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Our Family Portrait

Chapter 1

"Can you smile for me, Benny?" Carol asked, kneeling in front of the toddler and smiling brightly. He sniffled, scratched his nose and peered up at his mother who looked haggard but hopeful behind Carol.

"Come on, Benny. Just one more?" his mother pleaded.

"No," he grumbled. Carol's shoulders slumped at the exchange. "No pictures!"

"Benny, do you like dinosaurs?"

"No!"

"How about race cars?"

"No," he muttered, kicking the toe of his shoe into a wayward letter block. Carol shifted when her knees started to ache.

"How about ice cream?" One last ditch effort to charm the cranky kid. Benny's eyes brightened. His mother took a step forward.

"Oh, Benny loves ice cream. Strawberry is his favorite. How about two scoops of strawberry on the way home for one more big smile?" The mother's bribery worked, and the kid smiled brightly. Carol managed to get a few rapid fire captures in before taking his mother over to the computer to pick out her favorite snaps.

"Oh, my Benny is a photogenic boy, isn't he?" the mother gushed, as the child ran in rampant circles around the prop room. Carol grimaced at the sound of something toppling over.

"Oh yeah. Cute kid," she said with a forced smile and raised eyebrows. "You must be proud." The mother giggled and quickly made her order selection before writing out a check and putting it on Carol's desk.

By the time Carol pulled onto the freeway, the sun was settling in the Atlanta horizons. Her trusty camera was packed away neatly in its case on the passenger's seat, and despite the ache in her bones and the yawn on her lips, she had had a good day's work. Three family portraits, one pregnancy announcement, one newborn shoot and a few photo sessions with unruly kids had pretty much paid her studio rent for the next two months and even some money to splurge on old furniture at flea markets for the prop room. She made a mental note to thank her best friend Michonne for convincing her to advertise on social media.

By the time she got home, the street lights were flickering on, and dining room lights were illuminated all through the neighborhood. Carol's house was dark, but the moment her key turned her key in the door, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She quickly pushed the door open to the loud beep of the security system, stumbled through the dark to the illuminated keypad and typed in the code to silence the house again. She gently placed her camera bag on the hall table and fished her phone from her pocked. She checked the caller ID and smiled.

"Hey!"

"So? Was I right?" Michonne asked with a laugh on the other line.

"You were so right," Carol laughed, flipping on the hall light and toeing off her shoes before slipping into the living room and throwing herself on the couch. "I have three more sessions lined up tomorrow, and two of my clients asked for my business card to give to their friends. My business card, Michonne!"

"See, I told you! You're amazing, and everybody around town will see that."

"I only have you to thank for that," Carol sighed. "If it hadn't been for you, I never would have bought that camera. Hell, I never would have looked into that office space downtown, either."

"Ed did a number on you," Michonne said quietly. "I'm just glad you got out before…"

"It's the past, Michonne."

"It's the past, but as long as he's walking around living and breathing, he's still…"

"He never put a hand on me, Michonne," Carol insisted. "As controlling and…and possessive as he was, he never hurt me like that."

"Why do you sound like you're sticking up for him?"

"I'm not." Carol's voice was even. Calm.

"He threatened you, Carol. Maybe he never followed through, but I was there for a few of those phone calls. I saw the look in your eyes. You were scared."

"He's not stupid enough to come near me."

"A piece of paper means nothing to a guy like that."

"I think he's scared of Andrea, to be honest. She pretty much had him by the balls in the court room. A print out of all of his texts certainly helped."

"I still worry," Michonne insisted. "I'm glad you at least got a security system."

"And don't forget my lean, mean, barking machine," Carol chuckled, as a fluffy German Shepherd puppy bolted into the room with a bone in his mouth. He quirked his head to the side before dropping his bone and jumping up onto the couch so Carol could scratch him behind the ears. "How's my baby, hmm?"

"Yeah, he's a real man eater, that one," Michonne snorted. "Didn't he hide under your bed during the storm the other night?"

"He's just a baby, Michonne. He was scared," Carol pouted. "Isn't that right, Lucky? Yes. That's a good boy. Oh, mommy didn't mean to leave you for so long today. Traffic was awful."

"You really need to find a man," Michonne snorted. "Preferably one that looks talks and acts nothing like your asshole ex husband."

"Oh, here we go again," Carol sighed. "I am perfectly happy being single, Michonne. I'm happy now, Michonne. Really. I'm making my own money, meeting new people, saving money for the future. I actually have a future to look forward to, Mich. You know? I'm not stuck being a piece of jewelry on my husband's arm at some boring dinner. I'm not sitting at home staring at the TV screen wondering if somebody Ed knew saw me talking to the cute guy behind the register at the store a little too long."

"And you say I shouldn't worry about Ed," Michonne scoffed. "Let me repeat what you just said…"

"Ok, I get it," Carol insisted. "It all played out very loudly in court. He was abusive, even if he never hit me. I don't love him, I don't miss him, and I certainly don't care if I ever see him again. But I can't spend the rest of my life being afraid that he's going to suddenly miss what he thinks we had in the middle of the night and come knocking on my door."

"That's…healthy, actually. It still won't stop me from worrying about you."

"Well, don't. I'm fine, and I'm happy for the first time in my life. And when or if I meet someone else, we'll see how things go. I'm not twenty-two anymore. I think I spot a disaster in the making from a mile away now, thanks to Ed. For now, I've got my job, my camera, my Lucky. Oh, and you, of course." Michonne chuckled at that. "Thank you for worrying about me. You've done so much for me. If it wasn't for you, I might not have gotten out of there."

"Yes you would have," Michonne insisted. "You already had one foot out the door. I just kind of nudged you the rest of the way out."

"In the middle of the night with your cop boyfriend as backup," Carol pointed out. "And I can still never thank you enough for helping get me out of there before Ed could really do some damage."

"He did enough," Michonne pointed out.

"True," Carol sighed. "Michonne?"

"Hmm?"

"Today was a good day."

"Good. I'm glad. Hey, I think Rick's calling. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Carol promised. "Love you, Mich."

"Love you back." Carol ended the call and flopped back on the couch. She felt a cold, wet nose nudge her hand, and she scratched Lucky behind the ears again.

"C'mon. I think I've got enough energy in me for one short walk." As if he knew exactly what she was saying, he hopped up and leapt off the couch, running to the corner where his leash was hanging on the coat rack. Carol chuckled and sat up, groaning at the ache in her knees from crouching to toddler level.

She slipped on her comfy walking shoes and hooked Lucky's leash to his collar.

"Alright, boy. Let's make this one quick."

...

A year ago, the idea of owning her own business had been nothing more than a dream to Carol Peletier. She was in the middle of a nasty divorce with her well-off husband who just happened to have a lot of connections. She'd been sleeping on her best friend's couch and working two jobs just to pay her lawyer fees. What she hadn't known was that her lawyer Andrea Harrison had better connections than Ed and his lawyers put together. Somehow, she'd gotten Carol a settlement large enough to purchase a home and pay off the first year's taxes. She hadn't wanted a cent from Ed Peletier, but the hell he'd put her through with constant threatening texts and calls in the middle of the night after the separation and the way he'd alienated her from friends and what little family she had over the course of their five year marriage had made accepting the divorce settlement and the restraining order a little easier. She hadn't wanted anything from him, but she sure as hell didn't want to depend on Michonne until she found something better than answering phones at a call center and processing late fees at the local library.

She had put the remainder of the divorce settlement in the bank, and she'd continued working both jobs until she had a nice savings to add to the bank. When she'd felt comfortable giving up one job, she'd called the call center and told them she wouldn't be coming back. She had remained at the library doing paperwork and making calls to book borrowers to remind them of their late fees. And by chance, one afternoon, a children's activity group at the library had ended up without a photographer at the last minute, so Carol had been asked to step in. She'd been given some old, clunky camera, and she'd just started taking photos.

After relating the story to Michonne over a glass of wine, they'd found the pictures on the library website. To Carol's surprise, they'd been pretty good shots, and Michonne had pointed out Carol's sharp eye for detail and angles.

Carol wasn't really even certain how that had led to a serious discussion of buying a camera and giving photography a try. About eight months ago, Carol had gotten her first gig shooting wedding photos for a friend of a friend of a cousin's of Michonne's cop boyfriend's kid's uncle on his mother's side, and suddenly, a door to a whole new world had opened up for her.

Now, with the help of her now former library co-workers and her lawyer Andrea and, of course, Michonne and her flair for advertising and charming personality, Carol had a photography studio, a growing number of clients and an increasing income that made the future feel more possible and more within reach by the day. She had dreams of traveling and of her pictures maybe one day being in coffee table books all over the world. Oh, those were still dreams, of course. But so was freedom from Ed, once.

Carol's Captures was now being advertised in the local newspaper, on social media, and there had even been a spot on the local news about the place. Though the studio was only where a small percent of her work was done. She loved what she called on-location shoots, going down to some old train tracks for senior pictures or to a pretty lake for engagement photos. She loved the newborn photo shoots, loved the hope and excitement in the parents' faces. She loved the innocence of a sleeping baby's face. Those were her favorites, but every photo session was unique. Every family was unique.

So, when Carol's first appointment of the day stepped through the studio door the next morning, she was prepared for a family shoot. What she wasn't prepared for was the ruggedly handsome man that came walking in with a toddler in one arm and a baby carrier gripped tightly in his free hand. His blue eyes were the first thing she noticed, followed by the way his light brown, shaggy hair fell into his eyes as he struggled with the door and the kids at the same time.

She stood quickly from the rolling chair at her desk, eyes wide with surprise as the man stumbled over the threshold.

"Oh! Are you ok?" she asked, quickly crossing the room as he put the little girl down in a chair.

"Stay there, Charlie." He looked up at Carol. "Uh, yeah. We're good. Sorry I'm a little late." Carol glanced at the clock. The morning certainly had passed by quickly, and he was twenty minutes late. "If we gotta wait, I understand."

"Not necessary. I don't have another appointment until this afternoon." She couldn't help but notice the rip in his shirt and the smudge of what looked like pancake syrup on the ripped leg of his jeans. The little girl was dressed in a pair of dark tights and a purple dress. Her curly blonde hair was pulled back in a matching purple headband with a flower on the side. The baby in the carrier was dressed in a little grey and blue outfit that snapped at the bottom. He wore fuzzy blue socks and a grey knitted cap on his head. "You're here for the family portrait?" she asked, eyeing him.4

"Uh, not me," he choked out. "Just them." He cleared his throat, putting the baby's carrier on another chair and straightening up. He turned toward Carol, pausing briefly when his gaze caught hers. Her eyes were wide with curiosity. Her dark auburn hair was cut in a short pixie cut that highlighted those mesmerizing, curious eyes.

"So you're…" She checked her phone for her list of appointments. "Daryl Dixon." He nodded. "Nice to meet you, Daryl. I'm Carol Peletier."