This chapter wraps up this little story that had started out as a one-shot. I hope you all enjoy the final chapter. Thank you to those of you that have taken the time to read and review. Thank you to those that have followed and favorited this one. Enjoy!

"Mom can we talk?" Daughter asked her mom softly nervous while they made cookies, black and white cookies and chocolate chips added in, blending together her parent's favorite cookies.

"What's on your mind?" Zoe asked. To see her daughter looking so nervous and a little worried about whatever was going on inside her head, worried Zoe. She had assured her daughter from a young age that she could tell her anything.

"Remember Louis?" Meredith asked her mom. Zoe nodded her head, how could she not, Louis practically lived at their house over the summer. He was her daughter's best friend much like Wade had been hers when she was her daughter's age. "Yesterday after school we were hanging out in the center of town and Emily dared him to kiss me and he did and mom I'm scared," Meredith quickly explained her voice filled with panic.

"I know this is scary at your age," Zoe started to say handing her daughter a gooey warm cookie. "You have a mix of emotions surging through you and you don't even know how to act around him the next time you see him," she went on to say, handing her daughter a cup of milk. "But the best thing to do is talk to Louis, he feels the same way, I'm sure of it," Zoe said, recalling the faint emotions she had felt when she had kissed Wade for the first time.

"I know but that was my first kiss from a boy other than Dad and…" She trailed off pulling the cookie apart.

"You wanted it to be special, to mean the world to you," Zoe filled in the blanks.

"Yeah and that was taken away because of a stupid dare," she hissed.

"Sweetie," Zoe said softly, placing her hand on her daughter's arm. "It's special, a dare doesn't change that. I know you're scared and not sure what it means, but Louis is still going to be your friend after this and if anything it will bring you guys closer together knowing that you can talk about and handle the bigger things in life. Do you have feelings for him, not friend feelings either, but feelings that you care about him in ways you haven't been able to feel for anyone else?" She asked.

"I have eyes, Mom," Meredith stated with a small eye roll. "Louis is cute and I thought I liked him as my best friend cause he's the best person for the job, but I guess after some of things he's done over the last month, I have a crush on him and I know I'm young but you and Dad," she pointed out.

"I'm with you on this, sweetie," Zoe assured her. "After that kiss with your dad I was afraid of admitting my true feelings for him because I thought I was too young to have feelings like that for boys and in the next year or so your feelings towards boys are going to change and you're going to be dating them much to your dad's dismay," Zoe smiled. "And if you think you like Louis on that level then you need to make sure he knows it and you can't be mad if he doesn't feel the same way you do, it's not a reason to ruin your friendship with him, okay?" Zoe asked her daughter.

"Yeah, thanks mom and can we not tell dad about this? We both know how he'll handle it," she pleaded with her mom. Her dad had freaked out when he learned that her best friend was a boy; she didn't want another lecture from him. She still didn't think he was over that.

"That's going to be hard," Zoe told her daughter, nodding behind her.

"Why didn't you want me to know?" Wade asked as calm as could be walking into the kitchen. He had stayed back out of the way letting mother and daughter have their chat, he had every intention to walk away and leave them be, he knew Zoe would fill him in later but he found that it was a bit harder to walk away when his baby girl was talking about boys and kissing.

"Because you're well you," Meredith stated, looking up at her dad. "And you'll make this into something it's not."

"But you shouldn't go around letting boys kiss you whether it's a dare or not, you can't give people the wrong ideas about you," he explained.

"What idea is that Dad?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Don't you mind that," Wade told her, shaking his head. "You're my little girl and you can't be kissing boys yet," he scolded her.

"I'm not your baby though, I can be your little girl but I have to grow up dad, you need to let me spread my wings," she told him.

"Says who?" Wade asked in mock shock. "You are going to be my little girl forever and that means no kissing and no boyfriends," he stated. "You're only 11," he pointed out.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Meredith huffed. "Esmeralda had a boyfriend at my age." She couldn't understand why her dad couldn't see that she wasn't a baby anymore, she was growing up.

"Does Esmeralda live here?" Wade asked his daughter. He loved his daughter, spent all the time he could with her. She loved sports and she loved all things girly, her only flaw that Wade was able to see was that she took after them and it may not have been a bad thing but he didn't want his little girl to be going around and kissing anyone. Not all stories worked out like the one he had with his wife.

"No," she sighed. "It was a little kiss nothing more, dad, no biggie," she replied, getting up from the kitchen table. "I don't get why it's okay for you two to go around kissing each other at my age but I can't, hypocrites much?" She asked storming up to her room.

"I don't want my little girl's heart to be broken," Wade sighed. "Why does growing up have to be so hard?"

Zoe smiled and moved over to sit on her husband's lap. "You can't protect her forever, Wade. You have to let her grow up and in order for her to find the perfect guy for her, she needs to deal with a few broken hearts so she can find the one guy out there that can fix it for her. You're not going to lose her, she's always going to need us no matter the age," Zoe softly explained, kissing his temple. "She's really confused about that kiss because Louis is her best friend and she thinks she might like him, you remember how that is don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Wade sighed, his head resting on his wife's shoulder. "I'll go talk to her," he said, kissing his wife.

Zoe smiled and went back to the cookies that needed to be placed in the oven. It wasn't easy to watch your little girl grow up before your eyes, she was going to remain their little baby girl they brought home from the hospital, but she was growing up and she knew just how hard that was hitting her husband when the realization hit him firmly in the face.

"Mer bear," Wade said, slowly pushing his daughter's bedroom door open. "Can I talk to you?" He asked seeing his daughter sitting on her bed, sketchpad in hand.

"If you're going to tell me that going around and kissing boys is bad, then you can leave," she replied, looking up at him.

"That is bad, but not why I'm here," he said, moving the desk chair closer to his daughter's bed. "I'm sorry for the way I acted, but you're my little girl and the thought of you getting older and growing up is scary. I've always been the number one guy in your life and I know at some point that is going to change but I do believe that you're too young to be kissing boys, you have years to find your prince charming or whoever and you don't have to start now," he told her.

"I guess I can understand that, but you have to know dad, I'm going to need you, look at mom, she still needs grandpa and you need grandpa and grandma, growing up doesn't mean I ditch my parents," she replied. "But I'm scared dad," she told him, chewing her lip.

"Louis would be stupid if he stopped being your friend because of this kiss, Mer bear. You're special and even he knows just how special you are, the sooner you talk to him the better you will feel about it all, don't let it drag on to long because you don't know what will happen then," he told her. He didn't want his daughter to ruin a friendship because of a kiss or a dare that would be really lame in his book. Letting his daughter spread her wings so she could grow as much as he wanted to be against it he had to let her go out there and figure things out on her own, he couldn't always be there to hold her hand, the only good thing about it, he'd be there waiting for her when she needed him.

"I know it's a long shot for things to work out with Louis like they did for you and mom and I'd be okay with that as long as I have Louis as a friend," she told her dad. "Thank you," she smiled jumping on him for a hug.

"You're welcome, Meredith," he replied hugging his daughter tight.

12 years later

"Remember that me and your mom love you and even though you're getting married, we'll be here for you," Wade told his daughter as he got ready to walk her down the aisle.

"I love you too dad," she smiled, blinking the tears away yet again.

"I know I've never shown that I like Kody, but sweetie he's the lucky one here and I don't for a second doubt that this isn't meant to be with him. The thing I admire most about him is the way he loves you and no matter what he's doing he's making sure you're safe and protected, that he'd drop everything he's doing to be with you, that's love and I'm happy you found it with such a great man, Mer bear," Wade told her.

"Thanks daddy," she replied, standing up straight when the music changed. "And for the record he's always been just a little scared of you," Meredith laughed.

"We'll keep it that way," Wade smirked and started to walk his little girl down the aisle to where her future husband and new life was waiting for her.

Things with Louis hadn't worked out, they remained the best of friends, tried dating a time or two but each time they came to the same conclusion they were better off as friends, the best of friends actually. Louis was the one standing up there with her. The only person she wanted next to her when she married Kody was Louis and the love of her life was okay with that because the only person Kody wanted next to him was his best friend Cheyenne. Things have a funny way of working out.