A/N: Fourteen years after the end of 'After You' Molly is twenty and attending Harvard. Let's see how Christmas preparation is going for her.

Thanks to those that reviewed the chapter about Maire. My oldest had her first boyfriend when she was fourteen; that was hard for a clingy dad! Thankfully, for both my girls, those troubled teenage years are behind them and they're happily married now.

MyNameIsJeffNImLost helped a lot here and had to re-beta when I added more content. Well, I've done that again today! As always any mistakes you find are all my fault, but some more likely in my last-minute additions. Sorry, Jeff.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the lyrics I have used, but, as always, recommend listening to the song and, of course, watching the show.

After You, Christmess
Molly

Bells will be ringing the glad, glad news
Oh what a Christmas to have the blues
My baby's gone I have no friends
To wish me greetings once again

Choirs will be singing silent night
Those Christmas carols by candlelight
Please come home for Christmas
Please come home for Christmas
If not for Christmas by new year's night

Friends and relations send salutations
Just as sure as the stars shine above
This is Christmas, Christmas my dear
The time of year to be with the one that you love

Then won't you tell me, you'll never more roam
Christmas and new year will find you at home
There'll be no more sorrow, no grief or pain
'Cause I'll be happy that it's Christmas once again

Then won't you tell me, you'll never more, you'll never more roam
Christmas and new year will find you at home
There'll be no more sorrow, no grief or pain
'Cause I'll be happy that it's Christmas once again

"Please Come Home for Christmas (Bells will be ringing)"
Charles Brown

Having a foreign boyfriend is wonderful for all the stories he tells her of his childhood, all of them fascinating. The possibilities of visiting the places he talks about, if they stick together, also feel enticing.

However, him leaving at the end of term and heading back to Thailand to see his family just sucked. They won't see each other until nearly the start of the next term!

She had tried to persuade him to get back to the States for New Year, but that isn't going to happen.

To be fair, he hadn't seen any of his family all term, so it isn't surprising they want him to stay with them. In Thailand, they now celebrate the Solar New Year on January 1st, and his family treats it as a family event, so want him there.

The traditional Thai New Year's national holiday, Songkran, is late April next year, so he'll be expected home then too. That's just before exams, so she will be busy then, anyway.

She met him last year as they had a number of classes that they both attended. She attended a number of classes with people from other disciplines.

When she decided she liked him, she'd done her usual vetting process. For several weeks she had watched him, checking his movements. She had used the skills her brother-in-law had taught her and checked his online presence and transactions. She wouldn't tell Chuck that she had done that, he would get mad. It would be worse if her sister found out, all hell would let loose.

Gan had shown interest in her, maybe because he noticed her watching him, but she brushed him aside.

The exam period stopped her furthering her investigations, but then, in the summer recess, she used those skills again to check what he was doing in Thailand.

It turned out he had a girlfriend back there, or more of an ex-girlfriend. One that wanted to rekindle that relationship. If Molly had gone out with him before that, would he have stayed faithful? She'd never know because her caution stopped him even thinking that.

He had spent time with this girl, then seemed to end it a week before returning to the States. She'd checked and confirmed that after he returned, he made no further contact with the girl.

After a couple of weeks, she approached him.

Many guys in the US would not have liked that, but Gan was not so bothered. He admitted that he had wanted to date her the previous year.

They have been a couple ever since.

They spent every minute not in class, together. They were inseparable. Now they are separate.

If only he could have come home with her.

They will be apart until January 4th. She'll be alone until then.

She received a call from Gan on his first day in Thailand. He had arrived safely in Bangkok and had been met by his mom and dad. Molly knows he loves them dearly, but when he'd mentioned how much he already missed her, she loved it.

In fact, he was already commenting how he wanted his mom to stop mothering him! Molly reminded him that his mom had been missing him and mothering was what all mothers did, at least the ones that loved their kids.

He did comment on how it was good to see his brothers and sisters again and how much the younger ones had grown.

He is the oldest of them, so Molly knows they would have changed while he was away, just like her nieces and nephew did while she was away.

He promised to call her each day and, so far he had. Day two seemed to drag, but then she had to pack for her journey on day three and almost missed his call.

She recognizes that it isn't kind to be glad he's missing her, but she can't help it. She misses him, so a reciprocal feeling feels right.

As she sits on the train, taking her cross country towards her mom's place, she realizes she shouldn't really be feeling so sorry for herself. She knows she can trust Gan not to go back to that Thai girl. She knows him now. He wouldn't be unfaithful any more than she would. She also won't actually be alone. She has her family.

Her wonderful mom loves her so much. No mom could be better. She recognizes part of that is displaced affection for her sister who had never been there for her mom, but she also knows that isn't all of it. Her mom is a very loving woman. Older than most, but that has never been a problem.

She often wonders how many adopted children get more love than children born to their parents. Some, probably. Some children aren't wanted, being an intrusion into their parents' lives. That is not something she had seen in her family.

Her sister, although sometimes quiet and a bit reserved, is totally loved by their shared mother.

Sarah and Chuck adore all of their children. Sometimes her sister seems in awe of them, that they are part of her life.

Molly knew, from an early age, that Sarah and Chuck would make great parents. She had been six when they got back together after Sarah's problems. She cast her mind back to those troubled times.

= ! =

At first, she didn't understand why her sister had left the man she loved. Their mom had tried to keep it a secret from Molly, but when Chuck came to talk about it, she opened her bedroom door, just a crack, and listened.

"She doesn't remember me, Emma, let alone love me."

"She will, I'm sure of it," was the reply he got.

"I wish I had your faith in that." This wasn't the happy Chuck that Molly remembered from the previous times she had seen him. She turned back to her toys. Maybe he'd be happier when he came to her room to see her.

molly had been upset when Chuck had left without coming through to her. Her mom explained about Sarah losing her memory and that was why she had left Chuck. However, her mom told her that they'd both come and see her when they could.

= ! =

Well, it had been nearly two years, but when they did come, Sarah had hugged and played with her as much as she could. Molly loved her even more after that day. They visited again two weeks later. Sarah told her that she couldn't wait to see her again, hugging her hard and kissing her so much. When Molly was playing with Chuck, she often noticed her sister looking longingly at her. Molly had wondered if her sister was going to take her away to live with them. That obviously didn't happen. The next month, Sarah found out she was expecting a child of her own. After that, Molly's big sister gazed at her lovingly, and played with her just as much, but that almost desperate look had gone.

When the baby was due, Molly knew that he or she would have two very loving parents, and she'd seen nothing to dispute that ever since.

She stops reminiscing and focuses on what is happening soon.

The whole family will be together this Christmas, as long as they all get there. Now their mom lived close to Chuck and Sarah's house, it will be just a short drive, once Molly gets home, that is. If she and their mom had stayed in California, it would have been different, but they haven't been there for ten years now.

When her sister had mentioned that Chuck was abroad, Molly had worried. Would he be coming back? She knows Sarah really needs him at Christmas, not just for the family, but Christmas itself is something her sister almost dreads. Thankfully, he will be home.

Chuck, her crazy brother-in-law, still is the life and soul of the Christmas spirit. He brings happiness to all around him, not just his wife.

As a couple they are everything Molly wants for her future. Wonderful together, wonderful with their kids, kids who love them so much. Sure, Sarah sometimes can't advise her daughters on life, well, at all. Her life hasn't been normal and not something she wants for them, at least the first half. Thankfully, her mom and, to some extent, Molly, are there for them.

Molly loves her nieces and her little nephew. She is closer in age to Maire than she is to Sarah, making her niece almost like a sister. She thinks Maire idolizes her sometimes, which isn't great, but they get on so well together. Over the break they will, undoubtedly, head to the shopping mall, enjoying the same things, buying similar clothes. Just hanging out together.

She knows Gwen is jealous of her older sister. Maybe if they invite her along on that shopping trip, it'd be good for the two sisters.

She is sure that the two young ones, Kathryn and little Liam, will just love everything about Christmas.

She has no idea if any of Chuck's family will be there. His sister and brother-in-law are much in demand at the hospital they work at. They may be working over the holidays. It is strange, sometimes family was the most important thing in the world for Ellie, then at others the job took priority. Maybe that is true of all doctors, but Molly suspects not. So, if they work, their kids, Clara, Stephen and Jason would stay in Chicago and Chuck and Ellie's mom might go there, unless the Woodcombs did.

She always laughed when she thought of the elder Doctors Woodcomb, Holly and Woody, such crazy names.

As for Mary Bartowski, Molly still doesn't know where she lives, she is so, so secretive. She hardly speaks, making Sarah seem almost loquacious, but when she does, everyone stops to listen to her pronouncements. Molly knows she played a major part in Chuck and Sarah finding each other after her sister's memory loss. From what Molly learned, she almost single-handedly saved the day. An amazing woman, but also so scary. She had apparently been absent for most of her children's lives, as had their dad. At least she was there for them now, when they need her.

All of the older Bartowskis are certainly different; Chuck, his sister and his mom; an altogether strange family, but Molly loves them all, even scary Mary.

Mind you, her family isn't normal either, even her.

When her mom told her about her birth parents and her legacy she was shocked. Her inheritance means she'll never need to work, but she will; she can't imagine such a life. She wants to work, be something special in life. She won't let that money change her.

She remembers the conversation with her sister and her-brother-in-law about money. They had been given money that was then taken from them by their employer, but eventually returned to them. It was theirs. It wasn't. Then it was again! She had wondered before if that was why they didn't live like the really rich people they were, but that was not the case.

Chuck had agreed that money was hard to hold on to, at least for them, and all three had laughed. Sarah pointed out that having money solved nothing in their lives, but that it attracted the wrong sort of attention; attention that they did not want. They just put a lot of it in accounts that they didn't touch, saving it for the future, or rather their kids' future. Some, they spent on helping their family, like her mom, and some they gave to charitable causes. A reminder that they are good people, something Molly aspires to be, as well.

Molly settles back in her seat, by the window, and starts to just watch the countryside pass by. Life is pretty good, really, and, whatever happens this Christmas, she'll be with people she loves and who love her. She won't be alone, at all.

A/N: So, Molly heading to her mom's, then on to her sister's home for Christmas.

I prefer the Kelly Clarkson's version of the Christmas song. It is a mostly sad song, albeit with an almost upbeat feeling at times.

Next chapter will be about the two grandmothers, Emma and Mary.

As usual, a review would be nice.