(For disclaimers, etc. - see 1.)

18. Christmas Wishes Come True
'Verse: New Beginnings
Date/Timeline: December 2013 (7 months post-epilogue)

Sometimes, Zoe took a quiet moment to look at her life and wonder, always with a smile, how she ended up where she was and how she was. It was kind of a miracle, really. To think that when she was eleven years old she was living in a fancy New York apartment with her mom and the guy she thought was her dad, looking up at the star on top of the Christmas tree and wishing that she would become a cardiothoracic surgeon by the name of Dr Zoe Hart, the toast of the city. It was all she wanted.

Now, curled up on the couch with her husband on one side, her father-in-law on the other, and her father in the nearby armchair, she watched her own eleven-year-old daughter, and her three-year-old son, sitting under an enormous Christmas tree, wondering what Santa, and life in general, would bring to her. Zoe went by Dr Zoe Wilkes-Kinsella these days, beloved small-town GP of Bluebell, Alabama, a million miles away from the dreams she used to have for her life, and honestly, she could not have been happier if she tried.

"You doin' okay there, sweetheart?" asked Wade softly, gaining her attention.

"I really am," she promised him with a smile, moving to lean into him some more. "I was just thinking how lucky I am. How my life has turned out so much different to what I thought, but I honestly would not change one thing about it."

"I'll say amen to that." Harley smiled from across the way. "We truly are a blessed family, that much I do know, and I was never so blessed myself as the day young Wade here brought you into my life to stay."

"And I will second that," Earl told her, nodding madly. "I never thought I could love anybody as much as my boy here, but you come along, pretty doctor, and you just fit in perfectly with all o' us, and you brought this fine little lady into our lives too," he said, leaning down to ruffle Ellen's curls.

"Grandpa!" she complained half-heartedly, rolling her eyes as she fixed her hair.

"More like her momma every single day," Wade teased Zoe and got a light smack in the chest for his trouble."

"What happened?" asked little Toby, looking around fast, sure he missed something.

"Nothin'," Ellen told him, shaking her head. "The grown-ups are gettin' all silly about the past is all. They do that sometimes, 'specially on Christmas, but it's okay. Now, what do you want me to write in the letter to Santa for you?" she asked, pulling her brother right into her lap.

"Hmm." Toby's little brow wrinkled as he thought super hard about his answer. "More bricks, and Playdoh, and... scooter!"

"Oh, really? A scooter?" Ellen glanced up at her momma when Toby wasn't paying attention, and Zoe quickly nodded her head. "Well, I guess if that's what you want, you'll get it, but Santa will only bring it if you're good, so you gotta try, okay?"

"Always good!" said Toby indignantly, making Zoe smile.

He really was good most of the time, both her kids were, and she was glad about that. Sometimes, she wondered how good she had been, but she figured, she had always done her best and nobody could do better than that. Besides, dropping out of Yale because she was pregnant by a real ass of a guy didn't seem so good at the time, but it led to her meeting Harley, and marrying Wade, and having this wonderful family life. Curling further into her husband's embrace, she stared up to the star on the top of the tree and smiled, silently thanking whoever was listening for making even her most unexpected and largely unknown wishes come true in the end.