A/N: Thank you Joy10, cheliosfan & Kittiwake!
Time for little complications! ^^
21.
It was pretty much the last day of Jack's stay at Sue and Andy's house, considering the fact that they both felt quite good and there was no need for the brunet to still help them. Andy was ready to go play with his friends again, although he adored Hudson and loved to spend time with him. The boy was saddened by the fact, that his grown up idol was returning to his own place, but this bitter disappointment was sweetened a little by the promise, that Jack was going to visit him often and, that the boy would soon be able to once again play with Zoe, his best friend, and see "Uncle Koala", who he thought to be the funniest in the world.
Jack also didn't want to go, but there was no reason to stay longer, so he decided to fully use this day, so the memories, which he was about to create, would be enough for a long time. He used to them, to the fact, that somebody was waiting for him when he was returning home. Living with these two, he quickly learnt to once again organize the time between work and home. It was a fact, that recently worked mostly from this place, but he wasn't there twenty four hours a day, because he needed to appear in the court every now and then. When he wasn't fighting his opponents in the courtroom, though, he was preparing for those battles in the house, usually after Andy had gone to sleep. Then, Jack usually sat in the kitchen with a mug of a good coffee, and more often than not in the company of Sue, who he discussed the aspects of defending the client.
The girl could learn quite a lot from him then, but it sometimes turned out that after looking at it, she sometimes got a new, good idea, which he could later use during the trial. She had an instinct, a rare gift, which a lot of lawyers could be jealous about, and it made Hudson admire her even more, especially that Miss Thomas was just beginning her adventure in the world of paragraphs.
One way or another, this last morning seemed a little rainy and Jack decided to do something, what would brighten the dark clouds over their heads at least a little. As much as he couldn't really cook (he was a master at ordering the meals from restaurant, what Sue watched with a scolding look and what he justified saying: "That's what I have money for, to use it!"), he was quite good at breakfast and his pancakes were heavenly.
"What are do doing that they're so light and fluffy?" asked Sue quite often, and he just smiled mischievously and responded:
"It's the Hudson family secret and only known by the Hudsons. You would have to become one of us, so I could tell you this secret!" he added, winking.
This words made the blonde blush, and her colour wasn't any less red than the one on his cheeks, after he understood how she could read it. However, when he thought about it for a little bit more time, he could imagine her as his wife. Sue would surely be much better than his ex, because she honoured completely different values, values, which he forgot about for some time thanks to Allie. Sue knew, what was important in life, and even though the career was important for her, it has never been on the first place amongst the things, which she truly cared about. This honour belonged to her family, her son, her relatives and Hudson thought that it was exactly how it was supposed to be. Success wasn't everything. There had to be someone to share it with and although he probably shouldn't, he would eagerly share his own with her – with Sue Thomas… if, of course, he wasn't such a huge coward.
He was just thinking what to prepare for his favourite duo, when a half of it, still sleepy and a little giddy, came to the kitchen and wrapped their arms around his legs from behind, mumbling:
"Hi, Daddy."
Jackson grinned widely, turning carefully and kneeled down to hug his favourite child.
"Hi, Munchkin!" he winked happily and tousled Andy's golden hair. "Did you sleep well?" he asked.
"Uhuh…" was everything the young Thomas gave as a confirmation.
"Are you hungry?" the man inquired, and the boy confirmed in the same way, also nodding his head.
"Uhuh…"
"You're not very talkative today, are you, Andy?" Hudson laughed, amused by the boy.
"Hungry…" mumbled the little angel.
"Hungry, you say?" spoke Jack. "What would you like to eat?" he asked.
"Panpakes…" was what the lawyer heard as an answer and shook his head.
"Pancakes were yesterday, Buddy. Maybe something else?" he suggested instead. "Scrambled eggs, or a toast?"
"I no like scrambled eggs." winced Andrew.
"We say "I don't like", Andy." the brunet gently corrected him, and added: "Then, you can have a toast with jelly and peanut butter or flakes. What do you prefer?"
"Toast." answered Andy. „Your toasts are good, Daddy." he praised, and when Jack grinned, he added: "Not as good as mommy's, but better than grandma's."
Hudson moaned theatrically.
"You truly hurt my feelings, Young Man!" he said playfully. "At least I didn't land on the very end of the toasts' list, because I have no idea what I'd do!"
The boy giggled.
"I love you, Daddy." he said with the children's honestly and placed a kiss on Jack's cheek, which made the lawyer's heart swell.
"And I love you, Munchkin." he spoke and hugged him, kissed his forehead and tickled, making the boy giggle again.
When Andy finally stopped laughing, Jack helped him sit behind the table and quickly prepared three servings of toasts, two coffees and a juice, knowing that Sue should soon appear in the kitchen.
Actually, it was intriguing, why she hasn't done it yet, because she usually got up early, even when she was sick. At first he thought that she might have overslept a little, but when the breakfast started to cool, and she still didn't appear, he started to worry. Not to mention that Levi started to desperately scratch at the bedroom's door, trying to get out, and Hudson decided that it was time to act. He needed to check what was happening to the blonde, and it meant walking into her room, and doing it without invitation.
When he heard a worrying sound, after he approached the door, he didn't even knock. He just ordered Andy to stay in the living room and wait, while he stormed into the bedroom himself and stood dumbfounded for a moment.
Sue was lying on the bed and squirming, obviously trying not to scream because of the pain. She was sweaty, pale and it took him just a second, to get to the lying girl's side, when he finally recovered from the initial shock.
"Sue, Sweetheart? What's happening?" he asked, worried, not thinking about the fact, what a tender word he used.
Luckily, she seemed not to notice it either, or she simply didn't have strength to comment it? In response, she only whispered in a weak voice:
"Hurts…"
"Where does it hurt?" he continued to ask, so he could at least try to know the symptoms before he would call for an ambulance.
"Here…" she said quietly, desperately squeezing the area around her right hip.
"Damn it!" he mumbled. "It can be everything, from food poisoning to appendix. Did you vomit? Do you feel nauseous?" he inquired quickly.
„A little, during the night." she admitted and he cursed quietly, scolding himself in his soul, that he didn't hear her. "Darling, why didn't you wake me up?" he asked softly. "Well…" he added, seeing her eyes, full of sadness. "I'm calling for the doctor." he said, but then decided: "Or not. I'll take you to the hospital myself, because God knows how long is it going to take for the ambulance to get here." he said. "Will you manage to get dressed, Sue?" he asked.
"I think so…" she said, uncertainly. "Jack… Andy…" she added.
"I'll dress him quickly and he'll come with us." stated Hudson. "Should I give you anything?"
"Track-suit, underwear…" she mumbled in pain, blushing at the thought that Sparky was going to see her underwear.
Even if the content of the drawer with her underwear made an impression on him (and it did, and not a small one, because she had quite a few sexy things for such a conservative girl), then he cleverly didn't let her know about it, just quickly gave her what was needed and hurried to get Andrew ready to go, what took him no more than two minutes, because the boy has already started to get dressed, subconsciously sensing that he should. He only had troubles with pants and shoes, but Jack took care of it, sitting the boy on the couch in the living room, and returned to Sue.
The girl was currently struggling with her own pants, when he entered, and even if perhaps he shouldn't have, he took matters into his own hands because of the pain and helped her a little. To hell with modesty, when there was pain!
When she was generally ready, he took her purse and carefully lifted the girl off the ground (she protested again, but he ignored it). On his way, Jack took his own wallet, phone and keys, so all what was left was to go to the car. It took them about two minutes, because a kind neighbour offered to take Andy, while Jack was carrying Sue. Only Levi stayed at home, despite the fact that he wanted to go with them. Jack didn't have time to take care also about him, and thought that he'll later ask Crash to take him for a walk or something. Sue's health was the most important now.
The journey to the hospital took him about twenty minutes and probably a penalty for driving too fast, but Hudson didn't really care about it. Bobby would discreetly take care of it, when he would find out the reason. The brunet was sure about it.
It was a huge luck for all three of them, that the hospital wasn't crowded and the doctor came rather quickly. The worse thing was, that it turned out to really be the appendix and Sue needed to be immediately taken to the operation theatre.
"Don't worry, though!" assured the surgeon. "Miss Thomas is in good hands, and if everything goes well, she won't even need a classic surgery. Instead, we'll perform a laparoscopic appendectomy, what will leave smaller scars and allow the patient to return home quicker." he said. "It's a good thing you brought her before the perforation, because it would be bad. You saved your fiancée's life, Mr. Hudson." stated the doctor, and Jack didn't correct him knowing, that if he wanted to find out something about her health later, he needed to continue the act. Besides, this situation made him think…
The surgery lasted about two hours. During that time, the brunet sat in the waiting room with worried Andy at his side. He made just two quick phone calls – one to the Mannings with the news, and one to take leave at work. There was no way he was going to return to the office for the next two weeks, as he needed to take care of Sue. He also talked to John Kendall about her leave, informing him about the reasons for their extending absence.
His boss didn't comment Hudson's commitment to his secretary's matters. For some time now he sensed, that they were closer than the usual professional duet and, if he was to be honest, he didn't mind it at all. His protégé needed someone like Sue, and the girl also deserved at least a bit of happiness for her good heart, hard work and generally everything.
So, there was no problems with their leaves, and all there was left was to wait for the surgery to end. Hudson was doing it, trying to calm Andrew down, as the boy was very stressed, and also himself. He decided to think positively. He generally thought a lot…
When Sue opened her eyes a few hours after the surgery, he was sitting at her side, holding her hand, while Andrew slept on his knees.
"Hi, Sue." he smiled with relief, meeting her slightly foggy, but already conscious gaze.
"Jack…" the blonde smiled back, although it was still a weak smile.
"How do you feel?" he immediately asked. "Should I call for the doctor?"
"It's better, but I'm tired because of the medicine." she spoke.
"Then sleep, Honey." he said, and then added: "Sue…"
"Yes, Jack?" she responded sleepily.
"I think that the way it is now, it should be permanent." he said quietly. "You, me, Andy... together."
"Ok." she only murmured and a while later, she was already asleep again.
TBC