Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
"Where am I?" Chuck moaned as he looked around the unfamiliar room. Blair was looking into his eyes intensely as she caressed his face. Worry poured out of every pour of her skin.
"The hospital," she stated as she leaned over carefully and kissed his lips softly.
"You're in labor!" he exclaimed as his eyes went wide as he remembered what had sent him into a panic.
"No, I'm not," she admitted sheepishly, "It was just gas."
"Why am I here?" Chuck inquired as he looked around the room as he sat up taking in all of the medical equipment that surrounded him and the heart monitor that he found himself attached to. This seemed overkill, even for his overprotective wife.
"Arthur and I couldn't get you to wake up," Blair stated as she pushed him back down to the bed. "I threw cold water on you, slapped you silly . . . Arthur even managed to find your smelling salts, but nothing worked. We brought you here for fear that you'd suffered a concussion or something on your fall to the floor. Turns out, you were just exhausted." Blair slapped his shoulder hard as she finished with her explanation.
"What was that for?" Chuck snapped as he rubbed his shoulder.
"Eugenia told me that you've been running yourself ragged at the office since the day I told you I was pregnant. She was surprised you lasted this long," she barked as she slapped him again, "What the hell have you been thinking! Cramming twelve hours into eight and skipping meals. Chuck, I want us raising this child together, which you cannot do from the grave." She threw in another slap for good measure.
"Stop hitting me, wife," he scowled.
"Don't call me wife," she hissed as she slapped him yet again.
"Blair, I'm warning you," he cautioned her as he caught her wrists in his hands.
"And I'm warning you," Blair interrupted him as she loosened his grip on her wrists before she pointed a finger in his face, "If you pull something like that again, I'll take this child and head for the hills. I don't want you setting that kind of example for our child. You are not Bart, and don't you dare start acting like it now."
"You'll never get that far," he warned her, "I still have that P.I. on speed dial, and I'll use him if you even try to leave."
"I dare you," she scowled at him. Both their threats were empty. They both knew that, but each needed to make their point.
"What are we arguing about?" Chuck asked as his nose scrunched up in sudden confusion, "Me turning into Bart? Or me working myself to exhaustion?"
"Both," she chuckled at the adorable look on his face.
"I'm sorry," he sighed as he took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. "You're right. I was pushing myself. I just wanted to make sure that I was there for you as much as possible. I knew you'd never let me invade your work space, but I wanted to be sure that I could be there for you whenever you were home. I just want to do this right."
"Chuck Bass, you sound so ridiculous right now," she sighed as she rested her head against his chest. The increase of the heart monitor beeping that he was attached to brought a smile to her lips. "You have been the most wonderful husband to me these last eight months. Even if you hadn't greeted me at the elevator each night when I returned from work or walked me to my loft each morning, we still would be doing this right."
"We're not doing everything right," he frowned, "I'm missing the doctors' appointments and Lamaze classes."
"And we've talked about this," she sighed as her fingers began to walk up his chest slowly, "I understand your reasons."
"You must think I'm being a coward," Chuck responded in disgust as he ran his fingers through her brunette curls. "Gossip Girl was right with her description at our high school graduation."
"Don't ever talk about my husband in that way ever again," she stated as she slapped him lightly again as she stood upright.
"I feel like a coward," he admitted as he looked into her eyes. She saw the anger and pain all directed towards himself.
"You can't help how you feel, Chuck," Blair sighed, "You have blamed yourself for your mother's death for twenty-four years. I don't expect that to suddenly go away because I'm pregnant. I see how hard this is for you. I also see how hard you are trying. Do I want you to be at the doctors' appointments and the Lamaze classes? I'm not going to lie . . . yes I do. You are doing all that you can . . . catering to all my crazy food cravings, putting up with my ever changing mood swings, satisfying all my desires and needs for you. And I feel so guilty for that right now. The countless times we've made love since I became pregnant . . . the lunch hours we stole away to be together . . . all of that contributed to putting you here."
"I wasn't complaining," he insisted, chuckling at the ridiculousness of her thinking that their love making had anything to do with his current situation, "I'll happily make love to you at any time, in any place that you choose."
She rolled her eyes and reached out to smack him again but he quickly stopped her hand before it could make contact.
"Stop hitting me, Mrs. Bass, or security might come in and remove you for beating a patient," he smirked devilishly. His wicked sense of humor was out in full force.
"Promise me from here on out that you'll take care of yourself. No more crazy work days," she demanded, "You'll start putting yourself first a little more often."
"I'm not going to promise that," he rolled his eyes. She knew better than to expect that of him. He hadn't put himself firstfor so many years. "But I will promise to slow down."
"Good," she stated with a hesitant smirk, "Because this is supposed to be one of the happiest times of our lives. I won't have you putting yourself into the ground over it."
"I'll behave," he assured her.
"Yes, you will," she nodded as she leaned in and kissed him, "I have Eugenia's assurance on that."
"Is she here?" Chuck inquired curiously.
"Right outside," Blair nodded, "I called her as soon as the doctor determined that it would be wise to admit you overnight for observation."
"Get that doctor in here right now," he demanded as his cheeks began to flush in anger, "I will not have my pregnant wife having to spend the night in the hospital on my account."
"You're so possessive of me right now," she giggled as she tried to make light of his demand.
"I'm always possessive of you," he corrected her as his anger melted away instantly, "And I'll be equally possessive of this child . . . Will you please go get the doctor? I really do not want to spend the night."
"I'll go see if I can track him down," Blair sighed as she leaned in and kissed him.
"And on your way to find the doctor can you send Eugenia in," he requested as her lips lingered against his longer than was necessary, "I'd like to speak with her."
"Be nice to her," Blair warned him, "I threatened her enough for both of us this evening." She then spun slowly, her hair fanning out with her dramatic turn as she waddled towards the door. Chuck couldn't help the smirk that escaped as he watched her walk away. She was so cute doing her pregnancy shuffle.
"You wanted to see me, Mister Bass," Eugenia stated as she nervously stuck her head into her boss's hospital room.
"Come in here, please," Chuck nodded as he sat up slightly. He hid his chuckle as he watched her step in cautiously. He knew it would not be wise to mess with his assistant. She was really beating herself up for him being in his current bed.
Eugenia crossed the floor slowly before she took a seat in the chair next to his bed.
"I can't believe you sold me out," Chuck laughed out.
"I'm sorry," Eugenia responded sincerely. His laughter threw her. She had expected him to be extremely angry at her. "Mrs. Bass threatened me with all sorts of things if I didn't confess."
"She didn't know anything," he continued laughing, "If you had kept quiet, you know I would have stuck up for you and undone anything that she tried to do."
"She's really dangerous when she's pregnant," Eugenia stated as she became very flustered by the memories of what had happened in the waiting room as they waited for the doctor to update them on Chuck's condition. Blair had been yelling at everyone from the nurses to the other family members unfortunate enough to be sharing the same waiting area. "She had me all confused, and then I was admitting what has been going on at the office before I could stop the words from flowing out of my mouth."
"That's my wife," he stated proudly, "She'll have you confessing to secrets you didn't even know you were keeping."
"So you aren't angry with me?" Eugenia sighed in relief.
"No," he confirmed as he chuckled once more, "I can't fault you for falling victim to Blair's schemes when I still fall for them myself on occasion."
"I've never been on this end of one of her schemes before," Eugenia admitted with a dramatic sigh, "I don't like it."
"I'll be sure to pass along the message," he continued to laugh, "And make sure that she knows that from now on she needs to direct her schemes in my direction. I don't mind being her victim. It always works out so well for me."
"I'll take care of everything at the office until you're up to returning to work," Eugenia assured him.
"I'll be back in a few days," Chuck responded quickly, "We still have a lot of work to do before I take my paternity leave."
"How excited are you to become a father?" she inquired. She never talked with her boss about the new addition that was being added to his family in just a few short weeks. He had been all business for so many months at the office that the hadn't really even had their usual friendly banter. She figured now was as good of a time as any to ask.
"Excited doesn't even come close to describing what I am feeling," Chuck smiled broadly. "I'm sure Cedric felt the same way when your sons were born."
"When our first son was born, Cedric passed out in the delivery room. He hit his head on something on the way down and split his head open. He had to be carried out of the room by two of the nurses. Eighteen stitches and a new pair of scrubs later, he returned and held our son for the first time. That was almost three hours later," she recalled, her eyes twinkling with the amusement the memory brought her, "And if he knows that I told you that story, he will never forgive me. Nobody, not even our family, knows what happened."
"How did he explain the stitches?" Chuck snickered as he tried to contain his laughter.
"He says that he was injured after our son was born and that he was there for the entire delivery," Eugenia smirked.
"How did you and Cedric decide on naming the boys?" he inquired curiously. He and Blair had talked briefly about naming their child but had yet to throw out anything beyond the ridiculous names that celebrities seemed to be choosing. They were both in agreement that they wanted to stick with something somewhat traditional yet unique.
"For the first child, we flipped a coin. Cedric won the toss and got to choose Justin. It was the name of his best friend growing up. When I became pregnant with Eddie, I insisted that it was my turn. My favorite professor in college was named Ramsey Edwards," she explained.
"Blair and I need to start coming to some sort of decision. We certainly don't want our child going through life with the name of Baby Girl or Baby Boy Bass," he chuckled as he rubbed his eyes as he felt himself starting to become tired once more.
"No, you definitely don't want that," Eugenia stated as she studied his face and saw the exhaustion returning, "I should let you get some rest. Do us both a favor and don't wear yourself out like that again. You scared your wife to death, and in turn she decided to frighten everyone else."
"I'll try," he laughed lightly as he leaned back and rested his head against the pillows as Eugenia left his room. He concluded that he could rest until Blair rustled up the doctor. That was the last thing he remembered until he woke up the next morning with Blair sleeping soundly at his side. She must have climbed in bed with him sometime during the night.
"Welcome home," Blair stated as she and Chuck walked into their home after their sleepover at the hospital.
Chuck didn't waste a moment in directing her to their bedroom so that she could lay down in their bed. She had confessed during their limo ride home that she hadn't slept well the previous evening and he insisted that she lay down.
"You have to lay with me," she demanded as she held on tight to his hand when he tried to pull away.
"I have some work to do," he insisted as he tried to pry his hand away.
"You heard the doctor," she reminded him as she held tight, "He said no work for at least two days."
"He doesn't run a multi-billion dollar empire with hundreds of thousands of people depending on him for their livelihood," Chuck rolled his eyes.
"The empire is not going to crumble if you take two days off," she replied as she did an eye roll of her own, "Your company is so much stronger than that."
"I'm going to be taking a month off in just a few weeks, and I have a lot that needs to be done before then," he insisted.
"Take a nap next to me, or I call Lily," she warned him. His stepmother had been absolutely livid with him when she came to the hospital that morning. She and Rufus had been caught the first flight from Prague that morning after receiving the call from Serena that Chuck was in the hospital. Lily was down right angry at him. She threatened to use her influence with the board to get him removed from his position if didn't start taking care of himself.
"Blair," he groaned with the disapproval he felt having realized that he was losing the argument.
"Nap now, Chief Executive Officer, or lose your throne," she warned him.
"You know that the board would never vote me out," he chuckled as he climbed onto the bed and began to settle in next to her.
"You aren't so sure of that or otherwise you'd call my bluff," she grinned as he molded his body against hers. At least one good thing had come out of his trip to the hospital the previous evening. She didn't recoil when he touched her anymore as she had during the past few weeks.
"We need to start seriously discussing baby names," he spoke softly as he caressed her stomach, "Our child is going to be here soon."
"Let's start with girl names," she smiled. Chuck had begun to notice that she was always referring to their child as a she lately as if she knew it was a girl. Chuck had accused her of asking the doctor, but she assured him rather convincingly, to which Serena backed up, that she didn't know and that it was just a feeling she had. "If it's a girl, I don't want her named after any of your conquests."
"Do you think that I even knew any of their names?" he chuckled, "Baby, I'm flattered that you think I cared that much."
"Perhaps we should start by each making a list, see if our creative minds stumble across any of the same names," she suggested as she ignored his comment. She hadn't been surprised by his response. The playboy in him would have behaved that way.
"You can always pull out that list you made when you were younger," he teased.
"What list?" she asked as the confusion hit her.
"The one in your life plan scrapbook you kept when you are younger," he explained, "You've done just about everything in there that you wrote down . . . prom . . . the marriage to a successful and wealthy businessman . . . you're welcome for the first two, and of course we're on the first of two children that you planned on having. Don't tell me you didn't make a list of their names."
"You are such a Basshole!" she exclaimed as she slapped his shoulder, "And you know very well that I haven't looked at that stupid thing since high school. How do you even know about that book?"
"Are you kidding?" he laughed out, "You forget who you married."
"You're Chuck Bass, yes we've established that numerous times in all of our years together," she rolled her eyes.
"And you love that I'm Chuck Bass," he pointed out.
"I'm in love with Chuck Bass," she corrected him before adding empathetically, "There is a huge difference. You could be John Smith, and I would still love you as much I do."
"Come on, admit it," he requested. He knew she wanted him to let this go, but he was too intent on teasing her now. "You get a thrill out of introducing yourself to strangers as Mrs. Chuck Bass. You love to see the wide eyed stunned look that they give you. You love that they see that you managed to tame the once wild international playboy."
Blair was determined to hold her ground and didn't dignify his comments with a response other than to glare menacingly at him.
Chuck recognized her game and stared her down. Thanks to her, he had all day to wait for her admission.
"Okay, fine," she finally conceded after several painful minutes of complete silence, "I like introducing myself as Blair Waldorf-Bass. Yes, I'll even forget the Waldorf part every now and then just to get an even bigger reaction."
He laughed with the vindication he felt at being right as she slid out of bed.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, pregnant wife of mine," he exclaimed as he followed her off the bed.
"Relax, I'm just going to get some paper and a pen so that we can start our lists," she explained.
"Oh, no, you don't. You need to your rest. You just finished telling me in the limo how tired you are," he growled as he caught her arm and guided her back to their bed, "Get back in that bed right now. I'll get the pen and paper."
"No you won't," she growled back as she slid in bed and held him from leaving, "You're under doctor's orders to take it easy, so lay back down."
"One of us needs to get that pen and paper if we are to make those lists," he pointed out as he slid in next to her, "If we're both on bed rest that makes this difficult."
"Technically, you're the one putting me on bed rest because I told you I was tired. I'm only on bed rest until I'm no longer tired which will be after a few hours of napping," she replied, "We can make our lists then."
"I love you, Blair Bass," he proclaimed as he slid closer to her as they settled in for a nap they both desperately needed.
"I love you," she yawned as she drifted off to sleep.
A piece of hair fell onto her face inhibiting his view of her face, so he quickly reached out to brush it away. He found his finger twirling the lock around as he marveled at the silky texture. He was still twirling the strand as he fell to sleep next to her.
TBC. . .