A/N: Nice to see so many people excited to meet the baby - thanks for all those lovely reviews! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 36

"I am officially exhausted," said Zoe heaving a sigh that fast turned into a yawn, "but you, oh my God, you were so worth it," she told the tiny bundle in her arms. "You're the most beautiful little girl in the whole world and I love you so, so much," she swore to her daughter, who wriggled in her arms and then yawned herself.

It was all truly amazing to Zoe. Possibly it would be a little more amazing at a later date, when she was awake enough to really appreciate what she had been through tonight, or this morning, or whatever time it was. Still, Zoe knew she had been so lucky to have three wonderful guys on hand to get her through an ordeal the like of which she had not been quite as prepared for as she thought.

What she said to her baby girl held true, of course. All the pain and the panic (and there had been plenty of both) was absolutely worth it in the end. Zoe had a daughter now, a beautiful child that was now her responsibility for the rest of her life.

"I am going to do my best, kid," she swore, "and I don't know if it'll always be good enough, but I am going to try so hard, I promise."

With her eyes fixed on her baby yet, she didn't notice somebody was at the door, until he tapped lightly on the wood to get her attention.

"Hey. Can I come in?"

"Seriously?" Zoe checked. "Wade, this is your room too, remember?"

"I know that," he said, shifting awkwardly on the threshold still. "I just... well, I figured maybe you'd be sleepin', both of you."

"Nope, not yet," said Zoe, shaking her head slightly, even as her attention was stolen away again by her daughter. "I think she's on her way out, and I doubt I'll be far behind her. You know, the whole birth thing, it is really, really hard."

"Yeah, I got that part," Wade agreed, venturing a couple of hesitant steps into the room by now. "Uh, we pretty much got everything cleaned up."

"Uh-huh," said Zoe absently, before finally looking at him again. "Wade, would you come over here already?" she urged him, laughter in her voice. "You look like you don't think you belong here or something. Did you forget that I could not have done all this without you?" she said, with a smile.

"Hey, now," he said, finally reaching the edge of the bed and sitting down on it. "Did you forget that I told you you're plenty strong enough to do just about anything, and all by yourself if you had to. Not that I got any regrets about bein' by your side tonight, nor seeing this cute little bundle get herself born," he said, looking to the tiny baby in Zoe's arms.

"She is pretty perfect, isn't she?" she said, sighing happily.

"Yes, ma'am," Wade agreed. "Just like her momma."

Just when Zoe thought she couldn't love him any more than she already did, he said stuff like that. She wasn't sure she would ever tire of Wade's compliments, much less his total devotion to her. He just loved her so much, and from the way he was looking at her daughter in that moment, she was certain he loved her just as much. The realisation of it brought a flood of tears into her eyes that were soon streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry about this," she told Wade, struggling to hold the baby and wipe the tears from her face at the same time. "I don't even know what's wrong with me."

"Pesky hormones again, I guess," said Wade softly, moving to sit closer beside her, arms encircling both her and the baby together. "Harley said somethin' about them still being a thing for a while, even now she's here."

"Yeah, I'm gonna be a barrel of laughs for a while yet," Zoe joked. "I honestly don't know how you put up with me sometimes."

"Hey, you got the tougher job, Zo. You gotta put up with me," he told her, joking just the same as he kissed her temple. "Well, I gotta say, didn't see the night turnin' out exactly like this. She come in like a whirlwind of a surprise. 'Course, that's how you came into my life too," he reminded Zoe

She snorted with laughter. "Um, excuse me? I think you'll find you were the one that came crashing into my life, totally unexpectedly," she said, craning her neck to look at him properly. "Not that I'm exactly sorry that you did."

"Well, I am glad to hear that," Wade assured her, planting a quick kiss on her lips. "You were truly amazing tonight, Zo. I always knew you were, but damn, you went ahead and proved it."

"Thank you, Wade," she said softly. "For everything. For coming to find me that day at Yale. For being the friend and support I needed when I first came to Bluebell. For tonight, when I really needed you to just be there. Thank you, just for... for being you, I guess. I love you, Wade Kinsella," she told him faithfully. "I don't think that will ever change."

"I love you too, Zoe Wilkes," he said pointedly, knowing just how much her new name meant to her. "And this one right here?" he said of the child in her arms. "She may not be a part of me, but she is a part of you. That means I already love her just as much as I love you. I swear, Zoe, I do, and I always will."

That might actually have meant more to Zoe than Wade just loving her. For him to have the capacity to love her daughter, another man's child, from the very beginning - from before the beginning, in a way - it meant the whole world.

Swallowing hard, she managed to stave off another flood of tears and leaned in to kiss Wade on the lips. Of course, the moment she pulled away, she yawned again.

"You are dead beat, girl," Wade told her, shaking his head. "You oughta get yourself some rest and fast. Harley reckons best time to sleep is when the baby's doin' the same."

"I know." Zoe sighed. "It's tough to put her down though," she admitted, looking down at her precious bundle once again. "You know, I feel bad that she doesn't have a name. I thought I had a least a couple more weeks to make a choice. Not that I even really have a short-list. Naming people is hard."

"You know, Mrs H said something about that the other day," Wade recalled. "Something about not worryin' too much until the baby comes, 'cause when you meet her, then you'll just know what her name is supposed to be."

"Really?" said Zoe, glancing at Wade before going right on back to staring hard at her newborn daughter. "Yeah, that doesn't work."

Wade chuckled into her hair and kissed her head once more.

"You don't have to know right this second, sweetheart," he reminded her. "I figure, you get some rest, and maybe in a while it'll come to you."

"Maybe," Zoe agreed, another enormous yawn escaping her. "Ugh, at least we got the crib set up in time. Could you...?" she said, holding out the baby towards Wade, hoping he would help her out by taking the little one and putting her down to sleep.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help, but Wade was fine with admitting, he was kind of freaked out about being handed the baby right now. He loved her, he just said as much and it was true as he was sitting there, but he never held a baby in his life before. He figured the panic must've showed on his face given what Zoe said next.

"It's okay," she told him definitely, meeting his eyes. "Wade, I trust you. Just take her, she'll be fine."

Shifting to get up off the bed, Wade stood and then leaned in to take the baby from Zoe. He was shaking just a little as she placed the little girl into his arms, reminding him to support her head. As the tiny, warm bundle settled into his arms, Wade looked down at the baby and felt something he couldn't possibly describe, but he knew it was something incredible.

"Hey there, baby girl," he said softly, just staring at her for a while. "You know, you look so much like your momma. Yeah, you're gonna grow up to be one hell of a woman, just like her. Beautiful and tough and smart and... and you are gonna take on the world and win, I just know it."

"Give her a chance, Wade." Zoe laughed, even as she sank into her pillows, eyes falling closed. "She's only a couple of hours old."

"Yeah, but she's your daughter, so she's already got a head-start on everybody else," he said definitely, "and you know what else, kid?" he said the baby as he walked her over to the crib. "You also got me. That's right, Wade Kinsella, at your beck and call, any time you want me. I am always gonna be here, sweetheart, for you and your momma, I promise you that."

He placed the gentlest of kisses on her tiny forehead and then carefully lowered her down into the crib, wishing her sweet dreams as he did so. By the time he stood back up and looked over at Zoe, she was already fast asleep.

It took a couple of days for Zoe to feel quite like herself again, but there was no denying that she was well looked after in that time. If it wasn't Wade fussing, then it was Harley, and Earl did his share too. They all doted on Zoe and her daughter both, and she couldn't love them more for all their efforts.

"She is a pretty little thing," said Earl, peering into the crib at the baby girl. "Takes after her momma, anyone can see that," he said, glancing at Zoe then and smiling widely.

"Her momma doesn't feel so pretty right now, but thanks anyway," she told him, heaving a sigh.

"Hey, you look pretty enough to me, sweetheart," Wade promised, hugging her close and giving her a quick kiss. "Now, I gotta get to work, so I'm gonna have to love ya and leave ya," he said, getting up from the bed and throwing on his clean shirt ready to go.

"Guess I should be gettin' along too," said Earl, checking his watch, though his eyes were back on the baby in the crib a moment later. "You know, it's the darndest thing. Now, I ain't so messed up from all those years of booze. Believe me, I know what I am about to say is plum crazy."

"Well, this I gotta hear," said Wade from the doorway, hanging on to see what was said, as Zoe watched and waited too.

"Earl?" she prompted, when he fell silent. "What's crazy?"

"It's just... well, I swear to you, impossible as I know it is, she has a look about her. I see shades of you, Wade," he said, turning to look at his son.

Zoe knew she ought to laugh and agree it was a really crazy thing to say, but the truth was, she couldn't. She wanted it to be true, even if it was impossible. She actually loved Earl for saying it.

"You are a crazy old man," Wade told him, though it was clear from how soft both his eyes and voice were in that moment that he was moved. "I gotta get to work," he repeated then, taking himself off before anymore could be said.

"You know, if I could make her Wade's somehow, I absolutely would," Zoe admitted then.

Earl shook his head. "She's perfect just the way she is," he said of the baby girl. "And she won't be loved no less in this family for not bein' one of us by blood. She wants to call me Grandpa Earl, then I'll be honoured to answer the call."

"Thank you, Earl." Zoe smiled. "She's a very lucky girl. She doesn't have a name yet, which is unfortunate, but she does have the two greatest grandpas in the whole world."

"I think I can agree to that," said Harley as he appeared in the doorway with a wide smile on his face.

"Glad to see you, doc," Earl told him, nodding once. "My boy had to head out to work and I should be going myself. Didn't like to leave the pretty girls all unattended."

"Well, then, I guess my timing is perfect," said Harley switching places with Earl who headed off to work, whistling a happy tune.

Zoe smiled to herself, watching one grandpa leave and the other go straight to the crib to make a fuss of her daughter.

"You know, if she's awake, you can pick her up," she told him. "She's going to need a feed soon anyway."

Harley didn't need asking twice, scooping the tiny baby up into his arms and bringing her over to Zoe. The whole time he was talking softly to her, telling her she was so beautiful, so special. That she was going to be loved by the whole town of Bluebell and would never want for anything for as long as he had breath in his body.

When he looked to Zoe then, ready to hand the baby over, he must have noticed the tears in his own daughter's eyes. The frown on his face proved it, but before he could ask what was wrong, Zoe freely told him.

"Don't panic, I'm fine," she promised. "It's just... I can't help it. The way you are with her... I mean, you are such a great father. Seriously, everything you've done for me, what you're still doing... I couldn't ask for better" she said, shaking her head, "but you should've got your chance sooner. We could've had all this before. You could've seen me grow up and I could've had this whole other life-"

"Hush now, Zoe," Harley told her kindly, sitting down beside her. "No regrets about the past now, it doesn't do any good. You know, as much as a part of me wishes I had that chance to see you grow up and be your daddy that way, I can't really be sorry about the way things turned out," he explained. "I mean, just imagine that I had raised you here in Bluebell, or if Candice and I had made things work out between us in New York or some other place. Any change we make to the past alters the future. We may not be here now. You might not be with Wade, Earl might not have gotten sober, and this little one right here might not exist at all."

Zoe considered all he said and knew he was right. Maybe things had worked out just exactly how they were supposed to. Still, there would always be a part of her that wondered, that regretted just a little. She so wished she had known Harley when she was younger, but at least her own daughter would have the chance to grow up around him, as well as Wade and Earl and all the other good folks in town.

"I love you, Dad," she told Harley without pause. "And I am so, so glad that you had Wade come to Yale and find me that day. God knows what my life would've been like if he hadn't, but I can't imagine it being any better than this," she said, smiling first at him, then at the baby, who wriggled and stretched in her arms.

Leaning over to kiss each of them gently on the head, Harley smiled contentedly at the sight of the two best things ever to happen in the whole of his life.

"I love you too, Zoe, sweetheart, you and the little one both. I always will."

Epilogue to follow...