Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Walking Dead. The characters belong to the creators of the television show and the graphic novels.
Season of Love
Chapter 1
December 12
"Taxi! Please!" Carol huffed as she nearly tripped over her own feet on the slick Atlanta sidewalk. "Please!" She dropped her phone, and it went skirting across the ice. "Shit!" She slipped and fell to her knees as she reached for her phone, and she cried out in pain just as a taxi cab squealed to a stop. She heard the door open, footsteps scuffling across the snow and then she felt a pair of hands on her arms.
"You ok, Ma'am?" She groaned softly, letting him help her stand, and she straightened up to look into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. "Ma'am?"
"Yes. Sorry. Shit. I'm ok. I think. Are you, are you stopping for me?"
"Well, when I see a lady slidin' down the sidewalk, I ain't gonna keep drivin'," he chuckled, pushing his shaggy hair out of his eyes.
"Well, it wasn't that bad," Carol scoffed. "I slipped."
"You sure you're ok?"
"Yeah. I'm ok. I'm glad you stopped." She wiped her hands on the front of her coat. She noticed the light on his cab was off, and she frowned. "Are you off duty?"
"Yeah, I was about to call it a night, but if ya need to get someplace, I'd be happy to take ya."
"I couldn't ask you to do that. I'll need a ride home. See, my car's in the shop, and I don't normally need a cab, but I have to get to the hospital and home. I can call someone. I just, I was in a hurry."
"I ain't in no hurry. This is just a temporary gig, anyway. I got time." Carol managed a thankful smile.
"I don't know how long I'll be. See, I'm going to…" Her eyes widened. "Oh God."
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot everything. I left everything at home." She began to panic, then, and she reached for her cell phone as her breathing quickened. "Oh God. I can't believe this."
"Hey. Wait a minute. Where's your house?"
"Three blocks. I walked, waiting for a cab, and I just…"
"Get in. C'mon, it's freezin' out here."
"You really don't have to do this," Carol insisted.
"I know I don't. C'mon. Let's go." He opened up the back door for her, and she gave him a grateful if not overwhelmed smile.
"Thank you so much."
"Daryl."
"Daryl," she smiled. "Thank you, Daryl. I'm Carol."
"Nice to meet ya." He nodded for her to get in, and she slipped into the backseat. He climbed behind the wheel and pulled a U-turn in the direction he'd seen her walking from. "What's got you runnin' outside in the middle of the night?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she offered, running her fingers through her short, auburn locks. She had a fair amount of silver peppered through her hair that seemed to shine in the pale moonlight. She rubbed her hands together for warmth. She saw him glance at her in the rear view mirror.
"Try me." She smiled a little and shook her head.
"I'm not even sure I believe it just yet. This is the place." Daryl pulled up to the quaint, two-story home with a white fence lining the yard. "You sure you don't mind to wait?"
"Go on. I got time." He nodded toward the house, and Carol quickly slipped out of the car and hurried up the steps, fidgeting with her cell phone the whole way. He watched her put the phone to her ear, gesturing emphatically as she tried to unlock her front door. When she got inside, the windows flooded with light, and he could see the colorful lights on a Christmas tree sparkle to life. He saw her shadow flitting about the place, and within a few minutes, she came out with a bag draped over one shoulder and some large, clunky item hanging from one hand. As she approached the taxi, he realized what she was carrying, and he quickly got out to help her with her things.
"Tell me you didn't forget your kid."
"What?" Carol asked. "Oh. This. This is empty." She slid the car seat into the back seat and tossed the diaper bag in, too. "Ok. I'm ready now."
"You sure? You need anything else?"
"No, I think I got everything." She took a couple of shaky breaths, and Daryl turned around in the drive.
"Grady Memorial?"
"Yeah," she panted, sending out a quick text.
"Who's havin' the baby?"
"Huh?"
"The diaper bag. Car seat."
"Oh," she murmured. "That'd be me." Daryl glanced at her as if she'd grown a second head. She smiled a little. "Told you you wouldn't believe me." She leaned back in her seat and ran her hands over her face. "What time is it?"
"Two thirty. You picked a hell of a time to have a baby. We got another storm comin'. Worst one Atlanta's seen in thirty years."
"I know," Carol murmured anxiously. "You don't have to wait for me. I can get someone to bring me home." She tapped out another text on her phone. "God, it's too early."
"Forgive me for statin' the obvious, but ya don't look like you're 'bout to have a baby." He cleared his throat. "Boy or girl?"
"I'm not sure yet." She took a shaky breath. "A social worker calls me at two in the morning and tells me to hurry, so I hurry. It's two weeks early. Baby wasn't due until after Christmas." Her words shook in her throat.
"Your first?"
"Yeah." She wrung her hands together. "You have kids?"
"Dodged a couple bullets. I ain't married."
"Neither am I," Carol murmured. "Not anymore."
"So, you're adopting?" He glanced at her in the mirror. "That's awesome."
"Yeah," Carol murmured.
"Ya don't sound so sure."
"I'm not so sure about anything. I've never done this before." She bit her trembling lip as Daryl pulled up outside of Grady Memorial Hospital.
"Do ya drink?"
"Huh?"
"Do ya drink."
"I like wine. Maybe a glass a day."
"You do drugs?"
"Excuse me? No!"
"Then you're already a better parent than my folks were. You'll be fine."
"Well," Carol murmured, "thanks for the vote of confidence. Daryl pulled up to the front entrance and cut the engine. He got out and helped Carol gather her things.
"Want me to help ya with these?"
"You really don't have to. I've got it." She smiled at him.
"So, you're gonna go meet your kid? That's kinda crazy if ya think about it."
"Crazy. Exciting," Carol chuckled. "I've been waiting for this for a long time. I just don't…" She shook her head. "I had a plan of how this was going to go. It was going to be perfect. Now I can barely remember my name or how to put one foot in front of the other."
"Maybe that's how it's s'posed to feel," Daryl offered.
"Thank you for the ride, Daryl. I appreciate this." She put down the car seat and fished into her pocket for a couple of twenties. Daryl shook his head. "I have to pay you."
"No ya don't. Off duty, remember? This one's on me. Merry Christmas." Carol felt tears well in her eyes, and she took a shaking breath.
"Merry Christmas. Thank you, Daryl." She turned then, gathering the car seat and starting toward the hospital doors. Daryl leaned against the side of the taxi and pulled a cigarette from the pack in his front pocket. He lit it up and took a long drag, contemplating getting back into the cab and heading home. It was late, and he was tired of driving miserable assholes around all day. But Carol had been the bright spot of his last twenty-four hours. She intrigued him. Now, all he wanted to do was stick around and see how this all played out. A part of him felt as if he'd become a part of this story. Maybe ten years from now she wouldn't remember the guy that stopped and gave her a ride to the hospital on the night her kid was born, but he was pretty certain this was a night he would never forget.
...
Carol was trembling by the time she stepped off the elevator and onto the maternity floor. A waiting room was just to the left of the elevators, and a young woman in a smart suit sat with a briefcase draped across her lap. The second Carol stepped off the elevator with the diaper bag and an empty car seat, she stood.
"You must be Carol," she said warmly. "I'm Andrea. I'm the one that woke you from what was probably a pretty sound sleep."
"That's ok," Carol chuckled. "I'm glad you called. The baby's here? ?"
"Baby's here. Born about six hours ago."
"Is..is everything ok?"
"Birth mom is doing well, and the baby's got a healthy set of lungs," Andrea smiled.
"What do I need? I…I'm not sure how all of this goes?"
"Well, the birth mom's already signed off on the adoption. She has ten days to change her mind."
"Ten days. That feels like a long time."
"With a newborn, it'll either feel like an hour or a century," Andrea promised with a smile. "Don't worry. I understand your lawyer's been very active in this adoption."
"And she knows, right? She knows I'm a single mom. That I'm a writer? That I…"
"Relax. She's a very sweet, very nervous young woman. She told me personally that she read your profile a dozen times. She was raised by a single mom, and she knows what a struggle that is, but her mother is very active in her life and very loving, and she has a lot of respect for women doing things on their own."
"And the father? I was told the father's involved."
"Yes. He's here. He's also signed over his rights. He's very supportive of everything."
"Have they…have they seen the baby?"
"That was the plan. They wanted to see the baby. Take pictures. But at the last minute, they changed their minds. They did ask me to give you this." Andrea handed Carol an envelope. "The birth parents have ten days to change their mind, but I don't see that happening. What will happen is that I'll be coming by for two separate visits over the next two months. It's required by law in order for the adoption to be finalized. You have already been cleared for adoption. The rest is just red tape and procedure. Don't worry."
"What happens now?"
"Now, we go meet your baby." Carol took a deep breath and nodded. "You have a healthy baby girl."
"A girl," Carol breathed. "She's…she's a girl." Carol put her hand to her chest, and Andrea put her hand on her shoulder.
"Breathe, Mom."
"Mom. God, she's gonna call me Mom."
"And what are you gonna call her?" Andrea watched Carol blink back the tears. As Carol wiped away her tears, she smiled.
"Sophia."