Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
After much discussion between Blair, Chuck and his therapist, Chuck agreed that the best thing to do for his mental health was to check into a treatment facility. His therapist suggested an alternative to the Ostroff Center, a facility upstate that he was affiliated with, where he could monitor his patient and be involved in the recovery process.
"Luca, Daddy and I have to talk to you," Blair began the difficult task of having to break the news to their little boy that his father was going away for awhile. Bart had agreed to take Monkey for a walk so that the pup wouldn't be a distraction to the tot.
Luca looked up into his mother's eyes to see them swimming with tears. He instantly climbed into her lap and gave her a hug. Blair hugged her little boy tight as a few tears spilled out.
"Luca, I have to go away for a little while," Chuck stated, "Do you know what that means?"
Luca shook his head. He couldn't comprehend the words his father was trying to tell him. His father had been there every day of his life, so the fact that he voluntarily wouldn't be was unfathomable to him.
"I'm sick," Chuck choked out, "I have this illness that can make me really sad, and I don't want to be sad for you or Evie. I want to get better, so I have to go away for awhile."
Luca was still confused.
"I won't be here to read to you or play with you or tuck you into bed at night," Chuck explained.
"No," Luca moaned as he climbed out of his mother's lap to transplant himself into his father's, his arms wrapping possessively around his father's neck.
"I'm going to miss you so much," Chuck told his boy.
"No go," Luca hugged him tighter.
"I don't want to," Chuck assured him as he rubbed his hand along Luca's back to comfort him, "But I want to get better for you."
"My fault?" Luca asked.
"No," Chuck pried his son's hands away from his neck so he could look his son in the eyes, "This is not your fault. I've been sick for a long time, before you were even born."
"You get better?" Luca blinked his eyes as a few tears trickled out.
"I'll get better," Chuck confirmed as he wiped at his boy's cheeks, "I love you so much, Luca."
"I love you, Daddy," Luca hugged him tight again.
"Chuck, we have to get going," Blair told him gently after glancing at her watch. They'd already arranged to meet his therapist at the facility, and they had a couple hours drive ahead of them.
"I go," Luca insisted as Chuck tried to free himself from his son's embrace.
"Not right now, Sweetie," Blair tried to aid in Chuck's pursuit, "We'll go see Daddy this weekend when they have visiting day."
"No," Luca held his father tight despite both of their attempts to free him.
"It won't hurt showing Luca where I'm staying," Chuck caved immediately. He thought it might actually help Luca to see the facility. To know exactly where his father was staying might actually provide the young boy with a little comfort.
"Okay," Blair nodded as Chuck carried Luca to the entryway where Bart had just returned from his walk with Monkey.
"We're taking Luca with us," Blair told her father-in-law as the trio slipped into their coats, though Luca was making the task as difficult as possible, "If you need help with Evie, my mother said that she could be over in an instant."
"I'm sure Evie and I will get along just fine," Bart told her, "And Charles, don't worry about anything here. I'll help Blair as much as is necessary. Take care of yourself."
"I will," Chuck nodded as Rosa came in with Evie in her arms, "Luca, go to Mommy for a minute."
"No," Luca clung tighter to his neck.
"Just for a few minutes while I say goodbye to your sister," Chuck tried to reason with him.
"No," Luca clung tighter still, somehow convincing himself that if Chuck couldn't say goodbye to Evie then he wouldn't go.
Blair gently pried him away and held him tight, even as he tried to squirm away.
"You are one of the most beautiful little girls in the all the world," Chuck told his daughter as he held her close, his finger wrapped tight in her little fist, "Daddy loves you so much, and I know you are going to be on your best behavior for Mommy while I'm gone. You're going to go to sleep easily every night, and you're not going to play with your food when you're fed or cry and cry and cry just because you want to. You can do all of that when I come home, okay, Princess?"
Chuck could hear Luca grunting in an effort to free himself from his mother as Chuck said his farewell to Evie.
"Be a good girl, Evie," Chuck whispered as he kissed her cheeks, nose and forehead before he passed her off to Bart who was waiting. Chuck kissed her once more before he grabbed Luca who was about ready to fall out of Blair's arms.
"Ready to go?" Lily met them inside their waiting car.
"Lily!" Blair gasped in surprise.
"Lily, you don't need to join us," Chuck told her as he made his way into the limo, somehow managing not to crush Luca as he got himself comfortable as his son was wrapped all around him.
"I was there the first time you did this. I intend to be there for the second," she explained. There was no further use for discussion as the limo began moving.
"Give Daddy a hug," Blair encouraged her son. Having arrived at the facility, Chuck had managed to free himself from Luca long enough to have a discussion with his doctor who had been waiting patiently for him to arrive. Their son was now hugging Blair's leg like it was a floatation device.
"No," Luca pouted. He knew that as soon as he hugged his father they would have to leave, and he didn't want to.
"I'll be home soon, Little Man," Chuck assured him as he knelt before him.
"I want to stay with you, Daddy," Luca threw his arms around Chuck's neck.
"And I want to stay with you always," Chuck assured him as he caressed his back as he held his son tight, "To be the best daddy I can be to you and Evie, I need to do this. It's only for a few weeks. When I get home, it will be warm enough so that I can take you to the zoo, just the two of us. Okay?"
Luca shook his head to indicate that it wasn't as he hugged his father tighter, nearly cutting off Chuck's breath.
"I love you, Buddy."
"I love you, Daddy," he kissed his father's cheek.
"I'll see you this weekend," Chuck assured him as he patted Luca's back while trying to loosen the little boy's hold, "Mommy is going to bring you and Evie to see me."
"I miss you," Luca pouted as he buried his head in Chuck's neck.
"I'll miss you more," Chuck replied as he received a sympathetic look from his wife.
"Luca, go to Grandma for a few minutes," Blair instructed her son when Chuck was finally able to untangle himself from his son's grip.
Luca reluctantly went, stomping his feet with each step as he made his way towards his Grandma Lily.
"Those are your genes coursing through him at this moment," Chuck tried to lighten the mood as she stepped into his embrace.
"Now, you behave, Bass," she instructed him as she ran her fingers through his hair, "Do what the doctors tell you, take what they give you. I don't want any bad reports when I come visit you this weekend or there will be a suitable punishment."
"Yes, ma'am," he smirked slightly.
"And don't worry about anything with me and the children," Blair told her, "We have more than enough people willing to help out if I get in over my head, which is highly unlikely."
"Luca must hate me for this," he cast his eyes to the floor.
"He could never hate you," she assured him as she caressed his cheek hoping to coax his eyes back to hers, "He wants to spend as much time with you as he always does, but he'll get through this. We're lucky enough that he's so young, he most likely won't even remember this in a few months."
"I'll remember," he shook his head slightly.
"You have to learn to forgive yourself for things," she whispered, "You're doing the right thing, Chuck, the responsible thing."
"Who's going to get Evie to sleep at night?" Chuck began to panic.
"I can do it," Blair assured him, " I know you're her favorite, but I am her mother. She's going to be fine. Luca is going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. We're going to miss you like crazy, but we're going to be fine."
"I'm being selfish."
"It's not selfish to want to get better," Blair told him, "You've barely been treading water since Bart came back. You did the best you could. You went to therapy once a week. You took your medication as prescribed. It wasn't working. You knew you were cycling. We knew this could happen."
"I stopped the medication," he confessed.
"Last week, I know," she replied as she tugged lightly at his tie, "You started cycling before then."
"And I've been drinking," he added.
"Last week, I know," she repeated as she swallowed hard on her emotions. She'd never expect him to admit his lapses, nor would she have pressed him on it. She just wanted him to get better, and she was so proud of him for recognizing, on his own, that he was having problems.
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
"It's okay, Chuck," she finally lifted his chin to look in his eyes, "I knew what I signed up for. For better or worse, in sickness and in health."
"I don't deserve you," he buried his head into her neck as he hugged her tight.
"Well, you're stuck with me," she ran her fingers through his hair to soothe him, "I'm not going anywhere. I love you, Chuck."
"I love you," he replied.
She pulled away and took his face in her hands, kissing him hard and passionately.
"Mister Bass, we need to get this paperwork taken care of," Chuck's therapist chimed in finally. Chuck reluctantly pulled away and grabbed his bag. With one more kiss from Blair and a wave from Luca, Chuck followed his therapist into the facility.
"I want Daddy," Luca moaned as Blair took him into her arms.
"I know, Baby," Blair tried her best to soothe him as his head came to rest against her shoulder, "He loves you so much, but he's been very sad lately. He wants to get better for you, so he has to do this."
"I not make him happy?" Luca frowned.
"You make him very happy, Peanut," she assured him, "This isn't your fault. It isn't Daddy's fault. He's sick. To get better, he has to stay here for a little while."
"Papa Bart fault?" Luca continued to frown.
"It's complicated," Blair tried to duck the question as she didn't know if she had an honest answer to give the little boy.
"Come on, Sweetheart, let's go get some ice cream," Lily chimed up in an attempt to distract the boy.
"No," Luca stuck out his lip while burying his head in Blair's neck.
Blair and Lily traded sympathetic looks as Blair carried him to the car. She'd expected Luca to protest, but he was too upset to even notice when the car started moving.
When they arrived at the manor, Luca climbed every step to the front door without any help, waited for his mother to open it and then took off for his special hiding spot, the one that only he and his father knew about with his puppy nipping at his heels. He didn't even take a moment to address the agents outside as he normally did.
"Poor thing," Lily frowned as she watched Luca take off.
"I hope Luca reappears before dinner," Blair sighed, "I haven't a clue where he runs off to. I forgot to ask Chuck, and I can't exactly call him since I have his phone in my purse."
"I'm sure Luca's rumbling belly will force him out by dinner time," Lily assured her.
"I hope so," Blair replied as Bart came down the staircase with his suitcase in hand and a folded up piece of paper in the other.
"Where are you going?" Lily inquired.
Bart looked startled by the sight of Blair and Lily in the entryway. He'd obviously wanted to make a clean getaway. "It's in the note."
Blair snatched it out of his hand and began reading before he could protest. She stopped after the first sentence. "You're not leaving, Bart."
"What!" Lily exclaimed as her eyes went wide.
"I've done enough damage to my son," Bart shook his head, "It would be best if I wasn't here when he gets back."
"That's complete nonsense," Blair shook away his suggestion as she crumbled up the piece of paper in her hand.
"If I hadn't come back, he wouldn't have cycled into this episode and Evie and Luca would have their father to tuck them in at night," Bart rationalized.
"We don't know that," Blair responded, "You and Chuck are finally starting to have a relationship. Are you going to throw all of that away? What about Luca? Are you considering his feelings or Evie's?"
"It's best for everyone if I leave," he insisted.
"It's easiest for you," Lily challenged him, "Just run away because things get the tiniest bit complicated. The accident was a convenient excuse for you to leave last time. You could have stayed. We could have worked on our marriage. We could have lived with protective custody, but you ran."
"You're one to talk," Bart hissed, "How many marriages did you end because things got complicated?"
"Enough to know that running isn't the solution," Lily responded calmly.
"I'm the reason Chuck checked into himself into that facility upstate instead of spending time with his wife and children," Bart stated.
"You're part of it," Blair agreed, "But none of us blame you. No one thought that when you returned that a magic wand was going to be waved, and Chuck was going to be all better. He needs you to be here when he gets back. Running would be the worst thing that you could do. You would just be feeding into all his self-doubt. He thinks that he was never enough for you. When he was a boy, he wasn't good enough for you to spend any time with him. When he was a teenager, he was too much trouble to be bothered with. As a man, he wasn't worth knowing, so you faked your death. Help me prove that he's wrong."
Bart swallowed hard. Everything Blair and Lily were saying was true. He was running because it was easier. Every bit of self-doubt that his son was having was the same that was running through him.
"Please stay," Blair requesting, fighting her emotions so that she would not shed tears, "Stay for Luca and Evie and Lily and me and especially for Chuck."
Bart nodded slightly. Lily didn't wait for him to elaborate as she marched him up to his room and helped him unpack.
The tears Blair had been holding in all day were finally starting to catch up to her. She barely made it to her bedroom before the sobs took hold. She clutched Chuck's pillow, inhaling his scent deeply as she mourned the loss of her husband, even if it was only for a little while.
"Mommy," Luca pushed his way into her room a few hours later, ignoring the warnings of his grandmother, his nanny and the maid to not disturb her.
"What is it, Peanut?" Blair dried her eyes as he climbed onto her bed.
"I hungry," he tapped at his stomach.
Blair glanced at the clock. She couldn't believe that it was already dinnertime.
"Let's get you something to eat," Blair smiled as she pulled him into her arms and hugged him tight.
"Are you sad, Mommy?" he asked.
"Yes, Sweetie," she confirmed with a nod of her head, "I miss Daddy too."
"Are you sad so you have to stay where Daddy stay?" he asked her with fearful eyes.
"No, Peanut," Blair assured him, "Mommy is a different kind of sad."
"How I cheer Daddy up?"
"You just be the same Luca you always are," Blair poked his stomach playfully, "You're Daddy's best medicine."
"I stay with Daddy," he stated. In his mind, that simple thought solved everything. If he made his father happy, then he should just never leave his father's side.
"I know this is hard," she smiled softly as she pressed her forehead to his, "We miss Daddy so much, and all we want is for him to come home. He will when he's better, until then we'll just have to carry on without him. That starts with having dinner. Let's go see what Rosa made you today."
TBC…
