A/N: Thanks for all the feedback on the previous chapter, folks. Very much appreciated :) Now, I know you're all panicking a little about Zoe's worries, but please takea deep breath and remember that I am a huge Zade shipper. It's going to be okay! Now, time for a nice Sunday spent with family... and maybe more family than you're expecting! ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 24

"Hey, Harley," said Zoe as she sat down on the bench in front of the grave. "It's been a while."

She smiled sadly as she re-read the words etched into the stone. It was oddly comforting and yet hurt so much at the same time. Zoe almost wondered why she ever came here in the first place, but the truth was, because it was all she had of her real family. It was the only place she could turn for comfort.

"It's been a crazy few months since I first arrived in good old Bluebell," she said, hoping rather than believing that Harely might really be listening to all she had to say. "When I first came here, I wasn't even sure what I wanted. To be a GP just long enough to prove myself so I'd get the surgeon's fellowship, I guess, but everything has changed so much. I've changed too. I would say you'd hardly recognise me, but since we never really got a chance to get to know each other in the first place..."

Zoe swallowed hard and took a breath before she could continue.

"Anyway, a lot has changed. I'm doing pretty well at the practice. Brick has softened up a little. I think he even likes having me around at this point. I don't think it hurt anything when I switched from being Dr Hart to being Dr Wilkes. Yep, that's right, I decided to take your name. Well, you were my real dad after all, right? The other guy didn't seem all that interested and... and I just wanted to feel closer to you, I think.

"I blame Wade mostly. You remember Wade? I'm sure you do. He and I are... Well, he's my boyfriend now, and get this, he has a son. John-Thomas Kinsella is a very cute, happy, eight-month-old kid. We call him JT for short, and honestly, I couldn't love him more, even though he's obviously not mine."

Another sigh escaped her lips and Zoe's eyes went heavenward. She asked herself again what she was really doing here, what she thought she was going to achieve, and yet in a moment, she was continuing on in her speech to the father she never even knew, who wasn't even there.

"I'm happy here, you know? Happier than I ever thought I could be in a place that isn't New York, with people that are so different to any I've known before. Wade makes me happy, and JT too. In the weirdest way, I seem to fit right in. I'm going to a family meal with the two of them today, and Wade's father, Earl. I helped him with his drinking and now he's doing so much better. Sometimes, I feel so much like I belong with them, but I'm not a Kinsella. I'm barely a Wilkes. I mean, I have the name now and I know I'm your daughter by blood, but is that really enough? Does it really mean anything?"

"I happen to think it means an awful lot."

Zoe almost jumped out of her skin when a voice answered her question, so convinced for a split second that Harley had spoken to her from beyond the grave. That was a crazy idea, of course, and she knew it couldn't be true. The reality of the situation was soon revealed as she turned and saw an older gentleman stood behind her. He did look a little like Harley, but obviously, it wasn't him she was gaping at.

"I'm sorry to have startled you, honey," he said with a kind smile. "I was just passing by, thought I'd drop in on my brother here," he told her, gesturing to the grave she had been talking to.

"Brother?" Zoe gaped. "You're my... Um, I mean..."

"That's right, I'm your uncle," he told her, nodding his head. "Vernon Wilkes," he introduced himself, holding out a hand, "but most folks call me Brando."

Zoe duly shook his hand and shifted over on the bench so he might join her.

"Brando?" she echoed. "As in Marlon Brando?"

"'Cause I do a real good impression," he said proudly, in a strange voice that Zoe could only assume was supposed to be the impersonation itself - it wasn't so good.

"Wow. That's... great," she said anyway, not wanting to offend him. "So, you know who I am?"

"I surely do," her apparent Uncle Brando assured her, nodding his head. "Even if I hadn't overheard what you was saying to Harley, word gets around. Came to my attention that I had a niece in town and that she was a real pretty young lady who had become a doctor just like her daddy. Of course, I had reservations about just bowling up to your door and introducing myself and with things being the way they were... Anyway, doesn't matter now," he said, waving it all away. "We meet at last. Must be fate, I guess," he told Zoe, smiling widely as he looked her over. "You know, Harley would be so proud to have you here in town, seeing to his practice for him, and under his own name too."

Zoe smiled too when she heard that. "That's kind of what I was asking him," she admitted. "It's so weird, of all the people in my life, Harley is probably the easiest to talk to about my problems, which is a little crazy when you consider that I only met him once, I had no idea who he really was, and he's not so much here anymore."

"Doesn't sound so crazy to me." Brando shook his head. "See, family is a special kind of bond. Doesn't matter that you never really knew your daddy when he was alive, his blood runs through your veins, sweetheart. That's good old-fashioned Wilkes blood," he insisted, tapping on her wrist where the veins showed some. "If you talk to Harley, I guarantee he's listening, but if you want somebody who can actually give you some answers, well, I'm right here."

Zoe was surprised to find that she didn't feel at all weird about this guy she only just met offering to listen to her problems. After all, this was Bluebell, and Brando was her uncle, apparently. Unlike meeting a stranger in New York, Zoe didn't worry that this was a scam of some kind. She knew implicitly that Brando was telling her the truth and that she could trust him with her problems if she chose to share, though maybe five minutes after meeting him would be a little soon to drop everything on the poor guy.

"I appreciate the offer," she said eventually, "and believe me, I probably will take you up on it sometime, but right now, I'm actually headed to lunch at my boyfriend's father's house. Um, I don't suppose... Well, would you like to come with me?"

"Oh, now, I wouldn't want to intrude." Brando shook his head.

"Please," Zoe insisted, her hand on top of his own at his knee. "It's not anything fancy. Do you know the Kinsellas at all?"

"Well, I surely do," said Brando with a smile. "The youngest boy, Wade, he used to do our yard work for a while some years back. Skinny little thing, can't have been more than fifteen, but I recall he worked like a mule for his pay."

Zoe chuckled at the very idea of Wade being a skinny teenager, mowing lawns for a few bucks. Of course, the laughter died in the throat when she realised that was unlikely to be a summer job to make money for fun activities. Even then, Wade was probably supporting Earl, who was well into his drinking already.

"Zoe?" Brando prompted when she fell silent.

She shook her head and brought herself back to the present with a bump. "Sorry. So, yes, Wade who you remember, he's my boyfriend. Obviously, he's older and less skinny these days," she explained with a smile. "His father, Earl, is cooking for us, and Wade's son, JT, he'll be there too. It's a family thing, I guess, so with you being my uncle, I know you'd be welcome."

"Well then." Brando smiled, patting her hand. "I'm sure I'd be more'n happy to come along."

Zoe had been kind of quiet in the last few days. Wade almost asked her a few times if something was wrong, but every time, became too afraid of the answer he might get to the question. It seemed strange, the way she had changed all of a sudden, especially after how well everything had been going up to then.

It was coming on for a month since Zoe had him over for dinner at the carriage house and they had sex for the first time. The next morning, they confirmed they were serious about what was between them and things had been pretty good for a while there. They spent a lot of time together, when they weren't working, of course. Went on dates alone sometimes, but mostly hung out together with JT a lot. It was actually like being a family, more often than not, and so Wade hadn't been all that nervous about asking Zoe to come to dinner on Sunday at his dad's place. It seemed like a natural thing to do and she had said yes easy enough, but then she just got so quiet and distant. It put him on edge.

"You told Zoe what time we were eatin', didn't you, son?" asked Earl, appearing from the kitchen with his eyes on the clock.

"Sure, I did." Wade nodded. "Will you quit worryin' about it. She'll be here," he insisted, seemingly putting Earl's mind at rest for at least a little while as he disappeared again. "Wish I knew for sure I was tellin' the truth there," he muttered to JT.

Of course, the little boy had no idea what he was being told, or that there might be any kind of problem. He was concentrating real hard on putting his feet flat on the floor, trying to stand, and Wade paid more attention when he realised that was what the kid was going for.

JT had managed to get onto his feet a few times in the past week or so, but that was all. No steps yet, just a lot of wobbling around in place before he dropped back to his knees and got to crawling around.

"Hey, there's my boy," said Wade with a grin as JT got up to his full height, fingers gripping the edge of the table with all the power they possessed. "Come on now, you can do this, bubba."

JT looked happy enough to be up, but a little uncertain about the whole moving forward thing. Wade tried to be encouraging, holding out his hands to catch the kid if he did dare to leave go of the table and try to walk. Still, JT wasn't sure, it was written all over his face.

"You think maybe this time?" asked Earl coming back through from the kitchen and seeing what was happening.

JT looked around too fast at the sound of Grandpa's voice and landed unceremoniously on his rear.

"Nope," said Wade with a sigh. "Not this time. Don't worry about it, kid," he said then, pulling JT into his lap for a hug. "You'll get there some time. No hurry," he promised, dropping a kiss on the top of his head.

A knock on the door got all the attention then and Earl moved to answer it.

"Hey there, pretty doctor," he said, smiling at his guest.

"Hey, Earl. Thank you so much for inviting me," said Zoe, stepping inside. "Um, I hope you don't mind, I kind of brought somebody along. I mean, since it's a family thing and... well, he's family," she explained.

Wade scrambled up from the floor, putting JT on his hip as he came to see what was going on. The little boy immediately reached for Zoe and was duly handed over without a moment's pause.

"Hey, sweetie," she greeted him with a big hug and a kiss. "Now, this is my Uncle Brando. Uncle Brando, meet JT Kinsella," she introduced them.

"Well, hello there, young fella," said Brando, taking JT's little hand between his thumb and forefinger to 'shake'. "But this can't be his daddy," he said then, wide eyed as he looked at Wade. "Well, Wade Kinsella, I would hardly recognise you. You remember when you used to do my yard work for me?"

"Yes, sir," Wade admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "That was quite a while back. Uh, this is my dad, Earl," he said then, remembering his manners.

"I believe our paths have crossed here and there." Brando smiled, reaching to shake Earl's hand too. "You know, Zoe just about insisted on me coming along with her, but if I'm intruding at all..."

"No bother to me." Earl shook his head. "Like she said, it's a family meal. If you're her family, you're welcome enough."

"Good thing I borrowed extra silverware from Lavon's place," said Wade then, hurrying to fetch it and set another place at the table.

Zoe smiled as she watched him and Earl run around with all the last-minute prep. JT babbled at her and she bounced him in her arms.

"Are you gonna say Zoe?" she asked him. "Zo-e," she over-enunciated, but JT only laughed.

"I guess he don't say much yet," said Brando, watching the child with a smile.

"Not really. Wade swears he says Dada sometimes, but I've never heard him. Mostly he's still in the random sounds stage, but I'll bet the words are on their way."

"Shoulda seen him standing right before you got here, doc," said Wade as he returned to the scene. "I thought maybe this time there was gonna be a step or two, but not yet."

"Aww, you'll get there, won't you, buddy?" she said to JT, kissing his temple. "You are gonna be the best walker and talker there ever was, but it's early days yet. You have plenty of time."

"Wade came late to talking," Earl explained as he came back into the room and caught the tail end of what was being said, "but darn it, he was running around like a racoon with his tail on fire long before he was a year old."

"Yeah, well, before you go gettin' too nostalgic, how's that food comin' along?" asked Wade, just a little embarrassed about baby stories coming out in front of Zoe and her uncle.

"Anybody would think you don't want me to know what you were like as a kid, Wade," said Zoe herself, grinning wide. "I'll bet Daddy was a hell-raiser, huh, JT?"

"Yeah, 'cause Aunt Zoe was probably such a sweet, shy, quiet little thing," Wade countered with a look.

"If she was anything at all like Harley, she could hold her own," said Brando thoughtfully. "Now your daddy and me, we was rambunctious enough when we were coming up together. Yes, sir, we got in our fair share of scrapes, but then I guess that's brothers for you."

"Nothin' you can tell me about that I don't already know." Earl rolled his eyes. "Wade and Jesse were just the same."

Wade winced at the mention of his older brother and could tell by the sympathetic look on Zoe's face that she noticed too.

"So, when exactly are we eating?" she asked quickly, an excellent subject change, Wade thought. "It smells so good and I'm starving."

"Coming right up, pretty doctor," Earl told her with a smile, returning to the kitchen, with Brando following behind, asking if he could help at all.

"Thank you for that," Wade told Zoe, pulling her close with an arm around her shoulders.

"No problem," she said, kissing his lips. "You are okay with me bringing Brando along, right? It's just I was visiting with Harley, you know, at the cemetery, and he just showed up. We got to talking and he seems like such a nice guy. I know I should've called and asked before I just showed up with him, but-"

Wade's hand on her cheek pulled her ever closer then and he planted another good long kiss on her lips, while JT, narrowly avoided being caught in the crush, clapped his hands and giggled.

"Seemed like you were startin' to freak out, doc," said Wade as he and Zoe parted.

"Maybe a little," she admitted.

"Your uncle is welcome enough, so don't stress about it. Funny thing is, I actually do remember mowing his lawn and such back in the day. He paid pretty well too, as I recall. Nice guy."

"Yeah, he seems to be," Zoe agreed, smiling all the wider when she realised Brando and Earl were laughing together in the kitchen. "Apparently, he and your dad get along."

"Can't be a bad thing," Wade considered. "Old Earl could use some friends of the sober variety these days."

The two men in question appeared then, Earl carrying a beautifully roasted chicken with Brando behind him, proffering a dish of potatoes and another with other vegetables. Wade dashed into the kitchen to grab what was left to be brought through while Zoe got JT into his high chair. Then at last, everybody sat down to eat the delicious meal.

There was a limited amount of talking, but that was okay. The company was no problem, it was just that everybody was enjoying the food so much. Most of what was said was just compliments about the meal or giving attention to JT who kept all present thoroughly entertained, as ever.

"Now, I didn't make dessert," Earl admitted when the main part of the meal was over. "I'm not much for baking, but I did pick up a pie from the Butter Stick if anybody is interested."

Positive responses came from all present and Earl got up to go fetch the pie, just as someone knocked on the door.

"I got it, Dad," Wade assured him, leaving Zoe to keep her eye on JT for a while.

When he opened the door, it was plain as day to Wade who was there, even though the guy had his head turned away for the moment.

"You have got to be kidding me," he said as the other man turned to look at him. "What in the hell are you doin' here, Jesse?"

To Be Continued...