"Somehow this doesn't surprise me at all." Jenny said evenly, trying to keep her cool. It wasn't really working. Her fists clenched under the table so tight that she could no longer feel her own hands. She didn't really know Jack Bass personally, she just had heard things and everything said about the man was disturbing. Bringing him back into their lives was a low blow, even from Chuck.
Even though Jack could see her turmoil perfectly, he didn't really even consider leaving and sat next to Chuck, "Do not worry about me. I'm only here to look after Charles. Hopefully he hasn't offended you," He looked at her with mocking tone of voice, "We are simply both here because we want to make sure you and your family are satisfied with the aftermath of this ordeal."
"If you want me to act thankful then you're talking to the wrong person," Her bright blue eyes shone in concern, but managed to keep her pretty face fierce, "I'm not signing these papers because of Chuck or because of me. I'm signing them because my son deserves better than this."
"I agree."
The statement made her pause. She was a bit surprised by his constant mood swings. One moment he was yelling at her like his life depended on it and the next he actually agreed with her, sounding lost and even looked normal rather than his cocky self. She gaped at him and couldn't seem to wrap her mind around what he had said.
"What? I can't agree with you?" Chuck asked frustration evident in his voice.
"I err didn't… I mean I can't ask anything else from you," Jenny told him, her voice wavering, "That's the only thing I wanted to hear."
Chuck's uncle listened their exchange a little worried. He didn't want him to be brainwashed by the idea of being a part of that child's life, "Well look at that Charles- you should be proud of yourself for making the first good decision in your adult life."
He ignored Jack's comment and returned to her, "We can split the payment if that's what you want," His voice was gentler than she had heard before, "We can always compromise."
The girl stared at him nervously, biting her lip, "That sounds a lot better."
He raised his hand to wave at the lawyers. They got the message and joined them again.
"Mr. Gillingham would you please take off the payment plan from the contract and add a paragraph stating that it is up to Jenny how much she wants and when she wants it. When she contacts me personally for a payment I will make it. She can choose if she wants my help."
The lawyer wrote down what Chuck had said and nodded, "I will get the new version of this done by Friday when we will meet for the tests. If there aren't any other questions then I guess this meeting is done."
Jenny's lawyer Harrison nodded as well, "Jenny is there anything you would like to ask?"
"No. I'm good."
"Charles?"
Chuck shook his head.
She followed her lawyer's example and rose from her seat. Chuck drank down what was left of his whisky and kept his glance at the table, not willing to look her in the eye. Jack instead got up and extended his other hand for her to shake, "Thank you for being patient with him Jennifer."
She hesitated, staring at the man's hand. As much as she thought the gesture was a joke she still took his hand and shook it tightly, "He isn't much of hassle if you know how to handle him." Jenny looked at Chuck and smirked slightly in victory.
Jack Bass watched the blonde walk out with her lawyer while Chuck's lawyer followed them out of the door.
He turned to his brother's son and warned him, "She may have been stupid enough to get involved with you, but doesn't certainly act that way anymore. That right there is a smart woman."
"If she was smart she would have taken the money." Chuck replied in a bored tone.
The older man chuckled loudly in response, "Not everything is about money."
Chuck remained quiet for several minutes, thoughts torturing him, "She is off limits." His voice was a deadly calm as he turned to face him.
The slightly smug lift of his right eyebrow made Jack narrow his eyes and scoff at him, "Like Blair was?"
He gave a chuckle, but there was no indication of humor in his voice, "No, not like Blair," He paused, face contorting in anger before firmly replying, "If I find out you've approached any of her family or her during the rest of your stay I guarantee you I will break your neck, making you the spineless loser that you really are, uncle Jack." He paused in between every word he spoke to let his message sink in.
His uncle watched him get up from his seat and walk away, "Charles I would think twice before going on this path," Jack yelled out after him, "You are not in any position to make threats remember? You're not the only Bass in this town anymore."
"Maybe not," Chuck turned to stare him down once more, "But this is my town."
"Why is he screaming!" Eric screamed almost as loud as Charlie was crying. He looked down at the baby, his face was red and tears were falling down his little cheeks.
Dan tried to wave a little plush toy in front of him and make funny faces, but he wasn't buying it. Charlie kept screaming and screaming and screaming…
"Okay, I just called Lily she should be home soon," Rufus tried to stay calm himself, but found it hard since the little boy had been crying on and off for almost an hour like he was angry at all of them for letting his mother go out of his sight, " I've never seen a baby this unhappy."
Eric bounced him in his arms, shushing him at the same time, but it only seemed to make him cry harder, "I can't take this anymore," He handed Charlie to Rufus and breathed out, looking like a nervous wreck, "Finally I see a little Chuck Bass in him."
Rufus shot a look towards him, "He is probably just overwhelmed."
Dan's face developed a frustrated look, "Well I would be overwhelmed too if there were three guys you don't even know bouncing you around."
"What if he is hungry?" Eric stared at the distressed baby boy.
"We just fed him remember?" Dan snapped, "Shit, how does Jenny handle this?"
"Don't cuss in front of him, Dan, jeez!" His father scolded, cradling crying Charlie, "What were you guys doing with him before this started?"
"Nothing! He just—I don't know, he just started crying!" Serena's little brother panicked, as the boy started squealing even louder if that's even possible. "We didn't break him or anything, did we?"
"What? What were you doing with him that you could've broken him?" Rufus hissed.
"We were just playing around with him- Should we call someone? Who should we call?"
The man looked at his son, "We can't really call anyone else. Lily's on her way."
"You guys try to… I don't even know." Dan backed away from the situation and sighed in relief as the crying got silent in his ears.
Eric and Rufus decided to rush the wailing baby upstairs to Jenny's room. He put him down on the changing table, and they both stood there for a moment, staring down at the boy. Eric turned to him and blankly asked, "Well, now what?"
"I don't know Eric."
They both stood there helpless until they heard the door open downstairs. Lily stepped inside, wearing her gorgeous silk wrap dress, silently cursing herself for not having foreseen this. She didn't know what expect when she walked in after getting a call from hysterical Rufus.
She could hear the faint screams of the poor baby coming from down the hall, and looked at Dan with raised eyebrows. "How long has this been going on?"
"Oh, you know. Not too long." He replied sheepishly and took a bite off the apple he was holding.
Lily climbed the stairs and followed the soundtrack of the baby's screams.
She walked in the room, "What's the matter baby?" Rufus and Eric sighed in relief as they saw her and allowed her to take over.
She then picked him up and held him close to her, rocking and shushing him. Charlie seemed a little calmer, but still kept squirming under her touch, "Eric can you fill his bottle with cold water?"
Eric shrugged and left the room to do what he was being told to do.
"What do you think is wrong with him?" Rufus asked his wife, "We've tried everything."
"I'm guessing he is teething and his gums are sore," She explained while gently putting her finger into the baby's mouth, feeling around his teeth and gums for signs of any new comers, "Yeah there is definitely something there."
Charlie's reaction immediately was to chew her finger happily, and slowly his cries slowed down to short hiccups.
"Looks like he is happy now," He said, smiling fondly up at her, "Just be careful he doesn't bite your finger off."
She can't help but break the peace with a quiet laugh, "His little teeth can't do that much damage."
Eric finally showed up with the bottle and handed it to his mom. Lily sat down on Jenny's bed with the baby boy as the he started to work feverishly on his bottle.
"Yeah I thought that would do it," She smiled brightly down as she used the burp rag to wipe the tears from Charlie's face, "The cold water soothes his gums down."
Eric sighed audibly as he walked out of the room tired and ready to collapse on his bed for a good nap. He could finally hear his own thoughts.
"You have no idea how scared we were."
Lily looked at her husband and smiled, "Three men and a baby is never a good combination."
"So what's up?"
Completely annoyed by the awkwardness that had inevitably been between them for the past ten minutes, Blair looked up from her plate of food, "S, would you finally say what's on your mind and stop pretending that there is not a particular reason why you asked me for dinner." She snapped at her friend.
Serena pouted at her, "I'm sorry Blair it's just that… you've been really quiet and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."
She looked at back at her strangely, wondering what her point was. "Well you aren't exactly doing a good job."
She was about to contradict her friend, but returned with a light voice, "I asked you out because I want to know what's going on with you. You haven't answered my calls and I was worried. Nate told me-"
Blair kept her posture and answered fiercely, "I'm okay. Actually, never been better. Nathaniel is just being ignorant as always."
"Are you sure?" Serena asked hesitantly, her eyes shifting nervously, "I think everyone is still a bit shocked."
The crestfallen brunette choked on air and whined, "Can we stop talking about this?" Scrunching up her nose in disgust, "Jenny Humphrey has a baby with Chuck who cares? That's not my problem."
"I know you're not okay Blair," Her friend argued at first, but knew she wouldn't open up to her anytime soon if she kept pressuring her, "But if you feel like you're not ready to talk about it I will respect that."
She rolled her eyes at the blonde, "Whatever."
"So I heard you are putting together something? Care to share?"
Developing a malicious grin, Blair casually replied, "It's a surprise. You will find out eventually."
"Blair…." Serena knew the girl was up to no good, "Whatever it is- don't do it."
"What?"
"I know you're planning something against Jenny and it will do no good," She tried to sound serious for a second, "Just remember that she will be gone soon and you don't have to feel threatened-"
"I don't feel threatened S," Blair let out an airy laugh, while she challenged her, "Why would I feel threatened by someone who had to have a baby to be one of us. How pathetic is that! Jenny Humphrey is scum! "
"I don't think she intended this to happen."
"Since when did you start defending her?" She raised her eyebrows at her, completely disagreeing, but all the same wondering why she would say that, "Oh right you're banging her brother again."
Serena looked at her in disbelief, "You know my relationship with Dan has nothing to do with this," She snapped before she could stop herself, "Besides me and Dan are friends."
"Yeah right." She chirped back sarcastically enough for her friend to be annoyed, "Like I said- she has nothing to do with this unlike the rest of this town I'm not obsessed with her pathetic little life. This event that I'm planning- or should I say, party," Blair said evenly, forcing herself to smile, "has nothing to do with Jenny Humphrey's and Chuck Bass's upbringing."
To Blair's surprise, Serena actually forced a smile too, only more strained, "Well I'm glad."
"What did you think I would do?" The brunette arched an eyebrow and regarded her suspiciously.
"Knowing you it could have been anything." She laughed awkwardly, "You're Blair Waldorf- The queen of upper east side."
Blair smiled in a sad way. Serena stared uncertain for a moment, mesmerized by that small smile. It wasn't bitter, proud or fake…
it was just sad. Plain sad.
"I should have warned you about his teeth," Jenny now sat in their living room with baby Charlie safely in her arms, "Sorry that you guys had to deal with that."
"I'm surprised I still have my hearing left." Eric blurted out and Dan nudged him, making him let out a wince.
"Oh come on it wasn't that bad." Rufus joined them in the living room and sat across her. His lips twitched as he waited for her to tell what had happened at the meeting. He didn't want to pressure her; neither did anybody else in that room, but they were still watching her every movement like a hawk. Her face had been unreadable since she had arrived which irritated Eric and Dan. Lily stood by and watched her closely.
Jenny appeared to be deep in thought again as Charlie was calm in her arms and it made her smile. She looked so genuinely happy like she was at peace with her life for the first time in her life. She truly was happy and for a second she allowed herself to relax.
She lifted her gaze and noticed the many pair of eyes staring at her, "I guess you guys want to know what happened…"
"If you want to tell us, we are all ears Jenny." Lily tried to encourage her.
The blonde had to snap back to reality and think about everything that he had said to her and everything that had left unsaid, "Everything went great except…" She bit her lip, trying to think of a way to tell everybody about the special guest crashing their meeting, "I don't want you guys to freak out over this and worry when I have already caused so many problems for everybody…"
"Jenny, you need tell us." Her father pressured, "We can't help you if you don't let us in."
She turned her eyes away casually, but inside her thoughts were frantic, "Jack Bass was there."
Lily's expression fell quickly. Jenny could tell how upset she was. Rufus tensed up and immediately his eyes were also on his wife. Lily was one of the strongest women he knew and it wasn't often that he saw defeat in her eyes.
"I can't believe him," Rufus hissed, frustrated, "Why would he bring that sick bastard back here?"
"I don't think it was him." She said wryly, holding their son while pondering about what she had witnessed. Jenny could tell the moment Jack had appeared Chuck was not amused by his presence and was less of an asshole which surprised her completely, "He didn't seem too happy about having him there either."
"Would you stop making excuses for him already? Do you even realize how stupid you sound? He is playing you again." Dan snapped, not giving her time to defend herself as Lily jumped into the conversation.
"Okay that's enough," She said sternly, not giving this subject the chance to torn them apart again, "I do not care why he is back and who brought him here," The woman looked torn, but in the end she shook her head roughly, "What worries me is that he was there. We do not need someone so unbalanced close to Charles when he is making this important decision. If he is being pressured into it then it's not going to be good for anyone."
Eric was also clearly aware of the change in the atmosphere, and was unsure of whether it was a good or bad thing, "Chuck wouldn't let anyone tell him what to do mom. I think we all know that."
Jenny tried to block out his taunting voice from her mind. She tried to forget the moments where he made her believe that he was her friend—that he cared about her well being for a second… because the truth was, he never did.
"We don't need to worry about him. He would have made this decision even without someone telling him that it's the right thing to do," Rufus noticed his daughter's clenched jaw and the intensity of her eyes as she told her opinion, "He told me to screw off. I think it was pretty loud and clear." The tiny boy in her arms squirmed a bit, but was more interested in grabbing her mother's hair and face.
Dan still seemed unhappy with everything and gave up on trying to voice his opinion when he only seemed to make his sister act even more naïve. He didn't understand her decisions and probably would never understand. They were on completely different pages with this and he found himself fed up with the topic for the day. Without a word he walked out of the room, not giving anybody a look or a word about his current mindset.
"Don't worry about him," Rufus sat next to her, offering a comforting squeeze on her shoulder, "Did you sign any papers?"
"No," She said firmly, not letting her brothers behavior ruin her day, even though it felt like the damage had already been done, "We are doing that on Friday."
"Let's just hope everything will go as planned."
Jenny looked at Lily and then back at her son, kissing his cheek sweetly. At the end of the week she finally had him all to herself. It was a very calming thought.
Yay update! Finally got to upload it since I've been off to college and haven't had time to write much... Anyways hope ya enjoyed!