Your Hands in Mine P9
Usually the sight of Sarah was the most pleasant thing in the world to Chuck upon waking up in the morning, but Tuesday morning it was a bit startling. Chuck was asleep on his back and as he opened his eyes he saw Sarah, hovered over him in a nearly inhuman way.
"Gah, Sarah! What are you doing?" he asked as he realized she was holding a perfect plank form, no part of her body touching his.
"Just making sure you are really OK, not subconsciously upset about the wedding thing," she said.
"How long have you been holding that plank?"
"Awhile. I have very good core strength," she boasted.
"I am familiar," he leered and then reached out and tickled her side.
"No fair," she laughed and wobbled on her arms before landing with an 'oof' against his chest.
"I didn't think that all the way through," he groaned as he squeezed her tightly.
Sarah kissed along his neck back up to examine his face again, he seemed fine.
"You're sure this is OK, even though Ellie and Morgan aren't going to be here?"
"Yes, it was my idea, remember? And before that it was your idea the last time, just us," he stroked her hair and kissed her cheek.
"Just us," she repeated kissing him deeper.
"Mmmmm," he rolled her under him and inched her camisole up her body, "what time is it?"
"A little after 6:00," Sarah noted as she shifted to give his hands better access to her body.
"6:00?" he stopped what he was doing and stared at her.
"I couldn't sleep," she shrugged.
"Let me help you with that," he grinned and went back to igniting her skin with his fingers.
***555***
When Sarah next woke, her body sated and soft, she saw Chuck looking at her, his head resting against his bicep, his fingers inching closer to her messy hair.
"Morning?" she said/asked.
"Still morning, but a much more reasonable hour," he promised with a smile.
"It's a special day," she mentioned.
"Every day I wake up with you is a special day," he said sincerely.
***555***
"That's all you're taking?" Chuck asked as Sarah emerged from the bedroom with a small bag.
"Yep, everything else is already in the bridal suite at the spa," Sarah explained.
"Ahhh, no hints on what you are wearing?"
"Nope. You going to be OK here?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"I generally dress myself," Chuck nodded with a grin.
"True, I am much more efficient at undressing you," she tugged him close and kissed him with a loud smack.
"I'll look forward to that later," he kissed her forehead and let her go.
As soon as Sarah was over the hill from the cottage he called the front desk and told Leslie it was all clear. She had asked him to move whatever he needed from the bedroom to the spare room and use that bathroom to get himself ready. Chuck greeted a crew of 5 men and then disappeared to leave them to their work.
Sarah found a late lunch waiting for her at the spa.
"Don't want our bride to faint," Leslie said as she greeted her.
"Thank you."
"My pleasure. You excited?" Leslie asked as she uncovered the dishes on the room service tray.
"We had a big wedding, it wasn't even a year ago yet, but this is special. We went through a few things," Sarah shrugged as she broke a piece of bread.
"I've seen a lot of couples come here for a lot of reasons. Those who come this time of year generally want to be alone, to heal from something, illness or infidelity, loss of some sort or another. Very few of those couples look as happy as you two do, so whatever you have been through I hope this means you are seeing your way clear of it."
"We are," Sarah nodded, "and having this time alone here has been absolutely magical."
"It is hard to be unhappy here," Leslie smiled.
"I feel lighter here. We still have some things to figure out, work and whatnot, but I feel like I can deal with it all now."
Leslie had wondered about this couple, there was definitely something they were dealing with, she wondered if it was a miscarriage or the loss of a child, they did not seem like the type to cheat and she hoped neither of them were ill, they certainly seemed young and healthy.
"Well today you get to marry the man you love, again," Leslie laughed.
"I would marry him every day," Sarah said and Leslie froze, "what?"
"He said the exact same thing," Leslie confessed.
Sarah just smiled and popped a piece of melon in her mouth.
***555***
Chuck emerged from the 2nd bedroom dressed and ready to go. He heard all manner of noise coming from the main bedroom and saw some of the men setting the formal dining table. Before he could investigate any further there was a knock at the door.
"Somehow I knew you would be ready," Sam smiled.
"There isn't much to do. Once I know what I'm wearing the actual getting ready part is pretty quick."
"Well, you look good and you have time for a drink, let's get out of here and let these guys work," Sam indicated the staff that were puttering around.
"Sure," Chuck nodded.
The two men walked the winding paths from the cottage up to the restaurant. Instinctively Chuck kept an eye out for Sarah, although he knew she was under the care of several ladies in the spa at the moment.
"She's fine," Sam teased.
"I know," Chuck grinned at getting caught.
"Before I forget," Sam reached out and handed Chuck the ring he bought a few days earlier.
"Thanks, Sam," Chuck opened the box and smiled widely at the ring he chose, snapping the lid as he remembered Morgan chiding him for fiddling with the first one.
"Hey Sam," a big friendly guy behind the bar greeted.
"Bruce, this is Chuck, he's getting married," Sam clapped him on the back and they sat at the otherwise deserted bar.
"Well, Congratulations, what can I pour you?"
"Scotch neat, thanks."
"Make that 2," Sam added.
Bruce finished up a couple of tropical looking drinks and a woman came to retrieve them. Chuck wondered if they were for Sarah, but then he saw a couple out by the pool.
When Bruce slipped the 2 tumblers of amber liquid in front of the men Sam spoke.
"Chuck, I always wonder about the guests I work with. You can imagine that the people that stay in our private cottages are all usually quite wealthy, some of them rather eccentric, but for the life of me I can't figure you and Sarah out."
"We're pretty new to having money," Chuck shrugged honestly.
"It's been refreshing to see 2 people enjoy each other as much as they enjoy all the stuff, I'm sure you two have a long happy life ahead of you," he raised his glass in a toast.
Chuck's eyes flooded with tears, the weight of how much he almost lost was overwhelming him suddenly, he covered by thanking Sam for his sincerity and sipped the scotch to tamp down his emotions, he could cry later when it was just him and Sarah.
***555***
Everything was timed so that the ceremony would begin just as the sun set behind the spot Sarah was going to stand in, Chuck shielded his eyes as the brightness started to slip down the horizon.
"Ready?" the Justice of the Peace asked Chuck and indicated Sarah standing just off the beach.
"Yes, yes," Chuck shook himself out of his reverie.
Sarah approached and in the shifting light of sunset everything about her glowed, her hair was glossy and curly, her skin was sun kissed after 10 days in Bermuda and her lips shone with a simple pale pink gloss. The rings of their first wedding sparkled and her ears had small diamonds in them as well.
Chuck realized why her dress was at the spa, it was nothing he had ever seen before. One of those runs she took must have been into town. It was a simple dress, strapless and knee length, but flowy and summery, the very epitome of Sarah. It was white, but had a pattern of blue and pink flowers across the bottom. The blue flowers were the exact color of the ocean, the exact color of Chuck's shirt.
Chuck had white linen pants on and a blue shirt he had chosen in town, rolled up to his elbows, open at the collar. Sarah thought he looked as handsome as he did in his tux at their first wedding.
There was no music, but the sound of the waves and the song of the long tails was the perfect accompaniment to Sarah's short walk.
"Hi," she said as she took her spot.
"Hi, thanks for coming," Chuck joked.
"Wouldn't have missed it," she promised and crouched delicately to place her small bouquet at her feet before taking both of Chuck's hands in her own.
"Charles, Sarah, I am here today to bear witness as you commit yourselves to one another. The bond of two people dedicated to making a life together is precious and your desire to restate your promises to each other is admirable. Sarah," the older man gave Sarah her turn to speak.
"Chuck, I keep expecting to love you more," she began and Chuck's stomach churned a bit, "but I realize that is not possible, I couldn't love you more than I do. I love you so thoroughly and completely that I sometimes can't reign it all in. I look at you, like this ocean and can't see where my love for you could possibly end, it just keeps going and while that can be intimidating it is also immensely comforting. That love makes the good things in my life even better and the bad things entirely survivable. I like the Sarah I am when I am with you, I love the life we have together, I want children and I want to bring them here and watch them run on this beach," a tear slipped down her cheek at the word children and Chuck relinquished one of her hands to gently wipe it away.
"I want always with you Chuck, I want forever" she finished and he swallowed thickly knowing if he let his own tears fall he would never get through his vows.
"Chuck?" the Justice of the Peace gave him a moment to gather himself.
"Last time I promised action in lieu of vows and that promise still stands. Every day Sarah, I will prove to you every day how much I love you…"
"You do," she interrupted with a smile.
"So now some vows," he shrugged. "I Chuck Bartowski, take you Sarah Bartowski to be my partner in everything we do. No lies, no secrets, no heroic sacrifices that leave either one of us behind. All decisions here for made in the Bartowski household, from what brand of orange juice we buy to what happens at work are made together and in the best interest of this marriage and those kids you just mentioned," he grinned letting her know he hadn't missed that part.
"I don't consider today to be a 2nd wedding or a new beginning, it is just a stop on our journey together. A journey that was decided for us over 5 years ago and has already survived some unbelievable obstacles. Lesser love stories would have ended by now Sarah, but we are forever, for always," he reiterated her words.
"I didn't want to replace your rings," he began and Sarah instinctively clutched her hands together to cover her rings protectively.
"You have other fingers," he joked as he slipped the ring from his pocket and took her right hand.
"This ring is our life together, entwined and connected in a way that makes it hard to tell where one of us begins and the other ends, but still distinct enough to show that we are our own people," he slid the ring over her finger as they both looked down at it.
The ring Chuck chose had 2 diamonds surrounded by yellow gold and platinum vines, 2 colors forged together in an infinity symbol around the solid stones.
"Wow," Sarah's glassy eyes went wide causing a couple more tears to escape.
"You like it?" he asked.
"I love it," she nodded.
"It's us."
"It's perfect."
TBC…