A/N - Hey everyone. So sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. I had it almost completely completely written and then my computer crashed so I had to rewrite it almost from scratch - which needless to say wasn't exactly fun- and as a result, this chapter probably sucks. I'm not that happy with it but hopefully you guys will like it. Anyway, here it is. Please excuse any typos, I'm sure I probably missed some. Reviews are always loved :)
Disclaimer - I do not own Dan, Blair or anything else associated with Gossip Girl.
"Blair…" Dan knocks quietly on the bathroom door. "Blair, are you OK?" He slowly pushes the door open and stops when he finds his tiny brunette girlfriend hunched over the toilet. "Oh, Blair…" He moves closer, pulling her hair back and holding it away from her face.
"I don't know why they call it morning sickness, they should call it all day sickness." Blair moans when she's finally done emptying the contents of her stomach. Dan rubs her back gently for a moment, not knowing what else do and Blair looks up at him with a pitiful expression before flushing the toilet and pulling herself to her feet.
"Can I do anything?" Dan asks, holding out a box of tissues.
"Oh, I think you've done enough, Humphrey." She moves toward the sink to brush her teeth. "You know that this is all your fault, right?" Blair eyes him in the mirror as she takes a swing of mouth wash and Dan just nods with a chuckle. Blair shakes her head at him as they make their way back to the kitchen. "It looks like we can add poultry to the list of things this baby doesn't like. At the rate I'm going, I'm not going to be able to eat anything except pickles by the end of this pregnancy." Her face screws up in disgust at the thought.
"I'm sorry." Dan kisses the top of her head gently as she slowly sits down at the counter. "Here, these should help your stomach a bit." He pulls a box of saltines out of the cupboard and hands them to her before moving to get her a glass of water.
"Thanks." Blair smiles up at him as she nibbles on the cracker, half afraid that it, too, will turn her stomach.
"I do wish that there was something I could do." Dan moves to sit next to her, rubbing her back again. "I feel kind of useless here."
"No Dan, you've been great. I know that I'm not exactly fun to be around right now." Blair rests her head on Dan's shoulder and all he can do is smile as he rests his head against hers.
"You're pregnant with our child, Blair. You get to be however you want to be for the next 7 months." Dan smiles again when he feels Blair chuckle silently against him.
"Speaking of which…" Blair reluctantly sits up to look at him. "If I keep having this reaction to… well every piece of food known to man, really…" She shakes her head again. "People are going to start to get suspicious. I think we're going to have to tell everyone soon."
"Yeah, I know." Dan nods, reaching to tuck a piece of hair behind her year. "I've been thinking about the same thing."
"I've been trying to figure out the best way to do it but I just don't know." Blair takes another bite of the cracker in front of her. "Mostly, I don't know what to do about my parents. I don't want to tell them something like this over the phone, but I don't know the next time they're all going to be in New York."
"Well considering they're on the other side of the ocean, Blair, telling them over the phone is really OK." Dan offers and Blair just frowns. "Or not…"
"No, no, I understand that I just… I don't know…" Blair shrugs before sighing. "I'm not even making sense. Stupid hormones!" Blair lets out another frustrated groan, dropping her head to the counter.
"Your mom and Cyrus are coming for July 4th, right? That's only a few weeks away. Why don't you ask your dad and Ramon to come as well? Tell them you want to spend the holiday with your whole family." Dan pauses as Blair slowly lifts her head to look at him. "You know that they'd come if you asked them to. We'll be out in the Hamptons. Everyone will be there. We'll tell them all together." Dan offers, watching Blair closely.
"That's a wonderful idea, Dan." Blair smiles leaning forward to kiss him gently. "Thank you for being so great to …" Blair's eyes widen as she looks at him "Oh God!" She slaps her hand over her mouth and bolts toward the bathroom.
XOXOXOX
B, what is the matter with you?" Serena glances at her best friend a few weeks later as their laying by the pool at her grandmother's house in the Hamptons and looks like she's about to vibrate off the lounge chair next to her.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just excited for my parents to get here." Blair throws a quick smile at Serena before sliding her sunglasses on and glancing toward the house.
"Since when?" Serena looks at her more than a little sceptically when suddenly her eyes light up with realization and Blair cringes internally. Sure, when it's something like this suddenly Serena's Miss Intuitive! "Blair, why are you so excited about your parents getting here?" Serena sits up, swinging her legs over the side of the chair to lean closer to her friend. "Blair Corneila Waldorf, don't you lie to me! Does this means what I think it means?"
Blair stares at Serena for a second through her sunglasses before slowly taking them off. Try as she might she can't stop the smile from spreading across her face as she glances at Serena and gives her a little nod.
"Oh My God!" Serena practically tackles Blair as she hugs the brunette and all Blair can do is laugh as she hugs her back.
"OK, can you keep it down a little please." Blair says with a smile when they separate. "No one else knows yet. We're going to tell everyone this weekend, as soon as my parents get here."
"Sorry." Serena makes a face, glancing around. "Oh B! I still can't really believe this is happening. You and Dan are having a baby…" She lowers her voice, leaning in conspiratorially and glancing around again and Blair can't stop herself from smiling again.
"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" The two girls look up to find Dan and Nate standing over them and before Blair can stop her, Serena is leaping from the chair and throwing her arms around Dan.
"Congratulations! I am so happy for you!" Serena squeals a little before pulling away and Blair just shakes her head with a chuckle. So much for keeping it quiet.
"Ah… I take it Blair told you." Dan glances quickly at Blair, who's examining her nails intensely, before looking back at Serena. "Thank you, Serena, that means a lot - especially from you." Dan smiles before moving to sit next to Blair, shooting an amused expression in her direction. "I thought we were going to tell everyone together?"
"I didn't tell her! She guessed!" Blair's eyes shoot up to his. "Plus, she's my best friend - she doesn't fall into the category of 'everyone'. Besides, she already knew… sort of."
"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Nate's voice cuts through Dan and Blair's little 'argument' and everyone turns to finds Nate staring at them looking more than a little confused. "Seriously, someone needs to tell me what is going on right now. Why is Serena congratulating you? And what exactly do you plan on telling everyone?" Nate suddenly freezes, his eyes darting from Dan to Blair and back again. "Holy Crap, did you propose? Are you two engaged?"
Dan and Blair are quiet for a second as they look at Nate and then glance at each other and Blair nods.
"Ugh, no, I didn't propose, Nate…" Dan begins slowly. "Blair's pregnant."
Everyone is quiet for a long moment as Nate stares at them and Blair swears that she can actually see his mind working trying to process what Dan just said.
"Are you serious?" He looks between the two of them and they both just nod. "Wow…" Nate stares at them for another second. "So, I take it that you're happy about this? This is a good thing?"
"Yeah" Dan nods, glancing at Blair again with a smile. "It's a great thing."
"OK then." Nate nods, a smile finally spreading across his face. "Well, if you guys are happy about this, so am I. Congratulations." Nate shakes Dan's hand and the two share a man hug before he turns to Blair, his expression softening as he pulls her into a warm hug. "I'm really happy for you, Blair." Nate says quietly when they separate.
"Thank you, Nate." Blair feels tears sting her eyes and she quickly looks away. "Sorry, it's these god forsaken hormones…"
XOXOXOXOXOXO
"Blair Bear!"
"Daddy!" Blair can't stop herself from all but running into her father's arms. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too, sweetheart." Her father hugs her tightly. "But, there's something different about you." Harold Waldorf holds his only daughter as arms lengths to look at her. "I can't quite put my finger on it." He studies her face again. "Oh, wait, I know what it is now. I think that's love I see my baby girl's eyes." Harold glances toward Dan, who's standing a few feet away with Nate and Serena. "And there's the reason for that look. Dan, nice to see you again."
"Mr. Waldorf, it's always a pleasure." Dan steps forward to shake Blair's father's hand. "How was your flight?"
"Don't get me started."
"Oh, stop complaining, Harold. The flight wasn't that bad." Eleanor appears next to them almost out of no where. "Hello darling." Eleanor kisses Blair's cheeks before turning to Dan. "Daniel, lovely to see you." Dan smiles at both of Blair's parents but his stomach is in knots. Somehow he doubted that Harold and Eleanor would be too happy to see him when they find out they he impregnated their only daughter.
"Hello! Hello!" Cyrus Rose comes through the front door, a huge smile on his face and Blair's face immediately breaks out into another grin.
"Cyrus!" Blair hugs her step-father tightly.
"Not enough!" Cyrus shakes his head, pulling Blair back in for another hug and she can only laugh.
"Daddy, is Ramon here?" Blair turns to her father and Harold frowns for a second, shaking his head.
"No, something came up at the last minute but he insisted that I come spend the 4th of July with my beautiful daughter." Harold wraps an arm around her shoulder. "Are you happy, sweetheart? You look happy."
"I am, Daddy." Blair smiles genuinely. "I'm happier than I have ever been in my life and a really big part of that is because of Dan. Actually, um, there's something I want to tell you…"
"Eleanor! Cyrus! Harold!" Blair is cut off by Lily entering the room, followed closely by Rufus and Eric. "It is so lovely to see you. I was thrilled when Blair said that you would be joining us."
"Hold that thought, honey." Her father kisses her forehead quickly. "Let me go talk to Lily and Rufus. I don't want anything to interrupt us when we finally sit down to catch up."
"OK." Blair nods with a smile as her dad makes his way across the room.
"Hey, how are you feeling? Are you OK?" Dan's arm slides around her waist and Blair nods as she leans against him easily.
"Yeah. I feel fine. " Blair glances up at Dan for a second. "So, when do you think we should do this? Before or after dinner?"
"Well, if we tell them before dinner, there probably won't be a dinner." Dan says with a smile and Blair chuckles silently. He wasn't wrong about that.
"But, if we wait to tell them, there's a very good chance I'll pull a Linda Blair from the Exorcist the second the food shows up, which will probably let the cat out of the bag." Blair looks up at him.
"OK, how about this." Dan tightens his arm around her waist. "How about we don't tell them at all and then just send them a card that says "Congratulations you're grandparents".
"Dan, I don't think that's going to fly." Nate and Serena appear next to them. "I mean, Rufus is pretty chill but I don't think he's that chill."
"Did I ask your opinion, Archibald?" Dan sends him a mock glare and Nate and Serena laugh. "You wouldn't exactly be chomping at the bit to tell the Captain if you got a girl pregnant."
"Hey" Blair glares at him, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff.
"Blair, I didn't mean it like that." Dan grabs her hand. "I am so happy about this, you know that. The only things in this world that matter to me now are you and this baby…"
"Baby!" Eleanor's voice cuts Dan off and the four them turn to find Blair's mother staring at them in complete and utter shock. "Blair, are you pregnant?"
Blair's mom's voice practically echoes through the room and everyone else stops to stare at them.
"What's going on here?" Rufus approaches.
"Your son has apparently impregnated my daughter!" Eleanor shrieks a little.
"Mom!" Blair gasps, staring at her mother in complete shock, and Dan cringes. Well, this was certainly not going to plan at all.
"Everyone quiet!" Harold's voice cuts through everyone else and they all turn to look a him. "Now, Blair, Dan, would you please tell us what exactly is going on?"
"OK." Dan nods slowly, glancing around the room before reaching for Blair's hand and squeezing it gently. "This isn't the way that Blair and I wanted to tell you all, but it's out in the open now, so yes it's true. Blair is pregnant. We're having a baby."
The room is quiet for a moment and Blair bites her lip nervously as she looks up at Dan. She really wishes that someone would say something.
"Dan, how could you be so irresponsible?" Rufus is the first one to speak and it's Blair's turn to cringe. "Did you learn nothing from that whole disaster with Georgina?"
Blair's not surprised by Rufus' reaction but that doesn't mean it doesn't sting that Dan's father just compared her to Georgina Sparks. Dan feels Blair stiffen a little next to him and he tightens his hand around hers.
"Are you somehow implying that this is Blair's fault?" Eleanor turns to face Rufus, clearly geared up for a fight. "I will have you know that before my daughter got involved with your son…"
"STOP!" Dan finally looses his temper and Blair looks up at him, slightly impressed. "Look, arguing with each other isn't going to solve anything or help this situation in any way." He looks over at Blair with a small smile. "We know that you probably think we're making a huge mistake but Blair and I have made up our minds. We're having this baby and we're happy and we hope that you can be happy for us."
"Blair Bear…" Harold Waldorf steps forward to look down at Blair for a long moment, with worried eyes. "Are you sure about this? I mean, a baby? You're still a baby yourself."
"I'm sure." Tears fill Blair's eyes and she blinks them away. "I'm not a little girl anymore and I did think about not having this baby but…" Blair looks down at her hands for a second before looking back at her father. "I just couldn't do it." She glances at Dan, her eyes lingering on him for a second. "I love Dan, and he loves me and we both want this. We're having this baby, daddy and I want my child to know his or her Grandpa Waldorf."
"Grandpa…" Her father's voice is low. "Good Lord, I'm going to be a grandpa."
"Oh you are completely useless!" Eleanor shrieks again (in a very Blair-like way Dan notices this time) as she pushes her ex-husband out of the way and looks down at her daughter in desperation. "Blair, you have to think about your future." She glances at Dan. "Neither of you are ready for this responsibility. You're making a mistake." She shakes her head. "And I can't be a party to it." Eleanor gives them both pained looked before turning to leave the room.
"Eleanor…" Harold calls after her but Blair's mother just shakes her head again, disappearing into the hall.
"How could she just…" Tears fill Blair's eyes as she buries her face in Dan's chest. How could her mother just walk away from her like that.
"Blair…" Cyrus' gentle voice causes Blair to lift her head slowly and turn to look at him. "It's going to be OK. I'll talk to your mother." Blair gives her stepfather a watery smile. "And for what it's worth, Blair, I think you're going to be make a wonderful mother." Cyrus hugs her tightly and Blair can't help but smile through her tears. "Don't you worry, she'll come around." Cyrus starts to pull away but Blair tightens her hold on him.
"Not enough." Blair smiles a little and she hears Cyrus chuckle lightly in her ear. "Thank you Cyrus." She whispers when they finally separate and the shorter man nods with a smile before heading out the room to find his wife.
"OK. Nate, Serena Eric. Could the three of you excuse us for a moment so we can speak with Dan and Blair." Lily says quietly and the three young people glance at Dan and Blair for a second before nodding and heading out the room.
The room is completely silent for a second as Rufus, Lily, Harold Dan and Blair all stare at each other.
"Dan, Blair, I don't particularly want to take Eleanor's side on this, but she does make a valid point. Have the two of you really thought this through?" Rufus speaks slowly and the whole room turns to look at him.
"Dad…" Dan begin but stops when Blair reaches for his hand and he looks down at her.
"I apologize in advance if this comes off as rude, Rufus, please understand that is not my intention. But, you had Dan young, didn't you?" Blair asks, completely serious and Rufus looked at her for a moment before nodding.
"Yes, I did. So I know what a struggle it can be." Dan's father watches her for a second. "I don't want my son to have to go through that… or you for that matter." Rufus looks down at her for a long moment. "Blair, you and I haven't always seen eye to eye but I have watched you grow from a spoiled little girl to a compassionate, caring young woman who makes my son incredibly happy. The both of you have such bright futures ahead of you and you can't do that with a baby. Believe me."
"We know that this isn't going to be easy. But this is our child." Blair blinks back tears and her hand automatically rests on her stomach, the way it had quite often over the last few weeks. "What would you have said if someone had told you not to have Dan or Jenny?" Her gaze slides to Lily quickly. "Lily, would you have listened if CeCe had tried to convince you to not have Serena or Eric?" Blair's eyes finally turn to her daddy, tears swimming in her eyes. "What if mom had decided not to have me?" Blair glances at Dan, who smiles reassuringly as he squeezes her hand
"Blair and I are going to have this baby and we really, really hope that you can be happy for us." Dan's voice is quiet but sure and there's a look of resolution on his face that his father knows well.
"Blair Bear." Harold is the first one to speak. "You know that you always have my support." Blair breathes a sigh of relief when her father wraps her a warm embrace for a moment before turning to hold his hand out to Dan. "You are my grandchild's father, that makes you family, Dan, so welcome to the Waldorf clan."
"Thank you, sir. I appreciate that." Dan shakes Harold Waldorf's hand quickly. Blair is watching the two of them, a smile on her face but the smile quickly vanishes when she turns to look at Lily and Rufus.
"Lily?" Blair sounds like a little girl as she looks up at Dan's stepmother, her best friend's mom. "Considering my mom's reaction…" She blinks back tears again and Lily watches her for a second before moving across the room to hug the younger woman tightly.
"Shh, Blair. It's going to be OK. Your mom will come around, I promise." Lily pulls away to look at her, gently brushing the hair from her face. "Rufus was right, you have grown into such an amazing woman." She glances at Dan. "You two are going to have to work really hard at this, and it's going to be a struggle, but I think is baby is lucky to have parents like the two of you. And you know that I will do anything that I can to help you. Your father and I both will, right Rufus?" Lily turns to look at her husband expectantly and Rufus watches the three of them for a second before sighing and nodding slightly.
"Yes, of course." Rufus slowly made his way across the room. "I might not agree with this, but you know that I will always be here, Dan." Rufus hugged his son before turning to look down at Blair. "And I'm sorry for comparing you to Georgina, Blair. That wasn't fair. You are nothing like that."
"Oh, that's OK. I did the same thing myself when I first found out." Blair says nervously but relaxes when Rufus chuckles.
"What are we all laughing about?" The group turns to find Eleanor and Cyrus standing just inside the door. Cyrus gives his wife a look and she sighs a little before approaching the group and Blair felt her stomach drop.
She didn't want to be fighting with her mother. That was the absolute last thing that she wanted right now. She wanted to be able share all of this with her mother, but she also knew how stubborn Eleanor Waldorf-Rose could be (where did people think Blair had gotten it?).
"Mom…" Blair began slowly but Eleanor shook her head, wrapping her arms around her daughter tightly.
"I am sorry for the way that reacted, darling." Eleanor pulled away to look down at her with tears in her eyes. "I just know that you are meant to do amazing things in this world." She glances at Dan. "The both of you are meant for great things. But I'm also sure that the two of you will make wonderful parents."
"Thank you mom." Blair says quietly, glancing toward Dan. "I know that you think that we're too young but the fact that you're trying... that means alot to both of us." There's a moment of silence before Lily ushers everyone outside for cocktails before supper. Soon Dan and Blair are the last ones left in the room.
"Well that went over better than I was expecting." Dan says when they're alone and Blair nods as she leans against him, smiling as his arms wrap around her.
"I wouldn't get used to this, Humphrey." Blair looks up at him with a smirk on her face. "This is going to look like walk in the park compared to what's to come. We still have to tell Dorota."