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

Blair woke up wrapped in her fiancé's arms the morning after they got engaged. She felt a giant smile form immediately. She couldn't remember a time when she felt more content in all her life. Even with her show less than a week away, she was more relaxed and confident than she'd ever felt.

"You awake?" Chuck moaned in her ear as he tightened his grasp around her ever so slightly.

"Just woke up," she confirmed, "You?"

"Same," he buried his head into the crook of her neck to savor her warmth and unique smell.

"I do not want to go to work today," she groaned as she rolled so that she could pin him to the bed, "Let's call in sick."

"Tempting," he moaned, "But I took you away from your work last night. I don't know if you can afford an entire day out of the office."

"I'm practically done," she tried to convince him, "Let's just stay in bed all day to celebrate."

"Don't you want to show off the rock?"

Blair twisted away abruptly and reached out for the bedside lamp.

"What are you doing?" he inquired as she began to inspect the ring closely.

"I've barely looked at it myself. I was just so excited by the event itself that I haven't really examined the ring closely," she realized, "I want to see what it looks like."

"How'd I do?" Chuck inquired as he stroked her bare back with one hand and dropped a kiss to her shoulders.

"It's beautiful," Blair felt herself choking up, "Not that I expected anything less. You've always had fantastic taste."

"Starting with my breathtaking fiancée," he smiled as he swept her hair away from the nape of her neck as he began nuzzling.

"Is this my…" Blair suddenly caught something familiar entwined in the band, "My promise ring? How?"

"It was the reason I wanted to take it off in the first place. I wanted to incorporate our original promise to each other with our new promise of spending the next half century together, god willing even longer," he explained.

"How long have you been planning this proposal?"

"Four years," Chuck responded without missing a beat.

"I have a confession," Blair stated as she laid back down wrapping herself around him. She wasn't in any hurry this morning. She could afford to be a little late this morning. She wanted to savor the moment, after all she was only going to get engaged once.

Chuck wrapped her in his arms and waited for her to continue.

"Since the holidays, I'd convinced myself that you would be breaking up with me after Fashion Week," she stated.

"How could you think for a moment I would do something so idiotic?" he inquired.

"I don't know," she sighed, "Things have just been a little weird between us lately, and we haven't made love nearly as often as usual."

"I was being respectful to the stress you've been under," he replied as he ran a finger gently along her spine, drawing out a shiver as he went, "Fashion Week is quite possibly the biggest event of your professional life. I know how much it means to you."

"I want to do well," Blair qualified her next statement, "But not at the expense of you and me. Even if it's just you bringing me dinner at the loft every night and we make love on the floor, like we did that night a week or so ago, I want us to continue to make time for each other."

"I'm buying your loft a sofa, by the way," he informed her, "We're getting too old to make love on the floor."

Blair began laughing at the absurdity in the statement, "Yes, you're pushing twenty-three, it's all down hill from here."

Chuck growled at her as he pinned her to the bed and attacked her, much to the enjoyment of both of them. Neither cared that they'd be late for work.

As Blair entered her loft, she was immediately bombarded by congratulations. Her ringed finger was easily noticed. She gleefully regaled anyone who asked with the details of Chuck's proposal, keeping only the most special moments locked up in her heart.

Lily was the first call she received that morning, overjoyed at the prospect of having a daughter-in-law join her family soon. She wanted to host an engagement party as soon as Serena came home for her visit, and she wanted permission to coordinate the party with the parents of the bride. Blair realized she needed to get ahead of the game by calling her parents.

After a brief exchange with Roman, she was put on speakerphone so she could tell two of her fathers together. They were overjoyed upon hearing the news, claiming they'd been waiting anxiously for the phone call since Chuck's visit a few weeks earlier.

The pieces that hadn't made any sense days earlier when she was convinced that Chuck was going to break up with her now were finally starting to fit together. She felt pretty silly for thinking he was going to end their relationship, especially as she eyed her ring again.

She truly loved her ring. She'd fantasized as a child about the type of ring she'd wear as an engaged woman. She'd been surrounded by baubles the size of chicklets all her life and had been convinced that was what she wanted. She'd even tried on the legendary Vanderbilt rock when her mother and Nate's parents had practically forced them into an engagement while still in prep school. The need for the mammoth ring ended shortly thereafter. The ring felt cold and heavy, given by someone that didn't really know her and perhaps didn't truly care to.

Chuck knew her, every part of her, and embraced even her faults. Her engagement ring spoke to how well he truly knew her. She'd proudly wear her ring for the next fifty years or more, god willing.

Already planning to fly to New York for her fashion debut, her fathers announced that they were flying in a few days early to celebrate with the pair and help Lily plan for the engagement party Blair casually mentioned. There was an awkward pause when they asked how Eleanor responded to the engagement news. They encouraged her to make the call and not wait for Eleanor to hear the news second or third hand when they realized that she was reluctant to call with the news. They tried to get Blair to see that no matter how fractured their relationship was at the moment her mother deserved to hear the news directly from her daughter. She promised to give it some thought and then feigned the need to get back to work before they could press her further.

In truth, Blair wasn't sure how her mother was going to respond to her getting engaged to Chuck. She'd made no secret of her displeasure very early in her relationship, but the distain had melted with each year, especially after how Chuck stood by her the few years earlier when she went through the darkest period of her life. At her college graduation, her mother had surprised all when she invited Chuck into a family photo op.

A knock at her door disturbed her thoughts. She called out to admit the knocker. Alas business truly was calling as one of the models they'd hired for the show had come down with the flu, and they needed a replacement at the last minute. Blair spent the next hour calling modeling agencies to find a suitable replacement.

"Free for lunch?" her fiancé poked his head into her office in the early afternoon.

"I am for you," she smiled. He came in with another picnic basket full of her favorite foods, clearly taking her words from that morning seriously.

"Still glowing, I see," he smiled as she came around her desk to greet him with a kiss.

"It's hard not to," she replied, "I've been showing my ring off all morning."

"Eugenia and Cedric want to take us out to dinner next week to celebrate," Chuck told her, "Hopefully things will settle down a bit for you next week."

"No matter what, we'll make the time," Blair assured him, "I called my dads. They were so excited. They also said they'd been anxiously waiting for you to propose since you visited them a few weeks ago. Care to explain that?"

"You didn't think I'd propose without asking for your hand first, did you?" he chuckled.

"Didn't you do that over the holidays?"

"Never found the time," he shrugged. "You said that your fathers are happy with your news, how about your mother? Lily, by the way, was ecstatic."

"I know, she called," Blair smiled as she watched Chuck lay out their lunchtime feast, "She wants to host an engagement party as soon as Serena comes home to visit."

"And Eleanor?" Chuck prompted.

"Daddy and Roman are coming sooner than originally planned," Blair made an abrupt announcement.

"I'll send the jet for them," Chuck responded, "And Eleanor?"

"And you should see how everyone in the office was gushing over the ring and your romantic proposal," Blair stated, "They attacked me as soon as I stepped out of the elevator. Either they've been waiting with baited breath like I have, or the rock is that noticeable."

"Blair, what did Eleanor say?" Chuck stopped her from dodging the question, "Was she upset?"

"I don't know," she confessed, "I haven't called to tell her."

"Blair, you have to call your mother before she hears the news from someone else," Chuck insisted, "It's only a matter of time before Page Six gets the tip and splashes the news across their page. Your relationship is already contentious enough. Don't add this log to the fire."

"She started it this time," Blair pouted like a child, "She stole my design and claimed it as her own."

"And she was wrong for doing so. She's admitted as much," Chuck reminded her, "You're the one that is still holding this against her. She's your mother, Blair. No matter how strained your relationship is you owe her a phone call."

"What if she gets mad?" Blair continued to pout, "She's never been very accepting of our relationship, tolerant maybe, but certainly not accepting."

"I asked for her blessing," he confessed, "And she gave it."

"Reluctantly, I'm sure," she muttered.

"Reluctant or not, she gave it," he gathered her hands in his, his thumb running along her ring, "She wants you to have the best life possible. She has concerns about me. Those concerns are justified. I have a certain reputation."

"That was over five years ago," Blair replied, "You're a completely different person now."

"To those closest to me," Chuck reminded her, "There are still whispers. You hear the gossips at parties openly questioning our relationship, claiming it's a publicity stunt to get your company started and to clean up the questionable legacy that my father left at Bass."

"It's my mother's fault that she can't see beyond that," Blair insisted, "She hasn't cared to be around enough to see that you've changed."

"Call her," he gently commanded as he walked her towards her desk and placed her hand over the phone.

"I don't have the number," she huffed as she jerked her hand away.

Chuck quickly pulled out his phone, located the number for Eleanor's Parisian office and dialed. Blair gave an annoyed squeak as she lifted the handset and brought it to her ear when Eleanor's assistant answered.

"I'd like to speak with Eleanor," Blair stammered out, "It's her daughter, Blair. If she's busy, I can call back later."

"Ms. Waldorf-Rose instructed me to put you through the moment you called. She's been expecting your call for weeks," Eleanor's assistant replied.

"You've been busy, haven't you," Blair glared at her fiancé as she waited to be transferred to her mother, "Did you ask Dorota too?"

"As a matter of fact..." Chuck began before she held up a finger to his lips to silence him when her mother answered.

"Blair, Sweetheart, I'm so happy you called," Eleanor greeted her daughter gleefully.

There was a slight bit of guilt as Blair realized that her mother had been uncertain that she'd even receive a call from her daughter regarding her engagement.

"Chuck and I have some news," Blair began her voice waffling in nervousness, "Hopefully you'll agree with us that it's good news as we got engaged last night."

There was a slight pause before Eleanor replied, "That's wonderful, Sweetheart. I'm very happy for you." There was a thickness in her voice that had Blair choking up as well. "Truly, Sweetheart, I'm very happy for you and Charles. You two have had your ups and downs, but I can see how much he loves you and how much you love him. I wish nothing but happiness for both of you."

"We'll be having an engagement party in March when Serena comes home from Africa for a visit," Blair informed her, "I hope you and Cyrus will be able to make it."

"We'll clear our calendars," Eleanor assured her, "Have you talked to Cyrus yet?"

"Not yet," Blair replied, "I wanted to tell you first. I did call Daddy and Roman. They were happy too."

"I'm sure you have dozens of calls to make and a show to prepare for, so I won't pepper you with more questions, but I'm glad you called Blair," Eleanor stated, her voice thick again, "I love you."

There was an awkward pause before Blair added, "I love you, too."

She was a mess of tears as she hung up the phone and wrapped herself up in Chuck's embrace.

"Hungry?" Chuck tried to change the subject when she pulled away and reached for a tissue to dry her eyes.

"Starving," she confirmed, "We missed breakfast this morning."

"You were the one that didn't want to take anymore time away from the office," he smirked, "I tried to sneak in a little breakfast."

"You were just trying to delay our leaving the penthouse in the hopes you'd be able to talk me back to bed," she glared at him.

"And that's a bad thing?" he inquired with his most charming smile.

"Why did I agree to marry you again?" she rolled her eyes.

TBC…