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Present Day,
The Hacienda, New York.
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"I presume Damien would have said it himself but since he's not here ' Happy Birthday."
The words reverberated continuously in Aasha's mind.
This was not fair dammit!
He did not get to do this. He did not get to be the nice guy. He did not get to be the guy she'
Aasha tore her eyes off the platter full of crisp dripping jalebi's her eyes clashing briefly with Renee's shell-shocked own, pausing for a brief second before her best-friend looked back down at the pink semi-bedazzled iphone to read out in a hushed whisper - "She went into labor, Aunt Blair went into labor."
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Present Day,
Lennox-Hill, New York.
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"Waldorf-Bass." Bit out Damien as he whirled into the pristine Hospital walls, his Aunt swift on his heels as the uniformed nurse, quickly registered the name and led them down the corridor leading to the private cabin's in Lennox-Hill's extravagant layout.
The hurried phone call less than half an hour ago, had been brief and to the point. There was nothing 'brief' however about the damn traffic on 6th Avenue that added to the fact that despite what his mother said it was decidedly odd to be becoming a brother at an age when he should be fathering his own kids. Almost immediately he shunned the quaint suburban image that had floated to the forefront of his mind. White-picked fences and a Labrador pup.
No.
God what was he thinking!?
He was Damien Bass for f**ks sake'an affair was one thing'maybe even a fake engagement to keep Aasha from actually marrying that dolt she was out at dinner with, but marriage?
No woman was worth that shackle.
Was she?
Besides, he told himself as his eyes landed on a very seemingly calm Raizada outside one of the cabins; he had bigger more pressing daddy issues to deal with at the moment.
* * *
Arnav Singh Raizada was worried.
And while there were a number of persona's he donned well, starting from cut-throat business man to doting father, worried husband was not one of his best looks.
He felt his usually grim mouth stretch into a reluctant smile as his wife half walked half ran towards him, or rather towards the door he was leaning so carelessly against, but even from here he could see the memories Lennox Hill was bringing back, it was curious really, how the bad memories always seemed to weigh on the brighter ones.
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Twenty-Nine years ago,
Upper East Side, New York.
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"How long do you think they're going to take before Blair decides she wants an original?" asked Arnav in a low undertone as he watched a peculiarly pink clad man with the oddest propensity to 'coo' at Blair and Khushi, chatter incessantly throwing out bolt after bolt of cloth, while a parade of would be designs were modeled mere feet from the snowy white divan that matched the rest of the bridal shops pure white interior.
Chuck he noted was watching the exchange with the same sense of deliberate curious wonder. "Somehow I don't think this is going to be very quick. Blair Waldorf may have been planning this day for years, but after that fiasco with Prince Louie I'm half surprised she agreed to get married at all, despite the pregnancy scare. I suppose I owe Khushi for that." He added in an afterthought, recalling how Khushi had on first meeting Blair declared that she couldn't allow Chuck to take advantage of her and something about some woman named Lavanya'who Arnav had later informed him had been one of his ex's, one whom Khushi had ironically been trying to marry him off too.
Arnav smiled with a proud nod. "She tends to have a thing for weddings."
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Present Day,
Lennox-Hill, New York.
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Blair Waldorf had many moments of wondrous achievement in her life. And a few of soul-rendering grief. Oddly enough somehow hospitals happened to major into, all of them.
This beautiful bundle of miniature arms and legs, swathed in pink cashmere towels, reminded her of that fact. Just as the huge doe eyes, cuddling that self-same bundle with something akin to absolute awe reminded her of a moment whose very memory still shadowed her with grief.
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Twenty-Nine years ago,
Upper East Side, New York.
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"So Blair Waldorf is finally getting married." Teased Arnav in tone seldom heard by even those near and dear to him, as he watched his wife try to convince Chuck Bass to fire the empire new French cook for having called her precious jalebi's a blight on his menu.
Blair who was similarly observing the current situation with no little amount of amusement , pointed out, "Well apparently I'm living in sin otherwise."
"Uh-huh." Came the smug non-committal reply.
"What about you 'dad' when were you going to tell me?" she snapped irritated at his Raizada nonchalance , only to watch the man who smiled less than Chuck Bass himself break out into a ear to ear grin he seemed to have been holding in.
"When she tells me." He quipped.
Blair blinked. For a second she was stuck wondering how it was that he was talking through that gash in his mouth which stretched out in that curved line seemed decidedly carnival creepy , not that he looked bad, quite the opposite actually but it was a bit unnerving to see a shark smile. Once she'd got past the unnerving smile bit, the words registered, when she told him, she looked back up at him in disbelief, "She can't not know'"
Arnav Singh Raizada however, was too busy observing his wife to do anything but smile a little wider as he recalled his wife's shocked reaction to how babies were made and let out a low chuckle.
"She doesn't think it's odd that'"
"She does." Arnav quickly interrupted, before Blair decided to go into a detailed description of feminine woes, "She is scheduled with an appointment tomorrow. She thinks it's something she ate, or the time warp."
And sure enough the very exclusive French Chef marched off in a jalebi-induced huff, as Khushi Singh Raizada formerly of Lucknow, gave Chuck Bass an approving nod. Blair Waldorf merely watched in silent amusement -"Are we still on for dinner?"
Arnav who was now back to concealing his huge cavern of a grin, nodded, "Of course."
* * *
"You're in an awfully good mood," whispered Khushi with a suspicious squint of her eyes as she looked at her altogether too handsome-for-his-own-good-husband over her shoulder, skipping a light step ahead of her curiously doting husband, as he half smiled at her childish antics, merely ushering her further from the edge of the sidewalk as she walked.
Not that he expected her to let it go at that. Sure enough within moments she was inches from his face, her gloved hands poking first at his shoulder, than deciding it was not painful enough over his thick overcoat on his nose'or she had aimed for his nose what she succeeded in doing was very nearly poking his left eye out.
From the quick widening of her eyes and her adorably childish wince, it was evident she was expecting a sweeping ASR set down, or at least a nice warm glare. What she was not expecting was her temperamental husband to catch her offending hand in his and brushing it with a kiss.
Her eyes now narrowing to silts Arnav wondered at the intricacies of a God who allow an absolute angel like her to be tied to a incarnation of every broken commandment, such as himself. He thanked it none the less. For her. And for the blessing she hadn't quite realized they'd been blessed with yet.
He watched with adoration, as his slightly insane bride decided to evidently test the boundaries of the his newfound patience by pointing to a horse drawn carriage with an impish smile, only to watch in shock as he shook his head silently in a 'No.'
"Why?" she teased her hand catching on his upturned coat collar, daring him to scold her, to tell her she was absolutely insane and that he would not be caught dead in a horse drawn carriage, even if she was the one asking.
The thing was when it was her ' it was always yes. Except now.
Now he needed her to safe. Away from unusual bumps and bruises, one hand snaking out to catch her to him as he leaned down to whisper gravely if falsely, "I'm afraid of horses."
"You were playing polo with Chuck last week!" she shrieked half in amused hysterical laughter half in shock.
Arnav Singh Raizada merely watched her gravely and waited. A minute later his wife, who had been near hysteria in choked giggles, suddenly sobered, "'Are you serious?"
For a second Arnav Singh Raizada thought that his years of practice with his bland emotion free face would be for naught and then'
"Oh Devi Maiyan!" she suddenly gasped, her tiny porcelain hands reaching up to cup his face, "You are afraid!" She didn't even bother to let him confirm his newly acquired inadequacy before she pressed a quick kiss to his lips in apology and looped her hand through his arm, "We'll walk!" she proclaimed brightly taking a pretty step forward , and behind her Arnav Singh Raizada followed.
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Hey Upper East Sider's, Gossip Girl here.
Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's Elite.
Sometimes the Upper East Side vs Brooklyn is not the only two realms we battle between.
Sometimes it isThe Past vs The Present.
Sometimes it's worse ' Sometimes your battle is with death.
R.I.P
XOXO
Gossip Girl
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::Authors Note::
Heyy girlies, all i'm going to say is it is hard work updating and i was very close to abandoning StT because of the review count last week. As in i was seriously going to. Nabila and Mariam are the two girlies who deserve major kudo's for making sure i didn't them AND my very very much adored reviewers, all i'm going to say is if you are a reader who doesn't comment - Seriously NOT cool.
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
Real Estate
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