Chuck arrived at the Waldorf penthouse and looked around expectantly. Blair had recently graduated from Columbia and ever then since she had been consumed with completing plans for their upcoming nuptials, which were only three weeks away.

Having heard the elevator, Dorota approached with a mixture of fear and concern on her face, "Mr. Chuck, Miss. Blair in the sitting room with wedding planner. I be careful if I were you."

Chuck sighed, "Thank you, Dorota."

Blair had been a demanding bride since she started planning the wedding after their engagement, but as the wedding date got closer she had become more and more stressed and hard to please. There were a lot of expectations for their wedding from both the media and society and Chuck knew that Blair was really feeling the pressure to make it the event that everyone thought it would be.

As Chuck approached the sitting room, he could hear Blair ranting at the wedding planner, "Look at these linens! I told you I wanted pure white and these are clearly eggshell. Can't you do anything-"

"Blair," Chuck said from his place leaning against the doorway, "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

His fiancée looked up from the quivering woman and stood to meet him, "Chuck, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be at the office all day."

"There has been a change of plans. We are taking the afternoon off. I have something to show you."

Blair hesitated, "That sounds tempting, but I can't," She gestured back towards the still frightened wedding planner and the table filled with notebooks and papers, "There is still so much to do for the wedding. I have to fix the linens and oversee the flower arrangements and recheck the seating chart and-"

"Blair," Chuck stopped her, gripping her arms, "No one is going to care if the table cloths are eggshell instead of white or if the flowers aren't perfectly symmetrical. Once they see you walk down that aisle, no one will be able to talk about anything but how beautiful you look." Blair rolled her eyes but a small smile appeared on her lips and Chuck knew he was winning her over. His hands drifted down to grasp hers and he gave her a slight tug, "Come on, Waldorf, I'm sure Carolyn can handle the decisions for one day, can't you Carolyn?" He called out to the planner.

"Y-,Yes, Mr. Bass."

"See?" Chuck said turning back towards Blair with a small grin.

But she was still reluctant, "I don't know…"

Chuck's lips tightened into a hard line, "I am going to have to insist." Blair looked highly insulted so he continued, "You are running yourself ragged trying to make this ceremony perfect. We can't enjoy a long and happy marriage if you kill yourself planning the wedding." He teased her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, "So what do you say? Do you think you can afford one short break to relax with your devilishly handsome fiancé? It involves a present."

Blair perked up at the mention of gifts, as Chuck knew she would and she slowly gave in, "Well, I guess I can spare one afternoon-"

"Great," He cut her off before she could change her mind. He grabbed her hand and began leading her to the elevator calling to the wedding planner over his shoulder, "Carolyn, we will be back tomorrow, why don't you take the rest of the day off?"
…

They had been riding in the limo for a quite a while, heading further and further from the city when Blair turned to Chuck with an accusing glare, "You bought a house."

He looked up from where his fingers had been gently tracing her palm, "What?"

"We're going to the Hamptons, aren't we?" She said, "You gave in and bought a summer house without consulting me first. What if I don't like it, huh? What if it's tacky? What if-"

"Are you questioning my taste, Waldorf?"

"No, no," Blair shook her head, "I just-, I wish you would have a least let me see it first."

Chuck's eyes narrowed in a piercing stare, "Don't worry, Lover, I'm sure you will adore it."

At that moment, the limo came to a stop and the driver opened the door for Chuck, who held out his hand to help Blair step out as well. She surveyed the property they had arrived in front of while Chuck gazed at her expectantly, waiting for her reaction.

"Chuck," She began hesitantly, "This is-, um, it seems to be very quaint."

"It's small."

"Yes!" Blair whipped her head around and looked at him, "It is much smaller than everyone else's summer homes. I would be ashamed to have anyone over here. How could we ever host parties or-"

"We won't."

Blair paused and her brow knitted together in confusion, "What do you mean 'we won't'? I'm Blair Waldorf-soon-to-be-Bass. People expect me to-"

"I don't care what people expect or what they think," Chuck said, "This place isn't for them. It's for us."

"What are you talking about, Bass?"

"I know this house isn't a sprawling estate like Cece's old place but I bought it as an escape."

"An escape?" Blair asked dubiously.

"Yes, for you and me and our future children. This is where we will go to get away from everything, from the pressures of society and the scrutiny of the media. It will be our sanctuary. No one will be allowed here. We won't have any fancy parties or any stuffy house guests. Just you and me and our family."

Her face softened, "Chuck-"

He placed his hands on her hips and looked into her eyes, "We need this Blair. You know it's never going to be easy being us. We need an escape from the constant strain of being ChuckandBlair in New York and this is it; our own little hideout."

Blair kissed him before she smiled and placed her hands on her hips, "Well, are you going to show me the inside of my house or what?"

…

"I still can't believe Ed knocked up Emily Vanderbilt," Celia said with a shake of her head as she rode in the elevator to the Bass penthouse with Hank, CJ and Lauren. The four of them had all returned to New York that day for the few weeks before their weddings. CJ and Lauren had graduated the week before from Yale but they had remained in Connecticut setting up their new apartment until Hank and Celia had finished classes, "I guess it will seem more real once she is right in front of me looking pregnant. I haven't seen her since last summer before her parents moved her to DC."

"I've never even met her before," Lauren added.

The three other college students whipped their heads around to look at her with shock, "You haven't?" Celia asked, "I thought I pointed her out to you at the holiday party?"

"You did," Lauren explained, "I've seen her before, but I've never been formally introduced or even said one word to the girl." She turned to her boyfriend, "Do you think it is going to awkward?"

CJ shrugged, "I don't know. I've always thought Emily was a stuck up bitch, but maybe she's changed. I don't know, I never really knew her that well."

Celia gave him a disapproving look just as they reached the penthouse, "Oh, come on, she's not that bad."

"Babe, she was called the Wicked Bitch of the Upper Eastside even back when we were in high school." Hank reminded her, causing the other three to laugh softly while they entered into the apartment.

Having heard the arrival of the elevator, Blair was walking briskly to the foyer, "Chuck?" She called out hopefully, "Thank god your hom-, Oh," Blair paused when she saw her sons standing in front of her instead of her husband, but she quickly recovered and smiled brightly, "Charles, Harold, you're home! I wasn't expecting you to arrive until later tonight."

The boys shared a concerned look at their mother's appearance and Celia, having noticed it, quickly looped her arm through Lauren's, "Come on, Laur, let's go find Lexie. I'm sure she is dying to see us." She said, knowing that the boys would want to talk to their mother alone.

The girls went upstairs and were walking arm and arm down the hallway when Emily emerged from her room and almost ran into them. The younger girl was wearing a short, flowy sundress that, while not completely hiding her growing stomach, caused the baby bump to look like an illusion created by the cut of the dress.

"Oh my god, Emily, how are you?" Celia said, rushing forward to embrace the other girl, "You look great!"

Emily's gaze quickly flickered between Celia and Lauren as she answered tentatively, "Thanks, so do you."

Celia waved her hand dismissively and grabbed Lauren's wrist to pull her forward, "Emily, this is CJ's fiancée, Lauren. I don't think you two have met yet."

Emily relaxed slightly when she realized the unfamiliar girl was family and wouldn't share her secret with the media or her minions, "Oh, hi, it's nice to meet you," She said, extending her hand and flashing her best society smile.

Lauren shook her hand and smiled back, "You too. I've heard so much about you."

"All good things, I hope," Emily said, flipping her hair over her shoulder before turning her attention back to Celia, "Cece, how is the wedding planning going?"

"Oh good, there is still a ton of stuff to do though. I'm sure Blair will corner me after she's done talking to the boys downstairs." Celia rolled her eyes, "But tell me about you! I can't believe you are almost six months along! I can barely even tell that you are pregnant."

"That is all due to the excellent sewing skills of Blair and my Aunt Jenny," She said as she smoothed down the edge of her dress, "Trust me, underneath this fabric I look like a whale."

"I'd have to disagree," Ed said, emerging from his own room, "You look fucking fantastic with or without the dress; but especially without it."

"Ed!"

"I'm just speaking the truth, Vanderbilt."

Emily shook her head, but Celia and Lauren could see the hint of joy on her face.

"So you have managed to hide it from everyone at Constance?" Celia asked.

Emily nodded, "Yes, so far at least. I still have three more weeks to get through."

"And no one has been suspicious?"

"No," She paused and thought about it, "Well, I mean, I think some of the girls have definitely noticed that I've put on weight-"

"And all the guys at St. Judes have noticed your ever growing tits." Ed interjected, "Just last week they were betting on whether or not you had a boob job over spring break."

Emily looked horrified, "They were not."

Ed smirked down at her, "Oh yes they were."

"And what was your guess?" Celia asked with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Emily turned to him expectantly, "Yes, Bass, tell us what you bet."

Ed shrugged with his sleazy grin still in place, "I told them your rack looked natural to me. I said if I had to guess I would bet you just finally reached puberty."

Celia and Lauren's eyes widened slightly at his response and Emily's mouth dropped open in shock. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes angrily, "Well I'm sorry my previous size was so disappointing to you."

Ed could tell that she was upset so he reached forward to touch her but she slapped his hand away. "Come on, Vanderbilt," He said with a teasing note in his voice, "I just said that to keep those guys from scrutinizing your appearance. I don't like other men checking out what's mine."

He extended his hand again but she stepped away, "First of all, I'm not 'yours.' And obviously your words came from somewhere. You must have thought about it before."

"About your breasts and how amazing they have looked lately? Yes, I'll admit that I have thought about it many, many times." She scowled and he quickly took a step closer and continued, "But like I have told you on multiple occasions, I think your body is perfect, in any form. Whether your chest is huge or non-existent, I don't care as long as I get to see it," He wrapped his arms around her and began to press kisses along her jaw, "And touch it," He continued his lips hovering over hers, "And-"

"Okay, that's enough. Why don't you two get a room?" Celia interrupted, grabbing Lauren's hand and pulling her down the hall, "It was good catching up, but we're going to leave now."

Emily flushed and pressed her face against Ed's shoulder while he chuckled, "It was good to see you Cece; you too, Lauren."

The girls looked back, but the young couple had already disappeared into Ed's room, causing them both to shake their heads and laugh softly.

…

A/N: Ugh, this always happens to me. I write a flashback and then the chapter gets super long and I end up splitting it up before I get to the part that relates to the flashback. Oh well. I know I haven't updated in a long time, so I wanted to get this out there. In the next chapter Lexie will return as well the Bass's Hampton house (in reference).