A/N: I am sorry it took me so long to update, but I have a very busy period lately and I try my best to write whenever I'm able to! It's the last chapter, there's only an epilogue left and I'll publish it as soon as I'll be able to. Right now, however, I only wish for you to enjoy it.
Sue sighed, leaning her head against the wall, while looking through the window and watching her husband and daughter, playing together in snow. It was the beginning of December and winter came, giving them quite a big snowfall, covering everything under a white layer. Emily was very ecstatic about it; last year was her first winter with such an amount of snow, as there was a big difference between DC and Wisconsin, but she absolutely loved it. It wasn't a surprise at all, that she wanted to go out as soon as possible, and she was the happiest of children when her father finally agreed – even though the man never intended not to do that. They were now finishing the snowman, much taller than the girl herself and Sue watched Jack lift the girl, so she could place pebbles and carrot on the top ball. A huge grin on her face, and a matching one on her dad's, left no doubts they were both very happy with their work and the moment Jack placed her back on the ground, she ran to the house and straight to her mother, insisting she had to go out and see it.
The more time passed, the more convinced she was that staying in Wisconsin was the best decision they could make. Being close to the people they cared about was what they wanted, and when they really thought about it, it was this place, that could give it to them. There was Bobby so close, and now with the baby on the way, he and Darcy were looking for a house and considering moving to the same town, where Jack and Sue lived; the Durhams, who became their best friends in Wisconsin, were living almost on the other side of the town, but it was still relatively close. Jack's parents and his brother's family were just a short driving distance away. If they were to go to DC, they would only have Myles there and even though he was a good friend, it was Lucy and Bobby, who they missed the most. Lucy made the decision that her relationship with Jason was worth the risk of leaving everything behind, and joined the man in London, and it only made their choice easier. They have made all the Hudsons very happy with it, but it was probably Samuel, who was the happiest member of Jack's family as it has always been his dream, that his younger grandson would live there, a dream, which's possibility he started to doubt at one point. Yet, they had everything there – family, friends, a house they started to love and everything else they could only hope for.
She didn't hesitate to put her winter clothes on and follow her daughter. They were playing and fooling around together, laughing a lot, but Jack and Emily soon started to feel cold and it was time for them to go back home. It didn't prevent them, however, from starting a snowball fight. Sue and Emily teamed against Jack, and the man soon had to admit his defeat, accidentally falling down to the ground.
"I have no chance against the two of you!" he said, lying on his back and grinning widely.
He raised himself just a little, when she approached to check if he was fine, but enough to pull her to the ground as well. He groaned, when Emy decided to join them and landed partially on his stomach, but very quickly positioned herself between them, grinning even wider than her father.
"No, Levi, not you too!" he shouted, when he realised the dog was approaching them very quickly but could only groan again, when he landed in a little similar way to Emily, what the girl found amusing. "Not funny, Sweetie." he said to her and turned his eyes to the dog, looking at him in a way, which made him unable to even think about being mad. "Yeah, I love you too, Buddy." he said, petting Levi's head.
Even though they had a lot of fun, despite the warm clothes, they soon started to feel cold and it was time for them to go back home. Soon, all three of them could be found sitting on the couch, cuddled together, drinking hot chocolate and getting warm, while Levi was lying right next to them, with his head resting in Sue's lap.
"I have ten unanswered calls from Bobby." stated Jack, when he checked his phone after it started to ring, but he didn't manage to get to it quickly enough to answer it. "Something must have happened."
"My guess is that Darcy went into labour." said Sue, knowing that it was now around the woman's due date and the baby could be born any time.
She was, of course, right. The number of times he called them and the way he was speaking, his voice full of excitement mixed with panic were all very good proofs even before he announced it.
"Crash as a dad… Who would have thought!" chuckled Jack, placing his cell phone on the table in front of them after hanging up.
"I would. You've seen only a tiny little bit of how he was with Emy… Even when she was a baby, he was amazing with her… I never suspected he would have such an amazing way with children! She absolutely adored him!"
She bit her tongue, when she noticed the expression, which appeared in the man's eyes, and realised her mistake. She knew that for Jack, the two years of his absence were a taboo topic. Even though a person could not even think of it, whenever someone mentioned it he was practically always becoming very irascible and defensive in a matter of seconds, as if they deliberately accused him of abandoning them. It didn't matter who it was or that he knew, that they didn't think this way and didn't mean it; he was as ready to explode with her as he was with any other person. His family and friends all knew that it was a matter, which they should avoid at any cost but sometimes the words were out of their mouth before they even realised, just like it happened with her in that moment. She sighed with relief, when she realised he wasn't going to react in his usual way; there were very rare moments, when instead of anger, he was filled with sadness and it seemed to be one of them.
He could try to hide it and succeed with a lot of people, but she knew him way too well to be deceived. He could have mastered putting up an indifferent face, but it has always been his eyes to show his emotions the best and when one learnt to read them, they could always know what he was feeling. She was one of those very few people, who managed it and was very capable of catching the short, almost unnoticeable glimpse of huge sadness and regret in his eyes mixed with a huge jealousy, directed at Bobby. She had no doubts that watching his best friend, so excited about everything he never had the chance to experience and would give anything to be able to, was exactly what was the cause of stirring all those feelings in Jack. He tried his best not to show or act on it; that there was no way he could blame Manning for being this way, especially that he was sure that if it was the other way around, he would be exactly the same, but sometimes it was just a little too much. Even Crash himself was aware of it all and even if there were moments when Jack couldn't help but acted on his emotions, he never held grudge against his friend.
It was even more visible, when they made their way to the hospital the next day. They were one of the first people, who Bobby sent a picture of his son to, just whiles after the baby was born. It was only that it was late in the evening not the middle of the day, that they didn't go to the hospital right in that moment, but it was the first thing they did in the morning. Darcy and Bobby grinned, when they noticed the Hudsons walk in, Emily holding a teddy bear for the baby, which she was very proud of choosing herself, Sue with a blue balloon with cars and planes and "It's a Boy!" written in the middle, and Jack with a bouquet of flowers.
"Do you have a name chosen?" asked Sue, looking at the little boy, taking him from Darcy, when the woman suggested for her to hold him.
She knew that the two not only wanted to have a surprise as to what they were going to have, but had some troubles finding names, which they both liked and wanted to give their child. Feeling the intense gaze on her, she glanced up at Jack and just like she suspected, it was him, who was staring at her this way. She sent him a small smile and returned her attention to the boy, whose curious gaze while she cooed to him, made her smile widen. His parents exchanged knowing glances; Jack's thoughts in that moment were painted all over his face and it was clear he was thinking about seeing his wife this way, but with their own baby. They were brought back by Sue's question and smiled.
"We actually do." stated Darcy, moving her eyes to Bobby.
"Oscar Jackson Manning." said Crash, grinning at Jack, who was looking at him dumbfounded.
Initially he thought he must have misheard the middle name; it was natural that his own name was the first one, that came to his mind in such a situation. There were a lot of names sounding very similar, and just because he couldn't think of a good example just then, it didn't mean that Bobby and Darcy didn't find and choose one. Yet, the way Crash was looking at him left no doubts he heard him correctly; they decided to use his first name as their child's middle one, the same way his own parents chose Samuel as his, in order to honour his grandfather. It was, however, completely impossible that it would be their intention, wasn't it? He shook his head - Bobby's grin was making it all pretty clear; it was exactly what they meant.
"You didn't…" he managed to say, looking at his friend in disbelief, while the man rolled his eyes.
"We did. We've agreed we want to name our son after people, who are important to us and it was a natural choice; Oscar after Darcy's little brother and Jackson, after a guy, who I may not be related to, but who is like a brother to me."
"I have no idea what to say…"
"You could, for example, mention what would the two of you say if we asked you to be his godparents." suggested Darcy, and this time Sue's eyes bulged out as much as her husband's.
"You want us to be his godparents?" she asked and they both nodded.
"We can't think of two people, who would be more suited for this role." stated Bobby, and Sparky exchanged glances with his wife.
"We will be honoured." he said, eliciting a grin on their friend's faces. "May I..?" he asked Sue and carefully took the boy from his wife's arms. "He looks just like Darcy!"
Even though neither of them would complain if they were to spend a whole day with them, it was soon time for the Hudsons to leave. They should have expected, that after promising Emily that they will take her to the ice skating rink, she wasn't going to forget about it, no matter how excited she was about little Oscar. She kept asking questions about him all the way to the rink. They were actually surprised by the amount she was able to think of, finishing with the one, which Sue kind of expected her to ask at one point.
"May I have a little brother?"
Jack choked and moved his eyes to Sue, meeting her gaze. The woman smiled at him and looked back at Emily.
"We'll think about it, okay?"
"Okay!" exclaimed Emy, obviously satisfied with the answer, and caught each of her parents' hand, pulling them towards the entrance.
They had a lot of fun during the short hour they spent on the rink. Holding the girl's hands, Jack and Sue were helping her keep her balance and skate around with them, fooling around, laughing a lot and drawing a lot of eyes to themselves. There wasn't anyone around, who wouldn't start to cheer and clap their hands when Sue finally gave in to her husband's persuasions, demonstrating a simple pirouette and a jump, which may have not been technically perfect, but made a huge impression on their company, but especially on her daughter. She turned around and looked at Jack, kneeling on the ice with his arms around Emily, both watching her with admiration.
"I want to do it, too!" exclaimed the girl and Jack chuckled and kissed her cheek, keeping his eyes fixed on his wife, slowly skating back to them.
It was just a beginning of their day and after eating lunch at one of their favourite restaurants in Milwaukee, they went to the park, where they spent most of the afternoon. Emily was so exhausted due to all the fun they had, that she dozed off on their way back home in the very early evening.
"She was so delighted today, she's going to whine to take her skating every day!" said Jack, when he returned to Sue after carrying the girl to her room and the woman nodded with a smile.
"Perhaps, if it doesn't pass, we might consider ice skating lessons for her."
"I don't think it'll pass. Not with a mom, who used to practice figure skating and a dad, who used to play hockey. She's got skating in her blood."
"I guess you're right."
They were sitting in silence for a while, Jack keeping his arms around Sue, while the woman was leaning against him with her eyes closed. They really loved to sit like this in the evening, when their daughter was asleep, and enjoy the peace around as well as the closeness between them. Next to having fun with Emily, it was one of their favourite moments during the day.
"What is it?" asked Sue adjusting her position to be able to read him, when she felt her husband tap her gently on her arm, knowing it was the gesture he was always using in situation like this to get her attention.
"I was thinking about Emily's another request…"
"Which one? There was quite a few of them today."
"The little brother. We talked about having a second child before we came here and we agreed that we should wait for the right time, when the whole mess will be over… It actually goes around my mind for a while now, that perhaps this 'right time' has come… And I can't deny that little Oscar really made me wish to have my own baby… Well, ours, but you know what I mean."
"Of course. And it's good to know, especially that you may have this wish fulfilled sooner than you think." she smiled, taking one of his hands in hers and placing them on her abdomen.
Jack's eyes widened, when he understood the meaning behind her words and had it confirmed by her gesture, and his lips spread into the biggest grin possible.
"Really?" he choked out and seconds after she nodded his head, smiling too, he captured her lips with his in a short kiss, followed my many others, which he started to place all over her face. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." he repeated between each, finishing with another one on her lips, much longer this time.
He couldn't have thought of a better ending to such a perfect day!