A/N: Welcome to my yearly fic to commemorate this day that I don't always do each year….my bad.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck
It had been a quiet day. Both of them were sitting, reading, a knowing smile on each of their faces. They were stealing glances at each other, when the other wasn't looking…although one did it much better than the other. Sarah was beginning to wonder, was he really going to do nothing this year?
While she saw it as just another day in their story, to Chuck it was the day she began the road back to him. Their children were watching their parents, amused, and dying to know what was going on. You could feel it in the air. Several times they nearly asked, but in the end they did not.
And that, that was when the doorbell rang. She looked straight at Chuck who had the nerve to look surprised. "I wonder who that could be?" he asked.
She tried to glare at him, but found he couldn't. He stood, grinning, walked over to the door, and opened it. "Well, hello, Molly!" Chuck said, a bit dramatically. He turned to his family. "Look, Sarah, kids. It's Molly!"
"It is," Sarah said giving him a look. She had to admit, he had the innocent angel face down pat. "Why don't you invite her in."
"Please come in, Molly," Chuck said. Molly giggled at Chuck, shook her head, and came inside. "You came all the way from college to see us today? What is the special occasion."
Sarah rolled her eyes. He was being like this on purpose. "Chuck…she goes to UCLA, not some college hours away."
"And Awesome and Ellie are still very proud of her for doing that," Chuck said. He turned to Molly. "Not just for that of course, but…it doesn't hurt."
"No, it doesn't," Molly said. She lifted up the container in her hands. "I brought a cake."
"A cake!" Chuck turned to Sarah, and Sarah managed to not groan, but just barely. "Sarah, she brought a cake! Whatever could the special occasion be?"
"Is it today?" one of the kids asked the other.
"And what day is that?" Chuck asked.
Sarah started to say something, when the children, together said, "It's the day mom remembered!" Chuck grinned at Sarah, who grinned back…and also managed to give him a look that she would murder him first chance she got.
}o{
"So, your mom left her number at the Buy More desk, but your father never called," Molly continued.
"Why not?" one of the kids asked Chuck, who had gotten up and was headed to the kitchen to put away some of the dishes.
"No idea," Chuck said, shrugging. The kids turned back to Molly, engrossed in the story. Chuck stood there a moment, and Sarah swore he mouthed the words, "But I did," where no one else saw him. He turned and took the dishes into the kitchen.
Sarah sat there, confused. He hadn't called her. She was sure of it. She watched Chuck and his body language, and something began to nag at her. She would talk to him about it, later. After the kids were asleep.
}o{
"Okay, Molly has everyone in their room," Chuck said, coming back down and sitting on the couch beside Sarah.
"She doesn't have to stay the night," Sarah said. "I mean, I'm glad but…"
"I know, I told her," Chuck assured Sarah.
"Hey, earlier…I could have sworn you said something about that you did call me," Sarah said casually. Chuck didn't say anything. "Chuck?"
"I did call the number," Chuck said softly.
"Chuck, you never called me," Sarah insisted.
"I called the number. Apparently you gave me the wrong number," Chuck said. Sarah sat up, about to argue, but…it had been nineteen years ago, and while she wasn't in her dotage, she had to admit, she did forget a thing or two, here or there. Had she given him the wrong number? She was sure she hadn't. She was positive.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I called it, and it was an older woman," Chuck told her. "I apologized, looked at the number again, and dialed it, and again, Thelma answered."
"Thelma?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, a sweet woman," Chuck said. "I told her what had happened, and she felt sorry for me and invited me out."
Sarah began to laugh. "Okay, now I know you're pulling my leg."
He looked over at her, seriousness on his face. "I saw her once a week for months," Chuck told her. "Casey knew."
"WHAT!?"
"Wait, it's not what you think," Chuck assured her. "She was part of a group."
"A…group?" Sarah asked, even more confused.
"Yeah, they called themselves the Gutter Gals," Chuck said. Sarah's eyes went wide. "They were a bowling team of ladies who were seventy plus…and me."
"You were a member of the…Gutter Gals?" Sarah asked.
"Remember every time I would get upset that we would miss my D nights?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded. "I actually went to the bowling alley across the street."
Sarah started to say something, and then thought about where she had dropped him off a few times D . There was a bowling alley across the street.
"I had a bright pink jacket with Gutter Gals spelled out in glitter on the back." Sarah stared at him. "What? Don't think I'd wear it?"
"No, you would," she admitted. "I just….I just don't remember any of this." And that's when it hit her. She stood, and turned toward him. He had already leaped up from his seat, backing away from her. She had managed to grab a foam whiffle ball bat that had been propped up against the couch. She was bouncing the meaty part of the bat into her right hand. "Tell me," she began.
"Sarah," Chuck said, grinning, nearly laughing, trying to hold it in and failing miserably. "Sarah, do you know most accidents occur in the house."
"This won't be an accident," Sarah muttered.
"Sarah, put down the bat," Chuck said, backing away. He could see the corner of her mouth slightly betraying her, trying it's best not to grin.
"Tell me you did not, set this WHOLE thing up, just to hear me say those words," Sarah said, continuing to slowly move toward him as he backed away, all while trying not to laugh.
"I do not know what words-"
"Tell me you didn't do all this to get me to say, 'I don't remember,'" she said with the intensity of a thousand suns.
Chuck stood there, then pointed above her. "LOOK! A BIRD!" and he turned an ran. Sarah had never turned to look.
"I didn't look!" Sarah yelled after him. "If I catch you…" she trailed off, grunted and took off after him.
}o{
"Annnnd, there they go," Molly said, shaking her head. She looked over at Chuck and Sarah's children. "The thing is," she whispered conspiratorially to them. "Your dad…he's gonna let her catch him."
She sighed, picked up her book she was reading for class and grinned at the odd noises she heard of someone obviously chasing someone else, both, laughing at the same time.
A/N: I "remembered" to write it this year! Take care fam.
