Ch. 15 Ringing in the Holiday

A/N: The final chapter is here (a short epilogue to follow). It's a bit on the short side, but when you've never been to LA, you can only get so many details out of Yelp or tripadvisor. Thanks to everyone who has posted a review or sent a PM (hopefully the site gets the email alert to PMs operational again).

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He was certain that everyone he passed could see the ring box in his pocket, could tell what was about to happen. What was I thinking, going for a surprise proposal? Sarah is ex-CIA. There is no way to surprise her. But I need to do this. This conversation can't wait any longer.

Chuck's hand moved agonizingly slowly to knock on the door. Conversely, it felt as though he hadn't finished knocking when the door was wrenched open and the woman he needed to speak with was standing in the doorway, her trademark smile on her face, mixed with a look of slight confusion.

"Chuck, are you okay? You're looking a little pale. Why don't you come on inside?"

Chuck stepped into the living room that seemed nearly as familiar to him as his own. If I'm freaking out this badly, there's no way that I'm going to get through the proposal. Okay, deep breath. You can do this.

"...". Okay, another deep breath and THEN you can do this.

"Hi Emma."

Sarah wasn't It. She wasn't The One.

She was the There Is No Way That Even With All The Good Deeds I Did In Every Past Life That I Could Possibly Deserve A Woman As Amazing As Her. Chuck wondered for a moment if Hallmark made a card for that.

"You want to ask my daughter to marry you, don't you?"

Chuck's mouth dropped open. "What? How...how did you know? Oh, god. Does Sarah know? What? What am I doing?"

Emma's trademark smile grew broader. "Relax Chuck. You are spiraling." She leaned back, propping her elbow on the back of the sofa. "I'm a mom. We have kind of a sixth sense about these things. Let me guess. You don't think that you are good enough for my big little girl?"

"No. I don't," Chuck honestly replied.

"That's exactly why you are good enough for her," Emma said as she wrapped up a thoroughy confused Chuck in a hug. He started to sag against her in relief, but with their vast height difference, it started to make the hug awkward.

"Look, I know that tradition dictates that the guy is supposed to ask for the blessing from the man in the family before proposing, but there's nothing particularly traditional about either of our families."

Emma started to get teary eyed as she looked up at Chuck, "You don't need my blessings, Chuck. You are a good man, and you love my little girl. That is enough. But if its blessings you want, its blessings that you get. I hope that Sarah makes you as happy as you deserve to be. Be good to her."

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This was becoming a disaster. He was in love with a woman who had been the top spy for the CIA. Every time they headed out, he was convinced that she knew the ring box was in his pocket.

He had researched the LA County Botanical Gardens, and saw a lot of glowing reviews from couples who had used the site for engagement photos. But when they showed up Sarah had ordered a quick retreat after seeing several brides-to-be posing for pictures around the grounds in their gowns.

A week later, Chuck headed over to the Kyoto Gardens to try there instead, only to find that it was closed for a private event for a local tv station. He had been nervous enough to start, but now his top two ideas had failed.

He next booked a dinner reservation for a secluded table on a balcony where they could enjoy a romantic dinner under the light of the full moon. That plan also crashed and burned when rain showers rolled in as they were valeting Sarah's car.

Sarah had been growing concerned with Chuck's unusual behavior. She would be the first to admit that she wasn't as in to the sci-fi films from the 50s or 60s as Chuck was, but the time spent cuddling on the couch during movie nights was precious to her. She liked the concept of wandering hand in hand with Chuck through LA's botanical gardens. But when they had seen all the bridal parties, Sarah had beat a quick retreat.

She hadn't wanted Chuck to feel pressure to propose. They had only been together a few months, and while she knew that Chuck was her forever, she wanted to give him the time to decide where he saw their relationship in the long term. She was confident that they would be together for the long haul. If it took Chuck a little while to get comfortable with that concept, so be it.

She had the Kyoto Gardens on her to do list for a while, and had really looked forward to exploring them together with Chuck. She had heard the Gardens were beautiful, but she also loved it when Chuck knew some random arcane fact and thought those gardens would provide such an opportunity. She had been disappointed that their visit would have to wait for another date- but Chuck had been practically morose.

She had also been excited for their moonlight dinner on the patio of Il Castello- a recommendation from Captain Awesome rather than their usual Morgan referral. It was early in the wet season for an unexpected shower, but it was still the wet season so she wasn't totally surprised at the need to change plans due to Mother Nature.

Chuck began muttering about conspiracies but went mute when she pushed to try to find out why he was so upset. Given his open and chatty nature, his refusal to discuss his frustration was very out of character. Was he starting to think that she wouldn't be happy with their date nights at the Bamboo Dragon? She didn't think that she was acting like some needy, high maintenance girlfriend, but, more importantly, what did Chuck think?

Chuck finally came up with a fourth option for the engagement plan (Morgan probably could have come up with a dozen more, but Morgan's "plans" often were not only not practical but often not physically possible). The Griffith Observatory was having a special watch party for the Orionid meteor shower. Given the light pollution from LA and the haze, it might be difficult to see many shooting stars, but Orion's Belt had always fascinated Chuck.

Sarah was edgy, trying to figure out what the deal with Chuck had been of late. She was a little more comfortable with their evening plans at Griffith Observatory, as it played to Chuck's nerdy side. Had he been trying to expand his interests to accommodate me? Move outside of his comfort zone to please me? Discomfort? She liked the idea of a romantic dinner for two, but she didn't need it. She liked trips to botanical gardens, but they weren't necessary. She wanted to spend time with Chuck, needed to spend time with Chuck. She was fine with alternating evenings to cater to one on the rare occasions when they couldn't find a common ground. Sarah tried to think if she had somehow come across as too demanding of late. She was stumped. Worried that her lack of dating history was prevented her from knowing what was going wrong, what needed to be done to right the ship.

For his part, Chuck was too nervous about the proposal plan to realize that Sarah had been on edge. He took Sarah by the hand and went to the railing overlooking the sprawling city below them. "You know, this view may actually be more impressive at night than it is during the day."

Sarah gripped Chuck's hand, concerned at the small talk that didn't even focus on the purpose of their trip- the Orionid Meteor Shower. Talking about feelings isn't what I'm good at, but damn it, if Chuck isn't going to talk about his feelings then I will. "We're good right, sweetie? The way things are between us? You are still good with that, right?"

Oh crap. She knows about the proposal and she's hinting that she's not ready to move the relationship to the next left. She has to know, she was the world's greatest spy.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. But..."

"Is there someone else? Is it that new nerd herder at the Buy More? Or the deli girl?" Nervousness and jealousy made Sarah's tone far more sharp than she had intended?

"Hannah and Lou have a thing for me? Not the point, so not the point," Chuck mumbled. "There is no one else. There could be no one else. I still don't get how I'm lucky enough to have you in my life. How could I possibly be interested in anyone else? Who could possibly match up to you?"

Chuck began pacing in circles, while raking one hand after another through the curls atop his head.

"I'm just starting to think that Fate is actively trying to stop this proposal from happening. First the LA Botanical Gardens being overrun by wedding parties. Then Kyoto closed for a private event. Then our romantic moonlit dinner at Il Castello gets rained on. In LA where it hardly ever rains. Now you are worried that I could somehow be interested in another woman."

Chuck was too caught up in his drama to notice the gobsmacked expression on Sarah's face.

"First of all, stop ripping out your hair. Those are my curls to play with, and I don't want them damaged," Sarah commanded, amazement rippling like shock waves through her body as she came to terms with the true reason behind Chuck's behavior of late.

Sarah took a deep breath. "You brought me here to ask me to marry you? The whole you are mine, I am yours, grow old together type marriage?" Please say yes, please say yes. Oh God, what if he meant something else by proposal. And now I'm spiraling. Chuck spirals, not me.

Chuck stopped pacing and stilled his hands while doing his best impersonation of a deer in headlights. He then clenched his eyes shut, muttering "Great. I blew the proposal myself this time. We should just..."

"Charles Irving Bartowski" Crap, she's just as intimidating as Ellie when she busts out the full name "if you have any type of ring on you and you take one step towards the car before that ring is on my finger, you will be in serious trouble."

Chuck's brain worked its way through the slightly scary use of his full name at the start, and the threat of violence at the end, before focusing his attention to the words "before that ring is on my finger". A smile bloomed on his face as he took to one knee while pulling a small box from the interior pocket of his light jacket.

"Sarah Lisa Walker, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Tears streamed down Sarah's cheeks as she started nodding. A flash of light to their left caught them by surprise.

"You still gotta say the words Blondie."

"Carina?" Chuck and Sarah exclaimed at the same moment. Carina stood there with a cellphone in hand, giving Sarah a hard look while repeatedly nodding her head in Chuck's direction. With a frustrated huff, Carina lifted her left hand and began wiggling her fingers.

"Oh," Sarah responded as Carina's hint finally made it through the haze of the moment, turning her attention to Chuck still kneeling before her, "I will." Several more flashes shot out from Carina's cellphone as Sarah hauled Chuck to his feet to passionately kiss him. The people nearby who had been frustrated by the camera flashes ruining their views picked up on what was happening and broke out in applause.

"Alright Carina, spill. How did you know to be here?" Sarah asked in a slightly breathless way while staring at the diamond sitting atop her left hand. Her head was still spinning at the turn the evening had taken.

"Relax kids. It was Mama Walker's intel that led me here. And the Gardens. And the other Gardens. And the restaurant- at least I got some decent tips there while posing as a server."

"Your boy here," Carina said while waving a hand in Chuck's direction, "went old school and asked for Emma's blessings."

Sarah turned with a shocked look to Chuck, who merely shrugged while blushing bright red. Sarah kept thinking that it wasn't possible to love Chuck any more than she already did, but he routinely (much to Sarah's pleasure) proved her wrong.

"So you've been following us around ever since, " Chuck asked.

"Oh, not just me," Carina replied with a toothy grin. "Wave hi to Roan. He's on the roof of the observatory with a low light video camera." Carina spun around on one heel and gaily waved towards the building. Sarah gave a wave as well, which was cut short as she had started to wave with her left hand and once again became fixated on her new jewelry.

"Oh my, that ring is beautiful," Sarah practically whispered, now that the dual shocks of the proposal and presence of Carina and Roan had diminished in the face of the life changing event.

"It was my grandmother's," Chuck told her. "Before my dad disappeared, he made sure to give it to me and Ellie. "

"Oh," Sarah replied, suddenly looking unhappy. "You should really leave this for Ellie. Even if I really never want it to come off of my finger, it should be hers." Sarah started to reach for the solitaire diamond.

"Who do you think insisted that I use this ring and not buy one of our own?" Chuck said as he pushed Sarah's unresisting hand away from the ring. "Besides, she already knows that she's getting the ring that belongs to Awesome's grandmother. Granny Woodcomb told her so, even though Devon hasn't realized yet that he's going to pop the Q."

"So, if Ellie already knows and gave you the ring, I take it that she approves?" Sarah was confident in her friendship with Ellie. But this, this meant that they would be family. Sarah finally realized the meaning behind the phrase 'baited breath'.

"If there was one person as, if not more, frustrated than me about these proposal plans not panning out, its Ellie," Chuck advised as he slung an arm over Sarah's shoulder to pull her close and kiss the side of her head. "She knows and approves. She's still going to spaz. Maybe we should swing by Casey's to pick up some ear protectors on the way to Ellie's. Ear drums may rupture in a several block radius when she hears that you said yes."

He wasn't wrong.

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A/N 2: A little shout out to Chuck vs. The Kitchen with the name of the restaurant with the near miss proposal. Thanks again to all who have read and reviewed. The finish line is in sight.