Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.

"Hello, Mister Bass," Fred greeted Chuck a few days later as he paid his one time nemesis another visit. "Charlotte and Evan are still in school."

"I am well informed of my daughter's activities," Chuck assured him as he shook the young man's hand, "I came to see how Georgina was doing."

"She flutters in and out of consciousness. There isn't much recognition in her eyes, and the only sounds she's able to make are grunts and moans," Fred replied, "She's likely in for a long recovery."

"Have you and Evan settled on an assisted living facility?" Chuck inquired as he unbuttoned his suit jacket and took a seat.

"No," Fred replied as he looked towards the large stack of papers he'd been given by the doctors, "It's a lot to process."

"I might be the last person that you want to accept help from when it comes to your mother, but I've had my people do some research," Chuck stated as he handed Georgina's elder son a file folder of research that he'd had put together by not only his private investigators, but also several of the doctors that work in the laboratories in Bass's drug research division, "There is an excellent facility just outside the city. It's a short train ride, so you'd be able to visit anytime."

"That assumes that I'd want to," Fred muttered, "And given your history with her, why are you agreeing to help? Is there an ulterior motive?"

"Your mother and I had our differences," Chuck replied, "But I'd never use her current condition to my advantage. Maybe once upon a time, but I'm a different person than the boy she once knew."

"I've always wanted to ask you something," Fred stated, "When I was a little boy, did you threaten to turn her in to Children and Family Services, or was that one of her drug inspired rants?"

"It was the truth," Chuck sighed as he patted the back of the exhausted young man.

"Why didn't you? My life could have been so much easier."

"You don't know that," Chuck replied, "Yes, growing up with Georgina fleeting in and out of your life was hard, but going into foster care may have been worse."

"But it also could have been better. Georgina's parents were no picnic."

"I didn't turn her in because she asked me not to," Chuck explained, "Right or wrong, she made a choice. I know what it's like to not feel wanted. In her own messed up way, she wanted you. She deserved a chance to get it right."

"But she never did, and she never will," Fred stated.

"She might," Chuck replied, "This might be the change that she needs."

"She's practically a vegetable," Fred snorted sarcastically.

"But there is a chance for her to recover, maybe not fully, but enough to have a meaningful quality of life. Forgiving her maybe the hardest thing you have do, but you'll forever hate yourself if you don't at least try."

"I never had a change to be a kid because of her. As soon as Evan was born, I knew I had to look out for him because no one else would. She robbed me of my childhood because she couldn't get her act together," he replied, the bitterness oozing out of each word.

"I know where you are coming from, and I know all about missed childhoods. I held onto my anger for many years, but it got me nowhere," Chuck offered up his experience.

"You know nothing of the life I've lived," Fred snapped, "You don't know how I had to protect Evan. The memories that he has of her are nothing close to the way she truly was. I kept him sheltered from all of that."

"Then you deserve the credit for kind hearted young man that he's become," Chuck replied, "And I hope that you one day find the closer to your own anger, for your own sake."

"Thank you for bringing this by," Fred stated as he held up the folder of information, "I realize that you're only doing this because Charlotte is dating my brother."

"I'd like to think that I would have done this either way, but you're welcome. If there is anything you or she needs, feel free to give me a call," Chuck replied. Fred took a quick glance through the folder.

Fred nodded as Chuck patted his back before leaving.


"Daddy!" Charlotte moaned as she ran straight into her father's arms when he arrived home. She had tears streaming down her cheeks that broke his heart.

"What is wrong, Princess?" Chuck replied as his arms went around her as he caught sight of his wife walking into the entryway.

"Evan and I broke up," she mumbled into his chest.

Chuck's eyes connected with Blair's. He could see the relief in them.

"I'm glad you're home," Blair sighed as she stepped forward and kissed her husband's cheek, "Perhaps you'll have better luck with figuring out what happened."

"You don't know?" Chuck asked.

"She called me at the office. She was hysterical, so I came straight home. She's been like this ever since," Blair explained as she ran her hand through her daughter's hair.

"Sweetheart, why don't we go into my office, and the three of us can talk about what happened," Chuck suggested.

Charlotte nodded into his chest. Blair's arm came around her waist as mother and daughter walked into Chuck's office as he quickly divested himself of his communication toys. Charlotte's head was rested against her mother's shoulder as the pair sat on the leather sofa when he entered. Blair's fingers were gently stroking through her daughters soft locks rhythmically.

"Did the two of you have a fight?" Blair inquired as Chuck sat himself down on the opposite side of his daughter, his arms sliding behind Charlotte's shoulders so that he could stroke his wife's shoulder softly.

"No, it was nothing like that," Charlotte shook her head.

"Then what happened, Sweetheart?" Chuck inquired.

"He's been so lost since his mother's overdose. He spends all his time outside of school at the hospital with her. He said that his first priority needs to be her right now. I told him that I understood that. I suggested that perhaps with so much going on in his life that maybe it was a good idea for us to take a step back and just be friends. He agreed, so I gave him back his bracelet," Charlotte sniffled through her explanation.

Chuck quickly fished out a tissue from the box on the end table next to him and dabbed at his daughter's watery eye before he handed her the tissue.

"So it was your idea, Sweetheart," Blair replied.

"Yes," she nodded. "I know it's for the best. He's a really nice boy, but the only time I feel a spark is when his life is hovering near chaos. I don't want to keep waiting for chaos."

"If it was your idea, why are you so upset?" Chuck asked gently.

"He was my first boyfriend. Isn't this how I'm supposed to feel?" Charlotte looked at him with her doe eyes.

"There's no right or wrong way to feel," Blair assured her as she looked at the perplexed look on her husband's face. She had to bit her lip to keep from laughing as Charlotte's head came to rest against her shoulder once again.

"Is it okay to invite him over for dinner occasionally?" Charlotte inquired, "We did agree to stay friends, and that is a friendly thing to do, isn't it?"

"Yes," Blair replied as she pressed her lips to her daughter's forehead, "That is a very sweet thing to do. He's going to need all the support he can get."

"I don't say this enough, but thank you for being the greatest parents," Charlotte replied as she hugged her mother as tight as she could before she turned to hug her father.

"The greatest thanks is having such a wonderful daughter," Chuck replied as he tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear.

"I'm going to wash my face before dinner," Charlotte announced.

"That's a good idea, Sweetheart," Blair smiled as she and her husband watched her daughter walk off.

"Is it wrong that I'm a little happy about this?" Chuck inquired as Blair shifted on the sofa so that she could snuggle in his arms.

"I know you want to jump for joy," Blair giggled, "But don't get too excited just yet. There is a chance that they will reunite. Even if they don't, there is always another boy lurking right around the corner."

"Is it took late to spend her to an all girls boarding school?" he groaned.

"You did well for your first time out," Blair chuckled, "Think of Evan as dipping your toe into Charlotte's dating pool."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for her to jump all the way in," he sighed.

"One step at a time, Handsome," she chuckled as she patted his chest lovingly. "We'll get through it."

"Together," he added as he pulled her into his lap and kissed her deeply.

"They're at it again," Aiden groaned as he and his brother passed their father's open office door.

"It's a good thing Dad had that vasectomy, or we'd have a hundred siblings by now," Brice added.

Chuck and Blair broke away laughing.

"God I love our life," Chuck continued to laugh as Blair rose from the sofa and pulled him along with her. He tried to grope her the entire way to the dinner table.

"Get a room already," Aiden groaned.

"Litter of children," Brice repeated as he eyes his brother as Chuck held Blair's chair for her as Charlotte bounced into the room and took her usual place at the table.

"What's he talking about" Charlotte eyed her youngest brother.

"Dad was groping Mom," Aiden explained.

"Again," she sighed as she narrowed her eyes in her father's direction, "Isn't that something that should be done on the confines of your own bedroom."

"Who's the parent here?" Chuck laughed.

The laughter rang around the table as their evening dinner was served. He and Blair had all the money in the world, yet this was how he measured how successful he was in life, by the happiness of those he loved most. As he looked around at his wife and children he realized that he was truly the luckiest man in the world.

The End

Thank you all for joining me on this journey. It has been a great ride. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I have.