A/N: Thank you to BillatWork, GoldenGirl, and yokaputo for betaing this entire story. They are fantastic and did a fantastic job keeping me focused.
Thanks for all the reviews as well! I hope the epilogue satisfies expectations now that the entire story has come together. :)
Happy is the heart that still feels pain
Darkness drains and light will come again
Swing open your chest and let it in
Just let the love, love, love begin
Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved
- "Everybody," Ingrid Michaelson
A knock sounds at her office door just as Sarah hangs up the phone.
"Come in," she says, glad for the distraction.
She loves her job. As head of Pineapple Security, she still gets to help people, still gets to use the skills she honed in the agency. But she has to admit, sitting in an office is sometimes not the most exciting thing in the world. Especially on Thursday mornings, especially in this awful desk chair. So yes, right now, she's very glad for any distractions.
She shifts uncomfortably, trying to stretch out a knot in her lower back, but that thought flies out of her head when a blonde-haired, blue-eyed four-year-old boy bounds through the doorway, across the room, and onto her lap.
"Hey, Jake," she says with a grin, tousling the youngster's hair.
He laughs delightedly, and she looks toward the doorway to see her lean, lanky husband resting his shoulder against the frame and holding their fifteen-month-old daughter against his hip. With bright, smiling eyes and a goofy grin to match her father's, Sophie is almost too adorable for her own good.
"What are you guys doing here?" Sarah asks with a smile.
Chuck walks into the room and sits on the edge of her desk. "We just thought we'd drop by for lunch," he says. Taking his daughter's hand in his, he waves. "Say 'hi' to Mom, Soph."
Sarah laughs and stretches out a hand to tickle the toddler's chin. "Hey, baby girl."
"So how 'bout it?" Chuck asks innocently.
"Lunch? What'd you have in mind?"
"Well," he replies, bouncing Sophie on his knee and pretending to think, "there's this fantastic Italian place over in Ridgecrest."
"Ridgecrest?" Sarah repeats incredulously. "That's nearly three hours away."
"And?"
Sarah rolls her eyes. "I can't take a six-hour lunch."
"You won't be," he answers. "You'll be taking the rest of the week off." She lifts an eyebrow, and he grins. "I booked us a room at the Furnace Creek Inn. Tonight through Sunday."
"Chuck . . ." she sighs, trying to hide a broad smile at his thoughtfulness.
"Come on," he urges with a smile. "It'll be fun. Death Valley!"
"How am I supposed to explain to my employees that I'm taking an impromptu vacation?"
He leans forward conspiratorially to whisper, "Then don't tell them." He shrugs, and resuming his normal voice, adds, "Just tell them you're going for lunch."
She leans back in her chair, one hand on Jake's side to make sure he doesn't fall out of her lap. "And just not come back?"
"Ooh, good, you're catching on."
Sarah laughs but is distracted by Jake as he grabs a pen lying on her desk and starts scribbling on the various papers strewn about. Suspending his miniscule wrist for a moment, she quickly shoves a blank sheet of paper beneath his pen and lets him have at it. Looking back up at her husband, she asks, "And what about the kids?"
"Ellie and Awesome already said they'd take them. No big deal."
Chuck looks down at her, his eyes open wide in supplication. And then he holds Sophie in front of her, and as hard as she tries to fight it, the little girl's giggles are more than enough to win her over.
"Fine," Sarah relents, scooping Jake into her arms and standing. "But this better be one hell of a lunch."
Chuck, looking scandalized, covers Sophie's ears. "Sarah," he admonishes teasingly, "there are children in the room."
Taking a step closer to him, she replies, "I'm very sorry. Should I go soap my mouth out?"
"Hmmm, I think I have a better punishment for you."
"And that would be?"
He leans forward to place a soft, lingering kiss on her lips.
She pulls back with a smile. "Hmm, maybe I'll have to swear in front of the kids more often," she says playfully.
Laughing, Chuck slides a hand behind her and rests his palm on the small of her back. "You ready?"
"Yeah, just let me grab my bag."
"No, let me," he offers, picking it up before she can even make a move for it.
Sarah shifts Jake, getting much too big to be carried, against her hip and ruffles his hair. "You all ready, big guy?"
He nods. "Can I have a piggy back ride, Mom?"
"What do you say?" she asks, setting him on his feet.
"Please?"
"Of course you can." On her haunches, she turns around so he can clamber onto her back. She hooks her arms around his legs, and he puts his small arms around her neck. "Are you on?"
"Uh-huh."
"Good."
Sarah scrambles to her feet, shifting her son into a more comfortable position. Chuck opens the office door for her, and she leads the way into the main office. Her secretary, Howie, just a few years out of college, looks up from his phone call and hangs up as they approach his desk. She realizes how ridiculous a picture they must present right now – a grown woman in a business suit carrying a four-year-old on her back. Fortunately, Howie's been with the company long enough to see them at their weirdest, and it doesn't even phase him.
"Mrs. Bartowski," he greets pleasantly. "Mr. Bartowski," he nods to Chuck, who smiles in return. Turning back to his boss, Howie says, "Ben Croft just called. He needs to talk to you about PR stuff. I told him you were out, but that you'd call him back."
"Thanks," she replies. "Actually, we're going to lunch. Could you hold my calls for a while?"
"Of course."
"Great. Thanks. Is Bea in?"
"No, she's still out supervising an install. She should be back soon, though."
"Okay. When she gets back, she's in charge. Until then, hold down the fort. Will you be all right on your own for a little bit?"
Howie nods. "No problem. Have a nice lunch. It was good to see you again, Mr. Bartowski."
"You too, Howie," Chuck responds as he shakes the young man's hand.
Unable to keep silent any more, Jake shouts from his perch, "Howie!"
"Hey there, little fella," Howie laughs. He holds up a paper plane. "How 'bout an airplane?"
Jake accepts it with a delighted smile, and neither Chuck nor Sarah has to prompt him to say 'Thank you.' When Sophie begins to murmur in distress, the young secretary smiles at her and says, "Don't worry. You get one, too."
He holds a miniature airplane out to her. She takes it in her small hand and examines it with wide eyes before chewing on it to examine the taste. Chuck laughs.
"You can't win them all," Howie says with a shrug and a grin.
"Thanks again, Howie," Sarah says as they make their way out of the office. "See you . . . tomorrow!"
He waves at them before returning to his work. Emerging into the late morning sunlight, Sarah has the strangest feeling like she's fifteen years old again and cutting school. Except this time she's the principal, and she's leaving a school full of rowdy teenagers free to their own devices. She can only imagine the chaos she'll find when she returns on Monday morning.
But that thought fades away as she follows Chuck to the car. He grins as he tries to keep Sophie from swallowing the paper airplane, and Sarah lets out a soft laugh at the sight. Sometimes she has no idea how she got this lucky, to have a loving husband, and two gorgeous children, and a life that's as close to perfect as she can imagine.
Sometimes, though, it's enough just to be thankful.
When the kids are safely buckled, Sarah slides into the passenger's seat. The sun beats down warmly through the car windows, and she leans back in the seat and closes her eyes. A broad smile comes to her face as she feels Chuck slide his hand over hers.
"Thank you, Chuck," she murmurs.
Chuckling, he gives her hand a squeeze. "You're welcome."
A few minutes go by, music from the radio drifting through the car.
"Hey, Chuck?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think about Howie?"
He's silent for a moment before stammering, "I don't think I understand the question."
Opening her eyes, Sarah laughs. "I mean for Beatrice."
Chuck glances at her, wide-eyed. "Uh, I'm not sure if I'm the best person to ask about that. Shouldn't you be talking to Beatrice about this?" He ends with a shrug, clearly out of his comfort zone with the conversation.
"Oh, come on," she counters with a grin. "Where's the fun in matchmaking if you let the couple in question know you're matchmaking?"
"Okay, okay," he concedes, "but why don't you think about that at the end of the weekend?"
Sarah leans forward to place a hand on his neck. "I promise," she smiles. "I'm all yours for the next three days." She kisses his cheek before whispering, "For the rest of my life."