The response to the previous chapter certainly was interesting =) Some thought Blair was a bitch and sided completely with Chuck, others thought Chuck was a jerk and sided completely with Blair. And some did not take sides at all. I take it as a positive when people can side with either one of two characters in an argument. The previous chapter was the one I struggled with the most with my writer's block. I had similar problems with this one but I decided to post it as-is also and let you people decide if it needs changing.
About whether or not this story will stop updating – if I decide to permanently put an end to the story I will give it a proper ending. If it's been ages since I last posted that just means I'm on hiatus ;)
Regarding anonymous reviews: I obviously don't have anything against getting them, or else I would have changed my settings so that you have to be logged on to give feedback. However anonymous reviews that complain about things that aren't about the story, reviews that complain about other reviewers or reviews that consist mainly of curse words and insults will be deleted. I very much welcome constructive criticism but blatant rudeness doesn't really help me improve.
By the time they arrived at the Palace Grace had calmed down. She seemed a little confused but otherwise okay. After changing her diaper Chuck realized that the hotel room didn't have a crib. He would have to send someone out to buy one or find out if there were cribs available somewhere in the building. They must have had parents with small children staying there before. In lieu of better options he gently placed Grace on the bed and lay down next to her, facing her. Despite all the drama earlier in the day she seemed at peace. Perhaps she had already realized that she had been born into the Upper East Side culture and drama was just something she would have to get used to.
He watched her with a hint of a smile on his face while she sucked on her pacifier. He placed his arm so that he was basically cradling her with his hand by her shoulder blades. He wanted the physical connection and she seemed to appreciate it based on the noise she made. Her big eyes began to close but she opened them again, struggling against sleep for a minute. He knew she would sometimes fuss when she was expected to nap but right now she was fine with it. He was quite tired himself but he wouldn't go to sleep until he had found her a crib to sleep in. Either that or he would let her sleep in the carry-cot. Letting her nap on the bed with him was fine for now but he didn't want to risk rolling over her in his sleep so it was better that she didn't spend the entire night in the bed. Or maybe she could stay in the bed and he could sleep on the couch.
His thoughts were interrupted by a persistent knock on the door. He tried to ignore it, figuring it was Blair. Another loud knock came and this time Grace was stirred from her slumber and began to cry. He sat up reluctantly, knowing that he couldn't pretend not to be home when Blair probably could hear Grace's crying out in the hallway. He soothed Grace and made sure she had her pacifier while he got up from the bed. Carrying the baby in his arms he walked to the door and opened it. To his surprise it wasn't Blair. It was Lily. Quite possibly the last person he wanted to see, save for Jack.
"What do you want?" he asked coldly.
"Serena told me Blair is terribly upset" Lily said in a tone that implied she was trying to be friendly. "I thought I should stop by and see-"
"See what? If I had accidentally sat on the baby? I don't want you here Lily. And I have the right to be with my daughter."
"I'm not saying that you don't" Lily assured him. "But I do think a hotel room is no place for such a small child. You should come home with her."
"I have no home."
"There's no need to be dramatic. You can spend the night and we can help you out with Grace. You have everything you need to take care of her there."
"She's perfectly fine here."
"You both need to be surrounded by the people close to you" Lily argued. "Surround yourselves with family."
"You're not her grandmother" Chuck said firmly. "You're the whore who was married to her grandfather for a brief period of time. She won't even know your name growing up."
"Believe it or not Charles I did love your father" Lily said.
"I don't believe it so you can stop trying to convince me. And you can get the hell out. I don't need you of all people to help me look after my child. If it wasn't for the fact that Serena and Eric both still live with you I'm betting you would have forgotten you even have children a long time ago."
"You don't have to see me" Lily sighed. "I just think it would be better for your little girl if you spent the night at home with her."
"We have a difference of opinion then" Chuck said. "And your opinion matters so little to me. Goodbye Lily."
He closed the door before she could say another word and with a sigh walked back into the room and sat down on the couch. He placed Grace on his knee so that she was facing him and she grinned and the pacifier fell from her mouth. He grinned back and picked it up from his lap. He realised he didn't have any toys for her to play with aside from a stuffed animal Dorota had sent with them and decided he would have to improvise. She seemed to respond favorably to his various attempts at entertaining her and he felt a bit better.
"Who needs Lily, huh?" he said to her after a while. "Trust me, you're better off without her in your life. You've had quite the shortage of dependable individuals around you but that is going to change."
He smiled sadly and stopped bouncing her on his knee. She reached out for something behind him and he turned his head and saw that he had thrown his much abused scarf over the back of the couch. He turned to look at her again with an eyebrow raised.
"You want this?" he asked. "Alright… But just for a moment, you hear? This is Daddy's scarf and it's his signature to boot. It's not appropriate for people under the age of thirteen."
He handed the poor piece of cloth to her and she stuck it in her mouth, making him wrinkle his forehead with disapproval. But he figured he probably owed her a playing session with his scarf after having abandoned her for weeks.
"I won't leave again, you have my word" he said. "You're the only family I've got Grace. The only one left. I didn't realize you were my family until it was almost too late but we're connected you and I. I want to be someone you have a close bond to. We're not really there yet but we're working on it, aren't we?" He smiled sadly. "Bart's gone now. Jack betrayed me… You and I we need to take care of each other. I promise you I will get your company back for you. I just hope you can promise me that you won't leave me too. I would kind of deserve it if you did but I need you. I thought I had your mother on my side but I guess I don't. For a while I thought maybe she was in love with me but I don't know what I was thinking. I'm telling you though I will turn things around. Perhaps someday I'll be a person worthy of her love. But you'll love me even before then, won't you? And I really think I love you too, odd as it feels to say it." He chuckled a little. "You know, I even see a bit of Bart in you. Which is really odd since I don't look like him. But you make a face sometimes which reminds me so much of him."
He heard her stomach growl and he raised an eyebrow at her. He got up and walked over to the dresser and put her down in the carry-cot standing there. She immediately protested but he needed both hands to get her something to eat.
"I got you some baby food" he said, holding up a jar from the bag of supplies he had bought earlier. "Don't know if you can eat this stuff yet but I figure there's only one way to find out."
A few minutes later sat down with Grace on his lap to try and feed her carrot purée. He had gotten her a bib which she wasn't too fond of having around her neck but after some fussing he managed to get her to sit up propped against one of his hands and eat a spoon full of purée.
"How's that?" he asked.
He studied her intently as he fed her another spoonful. She seemed fairly okay with eating it, although a tad confused as to what she was supposed to do with it once it was in her mouth. Most of it ended up around her mouth anyway rather than inside it. But after a while he had managed to get her to eat what he assumed was a full meal and he grinned at her while wiping her face carefully.
"Was that your first taste of something other than milk?" he asked. "Such a big girl… You'll be having caviar and pâté before you know it."
He got up and carried her into the bathroom to clean her off more properly. So far this was going well. Blair would have to admit that there was no reason for concern. He could see where she was coming from but obviously she had been wrong. He was ready to take care of Grace and when they renegotiated the terms of their custody agreement he would demand she spend more time with him than just one night per week.
Grace slept on the bed, a large pillow placed behind her so that she wouldn't accidentally roll over and fall off. Careful not to wake her Chuck got up next to her and propped up a few pillows so that he could lie comfortable next to her and read. He had sent Arthur out to get baby books and while Arthur had dryly pointed out that he was a driver and not an assistant he had eventually agreed to get the books in exchange for a large tip. When he got the books Chuck did a quick search online to find out which one was considered the best and started by reading that one. He had read up on babies before, while Blair was pregnant and the first month after Grace was born, but at that time he had been reading about newborns and children in their first few months. Grace had been born in late August and it was now January, she was more than four months old and had reached a new stage of development.
While he read he cast the occasional glance at her, soothed by her presence and wanting to make sure she was doing okay. He had to admit he was a little out of his league, having never taken care of her completely by himself for this long before, and he was scared of doing something wrong. More than that he was afraid of letting her down again.
He began to read a chapter about bonding and with each paragraph his heart sank deeper into his chest and guilt began to rise. He had thought bonding was important for later on in the child's life but according to the book it was crucial even at the infant stage. The book said that infants wanted to connect to their caretakers and were actively trying to do so. If they failed to get a response they eventually would give up. Grace must have probably given up on him months ago, even though she did seem rather okay with being with him now. But what scared him the most was when he continued to read and found out that babies could actually get depressed if they weren't able to connect with their parents or caretakers. The thought of his daughter being depressed at only a few months old terrified him and he put the book aside and studied her intently. Did she seem depressed? He didn't have the first idea how to tell with such a small baby and he had no other babies to compare her to.
Overwhelmed with guilt he looked at his sleeping daughter and wondered how much crap he was going to put her through over the course of her life. No matter what his relationship with Bart he knew that Bart hadn't tried to be a bad parent. He just had been anyway.
"I'm sorry Grace…" he said. "I didn't mean to be so bad at this. It's not your fault you were born to a guy who has this many issues. And here I actually thought I was issue free before you came along. Can you believe that? Talk about having absolutely zero insight and a really poor self-image."
Reluctantly he picked the book back up and continued to read even though it felt like reading a horror novel at this point. Babies could sense stress in their parents, could sense when they were fighting, they reacted to everything around them. Chuck had never given babies enough credit to think they would be that observant, he had believed that all they cared about was getting food and clean diapers and that was it. He wondered how Grace had really reacted to what had happened earlier in the day. He hadn't given the slightest thought to it at the time, he had thought she was crying because of Blair's borderline hysteria and the slight chaos had disturbed her peace but not because she actually picked up on the anger and resentment between her parents.
He closed his eyes and sighed with resignation. He really was a lousy parent no matter what he did. First by not getting involved enough and then by getting too involved and putting his own wishes to be near the baby above what was best for the child. He opened his eyes and looked at Grace. He wanted her to be with him, wanted to make up for lost time. But he didn't want to do wrong by her and make her miserable. What had he been thinking earlier in the day? Blair was Grace's anchor, the center of her whole world. Chuck had no right to take her away from her mother like that.
Resigned he reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone. He dialed Blair's number and reached his hand out to caress the baby's cheek while he waited for her to answer. It took less than half a ring.
"Chuck?" she breathed on the other end. "Chuck what is it, is she okay?"
"No" he said sadly. "I mean, yes, yes she's fine. She's not hurt or anything."
"Please Chuck" Blair said with a trembling voice. "Please just stop this."
"Okay" he whispered.
"What?"
"I said okay" he said. "You were right before. I was wrong. I will admit my mistake and let you take her home if… if you promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"I need you to promise me you won't keep me away from her."
"You know by now that I can't keep you from her. You have visitation rights at the very least. So yeah, I promise."
"Thank you Blair. I'm at my suite at the Palace but I guess you already knew that."
"I'll be right over."
"I'm curious…" he said. "You knew where we were. Why didn't you come over here and try to take her back?"
"She's been put through enough drama for one day, don't you think?" Blair answered coldly and hung up the phone.
She knocked on the door to his suite and he opened almost instantly, holding Grace in his arms. He looked weary and resigned and she wondered how they had come to this place. Grace looked like she had just woken up, her hair messy and her eyelids heavy, sucking slowly on her pacifier. She made a little noise when she saw Blair.
"Here she is, safe and sound" Chuck said, voice almost drained.
Blair stepped inside and gave the baby a long kiss on the cheek. Then she walked further inside the room and looked around it, inspecting the place to see if it had been child appropriate these past hours.
"I fed her before she went to sleep a couple of hours ago" Chuck said. "But I suppose she might get hungry again soon. I… don't really know how often she eats at this age."
"You have no idea how much I want to yell at you" Blair said. "But I'm not going to. I just want to know what made you come to your senses."
"Believe me Blair I don't want to hand her back to you" Chuck said. "Do you know how bitter it is to realize that the best thing for your child is if you're not around them?"
"Okay, let's get one thing straight" Blair sighed. "As soon as you're done cranking up the drama, drinking your bodyweight, gallivanting around with women and all the other sordid things you've been doing while grieving then we can start working out a schedule for how often she's with you. I never said that what's best for her is for you to be gone from her life completely, in fact I've told you time and time again that Grace needs you in her life. She just needs you to get your act together first. You're going through something really difficult at the moment and you should allow yourself the time to grieve properly."
"I know" Chuck said.
"Using Grace as a distraction from the pain you're feeling isn't healthy for either one of you. She needs stability in her life."
"I know."
"I'm surprised you came around so quickly. I would have expected you to more or less hold her hostage for a while."
"Believe me I wanted to" Chuck sighed. "I just couldn't. You were right before. I was scaring her and I'm sorry about that. I didn't… I thought I was doing her a favor in a way, that it would be good for us both to spend time together."
"And it is" Blair sighed, dead tired of having variations of this conversation. "But you're not stabile right now."
"I know. I realize that."
Blair sat down on the edge of his bed and took another look around. Chuck walked closer with a frown. He was still holding the baby and Blair wasn't making any move to taking her back to leave.
"Why are you still here if not to give me a piece of your mind?"
"Don't you think there's been enough stress in her life for one day?" Blair said tiredly. "After what happened this morning I don't want to put any further stress on her and this must all be really confusing for her. She can stay here but I'm staying too. At least until evening and then I might take her back home. I don't see a crib in here anywhere."
"I called the front desk. They have cribs, I was going to have them bring one up for her."
"She doesn't need one right now" Blair concluded. "Give her to me please. I think she needs to feel that I'm calm after what happened earlier."
Chuck obediently walked over and handed her the baby. Blair hugged Grace tight and took a deep breath, drawing in the scent of the child. Chuck looked away when he saw that Blair was quite emotional and let her rock the baby gently back and forth for a moment without him watching her. Then he walked over and sat down next to her on the bed.
"I'm sorry" he said again.
"About what you said earlier…" she said. "I do have faith in you. I believe in you, your father believed in you. You are the only one who doesn't believe in you. I wish I could be there for you right now but Chuck I can't. I'm so terribly confused and it's not good for Grace. I can't be the person you lean on while I'm trying to do right by her and determine whether or not it's good for her to be under your care at the moment. You need someone who can be completely on your side and I will always be on hers first and foremost."
He laughed bitterly.
"Life doesn't work like that Waldorf. No one is completely on your side. People always serve their own best interest first-hand."
"Parents don't."
"You and I both know that isn't the case" he said. Then he sighed. "I guess I should appreciate that you look out for her the way you do."
He wanted to tell her more but decided against it. It was difficult to open up to her, to anyone really, and the fact that things were weird between them now didn't make it any easier. He wanted to tell her how hurt he was that she hadn't had more faith in him but he couldn't let her know that anything she did hurt him. He had lost enough already.
"Bart's death hasn't been easy on us either" Blair said eventually. "I don't know why I'm telling you that; maybe it's because I think you should know that he mattered to people. And so do you."
"I just never seem to matter to those I want to matter to."
"If Bart hadn't been in the accident…" Blair said. "Who knows, maybe you and I would be at a different place. Things didn't work out that way though. We are where we are and…"
She looked away. Chuck chose not to comment. He knew what she was trying to say. She had had feelings for him but she wasn't interested in pursuing a relationship anymore. In a way it really hurt but at the same time he knew it was a wise decision. He needed time before he could be anybody's love interest. He needed to focus on their child now that he had finally begun to connect with her. If that meant he couldn't be with Blair then he owed it to Grace to make that sacrifice. And speaking of things he owed her…
"I lost Bass Industries" he said.
She frowned. That was his reply? She was speaking about them and he began to talk about a stupid company?
"Bart left it to me in his will… You know that part already. I didn't want it at first but I thought Grace might."
"Who knows" Blair shrugged.
"You're right, she may not. But she should have the option to choose. She's Bart's granddaughter."
"Doesn't matter now" Blair said.
"It does" he said, giving her a look. He took Grace's hand in his and held it for a few seconds. "I may have been outwitted by my uncle but that doesn't mean I have given up. Somehow I will find a way to get the company back. I'll even go to Lily if I have to, Bart left part of the company to her. And he left a small percentage to the baby."
"What?" Blair said. "Why would he do that? She's going to inherit it after you someday anyway."
"I suppose he figured that with me being so young when I had her that by the time I pass away Grace will be far too old to have any use of those stocks. The share he left her is a reassurance that part of it does belong to her and when she gets older I'll give her more of my shares."
"How much did she get?"
"Five percent."
"And you have?"
"Fifty-one."
"Then you have more than a controlling interest. Even without Grace's shares you've got control. How could Jack just take the company?"
"It's complicated" Chuck sighed. "Besides, those five percent are not in my control."
"Chuck she's four months old. She can't go to board meetings."
"Bart stated that you should act in her place until she's old enough to do so herself."
"Me?"
"He thought highly of you."
"But still… Why me and not you?"
Chuck shrugged.
"Maybe it was his way of making sure you got something too. He also left Grace 25% of his personal assets but she won't have control over that until she's eighteen."
"My child is loaded" Blair concluded. "Even by our standards."
"Good luck telling anyone now that you didn't sleep with me just to get your hands on some of the Bass fortune" Chuck teased and got a playful jab in return.
"It is a little bit scary though to think that she has all that money" Blair said. "She's the heiress to Bass Industries, she's probably got more wealth than I do… Someone might take advantage of that."
"Bart had her insured against kidnapping when he set up her trust fund."
"The man really did think of everything" Blair noted.
"Waste of money if you ask me" Chuck shrugged. "He had me insured when I was ten or eleven and no one's ever even tried to kidnap me."
"Well I prefer not taking chances."
He shrugged again. He didn't see much point to anyone kidnapping a small child. Too much of a hassle to have to take care of a baby just to get some money.
"Oh great" Blair then said, wrinkling her nose. "She needs a diaper change." She handed the baby over to Chuck. "Here you go. Be a parent to your heart's content."
"Fine" he said, giving her a playfully challenging look.
He walked off to the bathroom and Blair sighed. She hated this confusion. She hated the entire situation. No matter what she didn't seem to be able to stop being in love with him, not even after the scene earlier today. She had promised herself she would step back and withdraw from the whole situation because it was getting toxic for her but it turned out to be impossible. She had made the decision to keep Grace and Chuck apart for a while until he got himself in order and it had been one of the most difficult decisions of her life. That was twenty-four hours ago and here she was now, on his bed while he changed Grace's diaper in the bathroom. She really should be more resolute. She knew the baby might end up getting hurt while he was still self-destructing, and it was more than clear to her that he still was. He had zero faith in himself anymore and his actions earlier in the day had been both out of character and desperate. And if he was really serious about getting the company back from Jack things could get ugly and it frightened Blair to think what might happen if the baby ended up caught in the middle.
But there were moments when he seemed different. When he had seen Grace a few days ago it had gone beautifully. He had taken good care of her the other day. And today he had actually admitted his mistake and called her up to let her bring the baby home. She knew he hadn't done that because he didn't want to take care of the baby any longer. That was a step forward but at the same time it was a step back. He had realised why she didn't want Grace to be with him right now but it had probably sent him further into his destructive spiral.
She was still trying to figure the whole thing out when father and child returned. The scarf was now around Chuck's neck and Grace had a handful of it in a firm grip. Blair smiled faintly. She wished things could be as easy as just the three of them being together. But it was a lot more complicated than that and perhaps the best way to assure that they could have a future was to give each other room in the present.
"Are you hungry?" Chuck asked. "I could call room-service. They still make that soup you like."
"Let's not confuse things" Blair said. "I'm here for my daughter and I'm just staying for a while so that she doesn't have to go back and forth every hour like a ping-pong ball. If you don't mind actually I thought I'd get some homework done."
"Of course" he said.
"And you should do the same. You've barely shown your face at school since mid-December. Your grades will soon suffer."
"Remind me again, are you Grace's mother or my mother?"
Blair gave him a dry smile and got up to get her books from the other room. Chuck got up on the bed again with Grace and smiled sadly at her.
"It appears I might have spoken too soon earlier" he said. "Turns out we might not see each other much for a while now. But I promise I'll be back in your life full-time before you know it. Your mom is right though. I need to work through my own problems and I need to get the company back before I can me of much use to you."
He gave her a kiss and leaned back against the pillows he had propped up. Hopefully all of this would be resolved soon and things could finally start to turn normal for them.
Blair walked inside her bedroom with Grace in her arms, feeling both relieved and empty at the same time. She was beginning to think she was a schizophrenic and she knew how the events of the past days must have seemed to Chuck. First she had shown up to yell at him at his hotel, then she talked him down from the edge of a building followed by encouraging him to spend time with the baby only to then seemingly turn on a dime and want him to stay away for a while. But she had been hesitant a few days ago when he asked to have Grace for a few hours. She had worried about his stability at that point too but she had chosen to ignore her doubts later on when they decided to have dinner together. The events that had followed had pushed her right back to thinking he wasn't stabile enough to have around the baby at the moment though perhaps she had been too harsh in that judgment. Perhaps she had told him to stay away to protect her own heart as much as to protect her baby.
"I don't know Grace…" she said. "Am I being unfair to him? I really don't think it's a good idea for him to look after you on his own for a full twenty-four hours in his present condition but when he came by last night he was only looking to spend some time with you here, with me nearby. Perhaps I wasn't fair to him. I don't think I can trust myself when it comes to him; my judgment keeps being clouded by how much I care about him. The more you care for someone the more they can disappoint you, you see. I want him to be something to me that he can't be right now and I think I might have taken that out on your relationship with him. I'm sorry sweetie."
She kissed the baby's forehead and made a decision. She needed to separate her own feelings for Chuck and her own issues with him from the situation with the baby. It was Chuck who had ultimately made her come to this conclusion. He had been the first one to see that they needed to put Grace's best interest above what they wanted for themselves. Blair had thought she had been doing that before but she realized now that she had been mistaken. She had seen Grace's best interests through what her own desires were and the two weren't necessarily connected.
She needed personal distance from Chuck. While he was so self-destructive their relationship would never be able to progress. But he had shown that he could look after Grace just fine and today he had in the end proven to her that he was able to see what was best for her and act accordingly. And perhaps he had also been right when he said that Grace would be able to help him more forward from his loss. He should at least be given the chance to spend some time with her. Not a full day and night just yet but a few hours couldn't hurt. She was the only real family he had left and Blair felt he really should know that there were people who thought he mattered. He had been loved his whole life but never knew it. Bart may be gone but there were still people around who valued him.
She put the baby down on the bed and took a picture of her. She then wrote a message to Chuck and sent it.
"Mom wants to know if U R free Wednesday afternoon so we can hang. I love you Daddy."
She sighed and wished there was an answer sheet to look at to know exactly what she was supposed to do. Maybe she should go see a shrink who could tell her how much of her behavior towards Chuck came from her personal relationship to him and how much came from concern about Grace. She looked over at Grace and made a face.
"I think it's safe to say that I've become a master of mixed messages" she said. "If I don't even know what I'm doing and feeling then how can he know?" She groaned. "And I'm there again. Good grief, I need to separate myself from him. Seriously Grace, what was I thinking hoping that him and I could move our relationship forward in the wake of Bart's death? Clearly I've lost my mind. He needs time to heal before he can be with me just as he needs time to grieve before he can be the father I know he can be."
Her phone beeped and she grabbed it to read Chuck's reply.
"Tell Mom she was right before. A little bit. I'll come spend time with U once I have the company back. XO XO. "
Blair looked over at Grace and gave her tummy a little rub.
"We've sure created a mess, haven't we? Maybe we can have a fresh start once all this is cleared up. What do you think?"
With a sigh Blair fell backwards on the bed, lying next to Grace. She tried to figure out where exactly she had gone wrong and what she could do to fix it. She and Chuck needed to get through this disaster and find some way of moving forward. And perhaps this time around things would actually be better, minus the obvious negative that Bart was gone. In a way this was Blair's test of Chuck. A concern of hers over the past days had been that he was using the baby to create a substitute for the family life he had never really had and now lost any chance at ever having with his father and that his feelings for Grace weren't genuinely about her. If he still wanted to be her father to the same extent when all of this was over then that would be like a dream come true.
Chuck groaned inwardly when he walked through the Palace lobby and spotted his uncle coming through the front doors. Jack grinned widely and came up to him. For half a second Chuck pondered whether to pretend like he wasn't bothered by Jack at all or to make it abundantly clear that he hoped his uncle would soon join his father six feet under but he settled for a middle ground.
"Nephew!" Jack grinned. "What a surprise. Don't tell me you've come to try and woo the board back. I wouldn't waste my time if I were you."
Chuck could barely conceal a scoff. Jack thought he had moved away from the Palace because he had moved out of his preferred suite. The fact was he had just switched suites and was now registered under a different name, having grown tired of his uncle constantly showing up at his hotel room with his own key. Obviously Jack wasn't bright enough to figure out a simple tactic like that.
"I'd hate to stay and chat" Chuck said. "Which is why I'm leaving."
"Aw, what? No tactics to try and take me down? You've been a bit of a disappointment in that regard. In fact I think you did a lot worse to me when you were seven and I beat you at Monopoly. Oh and on a similar subject, don't be alarmed but my stock might take a little dip today. I'm still adjusting to the learning curve."
"No what you're doing is trying too hard. You're obviously not cut out for the job which is why Bart never let you out of the outback. You should be more careful."
"Or what?" Jack asked. "You will unleash some grand scheme on me? It's my company now kid. You saw to that."
"It's Grace's company down the line. And you shouldn't underestimate me."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Jack hand waved. "Will the board and I be seeing you at the opera tonight or will you be home wallowing in diapers and pacifiers? Oh that's right, Blair told you to stay away from the little drooler. It's got to suck to be fighting to win the company back for a child you don't even get to see."
"You don't know what you're talking about" Chuck said.
"I think we've established that I know more than you do. And I'm also man enough to admit that it would be good for Bass Industries if you showed up tonight. Even though you're no longer in charge you are still the public face of the company. I think it's important you display it. Show there's no hard feelings."
"Maybe I'll show them they made the wrong choice instead" Chuck replied. "Oh wait. You're already doing that for me, aren't you?"
"No matter" Jack shrugged. "And honestly nephew I don't really care if you think I run the company the wrong way. I figure it will remain standing for as long as I want it no matter how I run it. What's left of it the day your little bastard takes over really doesn't concern me."
Chuck was fairly sure that if there hadn't been witnesses Jack would be one black eye richer by this point. Instead of lounging at his uncle he just walked past him, realizing that things were probably worse than he had expected. He would have to take drastic measures to overthrow Jack and unfortunately Lily might be the one he had to turn to. Cringing inwardly he told himself it would be worth it to get his father's legacy back and got in his limo.
When he stepped inside the penthouse Lily was busy picking out a dress for the opera. He wanted to make a spiteful remark about how quickly she got past mourning his father but he knew there was no point. He harked to get her attention and she turned around.
"Charles, I didn't expect to see you today."
"Or ever if I had it my way."
"Yes, well, I missed you too" Lily said with a look that refused to be provoked by him. "Did you resolve things with Blair the other day?"
"No" he said. "Grace is still in my care. I tied her to the bedpost to make sure she wouldn't go anywhere while I made this house call." He walked further inside, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible. "I'm trying to do something. I was hoping to do it on my own… but that's not going to be possible. I'm thinking you're the only person left who can help. What do you say?"
Lily looked at him in silence for a moment. Then a smile slowly spread across her face and he knew she was in.
"Why don't you take a seat?"
He took his coat off and sat down on one of the couches while Lily excused the woman who had brought the dresses. She came to sit down on the couch and while he wished she would have chosen the other couch to sit on at least she wasn't sitting right next to him.
"My initial plan to take down Jack was to deploy one of my usual moves" he began to explain once they were alone. "But I realised they probably wouldn't work. Jack is blood. He thinks too much like me, he sees me coming. And even though I could care less about the board for my own sake I'm just laying the groundwork. The way Jack is running the business I worry everything my father's worked for will be lost."
"Everything your little girl is meant to inherit someday" Lily concluded.
"Since you're part of the company now I thought you might care" he said, giving her a look that emphasized that he didn't think she would care one bit about Bart's legacy if she didn't have a personal financial stake.
"I do care Charles" Lily said. "But my concern is for you, not the company."
"I've already told you I'm not buying any of that."
"Why don't you move back in here? It would make it a lot easier to work together. Blair would probably be more at ease letting Grace spend the night with you."
"I'm not interested in a family reunion and I am most certainly not interested in a long-term partnership in business. Either you believe in my cause or you do not."
"I do. I will go talk to the board. My 20 % stake in Bass Industries must count for something. And when I'm done perhaps you will consider your living situation."
"Don't hold your breath" Chuck sniggered and got up to leave. On the elevator he got out his phone and dialed Blair's number. He got an answer at the fourth ring and began to speak before she could say anything. "I just thought you should know, I've allied with the enemy to get the company back. Grace really ought to thank me later."
"Who cares about the stupid company?" Blair practically shrieked on the other end.
"I do" Chuck sulked.
"Chuck I don't have time to talk" Blair went on. "I'm on my way to see Headmistress Queller. Nelly Yuki got in to Yale and I'm waitlisted. I'm waitlisted, can you believe that? I have never been so humiliated. My father's here to celebrate my acceptance, I can't be just waitlisted. Seriously Chuck, can you believe it?"
"No" Chuck said. "Yale always goes for the teenage mothers firsthand. You must have pissed off the wrong person."
"Ugh, hanging up now!"
She did just that and turned her phone off to avoid further interruptions. Right now Bass Industries was the last thing she cared about. She stormed inside Queller's office without caring that she might be in the middle of something else. This mistake had to be rectified and it had to happen now.
Later that day Blair stormed inside her room and threw herself down on the bed, crying into her pillow. Dorota followed five seconds behind, worriedly sitting down next to Blair and soothingly placing her hands on her shoulders.
"Miss Blair, what has happened?"
"My life is over" Blair cried.
Dorota made a slightly surprised face.
"Don't tell me is another baby."
Blair looked up from her pillow long enough to shoot Dorota her most withering glare.
"Of course it's not another baby" she snarled. "What, you think I sexed Chuck down from that ledge?" She sniveled and sat up. "Yale didn't want me. They waitlisted me."
Dorota gasped.
"Who got in?"
"Nelly Yuki. That stupid four-eyed nerd saw her chance when I became pregnant and she did everything she could to use that fact to her advantage. Now I'll never go to Yale and Grace will be so ashamed of me!"
"Miss Grace not ashamed" Dorota said soothingly. "Waitlisted means there is still chance. You should have faith."
"Faith gets you nowhere" Blair objected. "Fight gets you everywhere. I need to hack into Nelly Yuki's e-mail account and decline the spot on her behalf."
"Then Miss Grace be ashamed" Dorota said. "And Mister Harold."
"Under normal circumstances I would call the dean and tell him that unless I'm accepted I will go to the media and cry over how they refused me because I furthered the species. But this is Yale. I want them to like me."
"They will" Dorota assured her. "You just need patience. And many A."
"That's another thing" Blair complained. "I've managed to keep my straight As despite being pregnant and then having a child. Shouldn't that count for something? My intelligence is obviously kicking Nelly Yuki's brain's ass since we have the same grades but she hasn't had half the challenges I've had. How can that count for nothing?"
"It will count" Dorota assured her. "Now dry tears Miss Blair. Mister Harold and Mister Roman are out for walk with baby. When they get back-"
"When they get back you will tell Daddy I have a terrible migraine and won't be able to come out and see him for a long time."
"He will understand about Yale."
Blair sighed heavily and hugged a pillow. How could her father possibly understand when she didn't?
"So how did the meeting with the board go?" Chuck asked the second he stepped off the elevator that afternoon.
"The bastard is untouchable" Lily sighed. "He's your legal guardian and unless we can prove he's completely negligent there doesn't seem to be a way."
"Then what should we do?"
"Time to get dirty, I'm all ears."
"Fine" Chuck said and walked to the table. "Proving Jack to be negligent can't be all that difficult. The man gave me the first coke I ever snorted. I was twelve."
"Good God" Lily sighed and sat down opposite him.
"Said the mother of Serena van der Woodsen, the only teenager in Manhattan who could rival me in decadence." He opened his briefcase and grabbed a stack of papers that he pushed over the table towards Lily. "Read and learn."
Lily grabbed her glasses and began to read. She looked up after a minute.
"One of these has been circled."
"Oh, yes, that one was my little derive from the plan not to do anything that could cast a negative light on me in the eyes of the board."
"Getting him on Megan's List?"
"If only his apartment were a few blocks closer to a playground. But at least it might help keep him away from my baby. I'm not taking any chances when it comes to Jack Bass."
Lily shook her head.
"Look I understand you want to make sure your daughter isn't harmed but we have got to do something that is not illegal. I've put calls in to Jack's business associates in Australia. He's not the most upstanding citizen. I'm sure we will find something."
Chuck shrugged and didn't look too convinced. Even if Jack had done something outrageous in Australia that might not be enough to prove he was unfit to be a guardian now. And he had begun to wonder what they would do next if Jack was declared unfit. Chuck still needed a guardian for the next four months.
"You know…" Lily said. "I thought I lost you the day of the funeral. And I'm sorry that Jack is the one to bring us back together but… I'm glad we're doing this."
"It's just temporary" Chuck pointed out. "If your people don't come up with anything we could try number 26."
Lily checked the list.
"Crash Jack in plane." She looked up. "The Bass jet is kind of expensive Charles."
"There's insurance."
Lily's phone rang and she answered it. Chuck tuned out as soon as he heard her mention the opera, not the least bit interested in her personal conversations. His mind was back at the problem with who his legal guardian would be if it wasn't Jack. He had no living grandparents and no aunts or uncles on his mother's side. Before he could get very far in his thinking he heard Lily mention Rufus' name and that caught his attention. Lily was smiling like a teenager in love when she hung up and Chuck stared at her with disgust.
"I can't believe you" he said. "You're actually going to take your half-prize hustler out on the town tonight."
At least she had the decency of looking like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't. Then her eyes grew harder.
"I thought we had put all of this behind us Charles, I'm here to help you."
"And what part of you dating someone else a month after my father's death is helping me?" Chuck asked. "You say you want to be family but if you really meant it you wouldn't parade your mistress in public. You'd have some tact. Some respect."
"This isn't about your father, Charles."
"Right, because when you lose your spouse the first thing you do is find the poorest substitute available and put on a public show. I should have known from your history I couldn't count on you. You think of yourself. Your kids and my dead father are proof of that."
He got up and walked away, wondering what he had been thinking trying to go to Lily for help. He had never met anyone more false than she was. Now he was on his own again. Somehow he would have to find a way to get the company back, even if it meant playing open and dirty with Jack Bass.
Blair was sitting Indian style on her bed, hugging a pillow and pouting. She still could not believe the cruel fate that had waitlisted her while the likes of Nelly Yuki got a free pass to Blair's version of Heaven. When a knock came on the door she cringed, figuring it was her father wanting to talk. But when the door opened it was Chuck who walked in.
"Bass" she said with surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Operation Attack Jack has run into a dead end" Chuck said. "I tried getting Lily to help, momentarily forgetting that she's the devil's mistress."
"Charming" Blair said with a fake smile.
"I'm here to pick your devilish brain for ideas on how to take Jack down."
"You can't think of something on your own?"
"Somehow I doubt buying anthrax with his credit card is going to reflect positively on to me in the long run and I need to keep the board from disliking me further. Which is why I thought I'd plot this with you seeing as you're probably even more concerned than I am about things that might reflect negatively on Grace as she gets older."
"Who cares if Grace gets to run Bass Industries one day?" Blair complained. "I might not get in to Yale! She won't even have the drive to want to run a company unless her mother shows her what it means to be successful."
"Relax, it's not like they have a one student per high school limit" Chuck said. "This is more important. I need you to focus."
"Bummer" Blair said. "I'm not in the mood."
"I'm always able to get you in the mood."
She ignored his innuendo and pouted even further. He walked over to the crib.
"Where's Grace?"
"Out with Daddy and Roman."
"Your father's here?"
"Here to have front row seats to my failure" Blair sulked.
"Focus. How can we ruin Jack?"
"Why don't you put him on Megan's List? At least that way he'll be less prone to come sniffing around Grace."
"I need you to figure out something I wouldn't think of myself."
"The man has an even shadier lifestyle than you do" Blair pointed out. "If they could take the company from you based on a morality clause can't they sack Jack for a similar offense?"
"Unfortunately no. I need something that will make him resign on his own and hand the company back to me."
"Lobotomies are helpful. Some guy even won the Nobel Prize for them."
"No wonder Yale doesn't want you if that's the best you can think of."
"The company will be yours again in May, won't it? Don't you think the smartest course of action might be to just wait it out? How much damage can one Bass do in four months?"
"I told you, Jack is not obligated to hand it back to me."
"I wish I could help you Chuck but I really am out of ideas" Blair shrugged. "Look, maybe it doesn't have to be the end. You could use the money your father left you to start something new, something that is yours. I think Grace would rather inherit that than her grandfather's dusty old company."
Chuck turned and looked at her like he had just had an epiphany.
"You might just have found the right answer."
"Wait a few years. Finish high school… Go to college. At least one of Grace's parents ought to."
"No, no, no" Chuck said. "Jack only runs the board because he's my legal guardian and I have the controlling interest. If I sell my shares Jack is out."
"You can't sell them without his consent."
"I can once I'm eighteen. I don't plan on letting go of my father's company but I can sell the company and then I buy it back."
"First of all I don't know if that's legal" Blair said. "Second of all, who could possibly afford to buy 51 % of Bass Industries?"
"Well… How much is in your trust fund?"
"Mine?" Blair echoed. "Oh no way Chuck. Leave me out of this crazy scheme. It's bad enough that none of Grace's parents might be going to college, let's at least try and keep one of them out of jail!"
"Unwind" Chuck said. "I'm fine with you being the on-paper owner for a few years; I don't need to buy it back instantly. I think if we combine your funds with Grace's we can make the purchase. And you have just as high a stake in keeping Bass Industries afloat as I do."
"And I also have a brain" Blair said. "I know I'm not capable of running a company. Oh, and I want to go to college."
"Yale doesn't want you" Chuck shrugged. "What other colleges did you apply to?"
"You're really not selling me on the idea of blowing every last dime I've got on your father's company" Blair sulked.
"I have to go get ready for the opera" Chuck said, unfazed by her grumpiness. "Keep this on the down low for the time being, would you? I want to see the look on Jack's face when he finds out what's happening."
He walked out before Blair had a chance to say anything else. She groaned and fell backwards on the bed.
Feeling at least a little better Chuck arrived at the opera and headed straight for the bar. First thing tomorrow morning he would begin to put his new plan in action. He was already working out the details in his mind and almost grinned at the thought of the moment when Jack would find out he had lost the company because his nephew had sold it. He knew he could trust Blair if he sold it to her. She may not always be on his side but ultimately she was always on Grace's side and this was for her.
"The answer is so simple; how could I have forgotten it?"
Chuck turned around when he heard Lily's voice.
"Any chance you could try and forget me?"
"I have the answer to our problem. Meet me here in fifteen minutes and if you don't like my suggestion I will never bother you again. You have my word."
Chuck frowned at the far too pleased smile on her face but decided he might as well hear her out. If nothing else he didn't mind hanging out by a bar for fifteen minutes or more. When Lily returned she had Bruce Kaplan, Bart's family lawyer, with him.
"Bruce…" Chuck said with a frown. "What is all this about?"
"Before he died your father was going to legally adopt Serena and Eric."
"And I was going to legally adopt you" Lily added. "We were serious about becoming a real family and we'd had the papers drawn and your father had signed them, I just didn't get to it on time."
"Your stepmother asked me to have these faxed over to the box office" Kaplan said and handed the documents to Chuck.
"So if you adopt me…" Chuck began.
"Then I'm your guardian" Lily filled in.
Chuck thought it over for a moment. He was anything but keen on having any further ties to Lily but with her as his guardian he could get Bass Industries back without having to sell it to Blair first. It would save him a lot of trouble. And he had seen firsthand how Lily parented and knew he wouldn't have to worry about her trying to have a say in his life. If anything she'd probably appreciate it if he didn't come home more than once a week.
"Give me a pen" he said.
Lily smiled with satisfaction which would have annoyed Chuck but right now at least she was priding herself on having won over Jack and that was a goal they both shared. Kaplan handed a pen to Chuck and he cast a glance at the documents and then at his stepmother.
"Just so we're clear, this doesn't make us family, just even" Chuck told her as he began to sign the documents. "I am not your son and Grace is definitely not your granddaughter."
"What do you think you're doing?" Jack asked with a smug smile as he came walking up. "You can't sign anything without my consent."
"Not anymore" Chuck said. "I'm sending you back where you belong." He held up the adoption papers. "You just lost the company." He handed the papers to Kaplan and grabbed a champagne flute before walking off. He walked down a flight of stairs and called Blair. "The company is back" he said. "The evil uncle has been defeated."
"What?" Blair said. "Already? Bass did you do something even more illegal than the thing you suggested before?"
"That's the kicker, it's perfectly legal. I'm coming over after the opera. I'll fill you in then. I have to go, talk to you soon."
He hung up and with a delighted smirk walked in to find his seat. He felt better than he had in over a month. Jack was out of the game, Bart's affairs were in order and once high school was done he could concentrate on becoming someone who would have made his father proud.
"Good evening" Chuck said with a content smile when he walked into Blair's bedroom a few hours later. "Dorota you can put the champagne on the vanity."
"Champagne?" Blair echoed.
"We have cause for celebration. Bass Industries is back in my hands and Jack will be back in the outback with the other sloths before the end of the week."
"What happened?" Blair asked.
"We outsmarted him."
"Legally?"
"Very much legally" Chuck said, pouring champagne into the flutes. "I've probably tied myself to Lily for the remainder of my days but the kid is worth it." He handed her a flute which he clinked to his own. Then he took a deep sip and walked over to the crib. "You can thank me when you're older" he told the sleeping baby.
"A thousand dollars says she'll disappoint you by wanting to become a realtor" Blair said smugly and took a sip from her flute.
"Nah" Chuck said. "She'll know I'll disown her if that happens."
Blair found herself wondering if he was kidding or if he was serious. He remained by the crib for a moment, smiling slightly at the sleeping child. Then he walked over and sat down next to her on the bed, clinking their flutes together once more.
"To victory."
"I'm curious, what did you mean when you said you're tied to Lily?"
"It's strictly for the legalities" Chuck said. "But I allowed her to adopt me. She and my father had made arrangements to adopt each other's kids to make us all one big, miserable but marketable family. That was apparently before she decided to dump my father for Brooklyn's dullest. My father had signed the papers already so all we had to do was sign them too and make her my legal guardian by default. This is just an arrangement out of convenience. There's no deeper meaning behind it."
"I wouldn't say that" Blair said, taking another sip of champagne. "You have a parent again. A mother."
"Ugh, just hearing you refer to her as my mother grosses me out."
Blair smiled slightly and suddenly realised how close he was sitting. She looked away and took a slow, deep breath through her nose. She felt dizzy and intoxicated even though she had only had half a glass of champagne. This was only the second time she had alcohol in a year and it affected her more easily than it had used to. She had to be on her guard. One calm moment between herself and Chuck did not mean anything had changed.
"I'm happy for you Chuck" she said. "You got your father's company back. Now you can move forward."
"And I intend to. I promise you Blair I feel a lot better now that his legacy is safe. I can relax. I can start to come to terms with what has happened."
"Good" Blair said softly.
"And maybe…"
"Maybe?"
"Maybe you will consider lifting your baby embargo?"
Blair smiled warmly and clinked her flute to his one more time.
"Maybe."
With that I'm officially bored with using material from the show =) At least for the next few chapters I'm going to try and go all-original.
Updates might be more frequent now for a while depending on how much I have to do at work. While I had my block I wrote outlines for later chapters so I have partially written chapters going as far ahead as Grace's first birthday. Some chapters are almost finished and some are just a few sentences. If I start feeling inspired again I might start completing chapters on a very frequent basis =) And if not, well, updates will be further apart.
Thanks for reading and please tell me what you though!