A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews, peops. I love that y'all were happy to see Wade get the MOTY :) Now, finally, this chapter has the DNA results, as well as a bunch of other stuff too, of course...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 19
"You know I appreciate you offering to babysit and all, Lemon, but you really didn't have to get here so early," said Wade, only half-dressed and still trying to get his hair dry from the shower. "Also, wouldn't you rather actually be at the party?"
Wade wasn't sure if Lemon was ignoring him on purpose or just so taken with JT that she barely heard him at all. She sure did like to make a fuss of the kid, as proven by the teddy bear she brought for him when she came over today. Right now, she seemed too concerned with making the thing dance and talk in front of JT to worry about what he was saying. Wade took the opportunity to put on his new shirt and fix his hair before he had to head over to Lavon's place.
It shouldn't be such a big deal. After all, nobody was coming along to the shindig that Wade didn't know or like. The whole point was that it was a party in his honour. He found himself smiling into the mirror as he checked himself over.
"I swear I never did see a day comin' when I'd be the MOTY," he said more to himself than to Lemon, though she answered all the same.
"I never saw a day when you behaved like the kind of man that deserved such an honour," she said, glancing over at him. "Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't always know that in your heart at least you were that man, Wade Kinsella."
He smiled at her then, he couldn't help it. For all that Lemon Breeland could be a Class A bitch when she put her mind to it, she also had the capacity for being a real good friend. On top of that, whether she was being nice or nasty, Wade knew that, to him at least, she always did speak the truth.
"I guess when somebody goes ahead and drops a baby in your lap, it changes a person," he said, walking over to where JT was rolling around on his play mat with Lemon sat nearby. "You sure have turned my world upside down, bubba," he told the little boy. "All been for the best though. Pretty sure I wouldn't have this award without you either."
"I don't know about that." Lemon shook her head making her blonde curls bounce around. "You were already changing, Wade, any fool could see that. Certainly, JT sped up the process some, but it wasn't just him coming into your life that made you show your true, caring, decent man colours. You know as well as I do, a certain New York City doctor started it all off."
Wade opened his mouth to argue before realising he couldn't at all. Zoe had made a difference to him, that was true enough. He never had felt this way about a woman before and wondered if he ever could again. Just as he thought as much, his cell phone started ringing and he pulled it from his pocket.
"Talk of the devil," he said, checking the screen. "Hey, doc."
"Wade, I'm so sorry about this but I'm still at the practice," she said fast in his ear as Wade got up from the floor and paced a little.
"Some kind of emergency?" he checked.
"Yes and no," Zoe explained. "It's been a heck of a day. I think I've had as many people in here to tell me what a lucky woman I am to be dating the MOTY as I have actual patients."
"Well, you can't exactly say they're wrong, can ya?" Wade said with a grin.
Zoe chuckled in his ear. "Not really, and I didn't try," she assured him. "Anyway, I'm just about done here but I also had a call from Sam, you know, at the lab?"
The smile dropped off Wade's face in a second and he was only glad he had his back to Lemon and JT, and the couch to sink down onto when he realised this could be the moment when his world just fell apart. He would hope that Zoe would give him the news face to face. The fact she was doing it over the phone only seemed to confirm his worst fears.
"You got the results," he said flatly.
"I didn't," Zoe countered. "That's why Sam called, there has been huge problems at the lab and he doesn't have an answer for me yet. He promises it'll be in the next couple of hours, so I thought it was better if I stayed here, by myself, then when the results come in, well, I can get them right away and come tell you."
Wade nodded his head, remembering that didn't work over the phone when Zoe prompted him with his name.
"Yeah, I understand," he told her, running a hand over his hair and messing it up again. "Uh, I guess I'll see ya when I see ya, at the party."
"At the party," she echoed back. "You know, you should try to enjoy tonight, Wade. I know it's not easy, but please try. You deserve it and everything could still turn out okay. I know it's probably not much consolation right now, but even if we don't get the result we're hoping for... well, I'll still be here for you."
It was the sweetest thing she could've said, and despite everything, it did help a little.
"Thank you, Zoe," he said softly. "Uh, but I should go, get on over to Lavon's before he comes looking for me. I'll see you later, sweetheart."
They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone, Wade sitting on the couch for a few moments after, just staring into nothing. He didn't notice Lemon approaching with JT in her arms until she sat down right beside him, putting the little boy in his lap.
"JT wants to say goodnight to his daddy," she said with a look that told Wade not to argue with her wording at all. "He's real proud to be called your son, aren't you, baby?" she said to JT who grinned as he flung his little arms around Wade, as best as a child his size could.
"I love you, bubba," Wade told the little boy, kissing the top of his head. "And your Aunt Lemon ain't so bad either," he said, finding her a weak smile.
"High praise from the Man of the Year," she said, smirking back at him. "Now, get along with you, Wade Kinsella. Go enjoy your party," she insisted, lifting JT back into her arms. "John-Thomas here is going to get himself some shut-eye and I have a never-ending list of wedding things to continue cancelling."
Wade didn't argue with her. It was a fool that tried such a thing with Lemon Breeland. Besides, it was like Zoe said, he ought to try to enjoy his party tonight and all that went with it. Being the MOTY was a big deal, something that was likely to come to him only once in a lifetime. Seemed a shame to waste it.
Though Wade did his best to throw himself into the swing of his MOTY party, it didn't come easy to keep the smile on his face when so many people were talking about what a great father he was the whole time. The constant reminder of the DNA test results, along with the absence of Zoe that he had to explain as her being tied up at the practice, was just too much. He ended up in the kitchen by himself, beer in hand and a sour expression on his face.
"Hey now, you can't be hidin' out here at your own party," Lavon insisted, coming to lean on the counter beside him.
"Says who?" Wade countered, taking a long drink.
"Wow. For a man who has a great kid, a beautiful and intelligent girlfriend, and a Man of the Year Award comin' his way to boot, you ain't exactly in the best mood."
"Yeah, well, I have my reasons." Wade sighed, putting his empty beer bottle down on the counter with a thunk. "I'm sorry, man," he told Lavon then, shaking his head. "It's not... I just got a lot on my mind. I appreciate the party and all. You throw one hell of a shindig," he assured him with a smile that was somewhat forced.
"Lavon Hayes does know how to throw-down a hoe-down," his friend agreed with a chuckle. "Pretty sure I invited everybody you'd want here. I know you and Lemon been talkin' like buddies lately and I did make sure she was asked, but message came back from Tom Long that she turned us down, so..."
"Lemon feels a might awkward, I reckon," said Wade with a significant look on his face. "I'm guessin' that's why she's back at the gatehouse watchin' my boy right now, instead of partying with the rest of us."
"She's at your place?" asked Lavon, ears perking up at that news. "Uh, all by herself?"
"Well, JT is there too," Wade reminded him with a smirk he couldn't help, "but yeah, Lemon came alone to play baby sitter."
Lavon was no longer looking at his friend, his eyes fixed on the back door as he clearly contemplated his next move. Wade gave it all of a few seconds thought before he put a hand on Lavon's shoulder and got his attention back.
"Go," he said firmly. "We both know you got things to say to her, and right now, she can't exactly run out on ya when you try, so just do it already. At least that way you'll know for sure."
After a second or two, Lavon nodded his head, grinning and thanking Wade before slipping off out of the door and presumably hightailing it over to the gatehouse to have a long-awaited talk with a newly-single Lemon. Wade watched him go and shook his head, smiling nonetheless. Those two did seem like a crazy pairing to him, but if they made each other happy, then he was cool with it.
Reaching for another beer, Wade hoped to be left alone a while longer, but no such luck. Shelley was determined that since it was his party, he really ought to be in the middle of it, dragging him out to mingle and all. He let himself be taken along, only because he knew he didn't really have a good excuse not to, not without telling the whole room the whole truth, and that sure as hell wasn't happening.
Fortunately, not long after, Dash went over to the podium that had been set up and declared it was time for the MOTY speech.
"Mr Mayor?" he called, eyes searching the room. "Mayor Lavon Hayes!" he yelled more loudly. "Now, where is that man? We need this speech to be made."
"I'm here!" said a voice that was distinctly not Lavon.
All eyes went to the back door as Zoe came stumbling in. Wade wanted to rush straight to her and ask what had happened but never got the chance.
"Hey, Dash," she said, going over to the podium, glancing very quickly at Wade before her eyes returned to the leader of the Owls. "So, Lavon is kind of tied up for the moment. He asked me to give the speech in his place," she declared, smiling widely.
"Well, it's a little unorthodox..." Dash complained.
"Come on, who better to make a real rousing speech about Wade Kinsella than me?" she said, grinning yet and causing Wade to do the same as she winked at him from the podium when she finally got Dash to move aside. "Okay. So, welcome everybody," she began then, addressing the assembled crowd. "We are all here tonight to celebrate Bluebell's Man of the Year, Wade Kinsella. Now, some might say he hasn't always been the obvious choice for MOTY. Certainly, when I first met him, I wouldn't have thought so," she said, rolling her eyes, and making everybody laugh. "But the more I got to know Wade, the more I realised that what seemed like a callous attitude and bad boy antics was just a facade. Underneath it all, Wade is such a kind, decent, sweet man. He helped me out so many times when I first arrived in Bluebell. He was a friend to me when I was very short on those, and later, we... well, we got closer, and that's going pretty well too," she admitted, clearly fighting a blush as it rose in her cheeks.
Wade wasn't sure what to think when she met his eyes then, but it all seemed very significant as she went on with her speech.
"But I think the most amazing thing about Wade Kinsella, and something that we've all noticed, is what a wonderful father he is, however unexpected the circumstances. JT is a very lucky kid to have Kinsella blood running through his veins," she said pointedly, with tears welling in her eyes that probably meant nothing to anyone but her and Wade. "He'll grow up to be a good man someday, just like his daddy before him," she said shakily, hands gripping the podium. "To Wade Kinsella," she said, realising too late that she had no glass to toast with, but that didn't stop everyone else.
In a second, Zoe was stepping out from behind the podium and rushing at Wade who was in no less of a hurry to get to her too. They hugged each other tightly, both crying for reasons no-one else in the room could understand.
"You mean it, doc?" Wade whispered in her ear, almost afraid he misunderstood somehow. "He's really mine?"
She pulled back and took his face in her hands, eyes fixed on his own as she confirmed the truth.
"100%," she promised. "Absolutely, no doubt whatsoever."
Wade could do nothing but grin at her for a moment and then he kissed her as the crowd behind them cheered and applauded. There couldn't have been a more perfect moment, though unfortunately, it didn't last too long.
The back door clanged as Lemon came rushing in, tears on her cheeks that put Wade on high alert.
"What happened?" he asked desperately.
"JT is fine, I promise," she swore to him. "Lavon is with him, but I had to come find Zoe."
"Me?" Zoe gasped, shaking her head. "What is it?"
"George Tucker," Lemon confessed, waving her cell phone in her hand. "He just called me from the hospital, he's out of his mind with worry. Seems his Daddy had a heart attack or somethin', early this mornin'. It's pretty bad and... and he needs this operation. I don't really understand the details," she admitted, swiping tears from her eyes that wouldn't stop coming. "George would never ask but... well, your father is the best in the world, isn't he?"
Zoe glanced from Lemon to Wade and back, clearly weighing up the options for all of a few seconds, before making her choice.
"I'll see if I can get his new number from my mom," she said, nodding her head. "I'll do whatever I can... for George."
To Be Continued...