"Hello" I say smiling sweetly at Wade as he walks through the door. "Did you have a nice day?"
"Mmmm" he moans as he leans in to kiss me. "It just got a whole lot nicer."
I smile at him in one of those rare moments of pure happiness. I love Wade, and he loves me back, and we're getting married, and having kids, and I'm finally letting myself relax and enjoy it all. I'm finally letting myself be happy again.
"You hungry Doc?" he asks rubbing my arm.
"Yes" I say excitedly. "I made dinner!"
"What?" he gapes.
"Since it's our first official night together in the house all moved in, I thought I'd start a nice tradition."
"Um, I thought we'd go to the Rammer Jammer" he says nervously as he scratches the back of his neck.
"You just got back from the Rammer Jammer" I laugh.
"Yeah, but it's just I thought-"
"My cooking isn't that bad" I say reassuringly. "It's chicken pot pie. It actually smells pretty good."
"I'm sure that it's fantastic Doc, it's just I was looking forward to a burger."
"You can't readjust?" I ask as I cut a slice. "I worked really hard on this."
"And I appreciate that, I really do, and I love that you're acting all domesticated, and I'd love to have a big ole' slice of that tomorrow, but for tonight I really want to go to the Rammer Jammer."
"You're acting weird" I say suspiciously.
"What's weird about a man wanting a burger?" he responds defensively.
"Nothing" I say as I shake my head and put the pie back in the refrigerator. "If it means that much to you…"
"It does" he says excitedly as he takes my hand. "Come on, let's go."
"You are acting weird" I say as he guides me out the door. "Why the hell are you so excited?"
"I'm hungry" he shrugs as he tries to hold back a grin. "Come on, walk faster" he urges as he pulls me along.
"What is going on?" I giggle.
"Nothing. Goodness Doc, you're so paranoid" he teases.
"Okay we're here!" he announces loudly as we approach the door.
"I can see that!" I reply staring at him curiously.
"SURPRISE!" I hear in the form of a loud scream as we walk in.
"What is this?" I ask as I smile at Wade.
"This is your wedding shower/baby shower/ bachelorette party!" Annabeth announces excitedly as she places a tiara on my head.
"Hey" Wade scolds bemused. "You didn't say anything about a bachelorette party."
"It'll be tame, I promise" Annabeth says reassuringly.
"Maybe I should hang around" Wade says as he glances around.
"No boy's allowed" Tansy scolds.
"Okay, I'll see you later Doc" he says as he kisses the top of my head. "And don't party too hard, I don't want those little one's sliding out of you early."
"I'll be careful" I giggle. "I promise."
"Okay, I love you" he says as he makes his way out the door.
"Awww" Shelley says teasingly.
I smile back at her and then scan the room. "Wow, you guys really went all out" I say impressed.
"You only get married once!" Wanda says excitedly as she hands me a shot.
"I really shouldn't drink" I say glancing down at my swollen belly.
"Oh, you don't really believe all that nonsense?"
"It isn't nonsense" I reply horrified. "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a serious medical condition and-"
"My mama drank all the time when she was pregnant with me" she says rolling her eyes as she walks away.
"Here" Tansy says as she trades her glass for mine. "This is tonic water."
"Thank you" I nod. I need to remember to have a talk with Wanda if she ever gets pregnant.
"Which shower game should we play first?" Lemon asks in a commanding voice.
"Lemon came?" I ask Tansy in a whisper.
"Oh yeah, she pretty much took over the party planning. That girl never met a party she didn't want to plan, I think she might have a problem."
"Who wants to guess how big Zoe's belly is?" she asks loudly.
"Oh that sounds like a hoot and a half, but why not start somewhere else" I say skeptically.
"Okay, let's play guess the baby food."
"That sounds disgusting" I mutter to Tansy.
"I know, but just humor her, we'll have fun later" she says with a smile.
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"Well I should get going" Lemon sighs as we finish playing her last ridiculous shower game."I'm happy for you Zoe. Really."
"Thank you Lemon" I smile. "That means a lot to me."
"Now we can really get the party started!" Shelley says excitedly as Lemon walks out.
"I thought Lemon's games were fun" Annabeth says defensively.
"Definitely" I agree trying to sound sincere. "But, now what?"
"Well we could open your wedding/baby presents!" Tansy suggests.
"Okay" I say happily. "I love presents."
"This one's from me" Tansy says excitedly as she hands me a little box.
"Aww" I reply as I open it. "A teddy bear."
"Actually- it's two teddy bears" she corrects. "A pink one and a blue one."
"It's perfect" I say as I hug her. "Thank you so much."
"My turn" Annabeth says excitedly.
"Oh okay" I respond as another box is quickly handed to me.
"It's huge!" I comment as I look the box over.
"Open it!" she commands with a huge smile on her face.
"Oh my" I say as I look in the box. It's clothes- a ton of clothes. "You bought the babies an entire wardrobe" I giggle.
"I went a little overboard" she admits sheepishly. "But baby clothes are just so damn cute!"
"They are" I agree as I hold up a pink, ruffled dress. "Oh my God" I gasp as I look deeper into the box. "Are these little suspenders?"
"I know, couldn't you just die" she squeals.
"These are great thank you" I say appreciatively.
"This is from Lemon" Tansy says handing me another box. I wonder what Lemon would have gotten me?
"It's beautiful" I gasp as I look at it. It's a silver rattle with engravings of the babies' initials. "This was so nice of her" I add, shocked that the women who only a year ago hated my guts, is now planning parties for me and giving me presents.
"Now for your wedding presents!" Tansy says quickly changing the mood. "This one's from me."
"Thank you Tansy" I smile as I rip the paper away.
"It's the complete Dolly Parton anthology" she squeals. "I thought you could play some of the songs during the reception."
"That sounds great" I smile back at her. "Thank you."
"And this is from me" Wanda says.
"It's gorgeous" I say as I open the small jewelry box. "Isn't the necklace you wore at your wedding?"
"Yes, I got it from Lemon. The women of Bluebell have passing this old thing around to each other since forever. I thought it'd make your perfect something borrowed."
"It is" I smile. "It's perfect." I love that I'm a "woman of Bluebell." I love that I have a place here, that I feel at home.
"Oh tissue alert" Wanda says jokingly as she hands me a Kleenex from her back pocket.
"I'm hormonal" I say defensively as I wipe a tear from my cheek.
"There's one more present left" Shelley says, "You might not want to put the tissue away."
"Oh no" I cringe. "What is it?"
"Well, I sort of broke employee/employee confidentiality here" she says as she hands me a box.
"It's okay" I shrug. "I don't think that's actually a thing."
It's a book. "Mansfield Park?" I ask confused as I look it over. Why is Shelley giving this to me as a wedding shower present? "Thank you, I love this book I used to own a copy but-"
"But you lost it" she finishes.
"Yeah" I answer suspiciously. "Is this the one I lost?"
"It is" she nods.
"How'd you end up it with it?"
"I stole it" she admits proudly.
"So you stole my book, and now you're giving it back to me as a present?"
"No silly, I didn't steal it from you, I stole it from Wade. Now, here's where you might want to get your tissue out."
"Okay" I say confused. "Explain."
"You came in here with that book on one of your first few days in Bluebell. Wade couldn't stop staring at you the whole time you were in here, and you didn't even notice because you were so sucked into the story. You got called away and you ran out and left it behind, Wade picked it up and ever since then it's sat in the back of the bar next to a dictionary, and a highlighter. Wade reads parts of it on his breaks sometimes.
"Really?" I gasp. "I had no idea Wade was into British Literature."
"He isn't silly" she says exasperated. "He's into you, and he has been since the day he met you. He started reading it so he'd have something to talk to you about. Now how's that for a story to tell the grandkids?"
I take the book and hold it against my chest. I had no idea. I had no idea Wade cared about me so much, back then anyway. I had no idea he could be so… romantic. Why didn't he ever tell me this? Why didn't he ever tell me that he stole my book… Okay I kind of get it. It does sound a little strange, but it's so… cute. I want to kiss him, I want to do other things too, but I can't leave my own shower.
"I think it's time for the bachelorette party portion of the evening" Wanda says as she cranks the music up.
Oh boy, this should be interesting.
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I try to sneak out after an hour of watching everyone else drunkenly dance to Carrie Underwood, but Tansy, the only other sober one catches me.
"Sneaking off to see the groom?" she teases.
"Yeah" I admit sheepishly. "I'm sorry, the party was great, thank you so much."
"It was nothing" she smiles. "You might have to return the favor in a few months."
"You're pregnant?" I gasp.
"Oh no" she replies shaking her head violently. "Good Lord, no. I just think George might propose soon."
"Tansy!" I squeal as I hug her. "That's wonderful. Congratulations!"
"Congratulations to you too" she nods. "I know Wade screwed up, but it's obvious that he's in love with you."
"I know" I smile as I place my hand over my belly. "I love him too, I've never been this happy."
"I'm glad you too worked it out. I was always routing for you too, I just didn't want to admit it front of you-know-who."
"Is George still pissed?" I ask nervously.
"A little bit" she admits. "But he's agreed to come to the wedding! I can't believe it's only two weeks away."
"I know" I groan. "I still have so much work to do."
"Don't worry about that tonight" she smiles. "Go see your groom."
"I intend to do just that" I giggle as I walk away.
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"Hey, how's my bachelorette doing?" Wade asks as he opens the door for me.
"I love you" I say as I quickly wrap my arms around him and start to kiss him.
"Wow" he replies as he pulls back and gazes at me. "Where's this coming from?"
"I know about the book" I wink at him.
"What book?" he replies confused.
"The book" I answer. "The one you stole from me" I add teasingly.
He looks confused for another second before his eyes widen. "I just-"
"You just love me" I reply as I curl my arms around his neck. "And I love you right back Wade Kinsella."
"Oh yeah?" he asks as he lifts me up in his arms.
"Yeah" I giggle. "But you're going to throw your back out if you keep lifting me like this."
"You're worth it" he smiles as he starts to kiss me again.
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