What a beautiful wedding

wonderful post!!
but where is part two? 'Jack taking off Sue's wedding dress'...?

*wiggles finger* Naughty, Naughty bell!

Soph, I just caught up on your story and it is amazing!!! What a wonderful idea, and I'm loving all the memories!!!

Yes, what did Jack sign to Sue at the end of the ceremony???

Joy

This is such a clever and sweet story. I am enjoying it very much.

Hey Guys (if anyone is still out there!)

Sorry about the lack of posting, I have just had a really hectic week and not got near a computer let alone had time to get online.( I need a sleeping smilie!!!)

Anyway here is part two of the chapter sorry to all those who wanted Jack taking the dress off - you will have to use your imaginations!!!

Enjoy!!!

Soph

Chapter 3, Part 2, Sue's Wedding Dress.

Sue watched her husband’s face as she lifted the dress out of the box and knew he was thinking of their wedding day. Her memory of the dress went back further and she smiled to herself as she remembered the first time she saw it, knowing it was perfect as soon as she set eyes on it.

Lucy, Tara and Sue were spending the day looking for wedding dresses. They had been to a couple of shops but nothing had stood out. This was the last shop on their list for that day, they were starting to get worried, the wedding was only a couple of months away and they hadn’t found anything. They walked into the shop and started having a look. Suddenly Lucy exclaimed and Tara, got Sue’s attention and they headed over to Lucy. Sue took one look at the dress and knew that it was the dress she was going to get married in.
“It’s perfect” she signed, surprised at how emotional she felt.
“Come on then let’s get you in it, see what it looks like on.” Lucy was bouncing up and down in excitement. Tara went to find the owner who got the dress ready for Sue to try it on. She took it into the changing room and tried it on. It would need altering but it was perfect. She came out from the changing room and stood in front of Tara and Lucy, who were silent.
“Well?” she said quietly, hoping they thought the same as she did.
“It’s amazing, fantastic.”
“Jack isn’t going to know what has hit him,” Lucy said with glee, wanting to see Jack Hudson lost for words.

The morning of her wedding she remembered her mum’s face when she had put it on. She had tears in her eyes and it the first time in many years that mother and daughter had truly connected. Her dad was also overwhelmed by the picture she portrayed. As she waited to walk down the aisle she hoped it would have the same effect on Jack it seemed to have on everyone else. As the door’s opened and she started walking down the aisle her eyes sought his, the look on his face made her heart melt, she could see the love shining out from his eyes and the closer he got the more his eyes seemed to say. When she arrived next to him he signed to her that she looked amazing and she was relieved that Jack liked the dress as much as everyone else.

That evening though he seemed to prefer her without it on, he couldn’t wait to get it off once they were alone.

Sue stood up and held it against herself, “Wouldn’t fit now,” she said sadly, Jack hearing the tone in her voice felt the need to reassure his wife that to him she was still as beautiful today as she was on their wedding day.
“You don’t need a dress to make you look beautiful, to me you are as lovely now as you were then” he signed,
Sue smiled at her husband “You blind” she signed back.
“If that means you will always be beautiful then yes” he signed back. Sue gave in and accepted the compliment feeling truly loved.

Such beautiful memories!!!

Joy

Don't worry about not posting regularly, Soph - the bits you manage to get on here are wonderful! The dress...the memories were so vivid, even after all those years! I bet there are still some more wonderful memories there...

that was a wonderful post, well worth the wait



cath

Wonderful post I especially liked this bit made me melt

That's the sort of relationship we should aspire to have ... another loving portrayal.

How endearing.

I agree, yhm.

I would like to my husband would be blind as same as Jack after few decades of our marriage...


Restie

Hey guys,

Thanks for the comments and for continuing to read despite the long gap.

To make up for it and that I may not be able to post again for a while again here is a nice long chapter for you.

Enjoy!!!

Soph


Chapter 4 – Pregnancy!


Sue watched their family as they worked their way through the boxes, their eldest son and daughter trying to hide embarrassing photos and parts of their childhood from their wife and husband. Sue imagined that it was pretty noisy as people seemed to laughing a lot and everyone’s lips were moving at the same time. She felt her heart swell up when she watched them all together, knowing that her and Jack had done a good job raising their family. Two of them were married, with children, and their youngest had just finished college. Suddenly she saw Peter grab something from his wife and started walking towards her, total embarrassment on his face.

“Mum, I can’t believe you kept this!” he said showing her a photo album of him as a baby upto about the age of 4.
“Of course I’m going to keep it, you will keep the ones of Jeremy and Elizabeth won’t you?” Peter didn’t answer and Sue grinned, knowing that she had her son with that one. She took the album out of his hands and said to Hannah, “Do you want to hear some of the stories behind these pictures?” His wife nodded vigorously and headed over to her mother in law, followed by the rest of them, all eager to hear stories about their brother / brother in law. Peter however had the last laugh and grabbed the equivalents for his sister and brother.
“If we are going to embarrass me then we can do these two as well!” he crowed as he headed out the door holding their albums.

Everyone trooped downstairs where Jack joined them. The two boys were still playing outside whilst their new granddaughter was asleep in the main bedroom. As Sue picked up the album something fell out, it was the picture of Peter’s first ultrasound. As everyone appeared to still be talking to each other she allowed her mind to drift back to the time when she realised she was pregnant with Peter.

For their first wedding anniversary Jack had planned a night out at a restaurant for the two of them. They had had a pretty hectic couple of months with two cases that involved a lot of extra work, especially for Sue. She had been struggling to get up in the mornings and falling asleep on the couch most evenings in the week since the second case had been completed. Jack assumed it was just the last couple of months catching up with her. She headed home earlier than Jack as he had a late meeting and she wanted to get ready for him. She sat down on the couch to relax for 5 minutes or so before she went to get changed and the next thing she knew Jack was lifting her up and carrying her upstairs. In the bedroom she looked at the clock and was horrified to see it was 9:30. She had slept right through the evening.

“I’m sorry” she signed, “I spoilt your plans by sleeping”
“Don’t worry, I could have woken you but figured if you had fallen asleep that early you must need it so I left you alone. There will be other evenings we can go out.”
“But this was our first anniversary, it is supposed to be special” Sue was nearly in tears.
“Hey, it was special, it is the day that is special not what we do. A year ago you made me the happiest man alive when you married me, and I think that if possible I am happier today than I was then. The last year has been the best of my life and to think that I have years and years ahead of me like this one takes my breath away. Today was special full stop. I wanted to say thank you for the last year by taking you out, but I can do that just as well here, by letting you sleep when you need to. I love you Sue and I hope you don’t need fancy restaurants and anniversary’s to know that.”

Sue could feel the tears streaming down her face. She had never felt so loved in her life as she did when Jack finished what he was saying and signing. She looked up at the eyes that she got lost in every time she looked at them and signed back to him,
“I feel the same way Jack, I have never been happier than I have been in the last year. I know you love me and I hope that you know how much I love you.”
Jack confirmed his knowledge with a kiss that reflected their feelings, and that inevitably led to further demonstrations of their love.

As they lay in bed Sue remembered she hadn’t given Jack his present. She turned to face him,
“You haven’t had your present from me yet?” she signed, watching Jack’s face as he realised she was right.
“So that wasn’t it?” he said as he winked at her.
She decided to ignore his comment and continued signing.
“You know I have been feeling really tired lately, well I went to the doctor yesterday morning as I had an idea what it could be. Jack I’m pregnant, you are going to be a daddy!” she watched his face as he registered her comment and it moved from surprise to sheer joy, she was sure he had tears in his eyes.
“Really, we are going to have a baby?”
Sue nodded and enjoyed watching the emotions cross his face.

He pulled her into his arms and held her there for what seemed like forever, not that she minded, she loved being in his arms. When they broke away she saw the joy in his eyes and knew it mirrored hers. They were going to be parents. As happy as she had been yesterday, this was a whole new level of happiness.

They had decided to keep the pregnancy to themselves for a while but the next week a case came up that meant that they had to tell Garrett, which in turn meant the team had to know. That first pregnancy wasn’t easy for the two of them. Jack had wanted to wrap her in cotton wool whilst she had wanted to remain active for as long as possible. They had a couple of big arguments about it but by the 5 month of the pregnancy they had reached an agreement which they were happy with. Jack still worried about her, but he trusted her to know how far she should go and Sue reigned in some of her more adventurous ideas and peace reigned.

Finding out she was pregnant with Katy and Tom carried the same joy as when they first discovered she was pregnant with Peter. Their family was the most important thing to them and once Peter was born they decided that Sue would work flexibly. Any tapes that needed transcribing she would do at home when the kids were asleep, if she was needed in the Bullpen then the kids came into the Bullpen or were put into daycare and if she was needed on operations then it was agreed that Jack wasn’t involved. This worked for everyone, and continued throughout the children’s school years whilst they were both working on active cases.

As she finished remembering she blushed noticing all her family watching her and wondering what she was thinking about.
“Just remembering a few things.” she said, as she opened Peter’s album and started explaining the stories behind some of the photos.

wonderful posts, Soph! loved it that Jack felt their anniversary was special no matter what they did and I suppose he recieved the best present he could ever wish for!

Your flashbacks are really touching

I just caught up again, Soph!! I love the flashbacks and Jack and Sue's children!! I really have a sense of love and family reading this!!!

Joy

All these flashbacks are so tender and sweet. Great work Soph.

Another set of wonderful memories and a family to be proud of. They obviously brought up well-adjusted kids.

Two questions, though: (1) did Jack stay in the unit throughout? Not sure if I missed this, (2) why on earth is the first born called David?!

I'd been wondering....

Great chance to see how Sue and Jack's love has progressed throughout the years and how it has been reflected on their children.

Jack and Sue as grandparents. Well, life happens.

Wonderful memories, Chelse! But why David????

i was wondering about David but this was a wonderful post so...........



cath

I am sure, Jack knew what Sue was thinking about they know each other so well!!!!

Perfect part!!!!

What next???


Restie

Just a quick reply as to why David!!!

It was a name that arrived in my head and wouldn't go away, so I used it completely forgetting about the David in the series. By the time I remembered I had already used the name.

I have been thinking about changing it to Daniel - what do you think? If it won't be too confusing I might try to do that next week - the more I think about it the more I think Jack wouldn't have wanted his first born called after one of Sue's exes!!!

Not sure when posting again so have a good weekend all, thanks for the comments and sticking with it. Really appreciate it and will post again when I get the time.

Soph

Ummm ... sweetie ... does the name Dan Malone ring a bell? Can't really see Jack agreeing to that either ...

I don't know about David or Daniel - maybe some other name with a "D"???

Have a wonderful weekend yourself, Soph!!!

Joy

Hmmm, having a hard time with this one huh Soph?! What about Dylan? Dawson? Darren? Dominic? Dallas? Um, running out of ideas here....wait, here's one I found on the Internet: Dadgayadoh!

BTW: Turns out "Dadgayadoh" is from the Seneca (Native American) tribe and means "gambling men"!

Wow -- this is wonderful. I so love the memories you have interwoven into your story, confirming what I've always known -- Jack and Sue's love would last a lifetime.

kav

Doh,

How about Peter, I can't remember any dodgy Peter's but then Daniel and David didn't click until later!!!!

Another post very soon!!!

Soph

As promised, next chapter!!!

I will change David's name when I can find one that doesn't have a 'past' something I haven't managed so far!!!

Kav, welcome to the story - thanks for the comments, hope you continue to enjoy the memories.

JF, not sure I could pronounce that one, let alone his brother and sister - can you imagine the abbreviations of that

Thanks to those of you sticking with me on this, I am sorry the posts are few and far between, time isn't my friend at the moment. I have more written the problem is getting online to post them.

Anyway enough rambling, next chapter, short one this time, next one is longer promise!!!!

Enjoy!

Soph



Chapter 5 - Lunchtime

By the time they had finished looking at the albums it was lunchtime, everyone crowded into the big kitchen and started making food for themselves. Jack was immediately transported back to when all the kids were teenagers and they had their friends round.

Every weekend or school holiday the kids friends inevitably ended up at their house and they all tended to congregate in the kitchen at any sort of meal time. Sue would be cooking or preparing completely oblivious to all the noise going on around her. When food was ready she would take what she wanted and some for Jack and then leave the kids to fight it out for what was left. As she couldn’t hear the squabbling she didn’t have to get involved and the kids soon learnt to sort it out themselves. Jack couldn’t get over how much noise these teenagers made!

The teenagers would then decamp back to their rooms or to in front of the TV and the kitchen would remain peaceful again until the next meal time. One particular day stood out above all. It was a Saturday and as usual all the kids were around their house, Peter and Katy shared many of the same friends and they had all been to watch Katy play soccer. It seemed as though the whole team plus supporters had turned up and Sue as usual had disappeared into the kitchen and managed to somehow pull together enough food for them all. They all moved into the den to watch a movie and then Tom and his friends turned up and took what was left. After the movie had finished, the other kids left as Saturday evenings were family time, the 5 of them did something together. Jack came back into the house from the garden as they were all leaving. He watched as one of the teenagers turned to Katy and asked her something. Katy signed something back to her and she repeated the sign. Katy nodded and the girl then walked up to Sue, got her attention and signed,

“Thank you, food great,” she clearly wanted to say more and couldn’t so she leant up and kissed Sue on the cheek. The other kids all said thank you and they left. What Jack didn’t know at the time was that girl had a particularly harsh home life and coming to their house provided some sort of sanctuary for her.

The next time Jack watched them as they all left, more of the teenagers signed thank you to Sue. He looked on with pride as he realised how much his wife had touched the lives of these kids. Some of them were not as lucky as their children, products of a loving family, and it was these kids that seemed to appreciate what Sue did for them.

As Jack returned to the present he noticed the kitchen had emptied and he was left with not a lot, he grabbed what was left and followed everyone into the den for the next set of boxes and memories.

Great stuff Soph.

Btw, no idea how you'd pronounce that name...but you could use the copy & paste function to type it in your story!

You know when the kids in a neighborhood flock to one home that it is a testament to the fact that there is something very special about the family who lives there.
Kids recognize a loving, committed family when they see one.

that was another wonderful post, well worth the wait, loved how you had friends signing to sue

cath

I can certainly see that's the way Sue would be. I love the image of a bustling, thriving household stuffed so full of love there's enough left to spill over and bless anyone who happens through their door.

kav

And so do we!

I love the moment when the girl signed Sue "thank you"... I love the fact she asked their daughter how can sign this word ... It shows how much love Sue is able to broaden around her...

I love it!!!


Restie

Wow, Soph, that was a stunning post, I was really touched. It seems natural for Jack and Sue to have such a loving house and family. I simply loved it, don't worry about posting slow we'll be waiting, just don't forget the 16th!!

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the comments, I'm glad that chapter said what I wanted it to, wasn't sure if it would or not.

yhm, noticed I didn't answer your question about Jack - he was with the unit for a number of years but promotions meant he ended up higher up than that - hope that helps! Sorry about the delay in answering!

Thanks again for sticking with this story, apologies for not posting much recently, life has been hectic, it calms down for the next week so I should be able to get it finished and posted on time!!!

Anyway enough rambling - next chapter for you.

Enjoy!!!

Soph

PS Hope Peter doesn't have any bad connections as that is what I am going to change the name to!!!

Chapter 6 - The Family Part 1 - Peter

As they rooted through the boxes the different personalities of their children appeared in the stuff that had been stored. None of their children had turned out to be deaf however they were all bilingual in both ASL and English. They had been bought up with signing and it was natural for them to learn it as they learnt English. Jack and Sue thought back across the years and how their children had ended up as the adults they were.

Peter was always the studious one, he loved school and studying and always had his head in a book, or was on the internet finding out new information. Sue and Jack made sure that he didn’t study to the detriment of everything else though and he still enjoyed playing sport as a hobby. However it was watching sport that he really enjoyed. He loved going to watch his dad play ice hockey as a small child and when Jack took him to his first NHL game the smile didn’t leave his face for weeks. It was the same when he went to his first NBA, NFL and baseball games. Before he went to matches he would find everything he could out about the teams playing and then spend the day after the match writing a report on the game, which he made his family read! He loved watching all sports and would annoy his would still always turn up to his sister’s soccer matches and report on them. Throughout high school he wrote for the paper and by his sophomore year he was writing reports on the varsity teams. As a senior he was the sports editor and did a very good job, combining good journalism with unbiased editing. It was apparent that was where his future lay. He studied journalism at college, applying to cofamily when watching games by reeling out stat after stat after stat about whatever game or team they were watching. He often wrote reports on his sister’s soccer matches that would end up on the internet as the match report for that game, and by the time he got to high school he had earned himself a reputation as a good reporter. He joined the school paper as an assistant in the sports team and within a couple of months was reporting on the junior varsity matches in a variety of sports. However it didn’t matter what he else he could have been reporting on, helleges with both excellent sporting and academic faculties ensuring he could combine both loves. He soon became the lead sports journalist on the college paper and most of his summers were spent interning for the sports team at the Washington Post. He graduated at the top of his class and was offered posts in a number of high quality papers around the country. However his heart was in Washington and he accepted the Post’s offer as a cub reporter. That was nearly 10 years ago and he was now one of the best known sports writers in the country. Hannah had been a photographer on the paper at college and they had met and fallen in love. In the early days of their career their relationship hadn’t been easy as they both often had to travel the country. Ultimately though they both decided their relationship was more important to them than their jobs and both started travelling less once they were married. Once the children arrived Hannah had limited herself to local landscapes, trying to look at them differently, whilst Peter began writing more commentary type pieces, and had started thinking about writing a book.

I really like your insights to their lives looking forward to reading more, will you be taking us through Jack and Sue's two other children Katy and Tom too?

Sounds like Peter has turned out to be a son Jack and Sue can be very proud of.

Definitely a son to be proud of ... and what encouraging parents Jack and Sue must have been.

No worries about my question about Jack's career ... but it does tell you how good you've been at making him so real, I need to know!

Well naturally a couple that is just so perfect would be wonderful parents as well!

definately a son to be proud of

great post, looking forward to reading about the others

cath

Hey Guys,

Next one for you!!!

Enjoy!!!

Soph

Chapter 6 - The Family Part 2 - Katy

Katy was the sporty one, she used to play sport pretty much everyday after school, soccer, softball, basketball. Her favourite sport was soccer though and she was a pretty decent player. In Junior High her grades started to suffer though and Sue and Jack stopped her playing until they improved. She soon learnt her lesson and made sure her grades didn’t fall below a C again! When she was 10 she was spotted playing for her local team and asked if she would like to play for one of the best junior clubs in the area. She jumped at the chance and she continued to improve, becoming school captain for both Junior varsity and varsity. Jack and Sue would often spend weekends ferrying her around to various matches throughout DC, Peter and Tom were dragged along too, Peter killed time by writing reports whilst Tom found out everything he could about the local area. She went to college on a soccer scholarship and spent her college days playing soccer and studying sport science. She was planning to become a physiotherapist if her soccer career didn’t work out. In her second year she was the victim of a nasty tackle that broke her leg. She was in plaster for 6 months and had to undergo a number of operations meaning she missed too much school so she didn’t complete the year. She moved back to DC but she became introspective and spent most of her days in her room. Everyone tried everything they could think of to cheer her up but she remained quiet and depressed. During the summer her friends from high school were back from college and they came round and spent some time with her. One friend persuaded her to come to watch their old soccer team junior team who she helped coach, one weekend. Katy reluctantly agreed but was sure it would hurt too much to watch them do what she could no longer do. She watched the kids and was soon pointing out mistakes they were making to her friend and making suggestions to improve. She found a new way to continue in the sport she loved. That weekend the old Katy returned and the rest of the summer she spent a lot of time with her old club helping coach the kids. She went back to college with renewed determination to complete her studies as a physiotherapist and went back to football to help with coaching. She qualified as a physio and after gaining experience in a practice set up on her own. She met her husband through work and they married within 6 months of meeting. A year later they had a son and he was the apple of their eye. Michael was a baseball coach at her old High School and they lived round the corner from Jack and Sue.

Double post stupid computer!!!!

Soph

another great post



cath

Another great kid for Jack and Sue. Yet I like how you showed she is human too like the rest of us and deals with things like depression. Great job Soph!

Part three of the children for you!

Enjoy!

Soph

Chapter 6 - The Family Part 3 - Tom

Tom was completely different to both his brother and sister. In many ways he most like Sue, with her heart and her way with people. He looked like Jack though with his father’s eyes which was to cause many a broken heart in his teenage years. As a child he was always determined to keep up with his brother and sister, despite being a few years younger than them. He would often find himself in situations he couldn’t get out of as a result! However Peter and Katy would look out for him and Sue never found out about most of the scrapes he got into. He was fascinated by the world and his room had a huge world map on the wall and a globe on his desk. He spent hours watching the Discovery and similar channels and watching DVDs of those programmes. When they went away on family holidays he found out everything he could about the area and what the nature was like there, and would bore them about it the way Peter bored them about sport!

He had being keen to go to Grand Canyon since he was tiny but Jack and Sue wanted to wait until they felt he was old enough to really appreciate it. By the time he was 8 and had watched every programme on it and read most books about it they figured they should take him. They went over the Easter break so it wasn’t too hot and none of them would ever forget the look on his face when he first stood on the rim and looked around, it was pure happiness. When Sue took him on a helicopter flight over it whilst the other three went for a walk into the Canyon, he didn’t stop smiling from the start until the end.

He joined the Scouts and went camping all over America. Throughout High School he took every opportunity he could to travel places, working a variety of jobs to pay for trips himself. When his sister’s soccer team went on tour he offered himself as a kit man so that he could travel with them. He often begged his brother to take him with him when he got to travel for the Post and more often than not Peter swung him a job as a runner for the journalist he was shadowing at the time. When Peter was a journalist in his own right he would take Tom along as his runner, when it didn't interfere with school. His grades were always in the top few in his class and despite the fact he wanted to see as much as the world as possible he chose a college in DC, studying Geography. Summers were spent travelling and exploring his own country, wanting to know as much about it as possible. He graduated top of his class and as a reward his family paid for him to spend the summer backpacking round Europe. Peter and Hannah met up with him in London where Peter was doing some work on British sport and soccer in particular. That summer confirmed to him that he wanted to see the rest of the world. He was still trying to work out the best way to go about it!