Hello everyone! This one will be coming to an end hopefully within the month of February. I have the last handful of chapters planned out somewhat, and I am working on them as much as can during the day. Once this one gets closer to the final chapter, I will get the first chapter of my new fic posted.

Enjoy!

"Do I have to go?" Sofia sighed, falling onto the couch next to her mom. Wade had taken to Jack to the park after he had woken up from his afternoon nap.

After their little slip-up with Sofia shortly after they had brought Jack home, they had settled into being parents of two kids a bit easier, finding the balance they needed. In the last 2 years, as both kids grew, schedules changed. Zoe and Wade both tried to make as much time as they could from work to spend it with Sofia and Jack. Wanting them to have memories they could look back on and smile about.

"Sweetie, why don't you want to go spend the week with your dad?" Zoe asked, making sure Sofia knew that she had her full attention.

"Cause my little sister is worse than Jack and she won't leave me alone, it gets annoying," Sofia sighed, falling back into the cushions on the couch.

"Sof," sighed Zoe, pulling her daughter into her arms, taking the few moments allowed by Sofia to hold her daughter. The older her daughter gets the less she wants to be held or hugged, shrinking away from her parents' affection for her.

"I know it's wrong," she told her mom. "But she's always there!"

"Your little sister looks up to you, Sof, she doesn't mean to annoy you, she wants to be with you because she loves you is all," Zoe told her daughter.

"It's annoying, Mom," the little girl sighed.

George and AB welcomed a little girl named Odette Paisley six months after Jack had been born. Sofia loves her little sister, greatly. It's just now that little Odette can walk, she's consistently following her around, and it gets to be annoying when she's playing with things that Odette can't have. Whereas Jack is the opposite, he gets bored with following her around the house, or mad when she escapes upstairs to her room, the stairs blocked off so he can't climb on them and get hurt.

Other than her sister annoying her by having to be next to her all the time, she can't escape to her room as she does at home because she has to share a room with her sister as they need to turn Odette's room into a nursery for her unborn baby sister. Her dad is rarely home, even on the weekends because he's working far more than he needs to.

"That's not an excuse to stop visiting your dad," Zoe stated, Sofia nodded, going to push herself off the couch to go get ready for a weekend at her dad's house, more than happy that she has school to attend this upcoming week. "I promise Sofia, there will be a time when she's doing her own thing," she told her daughter.

"Yeah, not soon enough," Sofia quipped out, rushing to her room, leaving a frustrated Zoe on the couch.

For Zoe when it comes to her daughter, she had made the decision long ago that she's not going to make her do something she doesn't want to do, and if that means she doesn't want to spend the following week with her father then she's not going to make her do it. George will have to understand that it is Sofia's choice in the matter, as Zoe feels that she is old enough to know what it is she wants in regards to certain matters.

"I was thinking that we could do a date night tonight," Wade commented, entering the living room behind his son. Jack having raced his father to give his mom a hug and a kiss. Giggling as he ran through the house. "My dad will be more than happy to watch little man here," Wade shared, tickling his son's side, electing more giggles from him.

"As nice as that would be," Zoe sighed, pulling her son in for another hug. "Sofia doesn't want to go to her dad's," she shared with him. Wade frowned, completely confused as to why. George would never hurt either one of his kids, everything he does is for them. "Odette," is all she had to tell her husband before he understood.

"Being the younger sibling, let me give her a bit of insight," Wade commented, leaving mother and son in the living room to go see his daughter. Sofia has never just been a stepdaughter to him, in every way possible that counts she has been his daughter. "Already packed, I see," Wade said, from the open door.

"I've got to go, don't I?" Sofia asked, turning to look at her dad.

"You know that's not true," Wade stated, entering her room to have a seat on the bed next to her. "We would never make you go, not even over the fact that Odette loves you greatly," he commented.

"She could be a little less annoying about it," Sofia snapped, giving Wade a remorseful smile. She hadn't meant to snap the way she had.

"I followed my brother everywhere when I was younger," Wade told her. "Knew it bugged him," he lightly chuckled, shaking his head. "He'd ignore me and I'd get bored and find something else to do," he shared.

"I could try that," Sofia told him, slightly nodding her head.

"That is if you decide to go, you know that your mom won't make you go be with your dad," he reminded her, getting up.

"It is silly, I think," Sofia commented, bringing her knees up to her chest. "To not go because off Ode, I love her," she nodded.

"It's up to you, Sweetie," Wade told her, leaving her alone. He wasn't going to make plans for a date with his wife until he was certain of what Sofia was going to do. His plans of a date with his wife didn't solely land on whether or not Sofia went to her dad's place, as Earl would be more than happy to watch her as well. What Wade didn't want is for Sofia to feel guilty about ruining anyone's plans.

"She's going to be fine," Wade assured his wife.

"Maybe I was worried about Jack," she smirked, taking a drink of her wine. Wade gave her a look, raising an eyebrow at what she had said. "I am worried about him," she stated. "And I know Sofia is going to be fine," she sighed, swirling the light liquid around in her glass.

"Jack, much like his sister, is just fine, one is waiting at home for us," he reminded her. Jack didn't want to leave to go spend the night at his grandpa's house and instead of forcing him to go, Earl assured his son and daughter that he would come to his grandson. "While the other is at her father's house, who we both know would never do anything to upset or hurt her," he pointed out.

"I know," Zoe sighed. "It's hard not to worry about them, even though I know they're safe," she explained. "You get it."

"I do get it because it's hard not to worry about them, either one of them," he easily agreed with his wife. There's always that little part of him that worries that something is going to happen when he's not there and that'll be on him. Everyone they have ever left their kids with they both have trusted them, but that worry doesn't stop because you want it to. "They're fine and we need to relax and enjoy our night out," he said with a wink and a smirk.

They weren't naive enough to think they could have a night out without any talk of their kids or work. Work, Jack, and Sofia are all a huge part of their lives and a topic they would never bore of talking about is their kids. So why would they make a rule where they can't talk about their kids? For them, it was the best time to address any concerns they may have without the fear of being overheard.

"Have you talked to Jesse, lately?" Zoe asked as their plates were cleared from the table as they waited on their shared dessert.

"For a brief moment the other day," Wade told her, picking his bottle of beer up. "He was getting ready to start on his 8-day backpacking adventure through the Andes," he informed his wife. Jesse had taken to traveling around the world, wanting to see more than his backyard of Bluebell, Alabama has to offer. Once or twice a month he would return home for a few weeks, planning out his next great adventure.

"I would like nothing more for your brother than to settle down," Zoe started to say, "but I'm afraid that isn't what would make him happy."

"If any luck he'll find someone that shares the same love of travel as he does," Wade commented. Zoe nodded as their dessert of cake and ice cream was placed between them on the table. "What do you say we make use of this elsewhere?" He asked sending her a wink.

Zoe shook her head, the smile on her face growing. "We are too old to get it on in the car," she told him, scooping up some cake and ice cream.

"Now who said anything about the car?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, his smirk growing. "We have a perfectly acceptable bed at home," he pointed out.

"And a two-year-old, and your father," she reminded him. "By the time your father heads home, it'll be late and we'll both be tired from being up since the crack of dawn."

"Give me the benefit of the doubt here," he urged her. "We're not that old," he stated.

"Okay, but I want to finish this now," she told him, scooping up another bite. "And if you can get your dad to leave and make sure that Jack is asleep for the night all before I go to sleep, well I'll make it worth your troubles," she winked.

"Oh you're on," he chuckled, picking up a spoon to have some of the dessert before his wife eats it all on him, not that he would mind.

A few days later on Monday afternoon, Wade was busy working the afternoon rush when school was let out. Many students of all grades came through the doors once they were let out for a snack of some sort, or simply a full-on meal. It was no surprise to him when Sofia rushed through the doors of the Jammer, to meet Wade in a tight hug, George following behind his eldest daughter.

"Guess what!" Sofia exclaimed, jumping into Wade's waiting arms for a hug.

"Hmm, let me see," Wade told her, picking her up, dreading the moment he can no longer hold her. "You were given recess all day?" He asked, earning some loud giggles from the daughter in his arms. "No, then you got to eat all the snacks?"

"No, silly," she laughed, shaking her head. "I did as you said and Ode didn't bug me," she told him. "She played with her baby toys," she beamed.

"That's great news, Sof," Wade told her, dropping her onto a stool at the bar, to get her a bowl of ice cream. "Though do remember that you should still play with her, you don't want her to feel left out and like you don't love her," he stated.

"That's what dad and mom told me," she sighed.

"You saw your mom, today?" Wade asked with a frown. One of the only ways Sofia could have seen Zoe is if she went to the practice, as Harley is watching Jack as Zoe got called into work this morning.

"Got an owie at school today, dad took me to see mom," she told Wade, holding her arm up, to see a bandaid covering her elbow.

"That's a big owie," Wade told her, taking the bowl of ice cream from one of his workers to give it to Sofia.

"It didn't hurt, I no baby," she told him, taking a big bite of her ice cream.

"No you're certainly not," Wade chuckled, getting her some napkins, turning to George. "Is there a reason you don't trust the school nurse?" Wade asked amused.

"I don't doubt she's not excellent at her job, but you can never be too sure," George chuckled.

"You might be right about that," Wade said, shaking his head. "Can I get you anything while you wait?"

"Nah, I'm good," he told his friend. "Sofia wanted to see you. I didn't know there was anything going on between her and her sister," he sighed.

"We hadn't either until she made a comment about it," he told her. "Nothing to beat yourself up over," he informed his friend. "You know as much as I do how rather annoying we as the young sibling can be," he chuckled.