𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧
( 𝗌𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗂𝗂, 𝖾𝗉 𝗑𝗂 - '𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗇𝗂𝖿𝗂𝖼𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝖺𝗋𝖼𝗁𝗂𝖻𝖺𝗅𝖽𝗌' )
𝐆𝐖𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 spend time with her grandparents from her mother's side. Nora and Harry Morgan's house in Hudson Valley smelled like lavender and apple pie — coincidentally or not, there was always a pie waiting for Gwendolyn and her parents when they visited. Nora's chihuahua, Waterloo, never failed to welcome the family by the door wiggling his tails and requesting belly rubs from Gwendolyn as soon as he smelled her — the girl adored that little dog. The house also had a big backyard, where sometimes Gwen's grandpa would invite her and her dad to play football — the game always ended up in a tie, seeing as none of them were good at the sport, but it was fun to play nonetheless. There was no construction noise, or loud car horns making the traffic sounds even more deafening. At Gwen's grandparent's place, she could even hear birds singing and watch the stars at night.
The most relevant thing for Gwendolyn, however, was that while visiting her mom's parents there were no high expectations to follow the family business or to be influential in society. The Morgan family, although quite comfortable in terms of money, wasn't as nearly wealthy as the Vanderbilts — yes, Vivienne was a billionaire by her own merits and not by inheritance, that's how much of a badass the woman was.
Thanksgiving was going great for Gwendolyn and her family so far, but that was just until Gwen's phone started buzzing and Chuck's name appeared on her screen right when the girl was in the middle of a crossword game with her grandma. Knowing her bohemian friend wouldn't call her unless it was important, Gwendolyn excused herself and picked up the call right away. There were multiple things the Vanderbilt girl expected to hear from Chuck — most involved some drama between him and Blair, but there was also the possibility Serena had gotten herself in trouble —, yet, the last thing Gwen expected to hear was that not only Howard Archibald was back in NYC but he also planned on getting loads of cash from her grandfather and fleeing the country with Anne and Nate. The thing was: the FBI was already onto Howard, they just needed solid proof to arrest him.
Knowing her clueless cousin, Gwendolyn figured he had no idea about the mess his dad was about to drag him and his mom into. So the girl didn't think twice before running towards her parents and asking for the car. Even after having explained that Nathaniel needed her and she had to go back to the city, Vivienne wasn't willing to let her daughter escape Thanksgiving dinner. Nate was Edward's family though, and the Yale professor somehow managed to convince his wife to let Gwen go — a part of him wanted to come along, Ed had been worried about his sister's wellbeing.
Usually, the drive from Hudson Valley to New York took about two hours and a half, this time, however, Gwen freaked out her driver so much that the man got them back in the city in half the time — there were moments Gwendolyn thought she was in a Fast and Furious movie. What took longer was getting to Rufus' gallery in Brooklyn where Chuck said Nate's intervention would happen, damned New York traffic. By the time she did arrive there, her cousin was about to enter the gallery and the awkward encounter was unavoidable.
"What are you doing here?" Nate squinted his eyes in suspicion.
"I'm going to buy some art at this supper cool gallery...?" Gwen meant to utter an affirmation but her tone made it sound more like a question.
"I thought you were at your grandparents' place in Hudson Valley."
"I was." the girl nodded trying to come up with a convincing excuse, but, honestly, it was a useless task so she just sighed and walked towards the gallery's door. "Let's just get in."
Nate couldn't be more confused, what the hell were Vanessa and Gwen up to? Since when the two girls even exchanged more than two words towards each other? Nevertheless, the Archibald boy followed his cousin only to find not just Vanessa but also Chuck waiting for him.
"You know, when you called I thought it was an emergency. Obviously, I was wrong."
"It's more like an intervention." Vanessa said with a worried glance.
"It's totally like an intervention." Gwendolyn muttered standing behind Nate with her arms crossed.
"There's someone you need to talk to." Chuck stood from the chair he was occupying and subtly pointed with his head towards a guy who entered the place looking like he had a lot to say.
"The FBI knows that your dad is in town and they think he's about to commit a crime even worst than fraud or embalmment." the Brooklyn girl explained.
"Like what?"
"Like extortion and kidnapping."
-ˋˏ ༻ 🎾 ༺ ˎˊ-
"𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 escaped to Dominica he could only get his hands on enough money to get himself set up." the FBI agent told the Archibald boy was the two of them plus the three worried friends sat at a round table. "He should've found a job, reinvented himself. But instead, he lived the way he'd always lived. Now he's got nothing left."
"Yeah, well, if my father's poor, what's the point of us going to live with him?" Nate argued. "We don't have any money."
"But the Vanderbilts do." Chuck added.
"Why would my grandparents pay us to go live when they can't even help us out here?" at this point all of Nate's brain cells were going insane with the amount of information about his family he was receiving. "I mean they hate my dad."
"Maybe that's why they would give him money." Vanessa suggested. "To live without you and your mom."
"You know the extends our grandfather would go to get what he wants, Nate." Gwen said in a low voice, she hated to talk about how ruthless William Vanderbilt could be. "And right now, he wants distance from the scandal that comes with your dad."
"We've been monitoring your father's calls." informed the FBI Agent. "He's trying to get in touch with your grandparents."
"If this is true, why didn't you come to tell me this yourself?"
"We didn't know if you or your mother knew what was going on." the man admitted making Nathaniel scoff. "After all, she helped him escape in the first place."
"But I told him I didn't think you would just leave New York."
"Especially without saying goodbye to your friends." the Bass heir arched an inquisitive eyebrow towards his best friend.
"And family." Gwendolyn added.
"I'll let the four of you talk it over." the FBI man stood and left the room.
Nate let out a big sigh. "This is just too much." Being sat by his side, Gwen place a comforting hand on her cousin's shoulder. It was so unfair that he had to go through all that, she was really mad at her uncle for being so greedy.
"There's still a chance that the Captain can get away if that's what you want..." the Abrahams girl assured Nate. "But you could also end it all now."
"How?"
"By turning your father in."
-ˋˏ ༻ 🎾 ༺ ˎˊ-
𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 down her son and daughter, the three of them (plus Dorotha, of course) entered the penthouse that was already crowded with guests. Both Nicholas and Blair dragged their feet inside like the bratty children they still were. In the middle of the living room, their soon-to-be step-father was emersed in conversation with a man who had their back turned to the newly arrived quartet. The siblings didn't care about some guy Cyrus was talking to though, they both just wanted that night to be over. Even though Nick did get his hot-dog the Waldorf siblings' dramatic outing was a bummer, they just walked around the Upper East Side — there was highlight moment was when they fed the ducks, though, but they didn't have much bread so it soon turned to be a bad idea as a few hungry and angry ducks chase them out of the park. While Nick was too busy thinking about the possible blisters on his feet, Blair noticed the brown curly hair of the man talking to Cyrus and the nice purple sweater he was wearing.
"Daddy?"
The man turned around with a bright smile after hearing his daughter's voice. "Oh, sweetheart." he opened his arms for her and Blair didn't waste a second before hugging her father tightly. She missed him so much. Howard looked up seeing his firstborn standing there as if he had just seen a ghost. "Come here, my boy."
Taking into consideration how the Waldorf siblings' day started, it was a nice turnout that they were closing their day embraced by their father's arms. "I would've come sooner, but there was a TGV strike." the man let go of his children and explained himself.
"Wait. This is the surprise?" Blair questioned confused. "I thought you were getting engaged." the brown-haired girl look at her mother as she spoke, the guest, having heard B's words, started murmuring about the revelation the teen girl just made.
"Well, " Eleonor chuckled awkwardly, but one could clearly see that she was still full of joy. "we are!" she spoke loudly so the guest could hear clearly, but her next words were in a lower tone only directed to the ones near her. "I wanted your father to meet Cyrus before we told everyone. If he didn't approve of the man who might become your stepfather I couldn't quite marry him could I?"
"Well, now that the cat is out of the bag, I think it calls for a celebration." Cyrus said casually.
"Dessert first, I always say." Howard added in agreement and walked towards Dorotha who had a picnic basket in her hands. "Thank you, Dorotha." taking the basket and turning to his children, Howards asked. "Are you two hungry?"
It was the famous pie Howard always made with his kids during Thanksgiving. Both Blair and Nicholas smiled at the gesture. Their father remembered.
"I guess I'm ready for a new tradition." Blair said grinning.
As Dorotha took the pie to the dining room, the guest followed as well as Blair and her two dads. Things were peaceful at the Waldorf household for a change. Nick was about to join everyone else when Eleonor approached him.
"Nick, dear." she placed a hand on his upper arm. "Can we have a word?"
Not seeing many options besides agreeing, the Waldorf boy nodded and followed after his mother as she started making her way towards the kitchen. The staff was busy serving the guests, so they had an empty kitchen to talk about whatever they wished to.
"I've been thinking..." Eleonor started. "If you really don't have feelings for Sloane, you have my blessing to end things." she was straightforward, there was no reason to walk in circles around that subject. Lord knows things had already gone too far, and after experience what she believed to be real love with Cyrus, Eleonor didn't want to keep his son away from having the same experience with whoever he chose. "I shouldn't have put you in this situation in the first place. I'm sorry."
To say Nicholas was surprised was an understatement. He blinked once, then twice... No words came out of his mouth. Eleonor Waldorf rarely apologized and to have her do so meant more than the Ferrari she had promised him. What could he say though? No words actually expressed how relieved he felt for hearing his mother said that to him. Sure, they would definitely have to talk about how she would back him up in case breaking up with Sloane went bad, but that was a conversation for later. For now, Nick just opted to hug his mother. Eleonor wasn't expecting the sudden embrace from her son, demonstrations of affection like that weren't very ordinary among her and her children, but she enjoyed it nonetheless and couldn't help the smile forming on her lips. Even though there were still many things Nick had to do in order to be completely clear from the scheme of being with Sloane, the weight on his shoulders had been lifted and he just wanted to appreciate that feeling.
↳ A/N
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