Hey all! Welcome to day 11 of the 12 days of Christmas. This one got away from me a little bit. Not that any one is going to care. I did enjoyed writing this one. I do enjoy making the Kinsella brothers reconcile. I am a sucker for some Kinsella brother bonding moments. I feel like there is so much more to their story than we were given. This one is a mix of AU and Cannon, once again.

Enjoy!

Christmas comin' round again

"I don't even know why he's back," Wade huffed, slamming his empty beer bottle on the bar top at the Jammer. "He can stay away from me. He can stick to seeing Earl and celebrating Christmas with him. As far as I am concerned, he's not my brother, hasn't been for sometime now," he rambled out.

"You can't mean that," she sighed, swirling the dark red liquid around in her glass.

"Sure I do," he commented, nodding.

"Wade, he's your brother. Whatever else there is to him leaving and hurting you, it can be resolved," she tried to tell him, making him see that he could try to be civil towards his brother.

"I say he's not, so he can go back and forget that he had a brother once, because doc, he's an only sibling these days and that is on him," Wade snapped, angry over Jesse and not with his girlfriend's suggestion.

"Do you think maybe you should talk to him?" Zoe asked, gently setting her glass of wine down, turning to face her boyfriend. "See if you can resolve this anger towards him."

"Nope," Wade stated, popping the p. "I don't need to see him or talk to him. I have nothing to say," he huffed.

"You might not, but he might have something to say to you," Zoe offered.

She doesn't know everything behind the feud with the brothers. It's been something that's gone on longer than she's been in town. Got a bit of information last year when Jesse showed up. She made the mistake of being flirty with Jesse. If she had known that he was Wade's older brother, she would've stayed away from him, other than seeing him as a doctor.

"There's nothing he can say that will fix the way he just up and left, leaving me to deal with everything," his anger draining out of him.

"I can say sorry, but I know that won't help any," Jesse spoke standing behind his brother.

"Hey would ya look at that, he's right about somethin', Doc," Wade sarcastically said, gripping his beer bottle tighter, refusing to look at his brother.

"I want to make amends, Wade. That's why I came here, figured it'd be best to have a little Christmas magic on my side," Jesse joked.

"There's no amount of Christmas magic that can fix what you broke," Wade hissed, storming out of the Jammer.

"I'll see what I can do," Zoe told Jesse with a small shrug. She doesn't know if she can talk any sense into Wade, but she'd hate to see her boyfriend, carry around so much guilt and one day regret not being able to make amends.

"Don't bother," Jesse sighed, taking the stool his brother vacated. "It's my mess to clean up, and I knew coming here was going to be hard. I'll get it sorted out," he told Zoe.

"A little help never hurts especially when they're as stubborn as Wade is," she smiled softly, leaving the oldest Kinsella brother at the bar.

Zoe sat in the empty chair, leaving Wade to strum his guitar, humming to a Christmas Carol. It's not her place to get into the middle of her boyfriend's drama with his brother. But there's something inside her that won't leave it be. She can see that when he talks about or even sees Jesse, there's a hidden hurt in his facial expressions, hurt behind his beautiful green eyes. The emotion just doesn't suit him. She doesn't want him to think back one day when it's too late to make amends with Jesse and regret not taking that chance.

"Doc, if you're here to talk me into having civilized words with my brother, you came to the wrong place," he warned her, reaching to the small table on his porch for his half full beer, taking a long pull from it.

"Nope," she told him softly, leaning back in her chair. "I'm here to keep my boyfriend company and listen to the music he so happens to make sound all sexy," she quipped out. She'd have to be careful of what she said, to make Wade see that he can go have a heart-to-heart with Jesse.

"Why didn't ya say ya wanted to be wooed, Doc," he smirked, replacing his beer bottle on the table and finding the right chords needed to turn a plain Christmas song into a panties dropping tune.

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself, cowboy," she smirked. "You already know this is all yours," she winked, motioning to herself.

"Is that so?" He asked with a smirk, leaning his guitar against the side of the gatehouse. Zoe hummed. "What's the catch?" He asked, eyeing his girlfriend up.

"What makes you think there's a catch?" She asked with a laugh.

"I've learned that most easy things with you comes with a catch. They always do. It can't be a date, we had one today, and one is planned for Saturday. So hit me with whatever is on your mind," he sighed, grabbing his beer from the table.

"There's no catch, Wade," she simply told him. "I'm yours and I hope that doesn't change for the foreseeable future," she shared with him. "I do wish that you would consider talking to your brother. Let him feel the hurt he made you feel, the same hurt you've held onto all these years. Get it off your chest, and you'll feel better," she suggested.

"How about you take that suggestion and shove it…" He was in the process of saying.

"Wade," Zoe stated, cutting him off. "How about you think about it," she commented.

"I'll think about it, but anything other than that won't be a guarantee," he snapped, frustrated with himself over his family drama.

"Okay," she nodded, getting up and standing before him. "Now let's go in and play one of your video games, the strip version," she seductively suggested.

"That's an offer a guy can't refuse," he smirked, taking her hand, letting her lead him into the gatehouse for a night of fun. He could see that she was doing everything in her power to keep his mind off his family problems for the night. Something he's extra grateful for.

He sighed, seeing his brother at their mom's grave. Wade likes to come and visit as much as he can during the holiday season. Though really whenever he gets a spare few minutes he's in the cemetery. Sometimes he's telling his mom everything and other times he just sits on the ground leaning against her headstone, feeling at peace sitting with Ma. A favorite pastime of his from his childhood. He was a huge Mama's boy, and he's not ashamed that he loved her that much.

Last night playing games with Zoe, losing articles of clothing, his mind was on nothing other than his sexy girlfriend. Waking up this morning to have her gone already, hurt, but he knows that she doesn't like to wake him when she needs to be early for work, today being no different. Without her there in his arms, his mind drifted off to his brother. Memories betraying him, the good ones playing in his head. That's what led him to the cemetery. He wasn't expecting Jesse to be there, though, it made sense.

"I was just leaving," Jesse said, catching sight of Wade.

"Jesse, wait," Wade sighed. He's not sure if it's Zoe wanting him to make amends with Jesse, the way his brother could quickly dismiss him or the fact they were standing in front of their mom's grave to let this stupid feud keep going. "I was told I have let this grudge against you go on long enough," he stated, closing his eyes. That may not have been the words Zoe used, he got that she was trying to tell him as much.

"I know you were hurt," Jesse sighed. "It hurt like heck leaving you behind. Growing up we always had each other. And I left. It's not because I had to be away from you, I had to be away from this town, away from watching dad waste away," he explained, running a hand through his hair.

"Did you ever think that I needed to be elsewhere? That being here ruined things for me?" He asked his brother. "No, because you tucked tail and left. I was the one left to pick up the pieces. Left to take care of a man that wanted nothing more than to be buried next to our mother," he yelled, his anger coming out.

"I am sorry for that, I really am. But it would've been worse if I stayed. When I left we weren't even a family anymore. We didn't come together after the tragic death of our mother. We fell apart. You were never around, always off with some girl, or your friends. Dad could never leave his bottle of alcohol long enough to see what was going on in front of him. We became strangers living under the same roof. I left because it was the right thing to do. Either way you would have resented me, this way I at least made something of myself," Jesse explained, taking a deep breath.

"You don't have to tell me that, Jesse. I was there, I lived it too. But what you don't know, is that I had to turn down opportunities. I was given a full ride scholarship for Bama, but I couldn't take it because someone needed to be here to watch dad. And things turned out good for me now, but I had to struggle, Jesse, I didn't get it easy," he explained, shaking his head. Zoe had been right, he feels better about getting things off his chest.

"I didn't know, and I am sorry that you had to turn it down. That was never my goal in life to make you miss out on things, Wade. As your older brother I wanted you to have everything, but suffering here wasn't good for me. If I could have taken you with I would have, and maybe everything would be different. But this is where we're at," Jesse stated.

"It is," Wade nodded, feeling the energy leave him. "The question is where do we go from here?" He asked, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Forward, I hope. One step at a time, if that's good with you," Jesse offered.

"Want to grab a beer?" Wade asked. He saw no point in holding this grudge with his brother, not when it didn't make sense to hold onto anger that didn't need to be placed there.

"Wade it's not even 10 yet," Jesse pointed out, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat.

"And?" Wade asked. "You're on vacation, and it's Christmas Eve, one beer before noon won't hurt," Wade retorted, turning to walk out of the cemetery. He'd come back to visit with his mom later.

"One beer," Jesse warned, a smile gracing his lips. "And I want to hear all about the good things I've missed out on," he told Wade.

"It wouldn't be so bad to hear the stories you have under your belt," Wade commented, as they walked to the Rammer Jammer.

Funny how the one thing you would never think could happen, does. And it takes you off guard. He'd be okay to stay mad at his brother until the end of time. But, he's glad he doesn't have to. It will take time for them to be as close as they once were, but if they stay in touch it could happen. And it's really all thanks to a little Christmas magic.