Days with Daddy: Through the Years

Visiting Grandparents

Okay so this one takes place when Henry is 6 years old.

~~~

Blair's grandmother is dying so she had to leave and go to Paris to stay with her for the time-being. Cornelia insisted that Henry and Chuck could come along but he didn't feel right taking him to see his dying great-grandmother. So Henry and him stayed home while Blair left for Paris.

"Henry! Come downstairs please!" Chuck called from downstairs.

"Coming daddy!" Henry said as he bounded down staircase in boat shoes, yellow pants, and a navy polo shirt.

"Okay Hen. We have the whole day to do whatever you want but we have to make a quick stop at Bass Industries." Henry looked back at him with a solemn expression but still said, "Okay. Is Uncle Jack going to be there with Milo?"

"I don't know, buddy. We'll have to see. But remember, this is still a you and me week." Henry smiled back at him and took his hand as they walked out the door.

~~~

As Chuck and his son walked in BI, he got many warm smiles from people and greetings to Henry; commenting on how big he was getting. Chuck couldn't help but smile because he really was getting big and he couldn't believe how much he looked like him. The people were also asking how Blair was because they were expecting their next child, a girl this time and he responded with a smile and said she was doing very well.

When they got to the top floor, Jack greeted them with a smile and a ruffle of Henry's hair, even though he hated that his uncle did that. "Is Milo here today?" he questioned eagerly. "No sorry buddy he's out with some friends today." Henry looked down and said oh.

Milo was 13 and so he was entering a stage where he didn't always want to play with Henry and Henry didn't like that one bit.

"Daddy how much longer do we have to stay?" he questioned after 20 minutes.

"Only five more minutes. I promise bud." He couldn't do this. He wouldn't put work over family. He would spend time with his son because that's what he needed and wanted to do. Family over anything else. "Actually bud we can leave now. What do you want to do first?"

"Can we go to Sarabeth's for lunch and then feed the ducks in Central Park? Then maybe stop by FAO Schwartz on the way home? The coal towers for my train table came out today!"

"Whatever you want, buddy."

"Jack we're leaving early. Can you handle the rest?"

"Of course nephew. Have a good day and I'll tell Milo you said hi, Henry." As they walked out, Jack just smiled because of how good of a father Chuck was. He hoped someday Milo would think of him like that. Milo did carry his last name by marriage but he never really got super close to him.

~~~

After lunch, Henry and Chuck were strolling through Central Park and Henry asked an odd question. "Daddy do you love mommy?"

"Of course I love your mother. Why would you think I don't?"

"I'm not sure. None of my friends have parents that love each other. I'm not sure whether they have parents at all. More like nanny's I suppose but none of them are like Dorota. They actually take care of my friends but Dorota just does the cooking and stuff." he huffed out.

"Mommy and I are just special then I guess. But I promise they have parents, Henry," Chuck replied with a smile.

"I guess so. How do I know if I love a girl?" Henry asked inquisitively.

"Well it's kind of complicated right now, Hen, but you know because you always want to be around them and you like kissing them and you can't see yourself without them. I hope you experience the feeling someday."

"Oh. That's cool."

"Yes it's very cool," Chuck chuckled.

"Can we call mommy? It's 8:00 in Paris right now."

"Yes of course we can and you're so smart, Hen."

The phone rang and the Blair picked up and said, "Hello there, Handsome."

"Hi mommy!"

"Oh hello Henry! What are you doing with Daddy's phone?"

"We're calling you from Central Park! We fed the ducks after lunch at Sarabeth's and after a stop at daddy's company. We saw Uncle Jack but he didn't bring Milo. That's okay though because it's Daddy and me week! Then we talked about you and Daddy love each other so I suggested that we call you," he rambled.

"Sounds like a great day, Hen! Can you hand Daddy the phone?"

"Hello beautiful. How was your flight? How's Cornelia?" Chuck asked with concern.

"She's as good as she can be and the flight was okay. This little one wouldn't stop kicking though so I didn't get much sleep. I swear she'll be a soccer player. I can't imagine I'll be here for more then 3 more days. So what is this you and Henry talked about?"

"He is an observant little boy and noticed that we are the only active parents on the Upper East Side and then we talked about love a little bit. No worries, my sweet. I'll let you get some sleep. I love you and Henry says he does too."

"I love you too and so does our little girl." They both smiled and hung up.

"Okay bud you ready to go home?"

"Yeah! Can we eat ice cream and watch Transformers?" Henry asked hopefully.

"Not until after dinner but sure. Oh and we'll send Arthur to get your coal towers after we get home."

~~~

After dinner and the movie, Chuck gave Henry a bath and layed him down in his train bed. He read him a story and then kissed him goodnight. Before he walked out Henry said, "I love spending time with you, Daddy. Thank you for being a good daddy." Chuck turned around and smiled while saying, "I love spending time with you too son, and I love that I get to be your daddy."

When he got back in to the living room he poured himself a glass of scotch and got lost in his thoughts. He wondered how his dad couldn't love him. He loved his son more than life itself and he wondered how you could not love your child and want to spend every waking moment with them. He wasn't that bad of a kid until he realized that the only way to get his father's attention was to cause trouble. He always remembered getting sympathetic looks from people when Bart wouldn't pay attention to him but he never really cared. He just kept doing what he was doing to get the negative attention from his father, because at least he was getting attention.

He emptied the glass of scotch and put it in the sink. He decided he would call Blair before he went to bed. He said, "I know you're sleeping but I just want you to know I love you and please don't ever forget that. Thank you for not letting me get like Bart with Henry. Now I'll see you when you get back. Je t'aime plus que la vie elle-même (I love you more than life itself)."

With that, he went to bed.