Chuck had just finished knotting the tie around his neck and straightening his tux jacket when he heard a knock on his door. He checked himself once more in the mirror and was pleased with what he saw. He'd just gotten a haircut, much to the relief of his older sister, that left the sides shorter, but with enough length on top to allow it to still curl. His suit was tailored to fit his trim frame, and his dress shoes had been polished to a mirrored shine. Satisfied with his appearance, he descended the stairs to answer the door.
"Hey, Sis, just about ready to go," Chuck greeted her, not really pausing to look at her as he turned back to his kitchen where a bouquet of gardenias lay on the table. The bright white of the blossoms were a stark contrast to the dark green foliage surrounding them. Stopping at his entry way table, he slid his wallet into his back pocket, cellphone into the breast pocket of his jacket, and grabbed his keys. Turning he saw his sister dressed in a burgundy formal gown with a cap sleeve, sweetheart neckline, and column skirt; Devon stood behind her in a well-fitting tux, Clara perched on his hip in a light purple party dress and black, patent leather, mary-janes. "You all look great, especially you, Clara, you are quite lovely this evening."
"Thank you, Uncle Chuck," The girl smiled from her position on her father's hip.
"You're looking rather dapper yourself," Ellie piped in, stepping up to him and adjusting his tie to lay straight, "Sarah is going to be very impressed."
"Thanks," Chuck blushed at her comment before clearing his throat, "Alright let's go!"
It didn't take long for the small family to load up in their cars, the only delay was to move Clara's booster seat from her parents' car to her uncle's as she insisted on riding in Chuck's 'Spy Car.' "Hey munchkin," Chuck handed her the flowers once he slid into the car, "Can you hold these for me?"
"Yeah!" Clara grinned, accepting the flowers and looking at them, "They're pretty, who are the flowers for?"
"Do you remember Miss Sarah from the beach?" Chuck met her eyes in the rearview as he pulled out onto the street heading toward the concert hall.
"Uh-huh," Clara nodded enthusiastically, "She's Molly's mommy. I play with Molly at daycare all the time! She's really pretty."
"Yes, she is. She is also a very talented musician," Chuck grinned at his niece through the rearview mirror, "It's her concert that we are going to. She is what they call a featured soloist, which means that she is going to stand at the front of the stage and play a special part of the music while the rest of the orchestra backs her up. It can be very scary to do that, so we are going to go and listen to her play so that she can have some friendly faces in the audience."
"Cool," Clara nodded, "So why are we bringing her flowers?"
"It's a nice thing to do when you go to see someone perform," Chuck informed her as he merged onto the I-5, checking his mirrors to make sure his sister and brother-in-law's van was close behind him. "It makes them feel appreciated for all the hard work they put into what they are doing. A lot of times they get roses, but I know gardenias are Miss Sarah's favorite flower so I'm giving her those instead."
"Okay," Clara gave him a thoughtful look, "Does that mean that I'll get flowers when I have my ballet recital next month?"
"Of course!" Chuck stated emphatically, "Do you have a favorite flower?"
"I like the pretty poufy ones at the grocery store," She gave him her little girl version of the Bartowski smile.
"Carnations it is, a big bouquet of them!" He chuckled at her excitement. The rest of the ride was spent talking about everything that came into Clara's head from her new dress, to her kindergarten teacher and her friends at school and ballet, how excited she was for her recital, even the trip to Disneyland that her parents didn't know she knew about. Chuck loved times like this when he got to share in the little girl's enthusiasm. As he listened to her talk, he found himself wondering if Molly would be like this when she was older, which led to wondering what his children would look like if he and Sarah decided to take that step, and the ones that traditionally precede it. They had only been dating for a little over a month and he wondered if it was too soon to want to take that step.
His thoughts and the conversation began to wane as they pulled into the parking garage. He pulled his ticket and waited for the gate to open before guiding his car into the underground parking, driving slowly so as to not endanger other concert goers who were walking through the parking structure, but to allow his brother-in-law to keep up with him so that they could try to find parking spaces near each other. Thankfully, there were two spaces next to each other on the second sublevel, and the two men swung their respective vehicles in and turned off their ignitions. Chuck helped Clara out of her booster seat and kept an eye on her as she stood by the rear wheel of the car, as she had been taught to do, until he freed the contraption from the rear seat and handed it to Devon who was waiting, with the sliding door of the van open, to install the seat once more for their return trip as the adults knew Chuck was planning to take Sarah out for a late dinner after the concert.
Taking Clara's small hand in his own, Chuck started walking, Ellie and Devon close behind, toward the elevators that would bring them up to the main level where the will-call desk resided. When they entered the main foyer, the look of amazement on Clara's face as she took in the grandiose wooden beams that soared over her head, a stark contrast to the gleaming stainless-steel outer façade, brought a smile to her uncle's lips.
"Wow!" Clara sighed, much to the amusement of her adults.
"You said it, Clair Bear," Chuck smiled down at her as they made their way to join the line of people waiting to pick up their tickets. Thankfully they had several people working the desk, and each line was clearly marked with the initials for each assistance clerk, so no one had to wait for long. A glad relief for those attending the concert with a young girl of five. When it was finally their turn, Chuck approached the desk. "Bartowski, we should have four tickets on hold."
The guest assistance clerk, a pretty brunette with curly hair and hazel eyes behind thin framed, pale purple glasses, gave him and the little girl whose hand he still held, a warm smile as she thumbed through the file before her. Pulling an envelope from the accordion file and verifying it against her check list, she handed the envelope to him. "Here you go, Mr. Bartowski. I hope your family enjoys the concert. Seating will begin in about 45 minutes. We invite you to explore the space. There is a small pre-concert performance in B.P. Hall featuring our first chair Bassoon, Carina Miller, and our Oboist, Zondra Rizzo. They are playing a medley from Pirates of the Caribbean."
"We may stop and give it a listen then," Chuck smiled at the woman, "Thank you for the suggestion.
"You're welcome, Mr. Bartowski," The woman smiled back, "And may I say your daughter is beautiful."
Clara laughed at the woman's statement, "He's not my daddy, he's my Uncle Chuck. My Mommy and Daddy are over there." She pointed toward the couple who were standing patiently by a nearby pillar waiting for their brother and daughter to return.
The woman blushed prettily, "I'm sorry, my mistake."
"Don't worry about it," Chuck assured the young woman, "She looks like her mother, who is incidentally my sister, so it's an understandable assumption."
"Oh," The woman nodded, "Alright then, I hope you enjoy your visit."
"We will," Chuck nodded, "Thanks again."
Taking Clara's hand in his once more, he guided the little girl back to where her parents were standing. Since they had a little while before seating was to begin, they decided to stop at B.P. Hall to see if they couldn't catch a bit of the performance before venturing to the third level and it's outdoor space so that Clara could run around and get her wiggles out before heading into the main hall to enjoy the concert.
Clara really enjoyed watching the women perform in the small concert space along with their piano accompaniment. She had been allowed to watch Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time just a month before with her uncle serving as sensor, covering her eyes during the parts he deemed might be a little too scary for her. She never told him that she peeked through his fingers during the fighting scenes and they didn't give her any nightmares at all. She actually thought the monkey was cute and had dreamed of Monkey Jack that night. So, when she heard the women playing pieces from the movie, she got really excited, chattering non-stop to her uncle and parents. This drew amused looks from other concert goers at the little girl's enthusiasm.
About ten minutes before the doors opened, or about thirty to curtain, the small family made their way up to the third level to wander around the green space. Clara fell in love with the giant rose fountain that sat in the middle of the garden. She first ran then slowly walked around the water feature, watching as the water poured from tier to tier, much like the fountain that sat between her parents' and her uncle's condos. The broken pottery that had been inlaid into the cement making up the design of the feature was pretty, and she liked running her hand over its uneven surface. Before she knew it, her mom called her back, saying that it was time to find their seats.
Chuck checked the tickets and found that they were going to be in the stage left balcony, just forward of the stage. Finding their entrance, he showed the tickets to the usher who scanned them and pushed back the curtain to allow them access to their section. Their seats were in the first row, Chuck went in first, followed by Clara, Ellie, and Awesome. He counted the seats and found that he was to be seated next to an older woman with greying dirty blonde hair. He didn't recognize the woman until the toddler in her lap squealed, getting his, and her attention.
"Well, fancy meeting you here," The woman smiled when she recognized the man sitting beside her, "How are you doing, Chuck?"
"I'm doing well, Emma," Chuck smiled back at her.
"We brought Miss Sarah flowers," Clara beamed proudly, holding up the bouquet that Chuck had, once again, set in her lap at her request.
"Those are lovely, Clara, I'm sure she will love them," Emma assured the little girl before turning her attention to the adults sitting just beyond the little girl, "Ellie, Devon, good to see you too. You all look so nice tonight."
"Thank you, Emma," Ellie gave her a soft smile, "It's nice being able to get out of my scrubs for a night."
"Yeah, that's pretty awesome," Devon agreed, making the other adults snicker at his favorite word.
"I know the feeling," Emma nodded, "One of the littles in my ward is undergoing kidney dialysis and dispite him not feeling well, the little guy loves to dance. One of the volunteers always plays him music on her phone, as he has come to expect it from her visits."
"Oh no, I think I know where this is going," Ellie groaned, "Who got hit?"
"She did," Emma smirked, "Neon green puke down her pants, but she took it like a champ. Put him back in his little monkey cage, hit the call button, and set to work cleaning him up with some wet wipes. She had him mostly cleaned up by the time I got there to get him changed. Thankfully we had some scrubs we loan to the teens to sleep in, so once the little guy was cleaned up, we hunted them down so that she could change and finish her shift."
"Poor little guy," Ellie cooed.
"Yeah, he's one of our frequent residents," Emma shook her head sadly, "Thankfully, that particular volunteer comes in a couple times a week; with the amount of care he needs and the fact his family lives so far away, her visits are the highlight of his week. He always asks for his 'Mimi' and gets so happy when she comes, it doesn't matter if she walks around the ward with him, plays with him, or sits back on the recliner and snuggles him as they watch 'Cars.' Only thing he doesn't like, although his physical and occupational therapists love her for it, is she refuses to carry him around and makes him walk. His mom spoils him and carries him around everywhere, so he doesn't like to walk."
"I think I've seen them a time or two when I was checking on a couple of my pediatric cardiac patients," Devon chipped in, "Young woman a little younger than Chuck, wavy brown hair?"
"That's her," Emma nodded, "I don't know how much longer she'll be with us. Mina, that's her name, just went back to school last month, so she may not be able to keep up with her schoolwork, job, and volunteering. She's a newlywed, too. Wouldn't be too surprised if we saw her again in a professional capacity in a few years. She mentioned that she is still trying to decide between ASL Interpreting or Nursing with an emphasis on Pediatric medicine."
"I'd like to meet her someday," Ellie gave Emma a smile, "Let me know next time she's around and I'll see if I can't make my way to your side of the building."
"I'll do that," Emma promised, bouncing Molly in her lap. The little girl had begun to squirm, and it was quickly becoming distracting.
The orchestra took the stage, quickly finding their seats and settling in as the lights of the hall began to dim. When the Maestro took the stage, the audience began to applaud. The Maestro was trim, and of average height, with a thick head of dark hair, and looked to be of at least partial Latin descent. He bowed to the audience before picking up the microphone that rested on a stand near the director's box and welcomed everyone in attendance. He gave a brief overview of what pieces had been selected and wished for the ticket holders to enjoy the concert. To the surprise of all the adults, both Clara, who was still between her mother and uncle, and Molly, who had eventually migrated into Chuck's lap and was snuggled up against his chest, were well behaved.
In between pieces, Clara would sometimes ask a question about one of the instruments or tell her adults what she liked or didn't about the piece that had just ended. Other times, she would turn and play with Molly, keeping the younger girl entertained. After about a half an hour, the Maestro turned back to the audience, microphone in hand and announced that they would have a featured soloist joining them on stage. He informed the audience that the soloist was the newest addition to the orchestra, had graduated top of her class from Columbia, and had left the New York Philharmonic where she had been the youngest member ever admitted to the elite orchestra, to return home to California.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the beautiful, the talented, the incomparable, Sarah Walker," The Maestro led the applause as the stage right doors swung open, revealing a woman with blonde hair twisted back into a low chignon that rested just below her right ear, she wore a royal blue sleeveless gown with a lace illusion neckline that had silver accents weaved into the lace, a fitted bodice, and a long, flowing chiffon skirt that had a sweep train in the back. In her left hand, she held the neck of her instrument and had the end of her bow hooked onto the forefinger of the same hand. She used her right to waive to the audience.
Molly immediately noticed when her mother took the stage, sitting up and scooting forward on Chuck's lap until she was holding onto the balcony rail, calling, "Mommy! Mommy!"
Although she couldn't hear her little girl, she saw movement in the balcony where she knew her family and her boyfriend's family sat. Despite the dim lighting of the hall, she could make out that Molly was seated in Chuck's lap, both with twin loving smiles on their faces. She couldn't help but grin and blow them a kiss. The action was returned by both of her targets before she nodded to the Maestro that she was ready. Once the man retook his perch and raised his hands, she lifted her instrument and began her solo.
Chuck had never heard anything so beautiful in his life. He knew how talented she was, but this performance blew him away, he couldn't have been prouder of her if he'd tried. The piece lasted 8 minutes, and when the last note echoed throughout the hall, the room exploded in applause and cheers, as the majority of the room rose in an ovation. Chuck could just faintly make out the slight flush that rose to Sarah's cheeks as she curtsied, turned back toward where he stood, a clapping Molly perched on his hip, the lines of his tux be damned, and blew him one more kiss, which he returned. She curtsied once more and exited the stage. Once the applause had calmed down, the Maestro thanked the patrons for coming for their season opening concert, bowed, then gestured for the orchestra to stand and bow as one before they began to file off the stage to the applause of the audience.
Clara had started getting sleepy but insisted that she say goodbye to Sarah before she left, so the Bartowski/Woodcomb/Walker family wound their way through the crowd to the main level and backstage. As a featured soloist, Sarah had her own dressing room, it didn't take long to be pointed in the right direction. After a little begging, the adults allowed Molly to knock on the large green door. A moment later, the door swung open, revealing Sarah, still dressed in her gown, wisps of hair escaping her updo. The way she looked was definitely in Chuck's top 10 most beautiful Sarah moments.
"Hey!" She grinned, stepping aside and opening the door wider, "Come on in, it's a little small in here, but I think some of you can fit on the couch."
The group filed in, Chuck, who still held Molly, handed the little girl over to her mother, "Mama!" The girl cried out, wrapping her little arms around Sarah's neck, "Mama play pretty."
"Thank you, Baby," Sarah nuzzled her neck.
"We brought you flowers, Miss Sarah," Clara spoke up, holding the large bouquet that was easily as big as her head aloft in offering to the older woman.
"Thank you, Clara; they're beautiful," Sarah grinned, accepting the bouquet, giving it a small sniff and setting it on her dressing table until it was time to head home. Molly had already nuzzled into her neck and was quickly drifting off.
"Here let me take her," Emma offered, taking the small girl into her arms with only a mild protestation from the toddler.
"We should probably get going," Ellie added, "It's getting late for Clara and she has swimming lessons tomorrow. We really enjoyed the concert, you were amazing!"
"Thank you," Sarah blushed lightly at the praise from her boyfriend's sister and ersatz mother. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves," She then crouched down and brushed Clara's bangs out of her eyes, giving the little girl a brief hug, "Now, it's time for all good little girls to go home and go to sleep. I'm super glad you came tonight."
"Okay," Clara nodded, rubbing her eyes, "I'm super glad I came too, you play really good."
"Thank you, Sweetheart," Sarah pressed a kiss to the little girl's forehead before nudging her back toward her parents and standing to her full height. "I think it's time for Little Miss to get some sleep too." She nodded to her daughter who now was sleeping on her grandmother's shoulder.
Emma agreed and after a quick round of goodbyes, the Woodcombs and Emma left with their young charges. Once the door was closed, Chuck and Sarah flew into each other's arms as if they were drawn together magnetically, arms embracing, lips crashing together. It didn't take long for Chuck's hand to drift up into his girlfriend's hair, displacing even more of her locks from the carefully crafted knot at the back of her head.
"You know, Clara was right," Chuck finally spoke a little later as they sat, cuddled up on the small sofa of the dressing room, still dressed in their formal attire, the only concessions to comfort being Chuck's tux jacket now laying over the top of the makeup chair and his tie now laying loose around his neck. "You were amazing tonight. I knew you were good, but tonight was… something else!"
"Thank you," Sarah dropped her head, hoping to hide the flush she felt grace her cheeks. Chuck wouldn't allow this for long before lifting her chin until her face was turned up to him enough to press a soft kiss to her lips. Their kissing was interrupted a few moments later by a knock on the door. The couple leaned back, sharing a look of confusion, "Who on Earth could that be?"
"Don't ask me," Chuck shrugged, "It's your dressing room."
"I suppose that means I should go answer it," Sarah sighed, standing and trying to smooth the errant hair back into place, however unsuccessful the attempt and crossed to the door, Chuck close on her heels as they heard another knock echo through the room. "Keep your pants on, I'm coming!" She huffed.
As she pulled the door open, both hers and Chuck's eyes widened at the sight of the intruder. "Hey guys, did you miss me?"
