A/N: Thanks to everyone who left reviews on the previous chapter. This one ran a little longer than expected, though I doubt you guys will complain about that, right? ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 17

Zoe's hands were shaking as she sealed down the envelope containing the DNA samples from Wade and JT. She was already freaking out about what the result of the test would be, even though she had been the one to convince Wade they all needed the truth. She really hoped he and JT were a match, dreading to think what would happen if they weren't.

"Dr Hart?"

She turned around fast at the sound of her name, sitting on the edge of her desk in front of the envelope as Brick walked in. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, painting on a smile she hoped he wouldn't notice was fake.

"Hey, Brick," she said too cheerily. "What's up?"

"What's up?" he echoed, making a face. "Come on now, Dr Hart, I know how gossip blows through this town. You can't really expect me to believe you haven't heard the news already."

There was a feeling of relief running through Zoe as she took in his words then. There was news he expected her to have heard, which means it couldn't be about JT's paternity, surely. She had no idea how that ever would've gotten out anyway when only she and Wade knew about it, but for a moment there she had panicked.

"I haven't exactly heard much of anything in the last twenty-four hours. I've been... busy," she said waving her hand in a vague gesture. "So, what did I miss?"

Brick looked awkward and strange. He turned as if to leave and then seemed to change his mind, looking back at her.

"I guess you're going to hear about it anyway, so I may as well tell you the truth before it becomes a Chinese whisper," he said with a sighed, rubbing his forehead. "My Lemon and George Tucker have called off their wedding."

"Wow." Zoe shook her head. "I mean, I... I got the impression something wasn't quite right with them, but I didn't... I had no idea it was that serious."

"Well, it is." Brick nodded once. "Nobody's fault, as far as I know, just a mutual decision that maybe they're just not so well suited anymore. It happens."

"Of course, it does," Zoe agreed, nodding back at him. "Um, if there's anything I can do to help, I mean, covering for you here if you need to be with Lemon or deal with cancelling plans or whatever."

Brick stared at her for a long while, as if he was trying to figure out if she meant what she said or not. Of course, Zoe didn't worry about it, because actually, she was being genuine in her offer to help out anyway she could. Eventually it seemed that Brick took her at her word.

"I don't think we'll need it, but thank you, Zoe," he told her. "I appreciate your concern."

"Of course," she said, nodding her head, letting out a huge sigh of relief when her partner was finally gone.

Grabbing up the envelope, she made sure it was ready to go, prepared to pay whatever was necessary to get it Fedexed to her old friend in New York. In a day or two, he would have the results for her and for Wade, confirming JT's paternity once and for all. Despite knowing it made no real difference to the truth, Zoe couldn't help but wish and pray that they all got the answer they wanted. She couldn't stand the thought of Wade's heart being broken if he was told JT wasn't his son.

When the DNA samples were finally mailed and she was headed back to her office, Zoe was distracted enough that she didn't see George coming until they literally ran into each other. His hands shot out to steady her and she looked up to meet his red-rimmed eyes.

"Oh, George," she said sadly. "I'm... I heard about you and Lemon. I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" he checked, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, you didn't make me and Lemon fall out of love with each other. You sure as hell didn't make her..."

Zoe watched him turn away, a humourless laugh escaping her lips. She knew what he meant. She really, really wished she didn't, but she so did. Lavon had told her everything a while ago, and now it seemed that Lemon had told George. That was probably a good thing in theory, but the pain on his face made Zoe wonder. Were there any guys in her life right now that could have a whole conversation with her without tears?

"Hey, it's okay," she promised, her hand on his arm. "George, you know, if you need to talk, I'm here. I mean, we're friends, right? At least, I thought so."

"Yeah, we are," he told her, finding a watery smile as he nodded his head, his hand covering hers on his arm. "And thank you, Zoe, I appreciate it. Not like I exactly feel as if I have an overabundance of friends to talk to right now. I mean, Wade is obviously busy as anything with his son, and... well, there are some other people I don't wanna deal with right about now."

"Well, like I said, I'm around, if you need someone," she told him with a smile.

"Thank you, Zoe" he repeated, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles.

He gave her another brief smile before letting her hand go and walking away.

Zoe sighed watching him go. It was awful to see such a nice guy so hurt and she genuinely did want to help. Still, she couldn't help but think back to a time when all she had really wanted was for George and Lemon to call off their wedding. Now that day had finally come and all she felt was sad for her friend's pain. She didn't want George Tucker anymore, not that way. She wondered if she ever really had those feelings for him. Sure, he was good-looking, charming, sweet, there was nothing not to like about George, but given the choice, Zoe could not imagine giving up what she had with Wade to be with anyone else, not even George Tucker.

The realisation came as a surprise, in a way. Not that she had failed to notice that Wade meant a lot to her, but they hadn't really labelled whatever they were up to now. She never actually called him her boyfriend or anything. He never once said she was his girlfriend either. They never talked about whether or not they were exclusive or committed, it just seemed to be an unspoken promise between them. At least, Zoe assumed that's what it was. Maybe there were some things she and Wade should actually say, just so they knew where they stood, but now certainly wasn't the time for that, not with the truth of JT's paternity hanging over them. After the results came, which would hopefully prove the happy truth that Wade really was John-Thomas' father, then everything else could be hammered out.

"One thing at a time," Zoe muttered to herself, heading back into the practice to find a fair few patients lined up in the waiting room ready to see her. "Looks like it's going to be a busy day."

"Lemon? Whatcha doin' out here?" asked Wade, squinting against the sun and trying to keep JT from falling over backwards in his arms at the same time. "Or is that a dumb question?" he checked then as he thought about it some more.

Maybe Lemon being on the front porch of mayor's house wasn't so surprising after some of rumours running around town of late, but he wasn't about to make any presumptions in other people's love triangles. That generally led to no good.

"I was hoping to speak with Lavon," said Lemon, descending the step to meet Wade, "but it seems he's not home."

"Prob'ly at some meeting or other." Wade shrugged. "I'm guessin' it ain't his mayoral self you was after though."

Lemon looked as if she was going to say something profound for all of a second, before letting herself get distracted elsewhere.

"Well, hello, precious boy," she said to JT, greeting him with a wide smile. "How're you doing today?"

JT babbled at her, reaching out with a hand that grabbed at her chest.

"My, my, you become more like your daddy every day, little one," she said with a smirk then as she lifted the child into her own arms for a hug.

If she was expecting some kind of snappy comeback from Wade or even a laugh at her bad joke, Lemon was in for a heck of a wait. Just hearing anybody talk to JT about his daddy made Wade feel nauseous right about now.

"Since you have been laughing off the worst of my insults these past fifteen years and more, Wade Kinsella - and that one was hardly a zinger - I think you should tell me just exactly what that look on your face is for," she told him, with one of those expressions she got that meant she wasn't to be argued with.

Wade shook his head, even though he had a mind to tell her everything. After all the secrets he had been keeping for her, she ought to repay the favour for him if he did spill it all. Seemed like a dumb idea after he made such a big deal of having Zoe keep the whole paternity thing under wraps, and yet.

"Wade?" Lemon prompted when he was quiet too long.

"Come around to the gatehouse," he said, tilting his head that way. "I could use a little payback on that friendly ear I leant you a while back."

Lemon nodded her ascent and followed him home, bouncing JT in her arms. The little boy seemed to be having a fine time and certainly didn't look sick or anything awful like that. She wondered what else could possibly have put such a pained expression on Wade's face, and she could only come up with the one thing.

"Is this about Zoe Hart?" she asked the moment she stepped into Wade's place and he closed the door behind her.

"Seriously?" he checked, reaching to take JT from her and put him down on his play mat for a while. "You really are obsessed with my girlfriend, aren't you, Lemon?"

"Girlfriend?" Lemon echoed, sure her eyes were so wide they could roll clean out of her head. "I'm sure I haven't heard you use that expression for a woman in your life since... No, I have never heard you use it, not once, and that includes Tansy who went from a fling to your wife inside of a month."

"You're hilarious by the way," Wade told her, rolling his eyes as he sat himself down nearby to JT, never taking his eyes off the kid.

Lemon walked over and lowered herself down daintily on the other side of the play mat, trying not to think about the fact she was on the floor of Wade's house. What might've taken place in the very spot she was sat didn't bear thinking of, so she didn't allow her mind to wander there.

"Come on, Wade," she said, glancing from JT to him and back. "Something serious is on your mind. I know it as plain as you knew I was suffering much the same a while back. Seems to me it either has to do with Zoe or this little bundle of fun, so which is it?"

"Both, kinda," he admitted eventually, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "You know, when he had his little accident last week and got the cut on his head?" he began, gesturing to the band aid that had since replaced the larger dressing on the little boy's head. "Well, Zoe ran tests, just to be extra sure he was alright. Before you start panicking, he is alright, no diseases, no infections. Perfectly healthy kid."

"That's good." Lemon nodded.

"It is," Wade agreed. "Only problem is he... Well, as it turns out, he might not be my perfectly healthy kid."

If Lemon had been shocked by Wade calling Zoe his girlfriend, she was doubly so to hear that JT might not be Wade's son. Her eyes moved from the little boy to her friend and back three times before she finally got too dizzy to continue.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard," she said definitely. "Wade Kinsella, this child is the spittin' image of you. How could he possibly not be your son?"

"'Cause apparently he ain't!" he snapped at her, before seeming to realise he shouldn't and speaking more calmly. "I mean, there's a good chance he ain't. No matter what he looks like, Lemon, that could be a coincidence, I guess. I hope it's not, more than you can imagine, but it could be. Apparently, there's not exactly a big chance that a kid with his blood type could be born to parents with mine and Carrie-Sue's blood types. Since there's really no doubting that she's his momma..."

He didn't need to say more and they both knew it. Honestly, for once in her life, Lemon Breeland didn't know what to say either. Wade was hardly the kind of guy one would naturally assume would be a good father, but he really was proving to be so. There wasn't a person in town that hadn't been pleasantly surprised to see him be the kind of daddy any son would be proud as punch to have. He doted on JT, did all he could for him, worked like a mule to make enough money, and devoted himself to the health and happiness of the little boy who had literally been dropped on him at a moment's notice. It seemed horribly unfair if, after all this, he had to find out he wasn't the father at all.

"Lemon, please," said Wade then. "I swear to God, if you start cryin' I'm gonna do the same, and I feel enough like a girl already over this whole situation."

She really hadn't noticed her own tears until he called her on it but Lemon had no control even once she knew. Pushing herself forward she flung her arms right around Wade and held on tight. With their heads over each other's shoulders, at least they didn't have to see each other breakdown.

There was a tapping on the door a minute later and they pulled apart fast, Wade asking Lemon to keep her eyes on JT while he went to see who was knocking. He wiped his face dry with the back of his hand a moment before he opened the door to Zoe.

"Hey," she said with a smile that didn't quite come off. "Are you okay?"

"I could ask you the same, doc," he countered, frowning at her red-rimmed eyes. "Either you have terrible allergies all of a sudden or I need to go punch somebody for making you cry."

"That would be a long trip and a waste of energy," she said, shaking her head as he ushered her inside. "Oh, Lemon, hi," she said awkwardly when she saw her there with JT. "Um, am I interrupting something?" she asked, glancing from Lemon to Wade and back.

"I'm sure Wade's girlfriend is always a welcome surprise in his home," said Lemon with an over-the-top grin before she turned to JT and kissed the top of his head. "You be a good boy for your daddy now, sweetheart, and Aunt Lemon will see you again soon."

She got up to leave then and Wade went to scoop up JT from the floor and wave the boy's little arm to Lemon as she left.

"Any message for Lavon?" he asked with a smirk as she glanced back at him.

"No, thank you," she said too politely. "I believe anything I have to say to the mayor, I should probably say myself."

"Well, that was weird," said Zoe, watching Lemon leave. "Unless... do you know what I know?" she asked Wade, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"Depends what you know, doc," he countered. "Something about the great George and Lemon break-up maybe?"

"That involved Lavon?" she checked cautiously.

"He told you about that, huh?"

"And she told you?"

"Nah, I've known for a while. They weren't as sneaky as they thought back when it was actually goin' on."

"Huh." Zoe shook her head. "Everything in this town is just upside down lately."

She looked ready to laugh about it and yet Wade couldn't get past the fact she had clearly been crying. Since Zoe obviously knew he had been too, that seemed like a good place to start to get the truth out of her.

"So, I told Lemon about the whole DNA situation," he admitted right off. "I know we said nobody needed to know and I didn't exactly plan on it but she was here and... and honestly, I think my head would've exploded if I didn't say somethin' to somebody."

Zoe nodded that she understood, moving closer to put one arm around him and the other around JT who he was holding still.

"I know what you mean, but you'll be happy to know I sent off the samples and Sam has promised me he'll get the tests done just as fast as he can and contact me just as soon as he has them," she confirmed.

"So, if your buddy with the genetic-type skills ain't the problem, who is?" Wade asked, handing JT to Zoe when he made it clear he wanted to go. "Somebody has you upset, doc, and I'm not standin' for that."

She smiled, touched by how much he truly cared for her.

"Thank you," she said, "but there's really nothing you or I or anyone can do about it. I just... All this stuff with you and JT got me thinking about my own father, about Ethan," she clarified. "I tried to call him today and... well, it's not unusual for me to not be able to get a hold of him, but when I got into serious 'tracking down Daddy' mode, I found out that he moved, months ago, and never even told me. He was in Germany but he's been back in the US for quite a while and... and apparently, he didn't care enough to let me know."

The tears were welling in her eyes again as she explained and Wade hated to see her upset. One way and another there was an awful lot of teary folk in Bluebell this day, and he didn't care for it at all.

"I'm sorry, Zoe," he told her honestly. "I know what the guy means to you, even if he's not really... I mean..."

"I know what you mean," she assured him. "I guess I can't entirely blame him. Finding out he wasn't really my father, it had to hurt."

"I know it did," Wade assured her, looking fondly at JT. "But that's no reason to cut you off the way he has. None of the secret keepin' was your fault."

Zoe nodded that he was right, even managing a smile when JT put his little head on her shoulder and hugged her neck with both arms. Whether Wade was his father or not, Zoe always knew she wasn't the little boy's mother, but he felt a lot like family to her, as did Wade and Lavon and so many others in Bluebell already. She could do without Ethan Hart if she had to, no problem.

To Be Continued...

A/N2: I know, I know, no DNA result yet, but this whole situation has led into a bunch of other stuff I need to cover. Hope you liked this chapter anyway!