Hey all! I am hoping to have one more chapter up this week, which will be the end to the main part of the story. There will be some time jump extra/bonus chapters on the way. As of now I am not sure how many there will be. I am looking/trying to wrap this story up completely by the end of November.

Enjoy!

6 months later

"Wade?" Sofia questioned, holding onto his hand as they walked down the sidewalk in Fairhope. They've been spending the day together while giving Zoe the time she's been wanting to have for herself, George away on work. Wade is more than happy to have Sofia to himself for a few hours of the day. He appreciates spending time with Sofia. Over the last 6 months, the bond between himself and Sofia has grown.

"Yes, sweetie?" Wade asked, glancing down at her. Her little blue eyes locked onto his for a brief few seconds before they both watched the sidewalk in front of them. Neither one of them wants to walk into something or someone.

"Can I know the secret mission yet?" She asked, stopping at the crosswalk, waiting for their turn to walk across the road. On their way to Fairhope Wade had told her that they had a secret mission to accomplish.

"Do you know you're just like your mother?" Wade asked, amused as they hurried across the street when given the signal to cross.

"Ignoring me isn't helping, Wade," Sofia sassed right back at him. Wade chuckled, pulling Sofia to a stop guiding her out of the way of the people mulling about.

"Sofia, I'm not ignoring you or your question," he told her. He doesn't want her to think that because he didn't answer the question she asked that he's avoiding or ignoring her. He would never do that to her. "What I was saying is how you are your mother's daughter," he laughed. Sofia not understanding the statement gave him a 'duh' look. "You know how much I love your mother, right?" He asked, crouching down to be at her level.

"Sure, it's almost the same amount of love I have for my mom," Sofia nodded. Wade smiled, nodding his head.

"Almost as much as you love her is right," he confirmed. There's nothing more powerful than the love a kid has for a parent. "You remember how we went and had ice cream last week with Grandpa Harley and I talked about how I wanted to marry your mommy, where I would be your step-dad officially?" He asked her. Talk about a nervous conversation. Not only did he need to get Harley's permission but Sofia's as well. He wanted Sofia to be okay and comfortable with him being a permanent figure in her life moving forward.

"Uh-huh," Sofia nodded, grinning big. "I get to be the flower girl," she proclaimed.

"That you do, sweetie," Wade smiled. "You'll be the prettiest flower girl Bluebell's ever seen," he told her. "Before you can be a flower girl I have to ask your mommy to marry me and to do that I have to get the ring," he explained to her.

"Our surprise," Sofia smiled, holding her hand out.

"Our surprise," Wade repeated, shaking Sofia's hand. "Now let's go get our secret gift for mom," he told her standing up. Sofia nodded, holding Wade's hand as he led the way to the jewelry store.

Having a talk with his dad and brother, he got his mom's ring, Jesse telling him flat out that the ring has always been Zoe's. The ring, needing to be resized for Zoe, brought them to the jewelry store. While Wade waited for the saleslady to get his ring, he watched Sofia look around, her eyes lighting up at some of the pieces of jewelry. Watching her look at each piece carefully, the idea he's been thinking about doing became a reality.

"Wade, Wade, look at this one," Sofia called him over to where she was looking through the glass cases.

"Which one, sweetie?" He asked, coming to stand next to her, as she pointed at a sterling silver ring. 13 pink cubic zirconia gems lined the band of the ring. A pink gem sat in the middle of the heart that flared out twice on each side held a gem. The heart and loops make it look like a crown sitting on the band of the ring. "That's a very pretty ring," Wade commented.

"Do you think I can have it one day?" Sofia asked, looking at Wade with hopeful eyes.

"Depends on what the occasion is," Wade told her. "Why don't we see what it looks like on your finger, huh?" Wade asked her. "Maybe once you see it on, you'll change your mind about it," he explained before she could ask him why.

"Can I?" She asked Wade, JetBlue eyes pleading with him.

"I don't see why you can't," Wade told her, turning his attention to the saleslady who appeared before them, with his mom's ring ready to be given to Zoe.

"If it doesn't fit, we have a few different sizes in the back," the saleslady whose name tag said Lisa told Sofia, as she took the ring from the case. "This ring is part of our kid's collection," she told them, gently handing the ring to Sofia.

"It's really pretty," Sofia said, handling the ring with the utmost respect. She slid the ring onto her finger, holding her hand out to look at it. "I like it even better, Wade," she told him. "And it's not too tight or too loose," she beamed at him.

"I see that, it looks to fit you perfectly," he smiled at Sofia. "Like it belongs to be yours," he told her.

"One day, today is all about mom," Sofia said, handing the ring back.

He motioned to Lisa that he'd take the ring, without Sofia noticing that the ring wasn't back in its spot after she gave the ring back. It wasn't that hard since they had to move to a different part of the store to get rung up. With both rings in his possession and hidden from prying eyes, they headed out of the jewelry store.

"Now what do we have to do?" Sofia asked, holding Wade's hand as they once again walked on the sidewalk to where the car is parked.

"We have to get everything set up for mom's surprise. Can you help me with that?" Wade asked. He's not sure what he's going to do. He's hoping that on the way home he can come up with something.

"I guess so," Sofia nodded. "Mom loves to have picnics by the pond," she told him a hint of sadness to her tone.

Wade tried to recall if he had seen Zoe and Sofia have any sort of picnic by the pond, but he can't recall them having any. And by the tone Sofia used, it's been quite some time since mother and daughter have had a picnic. Sofia gave him the perfect piece to put his proposal plan into action. He will make it better than when he asked while they were getting ready to be intimate for the first time.

"What do we have here?" Zoe asked, standing at the edge of the red plaid blanket laid out on the ground, a picnic basket sitting in the middle of the blanket. Sofia and Wade both standing at the edge of the pond, skipping rocks.

"It's a picnic, duh mom," Sofia sassed from where she stood, looking for the perfect rock to skip.

"Sofia mentioned you guys used to have picnics by the pond, and I was under the impression that she wanted to have another one because she missed them," Wade explained, showing Sofia how to flick her wrist for the rock to skip.

"Thank you," Zoe told him, walking to where they were skipping rocks, wanting in on the action herself.

"It was nothing really," he promised, resting a hand on her waist, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Sofia wanted it and it was no trouble," he shrugged it off like it was no big deal, not wanting his girlfriend to catch on to what he actually has planned.

"It's something," she told him, closing the small space between them to taste his lips in a gentle kiss. "Now let a pro show you how it's done," Zoe smirked, picking a rock up from the pile Wade and Sofia had collected.

"Don't let your mom fool you," Wade remarked, shooting Zoe a look. "Who do you think taught her how to skip a rock?" Wade asked, looking through the rocks they have left to skip.

"Uncle Jesse?" Sofia asked, throwing her rock for it to sink on the first impact with the water.

"You're not as funny as you like to think you are," Wade stated, looking at Sofia. "For your information, it wasn't uncle Jesse, because he is horrible at skipping rocks," Wade said, flipping his rock across the water. "I am the master of skipping rocks in Bluebell," he smirked watching his rock sink in the middle of the pond.

"Mom is, her rock went further than yours," Sofia pointed out with a giggle.

"The student surpasses the master," Zoe smirked, sending a wink Wade's way.

"That she does," Wade laughed, walking to the blanket to get the food spread out, while Zoe showed Sofia how to get the right angle for the rock to skip across the water.

"Wade, did you see?" Sofia asked, jumping up and down as her rock skipped two times on the water.

"I didn't Sofia," he told her, turning around from where he stood. "I'll catch the next one, promise," he said, coming to stand behind her.

After they finished skipping the rocks Sofia and Wade collected and a few extra rocks, they sat down to have their meal. Sofia told her mom all about what she had done with Wade skipping over their secret mission, as she didn't want to be the one to ruin the surprise for her mom. Zoe listened carefully to what her daughter was saying, making comments until Sofia gave her a 'really mom' look. Wade held his laughter in, not wanting both Zoe and Sofia to be upset at him.

"I told your dad that we would figure out a night for Sofia to stay with him," Zoe shared with Wade, taking a sip of her wine.

"Can I stay with grampy Sela tonight?" Sofia brightly asked.

"I don't see why not," Zoe told her daughter. "Hold up, we have to make sure that it's okay with Grampy Sela before anything else," she told her eager daughter.

"Before we do that, I have something I want to say," Wade informed them. "The both of you," he emphasized looking at Sofia.

"What's going on?" Zoe asked, eyeing her boyfriend.

"You'll ruin the surprise, mom," Sofia quickly told her.

"Okay, I'll let it go, even though you two are clearly up to something," Zoe said, taking Wade's offered hand to stand up.

"The first time I asked, it was at a bit of an inappropriate time," Wade smirked, dropping down to one knee. Zoe's soft giggles turned into a gasp. "You've been my best friend since the day you turned up in Bluebell, broken arm and all," he smirked. "We may not have gotten off on the best footing that day, but look at us now. You've been there for me, even when you physically weren't," he told her.

"Wade," sighed Zoe, carding her right hand through his hair.

"It's the truth," he told her, sincerity in his eyes. "It's always been you, it just took a while to find our way to each other," he smiled. "Will you, Zoe Wilkes, marry me and become the Mrs to my Mr?" He asked, pulling the ring box out, his mom's ring sitting in the black velvet of the box.

"Yes," Zoe smiled, holding her hand out for Wade to slip the ring onto her left ring finger. Wade stood up, pulling Zoe in for a kiss, keeping it short with Sofia standing next to them.

"Sofia, I have a very important question for you," Wade told her.

"Okay," Sofia nodded, looking up at Wade.

"We haven't known each other all that long in the grand scheme of things, but I love you like my own daughter," Wade told her. "The day you told me 'I love you' without knowing who I was, you had me captivated. You didn't worm your way into my heart, not when you just fit in my heart so filled with love, and so I ask of you, Sofia Tucker, do I get the honor of being your step-dad?" He asked, getting the box that held the ring she was admiring earlier in the day out.

Sofia, being too stunned for words, nodded her head, sniffling as she hugged Wade. Zoe tried to give them a minute, but Wade wasn't having any of that as he pulled Zoe into the hug. The sun setting casting purples, pinks and oranges across the sky as the small little family braces in a hug filled with love.