Sully awoke the next morning in a room that was not his own. He sat up and looked around and saw some familiarities. The room was light and airy. There were some Cheyenne influences and rustic influences in the décor, but there was also a lot of light wood, and open space. White sheers were hung over every window. One of the sheers was moving with the flow of the light breeze that was coming in through an open window.
Sully wasn't sure where he was, but he didn't feel a sense of panic despite waking up in a strange bed. He felt very comfortable in the room. As he was looking around, he felt a shift in the mattress and realized he was not alone.
"Good morning," a feminine voice said and she wrapped her arms around his shirtless torso. Her soft hands moved his hair to one side and she lightly kissed the back of his neck. Then her lips moved to the side of his neck and worked their way to his earlobe. She took his earlobe in her mouth, sending a few shivers down his spine.
Sully looked to see who this woman was, "Dr. Mike?" he questioned, a little astonished. Was he in her bedroom right now? He didn't remember going home with her after Loren's embarrassing introduction the previous night. He took his kids home, talked to Zachary about what had occurred, and then they all went to bed.
"You haven't called me that in a long time," she said, flashing him a big smile, "Is that your way of saying that you want to play doctor this morning?"
"Where am I? Is this your house?" he asked.
"Sweetheart, I think you're still half asleep," Michaela replied, "You sound a little delirious this morning. Lay back down, let's go back to sleep. The kids won't be up for another hour."
When Sully didn't move, she put her hand on his chest and attempted to guide him backward to his pillow.
In the corner of his eye, he saw something that made him jump. Michaela was wearing a light colored nightgown made of very thin material. He could see that she was pregnant, very pregnant. She looked like she was going to deliver in a couple of weeks.
When he jumped, it surprised her, and she jumped too. She eyed him strangely and placed her left hand on her full belly. On her ring finger was a plain gold band coupled with a second band that had a large shiny diamond in the middle of it.
"You're pregnant," he stated, a little unsure of himself, "Are we married?"
"I don't think you slept well last night, Honey. Let's lay down," Michaela said, and guided him to lay back down. This time he complied and laid back down on the bed, and then she laid down and snuggled up close to him. She dropped a small kiss on his clavicle and said, "I think you'll feel much better once you've rested."
Suddenly, Sully jolted awake and sat up right. He looked around and he was alone in his bed and in his dark bedroom at the bungalow. It was a dream, he thought to himself, but it felt different than a dream. It felt stronger than a dream.
He remembered what Cloud Dancing used to tell him about dreams. Sometimes they were just your subconscious mind playing tricks on you, and sometimes they were more than that. They could be memories of the past or visions of the future.
He looked at his alarm clock and the numbers 4:35 were flashing at him. It was too early to call Snowbird and talk to her about it. It would have to wait until after church later that day.
"I need a shower," Sully said aloud.
Later that morning, Sully entered the cemetery with yellow button mums in hand and with Wolf following behind. His four-legged, best friend's paw was finally healed up and the dog could go on outings with him. Snowbird had the kids, as she usually did on Sundays, so Sully could go and visit Abagail alone.
He laid the flowers on her grave and sat down on his knees next to it. After running a hand over the stone, he greeted his wife by saying, "Hey, Buttons. I miss you," Sully smiled remembering how he used to call her Buttons as a term of endearment. It was because of her love for button mum flowers of any color, though her favorite was yellow.
On their first Valentine's Day as a couple, he brought her roses like most men brought their wives or girlfriends. She accepted them, told him that she loved the thought, but next time she wants her yellow button mums.
"The kids are fine," he said with his anxiety building, "I'm okay, I guess. Um…"
This was silly, he thought. He was talking to a gravestone, not a living person. He shouldn't be nervous. It wasn't like he was about to tell the woman he loved that he wanted a divorce or something. The woman he loved was already gone. Nevertheless, he still felt tremendous guilt.
"I ran into your father last night," Sully told her grave, "The meetin' went as you'd expect. I'm not tryin' to keep the kids from him, I'm not, but he's got to meet me somewhere in the middle here. I reached out to him, several times, after your funeral, but that was just met with a bunch of name callin' and swearin'. Last night was more of the same. He didn't shout the usual profanities that he likes to call me, but he did start name callin' the person I was with."
As Sully was talking to Abagail, he heard Wolf sniffing loudly. That usually met one thing, he smelled another dog and was about to mark his territory, "No!" Sully yelled, then he snapped his fingers and pointed to a patch of grass that didn't have graves. Wolf quickly ran to where Sully directed him.
"You'd think he woulda learned by now that he can't be liftin' his leg on someone's grave," Sully said, shaking his head, "I probably shouldn't bring him with me when I visit ya. Dogs will be dogs after all."
Sully watched as Wolf marked the hydrangea bushes. He supposed that was better than him marking someone's tombstone.
"I met someone, Abagail," Sully said, getting down to business, "She's a single mother and a doctor. We've become friends. I should say, we were friends. Do you know how many times your father called her a tramp last night? That wasn't the first time that somethin' off putin' happened when we were out together. She might not want anything more to do with me."
Sully paused and ran his hand over her gravestone a couple more times. It was as if he was caressing her face and was about to break the bad news to her gently.
"I like her," he said with finality in his voice, "I like her a whole lot. It's not a romance yet, I ain't even sure if I'm ready for that yet, but if it becomes more, I want it. I didn't plan on this happenin' ever again. I always told you and myself that you're the only one for me but, you're not here. I didn't even think it was possible for me to have those kinds of feelings for someone else until I met her. I don't wanna let this woman pass me by if she wants us to become more than just friends."
Once Wolf was done marking the flowers he came back and curled up next to Sully. Sully softly stroked his fur.
"We've only known each other for a coupla weeks," said Sully, "but… boy…ooh, she has hit me like a ton of bricks. But I wantcha to know, no matter what happens. I'll always love you. That part isn't gonna change. The way I love you might, but a piece of my heart will always be with you."
Michaela sat on her sofa with her foot up and ice on her knee. She sipped her green tea and closed her eyes as she listened to the sound of silence. Every once in a while, she allowed her children to play with the Nintendo for more than 30 minutes, and today was one of those days. They were in the basement, and she was meditating quietly.
As she was getting ready for church earlier that morning, she was distracted because of the events of the previous night. She didn't know what happened between Sully and his ex-wife, but she didn't want to be in the middle of a fight. She didn't want that kind of drama in her life.
She was so busy thinking about Sully that she wasn't paying attention while she was going down the stairs of her house. When she got to the last step, she tripped, fell, and hit her knee. She decided at that moment that she needed to skip church that Sunday.
While Michaela had her eyes closed, the doorbell rang. She was agitated already, and the doorbell ringing was an added irritant.
When the doorbell rang a second time, Michaela got up and limped to the door to see who it was.
"Dorothy," Michaela greeted as she opened the door.
"Hello," Dorothy greeted, "Do I still work here?"
"Of course," Michaela said with a bit of a laugh, "I hurt my knee this morning, would you mind coming in and sitting down on the couch?"
"Oh dear," Dorothy said as she watched Michaela limp to her spot on the sofa. She followed her and sat beside her, "I would just like to apologize on behalf of my brother-in-law. Loren made a real jackass of himself yesterday."
"Well," Michaela started to say, but then stopped. Dorothy was right, Loren did make a jackass of himself, and she didn't want to excuse him.
"I didn't know you knew Sully," Dorothy said, "You two looked very…" She wanted to say the word cozy, but decided against it, "...friendly yesterday. He's a good man. I hope you won't let Loren's behavior change your opinion of him."
Michaela thought about it. She still had the same opinion of Sully now that she did yesterday before Loren's interruption. She just didn't want the distress that can come from a relationship with a divorced man that has issues with his ex and her family. There were already obvious problems present, and she hadn't even met the ex-wife yet, "I don't know what happened between Sully and his ex-wife-"
"Ex-wife?" Dorothy interjected before Michaela could finish her sentence, "Did Sully tell you that he's divorced?" Her voice became very high pitched and it sounded surprised.
"He said that he used to be married and he isn't married anymore," Michaela clarified for Dorothy, "Don't tell me he meant that figuratively."
"No," Dorothy said, shaking her head, "Sully isn't married, but he also isn't divorced. He's a widower. He was married to my niece, Abagail. She died about 11 months ago now. She had a heart defect that nobody knew about for a long time. It got so bad that she needed a heart transplant. She was put on a list, but a heart never came."
"That's terrible," Michaela commented, knowing all too well the downsides of the medical profession. Remembering the previous day, she thought to herself that she knew when she saw the picture that was face down in his bedroom that something bad happened. She just didn't know how bad, "One would think that Loren would want to grow closer to Sully. He made it clear last night that he wants to be with his grandchildren," That wasn't the first time that Michaela had heard of it. She still remembered when she saw Snowbird and Loren fighting in his shop.
"One would think, you're right," she said, "but Loren is a bitter man. He just has to take it out on someone."
"Why does he need to take that out on Sully?" Michaela inquired. Loren couldn't possibly hold Sully accountable for her death. It wasn't his fault.
"Hank's not around for him to take it out on, so Sully's the next best thing, I guess," Dorothy said.
"Who's Hank?" Michaela inquired. She hadn't heard that name before.
"Abagail's first husband," Dorothy said, "And Zachary's father."
"Sully's not his father?" Michaela questioned. This story was starting to sound eerily similar to her own situation regarding Matthew.
"Sully is his father in every way that counts," Dorothy explained, "Sully adopted him and has been taking care of him as his father since he was five. Hank doesn't have any custody. He can't have custody anyhow, he's in jail. Anyway, Abagail and Hank were high school sweethearts. Loren didn't want her to marry him because he's a low-life, rude, drunken fool. Not to mention a foul mouth. We're all adults and nobody is a stranger to cursin', but Hank takes it to a whole new level. Abagail fell in love with him anyway."
"Why?" Michaela inquired. Hank didn't sound all that appealing to her, but there had to be something about him that wasn't terrible. She was also curious to know what he was in jail for. She would accept the information if Dorothy offered it, but she wasn't going to ask.
"He's tall, handsome, and there is a certain sexy mystique about him," Dorothy informed her, "Abagail thought she could change him. She believed that all she had to do was love him and he would straighten up. But that didn't happen. After the divorce, she met Sully and fell in love with him, but Loren didn't approve of Sully either."
"Why not?" asked Michaela.
"He was too much like Hank," Dorothy said, and when Michaela's eyes widened, Dorothy amended her statement, "On the surface I mean. Sully is an orphan, and so is Hank, except Sully was brought up by his foster parents, and Hank was brought up by his grandmother. They're both a little rough around the edges. They both look a little similar too, I think my niece had a type. Sully is more handsome in my opinion. Hank is taller. They both have almost the same color hair, I think Sully's is a little darker, and they both wear it long."
"But…As far as I've seen, Sully is not a low-life, rude, foul mouthed, drunken fool," Michaela argued.
"That's exactly what Abagail told her father," Dorothy said, "But Loren didn't care. He said if she married Sully, he would never talk to her again, but Abagail married him anyway. Loren was so angry that he didn't even attend the weddin'."
"Did he really never talk to her again?" Michaela asked. There was no way she could ever fathom her own father doing that to her. How could Loren do that to his daughter?
"No," Dorothy said, her voice sounded like she was backpedaling, "He was stubborn about it for a while, but when she had Hanna, he softened. He missed her and Zachary, and he wanted to know Hanna."
"I hated not having my father at my wedding," Michaela said, recalling her wedding. It was very small and not elaborate. She didn't even wear a real wedding dress, she wore a white suit, but she still felt her father's absence, "Not having him there to give me away was heartbreaking."
"Abagail was upset, but not enough to call off the wedding," Dorothy said, "I think I still have a few pictures of it on my phone," Dorothy pulled out her cell phone and began scrolling through her pictures, "Here. There are a couple of them. Scroll left."
Michaela took the phone when Dorothy handed it to her. The first picture was of just Sully and Abagail. She was definitely the same woman in the picture that she saw on his dresser.
The wedding looked informal, but put together. The bride wore a light yellow dress, instead of a white dress. It actually looked like a dress that was made for a bridesmaid. She carried a large bouquet of yellow button mums, and it looked like she had the same yellow flowers in her hair. Sully had on a suit and tie. The tie was the same color yellow as her dress. Michaela studied Sully's face. He was younger, clean shaven, and he looked happy in the picture.
She scrolled left and there was another picture of the couple, but Zachary was also in the picture. He was maybe five or six, Michaela guessed. He was dressed just like Sully, and had on the same suit and yellow tie.
Michaela scrolled left again. This time, it looked like a bridal party picture. Sully, Abagail and Zachary were standing in the middle. Next to Abagail, there were two women, Michaela wondered if they were her sisters. They looked a little like her, but had lighter hair. They were carrying bouquets of pink button mums, and like the bride, they had flowers in their hair that matched their bouquets. They had light pink dresses on in a similar style to the bride's yellow dress. Next to Sully, there were two young men dressed in suits and ties. Their ties matched the bridesmaids' dresses.
"Who are these people?" Michaela asked.
"Three of them are my children," Dorothy informed her, "Abagail was an only child. She asked her cousins to stand up in her weddin'. These are my daughters, Megan and Jennifer. Since she doesn't have any brothers, Sully asked my son, Tommy, to be a groomsman. This taller gentleman is Sully's brother, and the best man, Daniel."
"Since Loren is your brother-in-law, I presume that you're her mother's sister," Michaela said, trying to understand the family relationships, "Or is your husband Loren's brother?"
"I'm her mother's sister," Dorothy confirmed, "Marcus is not a blood relation."
"Does Loren have any siblings?" Michaela inquired out of curiosity.
"Yes. He has one sister named Olive," Dorothy explained, "She's married, but she never had any children."
"I think I've met Olive," Michaela said, remembering the woman at the ranch.
"Then you must've visited the ranch," Dorothy concluded aloud and when Michaela nodded, she said, "That is another thing I don't understand. You see, Olive loves Sully, loves him like he's her own nephew. She can't get Loren past his anger and bitterness either."
"May I ask? Why did you share all of this information with me today?" Michaela questioned. That was a lot of personal information that Dorothy just gave her, "I hope you didn't do that because you thought you were going to lose your job. This goes well beyond employer/employee relations."
"Mostly, I didn't like how Loren treated you last night," she explained.
"But that's not the only reason?" Michaela questioned.
"Well, I did like what I saw between you and Sully last night," Dorothy admitted, "I just wanted to give you a little more insight; a little more to think about."
"You know that Sully and I are just friends," Michaela informed her.
Dorothy wasn't sure she believed that. She saw something more than friendship building up that night, but she believed that the best answer to give was, "I hope you will stay friends."
To be continued. Please review =) As always, thank you for your support!
I received a private message about this story a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to share my thoughts on it in case other readers had the same question. I waited until this chapter to do it.
The question that I received was about the spelling of Abagail and Hanna. The person wanted to know why I spelled the names that way in my fic, instead of the traditional way. According to this person, in the DQMW scripts on the official website, the names are spelled traditionally: Abigail and Hannah. I have looked at the supposedly official website and that person is 100% correct. The names are spelled traditionally there. However, when you watch the show, and everyone who is reading this fic has, when Sully is in the cemetery, the names on the gravestones are spelled non-traditionally. So I decided to spell the names non-traditionally in my fic. I am no stranger to taking artistic liberties when I write, but the spelling of those two names is not an artistic liberty.