So with my wonderful luck today, I made a small edit in chapter 12 and I exchanged it with the wrong chapter and I stupidly deleted chapter 12 for this story thinking it was safe to do so. I finished the rewrite and like I had said, it doesn't change what happened in this chapter, but it's different than what I previously had before and I do suggest you go back and reread chapter 12. I'm sorry for all the confusion. Enjoy!
"I just don't think it's such a good idea," Wade was in the process of saying. As of late it was like he couldn't say anything without it turning into some kind of an argument that would only escalate into a fight. "I never once said you shouldn't go or that you couldn't go just that it was a bad idea," he stressed, making Zoe stop packing her suitcase glaring at him.
"I don't see what the big deal is, Ariel is going to be there, your mom is going to be there, it's not like you're going to be home this weekend to begin with," Zoe pointed out, sitting on the edge of the bed. "So it's only okay for you and Braxton to go on a fishing trip with Earl?" She questioned him annoyed.
"Stop putting words in my damn mouth," he demanded some of his anger seeping out. "I wasn't the one that went through hell last month, you were. I don't want you to rush into doing too much too soon," he stressed, wanting her to see his point. He wasn't locking her up, just wanted her to be careful and not over do it. He had every reason to worry about his wife.
"It's a relaxing spa getaway; nothing is going to happen…" she was in the process of telling him in a very calm matter.
"You don't know that," he yelled, throwing his hands in the air, cutting her off. "I can't lose you, Zo," he pleaded, moving to sit next to her, cupping her cheeks, his thumb gently stroking her soft skin. Zoe placed her hands on his.
"I love you, Wade," she whispered. "Things happen every day and we can't stop them. I'm not going to let the possibility that something might happen stop me from doing anything," she told him definitely
"I love you, Zoe. So why don't we let Braxton go on the fishing trip and Ariel can go on the Spa retreat and we can do some reconnecting of our own," he smirked, leaning forward to kiss her forehead first then proceeding to kiss her nose and letting his lips brush against hers. "I can give you breakfast in bed and a full on body massage," he husked, letting his hands run down her body.
"You know that does sound promising but I hate canceling on our kids," she sighed with a cute little pout.
"Lucky for you, I don't mind," he winked, pulling her face up, his lips slanting over hers.
"Wade, be nice," she warned. Wade chuckled and exited the bedroom.
"Is mom ready?" Ariel asked impatiently. She had been looking forward to spending some quality time with her mom.
Wade was finding it hard to answer that question, it was easy to let himself get carried away while he was with Zoe, but to cancel on their kids seemed to be a little on the mean side of the scale and he didn't have the heart to do that, not when he could tell just how much Ariel wanted this time with her. "She's almost ready, princess," he informed her. He had went to walk back to the bed room to inform Zoe that he didn't have the heart to do it when Zoe appeared before them, suitcase in hand. She gave him a knowing smile, kissed him letting herself melt into him.
"I had a feeling," she whispered against his ear hugging him.
"Harder than it seemed," he mumbled, holding her close not ready to let her go just yet. Zoe giggled, letting her lips brush against his as she pulled away from him and his extra tight hug.
"Can we go now?" Ariel asked with an impatient sigh, walking outside to where Jackie was waiting.
"That's my cue to go," she told him.
Wade chuckled softly, grabbing her suitcase and carrying it outside for her. Zoe went through a mental checklist to make sure that she had everything that she was going to need, grabbing her purse on her way to the door. Satisfied that she had everything that she could of, she walked outside, shutting the door behind her.
"About time," Braxton said from his position of leaning against the side of the pick up arms crossed over his chest. "Thought we were gonna have to leave ya behind," he said seriously.
"Why didn't you?" Wade asked in a joking tone.
"Grandpa wouldn't listen to me," he mumbled. Wade chuckled, kissed Zoe once more, informing her to be careful and if anything happens to call him. She had rolled her eyes but assured him that she would if anything did happen.
"You and Wade seem to be doing good," Jackie commented on the drive to the spa.
"We have our days," Zoe told her. "A lot of the time I just want to push him away. We fight more now than we ever had," she sighed.
"That's to be expected, you went through a very dramatic thing," Jackie responded with. She was actually shocked to learn about her son and Zoe fighting so much, according to her grandkids things seemed to be good in the house. They had never mentioned their parents fighting. She understood that they kept the fighting away from the kids, not wanting the kids to be put in the middle. "You want to do things on your own…"
"But he's always there hovering like I'm not capable of doing anything for myself. I get that he worries and he wants to help, but I'm more than okay to do things myself," she ranted.
Ariel sat in the back seat playing on her mom's phone when a text had came through from dad's phone. She had been scared to look at it thinking it was something gross from her dad but when she took a peek she relaxed. 'It's Brax, you there Ariel?' The message read. 'I'm here, wut's going on?' She quickly texted back to him, she really wanted a phone of her own, but they wouldn't get her or Braxton one until they were in the 6th grade. She found that idea stupid when most of her friends had their own phones. 'Dad's talkin'; I think we should do somethin' for them, u in?'
Braxton had been setting in the back of the pick up truck bored out of his mind. He had to leave all of his electronics home so they wouldn't get ruined and he didn't mind leaving them at home, it was just the nearly 2 hour drive to where they were going he dreaded. So like any other kid his age, he swiped his dad's phone. He was really shocked when he heard his dad start to go on about fighting and arguing with Zoe. Not wanting anything to happen to his parents, he had came up with a plan and he had to let Ariel in on it and get her to help him out, there was no way he could pull off what he had in mind. 'Mom's talking as well, heck yes!' Came her reply, followed closely by, 'Wut's the plan?' Braxton snorted, his fingers moving over the phone screen to reply back to his sister. 'Explain when we get home ;)'
"Is there something funny back there?" Wade asked, turning to look at him.
"Nope," Braxton replied, quickly deleting the messages. "Just talking to Ariel," he informed his dad, letting Ariel know that he had to go. It was only seconds later when Ariel texted back telling him the same thing.
"She say anything about how mom is doing?" Wade asked, taking back his phone, when Braxton handed it to him. Braxton shook his head.
"Son, I think you should let her have just a little bit of space this weekend. She needs time to herself where you're not on her," Earl told him. "I worry about your Ma too, so I know where ya are comin' from, but sometimes ya gotta let them think they're doing things themselves only you're there to help," he chuckled. "They don't know the difference."
"How do I do that Pops?" Wade asked, shaking his head. That seemed to be harder than just helping her out.
"That you'll figure it out on your own, you always do," Earl chuckled.
Wade shook his head, letting himself get lost in his thoughts on trying to find a way to subtly help Zoe out without her knowing that he was even doing it. That just seemed way to hard, impossible even. It seemed easier to take a step back and wait for her to ask for help but with how stubborn she is, he didn't think that was a very good idea either. He got that he was smothering her but he couldn't help it, he couldn't take her being in pain or lying in the hospital when he could do something to stop it from ever happening.
Small talk was made as they finished their drive to the little lake they would be at for the next few days. Everyone did their part in getting camp set up, tents went up, and a fire pit had been made. Grabbing their fishing poles they headed down to the dock to get a few minutes of fishing in before night fall. As they sat on the dock, all talk had been kept to a minimum and Wade wondered how his wife, mom and daughter were coming along.
As for Zoe, Jackie and Ariel, they got to the spa and were taken to their hotel room. From there they decided to go get a Pedi, Ariel picking out different colors for each of them before they went and got dinner. After dinner they were going to watch a movie of Ariel's pick in the room and call it a night and tomorrow morning after breakfast they would explore a little more with getting massages at some point in the day.