Welcome everyone. Day 6 was a blast to write.
Enjoy!
"Is this your way of saying I'm going to be a stepmother?" Zoe asked, looking at her friend, rocking a crying doll. "Why didn't you get a partner, a mother for your child?" She asked, tapping her pen on the table from where she was doing her homework.
"That would mean I'd have to end feeling things out with you, to find a mother for a child I'm nowhere near ready for," he commented, laughing when Zoe threw a spare pen at him. "Hey now, I'm holding a baby," he pointed out, holding the doll up.
"I can see that and hear the baby cry," Zoe retorted with a scoff.
"An odd number of students and it was up to us if we wanted to be in a pair or not," he explained. "If I fail this section of the class, I want it to be because of me," he tacked on, sighing as he couldn't get the doll to stop crying.
"Here, let me," Zoe told him, moving from the kitchen table, to take the doll from Wade, making sure to be gentle, she doesn't want to be the reason Wade fails either.
Ever so carefully, she rocked the doll as she walked in a small circle around the living room, getting the doll's cry's to subside, the fake baby falling asleep. Giving it a few minutes after the doll is fast asleep, she lays the baby on the couch. Ignoring Wade's astonished look, she heads back to the kitchen table to focus on getting her homework done, now that she doesn't have a crying baby to distract her from her thoughts.
"How'd you do that?" Wade asked, looking at the doll that has been giving him trouble since he left school with him. "I've been trying for what seems like a lifetime," he commented, taking a seat at the table to open his math book to knock the few math problems out before the doll wakes up screaming and crying.
"A mother's touch," Zoe shrugged, glancing at Wade for a brief second. "You'll get the hang of it Wade," she told him, placing her hand atop of his. "Just remember if one thing doesn't work, try something else," she instructed him. "And if you still need help, you know where to find me," she tossed out with a smirk.
"Can you babysit tomorrow after school?" He asked, giving her the best puppy dog eyes he could muster up. "Please?"
"I'm not doing your parenting for you," she stated, pointing the end of her pen at him. She knows she should be using a pencil to do her work, but she couldn't find a pencil to use and she didn't fancy wasting time on looking for a pencil to only come up empty-handed, so using a pen was her best bet.
"It'd only be for an hour," he pleaded with her.
"I'm not doing your work for you, Wade, just so you can play video games with the boys," she stated, raising an eyebrow, daring him to tell her it's for something else.
"Can I bribe you with anything?" He asked, sighing in defeat.
"No, you can't bribe me, Wade," she scoffed, going back to her work. "And don't you even dare threaten to hold any gifts hostage until I agree, because the answer will still be no," she warned him. It's not about the gifts, it's about spending time with family and friends.
"I'm not a monster," he gasped in mock outrage that she would think he would do something like that. Zoe gave him a pointed look, and he laughed, shaking his head, because okay, he would have used holding her gifts against her, but he wouldn't actually do it. "Fine," he sighed, taking his defeat, getting back to his math work.
"I talked to Austin," Wade said, entering the kitchen where Zoe stood making a snack. "Didn't you just finish breakfast a few moments ago?" He asked, standing across from her at the kitchen island.
"What did Austin say?" She asked, choosing to ignore the part of her having just finished breakfast.
"He asked if I could make a trip to Mobile as he had forgotten a few things," Wade commented. "He's going to text me a list of what he needs. My only question for you is are you riding with me, or are you going to Austin's?" He asked his girlfriend.
"Before we go anywhere, I need to talk to you, and depending on what you want, it'll be what I do," she told him, keeping things as cryptic as she possibly can.
"You're scaring me," he commented. "Is this your version of we need to talk?" He asked, rounding the island.
"What? No," she responded, shaking her head. "We do need to talk, but it's not about breaking up," she quickly assured him.
"What else do we need to talk about?" He asked with a frown. "The last time I checked everything is good, right?" He asked.
"There's a gift for you in the living room, open it and then we can talk," she told him.
"A gift for me?" He asked, a smirk playing across his lips. "I thought this time of year is all about you?" He asked, heading to the living room to see the small white box sitting on the coffee table.
"It's not like you get the actual gift now," she commented, following behind him. She pushed her nerves and the anxious feelings down as far as she could.
"Are you for real?" He asked, looking from the box in his hands to his girlfriend behind him. Zoe nodded, to assure him, she's not playing a prank on him. That's not something she would do. Pulling a prank when it comes to this is a horrible thing to do, she would never joke about it. "We are going to be…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Is this why you've been sick one minute and totally fine the next?" He asked, dropping the box on the coffee table and walking over to his girlfriend.
"That is why," Zoe nodded. "I know we haven't talked much about it, but it's happening," she told him.
"I'm happy, Zoe," he assured her, enveloping her in a hug. "I have no reason not to be happy about this," he shared, pressing a kiss to her neck.
"Me too," she whispered, kissing his cheek, his facial hair tickling her.
"It does mean I'm going to be running interference tonight, and I need a new gift for you," he commented, closing his eyes, chuckling under his breath. It's the first year of them being together that he has to change a gift.
"I'd say you gave me a pretty big gift," she pointed out. She doesn't need anything from him.
"Nuh-huh, you said yourself, it won't be a gift to enjoy for quite some time, so it doesn't quite count as a present," he told her.
"Fair enough, but I will enjoy the wine next Hanukkah," she informed him. "And no you can't regift it for next year," she stated.
"I had no intentions of doing so," he answered, laughing.
"I'm going to suck at being a father," Wade sighed, as Zoe once again showed him to hold his fake baby to feed him.
"You're not going to suck at being a father, Wade," she told him, sitting back on the couch, now that Wade had gotten the hang of how to hold the baby to feed him. "Things take practice, you know that. It's not like you knew how to play football, you had to learn," she explained to him.
"I guess so," he sighed, not feeling any better about not knowing anything about being a father.
"Wade, we're only teens, you still have time to learn how to be a father. Once this unit is done with, you're going to remember what and how you did things, to apply to when you do become a father," she soothed him, giving his arm a gentle squeeze.
"I guess," he repeated, nodding his head.
"Wade, I promise you, that when you become a father, that kid is going to be the luckiest kid in the world to have a father that is going to do everything they can, love him or her, be as caring as you are. The rest of it, it will all come to you," she told him, trying to cheer him up.
"I…." He was in the process of saying when he caught the look Zoe gave him. "What?" He asked with a small chuckle.
"Don't you dare say I guess so," she warned him. "I know so," she stated with conviction. "Are we clear?" She asked him.
"Yes, we're clear," he chuckled lightly, placing the bottle on the table, to burp his fake son. He hit the doll's back tentatively at first, catching the look Zoe gave him. "I don't want to hit the doll's back and have his head fly off," he commented, hitting the baby doll's back a bit harder. "Is this good enough?"
"Yes," she told him with a nod. "Has that ever happened?" She asked, doubting that someone had hit their doll's back hard enough to pop the head off.
"I don't think so," he frowned, hearing the baby doll burp. "Do you think I want to be the first one that happens to?" He asked. "It'd be talked about in that class and out of that class like an old urban legend long after I die," he said, shaking his head. "No, thanks."
"I can't argue with you there," she chuckled. "It would be the one story to live on forever in this town and you'd never hear the end of it. They'd even joke about it at your wedding. The only way to escape it would be to move to another town where no one knows who you are," she gasped.
"Now you're being ridiculous," Wade told her dryly. "But you might have a point. Do you think I should change my name too?" He asked smirking.
"It wouldn't hurt. A new name for a new start where your name isn't connected to that of decapitation of a doll," she rolled her eyes. "Better get your dad into witness protection as well, who knows what the town would do to him," she sarcastically stated.
"Go get your gift and pour me some, would you?" He asked, nodding to the sleeping doll in his arms. "We can talk about whether or not you're coming with me when I have to vanish from Bluebell," he told her with a straight face.
"Oh, I'm not going with you," she smirked, getting up.
"Give me a chance to convince you otherwise."
"Do you still feel like you don't want to be a father?" She asked him. The thought has been on her mind since she found out she was pregnant.
"No, I want to be a father. You were right back then," he told her. "It's different when it's your kid and not some fake doll. I wasn't ready to be a father then," he told her. "I didn't even know what I was going to do with my life, let alone bring a kid into the world at that age," he explained to her. "I'm happy that we get to be parents," he assured her.
"Okay," she smiled. "I'm happy to go on this adventure with you," she told him, resting her hand on his leg. "I really don't mind going with you," Zoe told her boyfriend, as he pulled up to her brother's house.
"Any other day I would accept the company, but your brother needs you more than I do right now," he told her. "And who am I to take time away from siblings?" He asked.
"Someone needs to take their own advice and talk to their brother," Zoe commented.
"Today is not that day," Wade retorted. Things with Jesse won't ever be the same. Their relationship it's going to remain tense and filled with animosity. There isn't a way around it. He may have been able to leave for a few years, the town pulling together to take care of Earl for him until he returned, but Jesse doesn't get to deal with the fallout of the lavish gifts he sends, simply because he's not here to see what it costs other than sending them.
"Is there ever going to be a day where it will be the day to work on making amends with him?" She asked, expecting the same answer she gets every time Jesse gets brought up.
"I don't see a day where that is going to be the case at any point in the future," he responded. "I don't want to fight about Jesse, and I won't fight with you about him. We have so much to be thankful for today that starting the same old argument about Jesse, isn't worth it," he shared, placing a hand on her stomach.
"We're going to tell Jesse about him being an uncle, and what he does, that's on him," Zoe stated, placing her hand on his.
"I can handle that," Wade sighed. He's not worried about the relationship he has with his brother. If it wasn't for Zoe he wouldn't even consider informing Jesse that he's going to be an uncle. "Now go enjoy your time with your brother," he ushered her out of the car.
"Pushy much," Zoe laughed, sharing a quick kiss with her boyfriend. "I'm going," she laughed at the smirk he's wearing. "Don't be gone too long," she warned him.
"Oh I will be," he smirked. Rolling her eyes at him, she got out of the car, making her way to the front door.
"Sorry I'm late," she told her brother. They may only be related through marriage but Austin is very much her brother.
"You might have been on time if you wouldn't use my driveway as a makeout spot," Austin teased her. Laughing Zoe pushed him, heading to the kitchen.
"Tell me what you need me to do," she told him, ready to get to work.
"Something seems off with you today," Austin commented as Zoe worked alongside him in the kitchen. They had been talking about little things as they worked.
"Mind telling me what that is?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Zoe is having a hard time keeping the smile from her face and from her voice. "Because as far as I know, everything is good with me, better than good actually," she responded. "Is there something wrong with you?" She asked.
"Other than being stressed that dinner is going to be a huge disaster, no," he told her. "But you are acting a bit giddy," he pointed out.
"That's a bit personal, trust me you don't wanna know," she easily answered. They agreed to keep the pregnancy under wraps until it's safe to share with their friends and family. They still have to go in and get it confirmed by a doctor, that isn't her.
"I'll take your word on that," he nodded, going back to what he was doing.
"Austin, you know I'd tell you if there was anything going on," she assured him. Austin nodded, they're not close like siblings that grew up together, but since they've been a part of each other's lives they've gotten close. "Are you helping with the Latkes, or am I doing them myself?" She asked, grabbing the potatoes.
"What kind of question is that?" He asked, moving to the side of the kitchen Zoe was on, to make their traditional Latkes.
Wade entered Austin's house, smiling to himself. While he was getting the few things Austin needed, he made a quick stop of his own. He's very pleased with himself for what he has found. It'll give Zoe the perfect excuse as to why she's not drinking any wine. He was prepared to be sneaking her water or juice all night and intercepting any wine handed to her. He's already worried about the amount of wine she's already consumed earlier in the week before they knew they were going to be parents.
"Look what I found," he announced, breaking up the sibling moment. One of the best things about family dinners during Hanukkah is the Latkes, he gets caught all the time when he tries to sneak one.
"What's the big deal about sparkling apple juice?" Austin questioned.
"It holds a special place in our past," Zoe smiled. The look on her boyfriend's face tells her that the juice isn't just about the first time Wade started giving her gifts, it's also about hiding the fact she's with child. She loves that he went through that effort to help keep their pregnancy between them.
"If being a parent is this hard and exhausting, I don't want to be a father," Wade sighed, having switched with Zoe. He gladly took a glass of the sparkling apple juice, handing the horrible doll that never shuts up to Zoe. The dol has been fed, burped, and changed. What else does he need?
"Hey now, don't be drinking all of the gift you gave me," she told him, walking around to hush the cries of Wade's baby boy. "I don't even believe you," she stated, looking at Wade.
"Why's that?" He asked, curious to know why she can't trust what he said. He means it. The doll has shown him that he doesn't want to have kids.
"Because this doll isn't yours, you're too young to have the responsibility to be a father, I'm telling you that your thoughts are going to change when we get older," she explained to him, sitting down next to him, now that doll went back to sleep.
"You seem so sure about it," Wade said, handing Zoe a glass of juice. "If this is how babies really act, I'm not going to want one," he shared with her.
"All babies are different," she said. "And it's different when the baby is half you," she told him. "Don't count yourself short because of a doll, that likes to cry," she offered him.
"I'd say we'd see what you have to say when it's your turn to take care of a doll, but you're a natural, and any kid that gets you as a mom is going to be lucky," he shared with her.
"Thanks for that, but the feeling is mutual. You're going to be an amazing father, and your kids will be lucky to have you," she told him. "I'm not saying it because you do or to convince you of the great father you will be, I'm saying it because it's true."
"Ok," he sighed, taking the doll back. "I will keep an open mind about the possibility of being a father one day far, far into the future," he amended.
"That's all I ask," she smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Being a father looks good on you," she shared, squeezing his leg.
"Sweet talking me isn't going to work," Wade laughed.
"Who said anything about sweet-talking you into doing anything?" She asked, getting up. "Thanks for the bottle of juice," she told him, walking to the kitchen to refill her glass. The glass bottle of sparkling apple juice wasn't wrapped. Instead, Wade placed a silver bow around the neck of the bottle.