The Twelve Days of Christmas
This is a challenge for dont_freakout. Since I wrote all twelve in the span of three days, I decided to put them all in one post so I wouldn't spam everyone's flist.
Title: On The Twelve Days of Christmas Chuck Gave To Me...
Author: bandbooktvworm
Rating: PG
Pairing: Chuck/Sarah
Summary: It's the twelve days leading up to Christmas, and Chuck wants to do something for Sarah to show he cares. From Chuck's POV. Follows Chuck vs. The Crown Vic.
...A Partridge in a Pear Tree
I heard jingling and knew who it was before I even heard his voice. But then again, Morgan never ceases to amaze me. I looked up and wasn’t quite prepared for his getup. He was a full-on, decked-out elf. He even used the same pointy ear attachments he got a few years ago when he dressed up as Legolas for Halloween. Oddly enough, he cheeks looked a little rosy, too…
“Dude, the lady-eth approaches,” he said to me in what I could only assume was a sneaky tone.
“Morgan, you’re an elf, not a knight of the round table,” I reminded him.
“I know, I was speaking in code,” he said with a wink.
I was stunned by his response. “Yeah, and no one else will crack it,” I said skeptically.
“Exactly.” He smiled and jingled away. I saw her stop and look as he walked past her. He, in turn, gave her a huge wave. She turned around and gave me a confused-slash-about-ready-to-laugh-her-ass-off look. I nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back and continued toward me.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hi,” I oh-so-wittingly responded.
“Why is Morgan dressed up already? Christmas is, like, twelve days away.”
“I know, but that’s Morgan. He’ll probably dress up as a reindeer tomorrow.”
She laughed. “If he does, please call me so I can come over here and see it.”
I laughed back. “I’ll be calling everyone I’ve ever known.”
She grinned at me. “It’ll be quite the occasion, then.”
I nodded. “I’m expecting a large turnout.”
“Good.” She nodded and looked around, signaling that topic was over.
“Oh, I got something for you,” I said, while reaching underneath the counter and pulling out a gift bag.
“It’s not Christmas, yet,” she said with her cute, innocently confused face.
“I know. Consider this part of your present.”
She nodded. “All right.” She placed in down on the counter.
“What are you waiting for? Open it,” I said with nervous anticipation.
She laughed a little and finally pulled out the tissue paper. Her confused face returned, making my stomach flutter, as it does every time she does something incredibly adorable.
“The first season of The Partridge Family and a pear?”
“Yeah, I had to improvise. I really couldn’t get my hands on a partridge or a pear tree,” I explained as my face grew increasingly warmer with every word I managed to spit out.
To my surprise, though, her face turned a little red, too. Good sign, perhaps?
“Oh, right. Well, thanks,” she said, not looking at me.
I smiled. I knew that if I had crossed the line, she would have said something. “You’re welcome.”
After a few moments of silence, she finally looked at me again and smiled. “I should probably get to work soon.”
“Yeah, someone has to cook those wieners,” I said, instantly regretting what just came out of my mouth.
She laughed nervously, another thing that makes my stomach turn, and said, “Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, see you later, Sarah.”
And with that, she turned and walked out of the store clutching my gifts to her chest.
Little did she know, there were eleven more days of Christmas.
...Two Turtle Doves
The whole thing started when I walked into a store and noticed they were selling bird ornaments. Seriously. There were two dove ornaments right next to each other, and that prompted the song to run through my head. Before I knew it, I was running through the store trying to find anything that pertained to the gifts of those twelve days of Christmas.
I know, it was lame, but I had to do something to show Sarah I really did like her. Disregarding the fact that she already knows.
So, on the second day of Christmas, I gave Sarah her two turtle doves. Well, sorta.
Ellie invited everyone over to help decorate the Bartowski Christmas tree. She likes to make Christmas this big event because our mom did. It’s something she wanted to keep up.
So there we all were: Ellie, Captain Awesome, me, Sarah, Casey, Morgan, and Anna decorating our eight foot artificial tree. We went artificial a few years ago when Morgan accidentally lit the tree on fire. Luckily it didn’t spread anywhere, but we’ve been flame retardant ever since.
It has also become a Christmas tradition for me to retell the story every year, much to the dismay of Morgan. This year, there were three new people to tell this story to. I kept glancing at Sarah to see the pure delight on her face as I started describing the crazy dance Morgan started around the tree once the fire had begun.
At the end of the story, Sarah and Anna were in stitches, while Casey had a small smirk on his face. I had become quite good at extending the story each year to last the time it took for us to put everything on the tree, but with extra help, we were done sooner than usual and we had ended up sitting on the couch by the end of it.
Morgan, as usual, was pouting, so Anna pulled him outside to comfort him. I looked at Sarah who was grinning at me with a bright sparkle in her eye. I assume Ellie noticed our eye contact because she requested Devon’s and Casey’s help getting dinner set up in the kitchen.
So we were alone, and in really good spirits. “So, are you ready for part two of your present?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Sure,” she responded, still trying to come down from her laughing fit.
I went over to my coat and pulled out the box inside. Her smile had become less goofy when I handed her the gift. When she opened it, though, the grin returned and my stomach went into a tangle once again.
She pulled out two turtle keychains attached to two Dove chocolate bars. Sarah looked up at me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said simply, hoping I had just knocked down one more wall of the friendship barrier and into the realm of romance.
She reached over and grabbed my hand, and we sat there across from each other, staring into one another’s eyes and holding hands. All too soon, though, Ellie came into the room with a bowl of mashed potatoes. Sarah withdrew her hand before I noticed and stood up to offer her help. That left me with getting my best friend.
As I stood up to walk out the front door, hoping Morgan and Anna still had most of their clothes on, I knew my gifts were definitely affecting Sarah.
If only the days would come sooner.
...Three French Hens
I walked into the Wienerlicious the next day knowing my next gift would be a hit. I let my sister in on my plan, of course omitting a few details, and she approved of what I was doing. She even said she wished Devon had done something like this for her.
Well apparently Captain Awesome wasn’t so awesome after all.
So there she was, at the counter wiping away; her pigtails swaying as she moved around. She looked up when she heard the jingle. When she saw me, she smiled and came around the other side.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a friendly tone.
“I came to give you part three of your present,” I told her.
“How many gifts am I getting?” she asked.
I laughed. “You know the song, don’t you?”
She grinned and looked at the ground. “Oh, yeah. Right.” She looked back up at me. “So where is this gift?”
“Here,” I said with a smile on my face. “Wait a few more seconds to open it, though.”
She looked at me with her cute confused face and suddenly the box in her hands started to ring and shake. Sarah dropped it on the ground, and the noise ceased.
And the smile left my face.
She looked up at me. “Why did it ring?”
“There were timers inside.”
She bent down to pick up the box and when she lifted it off the ground, I could hear the little parts moving around. She opened and sure enough, there were three broken hen timers.
“Chuck, I’m so sorry,” she said regretfully.
“Why are you sorry? It’s your gift,” I said with a half smile.
She laughed a little. “You’re right. Hey, what’s this?” She asked lifting up a piece of black fabric.
“That would be a tiny beret.”
“For what? The hens?” I nodded. And she understood. She laughed a little louder. “Chuck, that is brilliant!”
I smiled. “Thanks, but I can’t take credit for the berets. My sister put them together.”
She leaned over and kissed me. On the cheek, though. But this sensation flew from my abdomen to my head, and I felt an overwhelming happiness.
“Chuck, you have no idea how much these gifts mean to me,” she said softly.
“Well, there are still more to come, so prepared to be even more amazed,” I responded.
She smiled at me. “Thank you for giving me a real Christmas.”
Before I could question what she meant by that, a customer walked in and she had to go back to work.
“I’ll see you later, Sarah,” I said before walking out the door with a smile on my face.
...Four Calling Birds
I don’t know why I brought it to her hotel room. I didn’t even know if she was there. But I went anyway, and I looked like a weirdo carrying it through the lobby.
After a few deep breaths, I knocked on her door. A few moments passed, and I started to fear that I’d have to carry this thing back downstairs. Thankfully, though, she opened the door looking fresh and wet in her complimentary bathrobe. She smiled as she opened the door, but when she saw the item in my hands, her eyes grew wide.
Ok, I guess I’ll tell you what I had.
In my arms was a little two foot Christmas tree with lights and ornaments. After the initial shock, Sarah opened the door further to let me in.
“I can’t believe you did this, Chuck,” she exclaimed as she closed the door behind me.
“Well, I thought, ‘what’s Christmas without a tree?’ So I went out and bought you one.” I placed it on the little coffee table in her room.
“You didn’t have to, you know,” she said as she came up to stand next to me.
“I know,” I looked down at her. “Do you see anything else in the tree?”
She gave me her cute confused face again before looking at the tree. And then she noticed it. “Chuck, what is this? A bird with…a calling card?”
“Yeah, there are four of them,” I said simply.
She put the ornament back and looked at me. “Four calling birds,” she said with a smile. I nodded. “Chuck, are you really going to keep doing this?” she asked in such a way that I knew she was enjoying the gifts, she just didn’t want me to go out of my way.
“Of course I am. I have eight days left,” I replied with a smile.
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek. Man, if this was getting me kisses on the cheek, I just couldn’t wait to see what I’d get for the later gifts.
“You know, Chuck, since I know the song, it’ll be harder to surprise me,” she said as she turned back to face the tree.
“Yes, but if you notice, I haven’t gotten you the exact item in the song; they’re variations. So, really, you can know what it will be about, but you won’t actually know what it is,” I said with a smile.
She nodded. “All right.” She walked away and came back with the first gift I gave her. “I thought these would look nicer under the tree,” she explained.
Once she had placed everything under the tree, we both admired it. “Now it looks like a Christmas tree,” I said.
She smiled and leaned against me. “Yeah. It’s nice.”
I looked down at her and placed my arm around her shoulder as we stood and watched the twinkling lights.
...Five Golden Rings
When I got to Casey’s apartment, Sarah was already there sitting on the couch. Thankfully she had her back to me so she didn’t see the box in my hands. When Casey saw it, he rolled his eyes and gave me a look of disgust.
I saw next to Sarah, making sure the box was well hidden beside me, and greeted her. “Good morning, Sarah.”
She looked up from her mug of coffee and smiled. “Good morning, Chuck.” Then her smile faded and a look of seriousness appeared on her face. “Look, Chuck, I was thinking about the song last night, and I don’t think you should give me a gift today.”
I was utterly confused. “What do you mean?”
“Five golden rings. Chuck, I don’t care if they’re fake, I don’t want you to be spending so much on these gifts.”
I smiled at her. “Sarah, do you remember what I told you last night? You’ll have a vague idea of what you’re getting, but I’m throwing spins into them.” She nodded. “Ok, so, I wasn’t planning on giving you rings.” And I pulled out the box beside me and opened the lid.
She laughed at what she saw. “Five pineapple slices.”
“They’re golden, and they’re rings,” I replied as I looked at the cake.
Just then, Casey walked over and sat on the couch adjacent to us. His look of disgust still remained on his face.
“Hey Casey, want some fruitcake?” I asked in a joking tone.
“No thanks,” he said bluntly.
“I’ll eat some,” Sarah said.
“No,” I said, withdrawing the cake from her grasp. “This thing is probably the grossest thing imaginable. I just threw in every fruit in the house.” Sarah gave me a look of shock. I knew what she was thinking: why would I offer the worst thing in the world to Casey and yet not allow Sarah to have any? Simple. I knew Casey wouldn’t take it.
“Aren’t pineapple slices on upside-down pineapple cake?” Casey asked.
“They could be, but fruitcake has many variations. I just added these on top.”
Sarah smiled. “Well, thanks Chuck, I’ll put it under my tree.”
I laughed. “I’m afraid I can’t let you take this cake. It’ll be dangerous for your health. I took a picture of it, and you can put that under the tree.”
“Ok,” she replied trying to smother laughter.
“All right, time to stop flirting, our meeting is about to start,” Casey said.
“Oh, someone’s jealous,” I said with a smirk.
He glared at me. “You wish.” And then he turned on the TV.
Oh, Casey, if only he had known what I was going to use him for…
...Six Geese A-layin'
I laid them out neatly, three in a row. I knew it was a novelty gift, but there was nothing I could think of to make it better. Perhaps I was running out of steam…
Nah.
I admired my work when I heard footsteps coming down the hall. I hid behind a pillar and waited for the footsteps to come closer. They did, and sure enough, they stopped in their tracks. I waited for a response.
Nothing.
So I peeked behind the pillar and saw her looking directly at me with a smirk on her face. “Hi Chuck,” she said.
“Happy sixth day,” I replied.
“I see they’re ‘a-layin’’,” she remarked.
I looked down at the six copies of The Golden Goose. “Yep, they’re just laying there.”
She bent down and started to pick them up. I, in turn, picked up the other half. We walked into her room from there and stacked the books underneath the tree. I noticed she had clipped the picture of the fruitcake on one of the birds that was holding a calling card. I smiled and turned to face her.
“Did you want something to drink?” she offered.
“No thanks. This was actually a stop on my way to a customer’s house.” I smiled at her. She returned. “So, my sister is making Christmas desserts tomorrow, and she’d like it if you came.”
Sarah stared at me. “You wouldn’t like it if I came, though?”
“What? No! I would…I would love it if you came,” I replied with a smile.
She smiled back. “Ok, I’ll be there.”
“Great. We’re starting around six, so, um, yeah.”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“See you tomorrow, then,” I said as I made my way to the door.
She followed me and kissed me on the cheek when we got there. “Bye, Chuck,” she said softly.
I gave her a goofy grin. “Bye, Sarah,” I said equally soft.
Needless to say, I was in good spirits the rest of the day.
...Seven Swans A-swimmin'
Ellie distracted Sarah and everyone by throwing graham crackers and the like in front of everyone while I sneaked away and prepared my next gift.
After ten minutes, and everything was ready, I walked in the living room to see Sarah laughing at a joke my sister just made. At least, I was hoping it was a joke and not an embarrassing story about me when I was younger.
I walked over to their group and their impressive gingerbread house. This thing was gigantic. It was towering over Casey, Morgan, and Anna’s gingerbread house like no other.
But anyway, I achieved eye contact with Sarah and before I could steal her away, she asked, “Where have you been? You’re missing out and making the greatest gingerbread house ever.”
Ellie laughed. “I think she’s high on frosting.”
“Or drunk on your fantastic eggnog,” Devon added while finishing the last swig of his drink.
Sarah’s eyes danced along with her laughter. “I think it’s the atmosphere,” she said.
Ellie and Devon smiled but didn’t read into what she was saying. I, on the other hand, had a vague idea of what she meant. I smiled at her. “Could I see you alone for a second?”
She nodded and stood up, placing her “trowel” of a fragment of graham cracker on the table.
In order to keep up appearances, I grabbed her hand and led her down the hall to the bathroom. I motioned for her to enter first, and when I turned on the lights, her eyes went immediately toward the bathtub.
Inside, floating on the water, were seven copies of The Swan Princess. And at only five bucks per DVD, it was also an awesome bargain.
Sarah laughed and looked at me. “Chuck, this is so…wonderful.”
I smiled at her. “I try my best,” I said with mock modesty.
She put her arms around my middle and hugged me tight. I heard her whisper, “Thank you,”
I wrapped my arms around her and replied softly, “You’re welcome.”
She looked up at me, and I looked down at her. And there was a moment. A moment when I had the opportunity to kiss her, and I decided to take it. I leaned my face toward hers, and, maybe I was imagining it, but she started to crane her face closer toward mine. We were mere inches away when Morgan burst into the room.
Sarah pulled away as quickly as possible, and right then, I was angry at Morgan. “Sorry dude, but I need the bathroom. You’re little moment will have to continue later,” Morgan said as he made his way toward the toilet.
I sighed, and noticed Sarah had got down on her knees to scoop up the DVDs. I went over to help, but she grabbed the last one before I could reach it. She stood up and walked out without saying a word.
I looked at Morgan. “Damn it, Morgan. You couldn’t have waited two more seconds?”
“Dude, what’s the big deal? It’s not like you’ve never kissed her before.”
And I couldn’t reply to that. Because even though Sarah and I weren’t really dating, we had kissed before.
So I walked out and noticed Sarah wasn’t in the living room. “Where’d Sarah go?” I asked Ellie.
“She said she had to go, but don’t worry, I gave her some cookies.”
I sighed and walked to my room.
It was so close. But that’s ok, I thought, there were still five more days.
...Eight Maids A-milkin'
Ok, how on earth was I going to figure out eight maids a-milkin’? So, I ended up doing something extremely lame. Luckily everything that happened during the day before I gave her the gift was good.
I’ll explain. It snowed in the hills. Don’t ask me how it happened, but it did. So Ellie, being the Christmas Fairy, she decided to take a trip out to the hills for some fun in the snow.
It was just going to be Ellie and Devon, and Sarah and me. Somehow Morgan found out, and dragged Anna along, too. So there were the six of us in as many layers as we could muster because we weren’t used to snow in our parts.
So, Ellie planned out games for us and everything. It was fun…until someone decided it would be a good idea to throw a snowball at me. Of course, I retaliated, but missed him and ended up hitting Anna.
Let’s get over the fact that I can’t throw to save my life.
And then Devon thought it’d be a good idea to throw one at Ellie. But she was on the fastpitch team in high school, so she hit him good. Apparently Anna wasn’t great at throwing snowballs either because instead of hitting me, she knocked Sarah right in the face. And I laughed.
Yeah, it’s a bad idea to laugh at a CIA agent.
She pelted one right at me. I shouldn’t have been too surprised that it hurt; she does beat up people occasionally. So, I decided to start attacking her, and she me. It ended up being a pretty vicious snowball fight. Sarah ended up launching one right into my neck. I feigned being wounded, and she rushed over to make sure I was all right, but that was when I tackled her and smooshed a snowball right in her face. But we both were laughing.
And then, being a guy who was practically in love with this woman, I realized that I was almost lying on top of her and had her arms pinned in the snow. She must have realized it too because she stopped laughing.
And so the staring contest began. The moment was here again, and I was not going to let Morgan ruin it again. But, of course, before I could kiss her, a snowball flew right into my side, and I ended up falling over. That one was definitely from Ellie.
Out of nowhere, it seemed like hundreds of snowballs were being thrown at Sarah and me, and we did not have enough power to fire against them. So we ran.
We got to the car, ran inside, and locked the door before they could reach us. I was so glad I had long enough legs to keep up with Sarah the Sprinter. We laughed at everyone still outside as they taunted us about being babies, but we ignored them. Then Sarah turned to look at me, her face bright red from the cold and the running. “So, I haven’t gotten my gift today,” she said.
“I know,” I replied. “Only because it was lame, and I wanted to avoid giving it to you as long as possible.”
She smiled. “Chuck, I don’t think it could ever be lame. It’s the thought that counts, right?”
A smile grew on my face. I now knew she would care about it whether it was the worst gift ever or not. So I reached into the backseat and pulled out the duffel bag I brought with dry clothes to change into later. And I pulled it out. Eight boxes of Milk Duds, except I covered up the word ‘Duds’ with ‘Maids.’
See? Lame.
But Sarah didn’t think so. She laughed and accepted the gift. “These are my favorite candy,” she said.
“Really?” I asked. “Well then, what else is your favorite?”
“What do you mean?” she asked with that adorable confused look.
“I mean favorite book, movie, food, drink…I should know these things,” I said with a shrug. “Right?” I added with a hopeful look.
She nodded. “I guess. It may come up eventually.” She turned in the seat to face me and she told me her favorite things. And no, it was not from The Sound of Music. I could tell it was really Sarah’s favorite things.
We just sat and talked, getting to know each other better, until the rest of the gang appeared looking exhausted and soaking wet from their game. We noticed they did not have any ‘weapons’ in their hands, so we let them get their dry clothes.
All in all, the eighth day was a good day. I may not have gotten anywhere physical with Sarah, but I did become closer to her.
...Nine Ladies Dancing
Ellie is a great sister. I just want to say that before I tell of the ninth day. Seriously, she is so willing to help out with anything. And she’s always been my biggest supporter.
What she did was great. She somehow was able to lead Sarah into the realm of the bedrooms. I think she said she wanted Sarah’s opinion on what color to paint her room. So as she lured Sarah away, Captain Awesome helped me set up the next gift.
With two people, the job was done very quickly, and just in time, because Sarah and Ellie made their way back to the living room. Sarah stopped short once she saw what was on the coffee table. Ellie and Devon snuck out of the room to let us have a moment. Hopefully.
Sarah slowly walked up to the table and watched as the nine Barbie ballerinas spun on their personal mobile. She came over and hugged me tight. Before she did, I thought I saw tears in her eyes, but that was confirmed when I felt my shirt getting wet. “I never had a Barbie before,” she whispered.
“Are you kidding? They’re the fundamental toy for girls,” I said.
She looked up at me. “My parents just got me baby dolls, but I always wished for a Barbie growing up.”
“Well, now you have nine,” I said.
She smiled. “I do. And I think I asked for one every year for nine years, too.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Thank you, Chuck. This really means a lot.”
Ok, that was it. I was in love with Sarah. She seemed so innocent and small right at that moment, and all I wanted to do was protect her and, well, love her. And I knew I could have kissed her right at that moment, but I knew it wasn’t what she needed. So I pulled her close and hugged her tight.
We stood there for a long time in each other’s arms, me falling even more in love with her every moment. I just hoped I wouldn’t be too nervous to speak to her.
During the time we were standing there, I could have sworn I heard her whisper, “This is the best Christmas ever.”
But it could have been something else.
...Ten Lords A-leapin'
Ellie and Devon interrupted us into the night, and Sarah went home with her pink Barbies grinning with their fake smiles.
I told Ellie I thought I had fallen in love with Sarah, and she asked me what she needed to do to make everything perfect. I smiled at her and asked her to help me win Sarah…back.
So she stayed up into the night with me preparing my next gift. When she heard about it, she laughed and said it was definitely a Chuck present. Now I just had to hope that Sarah would enjoy it as much as I was.
The next night, after getting away from an increasingly busy Buy More, I went to her hotel and hoped she wasn’t out saving the world that night. Thankfully she wasn’t, and when she opened the door, my heart flew into my throat and my stomach fluttered in delight at the sight of her. “Hey,” I managed to squeak out.
“Hi,” she responded, almost shyly. She let me in, and I immediately saw the Barbie dolls lined up on the coffee table by her mini tree.
“I may have to get you a bigger tree so you can put everything under it,” I said.
She smiled. “No, I like the cluttered, bursting look. It’s like what a real Christmas should be.”
“I don’t know what you got for Christmas, but my tree never has presents bursting underneath.”
She looked at me skeptically as we sat down. “Oh come on, your tree at home looked pretty full.”
“Yeah, that’s because there are more people to shop for.”
“Who else is there?” She asked.
“Well, you and Casey,” I said.
“Oh,” was her remark.
“My sister thinks you two need a proper Christmas. I’m serious,” I said at her look of disbelief. “There are gifts for you and Casey from each of us. Even Morgan. Which, you probably won’t enjoy too much because he usually buys stuff he likes, and we end up giving them to him.”
She smiled. “I see. Did you want a drink?”
“Just a soda.”
She nodded and pulled two sodas out of the mini-fridge. When she handed me mine I just looked at her as she sat next to me. “What?” she asked.
I narrowed my eyes. “You want to know what your gift is today, don’t you?”
She tried to hide a smile. “Well, it’s becoming a habit. I look forward to when you give me the gift of the day.”
“Is that what we should call it? The Gift of the Day. Or maybe the Gift du Jour, just to sound interesting.”
“If you want to add a French flare, call it le Cadeau du Jour,” she said simply.
“You know French?” I asked.
She nodded. “And Russian, Polish, and Chinese.”
“Wow, you really were made for the CIA,” I remarked, in awe at her brilliance.
Her smile faded a little. “Yeah, I guess I was.”
“What wrong?” I asked.
She looked at me and re-plastered the smile on her face. “Nothing. So, what’s the Gift of the Day?”
“You have to leave for a few minutes,” I said.
“Oh come on, Chuck,” she responded.
“No. If you see one, it just ruins the effect.”
She sighed but stood up. “Fine. I’ll be back,” she said and headed for the bathroom.
I quickly threw the gift onto the coffee table, or at least the space that was left, and organized it to make sure everything was right-side up. When she came back and saw what was there, her face added the cute questionable look to it. “I don’t think I get it.”
“Well, technically, he’s a lord, just a dark one. I didn’t know any other famous lords, so that was all I could do.”
She smiled at me and made it leap. There were ten origami frogs with a picture of Lord Voldemort on top of each one. Yes, ten ‘lords’ that could leap.
Sarah leaned over me and kissed me on the cheek. She didn’t pull away entirely, and looked at me with a curious smile on her face. “I’ll race ya,” she said.
I grinned. “Oh, it’s on, Walker.”
So we raced our poor origami frogs until they all jumped off the coffee table. And after laughing most of the time, and her bright eyes twinkling the whole time, I knew being in love with her would be easy because it seemed so natural to be myself around her anyway.
The more I got to know her, the more I wasn’t as shy or nervous to speak to her. This was definitely a good sign.
And there were only two days until the big finale.
...Eleven Pipers Piping
The second worst day of shopping following only to Black Friday? Christmas Eve. And Big Mike had everyone working the floor that night. It wasn’t just busy at a certain time of the day. Oh no, it was crowded the entire day.
Around six o’clock, an hour before we were closing, the store was at max capacity, and I was trying to make sure guests weren’t trying to walk out the door with their last minute presents before paying. As I directed the fiftieth customer to the checkout lanes, I turned around and saw her face in the crowd. She saw me, seeing as it wasn’t too difficult because of my height, and smiled. Then she swam through the sea of parents and other family members toward me.
“Hi,” she said, or, at least I thought that’s what she said.
“What?” I yelled.
“I got your message,” she screamed back.
“I can barely hear you,” I shouted over the roar of the angry mob.
“Is there somewhere quieter?”
I paused. I didn’t want to take her to the room until after the store had closed. But there was no choice. So I led her to the home theatre room.
As I slid the door closed, I could hear a ringing in my ears from being around the loud crowd all day. “God, it feels good to be away from that,” I said with relief.
She smiled at me. “It’s really busy in there.”
“Yeah. Please tell me you finished shopping last week,” I said as I sat on the couch.
She joined me and answered, “I didn’t have a whole lot of shopping to do, so, yeah, I finished early.”
I nodded. “Good. Because I am not directing you through the store to find something.”
Sarah laughed. “I wouldn’t make you do that.”
“Good.”
She looked at the TV. “Is that thing on?” she asked.
“Um…yeah,” I said.
“People have wanted to test this thing?”
“No, not today.”
“Ok…” she said, not exactly knowing what else to say.
“It’s set up for us, actually,” I admitted.
“Really?”
“Yeah, but we’re going to have to wait until we close.”
She nodded. “All right. Is it fine if I stay in here?”
I smiled at her as I stood up. “Of course. Just don’t try to see what we’re watching. It’s a surprise.”
She smiled. “Ok.”
So I left her in the room and walked out to finish my shift. Good thing I wasn't a closer and didn’t have to stay once the doors were locked.
Once all the customers had left, I snuck back into the room and saw Sarah flipping through channels on the TV.
“Ah man, you saw,” I said.
She looked at me. “No I didn’t. The screensaver was on when I turned the TV on.”
I nodded as I sat next to her. “Uh-huh, and what did it look like?”
She laughed. “Are you seriously questioning me? I am a master at evading them.”
“Oh that’s right,” I said.
She handed me the remote. “Here, let’s watch what we’re watching.”
I took it from her and cued up the DVD player. On the screen appeared Will Ferrell with long hair and a giant mustache. Sarah laughed. I looked at her. “Have you seen this movie before?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Once.”
I smiled. “Great.” And I hit ‘play.’
Will Ferrell played his jazz flute and just as he was about to sit down, I pressed the repeat button, and he was suddenly on the stage again with the flute in his hands. Sarah looked at me with her cute face, but didn’t wait for a response. By the fourth time I repeated his performance, she finally asked me, “What are you doing?”
“We’re watching this scene eleven times,” I said with a small smile.
“Why?”
“Well, he’s piping his piper.”
She grinned at me and continued to watch the movie. I noticed her hand dropped to her side, right next to my hand. After a few seconds, I reached over and grabbed her hand. I glanced over at her face, and she smiled a little.
By the seventh time, I had muted the sound, and Sarah and I were making up our own dialogue. I had something funny, and she laughed and put her head on my shoulder. I lost the ability to speak for the rest of that time, but still managed to cue the scene again.
Finally, we got to the eleventh time. And I think we were both Anchorman-ed out.
“That was fun,” she said with her head still resting on my shoulder.
“Yeah, but I never thought Will Ferrell could get annoying.”
She laughed. “This is the only movie I’ve seen him in, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Really?” I looked down at her mass of blonde hair. “There are so many others you’re missing out on.”
She glanced up at me and just smiled. And another moment happened. It really must have been a good sign if we had been falling into these moments for practically the past four days. So I leaned in, and she started to lean, too, until I felt the couch behind us sink down. We both looked up, and there was Morgan, with his fists pushing the top of the couch down, just staring at us.
“Oh, don’t mind me, keep on doing what you were doing,” he said.
“Morgan, get out of here!”
“See, bro, that’s the thing, I am here to warn you about getting out of here because Big Mike is doing an inspection.”
I sighed. It shouldn’t have been this hard. But we hurried up and left before Big Mike left his office.
As I drove home, I firmly believed that being friends with Morgan was ruining my chances with Sarah.
But that definitely was not going to be the case on Christmas.
...Twelve Drummers Drumming
“Hey, Sarah. It’s Ellie,” my sister said on the phone the next morning. “I know Chuck already invited you over tonight, but I wanted to give you the details. It’s going to be a little dressy. Not, like, a black tie affair, but, you know, a nice dress. It’s a small party I’m throwing before we all open presents. Ok, so, be here at five-thirty, and I’ll see you then.” She hung up and looked at me. “Are you sure she’ll get the message?”
I nodded. “Of course she will.”
She nodded and hugged me. “Good luck, tonight.”
“Thanks, sis.”
She smiled at me. “This is definitely the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. If she doesn’t get back together with you, then I know a dozen other women who would love to date you.”
I smiled. “You already tried that, remember?”
“I know, but I’m doing it because I care.”
“Yeah, too much, Ellie. Now, go cook your goose.”
Ellie turned and walked toward the kitchen. “It’s not a goose; it’s a duck.”
“Same difference,” I replied.
All right, and now I had all day to finish preparing for the big finale. And the twelfth day really was a doozy.
So, five-thirty approached, and I stood outside in my suit-sans tie, it looked like I was trying too hard-and waited for her arrival.
All too soon, I heard her footsteps on the sidewalk and signaled for everyone to start. As I saw her come into view, my heart stopped. Not only was her sincerely surprised face overwhelm me, but she was absolutely stunning in her simple black dress. I took a deep breath and made my way over to her.
“I couldn’t afford real ones,” I said to get her attention.
She looked at me and grinned. “I can’t believe-is that Casey?”
I looked at the twelve people playing toy snare drums. And there stood Casey, frowning as usual, but still beating the drum. “It sure is.”
We turned and looked at each other again. “Wow.”
“Yeah. And this really isn’t even your real gift. All those were just lead-ups to the real gift,” I said pulling out a velvet box.
No, it wasn’t a ring; the box was bigger and flatter than that.
“I have a gift for you, too,” Sarah responded, handing me a medium-sized bag.
We exchanged gifts and opened them. Sarah had given me the original Star Wars trilogy-the first edition ever released. And I had given her a simple silver necklace with a heart charm that had a small ruby in the middle of it. I put a card in it. It said, “You rightfully won this. Take it before I change my mind.”
Her gift may not have been as romantic, but I knew it cost a lot. I was looking to buy it on eBay for some time.
I looked up at her to thank her, and before I could say the words, Sarah grabbed me and kissed me. So I kissed her back. And it was a good kiss. Not needy like the one before we thought we were dying-this one was tender.
When we finally pulled apart, she looked up. “Mistletoe,” she whispered.
I followed her gaze and, sure enough, there was a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the tree.
I laughed a little. I knew it was Ellie who had put it there. “Man, it seems like we’ve been trying to do that forever, huh?” I nodded and grinned. She had been feeling those moments, too! She smiled, and then looked around. “Where did everybody go?” she asked.
“Huh,” I said after looking around. “I guess it’s present time.”
“Well, I already got my presents.”
“Not all of them. There are still a couple from Ellie, Devon, Morgan, and Casey.”
“Casey?”
“Yeah. Surprisingly he got me one, too. It’s just NSA paraphernalia.”
She laughed. “Well, we can go inside in a minute; I just want to thank you for giving me the greatest holiday ever.”
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing her hand and lacing my fingers through hers. I kissed her once again. Man, it felt good to be able to do that. “So, last week you mentioned I gave you a real Christmas,” I said when we pulled apart. “What did you mean by that?”
She shrugged. “I haven’t been able to celebrate it in such a long time. It’s one of my favorite holidays.”
“Well, as long as you’re around the Bartowskis, you’ll always have the biggest celebration ever.”
Sarah smiled. “I look forward to it.”
“Hey, speaking of which, you should totally come to our New Year’s party,” I mentioned as we walked toward the apartment.
“I’ll have to see if I’m busy that night,” she said with a smile.
“What are you talking about? I am your job.”
She laughed as I led the way inside. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.
Happy Christmas!
Title: On The Twelve Days of Christmas Chuck Gave To Me...
Author: bandbooktvworm
Rating: PG
Pairing: Chuck/Sarah
Summary: It's the twelve days leading up to Christmas, and Chuck wants to do something for Sarah to show he cares. From Chuck's POV. Follows Chuck vs. The Crown Vic.
...A Partridge in a Pear Tree
I heard jingling and knew who it was before I even heard his voice. But then again, Morgan never ceases to amaze me. I looked up and wasn’t quite prepared for his getup. He was a full-on, decked-out elf. He even used the same pointy ear attachments he got a few years ago when he dressed up as Legolas for Halloween. Oddly enough, he cheeks looked a little rosy, too…
“Dude, the lady-eth approaches,” he said to me in what I could only assume was a sneaky tone.
“Morgan, you’re an elf, not a knight of the round table,” I reminded him.
“I know, I was speaking in code,” he said with a wink.
I was stunned by his response. “Yeah, and no one else will crack it,” I said skeptically.
“Exactly.” He smiled and jingled away. I saw her stop and look as he walked past her. He, in turn, gave her a huge wave. She turned around and gave me a confused-slash-about-ready-to-laugh-her-ass-off look. I nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back and continued toward me.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hi,” I oh-so-wittingly responded.
“Why is Morgan dressed up already? Christmas is, like, twelve days away.”
“I know, but that’s Morgan. He’ll probably dress up as a reindeer tomorrow.”
She laughed. “If he does, please call me so I can come over here and see it.”
I laughed back. “I’ll be calling everyone I’ve ever known.”
She grinned at me. “It’ll be quite the occasion, then.”
I nodded. “I’m expecting a large turnout.”
“Good.” She nodded and looked around, signaling that topic was over.
“Oh, I got something for you,” I said, while reaching underneath the counter and pulling out a gift bag.
“It’s not Christmas, yet,” she said with her cute, innocently confused face.
“I know. Consider this part of your present.”
She nodded. “All right.” She placed in down on the counter.
“What are you waiting for? Open it,” I said with nervous anticipation.
She laughed a little and finally pulled out the tissue paper. Her confused face returned, making my stomach flutter, as it does every time she does something incredibly adorable.
“The first season of The Partridge Family and a pear?”
“Yeah, I had to improvise. I really couldn’t get my hands on a partridge or a pear tree,” I explained as my face grew increasingly warmer with every word I managed to spit out.
To my surprise, though, her face turned a little red, too. Good sign, perhaps?
“Oh, right. Well, thanks,” she said, not looking at me.
I smiled. I knew that if I had crossed the line, she would have said something. “You’re welcome.”
After a few moments of silence, she finally looked at me again and smiled. “I should probably get to work soon.”
“Yeah, someone has to cook those wieners,” I said, instantly regretting what just came out of my mouth.
She laughed nervously, another thing that makes my stomach turn, and said, “Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, see you later, Sarah.”
And with that, she turned and walked out of the store clutching my gifts to her chest.
Little did she know, there were eleven more days of Christmas.
...Two Turtle Doves
The whole thing started when I walked into a store and noticed they were selling bird ornaments. Seriously. There were two dove ornaments right next to each other, and that prompted the song to run through my head. Before I knew it, I was running through the store trying to find anything that pertained to the gifts of those twelve days of Christmas.
I know, it was lame, but I had to do something to show Sarah I really did like her. Disregarding the fact that she already knows.
So, on the second day of Christmas, I gave Sarah her two turtle doves. Well, sorta.
Ellie invited everyone over to help decorate the Bartowski Christmas tree. She likes to make Christmas this big event because our mom did. It’s something she wanted to keep up.
So there we all were: Ellie, Captain Awesome, me, Sarah, Casey, Morgan, and Anna decorating our eight foot artificial tree. We went artificial a few years ago when Morgan accidentally lit the tree on fire. Luckily it didn’t spread anywhere, but we’ve been flame retardant ever since.
It has also become a Christmas tradition for me to retell the story every year, much to the dismay of Morgan. This year, there were three new people to tell this story to. I kept glancing at Sarah to see the pure delight on her face as I started describing the crazy dance Morgan started around the tree once the fire had begun.
At the end of the story, Sarah and Anna were in stitches, while Casey had a small smirk on his face. I had become quite good at extending the story each year to last the time it took for us to put everything on the tree, but with extra help, we were done sooner than usual and we had ended up sitting on the couch by the end of it.
Morgan, as usual, was pouting, so Anna pulled him outside to comfort him. I looked at Sarah who was grinning at me with a bright sparkle in her eye. I assume Ellie noticed our eye contact because she requested Devon’s and Casey’s help getting dinner set up in the kitchen.
So we were alone, and in really good spirits. “So, are you ready for part two of your present?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Sure,” she responded, still trying to come down from her laughing fit.
I went over to my coat and pulled out the box inside. Her smile had become less goofy when I handed her the gift. When she opened it, though, the grin returned and my stomach went into a tangle once again.
She pulled out two turtle keychains attached to two Dove chocolate bars. Sarah looked up at me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said simply, hoping I had just knocked down one more wall of the friendship barrier and into the realm of romance.
She reached over and grabbed my hand, and we sat there across from each other, staring into one another’s eyes and holding hands. All too soon, though, Ellie came into the room with a bowl of mashed potatoes. Sarah withdrew her hand before I noticed and stood up to offer her help. That left me with getting my best friend.
As I stood up to walk out the front door, hoping Morgan and Anna still had most of their clothes on, I knew my gifts were definitely affecting Sarah.
If only the days would come sooner.
...Three French Hens
I walked into the Wienerlicious the next day knowing my next gift would be a hit. I let my sister in on my plan, of course omitting a few details, and she approved of what I was doing. She even said she wished Devon had done something like this for her.
Well apparently Captain Awesome wasn’t so awesome after all.
So there she was, at the counter wiping away; her pigtails swaying as she moved around. She looked up when she heard the jingle. When she saw me, she smiled and came around the other side.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a friendly tone.
“I came to give you part three of your present,” I told her.
“How many gifts am I getting?” she asked.
I laughed. “You know the song, don’t you?”
She grinned and looked at the ground. “Oh, yeah. Right.” She looked back up at me. “So where is this gift?”
“Here,” I said with a smile on my face. “Wait a few more seconds to open it, though.”
She looked at me with her cute confused face and suddenly the box in her hands started to ring and shake. Sarah dropped it on the ground, and the noise ceased.
And the smile left my face.
She looked up at me. “Why did it ring?”
“There were timers inside.”
She bent down to pick up the box and when she lifted it off the ground, I could hear the little parts moving around. She opened and sure enough, there were three broken hen timers.
“Chuck, I’m so sorry,” she said regretfully.
“Why are you sorry? It’s your gift,” I said with a half smile.
She laughed a little. “You’re right. Hey, what’s this?” She asked lifting up a piece of black fabric.
“That would be a tiny beret.”
“For what? The hens?” I nodded. And she understood. She laughed a little louder. “Chuck, that is brilliant!”
I smiled. “Thanks, but I can’t take credit for the berets. My sister put them together.”
She leaned over and kissed me. On the cheek, though. But this sensation flew from my abdomen to my head, and I felt an overwhelming happiness.
“Chuck, you have no idea how much these gifts mean to me,” she said softly.
“Well, there are still more to come, so prepared to be even more amazed,” I responded.
She smiled at me. “Thank you for giving me a real Christmas.”
Before I could question what she meant by that, a customer walked in and she had to go back to work.
“I’ll see you later, Sarah,” I said before walking out the door with a smile on my face.
...Four Calling Birds
I don’t know why I brought it to her hotel room. I didn’t even know if she was there. But I went anyway, and I looked like a weirdo carrying it through the lobby.
After a few deep breaths, I knocked on her door. A few moments passed, and I started to fear that I’d have to carry this thing back downstairs. Thankfully, though, she opened the door looking fresh and wet in her complimentary bathrobe. She smiled as she opened the door, but when she saw the item in my hands, her eyes grew wide.
Ok, I guess I’ll tell you what I had.
In my arms was a little two foot Christmas tree with lights and ornaments. After the initial shock, Sarah opened the door further to let me in.
“I can’t believe you did this, Chuck,” she exclaimed as she closed the door behind me.
“Well, I thought, ‘what’s Christmas without a tree?’ So I went out and bought you one.” I placed it on the little coffee table in her room.
“You didn’t have to, you know,” she said as she came up to stand next to me.
“I know,” I looked down at her. “Do you see anything else in the tree?”
She gave me her cute confused face again before looking at the tree. And then she noticed it. “Chuck, what is this? A bird with…a calling card?”
“Yeah, there are four of them,” I said simply.
She put the ornament back and looked at me. “Four calling birds,” she said with a smile. I nodded. “Chuck, are you really going to keep doing this?” she asked in such a way that I knew she was enjoying the gifts, she just didn’t want me to go out of my way.
“Of course I am. I have eight days left,” I replied with a smile.
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek. Man, if this was getting me kisses on the cheek, I just couldn’t wait to see what I’d get for the later gifts.
“You know, Chuck, since I know the song, it’ll be harder to surprise me,” she said as she turned back to face the tree.
“Yes, but if you notice, I haven’t gotten you the exact item in the song; they’re variations. So, really, you can know what it will be about, but you won’t actually know what it is,” I said with a smile.
She nodded. “All right.” She walked away and came back with the first gift I gave her. “I thought these would look nicer under the tree,” she explained.
Once she had placed everything under the tree, we both admired it. “Now it looks like a Christmas tree,” I said.
She smiled and leaned against me. “Yeah. It’s nice.”
I looked down at her and placed my arm around her shoulder as we stood and watched the twinkling lights.
...Five Golden Rings
When I got to Casey’s apartment, Sarah was already there sitting on the couch. Thankfully she had her back to me so she didn’t see the box in my hands. When Casey saw it, he rolled his eyes and gave me a look of disgust.
I saw next to Sarah, making sure the box was well hidden beside me, and greeted her. “Good morning, Sarah.”
She looked up from her mug of coffee and smiled. “Good morning, Chuck.” Then her smile faded and a look of seriousness appeared on her face. “Look, Chuck, I was thinking about the song last night, and I don’t think you should give me a gift today.”
I was utterly confused. “What do you mean?”
“Five golden rings. Chuck, I don’t care if they’re fake, I don’t want you to be spending so much on these gifts.”
I smiled at her. “Sarah, do you remember what I told you last night? You’ll have a vague idea of what you’re getting, but I’m throwing spins into them.” She nodded. “Ok, so, I wasn’t planning on giving you rings.” And I pulled out the box beside me and opened the lid.
She laughed at what she saw. “Five pineapple slices.”
“They’re golden, and they’re rings,” I replied as I looked at the cake.
Just then, Casey walked over and sat on the couch adjacent to us. His look of disgust still remained on his face.
“Hey Casey, want some fruitcake?” I asked in a joking tone.
“No thanks,” he said bluntly.
“I’ll eat some,” Sarah said.
“No,” I said, withdrawing the cake from her grasp. “This thing is probably the grossest thing imaginable. I just threw in every fruit in the house.” Sarah gave me a look of shock. I knew what she was thinking: why would I offer the worst thing in the world to Casey and yet not allow Sarah to have any? Simple. I knew Casey wouldn’t take it.
“Aren’t pineapple slices on upside-down pineapple cake?” Casey asked.
“They could be, but fruitcake has many variations. I just added these on top.”
Sarah smiled. “Well, thanks Chuck, I’ll put it under my tree.”
I laughed. “I’m afraid I can’t let you take this cake. It’ll be dangerous for your health. I took a picture of it, and you can put that under the tree.”
“Ok,” she replied trying to smother laughter.
“All right, time to stop flirting, our meeting is about to start,” Casey said.
“Oh, someone’s jealous,” I said with a smirk.
He glared at me. “You wish.” And then he turned on the TV.
Oh, Casey, if only he had known what I was going to use him for…
...Six Geese A-layin'
I laid them out neatly, three in a row. I knew it was a novelty gift, but there was nothing I could think of to make it better. Perhaps I was running out of steam…
Nah.
I admired my work when I heard footsteps coming down the hall. I hid behind a pillar and waited for the footsteps to come closer. They did, and sure enough, they stopped in their tracks. I waited for a response.
Nothing.
So I peeked behind the pillar and saw her looking directly at me with a smirk on her face. “Hi Chuck,” she said.
“Happy sixth day,” I replied.
“I see they’re ‘a-layin’’,” she remarked.
I looked down at the six copies of The Golden Goose. “Yep, they’re just laying there.”
She bent down and started to pick them up. I, in turn, picked up the other half. We walked into her room from there and stacked the books underneath the tree. I noticed she had clipped the picture of the fruitcake on one of the birds that was holding a calling card. I smiled and turned to face her.
“Did you want something to drink?” she offered.
“No thanks. This was actually a stop on my way to a customer’s house.” I smiled at her. She returned. “So, my sister is making Christmas desserts tomorrow, and she’d like it if you came.”
Sarah stared at me. “You wouldn’t like it if I came, though?”
“What? No! I would…I would love it if you came,” I replied with a smile.
She smiled back. “Ok, I’ll be there.”
“Great. We’re starting around six, so, um, yeah.”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“See you tomorrow, then,” I said as I made my way to the door.
She followed me and kissed me on the cheek when we got there. “Bye, Chuck,” she said softly.
I gave her a goofy grin. “Bye, Sarah,” I said equally soft.
Needless to say, I was in good spirits the rest of the day.
...Seven Swans A-swimmin'
Ellie distracted Sarah and everyone by throwing graham crackers and the like in front of everyone while I sneaked away and prepared my next gift.
After ten minutes, and everything was ready, I walked in the living room to see Sarah laughing at a joke my sister just made. At least, I was hoping it was a joke and not an embarrassing story about me when I was younger.
I walked over to their group and their impressive gingerbread house. This thing was gigantic. It was towering over Casey, Morgan, and Anna’s gingerbread house like no other.
But anyway, I achieved eye contact with Sarah and before I could steal her away, she asked, “Where have you been? You’re missing out and making the greatest gingerbread house ever.”
Ellie laughed. “I think she’s high on frosting.”
“Or drunk on your fantastic eggnog,” Devon added while finishing the last swig of his drink.
Sarah’s eyes danced along with her laughter. “I think it’s the atmosphere,” she said.
Ellie and Devon smiled but didn’t read into what she was saying. I, on the other hand, had a vague idea of what she meant. I smiled at her. “Could I see you alone for a second?”
She nodded and stood up, placing her “trowel” of a fragment of graham cracker on the table.
In order to keep up appearances, I grabbed her hand and led her down the hall to the bathroom. I motioned for her to enter first, and when I turned on the lights, her eyes went immediately toward the bathtub.
Inside, floating on the water, were seven copies of The Swan Princess. And at only five bucks per DVD, it was also an awesome bargain.
Sarah laughed and looked at me. “Chuck, this is so…wonderful.”
I smiled at her. “I try my best,” I said with mock modesty.
She put her arms around my middle and hugged me tight. I heard her whisper, “Thank you,”
I wrapped my arms around her and replied softly, “You’re welcome.”
She looked up at me, and I looked down at her. And there was a moment. A moment when I had the opportunity to kiss her, and I decided to take it. I leaned my face toward hers, and, maybe I was imagining it, but she started to crane her face closer toward mine. We were mere inches away when Morgan burst into the room.
Sarah pulled away as quickly as possible, and right then, I was angry at Morgan. “Sorry dude, but I need the bathroom. You’re little moment will have to continue later,” Morgan said as he made his way toward the toilet.
I sighed, and noticed Sarah had got down on her knees to scoop up the DVDs. I went over to help, but she grabbed the last one before I could reach it. She stood up and walked out without saying a word.
I looked at Morgan. “Damn it, Morgan. You couldn’t have waited two more seconds?”
“Dude, what’s the big deal? It’s not like you’ve never kissed her before.”
And I couldn’t reply to that. Because even though Sarah and I weren’t really dating, we had kissed before.
So I walked out and noticed Sarah wasn’t in the living room. “Where’d Sarah go?” I asked Ellie.
“She said she had to go, but don’t worry, I gave her some cookies.”
I sighed and walked to my room.
It was so close. But that’s ok, I thought, there were still five more days.
...Eight Maids A-milkin'
Ok, how on earth was I going to figure out eight maids a-milkin’? So, I ended up doing something extremely lame. Luckily everything that happened during the day before I gave her the gift was good.
I’ll explain. It snowed in the hills. Don’t ask me how it happened, but it did. So Ellie, being the Christmas Fairy, she decided to take a trip out to the hills for some fun in the snow.
It was just going to be Ellie and Devon, and Sarah and me. Somehow Morgan found out, and dragged Anna along, too. So there were the six of us in as many layers as we could muster because we weren’t used to snow in our parts.
So, Ellie planned out games for us and everything. It was fun…until someone decided it would be a good idea to throw a snowball at me. Of course, I retaliated, but missed him and ended up hitting Anna.
Let’s get over the fact that I can’t throw to save my life.
And then Devon thought it’d be a good idea to throw one at Ellie. But she was on the fastpitch team in high school, so she hit him good. Apparently Anna wasn’t great at throwing snowballs either because instead of hitting me, she knocked Sarah right in the face. And I laughed.
Yeah, it’s a bad idea to laugh at a CIA agent.
She pelted one right at me. I shouldn’t have been too surprised that it hurt; she does beat up people occasionally. So, I decided to start attacking her, and she me. It ended up being a pretty vicious snowball fight. Sarah ended up launching one right into my neck. I feigned being wounded, and she rushed over to make sure I was all right, but that was when I tackled her and smooshed a snowball right in her face. But we both were laughing.
And then, being a guy who was practically in love with this woman, I realized that I was almost lying on top of her and had her arms pinned in the snow. She must have realized it too because she stopped laughing.
And so the staring contest began. The moment was here again, and I was not going to let Morgan ruin it again. But, of course, before I could kiss her, a snowball flew right into my side, and I ended up falling over. That one was definitely from Ellie.
Out of nowhere, it seemed like hundreds of snowballs were being thrown at Sarah and me, and we did not have enough power to fire against them. So we ran.
We got to the car, ran inside, and locked the door before they could reach us. I was so glad I had long enough legs to keep up with Sarah the Sprinter. We laughed at everyone still outside as they taunted us about being babies, but we ignored them. Then Sarah turned to look at me, her face bright red from the cold and the running. “So, I haven’t gotten my gift today,” she said.
“I know,” I replied. “Only because it was lame, and I wanted to avoid giving it to you as long as possible.”
She smiled. “Chuck, I don’t think it could ever be lame. It’s the thought that counts, right?”
A smile grew on my face. I now knew she would care about it whether it was the worst gift ever or not. So I reached into the backseat and pulled out the duffel bag I brought with dry clothes to change into later. And I pulled it out. Eight boxes of Milk Duds, except I covered up the word ‘Duds’ with ‘Maids.’
See? Lame.
But Sarah didn’t think so. She laughed and accepted the gift. “These are my favorite candy,” she said.
“Really?” I asked. “Well then, what else is your favorite?”
“What do you mean?” she asked with that adorable confused look.
“I mean favorite book, movie, food, drink…I should know these things,” I said with a shrug. “Right?” I added with a hopeful look.
She nodded. “I guess. It may come up eventually.” She turned in the seat to face me and she told me her favorite things. And no, it was not from The Sound of Music. I could tell it was really Sarah’s favorite things.
We just sat and talked, getting to know each other better, until the rest of the gang appeared looking exhausted and soaking wet from their game. We noticed they did not have any ‘weapons’ in their hands, so we let them get their dry clothes.
All in all, the eighth day was a good day. I may not have gotten anywhere physical with Sarah, but I did become closer to her.
...Nine Ladies Dancing
Ellie is a great sister. I just want to say that before I tell of the ninth day. Seriously, she is so willing to help out with anything. And she’s always been my biggest supporter.
What she did was great. She somehow was able to lead Sarah into the realm of the bedrooms. I think she said she wanted Sarah’s opinion on what color to paint her room. So as she lured Sarah away, Captain Awesome helped me set up the next gift.
With two people, the job was done very quickly, and just in time, because Sarah and Ellie made their way back to the living room. Sarah stopped short once she saw what was on the coffee table. Ellie and Devon snuck out of the room to let us have a moment. Hopefully.
Sarah slowly walked up to the table and watched as the nine Barbie ballerinas spun on their personal mobile. She came over and hugged me tight. Before she did, I thought I saw tears in her eyes, but that was confirmed when I felt my shirt getting wet. “I never had a Barbie before,” she whispered.
“Are you kidding? They’re the fundamental toy for girls,” I said.
She looked up at me. “My parents just got me baby dolls, but I always wished for a Barbie growing up.”
“Well, now you have nine,” I said.
She smiled. “I do. And I think I asked for one every year for nine years, too.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Thank you, Chuck. This really means a lot.”
Ok, that was it. I was in love with Sarah. She seemed so innocent and small right at that moment, and all I wanted to do was protect her and, well, love her. And I knew I could have kissed her right at that moment, but I knew it wasn’t what she needed. So I pulled her close and hugged her tight.
We stood there for a long time in each other’s arms, me falling even more in love with her every moment. I just hoped I wouldn’t be too nervous to speak to her.
During the time we were standing there, I could have sworn I heard her whisper, “This is the best Christmas ever.”
But it could have been something else.
...Ten Lords A-leapin'
Ellie and Devon interrupted us into the night, and Sarah went home with her pink Barbies grinning with their fake smiles.
I told Ellie I thought I had fallen in love with Sarah, and she asked me what she needed to do to make everything perfect. I smiled at her and asked her to help me win Sarah…back.
So she stayed up into the night with me preparing my next gift. When she heard about it, she laughed and said it was definitely a Chuck present. Now I just had to hope that Sarah would enjoy it as much as I was.
The next night, after getting away from an increasingly busy Buy More, I went to her hotel and hoped she wasn’t out saving the world that night. Thankfully she wasn’t, and when she opened the door, my heart flew into my throat and my stomach fluttered in delight at the sight of her. “Hey,” I managed to squeak out.
“Hi,” she responded, almost shyly. She let me in, and I immediately saw the Barbie dolls lined up on the coffee table by her mini tree.
“I may have to get you a bigger tree so you can put everything under it,” I said.
She smiled. “No, I like the cluttered, bursting look. It’s like what a real Christmas should be.”
“I don’t know what you got for Christmas, but my tree never has presents bursting underneath.”
She looked at me skeptically as we sat down. “Oh come on, your tree at home looked pretty full.”
“Yeah, that’s because there are more people to shop for.”
“Who else is there?” She asked.
“Well, you and Casey,” I said.
“Oh,” was her remark.
“My sister thinks you two need a proper Christmas. I’m serious,” I said at her look of disbelief. “There are gifts for you and Casey from each of us. Even Morgan. Which, you probably won’t enjoy too much because he usually buys stuff he likes, and we end up giving them to him.”
She smiled. “I see. Did you want a drink?”
“Just a soda.”
She nodded and pulled two sodas out of the mini-fridge. When she handed me mine I just looked at her as she sat next to me. “What?” she asked.
I narrowed my eyes. “You want to know what your gift is today, don’t you?”
She tried to hide a smile. “Well, it’s becoming a habit. I look forward to when you give me the gift of the day.”
“Is that what we should call it? The Gift of the Day. Or maybe the Gift du Jour, just to sound interesting.”
“If you want to add a French flare, call it le Cadeau du Jour,” she said simply.
“You know French?” I asked.
She nodded. “And Russian, Polish, and Chinese.”
“Wow, you really were made for the CIA,” I remarked, in awe at her brilliance.
Her smile faded a little. “Yeah, I guess I was.”
“What wrong?” I asked.
She looked at me and re-plastered the smile on her face. “Nothing. So, what’s the Gift of the Day?”
“You have to leave for a few minutes,” I said.
“Oh come on, Chuck,” she responded.
“No. If you see one, it just ruins the effect.”
She sighed but stood up. “Fine. I’ll be back,” she said and headed for the bathroom.
I quickly threw the gift onto the coffee table, or at least the space that was left, and organized it to make sure everything was right-side up. When she came back and saw what was there, her face added the cute questionable look to it. “I don’t think I get it.”
“Well, technically, he’s a lord, just a dark one. I didn’t know any other famous lords, so that was all I could do.”
She smiled at me and made it leap. There were ten origami frogs with a picture of Lord Voldemort on top of each one. Yes, ten ‘lords’ that could leap.
Sarah leaned over me and kissed me on the cheek. She didn’t pull away entirely, and looked at me with a curious smile on her face. “I’ll race ya,” she said.
I grinned. “Oh, it’s on, Walker.”
So we raced our poor origami frogs until they all jumped off the coffee table. And after laughing most of the time, and her bright eyes twinkling the whole time, I knew being in love with her would be easy because it seemed so natural to be myself around her anyway.
The more I got to know her, the more I wasn’t as shy or nervous to speak to her. This was definitely a good sign.
And there were only two days until the big finale.
...Eleven Pipers Piping
The second worst day of shopping following only to Black Friday? Christmas Eve. And Big Mike had everyone working the floor that night. It wasn’t just busy at a certain time of the day. Oh no, it was crowded the entire day.
Around six o’clock, an hour before we were closing, the store was at max capacity, and I was trying to make sure guests weren’t trying to walk out the door with their last minute presents before paying. As I directed the fiftieth customer to the checkout lanes, I turned around and saw her face in the crowd. She saw me, seeing as it wasn’t too difficult because of my height, and smiled. Then she swam through the sea of parents and other family members toward me.
“Hi,” she said, or, at least I thought that’s what she said.
“What?” I yelled.
“I got your message,” she screamed back.
“I can barely hear you,” I shouted over the roar of the angry mob.
“Is there somewhere quieter?”
I paused. I didn’t want to take her to the room until after the store had closed. But there was no choice. So I led her to the home theatre room.
As I slid the door closed, I could hear a ringing in my ears from being around the loud crowd all day. “God, it feels good to be away from that,” I said with relief.
She smiled at me. “It’s really busy in there.”
“Yeah. Please tell me you finished shopping last week,” I said as I sat on the couch.
She joined me and answered, “I didn’t have a whole lot of shopping to do, so, yeah, I finished early.”
I nodded. “Good. Because I am not directing you through the store to find something.”
Sarah laughed. “I wouldn’t make you do that.”
“Good.”
She looked at the TV. “Is that thing on?” she asked.
“Um…yeah,” I said.
“People have wanted to test this thing?”
“No, not today.”
“Ok…” she said, not exactly knowing what else to say.
“It’s set up for us, actually,” I admitted.
“Really?”
“Yeah, but we’re going to have to wait until we close.”
She nodded. “All right. Is it fine if I stay in here?”
I smiled at her as I stood up. “Of course. Just don’t try to see what we’re watching. It’s a surprise.”
She smiled. “Ok.”
So I left her in the room and walked out to finish my shift. Good thing I wasn't a closer and didn’t have to stay once the doors were locked.
Once all the customers had left, I snuck back into the room and saw Sarah flipping through channels on the TV.
“Ah man, you saw,” I said.
She looked at me. “No I didn’t. The screensaver was on when I turned the TV on.”
I nodded as I sat next to her. “Uh-huh, and what did it look like?”
She laughed. “Are you seriously questioning me? I am a master at evading them.”
“Oh that’s right,” I said.
She handed me the remote. “Here, let’s watch what we’re watching.”
I took it from her and cued up the DVD player. On the screen appeared Will Ferrell with long hair and a giant mustache. Sarah laughed. I looked at her. “Have you seen this movie before?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Once.”
I smiled. “Great.” And I hit ‘play.’
Will Ferrell played his jazz flute and just as he was about to sit down, I pressed the repeat button, and he was suddenly on the stage again with the flute in his hands. Sarah looked at me with her cute face, but didn’t wait for a response. By the fourth time I repeated his performance, she finally asked me, “What are you doing?”
“We’re watching this scene eleven times,” I said with a small smile.
“Why?”
“Well, he’s piping his piper.”
She grinned at me and continued to watch the movie. I noticed her hand dropped to her side, right next to my hand. After a few seconds, I reached over and grabbed her hand. I glanced over at her face, and she smiled a little.
By the seventh time, I had muted the sound, and Sarah and I were making up our own dialogue. I had something funny, and she laughed and put her head on my shoulder. I lost the ability to speak for the rest of that time, but still managed to cue the scene again.
Finally, we got to the eleventh time. And I think we were both Anchorman-ed out.
“That was fun,” she said with her head still resting on my shoulder.
“Yeah, but I never thought Will Ferrell could get annoying.”
She laughed. “This is the only movie I’ve seen him in, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Really?” I looked down at her mass of blonde hair. “There are so many others you’re missing out on.”
She glanced up at me and just smiled. And another moment happened. It really must have been a good sign if we had been falling into these moments for practically the past four days. So I leaned in, and she started to lean, too, until I felt the couch behind us sink down. We both looked up, and there was Morgan, with his fists pushing the top of the couch down, just staring at us.
“Oh, don’t mind me, keep on doing what you were doing,” he said.
“Morgan, get out of here!”
“See, bro, that’s the thing, I am here to warn you about getting out of here because Big Mike is doing an inspection.”
I sighed. It shouldn’t have been this hard. But we hurried up and left before Big Mike left his office.
As I drove home, I firmly believed that being friends with Morgan was ruining my chances with Sarah.
But that definitely was not going to be the case on Christmas.
...Twelve Drummers Drumming
“Hey, Sarah. It’s Ellie,” my sister said on the phone the next morning. “I know Chuck already invited you over tonight, but I wanted to give you the details. It’s going to be a little dressy. Not, like, a black tie affair, but, you know, a nice dress. It’s a small party I’m throwing before we all open presents. Ok, so, be here at five-thirty, and I’ll see you then.” She hung up and looked at me. “Are you sure she’ll get the message?”
I nodded. “Of course she will.”
She nodded and hugged me. “Good luck, tonight.”
“Thanks, sis.”
She smiled at me. “This is definitely the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. If she doesn’t get back together with you, then I know a dozen other women who would love to date you.”
I smiled. “You already tried that, remember?”
“I know, but I’m doing it because I care.”
“Yeah, too much, Ellie. Now, go cook your goose.”
Ellie turned and walked toward the kitchen. “It’s not a goose; it’s a duck.”
“Same difference,” I replied.
All right, and now I had all day to finish preparing for the big finale. And the twelfth day really was a doozy.
So, five-thirty approached, and I stood outside in my suit-sans tie, it looked like I was trying too hard-and waited for her arrival.
All too soon, I heard her footsteps on the sidewalk and signaled for everyone to start. As I saw her come into view, my heart stopped. Not only was her sincerely surprised face overwhelm me, but she was absolutely stunning in her simple black dress. I took a deep breath and made my way over to her.
“I couldn’t afford real ones,” I said to get her attention.
She looked at me and grinned. “I can’t believe-is that Casey?”
I looked at the twelve people playing toy snare drums. And there stood Casey, frowning as usual, but still beating the drum. “It sure is.”
We turned and looked at each other again. “Wow.”
“Yeah. And this really isn’t even your real gift. All those were just lead-ups to the real gift,” I said pulling out a velvet box.
No, it wasn’t a ring; the box was bigger and flatter than that.
“I have a gift for you, too,” Sarah responded, handing me a medium-sized bag.
We exchanged gifts and opened them. Sarah had given me the original Star Wars trilogy-the first edition ever released. And I had given her a simple silver necklace with a heart charm that had a small ruby in the middle of it. I put a card in it. It said, “You rightfully won this. Take it before I change my mind.”
Her gift may not have been as romantic, but I knew it cost a lot. I was looking to buy it on eBay for some time.
I looked up at her to thank her, and before I could say the words, Sarah grabbed me and kissed me. So I kissed her back. And it was a good kiss. Not needy like the one before we thought we were dying-this one was tender.
When we finally pulled apart, she looked up. “Mistletoe,” she whispered.
I followed her gaze and, sure enough, there was a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the tree.
I laughed a little. I knew it was Ellie who had put it there. “Man, it seems like we’ve been trying to do that forever, huh?” I nodded and grinned. She had been feeling those moments, too! She smiled, and then looked around. “Where did everybody go?” she asked.
“Huh,” I said after looking around. “I guess it’s present time.”
“Well, I already got my presents.”
“Not all of them. There are still a couple from Ellie, Devon, Morgan, and Casey.”
“Casey?”
“Yeah. Surprisingly he got me one, too. It’s just NSA paraphernalia.”
She laughed. “Well, we can go inside in a minute; I just want to thank you for giving me the greatest holiday ever.”
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing her hand and lacing my fingers through hers. I kissed her once again. Man, it felt good to be able to do that. “So, last week you mentioned I gave you a real Christmas,” I said when we pulled apart. “What did you mean by that?”
She shrugged. “I haven’t been able to celebrate it in such a long time. It’s one of my favorite holidays.”
“Well, as long as you’re around the Bartowskis, you’ll always have the biggest celebration ever.”
Sarah smiled. “I look forward to it.”
“Hey, speaking of which, you should totally come to our New Year’s party,” I mentioned as we walked toward the apartment.
“I’ll have to see if I’m busy that night,” she said with a smile.
“What are you talking about? I am your job.”
She laughed as I led the way inside. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.
Happy Christmas!