Unfortunately I don't own Chuck

Part 5

France, May 2011

"Phew!" Chuck sighed as he closed the door to his suite at the hotel, turning to look at Sarah who looked exhausted. He could understand that. While Devon was fun, intelligent and caring, he was also extremely full-on and for someone who had a relatively solitary lifestyle like Sarah, that must be pretty difficult. "Sorry about that," he apologised. "He means well."

Sarah gave a slightly wan smile. "I guess I need to get used to it."

"Oh yeah, you do," Chuck grinned. "That was good training for Ellie, but only training! She's gonna be an order of magnitude worse!"

Sarah groaned good naturedly, and he wrapped her up in a gently hug, enjoying once again the feeling of having her in his arms after so long.

'That' was Devon's interrogation on what they'd be getting up to this evening. It was 4pm and they'd just finished a day of driving for Sarah, showing the two Americans around her part of the world. They'd had lunch in the beautiful hill town of Gordes, visited Fontaine de Vaucluse, and tasted wine at two of the best vineyards in the area.

And now the two of them were going to put their feet up for half an hour and head back to Sarah's place where Chuck would meet Katrina for the first time (that she would remember). In fact it was going to be a busy few days for meetings because tomorrow Sarah would meet Ellie for the first time. And just as Chuck was very nervous about meeting Katrina, he knew Sarah was equally worried about meeting Ellie.

Katrina knew nothing about Chuck. One day, when she was old enough, Sarah and Chuck would sit down with Katrina and explain her background to her, but until then they wouldn't be explaining anything to the four and a half year old. Sarah's focus had simply been to ensure that the little girl had a happy childhood. So Katrina knew nothing about Chuck and he would be introduced as a friend that "Nicole" had just met. Chuck hoped that they got along OK. Sarah insisted that they would. She described Katrina as a good-natured little girl who was sociable and open. In many ways, Sarah suggested, she was like Chuck. Certainly more like Chuck than Sarah had been.

Chuck thought that that all came down to the way Sarah had brought Katrina up and it said a lot about Sarah as a person and as a mother. Katrina obviously felt loved and secure in her's and Sarah's family and that said a lot about Sarah that perhaps she didn't see herself because of her insecurities.

Of course, it wasn't only Katrina that Chuck would meet. He was also nervous to meet Marcel, Sarah's right-hand man for helping around the farm. He worried that Marcel and he might not get on, and, since Marcel was an important part of Sarah's – and he hoped their – new life, it was important that they got on well. And Marcel's family was important as well. His wife Julienne and his kids were important people in both Sarah's and Katrina's lives, and it was vital for Chuck that he made a good impression.

So there was nervousness on both sides. But hopefully goodwill on both sides as well.

Chuck was pleased that the other members of their group had left. It wasn't that he'd had anything against Jeff or Andy, though he had developed a healthy distaste for Mike, but it was just that he wanted to spend more time with Sarah and they got in the way. They had all been understandably curious about this woman who had seemingly come out of nowhere, but Jeff and Andy had been happy to bring her into the group. Luckily Mike had other things to be worrying about and the one visit to hospital when Sarah had accompanied them had coincided with him being very tired, so that had been a bonus! Not that it had stopped Sarah ramping up the lovey dovey-ness as much as possible in front of the unpleasant man and making sure they held hands for the whole visit.

But really the others moving on ushered in the final stage of this trip and hopefully the first stage of their future together. This afternoon Chuck would head back home with Sarah. He'd meet Katrina, have dinner with the two of them, stay over at the farm and tomorrow he'd meet Marcel and help around the estate in the morning, before Sarah dropped him and Devon off to go to the airport to meet Ellie. Sarah had offered to take them to the airport and bring them back herself but Chuck had told her they'd booked and paid for the taxis, so they'd better use them.

Over the next few days, Chuck and Sarah would spend more time with each other and, at the end of the week, when Devon and Ellie went back to the States, Chuck would announce that he'd decided to stay in France for a few more weeks to "get to know" Nicole and find out whether there was anything there. Given that he was between jobs at the moment and supposedly had quite a major redundancy payment from the "consultant" for whom he'd apparently worked in DC for all these years, they didn't think that Ellie could really object.

Then, finally, Chuck would move in with Nicole and finally, finally, they'd have the chance to have what he'd wanted, and he thought that she'd wanted, for all these years. Something that they'd had to postpone in order to help an innocent child.

Well, this was it. This was the first time that the two most important women in his life would meet, and Chuck was nervous. Growing up with Ellie had been great. After their parents had been killed in a car crash when she was eighteen and he was fifteen, Ellie had taken over as his parental figure but, given that their parents had largely checked out by then anyway, it was perhaps not a surprise that he saw Ellie as much as a mother figure as a sister.

Their parents hadn't left an awful lot, but at least they'd been left with a roof over their heads. But everything else they'd attained in their lives they'd built from hard work. Ellie had earned a scholarship to medical school and worked to support herself all through that, helping and bringing up Chuck through his last years in High School. Chuck had understood the sort of stress Ellie was under and had tried to do his bit for her by getting jobs for the afternoons and weekends and working as hard as possible at school so that he too could earn his scholarship to Stanford.

He'd managed it and had excelled academically. He'd also made some great friends, although some had been better than others, as it turned out. While many of his frat buddies had remained friends through their lives, the one he'd thought of as his closest friend, Bryce Larkin, had not. This was because, returning early from an exam one evening in his senior year, he'd entered his room to find Bryce and what he thought was the girl of his dreams, Jill, in his bed. Together.

He'd genuinely thought that he and Jill had something. Silly him. It had turned out that Bryce wasn't her only bit on the side. Needless to say he'd been distraught and had fled to LA but Ellie put him back together and he returned to find that his other buddies had ejected Bryce from the Frat house. The guys had rallied around and helped to support him for the rest of the year and for that he was grateful.

It was during that period that he'd been recruited by the NSA. He'd apparently been on their radar for some time and the approach had been made by Professor Hernandez, his software engineering teacher. The man had explained why he was on the radar (Chuck had been pleased that the NSA seemingly didn't know about some of his more fishy activities) and then offered him the entry level role which he had been very pleased he'd accepted.

In reality there hadn't been much debate. The NSA was at the forefront of tech development in his field and, with the War on Terror well and truly underway, he was happy to have the opportunity to serve and protect. Plus he got a Federal pension. The only issue was that he had to lie about what he was doing to Ellie. They'd cooked up an IT consultancy role in DC which easily covered his activities and she hadn't asked too many questions, just being delighted that her kid brother was moving on with his life.

"Wow! It's gorgeous," Ellie exclaimed, jerking Chuck out of his thoughts, as the gates to Nicole's driveway opened and the taxi drove through. Chuck had considered hiring a car, but Nicole had said that she'd help them get around and she had friends who were taxi drivers. Luckily it was just before high season so the taxis weren't too busy.

It was the evening of Ellie's first day in Provence. She'd been at a conference in London and had flown in that afternoon. She was excited to meet this woman that her brother and husband had told her about. Chuck's first girlfriend in years that she'd been introduced to.

Chuck was just about vibrating in his seat but eventually the taxi reached the end of the long drive and they stepped out. It was still light and Ellie looked around. The valley was beautiful and the house was too. Traditional Provencal stonework, a nicely-planted garden, a little lawn but mostly a working farm with fruit trees in the foreground and vines in the background.

The front door cracked open and Ellie had her first view of the woman that had so infatuated her brother. And wasn't that a turn up for the books? It seemed that Chuck had never really got back on the wagon after what that hussy had done to him at Stanford. For a few months about four years ago Ellie had suspected that her brother was seeing someone, but he'd never confirmed it. And he'd certainly been single for the past tow years of whirlwind travelling.

Ellie was pleased that Chuck had left his consultant role; she felt he was working too hard. He'd been doing that job since School and he'd obviously been good at it, but she was pleased he'd resigned – in her view he needed to get out and find that there were more important things in life than work. She didn't know exactly what he did, he spouted some tech gobbledegook every time she asked him to explain it, but she got the impression that it was something to do with cyber security. Certainly that seemed to be what he was going to do now; freelance cyber security consultant was how he'd described it.

And, she guessed, if pushed he would be able to do that from wherever, because she could tell from the way he was acting that her brother was head over heels in love with this French woman. So she was very interested to meet the woman in question.

And she was impressed. The woman was very attractive. Dirty blonde hair, shoulder length, nervous but endearing smile, tanned skin. She was wearing a simple, yet suave blue dress and low heels. The young blonde girl by her side was clearly keen to meet the visitors.

"Bonsoir!" the woman – Nicole – called.

"Bonsoir," Chuck said back, crossing to greet her. She was impressed by her brother's accent. Not noted for his Spanish at school, he seemed to have picked up French, and particularly the accent, quite fast.

"Et bonsoir a toi, Kat," Chuck said, bending down to greet the little girl and ruffling her hair. Her brother was great with kids and the little girl reacted with a broad smile, leaning in for a hug. "Voici ta soeur," Chuck said, pointing at Nicole, "Voici, ma sœur, Ellie." He turned round with a broad smile, pointing her out as she closed the distance, stepping towards the front door. "Et mon beau frere, Devon," he added, pointing to her husband.

"Bonsoir!" called the little girl and they all shared a smile at her exuberance.

"Bonsoir," Ellie said with a smile to the little girl and then she smiled at the woman.

"Welcome to our home," the woman said in slightly accented English. "You are very welcome." She leant forward and kissed Ellie on both cheeks. Chuck had warned Ellie about the typically French greeting, but she was still caught out as the woman came back for a third kiss.

As Nicole moved onto Devon Chuck grinned at her. "Three kisses is reserved for family and friends," he explained.

"Thank you for the invitation," Ellie replied, remembering her manners. "You have a very beautiful home."

"We are very lucky to live here," Nicole agreed. "Would you like a quick tour?"

Ellie, who would love a quick tour, agreed. Chuck had literally gushed about this place in a way she hadn't heard her little brother gush for some time. It had sounded like a paradise.

"So we have some early cherries now, but the bulk of the cherries and the fruit don't come until June and July," Nicole finished explaining. They were in the kitchen. Ellie had offered to help with desert after Nicole had served a fantastic chicken stew for the main course. Chuck and Devon were still at the table playing with Katrina.

So far it had been a lovely evening. Ellie found Nicole interesting company – she was well-informed about politics – American as well as European, erudite and entertaining. She was quite quiet though and didn't force her opinions on those present. In short, she seemed perfect for Chuck.

Ellie was both pleased for her brother and disappointed. She had expected Chuck to come and live near them in Chicago now he'd left his job, but it seemed that wouldn't be happening. Having said that, there would be worse places to visit than this seeming paradise and she was sure that Chuck would be back regularly; he certainly had been when he was in DC.

"So, considering you've only known each other for a short while, you seem quite serious about my brother?" Ellie could beat around the bush for a while if she wanted, but they both knew why she'd engineered this alone time with Nicole.

The woman sighed, seemingly relieved at her direct approach as well. "I don't think I've met anyone quite like him before," she admitted. "I've had to be wary of men because of Katrina. It's important to me that anyone I'm with appreciates her wellbeing too."

Ellie smiled. It seemed that they both knew that Chuck and Katrina wouldn't have a problem. "Chuck's great with kids," she offered. "Sometimes I think it's because he's just a big kid himself."

The two shared a smile. "He seems to be," Nicole said, happily. "He's the first man that has been. Normally they just treat Katrina like an annoyance. Yesterday when he came, he took her out to play and practically dumped me!"

"Yeah, that sounds like Chuck!" Ellie admitted. "Would you mind having him here with you?"

Nicole smiled. "I enjoyed it today," she said happily. "Having someone to share everything with; it felt amazing. I haven't been able to share with someone since before Katrina was born."

The woman looked so forlorn that Ellie couldn't help sweeping her in a hug. Ellie could tell she'd been lonely over the years; it was written all over her. She knew Chuck had been as well.

"I hope it works out," she told Nicole, looking into her eyes. "But if it doesn't, for all your sakes – Katrina's, yours and Chuck's, please end it early. Chuck goes in deep when he's in a relationship. The longer you leave it to break up, the longer it'll take him to get over it."

She could tell the woman understood what she was saying and also the implicit approval of their relationship. "You have my word Ellie. Although I hope it never happens."

"I do as well, Nicole," Ellie said. "I do too."

"What did you think?" They were doing the dishes. Katrina was in bed and Ellie and Devon had left in a taxi. Ellie had encouraged Chuck to stay and help Nicole clear up, a not particularly codified way of communicating her approval of the relationship.

"She's like a whirlwind!" Sarah said, concentrating hard on the saucepan she was scrubbing. "Probably the most intense person I've ever met."

"I know, right?" Chuck agreed, using a dishcloth to dry another plate.

"How did the interrogation go?" he asked lightly.

"I think it was OK?" Sarah said, turning to face him. "I kept pretty much to the truth and it seemed to convince her."

"Well, she approves," Chuck replied, kissing her shoulder. "She told me so. And she wouldn't have insisted I stay over with you if she was worried."

And Chuck was happy about that because he just wanted to get started on the rest of their lives now. The past few days had gone about as well as they could. He'd got on well with Katrina, Marcel had been reserved but not actively hostile, and Ellie seemed to like and approve of Nicole. There'd be a few more days of effectively double dating before Ellie and Devon went back to the States, but hopefully it would be more of the same.

He hadn't broached it with Sarah but he was considering checking out of the hotel early. If he was gonna stay overnight here, it made sense. And he loved it here. He'd been well-disposed to it anyway, but yesterday's tour had made it real for him, particularly when Sarah had showed him the outbuilding she'd personally refurbished for him to use as his study. She'd personalised it with nick nacks from their time together. It had a beautiful view of the grounds where she was likely to be working.

"Hey! You alright?" He only became conscious he was daydreaming when Sarah poked him.

"Eh?" he gasped. "Oh, just looking forward to the rest of our lives," he told her, seeing her eyes going dreamy.

She leaned over and pulled the plug out of the sink, washing the dregs down the plug hole. "Shall we get started on that now?" she invited, grasping his hand. He looked at the dishes on the draining board. "They'll dry on their own," Sarah offered, "I, however, need a bit of TLC," and she pulled her dress over her head and deposited it in his hands, leaving her standing in matching lacey bra and panties. "Coming?"

He tossed the dish cloth aside and followed her up the stairs.

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