Chapter 10:
"Wow, back so early? How was it?" Lucy asked Sue as she walked through the door of their apartment, still looking stunning in her new black dress.
"It was great, but I've got some bad news Luce." Sue pretended to be upset and noticed the shocked look on Lucy's face. It was fun to drag this on for her, considering what Sue knew was coming once she told her what had happened. They walked over to the couch and sat down.
"What is it, what's wrong? Did Jack do something?" Sue just nodded. Lucy looked furious.
"I'm sorry Lucy, but, you're going to have to find a new roommate in a few months." Lucy looked at her confused.
"What? What do you mean?" Sue couldn't hold back her grin any longer. Comprehension started to dawn on Lucy's face.
"Because I'm getting married." Lucy shrieked, and though Sue couldn't hear it, she was certain it was loud. All of the sudden Lucy was hugging her and they were both crying as Sue told her everything that had happened, and they both sat admiring her engagement ring.
The next day, another bad bout of morning sickness and fatigue hit Sue so all day Saturday, her and Lucy lounged around the house in their pyjamas and talked about the wedding, the baby and Jack.
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Jack knocked on Bobby's door, at 930 on Friday night. He heard his friend shout,
"Tara? Is that you?" Suddenly the door flew open. "Jack? What are you…?" Suddenly Bobby understood, as Jack stood in his doorway with a silly grin on his face.
"She said yes?" Jack just nodded - he couldn't even speak. Next thing he knew, he was sitting on Bobby's couch, a beer in hand, telling him all the details. Bobby was beyond thrilled.
"When do you think you're going to have the wedding?" he asked. "The baby does kind of put a damper on things." Jack nodded.
"We talked about that. We're thinking just before Christmas. That way, Sue won't look pregnant yet and since I used up most of my holidays when she was in the hospital, we can go on our honeymoon over Christmas. Use those days we already have off, plus the few I have left so we can have about a week off." Jack answered, the smile never leaving his face. Bobby was grinning stupidly too.
"Where do you think you'll go?"
"We're thinking up to Canada – old Montreal, Quebec City, Niagara Falls. We don't have very long so we don't want to go on a long trip, and Sue's doctor doesn't recommend flying with her recent injuries and pregnancy." Bobby nodded. It was all so surreal. Jack looked like he was on cloud nine.
"Well sparky. It's about time you found yourself a woman." He slapped Jack on the shoulder. They were up until the early hours talking about what was going to happen, how Jack's life was going to change, and about Bobby and Tara's relationship. Jack finally got home at 3am, still feeling completely awake. He didn't want to sleep worried that he would wake up and find it all a dream. Eventually he did fall asleep though, content with the world and the way his life was finally going.
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Both Jack and Sue's parents we're thrilled at the news. Mrs. Thomas seemed somewhat more at ease knowing that her daughter would be married when the baby was born, and that she would have help raising the child. They still made plans to come and check on Sue once Jack got back, and also to meet their soon-to-be son in law. There were also many wedding arrangements that needed to be done in such a short time before the planned wedding.
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Knowing that Bobby wouldn't last the weekend without telling Tara, Jack and Sue decided to split up who would talk to their friends and co-workers to tell them the good news. Sue called Tara, Donna and Myles. Jack was a little confused why she wanted to tell Myles and not him, but she just said she had her reasons. Jack called up D and Ted, as well as the realtor to make sure that he didn't sell the house.
Monday morning came and everyone was thrilled when Jack and Sue walked through the door. There was a big banner that said Congratulations Jack and Sue! Even Randy came in and offered his best wishes, though soon told them to all get back to work. The week passed by fast, with nothing really happening. Thursday came before they knew it. Sue decided to take Jack to the airport to say goodbye. As she was gone, Ted walked into the bullpen.
"Are Jack and Sue here?" He asked in his booming voice.
"Nope, Sue went to take Jack to the airport." Bobby answered with a smile.
"Good. I just wanted to remind you all that so far, I'm winning the bet. Sue and Jack came to talk to me about the wedding and what days they wanted off. December 22nd is definitely before Christmas. So, one point for me."
"And me!" exclaimed Lucy. "Sorry Ted, but we're tied, I said in December."
"Hang on," Bobby added. "I get a point too – I said before Valentines Day. Christmas is before Valentines Day. Chalk one up for the handsome Australian!" Tara just giggled.
"So, then its one point each for Ted, Lucy and Bobby and the rest of us are losing. But hey we still have the baby's sex and when he or she is born, so don't count on winning yet!" Lucy and Tara smiled at each other. They were both very excited, as the weekend would be spent doing wedding stuff with Sue and Donna. Sue was feeling slightly overwhelmed with only 2 months to plan her wedding, so she enlisted her 3 friends to help her. Since there was so much she could plan without Jack, they decided to get it done while he was gone.
"Bobby, could I speak to you for a second in my office?" Ted asked, as he was about to leave. Bobby looked a little anxious, wondering if he had done something wrong, but followed their supervisor.
"What the matter, am I in trouble?" He asked as he sat down.
"No, no. I just wanted to ask you to keep an eye on Sue while Jack's gone. I don't want her overwhelming herself with work, especially now. I know she says that she's completely fine and has gotten over everything but Jack doesn't completely believe her and nor do I. Just make sure she's okay here at work and doesn't overtax herself." Bobby smiled and nodded.
"Will do. Jack already talked to me too."
"Good. There are a few files here for Sue, if you could give them to her. There's also another stack here, but I don't want Sue going through these." Bobby looked at him questionably. "They're files about Greg Halstern and James Cakeman and some of their previous indiscretions that we need to go through and file and get in the computer so we can wrap up their case. Give them to Tara or Lucy and let them know not to show Sue." Bobby nodded, slightly tense in his seat. He got up and went back to the bullpen with the two stacks. He put the one pile on Sue's desk for when she got back. Bobby noticed it was pretty light and not very complicated. Ted was obviously trying to keep her workload easy. He took the other stack and gave them to Tara explaining what they were about.
"I'll make sure Sue doesn't see these." She said with a smile. Bobby leaned over, with a slightly concerned look.
"Are you okay working on them?" Tara just nodded and gave him a reassuring grin. Bobby went back to his desk. He kept an eye on Sue the rest of the day Thursday and all day Friday. She seemed to be okay, though slightly tired all the time but managing fine. She was laughing and talking about the wedding. She always would grin when she looked at the picture of her and Jack on her desk, or when he called her from Baltimore. Lucy, and Tara promised to keep their eyes on her during the weekend, since they would be spending all their time together anyways with Donna too. Bobby noticed D watching Sue more frequently than usual, and he assumed that Jack had also talked to him about making sure Sue was okay.
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"That dress looks AMAZING Sue! You have to get it." Sue swirled around looking at herself in the mirror in a beautiful white gown. It was off the shoulders, boat necked. Very simple except with beautiful pink flowers embroidered down the side. It flowed out from her waist and swept with a small train in the back. The veil had a tiara that was small enough to make it elegant but shone in the light. The veil was long and went to the floor, following her train. There was ribbon around the edges that make it look graceful.
"This has got to be my dream dress," she said. It was still unreal that she was out buying her wedding dress.
"Girl, let me tell you from experience. You're going to remember this day for the rest of your life. I still remember my wedding. It's worth getting the dress you fall in love with, even if it's a bit more expensive than you thought. Dimitrius has no idea how much I spent on my dress, but I don't regret one penny – it was worth it seeing the look on his face when I walked down the isle." Donna said, reminiscing.
"Do you think I should get it?" Sue said with a grin.
"Yes!" exclaimed Lucy. Sue nodded happily and kept staring at her reflexion in the mirror. "Well, now we need to look at bridesmaid dresses." The clerk at the bridal shop came to help Sue get out of her dress, and took it to the back to have the final alterations made for Sue. Sue had already asked Lucy to be her maid of honour and Tara and Donna to be her bridesmaids. Jack had been thrilled at the idea. He was planning to have Bobby as his best man, and D and Myles as his groomsmen. It fit perfectly, minus the fact that Lucy and Bobby, and Myles and Tara would be paired up but they we're all more than happy with the arrangements.
"I was thinking blue for the bridesmaids dresses. A brighter blue." Sue said. They looked around the store at all the dresses until she stumbled across the perfect one. The other women all thought it was absolutely ideal too. It had the same neckline as Sue's wedding dress, and was simple with an empire waist. There was a lighter blue sheer fabric on top from the waist down. The girls all tried on the dresses, and Sue knew that they were the right ones.
"Wow, what luck – you found your wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses all in one day. Most brides to be aren't that lucky!" Donna exclaimed as they gave all the dresses to the clerk so that they could make the alterations before the wedding.
"Well, now all we need for our outfits is shoes!" Sue grinned. There was nothing like shoe shopping – wedding or otherwise. They spent hours in the shoe store, finally picking the right shoes for everyone. The weekend had been a success; Sue had hardly noticed how much she missed Jack until she went to bed at night. She hadn't even had any nightmares or thought about Greg or James. Thoughts of the wedding, and the baby filled her mind and pushed out everything else.
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Sue woke up early on Wednesday morning. After her round of morning sickness, she went to the kitchen and noticed how early it really was. Not feeling like going back to bed, Sue finished getting ready and decided to head to work early to finish up some of that paperwork Ted had given her the previous week, before anyone got there and she got distracted talking about the baby or the wedding. She left a note for Lucy and headed out the door, excited that Jack would be back the next day.
The October sun was filtering through the windows of the bullpen, as Sue was basking in the calmness. She was getting a lot accomplished with no one around. After a few minutes she noticed some of her papers missing. She searched around her desk but couldn't find them. Oh right, she thought laughing at her forgetfulness. Ever since her pregnancy she had been noticing that she was failing to remember a lot of things. Tara was going to look over them for me. She walked over to Tara's desk and noticed a large stack of papers. She took them over to her desk and started to filter through them. An hour early, D and Bobby walked into the bullpen, surprised to see Sue sitting at her desk.
"What are you doing here Sheila? You okay?" Bobby asked with concern. Sue just smiled.
"I'm fine Bobby. I woke up earlier than usual and decided to get some work done."
"Is there anything I can get you?" asked D.
"No, I'm fine thanks. I might leave a bit early and take a nap since I came in 2 hours early today." Bobby nodded and headed back to his desk, D following him to look over some case files. Sue started to shift through the pile, when she noticed that some of the papers weren't hers. She started another pile with Tara's stuff when her eyes flitted across a familiar name and her heart stopped. She picked up a piece of paper the read – The people vs. Gregory Halstern. Charges – kidnapping and attempted murder. Sue was having difficulty breathing. She put the paper aside only to be bombarded by another name. The people vs. Jameson Cakeman. That document looked older and Sue noticed the date to be about 7 years earlier. She shifted her eyes down the paper, struggling for breath and holding back the tears. Charges: Rape of Christine Johnson. All charges lifted, plaintiff withdrew. He had raped someone else, and gotten away with it. Suddenly she couldn't sit there anymore. She got up, the tears in her eyes and ran out the bullpen door.