This chapter got away from me, all for a good reason. I'm sad to say that this one only has one chapter left. But, like I have said chapters ago, there will be a sequel, a short one however as it will see them a few years in the future as a family.
You haven't yet check out Web of Lies please do as that will be the next story I will be putting my focus on.
Enjoy!
~Over a year later~
"What is this?" Zoe asked coming home from a long day of work; she was hungry and coming home to see that her boyfriend made dinner, was always a happy sign. She spent her morning in Mobile and her afternoon at the practice filling in for her father.
"We are celebrating," he grinned, placing a plate of food in front of her, wine already on the table. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say more. "Us," he replied, joining her at the table.
"Us? Our one-year anniversary was three months ago," she commented, running her fingers over a pink petal of the vase of flowers sitting in the center of the table. That had been a memorable night. He recreated their first date as a couple, movie, dinner, a walk or two around town, getting to second base in the backseat of his car down a dirt road, an old country song playing on the radio. And some once they made it home.
"Then say yes," he said, getting on bended knee before her. He took her left hand in his, kissing her knuckles. "We have been best friends; we have dated; we have been enemies and through all of that I never stopped loving you, Zoe. You are my pillar of strength, my saving grace; you're everything to me and more. This here with you that is all I want, for the rest of my life, our life. I want to call you my wife, marry me?"
"Yes," she whispered, crashing her lips upon his.
Over the past year, they were at a place in their lives where they had a system about things. It was a bit tricky when Wade started school to find time for each other, fights happened more than once not just over one thing either. She supported him in going back to school, helped him when she could, but she did miss just spending time with him where there were no talks about school work or work at the hospital or the practice. With time, they managed to figure it out. There was no time to think about their future and plan a wedding. The thing was he couldn't wait any longer; he lost his patients on waiting. The time was never going to be right, not unless he made it the right time.
"I wasn't lucky enough to get my mom's wedding ring." He was given a necklace, that he had already given to Zoe when they were 17, a necklace he had yet to see again. The urge to ask was there, but he refrained from doing so not wanting to start a fight if it came to that. He wanted to celebrate their engagement, not fight with her.
"It is stunning," she assured him, taking a closer look at her new favorite piece of jewelry. It was an Abbraccio Swirl engagement ring with an aery backdrop for a round diamond with a wildly popular pave band. There are diamonds accenting the shank of the ring and four small diamonds set in each prong. It was stunning to her and meant just as much to her even though it wasn't his mom's ring.
"Just like my fiancée," he grinned seeing the blush run across her cheeks. "Let's start with dessert shall we," he smirked.
She didn't need to be told twice.
"I don't want a big wedding," she told him a few days later, over lunch, she had used every spare second she had to plan out the wedding and one thing was for sure; she didn't need it to be over the top. The simpler it was the better it was going to be for them. She didn't need a grand spectacular wedding to show her love for Wade, she showed her love for him every day. "Small and intimate."
"If that is what you want, I am fine with anything, as long as I can call you my wife at the end of the ceremony." A quick exchange of I do at the courthouse would be good for him. "You do know that the town will show up whether they are invited or not," he checked with her. It was meant to be a joke, but the more he thought about it, the more it was likely they would try something like that.
"I know; I haven't found a way to avoid the townspeople from crashing it," she remarked with a soft sigh. It seemed ridiculous to think like that, but she wouldn't put it past anyone of them; she loved them all in different ways. "I know they care and they have watched us grow from the babies our parents brought home, and in many ways they are family. I don't want our wedding to be a big circus act. All I want is our close friends and our family to be there."
"We could marry in secret," he suggested. "If you truly want it to be small and family and friends only we can figure something out. We have no rush on getting married, Zoe."
"We have taken everything else slow, and I don't want to draw our engagement out any longer than necessary," she told him, placing her hand on top of his. "I am ready to be your wife."
"And I am ready to be your husband," he replied, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "If we could walk into the church and get married right now, I'd do it," he shared with her. He arched an eyebrow seeing the coy smile on her pretty little lips. "What are you thinking?"
"We can do that," she replied, getting up. "Get your family there and I will get my family there. Lemon is my maid of honor; we call the rest and get them there. I will call to make sure that Reverend Mayfair is free," she suggested happily.
"I don't have a tuxedo and you don't have a dress or flowers; we can't get married now, can we?" He asked, getting up, the idea sounding better to him the more he thought about it.
"I do have a dress; it is at my dad's place," she informed him. "We can wait until tomorrow, if that would help you get that tuxedo you don't want to wear," she teased.
"Tomorrow it is," he smiled, pulling his fiancée to him. "Are you sure about this?" He questioned once more.
"Very," she replied. "As long as it is you, I am marrying the setting doesn't matter to me. Are you okay with this?" She questioned.
"Perfectly okay," he responded, capturing her lips for a kiss.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," Jesse said, watching his brother, get his tie in order. "I only figured we would have been here sooner."
"We needed to make sure, after everything, we couldn't jump from being nothing but a memory to each other to a relationship straight to getting married. That would have been a disaster, Jesse," he told his brother, turning to look at him. "Do I look good enough to marry her?"
"Good enough," Jesse teased, getting up from his chair. "Though I'm confident you could look anything other than spectacular, and she wouldn't care. She is marrying you because she loves you, and I'm not sure how that happened," Jesse teased.
"Me neither, I was a needy, selfish, arrogant ass," he chuckled. "I did something right and I will keep doing that," he shared.
"You love her in return; that is all you need to do, brother. Now let's get you married," Jesse grinned, happy for his brother and his best friend. For a while he didn't think this day would ever come for the two of them, thought that he was wrong about the love they still shared. He, however, was very pleased to learn he had been right all along.
"Ya know; I always thought you would be here first," Wade commented, taking his place at the front of the church.
"I didn't," Jesse told him. "I thought this wedding would've happened years ago; I was wrong back then, and I'm right about you two now and that feels amazing," Jesse smirked smugly.
"I'm going to regret having you as my best man when I have to hear your arrogant self-righteous speech," Wade told his brother seriously, looking out over the family and friends waiting for the wedding to start, George slowly making his way to the front to join the groom and best man.
"Oh yes, you will," Jesse laughed, clapping him on the back.
While the men joked around waiting for the bride to be ready, said bride was looking her reflection over in the mirror. Her hair was done up in an elegant twist; her dress was simple with beaded lace straps and a sweetheart neckline.
"It is okay to be nervous on your wedding day." Zoe looked at Lemon through the mirror.
"Is it okay not to be nervous?" Zoe questioned. "He has been part of my life since the beginning. It feels natural to be here, ready to marry him," she smiled. "He's going to be my husband," she giggled.
"I will help you run, if you have the sudden urge," Vivian said, from the other side of the room, where she was touching up her make-up.
"After all the work you did to help Jesse, the second I was out that door; you would run straight to Wade and inform him," Zoe stated feigning shock. "I would much rather be next to him than away from him ever again."
"Then let's go get you married," Lemon stated, handing her a bouquet of peach-colored Ranunculus. "I'll get Harley," she informed the bride, making her exit from the room.
"You are right; I would get your groom if you were to run, Zoe Wilkes you make for one stunning bride; Zoe and Wade won't remember how to breathe when he sees you," Vivian told her.
"Thank you, Vivian, for all of it. Schemes included," Zoe smiled, hugging her cousin gently not to add any wrinkles in her dress.
"Sweetie you are a vision," Harley gasped, getting misted eyed seeing his daughter so grown up.
"Thanks daddy, can you?" She asked holding up a necklace. Harley smiled.
"I remember the day he gave you this necklace," Harley said, hooking the ends together. "You were so happy, like you are now."
"I'll forever be the anchor to his heart," she recited the words Wade used giving her the necklace. It was his mom and she was touched that he would give it to her. A sobbing mess when he was done with his speech. The pendent was a silver heart, an anchor hanging in the middle of the heart.
"Shall we?" Harley asked, holding his arm out to his daughter. She smiled, picking her bouquet up, hooking her arm with her fathers, ready to marry the love of her life.
"Are you ready for Wade to be your son?" She asked, taking a deep breath.
"I think I can cope," he teased.
Back with Wade who was starting to get anxious waiting for his bride to be ready. He wasn't afraid that she was getting cold feet, more afraid that something was going wrong for her, and he couldn't fix it because he wasn't allowed to see his bride. She was gone before he woke up this morning. A note telling him she couldn't wait to be his wife resting on her pillow were the only words he got from her thus far into the day. He perked up when the music started to play and Vivian walked in, followed by Lemon.
His breath hitched in his throat seeing his bride, a stunning vision in white. His lips curled into a smile as she grew closer. Everything around him fell away as he focused on his bride, Jesse nudging him forward to accept Zoe's hand from Harley.
"Today we have gathered in this place of natural beauty to be joyful, in celebration of the relationship of Wade and Zoe. By their commitment to marry each other, they are saying yes to love, yes to caring, yes to the family. May the spirit of God–which is in the blue sky, in the wind, and in the fresh smells of the Earth–enter your bodies, fill your hearts, and bless your lives. Have you come here in the midst of these natural surroundings to affirm your commitment to each other?" Reverend Mayfair questioned.
"We have," Wade and Zoe said together.
"Please share your vows with each other."
He tried to listen to what Reverend Mayfair was saying, it was static to his ears; he did hear the deep breaths that Zoe took to calm her racing heart. He own heart pounding loudly in his own ears.
"Vows, Wade," Jesse coughed, getting their friends and family to laugh.
"Right," Wade chuckled. "I'm better at this, but you Zoe Wilkes have taken everything from me today," he smiled. "I fell in love with you without knowing it. You have always been a constant in my life, except when you weren't and when you weren't there I felt as if I was drowning. You are my life support. Everything I could want or need in life, is right here with you, Zoe. You are my best friend, my light, my heart, my soul, my life, and above all else my love. I promise to give you the world and everything that comes with that." By the end of his vows, he was wiping away the tears cascading down his bride's cheeks.
"You are my best friend, and life was amazing; I didn't need anything else; I was a fool for ever thinking that I did. I loved you not so secretly, you my dear groom were blind, standing here pledging my life to you; I will forgive you for the errors of your way," she smiled, licking her lips. "I went out and lived the dream I said I would, in the end I realized I was living the wrong dream, because you were no longer in it. This here with you is everything I could ever ask for, a life with you. I am whole with you; I loved you before you knew your feelings for me, I love you now, and I will love you more with each passing day; you are my heart and soul, Wade for eternity; I promise you that and more," she finished.
"The rings," Rev. Mayfair said, Jesse and Lemon coming forward.
"Zoe, this ring I give you, my personal gift and my personal promise, of love and trust, and pride that you are my wife. We will wear these rings, and the world will know that I am yours, and you are mine," he recited slipping the simple gold band on her finger.
"Wade, this ring I give you, my personal gift and my personal promise, of love and trust, and pride that you are my husband. We will wear these rings, and the world will know that I am yours, and you are mine," she recited, siding the simple gold band on his finger.
"By the state of Alabama, I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss your bride."
Wade wasted no time pulling Zoe into his arms, molding his lips with hers, not able to get enough, he didn't want to over do it; they were in a church, and her father was watching.
"For the first time I give to you Mr. and Mrs. Wade Kinsella."
In the little time, they had planned their wedding; a reception was the one thing they had not put much thought into, so color them shocked when they saw town square set up for a party. A table for the bride and groom sat on a stage overlooking the festivities, a mic on the opposite end of the stage. Tables were filled with food, a magnificent wedding cake with multiple tiers. Music notes on one tier and a few doctor supplies on another tier. The groom on top of the cake was made holding a guitar and the bride holding a stethoscope to her groom's chest fitting the couple perfectly. It was the perfect present from everyone in town.
It was later in the day after they had danced their first dance as a married couple, cut the cake which didn't go all over each other, tossing the bouquet which Willow caught and the garter that Jesse won with the highest bid and many kisses later, Jesse put a pause on the celebration.
"Wade has been a thorn in my side since he was brought home from the hospital, I thought it would be awesome to have a little brother; boy was I wrong," he chuckled. "I don't wish him upon my worst enemy let alone a dear friend of mine. Zoe, we have not always been on the best of terms, for whatever reasons and I cannot thank you enough for taking him off my hands. We all would be lucky to find love like you two hold; it is love that makes the rest of us sick with envy; you make finding your soulmate easy," he said, stopping to think through what he had wanted to say. "I only pushed you two together because someone had to do it, you both are alike and refuse to cave first. I am afraid that I was taking fate in my hands, and the payout was worth it. You can repay me by naming your firstborn after me," he smirked, holding his glass up. "To Wade and Zoe, to love," he toasted. "Welcome to the family, Zoe. It will be a pleasure to have you as a best friend and my sister."
"We are not naming our firstborn after him," Wade said seriously through a smile.
"And give your brother a bigger ego about this all, I think not," Zoe assured him, resting her hand on his arm.
"How can one ever compete with Jesse's logic?" Lemon questioned, taking her place at the mic. "I won't demand you name any of your kids after me," she assured the newlyweds, getting laughs. "I may not be Zoe's sister by blood, that doesn't change the fact that she is my sister in every way that matters. This day has been a long time in the making. Like many people believed, I believed in the opposite. We don't see true love enough; it is hard and rare to find; you found it as teens, let it go for what you thought was the better good in life, I do agree with Jesse; you both are stubborn, please don't let your stubbornness get in the way. I held on to the belief that you would find your way back even while I was mad at you, Zoe Kinsella. I could share one of the many embarrassing stories I have, but it would be no fun as he knows them all, by being attached to you, Zoe," she huffed through a smile. "With that being said, here is to happiness and delight in you two finding your way once more. To Wade and Zoe," she toasted, raising her glass, before taking a drink.
With the celebration winding down, Zoe and Wade made their exits, ready to consummate their marriage.