Hey guys,

This idea has been wondering round my head for a while now and the challenge has proven the perfect opportunity to see where it goes...

Hopefully it will make sense - flashbacks are in Italics.


Soph


Spring Cleaning

Chapter 1 – Moving Day

Sue Hudson climbed upstairs to the attic. It was that time of year again, the time of year when you looked at the stuff you had accumulated over the years and thought about getting rid of the stuff you hadn’t used or even looked at in decades. Their attic was full of stuff like that, going back to when they first moved into the house all those years ago. She smiled at the memory that returned to her as clear as if it was yesterday…

short......... too short in fact but intriguing


cath

definatly got my attention

Yay! Anthother story by Soph.

No ... wait ... the other Sue Hudson ... this better not be the same heartbreaking Sue Hudson ... AND WHADAYA MEAN MEMORIES?

How old is this Sue Hudson?

YAY another story participating in the challenge

and it is about my favo. couple again

can't wait to see where you're going with this

Very interesting, but we need more! Good start Soph! Looking forward to the next part

Um, I think your first post got cut off in the middle! Where's the rest?

I agree. Intriguing.

I love the thought Jack and Sue are married and I can't wait to read about their life together!!!!


Restie

i am hooked!!!!!!

Thanks for the comments guys,

yhm, it is a different Sue Hudson, I think we have all had enough for the minute, as for the other questions you'll just have to wait and see "

Longer post this time as the first one was so short! Enjoy!

Soph

Sue laughed as Jack picked her up and carried her over the threshold. He put her down in the hall and leaned in for a kiss, she returned the kiss with fervour, completely losing herself in her husband’s lips. They were interrupted by Levi bounding up to them and nearly knocking them over so eager he was to see them.
“Hey fella, we missed you, did you miss us?” Jack leant down and greeted him whilst Sue recovered her breath.
“He sure did, he lay under one or other of your desks everyday looking very sorry for himself the entire week.” Jack looked up to see Lucy following the dog into the house.
“Hey Luce, thanks for looking after him and thanks for bringing him back so soon, I know Sue missed him despite having my company for the week.” And they both turned to look at Sue as she greeted her dog.
She was stroking him and hugging him and talking to him, as if they had been parted for years instead of just a week.
“Hey looks like the honeymoon is over mate, your wife seems to have found a new love!” Jack looked up and saw Bobby standing there smiling.
“Crash, I might have known Lucy would have spread the word we were back.” He looked at Lucy who had the grace to look sheepish, “Oh and by the way, this honeymoon is going to last for years!” he winked at Bobby who laughed out loud.
Sue looked up at that point and saw Bobby laughing, she looked at Jack and signed “What he laughing at?” Jack just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

All four friends moved into the living room that was devoid of furniture at the moment, to get out of the doorway. Jack and Sue had yet to move their furniture into the house, only having finalised the deal the morning of their wedding.

“Well I suppose we need to start moving furniture, otherwise we are going to be eating, seating and sleeping on the floor,” Jack said looking around again.
“We are already on it, Sparky” Bobby said, “Myles and Tara are on their way to your place with a van whilst D, Donna and family are meeting us there. We are having a moving party. Shall we go?”
Jack and Sue looked at each other, once again amazed by their friends generosity in giving up their weekend to help them.
“Wow, we don’t know what to say, Thank you. I guess we should get moving!”

By Saturday evening Jack’s apartment was empty and they had ordered in takeaway for everyone. Sunday was spent moving Sue’s belongings and shopping for things they realised they hadn’t got. By the time everyone left Sunday evening Sue and Jack had boxes everywhere and the house looked chaotic. They had collapsed onto the sofa and just sat there for a while enjoying each other’s company and taking in the fact they now had their own house together. They both knew they were grinning inanely and couldn’t stop themselves,, this was the beginning of what was going to be a long and happy life together.

“It certainly is!” Sue thought to herself as she remembered how they felt that evening in their own home. It had been 30 years ago that they had moved in and now it was time to move out. They had both recently retired from the bureau and had decided they wanted to see some of the world they had worked so hard to make a better place over the last 30 years, so they were selling their big family house and buying a smaller place, they didn’t need all the rooms they had now the kids were grown up and had left home, and using the money to fund their trip.

Sue turned round feeling someone behind her. She smiled when she saw her husband’s head peek up through the hole.
“That time of year again?” he signed knowing the light up here wasn’t good enough for her to see his lips.
“Yes, and this time we really need to sort this out, we definitely haven’t got room to keep it all at the new place!”
“How about we ask the family round at the weekend and they can take what they want once we have gone through it initially?”
“Sounds good to me! Fancy getting started now, I was just remembering the first weekend we moved in, I have a feeling that we are going to unearth a lot of memories in the next few days.”

Wow - this is kind of different! 30 years down the road!!!! Fabulous! I hope we get to see a lot of memories. Cleaning the attick from 30 years of storage...if that isn't spring cleaning, I don't know what is!!!!

Wow 30 years in the future. Looking forward to seeing what they have done

30 years of memories and we are the ones who get to relieve them? Awesome and what a hoot!

I absolutely love your take on the title, This is a brilliant and original way to tell a story of their life together.

Can't wait for more as I loved your other stories tooQ

amy

30 years worth of memories. This should be a great read.
Carry on, chelseasoph.

I thought so <grins> that's why I asked you how old Sue was.

What a brilliant way to give us an insight into their life! Can't wait!

30 yrs of memories we are so going to have fun!!!!



soph please continue!!!!!

Soph, I like your stories... you always give me the feeling they found something special and they are aware of it... I can't wait to read more


Restie

*sigh* memories

Guys,

Thanks for the comments just hope I don't disappoint you. I have a few ideas but if anyone else wants to suggest ideas for memories then feel free - the more ideas the better!!!

Flashbacks are still in Italics.

Enjoy!

Soph

Chapter 2 Part 1 – Newspaper Cuttings

They started to sort the boxes, containers etc into groups to make it easier to work through. Luckily through the years they had labelled boxes that they had put up there, and soon the boxes were piling up in different areas – the kids had an area each, stuff they had inherited from their parents had an area, their early years had an area and then there was a miscellaneous area which was for boxes that weren’t labelled or for things they had no idea why they had kept. As they worked through the boxes they were soon reminiscing over past events, with the oddest item bringing back the most vivid memory. They found a box that was full of ice skates and hockey jerseys, ranging from tiny ones to full adult ones, bringing back a number of memories.

Another box was full of newspaper cuttings and photos, it was all cases they had been involved in that their parents had saved the cuttings from, both sets being incredibly proud of them and the careers they had. They moved that one to the side deciding to take it downstairs when they had finished and have a look through it remembering past cases.

By lunchtime they had finished separating the boxes out and had 4 areas of boxes and containers. In the middle was a pile of things that could be binned immediately. They took these downstairs along with the box of scrapbooks and newspaper cuttings. Jack took the rubbish out to the bin whilst Sue prepared lunch. Over lunch they started looking through the books. Jack’s went back further than Sue’s and they glanced through those first. Jack remembering cases and explaining them to Sue, most of which she knew of, some however were new.

The first one they came across where they had both worked the case was the Simon one. Sue still shivered when she remembered what happened and how lucky she had been that Jack had forgotten his phone. Jack’s mind went back to that day when he walked into the flat and what happened once Simon had been taken away.

He noticed Sue was no longer in the lounge, he noticed her bedroom door open and walked towards it wondering if she was OK. He heard sobbing coming from behind the door and he went in, his heart breaking at the sound. Sue was lying on the bed, face down crying into her pillow. Levi lay next to her trying to offer comfort. He sat down on the bed and started stroking her back, trying to calm her down. After a couple of minutes he could feel the crying lessening but he continued stroking her back, not wanting to break the contact with her. Soon she turned round and she allowed herself to be pulled into his arms where he held her tight to him, loving the feeling of her in his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder and he stroked her hair whispering reassurances into her hair, knowing she couldn’t hear them but needing to say them. They stayed like that for a while, neither of them wanting to let go. It was at that point that Jack’s feelings crystallised and he knew he loved Sue completely.
It wasn’t until they were together that Jack found out about the nightmares that plagued Sue after that. She had made Lucy promise not to tell him and as much as Lucy hated it she had kept the promise.

If Jack was honest with himself he had never truly forgiven himself for that, if he had admitted his feelings to her then, she might have opened up to him and he may have been able to do something to help with the nightmares. Sue had assured him time and time again that it wasn’t his fault but deep down he still felt guilty about it.
Sue looked over at her husband and knew what he was thinking, she had told him many times that there was nothing he could have done to have prevented the nightmares but he refused to believe that. She leant over and kissed him, telling him again that it wasn’t his fault. When they moved apart he looked sheepish, knowing what the kiss meant.

See, even painful memories can be good to share. I trust you to give us some fuzzy memories too?

A little does wonders to cheer you up too even if it was for something that happened a long time ago.

so sweet, so many memories................

bet there will be lots of

could be a long time clearing the house

cath

At this rate, soph, they'll need another 30 years to clear that space

But I'm so glad they have each other to share the moemories with, good or bad. Makes them twice as good and half as bad.

That is so touching... I love the feeling of intimacy which I can feel from them... you described them so well!!!

Thanks!


Restie

Loved the idea, Soph, I'm sure we'll have some nice fuzzy memories with them.

I really like this flashback idea Soph. I'm eager to find out what happened with Jack and Sue through 30 years!

Hey Guys,

Next post, the next week I am all over the place and not sure when I will get to post, so apologies in advance if they are few and far between.

Don't worry there will be fuzzy memories coming soon!!!

Enjoy!

Soph

Chapter 2 Newpaper Cuttings Part 2

They looked over a number of other articles detailing cases they had worked on, until they came across one which made both them both stop and remember.

It had started out as a normal case, nothing seemingly too dangerous, no foreseeable problems, however the deeper they dug, the more they found out and the more dangerous the case became. The whole team became endangered by the case as they had linked things back to one of the biggest names in crime there was. If they could implicate him and make anything stick then a good number of cases could be declared closed. They had been doing some surveillance work in a casino when the guy they wanted started chatting Sue up. The team pulled her out of there quickly but it had been suggested that she go back and try to become his girlfriend.
By this time they were together but were on probation working together, and this was going to be the ultimate test of whether their relationship could work in work as well as out of work. Sue wasn’t particularly happy at the thought of having to play someone’s girlfriend with her inexperience but didn’t want to flag that as the issue as it was a personal decision. Jack wasn’t happy because of the danger it would place her in but that was almost secondary to her concerns. In the end however they weren’t given much choice and Sue went in undercover as a potential girlfriend. It was also decided that Jack and Sue couldn’t see each other during that time and that Sue wouldn’t work at the FBI, they placed her in a school teaching so that if she was followed or checked out everything added up.
During the month that followed Sue had minimal contact with the rest of the team except Lucy, and she was put into situations that she hated. However she managed to blow the case open for them and they planned an elaborate take down. During the take down Sue was taken as a hostage and the SWAT guy wasn’t careful enough with the shot and caught Sue. Jack and Myles were also injured but they got the guy and 6 months later he and a large number of his team were put away for a long time. Jack’s injuries weren’t that serious however Sue was badly injured and in intensive care for a number of days. Jack managed to persuade the doctors to let him sit with her and he never left her bedside until she woke up. Once she was well enough to leave the hospital she was given a month off to recuperate. Jack took the time off as well and they spent the time together.

Sue looked back at that month as one of the happiest of her life. Starting from the moment Jack picked her up from the hospital,

“You ready to get out of here?” he signed, “Because I have permission to take you home”
Sue looked at him with tears in her eyes, she couldn’t believe she was actually being allowed out of this place.
“You bet,” she signed back, “I never want to see this place again.”
Jack put her bag on his shoulder, and his other arm around her to give her some support, she was still weak. Sue leaned on him gratefully and they headed out of the hospital. Jack made her wait in the lobby whilst he went and got the car and he then carefully escorted her to the car. As she sat down she felt a rough sensation on her cheek and turned round to see Levi on the back seat, his whole body shaking his tail was wagging so hard. Sue buried her head in his fur, trying to hide the tears from Jack as he sat in the drivers seat. She had missed Levi so much and combined with the relief at being out of the hospital it was too much and her emotions took over. Jack guessed as much and just sat there, waiting for them to subside. When she looked up he leant over and wiped the tears from her cheeks, “Come on let’s get you home” Sue just nodded, grateful that he understood and didn’t need an explanation.

Back at her place the team were waiting to welcome her back and she starting crying again! This time it was happiness and not emotion that caused them and she was just pleased to see everyone. They only stayed for a while, they could see how tired she was and when they left Jack and Lucy insisted she went to bed. She didn’t argue with them as she felt really drained. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and slept right through until the next morning. She spent much of the next week asleep or just resting in the lounge and whenever she woke up Jack was there, didn’t matter what time of day or night it was. He wouldn’t let her lift a finger for herself. By the end of the first week she felt much better and was ready to get out the flat. They went for a short walk with Levi and for the first time in over a month Sue looked more like her old self. That evening she told Jack exactly what had happened in the month they hadn’t seen each other. She told him everything, not wanting to or able to hold anything back. Jack didn’t tell her for a number of years what he felt when she told him what had happened, at the time he just held her and listened. As she sat in his arms and relayed the story she had never felt safer. That night they just stayed on the sofa and chatted about their feelings and caught up with each other after the last 6 weeks or so. Jack stayed the night with Sue as neither of them wanted to be apart. The next morning waking up in Jack’s arms was the best feeling in the world.

WOW ....waking in the arms of the man you love!!!


can't wait for more!!!

If the rest of the memories are even better than this, you've created an extremely long and happy marriage that they can be proud of.

Great story looking forward to reading their next memory

I don't normally like to resort to the use of the ditto but...

That's true love! Those memories are very fond memories, even though this particular case must have been hard on both of them. I hope that we can take this as an indication that the marriage has been (and still is!) a succesfull, loving and strong one...

Neither do I, but I couldn't have said it better

Hey guys,

Bonus post for you courtesy of a leaking hot water tank and me waiting for a plumber when I should be at work!!!

Think you will like this memory! Enjoy!!!

Soph

Chapter 2 Part 3 Newspaper Cuttings

The next few days were merged together in Sue’s memory, she can remember grocery shopping and going for walks and just spending time with Jack. However the following weekend will remain clear in her memory forever, it was the weekend Jack proposed to her.

“I need to do a few things today, so I’m leaving you in Lucy and Tara’s capable hands, I’ll see you this evening.” Jack said as he finished his breakfast. He leant over and gave Sue a kiss, and then left. When he shut the door Sue felt as if she had lost part of her. They had spent so much together recently that being with out him was an odd feeling. However she didn’t have time to dwell on it as Lucy appeared ready to go shopping. They were meeting Tara at the mall and the three of them were having a girly day. Sue was looking forward to catching up with all the gossip from work as well doing some retail therapy.

That evening at 7pm exactly the doorbell went, Jack walked into the room holding a single red rose and was dressed in a tux. Sue’s heart started beating that bit quicker at the sight, he looked amazing. She can’t have looked bad herself as Jack appeared lost for words when he saw her. He eventually signed “Wow” and handed over the red rose he was holding. It was at that point that Sue realised tonight was going to be special.

They drove to Jack’s where he had gone all out to create an amazing set up.
“I thought a restaurant might be a bit much, and I wanted to do this just us, hope it is OK?” Sue saw the uncertainness in his eyes and she quickly reassured him it was fine. He sat her down at the table and then sat opposite her. Then Bobby appeared dressed up as a waiter.
“Wine madam?” he asked Sue nodded and he poured her a glass, then Jack. He reappeared to serve the food and then once they had eaten he left after saying goodnight.

Once he had left Jack stood up moved round to where Sue was. He knelt down in front of her and started signing,
“Sue, you make me happier than I have ever been before, these last couple of weeks have been amazing, just to spend that much time with you, to wake up with you every morning and to share everything with you. I want to continue doing that for the rest of our lives together. Sue Thomas will you marry me?”

Sue saw the tears and apprehension in his eyes and saw the apprehension become joy when she signed “Yes”
“Yes, you’ll marry me?”
“Jack Hudson I would be honoured to marry you. Yes, yes yes!”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box which he opened and Sue saw a simple diamond solitaire there. He took it out and placed it on her finger.
“If you don’t like it we can change it.”
“It’s perfect, thank you.”
Jack stood up, pulling Sue with him, and they shared a kiss that made all previous kisses pale into insignificance.

Jack watched his wife as she fingered her engagement ring. He knew she was thinking about the day he proposed, she always fingered her ring when she was. He thought back to how scared he was that day, how he was sure it was too soon and that she would turn him down. When she agreed to marry him he was the happiest man alive. He don’t think he had ever felt like that since, the birth of his children came close, but to him Sue agreeing to marry him was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Best thing that happened to us too ...

You have no idea what a sense of serenity I feel when I read this story. Even having a plumber (it had to be a plumber, right, Soph?) doesn't make it less warm and fuzzy.

Perfect parts, Soph.... I really enjoy reading your stories...

Thank you!!!!

What next?


Restie

Aww that was lovely

that was a lovely post just like rosa said

is Jack a romantic or what ?

and why did you had to bring up Simon?? now I need ti re-read it so that I could feel better...

So purely sweet and beautiful. I love starting my day with such wonderful fuzzies!

Thanks for the nice comments guys and sticking with it.

This is me after the plumber told me I needed a new hot water tank and how much it would cost
Me when I realised that was my holiday fund for this year gone on a hot water tank

oh well these things happen onwards and upwards as they say.

Another post for you.

Enjoy!

Soph


Chapter 3 – Sue’s Wedding Dress - Part 1

The next day the two of them headed upstairs into the attic and started bringing the boxes downstairs. They started with the kids boxes and stacked them in the spare room, ready for when the whole family came round to sort through and decide what they wanted to keep and what to throw away. Soon the spare room was full of boxes and they had a much emptier attic. This gave them a bit more room to sort out the many boxes full of their stuff they had up there. They moved the stuff they had inherited from their parents relating to their childhoods to one side and started to sort through what was left. There wasn’t that much as most of the boxes had appeared to have belonged to the kids. As Jack lifted one box out of the way, Sue exclaimed at what was underneath. Jack passed her the box, thinking it was familiar but not able to place it specifically. As Sue lifted the lid, Jack noticed her face soften and a smile he hadn’t seen on her face for a while appeared. Then he remembered what the box held, his mind flitted back to the one and only time he had seen his wife wearing the dress that was in the box.

Jack stood at the top of the aisle, hands starting to sweat slightly. He looked at his watch, wondering how time could possibly go so slowly. Sue had promised him faithfully she wouldn’t be late, and he knew that she wouldn’t be, however it felt as if he had been waiting here for hours, when in fact it was only 15 minutes. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his best man smiling at him,

“Calm down mate, she will be here” Bobby Manning said, trying not to laugh at the state his best mate was in. This was Jack Hudson, usually so cool and calm, like a teenager before a first date.

“I know, I just wish she would hurry up! I want to marry her Crash, I want to be able to introduce her as my wife and I…” Jack stopped not wanting to share the next thought with anyone except his intended. Bobby’s grin widened knowing what was running through Jack’s mind. At that point Sue’s mum appeared and moved into her seat, she smiled at Jack and gave him the thumbs up. Jack relaxed slightly knowing that Sue was here and ready to marry him. On the stroke of 12 o’clock the organist started and the doors at the back of the church opened and Jack turned to catch a first glance of his bride.

Lucy and Tara were first up the aisle, both looking spectacular, Jack smiled at the look on Bobby’s face when he saw Tara, guessing that the bureau may need to relax their rules again for this team. His eyes then moved to what was behind the two of them. Sue started walking down the aisle on her father’s arm looking amazing. Her dress was perfect as was her hair – left down as she knew he preferred that way, but what made her look so beautiful was that she seemed to be glowing. He had often heard people speak about radiating brides but he had never seen it until then. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her as she walked up the aisle towards him. As she came to stand next to him he moved next to her but still kept his eyes on her. She had the biggest smile on her face that he knew was replicated on his. Her eyes shone with happiness and what he hoped was love for him. He didn’t think it was possible that she could have looked more beautiful than she was, but today she had managed it and it was all for him. He felt so privileged that this amazing woman had chosen him to be her husband. He signed to her that she looked amazing.

As the priest started speaking Jack started signing. He had been practicing for weeks to make sure that Sue was able to fully understand what was being said. He watched and listened as Sue signed and spoke her vows and then it was his turn. He knew he had made some mistakes in the service but he was determined that this would be perfect. He repeated and signed his vows perfectly and then came the rings. Lucy and Bobby handed them the rings which they exchanged and then signed the words together that confirmed their commitment to each other. As the priest invited him to kiss her he had signed something different which had caused a red tinge to appear on Sue’s face. He leant over to her and kissed her tenderly, but conveying all the feelings he had for her. She responded with the same feeling and it was with great reluctance that Jack broke away, all too aware of her parents and brothers sitting not so far away. They walked down the aisle together as man and wife and Jack felt as if he was floating on air. He was married to the most beautiful woman in the world and although she looked amazing in that dress he couldn’t wait to take it off.

I guess the thought that Jack didn't want to share with Bobby also had to do with something like that?

Wonderful memory! Sue immediately recognised the box after all these years, so I think her memories of that day are similar to Jack's...

Men!

Awwww, what a sweet memory of their beautiful wedding day. YHM took care of the other thing I wanted to say.

It was so beautiful part... I would like to know what Jack signed to her that he caused this nice blushing on her cheeks ... it here a chance we will know anything about their wedding night?


Restie

Soph! Are you contributing to the world-wide trend of keeping poor Jack in limbo?