Chapter 25
Later that morning, Blair woke up to discover that she'd fallen asleep with her head on Chuck's stomach, and her right hand on his chest. She could feel his chest rise and fall with each deep breath he took, and could hear his stomach gurgling under her ear, which was actually kinda funny to listen to. She snuggled down then and sighed as she watched him sleep and traced the lines of his body with her fingers, running her hands lightly over his chest hair and tracing around his left chest nipple, reveling in the unique beauty of her man. Yes Chuck Bass was her man and her man alone now, as the way it should be, and what a uniquely beautiful man he was. She loved how the sunlight and shadows accentuated his classic jaw line, and how his body, if not the most athletic at least powerfully built in his own way, with his broad chest and strong thighs. She toyed with his chest a bit more while he slept, drawing her hand away after each light caress to see his reaction, which ended up being scratching himself there, as if a bug had landed on him, causing her to chuckle to herself as she watched him.
After a bit, Blair rolled over because she'd gotten a cramp in her left arm from laying on it. While in the process of rolling over, she pressed her face against him, breathing in the scent of his skin and pressing a kiss against his soft belly just below his navel, before laying her head there again. She sighed as she ran her left hand down his leg, feeling how the texture of his hair there changed sightly from his power thighs, to the lower part of his legs. Yeah Chuck was an interestingly built guy, from his power thighs on slightly short legs, with sightly long feet, which together gave him an interesting swagger to his walk, at least compared to the more athletic grace that guys such as Nate had. Still Blair liked how Chuck walked, because even if wasn't athletic, he certainly made it sexy that's for sure. Plus maybe the way he was built attributed to his sexual prowess in some ways, even if he was a lazy ass more often than not anymore.
She sighed, thinking about that as she ran her hand along the inside of his thigh, feeling that he was slightly sweaty right there. In was then she realized that she was staring at him right then. It was one of the few times she'd actually ever looked at him when he was flaccid and otherwise asleep, and she realized then that he was still a decent sized man, even when he wasn't aroused. Curious, she reached out and touched it with her finger to see if anything would happen as it lay there on his pubic hair, but after a few light touches nothing dramatically happened. She then realized how long his pubic hair was and thought to herself how she always felt like a new woman when she went for a bikini wax or at least gave herself a trim, so she wondered if her husband would feel better if his pubic hair wasn't so long? She wasn't sure, but figured he'd complain less about being sweaty there if he wasn't so long.
Blair was unsure if she was courageous enough to try a razor, but she did know Chuck kept a small scissors in his grooming kit, so she thought she'd carefully give him a little trim while he slept and he'd be none the wiser. Exiting the bed, she soon found his grooming kit and grabbed it out of his drawer as she made her way back and sat on the bed beside his sleeping form. Steeling herself with the courage to try something like that, she reached down and just started to grab for him, when he suddenly woke up and purred.
"Hmm...what are you doing, Blair? Trying to catch a Bass?" he seductively teased.
"Ha ha no...but I did notice you were a little long down here, so I thought I'd give you a trim..." she laughed nervously nonchalant, as she flashed the scissors in front of his eyes.
"WHAT?! A LITTLE LONG? Uh Blair...that's not how you make IT smaller!" he growled, a more than slight touch of panic and fear tingeing his voice as he reached his hand to stop her.
"What do you mean?" she asked curiously, slightly naïve, until realization struck her. "Oh...Ha ha ha...did you think I was going to cut your...? Oh yeah Chuck, time for a little trim! Snip snip!" she doubled over laughing, sarcastically teasing him as she snipped the scissors in the air fraction of an inch above him as he gasped "No!" and grabbed to cover himself.
"Ha ha ha...I'm just kidding, Chuck! I didn't mean to cut your manhood down to size! You are well endowed, even when you aren't aroused, and I love it!" she laughed as he left the bed and went into the bathroom, still covering himself with his hand.
"If you think so, then what's up with the scissors?" he asked, still slightly fuming.
"Well...I know how you complain about sweating out your boxers sometimes...and I know how I always feel better or more refreshed after a bikini wax or a little trim...so I thought that I'd help you do a little man-scaping. Do you know that some of the pubic hair on your balls is almost as long as your penis when you're not aroused? Or it seemed that way when you were laying there sleeping..." she commented.
"WHAT?! Well thanks for informing me of that, Blair!" he sarcastically replied, then added "If anyone's doing any man-scaping on the Bass Man, I do it to myself...but in my opinion, I don't think I need trimmed there, thank you very much!" as he used the bathroom.
"Well I'm sorry for attempting that...although now that I think about it, I suppose it was scary from your point of view seeing me taking a scissors to you down there. Ha ha! Though you've got to know I'd never cut you! Aw, I just wanted you to feel better, hon. At least I got you out of bed...how's your head?" she apologized, cooing to him through the bathroom door.
"It's all right darling. My head had felt better when I first awoke...but you scared the ache back with your scissors hijinks." he growled.
"Oh I'm sorry, Chuck...is there anything I can do?" she sighed breathlessly.
"Yeah...come in here..." he teased as he pulled her into the bathroom and into the shower, where they had a mid-morning quickie, which was quite the way to start their day, showering together afterward to get clean together.
~o~o~o~o~
Their real honeymoon consisted of going to France to visit Blair's father's vineyard in the French countryside as well as shopping in Paris, sailing the Seine on a ferry cruise, visiting Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffle Tower, visiting their favorite restaurant, and Blair's mother and Cyrus in their Paris penthouse apartment. All in all it was an enjoyable trip for the two of them, but before they knew it their two weeks were over and Chuck suddenly had to get back to New York to close a business deal he said was due.
Being that it was early December, Blair knew that the one year anniversary of Chuck's father Bart's death was looming, so she mentally kept that in mind as she noticed that her husband began to bury himself more in his work every day. She knew he was sad, but he was also definitely one to keep his emotions bottled up sometimes, especially at times such as this.
Knowing what he'd almost did on the rooftop of Victrola back in January, when the date of Bart's death did arrive, she decided that she'd spend as much of the day with Chuck as she could. She'd stick to him like glue and be there for him if he needed her, but try to back off if he needed time alone. She'd try to prevent him from doing anything drastic to himself, because now he had so much to live for; her, their baby, his business empire, so much indeed.
When she asked him what his plans were for the day, he said that he was going on location to sign documents to finalize the purchase of a building he intended to remodel into potentially high income apartments. Thinking nothing of if, Blair asked to accompany him if they could eat breakfast first, which he agreed to. They ate breakfast at their favorite restaurant, although Chuck seemed to be more sullen than usual and in a bit of a hurry, so they finished their breakfast and were soon on their way.
On their ride over, Blair asked how he was feeling, but he seemed reluctant to talk and just sighed, gripping her hand in his. To draw him out more, she asked him more about the building he was purchasing to turn into apartments, to which he just gave scant details that mostly consisted of the thousands of square footage within the building, how many apartments he expected to be able to create in the space available, the profit he approximated to make from his potential tenants, rough schematics, and a vague location for the property. Blair thought that the location seemed familiar, but she didn't know why.
When they arrived there though, Blair was stunned to learn that the property her husband, Chuck, had purchased to turn into high income apartments was actually the homeless shelter on 90 Lafayette Street! Shocked, she followed Chuck out of the limo as he made his way toward the building.
"A homeless shelter? Ick! I mean, I'm not one to want to mingle with the downtrodden, but then again I don't want to have to stumble across them living outside of Delacourt because you bought their homeless shelter and kicked them out onto the street!" Blair chided him as she followed him along the sidewalk.
"A business deal is a business deal, and this one will bring us a steady income for years to come." he said, rather sternly.
"A business deal? People's lives aren't just a business deal! I'm not saying you have to be a Bastian of the holiday spirit, but quit it with the Scrooge act! You know I know the reason why you're acting this way is because today is the one year anniversary of your father's death." she told him.
"That's not the reason why..." he sighed.
"I don't believe you! It is too and you know it! Why don't you take the rest of the day off and you can relax and remember?" she replied.
"Why don't we meet up for lunch, then we can go back to our penthouse and we'll have our quiet time there?" he suggested as he led her back to the car and deposited her in the limo.
"Chuck why are you doing this? Its not as if you never get sad or upset because I know better, believe me! You are not your father, so remember that, okay." she sighed.
"I know..." he quietly admitted.
"I love you dear, you have so much to live for, me, the baby...remember that, Chuck my love, if I don't see you until later." she sighed.
"I know...and I love you too." he sighed and gave her a kiss before closing the door of the limousine and seeing her on her way.
Blair rode on then, her thoughts focussed on Chuck and whatever he was planning to do with the homeless shelter. She prayed that he really wouldn't buy the homeless shelter just to kick everyone out of it and onto the street. She knew that deep down Chuck wasn't that bad, he just became distracted by money and trying to do what he thought he needed to do to provide her with the things he thought would keep her happy and provide for his family. Still though he needed to realize that it wasn't things which made her happy, but instead his love for her. He also needed to learn that the measure of a man wasn't how tall he stands or how wealthy or intelligent he is, but its what was inside that counts. With that in mind she hoped that he'd know she'd love him even if he couldn't buy her every trinket he thought she wanted, especially for Christmas.
With that in mind, Blair decided to go back home to their apartment where she knew he kept some of the mementos from his father and their life together. While there, she found various photographs of Chuck as a boy, along with occasional pictures and videos of him and his father within the past few years. There were even some pictures and videos of Chuck and herself from when they were secretly dating several years ago behind Nate's back. With that in mind, Blair took most of the videos and brought them into the screening room to watch, as she sat back and ate some gourmet caramel popcorn.
Most of the videos brought back happy memories of a time when things seemed simpler and Chuck seemed quite the nonchalant playboy. Blair was surprised at how much secret footage he had recorded from their brief time together in 2007. There was the time she'd met up with him at the Palace the first time. Then the time they'd made out in her room before Nate interrupted them to ask her out for cotillion, then when she came back and they finished the deed. Then the little video in the limo she'd made with Chuck when he was taking her to and from Nate's tux fitting, where they'd had sex both before and afterwards. Then a few other times when he'd recorded her while she slept, calling her "my sleeping beauty" and "the future Mrs. Chuck Bass", even as far back as 2007. It was after watching a few of their clips of them getting it on, that Blair realized the reason for Chuck's reputation as a lover and being able to "last" so long. He'd start off on top, then roll her on top to do most of the work, then roll them over again to give a few good strokes to finish off! The lazy ass!
There was even a clip from early 2008, right around the time she'd had her pregnancy scare where when she watched it, it turned into a video confession of sorts, where he admitted the strong possibility that it was his fault Blair was pregnant, and so he'd go along with whatever she decided, whether it be abortion, adoption, or child support payments until 2026. After watching that, Blair grew quiet and introspective as she imagined what life would've been like if she'd had Chuck's baby two years earlier. Surely life their senior year would have been quite different indeed.
With that in mind, Blair fell asleep for a little nap and only woke up with Chuck had come home, looking rather morose, as he stalked around the apartment. When she saw him, she approached him and asked him what was wrong.
"Nothing...I've just had a strange day." he growled as he handed her a bouquet.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.
"No...you wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway." he growled, pouring himself a drink and sitting on the sofa.
"Hmm...yellow roses? Interesting choice...now I really want to know what you've been up to today? Especially since yellow flowers stand for infidelity, as if you didn't know!" she said angrily.
"Infidelity?" he gasped, taken aback.
"Yes! Who are you cheating on me with, Chuck Bass? I have a right to know!" she cried.
"Nobody! I swear! You should know how I feel by now!" he growled as he glared at her.
"And how do you feel? You're still grieving about your father's death, and you should slow down." she chided.
"Well I'm not slowing down...whether or not you believe me, I don't care." he sighed dejectedly.
"You don't care? So you're just going to drive yourself into an early grave, just like your father? Leave me a widow? Leave your baby fatherless, just like yourself?" she asked.
"No! You know I'd never do that to you!" he yelled at her, surprising her with his anger.
"Chuck that's enough! I'll hold off talking to you until you're sober, but nonetheless I want to know if you've visited your father's grave yet. Have you?" she asked.
"No! Why should I? He was a bastard to me in his last days, why should I pay my respects to him?" he asked.
"Because he was your father and he loved you! I know!" she replied.
"And just how do you know that, may I ask?" he plied her.
"I watched your family home videos, and in them your father loved you!" she cried.
"You should not have been watching my videos! That's an invasion of my property!" he fumed.
"Well how else would I have gotten a clear insight into you? You haven't opened up about your father's death in awhile. " she fumed.
"Well that's something I'd rather not discuss..."
"And how did your deal at the homeless shelter go?" she asked.
"They have seventeen days..." he growled.
"Seventeen days?! That's Christmas! You're certainly not going to kick people out on Christmas, are you Chuck?" she gasped.
"Why not? It's a Friday..." he coldly admitted.
"Oh Chuck Bass, you're such an Ebeneezer Scrooge sometimes! All right Chuckaneezer Bass, have fun allowing the eviction of homeless people weigh down your conscious! Although I know that deep down you're not really that mean. Oh and another thing, after watching our sex tapes, I realized that you usually make me do most of the work when we make love. Lazy Bass!" she touted to him, as she went out for a walk, leaving Chuck seemingly alone.
Blair did feel a little bad about what she'd said to Chuck in their apartment, so after she left, she sent him a text message.
C my luv, I meant what I said, but I still LOVE you! Call me! - xoxo B
However, Chuck didn't reply back right away, so she left it at that. Since it was the Christmas Season nonetheless, Blair decided to take advantage of it and do a little window shopping and then some. She tried to contact Serena, but couldn't get in touch with her. Her mother was in Paris again, so she was a wash. Eventually, she decided to contact Hazel and Is to see if they were available, and they were, so they met up at Bendels, then went from there to Bergdorf's, Macy's, Saks, Calvin Klein, and so on and so forth, until they stopped at the ice rink at Rockefeller Center for hot chocolate.
"Blair, that was quite the shopping day! It was fun, but how come you didn't go shopping with Chuck?" Hazel asked.
"Chuck had some issues to work out on his own. You probably don't realize today's date..." Blair replied, staring at her phone.
"Oh was it about now that Bart died?" Is replied.
"Yes...one year ago today. And I text messaged him earlier to meet us here, but so far he hasn't arrived, so he probably won't show." she sighed out of concern.
"Yeah I don't know if Chuck Bass has always been known as Mr. Reliable...anyway I have to meet my mother pretty soon so I have to go. You and Chuck are invited to my family's penthouse for a Christmas party the day after tomorrow. Then you can meet my new boyfriend, Stan." Hazel said as she bid them adieu and started to leave.
Soon afterwards Isobel's cell buzzed and she said that her lover was calling her and that Blair and Chuck were invited to a Christmas party next week at her family's penthouse too. After bidding Isobel a fond farewell as well, Blair tried Chuck's cell again, but still didn't get a response, so she text messaged him again how she was sorry and how he was worth so much to her and the people around him, so he should remember that today before he did anything rash. Afterwards she called and had their limo pick her up and drive her back home with all of her purchases.
Blair spent most of the afternoon wrapping her purchases or putting them away. Then she watched a Christmas themed movie in the screening room, until she fell asleep for another cat nap, with her cat, and was only awakened by the buzzing of her cell phone. Thinking it was Chuck, she eagerly answered it, ready to chew him out for not responding to her messages all day. Instead though it was a message from Nate saying that Serena had been in an accident and she was in the hospital. Suddenly concerned for her best friend, she tried to message Chuck, then contacted their driver again and had him drive her to the hospital.
Once Blair got to the hospital, she learned that Serena had been in an SUV with Nate's cousin, Tripp, when they'd slid on a patch of ice and hit a guardrail fence. What Serena was doing in an SUV with Nate's cousin was anyone's guess. Still it didn't look good socially or otherwise, even though Serena's injuries didn't end up as life threatening as they'd first feared. Lily and Rufus were there, but Dan & Jenny apparently weren't yet. Blair waited with whoever was there, and talked to Serena a bit, teasingly chiding her about almost ending up the next Mary Jo Kopechne, after which Serena admitted that she didn't know why she was hanging with Tripp in the first place because it was a mistake.
After a while, Blair was waiting in the waiting room alone, when suddenly Chuck appeared as if out of nowhere and sat down beside her. Turning to him, she gasped "Chuck my love, you're here! Where were you all day? I was so worried about you when you didn't respond to my text messages and so on... By the way, did you hear about Serena?" as she threw her arms around him.
"I'm glad to see you too, darling. Yes I heard about Serena, is she okay?" he asked.
"Yes, she'll be fine. She just has to learn to make the right decisions in life. So how were you? I didn't hear from you all day! I was so worried...being the anniversary of your father's death...did you visit his grave? I love you so much." she cried.
"Thank you. Mmm...I love you too darling. I did visit my father's grave after having a very strange day indeed. I'll tell you more about it if you'll walk with me. Would you believe me if I said I saw my father's ghost?" he replied as they walked from the waiting room and down the hall of the hospital.
"Your father's ghost? Uh you weren't drinking absinthe with Daniel Baldwin again were you?" she teased.
"No...ha ha...but it was quite the day..." he chuckled as they walked on and ended up in the hospital chapel for a moment alone.
Blair listened to Chuck relate his story to her about his day, not sure whether or not to believe him even if he did seem sincere. In the end she asked him "Well I hope you learned, Chuck, that you don't have to use money to buy your way through life and to buy happiness in life for either of us. I would rather have you show me your love than try to buy me every thing that my heart desires...because what my heart desires is you, Charles Bartholomew Bass." she sighed as she looked up at him.
"Oh really? Well that's good to know...so then I won't have to buy you much for Christmas?" he mused.
"Oh Chuck! You know I always love gifts! But right now, I think the best gift you could give me is a hug. After today, I feel like I need one!" she sighed.
"All right, come here..." he slyly said as he pulled her onto his lap for a hug, which she turned and straddled his lap because she felt like she needed a full body hug, and perhaps so did he. They both began to cry as they hugged it out in that hospital chapel. They soon also gave each other a kiss...and being in that quiet, darkened room, with the only lights coming from the faux stained glass windows behind the pulpit, they were soon reminded of another similar situation they'd had in the back of Chuck's limo. When Blair realized that Chuck was undoing his pants because he was already becoming aroused, she laughed "Chuuuck...are you sure we should be doing this in here? It's like a church or something, so don't you fear the wrath of God or something?"
"Hmm...well we are married, darling, and I'm sure it says somewhere in the Bible that a husband should find delight in his wife...which is what I intend to do...so I don't think the Almighty will mind because I'll be actually obeying, for once..." he mused, as he freed himself, reached under her dress to push down her underwear, and thrust inside as she gasped.
"Oh...well I guess you mean what you say!...I never thought you'd have us christen a hospital chapel...but I guess there's a first time for everything..." she coyly sighed.
"Indeed! That's why I'm glad you wear stockings now instead of tights...makes some things...so much easier..." he seductively growled as he gave her a quick ride in the chapel.
Afterwards, feeling slightly more satisfied, they left the hospital and went to eat a late dinner together, then went back home. Despite their quickie in the chapel, Chuck was still a little sad, as he remembered is father. He took a quick shower and soon relaxed in bed in his silk pajamas, sulking a bit. Blair came in wearing her own pajamas and curled up beside him, to hold him. He turned to her eventually and they fell asleep whispering comforts and they clung to each other then, falling asleep together.