Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
"Mommy, wake," Luca shook Blair's side of the bed in the early morning hours of his second birthday. Being the sound sleeper, Blair didn't feel or react to his command, though Chuck did.
"Come over here, Little Man," Chuck spoke groggily as he tapped at the bed next to him.
"Mommy no wake," Luca pouted as he darted around to Chuck's side of the bed.
"It's very early, Luca," Chuck tried to explain as he lifted Luca onto the bed next to him, "Mommy and Daddy were up very late last night. How about you lay with us and get more sleep?"
"No," Luca whined as he banged at the bed, "Want to play with Monkey."
"I bet Monkey is sleeping too," Chuck tried to dissuade his son.
"Nu-uh," Luca replied as he shook his father who desperately wanted to go back to sleep as his eyes drifted closed.
"It's five in the morning," Chuck groaned as he glanced at the clock.
"Play with puppy," Luca demanded as he started jumping on the bed. His movements were what Blair needed to be roused from her slumber.
"Luca," Blair scolded him, her voice groggier than her husband's. Luca responded instantly as he plopped onto his rump and gave his most innocent face. "Good grief, what time is it?"
"Five," Chuck replied.
"It's very early, Peanut," Blair opened her arms to him, "Come lay with Mommy."
"No," Luca moaned again. Chuck could feel the conversation he'd just had was about to be repeated.
"Luca, it's too early to play with Monkey. You're going to wake your sister," Blair replied, "Plus you'll want to have as much energy as possible for your party today. You are the birthday boy, after all."
"Birthday boy, birthday boy," Luca chanted as he clapped his hands together in excitement.
"That's right, and everyone is coming over today. We're going to have cake and ice cream, and you get to open presents. You don't want to be crabby because you're tired, do you?" Blair rationalized.
Luca appeared to be giving her question some thought before he replied, "Play with Monkey."
Chuck and Blair both released a frustrated groan.
"Bart had to get him that puppy," Blair grumbled as Chuck reached for their robes and handed one to his wife.
"Remember that it could have been worse," he reminded her as he slipped into his robe and then lifted Luca into his arms. The little boy was cheering as they backtracked to his bedroom to claim the puppy from the crib. The new addition to the family was still sound asleep.
"I think we should let Monkey sleep," Chuck tried to get his son back into the crib, "He's a very young puppy, and he needs his sleep."
"Like Evie?" Luca inquired with his beautiful brown eyes wide with innocence.
"Exactly like Evie," Chuck nodded as his son released a healthy yawn, "And we can all use a few extra hours of sleep."
"Okay," Luca replied as he was lowered into his crib and laid down next to his new puppy.
Chuck snickered as he left the bedroom and closed the door behind him. He did a quick check on his daughter before he returned to the bedroom to find his wife was sound asleep where he'd left her moments earlier. He wasn't a bit surprised to see she hadn't gotten out of bed. They had been up late the previous night.
"There's the birthday boy," Eleanor cooed as she picked up her grandson and hugged him close.
"Gammie," Luca exclaimed as he hugged her tight around the neck.
"You are getting so big," Eleanor tickled his stomach as the new puppy yipped at her feet. "Goodness, what is this?"
"Monkey," Luca exclaimed.
"Monkey?" Eleanor looked to her daughter for some explanation.
"Luca's birthday present from Papa Bart," Blair explained as she greeted her mother with a kiss to the cheek as she picked up the dog. Despite the rocky start, the puppy had already weaseled his way into winning Blair over as he followed Luca all around the manor and repeatedly nudged at her feet all morning.
"Monkey," Luca exclaimed again as he reached across Eleanor to pet his pooch.
"You named the dog Monkey?" Eleanor gave her daughter an amused look.
"That will teach me to read him some 'Curious George' before I get ready for an evening out," Blair's eyes rolled.
"He is cute," Eleanor conceded as Blair scratched behind the puppy's ears.
"And so well behaved," Blair replied, "When he needed to go to the bathroom this morning, he simply ambled towards the door and barked until someone let him out. Bart feels so guilty for not getting our permission before giving the dog to Luca, that he suited up and took Monkey for a walk towards Central Park."
"I would have been livid if your grandparents did that," Eleanor's eyes went wide in surprise.
"It's hard to get mad at Bart," Blair sighed, "It's those Bass eyes these boys have, I have no willpower, and he's trying so hard to fit in around here."
"So things are still going well?" Eleanor inquired as Luca wormed out of her arms so that he could play with his puppy without restraint. Blair obliged as she set Monkey on his feet. Luca darted out of the room as the puppy followed along, yipping happily as he went. Luca called for his Papa Cyrus to follow along, which Cyrus did with his usual exuberance.
"Father and son are still tiptoeing around each other," Blair sighed as she linked arms with her mother as they strolled towards the party set up in the living area, "Chuck has a therapy session soon, and he's asked me and Bart to join him. I'm pretty sure that tiptoeing will end, but it's been nice having Bart here, for Luca and Evie at the very least. Luca is so attached to Bart, especially now that he gave him a puppy. They went on an outing all by themselves yesterday, and Luca didn't stop talking about all the fun they had until the puppy showed up. Bart seems like a completely different man than I remember from my own youth."
"Near death experiences have a way of resetting a person's priorities," Eleanor agreed.
"Apparently," Blair agreed.
"I can't believe our little boy is two already," Eleanor shook her head in disbelief, "It seems like just yesterday that you and Charles showed up in my office to give me the news you were pregnant."
"And I've been pregnant twice since then," Blair laughed.
"There isn't another grandchild in my near future, is there?" Eleanor asked with a twitch of nervousness in her voice.
"Heaven's no," Blair gasped, "Chuck and I have learned our lesson. Protection is our best friend right now, especially since Evie is still not sleeping through the night, but I can't really complain all that much. Chuck gets up with her most of the time. They have quite the bond. I'd be jealous if Luca wasn't as attached to me."
"Evie is just like her mother," Eleanor gave her a wistful smile, "You were always more attached to your father than me."
"I'm sorry," Blair gave her a sympathetic smile.
"It's okay, Sweetheart," Eleanor assured her, "It's partly my fault. I wasn't as hands on with you as I should have been, but I was raised to believe that nannies are more qualified to raise children than parents. I know better now."
Blair and Eleanor entered what had become party central to see Luca riding Cyrus like a horse as the older man was on all fours. The little boy was giggling as the puppy barked nearby.
"Luca brings out the child in all of us," Eleanor laughed as she pulled out her phone and took a picture of her husband and grandson. What would have mortified her a few decades ago was now the source of great joy. "My two favorite men," she proclaimed as she changed the picture to be her wallpaper.
"Speaking of men, Daddy and Roman will be here soon," Blair stated as Luca began bouncing up and down on his grandfather's back, "Luca, be careful. You don't want to hurt Papa Cyrus."
Luca decided that the best way to protect his grandfather was to slide off his back completely. He couldn't find his footing as he landed on his rump. Blair gasped and waited for the usual cry that followed but none came. She didn't know whether to be happy that he was growing up or sad that he wasn't that little boy anymore that needed her to kiss away even the tiniest of boo-boos.
"Be careful, Peanut," Eleanor picked him up and set him on his feet as the boy laughed on. Luca darted off. "What a bundle of energy."
"You don't know the half of it," Blair replied, "He climbed out of his crib this morning and woke both me and Chuck up. It took trickery to get him back to sleep. Li-Li thinks he's only going to become more of a challenge as he gets older. He's already showing signs of superior intelligence."
"It's payback, Sweetie," Eleanor chuckled, "You gave both me and your father fits."
"Literally," Chuck stepped in and wrapped his arms around Blair's waist.
"Look who I found," Serena came into the room with Luca in her arms as Nate followed along with the puppy in his, "Where were you going, Sweetie? You're the birthday boy. You get to be the center of attention all day."
Luca squirmed around in Serena's arms as he tried to wiggle free. He didn't want to be the center of attention. He wanted to play with his puppy, and Serena was interfering with that.
"Don't you want to give Auntie Serena a hug?" Serena tried to get a better hold on the little boy. That made Luca squirm more. "Okay, okay, I can take a hint." She lowered him to his feet.
"Monkey," Luca jumped up and down in front of his godfather, reaching for his puppy.
"Guess our present won't be as exciting as I originally had anticipated," Serena sighed as Nate lowered Monkey to the boy and everyone in the room watched Luca dart off again. "I couldn't even get a kiss out of him."
"Don't feel bad, S," Blair snickered, "He's been doing that all morning. We couldn't even get him to sit still for his breakfast."
"Maybe Evie will snuggle with me," she sighed as she approached the infant nestled safely in her Uncle Eric's arms. She frowned as Eric refused to relinquish his hold. Being away at school, he wasn't able to spend near the quality time with his niece as he wanted. He wanted to make up for it as much as he could that day.
"Chuck, will you go retrieve your son so we can have lunch?" Blair requested, "He can't hide away in his secret spot today."
"Secret spot?" Serena repeated.
"Apparently, this house has some secret passageways that Chuck has shared with his son. My wonderful husband has turned it into a playroom for his offspring, but he won't tell me where it is," Blair explained, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she watched her husband set off to retrieve his son.
"Is Charles okay?" Lily asked her daughter-in-law. She'd been studying him closely all morning. He was conversing as was expected of him as the man of the house was supposed to, but he was clearly going through the motions. Something about her son's appearance worried her.
"He's in a bit of a funk," Blair admitted, "But he's trying."
Luca's birthday party had gone wonderfully. Chuck had managed to keep Luca out of his secret room for the rest of the day. A lovely lunch was served followed by the cake that Luca was nearly bathing in. He tore into his presents, tossing one aside after another as none could compare to the puppy yipping at his side.
Chuck was trying to enjoy himself. Blair could see he was really trying, but the light wasn't reaching his eyes. As she watched him minute after minute, she could see he was sinking into the depression he was trying to fight, and it brought tears to her eyes.
"Our baby boy is growing up," Blair sniffled as they watched their son drift off in the comforts of his 'big boy' bed that Blair and Chuck had surprised him with after everyone had left for the afternoon. His puppy was asleep at the end of the bed.
"The terrible twos are upon us," Chuck nodded as he wrapped her up tight in his arms, "This is going to be an interesting year for us, especially with this puppy added into the mix."
"Are you okay, Chuck?" Blair turned in his arms to gaze into his eyes. There was still the love and devotion in them, but still she could see something was missing.
"I'm fighting it," Chuck confessed as he pressed his forehead to hers. There was no more that needed to be said. He knew that she would know what he was talking about. He knew that she could see him slipping into a depression.
"Succeed or fail, I love you," she caressed his cheek, "I will stand by you. I will help you."
Chuck choked on the words he wanted to say. He could only nod and hold onto her a little tighter. He felt like such a failure. Everything that he'd always wanted in the world was his. He had a beautiful wife that he loved more than anything. He had two wonderful children. He had a family that cared about him despite there being no blood relations. His father had come back into his life and finally wanted to have a relationship with him. He had it all and yet he still wasn't happy.
"I'm going to see my therapist tomorrow," he whispered, "I think I might need to check myself back into the Ostroff Center."
Blair's arms wrapped around him a little tighter.
"I need help," he admitted as tears trailed down his cheeks.
"Then we'll get you help," Blair spoke with a determination that surprised them both.
"I love you."
Those three words gave Blair the strength she needed to get him through the uncertainty they now faced. Whatever it took to get him better, she would do it.
TBC…