Disclaimer: Don't own, just like playing in the sandbox.

AN: Reposting since the original was taken down. Made some minor tweaks that were bugging me.

Nice Stops At Fucking Midnight (If You're Lucky)

The phone rings, scaring them both into reaching for their respective weapons. When it rings again, they relax. It's been so long since they had heard a phone they've forgotten what it sounds like. They had just gotten it a few days ago and it's only been used once by their daughter. For an hour

"Imma kill her," Daryl mutters as he climbs out of bed.

"Don't make a mess," Andrea mumbles into her pillow.

Grumbling under his breath about boys who need to stay the hell 'way from his baby girl; Daryl goes into the kitchen, flips a light on and snatches the receiver mid ring as Amy rushes in to catch it before him.

"What?" He snarls. Amy tries to sneak away but one look from Daryl has her back in the kitchen and sitting down at the table.

The pause is so long Daryl thinks whoever was stupid enough to call wised up and hung up.

Until… "Uh… Is Amy there?"

Daryl bites back the urge to cuss the kid out. It's Amy's would-be boyfriend Darren. He's been pursuing her since they had settled into the safe haven two months ago, where electricity had been already restored. Civilization was slowly beginning to rebuild.

She enjoyed the attention but wasn't interested in a boyfriend. Thank god.

"Listen ya little shit," he glances at the moon, rather than the clock on the wall, trusting it more than the guesstimate of the clock. "It's after one in the morning, the hell you calling Amy fer?"

"Wanted to talk," he mumbles, hopefully regretting this weird ass courting attempt.

"Talk durin' the day."

"But-"

"But nothin', ya call or come by at a decent hour and if yer lucky an' I mean damn lucky, I'll let ya talk to her. Understand?"

His gulp is audible. "Yes sir. Sorry."

"Ya oughta be," he slams the phone down.

Amy jumps, she's seen her daddy mad plenty times before but it's never been directed at her, frustrated when she's stubborn like her mama; or scared out of his wits when she wandered off when she was seven and nearly got bitten by a walker. The first time she saw him cry was out of relief when he saw she was safe.

He's been mad at mama before, 'cause she's so stubborn and hardheaded but they always make up, they drive each other nuts in that cute married couple way; or Uncle Rick when they don't agree on something, which isn't that often anymore.

"You could've been nicer." she mumbles.

Daryl stares at her, his right eye twitches.

Uh-oh.

"No ma'am, nice stops at fuckin' midnight. The hell's he callin' ya so late anyway?"

She chews on her thumbnail. "Wanted to talk," she mumbles around it, her gaze on the table.

"So he said. Try again."

"That's all, honest daddy." She stares up at him with big blue-green eyes.

"Then he needs ta talk ta ya at a normal hour. Hell, if he threw pebbles at yer window an' didn't wake us up I wouldn't care."

She raises an eyebrow, looking exactly like Andrea. "Really?"

"Hell no, I ain't ready to be no granddaddy."

"Daddy-"

"Don' you 'daddy' me baby girl, next time that boy comes over, Imma be watchin' you like a hawk. Ya take off, yer grounded for a month, got it?"

She nods. "Yeah."

He gets up. "Good, c'mere an' give me a hug."

Amy smiles and immediately goes into his embrace, where she's always felt safest.

"You know I won't do anything stupid, right?"

"Yer fifteen, got yer mama's looks and hormones runnin' all over the place. Wonder if Rick'll help me make a chastity belt…"

"Daddy!"

She sounds mad, but can't help but giggle. Daryl smiles and presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Go on back to bed."

She kisses his cheek. "Love you dad."

"Love you baby girl."

As Amy makes her way out one entrance to the kitchen, Daryl turns to the other and sees a pair of bright blue eyes peeking around the doorway. He smiles at the eight year old

"Whatcha doin' up Soph?"

She walks over to him, and hold her arms up so he'll pick her up.

"What do ya say?"

Sophia giggles. "Pretty please with a squirrel's tail on top!" Something she had picked up from her mother long ago.

Daryl smiles and scoops her up, tossing her over his shoulder with practiced ease.

Sophia giggles, her long brown hair dangling in front of her face. Her tiny legs kick as he tickles her sides. "Daaaddyy…"

"C'mon little bit, back ta bed."

Her giggles echo through the hallway as he carries her back to her bedroom. A small mermaid nightlight (something that never would've been allowed in a Dixon household in another lifetime) glows in the room as Daryl walks in and places Sophia in the bed and tucks her back in.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah baby?"

"We're safe here right? We're not gonna get hurt or someone gets lost again… Like Carl got lost?"

Carl.

The twenty-eight year old had gone hunting with him and Rick right before they had found their safe haven. They had spilt up, Daryl and Rick returned; Carl hadn't. They tried to pick up his trail, covering miles before being forced to give up and move on. They had some hope that he would find them again, if he is alive and he hears about the safe haven.

He sits on the edge of the bed. "If the walkers do come back, your mama and I will do everything we can to keep you and Amy save, ya hear? Ya ain't gettin' lost on my watch. I promise."

This satisfies her fear as she wraps an arm around her favorite doll. "Can we practice shootin' tomorrow?"

"You bet." He gets up and kisses her forehead. "Love you Soph."

"Love you too daddy," she mumbles, already half asleep.

He smiles as he quietly makes his way out of the room, keeping the door open a crack.

He makes his way back to back to bed, shutting off the kitchen light as he does. It's taken awhile to get used to having electricity and just… getting back to normal. Though no one is who they used to be. Definitely no going back to what they used to be.

Andrea is half asleep when he climbs back into bed. "Scare the piss out of him?"

He curls up behind her, inhaling her lavender shampoo.

"Nah, doesn't work well over the phone."

Andrea smiles into her pillow. "Your losing your touch Dixon."

"Jus' wait 'til he comes over. I'll have our whole arsenal out and let him know if he puts his hands where they don't belong, he's gonna disappear fer three days and when he comes back he won't even look at her again."

Andrea laughs quietly. "Sounds good. She'll be a virgin until she's thirty."

"I don't see a problem with that."

Still smiling, she turns over to face him. "Gotta let her grow up sometime."

"You want her runnin' 'round with that guy?"

"He can keep her safe just as well as we can." Daryl snorts in disbelief at this. "If you actually got to know him instead of glaring at him every time he comes within ten feet of Amy; you'd see he's a nice kid. He's sixteen, knows how to handle a gun and knife, a pretty good hunter and kinda cute… He kind of reminds me of you."

"… Aw fuck. Now she is gettin' a chastity belt and I don't want no arguing on this."

End

AN2: I am in the process of working on two other Daryl/Andrea fics and the latest chapter of "Safe and Sound" my Walking Dead/Smallville crossover. School has been kicking my butt lately hopefully will have a new one up within a week or so. Hope you all enjoyed this. Reviews please?

Dannie