A/N: Since 2009 I've posted a story on this date revolving around Chuck and Sarah's daughter, Serenity. Perfect Identity and A Life in Reference. This is the third in the series of annual stories.
Under the light of early morning, little Serenity Jayne Bartowski, dressed in her nightgown and knit hat, excitedly padded her bare feet across the hall to her parents room. It was September 30, her birthday. Today she turned five years old.
To celebrate the special occasion Serenity was having a birthday party and she was filled with jubilation as she thought about all the fun she would have. She had been looking forward to her birthday for weeks. Her anticipation of the party propelled her to her parents room in order to wake them up.
Walking through the room with the soft carpeting tickling her toes, the floor let out a small creak, easily waking her mother, while her father remained asleep. Seeing her mother sit up in bed, Serenity quickly continued across her parents' bedroom and over to their bed. Upon reaching the bed's edge the little girl reached up and started to climb, receiving assistance from her mother.
"Happy birthday, baby," Sarah said, giving her daughter a loving squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.
"I am having a party today," Serenity exclaimed with excitement.
"Yes, your party is today, but you still have a while to wait," Sarah explained. "It's not until this afternoon. We have a lot to do to get everything ready before the party. Speaking of which, we should probably wake your father."
Together, Sarah and Serenity set about waking the sleeping man. "Chuck." "Daddy!" "It's time to get up. We have to get ready for Serenity's party." "Party! Daddy! Wake up!"
Slowly Chuck opened his eyes, as the sound of his name being called stirred him from his dreams. The first thing Chuck's eyes perceived upon waking prompted him to speak. "Oh what a nice way to wake up, seeing my two beautiful girls."
Sitting up, Chuck then kissed each of the girls in his life. First he gave Sarah quick kiss on the lips, then he kissed Serenity's forehead. After receiving her kiss, Serenity crawled into Chuck's lap.
"Happy birthday Serenity," Chuck said, holding the little girl in his arms. "Do you want to help Mommy and Daddy get things ready for your party?"
"Yes!" the birthday girl squealed.
The Bartowski family then departed from the bedroom to begin to prepare for the party that afternoon. The two adults walked and Serenity caught a ride in her father's arms. When the family had to go their separate ways, Chuck set Serenity back down and headed into the living room, while the two girls went into the dining room.
Since Chuck was the tallest member of the family and Sarah was almost seven months pregnant, he had been assigned to decorate the living room. His job was to transform the room into a representation of Inara's shuttle, which meant he needed fabric, a lot of fabric. Buying all that fabric would be quite expensive and since it would only be used once, it wasn't very practical. So instead Chuck would use fabric they already had, mostly in the form of bed sheets.
Taking a deep red silk sheet from the king-sized bed he shared with Sarah, Chuck threw it over the large window in behind of the couch. He took the fitted sheet from the same set and draped it over a smaller window. Using deep purple sheets from Serenity's bed he fashioned a curtain over the front door. Chuck also took several other solid-colored sheet sets, sticking with deep, rich tones as much as possible and spread them out over several places in the room, attempting to give the room a look as close as he could to Inara's shuttle.
While Chuck was doing that, Sarah and Serenity worked on the dining room. First they spread a pastel pink disposable plastic tablecloth over the table. Once that was done, the girls began working with a string of lights with colorful fabric flowers behind each bulb. After getting the mess of bulbs untangled Serenity held onto the string and fed it to her mother as she hung it around the open doorway. When that job was complete, the two went around the room adorning it with pastel pinks and greens and a dash of white, giving the room a girly feel, reflecting Kaylee's room a little.
With the majority of the decorating complete it was now time to move onto other things, but first the family took a short break to eat. The heavily-pregnant Sarah also used the break for a bit of well earned rest, which her feet thanked her for.
When their tummies were content and smiling after being filled and Sarah had rested up, it was back to work. There was still a lot to do before the party started.
Sarah and Serenity stayed in the kitchen, while Chuck headed to the garage to set up a game with a hula hoop and a beach ball. In the kitchen the two girls began preparing Firefly related foods and snacks. Because they would need help with some of the food and Chuck was busy at the moment, Sarah and Serenity decided to make the Fruity Oaty Bars first.
As the oven was heating up the girls put all the ingredients together, the butter, the sugar, the eggs, the flour, the wheat germ and of course the oats and dried fruits. Together they then moved the combined ingredients into the greased pan and put it in the oven, setting the timer for half-an-hour.
By that time, Chuck had finished hanging the hula hoop and blowing up the beach ball and had re-joined the girls to help them. What they planned to prepare next would require all three of them working together. Chuck, Sarah and sweet little Serenity were going to make Ice Planets!
Serenity was so excited. When she first saw an Ice Planet on Firefly, Serenity wished she lived in the future so she could have a dessert like River and Book too. It just looked so shiny and yummy too. Serenity loved ice cream and vanilla was one of her favorite flavors.
To start Chuck and Sarah took the ice cream out of the freezer and put several small bowls in its place. Serenity meanwhile, pulled out the ice cream scoop and gathered the other items they would need. Serenity then helped her mother make a cross with two small popsicle sticks so that Chuck could tie them together with some simple, plain floss. The popsicle structure would act as a support system to help hold the Ice Planet together.
The next step was Sarah's job since she was the most handy with a knife. She took one of the rods the ice cream would hang from and cut a little notch into it, so that the ice cream didn't slide off. No one wanted that to happen. Thus, to ensure their were no tears over lost treats and no sticky mess to clean up off the floors, Sarah created the groove in the rod.
As Sarah was working on the rod, Chuck grabbed two of the now ice cold little bowls from the freezer. Sarah then returned to the table with the notched rod and tied it to the string opposite the popsicle sticks. Now that the structure for holding the Ice Planet was built it was time to add the ice cream.
Using the ice cream scoop, Sarah packed the two bowls full of vanilla ice cream. Chuck then picked up the crossed popsicle sticks and held them in place while Sarah brought the two bowls of ice cream together around the sticks. Once the two bowls met she tightly squeezed them together and then handed it off to Chuck to wipe off the outsides of the bowls and put it in the freezer.
Once their hands were clean it was time to start on the second Ice Planet. They repeated the process until there were enough for all the kids attending the small birthday party.
By that time the Fruity Oaty Bar Mixture had finished baking in the oven and had been cut into little bars. And now that the oven was free it was time to make the cake, because no birthday party is complete without cake.
Since this was a Firefly themed party, the birthday cake was going to be a chocolate 'protein' cake like the one Simon had on his birthday. Only instead of using protein, Serenity's cake would actually be made of cake. It would look like Simon's cake, but taste a lot better.
Once the little tower of cake was prepared and baked, Chuck and Sarah let their daughter cover it with frosting herself, to give it that messy look the cake had. Since Serenity was just five years old, creating a mess was quite easy. In fact, it was one of her talents.
When the cake was done and all three were clean once again, Sarah took her daughter to get her ready for the party, while Chuck finished up with the food in the kitchen. To go with the 'protein' cake, the Ice Planets and the Fruity Oaty, Bars Chuck fixed some strawberries and sliced some apples. He also double checked the refrigerator to make sure they had 'Mudder's Milk,' or in this case, chocolate milk.
When Sarah and Serenity returned some time later, Serenity was dressed up like Inara in the very first episode of Firefly. She was wearing a cute little red dress and she had a shawl over one of her shoulders. She was also wearing one of her necklaces and a bracelet on each wrist. For shoes she had on a pair a flip flops and Sarah had painted her finger and toenails a dark red. She had also curled her hair a little.
Serenity looked like a cute little kid version of Inara and when she was in the living room which had been set up to resemble Inara's shuttle, she looked so adorable that Chuck just had to take a few, dozen pictures of his baby girl, as well as the rest of the party.
Everything was now set up for the party and just in time too. It was almost time for Serenity's party guests to arrive. The birthday girl was so excited. She couldn't wait for her friends to arrive and for them to see everything that had been set up, even though none of them knew what Firefly was. Most of the guests were between four and six years old, with the exception of her cousin who was almost nine. He had a little knowledge about Firefly, all of which he had leaned from her and Uncle Chuck.
Unable to sit still to wait for her friends to get to her house, Serenity ran out the front door, with Chuck following right behind her, hoping that by going outside it would make her friends show up quicker. Sarah, who was worn about by now, sat in the recliner in the living room and laid her hands across her stomach. While Serenity was dying for her friends to show up, Sarah was hoping to have some time to relax before the chaos of the party started.
"Welcome to the shiniest shindig in the 'verse!" Serenity proclaimed as the first of the guests arrived, while standing under a banner over the front door which said the same thing. She repeated the same message each time one of her friends made it to the party. Within half-an-hour all the guests had arrived and it was time for the fun to begin.
Due to Sarah's condition, Chuck was in control of the party. He didn't want Sarah to do too much, especially not run after a bunch of small children. So while Chuck ran around supplying all the kids with party hats and gathering the presents into one location, Sarah continued to take things easy. Chuck also turned on some background music, playing the the Firefly soundtrack to add a little more atmosphere to the party.
After playing a few typical children's party games, like pin the tail on the donkey and racing to see who could pop their balloon the fastest, Serenity was excited to show her friends the game her daddy had set up in the garage. Basketball, Firefly-style.
Since it was Serenity's party she got to be the captain for her team and pick who she wanted for her team first. Once the kids had been divided into two teams, they were ready to play. Like in the show, there were no real rules to the game, which proved to work out well with such young kids.
Running around the garage, whoever had the beach ball threw it at the hula hoop Chuck had hung up in the air, trying to get the ball through. More often than not the attempts were not successful, as none of the kids really took the time to aim their throw and tended to just hurl the ball into the air in the general direction of the dangling hoop.
Whenever the ball successfully made it through the hoop it was impossible to miss. The resulting cheers could be heard by those not even in the garage. What was hard to discern were the points that Sarah was trying to keep track of. The game was a dizzying frenzy of hair and limbs, as small children wildly ran around squealing and and laughing.
Because there were no rules to the game, at one point Chuck scooped Serenity up and put her on his shoulders to give her a better shot at the hoop. Since Chuck was able to put Serenity right in front of the hoop it was impossible to miss.
After Serenity easily tossed the beach ball through the center of the hula hoop, Chuck took her from his shoulders and playfully made a move as though he was going put her through the hoop next, causing her to giggle and say, "I'm not the ball, Daddy."
"You're not?" Chuck asked as though he were surprised.
"No," she answered, continuing to giggle.
"Then wha...? Oh, it's my baby girl. Hello Serenity."
"You're funny Daddy."
Over in the score-keeping corner, Sarah was amused by the antics of her husband and daughter, and the game in general. She was enjoying watching the game so much that she nearly didn't record the last point Serenity made. In fact, she didn't remember until Serenity said something abut it.
"Did you see me score a point Mommy? Daddy almost threw me in the hoop."
"Yes, I did baby," Sarah answered, adding another point to Serenity's team. "Daddy's silly isn't he?"
"Yeah," Serenity replied with a laugh.
The Firefly basketball game continued on for a while longer, with the birthday girl and her team winning by just two points. During an hour of play they managed to get the beach ball to go through the hula hoop an 'impressive' six times.
After the game, the party moved out of the garage and back into the main house. All but one person headed into the home. That person was Sarah. She was experiencing some difficulties getting out of the chair she had been occupying while keeping score for the game. Noticing this, Chuck headed back across the garage to help his wife out.
Once Chuck got his pregnant wife to her feet, he leaned in and kissed her. The kiss wasn't long or overly passionate, since they were currently in the company of several little kids ranging in age from four to eight. But even though it was just a small, quick kiss, it was still filled with love that both parties could feel as it warmed their hearts.
Chuck then wrapped an arm around her shoulder and used the other arm to rub Sarah's rounded belly. As they walked out of the garage together, Chuck turned to Sarah and pressed another kiss against her cheek.
"I know we haven't had a lot of time for each other today because we've been so busy with Serenity's birthday party, but, I love you Sarah. And I'm sorry I hadn't told you that yet today until now."
"I love you too, Chuck. And I'm sorry I haven't told you that love you today either. I'll make it up to you tonight after Serenity goes to bed," Sarah said, whispering the last part.
Re-joining the party, Chuck and Sarah herded the kids into the dining room. It was time to eat all the yummy snacks they had prepped with Serenity's help. After washing her hands upon being reminded to do so by her parents before touching the food, Serenity immediately headed for the fruit, grabbing a strawberry with one hand and an apple slice with the other.
Chuck and Sarah were proud to see that even when chocolate cake was tickling her senses and making her stomach do somersaults, that their daughter would still willingly eat fruit. Chuck and Sarah directed the other kids to the strawberries, apples and Fruity Oaty Bars too because they still had to get the cake set up with the candles.
Looking at the two pieces of fruit in her hands Serenity tried to decide which she should eat first. After some thought, she opted to eat the strawberry first since it was the first to appear in the show. And like she saw in Firefly, Serenity copied Kaylee's actions when eating the strawberry as best she could, eating it slowly and savoring the flavor.
After consuming her strawberry, Serenity ate her apple slice and she also wanted to try the Fruity Oaty Bars, so she got one of those next. Her snacking was making her thirsty, so she asked her father for some Mudder's 'chocolate' Milk.
When Serenity was finished eating her fruit and fruity snacks, she was ready for some chocolate birthday cake. Chuck lit the five candles sitting at the top of the cake and then prompted everyone to start singing Happy Birthday to Serenity.
Making a secret wish, Serenity blew out the candles in one breath, causing the room to erupt with applause, immediately followed by excited shouts of, "I want some cake!" and "Me too!" from the children.
Since Sarah had just gotten comfortable Chuck didn't want to force her to get back up just to cut the cake, so he cut it himself. When all the kids had been given a slice a cake, Chuck cut a piece that he and Sarah could share.
While the children were focusing all their attention on the chocolatey cake in front of them, Chuck and and Sarah sat close with a single slice a of cake and a fork between them. Chuck cut off a bite of cake, but instead of eating it himself, he offered it to Sarah, who had been eying the the chocolatey frosting all day.
The chocolate aroused her taste buds and made them dance around in her mouth. She had been craving chocolate all day and apparently someone else liked chocolate too. After swallowing the bite of chocolate cake, the baby started kicking her stomach.
"I think someone has a sweet tooth," Sarah said, laying her hand over her stomach.
To see what Sarah was talking about Chuck laid his hand on his wife's stomach along with her hand. "Yeah, I think you're right," Chuck answered when he felt the baby's kicking.
While both her own hand and that of her husband rested on her pregnant belly, Sarah leaned in the short distance to reach Chuck's face and gave him a quick kiss that tasted of chocolate.
"Mmm-mm," Chuck said. "That tastes good. I think I need more of that."
"The kiss or the cake?" Sarah asked.
"Both." Chuck answered, tasting a bit of the cake before stealing a kiss from his wife.
It didn't take long for the kids to eat their cake and before they knew it, Serenity was standing in front of her parents, asking when she and her friends could have the Ice Planets that were in the freezer. Even before the Ice Planets had been made Serenity had been wanting one. Eating the ice cream treat on a string was the party activity she had been most looking forward to and she couldn't wait any longer.
Handing the plate with the remaining bit of cake to Sarah, Chuck got up to get the Ice Planets. Removing one of the bowl contraptions containing a planet from the freezer, Chuck took it to the sink to release the dessert from the bowl. Chuck ran the bowls under warm water, twisting them until the seal was broken and the frozen treat fell into his hand. Chuck then handed the stick holding the Ice Planet over to Serenity so she could eat it. Chuck then repeated the process with the other Ice Planets handing them other to the other children one-by-one.
With the swinging treat dangling above her head, Serenity announced, "My food is problematic," quoting River, while she licked at the Ice Planet trying to eat it.
To help his daughter out, Chuck firmly held onto the floss near the planet to stop its swinging, so that she could lick the ice cream treat without having it fly away from her. Once she got the hang of how to eat her Ice Planet without letting it get away from her, Chuck let her finish the dessert on her own.
Once the Ice Planets were consumed and everyone was cleaned up, it was time for another party activity that Serenity was really looking forward to, opening her presents! Presents were always one of the best things about birthdays. Serenity loved ripping open the colorful paper to find out what was hidden inside.
After opening all the presents from her little friends and seeing all the shiny new toys they had given her, it was time to open the gifts from her parents. She couldn't wait to see what they had gotten for her. Mommy and Daddy always gave great presents.
Opening the envelope first, she found a card featuring a picture from Firefly that Chuck had printed off the computer. Giving the card to her father, he helped her read the message that he and Sarah had written inside. Next, Serenity opened the smallest of the three gifts from her parents. After peeling the paper off she found a small box, which she opened to reveal a little necklace with a bottle cap charm on it that had a picture of River inside.
"It's pretty! Can you put this on for me Mommy?" Serenity said holding the necklace out to Sarah.
Serenity then moved onto the next biggest present, which was a little bigger than the necklace. Tearing through the paper, leaving a mess of crumpled bits of paper on the table, revealed a red box. Turning it over to the front side she discovered what was inside and squealed with delight. "My own Serenity!"
Unable to move for a while, Serenity just stared at the box with a shiny keychain that looked like the spaceship Serenity inside. She couldn't decide whether to open the box and play with the keychain or leave it in the box and just look at it. Eventually, Chuck had to remind her that she had one present left to open.
The last present wasn't in a box at all. It was in a long tube with a shiny pink bow on top. Pulling the lid off the tube, Serenity dumped the contents into her hand. When she unrolled the final gift, she discovered four posters, each featuring one of the girls from Firefly.
"These can go on my wall with my Serenity poster!" the little girl exclaimed.
Being a five-year-old girl, River, Zoe, Inara and Kaylee were her favorite characters from the show. Seeing the posters of all her favorite Firefly characters made Serenity smile brightly jump up to give her parents a big hug.
"I love you," she said, squeezing Chuck and Sarah tightly. "You're the best Mommy and Daddy in the world!"
"We love you too baby. Happy birthday sweetie."
After the presents were opened, the party began to wind down and soon everyone had gone home. The excitement of the party had left Serenity all tuckered out and the birthday girl was in need of a rest. So after hanging Serenity's new posters on the wall, her parents tucked her into bed for a nap. Chuck and Sarah then retired to their own bedroom for a bit of quiet time alone. They needed some time to unwind after the party as well.
Resting against the headboard, using a pillow for softness, Chuck began looking through all the pictures he had taken of his daughter from the party. Sarah, wanting to see the pictures as well, snuggled up against Chuck, wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder.
It seemed Chuck had taken a picture of everything. He had pictures from before the party where Serenity was all dressed up. Pictures from the Firefly basketball game. Pictures of Serenity with chocolate cake and ice cream all over her face. Those were Chuck and Sarah's favorites. There were also a number of pictures of Serenity opening her presents and reacting to the gifts, especially the ones they had given her.
After oohing, awing and laughing at all the cute, silly little moments of their daughter Chuck had captured, Sarah lifted her head a little to look at her husband and pressed her lips against his neck. Then while rubbing Sarah's swollen stomach, Chuck softly held Sarah's face with his other hand and bent down to kiss her on the lips. And for the first time today they were able to exchange a heated, passionate kiss.
Making up all the quiet alone time they had missed out on due to Serenity's party, Chuck and Sarah looked deeply into each other's eyes, expressing all the love they had for one another. Sensually, they stroked each other's faces and exchanged passion fueled kisses until they drifted off to sleep, still cuddled up together in their loving embrace. Contented smiles were painted on their faces and their hearts were beating in blissful harmony.