Hey everyone, welcome to day 23 of the Hart of Dixie countdown to Christmas!

Enjoy!

Zoe

Zoe was up hours before the sun was set to rise. With everything she was told last night, she couldn't find it in herself to have a goodnights sleep. She tried to lie in bed, but her mind wouldn't turn off. Knowing the truth about why her dad kept his distance made sense. And frankly, she found it relieving to know that he was ignoring her requests because he couldn't be a father to a child that isn't his, instead of having a family somewhere in Europe. Neither option was ideal, and she's still not sure which one would she would rather have been true. Having a sibling might have been nice, even if she never got to meet them. Having a father somewhere out there, that was going to eat at her until she can get everything from her mom, and who knows how long it will take for Candice to tell her something as simple as a name.

It still hurt to know that he didn't want anything to do with her, over some misguided inflated ego. Surely, he could have stayed and kept being her father. Did he find it that hard to love her? That the only way he could truly love her is by being her father. Her biological father? It couldn't have been that hard. What kind of example does he think he's setting for her? That she can't happily be a stepmother to kids that aren't hers? It sounds insane to her. Maybe it's different if you think that the child you're raising turns out to not be yours 8 years later. Sure, she figures that is hard to cope with but is it that hard to keep loving the little girl who doesn't know the truth?

4 in the morning was a bit too early to head downstairs to meet up with Wade for their final breakfast, and goodbyes. She didn't want to show up at his hotel room, acting like a clingy girlfriend, when all they are is friends, with a few choice benefits. She doesn't regret what they had done. It was special and she couldn't picture a better guy to be her first than someone that means a lot to her in such a short amount of time. Thinking about Wade calmed her emotions, a smile replacing the frown she wore.

Hearing someone move around in the main part of the hotel room, had Zoe slipping from bed. Tying her robe shut, she padded out to the kitchen, to see her dad making himself a cup of coffee to go. She can't stop calling Ethan her father. To her, he is her dad. He's always going to be her father.

"Morning," she mumbled, leaning on the counter, startling Ethan in the process.

"Morning Zoe, why are you up? Did I wake you?" He asked with a frown.

"No, I couldn't sleep," she shrugged. "Do you find it hard to love me?" She asked with a shaky tone. Asking that one question was far harder to ask than she had thought it would be to ask.

"I don't find it hard to love you, that's not what this is about," Ethan said shaking his head. "I do love you, Zoe, and I want to be your father, but that's not my place," he told her, pulling her into a hug.

"I don't get it," she whispered, closing her eyes, refusing to cry yet again over the same thing.

"It's all messed up, Zoe," he sighed. "But my hangs up are on me, not you," he informed her. "I'm not going to stop loving you, it's rather hard to stop loving you," he let her know, placing a gentle kiss on the crown of her head.

"If you say so," she sighed. "Do you know who my biological father is?" She asked, knowing she was going to get a straight answer from him, over her mom. Heck, her mom didn't even want her to know the truth, to begin with.

"I don't know who he is, your mom never disclosed that information with me, and I didn't want to know," he uttered, breaking the hug. "I love you, now go get a few more hours of sleep," he ushered her back to bed.

"You may not want to be my father but I love you, and you're going to be my father whether you like it or not," she told him. "Have a good flight back," she said, shutting the door to her room, missing the soft smile that crossed Ethan's face. Who knows with time, things might turn out okay with her dad.

Wade

Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he cast a look at the alarm clock between the two beds, to see that he has a little less than an hour to meet Zoe for breakfast. He's not looking forward to telling her goodbye. Sitting up in bed, he noticed for the first time that Jesse is still in bed sleeping. Ignoring whatever that happened to mean, Wade got up, stretching his muscles out, walking over to his suitcase, the one he decided last night to pack while he ignored his brother. Grabbing jeans, a tee, and his last clean flannel shirt, with a clean pair of underwear, he headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. He'd rather be a few minutes early than late to meet up with Zoe. He wants to spend as much time as he can with her.

"About last night," Jesse said, the very second Wade stepped out of the bathroom.

"You make it sound like some harem movie or some shit like that," Wade chuckled, tossing his dirty clothes on top of his suitcase. He'd get it all packed away when he was done saying goodbye to Zoe. "There isn't anything more to say, is there?" Wade asked.

"I wasn't hiding it from you," Jesse stressed. "I know I was an ass for not telling you when I told mom and dad. Telling them was hard enough as it was," he sighed.

"I'm not them, I wasn't going to get emotional and question your motives, or tell you not to do it," Wade hissed out, running a hand through his damp hair. "I'm proud of you for what you're doing, but I'm pissed off that you thought it would have been okay for you to just take off without a word to me," Wade explained, itching to walk out of the room. He wants to deal with everything with Jesse later.

"Yeah that was a dick move on my part," Jesse nodded. "I want my life to mean something and you know how hard that something is in Bluebell," he sighed, trying to explain why he was enlisting.

"I'm the last person you need to explain yourself to," Wade told him. "I would have liked to have the decency to be told without forcing you to tell me by accident," Wade stated, walking to the door. "I tried to stay friends with you, to keep our close brother bond, you were the one to cut that bond in half, wanting to spend time with your friends, to crash frat parties in Mobile, all for what?" Wade asked, getting annoyed with his brother over wanting a good time with his friends, over spending time with him. He wanted to get it because he enjoyed spending time with his friends at house parties and pulling pranks. He would have sacrificed time with his friends to hang out with his brother.

"I know," Jesse nodded. "That's on me." Wade scoffed at that admission. "Hanging out with my friends and going to parties came with a bit more freedom than keeping an eye on my kid brother," he admitted.

"I haven't needed a babysitter since I was 8," Wade sneered. Shaking his head, he started to laugh. Everything starting to make sense to him. How he didn't see it sooner, he doesn't know.

"Mind letting me in on what's so damn funny?" Jesse inquired, falling back on his bed. Not amused.

"Don't you get it?" Wade asked, falling onto his bed, checking the clock as he did, seeing he still has a few minutes before he needs to be downstairs to meet with Zoe. "This family vacation isn't about all of us spending time together before you leave, it's about mom and dad forcing us to spend time together," Wade explained at the confused look on his brother's face.

"That is something they would do," Jesse laughed. "I'll make time once we get back to Bluebell, to work on your brotherly bond," Jesse promised. "Now go before Zoe thinks all you wanted from her was to sleep with her," Jesse prompted, ushering Wade from the room.

"I'm keeping you to that promise," Wade stated, rushing out of the room. He would hate for Zoe to think that all he was after was anything other than a friendship with her. In no way does he want Zoe to think for a fraction of a second that he was using her for his own personal gain. Having her friendship was far more than he thought he would have when he showed up for the start of his winter vacation.