Sadie embarked on a plan to turn Walford against Tom, but it didn't work and Sadie & Charlotte disappeared.Tom discovered he had an inoperable brain tumour. He didn't tell Sharon, because he wanted a girlfriend, not a nurse. When she proposed, he began to push her away. Eventually, Sharon discovered the truth and she vowed to stay with him until the end because she loved him. She proposed again and this time, Tom accepted.
Bily & Little Mo's engagement party at Angie's Den became their own and it was a double celebration. Trevor kidnapped Mo, holding her and his baby son Sean hostage in the Slater house. They were all going to die together. Little Mo grew strong and called Trevor's bluff.. Mo lit a match & she realised he wasn't joking.
Firefighter Tom ran straight in to save them. He rescued baby Sean & Little Mo, but when he went back for Trevor, he met his end as the house exploded. Tom was buried, and for the first time, Sharon met his mother, Bridget. She begged Sharon to come to Ireland with her, so she could share some memories of Tom. Sharon went, but not before confessing to a guilt ridden Little Mo that it didn't matter if Tom died in the fire, he was dying anyway.
One night, having dealt with Sam & Phil Mitchell's jibes about him being unwanted particularly badly, Dennis trudged home and sat in the dark drinking alcohol and shovelling back fistfuls of pills. This was the night when Dennis demanded to know how Sharon could ever have let the likes of Phil Mitchell touch her. When Sharon retorted that she was using him for sex, Dennis begged her "use me instead". Against her better judgement, Sharon tumbled into bed with Dennis. He decalred his love and Sharon couldn't handle it, especially when she discovered the father she thought was dead, stood in the shadows of Angie's Den!
Upon returning from a belated honeymoon, Sharon & Dennis moved into number 29. On Christmas Day, Sharon dragged Dennis to A&E, suspecting him of having given her food poisoning. As it turned out, the seemingly infertile Mrs Rickman was expecting a baby! Sharon and Dennis were elated, but this did not keep him from a feud with Johnny Allen. He threatened Sharon with Dennis' life unless they left the Square forever by New Year. Terrified, Sharon managed to convince Dennis to emigrate to America for a new life with their child, but not before confiding in Phil that she was running from Johnny. Phil, determined to settle his own score with Johnny, told Dennis how his wife had been threatened. Dennis took the bait and savagely beat Johnny, leaving him half dead - tossing him his mobile phone as a last act of pity. Dennis was fatally stabbed by Danny Moon on his way across the Sqaure and died in his wife's arms as the clock struck midnight, his hand on her stomach, his last words being "We did it", meaning their long awaited baby.
Sharon left for America after Dennis' funeral and gave birth to their son there, alerting Pauline with a picture message in early July. The baby was named Dennis Junior in honour of his father.
