It was a hot, summer, Wednesday at the Bureau. D was working on paperwork for the case they had just finished, Myles was trying to work on his laptop, but Levi refused to let him. Lucy and Sue were laughing over something on the internet. Bobby and Tara were talking over at Bobby's desk (They've been going out for a couple of months). Jack, on the other hand, was smiling with his feet on his desk, reading the newspaper.
Really and truly, Jack was not smiling because he saw something interesting in the newspaper, he was smiling at Sue. When Bobby found out what was up with Jack, he went over to Jacks desk and said "Oh how sweet it is to look at someone who is in love." When Lucy heard "LOVE" she took her head away from the computer and went straight to Bobby and Jack. They talked for a while. Bobby even yelled "Jack's in love" once or twice but Sue didn't hear a thing. After a while, Tara was hungry. She asked "Who wants to go to Sam's Restaurant for lunch?" "That's a perfect idea" said Jack with a relieve of thanks to Tara. So the team decided they would all go to Sam's together.
When they got there, Jack sat Sue down and then took a look at the menu. Right when the waitress came with their meals, Jacks cell phone rang. He excused himself from the table and went to a nice quiet room.
He answered it by saying "Hello Agent Jack Hudson speaking." A shaky voice answered "This is Matt McNeill. I have something to tell you." Jack replied "Matt! I haven't seen you for ages. Last time I saw you was when you had your second child. How are you?". "Not so good Jack." Matt said. "Elizabeth, my kids and I were in a car accident yesterday." Jack was in shock. He replied "Are you ok?". Matt took a while to respond. But after a while he said "Elizabeth did-didn't make it." Jack didn't know what to say but "I'm sorry." "That's OK. But my kids and I are in bad shape. I need you or one of your team to be down at the hospital." Matt said. Jack didn't take a second to respond to that. "I'll be there A.S.A.P." and hung up.
When Jack got back to the table, he seemed to be in a hurry. Sue saw him like this and said "Is everything OK Jack?". Jack looked up at Sue, and answered "Sue! Come with me to the hospital. I'll tell you the story in the car." Sue got up and put on her coat. She and Jack said good-bye and rushed out the doors of Sam's.
In the car, Jack told the story to Sue. Then Jack said "Matt told me he wanted someone down there so he could talk to us about some details." And at that moment, they pulled into the hospital parking lot.
When they got to the hospital, Jack and Sue asked a nurse where Matts room was. In minutes they were both up in Matts room talking to him. "How are you doing?" Jack asked. "OK. But I have an operation tomorrow and I'm a little nervous" Matt said. They talked over some stuff and then Matt said "I'll be in the operation for a little while and after it I need bed rest. The doctor told me my chances to live is 45 and I have a 55 chance of dying. But the kids are out of the hospital tonight. I need someone to take care of them.". Sue and Jack looked at each other then Sue said "They can stay at my apartment until you get better." "Thanks Sue!" Matt said. "A nurse said that she would drive them to a house. When you leave, ask for Helen White. Tell her where you live and when to drop them off". Just then, a nurse came in and said "Excuse me but this man needs his rest. I suggest that you leave." "Yes! We have to go anyway"Sue said. Matt sat up a little and said " A Nurse will call you tomorrow and tell you how I got along. See ya!". "Bye." Sue said with a smile. Jack and Sue left the room.
Sue told the nurse where she lived and what time to bring them over. After, Jack drove Sue home so that she could get ready for the kids. On the drive, Jack said "I'll help take care of them too". "Thanks Jack" Sue said. They talked the rest of the way home.
When Sue got home, she told Lucy what happened and that they had kids coming to there house in a hour. All Lucy could say was "We have kids coming. I'm so excited." Then the phone rang. Lucy answered it by saying "Hello?". "Hi Lucy. This is Tara." "Hi Tara. How's it going?" Lucy asked. "I have something amazing to tell you" Tara said. "Shoot" Lucy said. "OK. Bobby Proposed to me." Tara said sounding happy. "WHAT! Did you say yes?" Lucy said jumping up and down. "I said yes!" Tara replied. "But there's one thing I have to do which I don't want to" Tara said. "I have to quit my job." "Oh! I'm sorry" Lucy replied. "I didn't want Bobby to quit so I said I'd tell Ted tomorrow. I have to go though! I still didn't tell my parents because I wanted to tell you first. Tell Sue for me!" Tara said. "Bye" Lucy said with a sound of joy to her voice.
As she hung up Sue said "Who was it, why did they call and why were you jumping?". Lucy went over and sat beside Sue on the couch. "It was Tara. Bobby proposed and she said yes. She has to quit her job. But she loves Bobby so much that she doesn't mind that much" Lucy said all in one breath. "Ahhh" Sue said astonished. After they talked for a while, the door bell rang.
Levi jumped up on the door. They knew it was the kids. They didn't know anything about these kids. How old they were, how many there was, how hurt they were, nothing. Lucy ran and answered the door. "Hello you must be Helen. And these must be the McNeill Kids. How many are there may I ask?" Helen looked like a very nice lady. "There's five. The oldest is Abbey, then the twins Alex and Kyle, then theirs Samantha and the youngest is Brook" Helen said pointing to all of them in order. Lucy decided that they should be in the house talking so she said "Lets go sit in the living room". "That's a good idea" Helen said. So they all went to the living room.
Sue was already sitting on the couch so Lucy, Helen and Brook sat down with her while all the other kids sat on the floor with Levi. Lucy noticed that one of the kids had a broken arm so she asked " How old are they and how hurt are they?". Helen sat up a little and said "I'll start with Abbey. Abbey is 8 and she has bruises and stuff but that's all. The twins are 6. Alex has one of his ribs broken and Kyle has a broken arm. Samantha is 4. She was deaf at birth but she knows sign language and has a really sore back from the accident. Brook is 2 and she has a broken foot. All of them have bruises, scrapes and cuts". Lucy and Sue looked at each other and then looked at the kids. They all looked so happy! Helen talked to Lucy and Sue for a while then said "Its getting late. I better get going. I left their bags in the hall". Lucy jumped up and took Brook from Helen and said "We'll be fine with the kids". "I know you will. I'll call you tomorrow and tell you how Matt got along. Bye!" Helen said with a smile as she went out the front door. "Bye!" Lucy and Sue said at the same time and shut the door.
Lucy and Sue both turned around and saw all these kids. "What do we do with them" Sue thought. Lucy was thinking the same thing. After a while, Lucy decided to speak up. "Do you guys want to watch TV?" she said. "OK" Abbey said with enthusiasm. So they all went onto the couch while Lucy turned on the TV. After a while, Sue saw Samantha yawn. "Lucy" Sue said calling her. Lucy came over to Sue and said "What"?. "I think their all getting tired. We should put them to bed". Sue said looking at the kids. Lucy turned around and saw Alex yawn. "Yeah! I think your right" Lucy said. Sue went across the room and turned off the TV. "What"! Kyle said. "Its time for bed" Lucy said. "Do you guys all want to sleep in the same room or boys in one room and girls in the other"? Sue asked. Abbey stood up and said "Boys in one room and girls in the other". "Good idea Abbey" Alex replied. "Could we have a snack before bed"? Samantha signed with a smile on her face. "I guess so" Sue signed back tickling the little girls' belly.
Sue went to the kitchen and made a crackers and cheese tray and took it out to the kids. They finished it in seconds. "Thank You" Kyle said with a smile. "Your welcome" Lucy replied. "It's time for bed now. Go into the hall and get your stuff then Sue will take you to your rooms". "OK" Abbey said. "Last one to get their bag is a rotten egg" Alex said as they all ran.
Lucy took the girls into her room and got them ready for bed. Sue took the boys to her room and got them ready. The boys wanted to do everything themselves so Sue set up the crib for Brook. The boys shared a double bed and Abbey and Samantha shared a queen sized bed. They all said goodnight to one an other and went right to bed. Lucy tucked the girls into bed and said "A doctor will call tomorrow and tell us how your Dad got along". "Will Daddy die" Abbey asked with a quiver in her voice. "No. I promise!" Lucy said sounding unsure. "Promise" Abbey said. "Promise" Lucy said as she kissed the girls on the head. "Night" Sue said from the door. "Night" The girls said.
THE NEXT DAY!
Abbey and Samantha woke up and went into the kitchen. "How was your sleep" Lucy asked. "Good" Abbey said rubbing her eyes. Abbey saw everyone in the kitchen. Even the boys were in there eating. Abbey and Samantha went over to the table and sat down. Sue took over two plates of eggs, bacon and toast. Abbey and Samantha finished last. "Thank you Sue" Abbey said with a smile. "Thank you" Samantha signed. "Your welcome" Lucy signed back. Sue started to clean up the kitchen and said "Why don't you guys go get dressed. Me and Luce have to go to work this morning and you guys are coming with us. Abbey you take Samantha and get her dressed, and boys, you guys go get dressed on your own. Luce will get Brook dressed". "OK" Abbey said. She signed Samantha to go with her then the boys and them left. Lucy went and got Brook ready to. In ten minutes, everyone was in the hall. "Have everything Sue" Lucy asked. "Yeah" Sue said. Lucy opened the door. Sue went first. Then Abbey, Kyle, Alex, Samantha and Lucy and Brook went after. Sue took Kyle, Alex and Samantha in her car and Lucy took Brook and Abbey in her car. They all ended up at the office at the same time.
"Hi there" Bobby said as the twins walked up to him. "What's your names?" Bobby asked. "He's Kyle and I'm Alex and were 6" Alex said smiling. Bobby loved these kids already. He wanted kids of his own someday. Tara took Lucy and Sue into a quiet room to talk to them. "First thing I have to tell you. I talked to Ted about me and Bobby and about me quitting my job. Ted didn't want me to leave the bureau so he said I could stay". "That's great" Sue said. "Second thing I have to tell you. Me and Bobby talked about it and we decided that were going to get married next weekend. I'm really excited!" Tara said. "Next weekend" Lucy said shocked. "That's in nine days" Sue said. "I know. But I have a business trip next month and Bobby has to come to. So we decided that we'll go on our Hunny-Moon right afterwards". Tara said. "I was wondering if Sue, you can be my Maid of Honor and Lucy, you can be one of my brides maids. My sister and one friend are being Brides Maids to". "Yea! Of course we will Tara. Right Sue" Lucy said at the edge of her seat. "Of course" Sue said. And they talked about that for a half an hour.
Meanwhile. In the office, Bobby, Jack, Myles and D were watching the kids. After awhile, Bobby called Jack, Myles and D over to his desk. "Jack, Myles and D. You already know about my wedding next weekend but I need to ask a favor?" Bobby said. "What" D said smiling. "Jack, I was wondering if you can be my best man?" Bobby said. "And D, Myles, you to be my Ushers along with Tara's two brother's?". "Sure Bobby! I'm happy to be of service" Jack said. "Same here" D said. "Yep" Myles said. "Thank's! That means a lot to me" Bobby said in relieve. After, they kept watching those kids.
Tara, Sue and Lucy came back into the office and heard Bobby going "Where's Brook". "Found her" Myles said. "Did you loose the kids" Sue asked. "Na were just playing Hide and Seek" Bobby replied sounding unsure . Jack came up to Sue and said "What are you in Tara's wedding?". "I'm her Maid of Honor" Sue said. "You?". "His Best Man" Jack said sounding a little happy. "Oh" Sue said sounding happy also. Jack was happy because he knew he'd be Sue's usher to the wedding. They all talked about it until Lucy said "Sue, look at the time. We have to go before the nurse calls". "Oh yeah" Sue said looking at the time. "We really have to go. A nurse from the hospital is going to call us and tell us how Matt got along. See ya later". "Bye" The rest of the team said at the same time.
When Lucy and Sue got home, they sat the kids down on the couch to watch TV. After ten minutes, the phone rang. Sue crossed her fingers as Lucy ran to answer it. "Hello! Lucy speaking" Lucy said. "Hi. This is Helen" Helen said in a low voice. "What happened?" Lucy said. She knew something went wrong. "Matt slipped into a coma while we did the operation. He didn't come out. He didn't make it! I'm sorry" Helen replied. Lucy looked over at Sue and shook her head. Sue looked at the kids as they started laughing at the cartoon on TV. Sue didn't know what to say. "Thanks for letting us know" Lucy said to Helen in a soft voice. Before Lucy hung up the phone Helen asked "do you want to take the kids here and I will tell them"? Lucy thought for a moment and said "no that's ok".
After Lucy got off the phone, Sue and Lucy had know idea how to break the news to the kids. Jack had checked earlier that day and the kids had no other family which meant they were orphans. Lucy and Sue went into the kitchen to talk about what was going to happen. "What are we going to do with them, take them to an orphanage?" Lucy asked. "No we can't. First we have to figure out how to tell them nicely" Sue said to the almost crying Lucy. Lucy looked from Levi to Sue and then replied "there is no nice way to tell five kids that their father has just died after them going through the death of their mother". Just then the phone rang. "Hello"? Sue answered watching her screen for a reply. "Hey, it's Jack". Jack had been doing all the phone work with the hospital and the orphanages. "Did you tell the kids yet"? Jack asked just as the kids started laughing. "I guess not" Jack replied answering his own question. Sue was about to say something when the screen lit up again, "Don't tell them. I'm on my way over to tell them now. I found a way".
After a couple of minutes, Jack was at the door. Levi ran and jumped up on the door. "Is somebody at the door?" Abbey asked. Lucy went and saw Levi jumping up and down barking. Lucy went and opened the door and saw Jack. "Hi Jack" Lucy said with a smile. Sue came into the hall and said "Hi Jack. Come into the kitchen and tell us what this plan is. I need to know". "Ok" Jack replied. They all went into the kitchen and sat at the table. "What are we going to do Jack" Lucy asked sounding worried. Jack sat up straight and replied "I hope this works. We'll ask the kids if they want to go get ice cream. They will probably say yes so we'll take them there and go through the drive thru. We'll get them whatever they want and then we'll just drive around town until their done". "Then what will we do" Sue asked. "We'll wait till they get really tired and then we'll tell them very nicely that they will be living with us for awhile" Jack said unsure. "What if they ask why?" Lucy asked. "We'll say that we'll tell them when we get home. When we get home we'll tell only Abbey, Kyle and Alex. Samantha and Brook are to young to understand. Once Abbey settles about it she can tell Samantha". Jack said. "I hope it works" Sue said.
They did everything Jack told them to do. The ice cream worked. But Sue, Lucy and Jack had no idea how to break it to the kids. They just hoped God would help them. When they all got home, the kids thanked Lucy, Sue and Jack for the ice cream.
Jack went and put Samantha and Brook to bed while Lucy and Sue took the twins and Abbey to the living room. "We have something to tell you" Lucy said almost crying. "What?" Abbey said seeing the frown on Lucy's face. "It's about your Dad" Lucy replied. "Something went wrong at the hospital" Sue said trying to sound like its nothing serous. "Something went very wrong didn't it? That's the same words the nurse told us when Mom died" Alex said with a quiver in his voice. "Your father went into a coma during the operation and didn't come out. He didn't make it!" Sue said trying not to say the word 'Died'. "No! He said he wouldn't leave us all alone. He promised. Why didn't he keep his promise?" Kyle said crying. "I don't know, Kyle" Sue said. "Lucy you promised. You promised me that Dad wouldn't die" Abbey said running out of the living room crying. The twins were really upset. Not as upset as Abbey but still very upset. Lucy just sat on the couch with the twins until they fell right to sleep. Sue went to Abbeys room and tried to make her feel better. After all the kids fell asleep, Jack left. Lucy and Sue knew that they were going to have a long morning tomorrow.
1 week later
The kids did get happier after a while. Abbey did tell Samantha about their Dad. They went to the funeral. It's the week of Tara's wedding. Abbey and Samantha are being the Flower Girl's and Kyle and Alex are being the Ring Bearers. Lucy's grandmother is going to take care of Brook all week for Lucy and Sue.
It was early Tuesday morning. "Kyle and Alex come here please" Sue called. They both came into the room. "What Sue?" Alex said. "You two are going with Jack for the day. Your going to get your suits and shoes. Lucy and I are taking Abbey and Samantha to get dresses and shoes. Don't get into trouble!" Sue said as Levi jumped up on the door. "I think that's Jack now. Could you go answer it Alex!". Alex ran and let Jack in. "I'm running a little late today. I'm meeting Bobby at the mall. Ready to go boys?" Jack said nervously. "Aye, Aye, Captain" Kyle said ready to go. "See you later then Sue!" Jack said. "Bye" Sue shouted.
Lucy, Sue, Abbey and Sam jumped into the car and went to the Seamstress that Tara wanted. The dresses for Abbey and Sam were ready to try on. The two young girls giggled while trying on the dresses. The dresses were beautiful! For the two young girls dresses were white satin dresses and a pale satin yellow sash around the waist. For Sue and Lucy, they had pale satin yellow dresses. It was a simple pattern. They were long and pretty with little spaghetti straps. "Its so pretty" Lucy told Tara. "It's the pattern I wanted. I thought it was pretty" Tara said. "What do you think of your dress Abbey?" Tara asked. "I feel like a princess!" Abbey said twirling around looking in the mirror.
4 days later. It's the day of the wedding.
"Its time to go. Samantha, Abbey, come on. We have so much to do before 2:00pm. We have to get the dresses on, get our hair done, get our makeup done, hopefully we'll be able to do everything on time!" Sue said. "I can't wait!" Abbey said running into the hall with her sneakers on and holding her white shoes. Samantha was right behind her. They were off for a day of busyness.
First they went to the seamstress to get their dresses on, then they went and got their makeup done, then they got their hair all up nicely. It took 3 hours to do that. It was time for the wedding!
"Tara, you look beautiful! Don't worry about a thing" Lucy said. All 4 bridesmaids were there and Abbey and Samantha looked so cute. It was time for the walk in and smile part of it.
"You two go now" Tara said. The two flower girls went out dropping flower petals all over the floor. Tara's 2 other bridesmaids went after the two girls, Lucy went after them, Sue went after Lucy and then Tara came out looking beautiful. They did the whole wedding and then the ceremony was over. They went to take pictures and then went to the dinner.
After dinner was the dance. Bobby and Tara danced first and then it was a free for all. Lucy danced with Tara's brother which was her usher but Sue sat down most of the time. Jack came over and sat down beside Sue and said "I am your usher and I haven't had a dance with you, will you take the dance now?". "I'd be thrilled" Sue said standing up and going onto the dance floor with Jacks hand at her side. They talked and danced to a slow song, Sue couldn't hear it though. After that dance was 'the wedding party' dance. The people together were Jack and Sue, Lucy and Tara's brother Tyler, Myles and Tara's sister Kendra, D and his wife(D had his wife with him, he wasn't really an usher), Tara's brother Trent and Tara's best friend Nicole, Kyle and Abbey and Alex and Samantha. They all danced and danced. After that, was the throwing of the bouquet. Tara turned around and threw it. Sue caught it! "Who will it be Sue?" Lucy teased. "I don't know!" Sue said. Jack came out a minute later and said nervously "Sue, could you come here?".
Sue followed him to a quiet little room with candles lit. Jack asked Sue to sit down. Jack looked deep into Sue's eyes and then said "I have something very important to tell you. But I'm now sure wether you'll hate me forever if I say it?". "I'll never hate you Jack. Just tell me!" Sue said calmly. "Ok. Sue, I've known you for so long. Ever since I looked at you my life has changed" Jack said as calm as he could. Sue started crying a little. Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a little case. He opened it and there was a beautiful gold ring with little diamonds. "Sue, will you marry me?" Jack said. It took Sue a couple of seconds but then she said "Yes! I will". She jumped into Jacks arms and they hugged each other and then Jack said "I've been waiting since to do this since we did it in the office under cover". He moved a couple little hairs out of her face and they kissed. He put the ring on her and then they sat there talking for over a hour.
After that, they went back to the party. They talked and said if someone notices, which Lucy will, that just to keep them quiet. Jack went to talk to Bobby and Sue went over to Tara and Lucy. Lucy noticed right away. She almost squealed but Sue caught her. Nobody else noticed that whole night.
When Sue, Lucy, Abbey, Kyle, Alex and Samantha all got home, the kids went right to bed. Lucy lived through putting them to bed without screaming. It was 1:42am in the morning, Sue was so tired. Lucy wanted to know where she got the ring. "Where Did You Get That Ring! That Is An Engagement Ring!" Lucy said. "Jack" Sue said quietly. "Jack Gave You An Engagement Ring! Oh My Gosh!" Lucy said jumping up and down. Sue told her the whole story and then said "I'm going to Jacks tomorrow early. We have to talk about stuff. Can you keep the kids?". "Of Course!" Lucy said. "Oh! Lucy, don't tell anyone. Ok! And tomorrow I want you to take the kids to Jacks at around 3:30pm. We need to talk to them" Sue said. "Yep! It will be hard not to talk about everything" Lucy explained. "I'm tired. Good-Night Lucy!" Sue said going to bed. "Night" Lucy said going to her room.
Next Day...
Sue went to Jacks early to talk things over. In the afternoon, Lucy dropped the kids off at Jacks and left. The kids didn't know what was happening. They all sat on the couch in Jacks living room. Abbey was kind of scared and nervous at the same time. "Are we going to a foster home?" she asked looking into Sue's eyes. "Oh No! Please don't do that to us, Sue!" Kyle said with puppy dog eyes. Sue looked at Jack and sort of talked with her eyes. "Actually, we weren't going to send you to a foster home" Sue said. "Good! But what are you going to with us?" Alex stated. "Well, first of all. . ." Jack started. He held Sue's hand. "Were getting married!" Sue said calmly. There was silence. "That's great, Sue! Congrats!" Abbey said slowly not looking happy at all. "Yeah!" Alex said not looking at either Jack or Sue but the floor. "What's up!" Jack asked knowing they weren't happy. "Well, its just that. . ." Abbey started. "You are going to give us away because you guys are getting married. We knew something would have to be done but we didn't really know what. Now we know" Kyle said. "Where will we go? What will happen?" Kyle said. "Well, we were thinking..."Sue started. "That after the wedding you would all move in with us!" Jack finished. Silence went off again. "You mean like you being our mom?" Abbey said looking at Sue. Sue nodded. "And you being our dad?" Alex said looking at Jack. Jack nodded but then said "We can't be your parents. Your parents were amazing people. We can't replace them". "But we want you to have a family!" Sue said. All the brothers and sisters looked at each other and then Abbey came up with an answer. "Lets have a vote. Say yes if you want to move in with Jack and Sue or no if not". "Yes!" Kyle said fast. "Yes!" Alex said after. "Yes!" Samantha said. "Then its official. We are going to have parents!" Abbey said excitedly. All the kids went over to Jack and Sue giving them big hugs.
That night when all the kids finally went to bed, Jack phoned Sue and told her to meet him outside. They went for a walk and sat on a bench at the park. "I can't wait!" Jack said after a nice calmness. "For what?" Sue asked. "To have a family to live with for the rest of my life!" Jack said. They looked at each other for a split second and then Jack grabbed her hand and said "It will be our family!".