Author's Note: I do not own any part of The Walking Dead franchise, nor do I receive or expect any profit from my antics. However, Marietta and Sydney are all mine.

Here's another writing exercise for y'all. Although it comes later in the story, the whole thing was inspired by Lexlady's and Jacqui Kennedy's request to see Merle interacting with Daryl and Michonne's kids (JK, unfortunately, you're going to have to wait a while longer for a proper Richonne story to pop up, although I have some ideas…ones you may or may not get mad at me about).

This one is rough around the edges but I didn't want to devote a whole lot of time to it so hopefully we can all make do. Nevertheless, your feedback is always welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Chapter One

Michonne stood half-dressed in front of the bathroom sink. She finished up the last of her flossing as the final cloud of steamy fog disappeared from the mirror.

Glancing at the wall clock, she decided to spend a little extra time getting ready. She had a good hour before they needed to pack up the trucks and get on their way, Daryl and the kids out to the garage so he could finish up a couple of things before their weekend camping trip, and she to run a few last-minute errands as well.

Everyone was looking forward to the weekend, even Andre who'd been attached at the hip to his new girlfriend for the last month and a half. Marietta had kept her eagerness in check so far, excited because she'd helped Daryl with a lot of the planning. A total Daddy's Girl, that one. Sydney remained happy to go anywhere that her family went as long as she got to run around and play. Always in his element when they were out in the woods, Daryl couldn't wait to get her and the kids far away from afterschool activities, garage finances and mundane household chores. It was their last big outing during the kids' final few weeks of school. The girls would start summer camp soon afterwards, and Andre would be spending a month-long vacation with his dad.

Michonne couldn't deny her own anticipation too at getting to spend so much uninterrupted leisure time with her family.

As she propped her leg up to rub lotion along her limbs, a click of the bathroom door caught her attention. She frowned, ready to fuss at Sydney for not knocking. For whatever reason, her youngest daughter had been feeling very attached to her lately and had taken to following her everywhere, including into the bathroom if the mood suited her. But instead, Daryl slipped inside, casual expression turning to a playful leer when he saw what he'd walked in on. He did have a thing about her legs.

"Looks like I got here just in time."

Michonne laughed. "Don't you start, Dixon. We've got a busy day."

Stepping into the closet momentarily to put something on the shelf, he returned to the sink area to put his arms around her from behind.

"Maybe I can help you out then. You can spare your man a few minutes, can't ya? Them kids of ours are gon' keep us busy all weekend. This might be the last time for a while that we get to fool around." He nuzzled into her to enjoy her clean scent and then kissed her behind the ear. She only wore her bra and panties; the clothes she'd chosen were draped across the shelf by the closet. Daryl's fingers traced across her stomach before reaching around to caress her arms. As she returned the lotion to the counter, he'd moved to trail kisses along her neck and shoulder.

"A few minutes? Those are some low expectations, old man." The breath from his chuckle tickled her skin.

"There'll be plenty 'a time for the whole show when we get back. Don't need more than a few minutes for what I got in mind." True to his word, he hadn't tried to escalate anything, he simply enjoyed their closeness. "'Sides, Andre an' Sydney are busy gettin' the last 'a the stuff from the garage, and Etta's repacking her and Syd's backpacks. They aint worried 'bout what we're doin' in here." He pulled at the strap of her bra. "You gon' wear this on the trip?" It was one of her nicer bras, all silk and lace and vibrant color. "Aint the most practical thing I've seen on ya." As he fiddled with the soft strap, he let his other hand trace along the band of her matching panties. A couple of fingers found their way along the bare skin of her hip.

"I can change if you think it's inappropriate. You are the expert on all things outdoors."

Slipping a strap further down her shoulder, he kissed her once more there. "Mmm, don't you dare."

She laughed and turned around to slip her hands around his neck. "You make a good point about our lack of privacy this weekend. And I can't have you thinking I'm neglecting you." As he held her, she brought his head down for a kiss.

They made out for a few minutes in the balmy heat of the bathroom, the cooler air outside rapidly finding its way in. When Michonne's hands went for the button on his pants, Daryl pulled away.

Michonne flashed him a mock scowl. "Now who's being a tease?" She might have to make him pay for waltzing into the bathroom, getting her all riled up and then leaving her hanging. She reached for his waistband again and pulled him flush against her.

"What happened to 'don't start, Dixon, we got a busy day'?" He removed her hands from his pants and intertwined their fingers instead.

"That was before you walked in here and started all this trouble." She used his solid body to leverage herself, pushing him backwards until she had him pinned against the now closed door. "Looks like I'm gonna have to get on you for it."

He groaned as she reached under his worn work-shirt to scrape her fingertips across his naked chest. "Babe, I love payback as much as the next guy but we really don't have time."

Grinning up at him, she leaned in and nipped him along his chin. Her hips pressed into him. "Don't we?"

His sharp intake of breath satisfied the lust he'd stirred up in her; she almost laughed as she felt his hands along her backside reaching to grind her into him, the move almost instinctive. Instead of backing her up to the sink again, he turned them around so that she was now pinned against the bathroom door.

"Might wanna be careful what ya ask for. All these years you been puttin' up with me and I still gotta remind ya."

"I'm a slow learner. Get over it." She shifted so he could wrap himself more fully around her, urging him to show her what he had in mind. In return, he devoured her mouth to make his point clear. They undulated and tasted and explored as their silent breaths steamed up the bathroom once more. Michonne again reached for his pants and this time he didn't stop her.

That's when the banging started.

It went on for a few reverberations before transitioning into a knock and then turning into a rattle on the doorknob. Thankfully, Daryl's weight against her as she leaned on the door kept it closed.

"Mama," Sydney whined. "Mama, I need you."

Daryl groaned at her ear and she felt really bad for him judging by its strangled tone. Taking a few moments to rest her head against his shoulder and normalize her breathing, she got her frustration under control enough to respond.

"Syd, remember we talked about this. Do you really need me or can you wait until I'm done getting ready?" Daryl snickered into her ear as he tried to calm himself down too.

The little girl stopped trying to open the door and considered the question. "No, I need you for real this time. Dre said to come get you 'cause we can't find my sleepin' bag."

Michonne winced at her explanation. So Andre had sent her. This did indeed sound like a 'Mama' issue.

"Why don't you go ask your sister, Squirrel?" Daryl said. "She knows where all the stuff is too."

"Papa?" Even with such a little voice, she made the question sound accusatory. "What are you doin' in there with Mama? Can I come in too?"

In his current state, that wouldn't be the best idea in the world. Their whole encounter had become incredibly awkward, yet Michonne always found this predicament funny, whether or not she felt bad for her frustrated husband. And with three kids, they'd run up on this scenario quite a few times. She couldn't suppress her chuckles despite Daryl's I-Told-You-So glare.

"Papa's helping me get ready. Go check with your sister, and then you and your brother look again.

Another pause as Sydney considered whether it was worth it to push her luck or just do as she'd been told. Daryl added, "We'll come down when we're done, Squirrel." Michonne grabbed his ass and he swatted her hand away with a grin.

"Okay. But can we go soon? I wanna ride my bike at Papa's shop before we go to the lake, and Uncle Merle is gonna be there too and he's gonna show me where the deer family is. And Etta's gonna practice her crossbow and she said I can watch but Papa's gotta watch too and he can't watch if he doesn't work first and—"

"Sydney." Michonne's interruption was stern but kind. "We'll hurry up so you can go play sooner. But be a good girl and go find your sleeping bag like I asked."

"Okay." The last of the word trailed off as she had already turned and wandered out of the room to go find her sister.

Daryl stepped away from her and took a few more deep breaths. "All this time we been together?" He shook his head and re-zipped his pants. "I should know better than to let you talk me into foolin' around when we don't got enough time to get into it." His irritation was clear but the little upturn to his lips reflected his amusement too.

Michonne sidled up to him and wrapped her arms around his middle. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

Reluctantly, he allowed her to lean him against the sink as they held each other. She pecked him on the lips, which led to another and then to a longer kiss. Before they knew it, they were on their way to making out again. In the distance, they heard footsteps pounding down the stairs and then they once more tuned out the rest of the household.

"Woman, you better go put some clothes on so we can get outta here." Daryl said this with his arms still around her and content to let her offer a string of kisses along his neck and chest. She murmured some unintelligible sound into his body that could have been interpreted as protest or assent.

Then more knocking stopped them cold.

Daryl looked skyward and let out a long breath. Michonne pushed herself off of Daryl, threw on her robe and slowly wandered to the door to open it as he moved into the closet area to both cool off and hide his frustration from his kids.

When she opened the door, instead of her youngest child greeting her, she stood face to face with her oldest. His expression was both parts embarrassment and hilarity.

"Uh, we still can't find Sydney's sleeping bag. So if you two are done in here, maybe you want to come lend a hand. We're gonna run late if you don't get it together." He rolled his eyes and backed out of the room. "And you guys are totally gross by the way."

Michonne crossed her arms and watched him leave. "You can come out now, Daryl." But he stayed in the doorway of the closet holding his boots and light jacket, probably what he had come into the bathroom for in the first place.

He opened his mouth to reprimand her and when she turned her intense gaze on him, he thought better of it. "That's the last time I listen to you," he said, pecking her on the forehead and then walking out of the room with his stuff.

"We'll see about that, Dixon," she shouted back at him. Turning into the closet, she grabbed her clothes and went to close the bedroom door so she could quickly get changed.

So much for spending her extra time getting ready. Smiling to herself, Michonne figured she'd found an even better way to pass the time.

TBC...