There's a lot of drama happening in this chapter. Hopefully you'll all like it. It's set around two weeks after the last one. Tell me what you think...
One morning, Serena stepped out of the elevator and into the Empire Penthouse. She made her way into the living room and was surprised when she didn't see Chuck or Blair. She looked around and saw that their bedroom door was shut. She went over to the door, confused as to why her friends were still in bed at 9:30am. It wasn't like them at all. Serena knocked on the door softly, before slowly opening it. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Chuck and Blair laying on the bed together, with Alexander sleeping between them. Blair was fast asleep, but Chuck was awake and glanced up at Serena in surprise. "Hey," she whispered, so she wouldn't wake Blair and the baby.
"Shhh," he hushed her, getting out of bed carefully. He gestured to the door and led her out into the hallway, shutting the bedroom door behind them.
"You guys are adorable," Serena commented as they made their way back to the living room.
"Shhh," Chuck repeated. "Try to keep your voice down. We only got the baby to sleep an hour ago."
She looked at him in surprise, "He's been awake all night?" He just nodded in reply and Serena suddenly noticed how exhausted her step-brother looked. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."
"I'm fine," he mumbled, stifling a yawn. "Can I get you some coffee?"
She shook her head, "You're not doing anything. You're going to sit down on this couch and I'm going to get you the coffee. Maybe even some breakfast, are you hungry?"
"Not if you're cooking," Chuck teased, sitting down on the couch with a sigh, wanting to curl up in a ball and sleep right there.
Serena gave him a look, "I'll call room service." He nodded in reply as she went over to the phone and ordered food, coffee and orange juice for both Blair and Chuck. She then sat down beside him on the couch, "So how are you going with the baby?"
He just shrugged, "He's a bit of a handful, but he's two weeks old and mine and Blair's son, so that's to be expected."
"Seriously Chuck."
"Everything's fine," he told her. "We're just trying to adjust to the fact that we have another human being to take care of now."
"Okay," Serena nodded. "But if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be happy to listen."
"Thanks but that won't be necessary," Chuck replied.
"Do you want me to get Nate to come over so you can talk-?"
"No," he told her firmly. Nate was the last person he wanted to speak to right now. In fact, he and Blair had been avoiding Nate for the last two weeks. This hadn't gone unnoticed by Serena, who was highly suspicious of why her friends weren't speaking. They sat in silence for a moment before he suddenly blurted out, "I'll admit, it hasn't been the easiest two weeks of my life but I didn't expect it to be. I mean, a baby is obviously a lot of hard work."
"I know-"
"Don't get me wrong, I love Alexander," he interrupted, "but when he cries, I sometimes feel like just leaving him there."
She gave him a worried look, "...Well that's...understandable-"
"I mean, he cries all the time Serena," Chuck continued. "Every night since we brought him home he just cries and cries and cries and cries and-"
"Okay Chuck, I get the point," Serena interjected. "Are you sure you're doing okay?"
"Sure," he nodded. "Everything's fantastic," he retorted with a hint of sarcasm.
She was worried. She had to do something, Chuck obviously wasn't coping. And she had absolutely no idea how Blair was doing. They had seen each other since the baby was born of course, but she and Chuck always seemed so calm and collected until now. Serena's thoughts were interrupted when the sound of Alexander's loud wailing came from the bedroom.
Chuck jumped up off the couch almost immediately, which surprised Serena. He was acting almost robotic, as if he existed only to tend to Alexander's every need. But before he even reached the bedroom door, it swung open and Blair came out of the room bawling with her son in her arms. She bounced him gently in attempt to stop him from crying but he continued screaming at the top of his lungs. "Chuck!" she exclaimed through sobs, thrusting the baby towards him. "You have to take him, I-I can't!"
He took the baby in one arm then pulled her into a hug with the other, kissing her on the head, "It's okay Blair."
Serena stood up from the couch and edged over to her friends slowly, feeling like she was intruding. "Um Blair..." she said gently.
Her friend immediately stopped sobbing, taking her head off of Chuck's chest to look at her. Her eyes were wide and she looked embarrassed. "Serena?" she squeaked in a small voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see how the two of you were doing with the baby," she replied, trying to talk over Alexander's loud screams.
Blair put on a big smile, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Everything's fine. We're just having a bad morning."
"Just stop Blair, we're not having a bad morning," Chuck started, trying his best to make his son stop crying. "It's been like this nearly every day this week."
"That's a bit of an exaggeration Charles," she snapped back, all the while keeping a forced smile on her face.
He rolled his eyes, "Stop pretending like everything's perfect, because it's not."
Serena nearly jumped for joy when the elevator opened at that very moment. It saved them from what could have been a very awkward moment. The man from room service stood there with a cart with their breakfast on top. "Good morning," he greeted them, glancing over at the crying baby worriedly. "Is everything okay Mr Bass?"
"Everything's fine, just leave the food and go," Chuck snapped without thinking. "Please," he added, feeling a little guilty for taking his frustrations out on the man.
He just nodded nervously, before wheeling the cart into the living room. "Can I do anything else for you Sir?"
"Wait here for a minute," he told him, handing the baby to Serena. He quickly found his wallet and pulled out a few notes, giving the man a generous tip. "I apologize for my rudeness, you just caught us at a bad time."
"That's okay, thank you Mr Bass this is very generous of you."
"No problem," Chuck nodded.
Once the man had left, Serena looked back to her friends as she rocked Alexander in her arms gently, "Do you want to tell me what's really going on?"
They were silent for a moment, until Blair burst into tears for the second time that morning. "It's horrible Serena! You have no idea how hard being a parent is," she confessed, allowing Chuck to put his arm around her.
"We're literally going insane," he added. "Night after night he just screams his head off like he's doing now and we have no idea why."
"Maybe he's sick," Serena suggested, looking down at her godson worriedly. Luckily he was starting to tire himself out and his cries had started to quieten down.
Blair shook her head, "We thought that too, but we took him to the doctor and she told us that he's fine. We don't know what to do." She approached her friend, grabbing her by the shoulders, "Help us Serena!"
"Blair, you're scaring me. Calm down," she replied, her eyes wide in terror. "Just take a deep breath and try to relax." She looked over at Chuck, "Both of you." They both did as she asked. "Now go to bed and get some rest, you're both exhausted," she ordered them. "I'll take care of the baby."
"Really?" Chuck asked, looking alive for the first time that morning.
Blair shook her head, "I can't, Alex needs me."
"I said I would take care of him," Serena replied gently. "Are there bottles in the fridge in case he gets hungry?" She nodded. "Then you have nothing to worry about. Go to sleep."
"Thank you Serena," she said greatfully, reaching over to give her a hug.
"Thanks sis," Chuck added.
"No thanks necessary, I'm his godmother," she replied, "it's my job to take over when you guys need a break."
A couple of hours later, Blair emerged from the bedroom fully dressed, looking a lot more rested and calm than she had earlier that morning. Serena smiled at her from where she sat on the couch with Alexander, who was gurgling away happily in her arms.
"How did you do that?" Blair asked in amazement, sitting down beside her friend. She leant over and allowed the baby to grab onto her finger with his tiny fist.
She looked at her in confusion, "How did I do what?"
"How did you stop him from crying?" she ellaborated.
Serena shrugged, "I don't know, just a few cuddles and a bottle. He just woke up from a nap not to long ago as well so he's in a good mood." Blair sighed. "Here," Serena said, extending the baby towards her gently. "He wants his Mommy."
"Hi sweetheart," Blair cooed, taking her son into her arms. "Mommy loves you very much," she smiled, kissing him on the forehead.
Serena smiled, "Feeling better?"
"Much," she nodded with a genuine smile. "Thank you so much Serena. I don't know what we would have done if you weren't here this morning."
"It's my pleasure," she replied. "I love spending time with Alex." She paused before asking cautiously, "Are you sure that you and Chuck are doing okay?"
"We're fine, we're just adjusting to having another person to take care of," Blair explained.
"Yeah, that's what Chuck said," she nodded curiously. "Do you guys memorize lines or something?"
"No," she chuckled. "As if we'd even have time to do that."
"When does Chuck go back to work?" Serena asked. She was worried about how Blair was going to cope, taking care of the baby on her own during the day.
"He can go back whenever he wants, it's his company."
"Exactly. Don't they need him to be there-?"
"He's going back to work next week," Blair interrupted, knowing that if she didn't give her friend a straight answer, then the questions would be never-ending.
"Next week?" she repeated in alarm.
"Like you said, he needs to go back eventually," she replied, resting Alexander on her chest. "But he said if I need him he'll only go in when he's needed, like for meetings and things like that."
"Good," Serena breathed, relaxing a little. "When Chuck isn't here, do you want me to come over when I can?"
"Why?"
She bit her lip nervously, "I just thought that you might need some help-"
"Because I can't take care of my baby on my own?" Blair snapped defensively.
"No of course not."
"Then what are you trying to say?"
"I'm worried about you Blair," Serena confessed. "And Chuck as well. You both seem really stressed out."
"We just had a baby!" she exclaimed. "Of course we're stressed out."
She sighed, "Maybe I should just go." She stood up from the couch and started making her way towards the elevator.
Blair suddenly felt really guilty. She stood up from the couch and called out, "Wait S." Serena stopped and turned around. Blair set Alexander down in his bassinet before making her way over to her friend and giving her a hug. "Thank you again for helping us today. I really appreciate it."
She gave her friend a small smile, "It's fine, really. I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay," she nodded, watching as Serena left. The second the elevator doors shut, the baby began to cry again. She sighed, before going over to pick him up. Blair couldn't help but be a little annoyed that Alexander seemed to like Serena better than his own mother. Just as she had calmed Alex down, Chuck emerged from the bedroom, still in his pajamas and robe.
"Hey," he said softly as he approached her.
"Hi," she replied with a small smile.
He rested his head on her shoulder and looked down at their son, "How's he doing?"
"He's okay," Blair said, turning her head slightly to look at him.
Chuck leaned in to give her a kiss, "I'm sorry about before."
"No, you were right," she replied, turning around to face him. "I was trying to make out that everything was perfect, when it obviously wasn't."
"But I was way too harsh," he insisted. "I don't want us to turn on each other Blair." He glanced down at Alexander, "That's exactly what it wants."
She gasped, trying to hold back a smile, "Excuse me, that's our son you're talking about."
"Well it got a smile out of you, didn't it?" Chuck replied, a smirk slowing appearing on his lips.
Blair suddenly realized that she was grinning and immediately replaced the grin with an attempt at a disapproving look. He just laughed as a phone began to ring. "That's my cell," Blair said. "It's in the bedroom, can you answer it?"
Chuck nodded, rushing to the bedroom to find the cellphone. "Hello," he said, putting the phone to his ear.
"Charles, is that you?" Eleanor asked.
"Yes Eleanor, how are you?" he asked, making his way back to the living room where Blair had started to feed Alexander on the couch. She glanced up when she heard her mother's name, wondering what she wanted.
"Oh me, I'm fine," she brushed him off. "Listen, Cyrus and I are coming over to baby-sit tonight."
"What do you mean? We're not going anywhere," he replied in confusion.
"Yes you are," she corrected him. "You're going to take Blair out to dinner."
"I am?"
"Yes."
"What's she saying?" Blair asked curiously.
Chuck put his hand over the phone and answered, "She wants to baby-sit tonight so we can go out to dinner."
"We can't leave the baby," she protested.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," he told Eleanor. "Blair doesn't want to leave the baby."
"It will only be for a couple of hours. You both need to get out, you must be going crazy at home."
"Serena called you, didn't she?" Chuck realized with a sigh.
She paused, "She was worried about you. Please let me help Chuck. Talk Blair into it, she listens to you."
"Hold on," he said, covering the phone once more. He looked at Blair, "I think we should go out."
"No Chuck, I'm not leaving him," she answered.
"It will be good to get out," Chuck insisted. "We'll be gone for two hours at the most."
Later that night, Blair found herself at a restaurant with Chuck for the first time since Alexander was born. "This is nice," he commented, taking her hand in his own.
She nodded, "I guess." Her mind was obviously still on their baby at home.
"Alex is going to be fine," Chuck insisted, knowing exactly what she was thinking about. "Besides, we deserve a night out. It's been a difficult few weeks."
"I'm going to call my mother," she announced, taking her hand out of his to search through her handbag for her phone.
"Blair..."
"Just to make sure that everything's okay," Blair told him, browsing through her contacts for her mother's number. She suddenly felt the phone be snatched from her hand. She glanced up at Chuck in shock, "Hey!"
"I'm confiscating this," he said, slipping the phone into his jacket pocket. "You'll get it back after dinner."
"How dare you! Give it back," she exclaimed, holding her hand out. A couple of people turned to look at them.
"People are staring..." Chuck said, glancing at the people apologetically.
"I don't care, give it back." Before he could reply, his own phone began to ring. He retrieved it from his pocket and Blair asked, "Is it my mother?"
He shook his head in confusion, "No, it's my lawyer."
"Your lawyer?" she repeated. "What does he want?"
"I guess we're about to find out," he shrugged, putting the phone to his ear. "Hello?" Once Chuck was distracted, Blair got up from her chair and shoved her hand into the pocket of his suit to get her phone. "Hey," he muttered, shifting in his seat to try and get away from her. However, she was too fast for him, pulling the phone out of his pocket. She grinned at him triumphantly, taking a seat once more. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Chuck asked, his tone sounding slightly panicked.
This caught Blair's attention and she glanced at him worriedly. She stopped what she was doing immeditately, and began to focus on the conversation that Chuck was having. "I don't understand, this is completely false," he insisted. He paused for a moment, before nodding, "I understand." He paused again, then answered, "Okay, I'll meet you there."
He hung up the phone and Blair looked at him in concern. "What was that all about?"
"We need to go home," Chuck said, calling the waiter over. "Can we have the bill please?" he requested.
"What's going on?" Blair asked as the waiter went to get the bill.
"I'll explain later."
"No, you'll explain now," she insisted. "What is it?"
He took a deep breath before revealing, "I'm being sued Blair."
Her eyes widened in surprise. She managed to reply, "W-what? By who?"
"By some of the employees at the hotel," Chuck started. "They're suing me for sexual harrassment."
"I can't believe this is happening!" Blair exclaimed, once they were in the Empire elevator. "Those lying, money-hungry whores!"
"There's no way that this is just their doing," he shook his head. "Jack's got to be involved somehow."
"Jack?"
"Well he's the only person I know of that's hell bent on ruining me," Chuck replied. "He must have gone to them and promised them a pay-out if they went along with it."
Blair sighed, "That evil bastard..."
"I'm sorry to drag you and Alexander into my mess-"
"Don't be ridiculous," she interrupted, taking his hand. "This isn't your fault."
As the elevator doors opened, Blair went to storm out but Chuck held her back, "Blair." She stopped, looking back to him. "Thank you for believing me," he told her greatfully.
She gave him a small smile, before kissing him on the cheek, "I told you, no matter what Jack does, he's not going to break us apart." He nodded in reply as he led her into the living room.
Eleanor and Cyrus looked up at them as they entered the room. "You're back already?" she asked.
"That was fast," Cyrus commented.
Eleanor suddenly noticed the concerned looks on both of their faces, "What's the matter?"
Blair looked to Chuck, letting him decide how much he wanted to tell them. "I'm just having a bit of an issue," he said.
"An issue?" Cyrus asked.
"A legal issue," Chuck ellaborated.
"What do you mean? What's going on?" Eleanor asked, glancing between him and her daughter.
"Some hotel employees are suing me," he admitted with a frustrated sigh.
"Suing you? For what?" Cyrus inquired.
Before Chuck could reply, Blair cut in. "Before we tell you, you have to know that it's not at all true," she insisted, looking at her mother in particular, knowing that she would jump to conclusions.
"They're suing me for sexual harrassment," Chuck announced suddenly, catching Blair off-guard. "Go on, judge away."
They looked surprised for a moment. "No one's judging you Chuck," Cyrus replied. "You've done nothing wrong."
Eleanor wasn't so convinced, "Have you?"
He looked to her offendedly, "No, of course not."
"Mother," Blair said, glaring at her.
"I'm just saying, it's not that unbelievable-"
"Chuck told me that none of this is true and I believe him," she cut her off. "Now you should both probably go so we can discuss this."
"Actually I have to meet my lawyer at the hotel bar in 10 minutes," Chuck said, glancing down at his watch. "It's probably best if you stay here with Blair and the baby."
"I'd prefer to wait for you alone," Blair replied.
Eleanor scoffed, "There is no way that we're leaving."
"Stay then," she shrugged. "I'll be in the bedroom with Alexander." She turned and took off towards their bedroom.
Chuck followed, stopping her when she got to the doorway, "I'll be back soon."
Blair nodded, "Good luck." He gave her a quick hug before making his way to the elevator. She shot her mother another glare before slipping inside their bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Blair picked up the baby from his bassinet, placing him on the bed before laying down beside him. She knew that she shouldn't bring him into their bed but she couldn't care less at the moment. She needed to be close to him.
An hour and a half later, Blair was woken by Chuck getting into bed beside her. "You're back," she said sleepily. "How did it go?" He just sighed. Blair only then noticed that Alexander was no longer on the bed. "Where's the baby?" she asked, sitting up in a panic.
"It's okay, he's in his bed," Chuck replied, rubbing her arm comfortingly.
"Oh," she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw him sleeping soundly in his bassinet beside their bed. She laid back down and shifted closer to Chuck, noticing that he had already changed into his pajamas. "Don't scare me like that," she murmered, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"There's not much to tell," he said softly. "There's five women involved by the way."
She was surprised, "Five? I was only expecting two or three."
"So was I," Chuck sighed again.
"When is this going to court?"
"It's not," he replied simply. "We're going to settle."
Blair sat up slightly, looking at him in confusion, "Why would you do that? You didn't do anything wrong."
"It's the only way to stop them from going to the media," he explained.
"But it's not fair Chuck," she protested.
"Do you know what this would do to me Blair?" Chuck started. "Innocent or not, people are always going to believe the worst in these situations."
"Who cares what people think?" she argued.
"I do, this is my reputation we're talking about here," he said, trying not to raise his voice. "If this gets out I could lose the hotel, as well as the respect of any business partner associated with Bass Industries. This could jeopardize everything that I've worked for and everything my father worked for."
Blair looked at him for a moment, suddenly realizing what this was all about. "You're worried about Alex finding out about this someday, aren't you?" she asked. She could tell by the look on his face that she had guessed correctly. "Don't worry, we're going to tell him the truth about all of this. We'll tell him how Jack did this to try and take you down."
"That's the least of my worries right now," Chuck replied.
She knew that he was worrying about this more than he was letting on, but decided to let it go. She sighed, "I want to track these women down and give them a piece of my mind. Those corrupt, low-class skanks. And as for Jack, if I ever got my hands on him I would kick him in the-"
"Shhh," he cut her off, chuckling softly as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Don't worry, I'll handle this. I promise." She just nodded in reply. They had nearly fallen asleep when Alexander began to cry. They both groaned simultaneously. Blair started to get up but Chuck stopped her, "I'll get him." She nodded, watching as he retrieved the baby, before making his way out of the room. She assumed that he was going to the nursery to change Alex's diaper.
Blair had nearly drifted off to sleep again when she heard Chuck call her name. She opened her eyes and he gave her an apologetic look, "Sorry, I think he's hungry."
"Hand him over," she said with a sigh, preparing herself for yet another night of interrupted sleep.
I know I stole the sexual harrassment idea from the show but I plan to do something a little different with it, so just bear with me.