A/N: It took me a little longer to write this chapter than I expected but I was struggling a little with the ending... I can only hope you're going to like it. :D
Sue knew it was going to be a long day from the moment she woke up. Eighteenth of June, the anniversary of one of the most wonderful moments in her life, when she could finally see and hold her baby in her arms. It didn't matter that it was preceded by fourteen long hours of being in pain, a lot of days of experiencing all the not so wonderful sides of being pregnant, and weeks of worry, that she isn't going to be able to be a good mother, to raise this child to be a good person, let alone by herself. In all this horrible time, since she was informed that her husband has most probably died, this day brought the light back into her life in the shape of a tiny human, who she loved more than anything else in the world.
She didn't prepare much of a party for Emily, but she still invited her team to spend the afternoon all together. She was aware it was the middle of a week, but they all promised to come if they won't get any new case, because they closed their last one the day before. They were all like a family for her and her daughter, and despite them coming with companions, now with Jack being back it was going to be almost like during the old good times, before it was all destroyed.
Everyone was starting to gather, Emily and Levi were running to alert her of the doorbell every while. First to arrive was, of course, Myles. Sue swallowed, remembering the huge puzzle, way inappropriate gift for a one year old child, he decided to give her daughter for her previous birthday. She was afraid to think what Harvard got this year, not to mention the price. She could only be glad that he didn't spend a lot of time with Emily, otherwise he'd give her everything she wanted. Much to Sue's surprise, out of all of her friends, it was Leland that was spoiling the girl the most. The fact was, that they were all shocked by his attitude towards the child, who he seemed to like very much, enjoy spending time with – from time to time, not too much – and, who liked him.
"Anything else I could help you with, Sue?" he asked, after they transported the table and chairs from the kitchen to the living room and he greeted Emily, who soon ran to her room to get something to show him.
"Well, you could occupy my daughter, so she's not running to me every minute."
"Uncle Myles, come!" could be heard coming from Emily's room just few seconds later and a small smirky smile appeared on Myles' face.
"I think it's settled."
It was difficult for Sue to hide her surprise, when she opened the door a while later to see Bobby and Darcy. They've gotten back together around the same time, when Jack was pronounced dead. It was like they were connected again by fate, walking onto each other by accident on the second day after the journalist returned to DC, and even though they weren't sure it was a good idea at first, eventually started dating again. Nobody had any doubts that it was Darcy, who helped Bobby get over the loss of his best friend, and it was one of the main reasons why they didn't emphasise how much they were reproaching her for leaving Manning in the first place. It was quite a shock for Sue to see the two of them so early. The only time Crash was always on time was when he came to babysit, but other than that it wasn't usual for him to be on time, no matter how much his girlfriend tried to change it. It seemed, however, that she was able to influence his choice of gift, because Sue didn't notice any huge, plush Australian animal, like the kangaroo he has gotten her last year.
They were very soon followed by Lucy, grinning from ear to ear at the sight of Emily dressed in the very same dress, which she saw in the shop, fell in love with and just had to buy. The girl loved it as well and there was no way of talking her out of putting it on for her birthday party, but Sue didn't even try to, because she thought it was beautiful, too. She didn't, however, like that all of her friends were drowning her daughter in all kind of gifts, Lucy and Bobby the most, but there was nothing she could do to stop them, as they didn't want to listen to her. She could only accept it and make sure, that Emily won't end up horribly spoiled by getting so many things.
"I completely forgot to call you earlier, but D. asked me to apologize for not informing you in person and also apologize, that he and Donna won't come today. It seems he got an unexpected visit from his parents-in-law."
"Too bad! But if it's a longer visit, then it's better he won't make his in-laws mad on the first day!"
Some time later the sound of the doorbell spread through the apartment again, and when Sue opened, she saw Tara standing there with her fiancé. Michael was an economist, who few years earlier opened a company with his siblings. It didn't have anything to do with his education, but he was the one responsible for the financial side of running it. The whole idea wasn't a big success and didn't make them rich, but it was good enough to allow them a proper living. Tippy met him by accident, after she and Stanley decided that their relationship isn't going to work and it also became clear, that she and Bobby didn't have a future together. She couldn't, however, be more happy because of this turn of events, and she was quite sure that Mike was finally the one for her. She's never felt so happy before and was really glad that her friends liked him as well.
"And where is the star of the evening?" asked Mike, when they got further into the apartment and Sue gestured her hand towards the door of the living room. Emily, seeing that someone arrived, came running to them.
"She was a real star of the evening, when she jumped out of her mommy two years ago." stated Bobby and Sue snorted.
"Jumped out, huh?" she looked at Crash with her eyebrows raised. "I wish she had, instead of putting me through fourteen longest, the most painful hours of my life!"
"And my hand's as well. I can still feel your grip on it, Sue." added Lucy, curling her hand into a fist and then uncurling it, pushing the fingers as far apart as she could, wincing in fake pain. "But you can't say it wasn't worth it."
"Oh, it definitely was." Sue smiled, leaned down to place a kiss on top of Emily's head, and tousled her hair a little.
"Can we eat the cake, now?" the girl asked, looking at her mother with innocent eyes and making everyone laugh.
"I'm sorry, Honey, not yet." Emily sighed, but caught Tara's hand, trying to pull her to her bedroom, wanting to show her the picture she drew.
"Is Jack coming?" asked Bobby, when they disappeared from their view.
He knew that it was better not to mention Sparky in front of Emily, so she wasn't going to turn sad. It was obvious that she became very attached to her father, and was missing him greatly. It was breaking Sue's heart to hear the question if he was going to come to her every morning, only to have to tell her that he won't because he still didn't come back. He did call her yesterday evening, to inform her that he was going back to DC and his plane was scheduled to arrive there at around the time of a party, so he will try to make it, even if being a little late, unless there will be some delays with the flight. It was something she didn't tell Emily, wanting her to have a surprise.
"I think so. I didn't get any text message from him and he didn't call me that he isn't, so I assume he will come."
And indeed, he did appear. He was almost half an hour late, and it was clear at first sight that he was quite tired, but it wasn't going to prevent him from attending his daughter's birthday party. Sue watched him carefully as he stepped into the apartment; she could see that the few days he spent in Wisconsin weren't easy for him.
"Is everything okay?" she asked, and Jack only managed to nod, because as soon as Emily turned to look who arrived, and her eyes landed on Jack, everything else was forgotten and a huge smile lit up her face.
"JACK!" she exclaimed and ran to him.
He smiled and crouched just in time to catch her, lift her into the air and swirl her, eliciting a squeal and giggles from her. Only then he hugged her tightly and sat her on his hip, seeing that she didn't want to move from his arms, at least for now. He walked with her to the living room, and greeted everyone else. It was difficult for him to hide his surprise at the sight of Bobby's companion, but one look at his friend was enough to prevent him from making any, even the most innocent comment. Crash didn't know how it happened, but it dawned on him that he never told Jack that he and Darcy were back together. He could see, that Jack wasn't delighted with the idea.
"It's good to see you again, Jack." she said and he smiled politely before turning to Michael, who was watching him curiously.
"You must be Tara's fiancé?" asked Hudson, and the man nodded. "Jack Hudson, it's nice to finally meet you. And congratulations, of course." he extended his hand and Mike shook it.
"Michael Keeler. And I'm pleased to finally meet you as well, I heard quite a lot about you from all of them."
"Only the bad things, of course, Sparky." added Bobby, and Mike's eyes widened.
"They call you Sparky?" he asked and Jack nodded, a little surprised. Of all the things, he expected it to be one of those stories they would share with him, and it seemed they didn't. "So this is where they got Miss Sparky from!"
"Miss Sparky? Seriously?" Jack looked at Crash, having no doubts that he had to be the one to think of it and Manning just shrugged.
"It fits, Emily likes it, and even Myles started to use it! Come on, Sparks, don't be selfish and share your daughter with us!"
They didn't even notice Sue slip out of the room, only when she returned with a small cake she baked for Emily, with two candles put on top of it. The girl clasped her hands, happy that the time for it finally came and easily blew both candles after they all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Despite Bobby's efforts, she didn't want to part with Jack and ended up sat on his knees when they all took their places behind the table.
"So, you and Darcy are back together?" asked Jack, when he and Bobby were both standing in the corner of a room, while everyone else was occupied by something different. "Are you sure it's a good idea?"
"Yes, I am." stated Crash firmly, glancing in his girlfriend's direction. "I know that you only want to make sure she's not going to hurt me again, but I forgave her and decided to give her a second chance. And you happen to be the last person, who can tell me it's not the right thing to do." he gestured towards Sue with his head, and Jack nodded. His friend was right, how could he tell Bobby that he shouldn't have done it, if he was trying his best so Sue would do the same for him.
Their attention was soon drawn elsewhere, as the time to open the presents was announced. Emily was running around, giving hugs and kisses, thanking everyone after tearing the decorative paper, revealing the secret of what she has gotten. The first thing she unwrapped were few small activity books from Bobby and Darcy, packed along with a plush koala bear. Sue shook her head, smiling, but was glad it was at least quite small in comparison to the kangaroo.
"I couldn't stop myself." grinned Crash.
There was also a beautiful set of earrings, silver flowers with pink petals from Myles, a book with tales from Tara and Michael, a baby-like doll from Lucy and blocks with letters from Jack. They were all surprised to see that there seemed to be no gift from Sue, but she explained that she has bought her a lamp with a picture of the Lion King, as Emily refused to go to sleep without a light. The previous one was completely destroyed by Levi, and because of it Sue's gift was already in use.
"Looks like someone is worn out." stated Tara some time later, looking at Emily, who was dozing off, cuddled to Bobby.
"And it also seems like time for me to go..." added Myles, and was followed by the rest. If it was during the weekend, they would be staying longer but almost all of them had to go to work on the next morning.
"I'll put her to bed." offered Jack, taking very sleepy Emily from Sue and walked with her to her bedroom.
He changed her into her pyjamas, and the moment the girl's head touched the pillow, she was completely off and Jack tucked her in, kissing her forehead and walking out. He noticed, that everyone was already gone and Sue was walking around, cleaning. He started to help her, despite her protests, and thanks to this everything was taken care of much quicker.
"How is your grandfather?" she asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence, which fell between them after they finished.
"As fine as can be expected. He's well enough to kick me out and order to go back here to celebrate my daughter's birthday. He's still quite weak, though."
She offered a smile, and squeezed his hand. She could see it didn't really make him feel better; it could go unnoticed by everyone else, but she knew he was putting a facade not to show just how worried he still was. She surprised him by wrapping her arms around him and pulling him closer, and few seconds later felt him give in and embrace her tightly. He let his emotions get out, for the first time in way longer time than she even realised. It was a long while later, that he hesitantly moved away from her, looking at her with love practically radiating from his eyes.
"Thank you." he whispered and gently cupped her face with his hand, tenderly caressing her cheek with his thumb. Sue felt like she was mesmerized, unable to move her eyes away from his or say anything. Her eyes widened, when she realised his face was slowly moving towards hers, and she subconsciously parted her lips slightly, only to feel his lips brush her cheek, placing a kiss there. "Goodnight, Sue."
It was like her mind didn't record him walking out of the room, and then leaving the apartment. She stood in the place for a moment before she came around and realised, that he was no longer there. She locked the door, went to check on Emily, and then to her own bedroom, to prepare for the night. She sat on the bed and lifted her hand to her face, her fingertips touching the place, where she could still feel the kiss on. She couldn't help but felt disappointed and frustrated, that he just kissed her cheek. It was far from being an usual peck, but a part of her yearned to feel his lips on hers, his hands caressing her... She groaned, closing her eyes and pushing the thoughts away. What it was about Jack Hudson, that she seemed to be completely unable to resist his charm, no matter how much she would want to?