New Memories: A Bartowski Christmas
By Steampunk . Chuckster
A/N: Hope everyone is well. Thanks again for the kind words about my fic. Here's part 6.
Disclaimer: I don't own the show and I'm not making money.
"Does your guy or girl haaaave…a big nose?" Molly wrinkled her nose up at Chuck as he looked down at the cartoonish man on his card.
"Well," he said pursing his lips and dramatizing a thoughtful look on his face. "That depends. Do you think my nose is big?" He pinched his nose and made a honking sound which had her giggling so hard she fell over.
Good thing she was already sitting on the floor.
"Nooooo," she giggled. "It's bigger than mine though."
"Don't worry. Your nose'll grow." He reached over and pressed the tip of her nose, making a smaller beep noise instead of the honk. That caused her to laugh again, clasping her hands over her nose.
Chuck, Sarah, Molly and Emma sat in the living room by the Christmas tree Molly was sure to mention she had helped decorate. Chuck and Molly sat on the floor between Sarah and Emma, who sat on the couch and the chair respectively.
Molly had gotten bored with the discussion about a man named Jose Montez, whose incredibly popular and lucrative online gaming community was receiving quite a few bad hits from a nefarious hacker who seemed to have a personal vendetta against the CEO. Carmichael Industries was looking to secure Montez's confidence and hopefully get some of his money in return for ridding him of the pesky hacker.
The six year old finished half of her hot cocoa and slid off of the couch from where she had been pressed against Sarah, retrieving what Emma said was her favorite game: Guess Who?
Chuck was so excited when he saw the box that he literally had to restrain himself to keep from exploding. He hadn't played a good game of Guess Who? since he was in grade school. Sarah must have recognized the way he was humming in excitement, because when Molly asked if either of them wanted to play, she oh so graciously suggested Chuck should play.
They had moved the coffee table to the side and Molly and Chuck took up the floor while Sarah and Emma looked on, talking over their heads.
From his spot leaning against the couch, Sarah's legs straddling his shoulders with her feet planted on the floor on either side of him and her hands idly rubbing his shoulders, Chuck thought that he couldn't exactly remember the last time he felt this comfortable. He winked over his tray thingy at Molly and earned another beaming grin.
"You still didn't say whether they have a big nose!"
"Fine! My person has a big nose. There."
Sarah leaned close, her lips by his temple as she looked down at the card sticking up from the front of the tray. "Mmm, it's not that big."
"Honey. You can't be too literal. This is Guess Who? Not the Central Intelligence Agency."
She smacked the back of his head with a good-natured scoff, then laughed as he pouted over his shoulder at her. "Somebody's on his high horse. It's not like I've ever played this game before."
Molly looked positively stunned and Chuck had a feeling he looked very similar if not identical. "Sarah! You haven't played Guess Who? It's the funnest game in the whole universe."
"The funnest! In the universe!" Chuck added.
"Fine. I'll be on Chuck's team. And if he needs help, he can ask me. How's that?" She ruffled his hair a little.
"Kay, but only if Mommy's on my team."
"Sounds like a fair bargain," Emma chuckled, leaning down a little to pull Molly's hair out of the collar of her shirt.
As they continued to play, Chuck kept one ear on the conversation his wife and her mother were having over his and Molly's heads.
"So how exactly do you get this Montez guy's business, then?" Emma asked a few minutes later.
"Well, usually we get clients calling us. Either because they've heard about us through the grapevine or we were recommended to them by a colleague, friend, what have you," Sarah answered. "But Montez has been putting his feelers out, looking for someone to get rid of this hacker playing on his system, and he hasn't made his decision yet, so we have to approach him."
Emma nodded.
Chuck's eyes flicked up to his mother-in-law's face and saw a small twinge of worry there. Perhaps she wondered if what Carmichael Industries did was dangerous. But she had to know being a CIA agent was much, much more dangerous. Which was why Chuck and Sarah had decided to make that career change in the first place. Someday their children would need a safe environment to grow up in.
And that in turn brought to mind what Sarah had just said to him at the foot of the stairs not a half hour earlier.
She'd said "our kids", and she'd said it with such conviction. It sent warmth blooming through him to know that Sarah expected they would have children together someday. He didn't care if it was tomorrow or the next day, or even years from now. All he knew was that she had meant what she said to him in that moment.
It meant the world to him. And it was further cement on their relationship. As important and binding as marriage was, it was easily dissolved in today's world especially. Not that he worried about that with Sarah. Not anymore. He hadn't, either…not since she moved back in with him, at least. But her readiness to state that she wanted his children—and in front of her mom and sister even though they might not have heard—was the last bit of confidence he needed.
That wasn't entirely true, though. Because if for some reason the trauma Sarah went through meant she no longer wanted children, it wouldn't change the way he felt when he thought of her, looked at her. It wouldn't change the fact that he sometimes thought he could see his entire future when they laid in bed together at night in the silent darkness. And until now, children had only been a hope in the back of his mind, something he locked away for later—if the day ever came when they could sit down and talk again about taking that step together.
He turned his head and nuzzled the inside of her denim covered knee with his nose before he got serious. "All right, Molly. This question is going to change your life," he said, raising his finger in front of his face the way his fourth grade teacher did when he was about to instill some life knowledge on the little nine and ten year olds in his class.
Molly folded her hands in her lap and tilted her head back with a closed mouth smile.
"Are you Maria?!"
"Nooooope."
"Chuck, why did you guess already?" Sarah admonished as he threw his hands up and shook his fists at the heavens. "You clearly didn't have enough information. All you knew was brown hair and a smile!"
"But I mean, that could only be Maria…or Richard. The bald guy with the facial hair. So you're Richard!"
"Noooope!" Molly giggled.
"What?!" Chuck groaned and covered his face in his hands. "Fine, I lose. Who are you?" He outstretched his hand blindly and waited for Molly to give him the card before looking. "Oh no! You're Max! I forgot about Max! I'm so ashamed! He's the lips guy, honey!" He showed the card to Sarah, who just laughed and patted his shoulder in a placating way.
In all honesty, he remembered Max just fine, but it felt good seeing Molly celebrate with her mom, the proud look in her eye.
"Nooow, wait a tick. Hold up, hold hold." He raised a finger. "You haven't guessed who I am."
"You're Bernard."
Chuck's jaw unhinged as he picked up his card and showed it to Sarah. "What?! You're a genius! How did you get that from big nose?"
"Because you said he looks like he tasted a lemon." She pursed her lips.
"Oh, I blew it. I blew it, Sarah."
"You gave her too much, Chuck."
"I did. I gave her too much. Awww man."
Molly separated herself from her mom and crawled over the red and blue character trays, situating herself in Chuck's lap and hugging him tightly. "It's okay, Chuck. Everybody loses sometimes."
Sarah's laugh was so explosive she rocked forward, causing Chuck to crack up as well. "You're right. Very right. And I'm proud to lose to such a professional Guess Who? player. You should be a sketch artist for the police department."
She pulled away and wrinkled her nose, shifting in his lap so that her knees dug into his thighs uncomfortably. He winced a little and blinked. "But I can't draw. And I like math better."
"Hey! That's right, you do! Just like me."
"Sarah, are you good at math?"
"She's amazing at math," Chuck answered for her. "Sarah! What's seven times eight?! Go!"
"Fifty six! Hit me again!" Sarah responded immediately.
Molly looked incredibly impressed. "Whooaa, Sarah. Can you teach me to do that?"
"Of course I can."
"Kay."
Chuck thought she was appropriately distracted by Sarah's promise to help her learn her times tables, so he snuck his fingers in and began a tickle attack, causing her to howl and thrash away from him, her loud laughter ringing through the entire house.
They stayed another couple of hours, had more cups of hot coffee, and eventually even dinner. Chuck did the dishes by himself, in spite of Emma's protests, but he refused to budge and eventually she relented and went out to join her daughters in the living room.
Chuck admittedly took an extra long time and washed some things by hand he could have just put in the dishwasher. But this would be the first time Sarah got to spend actual quality time with her family. At least that she remembered. And while he knew she was probably out there stewing a little at him for abandoning her in a nerve-wracking situation, this was what she needed. At least, he thought it was what she needed. He hoped.
But when laughter flooded into the kitchen from the living room, he found himself grinning down at the pan he was scrubbing, swallowing to keep the wetness in his eyes at bay.
A few minutes later, he looked up from the wine glass he was rinsing and shut off the sink, turning his ear to the door. It was eerily quiet in the other room.
Did they fall asleep?
Chuck jumped then when a pair of arms slid around his torso. Sarah giggled, her chest bouncing against his back as she snuggled close and put her chin on his shoulder. "Sorry," she murmured. "Didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh, don't lie. You so did. I'd know your spy sneak anywhere." He put his soaking hands on top of hers and she squeaked and laughed, turning her hands to wipe them on his sweater. "Heey!"
"You started it!" she laughed, pulling back and grabbing the towel to dry her hands before half-heartedly dabbing at his damp sweater.
Chuck sent her a teasing glare and snatched the towel, drying his own hands. "Where are Molly and your mom?"
"Um, Mom asked if we'd stay a bit longer because she has to give Molly a bath."
"They're upstairs, huh?"
"Mhm."
Chuck pursed his lips innocently, then sidled a little closer before tossing the dishcloth blindly over his shoulder and grabbing her around her waist. She squeaked as their bodies slammed together, but by then his lips already covered hers.
He lost himself in her for a few moments, listening to the soft mew she emitted when their mouths opened and his tongue gently brushed against hers. But then her hands were against his chest and she pulled away with a soft gasp. "Chuck," she panted. "We're in my mom's house."
Nevertheless, she pressed her forehead to his and slid her hands up his neck to cup his face.
"Oh, come now. She's upstairs. What's a little necking?"
"Necking? Really?"
He kissed her softly again, groaning a little in protest when she pulled back again. "Although I have to say…"
Her pause put a bit of a damper on his one track mind and he raised his eyebrow at her. "What?"
"This is something I never got to do when I was a teenager."
"Hm?" He pressed his lips together teasingly.
"I mean, making out with a boy in the kitchen while Mom's upstairs." She bit her bottom lip shyly.
"Except I'm not a boy," he drawled, pecking her lips a few times.
"Mmm," she hummed. "No, you are absolutely a man."
"Think your mom would mind if you made out with your husband in her kitchen?"
"No," she laughed. "But anything else and we'd better take this to the supply closet."
Her wink made him grin so wide he thought his face might break. "Just like Castle, huh?"
Sarah shook her head. "You forget. Casey's not stomping around down there anymore. We don't need to go to the supply closet. Any ol' place—" That ended in a giggled hum against his lips as he swept in for another kiss.
She grunted quietly and pulled back again. "I better stop this because it doesn't look like you're going to."
"Honestly? Probably not," he whispered, nuzzling her nose.
She giggled and stepped out of the circle of his arms. "Thanks for doing the dishes, Chuck."
He watched her face, looking for any sign that he was in trouble for disappearing and leaving her with her mom and sister. But he saw none. Instead she just leaned against the counter and smiled, crossing her arms.
"You're welcome. What'd you guys talk about?"
"Girl talk."
"Oooh," he laughed at her cheeky smirk. "So sorry I asked."
She laughed then as he wrapped an arm around her waist and they walked back out into the living room to, in no uncertain terms, canoodle on the couch. Unfortunately for Chuck, Emma came down just as his lips strayed to that spot her daughter liked so much, just behind her ear. And he leapt away like Sarah was on fire, causing both woman to laugh riotously.
It was unfair, really. Because he had never been in this situation before. He never had to worry about his girlfriends' parents walking in on him kissing their daughter. Before college, he never had a girlfriend long enough to meet her parents. And Jill's parents lived far enough away that he'd only met them a few times.
This was new to him.
And being caught nibbling on Sarah's ear by her mother, of all people, made him feel like sinking into the couch and never coming out of it again.
Emma's placating pat to his arm only helped a little.
Soon after that, Molly came down the stairs wrapped up in a little blue robe that matched her eyes, cartoonish snarling monster slippers adorning her feet. Each foot had teeth and horns, and a tongue hanging out. It was so contradictory with her sweet personality that it was the cutest thing he thought he'd ever seen. By the way Sarah was grinning, it seemed she agreed with him.
"Molly!" Chuck exclaimed, causing the six year old to freeze with her hands up and gape at him wide-eyed like he was about to tell her there was a spider on her head. "Did you know there are monsters gobbling up your feet?!"
She looked down and laughed so hard she clutched at her stomach. Then she sat down and pulled the slippers off of her feet and walked towards him, holding them up for him to see. "They're not really monsters."
"No!" He recoiled from the slippers. "Get those monsters away!"
"Touch 'em! They aren't real!"
Chuck poked the tongue hanging out and then let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, good. Okay. You can put 'em back on your feet."
The foursome chatted a few minutes longer before Chuck asked, rather sheepishly, if it was alright for Molly to open her present from them. The hopeful look in the young girl's eyes seemed enough to sway Emma, if she'd even needed swaying.
Molly delicately broke the tape and unwrapped the present as though she was disarming a bomb, and Chuck heard Sarah chuckle softly beside him.
When she pulled the box away from its paper and set it on the ground in front of her, she seemed so overcome with excitement that she covered her mouth with both hands. "Mommy, it's a castle!"
"It is a castle!" Emma exclaimed, kneeling beside her daughter.
"What's a l-leee—leeegoo?"
"They're building blocks," Chuck exclaimed, dropping to his knees in front of her. "You follow the instructions and put the pieces where it tells you to. At the end, you're gonna have a castle."
"That castle?" She pointed to the box.
"That very castle!"
"Ooooohhh!" She leapt over the box, her arms wrapping around his neck. "Thank you for the castle! I'm gonna build it right now!"
"Well, it might take longer than that," he chuckled, hugging her back. She let him set her back on her feet before she ran to Sarah and hugged her, too. He reveled in the happiness in his wife's face as she got down on her knees and squeezed her little sister tightly.
"Thank you, Sarah! I love my castle!"
"You're very welcome, Molly." Sarah gave another gentle squeeze and pulled back. "Actually, Chuck and I thought maybe you would want to build the castle together. All of us."
"Oh no." Emma climbed to her feet and held her back a little, wincing. "I'm too old to stare at tiny colored blocks for hours on end. And sitting on the floor? Nuh uh. You three have at it."
They all laughed as Molly turned to look at Sarah bashfully. "You'll help me make my castle?"
"Mhm. That is, if-if you want me, too, Molly."
The little girl nodded wordlessly, then yawned so hard, Chuck thought he heard her jaw crack.
"Maybe it's time for us to go home," Sarah said, shooting Chuck a look over Molly's head.
"No, I'm not tired!" the little girl said, spinning towards her mother with a look that was halfway to desperation.
"Molly, honey, you don't want to keep Chuck and Sarah here late. They have to go to their own home so they can sleep too," Emma said placatingly.
"Awwww!"
"We'll see you after Christmas," Chuck said, climbing to his feet and brushing at his jeans.
They finally said goodbye and slid into the car. Chuck put his hands on the steering wheel and blew out his cheeks a little. "So—"
Sarah cut him off by kissing his jaw with a loud smack.
He turned to regard her with raised eyebrows, receiving a soft smile in return, then he turned on the car and pulled away from the curb. When they reached the main road and began the journey home, Chuck peeked at his wife.
Her pretty features looked so serene, soft, especially with the streetlights flickering over her face. He reached over to wrap his fingers around hers.
"Hey. You okay?" he asked.
She was silent for a moment, and then she nodded slowly. "I am."
"You sure? Was it okay? Did you and your mom—I mean, are things okay with you?"
"It went a lot better than I thought it would and…I don't know. It was strange. Suddenly it felt so easy to talk to her. As nerve-wracking as it was, I felt confident that no matter what, we'd be okay."
"She loves you. They both do."
Sarah paused and he thought she might have swiped quickly at a tear on her cheek. "I know," she murmured, so softly it was almost a whisper.
She squeezed his hand and scooted close, as close as she could with her seatbelt on, and then she reached up with her free hand and gently stroked his arm. "I love you, Chuck. Thank you for today."
All he could do was smile, because he was afraid that if he said anything, the lump in his throat might choke him. And when she kissed his cheek again, he finally swallowed the lump, and breathed, "I love you, too."
A/N: Thanks for reading! More tomorrow!