THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED! (Well, kinda.)

Thank you, thank you to: CBfan (I'm curious to see what you think of the identities!), pLei4fun (You'll have to wait and seeeee ;), Sparkleyangel (I'm glad you don't know! Hopefully this will be a surprise for you!) alyxoxo821 (Aww, thank you so much! That happens to me all the time - I've gotten so much less sleep since I discovered FF haha... I hope this one keeps you on the edge of your seat!), Moozanna (Thanks for the review!), and Smallville944, who was amazing enough to review EVERY chapter. YOU ROCK.

Chapter 31: Babel

I'll know my weakness, know my voice

And I believe in grace and choice

And I know perhaps my heart is fast,

But I'll be born without a mask

-"Babel" Mumford & Sons

Blair worried her lower lip as she waited for the responses of her three best friends, the members of the self-proclaimed Non-Judging Breakfast Club. She cast a prayer to God, to whatever deities could be looking out for her, that they wouldn't judge her for this.. She couldn't bear it if they did. Serena, she felt, would be most excited, thinking of tiny, designer baby clothes and shoes and a new source of entertainment in her life. Nate would probably smile in his easy way and go along with Serena, watching her enthusiasm with a mix of adoration and amusement. And Chuck... he was, as always, the wildcard in Blair's streamlined and organized thoughts. Streamlined and organized until it came to him.

Chuck could take it either of two ways, Blair decided. He would either run until he couldn't see the New York skyline or accept reality with silent resignation. There was no way she would allow herself to hope for anything more than the latter option; it was already approaching optimistic at best. and imaginatively idealistic at worst She knew that Chuck had grown significantly since he'd left nothing but a note and a cold bed to greet her the morning after she'd professed her love for him for the first time, but then again, he was a wildcard, and there was a reason the Joker was left out of nearly every card game. He was too unpredictable, even for the queen, and quite a dangerous player in games that involved the heart. Blair supposed it was the reason she blurted out the news when she did; perhaps when he saw Serena's happiness, Nate's warm grin... But no. Blair internally chastised herself for the pestering hope that tingled through her veins, sliding through her bloodstream until it was knocking on the door of her heart. Hope may have been the salvation of optimists, but it was her downfall, if only because she desperately wanted to be weak, to let it be her salvation too. She forced herself to slam the door in its face.

"Wait, B, really?" Serena's near-shriek broke Blair out of her mind's ramblings, and she offered Serena a tentative smile.

"Yeah."

"Congratulations, Blair," said Nate, grinning her very favorite grin in the exact manner she'd predicted.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm going to be an aunt!"

Blair was immediately crushed by a loop of willowy tanned arms and couldn't help but widen her smile, despite her fear that being right about the reactions of two out of the three people in the room meant she would no doubt be right about the last. It was a sick sort of irony - Blair Waldorf actually wanted to be wrong.

"You'll make an amazing aunt, S," she assured, lightly laughing as Serena squeezed tighter. Blair's mouth slammed shut, however, as she met Chuck's eyes over Serena's shoulder. His face appeared frozen in contemplation, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly slack, until the tiniest of cracks appeared in his demeanor, and the corners of his mouth turned up. Blair allowed herself to smile back in a way she hoped was reassuring.

"Your birthday?" he queried, his voice surprising her with its strength. Serena released her, and Blair nodded dumbly in response to Chuck's question, not sure whether to laugh or cry when he started to smirk. "That was...a good night."

"It was," she agreed quietly, folding her hands in her lap and lowering her lashes.

"We're going to be...I'm going to be -"

"-someone's dad," Nate finished, a lopsided smile gracing his handsome face. "Poor kid's hopeless."

"Hey," Serena scolded, flicking Nate's head playfully. "Chuck's going to be great. And besides, she's going to have Blair as her mom, and Blair's incredible at anything she does."

"She?" Blair raised a sculpted brow, ignoring the swelling of her heart at the second half of Serena's comment.

"Well, I guess it could be a he, but I'm hoping I'll get to take the baby to fashion week with me next year in a little Chanel outfit or something..." Serena trailed off dreamily.

"Serena, a baby is not an accessory! You can't bring a child to a fashion show like you would one of those purse dogs!"

"Come on, B, I only meant -"

"Oh no, it's already starting," laughed Nate, elbowing his best friend lightly as the girls continued to bicker and babble.

"What?" Chuck asked, eyeing Blair's stomach as if he expected the thing to pop out at any second yelling, "Daddy! Daddy!"

"The baby talk, of course," he said. "Probably won't stop for another eight months."

"Eight months," Chuck repeated. Nate noticed the somewhat vacant look in Chuck's eyes and took it upon himself to drag Chuck out of the bed and into a chair off to the side.

"Are you alright with all this?" Nate asked, concern wrinkling his brow. "I mean, if it were Serena..."

"If it were Serena?" Chuck pressed.

"I would be scared as hell." Nate ran a hand through his sandy hair and laughed. "But then I'd imagine a kid running around with blond hair and blue eyes, giggling at everything like S does, and I think I would be...okay."

"I'm definitely...nervous," Chuck said, settling on a word that could accurately describe the emotions tearing through him at the moment. When Blair had said the word "pregnant," he'd immediately felt a string of them course through him in rapid succession - fear and anxiousness, of course, but also, much to his surprise, he felt bursts of excitement and happiness. He supposed it in part had to do with the way Blair had said it, as if she was excited and happy about it. And though he was young, really young, with absolutely no experience at caring for anyone, Blair somehow believed in him. Apparently so did Serena, if her previous statement was anything to go off of, and he was suddenly overcome with love and gratitude for the two women - the love of his life as well as the bright blond he had considered his sister for over two years now. And then there was Nate, his best friend, who caringly pulled him aside to make sure he wasn't going to go into some sort of shock. It was then that Chuck realized the truth of the situation.

"I'm definitely nervous," he repeated, keeping his gaze locked on his fingers as he created a bridge then pulled it apart every few seconds. "But the baby is going to have Blair as a mother and you and Serena as his or her uncle and aunt. No matter what happens, I know the baby is going to be surrounded by people that love him or her, and growing up without that makes you realize how important it is. How, really, it's all you need. And the baby is going to have so much love that he or she won't doubt for a second that the world is full of it." Chuck finally raised his eyes only to meet Blair's, which were rapidly spilling over with tears. She raced over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering in his ear as soon as she was close enough.

The only words he caught, that he could think straight enough to catch at the moment were, "I love you."

…

Gossip Girl: Move over, William and Kate. You've got nothing on the monarchy of Manhattan...Yes, Upper East Siders, it's true. Our very own Queen B and King of the Empire are expecting a little prince or princess late this summer, and it's me bringing you the news first. More royally juicy details to follow. You know you love me.

…

"Is it true?" asked Bart. He and Chuck had been talking for the past hour or so, and he had refrained from commenting on the blast, but at this point, it was close to killing him.

"It's true," Chuck confirmed, immediately knowing what his father was alluding to. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to elaborate or if Bart simply wanted the facts.

"And?" Bart prompted.

"And Serena's thrilled." Well, that was a safe topic, though he assumed Bart knew this already, seeing as Serena had torn down the halls of the hospital wing yapping about her future niece or nephew. She and Lily were probably designing the nursery and designer baby closet at that very moment.

"And what about you?"

"I - I'm still absorbing it, but I'm..." he struggled for words, unable to pluck the right one from his brain.

"Happy?" Bart provided, inspecting his son's countenance with pride. Chuck did seem happy, if a bit unsure, and Bart was, much like his former stepdaughter, excited about the prospect of expanding the family.

"I suppose I am," Chuck said, nodding at his father. "What about you? What do you think?"

"I think my son is going to be a great father," said Bart, his warm tone still a bit strange to Chuck's ears. "And I'm going to have an incredible grandchild. Between you and Blair, that child is bound to be brilliant and good looking. Bass Industries is secure for at least the next century," he joked. Chuck laughed a little at his father, not merely because he found the quip amusing but because his father was actually telling a joke.

"Thanks," said Chuck, and he meant it. He appreciated his father's praise even more now than he did when he was younger, back when he responded with women, booze, and drugs when he failed to receive it.

"You're welcome. So," said Bart casually, leaning back in his chair. "Are you going to marry Blair, or what?"

...

"This changes nothing you know," he said, eyeing the woman, who, with wide eyes, was looking at the most recent Gossip Girl blast.

"It changes everything for me," she hissed, knowing she couldn't win this battle but preparing to fight him regardless. "You know my situation, and-"

"Yes, yes, you're now a sentimental sap, I've been disappointed by it too many times to count," he drawled, slipping his suit jacket over his shoulders.

"I can't take away that child's father. I won't."

"You will, and you know it. You have your own to look after. He's why you're involved in all this in the first place, right?"

"How - how do you-"

"-know that? Let's just say a couple of our teammates have loose tongues, and it's not as if I've lost my knack for inductive reasoning. I had a fair number of specifics; I simply had to derive the general principle of it all." He glared at her when she remained silent; she was so different from the young woman he remembered from the Upper East Side, so reserved and, he shuddered, moral. Since when had she possessed morals, and why did she seem so intent on sticking to them? "Come on, Georgina, perk up. You used to live for this."

"No," she nearly whispered, her voice hoarse and her crystal blue eyes clouding in regret. She hugged her arms around herself and rubbed them absentmindedly. "Not for this. Never for this."

"Then do it for the kid," he taunted. "Milo, is it?"

"You don't get to talk about him. You don't get to talk about anything with me! I don't want to hear your voice, or even see your face, or-"

"That's precisely the feisty spirit we need, G. See? You haven't lost it completely." He sauntered over to her side and attempted to throw an arm around her jacket-clad shoulders. She ducked away before he could, and he let out a lazy chuckle. "You know I was hoping we'd get along better than this. You used to be fun."

"Yeah, well people change, not that you'd know, Baizen. You're still stuck on our dear friend S, aren't you?" she growled, her eyes flashing. "Is that why you're doing all this?"

"Yes and no," he said cryptically, taking a bottle of liquor out of the hotel cabinet.

"That's it? All you're going to say?"

"Well it's not as if I'm going to give you my life story while we braid each other's hair," he quipped, pouring himself a stiff shot of whiskey. He held up a second glass and was met with a grimace and shake of the head. "Guess that's a no then."

"How can you be okay with this, Carter?" she asked, realizing too late the words sounded vulnerable, yet she was simply too weak to care. "These people...they were our friends once."

"That was a long time ago," he said, downing another burning shot. His eyes darkened as he did, and he gained the look of a demon. They were, after all, in hell, and it seemed only fitting that he would begin to resemble the devil. He took a deep breath before finishing his final, sinister thought. "And Bass was never any friend to me."

…

Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride,

I stretch my arms into the sky

I cry Babel! Babel! Look at me now

Then the walls of my town, they come crumbling down

Until next time - xoxo