"Is there a reason why you're not excited as the rest of your family?" Jackie asked sitting with Ariel off to the side as they watched the rest of them laughing and joking. "Do you not want a baby brother or a baby sister?"
Ariel shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I did but after seeing people with Adriana's little sister and the fact she cries all the time and they're always paying attention to her, I just don't know anymore," Ariel sighed. "Why would I want that for?"
"Not all babies are like that," Jackie told her, thinking back to when her sons were babies. "Your uncle Jesse was fussy as ever, but your father there, he rarely cried. He was a very quiet baby," Jackie told her. "It wasn't until he got older that he got louder, but sweetie all babies are different. It's a good thing, it really is," Jackie assured her.
"But what if they forget about me or Braxton?" Ariel asked, playing the sleeves of her shirt.
"Oh sweetie, that won't happen, ever," Jackie said trying to assure the young child next to her. Jackie wrapped an arm around her. "Your parents love you and they love Braxton, they could never forget about you, ever. But if you ever feel like they have forgotten about you sweetie, you can come stay here for a few days, does that sound good with you?" Jackie asked. Ariel looked over at her parents and back to her grandma nodding her head.
"Okay," she told her. Ariel smiled listening as her grandma told her stories of Wade and Jesse when they were little. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing. It did make everyone happy and having a little brother or a little sister, she really wanted a little sister, would be okay. "Maybe," Ariel said while hugging Jackie, happy to have had this little moment with her.
"Everything okay over here?" Wade asked, walking over to the two of them. Jackie looked over at Ariel.
"We're fine," she smiled, launching herself into Wade's arms taking him off guard as he stumbled backwards catching himself before they fell over. Wade shot a look at his mom and she only shook her head, leaving father and daughter alone.
"Are you sure?" Wade questioned, placing Ariel back on the floor.
"I'm sure," Ariel told him with a bright smile. Wade crouched down to her level.
"You do know that if anything is bugging you can talk to me about it, right?"
"I know that, but I promise there's nothing wrong. There was something wrong but Grandma helped solve my problem, now I'm just happy," she told him a mile a minute. Wade chuckled, standing up.
He watched as Ariel took off outside after Braxton and the rest of his family, ready to start a fire and have S'mores. Wade smiled feeling his wife's arms go around his waist from behind. "She's fine," Zoe told him.
Wade tugged Zoe around so he could look at her, his hands resting on her hips. "That doesn't mean I'm going to stop worrying about her or Braxton," he told her softly, his forehead falling to rest on hers.
"I don't want you to stop worrying about them, I'm not going to stop, but just know that she's fine and if something is bothering her she'll go to someone. Your mom was a big help with that."
"I need you to stop worrying so much about those two kids and focus on this one," Wade told her in a soft and caring tone, his hands covering her stomach. Zoe smiled standing on her toes to press her lips against his.
"Hey now, none of that, you already have one in there," Jesse joked, walking past them to the kitchen to get some stuff needed to make the gooey treats on the fire. Wade had the urge to give his brother the middle finger, but Zoe was already outside before he could even put his plan into action. Wade settled for shoving Jesse out the door. Jesse shoved back and that led to the two of them having a wrestling match in the middle of the yard.
Zoe sat down by Harley watching in the dim light from the fire her husband and her brother, casting a glance at the kids every few minutes to make sure they were staying out of the fire as they roasted marshmallows.
"For your own sake you best hope that one is a girl," Earl told her, handing her the S'mores treat he had just made.
"Why's that?" Zoe asked with a laugh.
"Must I say more?" He asked motioning to his own two boys.
Zoe laughed a little more her gaze falling on her husband. She could see the smile on his face and his faint laughter ringing out from time to time. She wouldn't mind having a little boy to take after Wade or Braxton. A little girl would be nice and within her own comfort zone of knowing how to take care of the baby, but a boy would nice as well. "I wouldn't mind," Zoe spoke up. "How are holding up, Dad?" Zoe asked, looking over at her father. He had been awfully quiet since they had made the announcement.
"I'm happy, excited to experience all the things I've missed out on, but a little scared and a little sad as well," he told them. He raised his hand when Zoe went to speak. "I know I have no reason to be, that I've been around kids all my life, I'm a doctor but it's different when it's your own blood. I've missed so much when it came to you and Ariel and now after all this time I'm going to experience it all for the first time. It can be a bit overwhelming," he explained.
Zoe nodded, hugging him. "If things would have been different," she told him, shaking her head. "But you're going to be very involved with this one," she told him, quickly getting rid of the what if moments for both of them. "And you're going to be the best Grandpa ever."
"Hey now," Earl joked. "You'll be competing with me, so don't get your hopes up," he told him.
Zoe walked off letting them battle it out on who was going to be the better grandpa. She laughed walking up to Wade to see that he was covered in grass and dirt. She started to help him get it off his back. "Such kids," she joked, looking up at him as he turned around. Wade shrugged with a glint in his eyes. All Zoe had to do was point to her stomach and whatever he had in mind was gone, as he slipped his hand under his wife's shirt to caress her stomach, letting his lips descend upon hers.
