Zoe woke up on the sofa.
"Oh god, what time is it? I'm going to be late!" She cried.
"Zoe calm down, it's nearly four in the afternoon! You had a nap." Max explained.
"A nap?!" She couldn't believe it. "I don't do naps!"
"Well you must have been tired sleeping beauty!" Max was winding her up.
"So it's still our day off?" Zoe asked.
"It sure is, what do you want to do with the rest of the day?" Max asked.
"I actually wanted to talk to you about something Max. I forgot about it with everything going on today, I went to see Dr Thompson yesterday, he's the fertility doctor at Holby?" Zoe explained.
"How come?" Max asked.
"I wanted to speak to him, see if I could use my eggs if we decided to take up Linda's offer." Zoe told him. "I tried to find you but you were awol, I now know why!" She smiled, glancing at her engagement ring.
"And, what did he say?" Max enquired.
"He said he didn't see why not! My womb is the reason I can't carry a child, not my eggs." She told him.
"Zoe that's brilliant!" Max told her.
"I know, but after today, I want to get married first." Zoe responded. "I hope that's alright?"
"Of course it is! I want marriage and kids, I don't care what order we do them in!" Max said.
"Have you got any ideas about the wedding Max?" Zoe asked him.
"I don't care Zo, as long as I'm marrying you, it could be in a field pouring down with rain, it wouldn't matter."
"Oh Max, why couldn't I have met you ten years ago, life would've been so much different!" Zoe sighed.
"When I was 20?! You'd never have looked twice at me then!" Max laughed.
"Hmm, that's probably true!" Zoe smiled.
"Why don't we have a look at venues now? No time like the present eh?" Max asked.
"Yeah, why not." Zoe said. "I don't want somewhere fancy though, I just want a quiet wedding with our closest friends and family."
"Will you be wearing your scrubs too?!" Max teased.
"If that's what you want..." Zoe winked.
"You wear whatever you want, you'll still look amazing!" Max complimented her. He got out the iPad and searched wedding venues in the Holby area.
Max laughed. "What?" Zoe asked.
"How about The Dorbank?" He asked.
"The Dorbank?!" Zoe asked. "Where we were living?!"
"Yep, they do weddings, it's ideal Zoe, they've got everything we would need and the room is perfect, look." He showed her the pictures.
"It's perfect Max! Somewhere that has meaning for us too!"
"Shall I give them a call? See if they can see us?" Max asked.
"Yes! Do it now!" Zoe exclaimed.
"Are you getting excited about something Dr Hanna?!" Max quizzed her.
"It's about time I had something to get excited about!" Zoe replied.
"I agree." Max kissed her.
"Max! Do it now!" Zoe told him.
Max picked up his phone and called the hotel. "Hello, my name is Max Walker, my fiancée and I have been looking for a wedding venue and wondered if we could come and have a look and check your availability please?"
"Uh huh, ok, yeah that's great, we shall see you then, thanks very much."
"What did they say?" Zoe asked.
"They asked if we could go this evening? Someone is there until six and they had no appointments for the rest of the day?" Max told her.
"That's brilliant! What are we waiting for?" Zoe asked.
"Wait! Before we go, there's something I want to say.." Max said.
"What?" Zoe asked.
Max kissed her passionately, they ended up on the sofa. "Just that!" He said.
"Come on you!" Zoe said as she got dressed. "Let's do this!"
It was a fifteen minute drive to the hotel, it held happy memories for them, they'd been there before they bought the house spending time together when they'd had nowhere else to go.
"Hi," Zoe said to the girl on reception, "we've come to see about having a wedding here?"
"Ok, I'll call Sarah, she's the wedding coordinator,"the girl said, "if you want to take a seat."
An older woman soon approached them, "Hello, I'm Sarah, I'll be showing you around, answering any questions you may have."
Zoe and Max smiled at each other as
Sarah showed them the room where the ceremony would be held and later turned into the reception area.
"I love it." Zoe whispered to Max.
"Me too." Max replied.
"So, what do you think?" Sarah asked.
"It's wonderful." Zoe replied.
"When were you thinking of having the wedding?" Sarah asked them.
"We didn't really have a date, just sometime soon, it's been a bit of a whirlwind!" Zoe explained.
Sarah smiled, "aw that's lovely. The thing is, we are fully booked for the next nine months, the only free date I have is May 16th otherwise it would be next year."
"May 16th?!" Max exclaimed, "that's in four weeks?!"
"I know, I'm sorry, we've been inundated with weddings since we upgraded as a wedding venue." Sarah told them.
"Can you give us a minute?" Zoe asked Sarah.
"Of course, I'll wait in reception for you." Sarah responded.
"Max," Zoe took his hand. "I know it's soon but I can't take the risk of my dad not being there. If we are going to get married anyway, what does it matter when it is?"
"I know Zo, but it's a lot of organising, you're so busy at work when will you have time to think about the wedding?" Max asked her.
"You've obviously never seen me on a mission! We can do it! You know you want to?" Zoe winked.
"Of course I do, I'd marry you tomorrow!" Max told her, "ok, if it's what you want, let's go tell the lady."
"Thank you so much Max, this means the world to me." Zoe kissed him, "I love you."
"You'd better! There's no one else I'd marry with four weeks planning!"