"Gah, why did I listen to a bunch of boys?" Zoe asked, looking down at her shorts and tee, seeing the once vibrant colors covered in mud.
"What are you talkin' about?" Wade asked, wiping the mud on his hands off on his pants. "We didn't make you come with us; you're the one that decided you didn't want to join Lemon, Annabeth and Crickett at the little junior Belle meetin'," he stated, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah because I fancy doing that weird dancing they were doing in the middle of town yesterday," she replied sarcastically rolling her eyes. She had been given a choice; her mom wanted her to join; she didn't doubt for a second that if her dad hadn't been there to assure her that just because it's a Wilkes legacy to join, that under no circumstances did she have to join at any point in her life, that her mom would have signed her up. "You said you were fishing, not getting into a fight with mud," she retorted.
"That was the plan," Wade nodded. "But Meatball fell and because he can't take a joke, he tossed mud which I ducked out of the way from, and it hit George, and he retaliated and we couldn't forget about you," he smirked.
"We all know that your dad won't care," George commented, being forced to leave his hands muddy as he couldn't find a place to wipe them clean.
"It isn't my dad I'm worried about," she sighed. "This is going to push her right over the edge," she stated, fearing historical dress in her very near future.
"Did you have fun?" Meatball asked from his spot under a tree sitting in the shade; he looked to be the mud they had been flinging around. She honestly thinks that he has mud up his nose, and that it's going to take weeks for him to get it all out.
"I guess," she shrugged.
"There is no I guess about it, princess," Wade smirked. Unlike in the past, she knew that Wade meant nothing bad about the comment, and it was more of an inside joke between them.
"Yes, I had fun," she huffed. "Happy?" She asked. Wade's smirk grew as he picked up a handful of mud, stalking towards Zoe. "Wade, don't you dare," she warned, taking some steps backwards, only they weren't enough and Wade was there, squishing the mud into her hair. "WADE!" She screeched.
"And what are you doing to do about it?" He taunted.
"Oh nothing," she shrugged. "Except this," she stated, scooping up the biggest clump of mud she could and smashing it into his face, his smirk slipping from his face as he wiped the mud from his eyes.
"It's on," he laughed, launching himself at George tackling him to the ground.
Zoe rolled her eyes, getting as much mud from her hair as she could. She laughed watching Meatball jump on the other two. Deciding that she was already going to get into trouble with her mom she joined the fray, jumping on George's back, Wade getting the upper hand with Meatball.
On their way home, they jumped into a creek to rinse as much mud off as they could. George and Meatball leaving them as they rushed off home. Zoe in no rush whatsoever to get home, she barely escaped being forced into the junior Belles, and she was afraid that her mom wouldn't listen to reason and swear up and down that she needed to learn how to be a respectful lady.
"If we go this way, you can stop at my house and shower. You can borrow some clothes. Ma wouldn't mind washing your muddy clothes with mine," Wade commented, seeing the panic more clearly the closer they got to their street.
"You sure?" She asked. She didn't want to cause more trouble for Jackie; she'd deal with whatever sort of punishment her mom handed to her over causing trouble for Jackie.
"I'm positive; ma likes you," he nudged her with his elbow. "Come on," he urged her, ducking through some brush.
Zoe shrugged and followed after him. She'd make sure that Jackie was fine with it before going through with anything. She also didn't want to lie to her parents, but her mom wouldn't be able to understand what's so fun about playing in mud. Maybe she could tell them half the truth, and that she fell into the mud, because she wasn't watching where she stepped. It would do and she wouldn't feel quite so guilty about it.
"I don't even want to know," Jackie sighed, shaking her head at Wade and Zoe as they walked into the backyard.
"I told Zoe you wouldn't mind washing her muddy clothes with mine. With her mom being from the city, I doubt she'd be able to get the mud stains removed," he told his mom. "So is it alright?" He asked.
"It's fine; I'd need more than your clothes to wash anyhow, and the rest of us don't go running through the mud," she said. "Get her something of yours to wear so she can shower," Jackie told her son.
"On it," he said, motioning for Zoe to follow. "Leave your shoes here," he instructed, toeing his shoes off by the back door, Zoe following suit.
Walking through the house, she tried her hardest not to get mud everywhere, at least what mud she had left on her after jumping into the creek. She stayed in the hall while Wade found her something that would fit. None of his clothes would fit exactly the way her clothes did, but she didn't quite mind, as long as she got out of her muddy clothes.
"Thanks," she smiled, taking the sweats and tee from him, keeping them from getting dirty.
"No problem, really," he shrugged. "You can use my parent's bathroom; it's the only one with girly soap," he said, heading back to grab himself some clothes. "Just grab a towel from the linen closet," he told her, pulling open said closet, to get himself a towel.
With clothes and a towel in hand, Zoe entered Jackie and Earl's room. The one room in their house she had never gone into, out of respect. She didn't linger, just walked straight through to the bathroom to have a shower to get the mud that was drying on her off.
"Zoe, sweetie," Jackie called once Zoe came downstairs fresh from her shower, having borrowed a brush for her hair. Surprisingly enough Wade's clothes fit her better than expected.
"Yeah?" She asked, walking to where the laundry room was located at.
"I called your parents and told them you were here, and that you'd be staying for dinner," she informed Zoe.
"Okay," Zoe nodded. "Where do you want me to put these?" She asked Jackie holding out her muddy clothes and the towel she used.
"I didn't think you wanted to go along with them, as they tried to do some wedding planning stuff as it can rather be dull for a child," she commented. Jackie was right about that. "Toss them in the washer, I'm still waiting on my son's dirty clothes; he's a real diva in the bathroom," she remarked, making both of them laugh.
"He's not so bad," Zoe commented giggling, hearing a few bars of whatever made up song Wade is singing in the shower.
"That one has a world of possibilities in front of him," Jackie smiled.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ma," Jesse feigned hurt, bringing his own dirty clothes into the laundry room.
"You stop it," she chided her oldest. "You've got plenty of possibilities as well, if you applied yourself," she pointedly stated.
"I know Ma," he laughed. "Let me know when the washer is free, and I'll wash my clothes," he said, turning to leave. "Hey Zoe," he called over his shoulder as he left.
"There's cookies and milk if you want a snack, dear," Jackie told her, folding the last of the clothes from the dryer.
"Okay, thanks," Zoe smiled, turning to head to the kitchen, remembering from the first few times she stayed over where they kept everything. "Oh hey," Zoe smiled, seeing Wade walking down the stairs. "Want some milk and cookies?" She asked, walking to the fridge.
"Must you ask?" He smirked. "I'll be right back," he told her, walking around the corner to drop his clothes off with his mom.
"And I'll be here," she commented. Wade shook his head hearing that.
By the time Wade got back from the laundry room, Zoe had the cookies sitting on the table, the package open between two glasses of milk.
"Ma told me that you were staying for dinner," he commented, grabbing a cookie and dunking it into his milk. Zoe nodded her head, doing the same as Wade with a cookie. "Now you don''t even have to tell your mom that you were having fun playing in the mud," he remarked, stuffing the whole cookie in his mouth.
"Wade, you could choke," Zoe scolded him, taking a bite of her cookie before dunking it back into her milk.
"I ain't choking," he laughed, grabbing a second cookie to dunk. "But that's all you gotta say?" He asked, glancing at her.
"I hate lying to my parents, but knowing my mom won't freak out by the fact I enjoyed playing in the mud, is really nice," she confessed.
"I knew it," Wade boasted. Zoe rolled her eyes. "Want to come tadpole hunting with us in the summer?" He asked her.
"Should I be afraid?" She asked him. She had no idea what tadpole hunting was. When it came to fishing, she knew what it was, she didn't know how to fish as she never has been fishing before in her little existence of a life.
"It's where we go to the pond on the mayor's plantation or one of the many swamps around here, mainly the one behind the Pickett's place, because they have the best tadpoles," he explained to her. "And we fill a bucket with tadpoles and water. Once we have enough of them; we bring them back home and fill an old kiddy pool with water and dump them in," he finished telling her.
"Why?" She asked, not seeing the appeal in catching tadpoles and watching them turn into frogs.
"Cause it's fun," he told her in a duh tone. Zoe rolled her eyes.
"And because he knows his mother doesn't like it because it stinks up the backyard," Earl chimed in, walking into the dinning room.
"That explains everything," Zoe laughed. "But I don't know, Wade," she sighed. "Ask me again when summer gets here," she told him.
"Wade go with Zoe so she can change into her own clothes, because we're going to Fairhope for dinner," Jackie ordered, taking the package of cookies, closing it and putting them away. "Go," she stated.
"We'll be back," Wade said, once he finished his milk, waiting on Zoe to drink her milk as well.
They raced to Zoe's place forgoing shoes as Zoe didn't want to put her muddy shoes on, even if the mud was slowly drying and cracking to where it would fall off.
"I won't be long," she told Wade racing up the stairs to get dressed. She pulled her closet doors open and decided to wear her yellow sundress that her mom brought back from New York for her. She did want to look pretty for dinner. "You can come up now; I have to find my sandals," she called out to Wade.
"You really do like the picture," Wade commented in awe seeing it framed and hanging on the wall.
"I love it," she told him, finding her sandals under her bed. "Didn't you believe me?" She asked him with a frown, sitting on her bed to slip her sandals on.
"I thought you were being nice about it," he shrugged.
"Well I wasn't just being nice about it; I adore the picture, and I will for years to come," she stated. "We can go now," she told him.
"It's still nice to know that you liked it enough to hang it on your wall," he shrugged, waiting on Zoe to shut her house door.
"It's both of my worlds coming together, and it's pretty, what's not to love about it?" She asked him. Wade only shrugged, not quite sure how to answer that question. "Oh shoot, your clothes are on my bed," she told him, debating on going back to get them.
"Keep 'em," he said. "They're too small for me anyway," he shrugged.
Once back at the Kinsella's and Wade getting shoes on, they headed out to Fairhope. Before heading to dinner they walked around the city, Zoe thoroughly enjoying her time with the Kinsella family as they did make her feel like she was part of their family.