Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
"Aunt Serena, take us to zoo?" Aiden asked his aunt when she stumbled into the dining room for breakfast several weeks after moving in.
"Let me have some coffee first, Buddy. Then I'll decide," Serena groaned before she kissed the top of his head.
"Rough night, S?" Blair inquired when her best friend parked herself in what was becoming her designated chair next to Charlotte.
"Too much tequila," Serena groaned.
"I thought you were having dinner at Eric and Magnus's home," Blair frowned, "I don't remember seeing a wet bar there."
"The tequila was after," Serena replied, "I needed to blow off some steam. They were talking about how far along they are in the adoption process. Did you know they passed the home inspection already?"
"I knew they'd had the inspection," Blair responded, "They hadn't told me the results."
"It seems like just yesterday that they decided to do this," Serena grumbled, "They practically have the child's room all set up. They're even picking out baby names."
"Has Charles been crossed off the list yet?" Chuck chimed in, his eyes glimmering with amusement.
"I'm thinking it likely didn't make the list," Serena glared at him.
"What's wrong with Charles?" Charlotte chimed in.
"Nothing, Peanut," Serena responded to quickly cover her reply as her niece appeared to take offense, "Uncle Eric just doesn't want to name their baby after anyone that they personally know. They want their child to have a name that is unique to them."
"Oh," Charlotte sighed.
"You okay, S?" Blair prodded as she saw the telltale sign of pain in her best friend's eyes caused by the baby talk that was happening.
"I have to get used to it," Serena shrugged, "Maggie and Eric are determined to bring a child into their home, and they are both going to be wonderful fathers."
"We get a cousin," Aiden chimed in eagerly.
"Yes, you do," Serena smiled softly at the happy little boy.
"Aiden, how about Daddy or I take you to the zoo?" Blair offered. She didn't know if Serena could handle a day with their son in her current frame of mind.
"No," Aiden moaned, "I want to go with Serena." He slid out of his chair and darted off towards his room.
"It was easier when we strapped him into his high chair," Blair sighed, "He couldn't run away back then."
"I'll go get him," Chuck set his newspaper off to the side.
"No, I'll go," Serena waved off his offer as she took a drink of her coffee, "I'm the one he wants to go with."
"You don't have to take him, S," Blair replied, "Once he's actually at the zoo, he won't care one way or another who's there with him."
"I was the one that mentioned it to him yesterday," Serena stated, "I don't want to disappoint him."
"He'll get over it," Blair assured her, "He has the shortest attention span of any of the children. He probably only got half way to his bedroom before he forgot why he was running off in the first place."
"I doubt that," she replied as she walked off.
After Serena smoothed things over with Aiden by promising to take him to the zoo, breakfast went much smoother. Charlotte went off to her bedroom to prepare for her riding lesson. Brice and Dorota took Barty for his morning walk, and Blair and Chuck went off to their bedroom to talk in private.
"That's the third morning this week Serena's come to the breakfast table with a tequila hangover," Blair stated, "And it's only Wednesday."
"It's not a crime to drink tequila, Beautiful," Chuck wrapped her up in his arms.
"But when does it escalate to something else?" Blair thought out loud, "This is how it always starts. She's out late. She starts doing shots of hard alcohol. When do other recreational substances start to mix in?"
"We can't control her life," Chuck replied, "She's an adult."
"But our children are seeing this," Blair pointed out, "This isn't an example I want my children thinking is a good way to pass an evening."
"What are you suggesting we do?" Chuck inquired.
"Well, what does your PI say about all she's doing during her nights out?" Blair inquired.
"Why would my PI have anything to say?" Chuck frowned in confusion.
"You said you were going to have him follow her to make sure she didn't get in too much trouble," Blair reminded him.
"That was before she agreed to stay with us," Chuck replied.
"Are you saying that he's not following her?" Blair growled.
"I thought the point of her moving in here was to keep her out of trouble ourselves," Chuck stated.
"Chuck, get your PI on her right this minute," Blair slapped his shoulder in reply, "We can't watch her every minute of the day. God only knows what she's been up to on her nights out. We don't even know if tequila is really the cause of her morning hangovers."
"Okay, I'll call my PI," Chuck caved.
"Oh my god, what has she been up to," Blair slumped on their bed with her hands covering her face.
"We could give her a drug test," Chuck suggested, "They have those home kits that only need a few strands of hair. That wouldn't be hard to get. Dorota keeps complaining about all the hair in the guest bathroom since Serena arrived."
"Has it come to that already?" Blair sighed.
"Her world has come apart at the seams," Chuck reminded her, "Self destruction is what she does."
"What do we do if the test comes back positive for drugs?" Blair pressed, "She's my best friend. She's the godmother of our children. I can't kick her out."
"She's taking our children on outings," Chuck reminded her, "If she's doing it under the influence, we need to know about it. She could inadvertently be endangering our children."
Blair's respond became stuck in her throat. As loyal as she was to her best friend, if their children were put in jeopardy because of her inattention or compromised mental state, Blair would never forgive her.
"Do the test," Blair choked out, "And get your PI on her immediately, before she takes Aiden to the zoo."
Charlotte and Chuck went off to her riding lesson, and Aiden, Brice and Serena went to the zoo. Chuck assured Blair that his private investigator was going to keep a close eye on the trio.
Blair was left with her loyal housekeeper, the family dog, and a drug testing kit that Chuck had messengered over. The kit stayed in the paper bag for most of the morning. Dorota kept moving it around the entryway as she went about her cleaning. She finally gave into temptation and peeked inside. Upon making her discovery, she knew better than to press her long time boss about what it was for, fearing it might be for herself.
"Dorota, have you cleaned the guest bathroom yet this morning?" Blair inquired hopefully in the late morning hours. Chuck and Charlotte would return soon from the riding lesson, and the first thing he'd ask is if she'd done the test.
"No, Mrs. Blair, I been busy. Today is laundry day," Dorota shook her head while folding the pile of clean clothes she'd just pulled from the dryer.
"Oh, okay," Blair frowned. She'd been delaying doing the test in hopes that Dorota would give her the valid excuse of a clean bathroom, but she'd forgot Dorota's housekeeping schedule. "Don't clean the guest bathroom until after you've checked with me."
"Okay, Mrs. Blair," Dorota gave her employer a sympathetic smile. The piece of the puzzle had fallen in place. The test wasn't for her after all. She sighed in relief.
Blair took a deep breath, grabbed the paper bag and marched herself with determination towards Serena's bathroom. There were plenty of Serena's blonde hairs on the bathroom floor to choose from. She quickly gathered a fist full and then bolted for her bedroom when she heard Chuck and Charlotte return from her riding lesson.
"Blair," Chuck popped his head into the bedroom after Charlotte went to her room to change out of her riding garb.
"How was Charlotte's lesson?" Blair inquired with a nervous smile as she tucked the untaken test behind her back.
"She gets better with each lesson," Chuck replied, "Her instructor asked if we'd discussed allowing her to enter competitions yet."
"We talked about that, didn't we?" Blair inquired.
"First I'm hearing about it," Chuck shrugged with curiosity in his eyes.
"I guess with everything that is going on, I completely forgot," Blair sighed, "The owner of the stable paid us a visit while you were at that corporate retreat. He said that Charlotte was quite a talent, and that her talent could take her far. He said that we should consider allowing her to enter competitions."
"Did you mention it to Charlotte?" Chuck inquired.
"I asked what she thought about it," Blair nodded, "She said some of the older girls at her school were entering them. She said that they sounded like fun, but that she didn't think she was ready."
"Does she know that her instructor thinks she's ready?" Chuck asked.
"Only if her instructor told her so," Blair replied.
"We should talk to her about it together," Chuck stated, "And give her all the information so she can make an informed decision."
Blair nodded in agreement as the instructions for the test behind her back shook slightly in her hands.
"You haven't done the test yet, have you?" Chuck peered around her shoulder.
"I was just reading how," Blair held up the instructions, "I did get some of her hair for the test. Dorota is right. She sheds worse than Barty."
"That might be," Chuck replied, "But that doesn't change anything. We need to do this."
"Here, you do this," Blair stated as she handed the test to her husband, "I've done two pregnancy tests, you can have the drug tests."
"We have three children," Chuck reminded her.
"And Aiden was a complete surprise, remember," Blair prompted him.
"Did you really only take two pregnancy tests?" Chuck prodded.
"Actually, no," Blair suddenly remembered, "I took that one back in college, so three pregnancy tests, and they were all positive even though I wasn't pregnant the first time. I'm a jinx. I don't want this test to be positive."
"Give me the hair," Chuck held out his hand while snatching the instructions from her.
"It's in the bag," Blair handed the paper bag to him, "I'm going to see what Charlotte is up to."
"My PI called with an update," Chuck halted her exit.
"And," Blair prompted him.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," Chuck replied, "Serena and the boys are enjoying the exhibits. Aiden keeps growling at the animals like a lion."
"That's my little lion cub," Blair chuckled, "I'll have Dorota put lunch together for you, me and Charlotte."
"Sounds good," Chuck nodded, "I'll be out in a few minutes."
"Good luck," Blair smiled slightly.
Charlotte was talking animatedly with her mother about her morning riding lesson when Chuck came into dining room to have lunch. He bent down to whisper the negative results in Blair's ear before he took his usual place at the head of the table. Blair released a sigh of relief and refocused herself on what her daughter was saying, her eyes were sparkling in excitement as she spoke.
The elevator chime interrupted their quiet lunch. None of the trio thought much of it, all concluding that Serena and the boys must have returned.
"Mrs. Blair, Ms. Vanessa here to speak with you," Dorota announced their guest.
"Vanessa's here," Blair responded in surprise as she rose from the table, "I wonder what that's all about."
One look at Vanessa told Blair that this wasn't going to be a cheery discussion. Vanessa's posture meant business.
"You need to have a talk with your friend," Vanessa hissed when Blair approached her in the entryway without so much as a greeting or wave. "What in the world are you thinking in allowing her to stay here with what she is doing?"
"What she's doing is going through a painful breakup with your best friend on top of the grief she's still ignoring from both of her miscarriages," Blair responded defensively.
"What she's doing is cheating on her husband with the scum of the earth," Vanessa growled, "Do you know who her affair is with?"
"Yes," Blair nodded, "Serena had an affair with Chuck's uncle, Jack."
"Had implies past tense," Vanessa snapped, "Past tense isn't how it looked last night."
"Last night," Blair repeated in confusion, "Serena ended things with Jack before she moved in. Last night she was having dinner with Magnus and her brother."
"Maybe she was having dinner with Eric and Maggie, but she definitely had dessert with Jack. I saw them walking into The Plaza last night, arm in arm. His hand was claiming a certain part of her posterior, and she didn't seem to mind one bit while she stuck her tongue in his ear."
Blair cringed at the image Vanessa was painting. "Maybe it was a one night indiscretion?"
"Come on, Blair," Vanessa snorted in disgust, "You're not that naïve. Dan's not doing well with any of this, but it might be easier for him if his wife wasn't flaunting her affair for all to see."
"Dan saw that?" Blair's eyes widened.
"If I hadn't been with him, Dan would have spent the night in jail after rearranging Jack's face," Vanessa replied, "I have bruises from holding him back."
"I don't know what to say," Blair stammered out, "She told me that she had ended things with Jack because she couldn't trust what he'd been saying to her."
"Knock some sense into her before I pull out her hair, strand by strand," Vanessa stated.
"How about you knock some sense into Dan?" Blair countered, "He's the one that is so adamant about this divorce. Perhaps if they sat down together, they could work things out."
"He's tried!" Vanessa exclaimed, "He's been calling her for weeks. He's left her dozens of messages. He only sent the divorce papers to her because she said she was going to file her own. He wanted to protect himself."
"He's asking for alimony," Blair hissed.
"No, he's not!" It was Vanessa's eyes that went wide this time. "All he asked was for an equal division of the assets they've acquired during their marriage. She's the one that offered the alimony."
"One of us is not being told the entire truth," Blair realized.
"I'm going to have to say it's you," Vanessa replied, "Shake some sense into Serena before this goes any further. Dan's angry, but it may not yet be too late."
"I'll talk to her," Blair nodded.
Vanessa took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Sorry that I came here in attack mode."
"You're defending your best friend," Blair replied, "In your place, I'd probably do the same thing. What does Nate say about all of this?"
"Nate and I aren't exactly on speaking terms these days, but he has said that he wants to shake Serena until she snaps out of whatever has a hold of her," Vanessa replied, "But he's also trying to see her side of things. Those two have such a twisted past. I don't know if Serena could ever truly do anything wrong in his eyes."
"I know that feeling," Blair sympathized.
"I should be going," Vanessa stated, "I have a film shoot in Queens tonight."
"I promise to talk to Serena," Blair ushered her guest to the elevator.
"And I'll try to keep Dan's mind open to the possibility of a reconciliation," Vanessa stated.
"Good luck with that," Blair sighed, "Vanessa, I haven't had a chance to say this to you, but I'm sorry about you and Nate. He's an idiot for letting you go."
"I just didn't see a future with him anymore," Vanessa explained, "We were never going to that next level, and as much as I didn't think I wanted the husband and kids…watching Dan and Serena go through everything made me realize that I do actually want the traditional family."
"And Nate's a perpetual bachelor," Blair sighed.
Vanessa nodded and stepped on the elevator.
"Dorota, pack Serena's bags," Blair growled when she returned to the dining room as Charlotte and Chuck were finishing their lunch.
"Where is Aunt Serena going?" Charlotte asked.
"I don't know, Sweetheart, but she's not going to be staying with us anymore," Blair stated.
"Is something wrong?" Chuck read her mood expertly.
"Yes," Blair replied.
"Charlotte, are you finished with your lunch?" Chuck asked his daughter.
"Yes," she nodded vigorously, "May I be excused?"
"Yes," Chuck replied.
Charlotte scurried from the room before her mother's sometimes volatile temper was unleashed.
"You've chased away our daughter, now out with it," Chuck pulled her into his lap.
"Serena is still seeing Jack," Blair replied, "Vanessa and Dan saw them going in to The Plaza last night. His hand was on her ass. Her tongue was in his ear."
Chuck reacted the same way Blair had when Vanessa first explained the scene to her.
"She's been lying to me, Chuck. She said she stopped seeing Jack. She hasn't. She said that Dan was asking for alimony. He's not. She said he hasn't contacted her. He's been trying for weeks," Blair explained, "This is not okay anymore."
"She's going through a rough time," Chuck caressed her back in an attempt to calm her, "She's our family. We need to support her."
"No," Blair shook her head, "If we keep supporting her, she's going to keep going down this path of destruction for as long as we let her. It's time for tough love."
"Are you kicking her out or just bluffing?" he pressed.
"I guess it depends on what decision she makes," Blair pressed her forehead to his to soak up his love and support.
TBC…
