New Memories: A Bartowski Christmas

By Steampunk . Chuckster

A/N: This is the last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it and that you have a wondrous Christmas holiday today if you celebrate. Thanks so much for reading and leaving reviews. Stick around for A YuleTie Tale because that one's definitely going to be going for a bit here. And if you haven't read it yet, pop over and give it a whirl. :) Thanks, everyone. Merry Christmas.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show and I'm not making money.

Chuck snuggled deeper into his pillow, half-asleep, smiling hazily as he took in his wife's scent—a mixture of lavender and spice. Spice? He frowned a little and opened his eyes, finding himself looking straight into her soft blue gaze. She turned her face into her pillow that they were sharing, a little bashful, as though sheepish that she'd been caught watching him while he slept.

"Morning," he grumbled, his voice thick with sleep, unable to keep from smiling.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Bartowski."

Chuck felt his entire face light up. "Heeey, that's riiight. It's Christmas…"

"Mhm. It is."

When she shifted a little, he smelled that unfamiliar scent of spice again. Cinnamon, perhaps? Chuck moved the hand that rested on her hip, sliding it down her back as he scooted close and pressed his face into her neck. She yelped softly, giggling hard as he nuzzled her without restraint. "What's that delicious smell, Mrs. Bartowski?" he murmured, nibbling her skin underneath her jaw.

Her fingers tangled in his curls and tugged his head back, causing him to wince a little as she pulled his hair. "If you do somethin' for me, you'll find out."

Chuck grinned and nodded his assent. "Anything."

He dove back in, kissing down her neck and nipping at her collar bone with his teeth flirtatiously.

"We have to get out of bed."

His only response was a reluctant groan.

"Hey, you said…"

"I know, I know." He pulled back and climbed out of bed, making sure he wore a face that let his wife know he wasn't all that excited about having to get out of the warm and inviting bed, about having to leave her embrace.

She looked up at him and shook her head. "Put your PJs back on, baby. You've got an incredibly cute butt and all, but—and I don't mean to be crude—if you don't get dressed, that's definitely going to be a distraction. Mostly for me, obviously. And there's something important I want to do."

Chuck thought back to the spark of mischief that was in her eyes when he'd asked her yesterday about what she wanted to do today. And he nodded quietly, going to his drawer and pulling a clean pair of green flannel pajamas over his briefs.

Sarah climbed out after him, already dressed in her pajamas, strangely enough. He knew for a fact that when they fell asleep, they'd both been wearing absolutely nothing. When did she have the time to put her pajamas on?

"Okay, now…close your eyes and please don't peek." Her smooth hands slid over his eyes and he felt her body brush against his back for a moment, pressing her lips against his cheek slowly. "Eyes shut?"

He nodded. "Eyes shut."

Sarah walked him expertly out of their bedroom, down the hallway and into the living room. He assumed at least, considering the turns he was taking and the amount of steps.

Her lips were next to his ear again as she slid her hands down to his shoulders. "Okay, Chuck. You can open 'em now."

When he opened his eyes, he saw lit candles all over the room, the couch positioned perfectly in front of the television with folded blankets sitting on its arm. On the television screen was the DVD menu for Twilight Zone. And the fireplace in the corner was roaring at full blast.

And on the coffee table was an array of fruit breads and a massive pile of scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, ham, toast, butter, jam, a massive bowl of sliced fruits, and two steaming mugs of what Chuck assumed was coffee. And of course cinnamon rolls. So that was the extra yummy smell that wafted in the air around him when he woke up a few minutes ago.

"Baby, what—what's this?" He spun to regard her as she looked on with a subdued smile on her face. She folded her hands together and shrugged cutely.

"Wait, did you…" He held her by her arms gently. "Did you remember this, Sarah?"

Her eyes dimmed a little, but it was only for a moment. Then she shrugged again. "I asked Ellie. I, um…have a bit of a confession."

Sarah's sheepish little smile was enough to make him step closer and move his hands to her slim waist, pulling her against him.

"The reason why I was so reluctant to talk about today was because I was trying to remember on my own, and it made me upset that I couldn't. It makes me upset that I can't remember a lot of things, Chuck. Really important things from our life together. Like…the other Christmases you and I have spent together, for instance."

He tilted his head and rubbed his hands up and down her sides. "Sarah, I know it's hard not remembering but you could have just asked me and I would have told you. The Bartowski Christmas tradition is a lot of fun and it's great and all, but…it isn't important enough that we can't change things around, do somethin' else."

"It wasn't that, Chuck. It was just…" She took a deep breath and and wound her arms around his neck, looking into his face. "You keep talking about you and me making new memories. You know, because I can't…because I don't have all of the old ones anymore. And I took that the wrong way."

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I've been afraid that you see me as a different person than I was before Quinn happened. And every time you said we'd make new memories, I thought it meant because I was a new person. Like the old Sarah was gone and now I'm here to take her place and you have to start over with me. And I thought maybe I couldn't add up to that Sarah."

"That's not it at all!" But then her fingers were against his lips, a soft and understanding smile stretching her own.

"I know that now, Chuck. I finally decided to break down and ask Ellie about Christmas traditions in your family. Our family. I like the idea of us making new memories." She stroked her hands down his shoulders and over his arms. "I mean we were making new memories before Quinn, weren't we?"

"Every day," he breathed, squeezing her gently.

She beamed. "Exactly. But…But I also think it'd be nice if we kept a few things the same. Like the Bartowski Christmas tradition. Ellie told me I liked it a lot, so I'm going to continue liking it. It's a good tradition. Lots of food. A show I can't remember watching, but I'm watching it with you, so I'm sure I'll love it anyways…more food…"

He chuckled and hugged her close. "I love you. And you need to know, whether you get your memories back or not, you're still my Sarah." Chuck pressed his lips to her temple as she tightened her hold on him.

"I know it now," she whispered.

"You know, technically this is our sixth Christmas. We should have something special."

"We do!"

"We do?"

"Yeah!" She grinned and pulled away, reaching up to tug a little on his morning stubble teasingly. "Come into the kitchen."

He followed her, but really he had no choice, as she had his hand in a vice grip, tugging him behind her.

She opened the fridge and did an amazing impression of Vanna White, stepping back and sweeping her hand to the side. He peeked in and saw two flutes filled with orange juice, a bottle of champagne between them.

"Awww, mimosas!" he exclaimed. "I love me some mimosa!"

"I know you do. And since this Christmas we're all alone, we get the entire bottle to ourselves."

"And so much food!" He knelt down and grabbed the glasses. Working as a team, they poured the champagne, swirled their flutes to let the mimosas settle, and cheered to the rest of their lives together and a lifetime of Christmases.

They snuggled on the couch for two hours, eating and drinking and laughing, working in a good amount of canoodling that meant they missed the big reveal at the end of The Invaders. Sarah was incredibly confused when Chuck called Agnes Moorehead the alien and he had to rewind it so that she could see the space ship with US Air Force printed on the side.

Chuck rubbed his hands down his pajama pants once a good deal of the food had been eaten or had gotten cold, then turned to her and muted the menu screen they'd been brought back to at the end of the latest episode. "So I got you something."

"You already got me that piggy bank." She smiled happily at him, her hand landing on his knee and squeezing.

"I know, but I got you something else, too. This is your big gift."

She raised an eyebrow. "My big gift... Well, I got you some smaller things, but…I guess you can open this one now. If that's okay."

He nodded and she leapt up from the couch, moving to the tree and grabbing a card she had propped on one of the branches. Then she walked back to him and waved her hand a little. "Make room for me."

With a grin, he sat up a little straighter and she plopped into his lap, her free arm going around his neck as she leaned in for a slow, mimosa flavored kiss.

He hummed against her lips, paying no mind to the card she was trying to give him, instead rounding her waist with both of his arms and pulling her even closer. When he shifted a little to lay her back against the blankets, she giggled and pulled away. "Mmm, as nice as that would be, baby, open your card."

Chuck grinned cheekily and sat up straight again, helping her climb back into his lap as he took the card and sent her a slightly sheepish wrinkle of his nose. He popped the flap of the envelope open and slid the card out.

It was the typical sappy, romantic Christmas card, from a wife to a husband, and the word husband on the cover did make him feel overwhelmingly lucky. But when he opened the card, he found that two folded slips of paper slid out of it and onto Sarah's lap.

Sending her a look full of curiosity, wondering just what she was playing at, he opened one of them and looked at it. It looked like a boarding pass, with his name at the top, except that the destination had been replaced by "Anyplace you want to go". When he opened the second one, "Sarah Bartowski" was at the top. He looked up at her, still a little confused. "What is this, Sarah?"

"We're going on a honeymoon. I don't know where and I don't know when. That's up to you. But we're doing it. I can't remember our first one," she said quietly, reaching up to stroke a hand over his rough jawline, "and as sad as that makes me, it's okay now. Because now we can go on another one. We're making new memories."

She sealed the loving proclamation with another kiss. Chuck quickly wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her harder, the boarding passes crinkling in his fist. He pulled away just as quickly and looked down at the papers. "I'm sorry! Did I mess them up?"

Sarah laughed and took the papers, tossing them away. "I just made it up on the computer and printed it out. They aren't real. Just a symbol."

"Oh." He laughed with her, but it was cut off by her lips being pressed against his again. When he found her fingers slipping under the hem of his shirt, he gently took her by her arms and moved her back. "Wait, wait. You need to open your big present."

She huffed and dropped her forehead against his. "Serves me right, I guess." With a giggle, she moved off of his lap and plopped back onto the couch cushions. "Alright, where's my big gift?"

Chuck couldn't help but feel a little nervous as he stood up and walked around to the other side of the tree, picking up a small golden bag and bringing it to her, sitting down beside her and watching expectantly. She teasingly picked it up and shook it, causing him to chuckle, before she opened the bag and pulled the paper out.

"What is this?" She reached in and lifted a small wrapped box out of it.

"Open it." He smiled at her as she raised an eyebrow. He hoped he wasn't building it up too much and once she opened it his gift would be a let down.

But as the ex-CIA agent unwrapped the gift and revealed a small felt jewelry box, her eyes widening, he sat up a little straighter and grabbed his knees. "Open it," he repeated.

When she did, the expectation melted from her face, replaced with confusion. "A key?" Her blue eyes flicked up to his and she picked the silver key out of the box between her fingers, holding it up. "What's this?"

"It's Step One, Mrs. Bartowski. I hope you don't mind…" He leaned a little closer, wincing a bit. "I know you set up this whole day of us lounging around the apartment and watching Twilight Zone and eating and drinking and making out and stuff…but I was hoping we could take a small trip? It won't take too long. And we can get right back to all of this."

She smiled a little, her look anticipating but also a little wary. "A trip?"

"A trip. Let's get dressed. Nothing fancy, just you know…not PJs." He leaned in and gave her a peck on her cheek. "Come on, come on. Let's go, beautiful!"

He tugged her up from the couch and dragged her into their bedroom, becoming more and more excited as he quickly changed into jeans and a T-shirt.

}o{

"Are your eyes shut?"

"Mhm. They've been for the last five minutes. Per your request."

"Still have the key?"

"It's in my pocket," Sarah said, hearing Chuck get out of the driver's side of the car. A moment later, her door opened and he took her hand in his.

"Watch your head," he said, his voice close to her as he most likely knelt down to help her blindly step out of the car. He set his free hand on top of her head as she safely maneuvered herself out of the car to stand beside him. "It's like I'm reverse arresting you," he muttered.

"What?" She laughed and reached out to feel for his arm, clutching it tightly in her hand. "And what is going on here, anyways?"

When Sarah had unwrapped the small jewelry box, she expected fancy earrings, or another ring, or some other piece of beautiful jewelry. So when she opened it and saw the small silver key, she was flummoxed to say the least. And when he excitedly told her to get dressed, she became even more confused.

That being said, she felt excitement coursing through her veins as Chuck led her…somewhere.

"Okay, so I'm going way out on a limb here, I know. But I have been thinking a lot about this," he said as he held her by her shoulders, moving her along. "Hold on, there's a step here." She stepped up onto what felt like grass beneath her heeled boots. "So very graceful, my Sarah is."

Sarah giggled at that and felt her heart beat against her ribcage as Chuck finally stopped her.

"Just keep an open mind about this. Because it's open-ended, you know? We don't have to do this. Whatever you want. We can talk about it and—"

"Chuck," she interrupted. "I love you and you're adorable when you nervous ramble at me, but can I open my eyes now?"

"Ohh, excited are we?"

"I'm gonna sock you one."

"Open your eyes," he chuckled, his hands stroking her arms as he positioned himself behind her.

Sarah opened her eyes to see a large, two-story home in front of her. Her heart leapt into her throat and before she could even take in any of the details excepting the large grassy front yard and the porch, she spun on her husband and clutched at the front of his jacket. "Did you buy me a house, Chuck?"

His eyes popped. "Uh…well, no. I didn't buy it. There's—Well, I sort of…The realtor said the prior owners are really eager to sell it, so I called her up yesterday morning—really nice lady, maybe has a crush on me, I can't really tell—and asked if I could have the keys for Christmas day. Just to look around with my wife, you know, see if it feels good."

Oh. "But you're saying we could…potentially own this house?" She paused. "In the future?"

"Soon…" he breathed. "If you'd like. Which is part of the reason why I sort of hoped the Montez deal would go through. Extra cushion, you know. But we're okay without it. And—And it doesn't have to be this house. This is just one of the houses I've seen around that I thought was sort of like the one you told me you've always wanted, you know. Without the red door, I know, but…but it's a house. If we go in and you hate it, we can—What I mean to say is, your Christmas gift is basically me asking you if you want to go house hunting with me."

"A real house," she murmured. "That we would own together. Raise a family."

"Exactly. And, uh…in the suburbs. The Bartowskis Versus the Suburbs. Makes for a good story, huh?"

She felt tears gather in her eyes and she threw her arms around him, squeezing so tightly she thought she felt his back pop a little. "This is the best Christmas gift ever, Chuck." She turned her face into his neck and kissed the underside of his jaw. "I love this."

"Wanna go see the inside of our house for the day?"

Sarah went into her pocket and pulled the key out, waggling it in front of his face. "Let's do it."

She tugged him up the front steps and onto the porch, reaching up to gently stroke the pristine olive green door before holding the key out to him. "Why don't you do the honors, Mr. Bartowski?"

He beamed and took the key, unlocking the door and gesturing her inside first. She swept over the threshold and moved into the entry way, looking all around her and grinning so hard she almost felt bubbly laughter spill forth. She kept it in, turning on Chuck as he shut the door.

"I was gonna set up candles and do all of this other fancy stuff but then I thought, you know, I've already done this once before and it's kind of a fire hazard. And we don't even know if this will be the house. It's just a house. So…"

"Chuck, it's beautiful. So the realtor isn't here?"

"She won't be here until tomorrow, at which time I will meet her and bring the key back."

"That's pretty trusting."

"The owners are pretty desperate, it sounds like. They already moved into their new place out of state and just want it gone, apparently." He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave her a bit of a shy smile.

"I love you, you know that?" she said softly, stepping close to him and hugging him.

"Of course I know that, otherwise I wouldn't be house hunting with you, Sarah Bartowski."

"Hm. This is true."

When she pulled away, she squinted a bit at the walls. The light spilled in from the shutters and glinted along the wooden floorboards and…oh, horrid wallpaper.

"Chuck."

"Yeah?"

She cocked her hip a little, tilting her head. "If we buy this place, which is seeming likely even though I haven't seen the rest of it, because it just feels…"

"Good?" he offered, moving up to stand beside her and glancing around at the walls with a funny look on his face.

"Exactly. Yes. If we buy this place, we have to talk about this wallpaper."

Chuck shrugged, dropping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. "We can fix it."

She turned to look up at him, her eyes shining happily, her heart filled to the brim with love and thoughts of the future she could see with this man, in this house or one just like it, future Christmases spent with a tree right in…that corner right there. The fireplace going strong. Twilight Zone marathon on the big screen. Pajamas.

And someday, maybe not anytime soon, but someday, little ones would be cuddled up beside them.

For the first time since she woke up in that hotel room not knowing where she was or why she was there, for the first time since she realized she'd lost five years of her memories, Sarah knew in the long run that hadn't actually changed anything. And yet, at the same time, it had changed everything. She reached over to grab Chuck by the lapel of his jacket, swinging him around in front of her and melting into him, kissing him with everything in her.

This was a place where she and her Chuck would make all sorts of new memories. New memories shared between the same Chuck and Sarah they'd been from the beginning, the same Chuck and Sarah they were even when she couldn't remember who he was or the moments they'd shared. The same Chuck and Sarah they would always be.

A/N: They're the same Chuck and Sarah they would always be, but I know this Christmas isn't the same for any of us. And I genuinely hope you're able to find hope and community and family in your day today, even if it's very different from the way you usually spend it. I love you all. I wish happiness and health for everyone. Be good today. Stay safe. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas.

-SC