Snippet #2356382

Darrin was watching Zooey as she spoke to him. "Tonight, Zeke and Zaira will be at your mothers. Which means we have the whole night to ourselves, after the bonfire." the woman paused for a second, "And we get to sleep in tomorrow morning." Darrin gently kissed Zooey's cheek once more. "I hadn't thought of that. You'll probably want some alone time or whatever you girls are calling it now." he said, smiling. He loved picking at Zooey. He sat up in the bed after receiving a kiss from Zooey. His eyes followed her as she got ready. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. "I'll get the kids breakfast and we'll be out of here within the hour, I'll be back around... one-ish?" Zooey said. Darrin smiled. "You'd better be here by one, then. I'm be lonely without you." he said, smiling. He slid off of the bed and slowly made his way out, after Zooey. He decided to get dressed before heading downstairs. He walked back into his bedroom to dress. After making sure that he looked alright, he headed downstairs to find that Zooey had left him breakfast. He smiled. She was most likely getting the kids ready to leave. Darrin sat down and quickly ate. As he heard the three coming back into the kitchen, he hugged each of his children and kissed them. Darrin had eyed Zooey closely, trying to silently tell her how much he wished that he could have hugged her right then. Kissed her. He waved to them as they pulled out of the driveway.

After everyone was gone from the house, Darrin walked outside to sit in his chair. He knew that the guys would be there soon. He still wasn't nervous at all. Well, about seeing them. He was more nervous about everyone meeting Zooey. He wondered what they would think of her. Darrin hadn't been sitting outside for too long before two vehicles were pulling into the driveway. Darrin waited until the three men were out of the vehicles before standing. He smiled. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he'd missed them. All of them. They'd been through so much together and he'd tried to end everything as if they'd never known each other. Landon was the first to reach Darrin. The man was barely taller than Darrin. He quickly pulled Darrin into a tight hug which Darrin returned. Landon was the bass player and had always been well known as loving his men. His slightly higher pitched voice was happy. "I'm so glad to see you, Darrin! Ty and Damion were so pissed at you..but I knew. I knew that you'd come back once you were ready." he said, smiling and releasing his friend. Darrin smiled. Damion waved at Darrin as he walked up onto the porch Tyler followed behind Damion. He didn't look as happy but seemed less angry than Damion had the other day. Darrin led the guys into the house and into the living room. The guys all sat down around the room and began talking. Darrin told them everything that had happened the past year and a half and how it had been Zooey that had pulled him out of the terrible state that he'd been in. He'd told them of his growing addiction to alcohol and Oxycontin and how he was trying so hard to stay away from the substances. The guys also spoke, telling Darrin how hurt they'd been when he'd told them that he'd never cared for them. They'd only been there to help get him fame and fortune, to which Darrin apologized for a long time for. He'd never meant the things he'd said to them.

After several hours, Darrin looked at the time. It was almost twelve..Zooey would be there soon. Darrin smiled. Landon kept eyeing Darrin. "You look good..I mean..I can tell that you've lost a lot of weight that you really didn't need to lose..but you look happy. Happier than I've seen you in a very long time." he said. Darrin only smiled. Damion laughed. "I bet it has something to do with Zooey." Darrin then told them of how he thought that he was falling for her..really falling. He told them everything. It wasn't long until it was one o'clock. The guys were all still sitting around the living room, talking and laughing. Landon was sitting on the same couch as Darrin, each man at opposite ends. Tyler was sitting upon the floor and Damion was upon the other couch. The men didn't seem to notice when the front door opened.

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Zaira was so excited to be going to get ice cream. She was already almost bouncing out of her seat. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" she kept asking Zooey. It seemed to take forever to get to the ice cream shop. Zaira allowed Zooey to help her out of the car and followed the woman. Once they were at the counter, Zaira told Zooey that she wanted the pink ice cream. Smiling, the little girl couldn't wait to try the sweet treat. She followed Zeke and Zooey as they found a table to sit at. She slowly enjoyed the ice cream, eyeing Zooey. "Zoe, can I ask you something?" the little girl asked, awaiting a response before continuing. "Do you love my Daddy?" she asked. Zaira wasn't dim. She'd noticed something was different between her father and Zooey. She'd seen how her Daddy would keep looking at the woman. Zaira's eyes stayed glued to Zooey until she got her answer.

After finishing with the ice cream, they loaded back up into the car. It was still a bit early but Zaira couldn't wait to see her granddaddy. After what had seemed like forever, they finally arrived at their grandparents' house. Zaira was practically bouncing to get out. Judith was already waiting on them outside, beaming. She couldn't believe that Zooey had been able to convince Darrin to allow her to bring Zeke and Zaira. Mick slowly made his way out of the house. He was beaming. It had been such a long time since he'd seen the kids. He was also curious about the nanny. Judith had told him that it had been her that had seemed to help pull Darrin out of himself. After Zaira was out of the car, she took off at full speed towards her graddaddy. He scooped her up into his arms, smiling. He waited for Zeke, to pick him up as well.

After everyone was inside the house, the adults were in the kitchen. Mick kept eyeing Zooey. "So, tell me Ms. Greene, exactly how you were able to help my son. Judith says that you've done wonders." he said. He listened intently to her reply. He smiled at her. "Thank you. I was afraid that we'd lost him." The adults talked for some time, Darrin's parents asking Zooey about herself and things of that nature. Before long, the clock was ticking ever closer to twelve thirty.