I still don't own Chuck. Not sure who does at this point. Maybe Subway.

Okay shippers. I've stalled long enough. Time to get married.

Thanks to Happydayz for pulling double duty as my conscience in Brickroad's absence. Don't worry folks, her leash is just as short as Brickroad's. And thanks to Poa for stepping up as lead beta. I appreciate all of your help more than you'll ever know.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. If you didn't enjoy it, send Poa a PM, lol.

The Wedding Party

- - - -

It must be the hormones.

After all, one of the first things that an agent was taught was how to hide her emotions. Emotions made you vulnerable. And tears were the absolute worst. She would never allow herself to cry in front of people. The only times would be on a mission. That happened a lot. After all, a few strategically placed tears from the poor helpless blonde made even the most cynical men melt. But crying for real? Never, that was for little girls. She would have never allowed herself to cry in front of Bryce. And they were together for the better part of two years. She had only cried in front of Chuck a couple of times. And that, more than anything, proved how much she trusted him. So why was Sarah Walker sitting at the table, in front of her entire wedding reception, bawling her eyes out?

- - - -

Three hours earlier:

Sarah stood at the back of the chapel, waiting for the music cue. This was seeming more and more like a bad idea. From the start, if it had been up to her, this wedding wouldn't be nearly so formal. But Ellie was obsessive about making this a "real" wedding, as much as possible. And no matter how much Sarah protested, that meant she had to walk down the aisle. Chuck had actually backed Ellie up on this one. That was as surprising as it was annoying. He knew how much Sarah shied away from being the center of attention. Taking his sister's side on their wedding day? They were going to be having a little chat about this later.

Then there was the stupid lady from the wedding chapel. For some reason, Chuck wasn't at his place at the alter yet. Okay, so now they were going to run a few minutes over. Give me a break. Didn't she know better than to bother a bride on her wedding day? Not only a bride, but a three-month pregnant bride who knew a hundred different ways to kill her? Some people were just too stupid to live.

Sarah knew that she had better calm down or risk making a fool of herself. So she tried to picture how she had always imagined this day. And she realized that she didn't have a clue. Being the bride had always been beyond the realm of possibility for her, even in her private fantasies. Sarah really didn't even know all that much about weddings. She knew that traditionally, the bride's father walked her down the aisle. She thought for a moment about her father, and then shook her head as she dismissed him from her mind. He was far from a traditional father. Even if she had a way to contact him, he wouldn't have made it in time for the wedding. Taking a deep breath, she once again checked the monitor. Where was Chuck? The cameras panned the guests every two minutes. Great, even her wedding would be under constant surveillance.

Sarah glanced at the screen, just for something to do while she waited. Suddenly, her eyes widened. She tapped a few keys to replay the last few minutes of footage. There. An elderly man shuffled over to the bench where Jeff was sitting. Sarah stared at him for just a moment longer and then smiled. Casey. Jeff didn't have a clue. He even extended his arm to the 'elderly gentleman' to help him sit. Actually, Jeff's stock went up quite a few points in Sarah's mind as she watched him help the older man.

Casey had crashed the wedding. Sarah smiled to herself as she made a mental note to find out if he had gotten permission from Beckman. But she strongly suspected that he hadn't asked. One thing was very clear. This was not a mission to him. It wasn't even the courtesy that you would extend to your partner. This was personal. He not only wanted to be here, he was willing to violate orders to make it happen.

She allowed the monitor to resume the live footage, and saw Chuck finally standing at the front of the chapel. Everybody was in place. The music began to play, and Sarah looked up, taking another deep breath. It was time to get married.

As she walked along the short hall towards the chapel, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Okay, this was getting ridiculous. Sarah turned forcefully to tell this wedding chapel bitch where to go in a manner that she would never forget. Instead, she stood speechless for a moment, wondering if the wedding day jitters included hallucinations.

"Dad?" she asked, more to herself than to anybody.

"Hi darling," he said with his classic smile.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked.

"Come on Angel," he said. "I would think that should be pretty obvious. I know I've been a lousy father. And maybe I don't deserve this honor. But it would mean a lot to me if I could take this walk with you. Is that okay?"

Blinking her eyes, she could only nod at him. It was a freaking fairy tale. Together, they walked arm in arm down the aisle and her father gave her away. As she took Chuck's hands, she suddenly realized why he had taken Ellie's side earlier… and why he was late getting to his position. They would so be having a little chat later. As she pledged herself to him, for the second time, she knew she was the happiest woman in the world.

- - - -

Now she was Sarah Bartowski. Legally. Officially recognized by the state of Nevada for well over three hours now. So why was the new Mrs. Bartowski bawling her eyes out? Why now, for goodness sake? After all, it had been hours ago. It wasn't that they were finally married. They had been married for three months. She was fine during the trip to Vegas. More than fine. It was light and fun. They had laughed most of the way. She was fine getting ready. Ellie clearly relished the big sister role. She had carefully guided Sarah through every turn, even to the point of not allowing her and Chuck to sleep in the same room last night. Which was a little on the silly side of old fashioned since they had been married for three months. Not to mention that they had a baby well on the way.

She was fine during the ceremony. More numb than anything. Thankfully, Chuck was far less nervous this time. Indeed, it was Sarah that was more nervous. Spies were taught to never be the center of attention. Standing in front of that chapel, with every single person that she loved sitting there… well, that was quite intimidating.

She was even fine during the dinner. It was a little strange introducing her dad to everyone. But naturally, Ellie made him feel like they had known him forever. And he had been on his best behavior. He didn't call Chuck 'schnook' once. As a matter of fact, there was a respect in his tone that Sarah had never seen before. Chuck had obviously impressed him. And he didn't impress easily.

It must have been a delayed reaction. Casey was long gone. It wasn't surprising that he didn't stick around for the party. Not only was that pushing it, it wasn't his thing anyway. Her dad had also just left. She knew that he couldn't stay long; after all, he was on the run himself. But just the fact that he was there… It was the first time in many years that he had come through for her.

The very last person in the world that she expected to see today was her dad. Her dad… there to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day. And the best part was telling him about the baby. That's a conversation that Sarah was sure that neither of them ever expected to have. And she could tell that he understood, because he didn't make any jokes about a shotgun wedding. Truth be told, she had never seen that particular look on his face before. He even hugged her. And she couldn't remember the last time that had happened. Maybe being a grandpa would change him in ways that being a dad hadn't. In any event, maybe he could be a small part of his granddaughter's life. Maybe he could even be part of a real family. It could change him. It sure as hell had changed her.

But Sarah knew that wasn't the reason for the embarrassing stream of tears that was currently running down her face.

She could blame the damn hormones all she wanted. But it was him. Her new official husband. She could see him, over there on the dance floor with his sister. Acting just like any normal guy dancing with his sister on his wedding day. How could he be so… well, perfect.

How could he have possibly gotten her dad here today? How did he even find him? There was one thing that was for sure, he was getting a lot better at this spy stuff. Because Sarah didn't have a clue. She tried earlier to get it out of Janice but she would have none of it. Partner privilege, what in the hell was that?

She never believed that guys like this existed. What he must have gone though to make that happen… wow. Nobody had ever done anything like that for her in her whole life. And he didn't even mention it. He wasn't looking for gratitude. He wasn't banking a chip to be cashed in later when he wanted something from her. The honest truth was he would do anything for her. Simply because he wanted to. And, almost as good, now she had a whole roomful of people who felt the same way. It was pretty overwhelming. And Sarah simply wasn't equipped to deal with that. Even Jeff and Lester didn't seem quite so creepy. Sure, they still stared at her chest. But somehow, it didn't bother her as much now. It was just them.

As Sarah tried to wipe the tears away, she became aware of Devon sitting at the table staring at her. He leaned in close to be able to be heard over the music.

"Welcome to the family, Mrs. Bartowski," Devon said with a smile.

"Thanks," Sarah said.

After a moment, he put his arm around her and Sarah buried her face in his shoulder. At least that would hide her tears for a moment. As Devon softly rubbed her back he whispered in her ear. "I meant officially. You've been part of the family for a long time. Don't be embarrassed. Nobody was buying the tough girl act anyway."

"Really," Sarah whispered back as a smile finally overcame the tears. "And I thought I was doing a good job of selling it."

It wasn't long before Ellie and Chuck finished their dance and came back to the table. As soon as they arrived, Ellie grabbed Devon and pulled him to the dance floor. Ellie didn't get the opportunity to party very often and she was going to make the most of it. That left Chuck and Sarah alone at their table for the first time since the ceremony.

Chuck had an expression on his face that was half grin and half concern. "Is being married to me really that bad?" he asked with a smile. "You look like someone just ran over your puppy."

"Bad?" Sarah said with a laugh through her tears. "It's a freaking nightmare. Are you ever going to tell me how you got my dad here?"

"Sorry," Chuck said with his own laugh. "That's classified. In a round about sort of way, you can thank Fulcrum. He wouldn't have been here last week when we first planned this. He almost didn't make it today. I will tell you that Janice and Casey helped a lot. By the way, I told Janice that they could leave. It was obvious that Bryce was dying to get her upstairs."

"Aren't you dying to get me upstairs?" Sarah asked.

"Not when you're crying," Chuck said as he continued kidding her. "You'd just depress me."

But then, as Chuck looked into her eyes, he quickly became serious. "Listen to me for a second," he said. "I tell you that I love you all the time. I hope that never becomes cliché. I'll always mean it. But I just wanted to give you a wedding present. Something that maybe would say the things that my words alone can't. The look on your face as you were walking down the aisle made it all worth it. I love you."

"But I feel guilty," Sarah said. "I didn't get you anything."

"Hold that thought," Chuck said with a laugh. "We'll be upstairs soon. But seriously, you said 'I do'. That was more than enough. You told me the other night that sometimes it was okay for it to be all about me. Well, tonight, it's all about you. This is the only time in your life that you're ever going to be a bride. I hope that those tears mean that you are enjoying it."

"I've never been this happy in my life," Sarah said. "I'm so sorry if it looks like anything else. Thank you for giving this to me. I love you, too."

"Trust me when I say it's my pleasure," Chuck said as he held out his hand. "Would you like to dance with your new legal husband?"

- - - -

Almost two hours later, Chuck was thankful that Sarah had finally let him take a break from the dance floor. But it was worth a little physical exhaustion to see her face light up like that. The tears were long gone. Only to be replaced by an ear to ear grin. Sarah was always in her own world on the dance floor. She was obviously having the time of her life. So much so that she even danced with Lester and Jeff. And while it felt great to see the look of contentment in her eyes, Chuck had to admit that it felt great to just sit and relax for a beat.

It was a surprise when Bryce and Janice rejoined the party. Chuck thought they had seen the last of them for that night. And Sarah was clearly nervous when Bryce asked her to dance. She looked at Chuck for an indication of what to do. The relief on her face when she saw Chuck's relaxed smile and nod was apparent. So he thought that it would be a good idea to dance with Janice.

"Why are you guys back down here?" Chuck asked once the song had nicely begun. "I figured you would want to be alone."

"We were alone," Janice replied. "We did what we wanted to. We had a good time. Now it's over."

"It's over?" Chuck asked. "How can it be over? It hasn't started yet. I'm sorry. I thought you two had a chance."

"Don't be sorry," Janice said with a smile. "I'm not Sarah. I'm not looking to fall in love… with anybody. And especially not with Bryce Larkin."

"What's wrong with Bryce?" Chuck asked, obviously confused.

Janice paused to consider her answer. She looked over at Bryce dancing with Sarah on the other side of the floor. "Well," she finally said with a laugh. "He may know his way around the bedroom but the man is not a brilliant conversationalist."

- - - -

Bryce leaned back to look at Sarah as they danced.

"What?" Sarah finally asked.

"I've never seen you look like this," Bryce said as he pulled her tighter. "You look so peaceful. Contented. The fear that is always in your eyes isn't there."

"I'm happy, Bryce," Sarah said.

"Are you sure?" Bryce asked. "You're giving up a lot. Are you sure that you won't miss this in a couple of years?"

"See," said Sarah. "That's where you're wrong. I'm not giving up anything. I'm home. I can't imagine being anything other than Chuck's wife and the mother of his family."

"I'm happy for you," Bryce said. "He's a great guy."

"He is," Sarah agreed. "I want you to be careful out there. We both care about you."

"Do you think that our great guy would mind if I kissed the bride?"

- - - -

Since Sarah couldn't drink, Chuck decided that he would stay sober with her. After all, it was his baby too. But naturally, that didn't apply to the rest of the party. So they were all pretty… well relaxed. So relaxed that they actually saw Jeff talking to one of the women from the hospital that had come with Ellie. She didn't even look like she wanted to find a hole to hide in. Could this be Jeff's lucky night? Chuck and Sarah were so busy giggling about the possibilities that they missed, at first, the fact that the rest of the party was pounding on their table.

Sarah was surprised when Chuck leaned into her and asked "Should we give than a show?" After all, he was the one who was always so shy about PDA. But apparently that didn't apply tonight. So instead of answering she quickly moved over to sit on Chuck's lap.

Sarah was just teasing. She really didn't intend on that big of a show. The last thing she would want to do was embarrass him. But as soon as she touched her lips to Chuck's the electricity simply overwhelmed her. And he was giving just as much as she was. Quickly, their tongues started to explore each other. And just as quickly, Sarah lost track of where she was. All she knew was that she never wanted this moment to end. She had never had such an intense feeling in her life. She closed her eyes and just let herself go with the feeling.

Finally, Chuck reluctantly broke the kiss and left their foreheads touching. Sarah stared deeply into his eyes, and then, remembering the guests, she blinked and glanced around the room. Everybody had a silly grin on their face at the unexpected exhibition. Everybody except one. Ellie sat with the tears freely flowing down her own face. And, for once, Sarah completely understood. Those were the same happy tears that just a couple of hours ago were streaming down her own face.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said. "I got a little carried away. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Don't ever apologize for that," Chuck said. "Kissing you is my very favorite thing to do."

"Are you ready to go upstairs, Mr. Bartowski?" Sarah asked. "I think I heard something about a wedding night. The rest of the party can manage without us."

"Is this a trick question?" Chuck asked with a laugh. Then his face grew serious. "I don't mind staying for a while longer, Mrs. Bartowski," Chuck said. "I know that you're having fun. Don't you want to dance some more?"

"I thought tonight was all about me?" Sarah said with a smile as she stood up.

"It is," Chuck replied.

"Well, then," Sarah said as she extended her hand.

"Please don't make me beg."

- - - -

Once Chuck had carried Sarah over the threshold and into their room, he took her to the couch and sat her down. Then he sat down beside her.

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing's wrong," Chuck said.

"Sweetie," Sarah said hesitantly. "Do you think I can't tell when something's wrong? Is this about Bryce?"

"It's not what you think," Chuck said with a smile. "I just feel sorry for them. I mean, they probably rattled the windows in their hotel room. But they'll never know what it feels like to cuddle up on the couch with someone they truly love. Isn't that sad?"

"Yes," Sarah whispered. "It's sad. The funny thing is that while we feel sorry for them, they feel just as sorry for us. But it's the life they've chosen."

"And this is what we've chosen," Chuck said with a grin as he rubbed Sarah's belly. "I was just wondering. What do you think she'll look like?"

"I don't know," Sarah said as her eyes sparkled. "Blonde straight hair, brown curly hair, brown eyes, blue eyes; with our mixture it could be anything."

Chuck leaned over and kissed her. And again… and then again. Quickly the kissing became more intense. Soon they approached the edge, the point where passion takes over. But just before they got there, Chuck paused the make out session for the briefest of moments. His grin was infectious.

"I can't wait to find out."

- - - -

Author's note:

I do have a serious question. It seems lately that there has been a trend among the various Chuck authors to use far more angst. And there is nothing wrong in that, by itself. I use angst in my stories. But lately, in my opinion, an increasing number of stories cross the line from angst to schadenfreude (thanks to Brickroad from coming home from her summer of living in a tent in time to teach me a new word, lol).

Perhaps this is a reaction to the season 3 spoilers. If so, that would disappoint me because I believe those spoilers are deceptive. But I see that many of those grim, depressing stories get a lot of attention. So, my question is, is that what you really want to read? Stories about Sarah running off with Bryce or Cole (or both, lol)? Stories that make you hate the main characters? If so, that's your perfect right. But if not, I'd like to gently suggest that you support the stories that represent what you do like. To an author, reviews are like ratings. They drive what gets written next. And, trust me, I'm not pleading for reviews. You've been great to me.

Okay, that's the end of today's lecture. I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing.

Thanks for your support