A/N: Sorry I have been gone a little longer than I intended. I have had staff issues and they have consumed me. I am back now and I have been catching up on Gossip Girl. So I have a plan for this story, which I wish the writers would take heed of. *sigh* Anyway enough of my rambling. Prinniegg thanks. The date is coming up in the next post. Svenjen thank you. I am with you on that. Stella Thank you. You are getting more now. Trosev Thank you for reviewing. I am glad you liked it. BekaRook Thanks, the date will be interesting. Wrightangal Thank you. Rach xTx I'm glad you are reading. They will be together. Thanks. Anataly, thank you.

Ok keep the reviews coming, hope to be back soon.

Chapter sixteen: Change of plans or change of heart?

Chuck sat in the living room waiting for Tabitha to come out. He picked up his phone and checked his emails. He finally got the email he was waiting on. A huge smile spread across his face. When he put his phone away he saw Tabitha standing in front of him. He fixed his tie and tried tone down the smile, "Hello there Miss Tabitha. I didn't see you there."

"What are you smiling at?"

It clearly didn't work, now it was time to lie, "I was smiling because I get to spend time with you."

"Oh ok."

Chuck quietly sighed in relief, he didn't think he would ever be able to lie to Tabitha but it was clear when he had too he could. He didn't want to dwell on lying to her too much. "Are you ready to go? I can take you to school on my way to my meeting."

"Yes. I'll get Mom."

"I'm right here." Blair smiled as she emerged from the bedroom. She walked over to the counter and lifted her purse. She took out some money and handed it to Tabitha, "put that in your bag, it's for the trip next week."

Chuck opened Tabitha's school bag, "are you going somewhere nice?"

"We are going to the zoo. We are learning about animals in class this week."

"That sounds like fun. I will have someone find you a camera so you can take pictures of the animals. You can bring them back and show your Mom and I."

"Can I put some on my wall?"

Chuck smiled, "of course you can. We will get them blown up really big. It will be like you are living in the zoo."

"That will be awesome."

"Ok well I will put that back in your bag and I'll get everything sorted once I drop you off at school." Chuck smiled and slipped it the letter back into Tabitha's bag. "Give your Mom a kiss before we go."

Tabitha walked over and kissed Blair on the cheek. She turned back to Chuck, "your turn".

Chuck couldn't help himself and laughed out loud. He walked over towards Blair and kissed her sweetly on the cheek. Blair couldn't help herself and smiled like an idiot. She returned the kiss and then kissed Tabitha on the cheek, "ok now that we have got that out of the way will you please go to school young lady. If you are late it's me that will get into trouble."

"Ok, see you later Mom."

Chuck gently ushered Tabitha towards the door, "I'll be in meetings most of the day but can I take you out to dinner tonight? "

"Sure, where are we going?"

"I'll text you when I figure that out."

Blair frowned as Chuck kissed her once more on the cheek as he herded Tabitha out the door, still texting on his phone. Blair stared at the door for a few minutes trying to work out what Chuck had just said. He was only crypt like that when he was trying to hide something from her. She was distracted by her phone beeping. She picked her phone and sighed, it was work. She couldn't worry about what Chuck was up too, she had to worry about what the press where up to.

xXx

Once Blair had dealt with the press and answered all the emails she checked the time, it was five to one. Her phone bleeped again. Gossip Girl seemed determined to ruin her life. Chuck had been spotted with a mysterious blonde. She was sure it was just Serena, wasn't she? She found she had five minutes on her hands before she had to go into the next meeting. She flicked onto the internet and without thinking she logged onto Gossip Girl. She realised that she was there to check up on Chuck. She wanted to know more about who this blonde was and what Chuck was up too. She had to know what he was up too. She pinched her nose. She couldn't let Gossip Girl get into her head like this. The blonde was probably a business colleague. He said he had meetings. Meetings. That was pretty vague. His evasiveness had been bugging her the whole morning. It was wrong because she had no right to be doing this. Chuck and she weren't anything yet, they had more than a business relationship but less than a couple. She looked outside the window and chewed on her lip. Time on her own was a bad thing when she was worried. She knew she should shut down the website but instead she clicked on the tracker button. Chuck was three blocks away from the hotel. The street was mainly a residential area. Now her imagination was on overdrive. He was probably just taking a walk. He probably wasn't still with the blonde, was he? No he wasn't. There was no need to panic, or to trust Gossip Girl. Wasn't the last time she trusted Gossip Girl the day before she left? Wasn't part of the reason she left because of Gossip Girl. She closed her laptop and stood up.

She looked up and saw Josh standing in front of her. She sighed as he dragged her back to reality, "I know I am running late. Have you got all the press packages ready?"

"They had to reschedule. The meeting is next Wednesday so you have the rest of the day free. If we run through tomorrow's agenda you could actually leave the office at a reasonable time."

Blair laughed, "is that because you want to leave the office while it is still light outside?"

"I could lie but that is part of the reason, but the other part is because I think you could do with getting out of the office."

Blair smiled, "ok so what are we doing tomorrow?"

"You have to meet with a client who wanted to hold a function here; you have a lunch with Mr Bass, and a meeting with all the department heads at three."

"Ok, well we can prepare for all in the morning. Go have fun Josh."

"You too."

Blair smiled as she sat back down at her desk. She had an hour to kill before she had to pick Tabitha up from school. She couldn't help herself. She opened the lid and clicked on Gossip Girl. Twenty minutes and Chuck was still in the same place with the same girl. What was he doing?

xXx

Blair arrived ten minutes early to pick up Tabitha. She stood outside the school gates and checked her email. She tried to ignore the whispers and stares she was getting from the other women. She knew they were probably Nanny's who spent too much time on Gossip Girl. She rolled her eyes at the phone and ignored them. She jumped when she felt a hand on her hip and a pair of lips on her cheek. She turned and saw Chuck smiling at her, "I sent you a text telling you I would pick Tabitha up."

"I never got it. My phone is playing up. Are you heading back to work now?"

"I think I might skive for another hour. Can I talk you into ducking behind the bike shed for five minutes?" Chuck smirked grabbing her waist.

Blair laughed as she slapped Chuck's hand, "we are getting looks from the other Mom's?"

"You know they are just jealous, you have the hottest guy in the Upper East Side?"

Blair faked a shock look, "you found out about him? And I thought I had been so careful."

Chuck kissed her nose, "not funny Miss Waldorf. What have you got on this afternoon?"

"Absolutely nothing. My meeting was cancelled. Why are you here? I thought you had meetings all day."

"No they finished early. So what is the plan for this afternoon?"

Blair noticed the change of subject and looked towards the door of the school. She didn't want Chuck to see her suspicion, "I might take Tabitha shopping, she needs new shoes. If that is ok with the boss that is?"

"Well only if the boss can skive with you. Although there is only so much shoe shopping one guy can take. Maybe a little shopping and then a museum or something?"

Blair laughed, "Are you sure you want to take our four year old child to a museum? I know she is smart but she is still a four year old."

Chuck looked in front of him. Blair had said our four year old child. Our child. It had a nice ring to it. He kissed Blair on the head, "our child?"

Blair eyes flashed up in a panic. She opened her mouth to apologise but when she saw him smiling she smiled too. He kissed her on the lips. The kiss was interrupted by his phone ringing. Blair groaned as Chuck pulled away to answer the phone. He flashed a quick guilty look at her and then his expression went blank and he spoke.

"Really? That soon…..Ok I am on my way."

Blair was about to ask him what that was about until Tabitha came bounding out towards them. Chuck lifted Tabitha up as she pushed a piece of paper towards him, "I painted a picture for you."

"You did? I'll put it up in my office. Why don't you and your Mom go shopping and I will meet up with you once I am done?"

"Where are you going?"

"It's just a work thing. I shouldn't be more than an hour." Chuck said kissing her on the head. He kissed Tabitha on the head and turned to leave.

"Where is he going Mom?"

Blair set Tabitha back on the ground, "I don't really know babe. Want to go shopping?"

"Sure. Can I get a monkey?"

"No."