Chuck vs. The First Year of Parenthood

So what's in store for Chuck, Sarah, and A.J. this time around? This particular chapter focuses on the furry member of the Bartowski family Peaches. How is she as a big sister to a tiny little human and will she take her role very seriously? Read and find out what happens! Anyways, I think you'll enjoy it. Enjoy the read peeps.

Again, if you enjoyed reading my stories and left a comment please leave a comment for this one as well. Tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy the read.

Man's Best Friend

September 6, 2011

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Peaches Bartowski. The most loyal and not to mention lovable canine companion to one Chuck and Sarah Bartowski. Now, she is considered to be not just the big sister of A.J. Bartowski, but his protector as well. For the past 6 years, the golden lab has been by their side through the high of highs and quite certainly the low of lows. The truly highest of highs came when she was introduced to the newest tiny human for the very first time after Chuck brought her over to Casa Bartowski after spending nearly a week and a half with the next door neighbors Rusty and Isabel along with their son C.J.

In any case, the moment Peaches was introduced to her new tiny little human she was at first curious as any dog would be. She sniffed the precious newborn cradled in Sarah's arms and in her own way carefully observing anything, as well as everything about this new person being brought into her house. While doing so, she would briefly turn her attention to both her human owners who clearly expressed happily and not to mention somewhat concerned smiles on their faces knowing full well it can be a considerably cautious situation when it involves bringing someone new home.

Thankfully, their concerns were quelled as the 6 year old golden lab gently licked A.J.'s cheek as she happily wagged her tail signifying that she has fully accepted the tiny little human into the family. For it's a gesture that most definitely gave an overwhelmingly sense of relief to both father and mother because it could have completely gone the other way with Peaches not accepting their son. In their minds, the possibility of Peaches being jealous never really crossed their mind due to the fact that she's always been by Sarah's side to the point of the loveable pooch laying her head on her stomach.

She has also been extremely protective as well especially when it came to the unexpected visit from the late Special Agent Daniel Shaw. Chuck and Sarah's canine companion knew immediately something was not right with Shaw despite the couple not knowing themselves. It's something that has stuck with Sarah and she has been forever grateful for Peaches in having the protective instincts on full alert on that particular day. Canine protective instincts or call it whatever you will The Bartowski's 4 legged canine companion is considered an important part of the family dynamic. A dynamic strengthened by the newest addition to the family.

When it comes to Peaches, she hasn't let A.J. out of her sight and it doesn't matter if Sarah or Chuck go into kitchen or even mailbox with the baby in his or her arms, she's right there following suit. In Chuck's mind, it's like his infant son has his very own canine bodyguard watching over him somewhat like Kevin Costner's character kept a watchful eye over Whitney Houston's character in the movie The Bodyguard. To Chuck and Sarah, they both know she would literally lay down her life to where she takes a bullet for her human little brother. Peaches loves A.J. that much. It's a bond and nonverbal promise from dog to infant baby that can never be broken because of how incredibly strong the love is from a member of the family that even though is unable to speak, she shows how much she cares in so many different ways.

It's that particular thought swirling around within Chuck's mind as he sits on the living room floor with the coffee table moved away at a safe distance. Why? The reason is A.J. laying on a blanket in the middle of the floor seemingly content and without a care in the world as any 4 month old would be. While sitting there leaning back against the black leather couch, his attention on his son would be averted just off to his right where Peaches is laying down inches away from her little brother. The infant baby bouncy seat sitting right behind her. The loveable lab never leaves A.J.'s side and although she's presently asleep on her side, the second she hears any kind of distress on his part her head will pop up immediately to check what is wrong.

As if on cue, Chuck witnesses Peaches' head pop up and direct her attention towards A.J. as the baby boy begins to cry causing her to raise up from a sleeping/raising position. She then with curiosity tilts her head from side to side wondering what's wrong all-the-while glancing at her tall and lanky owner sitting just a few feet away.

"Don't worry girl. A.J.'s fine." he softly said leaning forward to scoop his son up into his arms.

Upon doing so, he carefully turns him around in order to place him on top of his legs as he sits Indian style. Once he has him situated, he kisses the top of his son's head then playfully bounces up and down using both his legs, as well as his arms to lift him up. Unfortunately, the playful comfort and soothing voice of the youngest Bartowski sibling doesn't work causes Peaches to immediately sit up in a more concerned nature as the soft cries grow gradually louder to which Chuck notices.

The former nerd herd leader at this point raises and then turns him sideways a bit in order to smell what could possibly be the problem. After carefully sniffing several times, Chuck concludes that his son's diaper doesn't need changing but he does know what he may need. It's at this point, he turns his head to the left towards the open archway leading into the kitchen.

"Babe!" he called out. A.J. continues to whimper and fidget while holding him.

A brief moment of silence is heard before Sarah's emerges from the hallway. "What's up?"

A somewhat confused look is expressed on his face as he briefly glances from the kitchen to the hallway. For Chuck, his wife will always take his breath away. It doesn't matter if she's wearing his favorite red dress out on the town or dressed up in just sweat pants, socks, and a plain t-shirt with her hair in a ponytail she'll always be beautiful to him. Speaking of the latter, it's what's she wearing standing in front of him a few feet away. His thoughts concerning his wife's clothing of choice is broken as he continues on with the matter at hand. "I thought you were in the kitchen?"

"I was…" she answered shrugging her shoulders. "…but I went to A.J.s room to fold his clothes. I then decided while I'm at it to fold our clothes as well." Sarah pauses for a second then continues. "We have too much laundry for just 3 people living in this house." she added scrunching her face in a somewhat overwhelmed expression. "We should have garage sale and while we're at it…"

"Whoa!" responded Chuck with considerable amusement. "Hold on there Martha Stewart." he sarcastically stated. "Now, before you want to give away most of my stuff and end up wanting to remodel part of the house could you heat your son a bottle? He's hungry."

"Are you sure?" she said taking a step into the living room. She then stops inevitably crossing her arms then arching her right brow while leaning against the dining room chair at the ending of the dining room table.

"Sure I'm sure." Chuck retorted back raising both eyebrows..

"Check again."

"I know if A.J. needs to be changed. He doesn't." he firmly stated back shaking his head towards his better half.

"Maybe he needs his blanky."

"Tried it." he replied briefly picking A.J.'s favorite blanky. He then continues. "And before you say maybe he wants his passy…." Chuck glances down to his left next to his thigh at the pacifier in question. "…he spit it out."

After leaning over to her left and spotting the aforementioned pacifier, he gives her response. "I still think it's his diaper." Sarah stated standing her ground.

As the verbal tennis match goes on concerning whether A.J. needs to be changed or not, Peaches sits there glancing back and forth at her two owners. In that instance, she then turns her attention towards A.J. who she sees is getting visibly upset causing her to alert her owners by softly communicating in a way that doesn't cause A.J. to be startled so much so he loses it completely by the loud barking noise. The distraction works leading Sarah to speak up.

"I'll go warm up his bottle." she smiled.

"You're the best honey." he grinned watching Sarah disappear out of sight. His attention then turns back to A.J. who continues to be fidgety and sounding cranky. While doing his best to calm his son down, he averts his attention to a concerned Peaches who is now in front of him with her nose mere inches away from A.J.'s face sniffing him. A soft smile appears on his lips as he witnesses the absolute devotion she has for her human little brother. "He's alright girl. Go to Sarah in the kitchen and get her bottle for me okay?"

As if Peaches understood what Chuck just said, she expresses what seemingly is a nod then happily scampers towards the kitchen then disappears out of sight. While sitting there, he can hear his wife greeting the 6 year old lab causing him to express a bit of a chuckle. For the proud father and husband, he truly appreciates the strong relationship shared with the family dog who they love with all their heart as they know she loves them with hers. His attention returns to his infant son as he lifts him up again turning him a bit sideways in order to smell his diaper just to be sure it doesn't need to be changed. In doing so, he simply shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders.

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Peaches sits herself down a foot away from Sarah as she takes a bottle of breast milk that was pumped beforhand from the fridge. She then turns around reaching up with her left hand in order open a cabinet retrieving a glass measuring cup by the handle. Afterwards, she turns back around heading over to the sink manicuring carefully around Peaches so as to not accidentally drop the glass measuring cup grasped in her right hand while holding her son's bottle with her right. It's not long before the former C.I.A. Agent places the glass measuring cup down into the sink then reaches up pushes the sink's main water nozzle above it. Once she has it in position, she turns on the warm water letting it fill the measuring cup.

While briefly standing there watching the glass measuring cup fill up, a momentary thought crosses her mind. In just a few short months she has become acclimated to the position of motherhood and has done things as a mother she never thought she ever actually do or experience for that matter before she became a mom. One of those experiences is finding yourself leaking breast milk and not fully aware of it. Boy that was totally embarrassing and totally mortifying she thinks to hers, especially when it happened out in public.

True, before meeting Chuck she fully immersed herself into the spy world and as the late C.I.A. Director Langston Graham's wild card enforcer she faced every mission with a gutsy never say die attitude. For it's that gutsy never say die attitude in which she parlayed herself quite a career as a government agent with frighteningly scary razor sharp instincts to match and oftentimes hard to parallel among other government agents. However, when it comes to being a mother it serves as quite a challenge, especially in the early beginnings of taking care of him.

For her, holding a gun, any kind of assault rifle, or knife for that matter without any fear whatsoever and it feels familiar to her. Truth be told, it's what she used to holding and can utilize it with text book precision because she was after all a trained assassin. Yet, when it came to holding her son even for the first time she felt a mixture of nervousness and fear. It's those two emotions that has felt before when Chuck handed baby Clara over to her when she was born. A moment that she will never forget as long as she lives she thinks to herself.

Her thoughts concerning the first time she held Clara in her arms abruptly end when she glances down at Peaches sitting calmly by her side looking up at her. Afterwards, she averts her attention back to the glass measuring cup filling with warm water. It's not long before she turns off the running warm water and retrieves it with her left hand lifting it up to eye level. As she's looking over the water level within the glass measuring cup she she's blurred reflection of the loyal golden lab calmly and not to mention patiently sitting down. The 6 year old canine's tongue hangs out of her mouth as if expressing a smile towards her female owner.

After lowering the glass measuring cup filled halfway with warm water Sarah speaks up. "Do you think it's close enough girl? I think so." faintly grinned the former government agent.

In response, Peaches tilts her head from side to side then expresses what sounds like a yawn. Then she shakes her head and does what sounds like a sneeze leading Sarah to arch her right brow.

"Don't be so enthused to answer." she sarcastically remarked with considerable amusement.

After leaning over to the sink to dump out a bit of water from the glass measuring cup, she slides over to the right of the sink where the microwave is sitting. The proud mom to an infant son briefly sets the glass measuring cup filled with warm water down and reaches over pressing the latch in order to have the microwave door to pop open. Once it does, she sticks the glass measuring cup inside then closes it all in one fell, quick swoop. It doesn't take long for her to set the time to one minute and thirty seconds on the clock. Afterwards, she presses start.

As the microwave sounds off with time ticking down, Sarah once again glances down at the 6 year old loyal and not to mention loveable canine who is seemingly transfixed at the sound that the microwave is making. She expresses a smile as she begins to think about how Peaches and A.J. will most definitely be the best of friends. In her mind, she can imagine the two of them doing everything together and become bosom buddies to where she'll quiet possibly be the unfortunate punching bag. Yet, she'll endure it because she loves her little brother that much she thinks to herself. In addition, Peaches will also be A.J.'s protector as well.

Essentially, it's the thought of protection and being protected that brings the emotional side to surface for the blonde mama bear when it comes to her cub. She knows she can speak for her nerdy husband that when it comes to their son, they will be willing to die for him in order to keep him safe. To her, it wasn't until that A.J. was born that it all became truly real to the point where all her worse fears and anxiety filled moments came to fruition. Ellie, Shannon, Isabel, and my mom were right. Once you become a mom you never stop worry about your child/children.

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While standing there in front of the microwave lost in thought with Peaches right by her side, tears start to form in her eyes. She knows that as a C.I.A. Agent you have to suppress your emotions to be effective and have unwavering focus. You're taught to have a plan and have a contingency plan if first plan fails. In other words, nothing goes as planned she thinks to herself. The same goes for being a mother. She's heard first-hand accounts from Ellie, Shannon, Isabel, and her mom about what they've been through being first time moms.

It truly baffled her mind how much strength, resiliency, and not to mention patience goes into being a mom. A mom who is considered to be a jack of all trades but a master of none according to Shannon. When it comes to her mom Emily she explained it in a way that she best understood it. Granted, she is the expert raising her and her older sister Cassidy. God knows it was tough but she managed to make it work with the both of them turning out relatively ok. In any case, a mom means more than having given birth to a child. It means more than having given birth to a child. It's loving and knowing a soul before you even see it. It's carrying and caring for a life completely dependent on you for survival. It's giving air to the lungs that grew within you, and sight to the eyes that will never see you as anything but mommy.

In addition to that it's sleepless nights, its nursing scratches and scrapes, it's being stern and protective. It's teaching them to talk, to walk and to eventually run. It's learning to hand your child to a stranger to let them teach what you cannot at times. It's bracing them for a fall, and dusting them off after they do. It's seeing them cry and not knowing how to fix it, so you sit on the floor and hold them and cry right along beside them. It's teaching them that they are smart, capable, funny and giving them the security to do great things. It's building their self-esteem, supporting their dreams and loving them unconditionally. It's letting them go, letting them fail and teaching them how to get back up. It's going without so that they don't have to, and being OK with it.

For the 4 women she has utmost respect for, they are more Wonder Woman than mom. They see and so does she that being a mom is a gift that is unimaginable to any woman who does not have a child in their life. It's a connection that is unmatched and insurmountable in any form or other relationship. A love that grows continually and nevernding. A love that always wants more and better. It's being terrified that you can't prevent pain, injustice, heartbreak and at times even death. Laughing at jokes that aren't even funny, but the way they say it makes it's hilarious. Listening to stories that go on and on without a point. It's always being available for the "Mommy watch me!" yells and "Mommy I need you" pleas.

The times where you try to drown out the word MOM repeated over and over in attempts to get your attention. Moments of singing completely out of tune and settling squabbles with siblings. It also about being mean when you have to be and teaching hard lessons that hurt you inside so deep you want to cry yourself; but you must stand strong with resolve. It's being strong for them when you are weak. It's smiling when you want to cry, and crying when you're smiling with pride. Unfortunately, she has had moments where she had doubted herself to where she questions her effectiveness as a mom. Fortunately, she has Chuck and everyone else right there with her supporting her every step of the way. Yet, she can't help but feel there is an eventual breaking point with all that she's been through or will eventually go through. It's at that point, the following question rings within her mind: Will I be able to live up to what they've been able to achieve?

In that instance, she's suddenly snapped out of it by the sound of the microwave signaling the heating process is taking a moment to compose herself wiping away the tears forming in her eyes, she takes out the glass measuring cup filled with warmer water, she places the bottle inside. She then begins to wait for a few minutes with Peaches who is considered to be excellent company. It's not long before she retrieves the bottle then tests it out by placing a dab of it on her wrist. Good to go.

"Do you want to take the bottle to A.J. girl?"

Peaches' ears perk up and her tail wags excitedly upon hearing Sarah. A soft bark is expressed in response. Sarah reaches down with her left hand to scratch the top of her head then gives the bottle to the 6 year old golden lab placing it between her teeth.

"Got it? Good girl." Sarah happily said. "Now go bring it to daddy." she added pointing towards the living room.

Sarah stands with amusement as she watches Peaches turns around and scampers off with A.J.'s bottle in her mouth heading towards the living room. To her, even though dogs are considered man's best friend they're also considered to be a female's best friend as well.

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"Told you he was hungry." Chuck said smiling down at his content son cradle in his arms. He then briefly glances to his left where Sarah is presently seated beside him.

Sarah shakes her head then playful hits her husband's right leg. "You were right." she softly stated.

Upon hearing that, Chuck leans his head a bit closer to his wife. "I'm sorry…" smirked the lanky business owner. "…I didn't quite hear you." he softly added.

As much as Sarah would love to slap the back of her husband's head, she makes the decision to do something else. She leans in gently kisses his right check then whispers into his right ear. "You were right."

For Chuck, the way Sarah said it in his ear turned him on causing him to turn his head to face his wife to where he expresses the Bartowski eyebrow down towards her.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Sarah can clearly witness how frisky her husband is right now due to her unintentional way in her apology. True, it has been quite some time since they've spent some romantic quality time together since A.J. was born. Of course, they've both been busy with her taking care of the house and their son while Chuck is dealing with work as well. As the happily married couple eyes are locked on to each other, their concentration on each other is inevitably broken by the sound of panting. The source? Peaches.

"Later lover boy." Sarah replied. She briefly notices the look of disappointment on her husband's face from her peripheral vision sitting beside him as they both stare at Peaches who is staring back at them.

As much as she would love to, the passionate quality time would have to put on hold much to the Chuck's chagrin. The two of them watch as Peaches' focus is averted to her little brother A.J. From the youngest Bartowski sibling's standpoint, she's walking him as he Batman watching over Gotham City and if anything disrupts the tranquil nature he's experiencing right now being fed the loveable, protective pooch will swoop in to save the day. It's that particular thought gives Chuck immense comfort as he peers down to see that his son has finished his bottle. After handing the empty bottle to Sarah, he carefully repositions his son in order to gently pat him on his back in order for him to burp.

Once again, Peaches is transfixed on what is presently happening with haunting silence while seated in front of her two human owners. A few minutes go by when a number of faint burps sound off coming for the first child of Chuck and Sarah Bartowski.

A proud smile appears on Chuck face as he cradles his now full son in his arms. "Nice. I give that 7 bud."

Sarah can't help but smile at the interaction her husband is having with their son. It's not long before A.J. eventually falls asleep leading Chuck to place him in his comfortable infant baby bouncy seat wrapped in his blanky. Afterwards, Chuck sit back against the black leather couch with his arm around his wife blissfully watching their son drift off into slumberland. What the two also watch is Peaches seemingly going over and lift up with her nose part of A.J.'s blanky hanging over the right corner. It's such a heartfelt sight for the proud parents as they've seen it countless times on YouTube with a dog tucking in a baby but to actually witness it with their own eyes gives them absolute feels. Once she feels A.J. is tucked in, she leans her head down to smell him then gently lick his right cheek. It's not long before she lays down taking her position close right by his side protecting him from anyone and/or anything.

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NOTE: SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG GETTING THIS CHAPTER OUT. AS ALWAYS REAL LIFE. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? REVIEWS ARE AWESOME!