Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.

Blair's hands began to shake as she sat in her old bathroom at her mother's penthouse. Downstairs she could hear the jovial sounds of their family meal. She was startled by the knock at the bathroom door.

"Ms. Blair, are you okay?" Dorota, her one time maid and still loyal confidante, was checking on her.

"I'll be out in a moment, Dorota," Blair called out, trying to make her voice sound as normal and even as she could.

"Mister Chuck worry," Dorota explained through the closed door, "He send me up."

"I'm fine, Dorota," she insisted, "Tell Mister Chuck that I'll be down when I'm good and ready to come down."

Finally there was silence. She took a deep breath to gather her thoughts as she tossed her trash into the garbage. She knew her secret wouldn't stay a secret for too long. Her maid was by nature extremely curious, but she tossed a few tissues in as cover anyways. Perhaps she would get lucky.

With another deep breath to calm the anxiousness that had settled into the pit of her stomach, she emerged from the bathroom. A smile grasped her lips when she thought back to a time when her husband had once confessed to an unsettled feeling in his stomach. She touched the broach he'd given her for Valentine's Day, the day she'd gone into labor. Her smile stayed in place as she made her way down the staircase to join her family.

Nate and Serena had made the big announcement they were moving in together at the dinner party Blair's mother was hosting before she and Cyrus left for Paris for a few weeks. Everyone in the room was focused on the blonde duo, peppering them with questions, everyone except Chuck.

"You alright?" Chuck inquired as his arm wrapped around her waist as she came to stand next to him. His concern for her was pouring out of his eyes.

"I'm fine," she nodded as she gave him a confident smile as she watched their son cuddle with his grandmother, Eleanor. Despite her distain for the title, Blair's mother accepted the role without hesitation. The rare evening that Blair and Chuck went out for a night on the town, it was Eleanor that became their first and usually only call to babysit. She, more than anyone, had taken to the challenge of spoiling their son.

"Are you sure?" he pressed, "You were upstairs for awhile."

"It's just a little intestinal challenge," she covered, "It's nothing to worry about. I promise, I'm fine."

"You'd tell me if you weren't, wouldn't you?" he inquired as he pressed his forehead to hers for a moment, savoring the feel of her as she melted against him.

"Of course," she nodded, "You're my husband. We have no secrets."

"I never tire of hearing that," he smiled as he bent in and kissed her cheek.

"I never tire of saying it," she replied as she caressed his cheek.

"B, you need to give me the name of your interior decorator," Serena stated as she linked arms with Blair and pulled her away from Chuck despite the audible growl Chuck tossed in her direction, "I need to completely redecorate my apartment. According to Nate, it's too girly for him, and I love what your decorator did with your home."

"I'll text you the information," Blair replied.

"This is so exciting," Serena squealed with happiness.

"S, you and Nate have cohabitated before," Blair felt the need to point out.

"But this is official," Serena explained, "He's moving all of his belongings into my apartment and giving up his residence."

"To be fair, he's giving up his residence because Chuck sold The Empire, and he can no longer stay in the penthouse rent free," Blair felt the need to point out.

"Are you trying to kill my buzz?" Serena pouted, "This is a big step for us. This time next year we might be engaged or maybe even married. Maybe I'll even be pregnant with a playmate for Luca."

Chuck watched his best friend's face turn a little green as the panic set in. Cohabitating was clearly all that Nate was comfortable with at the moment. Marriage and fatherhood were a ways off, if Nate had his say.

"Why don't you two figure out how to blend your differing tastes into your apartment first," Blair suggested.

"Aren't you happy for us, B?" Serena pouted slightly.

"Of course I'm happy for you," Blair insisted, "You two are finally figuring out what it means to have an adult relationship."

"You don't seem all that happy," Serena observed, "You're not rehashing all that stuff that happened in high school, are you?"

"No," Blair shook her head, "High school and all those people are…I promise that is the furthest thing from my mind."

"Promise?"

"I swear on my mother's life," Blair vowed.

"That means a lot more than it used to," Eleanor chimed in as she passed Luca back to her daughter, "I think someone has a stinky diaper."

"I'll change him," Chuck offered.

"No, that's okay," Blair replied as she patted his chest lightly, "I'll do it. You can have the next one."

"Fighting over dirty diapers, never thought I'd live to see that," Nate quipped as he patted his best friend's back.

"I'll help you," Serena replied as she followed Blair back up the stairs to her old bedroom where Luca's changing table was set up.

With the door closed, Serena went on the attack.

"What's wrong with you?" Serena pounced, "Did you and Chuck have a fight before you got here?"

"No," Blair shook her head as she expertly began changing Luca's diaper, "Chuck and I are just fine."

"You've been acting odd all day," Serena stated, "If it's not Chuck and it's not me you're mad at, what else could it be? Rufus didn't say anything to you about Da…"

"I'm pregnant," Blair interrupted her.

"What!" Serena exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down," Blair hissed, "Chuck doesn't know."

"How pregnant are you?" Serena inquired.

"I'm not really sure," Blair admitted, "I've been all messed up since Luca was born. I haven't been feeling well for a few weeks. At first I thought I was just tired. Luca's going through his regression phase where he only wants to sleep for a couple of hours at a time. Then I started getting nauseous and throwing up. There was a pregnancy test left in the bathroom here, so I took it. It was positive."

"You just took it?" Serena inquired.

"A few minutes ago," Blair nodded.

"And you're sure you did it right?" Serena prodded her.

"I have done it before," Blair reminded her, "Same results the second time."

"You're still breastfeeding, aren't you?" Serena inquired, "I thought you couldn't get pregnant when you're breastfeeding."

"It's not unheard of," Blair replied, "The doctor did warn us about that possibility, and we weren't exactly as careful as maybe we should have been."

"Have you talked about more children with Chuck?" Serena asked.

"Some," Blair nodded, "We never really came to a definite answer as to when, but having another child is definitely in our future. I just thought it would be a little further down the road. Luca's not even six months old yet."

"You should know better than anyone that unplanned pregnancies can happen," Serena pointed out, "And sometimes, like in Luca's case, it's for the best."

"I guess I was hoping to plan the next one," Blair replied as she kissed her son's socked foot as he sat on the table and chewed on the toy that Blair had given him to keep him from squirming on the changing table. He had a mischievous glint in his eyes, the glint of his father. Blair's heart melted at the sight. She fell more in love with this little boy each day.

"Tell that to Chuck's overzealous sperm," Serena stated.

"How am I going to tell him?" Blair thought out loud as she finished up the task at hand as she handed the dirty diaper to Serena to dispose of.

"How did you tell him last time?" Serena asked as she tried to fold up the diaper to dispose of it. She'd watched Blair do it countless times, but she'd never gotten the hang of it herself. This time was no different, yet she stuffed the diaper in the pail anyway and hoped her best friend wouldn't notice.

"I just blurted it out. We were on the island talking about when we should get married, and it just came out," Blair explained as she secured the diaper and began redressing her stylish little boy.

"So take him back to the island and blurt it out again," Serena offered as she used a baby wipe to sterilize her fingers just in case some of the poopy got on them. Nate would never let her hear the end of that, especially since she'd started hinted at getting married and having kids of their own, and she didn't want to give him another excuse to add to the list, "Nate and I can come with you. We can be Luca's babysitters."

"Chuck and I have been talking about a getaway for our upcoming anniversary," Blair replied, "That could be a good time to tell him."

"And Nate and I can come with you," Serena repeated. She desperately wanted to see the island that Chuck had given to Blair as an engagement gift. "Of course you'll want to have some time to yourself while you're there."

"I'll mention it to Chuck," Blair replied as she lifted Luca into her arms and held him tight. Luca began giggling as he pulled at Blair's blouse.

"Looks like someone is hungry," Serena observed, "I'll give you some privacy and run interference downstairs."

"Thanks," Blair smiled, "Tell Chuck I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Where's Blair?" Chuck inquired as Serena came down the stairs solo.

"Luca was hungry," Serena explained.

"Is she okay?" Chuck asked as he looked towards the staircase, "She's hasn't been feeling well. Maybe I should go up to check on her."

"She was just fine when I left her," Serena reassured him, "She doesn't need you hovering every time she whips out her breast to feed your son."

"She may not need me to hover, but I so enjoy the sight," he teased her.

"Only you would consider breastfeeding some weird sort of foreplay," Serena rolled her eyes.

"You said that, not me," Chuck replied as Nate joined them, putting his arm around his girlfriend's waist.

"Everything okay over here?" Nate inquired.

"Just a little sibling banter," Chuck nodded.

"Where's my godson?" Nate asked.

"Upstairs," Serena pointed up the staircase.

"Chuck, you should plan a night out on the town with Blair, so Serena and I can babysit," Nate replied, "We don't get nearly enough quality time with our godson."

"Tempting," Chuck snorted in amusement. His best friend still hadn't gotten the hang of changing a diaper, and he added breast milk to his coffee when he and Serena stopped over one morning just before she and Blair set out on one of their shopping sprees. Blair had been irate because she had to delay their shopping so she could pump more milk for Luca.

"Come on, Chuck," Nate pleaded with him, "I've learned my lesson. I can't even put milk in my coffee anymore."

"Breast milk ruined all other milk for you, huh," Chuck guessed, "It does have a surprisingly pleasant taste. Certainly sweeter than I expected."

"Ew, Chuck, come on," Serena shrieked, "There are some things that are okay to be kept between you and Blair."

"What's she shrieking about now?" Blair inquired as she came bouncing down the stairs with Luca curled up against her shoulder, sound asleep.

"Serena said you were feeding Luca," Chuck stated as he kissed her cheek, "That was the quickest feeding ever."

"He wasn't hungry," Blair explained, "He was mostly tired. He was asleep before his lips touched my breast."

"Silly little boy. That's not what a Bass does around breasts," Chuck replied as he caressed Luca's back gently.

"It's getting late, Chuck. We should probably get him home," Blair replied.

"Good idea," he nodded, "I'll go up and get our belongings from your bedroom. You'd better allow the grandparents to say proper goodbyes."

Blair was woken from a dead sleep. She looked around her darkened bedroom. The room was silent, too silent. She tried to figure out what had woken her. She glanced towards her nightstand to check the time, but couldn't see the usual blue glow.

"Chuck," Blair whispered as she nudged at his shoulder, "I think the power is out."

Chuck muttered something unintelligible as he fell back to sleep. Thunderstorms had always seemed to lull him into a deeper sleep.

A rumble of thunder shook her to her core. She was on her feet in an instant and running towards Luca's bedroom at top speed.

Luca was wailing with fright as Blair burst into his room and lifted him into her arms.

"It's okay, Luca, Mommy's here," Blair rubbed his back softly, "You're safe. I'll never let anything bad happen to you."

A flash of lightening appeared to strike just outside Luca's bedroom window. Blair jumped from fright as a rumble of thunder immediately followed it. Luca's cries that had just begun to quiet rose in volume.

"Let's go back to Mommy and Daddy's room," Blair stated, "Daddy can protect us."

As Blair returned to the bedroom, Luca's cries pulled Chuck from his slumber just as another clap of thunder seemed to shake the entire house.

"What time is it?" Chuck sat up suddenly, trying to get his bearings after being pulled out of his deep sleep so abruptly.

"The power is out," Blair replied, "I have no idea."

Chuck reached for his phone on the nightstand to check the time. It was nearly four in the morning. Until the storm blew through, Luca had slept for nearly five hours straight, a personal best for him.

"It's a pretty nasty storm," Chuck replied as he called up the weather map on his phone.

"Should we go to a lower floor?" Blair inquired as she rocked Luca back and forth as he began to settle down.

"I think we're okay here," Chuck shook his head as he patted the bed next to him, the glow from his cell phone illuminating his movements.

Blair climbed in as Chuck laid back. Blair put Luca on his chest. Their son calmed down completely as the beating of Chuck's heart lulled him back to sleep.

"I didn't even hear the storm," Chuck confessed as Blair curled against him, her hand caressing Luca's back.

"You never do," Blair yawned.

"Go back to sleep," he encouraged her, "I'll stay up with him."

"I should feed him first," she yawned again.

"He's sound asleep," Chuck pointed out, "He'll wake you when he's hungry."

"The storm won't lull you back to sleep?" Blair mumbled as her eyes drifted closed.

"No," Chuck shook his head, "It's your turn to sleep."

"You'll wake me if the storm gets worse?"

"Of course," he nodded.

Blair drifted off. It was quiet for a few minutes as the storm had either passed them by or lost its intensity. Luca and Blair slept soundly for an hour as Chuck periodically checked his phone's weather radar. There was another storm coming, less severe, but he had a feeling that Blair and Luca's sleep was going to be interrupted sooner rather than later.

"Did the scary storm wake you, Luca?" Chuck cooed as Luca's eyes popped open at the next sound of thunder, "It's okay. You're safe with mommy and me. You're always safe with me and your mother."

Luca fisted his fingers in the hair on Chuck's chest and pulled.

"No, no, no," Chuck winced as he tried to free his son's hand, while trying to keep himself quiet as he didn't want to wake Blair.

"What's wrong?" Blair muttered as she heard his soft cries of pain.

"Luca," Chuck groaned.

With a flash of lightening Blair was able to see that their son had a firm grip on Chuck's chest hair.

"Silly little boy," Blair giggled as she sat up and helped loosen Luca's fingers.

"He's not so silly when it's your hair that he's pulling," Chuck sighed with relief as Blair lifted Luca into her arms.

"He doesn't like my hair," Blair replied, "He's never tugged once, even when it's been within his grasp."

Chuck bent down and kissed Luca's head as Blair shifted on the bed to feed him, since they were all awake anyways.

"Chuck, we should take Luca to the island," Blair replied as Luca wrapped his hand around her finger, "I miss the island. I miss the storms on the island. They never seemed quite this violent."

"The idea has merit," Chuck stated, "It would certainly bring things full circle. We learned we were going to become parents on the island."

"Let's go as soon as possible," Blair replied, "Luca has his six month checkup tomorrow. I say we celebrate his good health with a trip."

"That would be the best reason I could think of to vacation," Chuck mused, "And it would allow us to finally have that honeymoon that we've been putting off."

"So it's settled," Blair smiled triumphantly, "And maybe we could bring Serena and Nate along. Serena has talked nonstop since we first got back from the island about wanting to see it. It would be good to stop her nagging for a little while at least. They could take Luca for a few hours every now and then so we can steal away to those wonderful hot springs for some honeymoon time."

"Let's call Serena and Nathaniel first thing in the morning, see if they're free," Chuck suggested, "Either way, I'll call the flight crew and put them on standby."

The second storm passed by, and the power quickly came back on.

"This little boy doesn't have a care in the world," Chuck marveled as he reclaimed his son.

"As it should be," Blair smiled.

"Go back to sleep," Chuck encouraged her as he positioned Luca against his shoulder, "I'm going to walk with him for awhile."

"If the storm returns, will you wake me?" Blair yawned.

"If we need to relocate, yes, I will wake you," he assured her, "Get some sleep."

Blair nodded as her head came to rest against the pillow. She was asleep before Chuck could slide from the bed. He watched her sleep for a few minutes as he bounced back and forth with Luca in his arms before he began walking the halls of their home, up and down the staircases as he tried to get Luca to fall asleep. Luca wasn't having any of it. His eyes were as wide as saucers. Chuck returned him to the nursery, turned on the mobile above Luca's crib, and then made himself comfortable in the overstuffed chair in the corner with Luca resting against his chest. Soon they were both asleep. The next thing he knew, it was morning and Blair hovering over them with a beautiful smile on her face and a camera in her hands.

TBC. . .

Finally starting to see some pictures from the set of GG. Getting a little anxious to start the new season. Someone please tell me who's brilliant idea it was to make us wait until October. I'd like to have a talk with them.

Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed this latest chapter. I have one, maybe two more chapters left and probably an epilogue to wrap everything up.

I have to thank my splendid Beta Lori2279 for her excellent work, as always, and of course to you the amazing readers.

xoxo