A/N: So, I actually wrote this a while ago (February!) but somehow never got around to posting it. Figured now that I found it y'all would probably like to read it, so here you go :)

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and any recognisable dialogue from Hart of Dixie belong to Leila Gerstein and other folks who aren't me.

Memories Unknown

"Hey, George!" Wade bellowed as he bust into his buddy's outer-office without pause. "Tucker, you in there?" he called, about to barge through the other door when it opened all by itself, albeit not very far.

"Wade, hey," his friend said too quickly, hands dropping to his chest as he worked on fastening some buttons that seemed to be undone. "Uh, what are you doin' here, in the middle of the afternoon?"

"I came to ask you a favour, but maybe my timin' is a little off," he considered, grinning when he realised what must be going on. "You got AB in there doin' more than takin' a letter, right?"

"You come in here, Wade Kinsella, and there will be consequences!" Annabeth yelled from further inside the office. "I'm not kidding!"

"Guys, seriously." Wade shook his head. "I would understand this kinda inappropriate office behaviour if George just came back visitin' and you hadn't seen him all this time but, AB, you guys are married and live together in Nashville now," he reminded them, even as the door was unceremoniously closed in his face.

"What can I say, Wade?" George called from the other side, accompanied by general sounds of clattering around and hasty redressing - things Wade knew all too well from past experience. "Coming home is nostalgic and emotional and..." George continued, opening the door again at last. "Well, things happen. I don't have to explain it to you, because it's none of your damn business."

"Granted." Wade nodded once. "But I do need your help with somethin', if you can spare the time, counsellor," he said pointedly, strolling into the office now he was permitted to.

"I have some typing to do," said AB, giving her hair one last fluff before heading for the door.

"I'll bet you do, Miss Secretary," said Wade with a grin.

He got a pretty severe glare for his trouble, which lasted all of two seconds before AB broke and giggled. "I should tell your wife on you, Wade Kinsella," she said as she left the office, closing the door behind her.

It was all in good fun, no harm done. He knew she didn't mind his comments, any more than he cared that he found her and George doing things they shouldn't on business premises.

"So," George called Wade's attention, clapping his hands together, "you needed me for something," he said, sitting down at his desk and gesturing for his friend to do the same. "Just, please, Wade, tell me it is not a divorce, because after all the trouble it took to get you and Zoe to a good place-"

"Are you kidding me?" Wade asked him, wide-eyed and just a little pissed. "I wouldn't trade my beautiful wife, or our amazing son, for anything in the whole entire world," he said definitely, sitting himself down on the other side of the desk. "Geez, Tucker, reckoned on you knowing that better than most."

"I am sorry," said George immediately, looking as if he meant it, "but you don't really come to me for legal advice much."

"And I'm not now either," Wade assured him, one foot propped on the opposite knee and the box he came in with balanced in his lap. "Got me something a little technical and a little emotional to discuss with you."

That made George frown some.

"Well, you got my attention," he admitted. "Should I even ask what the very intriguing box is all about?" he asked then.

"This... well, this here is somethin' that is either gonna make Zoe real happy or real sad, maybe both," said Wade, rubbing the back of his neck. "See, Aunt Win called me up a couple o' days back, asked me to go on over there. I went ahead and took my toolbox, figured she needed help with some fixin' up at the house or some such, but it turns out she wasn't lookin' for a favour. She wanted to do one for me."

Standing up, Wade put the cardboard box onto the table and opened up the flaps to show George what was inside. His friend got to his feet to better peer into it and looked as confused as Wade had when he first saw what was in there too.

"VHS tapes." George shook his head. "I don't understand."

"Seemed somebody in the old Wilkes clan was Spring cleaning or some such," said Wade, pulling out a couple of tapes to hand to his friend. "Go ahead, read what it says right there," he urged his friend.

George whistled low when he did just exactly that. "No way. This is..."

"I know." Wade nodded knowingly. "Couldn't hardly believe it myself when I saw 'em. Got photographs in here too, but it's the tapes that have my attention. We're talking moving pictures and real live audio, George. You know what this will mean to Zoe?"

"Yes, I think I actually do," his friend agreed, "but that bein' said, why am I the one you're bringing the almighty box to?"

"'Cause what good are a bunch o' dusty old tapes these days?" said Wade, making a face. "I figured the best thing'd be to have it all copied, you know, onto a disc or whatever. Maybe cut out any parts not worth the watchin', fix up any wobbles or wrinkles or whatever the hell they do these days when these things look better. What do they call it?" he asked, struggling to find the word, suddenly snapping his fingers when it came to him. "Remastered! These days, they're always bringin' out old movies with better picture quality and better audio and all, right?"

"Well, yeah, but that's not sometin' I know how to do, Wade," George said definitely, distracted yet by the tapes and pictures he was pulling out of the box and studying.

"Not you yourself, but you got all your buddies down there in Nashville, right?" Wade prompted. "You was just tellin' me a while back about that music video you got made with Meatball's cousin, Pam. Man, that thing looked amazin', and from what you said, the shootin' for it was a disaster."

"That is true." George nodded. "This guy, Jackson, he is all kinds o' magic when it comes to video editing," he considered, looking up to meet Wade's hopeful gaze.

"C'mon, Tucker," he said, tilting his head. "You and me, we go way back, and you and me and Zoe have got more tangled history than is healthy for folks," he reminded him with a look. "I'm thinkin' you could stand to get your video expert guy to do somethin' decent with all this and help me give Zoe the best anniversary gift she'll ever have in her whole life."

George smiled. "Yeah, Wade," he said then. "I guess I could stand to do that."

"I swear, he now owns every single damn thing a two-year-old could ever want," said Wade, eyeing the pile of gifts given to their son for his second birthday.

Zoe laughed more at the way he said it than the actual words. After all, he probably had a point. Jack had been totally spoiled, again, just as he was on his first birthday. It was a very good thing they had moved out of the carriagehouse and into a full-size house in between or goodness only knows where they would've put all the stuff.

"You are the luckiest little boy in the whole world," she told her son, planting a big kiss on his head. "You know that, right?"

"Uh-huh," said Jack, throwing himself into her lap and hugging her. "Love ya, Momma."

"Aww, and I love you too, sweetheart," she assured him, kissing him all over until he laughed loudly and wriggled to get away.

"Dada! Dada!" he yelled, running to Wade instead.

"C'mere, little man," he said, liftin him effortlessly into his arms. "Now, I need you to let your gifts alone a minute and come help me find that real special present we got for your momma, alright now?"

"A gift for me?" Zoe checked, scrambling to her feet. "But I don't... We said no anniversary gifts this year," she insisted, shaking her head.

"Uh, no, you said no anniversary gifts" Wade told her definitely, "and before you start makin' a fuss about money and such, I didn't spend a dime," he assured her. "Just sit your cute little butt down on the couch and wait a while. You'll see what I'm talkin' about."

Zoe was frowning in confusion but nevertheless did as she was asked. She couldn't imagine what kind of gift Wade had got for her that cost nothing and also involved Jack. He didn't leave her to wonder long as he returned to the room, setting Jack in her lap and moving towards the TV. He definitely put a disc into the DVD player, but Zoe couldn't believe he just got her a movie. What would be so special about that?

"Zoe Hart-Kinsella," he said, as he stood and faced her then, "may I present to you, a very special little gift, courtesy of myself, our son, a certain George Tucker, a Nashville music industry buddy of his, and a couple of anonymous Wilkes relations."

Zoe shook her head. "Wade, I don't understand-"

It was as far as she got when suddenly the TV screen came to life with music and a scrolling words that she read but had trouble believing. Her father's name was displayed, scrolling right to left, and then, before she could hardly blink, there he was, right in front of her.

"Oh my God!" she gasped, hands flying up to cover her mouth as the video continued.

It was him, Harley Wilkes, smiling and laughing and talking and singing. First, he was at a birthday party, and then, she saw him in the town square. The next piece had him playing with children, and another showed him at his desk in the doctor's office where Zoe herself worked now.

Home movies. Little bits and pieces of the dad she met only once and barely knew at all, all strung together. There was music over some pieces, but no interfering background noise at all when he was talking clear enough to hear.

Honestly, Zoe wasn't sure if she sat there watching for five minutes or five hours. She was so hypnotised, she barely realised Wade had joined her on the couch or that he had Jack over in his lap now, not until she heard him speak softly to their son.

"That right there, Jack, that's your Grandpa Harley," he explained.

Zoe wondered where the strange squeaking sound was coming from, until suddenly she noted it had come from her own throat. The picture on the screen blurred terribly, or seemed to. In fact, it was the tears pouring from her own eyes that was obscuring everything.

"I would like to wish you both the very happiest of anniversaries," said Harley then, raising a glass towards Zoe and Wade somehow.

Of course, it wasn't real, or it was, but not meant for them. It was clearly some other couple's event he had been attending when he said those words and made his toast, but it was so believably real, he was so completely looking at Zoe right then. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry as the picture faded to black at last.

"Momma?" said Jack then, getting Zoe's attention away from the screen at last. "No cry," he told her, reaching up to try to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"It's okay, baby," she assured him, kissing his forehead. "Momma's not sad. She's just... I'm just so overwhelmed," she admitted, looking from her son to her husband. "Wade, how did you...?"

"Somebody found 'em in their attic or garage or some such," he explained softly. "Aunt Win got her hands on the whole box o' tapes and... well, she thought you was the best person to have 'em. She gave 'em over to me a couple o' weeks back and I got Tucker to use one of his music video making types to throw some mojo at it. I don't know much about this stuff, but it came out pretty good, far as I can tell."

Zoe choked on a half-laugh, half-sob. "Wade, it is amazing. So amazing. It's like... I mean, it'll never be like really having him here but... but it's as close as I'm ever going to get. Thank you so much," she said, hands going to his face as she drew him into a passionate kiss.

"Happy anniversary, doc," he told her as they parted, his fingers threading through her hair.

"Happy anniversary, Wade," said replied in kind, smile turning into a laugh as Jack tried to get between them and steal back the attention.

"Come on, birthday boy," Wade said, picking his son up in his arms and carrying him away. "Let's give your momma a minute to herself, okay?"

When they were gone, Zoe looked back to the TV, the screen now blank and empty. Two seconds later, she had the remote in her hand, starting the special DVD all over again, marvelling at the sight and sound of her father, Harley Wilkes, right there before her.

She didn't think she could love Wade any more than she already did - for giving her his heart, their son, and just about anything she had ever wanted - but now he had given her back the father she never got a chance to know. He truly was the most amazing man she had ever met, but somehow, she just knew Harley would've been a close second.

"I love you," she told the picture of the screen as the kind older gentleman smiled and seemed to look right at her, "Dad."

The End