I just had this idea pop in my head, then a minute later, I was opening a blank document and typing it down. It was supposed to be only a couple thousand words, but of course, it got out of hand. It was also supposed to be done and posted by Christmas day, but you see how well that turned out. But as one of my friend's pointed out, Christmas supposedly isn't officially over until Three King's Day. Which is today.

I was going to considering adding it to my Nine Lives series of one-shots, but decided instead to just post it as a single, holiday story. It is a lot a lot AU. I had thought about adding a spy plot, but then thought... nah.

Little Girls, Paper Wreaths, and Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 21st

After a long day of last minute shopping and then picking up her daughter from her last day of school before her Christmas holiday started, she drove them home very wearily, the sound of her little girl's voice singing along with the lyrics of the radio the only thing keeping her spirits from crashing completely. Glancing into the rear view mirror, she smiled slightly at the sight of the three – and a half – year old sitting in her car seat with a candy cane cane in one hand, singing artlessly in between licks of her minty treat.

She focused her gaze back to the road and sighed as her thoughts again took a downward turn, which had been happening way too much lately. It was going to be a tough Christmas, the first one since her messy divorce had been finalized. To make matters worse, her scum of an ex-husband had decided that instead of spending time with his daughter for Christmas, he'd take his latest floozy down to the Bahamas or wherever it was they went.

She didn't care so much where he had gone as much as she cared about how his absence would affect their daughter.

Sarah's hands gripped the wheel in anger and she took a steady breath to calm herself. So far, her daughter hadn't really said or done much to indicate that she was missing her father or sensed that he didn't want to be with her. But it was only a matter of time before her infinitely curious child started asking questions about his absence and she dreaded the probable meltdown that would likely follow. It wasn't as if Kyle had been around that much, anyway, even when they were married, but he was the only father their daughter knew.

She never should have married him when she had found herself pregnant – her own father had warned her about him and she just refused to listen – but she'd been in love... and just plain stupid. Her upbringing should have helped her see past his mask to the man he was beneath all that charm and generosity, but she had wanted for the longest time to divorce herself from everything her father had taught her to be. She wanted a family, a normal family, and to live in a home in the suburbs, complete with red door and white picket fence, and she guessed that she had been a little too eager to grasp onto the first opportunity – or person – that presented itself. Much to her and her daughter's detriment.

The song that Samantha had been singing along to ended just as Sarah parked the car in her designated parking spot in the garage next to their apartment complex.

In her car seat in the back, her Little Miss Independent continued to suck on her candy cane while she attempted to unbuckle herself without her mother's help. About five months ago, Samantha had figured out how the locking mechanism to her car seat worked, much to Sarah's terror when she had done so for the first time while they had been driving along the highway at 55 miles per hour. Samantha could unbuckle it pretty easily now, but thankfully, after a long, almost hysterical lecture by her terrified mother that one time, she had never tried to unbuckle herself while the car was in movement ever again.

Sarah did nothing to help, instead gathering up her purse and exiting the car. By the time she had reached the other side of the car and opened the back door, Samantha had accomplished her task and was out of the seat and standing at the door with arms wide open to her mother. She could have gotten out of the car herself, but apparently wasn't in an I-want-to-do-everything-on-my-own kind of mood. Sarah didn't mind; she loved the times when her daughter acted as a child that looked up to her mother for help and not the independent little adult she was too fast becoming, so she pulled Samantha out of the car and set her gently on the garage floor.

"Mommy?" Samantha said, as she shifted from one foot to the other while her mother reached back into the car to get her backpack out. "Can we see Chuck's first? I made him a present at school today."

Sarah shut the car door and helped Samantha put her backpack on. She offered her her hand, her heart warming at the mention of their new neighbor, who had just moved into the apartment across the hall from them about a month ago. She wasn't ready for a new romantic relationship any time soon, but if she ever was, Chuck was the kind of guy she could imagine herself going for. He was an obvious nerd, but cute, friendly, and more importantly, very good with children.

"I don't know, sweetie," she said as they began to walk toward the building. "Chuck is probably very busy today working on his computer program. I think his deadline is today and I don't want to take him away from his work. Anyway, wouldn't you like to wait and give him your present on Christmas instead?"

"No, " Samantha argued petulantly, sticking out her little bottom lip in a pout and pulled at her mother's hand to try to halt her to a stop. "I wanna give him my present today."

Uh oh. Though Sarah wouldn't be surprised if her daughter had a meltdown soon, she was ill prepared to deal with it if it happened right there and then. With a sigh, Sarah allowed herself to be stopped in her tracks and she crouched down to look at her daughter at her level.

"Samantha, honey. I know you're excited about your gift, but we have to be respectful of other people's lives. We can't just pound on his door when we know he's hard at work any old time we want. " Her heart clenched at the sight of her daughter's tear filled eyes, then came up with an idea on how to thwart the inevitable for a little bit longer. "I'll tell you what. How about I text Chuck and ask if he'd like to come over after he's done working? And maybe while we wait for him to be done, we can bake him some cookies, to go along with his present. What do you say?"

Sarah was relieved when her daughter's face quickly lit up and suddenly gone was any indication that she'd been on the verge of tears a mere moment ago. "Yeah!" Samantha exclaimed enthusiastically. "We can make chocolate chip! It's his favorite!"

Sarah didn't know if Chuck's favorite cookie was chocolate chip or not – and Samantha wouldn't know either, especially since every conversation the little girl had ever had with Chuck since he'd moved in had been with her mother present – but it certainly was Samantha's favorite.

Sarah wisely decided not to point out that fact.

"Okay, then. Sounds like a plan. I do believe we have all the ingredients for cookies at home, so let's go."

Sarah stood up and Samantha took her hand again and in a matter of moments, they were inside the building and walking to the elevators. Samantha was humming a Christmas song and still sucking on her candy cane as they rode the elevator up to the third floor.

A few seconds after they got off on their floor and were walking down the hall to their apartment, Sarah saw Chuck's apartment door open. He had just stepped out and was locking his door when Samantha saw him, too.

"Chuck!" she shouted and let go of her mother's hand to run toward him excitedly. With the aplomb that she'd come to expect from him, Chuck braced himself for impact just before she flew into him, giving his legs a giant hug, pressing her face against him.

"Hey, jellybean," Chuck greeted her, returning the hug with a huge, guileless smile on his face.

Samantha released him and backed away so she could look up at him.

"Are you all done working? Mommy said you were busy and we gotsta leave you alone 'cause you hafta work. I made you a present at school today! Do you want it now or later? Mommy says I should give it to you Christmas. But I want you to have it now."

Chuck raised his head to look at Sarah with an amused glint in his eyes and she sucked in a breath as a hint of longing so intense hit her. Weakly, she returned the smile, finding herself wishing that this man was her husband and Samantha's real father and that this scene in front of her was a man greeting his wife and daughter after a long day apart from them.

"Yep, I am all done for the day," he answered. "And I certainly wouldn't mind an early Christmas present. If you want me to have it now, that's okay with me."

Sarah watched the interaction quietly, trying to process her sudden feelings... and explain them away. It was Christmas time and she was lonely, her daughter was without a loving fatherly influence and Chuck was good with her. Good with both of them, really. It was normal to want something like this when one lacked it, especially in a tough period of one's life. But it didn't necessarily mean that the first person to make her feel this way was the one she was meant to be with.

"Here." Samantha thrust the candy cane she still held in her hand at Chuck. Chuck took the candy, which was most likely sticky and gross from saliva and sticky fingers by now, without batting an eyelid or giving any indication he was in any way disgusted by it.

"Here, let me take that," Sarah finally spoke and moved forward to take the candy cane from Chuck's hand while Samantha struggled out of her backpack and then opened it to search for the present she had made. Chuck smiled and wordlessly handed the candy cane over to her. Once it was out of his hands, he crouched down and waited patiently for his present.

"Here it is!" Samantha exclaimed, pulling out a wreath that was made out of red and green construction paper strips that had been curled into loops and taped together to form a circle. The loops were decorated with glitter and various color markings and there was a silver ribbon glued to the bottom of the wreath. The loops were squished and one of them was broken from being compressed inside the backpack, but it was a beautiful piece of work in Sarah's honest opinion.

"This is a... maze... ing," he remarked with over the top enthusiasm that coming from anyone else, his words could have come across as false, but coming from Chuck, it was very genuine "I love it. Best. Christmas present. Ever!"

Samantha grinned at him and squealed like, well, a little girl, and again her arms went flying around Chuck to grip him into a bear hug. He rocked back from the force of her suddenly slamming into him, but he kept his balance and, of course, returned the hug with almost as much enthusiasm.

Samantha pulled back and beamed up at her mother. "Mommy, he loves it!"

"So I heard him say," Sarah responded cheerily, smiling softly at the both of them. "And I'm sure he'll treasure it for a very long time."

"I sure will," Chuck agreed emphatically. "Thank you very much for the present, Samantha."

Samantha beamed at him. "You're welcome!" she boomed out, bouncing on her toes from excess energy. "Guess what, Chuck! Mommy and me are making chocolate chip cookies! And she tol' me you can have some, too!"

"Oh, wow, chocolate chip cookies? Really? They're my favorite!"

"Mine too! Do you wanna make cookies with us?"

"I don't know. You probably wouldn't want me to be there. I'm not very good at baking. I'll probably burn the cookies."

"Nuh uh!" Samantha disagreed, earnestly shaking her head, her honey blond hair flying every which way. "You won't! I promise! Mommy will show you how to make cookies right. You won't burn them 'cause she won' let you."

Chuck glanced up at Sarah bemusedly. "Wow, you're mother sounds like she's an awesome cookie baker, indeed, but I wouldn't want to intrude on your special mommy daughter cookie making time."

"You really wouldn't be intruding," Sarah said, breaking her silence before she knew what she was doing. The words she spoke made her want to seriously hit herself upside the head right then, but that did not stop her lips from moving or prevent the sound of her voice from leaving her mouth. "I mean, we'd love for you to join us... That is... well, if you're not doing anything special tonight."

Chuck regarded her for a few moments, the way he studied her adding to her discomfort and making her want to fidget. And damn it, was she blushing?

"Yeah! Pleeeaaaase, Chuck!" Samantha pleaded, giving Chuck her very best puppy dog look. "Will you make cookies with us? Please, please, pretty please!"

"Yes, Chuck, pretty please," Sarah teasingly copied her daughter's attitude, also giving Chuck her own pouting look. 'Who was this woman and what has she done with Sarah Walker?' she wondered for a brief second. "Bake some cookies with us. Like Samantha said, I won't let you burn them."

"Weeellll," Chuck drawled, looking back and forth between mother and daughter with mock indecisiveness. Despite herself, Sarah held her breath, as Chuck deliberately gave a long pause to draw out the suspense. "I'd love to," he finally burst out, making the three words seem to come out as one.

"Yay!" Samantha cheered and Sarah resisted the urge to cheer as well. Luckily, she was highly skilled at tamping down such reactions. He daughter danced around excitedly, repetitively singing, "We are gonna make cookies. We are gonna make cookies. We are gonna make cookies."

Chuck stood up from his squat and danced and sang, too, in unison with Samantha, his smooth voice intermingling very sweetly with the little girl's. Sarah wished she had a video camera to capture this moment. Kyle never...

She shook the thought from her head before her emotions could head back to that dark place again.

"Why don't you drop by around 6, Chuck?" Sarah said when the melee finally died down. "We should be done with dinner by then and..."

"Mommy, can Chuck have dinner with us, too?" Samantha interjected, looking up at her mother with wide eyes, then turned to look at Chuck. "Chuck, can you?"

"Honey, Chuck..." Sarah began quietly, but Chuck was speaking at the same time and his louder voice overpowered hers.

"I'm sorry, munchkin, but I'm having dinner with my friend tonight. Maybe some other time, okay?

Samantha pouted, her shoulder slumping.

"Okay," she mumbled dejectedly, and just as Sarah was about to begin worrying that they'd see her burst into tears, Samantha suddenly perked up. Wow, what mood swings her child was having today. "That's okay, I guess. But 'member, don't eat dessert after. Save room for the cookies."

"Yes, ma'am, I promise to eat only our cookies for dessert," Chuck solemnly vowed, holding up three fingers in a boy scout salute. He caught sight of his watch. "Oh, boy, look at the time. I'm running a bit late. I really should go."

Chuck sounded like he was genuinely disappointed that he had to leave and honestly, so was Sarah. And Samantha's view on the subject clearly correlated.

"Sure," Sarah said, pulling her daughter into her. "No problem. So sorry to have kept you. Have a really good time with your friend."

She and Chuck just stood awkwardly in the hall for a long few moments looking at each other, neither speaking or making too much of an effort to move.

Chuck seemed to shake himself out of it first. "Yes, well, I'll see you guys later tonight, then." His face suddenly took on the appearance of one who just remembered something he'd forgot. He paused to look at the wreath in his hand and held it up. "But first... I think I have the perfect place to put this." He started moving toward his door, holding up one finger to signal for them to wait. "I'll be back in one minute."

Sarah held Samantha in front of her, holding her close to her body. Samantha leaned her head back to look up at Sarah and gave her mother a look of curiosity as Chuck unlocked and opened his door, then walked inside.

"What's he doing, Mommy?" Samantha stage whispered as they listened to the sound of someone rummaging through a drawer near the door.

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know, baby."

A few seconds later, Chuck appeared with a strip of masking tape in one hand. He closed the door and locked it.

"I think that the perfect spot," he began, holding the paper wreath up to the front side of his door and examined it's placing, "...is right here, where everyone can look at my door and see how creative you are and how lucky I am that you made such a gift for me."

"Do you think they'll know I'm the one who made it?" Samantha asked.

"I'm sure they will," Chuck assured her. "And if they don't... well, I'll just have to tell them, now won't I?"

Chuck sent a wink her daughter's way and to Sarah's surprise, it seemed to cause a sudden display of rare shyness from Samantha, who reacted by turning around in her arms and hugging her mother tightly, burying her face against Sarah thigh.

Chuck taped the wreath to the door and took a few steps back, coming to a stop next to them and taking a long, appraising look at how the wreath was placed. The air surrounding her seemed to thicken with the awareness of just how close he was to her, making it hard for her to breathe. "There," he said with satisfaction. It's perfect. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," Sarah agreed. "It is perfect. What do you think Samantha?"

Samantha took a peak at the door, but bashfully turned her head back around and hid her face again. Sarah thought she felt and heard the little girl mumble something, but of course, it was to muffled to understand. Sarah looked at Chuck with amusement and shrugged. "I think what she's trying to say is, she agrees."

Chuck smiled crookedly, the crouched down again to address Samantha. "I'll see you later tonight, Samantha. I can't wait to make cookies with you and your mommy." Samantha turned her head to look again at Chuck, only, she didn't say anything, merely giving him another shy smile, then hiding face yet again. Sarah bemusedly shook her head.

Chuck, not in the least bit offended, smiled indulgently at Samantha before standing up again and addressing Sarah. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave." He touched Sarah's upper arm, causing her to hold her breath and hope he didn't see just how his touch affected her. The warm pressure of his hand only lasted a fraction of a second, but it was enough. "Do you need me to bring anything? I can stop by the store if you're missing any ingredients."

"No," Sarah responded, still feeling a pressure on her arm, as if he were still touching her. She was very glad that she sounded perfectly... unaffected. "I think we've got everything covered. But I'll text you if I do need something from the store."

"Okay, sounds good. See you guys later."

Samantha and Sarah watched Chuck walk down the hall toward the elevator. After he pushed the down button, he turned around and waved at them. Sarah was the only one of the two girls who waved back as he took a backward step into the elevator.

After the elevator door closed and Chuck was no longer in sight, there were a few quiet seconds in which neither mother nor child spoke. Finally, Sarah broke the silence.

"Well, baby girl," Sarah briskly said. She looked down at her daughter and Samantha looked up at her. "Let's get inside. I need to start making us something for dinner."

Samantha colored in her Christmas coloring book at the dining room table while Sarah started dinner. While waiting for the noodles on the stove to finish softening, she searched the cupboards for the necessary ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. Thankfully, all the ingredients were there and she didn't need to call Chuck to ask him to bring anything.

While she cooked dinner, Sarah's mind kept on drifting back to Chuck's coming visit. If it weren't for the skills she had developed, first as a con artist's daughter and now as a single mother who needed to juggle many responsibilities at once, she might have burned the food.

An irrationally horrifying thought strayed her hand as she cut up green eppers for a salad.

What if she burned the cookies?

Sarah had no idea why she found the thought so appalling – but there it was, right there, clenching at her gut. She fought the irrational urge to stop what she was doing and seek out the recipe card for her grandmother's chocolate chip cookies in order to double check her knowledge of how to make them. She took a deep breath; she knew the recipe by heart now and hadn't burned any cookies in years. Even if she did burn them, then so what? Chuck wouldn't think any less of her. They were just cookies for pity sake, not his most precious belongings.

She repeated it as a mantra to herself as she finished chopping the peppers.

Samantha and she ate their dinner and all Samantha could really talk about the whole time was Chuck's visit and how she wanted to make him another gift, this one to present it to him on Christmas morning. Sarah spent the entire meal basking in her daughter's chatter, but contributed little verbally herself, focusing on Samantha's excitement and not the fluttering feeling that increased in the pit of her stomach.

It was six after six when somebody knocked on the door and Sarah, who had been pulling ingredients out of the kitchen cupboards froze for a moment in her task. She put the sugar on the kitchen counter and slowly made her way to the front of the apartment to answer it. She paused briefly, flattening her hand on the door and looking down at the floor, taking a moment to compose herself so the giddiness mixed with apprehension would hopefully not show on her face or in her body language.

Putting a smile on her face, she opened the door and found herself face to face with Chuck. He was, of course, smiling very openly and genuinely at her. She glanced down at his hand and her breath caught.. In one hand, he held a bottle of wine, and in the other, and a bouquet of flowers. Alone, both were a very lovely gesture and one she did not expect.

"Chuck, hi," she greeted him, hoping her words didn't sound as breathless to his ears as it did to hers. She stepped aside to gesture him inside. "Come on it."

"Flowers for my two most favorite neighbor ladies," Chuck said after he had passed her and Sarah closed and locked the door. He held the bouquet out to her and she took it, automatically bringing it to her nose to breathe in the scent. "Thank you very much, Chuck. I'll put them in some water. Please. Accompany me to the kitchen while I find a vase."

"Where's Samantha?" Chuck asked as she reached under the kitchen sink for one of the two vases she kept underneath. "I'd been fully expecting her to come running to greet me the moment I knocked on the door."

Sarah placed the vase on the kitchen counter and laughed lightly. "Yeah, well, normally she would. But she's in her room right now, working very diligently on another gift for you. But don't you go telling her I told you about your next present."

"I wouldn't dare do anything to ruin the surprise," he laughingly responded. "My sister would have my head if I even considered such a thing."

There is a silence for a moment as they both stared at each other and Sarah could have sworn she saw a hint of attraction in his eyes, giving her a first indication that maybe he was as interested in her as she could now admit she was in him. Or it could be wishful thinking.

The moment the silence began to thicken to an uncomfortable point, Sarah shook herself out of it. "I should let Samantha know you're here," she awkwardly said, dropping her eyes from his and shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Could you put the flowers in the vase for me while I go and get her?"

"Sure."

As she passed the flowers to him, their hands brushed and she lifted her head, looking back up at him, but shyly avoiding his gaze, lest he see... Something she didn't want him to. "Thanks," she mumbled, going around him.

In order to get past him, she accidentally brushed against him and the trembling in her body that started with the brush of their hands began to escalate. She had to fight not to exit the kitchen in a full out run.

Sarah soon was leaning against the doorjamb of her daughter's half opened doorway and peering in, smiling at the sight of Samantha sitting at her little craft table, smearing glue from her glue stick onto a red sheet of paper, the tip of her pink little tongue sticking out from between her teeth as she put her full concentration on her task.

Typically, once Samantha had a focus, she was very nearly relentless in her pursuit of it, and had the ability to become so fully absorbed that nothing short of a tornado ripping through the room could tear her attention from it.

But Sarah now had a secret weapon. She suspected the sound of Chuck's name would immediately break through the concentration.

"Samantha, Chuck is here."

Sarah's suspicion was quickly proven correct, as she was rewarded immediately with a quickly raised head and a brilliant smile. "Yay! Chuck is here!" the little girl exclaimed, waving her hands over her head in excitement. "Tell him don't come in my room, okay? I don't want him to see his present 'til Christmas."

"Don't worry, baby girl. Chuck is waiting for us all the way down in the kitchen. Why don't you put your present in a secret place, so he won't see it when you show him your room later?"

Samantha's face brightened even more at the suggestion. "Sure! I know the parfect place! But don't look, Mommy, you can't know where it is either."

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah said smartly, giving Samantha a brisk military salute. "I'm going to help Chuck set up in the kitchen. Clean everything up before you head to the kitchen to see Chuck, okay."

"Okay, Mommy," Samantha absentmindedly answered, beginning to gather up her project. Sarah took a few moments to watch the clean up, smiling indulgently at the great care Samantha was taking to make sure everything was gathered properly with that characteristic, single minded focus again.

Sarah pushed herself away from the door and walked down the hall, the earlier trembling that she'd felt now completely gone. In its place was the serene feeling that she often got after an interaction with her daughter.

As she approached the kitchen, she heard the sound of Chuck murmuring. She stood in the door and saw Chuck leaning against the kitchen counter, cell phone at his ear. Seeing her, he looked up at her and smiled, holding up a finger. "One minute," he mouthed and Sarah nodded.

"Yes, Ellie. That shouldn't be a problem." Chuck paused, listening to the voice on the other end of the line. Sarah immediately recognized the name to be that of Chuck's sister and wondered about the kind of woman she was. She couldn't imagine anyone in Chuck's life being anything other than genuine and loving and real and all kinds of wonderful. Chuck surely wouldn't be the kind of man he was, had their influence on his life been a negative force. "...I will be sure to do that. And tell Awesome I said hi, okay? Love you, sis. Bye."

Chuck hung up the phone. "That was my sister, Ellie. She was just calling to make sure I could pick my mother up from the airport tomorrow afternoon... Where's Samantha?"

"I told her that she needed to clean her craft table before leaving her room. Plus, she wanted to hide her gift so you wouldn't see it."

"Oh, that's cool," Chuck began, but was interrupted by the sound of Samantha's voice as she entered the kitchen.

"Chuck!" she shouted and launched herself at him.

Chuck laughed warmly and instead of merely letting her hug him, he picked her up and held her on his hip. He bopped her nose with his finger. "Hey, jellybean. You ready to make some cookies?"

Samantha impulsively gave Chuck a peck on the cheek and Sarah smiled at the simple and innocent act of affection, another attack of longing for real family hitting her full force.

"I've been waiting my whole life for this," Samantha enthused and Chuck laughed word choice, sensing that she was quoting someone or something.

"Well, then, let's get cracking, shall we?"

"Yes, let's get cracking." Samantha chortled, amused by the unfamiliar turn of phrase. She grinned impishly at him. "You're funny, Chuck."

"Well, thank you very much. I'm really glad you think so." Sarah was warmed by the way Chuck talked to Samantha, without the usual baby talk tone of voice others so often used. "My sister says I need to work on my delivery, though, but I'm getting much better."

Sarah really hated to interrupt their conversation, but Samantha's bedtime was coming up in less than two hours and they needed to 'get cracking,' as Chuck so eloquently put it. "Okay, you two. Cookie making time."

"Yay!'" Chuck and Samantha cheered in unison, amusing Sarah with how they seemed to be of one mind and voice in that moment.

"So. Resident cookie guru. Where do we start?"

"First, we start by washing our hands," Sarah said cheerfully, moving her fists in the air like she was shaking pom poms. "Yay! Fun right?"

The next twenty minutes were probably the best time Sarah had had in a very long time. They joked and laughed as the put all the ingredients together, somehow making a complete mess of the entire kitchen, even their own selves. At one point, Chuck laughingly smeared flour on both Sarah and Samantha's noses, which somehow turned into a small flour flinging fight. It was silly and childish, but Sarah simply did not care. She was having too much fun and for some time, she forgot that Chuck was merely a guest and not a part of their family.

"Mommy, can I lick the spoon?" Samantha asked after Chuck finished blending all of the ingredients into one bowl.

"Sorry, kiddo," Sarah apologetically responded. "While cookie batter is quite tasty, it has eggs in it, which uncooked can make you very sick."

"But, Mommy," Samantha petulantly began, stamping her foot, her bottom lip coming out, full pout. "Chloe says the cookie dough is the best part. I wanna try it!"

"No, Samantha," Sarah sternly rebuked her with a look, putting her foot down in that do-as-I say manner that only parents can truly achieve. "It is not safe. And if you argue with me about this, you will go to bed tonight without any cookies. Do you understand?"

Sarah felt a glimmer of regret for the tears that rose to her daughter's eyes – as she always was, even when knowing that she was doing the right thing – but she did not back down.

The regret diminished and Sarah almost laughed when Samantha looked up at Chuck with a pleading look.

"Chuck," Samantha began, but Chuck immediately interrupted her, quickly dashing her hopes that she could get him to convince Sarah to change her mind.

"You're mother said no, Samantha," Chuck said, firmly, but gently, his serious gaze unwavering and unapologetic. "And she's right. It's not safe for you to eat raw cookie dough. You don't want to get sick, do you?"

Samantha's lips quivered and she looked down at the floor.

"No," she answered, her voice very small and duly chastened.

Chuck crouched down to her level again and lifted Samantha's chin with his fingertips. Tears rose to Sarah's own eyes as he did this, wanting so badly for Samantha to have a father like this in her life. A father who would love her and be gentle with her... and who would be a firm, yet benevolent voice of authority when the situation called for it. "Then, it's best we do as your Mommy says, okay?"

"Okay," Samantha sniffled and wiped away the tears that had trickled down her face.

"Now, what do you say to your Mommy?" Chuck gently prodded.

Samantha turned to look up at Sarah. "Sorry, Mommy."

Sarah knelt down and held Samantha's face in her hands, her thumbs swiping at the remainder of her tears. "Thank you, sweetie," she quietly said, giving Samantha a soft smile, then pulled her daughter into a hug and whispered in her ear. "I love you."

"Love you, too, Mommy."

Sarah pulled back and smiled at her daughter again. She looked up at Chuck and smiled at him, too. "Okay, let's get these cookies onto the cookie sheet and into the oven."

All three of them contributed to rolling little balls of dough and placing them evenly spaced onto the cookie sheet. And while the cookies baked in the oven, Sarah and Samantha gave Chuck a tour of the apartment, ending up in Samantha's room, where the played dolls for a few minutes. Chuck was so adorable, when at one point, he accepted one of the infant dolls into his arms and rocked it while it 'cried.' Chuck, of course, provided the crying with his own voice.

He was currently placing the now silent baby doll in a toy crib when Sarah heard the sound of the oven's timer going off.

"Why don't you guys wait here and clear off that children's table," she suggested as she stood up from her position off of the floor, referring to the small, rectangular table surrounded by small chairs that sat in the corner of the room. "I'll bring the cookies and we can pretend to have a tea party."

At their enthusiastic response, Sarah chuckled and left them to get everything set up.

In the kitchen, she pulled out the cookie sheet and began placing the cookies on a cooling rack. After all the cookies – not burnt –had been placed, she pulled out the tea set that she had in one of the cupboards, deciding to use it instead of the plastic ones that Samantha used for pretend tea parties. Every once in a while, she and Samantha had a 'real tea party' with the real tea set.

When the cookies had been cooled significantly, she placed them on a plate, then on a tea tray. She poured some milk into the tea pot and set it on the tray, too, napkins joining them there soon after. Carefully balancing everything, Sarah cautiously walked back to Samantha's room, smiling as she heard the laughing voices getting louder and louder the closer she got. Music to her ears.

Sarah was overjoyed that Samantha was having a blast, despite the fact that she was likely to have trouble getting her excited and overstimulated child to sleep that night.

She stopped just outside the door, looking into the room and taking in the precious sight. Chuck and Samantha had moved the little table into the middle of the room while Sarah had been gone and it was perfectly cleared of anything. Sarah smirked at the sight of Chuck sitting daintily in one of the way too small chairs, Samantha to his left and one of the baby dolls sitting across the table from them. The infant baby doll was seated in a small toy high chair next to Samantha on her left. Another doll was sitting in a chair that faced the high chair, what looked to be a small bowl and a spoon in his lap. Sarah assumed that that particular doll was intended to 'feed' the infant in the chair.

Chuck was listening closely to whatever Samantha was saying, and they were so focused on each other that neither of them realized that she was there. The bond that those two seemed to have seemed to be firmly set, even this early in their acquaintance. She wasn't so sure how she felt about that. Chuck was a great guy, but there were no bonds of blood or matrimony that forever linked him to them, meaning that one day, he could completely disappear from their lives... and with no obligation to return, had every right to.

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and focused instead on the here and now, not wanting to ruin the rest of her night with fears and uncertainties. If Chuck left their lives, then they would deal with that when the time came.

Sarah cleared her throat and with a fake and over-exaggerated English accent, announced, "Lady Samantha and Sir Charles... Your tea and cookies." She carefully curtsied.

Chuck grinned at her when their eyes met. He winked, causing heat to rise to her cheeks. She ducked her head shyly and approached the table, setting the tea tray down on the table and then sat down on the open chair next to Chuck.

As she poured some of the milk into his tea cup, their eyes locked. His were twinkling as brilliantly as the smile on his face and she felt something, unfamiliar, yet familiar, rise up in her heart and mind.

It felt suspiciously like hope and the promise of new love to come.

I finished this six o'clock in the morning after working on the last half of it since midnight, so I hope that, especially the ending, isn't nonsensical. I struggled a bit with the dialogue, especially that of a three and a half year old little girl. I didn't want her to sound too babyish and I didn't want her to sound much older than her years, either. Let me know if I did okay and if not, some suggestions on how to nail the voice of a child her age down would be great. Of course, any other constructive criticism is appreciated. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how I handled Sarah as a single mother who is not now and has never been a spy.

Hope everyone is having a great New Year.

P.S. A little pimping here. I am currently beta'ing a story called Chuck vs. the World by JoeltotheD and the next chapter should be up soon, so please go check the story out or refresh your memory. I am on track to get the beta'ed copy to him sometime in the next two days, so you will most likely see another chapter at the beginning of next week. There are two stories out there with the title Chuck vs the World. Joel abbreviates the word 'versus' while the other author spells the entire word out.