A/N: Y'all guessed Jesse was going to show up, right? Well, we are at that point in canon, but you didn't know Brando would show up too, huh? I think I surprised a few people with him at least ;) Now, what affect will Jesse's presence have on Wade, Zoe, and their relationship in general? Maybe a better one than you would have imagined...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 25

"Hey, Wade. It's been a while."

Zoe couldn't see the mysterious Jesse yet, the open door was blocking her view, but just hearing his cheery nonchalance made her wince. Wade was not a fan of his older brother and he had told her a few of the reasons why, though never in much detail. It made him so mad to even think about Jesse most of the time that Zoe never pushed Wade on the topic, assuming it was unlikely she would ever need to know anyway. Apparently, she was wrong.

JT suddenly got her attention, making noise and reaching to grab at her arm.

"Sorry, little man," she said, moving to get him out of the high chair which he seemed very eager to escape.

She missed how exactly Jesse got over the threshold, something Zoe was sure Wade wouldn't have been eager to allow. Most likely Earl had ushered his eldest into his home.

"Well, I heard the rumours in town, but I wasn't sure I believed it," he said, shaking his head as his eyes landed on Zoe and JT. "Never thought I'd see the day when you succumbed, Wade, became a real family man. I'm Jesse," he told Zoe then.

"I know who you are," she said, nodding once, giving nothing further away.

This whole situation with the Kinsellas was none of her business, she knew that, but this guy made Wade mad and for that he was getting as cool an attitude as she felt like giving him, Zoe was determined on that.

"So, this is my nephew, huh?" he said, reaching out to JT.

The kid must've got some kind of negative vibe because he turned his head away and clung onto Zoe like a koala. She was happy enough to hug him, kissing his head and promising everything was okay.

"He ain't your nephew, he's my son," said Wade definitely.

"You do know that's the same thing, right?" his brother checked.

Zoe backed up a step, seeing the two get toe to toe and having an awful feeling she knew how this whole thing was going to play out. Uncle Brando must've seen it too because he got up from his seat and moved towards the door.

"I think I'll take myself off home," he said to Earl as he went. "Wonderful meal. Thank you so much for your hospitality."

"Bye, Uncle Brando!" Zoe called to him and got a quick wave in response, but then he was gone.

To her mind, his slipping away so quick was another thing she could blame Jesse Kinsella for. Things had been going so well until he showed up and now it was all ruined.

"Come on now, boys" said Earl, coming in-between Wade and Jesse. "Don't want no trouble here."

"Who said there was gonna be trouble?" asked Jesse, shrugging his shoulders. "I got no problems. How about you, Wade?"

Zoe was almost certain she was about to see Wade literally explode. She wouldn't have wanted to see him upset at any time, but especially with JT there, picking up on the general bad feeling in the room and becoming restless in her arms.

"Wade," she said twice, before he finally took angry eyes off Jesse and looked at her instead. "We should get JT out of here. He's getting frustrated and I'm pretty sure he needs changing too."

Zoe was well aware it wasn't her place to split up the Kinsella boys so they didn't come to blows but she couldn't help herself. She just wanted to diffuse this situation as fast as possible. If nothing else, Earl looked grateful for her efforts, even if he was also kind of disappointed to split up the family occasion.

"Yeah," said Wade after a while. "We'll get goin'," he agreed, moving to get JT's bag and picking up Zoe's purse for her too, since she was still holding on tight to his son. "Thanks for lunch, Earl," he said to his father.

"You're more'n welcome, son. Bye, pretty doctor, and thank you," he said, seeing them out of the door.

Zoe felt like she could breathe more easily once she was outside of Earl's house, though looking over at Wade, leaned against the car and seemingly trying to find his inner calm, made her apprehensive. Handling her own emotions about her own family never really came easy to Zoe. Handling someone else's may yet prove even harder, but she had to try.

"Hey," she said, reaching his side.

"I'm sorry, Zoe," said Wade immediately turning to look at her. "I can't... I just can't deal with him right now, breezin' on in here like he owns the place. The prodigal son returns, all high and mighty and... I just can't be around him, I can't."

"Then we'll go," Zoe insisted. "I actually wasn't kidding about JT probably needing a change," she said, wincing a little as she shifted the little boy in her arms.

Wade actually cracked a smile at that. "Is Aunt Zoe tryin' to find a polite way to tell me you stink, bubba?" he asked, lifting JT from her arms into his own. "Nah, I think she's just tryin' to put my mind on anythin' that ain't how mad I am at my brother right now."

"Maybe a little of both." Zoe shrugged, smiling at him. "I wish I could make it better, Wade, I honestly do."

Wade sighed. "You're here, doc, that makes it better," he promised her.

She had a feeling he might've kissed her then, if not for JT suddenly flinging out his arms and hitting Daddy right in the eye.

"Yep, that is exactly what I needed," he told JT, laughing because he couldn't help it when his son did the same. "Let's get you in this car and get gone, before I change my mind about not doing somethin' similar to Uncle Jesse," he said with a tone that told Zoe the worst of this might not be over just because they were leaving Earl's place.

They drove home in silence, her not knowing what to say, and him probably too caught up in his own anger to speak. Outside the gate house, Wade went straight to the back seat to get JT out of the car and Zoe grabbed the baby bag, following them into the house. She waited on the couch while Wade got JT changed and then set him down for a nap. When he finally came to join her, she reached for his hand and held on tight.

"I know you hate to talk about your brother," she said carefully. "From what you've told me so far, I can kind of see why you don't like him. The whole running out on you and your dad, leaving you to deal when Earl was having his problems."

"That ain't the half of it." Wade shook his head. "I'm sorry, Zoe, but there's a whole lot you don't know."

"Then tell me" she urged him. "Please, Wade, I know he makes you so mad, which means he's obviously done a lot to hurt you. Trust me, knowing that is enough to make me want to take his head off just as badly as you'd like to," she assured him, earning herself a smile from Wade, even though she hadn't been trying for it. "Still, it'd be nice to understand what happened. You've been there for me so much with my family stuff, I just want the chance to return to the favour."

He looked like he wanted to argue, probably because dragging up all those painful memories couldn't ever be fun for him, but in the end, Wade relented.

"Fine," he said, getting up from the couch, "but if I gotta tell the whole story, I'm gonna need a beer."

"Hey, Miss Zoe." Lavon smiled as she came in through the back door on Monday morning. "And how's the little man this morning?" he asked JT who gave him a big yawn in response.

"We're both okay," said Zoe, somewhat flatly. "Better than his daddy, that's for sure," she explained, handing JT to Lavon for a hug. "I left Wade sleeping off a couple of beers and a lot of family drama."

"Family drama?" Lavon echoed, bouncing JT in his arms even as he frowned at Zoe. "So, the whole Sunday lunch thing didn't go so well?"

"It was going well, really well, actually... until Wade's brother showed up."

"Jesse Kinsella is back in town?"

"The one and only." Zoe rolled her eyes, pouring herself a coffee only to abandon it to go to the fridge to get JT some breakfast. "Wade was so mad about him even being here, and since he told me the way things have been with them, I absolutely understand."

"Yeah, there's some bad blood between those boys." Lavon sighed, moving to put JT into his highchair, now Zoe had it set up. "They didn't come to blows, right?"

"No, but it was a close-run thing," Zoe admitted, putting on a smile for JT's benefit, though it was as fake as any Lavon had ever seen her wear. "I hope he doesn't hang around too long."

"Usually a flyin' visit is all you get with Jesse these days," Lavon considered. "Last time has to have been, what? Two years ago, maybe more."

"It was." Zoe nodded, most of her attention on JT as she helped him with his breakfast. "According to Wade, it was Earl's birthday, or close enough anyway. Jesse bought him a car, which sounds great, so generous."

"Until you recall that, at that time, Earl was the town drunk." Lavon sighed. "I remember the fall-out, and it was none too pretty."

"So I'm told." Zoe sighed just the same. "Anyway, before this all gets really depressing, how are things with you, Lavon? Are you getting anywhere with Lemon?"

"Some progress may have been made," he said, smiling just a little. "She's somewhat apprehensive given how things are around town. While the world embraces guys who suddenly become upstanding fathers and town legacy doctor types, they frown upon those of us who had affairs and broke up the engagement of Bluebell's golden couple."

"Oh, come on, you know there are lots of people around here who still love you," said Zoe definitely. "You're two for two in this room alone," she promised.

"And you two are the sweetest of all people," he said with a grin. "It ain't just that. Lemon cares about her reputation, that is true, but she also cares a lot about George Tucker still. You know, it has been comin' on a month now since they called it a day, which by the way was not directly because o' me. George sees me in town, he still crosses the street."

Zoe sighed and put a hand on Lavon's shoulder when he leaned on the counter by her looking so very sad.

"He will come around," she said with a half-smile. "Come on, Lavon, who can stay mad at you? I just think that George has had a lot going on lately, first with Lemon, then with his dad and everything. Give him some time, I'm sure he'll get over it."

Lavon nodded in either understanding or agreement, Zoe wasn't really sure which, then said he was going to go check the mail box and start on a long list of calls he needed to make. Zoe turned back to JT with a sad expression that brightened the moment he looked at her.

"You're a really good cure for the blues, baby boy," she promised him, wiping apple sauce from his chin. "I'm not sure how life would be right now if you hadn't showed up. I probably wouldn't be with Wade, and he probably would have knocked out his brother yesterday. Earl might not be sober yet and I... well, I might still have the crazy idea in my head that I was in love with George Tucker!"

"Now that was a crazy notion, doc."

Zoe turned around fast at the sound of Wade's voice.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked with a look.

"Long enough," he told her with that smirk that was as sexy as it was annoying. "What's given you a case of the 'what mighta beens' anyway?" he asked, wandering over and kissing her hello.

"I don't know," Zoe told him, looking away as she considered what she was saying, "or maybe I do. Wade..."

Just when she was about to tell him what was on her mind, Lavon came hurrying back to the kitchen, waving an envelope in his hand.

"Think you better wake up Wade, Zoe," he said urgently, before looking up and seeing his friend was already there.

"Where's the fire, Lavon?" asked Wade, frowning at the almost panicked look on his buddy's face.

"Less a fire, maybe more like a hurricane," he said, handing over the letter he had come in carrying. "They give them people's names, right?"

"Carrie-Sue," Wade gasped as he realised the envelope had her name signed on it as the sender.

Zoe swallowed hard as she watched Wade tear into his mail. She was unsure exactly why there was a panicked feeling in her chest, though she would hazard a guess it was all concern about what she might be about to lose, one way or another.

"What does it say?" she asked worriedly, before he had hardly started reading. "Wade, what does it say?" she repeated when the response wasn't immediate.

"Says she's sorry," he told her eventually. "Life took a turn she wasn't expectin', but she figured leavin' John-Thomas here with me was just about the best she could do for him. More apologisin' and then... then goodbye," he said, looking up at Zoe with a very puzzled expression that she couldn't understand at all.

"Oh. Well, that makes sense, I guess. She's feeling guilty about abandoning her baby, that's normal enough."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Wade agreed, "but that part don't seem so important as the goodbye part."

"You want her to come back here?" asked Lavon, now equally confused as everybody else.

"Like hell I do." Wade rolled her eyes. "I mean, sure, I get that a kid should have both their parents if they can and all, but she did wrong by JT and if you ask me, he's better off without her. He has family enough around here without a mother who'd leave him on a doorstep. It's just..."

"It's just, what?" Zoe prompted when he trailed off.

"It's just weird is all," Wade told her. "Why now? Why send me some stupid letter? Why not call me up or whatever? I don't know what it is but she made goodbye sound like... like somethin' permanent."

Zoe shook her head. "Wade, are you saying you think Carrie-Sue...? That she sent this before she... did something stupid?" she said as carefully as she could, happy to note that she had developed some kind of tact in the last few months, on top of that bedside manner everyone seemed to think was so important.

Wade looked way too serious for a few moments and then suddenly shook his head.

"Nah, that'd be crazy," he said, tossing the letter onto the counter. "Carrie-Sue wasn't the type anyhow."

Turning on a dime, which Zoe knew he more than had the ability to do, Wade turned to JT and started to make a fuss of him, Carrie-Sue's letter abandoned and forgotten in a moment. Zoe couldn't stop staring at it, though she didn't say what was on her mind. There really wasn't a type when it came to people who took their own life. Not that anyone necessarily had. Zoe didn't know Carrie-Sue, not at all. Wade had said she wanted to be an actress, maybe she just had a flair for the dramatic, but her letter had shaken him and that didn't happen easily. Still, he was right about JT probably being better off without a mother who would abandon him the way Carrie-Sue had. Even if she were desperate, there had to be a better way than leaving a five-month-old unattended where she knew an alligator lived!

"You okay there, Z?" asked Lavon, startling her from her thoughts.

"Sure, yeah. I'm fine," she promised, finding a smile.

He seemed convinced, heading back to his office without further question or comment.

"Um, I guess I should go get ready for work," said Zoe absently, heading for the door.

"Hey, doc?" Wade called behind her and she turned back to look at him. "Thank you for last night, you know, listenin' to me go on and all."

Zoe slowly smiled and then very deliberately walked back over to Wade. Without a word, she took his face in her hands and pulled him down so she could plant a firm kiss on his lips. When she eventually pulled back, she stayed close, eyes locked onto his own as she spoke.

"I love you, Wade Kinsella. I don't know how it happened, but it did. I just love you."

Maybe Zoe should've been worried that Wade wasn't answering her, wasn't saying the same words back to her, but she wasn't. She had surprised him. Truthfully, she had surprised herself, but what she said was true enough and she wasn't about to take it back.

JT slamming his hands on the tray of the highchair broke the moment, Zoe and Wade both turning to look at him then.

"Yes, JT, I love you too," Zoe promised him, giggling because she just couldn't help it.

He grinned at her and blew a raspberry too, which was as close as she was going to get to reciprocation from an eight-month-old. Of course, Zoe was still waiting on some kind of response from Wade.

"You are an amazin' woman, Zoe Wilkes," he said then, getting her attention back in a heartbeat. "And I would be a bigger fool than anybody ever thought I was if I didn't love you too. Like you said, I have no idea how it happened. I didn't even know I could feel this way about anybody, but I do. I'm pretty sure I shoulda told you a while back, but..."

"Doesn't matter," Zoe assured him, blinking too much as happy tears filled her eyes.

Through it all she was smiling and Wade was smiling back and then they were kissing again, because it didn't make sense to do anything else.

"You really gotta go to work?" he asked as they parted.

"Really do," she said regretfully, "and you have to take care of JT and then go to work yourself," she reminded him, taking a step back out of his grasp before she changed her mind. "We'll pick this up some other time, I promise."

"I'll hold you to it." Wade nodded as she backed up towards the door.

"You better," she replied, grinning as she finally left, finding herself entirely unable to stop.

To Be Continued...