Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
Got to give Lori2279 props for betaing this chapter. I know we're all suffering from the show's current direction. Hopefully this is just a bump along the road to Blair and Chuck's happy ending.
Having said that, I'm going to keep going with this story as planned. So many people are excited for the bundle of joy, and I assure you I will be going into the pregnancy and birth and maybe even after that. We'll see.
Enjoy and stay tuned.
"Wake up, Beautiful," Chuck coaxed her out of her beautiful dream by running a tropical flower along the column of her throat softly.
"Let me sleep," she mumbled as she brushed the flower away and tried to burrow under the covers to block out the sun's powerful rays, "I'm having the most beautiful dream."
"Reality is better," he whispered into her ear, "Wake up and join me."
"No," she shook her head as she pulled the covers over her head.
Setting the tray of breakfast he held in his hands off to the side, he slid under the covers with her. Molding her body against his, he caressed her back softly.
"You are an evil man," she began humming as he managed to successfully wake her, "I was having the best dream. Couldn't you let me finish it?"
"No dream can top this moment. I brought you breakfast."
"You are most definitely a treat, but I wouldn't call you breakfast," she laughed as she began nipping at his neck.
"I brought you an actual breakfast," he told her.
"It can wait," she told him as she pinned him to the bed as she climbed over him. "There are other urges that need to be satisfied first."
"I wish I had the willpower to resist you because you truly need to eat, but I can't," he groaned, "Why do you have to be so damn irresistible?"
"I'm not going to hand out my secrets," she told him as she began pecking at his chest, "They might lose their effectiveness, and I can't risk that happening."
"I love mornings with you," he laughed darkly, "You're always in the most playful of moods. It makes my constant lust for you easier to quench."
"Blame it on the beautiful dream you interrupted," she purred. She stopped her assault for a few moments to give her next words some thought. "And perhaps the hormones."
They'd spent most of the previous afternoon after her life-changing announcement celebrating the news and then getting their hands on any piece of information regarding pregnancy they could find. Miraculously, Yvechelle pointed them in the direction of the home office that the previous owner had installed. The computer was slightly outdated and loading certain webpages took forever, but they found a way to kill time in between.
Her additional words brought a smile to his face. He'd woken that morning believing that the previous day had been a fantastical dream at first. It had taken him several minutes to convince himself that the news was true. It wasn't until his eyes settled on a stack of papers they had printed out with pregnancy facts to remember that it all began to sink in for a second time. It was a gift that felt even more incredible the second time around.
"That's a mighty gorgeous smile you have there, Handsome," she smiled as she traced his lips with a finger.
"I never expected to be so happy by the prospect of becoming a father," he admitted as he began nuzzling at her neck.
"I'm surprised you aren't swimming to Brazil right now," she admitted. "I never expected the reaction that you gave me yesterday."
"I surprised myself," he nodded, "But I promise that I'm genuinely happy about this, ecstatic even."
"You don't do ecstatic," she glared at him suspiciously.
"I do now," he proclaimed, "And I took the liberty of scheduling you an appointment with the best OB/GYN in Manhattan for the day after tomorrow. The flight crew is preparing for tomorrow's departure, and when we return to the Upper East Side we'll have to starting looking for new living arrangements. No more hotels."
"As for the wedding," she prompted him, "We did agree yesterday that we wanted to be married before this baby is born." Though as of yet, that was all they had agreed upon in regard to the wedding. He had suggested something like going to Vegas or Atlantic City. She held firm that she would rather get married in City Hall than either of his suggestions.
"How about the Conservatory Gardens in Central Park?" he suggested, "Make it a small, private ceremony with our closest friends and family."
Blair's eyes lit up with intrigue. His suggestion was most definitely one to give serious consideration to. "When?"
"End of the month," he told her, "That should give you . . .us a few weeks to plan. We can hire an army of wedding planners. I'm sure your mother would be more than happy to put together a dress at the last minute . . .at least, I hope she would. She liked me, didn't she?"
"Sometimes," Blair giggled, "When you were good to me."
"I have more than enough tuxedos to choose from. I'm sure I can talk Nathaniel into something appropriate. I'm assuming that Serena will be your maid of honor," he stated. She nodded quickly in confirmation. Even with everything still up in the air between them and their best friends, there was no one else they would even consider honoring. "She can pull off a plastic bag with the right accessories, so she's covered. We'll pay triple to have a cake worthy of my beautiful bride. We'll have the chefs at The Palace come up with a splendid menu."
"Decorations?" she prompted him.
"That is what the army of wedding planners would be for," he replied, "My point is that I don't want you stressing yourself out over these details. I will handle everything."
"By still keeping me in the loop, of course," she cautioned him, "A little girl dreams of this day. She wants it to be perfect."
"And it will be," he assured her, "Do these plans suit you?"
"They do," she smiled, "They definitely do, but what if it rains on the actually day?"
"Mother Nature will not be allowed to intrude on our day," he told her.
"But if she does?" she pressed.
"Then we'll have a tent set up somewhere nearby, just in case," he conceded, "Do we have a deal?"
"Should we shake on it?" she chuckled as her head came to rest against his chest.
"I have a much better idea on how we can seal our deal," he looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes.
"A kiss," she offered.
"To start."
"Chuck, are you going to still love me when I look like this?" Blair inquired as she studied her reflection in the mirror after stuffing a pillow up her nightgown and then turned to study her profile.
"I'll love you even more," he told her as he stepped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I am not looking forward to this part of pregnancy," Blair sighed as he reached under her nightgown and removed the pillow, tossing it back onto the bed so he could caress her true pregnant belly. "When Dorota was pregnant with Anastasia she complained of hemorrhoids, swollen ankles, copious amounts of gas from both ends, and ghastly stretch marks."
"I promise to find all of it adorable," he chuckled.
"I don't want to be adorable," she pouted.
"Then what do you want to be?" he inquired.
"Breathtaking, beautiful, gorgeous, radiant . . . sexy," she bit her lip as she added the last adjective.
"You will always be sexy to me," he assured her, "More so with a pregnant, swollen belly."
"I'll know you're lying," she sighed, "But you get points for trying."
"Did Dorota pack you any evening wear?" he inquired as he kissed her shoulder softly.
"Evening wear or after evening wear?" she inquired.
"Evening wear," he chuckled, "After evening wear is simply going to intrude on our after dinner activities."
"There are a few options," she told him with a slight nod.
"Get dressed," he told her, "Yvechelle is preparing us one final gourmet meal. We'll be dining on the beach this evening, so don't bother with the Jimmy Choos or Louboutins."
She nodded as she savored the moment. Things were going to become chaotic as soon as they returned to New York City. There first was going to be the announcement that she and Chuck intended to marry at the end of the month, and then eventually the second announcement that she was carrying their child. Of course, she was going to have to venture to Monaco and set things right with Louis, probably before the news began to spread that she was carrying Chuck's child.
"You're a million miles away, Blair," Chuck pulled her out of her thoughts.
"I know we need to go back to New York, but . . ." she began.
"You want to take a quick detour to Monaco," he finished her thought for her.
"I want to set things right with Louis before you and I ride off into the sunset. It will simply devastate him to hear second or third hand that you and I are married," she replied.
"If that is what you feel we need to do, then we'll make our flight a connecting one," he told her.
"Thank you," she stated as she spun in his arms.
"As long as you know that I'll be at your side when you explain things to Louis," Chuck replied.
"Chuck, that's a really sweet gesture, but this is between me and Louis," she told him, "You at my side would just be rubbing my decision in his face, and I've hurt him enough."
"You have the most amazing heart," Chuck told her, "But we both owe him apologies and explanations. I told him I was giving the two of you my blessing and then only six weeks later, I'm proposing marriage to his fiancée."
"Let's not talk about this on our last night in paradise. We have the entire flight across the Atlantic to pick every detail of this apart. Let's just focused on making this night as incredible as the rest of this trip together has been."
"Deal," he sighed, "Make yourself more beautiful, if it's possible, and join me on the beach. I have a few arrangements that need to be tended to."
"What kind of arrangements?" she tried to bait him into sharing their plans.
"You'll find out when you get your gorgeous self out to the beach," he told her as he kissed her softly, "But I need at least thirty minutes, so please take your time."
"Okay," she pouted.
"Dinner on the beach in evening wear. This is definitely a first for me," she chuckled as he led her down the beach towards the table he'd taken great care to set for her. This didn't have the feel of their caretaker; this had his hand written all over it. She was touched by his attention to details. "You're responsible for a lot of my firsts."
He could only chuckled as he held out her chair for her. Once she was settled, he revealed her dinner before setting the silver cloche covering their dishes in the sand a short distance away.
"It smells wonderful," she smiled as he poured her a glass of sparkling cider before he took his seat.
"To the most beautiful woman in all the world," he proposed his toast as he lifted his own glass of bubbly cider, "Certain to be the most beautiful mother a child could ever have."
Blair felt herself blush as she lifted her glass to his before she took a sip.
"You look very dashing yourself this evening," she replied as she reached out to adjust his bowtie. Chuck captured her hand when she pulled it away and gave it a quick kiss before he released it and allowed her to eat. "Even though you essentially kidnapped me to bring me here, coming to this island to give us time alone together was the best idea."
"So I'm a kidnapper now," he chuckled, "Does that mean the Stockholm Syndrome is in effect?"
"I'm not too sure that applies when we had a relationship prior to the act," she replied as she took another bite of her dinner.
"God, you're beautiful," he marveled. He couldn't take a bite of his own meal as he was mesmerized by every fluid movement she made. She was positively glowing. He had been planning to save his gift until after the meal, but he could wait no longer. "I have a present for you, one that I have been saving for the perfect moment. I can think of no moment more perfect than this one."
"Such the poet tonight," she teased as she sat down her fork in eager anticipation. She always loved gifts, especially his. He never spared any expense.
"I know that one of the attractions that you had to Louis was the title and crown that you would be gaining. In choosing me, you gave up any claim to all of that, which is a humbling notion. I don't have the ability to make you a queen of a European country, but I do that the ability to make you queen of this island. As it's queen, you deserve the title and crown that go along with it. From this day forward, you may introduce yourself as 'Her Majesty, Blair, Queen of Evelyn Isle', as long as you are wearing this," he explained as he reached for an elaborately jeweled box that he passed to her.
When Blair lifted the lid, she gasped as the present inside, "Chuck! Is this?"
"It's your crown," he nodded as he carefully lifted the tiara out of the box and held it out for her examination. "I had the jewelers at Harry Winston model it after many of the more exquisite crowns worn by the European royals, but I also wanted it to be uniquely yours."
"This is beautiful," she told him as her fingers traced along the many sparkling gems.
"And fitting of my queen," he replied as he rose up and stepped around behind her, placing the tiara on her head.
Blair tried to discreetly wipe away a tear from her eyes, but she should have known that he'd see it.
"Do you not like it?" he inquired as he erased another of her tears from her cheek.
"I love it…and you," she assured him, "You have given me everything that I could ever want."
"And I intend to give you so much more," he told her as he pulled her to her feet and wrapped her in his embrace.
She clung to him, burrowing further into him, inhaled his scent as deep as she could, making every piece of him a part of her. She never wanted to forget this moment.
"If we have a little girl, we'll see to it that she gets a tiara like her mother's," he replied.
"And if it's a boy, we'll have to make him a little crown," Blair added, "Our little prince should be as accessorized as our little princess."
"Excellent point," he smiled.
"This child is going to be so lucky to have you as their father," she smiled as she tilted her head back so she look into the darkest depths of his eyes, yet there wasn't the darkness that there once had been, "They are going to be given everything that their heart desires, including all of the love in the world."
"One last sunset," Chuck told her as he spun her towards the rapidly descending sun as his arms settled around her waist, his hand rubbing her belly softly.
"Chuck, promise me that we'll come back here often. Promise me that we will share this magic with our family," she requested.
"That is a promise," he nodded as his chin came to rest against her bare shoulder as the sun disappeared.
No matter the obstacles that they faced from here on out, they would always have this magical moment and this magical place to come back to. It made the journey ahead that much easier to bear.
TBC . . .