A few hours later, the girls were just arriving at the Bass household. As the elevator climbed up to the penthouse, Lauren began biting at her lips anxiously. Celia smiled when she saw the other girl's fear and patted her arm comfortingly, "You will be fine. Just relax."
When the elevator doors opened, Hank and CJ were standing there waiting for them. CJ recognized immediately that Lauren was nervous, so he leaned down to give her a kiss and squeezed her hand reassuringly, "Don't worry, Babe." He told her with a calming smile. Lauren tried to smile back but it came out as more of a grimace.
Before they could take a step further into the house, a brunette little girl came running in. "Cece!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the blonde girl's legs.
Celia kneeled down so she could give the girl a hug, "Hi, Lexie."
Lexie looked around and noticed Lauren for the first time. She leaned in close to Celia and whispered behind her hand loud enough for them all to hear, "Cece, who is that?" She asked, pointing towards Lauren.
"That is CJ's friend from school. Her name is Lauren." Celia explained patiently. "Why don't you introduce yourself to your guest?"
Lexie looked hesitantly at Celia, but when she gave her an encouraging smile, the little girl stepped forward. She stood straight and proud as she looked up at Lauren, "Hello," she said formally, "I'm Alexandra Eleanor Lillian Bass. Welcome to our house."
Lauren stifled a laugh as she bent down and shook the little girl's hand, "My name is Lauren and thank you for having me." She smiled at Lexie, "I like your dress. It is very pretty."
Lexie's face broke out in a grin and she grabbed at the hem of her dress, "Thank you. It's a Waldorf Original. My mommy got it especially for today."
At that moment, a man walked down the stairs that Lauren immediately recognized to be Chuck and came over to the group in the foyer. Lexie rushed over to him and jumped into his arms.
"Daddy, I met CJ's friend." She said as she pointed towards Lauren, "Her name is Lauren and she is really nice. She told me that she likes my new dress!"
"Well it is a beautiful dress." Chuck said with an amused look on his face, "Did you say thank you?"
"Yes I did," Lexie said with a curt nod, "I am a good hostess, just like mommy."
"Of course you are. Your mother taught you well." Chuck said as he carried her over to the four college students. "Hello, Cece." He said before he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Hi, Chuck. How are you?"
"I'm doing well." He said as he turned to face CJ and Lauren, "And you must be Lauren."
"Y-yes, sir," Lauren stuttered. CJ put his hand on the small of her back reassuringly, "Thanks-, thank you for having me, Mr. Bass."
Chuck's lips twitched with amusement, "It is no trouble at all. We are certainly glad to have you here." He said as he set Lexie back on the ground and took the little girl's hand, "Come in, everyone is waiting to meet you."
Chuck couldn't restrain the smirk that formed when he saw Lauren's face fall as CJ did his best to assure her that she was doing great.
Chuck led them into the sitting room where Blair was waiting with the rest of the boys. When they entered the room, Blair and the boys stood up and came forward. CJ went around and introduced Lauren to each one of his family members. After the introduction, Blair smiled at her politely. The twins simply smirked as they looked her up and down before they nodded in approval towards CJ. Ricky said an impatient hello before he asked if he could be excused and Fitz stared at his feet as he greeted her while he snuck peeks at her through his lashes when he thought she wasn't looking.
After the introductions were made, most of the family scattered while they waited for Blair's father and Eric to arrive, leaving CJ, Lauren, Chuck and Blair alone together in the sitting room.
Chuck and Blair asked Lauren a bunch of questions about her family and her studies; questions that according to Celia they already knew the answers too, but Lauren answered them all anyway.
Throughout the conversation, Lauren could not stop watching the interaction between Chuck and Blair. They were sitting close together on the couch; Chuck had one arm around Blair's waist and his other hand was resting on top of hers which was placed on his thigh. His fingers were constantly trailing the back of her hand or tracing circles on her palm and whenever she spoke he would watch her intently and pull her a little bit tighter against him.
While they were talking, Lexie came back into the room and pulled herself into Chuck's lap. She immediately demanded her father's attention and began telling him an elaborate story about a princess and a castle and a dragon that she had created while she was playing in her room.
Lauren watched the little girl speak and she was stunned by Chuck's response. He seemed to be completely enraptured by the girl's story and he listened as if he was hanging on to her each and every word.
Lauren could not believe that the man who had just been all business and practically interrogating her could be listening to a four year old's ramblings only moments later as if it was the most important breaking news on Wall Street.
Lexie paused in her story and unintentionally made eye contact with Lauren. The little girl blushed and buried her face in her father's neck. She peeked out at Lauren a moment later and then poked Chuck's chest to get his attention. She held up her hand and whispered in what she thought was a quiet voice, "Daddy, do you think, um, - " she hesitated, unable to remember the older girl's name.
"Lauren," Chuck filled in for her.
"Yeah, Lauren," Lexie nodded her head as she continued; "Do you think she wants to see my room?"
Chuck smirked as he looked at Lauren briefly, "Well, I don't know, Princess. You would have to ask Lauren that yourself."
Lexie sighed dramatically before she stood up and smoothed down her dress. She walked over to Lauren and stood up straight as she asked primly, "Would you like to go upstairs and see my room?"
Lauren smiled kindly at the girl, "I would love to, Alexandra."
Lexie grinned widely and grabbed Lauren's hand once she stood up. As she lead the older girl out of the room, Lexie told her, "You know, you can call me Lexie if you want to. That's what my family calls me."
"Okay, Lexie." Lauren said as she looked back at her boyfriend with raised eyebrows. CJ nodded back at her with a slight smirk, showing that he was impressed.
…
While Lauren was gone, Chuck and Blair took the opportunity to tell CJ what they thought about his girlfriend.
"She seems nice enough," Blair said, "Although her wardrobe choices are a bit questionable. I mean, it's obvious that her dress is from American Eagle or Hollister or some other low quality brand."
"Mom…" CJ warned.
"What? I'm just saying, her outfit is a little informal, don't you think?" Blair asked innocently.
"No, I don't think so." CJ said angrily, "This isn't a formal dinner party, Mom. We're just here-"
Chuck cleared his throat loudly, quieting CJ and preventing the potential argument from escalating. "She seems genuine," He said after a moment, "And my P.I. didn't find anything suspicious in her background.
CJ rolled his eyes, "I'm glad she has the P.I.'s approval. That's really what I was worried about."
Chuck snorted in amusement and Blair smiled slightly before she leaned forward and patted her son's knee, "We approve too, Charles. She seems to be a very nice girl and it's obvious that you two love each other very much."
CJ smiled softly at her, "Thanks, Mom."