A/N: I hope you guys had a wonderful Easter. Thanks as always to charahkids for beta'ing this for me and to all of you who have read, reviewed, favourited and/or placed the story/me on alert. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Oh, and I've written two other little pieces recently: 'Casey vs Sariah Bartowski' and 'Just Like Daddy'. Check them out if you haven't already. :D
Hope you like this story.
Chapter 14: Three's Company.
Words: 8,079
"Mommy!" Little five year old Skylar called out.
"Give me a minute Sky; I have to finish changing Levi's diaper." Skylar frowned and watched as her mother worked quickly to change her two month old brother. With a resigned sigh, she made her way downstairs, looking for her father. In the living room, she found her father feeding the younger twin, Landon.
"Daddy, can you come play with me?"
"In a minute Skylar."
"How long is in a minute?" She grumbled. Chuck however, hadn't heard her and she strolled out of the room angrily. "In a minute Sky, in a minute Skylar...Humph." She mocked them with a scowl. Maybe I should call Uncle Casey and have him come over and play with me. Sure, he complained when they played Tea Parties and wiped the makeup which she used to make him look more lady-like off of his face as soon as they were finished playing dress up, but that was better than being ignored by her parents.
/\
"No one pays attention to me anymore. Not since Levi and Landon were born." Skylar confided in her friend David. "My Mommy and Daddy don't care about me now. They wouldn't even come play with me."
"My mom is a nurse at the hospital and she says babies need a lot of attention. I'm sure they still love you."
Skylar shook her head at him forlornly. "I don't think so. I bet if I ran away they wouldn't even notice."
David's eyes widened. His father was a police officer and had always warned him about running away since bad things could happen. "You can't run away! Bad things could happen to you!" He said concerned.
"I'm not going to." She confessed. "If I ran away, I'd be all alone. I wouldn't have anywhere to go, and I can't take all my things with me, so there'd be no point." She was also sure that if she did, she would be found rather quickly since her parents still operated their cyber-security company and would also probably contact her Auntie Beckman. With an 'aunt' who was in the USA military, she was sure the tiny redhead would give her parents the resources they needed to find her.
"Promise you aren't gonna run away?" He asked still not convinced.
"Pinkie promise." She affirmed holding out her finger and they locked their pinkies together. He smiled at her then, a big toothy smile. "I do wish I could move out though. That way, I wouldn't have to see Mommy and Daddy fawning over Levi and Landon all the time." She sighed. "But I'm not allowed to move out until I'm ready to go to college or unless I get married."
He smiled sympathetically. "Oh jeez, that's bad."
She nodded. Then an idea came to her and a light shone in her eyes. "I know what to do! You have to marry me."
"Me? Marry you?" He parroted, incredulous.
"Yes!"
"But I'm only six. My daddy doesn't even let me stay up after eight, and I haven't even learned fractions yet. We're too young to get married. I'm sorry."
"But married people are allowed to do what they want. They can go to bed whenever they feel like. They don't have to go to school unless they want to. This is a perfect arrangement."
He was pensive for a moment. "Ok."
"You still have to propose."
"And how do you do that?"
Skylar smiled. She had heard her parents' proposal story many times. "First, you have to get down on your knee."
"Which one?"
"It doesn't matter." She shrugged.
He complied and went down on his right knee. "Skylar Emily Bartowski, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" She exclaimed happily.
"Wait, don't we need to rent a church? I don't know about you, but my piggy bank isn't full and it probably costs lots and lots of money."
"Everyone doesn't have to get married in a church. My Auntie Ellie and Uncle Awesome got married on the beach."
"That must've been so cool. That means you could build sand castles and go for a swim afterwards."
Skylar nodded in agreement. A beach wedding did sound wonderful. Too bad they couldn't have one. "It does, but our wedding will be in the backyard and we can make it however we want."
Thirty minutes later, they were in the backyard, waiting for their two neighbours to show up. They had conversed over the white picket fence that separated the houses and after asking their parents' permission, Mark and his younger sister Lucia came over.
Skylar and David stood in front of a small cherry tree in the yard, as they prepared to start the wedding ceremony.
"Wait, the bride needs a cold, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." Lucia piped up.
Skylar frowned. She was already wearing a blue and white shirt, and her jeans were blue. The bride having a cold she wasn't too sure about. Who would willingly catch a cold for their wedding day? "I can't catch a cold at will you know." She pouted.
"I guess it doesn't really matter. Getting a cold sucks anyway." Lucia told her after a moment. "You can borrow my bracelet." Lucia offered taking off said piece of jewellery and clasping it around Skylar's wrist.
Skylar smiled her thanks. "Are you sure you know what you're doing Mark?" Skylar asked their appointed minister.
He nodded confidently. "I've watched this on TV many times." How hard could it be?
"OK, let's get this show on the road."
"Merely beloved," he began, "we are gathered here today to unite this couple in only mattress money. Marriage is a coverment, not to be entered lightly. It's time for the wedding bows."
The two children bowed cordially. Skylar then passed her flowers (which they had hastily picked from the yard) to Lucia so that she could hold David's hands in hers.
"Do you David Sean Rochester, take Skylar Emily Bartowksi to be you awfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in wealth, for butter-"
"Isn't it better?" Lucia interrupted her brother.
"For better," he amended "or for worse, in good times and in bad, and for the sake of all others, be fruitful for long as you live?"
"What does being fruitful have to do with it?" Skylar asked the 'minister' with a frown.
"And how can you be fruitful? Does that mean you have to be like a fruit?" Lucia was also confused. How was one supposed to be like a fruit?
"Are you sure you're saying it right?" David raised his eyebrows.
Mark glared at them, annoyed with their interruptions. He knew what he was talking about. He had been to church last Sunday and he specifically remembered the pastor reading 'be fruitful and multiply' from the Bible. Surely the same thing applied here! "I know what I'm doing." He told them confidently. "So, do you take her?"
"I do."
"And Skylar, do you take David to be your awfully wedded husband and all that other stuff I just said?"
"I do."
"Do you have the rings?"
Lucia, who was serving as the full bridal party handed one ring pop each to Skylar and David. They opened the packets and slid the wearable plastic rings with a large hard candy jewel on each other's fourth left finger.
"Yours is strawberry." David told her. Skylar took a lick and smiled. "My favourite, you're already a good husband."
David smiled at the compliment. His ring pop was his favourite too- blueberry blast. "So are you. A good wife I mean, cause you're a girl so you can't be a husband." He rambled and Skylar giggled.
"I now announce you man and wife. You can kiss now."
"Kiss?" David and Skylar screeched at the same time.
"That's what the minster says all the time. You're not really married until you kiss." Mark said, shrugging.
"But my Daddy says kissing is for grown-ups, unless you're kissing a family member. He said I shouldn't kiss a girl until I'm older."
"And Skylar can't kiss him!" Lucia cried horrified. "She'll get cooties."
"I don't have cooties!" David defended.
"So what do we do now?" Skylar said realizing they'd hit a stalemate.
"Maybe we should just shake hands then?"
Mark shrugged. "I guess that could work."
The pair shook hands and Lucia and Mark clapped and cheered. They were married now.
/\
Chuck strolled out into the yard with Levi in his arms. "Hey guys. The four children stopped their game of tag and returned the greeting. "Is everything OK out here?"
"Yes Daddy."
"OK, good. You've been out here for a while, are you hungry?"
"Can you make us some sandwiches Daddy?"
"Sure. What kind?"
"Peanut butter and jelly!" They all shouted.
"Ok, PB&J, classic. I'll just go put Levi down and get to making the sandwiches."
Skylar smiled. They could eat under the shade of the cherry tree and that would be her wedding reception. When Chuck brought them the sandwiches, they ate them quickly and then it was time for the couple's first dance. Lucia, singing the only song she knew at least half the words to, sung Let it Go while her brother provided the backup and instrumentals, using an upturned plant pot as the drums and occasionally hummed. Skylar and David swayed to the music, smiling at each other. Lucia and Mark's mother had called them home shortly after the reception, so Skylar and David were left in the yard, lying on their backs and pointing out what the clouds looked like. So far, they had spotted one that looked like an elephant and another that resembled a car.
"Married people live together." Skylar told David. "Where are we gonna live?"
"I have to share my room with my older brother, remember? So all of us can't stay there." He said forlornly.
"What about your tree house?"
"It's boys only."
"So?" She raged. "I'm your wife now, which means what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours."
David pouted at the thought, but then smiled. That meant that her toys were his and vice versa and that in turn meant they would have more toys than any other kid on the street. "It still isn't big enough to fit two beds and clothes and everything else we would need." Skylar sighed. Being married and figuring out living arrangements was hard. "Your house is big! We could live here."
They both sat up. She shook her head defiantly. "No we can't. Because then I'll have to see the twins all the time. The whole point of us being married is so that someone pays attention to me only. If you move in, then you will start paying more attention to Landon and Levi than me. That's what everyone does."
David placed his hands over hers comfortingly. "I'll always pay lots and lots of attention to you."
Skylar smiled and hugged him. "You're the best David."
"Thanks."
"I have an idea, maybe we should move away."
"Move away?" He parroted, hesitantly.
"Yes! We can move to another state or another country. Oooohhh, I know, we can go the Caribbean. They've got a lot of beaches there, and it's sunny most of the time and we can go swimming every day. It'll be like a permanent vacation."
"But isn't the Caribbean like a bazillion miles away? How would we get there?"
She was pensive for a moment. "My Uncle Casey can fly a plane, he can take us."
"But then we wouldn't see our families."
"We can visit often."
"I'm not so sure it's a good idea."
"This being married stuff is complicated." Skylar huffed.
"Yea." He agreed kicking a pebble.
They decided to put their 'marital problems' on hold and went back to playing on Skylar's swing set. Soon afterwards, David had to leave because his father was being honoured at a police force banquet and the entire family was going. He bid Skylar goodbye and went home.
~/0\~
"Hey baby." Sarah greeted Skylar when she entered the kitchen. She huffed and continued on her way. Sarah stared at her retreating form, wondering what was wrong with her daughter. Sighing, she finished wiping the kitchen counter before following Skylar into her room. There, she found Skylar lying in bed. Sarah sat on the edge of her bed. "What's wrong?" Skylar turned on her side, facing the wall and backing her mother. Sarah frowned. "Are you feeling sick?" Sarah continued. Skylar was usually a ball of energy and her behaviour was unusual, considering that it was a Friday evening. She never went to bed this early on her own accord. She shook her head no. Well, maybe she was kind of sick...sick of the twins. "Are you upset that your friends had to go home?" Skylar nodded. At least her friends paid some attention to her. She couldn't say the same for her parents.
It was always Landon this and Levi that and the twins need this and the twins are that. 'Chuck, the twins need changing... Sarah, the twins need feeding... The twins are getting so big!... The twins are just adorable!' The twins, the twins, the twins….She was here first! And yet, when she asked her parents to play with her today, they said no. Why did they get to say no to her? Why did the twins get all of her parents' time and the attention? What about what she wanted?!
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked again.
"Nothing's wrong Mommy." Sarah didn't have to be a former interrogator for the CIA to tell that her daughter was lying. Sarah slid her hands under the covers until she reached Skylar's feet. She tickled the bottom and Skylar wiggled under the covers, trying to get away from her mother's probing fingers. "Mom!" She squealed. "Stop it."
"Not until you open up and tell me what's going on in that head of yours."
Skylar laughed. 'OK. OK. I surrender. I'll tell you." Sarah finally stopped tickling her and watched as Skylar collected her thoughts.
"It's just that I feel like you and-" She stopped short, wondering how her mother would react to what she said. Maybe she shouldn't say anything at all. Her parents would probably think she was a horrible child for resenting her brothers' presence. "Nothin." she finally mumbled.
Skylar narrowed her eyes. "Skylar, I'm your mom. I've known you your whole life and I know when something is wrong with you. Talk to me baby."
Skylar turned on her back and looked up at her mother. Sarah smoothed down Skylar's hair, waiting for her to speak. She was about to, when she heard one of the twins crying, and then the other started, she wasn't sure who it was that started the crying fest, and she really didn't care. Her mother looked at her apologetically and promised she'd be back. Skylar rolled her eyes and groaned.
/\
"Chuck, something's bothering Skylar." Sarah told her husband. She bounced Landon on her knee and the two month old blue eyed baby gurgled at her happily. Sarah smiled down at him, but her expression turned serious as she thought about her daughter. "She won't tell me what it is though."
Chuck walked over to her with Levi in his arms. "Where is she? Maybe I can get her to open up."
"She's in her room. In bed actually."
Chuck raised his eyebrows at that. Skylar Bartowski was never one to go to bed at her own will; in fact, she was always begging for her bedtime to be later. "It's not even five-thirty yet." Chuck said looking at his watch.
"I know. I'm worried about her. I don't like feeling like she's shutting me out." Sarah sighed.
Chuck sat down next to her and placed one arm over her shoulder. "We can go talk to her together."
Meanwhile, after fifteen minutes of impatiently waiting, Skylar threw the covers off of herself and wandered down to the nursery. There, she found her parents still holding the twins as they drifted off to sleep. She huffed and turned on her heel angrily. Same old, same old. She had been excited about the babies finally being born at first, especially since she thought it would mean her mother would get out of bed and play with her more. She thought they would play football in the backyard again and go for walks further than the ice cream truck and go to the beach...all the stuff they had done before. But that wasn't the case. The twins hoarded most of her mother's time now and neither of her parents played with her when she wanted them to. It was so unfair.
/\
Sarah and Chuck laid the twins down in their cribs, hoping that they'd nap for at least an hour. Chuck then turned on the baby monitor before leaving the nursery. Hand in hand, they made their way down the hallway to Skylar's room. The door was already open, but her bed was empty. Sarah checked the closet, since Skylar liked to go in there sometimes and Chuck checked the bathroom. Since she wasn't on that floor, they went downstairs. They found her in the living room, watching a cartoon. Chuck and Sarah sat on either sides of her, boxing her in. She seemed unbothered by their presence and Chuck frowned. Sarah gave him a look, saying 'see what I mean?'
"Hey kiddo." Chuck greeted her.
"Hi Daddy." She replied not even bothering to take her attention from the TV. Sarah cleared her throat and Skylar spared her a quick glance before turning back to the TV. "Hi Mommy."
"What're you up to?"
"Watching TV."
Chuck glanced at Sarah worriedly. "Are you hungry?'
"I guess?" She shrugged.
"What do you want for dinner?"
"Doesn't matter."
"So is pizza OK?" She nodded. "Even if we order olives?" She nodded again. Sarah frowned. Skylar clearly wasn't listening to them. Like her mother, Skylar did not like olives. Chuck inclined his head towards the kitchen. Sarah nodded and spoke to Skylar again. "We're gonna go order that pizza." The little girl nodded and Sarah kissed her on her forehead before leaving the room.
"See?" Sarah said worriedly as she peeked at Skylar. "I told you something's wrong."
"I know. She's never so reserved." Chuck agreed.
The pizza arrived twenty minutes after Chuck had placed the order. They ate in what was for the couple an uncomfortable silence as they kept glancing at their subdued daughter. After dinner, Chuck cleaned up and checked on the twins while Sarah tended to Skylar's bath. During said bath, she had tried to pry information from the little girl, but Skylar had kept most of her attention on her toys.
"Gah! It's frustrating Chuck. She's five years old; she shouldn't be emotionally pulling away from us." Sarah said sadly. She knew what it felt like to be so emotionally closed off. She was after all the 'Ice Queen' to some of her former CIA colleagues. It wasn't a good path to tread as it made one rather lonely and it certainly wasn't one for a five year old to go down.
"Come on, let's go to her." Chuck said extending his hand to Sarah.
When they entered Skylar's room, she was sitting on the floor playing with her doll house.
Here it goes. "Skylar," Chuck began, "Your Mom and I want to talk to you."
She looked up at them confused. They sat on her bed and Sarah patted the space between them, inviting her to sit. Sighing, she left her dolls on the floor and accepted Sarah's invitation to sit. "Your Mommy and I are worried about you. You're not acting yourself. Did someone hurt you or make you upset?" She was silent.
"Did something happen today?" Sarah prodded.
"Well, if you must know, I got married." Skylar told her parents nonchalantly.
Sarah and Chuck looked at each other wide eyed. "Wha- what do you mean you got married?"
"I got married as in I have a husband now." She replied with an air of annoyance. "At least he'll have to pay attention to me." She mumbled under her breath.
"Skylar sweetie, when did you get married?"
"This evening."
"And why did you feel the need to get married?" Chuck questioned.
She huffed and looked at both her parents wearily. "It was either that or running away."
Sarah sent a panicked looked towards Chuck. "Baby, why would you want to run away?"
The little girl paused. "Because you and Daddy don't love me any more." She softly whispered, the tears pooling in her hazel eyes.
Sarah felt her heart breaking into pieces.
"Skylar, that's not true." Chuck said, moving to hug her.
Skylar shirked away from her father's touch and hopped off the bed. "Yes it is!" She screamed. "I know you don't love me. You only love the twins now."
"Skylar," Sarah said emotionally.
"You give them all your attention now and you don't care about me.' She wailed.
"We do love you." Sarah said.
"You're lying!" Skylar screeched. "Stop lying to me!" Her voice was escalating and Chuck feared the loudness would awake the twins. Chuck told her to take her voice down a notch unless she'd wake her brothers. "I wish they were never born!" came the petulant reply.
And then there it was. The cries from the nursery came. "Skylar." Chuck said sharply. She clamped her hands over her mouth quickly and looked down at the floor. After a few moments of silence in the room, the cries quieted and Chuck breathed a sigh in relief as he surmised the babies had drifted off to sleep again.
Sarah had tears in her eyes. She didn't know that her daughter had been feeling that way. When Sarah was pregnant with the twins, Skylar had been excited about having two younger siblings and had gone out of her way to make sure Sarah was comfortable. Whether it was by picking things up from the floor so Sarah wouldn't have to bend down, or buckling the straps of her sandals, or constantly giving Sarah water (to the point where she felt like a camel), Skylar had always been there and talked constantly to her stomach. Skylar could feel their eyes on her and she shifted on her feet uncomfortably. "Skylar, come here baby." Sarah called to her. She walked over slowly and stopped in front of her mother. Sarah pulled her onto her lap and Chuck let her drape her legs over his.
"Sweetie, your Mom and I love you very, very much. Deep down I think you know that."
She nodded after a moment. "More than the beach has sand right?"
"Exactly. If our love for you was an ocean, there would be no more land." Skylar smiled then, a genuine smile. "And we will always love you."
Sarah took her left hand and Chuck her right and placed them on each of their hearts. "Do you feel those? Those are our heartbeats. You will always be in our hearts."
She frowned. "But how can I be in your hearts if I'm right here? And I'm only one person so I can't be in two hearts at the same time."
Chuck laughed softly. "What your Mommy means is that we will love you forever and ever and ever."
"Oh." She was pensive for a moment. "But what about the twins?"
"We will love them forever too. BUT that doesn't mean we will stop loving you or love you any less." Chuck told her.
"OK Daddy."
"Why did you think we didn't love you any more?"
"This evening, before my friends came over, I wanted you to play with me, but both of you were dealing with the twins and told me to give you a minute. The twins had all of your attention." She frowned.
"There will be times when your father and I will have to pay more attention to the twins, but that doesn't mean we don't care."
"The twins are still young, so they can't really do anything for themselves and since they can't talk yet, that means we need to spend a bit more time figuring out what they need." Chuck explained.
"I understand."
"Now what's this about you running away?"
"I wasn't going to Mommy." Skylar confided. "I really wasn't."
Sarah was still worried. "I don't want you to even think about running away. Whenever you're feeling like we don't pay attention to you or feeling upset, I want you to come and tell us. Running away wouldn't solve anything, and there's a whole lot of bad stuff that can happen to children when they run away." There were way too dangers in the world and she would protect her children from them for as long as possible.
"That's what David said. He made me promise not to run away."
Chuck smiled. "Well that is a very good thing. David is very smart."
"I know that Daddy, that's why I married him." She retorted.
Chuck and Sarah shared a laugh. Sarah drew her close to her. And, folding her in her arms, she swayed slightly from side to side with love, her face half lifted, her eyes half closed, her voice drenched with love. "Mommy loves you, so so much." she murmured deep in her throat, almost as if she were in a trance, and swaying also as if she were swooned in an ecstasy of love.
"I love you too Mommy." Skylar returned the affection. "You too Daddy." She added, so that her father wouldn't feel left out.
"I love you too baby girl. Do you want some ice cream?" Chuck offered.
"Rocky Road?"
"As if we'd offer you anything else." Sarah retorted.
"Yea!" She said jubilantly and hugged her father.
Chuck released her from the hug and they all went down to the kitchen. Skylar was indulging herself with all the ice cream toppings in their cupboards. She had already put on a serving of sprinkles and gummy bears and was reaching for the chocolate syrup when Sarah cleared her throat. Turning to her mother, she saw her shake her head no, and she slowly retreated her hand from the bottle, a pout on her face. Sarah knew she had to draw the line. Skylar on a sugar rush was not something she looked forward to dealing with. Skylar finished eating her ice cream first and was now coaxing her father into giving her some of his. The baby monitor on the counter crackled to life and they heard the twins crying. Sarah got up to put her bowl into the sink and instinctively, so did Chuck. However, Sarah gave him a silent comm to stand down and invited Skylar to come with her to tend to the twins. In the nursery, the twins were wriggling in their cribs, wanting to be picked up. They needed changing and Sarah asked Skylar if she wanted to help. She acquiesced and when the twins were all changed and clean, Sarah let her hold them in one of the rocking chairs.
"Sit back." Sarah instructed and Skylar sat with her back against the chair.
Sarah showed her how to position her arms and then placed the babies in her arms. It was much easier for the little girl to hold the babies, since they had recently begun to hold their heads up on their own. Skylar began to talk to the twins about all the things she was going to teach them- how to ride a bike, how to count, their ABCs, and a whole lot of other stuff. Landon and Levi responded by smiling and gurgling. She smiled back as her heart melted. Sarah couldn't stop the tears that formed in her eyes at the beautiful sight and neither could Skylar.
"I didn't mean what I said." Skylar admitted to her mother.
"What are you talking about?"
"This evening, when I said I wish they'd never been born. I didn't mean it." Sarah kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry."
"I know baby. But it's OK now."
Meanwhile, Chuck was outside the door, listening and his heart swelled. "You can come in Chuck." Sarah yelled.
Busted! Chuck thought. He entered the room quickly and smiled sheepishly. "How did you know I was there?"
"My Chuck detection senses were tingling." Sarah smiled back. Skylar then apologized to Chuck as well and he hugged her, telling her that she would always be his princess.
~/0\~
"Levi, don't you think your sister is the prettiest girl in the whole world?" Chuck said in his best baby voice.
"Daddy, that's not Levi. That is Landon." She said pointing to the baby on the right.
"I knew that." Chuck joked. "I was just checking to make sure you knew the difference. How do you tell them apart?"
"Landon's nose is a bit broader than Levi's. Levi's nose is pointier." She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Duh."
Chuck looked down at the two boys who were lying on a play mat and smiled. "You're actually right." Chuck said after comparing their noses for a moment. With Landon and Levi being identical twins, it was often difficult to tell them apart. It also didn't help that most of their clothes were the same. Chuck had relied on their hair to differentiate as Landon's brown hair was curlier than his brother's. He had also noticed that their personalities were a bit different, with Levi showing a hint of stubbornness when it came to keeping still when it was time to be changed or when it was nap time, while Landon appeared to be more peaceful. Of course they were still in the early stages of development, so that could be subject to change. "You're very observant."
"What does observant mean?"
"It means that you're good at noticing things which other people won't." Sarah jumped in. She was busy folding the their clothes and putting them into their appropriate drawers.
"I never even realized that about their noses." Chuck admitted. "Did you Sarah?"
"I did actually, about a week ago."
"So how did you tell them apart before?" Chuck questioned. "Or do you just know because of mother's intuition?"
Sarah smiled at him. "Well, for one thing, Levi's birthmark is on his left pinkie and Landon's is on his right index finger. And then there's the colour of their eyes. Sometimes Landon's eyes have tiny specs of green around the edges, but Levi's has specs of brown."
"It's soon time for their feeding. Are you gonna do it or should I go make their bottles?"
"I nursed them an hour ago, so they can have the bottle now and then I'll nurse again in the early morning." Sometimes, she felt like the twins' stomachs were a bottomless pit. She was still exclusively breastfeeding. Most days, she didn't mind when they needed to be feed simultaneously as she could easily hold them in both arms but sometimes the pain got to be too much and her breasts became sore. She didn't want to wean them just yet nor did she want to introduce them to formula until they were at least three months, so she'd usually pump and store the milk when the pressure in her breasts begged to be relieved.
Nodding, Chuck left the room to go warm the milk with Skylar tagging along.
The twins were quite chubby for their age. Like most babies, their arms and legs had little rings of fat around them. Sarah kneeled in front of them on the mat as she prepared to stretch them. She started with Landon first. Taking his chubby legs gently into her hands, Sarah pulled them for a few moments. She then did the same with his hands, stretching them above his head. Landon cooed happily when Sarah's hair fell into his face and tickled his nose. Levi meanwhile grabbed a lock of her hair in his fist and pulled. Sarah stopped stretching Landon and tried to pry her hair from his grasp. For a two month old, his grip was already strong.
"Levi, let go of Momma's hair." He blew spit bubbles at her in defiance and gurgled. With a little more effort, Sarah finally set herself free. "It's your turn now."
Sarah thought it best not to leave her hair down again and braided it quickly. She was still stretching his legs when Skylar strolled in, a box juice in one hand.
"Mommy, what are you doing?"
"Stretching Levi so that his circulation improves."
"What's circulation?"
"Blood flow."
"But won't that hurt?"
"Not if you're very gentle."
"Oh, Daddy said to tell you he's warming milk for them."
"Ok, thank you."
After finishing her juice, Skylar busied herself with playing Peek-A-Boo with the twins. Sarah had put them in their bouncy chairs, so it was easier for her to play with both of them at the same time. The little babies cooed at her and flailed their chubby limbs wildly in glee. Levi pulled at her hair and attempted to put it in his mouth. Landon looked on at the scene, gurgling uncontrollably, apparently he found it to be quite funny.
"Levi," Skylar scolded as she pulled her hair from his fingers. "It's not nice to pull someone's hair, and you certainly can't eat it. I'm sure it doesn't taste good anyway."
"I think they're getting hungrier." Sarah told her from her position on the couch backing the window. "I'll go see what's keeping your father. Will you be ok watching them for a few minutes?"
Sklar nodded. As long as both of them didn't try to eat her hair, she'd be fine.
Sarah met Chuck at the foot of the stairs, with both bottles in his hand and the phone to his ear. "Yea Morgan, I'm sure that mess can be sorted out at the office on Monday...yea, I'm sure. Thanks for telling me anyway...We still on for the gaming session tomorrow?... Ok, bye, say hi to Alex and Cassidy for me. Will do. Bye." Sarah took the warm bottles from him and he pocketed the phone. "Morgan says hi."
"I'm standing right here, you could've let me say hi back."
"Right." Chuck said sheepishly. "Wasn't thinking about that."
"Is there a problem with work?"
"Yea, some issue with one of the beta readers and a server. I'm sure we can get it sorted easily Monday." Chuck said as they climbed the stairs.
They stopped short, just outside the bedroom. They could hear Skylar talking to the twins who had begun to get fussy at their prolonged arrival of their milk.
"I'm sure Mommy will bring your milk soon." She soothed. "If you were old enough, I would've given you some of my juice, but I already drank it all and Daddy says you can't drink anything else other than Mommy's milk sooo" she drawled. The twins began to wail. "Aw, don't cry. I'm here." Chuck and Sarah entered the room then. "Mommy, the twins are really hungry."
Chuck bent down and unbuckled both of them from the confines of the bouncy chairs. He handed Levi to Sarah and picked up Landon. The couple sat down on the couch with the babies and Skylar brought the bottles over to them without them even having to ask.
Skylar then climbed up on the couch and cushioned herself between her parents.
"Mommy, where does breast milk come from?" Skylar blurted. Chuck coughed and Sarah blushed.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the milk I drink comes from cows, but the twins get breast milk, so I wanna know how it gets in there." She explained and pointed to Sarah's breasts.
Sarah paused, wondering how to explain lactation to a five year old.
"Do you want to feed Landon?" Chuck asked as a deflection.
The little girl turned to her father; the questions about breast milk forgotten. "Really?"
"Yea." Chuck took the bottle from Landon's mouth and he protested, flailing his arms and babbling. "Easy there kiddo, you'll have your bottle back in a minute." Carefully, he transferred Landon into his sister's open arms. After positioning his head and Skylar's arm around the baby, Chuck gave her the bottle in her right hand. Skylar brought it to his mouth and he latched on again happily.
With their bottles emptied, it was time for the twins to burp. Sarah threw the burping cloth over her shoulder and Chuck did the same for Skylar. "Ok, so Skylar, you have to pat his back gently." Sarah demonstrated.
Levi burped first and Skylar continued to rub Landon's back, wondering why he was taking so long. When he finally did burp, he also vomited a bit.
"Ew, he vomited on me." Skylar said, horrified. She removed Landon from resting on her shoulder and held him at an arm's length, her face conveying her displeasure. Chuck took Landon from her arms and rested him over his shoulder.
"Technically, he vomited on the burping cloth." Chuck took said cloth from her shoulder and folded it, using the cleaner side to wipe the edges of Landon's mouth. Skylar glared at him and Chuck laughed. He had experienced much worse. "Come on Sky, don't be angry. He didn't do it on purpose. And besides, it didn't even get onto your clothes."
Skylar smiled then. She would've been very upset if his vomit had gotten on her favourite Tangled pyjamas. Maybe there was a silver lining to this after all. Skylar decided that she wanted to watch a movie before bedtime, and her parents obliged. The five relocated to Chuck and Sarah's room and soon settled into Chuck and Sarah's bed, watching Tangled for the nth time. Soon after, Landon dosed off to sleep and Levi, who seemed to be a night owl, followed half hour later. The parents had their fingers crossed that they would start sleeping through the night soon. With the twins down for the night, it was Skylar's turn to go to bed.
"Which bedtime story do you want to hear tonight?"
"Hmm," she pushed out her bottom lip as she went through her options mentally. "Brave." She finally said.
"And do you want Mommy or myself to read?"
"How about both?"
"That works just fine." Sarah smiled and walked over to the book shelf. For a five year old, Skylar Bartowski already had an impressive library. Sarah had begun teaching her five foreign languages, Spanish, French, Russian, Polish and Swiss and she had beginner books for those languages. Casey had growled when she counted in Russian one time and made a comment about Walker teaching her the language of commie bastards, Sarah had laughed it off, and told Casey he should consider getting over his dislike for the Russians. He had grunted at her and sent a smirk her way when Skylar questioned what a commie was. He was only too glad to explain. For the latter two languages, Carina and Zondra were happy that Sarah was teaching her them and when they called or visited, would greet her in either. Sarah quickly scanned the fairy tales and selected her choice. She then sat on the bed. "Once upon a time, in a kingdom..." Halfway through the story, Chuck noticed Skylar's eyes start to droop. He stopped reading and closed the book. Sarah pulled the covers more snugger her daughter and she clung to their warmth.
"Good night my princess."
"Good night Mommy." She sleepily murmured. "Night Daddy."
"Nightie night Skylar. We love you."
"Lub you too." She yawned. Both parents placed a kiss on her forehead and she fell soundly asleep afterwards. After returning the book to its shelf and turning on the night light, Chuck and Sarah watched their daughter sleeping peacefully. Sarah sighed contentedly as Chuck wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple.
~/0\~
"Do you realize this is the first time we've had to ourselves in a while?"
Sarah nodded. Lately it seemed like she barely spent quality time with Chuck; not that she was complaining about her children, because she did love them dearly, but it was nice to spend some alone time with Chuck. "Mhmm." She purred. They were sitting on the couch and Chuck was gently massaging her feet.
After Chuck had finished the massage, he got up from the couch and walked over to the record player. He slipped a Nina Simone record into the player and walked over to Sarah as the music started to swirl through the room. Sarah smiled when she heard their song playing. "Dance with me."
She happily obliged and soon she and Chuck were swaying in their living room to the cool jazz music. Sarah revelled in the feeling of being so close to him. She breathed in his scent, and smiled against his chest. When their song finished, Chuck took a step back so he could look directly into her eyes. "I love you Sarah."
"I love you too Chuck." She replied and closed the space he had placed between them. Sarah's gaze darted from his eyes and to his lips and she unconsciously licked hers. Chuck leaned into her slowly and finally met her lips in a slow, tantalizing kiss. He cupped her face in his hand and Sarah ran her fingers through his hair hungrily. Sarah backed them up until they reached the couch. His kisses always left her dizzy, and breathless and overwhelmed. Breaking the kiss momentarily, Sarah laid down on the couch and pulled Chuck on top of her.
Chucks shirt was already off and he was making quick work of Sarah's buttons when the doorbell rang. He groaned against her lips. "Ignore it." She mumbled. The noise from the doorbell rang through the house again. "Wait, maybe it's important." Chuck paid her no mind and continued to trail kisses down her neck. "Chuck." She moaned. He looked up at her with smouldering eyes and Sarah almost changed her mind about him answering the door. "The door."
"They'll go away. We can pretend no one is home."
"But the lights are on." Sarah pointed out the flaw in his logic.
"Fine, but this isn't over." He picked up his shirt from off the floor and slipped it on while Sarah redid the buttons on her blouse. "If it's Morgan or Casey, I'm gonna tranq them with my gun, they have been a cock blocker for way too long."
"Chuck, just go answer the door." Sarah laughed, going to stop the record player.
It wasn't Casey or Morgan at the door, but rather David's mother, Tracy.
"Hey Tracy. Nice seeing you." Chuck greeted her and invited her in. "What brings you by?"
"Hi Chuck, it's nice to see you too. I actually came over to talk to you and Sarah."
"She's in the living room so follow me."
After Sarah and Tracey greeted each other, they sat down.
"First, let me apologize for the lateness of my visit, but Bradford had a function and we only just got back maybe forty-five minutes ago."
"It's fine." Chuck assured her.
"I wanted to speak to you about Skylar."
"What about Skylar?" Sarah said quickly.
Tracy shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, I hope you don't think I'm prying in your business, because I'm not. David was kind of distracted while I was tucking him into bed, and after a couple of minutes of me pestering him, he told me Skylar mentioned something about running away. He was really sorry that he told me and made me promise not to tell you guys, since he thinks word would get back to Skylar and she'd think he was a tattle tale and wouldn't want to be his friend anymore." Tracy explained. "But I told him I'd do what I thought was best for Skylar and I thought the only way for me to really do that is for me to tell you what happened. But like I said, I don't mean to pry."
"Um, yea, about that. She told us too. She was feeling a bit neglected today but we talked to her and she's fine now. She also told us that David made her promise that she wouldn't run away." Chuck said.
Tracy smiled then. "I'm glad you sorted things out."
"Did he also tell you they got married?"
"They got what?" Tracy asked with wide eyes.
Sarah laughed. "I think it was Skylar's idea. We will explain to Skylar that they aren't really married tomorrow."
"I'll talk to David about it in the morning as well. I have to get going now though, I have a thirty-two hour shift at the hospital tomorrow and I need all the rest I can get."
"Thanks for coming by." Chuck spoke for him and Sarah as they walked her to the door.
"It was no problem. Good night."
"Good night." Chuck closed the door. "That was nice of her." Chuck commented to Sarah. "Sarah?"
"Hmm?" She murmured, coming out of her fog. "Yea, it was very nice that she was so concerned." Sarah said absent mindedly.
"Ok, what's going on? What're you thinking?" Chuck led her back into the living room and they sat on the couch.
"Skylar is OK right? We did get through to her tonight? She knows we love her, doesn't she?" She was still concerned about Skylar. She and Chuck always did their best to divide their time and spend as much time as possible with each child. And she had thought that they had done a good job so far, but, with Skylar's outburst, a seed of doubt had been planted.
Chuck nodded and placed his hands over hers comfortingly. "Yes, yes and yes. Remember that quote we taught her: 'If my love were an ocean, there would be no more land. If my love were a desert, you would see only sand. If my love were a star- late at night, only light. And if my love could grow wings, I'd be soaring in flight'?" Sarah nodded. "She knows that we love her. And anytime that she's feeling down, I trust that she knows she can come to us."
She was also still disturbed by the thought of Skylar running away. "So if I wanted to implant a tracker under her skin as a precaution, what would you say?" Chuck looked at her incredulously. "What? Just a tiny, tiny, tiny little one." She continued, pinching her thumb and index finger together. "She wouldn't even know it's there. And think about how much easier it'll make things when she becomes a teenager. I'm telling you, it's a win-win situation for us."
Chuck narrowed his eyes at her. She punched him in the shoulder playfully, "Sheesh, I was joking." She placated him. "Mostly." She muttered under her breath.
/\
Chuck and Sarah were enjoying the quiet of the morning. The twins and Skylar would soon awake, and since she was starting back work in another couple of weeks, she knew such mornings wouldn't be that common any longer. Sarah idly sipped her morning tea and played with her wedding ring. Chuck plopped down in the chair next to her with a bowl of Fruit Loops.
"Honestly Chuck, don't you know those things are bad for you."
He made a spectacle of eating a spoonful of the cereal. "Nope." He smirked.
"You're such a doofus."
Chuck shrugged. "But you love me anyway."
Sarah smiled at him. "Yea, I do." She leaned in close and kissed Chuck softly. When his tongue slipped over hers, she tasted the traces of the sugary cereal and smiled. Pulling away, Chuck smiled at her and continued eating.
"Mommyyyyyy" Skylar's voice bellowed through the house and her heavy footsteps came down the stairs. She ran into the kitchen and greeted them with hugs and kisses.
"Morning Sky."
"Morning Daddy, morning Mommy."
"Before we go any further, what did your father and I say about running on the stairs?"
"Not to cause I could hurt myself."
"Exactly."
"I promise I didn't mean to, but I have something really, really, realllllyyyyy inkportant-
"Important." Chuck corrected.
"Important to ask you."
"How can I get a divorce?"
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other with open mouths, wondering how they were going to handle this one.
"Oh boy."
A/N: Feel free to review, even if it's as a guest. I might be able to get something out before my Easter vacation ends; it depends on how I progress in my revision.
xoxox
~Bg. 09/04/2015