A/N: Thanks for the review, Give us Peace!! It's much appreciated! Here's the next chapter. Now bear with me - I'm not good at writing weddings, especially because I'm still not entirely clear on the American-style wedding versus Dutch/European-style wedding, so I tend to skirt around it for a bit. Hope you'll enjoy the chapter nonetheless!!


Chapter 7

The wedding whipped by. A lot of people were attending, as both Clint and Nancy had made a lot of friends throughout the years. Sue, Jack and Levi entered the church, expecting to be relatively early, but were taken aback by how many people were already there. They started searching for seats near the back, since they didn't see many free chairs next to each other more towards the front.

Suddenly a perky woman stood before them.

"Hi," she said with a wide smile. "Would you happen to be Jack Hudson and Sue Thomas?"

Jack and Sue exchanged a quick look, and Sue shrugged. She didn't have a clue who this woman was. "That would be us," Jack replied.

"Oh, good. My name's Tippy. Nancy asked to make sure to save you some good seats where you'd be able to read lips."

At both of their surprised looks, Tippy quickly added, "Oh, not you Mr. Hudson, but Miss Thomas. Unless you know how to read lips too…?" She looked at him questioningly, and Jack shook his head, pulling his mind back in gear. "No, I don't."

The woman leaned over a little bit conspiringly, "Don't worry, neither do I. But," she continued perkily, "I hope I found good seats for you. Oh, come on, I'll get you to them. Come, or they'll start without us."

She quickly wove her way through the crowd, towards the front of the church, and Jack, Sue and Levi followed her.

"Here you go," Tippy said, pointing to two seats at the edge of the second row. "I hope this is alright? I put you next to my husband. He's a major in the army," she said proudly. Sue smiled at her. "These seats are perfect, thank you."

"No problem! Oh!! I need to go. I'm one of the bridesmaids!!"

And off she was. Jack chuckled quietly, and Sue smiled amused, as they took their seats. This Tippy could give Tara a run for her money! Major Steven Doss introduced himself, and Sue noticed Dottie and Harley sitting on the other side of the aisle on the first row, and waved at them. Dottie quickly came over, a wide smile on her face.

"Hey Sue, Jack… Levi. How are you doing? You both look wonderful!" She quickly made sure everything was alright, before returning to her husband, as the service began.

As they watched Nancy and Clint exchange their vows, both Sue and Jack were acutely aware of the other's shoulder touching theirs. Sue sighed inaudibly, wishing… If only she and Jack could share what Nancy and Clint shared. If only she dared tell Jack she loved him. But it wouldn't happen. Jack deserved to marry someone who didn't have special needs, someone hearing…

In the meantime, Jack longed to tell Sue he loved her, but was afraid she would turn him down. After all, he wasn't fluent in sign language, he didn't know half of what she was going through each day, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to help her with what she needed.

After the service, Tippy appeared again, this time holding her young son, George C. Doss. She made sure they knew where to go next. At the reception, after a lot of handshaking, the newlywed couple finally found a moment to sit down. Clint pulled out a chair at the table where their parents were seated, and let Nancy sit down, before taking the chair next to it. His hand quickly found hers again, and they shared a loving look. They were married, starting a new life together, allowing God to lead them. They couldn't be happier.

Meanwhile, Donna DeWitt was explaining to Jack and Sue how they had once set up doctor Oliver Crane to sing Yankee Doodle as he was hopping up and down on one foot, wearing a surgical mask on top of his head, two tongue depressors hanging from his mouth like tusks, cotton balls up his nose and two pencils sticking out from his ears.

Doctor Crane was not amused, and instead concentrated on talking to Paul. Raul and Gracie took care of Mattie, while being entertained by Levi. The dog figured Sue had Jack by her side to alert her to what was happening, but still kept looking back at his owner from time to time to see if Jack was doing a good job.

When the music started, Clint rose and offered Nancy a hand.

"May I have this dance?" he asked formally, bringing a broad smile to Nancy's already shining face. "You may."

They kicked off the dance, soon followed by other couples. Drawing Nancy closer, Clint rested his head against hers. "Are you enjoying the day?" he whispered.

"Absolutely," she replied without hesitating. "I've been looking forward to this day for a long time." She put her head back on his shoulder.

Seeing Paul dance past with Dottie brought a sad smile to her face. "Just a little sad Mom couldn't be here." She felt Clint's arm tighten slightly, comforting her in a way only he could. "We'll see her again." Nancy smiled through tears. "Yeah."

They continued to dance, revelling in just holding the other close.

From the side of the room, Jack was watching his cousin and her husband. The love they felt for each other so easy to see, returning Jack's thoughts immediately to the woman sitting next to him, holding little George while talking to Tippy. Suddenly Jack made a decision. Touching Sue on the arm, he waited till she looked at him. With a confidence he didn't know he possessed, he asked, "Sue, would you like to dance?"

Surprise and delight flitted across her features, and she nodded. "I'd like that."

Tippy quickly hid a smile, and took her son back from Sue's arms. Watching the couple walk towards the dance floor, Nellie Hebert leaned over. "Aren't they just a cute couple? I can't believe they're both still single."

The receptionist chuckled as she leaned back a little against her husband's shoulder. "Well, Nancy and doctor Cassidy took their sweet time…"

Nellie laughed. "That's true."

Soon the evening drew to a close. Nancy and Clint hugged their parents and closest friends. When Doc Johanson jokingly asked Clint what he planned on doing for the honeymoon, he got a gentle smack from his wife. "Harley! You don't ask that sort of thing." Quickly she added, looking at Sue, "Can you believe he took me fishing for our honeymoon?"

"As I recall," Doc Johanson said as his arm went around Dottie's shoulders, "You didn't complain about that camping experience…"

Dottie blushed slightly, but her eyes twinkled. Sue grinned. "Oh, oh well. Clint, son, I hope you two will have a wonderful honeymoon."

"Thanks Dottie," he said, gathering the gentle woman who had taken him in as her son since he was ten, in his arms.

"I'm proud of you, Clint. And I know your parents would have been too," she whispered, putting her hand on his cheek. Doc Johanson just smiled at him.

"You've grown into a wonderful man and a great doctor, son. When we took you in all those years ago, we couldn't have imagined all the blessings that we'd experience because of it."

The two men just looked at each other for a few moments, silently communicating what words couldn't tell. Clint nodded, and Doc Johanson gave Nancy a hug, before leaving with Dottie. Nancy put her hand on Clint's arm. He looked sideways at her, and covered her hand with his, glad for her support.

Then Jack and Sue said their goodbyes, thanking them for a great day. Nancy held onto Sue's hand. "We'll stay in touch, alright?"

Sue nodded. "I'd like that."

Nancy nodded, and went on to hug Jack, and made him promise to pass on Sue's e-mail address.

Paul came up to them, as they were about to leave. "Hey Jack, Sue. Would you like to come over for a drink?"

Jack looked over at Sue. "Well, we have to leave early tomorrow, so…"

"That's alright," Paul said. "I'm sure we'll run into each other again."

When they walked away, Sue quietly asked, "You sure? He's living alone, might need some company, now that his daughter's married."

Jack shrugged uneasily. "I know, but… we have to drive back tomorrow, and I don't know about you, but I'm beat. We won't be much good if we fall asleep behind the wheel."

Sue nodded, trying to see if there was another way, but agreed with Jack. The case they'd been working on before coming here had been trying enough, and while the last two days had been relaxing, they did need the energy to drive back.

Suddenly a smile formed on Jack's face. "What is it?" Sue asked.

"Doctor Hebert just invited Paul over."

Sue smiled as well. "They sure seem to be very close friends, all of them. Sort of like what we have with the team back home."

Jack nodded. "Yeah."

They said their farewells to the rest of the Westbury-gang, whom they had talked to throughout the evening, and then left. They decided to walk back to the hotel, since it wasn't too far, and it allowed them to walk Levi at the same time.

Still in the mood, Jack put his arm around Sue's shoulder. Halfway to the hotel, they decided to go buy a cup of coffee. As they drank their beverages, they commented on some of the similarities the group from the Westbury clinic had compared to their own team, chuckling often as they remembered a couple of stories.

"I can't believe how much Tippy and Tara are alike!" Jack grinned, shaking his head. Sue sat back contented.

"You look happy," Jack commented. Sue thought for a moment.

"I am." When Jack waited for more, she continued. "This was the first wedding I've been to where I felt accepted, where I wasn't the odd one out, or the 'dumb one'. I know we only met most of these people today, but they've been very kind, and you can see how much they care for each other. They've made me feel part of their 'family'."

Jack smiled softly, but his eyes reflected some of the anger he felt that she so often had been made to feel an outsider. Sue took his hand. "Jack, I want to thank you for introducing me to your family. These have been two wonderful days." 'Not in the least because I spent them all entirely with you…' she thought, but didn't say it.

The special agent nodded. The past few days had relaxed them both, and he somehow felt he and Sue had become closer. But perhaps that was just because they'd been welcomed warmly into a group of friends and family. "Thanks for coming along."


TBC