(For disclaimer, etc. - see 1.)
24. Snow Angels
Characters/Pairings: Zoe/Wade
'Verse/Timeline: canon - post-series (present day)
Date: December 2020
It rarely snowed in Bluebell. Alabama just wasn't one of those places where a white Christmas was guaranteed or even likely, but sometimes, miracles happened.
"It's been so long, I forgot how beautiful it looks here when it snows." Zoe smiled widely as she stared out of the window and the town all enrobed in white with tiny flakes still falling.
"The kids are gonna go nuts," said Wade, grinning just the same. "You know the second they realise what's goin' on, you're not gonna be able to do a thing with them, doc? As if they weren't excited enough by the whole Christmas thing, not to mention our baby girl's birthday, but now they got snow too?"
"Oh my God!" Zoe gasped, as if only just now realising quite what this could mean. "I have to go wake them up right now!" she insisted, bouncing around like a bug on a hotplate before she took off at a run for the stairs.
"Zoe, I wasn't encouraging you to be crazy, I was warning you!" Wade called after her, but apparently, she could not be stopped. "I got me a crazy-ass wife," he muttered, even as he followed her up to the kids' rooms.
Before he hardly hit the top of the stairs, he heard the whooping and hollering. Jack come running out of his room, half-dressed to go outside already, clattering into his daddy's legs.
"Hey there, buddy," said Wade, scooping the little boy up into his arms before he went headlong down the stairs. "Slow down just a little, okay? You're gonna cause an accident."
"I'm so sorry," Zoe apologised as she appeared from the other room, carrying a squirming Eve in her own arms. "I should've listened. They're way too excited already, but I have to admit, me too!" she said, giddy with the prospect of getting out into the white stuff it seemed.
Wade rolled his eyes. "Y'all are just way to excited about a little frozen water for Christmas," he said definitely and yet was smiling just the same. "C'mon now, if we're headin' out, I guess we best get to goin', before too many other folks mess up all the good snow."
Ten minutes later, the four of them bundled up against the worst of the cold, the Hart-Kinsellas headed out into the snow to enjoy an experience not so often seen in these parts. Wade failed to see what the fuss was really all about at first. He never got so excited by a little snow before and he didn't intend to start now, but then there wasn't much around Christmas that really made him too happy for years enough.
Things were different now. Standing outside, freezing his butt off, it was actually worth it to see his beautiful wife and their amazing kids having the time of their lives. They threw snowballs, built a snowman, and even threw themselves on their backs in the front yard to make snow angels, the way Wade had done once so long ago with his own momma.
"Daddy!" Eve called to him, bringing Wade's attention back from the past to the present in a second. "Make a Daddy angel!" she urged him, pointing to the row of three that ought to be four with the whole family present.
"For you, baby girl?" he said, crouching down and kissing her nose. "Sure, I will."
No matter how stupid he might feel, Wade did as she asked, and when he stood up, got a big old kiss from Zoe for his trouble. Yeah, it was all worth it. His family always were.
A/N2: And that's it, the end of the Advent Calendar. It was a lot to do (especially alongside another one for Gilmore Girls) but also fun, and I really do appreciate all the lovely reviews - thank you :) Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings as is appropriate to you and yours :)