Hi all!
So this is the first fic I've posted on here for three years :/ Leave me a review and tell me what you think!
The setting; They've all found each other, (because I am a soft touch and can't kill off anyone else) along with most of the Woodbury survivors. The group headed farther out into the countryside and found a farm, planted gardens, set up solar- and wind-powered power, and gathered farm animals for food and transport. They learned to use plants for medication, and have become apt horticulturists. They even managed to produce enough crops to trade with other groups and have luxuries like bread, and a fruit orchard. There's an eight-foot high stone wall around the entire farm, made from rocks gathered from the river that flows on the other side of the wall. Walkers have become less and less common over the last five(ish) years.
And it's written in present tense, and I know that's weird. No regrets!
Daryl sits in the orchard under an apple tree, legs stretched in front of him as he reclines against the trunk. His crossbow lies next to him. Judith, now five years old, sits cross-legged with Mika in the ankle-deep clover and soft grass. Mika is patiently teaching her how to string the clover flowers together like daisy chains, whilst Glenn and Maggie's four-year-old boy chases butterflies nearby with one of the Woodbury couple's young children. He's not sure how he got roped into babysitting, but it's surprisingly pleasant sitting in the dappled sunlight and soft grass, watching the children frolic in the open space between the end of the row of apple trees and the stone wall under the warmth of the sun. He takes a drink from the canteen at his side and closes his eyes, leaning his head against the tree, listening to the cicadas in the trees and the children laughing and playing. He can hear the river whispering on the other side of the wall.
Carol sits down almost silently beside him, cross-legged. "Sleeping on the job?"
She smiles slightly cheekily at him, picking a clover flower and twirling in between her thumb and forefinger.
He opens his eyes and turns his head towards her, still leaning his head against the bark. "S'nice out here." He admits quietly, giving her his half-smile and a guilty chuckle.
"It is." She replies, shifting to stretch her legs out like his, leaning back on her hands and turning her face up to the sun.
They sit in silence for ten minutes, observing the five children in front of them.
"Y'ever think about it?" He asks, his voice carefully neutral.
She looks at him, entirely too relaxed to do more than roll her head towards him. "Kids?"
"Yeah." He looks relaxed as well, watching her with calm eyes and the corners of his mouth lazily upturned.
She smiles back before returning her face to the sun and closing her eyes again, still smiling. "Yeah." She replies.
His fingers find hers in the lush grass. Comfortable silence returns.
Mika stops before them, Glenn and Maggie's boy clinging to her hand and the other two following her. "I'm taking these three back to see how lunch is coming along." She informs them.
"Sure honey" Carol smiles at her. "Is Judy staying here?"
"If it's okay? I can take her if you want me to." She offers.
"S'fine." Daryl mumbles, almost dozing off in the sunlight. "Go on kiddo."
"Okay." She scoops up the youngest child, a toddler, and sets off through the orchard, the sheathed hunting knife on her opposite hip bumping as she walks.
"Uncle Daryl! Aunt Carol!" Judith runs through the long grass and throws herself onto Carol's lap. Carol wraps her arms around her with an "Oof!" and laughs as the girl hugs her tightly around the neck.
"Hi Judy," She mumbles into the girls' dark hair. She took after Lori, thankfully, with wavy hair. Daryl could only imagine the shitstorm if the girl had inherited Shane's tight curls. "Did you have a nice afternoon?"
"Uh huh!" She enthuses. "Look!" She sits back and shoves her fist towards Carol's face. Clover-flower chains dangle from her small grip.
Daryl sits up. "What'cha got there, Jude?"
"Flower crowns!" She scrambles across into his lap and holds them up. "Mika showed me, they go on your head." She nods, looking very serious. "My book has fairies and they wear them too."
He nods solemnly. "I see."
Carol chuckles and Judith turns to her, wriggling in Daryl's arms. "I made you one, Aunt Carol!"
"Did you? That's very sweet, Judy." Carol indulges her, smiling with affection. The little girl drops her handful of flower chains on the ground and selects one, detangling it as carefully as she can. She beckons and Carol scoots closer, bowing her head. Judith places it carefully on her head, before placing a small hand on each cheek, tipping her head up and eying her critically. Daryl can't help the grin that appears as Carol's eyes meet his over Judith's head.
"It's perfect." Judith says sincerely. She turns to him. "Carol's a pretty fairy now, Uncle Daryl!" She beams brilliantly. Carol sits back, the chain slipping down to lie across her forehead an inch below her hairline. "Isn't she pretty?"
His smile becomes lopsided, almost shy. "Prettiest lady I ever seen, Jude."
Carol crinkles her nose as she laughs. Their eyes meet over the girl's head again, hers sparkling with delight, bright blue in the sunshine. She untangles another chain and places it on Judith's head, fixing it so that it lies smoothly against her shiny hair. She leans forward and kisses her on the tip of her nose, giggling as the girl squeals in delight. "You're the prettiest fairy in the whole world."
Judith snuggles against Daryl's chest and he hugs her tightly. "We should go back soon." He sighs. Judith sighs dramatically. Carol lies on her side in the grass, her cheek propped on her elbow.
"Who's the other crown for, Judy?" She eyes him playfully. He raises an eyebrow, daring her to try what he knows she's planning.
Judith shrugs, her shoulder bumping his chest. "I was gonna let Mika have it but she can make them whenever she wants…" She trails off.
"Going to" Carol corrects gently, "Well, there's still one person who doesn't have one right here, maybe he feels left out." She suggests, her grin equal parts playful and wicked.
Daryl growls in his throat.
Judith looks up at him, then back to Carol. "But… Boys can't be fairies!" She frowns in puzzlement.
"Are there boy fairies in your book?" Carol coaxes. Daryl scowls halfheartedly at her. They both know that if Judith asks him to do it, he will. Carol tries to look innocent.
"I guess so," Judith concedes. "Uncle Daryl doesn't look like a fairy though." Daryl smirks.
Carol sighs disappointedly. "What's wrong with him?"
"The fairies wear tights and they have tambourines, not crossbows."
Carol giggles. Daryl begins to grin as her giggles become uncontrollable and she flops onto her back, arms spread and eyes dancing as she laughs until tears run over her cheeks.
"I don't think Uncle Daryl has any tights, sweetie," Carol manages, "But we might be able to rustle up a tambourine from somewhere." She chuckles. "Oh, god." She starts to laugh again. "Oh god, Judy, tights…"
He rolls his eyes and deposits Judith in the grass He shifts to his knees, planning to stand, but a small hand on his thigh stops him.
"You could still be a fairy if you want, Uncle Daryl." She looks up sincerely, like she's worried his feelings might be hurt. He looks down at her, with her rosy cheeks and thickly-lashed brown eyes beneath the pinky-purple flower crown, and realises he's lost this particular battle.
He heaves a put-upon sigh and flops back to the ground. "M'kay then, but I'm gonna beat Carl up if he laughs…"
Carol laughs as she sits up to sit cross-legged and hands the last crown, a little squashed from where he sat Judith on it, over to the girl. The smile she gives him is full-blown and it crinkles the corners of her eyes.
With his head bowed in defeat whislt the crown is bestowed upon him, he thinks about the two newest children that Glenn and Maggie had come across on a run, about how they're currently sleeping in cots in their infirmary. He thinks about suggesting to Carol that once they've gained weight and are back to good health that they could have the extra rooms in the house that was once occupied by a farm manager and his family. The house was too big for just the two of them anyway. He thinks about the child that had died before it was born and the reluctant acceptance that they would never have one of their own, and that Carol wanted one as much as he did although he'd never say it in as many words.
He comes back to reality with a start and realises he's been staring at Carol's knee just long enough for her to notice he's drifted away. Her lips quirk up when his gaze lands on her face.
"Huh?"
"We should head back, lunch must be ready by now… And I don't know about you," She poked Judith playfully in the stomach, "But I'm starving!"
"Can I ride back?" Judith asks hopefully. Daryl rolls his eyes with no real frustration, making her chortle because she knows she's getting her way, and swings her up onto his shoulders, where she clutches his hair softy.
He offers Carol a hand up, which she takes and allows him to pull her to her feet, and then drops into a sudden crouch, making Judith squeal as he retrieves his crossbow.
Carol's fingers found his again as they hiked silently towards the cluster of buildings, listening to the birdsong and rustling of leaves above them.
Nobody commented on the flower crowns, not even Carl. Daryl didn't realise that Judith had pressed her finger to her lips in a ssh motion, but he returned Carl's grin all the same.
Cute and fluffy?
Or grossly cheesey?
Have a great day everyone and thanks for reading!