Zoe groaned the next morning and a second later jumped out of bed and into the bathroom. Wade felt the bed shake and stirred. He reached his hand out for Zoe but only felt the sheets. He opened his eyes and then heard her in the bathroom. He threw the sheets back and walked into the bathroom. He repeated what he did the morning before until she was done.
"Ugh, this is not fun." she moaned as she leaned back against him
"I'm sorry" he kissed her head
"Not your fault."
"Can I record you saying that?"
She playfully elbowed him in the stomach and started to get up. "Why do I have to work today?"
"I don't know. I think the more important question is what am I going to do all day."
Zoe laughed as they walked into the kitchen "Just don't get lost"
"I'll try but what happens if I do?"
"You hail a cab and come back here. Do I have to write my address on a tag and tie it to you?"
"You might. You want anything?" he asked as he stood in front of the fridge
"Just a bagel."
Wade nodded "What time do you go in?"
"Uh 11." she pouted "I have to remember to give my 2 weeks."
"Yes you do. I love you but I'm not staying here longer than that." he smiled
Zoe laughed "Don't worry, you won't have to."
"What time will you be home tonight?"
"Um around 7 if I'm lucky."
Wade nodded "Fun"
"I'm gonna miss you." she said as she climbed on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck
Wade wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder. "You went 5 weeks without me, I think you can last a few hours."
"Maybe" she shrugged "I have to get ready." she sighed
"Then get to it."
After Zoe left for work Wade stayed in the apartment for a couple hours. He decided he should call Lavon.
"Wade my man, how's it going?" Lavon answered
"It's going pretty good. You guys?"
"We're alright, wondering what's going on up there."
"Not a whole lot." he said trying to sound casual
"Oh yeah? Y'all ain't back together or anything?"
"Well I didn't say that." Wade smirked
"I'm happy for you Bro. Where is Zoe?"
"Working."
"Is she staying the rest of the summer?"
"No, we'll be home in 2 weeks."
"Alright. Can I ask what sparked this out of the blue decision?"
"She called, I went. We will explain everything in full detail when we get home."
"She's ok right?"
"Yes, she's just fine."
"Ok then, I'll pass that on to AB because she's been freaking out."
"I have to call Lemon."
"Good luck with that." Lavon laughed
"I'm gonna need it"
"I'll let you get to that. Call us back when Zoe is around next."
"Will do."
He hung up with Lavon and called Lemon.
"Hello Wade." She answered
"Hey Lemon. How's it goin?"
"Oh just fine for now. Where are you?"
"I'm in New York."
"You're where?" she asked in disbelief
"New York, with Zoe."
"What brought that on?"
"Zoe called and I came up here but you can't say anything. Tell people I'm at the beach or something."
"When are you coming home?"
"2 weeks." He cringed
"What?"
"I'm coming back with Zoe in 2 weeks. I'm sorry but I'm not leaving her again."
"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." She said confidently "Cody is actually pretty good and well, Wanda is always good."
"Ok and Chester is there so, yeah."
"I'm happy for you Wade." She smiled
"Thanks Lemon."
"I'll talk to you soon and tell Zoe I say Hi."
"I will."
After he hung up he decided to venture out and see the city on his own. He got a subway map and figured out where he wanted to go.
Zoe got home around 7:30 to an empty apartment. She called Wade's phone but it went straight to voicemail. She searched the house for a note of some sort but found nothing.
"Oh man." She moaned and tried calling his phone a few more times, never getting through. She paced the apartment for a while getting more nervous as the minutes went by. All of the sudden she heard her cell phone ringing. "Hello?"
"Hey Babe. Are you home?"
"Yes, where are you?"
"Well I was wandering the city, got lost on the subway, my phone died, had to figure out how to get back and now I'm in a cab on the way to your apartment."
"You had me worried sick."
"I'm sorry, I should be there in about 20 minutes."
"Ok, I'll be here. You want dinner? I'll order a pizza."
"Sounds good."
Wade walked through the door 25 minutes later and Zoe shot up from the couch and wrapped her arms around him.
"Woah Doc, easy." He laughed
"I told you not to get lost." She smacked his arm
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I missed the stop on the subway and then I didn't know where I was. The small town southern man doesn't do well in the big city."
"Aww" Zoe pouted and then kissed him "Maybe I should take you to work with me."
"Maybe you should." He winked "Did you give your notice?"
She smiled "Yes I did and since its Wednesday they said I could just leave after next Friday. So it will only be a week and a half."
"That's pretty cool, less time for me to get lost."
"No more getting lost! I'm putting you in charge of packing my place."
"What?"
"Oh it's not much." She laughed "Come on, the pizza is getting cold."
XX
"Let's go Wade, she's keeping the office open late so we can get in before we leave."
"I'm coming but I can't find my wallet."
"I have it."
"Why?"
"You gave it to me last night when we were out."
"Oh right, then let's go."
They got downstairs, hailed a cab and headed towards the hospital. Once they were there they went up to the doctor's office.
"You excited?" Zoe asked as they sat in the waiting room. Wade shrugged "Nervous?" she asked
"I don't know." He said quickly as his leg bounced up and down
Zoe smiled and took his hand in hers as the nurse called them in the back. Once they got in the room, she got Zoe situated on the table and then they waited for the doctor to come in. They were both silent.
The doctor came in a minute later "Hey Zoe, how are you? You must be Wade?" she smiled
Wade gave her a questioning look. "Who's Wade? You said it was mine." He said looking at Zoe
"Oh shut up." Zoe laughed "Ignore him."
The doctor laughed "You ready to see this baby?"
Wade nodded "You mean the marble?"
Zoe sighed "Stop calling it that." All of the sudden there was a low sound coming from the monitor and the doctor turned it up. Zoe smiled and took Wade's hand in hers. "That's the heartbeat." She whispered. Wade just stared at the screen with a small smile on his face. Zoe pointed to the baby on the screen "That's the baby, doesn't look much like a marble now, does it?" Wade shook his head 'no'
"I'll give you guys a few minutes and be right back." The doctor told them
"Alright." Zoe smiled and turned to Wade after she left. He was just staring at the screen "Are you ok?"
He blinked a few times "Yeah" he whispered while his breathing got faster and faster
"It's finally become real for you, hasn't it?"
"How'd you know?" he smirked finally looking down at her
"You were way to calm the last week and a half. Now you're looking like you should."
"The heartbeat really did me in."
"That's my favorite part, for now. I can't wait until it actually looks like a little baby in there."
"When's that?"
"A few more weeks." She smiled "You're a little pale."
"Sorry." He mumbled and "I don't, I'm not.."
Zoe laughed and stroked his hair "Its ok, this is the reaction I was expecting at first. You'll feel better once it really sinks in."
"When's that?"
She smiled "I don't know, soon would be good. Don't freak out on me now. You just got me calm about it."
Wade smiled at her "I'm sorry. We can do this." He reassured himself
"I know Babe, we got this." She laughed at him and squeezed his hand
Wade nodded and then kissed her. "Love you."
"I love you too." She beamed
The doctor came back in "Here ya go guys." She handed Wade some ultrasound pictures
"Thanks" he smiled
"Congratulations." Wade nodded and helped Zoe off the table. "Have a safe trip back and good luck with the little one."
"Thank you" she smiled as they all walked out the door
"You ready to go home tomorrow?" she asked as they climbed in a cab
"Yes, I miss the quiet, slow paced life."
"So do I. I miss Lavon and AB and everyone, even Brick."
"They all miss you too, especially Brick."
Zoe smiled "You think everyone is going to judge us?"
"Who cares if they do? Is that going to change anything?"
"No but, I don't know." She shrugged
"Zoe, have you met the people in our town? They are going to be ecstatic about this baby. They're all going to want to help and ask questions and Dash will probably make it it's own blog." He chuckled
Zoe smiled "Very true. I love Bluebell."
"That's my girl."
XX
Zoe and Wade flew home the next day. Wade had asked Lavon to drop his car back at the airport the night before so they could just come home. They got all Zoe's bags and threw them into the trunk. Zoe smiled the whole way from the airport to Bluebell.
"Someone's happy." Wade acknowledged
"It feels good to be home."
"I hear ya. Anywhere you want to go tonight?"
"Just home, I'm exhausted and not feeling that great."
"Don't puke in my car." He warned
"I won't." she laughed as they pulled onto the plantation. They got all her bags out of the car and carried them into the house. "You think Lavon and AB are home?"
"I saw their cars when we drove by. You want to go see them?"
"Yeah, can we?"
"I'll text him and make sure they ain't gettin it on."
"Wade." Zoe laughed as she walked into the bathroom
Wade texted Lavon and got the Ok to go over. He went over to the bathroom door and knocked "You alright in there?"
"Yeah, I'm good." She smiled opening the door "Can we go?"
"Yup." He said walking towards the door
"Yay" she squealed and caught up to him
They walked over to Lavon's house and into the kitchen. Lavon and AB were waiting for them at the counter. They both jumped up from their seats and rushed towards Zoe wrapping her in a big hug.
"Big Z, you are not allowed to leave for that long ever again." Lavon told her
"Don't worry, I won't." she smiled
"I have missed my fellow lady on the plantation. Taking care of these two on my own is a tough job." AB told her
"I would imagine." She chuckled and then walked back against Wade and he wrapped his arm around her waist "We have something to tell you guys."
Lavon and AB gave them both a questioning look. "Y'all are back together." Lavon smiled
"Well yes, but there is more." Zoe told them
"Aright, well you just said you're not leaving for that long again so you're not kidnapping him and bringing him back to New York right?"
"Nope, not kidnapping him to New York." Zoe laughed
"Did y'all get married?"' AB asked
Wade laughed "No" he looked down at Zoe and nodded
Zoe took a deep breath "We're pregnant."
Lavon's jaw dropped and he just stared at the couple in front of him. AB on the other hand squealed and grabbed the two of them in a hug.
"Congratulations! This is so exciting." She looked back at Lavon and smacked his arm "Why aren't you excited and congratulating them?"
"Uh, should we be?" he asked looking at Wade
Wade smiled "Yeah Man, it's a good thing." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the ultrasound picture from the day before. He handed it to AB.
"Awww look" she showed Lavon "How far along are you?"
"7 weeks." Zoe smiled
Lavon pulled them into a hug "If you guys are happy, I'm happy. Congratulations guys."
"Thank you." Zoe smiled "We're excited."
"Wait, 7 weeks? That means it was before you left." AB pointed out
"Yeah" Zoe smiled "The night before."
AB and Lavon laughed "Good job guys." Lavon smiled
"Thanks, I planned it." Wade joked
"You did not." Zoe laughed
"You'll never know." He chuckled
"You didn't have much time to think of that once you got in my house."
"That is true. You practically launched yourself at me."
Annabeth laughed "There should never be launching. So did you know she was pregnant before you went up there?"
"Yeah, she told me on the phone."
"and you didn't freak out?"
"I didn't really freak out until the other day when I saw it and heard the heartbeat. It hit me then."
"I thought he was going to pass out." Zoe chuckled
"I felt like I was going to pass out."
"This is going to be fun to watch." Lavon smiled at the couple