A/N: Quistie64 here. First off, I want to thank BDaddyDL for asking me to co-author this story. I am truly honored. He had the wonderful idea of having companion pieces from two different points of view regarding marriage and I just hope I did the story justice. I also hope the advice given in the
story rings true. Hey, we have 35 years of marriage combined between the two of us! We must be doing something right.

Also, a big thank you to PJ Murphy who beta'd this chapter. He made it better.

A/N 2: The third chapter and final was completed today. Now it's off to Beta. Please enjoy.

The warm bubbles swirled around her feet while the distinct smell of nail polish nearly overwhelmed her. Sarah Walker knew she should just relax and enjoy her mani-pedi but she couldn't since she couldn't figure out why she was there in the first place. Why her fiancé's sister's husband's mother would invite her to get a mani-pedi with her was simply bewildering. Yet here she sat with her feet submerged in warm, effervescing water and her fingernails being French-tipped.

She glanced over at the woman sitting in the chair next to her. There sat Dr. Honey Woodcomb, the mother of all that was "Awesome" in her blonde, tousled yet somehow perfectly coiffed glory. Sarah had only met Honey a few times, mostly in connection with Devon and Ellie's wedding. She especially remembered the extremely uncomfortable dinner with all the Awesomes when Chuck didn't show up like he was supposed to. Somehow, she ended up at the table by herself with the Doctors Awesome, and that was more than a little awkward. Thankfully, Chuck called her when he was handcuffed to the counter at the Orange Orange and she was able to leave. That or she was going to drink way more wine than polite company allowed. Despite her petite size, Dr. Honey Woodcomb was a very formidable woman, to which Sarah could attest. At that very dinner she watched Ellie, who was a fairly intimidating person in her own right, be completely bowled over by Honey. Sarah was quite apprehensive at what was in store for her on this day.

"It's a shame Ellie couldn't come with us today," Sarah said in a probing manner. Finding out Ellie wouldn't be there with them caused Sarah to have a fair amount of consternation. She could have used a buffer.

"Oh, I planned this so Ellie wouldn't be able to come. I knew she had to work today," Honey replied as she stretched her left hand out in front of her to check on her finished nails. Her giant diamond engagement ring and wedding band flashed when they caught the light. "I wanted to speak with you alone."

Sarah felt a cold shiver shoot up her spine. Chuck's and her wedding was pretty well-planned. Honey wasn't going to try to take over their wedding like she did with Ellie and Awesome's wedding, was she? Come to think of it, they hadn't even planned on inviting Devon's parents to the wedding.

Uh-oh.

Sarah smiled feebly. "You wanted to speak with me alone?"

"Yes, dear. There are a couple of things I would like to discuss with you, and I thought it would be better if we didn't have the rest of the family around, don't you?"

"I suppose," Sarah replied warily. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Honey smiled slightly and didn't respond. She simply watched as the manicurist painted the nails on her right hand.

Sarah didn't like this feeling at all, as she was usually the one to make people wait and squirm. She was always the intimidating one. She had recently kidnapped a Thai diplomat, plunged a syringe full of ammonia in to his neck, and threatened to empty its contents into him if he didn't give her the information she wanted. Now she sat, shifting in her seat this way and that way, like a three-year-old in church.

The five minutes it took the manicurists to finish their fingernails felt like an eternity to Sarah, but Sarah and Honey were left alone for their feet to soak a little longer. It was then, when they were completely alone, that Honey finally turned towards Sarah.

"I wanted to make sure my son, my daughter-in-law, and my precious granddaughter are safe."

Sarah couldn't keep the surprise from her face. "What? Why wouldn't they be?"

"Well, you work for the Agency, of course," Honey replied, waving her one of her freshly manicured hands dismissively.

Over the years, Sarah had learned to not react when being accused of working for the CIA. However, in most of those circumstances, it was in a context where she could see it coming. This was not one of those times, as this seemed to come from left field. Overall, she thought she did a pretty good job of hiding her reaction to Honey's statement, although she was powerless to stop an eyebrow that rose of its own accord.

"Um, excuse me?" she asked evenly, working to keep the surprise from her voice.

"I knew something strange was up with you at Devon and Ellie's wedding. It wasn't hard to notice the mess made by the Special Forces team after they came in and shot up the reception hall." Honey looked around before leaning in towards Sarah. "Devon's great-uncle and aunt still don't know why they never got a thank you card from them for the steak knives they gave as a wedding gift."

Sarah couldn't stop the flush she felt coming over her face. Oh, this is bad. It was way worse than she thought it would be.

Honey, however, came to her rescue. "Don't worry, Sarah. I won't tell anyone. I understand what it's like from my own time with the Agency."

Sarah saw a smirk grow on Honey's face in reaction to the look on her own.

"I was recruited by the Agency after I had just finished my residency. I was in debt up to my eyeballs, and they promised to help me pay off my student loans."

She paused and looked at Sarah. "Apparently, I fit the type," she added dryly.

Sarah smiled sardonically and looked down at her feet still submerged in the roiling water. To say she could identify with what Honey said was an understatement.

"I was still able to practice medicine since I was a mission-specific doctor," Honey continued. "They would send me to wherever there was to be a big mission just in case there were injuries. It helped in hostile foreign countries to not to have to find a local hospital or doctor. Gunshot wounds tended to make people curious. I was based out of Langley, and that's where I met Woody."

"He was with the Agency, too?"

"No, not at first. We met a medical convention in the area. He thought I worked at Bethesda Naval Hospital. One thing led to another, and we started dating. He had been recruited to work overseas to help pay for his medical school bills and was a glorified medic in Vietnam near the end of the war. Anyway, when we decided to get married, my superiors thought it might be a good idea to bring him into the Agency. In effect, I recruited him." She gave Sarah a sly smile. "Sound familiar?"

By this time, Sarah had relaxed somewhat and was willing to return Honey's smile with a more genuine smile of her own.

Honey continued. "I don't know all the details of what happened between you and Chuck at Devon and Ellie's aborted wedding, and frankly, I don't want to know. I'm just glad you two worked it out because it was clear to everyone you two were crazy in love with each other."

That garnered a snicker from Sarah. "You aren't the first to have made that observation."

"Uh huh. No kidding," she said matter-of-factly.

"So did Devon ever find out about your, um, employer?"

"Good heavens, no!" Honey laughed. "He's terrible at keeping secrets. It would have been on the national news if he found out about it." Suddenly she stopped laughing. "Please don't tell him. He's got enough on his plate with you and Chuck, don't you think?"

Sarah gave her an innocent look. "Chuck works at the Buy More."

"Yes, of course he does," she said, clearly playing along. "Now, do you promise to keep my family safe?"

Sarah's face turned serious. "Your family is my family. I have and will always do everything in my power to keep them safe." Honey saw the determination in Sarah she herself had at that age.

"Count on it," Sarah added with conviction.

Honey nodded her head once emphatically. It was exactly the response she wanted to hear. "I didn't ask you here to tell you my life's story, but I did want to give you some hard-earned advice about marriage, especially given your chosen profession."

Sarah shifted in her chair to turn a little more toward Honey, ready to listen.

"I don't know a lot about your background, Sarah, but I do know from Ellie you aren't in contact with your own mother and that Chuck's mother just recently came back into their lives after being gone a very long time." Sarah nodded. "I hope I'm not overstepping here, but I thought it might be helpful to hear from someone who has been at this marriage thing for a long time."

Sarah stayed quiet, giving Honey her tacit approval to continue.

"Now, down the road, if and when kids come along, you and Chuck might have to make a decision about whether or not you will stay in your line of work. I can only tell you that Woody and I felt it best to leave the Agency when Devon's oldest brother came along. We felt our first responsibility was to raise our kids and being away from them for extended periods of time was not something we were willing to do. I can't tell you what to do, but when the time comes, think about yours and Chuck's own childhoods."

Sarah shuddered at that, and a few tears stung at the back of Sarah's eyes. Chuck and she were both pretty damaged by their childhoods. She wasn't prepared to make any decisions now, but she certainly didn't want to have Chuck's and her kids have the same kind of childhood they endured.

Sarah took a deep breath and sighed in relief when the manicurists returned to start on their pedicures. At least Honey couldn't talk about the Agency in front of them. However, it didn't stop her from dispensing a little more advice.

"Now this second piece of advice goes for anyone in any kind of relationship, but you might find this helpful in dealing with your husband since sometimes husbands do stupid or hurtful things."

Sarah looked into Honey's eyes expecting to see humor there. Instead, she was met with a serious look and Honey's voiced matched it. "Astronomically stupid and idiotically hurtful."

Sarah waited.

"You are going to have to forgive him, every dang time, no matter what."

Wait just a second, she thought. Sarah's brow furrowed. "Always? Right away?"

Honey gave a gentle laugh. "Oh, no. Not always right away but eventually, yes. Otherwise you'll grow bitter and resentful and live in your cocoon of hurt and anger. That's not good for anyone. You have to give up your grudge and the right to be the victim. Punish him if you must, depending on what he did, but always forgive, even if it takes awhile. Nothing affirms love more than forgiveness."

Prague, Sarah thought, her insides twisting a little.

"It goes both ways, sweetie. As much as we like to think we are, we wives aren't perfect and we do stupid and hurtful things to our husbands, too. When you know you've done something to hurt him, you need to swallow your pride and ask for forgiveness. Doing that can smooth things over faster than you would believe," she said gently. "Husbands will always blindly accept a small amount of contrition from you."

She then raised a playful eyebrow. "And a small amount of negligee never hurt, either."

Stupid prenuptial agreement, she thought, just to name one of the many screw-ups of her own.

They both looked at the manicurists, who were laughing at the last thing Honey said.

"Listen to her," the one rubbing lotion onto Sarah's feet said with a grin. "Works on my husband every time."

To Sarah's surprise, her feet had been removed from the bubbling, churning water and wiped off with a soft towel. She had become so engrossed in her conversation with Honey, she didn't even notice when it happened. She heaved a huge sigh of relief when she realized she appeared to have escaped this potentially hugely awkward time with Honey relatively unscathed. In truth, she was actually grateful for the advice, as she had never been good at relationships. It seemed pretty sound. She would have to talk to Chuck about this little confab Honey and she had just had.

Honey gave Sarah a confident smile, which she returned with equal resolve.

The manicurist at Sarah's feet held up two bottles of nail polish. "Pink or red?"

"Red?" Sarah asked with a grin.

"Red," Honey and the two manicurists responded together as if the answer was obvious.

"Red it is!" Sarah laughed, her eyes dancing.

A/N: To quote Quistie64 "Positive reinforcement. It works every time. If you catch them doing something right and reward them, they keep trying to do good things to get another reward. It works with kids, dogs, adults, fanfiction writers…"