A/N: Yeah, I didn't like Candice in canon, and I may actually have made her worse here, but I can't say I feel all that bad about it. I have reasons ;) Thanks for all the feedback, lovely reader-peops! Now, time to fly forward through time a little bit...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 3

February 1983

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," said Jackie, dropping a kiss onto Zoe's head as she handed her a large, brightly wrapped gift.

The tiny child oohed and aahed, crinkling the paper and marvelling at the colours and sparkles on it.

"She is a beautiful child. I couldn't love her more if she was my own."

"Thank you, Jackie. I really appreciate everythin' you do to help us out, especially when you have your own boys to deal with."

"Oh, you think nothin' of it," she insisted. "It's no more or less than anybody else'd do, and I know I'm not the only one pitchin' in to lend a hand. Not that you need all that much help," she added fast. "Honestly, I've never known a man so devoted to raisin' a child just the best that he can... well, 'cept maybe for one other," she told him with a smile, watching her husband walk in with Wade on his hip.

"All cleaned up and ready for a party!" he said of the little boy, putting him down on the rug beside Zoe.

"Look at them," Jackie enthused. "Don't they make the cutest little picture?"

"They sure do," Earl agreed, his arm around her shoulders, hugging her close. "Gonna be the best of friends, those two. Pretty little girl and our fine handsome boy. Who knows? Might even grow up and get wed themselves."

"Oh, Earl!" Jackie rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. "I'm so sorry, Harley. Don't pay any mind to my husband, he's just being plain foolish."

She realised too late that Harley hadn't heard a word said. Though he seemed to be looking at Zoe, his mind was clearly miles away from the one-year old's birthday celebrations. If Jackie had to guess, she would say he was thinking of Candice. That woman had come to her mind more than once, today most especially.

"Earl, honey, could you go check on Jesse for me?" she asked her husband. "He wanted to stay on the front porch, on account of a frog he found hidin' there, but I figured he'da come inside by now."

"Sure thing, honey," he told her, kissing her temple before going off in search of the four-year-old.

As soon as he was gone, Jackie put her hand on Harley's shoulder.

"It's strange, but sometimes, I miss her too," she said of Candice, sure he knew exactly who she was talking about when a sad smile came to his lips. "We knew each other such a short while, in the grand scheme of things but... well, we shared somethin' special, carryin' those two at the same time and all," she said of the children playing on the rug yet.

Zoe had torn the paper from her gift, no doubt with Wade's help, revealing the teddy bear inside that was almost as big as either one of them. They looked delighted with it and with being around each other. They had a special bond too.

"It's so hard to make sense of, even now, all these months later." Harley shook his head. "I could understand her leaving me. I'm no fool, I know she never loved me the same way I... but to leave Zoe."

"There's no accounting for the workings of other folks' minds," said Jackie softly, patting his shoulder once more before retracting her hand. "She didn't even call to ask after her, did she? Not even on her birthday?"

"Not a word," Harley confirmed sadly. "Nothing."

"Then I'm afraid all we can do is let her be and move on," she said sensibly, hoping she caused no offence in doing so. "I'm sorry to be so harsh, Harley, because I do know how much you loved her, but she made her choice. Your focus now has to be Zoe, just as it's always been. For what it's worth, I got no doubts you will be all that child needs her whole life. One of the very best fathers Bluebell has ever seen," she said confidently. "And you won't have to do it alone. We're all here for you, both of you," she insisted.

"Thank you, Jackie." Harley smiled at her. "I don't know what I'd do without you and Earl, little Jesse and Wade, and all my good neighbours and friends."

"Well, lucky for you, Dr Wilkes, you won't ever have to find out!"

April 1989

"Young lady, what on God's green earth do you think you are doing?"

Shame-faced, seven-year-old Zoe Wilkes turned around and faced her father, big brown eyes blinking slowly. Of course, he wasn't really mad at her. In all his days, Harley wasn't sure he could ever conjure any amount of realy fury at the poor child, especially when she looked at him that way.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said, her bottom lip quivering. "I was just trying to reach the book," she explained, casting her eyes around her feet.

There were at least six books on the floor, some open from the impact of falling, plus shards of the vase that had clearly also suffered in battle. Harley sighed and shook his head, carefully picking his way over to Zoe and lifting her free of the debris.

"Sweetheart, you shoulda waited for me to come back and asked me to get you the book," he told her, sitting down and pulling her up into his lap. "You're a smart girl. You know how dangerous it is to climb on the furniture."

"I wouldn't have to climb if I were taller," she huffed, blowing her dark bangs off her forehead. "Wade and George can reach everything already!"

Harley bit his lip and tried not to laugh. Now didn't seem like a good time for that.

"Well, everybody has things that they can do and things they can't but wish they could," he reasoned. "Wade and George could reach the book on the higher shelf there, but would they understand what they were reading if they got it?"

Zoe gave that one a moment's thought, then shook her head.

"Not really," she admitted. "They're smart too, but not really interested in doctoring. George is gonna be a lawyer, just like his daddy, and Wade... well, he changes his mind all the time on what he wants to be. You don't really think he can be an astronaut, do you, Daddy?"

"Oh, now, I don't know about that," Harley told her. "I mean, if he really wanted to, I guess it's possible."

"Anything is possible if you believe in it enough," Zoe intoned, one of many lessons Harley had taught her himself over the years. "I believe I'm gonna be a doctor someday, just like you."

"And I'm sure you will be, my sweet Zoe," he told her, kissing her cheek. "The best doctor Alabama has ever seen. Heck, probably the best doctor the world has ever seen," he told her with a grin.

"I think you're right," Zoe agreed easily, curling up in his arms with her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about the vase."

"That's alright, sugar. We'll get it all cleaned up, the books too. I know you meant no harm."

He held her tight and enjoyed the warm feeling of his little girl hugging him back, being comfortable and at peace in his arms. Zoe was Harley's whole entire world and had been pretty much from the day she was born. Of course, for a while there, his world had been two people instead of just one, until that night when Candice made the decision to run out on him and baby Zoe.

The stupid thing was, he forgave her. Harley Wilkes liked to think he was a kind, decent, amiable sort of a man, but he wasn't stupid. He loved Candice like he never loved another woman in the whole course of his life, and though he would like to think she meant it when she said she loved him too, it certainly wasn't in the same league as the way he felt about her.

He ought to have been shocked when she left, disgusted and hurt and angry, but he wasn't. Truth to tell, he was almost expecting it. She hadn't been happy for a while, maybe not from the beginning, though he had tried not to notice then.

When she left, he had been mad at her only for Zoe's sake. Mostly, he was just glad that at least he had his baby girl still with him to raise as his own. Candice never once wanted to take her or even see her. All she ever asked of Harley was that he grant her a divorce, and that he sent her word if there was anything she needed to know about Zoe.

Over the years, he had faithfully sent a card and a photograph of Zoe to Candice every birthday and holiday season, just so she knew her little girl was doing okay. They never did get anything back.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, baby girl?" he said softly, moving Zoe's hair back from her face to better see her.

"We can still read the book, right?" she asked hopefully.

Harley smiled. "Yes, sweetheart, of course, we can, but not right now. You got school in the morning and it's gettin' late. Since I'm done with my emergency patient, we'll just tidy this mess up and then head on home. Time for bed for sleepy little doctors-to-be," he told her with a smile that she returned ten-fold.

For all that Candice put them through with her antics, Harley knew he would always love that woman with all his heart. After all, without her, there would be no Zoe, and without Zoe, well, Harley wasn't even sure he would know how to go on breathing anymore.

July 1989

"You think it's serious, Dr Wilkes?"

"Well, I don't think you'll be running around on it for a couple of days, but as far as I can tell, no lasting damage."

Zoe smiled on hearing her father's kind tone as he delivered the news of his patient's injury in the best way possible. It was always important for the person being treated to know both the good and the bad. Yes, the injury or illness could be serious enough that it needed taking care of by a doctor, but usually it was nothing scary that ought to worry anyone too badly.

"Excuse me just a minute, son."

Zoe yelped when she realised too late that her father was headed towards the screen she was hiding behind, moving it aside to reveal her to the room.

"Now, what do you think you're doing, young lady?" he asked with a look that wasn't quite as severe as it might've been. "Zoe Claire Wilkes, you know very well that when I am with a patient, it is a private matter. You should not be spying, honey."

"But I... I wanna learn!" cried Zoe, shaking her head. "I wanna be a doctor, just like you, Daddy, so I need to see how."

Laughter from the other side of the room caught her attention then, and Zoe looked past her father to see the patient he had been tending too smiling yet. She was surprised to find he was just a kid too, though obviously much older than her own eight-and-a-half years. Still, she had kind of expected an adult. He had quite a deep voice, after all.

"She ain't doin' no harm, doc," he said then. "You're only treatin' me for an ankle sprain. I don't care if she wants to see."

Zoe grinned widely, first at the patient and then at her father, adding a little pleading in the eyes for Daddy's benefit. Of course, he caved, just like always.

"Okay," he said with a sigh. "You wanna see how we bind up sprained ankles?"

"Yes, yes!" Zoe bounced happily and clapped her hands, rushing to grab a seat and drag it over so she had the best view of the action.

When he had collected the supplies he needed, her father came over and started work on the sprained ankle. Zoe was transfixed as she took in the process, committing as much to memory as she could. She hardly noticed the person attached to the leg she was staring so hard at, until he started talking again.

"So, you're Zoe, huh? I heard talk about you. Little girl who wants to grow up to be a doctor and all, just like her daddy."

"I'm going to be the second Dr Wilkes." Zoe nodded definitely.

"That's cool." The boy sat on the bed nodded back at her. "Maybe someday you'll be the one treatin' me. I gotta think I should get used to this kinda thing - sprained ankles, busted ribs, bruises and all - when I get me in the NFL."

"You're gonna be a football player?" Zoe asked, wide-eyed as she stared at him.

"Yes, ma'am, that's the idea," he said, chuckling as he looked at her - she guessed her expression might look pretty funny from his view. "Someday, I want the name Lavon Hayes to be chanted all over 'Bama."

"From what I hear, I'm sure it will be, son," Zoe's father told him with a smile. "Now, I just need to go grab your notes for a minute. You two okay until I get back?"

"We're fine," said Zoe, waving her hand, eyes still fixed on her new friend. "I love football. We watch all the time. Are you gonna play for the Tide?"

"I hope so," Lavon told her. "I start 7th grade this Fall, so college ball is a ways away, but my daddy says he never saw a better arm on anybody."

"I start 3rd in the Fall," Zoe explained, "and my daddy says he never knew someone my age could understand medicine the way I do," she told him, grinning widely, not even thinking about the gaps in her teeth that usually worried her so much.

"Then you must be one smart little lady," said Lavon, smiling back.

The compliment made Zoe's cheeks get hot, but she didn't mind it.

"You know, if you play football a lot, I guess you get injured all the time," she said as she considered it. "Can I always sit in when you're getting fixed up? I could probably learn a lot!"

"Sure, you can do that." Lavon laughed when he said it, though Zoe wasn't exactly sure why. "I practice with my older brothers, and they a lot bigger than me, so I guess injuries are inevitable."

"Don't you have any younger brothers or sisters?" Zoe asked.

"Nope, I'm the youngest. I asked my parents if I could have a younger brother or sister to boss around, but nothin' ever came o' that," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Zoe smiled all the wider on hearing that. She didn't have any siblings at all, and wasn't likely to get them, since she didn't have a momma anymore. Now, she saw the perfect solution. Lavon could be her older brother, and she could be the younger sister he always wanted, even if she didn't intend to let him boss her around. This, she was sure, could be the start of a really great friendship.

To Be Continued...