Story Summary:

This is AU – No Zombies. Sophia is a newborn. Carol is married to Ed. Daryl lends a hand. Eventual Caryl.

Author Notes:

With one of my WIPs one chapter away from ending, I found I could not hesitate writing this idea I had any longer. This has been forming in my brain for months now. It will be a long one – probably one of the longer ones I have done. Enjoy!

I do not own TWD, it's characters, or Wal-Mart.

Chapter Notes:

Carol and newborn Sophia go shopping with Ed's list and Ed's rules in hand.

Carol Peletier pushed her cart through the aisles at the local Wal-Mart. Sophia was latched into her infant seat in front of her and was soundly sleeping as she roamed the aisles. She looked at the list in front of her. Ed had written it himself, and true to his character had put the amount she was allowed to spend next to each item. She was not allowed to go one penny over each item's price, not even being allowed to make up one item's higher cost with another item's lower one. Store brands had been a staple in her home and while the quality was just as good, some vestige of her formerly stubborn self was smarting at the lack of choices she had in these matters.

She did the shopping once a week, always on Thursday afternoons after Ed came home from the bank after being paid. He would give her a list that he would draw up of the daily schedule of meals he wanted. She would itemize the ingredients needed after which he would write amounts down with no real rhyme or reason to them other than what she figured was his "best guess" and then hand over the exact amount of money he figured she needed after tax. Sometimes she had to wonder at that too, because Ed was an abusive son of a bitch, and she more than suspected that he purposely put prices on that were much lower than they cost. One time when she had not been able to get the butter he wanted for less than the two dollars he had allotted for it, she had ended up with two black eyes and a split lip. She learned to never go outside of the list.

She didn't know why she still did this. Well, that wasn't true either. She did this because she was stupid enough to marry Ed in the first place upon becoming pregnant. Before finding out, she had been prepared to leave him. Once that pink line showed up on the pregnancy test, she felt she owed it to stick things out with him. Her own mother had never had a man for more than a month or two when Carol was growing up. She wasn't going to offer the same for her child. So now she did this for Sophia. He was an uninvolved, disinterested father; but he wasn't abusive towards the child. She snorted at that justification. Sophia was just two weeks old. The thought that he was not abusive was ridiculous at this point.

She wandered down an out of he way aisle and pulled out her list. She had bought all the groceries Ed had listed, and now had to get the non-food items. Ed's deodorant, Sophia's diapers, and toilet paper. She wandered slowly through the aisles, taking her time. She wanted to prolong this outing as long as Ed would tolerate. It was the only time she was allowed out of the house now. Ed justified it by saying she just had a baby and shouldn't be out and about just yet. However that didn't stop him from making her still do all the heavy lifting at home and all the cleaning. The fact that he also made her do all the shopping was something she was determined to hide her enjoyment of. She was afraid he would take that away, or worse yet come with her. Then she would have to endure his temper tantrums at her slow pace in a public setting. She still had a healing episiotomy scar to deal with, and walking longer distances was a challenge.

She found Ed's deodorant and the toilet paper he favored. Now to the diapers. Sophia was a very well behaved baby at this stage. But she still peed and pooped like any infant. Ed was not happy about the cost of buying diapers. She had even offered to start using cloth diapers but he had refused. He had said that he wouldn't tolerate them being around the house soiled while she sat around on her lazy ass without washing them. He also used the vile argument that nobody was going to catch his baby wearing trailer trash jungle bunny diapers that any two cent whore could afford. God she loathed that man with every fiber of her being. She wished she had the courage to leave. He mother wouldn't help her, but there was some tiny part of her stomped self confidence that still believed she could do it.

She ruminated on how she would leave often. She considered it more and more the closer she got to having Sophia. But in the end, she was just too scared. Scared she would not be able to provide a roof over Sophia's head. Scared she would be a terrible mother if she was on her own, just like her own had been. So, as long as Sophia was safe, she would stay.

She entered the diaper aisle and started scanning the shelves. Sophia was literally on her second to last diaper. She highly doubted they would make it home before the last one was put into service. She found the store brand diapers that Ed had listed. He had allotted one package for the week for Sophia. That was a package of 104 diapers that came in at the less than $20.00 Ed had indicated on the list pre-tax. That gave an allowance of roughly 14 or 15 a day. That would cover things the way they were now with Sophia. She just hoped they stayed that way.

The display of diapers was running low, and the bag within her sight was slightly above her head but pushed back further than she could reach. She climbed onto the shelving at her feet to get an extra boost, but still could barely touch the package with her finger tips. She considering having to either scale the shelving or get some help when somebody behind her cleared their throats.

She looked back and saw a man in a yellow employee vest. He gestured to the package and said "let me help." She could do nothing but nod because she was caught up in the most beautiful pair of blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Thank you" she said and smiled hesitantly.

"No worries. Just about to stock the display anyways. You need another package?"

"No. Just the one is all I can . . . all I need."

"Have a good day ma'am." he said as she turned the cart around.

Daryl Dixon watched the young woman with the red curly hair and gorgeous blue eyes leave the store for the parking lot. He saw the newborn in the cart and the way she slowly shuffled away after getting her bags. He had spent enough time helping out his sister in law Andrea after she gave birth when Merle worked to know she had to have been hurting. He also noticed the ring on her finger. If she was married, what kind of ass of a husband did she have that had her carrying everything on her own? He was about to go out and help her, but the security alarm went off then, and he found himself pressed into helping security out with a couple shoplifters. When he looked up again, she was gone.

Chapter End Notes:

Let me know what you think! Even though I have most chapters mapped out, I am hoping for longer chapters so updates will be regularly timed for me.