(For disclaimer, etc. - see 1.)

19. Celebrations
Characters/Pairings: Zoe/Wade, AB/Joel, mentions George/Tansy
'Verse/Timeline: One Step At A Time, post-fic
Date: December 2016

"Wade, you can't!" Zoe insisted, even as her husband continued to insist, in an even louder voice, that he absolutely could if he wanted to. "This is George and Tansy's day!" she reminded him crossly. "They've been planning this wedding for a year and you are not going to spoil it for them."

"Come on, doc," he whined at her, even though he knew damn well she had a point on this one. "They had their wedding already, this is just the reception, and as I recall, Tucker had no problem in hijacking ours to propose to Tans in the first place," he pointed out, gesturing with his beer bottle before taking another swig from it.

"Okay, first, when you start waving the beer that much, you've probably drunk enough," said his wife, whipping the near-empty bottle from his hand with a smirk and placing it on the bar. "Second, you remember that whole 'two wrongs don't make a right' thing, right? Besides, you featured quite enough in Tansy's first wedding, she probably doesn't need you being centre of attention at this one."

There was a tone in her voice when she mentioned Tansy's first wedding and Wade would have to have been more drunk or more stupid than he actually was not to notice. Zoe always said it didn't bother her that he was married to Tucker's bride once upon a time, but Wade was sure it did rankle with her just a little bit.

"You know as much as she makes a beautiful bride and all, the way every woman is supposed to," he said of Tansy then, "there is nobody on God's green Earth, doc, that was as stunning in a wedding dress - or out of one - as you," he said, kissing her soundly on the lips the moment his declaration was made.

"Thank you for that," she said, smiling by the time he pulled away, "but you're still not making any announcements at this wedding reception!" she insisted, perhaps just a little too loudly, as it turned out.

"Announcement?" Annabeth echoed, appearing from behind them with Davey in her arms and Joel at her side. "Oh, my goodness, you're pregnant!" she said so loudly that half the bar had to have heard her.

Wade winced, along with Joel, who quickly made apologies. "I'm so sorry for my wife. She gets a little carried away when she's assuming things," he said pointedly. "Sweetheart, I'm sure Zoe is not pregnant," he said, just as loudly.

"No, no, Zoe is pregnant," Zoe herself admitted then, looking up at Wade and sighing. "Well, there's really no use pretending now. So much for letting our friends enjoy their very special Christmas wedding before we let the cat out of the bag."

"I'm so sorry," AB was saying to Zoe, but Wade was barely listening himself, he was too damn happy to be able to share at last.

Stepping up onto a chair and then right onto the bar, he yelled for all the world to hear, never mind the whole bar, announcing that he was going to be a father, thanks to his beautiful wife, who was due to give birth to their child just seven months from now. To the sound of cheering and applause, he leapt back down to the floor and breathed a sigh of relief and contentment.

"That felt good," he declared, his arm around Zoe, pulling her close. "Thanks, AB. Best Christmas gift I got this year was you and your big mouth," he said, more genuinely than such a comment might usually be made.

"Glad to have been of help," she said, even as she blushed.

At least Zoe wasn't looking too mad about the whole thing. Wade called it a win.