Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a good weekend.

Enjoy!

Wade woke up in the middle of the night, the spot next to him cold and empty. He cracked an eye open to see where his girlfriend or rather possible fiancée is if things go according to his impromptu proposal goes to plan. The way he asked was the last way he ever imagined asking Zoe to marry him. He didn't mean to ask for her hand in marriage when they were getting ready to express their love in a new way. A smile breaks out across his face at the thought of the new territory they covered in their relationship last night. Every last bit of it is worth the wait. With a soft smile on his face, he climbs out of bed, not seeing Zoe in the gatehouse. Fear wants to grip him with no sight of his girlfriend, but he pushes it down until he can figure out where she ran off to.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Wade softly asks as to not startle Zoe when he gets to his porch seeing Zoe curled up in one of the chairs, a blanket over her lap. His smile growing seeing her wearing one of his light blue button-up shirts, the top buttons undone, leaving him with the perfect view.

"Do you know you snore?" She asked, looking up at him. Wade giving her a really look, as he pulls her up taking her spot, pulling her down onto his lap. "You do," she smiles, burying her head into the crook of his neck.

"So what you're saying is my snoring sent you out to the porch?" He asked, rubbing the tips of his fingers along her bare thigh, raising an eyebrow, an amused look on his face.

"No," she told him, pressing a kiss to his jaw, the hair tickling her lips. "My mind sent me out here. I couldn't think while wrapped in your arms, and I needed to clear my head," she explained to him. Laying next to him in bed, curled up in his arms, gave her every reason in the book to say yes. The second she sat outside to clear her mind, as much as she wants to say yes, it gets to be a bit harder to say yes, not when it's not just her she needs to be concerned about. She has to think of Sofia here.

"As I told you, Zoe, I don't need an answer until you're ready. I know I rushed into asking you and not even giving you the proposal you deserved, I am surprised you haven't made a run for the hills yet," his seriousness turning into a more teasing tone.

"I don't want to be anywhere other than right here with you," she told him, running a hand through his hair. "I want to marry you Wade, but it's not that simple," she sighed.

"I get that," he replied, resting his head against hers. "It will get sorted out when it's not the middle of the night," he assured her. "We've got time to sort it all out," he promised her.

"I know we do and I know it will get sorted out," she sighed. "I feel bad that I don't have a definite answer for you," she told him, placing a kiss under his ear.

"I knew how it was going to be, I know that you can't just say yes," he responded. It does hurt and suck that it can't be as simple as saying yes. He gets there is more to it. That he did rush them from dating, where they haven't really had a proper date out without their fathers or without Sofia being there to wanting to build a life together in marriage. He's jumped the gun a lot, but he wouldn't change it. Things will work out, in their favor. That's what he believes.

"But I can," she said, taking a deep breath. "Being engaged doesn't mean we need to run out and get married tomorrow," she said, trying to convince herself that she can marry Wade like she wants to. That nothing and no one in this moment is stopping her from being a bit reckless with her love for Wade.

She's been in love with Wade since they were teens, even if she refused to believe it back then because she was with Graham. She doesn't need permission from her father to marry Wade. Her biggest worry is Sofia. Much like dating isn't a guarantee being married isn't either. It's something they're going to really have to work at. Now that she's been with Wade in every way that truly matters, she can't picture her life without him in it in a romantic way. Everything she wants in her life she wants it with Wade next to her, holding her.

"Of course it doesn't mean we have to get married when we wake up, it means we can get married before we call it a night tomorrow," he teased, gripping her thigh. "I'm following you here," he told her, dropping the teasing tone to have a more serious conversation. "I'm not going to take the proposal away, Zoe. Take a few days or more to figure it out. I know you have Sofia to factor into this whole thing," he said, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Sofia loves you, that's not a factor," she smiled. "I am worried more about how she's going to take you living with us," she told him.

"What you're getting at is that you're worried that Sofia is going to resent me living there and taking the place of George," he sighed. It's not a secret the way Sofia loves her father. And what little girl doesn't want their parents to get back together? He's going to be the one left looking like a bad guy by making a promise to be with Zoe forever.

"A little," Zoe sighed. "I don't want to be insensitive about it," she told him. "But Sofia doesn't understand that things with George will never work out. All she sees is her parents who are happy when together for her, she doesn't see the rest," she explained to him.

"I can understand that," Wade nodded. "And I will do everything to show her that I love her and that I won't ever stop loving her. That I may not be her father, but I see her as a daughter. That will ring true no matter what happens between us," he assured Zoe.

"I know. I can see it," Zoe assured him. "I want to make sure we can make it work before we embark on the journey of a lifetime together. I want to say yes, my heartaches not being able to tell you yes…" she trailed off.

Wade captured her lips in a soft and sweet kiss to assure her that it's okay. When he asked in the way he had, he was expecting a slap to the face or a kick to the family jewels. What he didn't expect was to have his girlfriend all twisted up about it. If he knew this was how it was going to turn out, he would have learned how to keep his mouth closed, and he would have waited for the right moment further down the line.

But that's the problem. He doesn't want to wait any longer. He has been waiting for what feels like his whole life to be with Zoe. With losing his mom so suddenly the way he had, he doesn't want to wait any longer than he needs to. Because yes he's afraid he's going to lose her and that's the very last thing that he wants to happen.

"Then we come up with a compromise and put the whole engagement on hold until we know for sure how everything is going to play out. I don't want to make Sofia uncomfortable," he shared. That doesn't mean just because Sofia loves when he lives in the gatehouse that she is going to take too kindly by him suddenly living with them. As much as he wants to spend forever with Zoe and Sofia, he didn't exactly factor in Sofia when asking.

"I appreciate that I really do," she smiled, dragging her bottom lip into her mouth, thinking over the only compromise she can come up with at such a late hour, or early hour, however, you want to look at it.

"What is it?" He asked, using his thumb to gently pull her bottom lip from between her teeth. "I need you to share so I can help move us in the right direction," he shared with her.

"You moving into the Carriage house," she whispered, telling him the one thing she could think of to help Sofia get customized with having Wade not only in her space and in her life in a more permanent way.

"If you really think that will help Sofia get used to the idea of us, I'm in," he told her. "I can move things in now," he teased, nudging her to get up.

"You're not that funny," she told him dryly. "I need to have a bit of time to talk to Sofia. And while I am doing that later in the day you can move your things in," she informed him.

"I can be there when you talk to her," he shared, his thumb caressing the warm flesh on her thigh where his hand rested.

"I appreciate the offer," she nodded, licking her lips. Wade's eyes tracking the movement of her tongue. "I do think that it be best if I tell her the news alone," she told him.

"This is what I was afraid of," Wade sighed. This is one of the many situations he was worried about happening. Where things with Sofia are a priority and he's iced out. He understands that there are times that Sofia needs to have talks and other things in private with her mom. But this one, where he's involved, is the one situation where he shouldn't be iced out. He thought Zoe had been on the same page as him early in the night and yet here they are.

"This isn't about me shutting you out of this with her," Zoe sighed, closing her eyes. "It's about what I can do to help make Sofia comfortable with the idea of having you living with us," she told him.

"It really feels like that. I really feel like we came to an understanding over dinner and now you're going back on what you said. I do believe I should be there when talking about my involvement in her life," he explained.

"I do understand and maybe you're right," she sighed, running a hand through his hair. "United front," she nodded. "If you really want to be there, then come with, but I don't know how she's going to take it," she explained.

"Then we figure it out together as a family should," he told her softly.

"Okay," she nodded. "We tell her together," Zoe smiled. She's not sure how it's going to go when they tell her. Sofia is an easy child when it comes to certain situations. But this means that she won't have the same family structure as her friends. That the possibility of her parents being together won't happen for her. That's what she's going to realize when she's told about Wade moving in with them.

"That's all I want," Wade smiled, brushing his nose along the exposed flesh of her collarbone. Zoe nodded, her eyes fluttering closed.

"What I want involves a bed and not this chair," she whispered in his ear, standing up, bringing the blanket with her, wrapping it tightly around her body.

"Is that so?" Wade asked with a smirk.

"Come to bed and find out," she told him seductively, a sway in her hips she walked into the gatehouse.

Zoe's laughter filling the quiet of the night as Wade rushed after her, tossing her over his shoulder. For the rest of the night, Wade is going to focus on having a happy and content girlfriend in his arms. Everything else he can worry about in the morning when the sun comes up to interrupt their little bubble.