A/N: One more time…with FEELING!

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

Chuck woke up, a smile on his face. It was Saturday, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Two days of classes, and then Thanksgiving break. Three more weeks left in this semester and then he began his TA duties. He would actually be teaching the class, and a professor would be assigned to it, but it was his class. He was only taking nine hours next semester, the same amount he was taking now, and teaching a class. The spring looked to be quite busy. He was going to enjoy the remaining weeks of this year the best he could.

So far, everything was wonderful. They were finally moved into their new house, and all the boxes were unpacked. Zondra was living in the mother-in-law apartment over the garage. Everything was going amazing.

"SHIT!" he heard bellowed down the hall.

"I had to go an ruin it, didn't I," Chuck muttered to himself.

He had lied, one thing was NOT going amazing. He got up, went to the bathroom to take are of business and headed toward the kitchen. "Hey, Z," Chuck said as he passed her. She was sitting at the bar, sipping her coffee, a content look of amusement on her face. Chuck shook his head and glanced over at the love of his life and a woman who looked about half-crazed, Sarah.

"Try this," she nearly barked, thrusting a spoon full of some casserole at him. Chuck leaned over, tentatively, and took a bite, slowly chewing. It was good, but that wouldn't be the correct answer. He tried to taste like he never had before, trying to find something wrong with it, and when he couldn't and looked up at her, the expression on her face scared the hell out of him. It was almost a challenge on her face. "Well?"

"I like it," Chuck admitted. She glared at him. "I don't?"

"I don't know if you do or not, but the crust is not the dark brown flakiness that it shows on the picture!" she said, gesturing her hand toward her tablet that had the recipe on it.

"There's plenty of flakiness from where I'm sitting," Zondra muttered. Chuck did not posses the ability to hold in the snort or keep his face from the smile that threatened to break out.

"Laugh it up, you two, you don't understand," she snapped at both of them, walking over, grabbing the casserole, and scooping it out into the garbage.

"Okay, two things," Chuck began. Sarah turned slowly, daggers in her eyes. Chuck's eyes widened and he gulped.

"Oh, this should be good," Zondra muttered, taking a sip of her coffee, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"You're not helping," Chuck told her.

"Who said I was trying to?"

"One, a lot of times they use a blow torch or lighter to make the crust more of a dark brown and flaky looking for the picture," Chuck began.

"Oh, God, something on the Internet isn't true," Zondra commented, still amused.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Chuck asked her.

"Nope."

"Ignore her, and continue," Sarah told him.

"Two, you're right, we don't understand so why don't you try and explain to us what has you acting like an insane person?"

"Ellie is coming to Thanksgiving, with Devon, and then Carina and Morgan are coming, and knowing Morgan he will say something insane like Ellie still has feelings for him, even though she never did and Carina will get pissed, and watch Ellie. Carina is a spy and knows one hundred ways to kill Ellie and I can't let Carina kill my sister-in-law, because I love her, and she's been so good to you, but Carina is my friend, and then there's Gertrude and she's bringing Casey, and I have to watch my boss, with her boyfriend and he's gonna do stuff, and Morgan might get jealous because of what Carina and Casey used to have and then there's Zondra, who might or might not bring Dakota. She's been very close-lipped on what she's going to do. And most everyone is spies, so who knows what kind of shenanigans might happen. Someone might put trackers in a dish, Russians might show up and decide we need to play charades, and I just want everything to be perfect because I never got Thanksgiving with dad and all the other times in my life, I've been a spy until last year and I want it to be as wonderful for everyone else as last year was for me."

Chuck and Zondra were staring at Sarah wide-eyed. They turned to each other, gave a nod, and walked over to either side of Sarah, catching her in the middle of a hug as she cried.

"Not to ruin the moment, but some of that was oddly specific," Zondra told her.

"I think about weird things sometimes," Sarah said, trying to get herself back under control.

"That's fair, you married our boy, and you can't get much weirder than that." Chuck beamed. "Wasn't a compliment Curls." Chuck beamed harder. "You're impossible."

}o{

They were sitting on the couch, Sarah drinking a glass of wine. Sarah had just told them how when she was nine, her father had posed as a minister, going around the week before Thanksgiving taking up donations for the poor so they could have Thanksgiving dinner.

"We got McDonald's, on the way out of town," she groused. "All that damn money and we couldn't even have our own Thanksgiving dinner." She was silent for a second. "Not that I even know what I'm supposed to have for Thanksgiving dinner."

Chuck and Zondra shared a look. "Any fucking thing you want," Zondra told her. Sarah looked up at Zondra. "No, I'm serious, what do you want for Thanksgiving?"

"Turkey, but it's hard as hell to cook," Sarah admitted.

"Have Morgan make it," Chuck told her. She frowned. "Sarah, you haven't failed or anything. There is no failing. You are missing what Thanksgiving is about. It's about family, being together, and the thankfulness for it. When Ellie and I were on our own, one Thanksgiving we made pizza from scratch, and it was amazing, you know why?" Sarah shook her head. "Because we had each other, and that's what counts, Sarah. Family."

"Also, cooking turkey is hard for those that know what they're doing. Get it wrong it's either not done, or too dry," Zondra added. "I don't even like turkey." Sarah's eyes bulged out. "What? I just don't like the taste. I prefer ham, or chicken."

"Mom used to make this killer chicken and dumplings," Chuck lamented. "Or at least eight year old me thought so."

"Man that sounds so good," Zondra replied. "That's the part I really like about Thanksgiving, even if you don't have the turkey, there are so many carbs you can fall asleep almost instantly afterwards."

"What is Morgan bringing to Thanksgiving?" Chuck asked Sarah. She just looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Sarah, are you planning on cooking everything?"

"I'm hosting it, so don't I?" Chuck and Zondra shared a look. "What?"

"Sweetie, you can," Zondra began. "But that's nuts." Sarah couldn't help but chuckle. "Chuck's right, if these people are coming then they can help." There was a knock on the door.

"Oh, no, it's Ellie," Sarah said, sitting up straight, looking horrified. "What is she gonna think of me?"

"That you're trying too hard," Chuck told her, as he got up and walked over to the door. "Hey Ellie, my wife has lost her mind."

"Don't you talk about my favorite sister that way," she told him, pushing past Chuck and going straight to Sarah. Sarah had managed to stand and was caught in a bone-crunching hug. "What did my dumb brother do?"

"I love how anything is wrong it's my fault," Chuck said to Zondra.

"Proves where you are on the list of importance," Zondra pointed out. "Somewhere in the low teens."

"I'm that high?"

"She hasn't met all the neighborhood pets and kids yet, once that happens…" Zondra gave him the thumbs down sign and made a low whistling noise.

"I'll be lucky to be in the top one hundred," Chuck lamented.

"Are you two done?" Ellie asked, laughing at their antics. She looked over at Sarah who was smiling. "Well done," she said softly to Chuck and Zondra. "Now, what is going on?"

}o{

Ellie was at the counter, a glass of wine in one hand, pencil in other, looking at the list. "Okay, so, we have what everyone else is bringing," she told Sarah. Sarah nodded. "What do you want that isn't on this list?"

"I don't know," Sarah admitted. "All I know is not to do toast and popcorn."

Zondra gave Chuck a look. "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," Chuck told her in a low voice. "I assume she saw it as a kid and kinda thought that's what you're supposed to have and got made fun of."

Ellie locked eyes with Chuck and looked over at Sarah who was looking away, twisting her lips. "The hell," Ellie muttered. "I'll tell everyone not to bring a thing and that's all we'll have and I dare them to make fun of her."

"You do know if you're ever stupid enough to get a divorce, Ellie is keeping Sarah, right?" Zondra asked, in what was supposed to be a low tone, but, in fact, was not.

"Well, aware," Chuck replied, grinning.

"Chuck said you had homemade pizza one year," Sarah said, looking uncertain. "Why did you choose to do that?"

"We wanted pizza, and there was no one there to tell us to do it or not to do it," Ellie said with a shrug. "Thanksgiving is about family."

"I'm figuring that part out," Sarah said, looking over at Chuck. She turned back to Ellie. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For accepting me the way I am," Sarah told her. Ellie pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you for showing us who you are," Ellie told her.

"And I also think if Devon ever divorces Ellie, you could be in some real trouble," Zondra added.

Chuck gave her a look. "Nah, cause you'll make a play for Ellie before she can for Sarah. You know you want some Bartowski."

"I hate you," Zondra said, storming out of the room as everyone laughed.

A/N: I may still know how to do this.