A/N Sarah is taking her kids on a journey through her life. Her life BC (Before Chuck) AMC (After Meeting Chuck) and I am taking you through AtK (After the Kids). I hope you are enjoying the journey, please leave a review.

Inside Sarah Walker

Chapter 5: Happy Mother's Day

Molly, Stephen, and Diane return from their Mexican lunch, in much better spirits than this morning. Stephen says, "that was a good idea Diane, I almost feel the folks were sitting with us."

Molly nods, "I agree the food was great as always, the Margaritas weren't bad either, next time we get Uncle Jimmy to drive so we don't have to stop at one."

The trio walk into the living room, Diane walks over to the video player, taking a deep breath, "everybody ready?" Molly and Stephen nod, and Diane starts the playback.

"Dad had issues going on over at his cover job, funny I call it his cover job, it was his actual job, at the Buy More. This nasty guy Tang was trying to get the Assistant Managers job that Dad wanted, all while the CIA was making his life miserable by constantly pulling him away to do spy stuff, and things were about to get worse for him. I went into the store to get Dad to see if he would flash on some pictures, when he came to greet me, I told him to kiss me, he was shocked, I said come on we're dating kiss me, so he gave me a peck on the cheek.

Chuck Bartowski is a gentleman, always has been, and because we weren't really dating, he wasn't comfortable kissing me, he also wasn't very comfortable with PDA, thank goodness he's gotten over that. I love people seeing us in love, I want them to be jealous cause I got the best one.

Here's a little secret, I really wanted him to kiss me, and that will happen, she giggles, I promise."

I drag Chuck into the home theater room and Casey joins us, we show him a bunch of pics, Dad freaks out because they are all dead guys, they weren't pretty pictures, but nothing happens, no flash. This poor guy exposed to things no civilian should see, and he never signed up for it, I felt sorry for him.

It was Just then this weird guy Jeff, you may know his music group Jeffster they are big in Europe. So, this Jeff he worked with Dad, he walks in with a newspaper under his arm, Dad sees a picture on the paper and flashes. The picture in the paper was of a painting to be auctioned off, the painting the smugglers in those pictures were killed over, this picture is to be picked up by a mysterious arms smuggler called "La Ciudad, at the art auction." Dad sees all of this in his flash, what he doesn't see is what La Ciudad looks like, because there were no pictures of him.

We fill General Beckman in on the flash and what we know. Over my objections, Beckman orders us to put Chuck in the field at the art auction that night in hopes that he will identify "La Ciudad". I tried to convince Beckman and Casey that Chuck was untrained and not ready for field work, but assets were considered expendable, for some reason I didn't feel that way about this asset. Casey didn't care at all, if something happened to the asset, the failure would be on me as his handler, and he could move on to a better assignment, I still didn't understand at that time why, but it really upset me.

Even though I really didn't want to, as his handler it is my job to get Chuck ready to go into the field. I pulled him out of work and over to the Wienerlicious to brief him. I start to explain about picking a cover and he tells me all the details on a Charles Carmichael, software developer, rich, semi-retired, sound familiar, that's how our company got its' name. I was curious as to how he had all these details about a fictious person. He explained that it is who he hoped to be, and where all his classmates are.

I asked him what happened. My heart sank when he answered, it seems that, before he was my partner, Bryce Larkin had turned him in for stealing a test and he was expelled from Stanford University with only 12 credits left to graduate. I asked if he stole the test, I could tell he was hurt that I believed that he would do that. It wasn't long ago I was angry because he believed I was a traitor, and here I was asking if he was a cheat. Kids, it didn't take me long to figure out that Daddy would never do that, ever. I felt awful, of course I couldn't tell him that, one of the many times I hated my job.

I put my hand on his, I assured him he had nothing to worry about, that I wouldn't leave his side. He insisted he wasn't nervous, I asked him why his hand was moist, he smiled and said that is what happens when he is freaking out. All I could do was smile, I wanted to tell him how handsome and brave he was, but I couldn't. I mean it is exactly the kind of thing a handler would say to her asset to reassure him, but I couldn't say it, because this time it was too real, I couldn't handle it, I was all torn up inside and I had no idea why.

We were all dressed in formal wear, your dad is so gorgeous when he dresses nice', Sarah gets a wistful look in her eye and puts her hand to her throat, 'when he puts on a tux, I still get weak in the knees, ahem sorry, I told you he distracts me." I was wearing a red silk floor length gown, I always dress well, but I think I wanted to look good for Chuck, of course I would never have admitted that to myself or anyone else at the time. Dad still loves it when I wear red, Sarah takes a deep breath, sorry distracted again.

The three of us take a Limo to the auction, Casey is playing driver, it is a big fancy affair, and we have to fit in to maintain cover. Dad tells me he learned to Tango, I was a little confused and asked him who told you need to learn the Tango, he said Casey. Casey was messing with Dad, and Dad took him seriously and takes a dance lesson from your Uncle Awesome, Then Casey opened the window between the front and back to smirk. I couldn't help but smile, but I did hold in the laugh, dad was embarrassed that he was so gullible, poor baby.

Trying to make him feel better, I gave Dad a very nice watch, I explained that it has a GPS tracker in it, and I smiled as I said, so he couldn't run away from me, I wonder now how I meant that. Of course, Casey had to make matters worse by letting Chuck know that no one who has seen La Cuidad has lived to tell about it. Sorry kids he was kind of a putz back then, he loved needling Dad.

"We arrive at the art auction, and no sooner do we get into the building when Dad spills some sauce on his shirt, yep, he was a klutz back then too. He goes into the bathroom to clean it before it stains, when he comes out of the bathroom, he is all excited, He flashed on a guy in the bathroom, he thinks he is La Cuidad. Remember I told you that it was sometimes difficult for Dad to figure out what he is seeing in these flashes.

As he is filling me in the guy comes out of the bathroom and Dad points him out to me. I tell Chuck to remain at the bar, while I follow up. I was chatting this guy up when I suddenly feel a gun in my back. Casey was playing bartender and thank goodness he saw the gun and follows us to the roof. These guys were asking me why I was there, of course I didn't answer. Casey comes crashing through the door and shoots one of the guys, I fall to the rooftop and pull my gun out of my garter holster, we have them covered now. When Casey ran out, he identified himself as a federal agent, with hands up these guys reveal they are actually MI6, that's British Secret Service. They had intercepted the painting, removed the plutonium hidden in the frame and replaced it with a fake, they were attempting to flush out La Ciudad.

Figuring out that we just followed a red herring we raced back to the ballroom, where we left Dad unprotected, and our worst fears were realized, he was gone. We found out later it was La Cuidad who had taken him, he had stumbled on to her and flashed, fortunately he learned to keep the flashing thing to himself, and she took him prisoner, because through a series of weird events she found out he had given her a fake name which made her suspicious.

Thank God, I gave him that watch with the GPS tracker in it, we tracked his signal to a room upstairs, I was worried, I had promised Chuck that I wouldn't leave his side, that he would be safe, I had to find him… alive, I had to, if something happened to him it was on me. My heart was pounding in my chest, why was I so worried about this asset, if he dies, the intersect info is safe and I move on to another assignment, but I was worried, and I had promised to keep him safe, and I left his side.

We finally find the room and take out the guard, problem is I was noisy, and bullets start flying out of the room. We shoot back, but we are shooting blind through the door, and Chuck was in there. I Scream Chuck get down, but I had no idea if he was okay. Then my heart jumped when I heard him yell, "Sarah help", I had to get in there. The bullets stopped flying and we decided to risk it, Casey kicked the door in, and we went in shooting, we took out the one guy left, turns out the others climbed down to the next balcony.

I ran to Dad and asked if he was okay, Casey asked if he gave up who he was, meaning CIA, he didn't, once again I was impressed, this guy was threatened with torture and death, and he protected us, even though I failed to protect him. Time after time this poor guy who has been terrified since we came into his life, came through, to be honest I was in awe.

Now you may remember what Casey had said about nobody who had seen La Cuidad lived to talk about it. Thanks to Dad we had her picture on the security footage, and she cut herself escaping so we had a DNA sample, Dad had saved the day. That's right the guy we were looking for was a woman, but we didn't know that until we rescued Dad and he told us the story of how he got there. We had info that La Cuidad was heading south to Central America.

I decided to treat Chuck to lunch, and I was walking across the parking lot towards the Buy More with it, and there she was dressed as a delivery driver heading toward Wienerlicious or to be more specific the roof. I gave Casey a heads up on comms, he said he had his eyes on two bad guys in Buy More, I left it up to him to protect Chuck and I went after La Cuidad.

I climbed up the ladder to the roof, being as quiet as possible, but she must have heard me. She turned, she had a sniper rifle in her hands, I kicked it away from her, but she got in a roundhouse kick right to my mouth. Clearly, she was trained, and I had a fight on my hands. As I got up, she hit me with a left to the jaw, she got in a couple more good hits but now I was in the fight, and we were blocking each other one punch and kick after the other. Then she got me with another kick, and I went down, she grabbed my head and tried to force my face into these spikes sticking out of the rooftop.

Then all of a sudden, I had the strangest thought, I remembered that I had to protect Chuck, and I gave her two elbows to the face, and I got up. I pulled my handcuffs out and used them like brass knuckles, she pulled a knife out of her boot, and the fight was back on. Something weird was happening, I wasn't just fighting for my life, I was fighting for Chuck Bartowski, and I was not going to lose, I was not going to be the one to let him down again, no way. Kids, I kicked that bitches' ass, she didn't get one more blow in, I was a woman on fire, it was almost like Daddy had saved me again.

Aunt Ellie had invited me to dinner, and I showed up with a bottle of wine, and Morgan showed up too, seems he was my biggest rival for Chuck's attention, Sarah laughs, he still is, after you guys of course. I had a bruise on my lip where La Cuidad got in her first kick. Dad was concerned, but I just blew it off as an occupational hazard, wouldn't give him the chance to be worried about me. I think back to all the times I showed up with Dad bruised and battered, from one assignment or another, and nobody reported him for beating me, kind of funny when you think about it.

Of course, Daddy would never hit me, he wouldn't even hit me in training. But I am burying the lead here, we were talking outside, and I told Dad that I knew he was a hero, he had been so beaten up inside by the people who had betrayed his trust, his self-confidence was almost nonexistent. I hinted that I would like to be kissed, I waited for him to kiss me, he just stood there and once again he missed his chance, as I walked away, I wondered why I wanted this asset to kiss me so badly.

We hear the door open in the other room. "Mommy, Mommy as a young boy runs up and jumps into Sarah's lap, she is surprised, "Stephen what are you doing home you're supposed to be in school", seconds later a small girl joins the boy on her lap, she is much quieter, and she leans up to give her mom a kiss on the cheek. Sarah yells out, "Chuck what did you do?" Chuck walks into the room, "congratulations honey it's second Mother's Day."

Sarah scowls at him, "Chuck they are supposed to be in school."

Chuck leans down and kisses Sarah, "Baby, I missed you so bad this morning, I just had to celebrate you, Happy Second Mother's Day."

Sarah knows she is fighting a lost cause and hugs her kids tightly, "Chuck Bartowski, you are such a bad influence, so tell me why I love you so much?"

"Well, my love only you can say for sure, but I think it's nerd appeal, incoming". With that Chuck picks the kids up and climbs into Sarah's lap with Stephen and Diane on his. The kids are laughing their heads off, and Sarah is trying to fight it, but she wants to laugh too. Chuck kisses her softly, "happy Baby?"

Sarah gives him a dirty look, but can't hold it, she smiles, "yes Baby I am and you're still my hero,

come here I want to give all my kids a big hug."

Chuck shakes his head, "Uh Uh, can't yet."

Sarah is puzzled, "what do you mean, I can't hug my kids?"

Chuck holds up his finger, "wait for it… wait for it… The door opens and teenage Molly runs into the room and jumps on the pile. Chuck smiles, "now you can hug all your kids."

The whole group is laughing as Sarah tightens her arms around her family, she pushes her face forward, "can I give my biggest kid a kiss?"

Chuck leans in, "I hope that means me," and he kisses her.

Looking up Sarah says, "you know this is being recorded."

Chuck shrugs, "no biggie I can erase this bit."

Sarah shakes her head, "no don't, I may want to watch it, I mean how many moms get a second day we need to preserve it for history, but you can turn it off now."

Chuck gets up and moves towards the camera, "So where do you want to go to celebrate?"

Sarah thinks for a moment, "how about El Compadre?"

The kids are cheering as the screen goes dark.

Molly, Stephen, and Diane are in tears as Diane turns off the player. Stephen is the first to speak, "That was one of many hooky days with Dad, and we always had multiple Mother's days through the years, damn I miss them, I do that with my kids too, and my wife acts pissed off just like Mom did". He does a short laugh, "I guess we did have lunch with them today"

Diane sighs, "Dad always made sure we had fun, and he always made sure he knew how much he loved us, all of us, especially Mom."

Molly is in tears, "he said that she couldn't hug all her kids until I was there too, I never realized, I mean I knew she loved me, but I just never realized, it's like all my memories are changing, knowing this one new thing." Stephen stands up, "whew, I need a break, I am running dry with all this crying."

Diane stands up and hugs him, "I love celebrating Mom's life this way. I feel like I am getting to know her as a person, not just as Mom."

Molly is still sitting, tears streaming down her face, "I want to hug her so bad it hurts inside, all those years I had two Moms and a dad, and it never occurred to me, it just never occurred to me."

Stephen gets down on the floor and looks up at Molly still sitting in her chair, "did you love them?" Molly nods.

Stephens asks, "did they love you?" Molly nods again.

Stephen asks his last question, "Then what difference does it make what you called them?"

Molly leans down and kisses the top of Stephen's head, "you're right, I am being sad because someone loved me, silly when you think about it. How about we go back to my place, and I fix dinner for my little brother and sister? Then maybe if there's time we can come back and watch some more."

Stephen suggests, "you know we could take the player to your house Molly."

Molly and Diane both shake their heads, Stephen agrees, "you're right we need to watch this here with them, let's go eat so we can get back."

Diane walks over to Molly, "do you think I can stand in for Mom and give you that hug?"

Molly jumps up out of her chair and wraps her arms around Diane, her body shaking as she cries her tears of sadness mixed with love.

Molly Lifts her head from Diane's shoulder, "They gave me the best life, and I couldn't have a better family, thank you for being here for me." Letting go of Diane and drying her eyes and face, "now let's go get something to eat, and hang on, Jimmy is going to want to hear about everything, so save some of those tears for later, you know he loved them too."