(For disclaimer, etc. - see 1.)

8. For Life, Not Just for Christmas
Characters/Pairings: Zoe/Wade
'Verse/Timeline: canon - Season 4
Date: December 2014

"Zoe? Hey, you okay?"

She snapped out of a daze when she heard the concern in Wade's voice and turned towards him, craning her neck to see his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm fine," she promised, forcing a smile.

"Once more with feeling, doc," he challenged her, smirking just a little as he shifted along on the couch to better look at her. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothing," she said, sighing as her eyes went to the roundness of her pregnant belly. "I was just thinking... it's so weird, but next Christmas will be so different."

Her eyes came up to meet his own one more time, unsure what she expected him to say, or even what she expected to see in his face. Confusion was likely because Zoe was pretty sure she wasn't making much sense. Of course things would be different next year, that was really stating the obvious given her condition, but it was just hitting her now, how many changes there were going to be, how her life would be so very altered by this baby they were having.

"Zoe, of course things are gonna change," Wade agreed, picking up her hand and squeezing it in his own, "but that's not necessarily a bad thing. You know, when you came here to Bluebell, your whole life changed. You changed, the longer you were here, and I changed, the more I got to know you, the more I realised I was falling in love with you," he said, smiling now. "Change doesn't always have to be bad."

"Oh, I didn't mean... I know this is a good thing, Wade," she promised him. "This baby, us raising him or her, it's going to be great, it's just... it's a lot, you know? It just hits me sometimes, our lives are never going to be the same. Like Christmas. I'm not exactly the most religious person, and also, half-Jewish, but I have traditions. I like the whole tree and decorations thing, and Santa and gifts."

"Me too, I guess." Wade shrugged, not really getting why any of this was a problem. "'Course, I grew up thinkin' Earl was Santa so, that was a might confusin'."

That at least made Zoe giggle. "I just don't want our son or daughter to get to our age and look back at Christmases past and... and not like what they see. I don't want them to look back at any part of their childhood and feel that way."

That was when the light seemed to dawn with Wade. Neither he nor Zoe had the best start in life. Well, his own upbringing and family situation had been okay the first few years, but once his mom got sick and his dad turned to the bottle, things definitely went awry. As for Zoe, she was raised by a mom who had little time for her and a dad that wasn't really her dad, parents who divorced when she was young, and she missed out on her real father entirely.

"Hey, come on now," said Wade, pulling her close again as he kissed the top of her head. "Our kid is gonna have great Christmases, and birthdays, and vacations, everythin' he or she could ever dream of, we're gonna see to that. Nothin' and nobody is perfect, doc, but we are gonna do our very best by this kid, I promise you that."

Zoe sighed more contentedly this time and snuggled in closer to Wade. "I promise too," she told him definitely. "We will do our best, because that's really all anybody can do. Besides, there's no way our kid could ever be disappointed by Christmas anyway. Not when their grandpa is Santa!" she said, looking up at Wade with a smirk.

Wade had no answer for that, just a burst of laughter, and a kiss that took her breath away.