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Mid-August, 2011

"Ok, Mitch, I applied their first coat of sunscreen, but they're going to need another around noon and then again at four. And make sure Toph keeps his hat on, please? He doesn't like the ties and he'll just take it off if you let him."

"Andi, really," Mitch laughed. "I can handle a little sunscreen."

"You have to take it seriously," Andi insisted. "Our kids are half Jewish and half German/Polish/Irish, they are pasty and will burn like crisps if you don't."

"I know, I know, I was in Hawaii last year, too," Mitch said gently.

Sarah watched the entire scene with amusement. Her sisters and their families had flown down for a weekend, and she had to admit she was nervous.

She still wasn't sure why she had called them up. She and Chuck had a life, a very full life, without them. They had fun and they had friends and they worked together and laughed together and were normal together and were spies together. She recognized that it was pretty close to perfect, without them. But the more content she became with it — she and Ellie had gotten close, then they'd gotten engaged and started planning a wedding — the more she realized how potentially stifling just becoming a part of Chuck's world was. Her friends were his friends; her 'family' was his family. Casey was probably the only person that was possibly hers first, and she was disappearing as an independent entity. She knew that, for this to work long-term, she needed more beyond Chuck and their work together. So that was part of it, but she still wasn't entirely comfortable with it. Potentially problematic as full integration into Chuck's life was, there was still something safe in it.

Because these people … they were her blood. That meant they were her responsibility. And they had no idea how not-normal she was, how precious stuff like this was and how absolutely unused to it she was. How she still wasn't sure she could be a friend or a sister, no matter what Chuck said. Plus, she really really just wanted them to like her. But the bantering about stuff like sunscreen just felt out of her depth.

Not that she was even going to Disneyland; Andi had planned a "rejuvenation day" with a four-hour spa appointment followed by shopping, before meeting the others for dinner. That meant she had a good nine hours all alone with her sisters.

She wasn't too concerned with sending Chuck off with the guys and three kids for the day: Emma appeared to have a little bit of a crush on him and he was currently running around in the front yard with Topher on his shoulders. No, she was more concerned for her own day with the sisters. At a spa. She had never done the complete spa thing — she'd even gotten out of it for Ellie's wedding, what with Fulcrum kidnapping Mr. Bartowski and them having to make an impromptu trip to Barstow. She had never wanted to do the spa thing. But she was going to do the spa thing.

"Come on, there'll be lots of hot chicks in skimpy outfits," Jamie said, smirking, to Daniel as they emerged from the house, swinging Colin between them.

"Honey, they're like, Ariel. That's not remotely attractive. It's porny," Daniel objected.

"Well, I went down with a few friends during law school, and they serve beer, so just have one at lunch and go around making funny faces for photos. Also, make sure to get plenty of pictures with Colin with the hot chicks in skimpy outfits."

"My son, the ladies' man," Daniel deadpanned, swinging Colin up so he giggled.

"Alright everyone ready?" Mitch called, clapping his hands. Emma, who was showing off her cartwheel skills to "Uncle Chuck," (who still had Topher on his shoulders, where the little boy was grabbing fists of his curls) quickly ran over to her parents.

"OK, cell phones are all on?" Andi asked, needlessly checking her own. "Chuck, you have the park passes? Mitch, you've got the correct addresses programmed into the GPS and the Park Pack?"

"Park pack?" Sarah interrupted.

"You know, Band-Aids, extra sunscreen, towels, a change of clothes for Topher," Andi explained. "And Daniel, you have … Colin?" she asked, her voice trailing off when she realized she hadn't delegated anything to him.

"I have Colin," Daniel intoned solemnly, tickling his son.

"Great! Let's get going!" Andi said. She even clapped.

Sarah stepped over to Chuck. "Hey, goofball," she smiled. "Hey, Topher," she reached up and tickled the little boy's chin. "Have fun today."

"You, too," Chuck said, reaching one hand over to stroke her cheek. "You're good with everything?"

"Yeah," she said. "Well. I hope so." She took his wrist and ran her thumb along its inside.

"It'll be great," he said confidently. "Like Ellie in one of her moods. Relax a little and it'll be fun."

"Yeah. I know," she said, leaning up to kiss him. "And you don't have too much fun. Remember, it's a kids' park."

"Uh-huh. Of course. I'm still flexing my cool-uncle muscles," he grinned.

"Oh, whatever. I've seen the way Emma looks at you. You're golden."

"Chuck! Sarah! Are you ready?" Jamie called, standing by the passenger door of Sarah's Porsche.

"Coming!" she called, giving him a quick peck. "Send me photos!"

They slid into her car, and she realized that Ellie had left a stack of bridal magazines on the passenger seat from their lunch on Thursday. "Sorry, we'll just move those," she said.

"How's wedding planning going?" Andi asked. "You and Chuck seem pretty not-stressed about it, which is good."

"Almost too not-stressed, if you ask Ellie," she laughed. "We didn't want to do anything huge and were just planning on getting married, but Ellie convinced us that it had to be something special. We have the location and the tent. The flowers are purple, pink, and white, but with a lot of green leaves and things in them. And we were going to have green dresses and cummerbunds, but now I'm thinking more like chocolate brown," she bit her lip, to see what her sisters would say.

"Ooh, that would be pretty," Andi said from the back seat. "I had teal but I always liked the espresso look."

There. Settled.

"Screw the wedding," Jamie said. "That's not the important part. Have you thought about the honeymoon?"

"Uh, no. No, we have not."

"Best part," Jamie swore. "Any thoughts?"

"Somewhere far, far away," Sarah smiled. She was personally thinking a cabin in New Zealand — hiking, swimming, sleeping in, sex, nobody for miles. Chuck, being sentimental, was thinking Paris.

"Have you been to Prague?" Andi asked. "It's my favorite city. I studied abroad there my junior year in college and just about died, it was so wonderful."

"Uh, yes, I have," Sarah said, trying to laugh it off. "And we won't be going there — we had a big fight there and broke up and didn't talk for a couple of months." She knew they were interrogating her because they had no other point of reference, but it was all getting quite uncomfortable. "So how's work going?"

So they talked more, about work and interests and things like that. She found out that Mitch and Andi had had a really rough patch right after Topher was born, and almost split up; that Jamie had been a vegan for 10 years, until Colin was born; that Andi did yoga every morning for 45 minutes and Jamie had run over 20 marathons. She tried to share, too: She talked about her recent discovery that she really enjoyed cooking (she left out how awesome she was at using knives, though), and about how last summer she and Chuck had joined a couples' softball league, but the game was just way too slow for her. She found out that Andi had forgotten to vote in the last two presidential elections too, a fact that enraged Jamie, who had interned on Capitol Hill when she was in college. They talked date nights and her sisters actually both liked to stay in and play cards and drink wine and watch movies, too, just like she and Chuck did.

"I remember Mom and Dad doing that too, actually," Jamie said wistfully.

"Me, too," Sarah said, remembering the three of them peeking over the stairwell to watch the date nights — always the first night that Dad came back from "working." "But Dad only drank beer."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that," Andi said softly. "Mom always liked pinot noir. It was such an odd wine for people to like back then, I remember thinking, but I really love it now."

"Me too," Sarah whispered.

She pulled into the spa then, and her sisters manhandled her into accepting the $450 package as repayment for the years of missed birthday presents.

"But I missed yours, too," she protested, trying to push her credit card onto the bamboo counter as Jamie body-checked her.

"Doesn't matter, Samuel, you're the baby sister and that's how it is," Andi said resolutely. The woman behind the counter, who looked vaguely like a bored Gwyneth Paltrow, quirked her lips up.

"She's too bossy, don't even try," Jamie grinned. She smiled back. When they were younger, the two of them had been especially close — they were only 22 months apart; Andi was a little older, and a little more responsible and mother-hennish. They were schemers together, with Jamie usually taking the lead and doing the talking and Sarah doing the dirty work.

She stepped back. "I could take you down, you know," she teased. It was weird — she never used sarcasm on anybody but Chuck. But she was going to try it.

Andi raised an eyebrow. "Sure, little sister, but that won't stop me from paying for this."

The spa turned out to be surprisingly pleasant — she'd had massages and manicures before, but there was something beautifully stupefying and mind-clearing about the entire spa experience. Four hours later, Jello-limbed and senses completely dulled, they grabbed lemon-chicken salads before heading to a shopping mall.

"I love the post-spa feeling," Jamie said, lolling back against the headrest. "It's like being high, but healthier. So great."

"You know, sometimes, you say things like that, and I completely forget that you grew up into a mature adult who has a child," Andi remarked. "Where are we shopping?"

"I was thinking Westside? It's this outdoor plaza with tons of stores. Or we can do an area with a lot of boutiques."

"No. I'm craving a J. Crew trip," Jamie said. "I realize I'm a betrayal to the Berkeley faithful."

So they headed that way, and started by hitting up the Anthropologie, Banana Republic, Express, and J. Crew. As they were headed toward the Anne Taylor Loft, a familiar swish of long chestnut hair caught Sarah's eye. Oh god. "Ellie," she called. She turned to her sisters. "That's someone you two should probably meet." She jogged lightly over to Ellie, looking much more confident than she felt.

"Hey, what are you up to?" she said, hugging Ellie briefly.

"Picking up a birthday present for Devon. It's next week, you know."

"Of course — Chuck already picked out his present, don't worry," she beckoned nervously to her sisters. "Actually, Ellie, I have two people that — that I'd like you to meet. These are my sisters, Andi and Jamie. Andi, Jamie, this is Chuck's sister, Ellie." Fingers crossed, she prayed Ellie wouldn't mention the wedding and that her sisters wouldn't refer to her as Samuel. None of them knew nearly as much as each thought.

"Oh, my gosh," Ellie said, reaching forward and hugging them both. "I've heard so much about you. It's great to meet you."

Andi hugged her back tightly. "Thank you. We've heard a lot about you as well." Jamie hugged her as well, a bit less warmly. That was Jamie, though.

"Chuck wasn't kidding when he said you guys were virtually identical," Ellie gushed.

"It's the hair," Andi demurred. "Three blondes are always related."

They stood chatting, mostly about the weather and work and Sarah and Chuck, for a few minutes before she sensed that the topic — wedding — was dangerous territory. "You know, we really need to get going," Sarah said quickly. "But why don't you guys join us for dinner?"

"Of course — you know, you guys have a full plate, why don't I just handle dinner?"

"Oh, Ellie, that's like, eleven people, that's totally not necessary," Sarah protested.

"No, no, it's totally fine. I have the entire afternoon off and have been dying to try a few different lasagnas. I've got this great roasted red pepper one."

"Ellie, I cannot stick you in a kitchen all afternoon. No. No way. Let's just go to Mama Margarita's. Please?"

"If we go there, Morgan will find out. And then he'll go into problem-child mode," Ellie pointed out, rolling her eyes. The two still really couldn't get along.

"Well, why don't we just invite Morgan and Casey as well?" She meant it sarcastically, but should have known better when Ellie was in Hostess mode.

"That sounds great!" Ellie enthused. "Might as well make a party out of it."

"Sounds … sounds great. How about 7? I can call and make the reservation," she said. Inside, though, her stomach was churning. All of them? At dinner? Together?

"Great! See you all then!" Ellie said, kissing everyone's cheeks. "So lovely to meet you!"

Sarah turned back to her sisters. Jamie looked half-amused, half-stunned, Andi just looked happy. "Sorry about that … I honestly didn't mean to make you meet like, all of Chuck's family this weekend."

"No, it's great," Andi said. "It's … It's really wonderful to see that you've got someone, Sarah."

"Ellie's been very welcoming," she said.

"Are Casey and Morgan Chuck's … brothers?" Jamie finally piped up.

"No, no. Morgan's been Chuck's best friend since kindergarten, though. He's … kind of an acquired taste. And Casey … is my … our partner from work." No matter how much of a team they are now, no matter how equitable the balance of power was, Casey was still her partner first. And she was pretty sure he would say the same thing. "He's … well, he doesn't like to talk a lot, but he's a good friend," she smiled. "He's important to us both."

"If they're important to you that's all that matters," Andi said earnestly. "Now, does anyone want coffee? I need a serious boost right about now."

As they're sitting at the tiny table outside the café, Sarah knew that she had to ask them The Question, especially if they were going to have dinner with Ellie. Because of the pregnancy (probably), Ellie only seemed capable of talking about the baby or the wedding.

"Mmm, taste this fruit torte, it's delicious," Andi said, pushing the dessert toward her.

"No, thanks," she said. "I, um, I actually have something to ask both of you." They looked up from their desserts expectantly. "And you can, absolutely, say no. In fact, it would be normal for you to say no. But, obviously, as you know, Chuck and I are getting married in May. And, um, I would like it — if you want to — if you two would be bridesmaids."

The two exchanged looks. "Are you sure?" Jamie asked. "I mean — yes — obviously, of course, we — well, I — would love to, but — you want us to?"

"Yes. Yes, I do," she said. "I got in contact with you because I wanted my family. I want you two there. This isn't because I'm doing what I'm supposed to … I'm doing this because I want you two there. So please? Will you do it?"

Grins practically split her sisters' faces in two. "Of course. Absolutely, of course," Andi grinned, pulling them in for a group hug. Sarah grinned, too. This was working.