So Jeanne and Marie have convinced me to add to this little one shot and continue it. So, I have decided to write little snapshots into the lives of our favourite spy couple. The time-line will jump around from chapter to chapter, but I will tell you at the start when it is set. This goes unbetaed; I try and catch most of the mistakes as I write them, but if there are any glaring mistakes, let me know.

Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed the first chapter. Your response was overwhelming. Y'all are awesome.

This one is set at the end of season 5.

Toes in the Sand- Chapter 2

Carmichael Industries had been up and running for over a year now and business was booming, and even the Buy More's profits were up. There was hardly ever a day when the ex-spies weren't working. The team gelled together better than they had before and even Morgan was getting better with the Intersect in his head.

A week before Christmas and Chuck shut Carmichael Industries down for the holidays, claiming that he wanted to get the Buy More through the busy season without having CI's clients wanting them to do extra jobs. The real reason for the break was so that he could spend more quality time with his wife and make their first Christmas together as a married couple a memorable one.

They put up the tree and the stockings and hung fairy lights around the outside of the apartment. Casa Bartowski was a festive wonderland and the couple couldn't be happier.

Christmas Day rolled around quickly and Chuck decided to take a break from the madness that was occurring in the kitchen. He and Sarah were hosting everyone this year; they were all to arrive later in the evening, but Ellie being Ellie, couldn't help herself and was trying to help Sarah prepare the turkey. Chuck knew that both his sister and wife were excellent cooks, but there was no way he was getting in the middle of these two women when they were fighting. He decided that the perfect course of action was to tactfully remove himself from the battle zone and head into the living room where his video games were.

In the background he heard Sarah attempt to reason with his sister, "Ellie, I love you, but you need to let me handle the turkey my way this year."

"But Sarah, you don't know how Chuck likes it."

That did it; Sarah, who had been increasingly irritable lately, snapped. "Fine then! You do it." She threw the basting brush she had in her hand angrily into the sink. "You're his sister, I'm just his wife; how would I know how he likes the damn turkey?" Sarah stormed out of the kitchen and headed down the hallway to their bedroom, slamming the door behind her after she entered.

Chuck sat unmoving on the couch, eyes wide, he had never seen his wife get so upset about a turkey before. The sight of Ellie standing in front of him, hands on her hips, startled him out of his daze.

"What was that?" she demanded.

"What was what, El?" Chuck feigned ignorance at what had just occurred in the kitchen.

"Don't play dumb with me, Chuck. What's up with Sarah? I've never seen her like this." Ellie folded her arms over her chest and looked at her brother in concern.

Chuck put his XBOX controller down on the seat next to him and stood up. Grabbing Ellie softly by the shoulders, he replied, "I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Placing a soft kiss on her forehead he headed down the hall and stood outside the door. He knocked a couple times on the timber, "Sarah, honey, can I come in?"

He didn't hear any response from the other side of the door, so he waited a few seconds before opening it. "Sarah, I'm coming in. Don't kill me with your ninja skills." Entering the room, he saw his wife face down on the bed, hugging his pillow tightly. Gingerly, Chuck sat down next to her and ran his hand up and down her back soothingly; content not to ruin the quiet with any talking, for the moment anyway. Sarah rolled over to face him.

"Hi," she whispered, "sorry I ruined Christmas."

Chuck brushed her hair away from her eyes and leant down to kiss her softly, "You didn't ruin anything, Sarah."

She sighed, "I didn't mean to get angry with Ellie; getting angry at Ellie is like kicking a puppy." Sarah was getting herself worked up and tears welled up in her eyes. "I just wanted everything to be perfect, Chuck."

"Shhh, honey. Everything is going to be perfect, ok. Ellie's fine, you're fine, we're all fine."

Sarah sat up and curled up against her husband's body and placed a kiss against his chest. "I love you."

Chuck hugged her tightly. "I love you, too." He paused. "If nothing else, this will be the best Christmas ever because it's the first one that I've ever celebrated with a wife, and I think you're pretty amazing, so that makes it doubly awesome."

Giggling, Sarah pulled back and leaned over to the table next to her side of the bed and pulled a small package out of the drawer. She handed it to him, "Merry Christmas, Chuck."

Eyeing it carefully and bringing it up to his ear and shaking it, he asked, "What is it?"

"Open it and find out."

Chuck ripped open the festive wrapping and pulled out a rectangular box that was about four inches long. Reading the label, his eyes widened and quickly opened the box. "Is this for real?" he stammered out.

Sarah nodded, "Yeah. It's real. You're gonna be a daddy, Chuck."

Letting out a cry of delight, Chuck pulled Sarah into his arms and kissed her senseless. "This really is the best Christmas ever. Thank you."

Sarah smiled. "No, thank you, Chuck. You've made every dream I have ever had come true."

"It's my pleasure."

There's chapter two for you. If you have any suggestions about what you want to see in the lives of these awesome people, just drop me a line and I'll see what I can come up with.

On a side note, I finished playing Mass Effect and am onto the second one and I am so glad they got Yvonne to use her Aussie accent in it. I'm playing as the guy John Shepard…I'm gonna make him have sex with her. I'm terrible, yet I regret nothing.

Sam