Hey everyone, welcome to day 26 and the last day of the Hart of Dixie countdown to Christmas! I hope you guys enjoyed this story. If you want to see more, let me know. There is quite the massive time jump seen here.

Thank you all for the love on this story. It's been exploring this AU world. I've enjoyed hearing your thoughts on all of it.

Enjoy!

20 years later

"Why do we have to go?" Jack asked, putting his dirty dishes in the sink. The one thing that has remained the same over the years, is family dinner once a week, typically on a Monday.

"Because it's a family vacation," Wade stressed. They decided they wanted to do a family vacation before both of their kids are off too busy living their own lives. After all, it was the family vacation for him that tipped his life on its axis.

"We get that you and mom meet each other when you were 16 and it was teenage love, and so on and so forth, but your love story isn't going to repeat for either one of us," Eleanor sighed. "I've got plans to spend winter break studying and hanging out with my friends."

"I get it because I felt the same way. I didn't want to go on vacation with my family, but I gave it a chance because I wasn't given a choice, the same as you two don't get. Your mom and I want to have one last family vacation before you guys get busy with your lives and have your own families. Give us this one vacation," Wade told his kids.

"We all know you gave it a chance because that's when you meet mom," Jack stated, waiting for his dad or his mom to prove him wrong.

"That is true," Wade nodded. "But it wasn't just your mom, that made that time fun," he told his kids. "At 16 I wasn't looking for anything but a good time on the slopes, your mom blindsided me, and that's not what we want for you guys. This vacation isn't about you two finding the great love of your life," Wade stated in a very firm voice. "We want to have fun as a family, to have memories you two can look back on and say that you want to make the same memories with your family," he explained, seeing even that didn't get through to his kids.

"You know what? Zoe asked, getting the attention of her family. "Forget it," Zoe said, getting up from her spot at the kitchen table. "They don't want to go and I'm not going to force them to leave the comforts of home to venture out in the world," she said, downcast, leaving her family in the kitchen.

She wasn't mad that her kids didn't want to take a vacation with their parents. She got it, especially when the place was Denver. Her kids are very much like their father in that regard. They love the sun and sand, not the cold dreary snow. If the vacation was a destination to somewhere tropical they would have been on board, which she is sure of.

20 years ago when she made the choice to uproot her life to Bluebell for the simple fact to get to know her dad, she never would have imagined that her life would have turned out the way it had. She's been married to the love of her life for the past 19 years. Jack wasn't born long after. Eleanor or Ellie was born two years later. Giving them the perfect little family they wanted.

The only hang-up was that Ethan still hadn't come around the way her naive younger self thought he would. They talk every now and again, but they're barely acquaintances. Things with her mom have been better than ever. Harley had been a great father when he was around. She's grateful that she was given the chance to get to know the man who was her father. That might not have been the case if things would have played out differently.

They had returned to the resort where their lives forever changed. They went on their honeymoon, spending a blissful week not only in the room, or in the spot they still call theirs, on the couch in front of the fire, but out on the slopes, heading off on the tougher trails. The one thing they had refrained from doing when they were teens. Once more when Jack was 8 and Ellie was 6. It was one of the best vacations they've had. As their kids grew time got away from them. They took little trips throughout the years, but getting back to the resort that holds so much, never happened like they would have liked.

Forcing or guilt-tripping her kids into doing something wasn't her style. She always encouraged her kids to make choices that benefited them and no one else. Strong-minded children, that knew what they wanted out of life, and weren't afraid to go after what they wanted.

"You know how they are," Wade commented, entering the bedroom, and sitting next to his wife on their bed. "They think being seen with their parents is totally uncool," he said dryly.

Nowadays, he'd do anything to spend a few extra minutes with his mom. To have her see the life he's carved out for himself. Have her see that she was right, that he did in fact make a life for himself with Zoe. It hurts that she didn't get to experience having Zoe as a daughter, to holding her grandkids. However, he is more than glad she didn't have to witness the huge fallout he's had with Jesse. Her sudden death made the distance between the brothers that much worse. Can't fix something when neither party wants to fix it.

"At their age, that's all I wanted. To spend time with my family, to have my father's attention for even a few hours," sighed Zoe.

"I can't say I blame them," Wade chuckled. "It's not very often that we're not with them," he shared, Zoe nodding in agreement. "Would it be so bad if we went by ourselves?" He asked, with a smirk. "It's been a while since we've had our alone time," he winked, trailing a hand up his wife's leg. At 47 years young, they still have quite an appetite for each other.

"Two more years, we're going to have all the alone time we want," she playfully scoffed. "Unless Jack runs off and makes us grandparents before that," she laughed lightly.

"Loading my grandkids up with sugar and sending them home, seems pretty good to me," Wade laughed. "So much shit can happen in the next two years, Doc," he pointed out the very obvious. "We can go and enjoy our time where it all started for us," he shared, lacing his hand with hers.

"I was going regardless," Zoe stated, resting her head on her husband's shoulder. "I would have liked for our kids to join us, but since they don't, it's not going to be my regret when they decide they should have spent more time with us when they could," she simply said.

"We can't make them see what they'll be missing out on when we're gone," Wade sighed. "It's for them to choose what regrets they want to deal with when we are long gone," he confirmed, kissing his wife's temple.

The conversation wrapped up, they called it a night, wanting to get as much sleep as they can before they needed to be up before the sun, to be at the airport in Mobile to catch their flight. Neither one wanted to be running on just a few hours of sleep when they know just how hectic traveling can be.

Much to their surprise when they got up in the morning, ready to leave for their Christmas vacation, Jack and Ellie were both waiting by the front door, suitcases packed, ready to enjoy a fun-filled family vacation.