So this is the chapter you've all been waiting for! The arrival of baby Bass! Any feedback you have about this chapter would be greatly appreciated :) Enjoy!
Chuck and Blair were in the limo on the way to the hospital and Chuck was starting to become quite nervous. He sighed, pressing the intercom button, "Arthur, can't you go any faster?"
"I'm pushing the speed limit already Mr Bass," he replied.
"Calm down," Blair told him. "This baby isn't going to be born right this-" She was cut off when she suddenly felt another contraction. She clutched her stomach with a gasp, groaning at the wave of pain going through her body.
Chuck's eyes widened in panic, "Oh my God, it's another contraction."
"Really Chuck, I hadn't noticed!" she snapped through clenched teeth as she held onto his hand for dear life.
"Just breathe, breathing is good," he told her, rubbing her back with his free hand. "Remember what we did at the birthing class? Deep breath in, short breath out."
"Can you just shut up and stop telling me what to do!" she shrieked.
"Alright," he nodded nervously.
As the contraction finally passed, Blair relaxed and rested her head on the leather head rest, "Oh God, I feel like I'm dying a slow, painful death."
"Up until now you were saying that it wasn't that bad. What happened?" Chuck asked curiously.
She reached over and grabbed the collar of his shirt firmly, "It tricked me! My body tricked me into thinking that I can handle this!"
He gulped, cautiously removing her hand from his shirt. "You can handle this Blair," he insisted. "You are handling it. Definitely better than I expected."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively. Her hand shot up to grab him by the collar again but Chuck caught it, making Blair grumble in annoyance.
"Nothing," Chuck said, trying to think of ways to change the subject so that she wouldn't kill him on the way to the hospital. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"
"You can't distract me with flattery Bass," Blair huffed, pulling her hand out of his.
He sighed and muttered, "It was worth a shot."
An hour and a half later, Blair had been put into a private labor room and was lying in the hospital bed attached to a fetal monitor that was monitoring the baby's heartbeat. She was a lot calmer since arriving at the hospital, even though she was getting contractions every 5 to 10 minutes. Blair kept her eyes shut as another contraction went through her body, clutching Chuck's hand tightly. He was sitting on a chair beside the hospital bed and hadn't moved since they got there. It was difficult for him to see Blair in pain, but he was determined to be there for her throughout the labor process. "Are you okay?" he asked gently as he felt Blair's hand relax in his own.
She opened her eyes and nodded, giving him a small smile. "Do you believe we rushed to get here and now nothing's happening?"
"I'm sure the baby's trying to get out of there as fast as he can," Chuck replied, rubbing her belly with his other hand.
"Well if he's anything like his father, Chuck Jr is going to be very persistent," Blair responded.
"Have you changed your mind about naming him after me?"
"Definitely not," she scoffed. "But I think it's time we face the fact that no matter what we call him, he's going to end up being a clone of you."
He just chuckled in reponse, then looked up as Eleanor bustled into the room looking extremely stressed. "Okay," she began, pushing her hair out of her face with a sigh. "I've called your father and he and Roman are flying here as soon as they can. I also just checked with the nurse and your doctor should be here in the next hour. So as long as you don't have the baby between now and then, everything should run smoothly."
"I can't really tell the baby when to come out Mother," Blair replied, glancing down at her stomach. "He's going to be born when he's ready, whether the time is convenient for us or not."
"Well tell little Alexander that he's going to have to hold off on making an appearance for at least an hour."
"Dorota told you his name," Blair concluded in slight annoyance.
She shrugged, "I may have threatened to fire her if she didn't tell me."
"As if you would do that," Chuck commented. "You love Dorota, you'd be lost without her."
"True, but I can be very convincing," Eleanor replied with a smug smile. "Now, does anything else need doing?"
"No Mom, just relax," Blair said.
"Are you sure? We want to be prepared."
"We're prepared," Chuck told her. "As prepared as we can be anyway." Blair nodded. "Actually there is one thing you can do Eleanor."
"Yes?"
"If by any chance my uncle shows up here, make sure that he is escorted out by security," he told her. "The last thing we need is Jack lurking around."
"Good thinking Charles," Eleanor nodded, scribbling something down on the note pad that Chuck and Blair just noticed that she was holding. And with that, she hurried out of the room.
Chuck looked to Blair in confusion, "She's acting like we're hosting a party tonight, rather than having a baby."
"That's my mother for you, she always has to have everything-" she was cut off when she felt another contraction and cried out in pain. This was the worst one so far.
He jumped out of his seat in alarm, trying to stay calm. The truth was with every contraction Blair had, Chuck had a mini-panic attack of his own. "You're okay," he managed to whisper, brushing her hair out of her face with one hand and allowing Blair to squeeze the life out of his other hand. "Just breathe," he instructed, finding himself breathing along with her. It was almost as if they were both in labor.
"I am breathing," she snapped. When the contraction finally ended, Blair relaxed in relief.
"That sounded like a bad one," a nurse commented as she entered the room. "How are you doing?" she asked, checking the results of the fetal monitor.
"Okay," Blair mumbled, obviously not in the mood for small talk.
Chuck's attention was suddenly drawn to the baby's heart beat. "Does his heart beat sound okay?" he asked, looking up at the nurse worriedly.
She nodded with a smile, "It's perfectly healthy."
"It's a little fast," he pointed out.
"That's how it's supposed to be," she assured him, writing something down on the clipboard she was carrying. "Don't worry, we do this all the time."
"Sorry, he tends to worry way too much," Blair told her.
The nurse just chuckled, "That's okay, I have no problem with you asking questions." She finished checking the baby's heartbeat and looked back to them, "We should be able to take the monitor off now, everything looks good."
"You take that off already?" Chuck asked. "How will you know if something's wrong?"
"We have other ways," she told him. "The fetal monitor is only temporary."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Chuck, she's sure," Blair rolled her eyes. "Just let the woman do her job."
"How are we doing in here?" Serena asked cheerfully as she all but skipped into the room.
"Fantastic, I'm having the time of my life," Blair retorted sarcastically, shifting in her bed in attempt to get comfortable.
Chuck disregarded her comment and asked, "Where's Nate?"
"He's outside," his step-sister replied. "I told him to come in here with me but I don't think he's completely comfortable with the idea of childbirth."
"Well there's not much happening yet," Blair said. "It's not like you asked him to come and watch me push the thing out."
"I hope not," Chuck commented.
Serena chuckled, "Well everyone's here for you guys anyway. Nate, Dorota, Cyrus, my Mom, Rufus, Eric...even Dan and Jenny are out there."
"Dan and Jenny?" Blair repeated.
"To be honest I think Mom made them come, but they're still here for you," she smiled. "So how is labor Blair, tell me honestly."
"It's wonderful Serena, it's like a party in my uterus," she snapped back sarcastically. "What do you think it's like?" She glared at her friend.
She blinked. "Okay, I'm just going to wait outside," she told them, backing out of the room.
An hour later, Blair was trying to get some rest and Chuck was standing beside the bed, walking across the room every now and then. "Chuck," someone whispered.
He turned to find Nate standing in the doorway, "Hey, come in."
His friend hesitated then shook his head, "I'd rather not."
"Nothing's happening, she's asleep," Chuck insisted, gesturing to the bed.
He shook his head again, "Why don't you come get something to eat?"
He looked at Nate in disbelief. "I can't eat. Blair's having our baby, I need to be here for her," he replied.
"It's going to be hard to be there for her when you pass out from hunger," Nate pointed out.
"I'm not even hungry," he said, trying to ignore the rumbling of his stomach.
"Go get something to eat Chuck," Eleanor said as she brushed passed Nate and back into the room. "I'll stay with Blair."
Chuck shook his head, "I can't. What if something happens?"
"Then I'll call you right away," she promised, sitting down in the chair beside Blair's bed. "Now get out of here for 15 minutes, get something to eat and clear your head. You'll thank us for making you do this later."
"If it will get you both off my back then fine," he gave in, glancing over at Blair worriedly. "But I'm only going for 10 minutes."
"Suit yourself," Eleanor replied, turning her attention back to her daughter.
"So do you want to tell me why you won't go near Blair ever since she went into labor?" Chuck asked suddenly, just after he and Nate had paid for their sandwiches from the hospital cafeteria. They were now making their way back towards the elevator so they could go back upstairs.
Nate shrugged nervously, "I don't know, I'm just giving her some space. The last thing she needs right now is a hundred people in her face."
"Oh," he commented, not believing his friend at all. "Is that really the reason?"
He nodded, "Yeah. What else would it be?"
"I don't know Nathaniel, you tell me," Chuck said curiously. Nate sighed. "Whatever it is you can tell me, I'm not going to bite your head off."
He shrugged again, "I don't know, it's just weird. Blair's my ex..."
"That hasn't made it weird before," he pointed out, starting to get a little defensive.
"Don't take this the wrong way," Nate started, looking away from him. Chuck cringed, this didn't sound good. "But I just keep thinking about how easily it could have been my baby that Blair was having today."
Chuck let out a sharp breath as they approached the elevator, "You had your chance with her Nate."
"I know, I know," he said, scratching the back of his head nervously. "It's just hard not to think about what could have been."
"Well try," he retorted bluntly, "Because I really don't want the resurfacing of your feelings for Blair, overshadowing what should be one of the most important day of our lives."
"Come on Chuck, it's not like that," Nate insisted. "They're just thoughts okay, they don't mean anything. I'm with Serena now and I love her."
"I hope you're telling the truth," he sighed as the elevator opened. As he stepped inside, he finished, "I don't want my step-sister getting hurt."
He reluctantly stepped into the elevator with Chuck, "She won't, like I said I love Serena. What I'm feeling is just nostalgia and curiousity about what my life could have been like." Chuck didn't look entirely convinced. "I mean it Chuck. You and Blair are meant to be together, I get that. And I'm so happy for you guys about the baby and- and everything."
"Alright," Chuck nodded. "You can relax, I'm not going to kill you."
"That's a relief," Nate smiled, beginning to unwrap his sandwich.
"I think you should get the epidural," Chuck said as Blair relaxed after her second contraction in under ten minutes. It had been two hours and the labor was starting to progress quite quickly.
She shook her head stubbornly, "No. I want to do this without one."
"Are you insane Blair?" Eleanor asked incredulously. "Get the epidural."
"You're only six centimetres dilated so it's not too late," Dr Roberts added. "But it's entirely up to you of course."
She shook her head again, "I don't want it."
"Blair think about this-" Chuck started.
"I have thought about it," Blair replied, cutting him off. "I want to give birth to this baby without drugs."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she insisted.
"Okay," he gave in. He still wasn't entirely happy about this, but Blair was the one who was in labor so it should be her decision.
Eleanor shook her head, "You're making a big mistake."
"Maybe, but at least I'll be able to say that I gave birth to our son naturally," she told her mother firmly.
"If it's what Blair wants, I think we should all support her decision," Dr Roberts pointed out. Blair gave her a greatful look.
Eleanor looked at the doctor with a glare, "Did we ask for your opinion?"
"Mother," Blair scolded.
"Well this isn't a decision that should be made by her," her mother argued. Chuck sighed.
She nodded, "Exactly, it should be made by me and I've already decided."
"I might leave you to sort this out," the doctor said, before leaving the room quickly.
Unable to stop himself, Chuck blurted out, "I think you should leave too Eleanor. Go wait in the waiting room with everybody else."
"Excuse me?" she asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
"He's right, you should wait outside," Blair agreed. "This is something we need to do alone."
"But Blair-" Eleanor started.
"Please mother," she groaned, as she felt the familiar tightening feeling in her abdomen.
As Blair grabbed onto his hand in pain Chuck nodded, "Please Eleanor."
"Fine," she said with a huff, before storming out of the room.
As the contraction ended, he commented, "She didn't take that well."
"She'll get over it," Blair muttered, leaning her head back on the pillow with a sigh.
"You're doing so great," he told her, leaning over to kiss her on the forehead.
She gave him a small smile and replied, "I love you."
"I love you too," Chuck said, brushing Blair's hair off of her face. In his opinion, she still looked stunning. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, and she was a little sweaty but in his eyes she was perfect. "You look amazing," he told her.
"I know that you're lying," she groaned.
He shook his head, "No I'm not, you look beautiful."
Blair smiled. "Jack's not here is he?" she asked, completely out of the blue.
Chuck's facial expression hardened at the mention of his uncle, "He better not be. Surely he wouldn't dare to show his face here."
There was a knock on the door and they both looked up to find Serena standing in the doorway with Nate and Eric on either side of her. "Look who's come to see you," she grinned, leading them into the room.
"Hi," Blair greeted them softly.
"Hi Blair," Nate replied and Eric gave her a quick wave. "How's it going?" he asked hesitantly. Chuck looked on, observing how Nate was acting around Blair.
"Why does everybody keep asking me that?" she pondered. "I'm in labor, how do you think I am?"
"She's a little testy right now," Serena muttered to them, soft enough so Blair wouldn't hear.
"Oh."
"I see," Eric nodded.
Blair suddenly had another contraction and groaned while clutching onto Chuck's hand tightly. Nate and Eric looked at Serena in alarm, not knowing what to do. "What should we do?" Nate asked nervously.
"How about you get out?" Blair snapped, clenching her jaw as she tried to breathe through the pain.
Serena spoke up, "We're here to support you-"
"Get out!" she and Chuck exclaimed in unison, glaring at the others. They were out of there in five seconds flat.
"Who does Serena think she is? Bringing Nate in here," Chuck grumbled a few minutes later.
She shifted in her bed and peered at him curiously, "What's wrong with Nate being in here?"
"Well he is your ex-boyfriend."
"So?" Blair asked, groaning uncomfortably. "We're friends, we haven't been together in years." She sat up and huffed in frustration, "I'm so uncomfortable!"
"I know, just try to lay back and relax," Chuck said, trying to help her lay back down.
She struggled out of his grasp, "No it hurts!"
He thought for a moment, glancing around the room nervously before looking back to her, "Why don't we go for a walk? The doctor said it's supposed to speed up labor."
"Are you crazy? I can't walk," Blair frowned, resting her hand on her lower back.
"I'll help you," Chuck assured her, taking her hand. She replied with another groan. "Come on. If it could possibly bring the baby here faster, it's worth a try."
She eventually nodded reluctantly, allowing him to help her out of bed. She was so uncomfortable and sore at this point that she didn't think walking could make it any worse. She grabbed onto his arm, "Don't let go of me, I'll fall."
"I'm not going to let go of you," he told her as he led her into the hallway. "We'll just walk slowly up and down the hallway. Or in your case waddle."
Blair glared at him as they slowly made their way up the hallway, "This is really not the time to piss me off."
"Sorry."
"What's your problem with Nate anyway?" she asked out of curiosity. "Did he say something to you?"
Chuck sighed, you couldn't get anything passed Blair. "He might have."
"What did he say?"
"I said might."
"Which means yes in 'Chuck-speak'," she retorted with a roll of her eyes.
He shook his head, "Don't worry about it."
"I am worrying about it."
"Just focus on having the baby right now, okay?" he asked, almost pleading her.
Before Blair had the chance to reply, she was hit with another contraction. She gasped and Chuck quickly led her to the wall where there was a rail that she could grab onto. "Argh!" she groaned. "I want a c-section!"
"No you don't, you're doing great," he said, continuing to hold her by the waist to support her. When the contraction ended, he looked at her, "I think it's time to go back to the room."
She looked up at him and grumbled breathlessly, "You think?"
Around two hours later at 6:15am, Blair was just about fed up with being in labor. She was in a lot of pain and completely exhausted. "You have to get this baby out of me!" she pleaded to the doctor. "I don't care how you do it, just get it out!"
"I'm afraid that's all up to your body and your baby," Dr Roberts replied calmly, lifting up the sheets at the end of the bed. "I'm going to check you now which will tell us how you're going."
Blair cringed as the doctor examined her, trying to focus on something else. Chuck held onto her hand, thanking God that men were physically incapable of having babies. "Let me guess, it's going to be another six hours?" Blair asked sarcastically. "Actually I bet it's going to be another 12 hours, or even-"
"It looks like you're ready to go to the delivery room," Dr Roberts interrupted with a smile.
"What?" Blair asked in surprise, glancing over at Chuck.
"You're ten centimetres dilated, which means you're ready to push," she ellaborated, standing up from her stool and removing her gloves.
"Wow," Chuck commented. Now he was really getting nervous.
"So are you ready to become parents?" the doctor smiled as two nurses entered the room.
Blair shook her head worriedly, "I'm not so sure anymore."
She chuckled, "Now Fiona and Lauren here are going to take you to the delivery room," she told her, referring to the two nurses. "I'll see you there." She then pointed to Chuck, "And Daddy, try to relax. Everything's under control."
He didn't have a chance to reply as before he knew it, Blair's bed was being wheeled out of the room and he was hurrying after her. Chuck made it to the side of the bed and commented, "She called me Daddy."
Blair groaned as she felt another contraction, "Well you'd better get used to it!"
Blair was now in the delivery room and was about to start pushing. As she cried out in pain, Chuck somehow stayed calm. As the contraction ended and she relaxed, he kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "You okay?"
She just glared at him angrily and exclaimed, "I'm about to push a baby out of me, what do you think?"
Chuck cringed, "That was a stupid question."
"You're damn right it was!" Blair retorted, with a frustrated groan. "This isn't fair, why do I have to be the one that has the baby? Why can't you do it?"
"Men just aren't equipped to have babies dearest," he replied with a nervous chuckle.
She groaned, "God, I hate you!"
"Okay Blair, this is it" Dr Roberts spoke up, trying to prevent the woman from murdering her fiancée. "When the next contraction starts, I'm going to need you to push as hard as you can and hold it for ten seconds."
"I can't," she protested, feeling completely drained of energy.
"You can," Chuck encouraged her, brushing a few strands of loose hair from her face.
"You have to," the doctor added. "It's the only way you're going to be able to meet your son."
Blair whimpered. "You can do this," Chuck told her. "You're Blair Waldorf, you can do anything."
She managed to give him a small smile before the next contraction hit her and she cried out in pain. "Okay Blair, push!" the doctor instructed. "1, 2, 3..."
She leaned forward, pushing as hard as she could. She could just hear Chuck whispering words of encouragement into her ear, but was too delirious with pain to be able to make out what he was saying. "...8, 9, 10," Dr Roberts finished counting.
Blair stopped pushing and sobbed, "This baby is never going to come out!"
The doctor shook her head and told her, "You're doing really well, I can see his head now."
"You can?" Chuck asked in surprise. Blair looked equally as surprised.
She nodded, "You can come look if you like."
He let go of Blair's hand for a moment and leaned over to look. He looked back to her in shock, "Oh my God, the baby is right there."
"He is?" she sobbed with a slight smile as she grabbed back onto his hand.
"He's right there," Dr Roberts repeated with a comforting smile. "We need another big push from you honey."
She shook her head repeatedly and exclaimed breathlessly, "No, no, no, I can't! It hurts too much."
"The only way to stop it from hurting is to push," the doctor told her honestly. "The little guy has a large head so you're going to have to push as hard as you can."
Blair groaned angrily, cursing Chuck's big-headed genes. "Well we know who he takes after," he commented to her annoyance.
After a few more pushes, Blair had basically given up. She was exhausted and didn't have the strength to keep pushing. "That's it, I give up! I can't do it!"
"It's a little late for that," Chuck pointed out, dodging Blair's hand as it flew towards his face. She grumbled as her fist went through the air.
"One last push and he'll be out," Dr Roberts spoke up cheerfully, causing the couple to look back at her. "We'll just wait for the next contraction to start, then it's all up to you."
Blair nodded, trying to catch her breath. She was suddenly extremely determined to push the baby out. She had had enough of being in labor and wanted to hold her son now. So when the next contraction began, Blair began pushing with all of her strength. She didn't think she had ever put so much effort into something in her life. She kept her eyes shut tightly and let out one last cry as she pushed the baby out of her body. Blair opened her eyes to see the doctor holding up a tiny, pink baby, who began to cry loudly. She sighed in relief, looking to Chuck in shock as tears streamed down her face.
He looked from the baby to Blair in amazement. There were no words spoken between them, they simply shared a look that said it all. The doctor asked Chuck if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord, which he did. The nurse then rested the baby on Blair's chest. She wrapped her arms around the infant protectively and his crying quieted down, eventually stopping. "Hi baby," Blair breathed with a sob.
"He's so..." he started, trailing off. He was literally speechless.
"I know," she chuckled, looking up at him. They shared a brief kiss before looking back down at their son in astonishment.
Chuck reached over to touch the baby's hand, smiling in surprise as the infant grabbed onto his finger. "He's perfect," he commented, finally finding the words he was looking for.
Blair nodded in reply, as her son looked up at her with big brown eyes, "He is, isn't he?"
"Good job Waldorf," he said with a soft chuckle, feeling himself tear up a little. He would never admit to this of course.
"You too Bass," she replied softly, with a happy sob. She gently stroked the baby's cheek with her thumb.
The next few minutes were a blur. The baby was taken to the other side of the room by the nurse to be weighed and checked over. Chuck had followed, not wanting to let his son out of his sight. Before he knew it, the nurse had cleaned the baby off, dressed him, wrapped him up in a blanket and was standing before him with the baby in her arms, looking at him expectantly. "He's very eager to meet his Daddy," she told him with a smile.
At that moment, it hit him: he was someone's father. "I...w-what if I drop him?" he stuttered, looking down at the little bundle nervously. He was now responsible for this little life and would never forgive himself if he hurt him.
"You won't," the nurse replied simply. He didn't look very convinced so she added with a smile, "Trust me you won't."
He nodded, allowing her to place the baby in his arms. Chuck grinned as his son looked up at him curiously with Blair's brown eyes, and immediately fell in love with him. He sighed contently and whispered, "Hi Alexander."
"Is that his official name?" Doctor Roberts asked, looking at him with a smile.
He looked up from the baby and nodded, "Yes, Alexander Charles Bass."
"Congratulations, he's beautiful," she smiled as the nurse took down the name.
"Thank you," Chuck smiled proudly, before making his way back over to Blair.
"You look good with a baby," she told him, as he placed the baby back in her arms. She looked down to the baby and cooed, "I picked you a good Daddy, didn't I sweetheart?" They shared a smile, before turning their attention back to their newborn son.
I know it's mean to leave it like this, sorry! Just to remind everyone, the events with Jack in season 3 did not happen in my story. Chuck and Blair haven't seen him since season 2. Also, what did you think about Chuck being there for the delivery? I always hate stories where he waits outside and Serena or someone else is with Blair. I mean, are we still living in the 50s? In my opinion, I believe that Chuck would push aside his fears to be there for her and his baby. That's just what i think, let me know your point of view.