A/N#1: Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well. The idea for this story was in my mind for a while now and was inspired by an episode of Parenthood. I wrote in about two days and it's the longest one-shot I've written so far. I own neither Chuck nor Parenthood. While the story is generally about family, I added some fluff because come on! who doesn't enjoy Charah fluff? Hope you enjoy.

/

Friday, February 12th 2016.

"CHARLES IRVING BARTOWSKI JUNIOR!" Sarah's voice bellowed through the two story house.

"Uh oh!" was all he could say as he heard his mother coming down the stairs. Whenever she used his full name, he knew it meant trouble. Sometimes he wondered how she was able to hear so well, maybe she did have bionic ears like Uncle Morgan had said once. He looked down at the floor where the shards of broken glass from the cookie jar laid. Sarah finally entered the kitchen; it had taken her a little longer to descend the stairs now that she was six months pregnant and her eyes immediately began to access the situation.

She examined him carefully and was thankful that her five year old son didn't appear to have any cuts or scrapes from the broken glass. " Stay right there" she commanded him as she proceeded to get the broom and dustpan from the small kitchen closet. "CJ? How many times have I told you NOT to try to reach the cookie jar from the counter?" she asked him.

He didn't answer but merely shrugged; his brown eyes displaying remorse. She had told him that lots of times; in fact both of his parents had. But he knew he wouldn't have gotten another cookie, especially since his miter had already been lenient and given him an extra one earlier. But Aunt Ellie's cookies always tasted sooooo good and that's why when his mother went upstairs to search for a file, he thought he could grab a cookie before she came back. With his height, reaching the cookie jar had seemed attainable but when he heard the loud crash as the jar shattered on the tiles, his mind raced with what possible punishments his mother might come up with.

He really didn't want to get into trouble though and his mother would be angry with him. The thought of his mother canceling his gaming/ movie marathon with his father and Uncle Morgan which was scheduled for next weekend made him panic and it was then that he decided to lie. "It wasn't me."

Sarah had already finished sweeping up the broken glass and cookies and was in the process of placing the broom and dustpan in their place. She turned to look at him and cocked an eyebrow. "You didn't ?" she asked in disbelief "CJ. there was no one else here."

"It was um...the dog" he replied.

"CJ, your father took Chazzie ( their miniature collie-spaniel mix) to the vet this evening. " she reminded him.

Realizing his slip-up, he nodded and racked his brain for another answer. Thankfully both of his parents were quick thinkers and he had inherited that skill as well. "I know, it was actually the neighbour's dog."

"The neighbour's dog?" Sarah questioned. "Are you referring to the Hamilton's dog?"
In response, CJ nodded his head emphatically.

Sarah huffed as she realized her son was intent on keeping up with his lie. "CJ" she began, her voice low, "the Hamilton's dog died last year" she said with a hint of exasperation.

Oh crap! CJ thought, this was not going to end well. "Well maybe it was his ghost!" he proposed.

"His ghost! His ghost?" Sarah repeated. She couldn't believe he was lying to her. "CJ, take a seat."

He did as he was told and watched as his mother struggled to sit down comfortably. Sarah looked him in the eyes as she spoke."CJ, you know that it's wrong to lie don't you?" At his nod of confirmation she continued. "And when you tell a lie, you eventually end up telling more lies to cover up the lie you told in the first place and then you tell another lie to cover that lie and then before you know you don't even remember the first lie you told because you've been lying so much."

His brows furrowed in confusion and Sarah noticed this and attempted to explain it easier. "It's not right to lie. You should always tell the truth despite what the consequences might be and that way no one can say you're a liar. Do you understand?"

"But you're a liar" he replied.

Sarah was confused for a moment and then she realized what he meant. She shook her head "No honey, I'm a LAWYER. Some lawyers represent their clients in court and then they are others like me, we're corporate lawyers. We negotiate employment contracts and analyze legal issues with proposed products and" she stopped herself; he didn't need her entire job description "that's my job at Daddy's company" she explained "I'm just trying to show you that there is a difference between a lawyer and a liar."

"But Kayla's mom said you were a liar." he countered.

The mere mention of the phrase 'Kayla's mom' made Sarah tense. She had nothing against Kayla herself; as she was a sweet innocent girl but it was her mother that she couldn't stand. Kimberly Gibson just got on her nerves, and it was due the fact that she was simply a pesky brunette who always tried to hit on Chuck. And now she was telling her child that she a liar? In that moment, Sarah saw red and decided that she would need to have a chat with Kimberly. If she hadn't been pregnant, she would have kicked her ass a long time ago, especially when she saw her flirting quite shamelessly with Chuck at the kids' football game last Saturday. She probably would have done a good job despite being pregnant but she wasn't going to place her or her unborn child in any unnecessary danger. After the baby was born and she had recovered from the pregnancy though, that was another matter.

She took a few deep breaths before speaking again, "CJ I am a lawyer Ok? That's my job . Now is there anything you want to tell me?" Sarah asked as she waited for his confession.

CJ's eyes darted to the bin which now contained the broken glass then to his mother's face. "Um.." he began "no" he said as his eyes remained fixed on the table.

"No?" Sarah asked again; realizing that he wasn't going to say anything more, she sighed.

"Go wash up and then put on your shoes. We don't want to be late for dinner." CJ rose from his chair and ran up the stairs to do as his mother had instructed him. Sarah then went to the bathroom on the same floor since climbing the stairs to use the master bathroom and then descending would take too much energy.

When she emerged from the bathroom, CJ was already downstairs and had his shoes on. Sarah slipped on a comfortable pair of sandals, grabbed their two jackets and her handbag before leading him through the red door and closing it.

/

Dinner was winding down and Sarah was stuffed. They were now finishing off the last of Ellie's pecan pie and the banter around the table was light. After dinner, Morgan, Devon and Chuck had volunteered to do the washing up. The ladies were in the living room searching for a good movie to watch while Ellie's two children: six year old Clara and two year old Oliver in addition to CJ were in the playroom.

"It's great that Casey has started dating again" Chuck heard Ellie say as he entered the living rom and took a seat next to his wife.

"Casey is dating? A woman? Our Casey?" Chuck asked incredulously.

"Yes, as hard as it may be to believe, my father is dating someone" Alex replied.

"Well I for one can't wait to meet her" Morgan added as he sat next to his five months pregnant wife. "And dude, how cool is it that our kids will be born so close to each other!" he exclaimed to Chuck "They'll probably end up being best buddies like us!"From the time Morgan had found out that his child would be born about a month after his best friend's he was ecstatic to say the least.

Devon entered before Chuck could reply. "Well babe, the kitchen is spotless. And the dogs have been fed and watered" Devon said referring to his and Ellie's golden retriever and Chuck's dog.

"Thank you sweetie" Ellie replied as she gave him a kiss.

"I'm gonna go check on the kids" he said as he left the room.

"Chuck, Sarah would you excuse us for a minute, I want to show Morgan and Alex some amazing decorations for their nursery I found" Ellie said as she grabbed their hands and led them to her study.

" So what did the vet say?" Sarah asked.

"Chazzie's as a healthy horse. And he was actually really impressed by how he's improved especially considering the state he was in when we first adopted him."

"I'm glad we did though. He was just too adorable and besides, he needed a good home and I'm glad we could provide him with that." She said with a smile.

Chuck then placed his hands on both sides of Sarah's belly "And how was my beautiful baby girl today?" he asked and then kissed her stomach. "Were you a good girl for Mommy?" In response, the baby kicked. He returned his gaze to Sarah who was looking at him with pure love and adoration "I'll take that as a yes then."

Sarah placed her hands over his. "She was pretty inactive today; she only did a couple of somersaults in my stomach. But I really need to talk to you about CJ. Oh that feels nice" she purred as Chuck started to massage her swollen feet.

"So what about CJ ?"

"He lied to me today."

Chuck's head snapped up to look at her "What about?"

Sarah then began to explain the day's earlier events to her husband. "He really tried to blame it on a dead dog?" Chuck was incredulous.

"Chuck this is serious"

"I know, I know. I'll talk to him."

"Thank you."

/
"How about this one?" Ellie asked as she held out another suit for Sarah and Alex to critique. The two ladies were lying on her bed as she rummaged through her closet.

"Hmmm... I don't know the skirt is too short, it's bordering on being downright slutty." Alex said.

"I agree, it's not the best suit to wear to a medical convention." Sarah added her two cents.

Ellie huffed and plopped down on her bed. "I haven't had the need for suits in such a long time and I think that one is from almost eight years ago. I should've started packing earlier! The convention is this weekend."

"You'll be fine, you look great in the pants we picked out and they're plenty of shirts you can pair them up with. But I'll give you the name of this great store that sells some really nice suits at an affordable price." said Sarah.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

The conversation eventually drifted to pregnancy and kids in general. " Are you ok Sarah? You seem a little distracted" Alex commented.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." she replied as she rubbed circles around her belly "it's CJ actually "

"Is he giving trouble at school?" Ellie asked.

"No, no; in fact his teacher says he's quite brilliant." Sarah said and then paused "it's just that he lied to me today and I couldn't get him to tell me the truth."

"Oh, I'm sure you and Chuck will get it sorted out."

Ellie huffed, "Well Clara told me her first lie when she three years old and Oliver lied to Devon last week."

"Really?"

"Yep, I remember I only turned my back for a second and she ended up with a bead in her nose. I don't even know where she got it from. I asked her if she had put something in there and she said no. And after I had gotten it out, I asked her again while I showed her the bead in my palm but she still told me no."

"What did you do afterwards?" Alex asked her.

"I sat down with her and explained that it was dangerous to put things like that in her nose or her mouth. And then Devon and I explained what lying was and told her it was not awesome so she should always tell the truth."

"And what about Oliver?" Sarah asked.

"I had just finished helping Clara with her homework and then we joined Devon and Oliver in the backyard. I thought I smelled his diaper but when Devon asked him if he had pooped, he looked us dead in the eyes and shook his head no."

"Not that you've got to worry about all this stuff yet; you've got a couple of years to wait." Sarah informed Alex .

"With Oliver, it was a little difficult to explain the concept of lying since he's still so young and Clara may not have even fully understood when we first explained it to her - I mean it's not exactly a walk in the park explaining what 'honesty is the best policy means' - but as she got older, we reinforced that lying was wrong and that she should always tell us the truth. And sometimes, she does tell a lie but mostly because she's worried that we would be mad at her. I think that's what happened with CJ, he was probably scared of your reaction."

Sarah thought about what Ellie had said and it did make sense. She remembered lying about breaking her grandmother's vase when she was four years old out of fear that she'd be angry with her. "You're right Ellie, I'll talk to him when we get home."

/
By the time they returned home, it was after nine and CJ had fallen to sleep on the way. Chuck lifted his son from the car and then carried him into the house to get him settled in bed. Meanwhile, Sarah let Chazzie go into the backyard to perform his nightly duties before he settled into his dog bed. She then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and activated the alarm system before climbing the stairs.

When she got to her room Chuck still wasn't there. He entered a few minutes later as she was changing into her sleepwear.

"Everything ok with CJ?"

"Yea" he replied, "I got him into his pyjamas and brushed his teeth before tucking him in." He then walked up to her and hugged her from behind and rested his chin in the crook of her neck. "Have I told you how incredibly beautiful you are today?"

Sarah smiled. Sometimes she felt like an oversized balloon but Chuck always assured her that she was still beautiful and sexy. She turned so that she was now facing him "Why, , I don't believe you have" she replied with a sly smirk.

Chuck looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes "Well you are very, incredibly, beautiful" he said before leaning in to kiss her "and I love you." He looked at her she was smiling his smile; gosh how he loved that smile. "Is this new?" he asked Sarah as he toyed with the straps of her purple nightie. It had a deep-V lace bust which highlighted her fuller breasts thanks to the pregnancy and came just above her knees while hugging her curves perfectly and accentuating her baby bump.

"And here I was thinking you didn't notice."

"Babe, how could I not?" Chuck asked her as his eyes drank in the sight of her "you look absolutely stunning."

Sarah smiled at him again. She never believed she could have ever loved a man as much as she loved Chuck and she was very thankful that she had met him. He made her feel so special, so wanted, so loved; and the way he looked at her, it was as though she was the most beautiful woman in the world and to him she was. She looked into his chocolate brown eyes, and saw the love and desire in them and she was sure the same was reflected in hers.

Deciding that the foreplay had gone on long enough, Chuck leaned in and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Sarah responded enthusiastically; their tongues battling for dominance. As they made their way towards the bed, the kiss simmered into a more gentle one. When she felt her foot hit the back of the bed, she laid down, pulling Chuck down with her. He was always so gentle when they made love, holding her like she was precious china but he was even more so now that she pregnant. He peppered kissed down her collarbone and neck before going to the point where her shoulder met her neck; he knew it drove her absolutely wild and smirked in satisfaction when he heard her moan.
Sarah couldn't help but smile as Chuck hovered over her. As her belly expanded due to the pregnancy, they had to get more creative when making love but it was still as intense as before; maybe even more so due to her increased hormone levels. She then pulled him down to her and he was careful not to place pressure on her belly. "I love you Chuck" she told him before they started removing each other's clothes. And when he slipped into her as they expressed their love for each other, he whispered in her ear "I love you too, always have, always will."

/

The next morning Sarah woke up in Chuck's arms. They could no longer sleep in their usual position - with Chuck lying oh his back and her resting her face on his chest. Now, they were both lying on their sides with Chuck's hands resting protectively on her stomach. She loved this feeling; the warmth from Chuck's body and the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat provided her with a sense if security that she had never felt before meeting him. She absentmindedly rubbed her hands over Chuck's before opening her eyes to glance at the alarm clock. In bright red the numbers 8:42 glared at her. She twisted her body in order to look at Chuck, he was still sleeping soundly and wore a small smile oh his face. Sarah then placed a light kiss on his cheek before getting out of bed. She slipped on her nightie which had ended up on the bedside lamp the night before and then went into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, Sarah emerged from the bathroom, fully intent on starting breakfast for her family. Scanning her bedroom, she realized Chuck was no longer in the bed. She surmised that he must have woken up, used the other bathroom and went to make breakfast. She closed her bedroom door and walked down the hallway until she came to CJ's room. She peeked inside and saw that his bed was empty. It was then that her stomach started to growl. She placed a hand on her belly before saying "I know, I know you're hungry. Hopefully breakfast is almost done." As Sarah made her way down the stairs, the smell of bacon, eggs and ...was that blueberry pancakes? assaulted her nose.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw CJ sitting at the island table wolfing down his breakfast; he definitely had his father's appetite. "Good morning." she said as she bent to place a kiss on his cheek and ruffled his brown hair which was starting to make animal he did need a haircut.

"Good morning mommy" the little boy replied and then gave his mother a kiss. He then placed a hand on his mother's belly and said "Good morning baby."

Chuck who had just finished the last batch of pancakes came up behind her. "And good morning to both of you too." he said giving her a quick kiss on her lips "I hope you're hungry."

Sarah took a seat as Chuck placed a plate with her breakfast in front of her "We're almost starving!" she replied before pouring maple syrup on her pancakes "and these are delicious as usual honey."

"Thank you" Chuck replied. He them poured two glasses of orange juice before sitting next to his wife. "Oh! I almost forgot, your mom called while you were in the bathroom. She wants to know if you'd like to go baby shopping next weekend."

"I think I will, we still need some more clothes for the baby and since you guys have the marathon next week it'll just be us girls."

Chuck nodded before turning his attention to his son. "So buddy how was school yesterday?"

"It was ok. My teacher says we are going on a field trip next week."

"A field trip! That sounds exciting. Where are you going?"

"To the zoo!" his son told him with excitement.

Sarah watched the interaction between father and son. CJ had already told her about the upcoming field trip so she didn't mind being left out of the conversation.

"So what do you guys want to do today?" She asked them as they finished eating.

"We could go to the park," CJ suggested.

Chuck looked at Sarah , his eyes asking her what he thought about the idea. He didn't mind what they did, as long as they did it as a family. Sometimes they went to the beach for picnics and Sarah was able to engage in one of her new pastimes- surfing. Ellie and Alex had also picked it up and so did Zondra when she visited. Obviously, since she was pregnant, Sarah didn't surf anymore so their days at the beach were spent making sandcastles, burying either Chuck or CJ in the sand and wading in the water.

"That's a good idea CJ. We haven't been to the park in a while and Clara told me they installed a new swing set." Sarah said.

"Awesome!" CJ exclaimed before getting out of his chair. He was about to head to his room when he heard his father call out to him.

"CJ, we are not finished. There's something your mother and I need to talk to you about."
CJ stopped in his tracks before turning around to face his parents. He thought his mother had forgotten since his father hadn't said anything last night or this morning. His parents were now clearing the table and putting the dishes in the sink.

"Go on into the living room. We'll be there in a minute" his mother told him.

When Chuck and Sarah entered the living room which was littered with numerous family photos, CJ was sitting on the couch. They sat on either side of him. Sarah inclined her head to Chuck implying that he should start first.

"CJ" he began, "your mom told me there was an incident yesterday and the cookie jar broke. Is that right?"

CJ didn't verbally respond but nodded his head. He didn't dear look at his parents' faces but kept his eyes glued on his Star Wars pyjamas.

"And do you know how the jar got broken?" Chuck ventured.

"Yea"

"Was it the dog's fault like you told me yesterday?" Sarah asked him.

CJ's eyes were now looking at the floor. "Um...no"

"CJ, who broke the cookie jar?" Chuck asked him.

"It was me" he confessed, his voice soft and full of remorse.

"CJ, why did you lie to Mommy?"

He sniffed a little and dwindled his thumbs. "I was afraid that she'd be mad at me especially since the jar was a gift from Grandma."

It was true that Sarah liked the jar her mother had given her very much but that didn't mean she'd be mad at him. She shot a concerned glance in Chuck's direction. "CJ, I liked the jar but it isn't as important as your safety. You could have gotten hurt from the broken glass. "

"So you're not mad at me?"

"No."

"And you still love me."

This time it was Chuck who answered "Of course we still love you. We'll always love you. Just remember that next time you should tell us the truth and when you want something that you can't reach ask an adult to reach it for you. Ok?"

"Yes Daddy." He looked at both of his parents, his brown eyes sparkling with happiness; he was glad he wasn't in trouble. He threw his arms around his mother and then his father before saying "I love you."

"We love you too CJ" his mother said.

"And next time you visit Grandma maybe you can get her to take you to the craft center so you can make another cookie jar but out of clay this time." Chuck told him.

"Yea, that would be awesome. And this time I promise not to break it."

"Now go undress so you can shower and get ready for the park" Sarah said.

"Ok Mommy" he said and then ran up the stairs.

"Well I'm glad that's resolved" Chuck told Sarah.

"Me too, now let's get ready. You know how anxious he gets when we take too long."

/
Chuck and Sarah sat on a bench in the park, watching CJ as he went down the slide. They both had contented smiles on their faces as they waved to him.

"Where did you say you got this shirt?" Chuck asked Sarah.

She was wearing a pair of maternity jeans and a peek-a-boo brown-eyed baby T-shirt and under it were the words "loading 60%". "I figured you'd like it." Sarah said with a smirk.

"Well you look great honey."

"Thank you sweetie."

Sarah then took Chuck's hands and placed them over her belly.

"She's really active today isn't she?"

"I told you she likes your voice." It was true, whenever Chuck was around the baby always seemed to kick more often. "She's probably going to be a daddy's girl." she joked.

"Hey! It would only be fair since CJ's a mommy's boy." Chuck said and grinned. "I love you."

"I love you too. And thanks for making me the happiest person in the world."

"Get in line baby, I'm the happiest person in the world and that's because I have you and a wonderful family." Chuck said with conviction.

Sarah was about to lean in to five him a kiss when a voice interrupted her. CJ ran up to them shouting "Mommy! Can I have ice cream?"

/
A/N #2: Thanks for reading. I got the name for the dog from Yvonne's dog and the surfing idea is from some photos I saw on twitter of Yvonne, Sarah, Mekeena, Mercedes and some friends surfing. The name Oliver came from Sarah Lancaster's son as did the part about him lying, she had it on twitter.
And I'm probably very very late seeing this, but there is a pic of Zachary Levi in a bikini and a pair of Chucks and it's signed 'To all my lovelies in the wardrobe department. Do I make you horny baby? Grrrrrrr" and this made my day.

Thanks again for reading, please leave a review even if it's as a guest.

Until next time, stay safe.
With love, from Barbados.