before she could say anything, he was thrust into her arms, "You're so adorable! I could just eat you up." Lily kissed Charlie's cheek and set the boy in her lap while he was happily chewing on the soft toy, drooling all over it, "Did you talk to your mom?"

"She texted me," Jenny said tonelessly and yawned, "We are going to leave at around five."

"I wish you could spend a little more time over here."

"It's for the best," She tilted her head back, and contemplated the ceiling, like she was looking at stars, "Besides I don't think you and dad want a crying baby in your house."

Lily shrugged, "We wouldn't mind it."

"I just think distance for wouldn't hurt for a few weeks or months." The younger blonde forced a smile.

She shifted the little boy on her lap and wondered if she should ask Jenny what she had wanted to ask for long time. Charlie seemed to be so quiet and calm, but his eyes were wide and alert. Like her son, Jenny twitched nervously as Lily's watchful eyes followed her every movement,"I wish we were there when he was born," Lily murmured, trying to understand better, "I hope it wasn't too rough on you."

Jenny gulped around the lump in her throat, "You didn't miss much. Just sweating, screaming and pushing," She took a deep breath, "I don't really remember much about it though… I just remember how none of it really felt real. It was hours of pain and then he just popped out."

She laughed a little, "Popped out huh?"

"Pretty much," She didn't know how to talk about these things without getting reeled up with emotions, it was hard enough to keep her emotions under control, "I know you are mad at me."

Lily raised her brows in confusion and watched as Charlie's tiny fingers curled around her thumb, and she pulled back a little, teasing the baby "Why would I be mad at you?"

"Chuck," Jenny frowned, she didn't like talking about him, "I wasn't thinking what it meant for everyone when well... it happened and I'm sorry about it."

Lily squeezed Jenny's hand, "I admit I was shocked and a bit disappointed, but I'm not the right person to judge people. Let's not dwell on the past okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine with that."


"Come on, Charlie, stop crying," Jenny said softly. Her son's tiny head was cradled to her shoulder as she bounced him gently in an attempt to stop him from crying, but baby Charlie kept wailing loudly. She groaned even louder and rocked her body as an attempt to calm him a bit.

"Are you sure he is just hungry?" Rufus asked behind the stove. He was making lunch, but also kept a watchful eye on his daughter and grandbaby, "You and Dan never cried like that when you were hungry."

"Well Charlie is a handful dad if you haven't noticed." Jenny looked down at her little boys red, tear streaked face and felt her stomach clench. She sometimes wished so hard that her baby boy could talk because she would know what was wrong.

Charlie's crying came to an abrupt halt when she went to the microwave and took out the bottle of milk. With one hand, like a pro, she shook the bottle and tested a few drops on the back of her wrist. Rufus smiled as he mixed his pasta sauce. He had watched her do her thing in the kitchen and felt genuinely proud by what a great mom she truly was.

"What?" Jenny looked at her dad who kept staring at her and grinned.

Rufus just shrugged back, "Nothing."

She rolled her eyes and headed out to the living room. The young mom picked up a white rag from the diaper bag to protect her shirt from baby drool and moved Charlie so his little head was now resting in the crook of her elbow. Seconds later the bottle was already in his mouth and he was enjoying the warm milk.

This was usually the time of day she felt exhausted.

Daytime was always more tiring because there was million things to remember, but it was a routine she had managed to learn.

It could get out of hand easily and many times it did happen. She was still young after all.

While he drank happily, she always looked at him, studying his face- searching herself from his features. Jenny always ended up with the same conclusion; he looked more like him. In personality he definitely had her stubborn and her determined character, but he really looked like Chuck.

It was his eyes, hair, everything was just pure Bass which she had gotten used to at this point. First it was hard to even look at the bundle in her arms, but these days it didn't bother her. She could look past his looks easily because she knew that he was nothing like him and he would never be that way.

Once he finished with the bottle, she lifted the boy up and placed him on her shoulder, rubbing and patting his back.

"You alright? Need me to heat up another bottle?" Rufus peeked from the kitchen.

"He's full." Jenny answered back.

She sat on the sofa again and sighed loudly. His tiny fingers were wrapped around her wrist. It was a nice moment between a mother and a son. The quiet moment soon turned into chaos as the doorbell rang. Little Charlie wasn't a fan of new noises and the doorbell scared him as he started crying again. With a groan she got up from the comforts of the sofa.

"It's okay baby," Jenny cooed in his ear, "It's just the doorbell."

She walked towards the door with the baby in her other arm and reached for the doorknob.

"Miss Jenny Humphrey?"

"Yeah?" She looked at the man behind the door.

The man handed Jenny a clipboard, "Sign here."

Eyebrows furrowed, she scrawled her name across the line.

"You've been served."


Thanks for the reviews and if you didnt notice the little update on my last chapter,

go to my profile page to check out an exclusive timeline for this story! its was lots of fun to do!

Keep them reviews coming :))

PS: sorry for the lack of Nate and Blair, but they will be very much in this story soon as this gets moving more!