"What time do your folks land again?" Chuck asked as they ate their breakfast.

"They'll be landing just before noon," Sarah advised. "We're all meeting up at your parents' house in Encino this afternoon, right?"

"Yeah," Chuck nodded, "I still can't believe Dad was able to still hold onto the house after Ellie and I sold it. Although, knowing now what I did then, I really shouldn't be surprised."

Sarah snickered in agreement. "It's good he was able to, somehow I get the feeling your mom wouldn't be okay living in that airstream for too long."

"Probably not," Chuck shrugged, "At least it gives Uncle Heartley a place to stay until he goes back to the UK with Cole and Vivian for their debrief. I don't envy them the debrief they'll have to endure, if only because Hartley's memories are coming back in bits and pieces. He remembers enough to be remorseful for what he did as Volkoff, but not much of the day-to-day. Cole and Vivian will likely have to fill in some of the blank spaces, Mom will probably have to fly over to fill in the gaps from the earlier years. Assuming she has time with all the debriefing she'll need to go through with the CIA."

"Your dad also has a lot to answer for, going off grid like he did." Sarah pointed out, "Even though the penalty for going MIA isn't as harsh as in the military, there will definitely be some reparations to be made."

Chuck sighed and nodded, "So, Ryker has been dealt with, Volkoff has been finally restored to being Hartley, and Mom and Dad have finally come in from the cold. What does that mean for our operation?"

"You still have the Intersect, and likely will need to keep it in your head until the powers that be are satisfied that the removal protocol has really worked." Sarah advised, "They'll probably want to partner with MI:6 to monitor Hartley's recovery for a while still before they give the go-ahead to remove yours. That being said, we should probably get in contact with them in a couple weeks to discuss that, as well as the operation as it stands, and our graduate programs."

"A couple weeks?" He asked.

"They can wait until after we get back," Sarah smirked, "I'm not letting them take this away from me. I've sacrificed enough while working with them, they can at least give me this."

"Good point," He nodded, standing to rinse out his bowl and put it in the dishwasher, "I don't know about you, but I have some calls to make so that this weekend goes off without a hitch."

Sarah arched an eyebrow at him, "Without a hitch, huh?"

"Okay, okay, one hitch," He chuckled, "It was a poor choice of words."

"Just make sure you choose your words a bit more carefully this weekend," Sarah teased him as she likewise delt with her breakfast dishes, "Wouldn't want this weekend to be hitch-less."

"You've made your point, sheesh," Chuck rolled his eyes as he pulled her in to his arm and gave her a kiss. "I love you."

"I know," Sarah smirked up at him before slipping out of his arms and sauntering away.

"Woman!" Chuck growled, "You can't just say a thing like that to a nerd and then just saunter away!"

"Watch me," She laughed, then let out a squeal as Chuck gave chase.


"Are you ready for all this?" Chuck asked as they pulled up outside of his parents' home. They were still a bit early, seeing only his dad's jeep and Devon's sedan parked in the driveway. Since there were no other vehicles, they figured that Sarah's parents had not yet arrived, which was exactly what they'd hoped would be the case. Getting out of the vehicle, they made their way up the driveway, but hadn't even reached the door before it swung open to reveal Mary waiting for them.

"Good, you're here," She smiled, "Come on in."

"Wow, nothing has really changed in here," Chuck remarked, "Well, except everything seems a bit smaller than it was before."

"You're just bigger, Dear," Mary pointed out.

"True," He admitted then turned to his fiancée with a cheeky grin, "You wanna see my room?"

"Sure," Sarah laughed, letting him drag her down the hall to his room. It was, admittedly, not that much different from the room he'd had when they'd first reunited. There were some movie and game posters up on the wall, action figures, books, and a few comics on the bookshelves. The only real differences were that there wasn't a computer in the room and the bed was a twin rather than the king bed he had as an adult. She couldn't help but smile at the bedding, "Shazam? Really?"

"What?" He asked, "He's the best!"

"I just thought it would be Star Wars," She shrugged, "Or maybe Superman."

"Sups is great and all, but Shazam wins over him, every time," Chuck shrugged. "So, wanna make out on my bed? You know, you're the first girl I've let in my room."

Sarah couldn't help but laugh, "As appealing as that is, my folks and our daughter will be here soon, we probably should be there for introductions."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," He gave a fake put-upon sigh, "Rain check?"

"Yeah, to be continued once we're home," Sarah promised.

The Bartowskis along with Sarah and Devon were in the living room, continuing to catch up, when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Chuck offered, rising from the couch, Sarah following close behind. Opening the door revealed Emma, who was holding Molly, and Bill.

Before Chuck could get a word out, Molly let out a squeal and practically dove out of Emma's arms, to be – thankfully – caught by her daddy. "Da-da! Da-Da!"

"Hey Sweetpea, we missed you," Chuck sighed, nuzzling the little girl close to himself, "Look who else is here, can you say Mama?"

"Hello, my Sweet Girl," Sarah smiled, running her hand over Molly's soft hair. "How was she on the ride down?"

"An angel," Emma assured her, "We gave her a bottle when we took off and her pacifier for the rest of the time, she dozed nearly the whole way."

Sensing the rest of the family approaching them, Chuck and Sarah turned to start the introductions and headed back to the living room. At some point, Molly had been relocated to her Aunt Ellie's lap and her Babbi was cooing over her, something that neither of the Bartowski siblings ever thought they'd see in this lifetime. About a half hour later, the bell rang again, signaling the arrival of Hartley and the Barkers, who Stephen greeted warmly, hugging his old friend, giving his honorary niece a kiss on the cheek, and shaking Cole's hand in welcome before guiding them into the living room to join the rest of the family.

Since it was late spring, and Stephen had recently acquired the Beastmaster 5000, the group eventually migrated outside while the Bartowski patriarch began grilling up burgers and brats for dinner. Over the meal, they talked about everything and anything to get caught up with all that was missed in each other's lives during their respective separations.

"So, what's the plan?" Cole eventually asked, turning toward Chuck and Sarah.

"Since you are all in town, and certain promises were made back in Debrecen," Chuck smirked, "We have arranged to get married at the Santa Monica Beach tomorrow morning at 10am. After much debate, and double and triple checking that everything is in order legally, we have agreed to let Morgan officiate the ceremony. We'll have a small wedding luncheon at La Bella Rosa, then you are all free to return to your regularly scheduled lives while my lovely bride and I head out for our honeymoon."

"And after that?" Mary asked.

"We have a meeting scheduled with our superiors for after we get back," Sarah informed them, "At which point we will discuss our next steps. Neither of us are interested in being field active anymore, we have other priorities now. Since we both have been accepted to our graduate programs of choice at Stanford, we will be starting those when Fall Quarter commences, how that will impact Carmichael CyberSecurity or our geographical location, is still yet to be determined. Regardless, we will be bringing Molly home with us, permanently."

"We also plan to start looking for a larger place here, or in Palo Alto," Chuck started.

"Possibly both," Sarah added.

"Right, possibly both," He corrected, "To accommodate our growing family. We may eventually have to move to Palo Alto, depending on if our country's intelligence services want us to take over where Flemming left off."

"What about," Ellie gestured toward her head.

"That will also be decided when we meet with our superiors," Chuck shrugged.

"There's a 50/50 chance that he will need to keep it, at least for a while longer," Sarah shrugged. "He doesn't really need it to analyze the daily briefings, I don't think he's ever used the Program for that, come to think. However, being as he is, so far, the only successful recipient of the program, they may want to, likely with Ellie and Stephen's assistance, study how the program and his brain interact to see what modifications would need to be made in order to let other agent and analysts take it on, if they decide to continue the program rather than scrap it."

"They really should scrap it," Stephen added, "Not using it for its intended purpose has caused more problems than it's worth. They really shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. It was meant to be used as a learning tool."

"It also has potential uses in the medical field to treat traumatic brain injuries, dementia, Alzheimer's, and the like," Ellie pointed out.

"You do realize that we never would have met had the government not gotten involved in funding your research, don't you, Dear?" Mary added. "Nor would you have met Hartley."

"For that bit of it, I will be eternally grateful," Stephen admitted, "But I think we can all agree that in the government's hands it's done more harm than it has good."

"Diane has a slightly more level head than those who came before her," Mary shrugged, "Perhaps she can be brought to see reason."

"What is that old adage about horses and water, again?" Stephen gave his wife a pointed look.

"It couldn't hurt to at least discuss it," Chuck pointed out.

"The fact is that changes need to be made when it comes to the program," Sarah added, "It stands to reason that we might be able to get her to see, and likewise sway her cohorts to agree, that allowing Stephen and Ellie to return the program back to its original purpose might be the best choice if development is allowed to continue."

"This is a bit of a heavy topic for a pre-wedding dinner, is it not?" Hartley broke in. "Perhaps it would be better to turn our focus to the more immediate reason of our gathering here? The impending nuptials of our dear Charles and Sarah."

"Agreed," Vivian nodded, "This topic can be resumed once Chuck and Sarah have returned. In the interest of getting this night back on track, I'd like to make a toast. Chuck and Sarah, may you have a lifetime of happiness."

"Hear, hear!" The group agreed raising their glasses to the nearly weds and drinking to their upcoming marriage. The rest of the evening passed with no more discussion of work but focused on the events of the next day.


"Come on, Sarah, it's time to get up," Emma whispered in her daughter's ear as she gently shook her awake. Sarah had spent the night in the room adjoining her parents' hotel room.

"It's too early," She moaned, turning away from her mother and trying to burrow back into her covers.

"If you want to get married, you need to get up so we can get you ready," Emma reminded her.

"Whose idea was it to have a morning wedding again?" Sarah groaned, slowly sitting up in her bed.

"I believe it was yours, Sweetheart, you wanted to get married at the beach on short notice," Her mother reminded her, "This was the only time you could get the permit for. Now, go get in the shower while I feed Molly."

"Yeah, okay," Sarah yawned and shuffled toward the bathroom where her mother had already laid out her undergarments and a robe for her to wear while she got ready. Ellie and Vivian were supposed to be joining them shortly so they could get ready together.


Chuck had awoken before his alarm and couldn't get back to sleep. He was excited to marry the girl he'd been in love with for over ten years since their incidental meeting at that band competition in high school. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if they could get married at Coronado Beach, but it was not available for the weekend they needed. He did his best to get ready slowly but was still dressed, with the rings in his pocket, and ready to go over an hour before he was due to leave.

A knock sounded at his door, revealing his father, father-in-law, Devon, Morgan, Hartley and Cole.

"Figured you'd be too keyed up to sleep, Mate," Cole explained as the men made their way into Chuck's apartment. "We thought we'd keep you company to save you from going mad as you waited to go." It was only then that Chuck noticed the bottle of Statesman the MI:6 agent had carried through to the kitchen.

Devon followed, helping the British spy to locate enough tumblers for each of the men. Soon enough a couple fingers of the whiskey had been poured in each glass and distributed. The men toasted the groom and took seats in the living room as they talked about each of their respective wedding days, Chuck and Devon listening intently to their stories. Morgan just sat back and sipped his drink, pondering if there might be a day in his near future for himself and Alex.

"You know, Al – that's my old buddy, Al Calavicci - had taken me out the night before I married your mom and got me so drunk, I was still seeing double come morning," Stephen scoffed, "I nearly puked in the bushes outside of the chapel. Luckily his wife Beth was already there, with a large carafe of coffee, and an admittedly warranted scolding look, to sober us two idiots up before the ceremony. It was probably a good thing, because your mom nearly knocked me off my feet when those doors opened, had I still been hung over, I likely would have passed out."

"That is exactly why you only get one glass this morning," Cole joked, "Wouldn't do to have you pass out before the vows are said."

The men laughed and continued to distract Chuck until it was time to make their way to the beach. They'd put Casey in charge of protecting their temporary piece of beach front and were impressed when they pulled up to see that the man had gone so far as to decorate the area with a white, floral covered, arch way and a few rows of two seats on each side of the aisle where their guests would sit during the ceremony. While Chuck, Morgan, and Devon took their places in front of the archway, the rest of the men went to wait for the rest of their group.

Luckily the wait wasn't too long, soon a couple town cars pulled up, and the women began to emerge. Morgan and Devon told Chuck to turn around and face the ocean until they told him otherwise while Sarah exited the car which she'd ridden over in and got herself situated. Once all the guests were seated, Canon in D began to play from the small speakers Casey had set up.

Devon watched, a smile on his face as Ellie walked down the aisle and took her place across from him. A moment later, he leaned over, "Turn around Bro."

Chuck slowly turned and was met with the most breathtaking sight he'd ever seen. Sarah, in a flowing white gown was on the arm of her stepfather, a small bouquet of gardenias in her hand, was slowly making her way toward him. He couldn't help the small half-grin that rose to his lips over how beautiful she was.

When Sarah and Bill stopped a couple steps beyond the first row of chairs, Morgan cleared his throat, "Who presents this woman to be wed?"

"Her mother and I do," Bill said solemnly, leaning over to kiss Sarah's cheek and guide her the last few steps to where Chuck stood, before taking his own seat beside his wife.

"Dearly beloved, we have gathered here this morning to witness the union of Charles Irving Bartowski and Sarah Lisa Renata Walker in the bonds of matrimony. I'm not even going to entertain the notion of objections, so don't even think about it." The group chuckled, "Chuck and Sarah, this is a day that was over a decade in the making. You have loved each other since you first met, through long separations, and difficult situations only to find one another again. A love like yours is once in a lifetime, may we all be lucky enough to find what you did that day ten years ago on Coronado Beach. The couple has chosen to say their own vows. Chuck, you may begin." Sarah handed her bouquet to Ellie before turning back to Chuck as they joined hands.

"Sarah, I have been drawn to you since the first day I saw you in the wings of James Buchannan high school, humor in your eyes as you watched me have to double back to retrieve my forgotten sheet music. That attraction soon became admiration when we met again on Coronado Beach, and grew to the first embers of love as we sat on that beach talking as we watched the tide roll in." He smiled down at his bride, squeezing her hands in his own, "Sometime after that we lost touch, but there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about you, even when I gave in and saw other women, you were always there at the back of my head, the standard by which I measured them, and none of them ever came close to you. You are the love of my life; I dream of having children with you. I can imagine sitting watching them all, from Molly on down, playing in the yard acting like little superheroes with capes and everything. I dream of quiet sunsets together as we live out our latter years, until the day we take our last breath, wrapped in each other's arms to go into eternity together. I promise from this day forward to love you and support you, and our family, for the rest of my life."

They heard Morgan sniffle as he wiped a tear from his face, "That was beautiful, Chuck. Sarah?"

"Chuck, you are a gift," Sarah took a deep breath, "A gift I thought I'd lost after that amazing weekend when I found you. I never thought I'd be so lucky to find you again, but luck, fate, the force, or something must have smiled down on me because ten years after meeting the love of my life, I found you once more, only a couple hours from where we'd first found each other. I think we both knew from then on that we would never be apart. What's that phrase? Oh yeah, 'Resistance is futile.'" This earned some laughter from her groom and the others at the wedding. "You are the man I've dreamed of all my life, the one who not only would love me, but Molly and any other children we will one day have. I love you, Charlie, and plan to spend the rest of my life loving and living alongside you."

"Do we have the rings?" Morgan asked, trying to regain his composure as Devon and Ellie each handed over the rings that Chuck and Sarah would wear for the rest of their lives. He handed the rings to each of them and had them repeat after him, "I give you this ring as an outward symbol of my commitment to you. Please accept it as a token of my love."

Once the rings were exchanged, Morgan spoke once more, "By the power invested in me by the State of California and the Intergalactic Federation of Planets, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride."

The newlyweds needed no further prompting as they embraced and shared a passionate kiss, barely registering the cheers and applause from their friends and family. Once they parted, they made their way back down the aisle, sharing one more kiss.

To their surprise, Jeff Barnes - who was amazingly sober thanks to Anna, who had made it a term of his continued employment in the Nerd Herd - turned out to be an accomplished videographer. Not only had he filmed their wedding, but he was likewise a talented photographer. It didn't take long for him to capture a series of pictures, which he assured them would be in an album along with the DVD copy of their wedding by the time they returned from their honeymoon. He soon excused himself so that the wedding celebration could continue at La Bella Rosa.

They spent the better part of the afternoon enjoying good food, great friends and family, and toasting the future of their family before Chuck and Sarah had to leave to catch their flight to Paris for their honeymoon which included a couple days in Paris before heading down to Rome to catch their boat for a weeklong Mediterranean cruise.