Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
"So, what do you think?" Blair inquired of her husband as she gathered their newborn in her arms, the tiny hand holding her finger so tight. The second round of labor had been much less taxing. Eight hours had felt like a sprint compared to the fourteen hours she'd endured with Luca.
"I think this baby is as perfect as the one we have out in the waiting room," Chuck replied as he took the other tiny little hand into his and wrapped the little fingers around his pinkie, "Ten fingers, ten little toes, your lips, your nose."
"I want a dozen more," she informed him as she kissed their new baby's forehead softly. As with their first born, she couldn't get enough of the soft skin against her lips.
"A dozen," he coughed out in surprise, "Are you sure you want to go through labor a dozen more times?"
"Okay, maybe not a dozen more," she conceded, "But a couple more are a definite must."
"Is that so?" he chuckled as he nuzzled his nose into her neck, "Can we wait until at least one of the two we already have are out of diapers first?"
"That's up to you and your overzealous sperm," she informed him.
"Are you ready for company?" he asked as he rubbed her back softly.
"I'm not ready for our entire family to bombard us, but I want to introduce Luca to his sibling," she replied, "So go get him, please."
"I'll be back as soon as I can wrangle Luca out of the arms of his grandparents," Chuck replied as he kissed the infant's forehead before he turned to capture Blair's lips, "I love you."
"I love you too," she smiled as she reached out to caress his cheek softly.
Blair took a few moments to take in her surroundings. She was amazed by how different motherhood felt the second time around. She'd felt overmatched with Luca, so unsure of herself, so unsure of if she could even raise the healthy little boy. Now her thoughts were more about how they'd be able to juggle two children in diapers, one of which was toddling around, nearly out of control.
Chuck and Blair weren't able to turn their backs on Luca without him finding some form of chaos to cause. Neither had the heart to scold the mischievous tot, which was surely encouraging his behavior, but he was simply too adorable for his own good. One look into those chocolate eyes, both Chuck and Blair would melt.
Their life was going never going to be dull from this moment on, not that it had been dull for the last year. Blair had caved on the nanny two months ago. She just didn't have the energy towards the end of her pregnancy to keep her eyes on overactive Luca every minute of every day and it was unfair to keep depending on their family to pick up the slack.
Their new nanny, Millie, was an angel. She was a sweet, old lady with grey hair that had raised a family of seven, four boys, three girls. She had numerous grandchildren, though they all lived out of state. She'd kept her family fed over the years by running a daycare upstate, but she had recently remarried after losing her husband of thirty years to a car accident. Her new husband lived and worked in the city. She wanted a job that kept her busy during the week when her husband was at the office. Blair and Chuck's needs meshed well with hers.
Blair had strict rules. She didn't want them depending on Millie to raise their children. Millie worked no more than ten hours a day. She had every weekend and holiday off. Blair and Chuck were responsible for taking their children to doctors' appointments. Millie would join them on outings, but she was never to be the sole adult response for the children.
Luca took to Millie immediately. He called her Li-Li.
Blair had hovered over Luca after they first hired Millie, afraid that Luca would turn to the nanny for affection and to mop up the tears as she had done as a child with her own nanny. Her fears had proved to be unfounded. Luca loved to cuddle with his mother for his naps each day. When cries rang out, he was toddling as fast as his little legs would carry him in the direction of Mom or Dad, not Li-Li.
"Mama," Luca exclaimed as he scrambled into the room as Chuck propped the door open for him.
"Hi there, Sweetheart," Blair smiled as Chuck lifted him up so he was hovering over Blair. Luca bent down to kiss Blair's lips, "Meet your sister, Luca."
"Widdle," Luca replied as he gazed upon his sister for the first time.
"Yes, she's very little," Blair nodded, "Even you were not this tiny."
"Pwetty," Luca added. Clearly he was parroting words that his father had taught him minutes earlier.
"She's very pretty," Chuck added, "Like Mommy."
"Missed you?" Luca stated as he reached out for his mother.
"I missed you too," Blair stated as his arms came around his neck as he tried to hug her, "Did you have fun staying with Grandma Eleanor and Grandpa Cyrus?"
"Yep," he nodded, "Duckies. Quack, quack, quack."
"Duckies?" Blair inquired as she looked to Chuck for him to elaborate where the toddler's vocabulary wouldn't allow as Chuck sat him next to Blair and their daughter. Luca curled into her instantly as he began to drift off, his thumb stuck in his mouth, a habit he inherited from Blair.
"They took him to Central Park to feed the ducks," Chuck explained, "Cyrus thought it was an appropriate activity for their grandson."
"I'm sure my mother enjoyed that immensely," Blair rolled her eyes sarcastically.
"I think we have another bird watching enthusiast on our hands," Chuck laughed, "She actually loved it. She said she finally understood your fascination."
"Did Luca have fun though?" Blair inquired as she rubbed his back softly as he drifted off to sleep. That was the most important thing to her.
"Eleanor said he was chasing after the ducks as fast as his feet would carry him and laughing the entire morning," Chuck replied.
"Good," Blair smiled as she turned her attention to her daughter, "She needs a name."
"I figured she already had one," Chuck laughed softly, "You've been pushing for Audrey since we found out we were having a girl two months ago."
"I have my Audrey tribute already with Luca," Blair replied as she ran her fingers through her son's hair, brushing it away from his face, "Maybe its time we honor one of your heroes." She thought for a few moments. "Chuck, who are your heroes? You haven't been nearly as obvious about your idols over the year as I have been."
"I guess I don't really have any idols, maybe Don Juan or Casanova or Howard Hughes," Chuck replied.
"All known to be notorious ladies men," she rolled her eyes, "Come on, Chuck, don't you have any idols that you looked up to for anything else? Perhaps a particular author that you enjoyed reading or actor you wanted to emulate?"
"I've always enjoyed a good book, and there were many films that I enjoyed, but nothing that I'd want to consider in naming our daughter," Chuck replied.
"Well there must have been someone that was influential in your life," she replied, "Perhaps a particular nanny you were fond of?"
He shook his head. "You've always been the most influential woman in my life. As much as I love Lily and appreciate her taking me in when she could have easily turned her back on me, I wouldn't want to name our daughter after her."
"I have an idea," Blair smiled softly, "And she's actually the most influential of women of them all."
"Evelyn," Chuck guessed. That was the only name Blair could possibly be thinking of.
"Unless that's too painful a memory for you," she added quickly.
"Evie," Chuck smiled softly as he bent down to kiss his daughter's hand, "I like it."
"Evelyn Victoria," Blair stated.
"Throwing in a little bit of our past escapades in for good measure," he smirked knowingly.
"If it wasn't for that night at Victrola, we might never have happened," she pointed out, "How awful a thought is that?"
"An absolute nightmare," he agreed as he lifted Evelyn from Blair's arms, "So Evie, does that name work for you?"
Evelyn let out a healthy yawn as she drifted off to sleep.
"I guess we'll have to buy ourselves another island," Chuck smirked as he rocked his daughter back and forth.
"What? Why would you say that?" Blair looked at him in confusion. It was such an odd and random thought to be having at such a perfect moment.
"Well, we already have an island named for this little beauty," Chuck replied, "We can't have an island that appears to favor one child over the other, and we just so happen to have the resources."
"So if we have more children, are you going to buy more islands to appease them?" Blair inquired as Luca curled further into his mother's embrace as he continued with his nap.
"If we're fortunate enough to still have the means, yes," Chuck nodded, "Don't worry, Beautiful, I'll make you the queen of each and every one. Think of it as an expansion of our own empire."
"You can give me whatever titles you feel appropriate, but I only need one tiara," Blair replied.
"If you insist, but this little beauty and that handsome boy in your arms deserve the tiara and crown they are due," Chuck laughed.
"What about their daddy?" Blair inquired with an amused shake of her head, "If I'm his queen and his children are the prince and princess, doesn't that mean their daddy is the king? Shouldn't he have his own crown?"
"I don't need the crown or the title," Chuck waved off her suggestion, "I have my queen and our children. That's more than enough for me."
"Such the sap," she teased.
"Blame it on parenthood," he chuckled as he continued to sway back and forth with his daughter in his arms.
"Evie's first dance partner," Blair observed.
"For many, many years, her only dance partner," he added, "With any luck many decades."
"I wouldn't count on that Daddy," Blair giggled, "She's going to have her daddy's charm. Her dance card will be filled by preschool."
"Over my dead body," he smirked.
"This still feels like a fantastic dream," she sighed.
"What feels like a fantastic dream?" he asked for clarification.
"All of it," she replied, "We're married. We have an incredible home. We have two beautiful children. We're happy and so in love. This never seemed possible just a few short years ago."
"We're different people than we were a few years ago," he replied as he sat himself down at the end of her bed, Evie still secure in his arms. "We've overcome so much to be together. I'm not even going to list everything that has kept us apart because we'll be here until Evie graduates from medical school."
"What is so different?" Blair asked as she reached her hand out to him, "Why are we going to work this time when we didn't work before?"
"Because we want to work," Chuck replied. "We've run out of excuses for why we shouldn't be together. We're going to have our ups and downs. I still have this illness that hangs over us all. I'm under control right now, but that could change. You know that.
"We're not perfect. Our life will not be perfect, but we're out of excuses. More importantly, we have some of the best reasons to tough it out."
"Evie and Luca," Blair smiled as she rubbed circles into Luca's back as he continued to snuggle with his mother as he slept.
"And each other," he added as he brought her hand to his lips. The gesture didn't feel strong enough so he carefully shifted on the bed to lean in and kiss her lips. They were still kissing when Evie and Luca woke up from their abbreviated naps, both clearly hungry. They had to separate to tackle the tasks, but they took comfort in knowing that no matter the task they would always be together in the end.
The End.
This is officially the end of the road for Manic. Thank you so much for indulging me with this detour from my Chair Saga. This has been quite the journey. I hope you all have enjoyed it.
Will there be a sequel? I don't know yet. There were some plot twists that I'd thought up that could be worked into a sequel, but for now I must give this journey a bit of a break.
I believe it's time to peek once more into the lives of Blair and Chuck in my long running saga. Not sure where I'm heading with them just yet, but stay tuned.