Author's Note: Hey, look! Another update! Given this week's episode, it seemed appropriate to post it now. While the episode did have its problems and it went absolutely nowhere, it was fun. And, after the last couple of weeks, that's saying something. Fun for me, I should clarify. This is my favorite episode of the season. My favorite line, also of the season, comes courtesy of Sarah: "Everything... it's all wrong."(in context, of course.) Now, then, here goes chapter 18:

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Christmas

John Casey's Apartment

November 25, 2007

9:00 am

"Do you ever just want to have a normal life? Have a family? Children?" No matter how much she might deny it at the top of her lungs to anyone who would listen, there was no getting around the fact that Sarah Walker was compromised. She knew it, and she had just all but admitted as much to her partner. The kiss at the docks drove the final nail into place on the coffin of her professional detachment when it came to Chuck Bartowski. He made her want, more and more, what others took for granted, and that was dangerous in her line of work; especially when the one she'd fallen for was at the mercy of her superiors, superiors who were only keeping him around for as long as he was useful. And she knew, damn well, that even that much wasn't a guarantee at times. Maybe if she put a stop to this thing between her and Chuck she could protect herself; maybe it would hurt less when they inevitably took him away from her; or maybe, if she just held on long enough... maybe...

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Walker/Bartowski Residence

December 25, 2016

7:00 am

Sarah was up bright and early. The anticipation of the day had her full of nervous energy. Part of her wanted to let Chuck sleep in a while longer, no one would be getting there until 10 after all, but she just couldn't take it anymore. She'd been waiting for weeks, and the wait was killing her. She'd already been up cooking breakfast for her guests and now there was nothing else left to do to distract her. After standing outside their bedroom for several minutes, she finally decided to go in.

Sarah quietly opened the door and walked in, making her way to her dresser. She gently opened up the top drawer and reached for the back. When she withdrew her hand, it was closed around a thin rectangular box, wrapped in red with a bow on top. It was one of Chuck's presents: the one she had been the most anxious to give him, and the one she knew would mean the most to him. They hadn't actually gotten around to talking about the details yet but she figured this was as good a start as any.

She couldn't wait to see his reaction.

She closed the drawer and walked over to the bed, stopping a couple of feet short for what she was about to do. Chuck had come a long way in a short time, but not far enough. She knew better than to abruptly wake a sleeping Intersect and risk startling him. If she was going to do this, and she was, then she had to do it right.

"Chuck?" She called out softly. He gave no indication that he'd heard her.

"Chuck, honey," she called out a little louder. Chuck barely shifted in bed.

Her fingers were tapping away at the box impatiently: she couldn't wait much longer. "Hey, Chuck!" Her voice was just shy of being a shout.

"Five more minutes," Chuck managed to mumble out before he turned and, once again, was lying on his back, completely asleep.

Sarah rolled her eyes and reached down for one of her slippers. Apparently, she was going to have to do it the hard way. She re-adjusted her grip on the slipper, launched it at Chuck's face, and stepped back another foot. It hit him right on his right cheek.

That did the trick. Chuck immediately startled awake and started scanning the room, ready to take on whatever had attacked him. What he found was Sarah standing a few feet from the side of the bed. "Sarah?" He asked confused.

"Good morning?" She responded sheepishly. She knew the slipper thing was petty, but it was his fault for not waking up like she wanted him to.

"What's going on?" He asked as he yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Well..."

Chuck noticed the slipper resting on the bed. He then looked to Sarah and saw that she was wearing only one of her slippers. "Wait, did you just hit me with your slipper?" He asked, perplexed.

"Well... yes, but I had a good reason," she quickly defended.

"What is it? Is anything wrong?"

"No," Sarah came closer. "I just wanted to give you your present."

"My present?" Chuck looked at the gift-wrapped box in her hand and took it. "What time is it?"

"A little after seven," she answered.

"Aren't we supposed to be doing that with the rest of the family later?" He asked as he brought his legs over the side of the bed and sat up.

"This one is special," Sarah replied. "I wanted you to open it before anyone else got here."

"Well," he said as he began to unwrap the box, "come sit down."

Sarah took a seat next to him and waited eagerly as he opened the box. She watched intently for his reaction.

Chuck put aside the top of the box and peered inside. He saw a thin piece of paper with some sort of image printed on it. He blinked. What was he supposed to say? He had no idea what to make of it. He took the piece of paper in his hand and placed the box next to its top. "Uh... thank you?"

"That's it?" Sarah could not believe that was the way Chuck was reacting. "That's all you have to say?"

"I'm sorry. It's just—what is it?" Chuck shifted in the bed to look at her.

"Are you serious?" She couldn't believe his question.

Chuck nodded dumbly.

How did he not know? Sarah sighed, resigned to the fact that she would have to explain and the whole thing was ruined. "Chuck," she started, "that's a printout of an ultrasound," he knew what those were, "mine," Sarah finished.

"You mean..." he spoke slowly, "are you telling me you're..." his eyes deliberately dropped to her stomach and moved back up to meet her gaze again.

She nodded slowly in confirmation.

In an explosion of motion, Chuck threw his arms around Sarah, almost jumping to his feet, and began spinning her around. "I'm going to be a father?" He laughed as he spun her. "I'm going to be a father!"

Sarah couldn't help but be overjoyed at his reaction; that was more like it, she thought.

Suddenly, Chuck stopped spinning and gently put her down. "What's wrong, Chuck?"

He looked at the printout of the ultrasound again. "Are you sure they didn't screw up?" He asked. "I can't see anything here."

She grinned at his question, she hadn't been able to see anything either at first, not until the doctor showed her. "No, they didn't screw up." She took the printout from him and pointed. "Here," she said. "That's the baby."

Chuck's brow rose in surprise. "That's the baby?"

"Yeah."

"That little peanut-looking thing?" Sarah punched him in the arm. "Ow!"

"Don't call the baby peanut-looking," she reprimanded, "but, yes, that's it."

"Wow," Chuck breathed out in awe. That was a baby; that was his baby, and it was growing inside Sarah. He looked to Sarah, the mother of his child, and saw her in a completely new light. "I love you," he said; and before she could reply, he took her in a heated kiss and backed them up towards the bed.

They fell back onto it and clothes started flying off.

That was a much better reaction from Chuck, Sarah thought, as she reveled in the things he was doing to her.

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Walker/Bartowski Residence

December 25, 2016

9:45 am

"They're going to be here in a little bit, you know," Sarah said as she cuddled up tighter against Chuck.

"Yeah," he sighed, "I know. Right now, I'm kinda wishing we hadn't invited them over."

"It's only for a little while," she offered.

"I'm going to put on some coffee for them," Chuck said as he got up and started to get dressed. "You stay here and rest. I'll come get you when they get here."

Well, she was feeling worn out, Chuck had seen to that. "Okay."

He leaned in for a kiss before he turned to walk out. "Hey, Sarah?" He called back from just inside the room.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if we don't tell them yet?" He asked. "It's just, I want it to be our thing for a little while, you know?"

"Chuck, it is our thing," she replied.

"Sarah, you know as well as I do that once Ellie finds out, it's going to become her thing," he remarked.

Sarah hadn't been in any position for Ellie to care about anything she did in a long time; she hadn't considered the woman's reaction to the news. "I forgot about that," she admitted. "Okay, for now, we won't tell anybody."

Chuck smiled graciously. "Thank you," he replied and walked out.

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Walker/Bartowski Residence

December 25, 2016

10:00 pm

"Hey, buddy?"

"Chuck, what's up, man?" Morgan answered the call cheerily.

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"It's my day off," Morgan replied.

"How about you and I hang out?" Chuck suggested. "There's something I need your help with..."

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Author's Note: I'll say this: Chuck as a husband? Wow... seriously. And, obviously, there was something wrong with Sarah, where did that go in the episode? Did everyone forget she has two doctors as in-laws? How about maybe getting her checked out by one of them? Whatever. The final arc of the series begins next week. The nostalgia is already working its magic. Maybe it will put a positive spin on things as the show comes to a close; I don't know, we'll see.