A/N: Okay, so here we go with this year's Dixie Christmas one-shot. Naturally, it's Zade, it is also set in the current year, so Zoe & Wade's son is four and a half year's old. If you've read any of my other post-canon fics, you will know that my headcanon is for said child to be named Jack, and so, that is his name here. Now, tissues on standby people, because this one is a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but I do guarantee a happy ending, as always ;)

(Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and any recognisable dialogue from Hart of Dixie belong to Leila Gerstein and other folks who aren't me).

A Dixie Christmas Miracle

It was supposed to be a good time, all family and fun. Zoe had started to really look forward to Christmas a while back, knowing she would have two children in her family by then. At least, that had been the plan. Jack was four years old, old enough to really enjoy the occasion, and his sister was due to put in her appearance just a few days before Christmas. Given how early their son had been, Zoe and Wade were sure their little girl wouldn't be any less eager to show up. Their perfect, complete little family would certainly have been something to celebrate, but it didn't quite work out that way.

It was December 23rd, five days after Zoe was due to give birth, and still her stubborn daughter was refusing to budge.

"She'll be here when she's good and ready, Z," Lavon told her kindly as she moped around his kitchen in a foul temper. "You're the doctor, you know these things can't be rushed."

"But it makes no sense. Jack was early!" she reminded him, gesturing to her son who was happily sat in Uncle Lavon's lap, dozing a little since it was so late. "I wanted my baby here for Christmas."

"Well, we don't always get what we want," said Lemon as she returned to the room. "Think on, Zoe Kinsella, because if it was just that simple, I would be in the very same predicament you are right now, and happy to be so."

Zoe looked ashamed of herself then. "Lemon, I'm sorry. I know I'm so blessed, believe me, I do. It's just... I'm so tired and fat and I just want my little girl to be here!" she declared, waddling over to the armchair and throwing herself down into it. "I wish Wade was here too. What is taking so long?"

"I thought he'd be back by now myself." Lavon frowned a little as he checked his watch.

Lemon picked Jack up from his lap and brought the little boy over to the next armchair over from Zoe, settling him into it with a blanket since he was mostly asleep already. He ought to be in his own bed, Zoe knew that, but they had to wait for Wade. She didn't dare drive in her current condition of overdue pregnancy, so they had to wait for him to get back to take them.

"You know, Lavon could drive you back to your place, Zoe," said Lemon softly, mindful of waking Jack. "When Wade shows up, I'll send him your way. Honestly, the little one is out for the count and you look exhausted yourself."

"Or maybe it'd be better if y'all just slept here tonight?" Lavon himself suggested. "After the long drive and all, I'll bet Wade'll just wanna crash too."

"No, we'll go home when he gets here," Zoe insisted. "It can't be much longer. He called me when he left and it's been... wow, four hours. That's a long time, right? Too long for the trip?"

She started to get agitated and immediately Lavon tried to calm her.

"Come on, now, it's not so long," he told her definitely. "Maybe they got trouble on the interstate and Wade had to take another way back. It's easy four hours from Montgomery if the I65 is out for some reason or other."

Zoe frowned and pulled out her phone, scrolling and clicking until she had the latest traffic information. There were no problems on the I65 so Wade should be on it and this late, right before Christmas, there should be no reason for heavy traffic. Something was wrong, she just knew it.

"I need to call Wade," she said definitely, quickly speed-dialling his number.

"Well, he can't very well answer when he's drivin'," said Lemon firmly. "Even Wade is not that stupid."

"Then he'll pull over," said Zoe just as definitely. "If he sees it's me, he'll pick up. He'll probably think I'm in labour like he has every time I've called him in the last month, but at least that means he will answer," she said, rolling her eyes as she waited.

After one too many rings, Wade did indeed pick up her call.

"Hey, beautiful," he greeted her with a smile she could just hear. "You're not callin'to tell me our little girl is comin', are ya? 'Cause I'm a way off yet. Been all kinds o' problems since we talked, what with traffic and the car givin' me trouble and all."

"I'm not calling about the baby," she promised. "I just wanted to check in. It's been a while since you said you were headed home. It's getting pretty late and-"

"I'm sorry, baby," he cut in. "Like I said, all kinds of problems, but I'm getting along now. Won't be too much longer until-"

Zoe frowned when there was a thud and the line seemed to cut out, and yet when she looked she could see that the call was still connected.

"Wade?" she yelled into the phone. "Wade, are you there?"

She glanced up at Lavon and Lemon, both of whom looked almost as panicked as she felt herself. Zoe continued to call for Wade but he didn't answer for what felt like an eternity.

"Zoe?" she suddenly heard in her ear and almost relaxed, but then the line went dead.

"No!" she yelled, trying to redial, but no answer came this time, just ringing on and on, no reply. "Oh my God. Oh my God, something happened," she said, getting up from the chair too fast. "Something happened to him. We were talking and then he stopped and there was a bang and... Oh my God!"

"Zoe, breathe," Lemon advised, getting a hold of her arm. "You have to calm down."

"I can't!" she gasped, her free hand suddenly going to her back. "I..."

Before she could say more there was a strange whooshing sound. For the second time in her life, Lemon found herself stood by a pregnant Zoe, looking down at her own very wet shoes. Not that now was a good time for a complaint or a joke about it either, not in their present predicament.

Zoe knew what was happening, she knew that she had to get to the hospital right now, that someone had to take care of Jack, that now was a time to concentrate on nothing but herself and her children, but she couldn't. Somewhere out there in the world, Wade was possibly lost, maybe hurt, maybe worse. The tears poured from her eyes unchecked at the very idea. She wanted to scream and cry and rage, but there wasn't time, there wasn't capacity in her brain.

"Lavon," she said, a whimper and nothing more as she looked at him.

"You got this, Z. We all got this," he said definitely, meeting Lemon's eye as they both nodded.

In a moment, they were all in motion. Lemon called Rose who agreed without pause to come on over and stay with Jack for just as long as necessary. Next, they got Zoe to the car, Lavon promising that he would find Wade, come hell or high water, and get him to her side right on time, no matter what. The next moment, Zoe was being whisked away to the hospital with Lemon at the wheel, as much pain in her heart as there was anywhere else in her body right now. Still, she yelled when another contraction tore through her.

"Keep on breathing, Zoe," Lemon urged her. "Breathe through the pain."

"How can I?" she asked tearfully. "I don't even know if he's..."

"No, none of that," said her friend sternly. "Nothing awful has happened to Wade, we both know that. Now he may have been in a little scrape or some such, I do admit, but if the worst had happened you and I would both know it, right?" she said, taking a moment to look at Zoe now they were safely pulled up to a red light.

Zoe met Lemon's eyes and nodded her head. Of course, they knew. Wade would be fine and Zoe had to tell herself that she would be too, but it didn't come easy.

"Where is he?" Zoe cried between contractions that seemed to be increasing in frequency at an alarming rate.

"Sweetheart, I wish I knew," Lemon told her, holding tight onto Zoe's hand. "But he will be here, just hold on."

"I don't know how much longer I can," her friend admitted, shaking her head. "This baby wants out and I can't do it without Wade. He has to be here. He promised me!"

It wasn't fair to be mad at him right now. If he could be there, Wade would, and Zoe knew it for sure. Still, almost two hours since the phone call that shook her to the core and brought on her initial labour pains, Zoe was just so worried and in so much pain, she really wasn't thinking all that rationally.

Some relief seemed imminent when voices in the hall were followed by the doors opening, but it was the wrong Kinsella who walked into the room.

"Earl?"

"Hey there, Zoe," he greeted her with a shaky smile. "I, uh, Lemon here called me to let me know the little one was on the way," he said, running a hand over his hair nervously. "She told me what happened with my boy too..."

Zoe looked daggers at Lemon but her expression softened when she saw the stricken look on her friend's face. She meant well, of course she did. Earl had a right to know what was happening, both with his son and his grandchild, but his presence wasn't necessarily helpful right now.

"I'm so sorry, Zoe," said Earl as he approached the bed, reaching for the hand Lemon wasn't already holding. "This is all my fault."

"Your fault?" she echoed, shaking her head. "Earl, how can it be? Did you tell Wade to go to Montgomery? Because he told me it was for a Christmas gift."

"Well, it is, after a fashion," Earl explained awkwardly. "He, uh, he told me you was worryin' on havin' some legacy gift for the little one, just like you did with Jack. I made mention that there was some trinkets and such that belonged to my Jackie, that I let his brother get a hold of..."

"Jesse?" said Lemon with wide eyes. "Wade went to Montgomery to meet up with him?"

"Far as I know." Earl nodded, wincing terribly when Zoe suddenly cried out in pain, another contraction tearing through her.

"Oh God!" she gasped, trying to breathe through it.

The doctor came in to check on her in the very next moment, ushering both Lemon and Earl aside so he could see how Zoe was progressing. Though Zoe was sure she must be fully dilated by now, he insisted she wasn't quite yet and he'd be back shortly, before disappearing again. In some ways, she was glad. She really didn't want to have this baby until Wade got there, and yet, at the same time, Zoe really wanted the pain to be over already. Not that all her suffering was from the labour. Her heart would be truly broken if anything had happened to...

"Wade!" Zoe cried, joyously this time as he ran to her side, hugging her close and kissing her cheek. "Oh my God, Wade, where have you been? What happened to you? Oh my God, don't ever put me through something like that again!" she insisted, kissing him and smacking him simultaneously in a mix of relief and frustration.

"Baby, I am so sorry I had you worried," he assured her, "and even more sorry that this all started without me bein' here. It has been a hell of a day!"

"You're telling me!" Zoe exclaimed, wiping tears from her cheeks. "What happened?"

"You didn't fight with your brother, did you?" asked Earl, noting the bruise forming under Wade's eye.

"Nothin' like that, Dad," he promised his father. "Jesse's right out there in the waiting room with Lavon and half the damn town besides," he said, laughing in spite of everything. "Seems we just can't have a kid without everybody showing up."

"And we can't have a kid without added extra drama," Zoe noted, laughing and crying at the same time, her arms locked around Wade and not willing to let go yet.

"So, what happened to you?" asked Lemon, unable to keep her curiosity in check even now. "Earl said you went to see Jesse. From what Zoe said, it sounded on the phone like you were in an accident."

"The accident was a somethin' and nothin' thing," Wade assured her, plus Zoe and his dad too. "Jesse was following me home in his car. Like I told you, we had problems enough before we ever got on the road. My engine was playin' up and Jesse got a flat tire, it was a real adventure from start to finish," he explained, pausing in his tale when Zoe winced through another contraction.

"Then I'm talkin' on the phone to you, thinkin' I should pull over and all before somethin' bad happened. Next thing I know, some fool hits me right up the tail and I drop the phone. By the time I picked it up, and dented my face on the dash for good measure, I knew you'd be panicking, sweetheart, but the second I tried to talk, the damn phone died on me. Guess the impact didn't do it much good. I was gonna call back from Jesse's cell, but the damn fool had gone ahead of me following the wrong car!" he said, rolling his eyes. "Smart as he is supposed to be and he can't tell cars apart!" he said, rolling his eyes.

Zoe felt better knowing there hadn't been any real bad accident and that Wade was okay, but her relief was short-lived as another contraction came over her, taking her breath and her voice in a second.

"I don't think the doctor that was in here knew what he was talkin' about," said Lemon worriedly. "He didn't look old enough to be wearing long pants, nevermind handling patients in need. Those contractions are awful close together," she said, consulting her watch.

Wade looked from Zoe to his friend with the same concerned expression. "Maybe you could go find somebody?" he urged her.

Lemon nodded and hurried off to do just that.

"I should prob'ly go see Jesse, let everybody know things are progressing and all," said Earl, looking so very awkward as he backed out of the door. "You be strong, pretty doctor," he told Zoe with a smile.

"Thank you!" she called after him, though it was tough to smile back right now. "I thought the second one might be easier," she told Wade tiredly then. "I thought I knew what to expect but this hurts so bad."

"I know, baby," Wade sympathised, kissing her forehead as she leaned on him some. "But you got this, I know you do. I'm just sorry you had so much to worry on when it started. I never meant to-"

"It's not your fault," Zoe assured him, meeting his eyes. "You're here now, that's what matters," she said, doubling over with pain again in a second.

"Damn, Lemon better find that doctor fast," said Wade, shaking his head.

"Agreed." Zoe nodded. "Honestly, I don't think he has long before he'll be too late."

"Yeah, you don't mean..." Wade said, looking genuinely shaken as he realised, she meant just exactly what she said.

The next few minutes were kind of a blur for Zoe. She knew nothing but pain and concentration as she pushed her baby out into the world. She knew the drill, she was a doctor, after all, and she did it once before herself, but this time it was without any medical help. She just had her husband, urging her on and promising her everything was going to be okay. It was all she needed, as proven by the fact that when the doctor finally got back into the room, Wade was already proudly holding their daughter in his arms.

"As happy as I am to have her," said Zoe, cradling the new-born in her arms, "I could use never having a night quite like this one again."

"I'll second that, doc," Wade told her, his arms around both his wife and daughter as he gently kissed one and then the other. "Hell of a night."

"Hey now, don't you be sayin' none o' that H-E-double hockey sticks," Earl warned his son with a look. "It's Christmas Eve, after all."

"It is?" Zoe checked.

"Far as I know, the little one here showed up just about midnight," Lavon noted. "One of the earliest Christmas Eve babies ever, I guess."

"Merry Christmas, baby girl," said Lemon, leaning over to get a better look at her friends' daughter.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas, sweetheart," said Zoe, smiling down at her daughter. "You're going to love this time of year."

"I'll bet that's true enough." Wade sighed. "Her birthday and Christmas right alongside each other? The kid's going to be so spoilt every December."

"You bet your butt she is," Zoe agreed, grinning widely. "I just hope Jack is happy with his human Christmas gift."

"Come on now, the kid has been going on and on about what a great big brother he's gonna make for months now," Wade reminded her. "He's gonna love her."

"Big brother's not always the easiest role to take on," said Jesse, who had been awfully quiet up to now, "but it's not so bad," he said, smiling at Wade.

"Yeah, well, I guess big brothers are allowed to screw up sometimes," he said, grinning back at him, "so long as they come through in the end," he added, looking to Zoe then. "You know you wanted this one to have somethin' from one of our families? Well, she'll have to wait 'til she's grown some, but..."

Zoe watched as Wade reached into his pocket and drew out a gold chain, on which was strung a beautiful pendant of a gold four leaf clover.

"Is it... your mom's?" she asked, eyes sparkling with happy tears.

Wade only nodded, unable to say a word. Zoe leaned in and kissed his lips.

"Thank you," she told him, looking to Jesse and Earl and repeating the sentiment. "I honestly couldn't be happier," she said, even as she began sobbing.

It seemed that everybody took the hint that maybe it was best to leave the little family of three alone for a while, and so they went. Wade held Zoe close as he dared with their daughter cradled in her arms yet, a beautiful family portrait that would become perfect later when Jack could come and join them.

"I was thinking about her name," said Zoe in the quiet that followed.

"Yeah, we never did come to a final decision on that," Wade considered. "Used up my mom's name on Jack and I know you don't wanna name her Candice."

"No way." Zoe shook her head. "I love my mother but just no," she insisted. "But after what Lavon said, about her being born at midnight, how about Eve?"

"Eve," Wade echoed, looking down at his baby girl and seeming to give the idea due consideration, then he smiled. "Eve Kinsella. Yeah, I like that."

"Me too." Zoe sighed contentedly.

For a while there, things had seemed pretty crazy, and even now, she wasn't sure how everything had worked out. It had to be some kind of miracle that Wade had made it back to her side in time to see Eve born, and even more of a wonder that he had actually helped her deliver in the absence of an over-worked doctor, but Zoe was glad to know it had all worked out in the end, just like it always did in Bluebell.

The End

A/N2: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings as is appropriate to you and yours :)