"Are you sure it's not too soon? I really don't want to scare her away, Mom." Sean said to Nancy as they strolled down the sidewalk in front of a small strip of mom and pop shops that lined the streets in the small college town of Gumford. Nancy had come to see her son for lunch before he headed to Las Vegas for the weekend. Sean reluctantly confronted his mom about the wedding website and ever since, she had flooded his email and phone with wedding ideas. Sean opened the door for his mother on their way into a small jewelry store not far from the pizza shop where Sean and Sue had their first pizza date. He smiled at the thought and realized that he had never been happier in his life than he had been during these past 8 months.
"Your dad and I were only together for 6 months before he asked me and look at us now! You know she's the one, right? Why wait? You two are going to give me the cutest little grandkids one day." Nancy gushed. Sean nervously looked down at his shoes and his cheeks were feeling warm. Even though Nancy knew that Sean and Sue were a serious couple, he had never told her or anyone else exactly how serious they had been already. He expected that his parents would assume he would wait until marriage, but he felt that it wasn't really anyone's business.
"Yeah, she's definitely the one." Sean admitted with a smile. He looked down at the jewelry counter and carefully scanned the various styles of engagement rings that lined the velvety shelves. He wasn't necessarily planning on proposing to Sue this weekend, but he wanted to be prepared in case the moment was right. It was rare for them to be able to go on an out of state trip together and he knew this weekend would be special for sure. "What do you think of this one?" Sean asked as he pointed to a small, but very pretty heart shaped diamond ring with Amethyst accents that represented Sue's birth month.
"Ohhh, that is just sooo pretty. I think she would love it!" Nancy was genuine in her response even though her own diamond ring was much more flashy. Sean knew that Sue was not a flashy person and he loved that about her. Often times, he felt more like one of the Heck's than than one of the Donahue's since he never cared that much about vanity or appearances, even though he was grateful that he had been blessed when it came to his looks. It did cause him to attract some unwanted attention throughout school. One of the things he always loved about Sue was that she saw through his looks and into his heart.
"Wrap it up!" Sean shouted a little too excitedly to the store clerk after he had spent a few minutes negotiating on a price, currently thanking his lucky stars that he had always saved his money instead of blowing it on junk. When the clerk handed the neatly wrapped package to Sean, he thanked him sincerely and escorted his mom out of the store.
"I'm just so excited for you, dear!" Nancy proclaimed on the way back to Sean's apartment.
"Thanks, mom. I still don't know when it's going to be so just keep this between us for now please." Sean pleaded. The last thing he wanted was for the whole neighborhood to find out before he even had a chance to talk to Sue privately. He wondered if anyone else had seen that wedding website, which he hadn't asked his mom to take down.
"Of course, just between us." Nancy winked and Sean smiled back reluctantly, unsure if she would be able to keep this a secret.
The weekend had finally arrived. Unfortunately, Sean's flight was already fully booked before Sue found out about the trip, so she decided to fly separately with Brad and Lexie on a flight that, luckily, arrived just half an hour after Sean's plane was scheduled to land in Las Vegas. The trio met up with Sean at the airport and the four of them shared a taxi to the famous Bellagio Hotel. Sue had mentioned that Brad and Lexie were planning on tagging along and Sean didn't mind since he was going to be busy during the day with the conference anyway. Besides, they had booked a separate room courtesy of Lexie's dad's credit card so that Sean and Sue could have their privacy. After checking into the hotel, the group split up to head to their individual rooms and get settled before having dinner. Brad and Lexie planned on eating at the hotel's buffet that night and Sean and Sue had dinner plans at the Paris hotel. Sean pulled the hotel key card out of his pocket, carefully making sure the small, square shaped box was safely secured in the same pocket. He opened the door allowing Sue to pull her rolling suitcase inside and he stepped in the room after her, locking the door behind him. Sue ran over to the window and stared out of it in awe.
"Wow. This is AH-MAZING!" She shouted as she admired the view of the Bellagio fountain that appeared down below. She remembered seeing the famous fountain on several TV shows and never imagined that she would be able to see it in person. Her gazed moved up and she saw the shimmering glow of lights on both sides of the Las Vegas strip. Across the street she could see the Eiffel tower of the Paris hotel where they were going to have dinner that night, and the streets were flooded with tourists walking up and down the strip. She noticed a man stumbling around with an almost empty bottle of alcohol in his hand and she cringed slightly before turning back to look at the hotel room for the first time. The bed was neatly made with white and light purple linens. The side tables were modern and simple and adorned with lamps that were already on when they entered the room, creating a soft, relaxing glow. Sue plopped down on the bed and kicked off her shoes, taking a deep breathe for what seemed like the first time since she stepped on the plane that day. Sean rested his suitcase next to Sue's and followed her lead, removing his shoes and plopping down next to her on the bed. He rolled onto his side to face Sue, placing his elbow underneath him and resting his head on his hand.
"Finally, we can just be together after what seems like forever. Thanks for coming with me, Suzy Q." Sean said with a genuine smile. Sue returned his gaze and couldn't help but smile in return.
"Thanks for inviting me." She said stretching out her arms. Sean laughed and swiftly rolled Sue on top of him. Sue squealed in happy amusement and leaned down to kiss her boyfriend. He kissed her back eagerly, enjoying the closeness and the comfort of their limited alone time. As Sue leaned into him, she felt the square object in his pocket and propped herself up so that she was straddling his thighs.
"What's that?" She pointed at his pocket and asked in confusion, knowing it was too small to be his wallet or phone. Sean's eyes widened and he quickly covered his pocket with his hand in an attempt to hide it.
"Oh...it's nothing...just something I forgot to throw in my luggage." He said. Sue shrugged and leaned back down to continue kissing him. Sean was relieved that she didn't ask any further questions and after a brief moment of panic, he relaxed into the motions of making out with Sue, an activity they both enjoyed very much.
After a steamy shower, that ended up being a lot more 'steamy' than Sue was expecting, Sean and Sue got dressed for their dinner date at the Paris hotel. They walked across the street hand in hand. Sue felt the vibration of her cell phone in the pocket of her summer dress and pulled out her phone with her free hand. Frankie had sent her at least 10 links, that she did not open, of websites with wedding dresses that her and Nancy had found. Sue rolled her eyes and held up her phone to show Sean.
"Ugh, can you believe that she is still doing this even after I called her out on it when I found that Bed, Bath, and Between registry list at the house?" Sue groaned, but followed up with a laugh because it was sort of amusing. Sean just smiled.
"My mom has been sending me stuff too. The other day she even sent me a list of available dates for the banquet hall in Orson." He laughed and tried to gauge Sue's feelings on the subject. They had talked about marriage casually from time to time, but they had never talked about a time frame for any of it.
"They are really in a big hurry, aren't they?" Sue mused. Sean frowned slightly at her statement but she didn't notice.
"Heh...yeah it seems that way..." Sean said. "Anyway, I hope you like dinner. One of my coworkers at the clinic recommended it and I checked out the menu online. It looks really good." He said in order to change the subject.
"I'm sure I will, I'm just happy to be with you." Sue said as she pulled his arm closer to her and leaned her head on it as they walked to the restaurant. Sean leaned down to kiss her on the top of her head and moved his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side.
A/N: I hope you are all still enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it! It's also been great to see all of the new stories popping up. I think you're all very talented and come up with some great ideas! It sure has made it easier to handle the fact that the show is over. Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing. Next up will be their dinner date and more Vegas stuff. Happy Thursday!