As they had when they'd traveled to Burbank for Christmas, their flight was going to be early in the morning. They'd done laundry and repacked their suitcases for the less formal environment that they would enjoy over the holiday. They also had boxed up the rest of their gear and more formal clothing to be shipped back to Casey's condo in Echo Park. They were hopeful they would find a more permanent solution for not only their office but their living situation by the time their things arrived since knew they would be based in California as an auxiliary station connected to the LA field office.
Since the cover they had established for Chuck around Halloween was that he was to be a cybersecurity specialist, the agencies were looking for offices that were small enough to be believable as a tech start-up but had enough storage space to support their covert operations and equipment. Before they'd gone back to Sarah's apartment the night before Beckman informed them that they would be given a list of properties for the team to look over and decide on during the week between Christmas and the new year. During the long flight from Paris to DC, Chuck and Sarah had had a serious discussion debating the merits of establishing separate domiciles or just getting a place together. Chuck had made the point that they had only been dating since just after his birthday, a time frame of just over three months. Sarah had countered by pointing out that they'd been pretty much living together since the beginning of his training the previous month. She also pointed out it would be more affordable to just get a larger place for them to share rather than renting separate, smaller apartments.
"Another option is we could pool our resources and buy a house," She had mentioned as they were folding their laundry and packing for their trip. "The companies will be paying for the office space, and with all the traveling I do, much of my expenses were covered, so I haven't really had a chance to spend much of my money."
"Except for your Porsche," Chuck pointed out, "And your shoes… on what planet does a person need nearly a full walk-in closet of shoes? I've only ever seen you wear maybe three pairs in the time we've been together."
"You might have a point about the shoes," Sarah acknowledged, "And the Porsche was my dream car, so it's only natural that I got on when I was able to afford it. I'm planning to have it shipped out once we are more established in California."
"I probably should try to find a car of my own since I no longer have access to the nerd herd mobiles." Chuck sighed, "Renting a car is going to get expensive."
"Technically until our base of operations is up and running, we are still considered DC based," Sarah shrugged, "The company is reimbursing the rental cost for as long as we need it."
"Good to know," Chuck nodded, zipping up his case and taking it out to the living room to await their early morning departure. He'd already hacked the airline's system to upgrade them to a row with more leg room and double checked their LEO status was notated in their reservation. Once Sarah's bags had joined him in the living room, they shuffled off to bed to get some sleep before catching their flight home.
The benefit of flying East to West on an early departure is that you arrive by midmorning. Since Chuck was more comfortable flying as a LEO, he wasn't as awkward when informing the flight attendant of his and Sarah's status or that they were armed, Sarah with her Smith and Wesson and he with the tranq pistol that Sarah and Casey now insisted he carry at all times, since he refused to carry a live weapon despite earning expert ranking with a pistol and sharpshooter with a rifle. They had, however, reached an agreement that if they were sent on a mission, he was required to carry a live weapon as backup in case he got himself into a situation where use of deadly force was necessary to defend himself or someone else from being wounded fatally.
The flight went smoothly, with most of the passengers dozing in their seats throughout the flight due to the early hour of departure. Sarah had insisted that since they were flying commercial rather than private, one of them would need to be awake at all times during the flight. She was also clearly drowsy if the yawns she was letting out were any indication, and since Chuck was too excited about seeing his sister again to be able to sleep, he offered his shoulder as a pillow, which she accepted with minimal protest and only awakened when the flight attendants had started going through the cabin doing their prearrival checks of tray tables, seatbacks, and seatbelts.
It took an hour and a half between when arrived to the time they were finally able to depart the airport after collecting their luggage and rental car, relatively quick for LAX approaching a holiday. Another 45 minutes later, they were parking in one of the visitor stalls in the parking lot for the Echo Park Condos. They had deliberately been vague about when they would be returning to Burbank in case something went sideways during the mission or they got waylaid upon arriving back state side. Luckily, aside from Chuck's difficulty coding a successful override program, they were not delayed in their return.
Chuck had a key to the condo, since he still technically lived there until he was able to find his own place, but opted to knock on the door, knowing Ellie and Devon were home. He'd seen their cars in the lot and wanted to surprise them. They heard a female voice call out she was coming a few moments before the door opened and they were met with the large green eyes of Chuck's sister.
"Chuck!" Ellie barely held in her excited squeal as she wrapped first her brother then his girlfriend in tight hugs, Ellie joy pouring out over them. "You're home!"
"We're home," He confirmed with a smile to his sister, "Are you going to let us in?"
"Oh, yes, of course," Ellie chuckled and stepped back to let Chuck and Sarah enter. "How was your flight?"
"Good," Chuck shrugged, "No issues, arrived on time, and getting out of LAX only took about 90 minutes."
"That's really quick," Ellie agreed, "But you're here now, and that's the important thing. Why don't you go drop your bags off in your room maybe get cleaned up and since it's almost noon, we'll catch up over lunch."
"Sounds good, Elle," Chuck gave his sister a smile and, turning, guided his girlfriend down the hall to his room which they would be sharing until they found a place, or places, to live. After depositing their bags and taking a quick shower to get the travel grime off of themselves, they joined Ellie and Devon who were just finishing plating up some grilled cheese and tomato soup.
"So, are you back-back from DC?" Ellie looked between her brother and his girlfriend.
"Yeah, we are up to speed with the system they use," Chuck confirmed, "And they've already mentioned offering us a contract to start a project after the new year, which gives us a week or so to, at least, try to find some office space out here. We have some appointments next week to look at a few spaces."
"That's Awesome," Devon beamed, "Way to go, Chuckster! Any idea as to when you might get your own place?"
"Devon!" Ellie scolded.
"Not that we don't love to have you here," He corrected, "But now that you are Sarah are together, you probably want your own space to let the worm wiggle free."
Chuck blushed.
"Devon, honestly, I didn't need to hear that." Ellie groaned.
"Especially since it's not remotely true," Sarah pointed out, "Python would be a more apt analogy."
Chuck choked on the bite of soup dipped sandwich at his girlfriend's words and Ellie looked at the younger woman in shock.
"Nice!" Devon crowed, lifting his hand to his girlfriend's younger brother, "High five, Dude!"
Chuck reluctantly gave the older man a high five before hunching over again, trying to fade into the chair.
"Okay, can we just put a moratorium on my little brother's sex life?" Ellie begged, sending a pointed look at Sarah and Devon who were beaming. "I really can't afford the therapy or the brain bleach."
"I second that," Chuck chimed in, "No more talking about the sex lives of the couples living in this house. I want to hear about Ellie's sex life even less than she wants to hear about mine."
Ellie nodded along with her brother's statement. Devon and Sarah reluctantly agreed as they changed the subject to the upcoming holiday celebrations since Christmas was only a couple days away. Since the majority of their shopping had been done during their last trip home, they only needed to pick up a few more things and the rest of their time would be spent baking and cooking in preparation of the Christmas Eve dinner Ellie would be hosting for their friends.
It had long been a tradition in the Bartowski home to have a large dinner with their friends in the early evening on Christmas Eve so that anyone who had other family obligations could then go straight from the dinner to their other obligation. Christmas day was just for the Bartowski siblings, Morgan usually showed up in the afternoon to join their Twilight Zone marathon, and Devon was naturally added to their number when he and Ellie became more serious. Now Sarah would be joining them, and Chuck was excited to finally spend a Bartowski Christmas with the woman who'd captured his heart all those years ago.
Casey arrived the evening of the 22nd and spent the 23rd with his daughter. Much as they had the day after Thanksgiving, they went to the local indoor range and got lunch together and spent some time catching up while shopping for the white elephant gifts they would need for the next day's festivities before Joining Kathleen and Mark for dinner.
The next afternoon, he arrived, bottle of wine and a white elephant gift in hand, to join the Bartowskis and the rag-tag mix of friends and co-workers they called their family for Christmas Eve dinner. Devon welcomed him in and offered him a scotch and placed the wine on the table before pointing to the side table where the gifts for the exchange were being piled up. His daughter and the hobbit she was dating arrived a short time after, arms loaded up with colorfully wrapped boxes and bags, depositing two bags on the gift table and tucking a few under the table before setting the boxes under the colorful tree that had been erected in the corner of the room.
"Hey Dad," Alex smiled up at her father as she gave him a side hug and accepted the glass of wine Morgan handed her. "Long time, no see," She joked.
Casey grunted a snort and took a sip of his scotch.
"It's good to see you again, Casey," Morgan extended his hand to his girlfriend's father, "How was your trip?"
"Grimes," Casey shook the shorter man's hand, a modicum of respect for the man making its way into his brain as he acknowledged that Morgan may not be the lazy screw-up he initially thought him to be. "Trip was fine. I'm sure Bartowski will wax poetic, but it was nothing of note."
"Speaking of, have you seen Chuck?" Morgan looked around in search of the tall nerd.
"He's in his bedroom," Sarah piped in as she entered the dining area, carrying a tray of appetizers for people to snack on, and wearing an apron over her red sweater and black skirt, "He was working, but he'll be out in a minute."
"Looking very domestic, Walker," Casey teased.
"Thank you," She smiled at him.
"Wasn't a compliment," He grunted.
"I know," Sarah grinned, "But I'm taking it as one anyway." She then turned on the heel of her strappy black pumps and returned to the kitchen to continue helping with the dinner prep.
Chuck, arrived a short time later, wearing a forest green button down and black slacks. Morgan immediately walked over to greet his best buddy with a complicated handshake that ended with a fist bump. "Hey Morg, how's it going?"
"Good!" Morgan beamed, "Tang was so butthurt about not getting the assistant manager position that he up and quit a week after Thanksgiving. I heard a rumor about a farm in Hawaii growing the fruit that shall not be named.
Chuck rolled his eyes at his friend before turning and greeting the young woman who had joined them, "Alex, good to see you again."
"It's good to see you too." Alex smiled, accepting the hug and cheek kiss Chuck gave her. "I'm glad you guys are all back. It's nice to know that Dad will be around more often now, and I am looking forward to becoming friends with Sarah, we really hit it off at Thanksgiving.
"She mentioned wanting to get to know you better," Chuck agreed, "I'm gonna go see if they need any help in the kitchen. We'll talk more over dinner."
Morgan and Alex nodded their understanding and went off to see if they couldn't find other people they might know. Chuck headed into the kitchen and took stock of where everyone was. Ellie was at the stove stirring various things in pots and pans, Devon had the upper door of the double ovens open, checking to see if the ham was done, and Sarah was at the opposite counter cutting up vegetables for salad and tossing them in the bowls that would be distributed over the large table that had been formed from extensions and folding tables until they had enough room for all their guests.
"Jen, you look good enough to eat," He hummed in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a soft kiss to her jaw just below her ear.
"Behave yourself, Charlie," She giggled, setting down the knife she'd been holding and spinning to face him, letting her arms drift up to encircle his shoulders as she lifted up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Now, I know you didn't come in here just to be an insatiable flirt."
"I just came in to see if I could help," He shrugged.
"It's nearly done," She informed him, looking over his shoulder, "Devon is pulling the ham out now and Ellie should be done with the side dishes soon. Check with your sister, but you could probably start letting folks know to start heading toward the table then help us carry everything out."
"Alright," Chuck nodded, giving her one more peck on the lips before walking over to speak with his sister who gave him the go-ahead to get everyone seated. Morgan, Alex, and Casey all volunteered to help bring the various dishes out to the table and soon everyone was joined around the table.
Dinner was consumed amid lively discussions of the various people seated around the table. The feelings of warmth and hospitality swirling about the room. Every so often Chuck would catch a slight hint of melancholy in his girlfriend's eyes and made a metal note to speak to her about it that night after all their guests had gone home.
Once dinner had finished, and the little bit of food that still remained was packed away, Devon, Chuck, Morgan, and several of the other repeat guests went to work dismantling the table and rearranging the living room furniture until there was enough room for everyone to gather in the living room for the white elephant exchange. Trays of cookies and pies of many shapes, flavors, and sizes were placed on the table along with disposable dessert plates, napkins, and plastic silverware for folks to get at their leisure.
Ellie, in her official capacity as hostess handed out pens and slips of paper instructing the guests to write down their names and toss them in the bowl she would pass around. Once the bowl had been passed and the slips deposited, Devon, Chuck, and Morgan did a head count and brought over the correct amount of gifts, setting them in the middle of the room. One by one, Ellie called out names, randomly pulled from the bowl.
The first person called was, June, a young woman with a brunette pixie cut and bright green eyes, who had gone to college with Ellie and had gotten her nursing degree while Ellie went on to medical school. She took a moment to look over the packages before selecting a bag and returning to her seat to open it, revealing a DVD of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' It was a long-standing rule, after a few people tried to use the exchange to regift unwanted items, that the gifts had to be newly purchased with a $20 limit. Julie smiled and sat back with her gift, hoping it would not be stolen during the course of the exchange. The next person was called, and he also selected a package from the pile, opening it to reveal a sugar cookie scented candle.
The third person stole the second person's candle, causing the second person to go into the pile of gifts to select a new present. This continued until everyone had a gift, most of whom were satisfied with the gifts they wound up taking home.
Some guests had to leave to join other friends or family for Christmas Eve celebrations, including Morgan and Alex who had been invited to join Morgan's mother and their family for Christmas Eve mass at St. Finbar Parish. Luckily Alex spoke Spanish and had been helping Morgan in acquiring the language he neglected to learn as a child, since the mass they were attending was to be held in Spanish. Within a few hours the last of the guests had left, leaving Ellie, Devon, Chuck, and Sarah.
As was tradition, they all opened one gift as they sat around the now quiet living room sipping hot chocolate. All of them got matching Christmas pajama sets, another tradition of the Bartowski siblings that had been started by their grandmother who would make Christmas jammies every year for all the grandchildren. When she had passed away, the Bartowskis and their cousins carried on the tradition with each other and, for those who had them, their children.
Since it was late, and Chuck and Sarah had been up since one in the morning, California time, they all said goodnight and headed to bed. Changing into their Christmas pajamas, Chuck couldn't help but smile at how adorable Sarah looked in the blue night shirt decorated with a white snowflake print she had been given. He'd been given sleep pants with the same print and a white t-shirt. Devon and Ellies pajamas had been red with candy canes and a grey t-shirt for Devon. Snuggling up in bed, Chuck pressed a kiss to his girlfriend's head whispering a soft good night as they drifted off to sleep.
They awoke to the blissful smell of cinnamon rolls baking and coffee percolating and made their way out into the main area of the condo. Ellie was just pulling a pan of cinnamon rolls and transferring them to the cooling rack where she proceeded to drizzle icing over the tops of the pastries. Devon was over by the coffee pot doctoring up a couple mugs for himself and his girlfriend when he heard them approaching and turned to greet them with his usual wide smile, "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas," They echoed. Chuck took Devon's place by the coffee maker and added the cream and sugar that both he and Sarah took in their coffee. Before exiting, he tried to swipe a bit of icing up on his finger, only to have his hand slapped way by his sister who was giving him her sisterly version of 'the look.'
"I'll serve them up in a minute," She protested, "Go take your girlfriend her coffee, we'll meet you in the living room as soon as I'm done here."
"Fine," Chuck teasingly grumbled and exited the kitchen to join Sarah where she stood in the living room, marveling at the sight of the tree, which seemed to have more gifts underneath than it did the night before and the now full stockings laid out on the hearth of the fireplace. Devon had stacked up wood and kindling in the fireplace but was waiting to light it until the stockings had been claimed.
Once Ellie came in with the platter of cinnamon rolls, followed by Devon with plates, napkins, and utensils, Chuck set to work distributing the stockings. Everyone turned to Sarah when they heard her gasp softly, to find her, tracing the letters sewn onto the hem of the stocking, her blue eyes misting.
"Is something wrong?" Chuck wrapped his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear.
"No, it's... I..." Sarah stammered for a moment, overwhelmed by emotion, "I know it's silly, but I haven't had a stocking since I was 7 years old, before my parents split."
"Oh Honey," Ellie sighed, walking over and pulling Sarah into a hug, "Well you have one now, and you will always have one."
"Thank you, Ellie," Sarah sniffed and gave the older woman a watery smile.
"Elle must really like you," Chuck smiled at her once she was seated and drying her tears, "She didn't even make a stocking for Jill and I almost proposed to her."
"Despite my brother nearly pulling a Princess Buttercup on you," Ellie smirked at her brother, "He's right; I never made one for Jill, I knew she wasn't his forever girl."
"At least I was able to get a refund on the ring," Chuck shrugged, "But that's in the past, it's stocking time now!"
They tore into their stockings removing treats, gag gifts like toys and finger traps, and even some travel bottles of lotion for the girls in their favorite scents, and sampler bottles of liquor for the guys. Devon lit the fire as the presents from under the tree started to be distributed among them. Sarah got a good laugh when she received her first gift from 'Santa.' Turns out that the siblings had a habit of labeling their gifts to each other that way to preserve some magic from their childhood. Often, they were gifts they knew the others had wanted for a while but had never gotten.
It had gotten down to the last few packages when Chuck ducked under the tree and pulled out a small box, handing it to Sarah. She looked at the tag which read, 'To: My Jenny, Love: Charlie,' and proceeded to unwrap the gift. The paper pulled away to reveal a black clamshell case. Sarah's eyes shot up to Chuck who nodded in encouragement. The hinge squeaked in protest as she lifted the lid to reveal an antique looking sliver bracelet on a satin pillow. She lifted the piece up to examine it closer and heard Ellie gasp.
"It was our mother's," Chuck explained, "Dad gave it to her the day they got married. It's supposed to be good luck."
Sarah studied the charms attached to the chain finding a pendant with the Orion constellation on it, clearly representing his father. Next was a snowflake, she assumed for Mary or Frost. There was a pink heart and a pair of blue booties, she assumed were meant to represent Ellie's and Chuck's births. "It's beautiful," She sighed, giving Chuck a wide smile. "Help me put it on?"
"There's one more thing," Chuck pulled a smaller box, ignoring the wide eyed looks he was getting from Ellie and Sarah and the near mutinous glare Devon was shooting his way. Turning the box so that it would open toward Sarah, he lifted the lid. A soft click indicated the box had fully opened.
"Oh Charlie!" Sarah gasped.