Hey all. This chapter continues on from the previous chapter.
To the guest reviewer I had actually had it in my mind to have Wade go to Zoe to help with Alex's knee, but the more I thought about it, it made more sense story wise for Wade to help his boy.
I will apologize now for what I am putting Harley through with these last few chapters.
Enjoy!
Having listened to what her dad had to say, she took her glass of wine and sat outside on his front porch, needing a moment or a few. She told him that she needed a moment to get her thoughts in order. It wasn't a lie, she does need to get her thoughts organized. She promised that she wouldn't leave before they could fully talk about it. She assured him that she wasn't leaving his side through everything he's about to go through. That she'll be his rock. And when he's too weak to fight for himself, that she'll do all the fighting.
She smiled watching father and son on the other side of the street as Alex stopped to wait for his dad to catch up. The little boy noticed Zoe and sent her a wave. Zoe waved back. Wade gave her a wave, bending down to talk to Alex. With the secrecy of the whispers, she couldn't hear what was being said.
"Look at you go," Zoe laughed, as Alex came to a stop in front of her, having got the go ahead to cross the street from his dad. "What brings you out?" She asked, catching sight of Wade making his way to stand next to his son.
"Ice cream," the little boy smiled. "Come with," he demanded with a cute little smile.
"If you have other plans with your dad, you don't have to come with. He was supposed to ask you politely," he said, giving his son a pointed look. Alex shrugged.
"Give me a minute," she told them, getting to her feet, finishing the last bit of her wine. What better way to clear her mind than to focus on something else entirely? "I need to let my dad know that I will be back," she explained, disappearing into the house. She doesn't want her dad to think that she's leaving him when they still have a lot to talk about. He's just had the past week and a half to come to terms with it all. She's had a total of 10 minutes.
"Go have fun," Harley told her, having heard the small conversation from the open window. He was heading to check on Zoe when he heard Wade and Alex outside with her. "We don't have to talk about things tonight. Take a few days and come to terms with what I told you. My diagnosis won't change from now until then," he told her.
"I'm not going to leave you. I will be here every step of the way. I won't give up, not without a fight," she told him, walking over to press a kiss to his cheek. "I just got you in my life, and I am not going to let something like cancer take you away from me," she told him. "I love you, dad," Zoe told him.
"I love you, Zoe," Harley said, kissing her forehead. "I'll still be here tomorrow, and we can go over everything," he assured her. Zoe smiled, nodding.
"You best believe I will be here in the morning," she told him. "Night dad," she told him.
"Night Zoe, and let yourself have fun with those Kinsella boys," he told her. He got a start on cleaning up from dinner as Zoe slipped from the house.
She's sure that Wade had heard what had been said. If the grim look on his face was to go by. Alex hadn't noticed she was back outside with them as he rode his bike in circles in the driveway, riding around her car parked there. Wade got his attention, and they were off to get some ice cream. Alex rode his bike in front of them, stopping every now and again to make sure he didn't get too far from his dad.
"I can pretend that I didn't hear anything," Wade told her, breaking the awkward silence that fell over them.
"I don't think it would matter," she told him with a sigh. "You can't unhear something," she shrugged.
"I'm here if you want to talk about it," he offered, with a small chuckle. "No disrespect, I'm not laughing at what's going on with Harley, I think it'll do him some good to have someone there to fight for," he quickly said, not wanting Zoe to get mad at him for the laugh. "I just found it ironic that you've been trying to get me to open up, and I haven't and here I am offering that very thing to you," he fully explained.
"I do appreciate it," she nodded, giving him a smile at the irony of the situation. "Right now I am still trying to get my mind wrapped around it all. I just got him in my life and this disease comes in, and it can take him out before I can really build any sort of relationship with him. How's that fair?" She asked, coming to a stop at the crosswalk.
"I know better than most that life isn't a guarantee," he told her with a sigh, pushing thoughts of his late wife away. "If you do wake up tomorrow, and he's gone, not that he will because he has you to fight for, but what I am trying to say is that you were given a chance to know him and build a relationship with him, to know where that part of you comes from. That is enough to be thankful for," he told her once he got his thoughts worked out.
"I know, and I am thankful for that," she nodded. "I just want to be selfish and have him around a bit longer. I wasn't given that chance to grow up with him and I wonder how that would have played out," she sighed. "And I'm not ready to say goodbye to him, I don't even know what will happen if I have to say that, this soon," she rambled out, crossing the street.
"You do what you can to make him proud of you," Wade told her. Everyone knows that Harley is proud of Zoe, that hasn't been a very well-kept secret as of late.
"I know," she nodded, shaking her head. "I don't even know why I am letting myself think like that. It's not like he's gone or will be tomorrow," she said. "It sounds silly to be thinking about not having him around when he has a good chance of making it because they did catch it early," she shared.
Wade remained quiet with that comment. They had caught the cancer in his Ma early on, and it wasn't enough to keep her around. It had been such a rocky road after learning about her cancer. He can remember they had good days, where she was herself, and you wouldn't know she had cancer and then there were the days that she couldn't get out of bed or eat anything because she couldn't keep anything down.
"I do hope that whatever plan he has that it works," he opted out to tell her. He has always liked Harley, he was a good guy and made sure he had things when Earl was passed out or drunk. In many ways Harley was a second father to him.
Zoe nodded. This wasn't helping her with wanting to clear her mind. She gave a smile as they walked, Alex looking at them with an annoyed look on his face for taking so long to get to him. With the ice cream parlor up ahead, Wade let him go ahead to get his bike put away.
"You're a good dad," she told him.
"Thanks," he nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Many times a day it feels like I have no clue on what I am doing," he confessed. Days when Alex wants his mom are the worst days by far, but together they're slowly healing.
"From what I have gathered, you have a whole town ready to help you out if you need it," she commented. "And I can see why they're ready to jump in to help you," she smiled.
"Is that your way of saying you're one of them that will be there to help?" He asked, giving her shoulder a nudge.
"Yeah, that is what I am saying," she nodded. "Alex makes it easy," she shared. He really did. She had no trouble when she watched him. He was full of life and wanted to play, but what little kid isn't a handful when active?
Alex, having had enough with his dad and Zoe taking forever, rushed to them, grabbing their hands and pulling them to the door of the ice cream parlor. Wade and Zoe shared a look, and they burst out laughing, while Wade pulled the door open. They waited their turn, Alex becoming impatient and Zoe swore she saw a bit of Wade in him when the line moved slower than Alex wanted it to be moving.
With ice cream in hand, they found a booth with some privacy. A comfortable silence fell over them as they ate their ice cream. Alex wore more of his all over his face than what he could get in his mouth, but he had a smile on his face, and as long as he was happy, Wade remained happy.
"Do you mind?" Wade asked getting up to get some napkins to clean his son up the best he could.
"Not at all," she told Wade. Zoe's more than happy to sit with Alex.
Wade quickly went to get some napkins, made a stop in the bathroom to wet a few of them, not wanting his son to be a complete sticky mess on the way home. When he returned to the table, he couldn't help but smile at the scene before him as Zoe and Alex were in the middle of a laughing fit. As much as he wants to know what they are laughing over, he's going to let them have their little secret laughing fit.
"Daddy no," Alex giggled, moving his head to avoid being cleaned up. Zoe muffled her laughs by getting the table cleaned up, taking what little trash they had to the garbage, hoping that would help Wade get his son cleaned up.
"Alex, we got to get cleaned up, so you don't get your bike all sticky," he told his son with a sigh. Most of the time he'd find his son's antics funny, but he really just wants to get his son cleaned up and get home. It's getting closer to Alex's bedtime, and he's going to need a bath before bed.
"Zoe, do it," Alex pouted.
"Alex," Wade sighed, giving Zoe a pleading look mixed with an I'm sorry look.
"It's fine," Zoe smiled, taking the wet napkin from Wade, to wipe the sticky mess from Alex's face and hands. She really didn't mind giving a hand on caring for Alex. Like she said earlier, she's willing to help and do what she can, like the town is to help him out. "And we're ready," Zoe informed the little boy, tossing the napkins away.
"Thank you," Wade said, holding the door open, letting her exit first.
"You're welcome," she smiled, helping Alex get his bike out, as he was struggling with it.
"Thanks Zoe," the little boy said, riding off on his bike, before Zoe could tell him he was welcome.
Unlike the walk to the ice cream parlor, the walk back was done so in silence. Zoe is feeling better than before she left. She still intends on being there for her dad, there's no way she couldn't be there. She hasn't completely wrapped her mind around the battle he's going to be fighting, as she doesn't know how she can wrap her mind around that yet. It's going to be hard, but she's ready to do whatever it is Harley decides to do.
Wade was lost deep in his thoughts about telling Zoe a few things that she's been left in the dark about. Not because he thinks he needs to tell her, but because he wants to share that part of his past with her. He wants to be healed from the hole it left in his life. And maybe everything she's been saying about confiding in someone might help him start to heal. Because he can't start healing until he can move past it, and he needs to heal for his son.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Zoe asked, referring to the shift she promised Wanda she would cover. She's been cutting back the time spent working at the Jammer, so she can focus on getting her small practice set up.
"Actually," Wade said, taking a deep breath. It really is the time to let her in. He needs Zoe to see all of him, and he can't keep things, huge parts of him from her, if they're going to even be friends. "I was wondering if you're not busy with the rest of your night, if you wanted to come over for coffee?" He asked.
"I'm not busy, and would like that," she told him. "I just need to have a chat with my dad, and I'll be over," she said.
"That'll be perfect because I need to give a little boy a bath and put to bed," he nodded. "The door will be unlocked, so come in," he told her. He didn't want to risk the chance that he would be either elbow deep in bubble bath or getting Alex to sleep where he can't get the door to let her in or worry that she might wake Alex back up depending on when she stopped over.
"I can do that," she nodded. "Which house?" She asked, having not been to his before, she didn't want to walk into the wrong house.
"First house around the corner on the right," he told her, crossing the street behind Alex, only after making sure it was clear to do so.
With a smile on her face, she walked up her dad's walkway and entered the house, to have a deeper chat with her dad. Wade followed behind his son with a faint smile on his face, wondering if he had agreed to do the right thing. One step at a time, the steps being as big as he wanted them to be. But maybe his steps were too big for him to take. And maybe he can back out of the deal before Zoe shows, and they can find other things to talk about.