A/N - So sorry for the long wait! I already have the next chapter almost completely written, so it should be up soon! :) Hope you like this one!

Blair Bass wasn't used to being afraid of things. She was Blair Bass – wife of billionaire, Chuck Bass. Any problem they encountered could usually be solved with a sizeable donation or a healthy amount of scheming. Even before she was Chuck Bass' wife, she was Blair Waldorf, the Queen Bee of the Upper East Side; the woman who could make problems scatter with a strategically placed evil-eye or smart-ass comment.

She was not used to being afraid. She was not used to finding issues that she couldn't fix.

Chuck felt the same way. He was used to being able to solve problems with little effort. He was used to being part of a team; a team that could solve their problems together or for each other.

Blair having cancer was not an easy issue. It wasn't something that she could fix with a scheme, and while their money would get her the treatment that she needed, it wasn't the easy-fix that they were used to. Cancer wasn't something that Chuck could fix for her, and while they could work through it as a team, they weren't going to be able to make it go away as easily as they were used to. The treatment for such a disease was all on Blair. Chuck wasn't going to be able to go through it for her. That was scary territory all in itself.

Sitting across from Doctor Andrews – New York's top oncologist – listening to Blair's diagnosis and what was to come, both Blair and Chuck felt afraid. And useless.

"Mrs. Bass," Doctor Andrews started. "You have IBC, which stands for Inflammatory Breast Cancer." She stopped speaking long enough to allow the information to sink in.

Blair felt tears burning into the backs of her eyes, but she wasn't about to show it. She wasn't about to say anything. If that's what the woman sitting across from her was expecting, it wasn't going to happen. Opening her mouth would cause her to break, and she wasn't one to break in front of anyone.

Luckily, Chuck knew her better than she knew herself, so he spoke. "What…what does that mean, exactly," he asked hesitantly before hurrying to elaborate. "I mean, I know what cancer means. What I meant to ask is how far along is it? Is it treatable?"

Doctor Andrews smiled encouragingly at the couple in front of her. They were both so young, and so obviously afraid. While she loved her job, the reactions of her patients and their families were the hardest to stand. "The cancer is a stage three, meaning that the lump in Blair's breast is at least 5 centimeters large, and has spread to one lymph node that we were able to tell in your exam this morning." She pushed a stack of papers and pamphlets toward the couple about mastectomies. "We're going to need to do a mastectomy in which we remove the breast and the affected lymph node."

Blair stared down at the information packets in front of her. It was all gibberish to her. Her ears picked up voices as if she were under water. She was going to lose her breast.

"We will have a plastic surgeon of your choice in the operation room with us to replace the breast with an artificial one," the doctor said, interrupting Blair's thoughts. When Blair looked away from the papers in her hands, and made eye contact with the woman across from her, she received a comforting smile. "I know that the thought of losing a breast is overwhelming, but you will come out of the operation with a brand new one that will look perfectly normal."

Blair nodded, but didn't speak. She silently reached across the space beside her, and squeezed her husband's hand. She hoped that that would convey her thoughts.

"Ok," Chuck spoke with a nod. He shifted nervously in his seat. All of this sounded way too easy. There had to be more. "So Blair will just get the operation and then everything will be fine, right?"

Doctor Andrews took a deep breath before answering in an even voice. As if she was relaying the weather. "I'm afraid it's not that easy. Blair, you will need to have the operation as soon as possible. I'm going to schedule it for this Saturday morning at 8:00," she paused to write the date down on a chart in front of her. "Since a lymph node will be removed from under your arm, the operation will leave you with some swelling in that area and pain when you lift your arm, so physical therapy will be required. Also because of the lymph node being affected, you will need to undergo four rounds of chemotherapy."

Both Chuck and Blair's eye widened, and neither of them were able to speak. Chemotherapy had crossed both of their minds, and though they were expecting it, hearing it wasn't easy.

"I would like to start that next Wednesday. Each round of chemotherapy will take place for about an hour for three days in a row. You will then get to take a week off, and then do another three days the week after. This will continue until your four rounds are complete, and the dosage will be higher as we progress. Three months from now is the completion that I want to aim for, provided that we don't have any complications," the doctor finished.

"Complications," Blair asked hesitantly.

"If your white blood cell count drops too low, we will need to take a break to prevent infection. This could take place in your third or fourth rounds because of the increased dosage." Doctor Andrews paused, giving the young couple across the desk a sympathetic look. "I know that this is a lot of information to take in. You will be given plenty of reading material to look over for all of the details that you need to know on all of these procedures. Do you have any questions for me?"

"When will I lose my hair," Blair asked, unconsciously running her fingers through her brunette tresses.

Chuck watched the strands fall slowly back to her shoulders with a painful feeling in his chest. The luscious curls that he had always been mesmerized by would soon be gone. Sure, they would return eventually, but to see them fall out? That was hard to think about.

"Every individual is different, Blair," Doctor Andrews started. "However, with the dosage that you will be having, I'm going to say that you can expect to begin losing your hair during your second round of chemotherapy."

Blair just stared back at the oncologist wide-eyed, and silent. She finally nodded, and then looked down into her lap. "I don't have any further questions."

The doctor nodded her head in understanding. Blair was afraid and frustrated; giving her room to breathe and to let the news settle was completely normal. "That's fine, Blair," Doctor Andrews said as she rose from her seat. "I will see you at 6:00 on Saturday morning for your surgery preparation."

Chuck nodded his head. "Thank you, Doctor Andrews. We'll see you then," he said before ushering Blair out of her chair and then out of the building.

Their ride home was silent for more of the time, with Blair resting her head on Chuck's shoulder while he held her close.

Finally, when they pulled up to the front of Nate and Jenny's building, Blair turned to look at her husband and spoke quietly, but with a firm tone. "The children are not to know about this right now, Chuck."

Chuck hesitated before answering with a quiet "that's fine. We won't tell them until you're ready to."

Blair's shoulders dropped, and tears filled her eyes. "It's just that Evelyn's turning five on Monday. Her party is next Saturday, and I don't want her to have to be concerned about me being sick." She paused, and got a far-off look in her eyes before going on. "I just don't want to scare them with my illness, so we'll just have Lily or Nate or even Dan and Vanessa watch them during my operation and even my first round of chemo. After that, we'll sit down to tell them. By then, I'll be almost half finished with it," Blair finished with a nod. "Hopefully," she added as an afterthought.

Chuck reached out to take both of Blair's hands gently into his, and then he leaned forward to look directly into her eyes. "We'll do this however you want to, Blair. I'm with you one-hundred percent," he said with such conviction that she knew he was telling the truth. "Do you understand me?"

Blair smiled and then nodded. She had to swallow hard before answering with a quiet yes, and then she turned to get out of the limo as if nothing had ever happened.

Chuck always knew that Blair was strong, but until that moment, he had never known how incredibly strong she really could be.

XOXOXOXO

"Aiden Archibald! How could you," Evelyn could be heard shouting from down the hall.

Nate rolled his eyes and then tried to ignore the argument, hoping that it would go away. Evelyn was widely known for the dramatics, and his son Aiden was widely known for getting a kick out of them. Nate sighed when quiet filled his home once again. That didn't last long, however, because Olivia, followed by Aiden's twin sister Ava came darting down the hallway in the very next moment.

"Daddy" and "Mr. Nathanial" came bubbling from the girls' mouths at the same time.

Nate put his hand up to stop the both of them from speaking. "Before you continue - one at a time, please," he said before rubbing his forehead. There was a dull ache building behind his eyes. These children were a handful.

"Daddy," Ava began. "Guess what Aiden just did!" She paused and then raised her eyebrows at her father for the dramatic effect.

"What did he do," Nate asked, humoring his daughter who, much like Olivia Bass, was prone to tattling.

"Well, first," Olivia continued the story. "He took Evie's very favorite Bouncin' Babbles doll away from her, and then he tried to make her fly on the ceiling fan!"

"Yes. He. Did," Ava nodded dramatically. "Only she didn't fly because she can't fly, and we told him that, and now she's bumped her head on the wall, and Evie is crying, and Aiden is laughing at her, and so are Edward and Ethan!" Ava finished the story heavily winded from having not paused in her tale to even take a breath.

Nate shook his head and reluctantly stood from his very comfortable seat on the couch. It had been the first time he'd sat down all day what with him having to run after five children and all. "Let's go see what's going on back there," he said before walking towards his son's bedroom followed by the two girls who were stomping the entire way behind them.

"Oooooh," Olivia could be heard speaking in a sing song voice to Ava. "He's going to be in so much trouble."

Ava nodded smugly and skipped after her father.

A full-out battle had been launched between Evelyn and Aiden by the time Nate had gotten into the room. Evelyn had gotten into Aiden's prized action figure collection and taken his favorite one of them all – batman. She was standing on top of the bed holding the toy into the air and shouting "don't touch me or I'll make him fly too!"

Nate rushed forward and snatched the action figure from Evie's hand before lifting her kicking and screaming form off of the bed.

"This isn't fair! I should get to throw his toy at the wall too," Evie screamed before her feet were planted firmly on the ground beside Aiden.

Nate opened his mouth to speak when he noticed Chuck and Blair's sons giggling at the scene from the corner. He shook his head and gave them a disapproving look. "You're not helping, boys. Why don't you go to the play room with the girls?" When the other children scattered, he turned his attention back to the two in front of him. "Aiden, it's not nice to make toys 'fly' like that, and I've told you this before. The same goes for you, Evie. You both need to apologize and hug before I sit you in another time out for arguing today."

"Awww dad," Aiden stomped his foot. "I was just having a little fun!"

"It's not fun to make your friends cry, young man," Nate answered sternly. "Now apologize."

"Fine," Aiden whined. "I'm sorry, Evie," he said before reluctantly stepping forward to give his friend a hug.

"I'm sorry too," Evelyn replied quietly even though from the look on her face, she really didn't want to. She just didn't want to take another trip to the time out chair again.

"Good," Nate encouraged them. "Now let's go start a movie for you all to watch before the Bass' get here," he said, leading the way to the playroom down the hallway of the penthouse he and Jenny shared with their two children.

Since Jenny and Nate had gotten together five years earlier, JHumphrey Designs had become a multi-million-dollar corporation, and Nate had become very successful working for his grandfather. They were recently able to upgrade to a large penthouse on the Upper East Side. They looked the part of the happy couple with the beautiful twins, though lately, the "happy couple" portion of that statement wasn't the truth behind closed doors. Jenny was always travelling, down at her department store or cooped up in her office working on JHumphrey Designs while Nate was always with the children. Jenny didn't seem to have the time for their little family anymore, or rather, the incentive to make time.

Their problems were a well-kept secret from everyone, including their close family and friends (or so they thought).

By the time Nate had gotten the children set up with a movie and began making his way down the hallway to the living room, the elevator to the penthouse was dinging and Chuck and Blair were walking in together.

"Hey guys," Nate greeted, hugging both of his friends before leading them into the living room. He noticed way that Chuck watched Blair closely as she sat down with a worried expression. He also noticed the fact that Blair was trying to look anywhere but at either of the men in the room. He instantly knew that something was very wrong. "How did your appointment go?"

Blair and Chuck glanced at each other and then around them to make sure none of their children were eavesdropping behind the couch.

"On Saturday, Blair has to have a mastectomy, and then on Wednesday she'll start chemotherapy," Chuck answered, knowing that Blair really didn't want to talk – or rather, couldn't. "We don't want to tell the children yet, so I'm wondering if you and Jenny will be able to watch them tomorrow night until Sunday. If not, we can ask Lily or Dan and Vanessa. We just don't want to tell them until Blair's finished her second round."

Nate nodded wide-eyed at his best friends sitting across from him. "Sure. I'll do whatever you need."

"Thank you, Nate," Blair replied with a smile before she ran her fingers nervously through her hair. "I'd just rather Evie not have to deal with being worried about my health on her 5th birthday," she explained before sadly adding, "I don't want any of my children to worry about my health at all."

Chuck shot Nate a worried glance that he obviously didn't want Blair to see because a moment later, the look was gone and he was shooting Blair a reassuring smile. "Well, they won't have to worry much." He kissed her temple. "Let's get the children and then go home so you can rest, ok?"

Blair nodded and then stood immediately to go and fetch the children. She just wanted to spend the time before her operation with her family. They were exactly what she needed.

XOXOXOXO

Saturday morning started at 4 o'clock for Chuck and Blair. If they were honest with themselves, it started hours before that what with the sleep that they weren't able to make themselves get.

Blair's stomach growled and her body craved the comforting caffeine that usually came in the form of her morning coffee. Because of the surgery, however, she was forced to go without. Fasting was required for twelve hours beforehand. She was just happy that Chuck was considerate enough not to eat in front of her when she wasn't allowed.

Other than the annoyingly persistent hunger that she was experiencing, the morning seemed to pass by in a blur, and before either Blair or Chuck had realized it, she was at Lennox Hill Hospital already laid up in a bed waiting for someone to come in and prep her for surgery.

"Are you comfortable," Chuck asked, standing up from his chair to fluff Blair's pillow for the sixth time. "Are you warm enough?"

Blair chuckled tiredly and then reached out for Chuck's hand. "I'm fine, Chuck. Sit down and relax."

Chuck did as his wife said before taking one of her hands in both of his and kissing the back of it. "You're right. I'm just a little nervous is all. I want you to be comfortable and...ok," he said, sighing tragically. "I just want to snap my fingers and make all of this go away."

Blair reached up with her free and ran her fingers over the stress lines on Chuck's forehead until the creases smoothed. She smiled and then moved her hand to one of the cheek bones that she loved so much – the same cheek bones that their sons had inherited. "I'm going to be fine, Chuck. I'll just be sick for a little while, and then I will get better and everything will go back to normal. You'll see."

Chuck studied Blair's eyes silently for a few minutes as if to check for any sign of doubt within them. When he found none, he calmed slightly. Either Blair was completely sure of her words or she had become entirely too good at hiding her emotions from even him. He hoped the answer was the former. He leaned down placed a gentle kiss on Blair's lips and then her nose before nodding. "Ok. I'm going to trust you on that, Bass."

Blair giggled and then nodded. "You better."

A knocked sounded at the door in that moment and the couple called for the visitor to come in.

It was Doctor Andrews, dressed in scrubs and followed by a nurse and two other doctors. "Hello Blair," she said as she walked towards the bed. "I hope that you were able to sleep well."

Blair shrugged. Her eyes nervously darted around the room. "I tried, but it was a little difficult," she admitted, clutching onto Chuck's hands a little tighter.

"Being nervous is completely normal and completely justified, Blair," Doctor Andrews assured her. "But I want you to know that you are in safe hands. This is Jedric," she gestured to one of the men standing beside her who then stepped forward to shake Chuck and Blair's hands. "He will be your anesthesiologist today. He'll get you started on your IV drip right away with the help of Zoe." The kind-looking nurse stepped forward and patted Blair on the shoulder with a nod. "Zoe will be around until after your operation so she will be able to help you then as well."

The final doctor stepped forward, also dressed in dark blue scrubs and nodded at Blair and Chuck. "And you already know me, Doctor Peardon, your plastic surgeon, so I will be replacing your breast after it is removed today. Don't worry," he began. "I will make it look exactly the same as your other one, so no one will ever notice." He smiled kindly at the couple and though it was slightly comforting, neither Chuck nor Blair ever wanted to be seeing a plastic surgeon in this kind of situation.

Jedric and Zoe, who had walked away during the time of Doctor Peardon's introduction, were now returning with a tray and an IV pole that had a bag attached to it.

"We'll just leave you alone for a few minutes while you get prepped for surgery, and we'll see you in just a few minutes," Doctor Andrews said before walking out of the room followed by Doctor Peardon.

"Can you just extend your arm for me, Mrs. Bass," Zoe requested kindly. When she noticed Blair's face contort in fear and apprehension, she smiled comfortingly and then turned her gaze to Chuck. "Sometimes it helps if someone is there to distract you. Why don't you talk to your husband while we do this? It will be over before you know it."

Blair and Chuck nodded simultaneously, but Blair still stared at the needle on the tray in front of her with contempt.

"Hey, hey," Chuck leaned in close to catch Blair's attention. When she slowly broke from her fearful trance and turned to stare at him, he smiled. "Tomorrow we're going to get to finish the arrangements for Evie's birthday party. You'll likely not be in the mood to do that, so I wanted to ask you something." He brushed some hair away from Blair's forehead, and followed the path softly with his lips. "Are you sure that you've picked the right color scheme? We've changed it four times, and I want to be sure that this is the one that you want."

Blair winced and then sucked in a large breathe when she felt the IV needle pierce through the skin on her arm. She shut her eyes tightly to keep herself from turning to look, and then nodded. "Yes. Evelyn's favorite colors are pink and purple; mine is red, so we're going to go with those colors." She smiled and sighed in relief when the needle stopped moving.

Chuck laughed quietly. "That is the color theme that you started with. What happened to wanting to go with Winter tones and then greens and oranges for Spring?"

"Well, I don't want Evie to have a party that is only what I want for her. My mother used to do that to me all the time." Blair shook her head to rid herself of that nightmare. "I just want to allow her to express herself and if pinks, purples and reds are what she wants, than that is what she will get," Blair said sternly.

Chuck chuckled quietly. Leave it to Blair to always look so stern and strong, even in the face of fear. "Ok," he said with a nod. "Pinks, purples and reds it is."

At that moment, Jedric patted Blair on the shoulder to catch her attention, interrupting their quiet discussion. "I'm going to put some of this medication into your IV, alright? It's going to keep you calm, and can make you a little sleepy, but you won't be put completely under until you're in the operating room."

Blair's eyes closed of their own accord and she took a deep breath to calm her fears. They kept trying to bubble to the surface, and she had no time for that. This was just the beginning of a lot of scary moments to come. This one was the least of her worries. "Alright," she answered, calming even more when she felt Chuck gently squeeze her hand. She felt something cold begin to run through her veins, and before she could really think about it, Blair felt an immense calming feeling take over her.

Chuck smiled when he saw Blair completely relax into the pillows. The fear and tenseness in her features had been worrying him. While he was still very worried, at least something was able to make her calmer. He looked up at the door when Doctor Andrews and Doctor Peardon both walked into the room.

Doctor Andrews walked quickly to the side of Blair's bed and began helping Zoe raise the rails on the side. "We're going to take you down to surgery now, Blair. Is that ok?"

Blair nodded her agreement and then finally opened her eyes to look at Chuck. She was a bit woozy having not taken anything this strong before, so opening her eyes made the room spin a little. "I love you," she said as she reached out to him.

Chuck could see that Blair was tired. He leaned down to kiss her forehead softly. "I love you too. I'll see you as soon as you wake up," he whispered before the bed began to move.

"Ok," Blair said before closing her eyes again. She fell asleep on her own accord as the bed was pulled from the room.

XOXOXOXO

Four hours of Chuck pacing the waiting room and fearing the worst with each passing minute soon came to an end, and he was greeted by Doctor Andrews who walked in with a smile.

"Blair did great," she said, pausing to allow him to sigh in relief. "We just wanted to wait until she was out of after-surgery recovery and back in her room to come and get you. I can take you back to her now if you'd like."

Chuck nodded without saying a word and then quickly followed the doctor back to the room Blair had been in earlier. He sighed in relief when he saw her peacefully sleeping on the bed before him. He couldn't even tell that she had just been in a three-hour surgery. He moved to walk toward her, but was stopped when the doctor began to speak.

"She'll experience some pain and discomfort when she wakes up, and possibly some nausea from the anesthetic," Doctor Andrews explained. "When she wakes up, let us know; if she vomits, please inform us, and if she wakes up experiencing too much pain, let us know about that as well. She should be waking up anytime now."

"I will," Chuck assured her, moving to sit in the chair beside Blair's bed. Her placed his hand on top of hers, and began waiting for Blair to wake up.

XOXOXOXO

The only thing Blair registered as she woke up was a dull ache in her chest and down into her upper left arm. She groaned at the feeling and then opened her eyes to see her husband sitting beside her.

"Blair," he sighed, standing up to kiss her forehead, her cheeks and then her lips softly. "You're awake," he said, relieved. "How are you feeling?"

She groaned again. "Sucky," she answered, vaguely aware of her husband pressing the call button beside her on the bed.

Chuck nodded his head in understanding. "The doctor said that your chest would hurt for a while, and that your arm would be hard to raise passed a certain height." He squeezed her right hand as a sign of comfort.

Blair being Blair tried to test the theory and raised her arm slightly. She couldn't get it a foot off of the bed before crying out in pain, which only served to cause her chest to hurt from the expansion of her lungs. Before either of them knew it, tears were rolling town her face. "It hurts," she whimpered quietly.

Chuck reached forward to gently run his hand through Blair's long brown hair. He nodded. "I know, Blair. I'm so sorry." And he was. If he could take all of this away from her, he would. No questions asked. But he couldn't, so instead, he would be there for her for as long as she needed him to be. They were a team.

A nurse came in after a moment to answer the call. She shot both Chuck and Blair sympathetic glances when she saw Blair lying there in tears. She patted the young woman gently on the leg before heading over to the IV stand. "I'm just going to up your pain medication a little bit, ok?" When she got a silent nod from Blair and a worried look from Chuck, she went on. "You just woke up from surgery. That is when the pain is the worst, but it will lesson soon. This pain medication should put you to sleep for a little while."

Blair nodded and squeezed Chuck's hand tighter, silently asking him to stay with her.

Chuck kept his lips against Blair's forehead, whispering "I love you" against her skin over and over, and he didn't pull away until the medication had put her into a peaceful sleep.

Then he let a few tears fall.

A/N - How did you like it? Review, please!