A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, follows, faves and PMs on the first chapter. I wasn't sure how people would react, both to her leaving and to her fears. Glad you're back for more of the story.

As with the first chapter, this was checked by Writesalott. It was really good getting a woman's perspective on this story, especially one with a toddler who remembers her own pregnancy. Thanks, my friend.

Once again, thanks to Capt LiL for the fast beta enabling me to get this second chapter out only four days after the first.

On with the story…

Sarah's Pregnancy

Chapter 2: Taking Action

Chuck was holding her to him, as she came out of the nightmare.

Amazingly, she didn't go into defensive mode and fight him. His embrace had comforted her enough during the day, that she must have registered it as a safe place to be.

He kissed the top of her head. That was another soothing thing she'd learned since coming here. "D'you want to talk about it?" he asked.

She'd always avoided talking about her nightmares to the CIA psychologists, so never shared them at all. However, she guessed she must have done it with her husband. "In the past, most of my nightmares were of things that I had done. They were never just random ones. So, I think this was a memory. Not of us, but of my time with Quinn."

He tightened his hold on her. She kissed his chest for that.

She gave him some detail, "He was showing me cards and they were triggering extremely painful flashes. I passed out each time, but the memory of the next appeared immediately… Did I scream?"

"You did, my love. That's what woke me. That and your whole body shaking."

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Sarah, you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm just glad I was here for you." He obviously stopped and thought about that. "Have you had these for a while?"

"That was the first time for that one," she said.

"But others?"

She pushed away from him. "Every night. Didn't that happen with HER when you were together?"

He ignored the reference to HER. "You only ever had one, on our first night, but not for a very long time," he told her. "The nightmare was of what you'd experienced just before, when Shaw had you paralyzed and tried to kill you."

"Maybe this will be my last, then, now that we are back together."

"We slept more… intimately then," he said.

She smiled. "Are you trying to get into my panties, Mr. Bartowski?"

"We wouldn't have to make love, Sarah," he replied, still serious.

She sighed at her failed attempt at humor. "I don't think either of us would be able to hold back, Chuck."

He nodded sadly. "Maybe not naked, then. But I could still hold you." She nodded and moved closer. "Lie facing away from me. I'll spoon you," he said.

And that was how she went back to sleep, with his arm over her waist and his hand on her still flat stomach. It felt so good.

The next day, she woke up alone but found him making them breakfast.

After showering, she dressed to go out, as he'd suggested.

They didn't get out as quickly as they planned, as his friend Morgan dropped by.

"Oh my God! You're here, Sarah!" Morgan exclaimed.

She smiled. This was the man whose magic kiss had failed, but she didn't begrudge him that. "Yes. And I'm staying." She noticed the huge smile on her husband's face as she said that.

"Oh, wow! This is such good news!" Morgan turned and ran out shouting, "I must get Alex."

Soon, he returned with an equally excited brunette. Sarah didn't remember her, but was pulled into an embrace by the shorter woman.

Then, she felt sick and had to rush to the bathroom. When she returned, Alex's raised brow suggested she'd guessed. Sarah shook her head and was grateful that it was understood.

"I'm so glad to see you, Sarah. I guess you don't recognize me. I'm Alex McHugh. Morgan's girlfriend." She looked at Morgan. "If they're back together, we can go ahead."

Chuck frowned. "Go ahead with what?"

Morgan said, "I proposed to Alex a couple of weeks ago. She turned me down. Not because she doesn't want to marry, but she knew how it would make you feel, Chuck. We decided to wait."

Chuck looked shocked and Sarah couldn't stop herself from crying. "Another relationship I nearly ruined!" she moaned.

Alex held her arms. "Not your fault, Sarah. And anyway, you're back now."

Sarah hugged this stranger. Another thing that was so different about her. She blamed those hormones, but suspected that this was part of HER too.

"We're just about to go for a walk. Wanna come?" she asked them. "Catch up?"

"Love to," Alex replied.

The stroll to and around the park was relaxed. It helped take the stress out of their situation.

Of course, Morgan made a difference, too. Sarah didn't know him that well, but she knew he loved her husband as well as being so… excitable. He was almost jumping up and down in the apartment before they left and kept a constant stream of crazy dialog going as they walked. Much of that went straight over Sarah's head, but unlike other lost memories, this didn't matter to her. She'd work it out with Chuck's help at some point.

She held onto that thought as they walked. If things confused her and she really wanted to know the background, she could ask her husband and he'd explain what had happened before. She wouldn't have her memories of it, or how whatever it was had felt at the time, but did that really matter?

"And we've heard that Jeffster's big in Germany now!" Morgan shouted. "Can you believe that?"

She remembered that Jeffster were the two guys who had helped them as Chuck tried to disarm the bomb in the theater. It was nice to have a memory to link to the name.

She smiled. "Good for them."

Morgan looked at her, surprised and a bit bewildered. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Morgan's just glad he doesn't have to work with them anymore," Alex said.

"Too right!" Morgan exclaimed.

Morgan calmed down and started talking to Chuck. Alex placed a hand on Sarah's arm and held her back, letting the two guys walk ahead.

"How far?" Alex quietly asked.

"Eight weeks," Sarah whispered, not really wanting to talk about it.

"You don't seem happy about it," the brunette whispered.

Sarah didn't really know what to say to that. She certainly didn't want to air her fears. "Morning sickness sucks," she said. And that was true.

"You don't remember the inception, do you?"

Sarah felt tearful again, but held it in. "No."

"Is the pregnancy why you came back?"

"Partly," she admitted. "But I'd been missing him anyway."

Alex started speaking at a normal level. "You're an amazing couple, Sarah. I take it you still don't remember."

Sarah shook her head. "But my heart knows him." She never thought she would ever say such words before.

"Love. Such a wonderful thing," Alex said, dreamily.

Sarah looked at the tall man walking in front of them. "It is."

Before they headed back, Morgan and Alex swapped over.

Alex started talking to Chuck about work.

Morgan spoke quieter than normal, obviously hoping Chuck wouldn't hear. "He was a mess without you, Sarah. He was trying to be strong, but we could all see it.

"Ellie, Casey and I all knew he'd be able to track you down, but he refused to do so, saying, 'I said I'd let her go, just be here for her if she needed me.'" He shook his head. "At least he didn't resort to cheese balls this time."

"Cheese balls?" she asked.

"When the creature from hell dumped him, he drowned his sorrows in cheese balls. It was even worse when he screwed up and thought he'd lost you forever two years ago." He shook his head at the thought.

"This time it was vegetarian pizza with no olives. He said that memory kept him going. That and the beer you like." He took a deep breath. "I became really worried he'd give up completely, but he kept saying, 'She'll come back. I know she will.' After five weeks he looked less certain of that."

He looked at Sarah. "I've never seen him cry before, Sarah. Not a great sight."

Her lips were quivering as she tried not to let her own tears out. "Well, he was right. I'm back and I'm not leaving. Ever."

Morgan looked tearful and said, "I'm so glad."

They spent the whole day with Morgan and Alex, even having dinner at the other couple's apartment that was just next door.

When they finally retired to their own apartment, Sarah commented. "I don't remember having friends. I never had them before. I really like it." She laughed at herself. "Liking things is new, too."

Chuck nodded. "You had to pretend friendship initially, and Ellie could tell you were different. Not that you were putting on an act, but that socializing was not normal for you. It became more and more normal for you as time went on."

She was fascinated. He'd only really talked about the two of them on the beach.

He smiled. "Ellie still thinks you are her best friend."

That shocked her. "But I tried to kill her, as well as you!"

He took her hand. "She knows that wasn't really you."

"Have you told her that I'm back?" she asked. She hadn't seen him call, but it might have been when she showered.

His eyes widened and he gasped. "No!"

He reached for his phone, but Sarah stopped him.

"Chuck, It's 11:35 here, that means it'll be 1:35 in Chicago. They won't want you disturbing them at that time."

"Clara might be keeping them up," he said, but knew Sarah was right. His shoulders slumped.

"Call them in the morning, Chuck," she said, sliding her arm around him.

"She's gonna be pissed at me," he mumbled. "Especially as Morgan found out first."

She placed a finger over his mouth to stop the spiral. "He was bound to find out first. He lives next door. He could've seen me walking to your door."

He sighed. "You're right. Again. You are definitely the brains in this relationship."

She chuckled. "I think even without a computer in your head, you are light years ahead of me."

He grinned. "Light years? Are you becoming a science fiction fan?"

She giggled and kissed him. "I married one, didn't I?"

He pulled her closer. "The luckiest one on Earth."

She kissed his lips. "You better believe it."

That night, she got into the same position and Chuck wrapped himself behind her again. She went to sleep with her hand over his one that was warming her stomach through her t-shirt.

She woke before him the next morning.

His hand was still in the same position, but somehow her t-shirt had risen, so didn't separate them. It felt even better like that.

The temptation to guide his hand lower was almost irresistible.

'Why am I resisting?' she asked herself. 'Because you might be carrying the child of a rapist!' her mind screamed back in her head.

That completely ruined her mood. She lifted his hand off of her and slipped out of bed.

She quietly opened her drawer and pulled out clean panties and a bra and headed into the bathroom.

The shower helped wash away the unpleasant thoughts.

Today the testing kit would arrive.

They decided to have breakfast. He had a coffee and she had a juice, but knew that they would both have to avoid anything but water for at least an hour before taking the samples. So, after that they needed to wait.

Chuck called his sister and put his phone on speaker.

"Hello, Chuck. How are you feeling?" Sarah heard the sadness seep through the speaker.

"I'm pretty good, thank you," he replied.

"Oh!" The surprise was just as clear. "What's happened?"

"Sarah's back!" he almost shouted.

Ellie squealed and shouted, "Oh my god!" Her voice became quieter, because she was probably turning in the room, "Devon! Sarah's back with Chuck!" Her voice became clearer. "Put her on! Put her on!"

He chuckled and motioned for his wife to say something. "Hi, Ellie."

"Are you okay, Sarah? We were so worried about you."

That surprised Sarah, but she reminded herself that nothing was ever what she expected with this family.

"I'm healthy," she replied carefully.

"But…?"

Sarah just blurted it all out, "I'm pregnant and I don't know who the father is!"

There was a silence. "You think it might have been while Quinn had you?" Ellie asked softly.

Damn she was super sharp! "I don't know!" Sarah wailed.

"You can do a paternity test, Sarah. If you want to find out, that is."

"I want it to be Chuck, Ellie!"

"I know," Ellie said solicitously. "I take it you want to keep the child."

"Yes. Whatever," she replied.

"Chuck will make a wonderful father for the child whichever…"

Sarah smiled at him. "He's been wonderful about it, Ellie."

"We've ordered a paternity DNA test kit, El," Chuck said.

"Good," she replied.

"I'm not leaving him again, Ellie."

"Have your memories…" Ellie started, but hesitated.

"They've not returned but my feelings for him have. I love him so much. I missed him as soon as I left, but stupidly resisted coming back because I was scared. I decided that was ridiculous and was going to return, but felt unwell. I found out why that was and freaked out."

"Would it help if we came to you? Be there for you?" Ellie asked.

"Is that for me or for Chuck?" Sarah wondered.

"For you, Sis. He keeps telling me he's sad but ok and doesn't need me."

Sarah looked sharply at him. He was so far from ok while she was gone. He shrugged at her.

"I'm still so ashamed at how I treated you, Ellie," she said.

Ellie sighed. "That wasn't you, Sarah. You'd been brainwashed."

"I'm still ashamed."

"Well, get over it," Ellie almost snapped at her. "I love my sister and am coming over there."

They heard Devon's voice, "That's fine, babe. I can look after Clara. Sorry to hear you still have challenges, guys. Love you both."

Sarah was starting to feel overwhelmed. Chuck could see that and took over the conversation. "It would be wonderful to see you, El."

Ellie laughed. "I might have some time for you, little brother, but I'm coming for my sister."

"Thank you, Ellie," Sarah managed to get out.

"I'll need to get the time off and make arrangements, but I'll get there as soon as I can," Ellie said. "I'll let you know the details when I have them."

Sarah thanked her again.

"Love you, sis," Ellie said. "You too, little brother. Take care of her till I get there."

He grinned. "Will do, El."

They said their goodbyes and ended the call.

"She didn't ask any difficult questions," Sarah pointed out.

"She might when she's here," he grumbled.

The kit arrived and they followed the instructions. They sent it back immediately. Now they just had to wait.

Sarah expected the time to drag, but Chuck went out of his way to keep her distracted.

One of the things they did was go to the beach. Their beach, as she now saw it.

She initially wanted to wear a bikini, while her belly was still flat, and no one would know she was pregnant and ask questions she couldn't answer, but decided that she knew, so didn't.

So, they wandered up and down the beach with her in shorts and a t-shirt. They splashed their way through the shallow water and just relaxed.

She loved it. Holding hands with the man she loved, kicking the water as she went. She felt like all her troubles disappeared while she was there.

She slept facing him that night. She spooned him. Her belly wasn't a problem and having her arm around him, her hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat just felt right.

The following days were a mix of frustration at the delays knowing the result, and worry that the result might fulfill her fears, mixed with happiness from all the comfort her amazing husband was showering her with.

Chuck was also demonstrating how much he understood his wife. Sarah was surprised that she wasn't really that different to HER, after all. Certainly, now that her hard edge had been eroded, their thoughts pretty much aligned. She wasn't sure how much of that erosion had been hormonal, how much her desire for motherhood, something that still shocked her, and how much was all the love she felt between the two of them.

She knew that even without the pregnancy, she would have come back here, seeking forgiveness, wanting a life with him again. The pregnancy had just delayed it. She also knew delaying it would have made returning harder. The longer she left it, the more painful it would have been for both of them, that delay. Would it have been too long for him? She shuddered at the consequences that followed that thought and had to bury it.

On the day they had received the kit, they'd had a call from Ellie. She had arranged a week off to come back to LA. They both tried to dissuade her. That was a crazy amount of her holiday allowance, but she was adamant. She said she would be with them in two days.

They'd spent the rest of that day tidying up the spare bedroom and making sure it was in good shape for her. And today she'd be arriving.

Sarah had insisted that she'd be the one to collect Ellie from the airport. Chuck had tried arguing, but found she was just as adamant as his sister had been about coming. "God, I've married my sister! Domineering women dominating my life!"

She laughed. "Don't forget your mom!"

He chuckled. "How could I after the tongue lashing she gave me yesterday!"

"She was only stopping you from spiraling, Chuck. Talking about how you should have stopped me going after Quinn on that train and how it was all your fault."

"I guess," he conceded.

"Anyway. No more talk about marrying your sister! That'd be gross!"

He pulled her in for a loving kiss and then she pulled away. "Wish me luck," she said as she grabbed the keys for their car. She'd let go of the rental days ago.

A/N: So, the samples are sent. Just have to wait now. Family meetings in the next chapter. I'm planning on publishing that in four days' time.

I'd love to hear what you think about this chapter in a review, if you have the time.