2. Chapter 2 (1/2)

the house was just as she remembered it. the

ight red door stood out against the white-washed siding and tan trim of her mother's home. a small picket fence bordered the front lawn leading to a taller wooden fence that separated the front and backyards. "okay, sarah, it's now or never," she sighed to herself, slowly opening the car door and crossing to the back seat where the baby dozed in her carrier.

after a small struggle to free the carrier from it's base, sarah had the carry bar looped over her arm, holding the infant's seat as one would a picnic basket. taking a deep

eath to calm the nerves that fluttered through her stomach, she made her way up the driveway. letting herself through the small gate, she crossed the flagstone path and

eached the porch, "here goes nothing," she lifted the

ass knocker and hit it against the attached plate on the door.

it didn't take long for the door to swing open, revealing a woman with kind blue eyes, dirty blonde hair which held more strands of grey than sarah remembered. the woman wore a green blouse and jean skirt and stood wiping her hands off with a dish towel. "sam?" the woman whispered as if convinced she was seeing a ghost.

"hi, mom," sarah gave her mother a sheepish smile, "may we come in?"

"oh, of course, where are my manners?" the woman stepped back, allowing sarah to cross over the threshold. "kick off your shoes and come take a seat in the living room."

sarah watched as her mother walked further into the house before toeing off her shoes, glad she'd worn flats that day, and rebalanced the baby carrier in her arms before following the path her mother had taken toward the living room. she found her mom setting out a pitcher of lemonade and a couple glasses on one side of the coffee table, leaving the other side for sarah to gently rest the carrier so as to not wake the sleeping infant. she sat down on the couch only to be joined a moment later by her mother, who handed her a glass.

"is this her?" her mother cooed, looking into the carrier, "she's beautiful; what is her name?"

"izabella," sarah shrugged, "but i am going to have to change her name if i want to keep her safe."

"part of the long story you mentioned the other night?" her mom turned her head until their eyes met.

"yeah," sarah nodded.

"can you at least tell me what happened to her parents?" her mom inquired.

"they were murdered by some very bad men," sarah explained, "and there are other bad people who wanted me to get her for them. when i found out what they were up to, that they meant to take advantage of her, i took her and ran."

"are you planning on returning her to her family?"

"she doesn't have any other family," sarah shook her head, "her parents were both only children, and all her grandparents have long since passed away, she is the sole survivor of her family."

"poor thing," her mother cooed, "so what are you going to do? are you going to raise her on your own?"

"i don't know if i can," sarah sighed, "i mean with my life…"

"do you want to keep her?" her mother probed.

"i don't know, maybe, sorta, i think…." sarah stammered, "yes, i think i do, but i don't know how i can. i mean, i'm constantly on the move, never really anywhere for more than a few weeks. i know that dad and i did the nomad thing for most of my life, but i was like seven or eight when we started doing that, i wasn't an infant."

"maybe you can change jobs to one that doesn't have you traveling as much?" her mom suggested, "maybe you could settle here, there are a few homes in the neighborhood for sale and some apartments nearby that are looking for tenants. at least if you stay around here, if you do need to go somewhere, i can watch her."

"i don't know, mom," sarah groaned resting her head in her hands with her elbows propped on her knees. "i am so far out of my depth here. i'm so scared that if i do this, i'll cause her more harm than good."

"sounds like you've already made up your mind," her mom gave her a knowing smile, "you sound like a parent already."

"i guess," sarah shrugged as the baby started to fuss. she made quick work of releasing the safety straps and lifting the little girl to her.

"you seem to be getting better at that," her mom mused, "so we should probably start with the basics, what are you going to call her?"

"i've always liked the name amalia," sarah mused, "i could call her molly."

"that's a pretty name," her mother nodded, resting her hand on the back of the baby's head "hello, molly, i'm your grandma emma. you know, she looks so much like you that no one is going to question her parentage; they'll assume you became a mother the old-fashioned way. what are you going to say about her father if asked?"

"the truth," sarah shrugged, "that he died, no one needs to know any more than that."

"i agree," emma nodded, "will you ever tell her?"

"eventually," sarah sighed, "probably once she is a teenager, i'll tell her everything, about how her parents died, how she came to be with me, and… about her inheritance. it is hers after all, she can use it for college or maybe someday for a wedding."

"that sounds pretty thought out for someone who only just made the decision to adopt her," emma pointed out, causing sarah to blush, knowing she'd been caught.

"mom, we do have a not-so-small favor to ask of you," sarah gave her mother an unsure look, "i know it's asking a lot, especially if anyone finds out about you, not that i expect them to, since i've changed my name so many times, anyone would be hard-pressed to trace me back to you. but do you mind if we stay here, at least until i can reach out to some of my contacts and get some documentation made for her? i also have to figure out what to do about everything else, work, my living situation…"

"whatever you need, sweetheart," emma ran her hand over her daughter's hair, "take all the time you need, the spare room is there for you to use and we can get a pack'n'play or something for molly to sleep in."

"thanks, mom, i'll pay you rent." sarah's shoulders sagged in relief, "can you watch her while i

ing in our things?"

"sure," emma accepted the little girl into her arms, "you might want to start with the diaper bag. little miss could really do with a change."

"sure," sarah smiled, standing and heading toward the front door.

"oh, and sam," her mom called out, "you're not paying rent, welcome home."

"it's good to be home," sarah smiled and stepped out into the late morning sun to pull their meager possessions from the trunk and seats of the car.

it had been three long weeks since he'd flown in from europe and no matter what he tried, he couldn't get the images of sam and lisa out of his head. he didn't know why, but there had been such a strong connection between them from the start, like they were meant to be in each other's lives. he didn't know what it was, fate, divine intervention, chance, or just plain dumb luck. whatever it was, and despite knowing the adage about lightning striking twice, he still secretly hoped to meet them again one day. she did mention that she had family in la, who knows, it could happen. he was

oken from his thoughts as he entered the courtyard of the echo park complex that housed both his and his sister's condos by a squeal off to his right followed by a flash of

unette hair diving for his person.

"welcome home, little

other," ellie flung herself at her

other, who caught her with his free arm, the one that wasn't currently trying to keep a million dollars' worth of government spy tech from hitting the ground. "we've missed you. was it really necessary to accept a contract that had you in europe for the better part of the past few months?"

"ellie," chuck gave her a small smile, "i'm an independent contractor, i have to go where the money is, and this time it was in europe. at least the guy who hired me paid for my travel and lodging, even gave me a per diem to buy food. not to mention the decent sized paycheck he gave me to boot, gets me a little closer to being able to get an office with actual partners and employees so that i don't have to go out of town as much."

"that would be nice." ellie mused, "clara just went to bed a little bit ago, so you won't be able to see her until morning and devon is at the hospital. why don't you go drop your bags off at your place and come over for a glass of wine, so we can catch up."

"you mean so you can prep me to set me up at the party you are throwing?" chuck smirked.

"chuck, it's been five years since jill dumped you like an old habit," ellie groaned, "the whole single guy thing is really getting ridiculous now. you need to meet someone, settle down, get married, maybe have a kid or two."

"what's with the sudden interest in my love life?" he chuckled, "it's not like i'm some old spinster, i'm not even 27 years old yet, i have plenty of time to do that."

"not if you refuse to date!" ellie protested loudly.

"a little louder, please," chuck hushed her, "i don't think mrs. herskowitz upstairs heard you, and i do date, for your information."

"but you haven't had a serious relationship since college," ellie pointed out.

"not everyone is like you, el," chuck shrugged, "we don't all marry our college sweethearts. you were very lucky to find captain awesome."

"i really hate that nickname," ellie groused.

"yeah, well, he loves it," chuck countered, "so you might as well get over it, it's been 6 years already."

"fine," ellie rolled her eyes, "go drop off your stuff and come over, okay?"

chuck watched his sister turn on her heel and head into the two-story townhouse that had been her home since she and devon 'captain awesome' woodcomb had married two years before. with a small shake of his head, he rounded the fountain that sat in the center of the courtyard and entered the smaller two-bedroom unit that he had taken over when ellie and devon moved out after their wedding. hiding his spy life from her became infinitely easier once he had the apartment to himself, no more worrying that he would get a conference call from director graham when his sister was around. he just had to make sure that the feed was redirected to his bedroom from the living room if he knew morgan was coming over for a game night.

unlocking the door, he laid his laptop case on the kitchen table and sauntered down the hall to his room. he'd moved some of his things into the master bedroom once he had the apartment to himself, and redone his old room into a guest room, or a 'morgan room' since that is where his buddy often crashed after a long night of gaming. while the room he now slept in was more 'adult,' with all the furniture in dark wood from the bedframe and head board, to the bedside tables, desk, and dresser. his bed was covered in a duvet with stripes of grey, black, and white with matching pillow cases. the computer that sat on his desk was top of the line, designed by orion himself, with two monitors and a hidden third built into the wall to monitor surveillance around his and ellie's homes.

"well this is certainly less embarrassing if you ever

ing a girl home," ellie had proclaimed two years ago when she'd seen the new furnishings.

it had been a long few days of meetings, de

iefing the cia regarding his recent mission to europe to track and eliminate a cyberterrorism network that spanned the lower half of the continent. chuck had initially been recruited at stanford by professor fleming after doing extremely well in a section of one of his courses having to do with encoded images and subliminal messages. the agency soon after found out that chuck was the illusive piranha that they'd been trying to track down for years and graham had offered him a position as a 'hy

id agent' which essentially meant that chuck was a glorified analyst who was also trained to perform as an operative in the field solo or with a small team. it was his hacking skills that made him uniquely qualified for the mission he'd just, successfully, completed.

chuck shrugged off his suit jacket, laying it over the back of his desk chair as he walked toward the door that served as an additional access point to the large bathroom in the center of the apartment, loosening his tie as he went. he remembered when they had first moved into the apartment, ellie had fallen in love with the deep tub that was never used now that she'd moved out. wondering, idly, if anyone would ever use it again while he lived there, he turned on the shower and removed the rest of his clothes, dropping them in a hamper before stepping under the warm spray to wash off the travel grime that had seemed to linger since rome.

thinking of rome, led to thinking of the excuse he made when he boarded his flight in paris, and the young woman and baby with whom he'd shared a seat for the long mutual leg of their journeys. wondering if she was still in the la area, he rinsed the shampoo and soap from his body and stepped out of the shower cubicle, wrapping a towel around his waist. catching his reflection in the foggy mirror, he couldn't help but notice the small changes that had occurred to his body in the past several years.

he'd always been long and lean growing up, it wasn't until his junior year of college, and their subsequent recruitment to the cia, he began joining

yce to work out. they'd run around campus, spent time in the fitness center lifting weights or doing resistance training, their friendship and competitive nature when it came to the two of them meant that they rarely missed a day in the gym, something that had continued even after they'd arrived at the farm the summer before and then into their senior year.

slowly but surely, he'd began to notice the changes to his frame. his arms and shoulders had become more muscular, but never bulky, and he now sported a defined set of pecs and abs, that even his

other-in-law had commented on in the past when the pair had worked out together. awesome had encouraged him to beef up his muscles a little more, but chuck never really liked the muscle man look, content with the bit of definition that he currently sported.

suddenly, the image of sam, lips pressed against his as she ran her hands over him, her gentle fingers tracing patterns over the ridges and planes of his body as if memorizing each contour, flashed through his

ain. he could almost feel the press of her soft curves against him, molding to him. he wondered if her body had softened with pregnancy. would her body feel any different opposed to a woman who had never borne a child?

"what the frack is wrong with me?" chuck groaned, shaking the image from his head, "you only just met the woman, you don't even know where she lives or if she would be even remotely interested in you if you knew where to find her, let alone that!" he scolded himself,

acing his hands on the edges of the sink as he confronted his reflection, "you shouldn't even be thinking about her that way, she's a mother for god's sake, you can't think that way about a mother!"

then how do you explain your reaction to her? his

ain chided him, causing him to growl at himself as he stalked back to his room to get dressed, reciting the elements of the periodic table until he had calmed himself enough to not look like some sex-crazed lunatic. it hadn't even been that long since he'd been with a woman. he'd dated that lou girl from the deli near where morgan worked at the buy more for a little bit a few years ago, and then there was hannah, but that wound up not working out either, with both of their jobs requiring heavy travel. there was no reason for him to react in such a visceral way to a girl, no a woman, he'd only known for 11 hours after meeting her on an airplane.

she did give you her email address, so you could invite her to your sister's shindig. his traitorous mind prompted him. you don't have to wait for the party, you could always just ask her out on a date like a normal person.

"assuming she's still in town," he grumbled to himself as he crossed the courtyard once more to visit with his sister. shaking all tempting and traitorous thoughts of sam

owne from his head, he knocked on his sister's door before opening it and calling out to her. "ellie?"