Starting Over: rewrite

Fake Brady Bunch

Have you seen the new Gossip Girl reboot trailer? What are your thoughts?

3rd Person's POV

Serena stops as she sees waiters polishing glasses. She comes into the dining room, seeing everyone already digging into a giant spread of breakfast. "Why are you all so quiet?" Serena asks her family.

"Good morning." Bart comes into the room, and that answers the silence from her family.

"Bart, you're back early." Serena comments.

"My last round of meetings wrapped sooner than expected." Bart explains. He takes his seat next to Lily.

"Rushing home to the family. How long's this layover?" Chuck questions his father.

"Didn't Lily tell you? I'm here for the long haul." Bart answers, and Ella starts choking on her omelet.

"What?" She asks, shocked by this information.

"I have been missing spending quality time with my family, and with Eloise getting closer to adding another member of this family, I felt like it was time for me to come home." Bart explains to his family.

"Ha!" Ella laughs at his flat-out lie her father is spewing and wanting people to believe. Bart glares at her.

"And just in time for our housewarming party tomorrow night." Lily reminds everyone.

"Um, I've been meaning to ask you. Uh, can we bring friends?" Eric asks his mother.

"Of course, dear." Lily confirms. "Oh, um, did you get the little suit that I laid out for you, Serena?" Serena eyes her mother, unsure of what she's saying.

"That was for me?" Serena questions. "I thought the housekeepers got new uniforms."

"Yeah, it's conservative, yes, but classic. Bart bought you and Ella ones from Paris. They had their own seats on his plane." Lily boasts.

"Bart bought me a suit?" Serena questions.

"New watch." Eric holds up his wrist.

"Deposit into my daughter's trust fund." Ella adds.

"Cash direct deposit into one of my offshore accounts." Chuck adds.

"Now that we are all here, Lily and I have something we want to discuss." Bart gets everyone's attention.

"Here it comes." Ella mutters.

"As tomorrow's party marks our debut as a family, we've been talking about what that actually means."

"Less money for Ella and me when you die?" Chuck questions. Ella kicks her brother under the table. "Ow!"

"Don't be a prick." She orders him.

"We were thinking more along the lines of some guidelines." Bart states.

"Guidelines? For what?" Serena questions Bart.

"For life together." Lily chimes in. "I mean, now that we're all here. Having some rules would be nice."

"Like what?" Serena is getting more worked up about this than ever.

"Like every Friday, we dine as a family." Lily suggests.

"I do most of my work on Friday and the weekends." Ella reminds everyone.

"And you can before and after family dinner." Bart instructs his daughter.

"Uh, don't you think Monday would be..."