Chances

by Lynnth2014

Following the events of Sooner Or Later, Carol has acquired a job counseling at the women's shelter, Iris and Sophia are growing up and learning what that really means, Andrea's trying to balance her life and be the best mother she can be, and Daryl has come to terms with feelings that have been festering for years. However a horribly painful truth will threaten to tear them apart.

1. Over The Years

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

––

Iris checked out their new home, Shane and Rick were helping them move the furniture Mom had bought, and Mom was helping them with doors and directing them where to put it. Iris was alone to wander the new house that her mom bought without even showing her. It was nice though, and quite spacious. There were three bedrooms—two upstairs and one downstairs that Mom would use as an office—and two bathrooms since Mom spent about an hour there each morning. The kitchen was really nice, and so was the living room, and she heard it came at a good price. Aunt Amy had done her best to get them this house, and she was grateful. She just missed having a roommate. Well, it had to end sooner or later, and they got a whole year together so that Mom could save for the house. There were other expenses that got in the way, so Iris was told; but honestly it felt like Mom wanted to spent that year getting over everything that happened with Phillip, and she couldn't that alone but with Carol's help.

Shane had taken her bed and a few bags of clothes upstairs, so she decided to check it out, and it was nice—seriously, every room was nice. What the hell? Her room was big, and there would be a lot of space she wouldn't be able to fill. If she ever wanted a sleepover, she would invite every girl and boy in her class. It would be smaller when she had more of her things in it. Hopefully.

"There you are." Andrea stepped into the room. "So, what do you think?"

She turned and smiled. "I love it."

Andrea returned her smile and wrapped her up in a bear hug, kissing her cheek. "C'mon, let's go give the boys a hand."

"Are you sure we can't have Carol and Sophia come help?"

"Positive. Now stop trying to get out of doing anything." She led her out the door. "We'll have them over for dinner when this place is sorted. I promise." Andrea headed outside, and Iris stayed behind for a second, looking around.

"Home sweet home."

"Iris, come give me a hand!"

"Coming!"

They were finally home, and it actually felt like they were coming home too. It was a perfect house, and now it was the Blake household. Maybe they should get a pet of some sort. Like a bunny or a gerbil or—a snake! That would be the best pet ever, and her mom would say no in a heartbeat, that she didn't think Iris was responsible enough and that this was a new home and they could talk about it later. It was true though. She needed to be more responsible and mature and prove herself. With a new home, a fresh start, would be very possible.

~Five Years Later~

Iris grabbed a bottle of tea from the fridge and opened it, ambling through her house leisurely, bored now that she had nothing to do. She had done her homework, finished her chores and was now helping her mom out by cooking dinner. She had nothing else to do. Patrick was busy with some scholarship paper—seniors—and Sophia was busy helping her mom and Daryl paint the house. She would go and help them but she was under house arrest for some unknown reason.

All right, she wasn't, but she didn't like to paint. She didn't want to stand in the way of family bonding either. Daryl might as well be married to Carol. They're such a good couple. She thought for a moment. Were they a couple? They were almost always, laughing and teasing and touching that seemed too intimate to be friendly. She'd never seen them kiss or hold hands or anything like that. She could ask Sophia at school tomorrow. Or after. They had a study date. Or whatever.

Iris heard her mom pull up, and she closed her tea, setting it on the counter. She waited for her mom, wanting to ask her about Carol and Daryl. She would know if anybody. She and Carol were best friends, and if she wouldn't tell her, she could always walk down to Karen's and ask. Sisters share everything, but she really didn't want to disturb them. They've had a rough time lately with the new baby and everything, so she hoped her mom told her.

Impatient with her mom's speed, she marched over to the door to see if she needed a hand. She might have brought home some grocery. She opened the door then slammed it shut at the sight behind the door. She ran out of the kitchen, completely grossed out, and she took shelter in her room, wishing her door locked, but sadly it did not. Maybe Daryl could fix that. He was a nice guy and he was always fixing things at Carol's.

She shuddered and heard her mom calling to her. It was like a horror movie, and she wanted to hide in the closet. She used to do that when she was seven. She couldn't hide in her closet now, because it was a mess and she'd kill herself trying to hide. She would just have to face this. Eeek!

Andrea opened her door. "Iris."

"Mother."

"I thought you were at Carol's."

"Why, were you going to have sex with him?" Iris exclaimed.

"No!"

"That does not make me feel better." She dropped onto her bed. "What the hell is going on? You said you were working late, and I find you shoving your tongue down some guy's throat on our doorstep! What the hell, Mom?"

"There was no—" she stopped. "I meant to tell you."

"Yeah, it looked like you meant to tell me." She glared. "Who was that anyway? He looked really creepy."

"I'll have to tell him that." She crossed her arms. "That was Shane."

"Shane has hair."

"No, he shaved his head. He had a run-in with a suspect who pulled out some of his hair, so he just finished the job. He invited me out for dinner, and it was friendly...then we got to the door." She pushed on the rug by the foot of the bed with the tip of her boot. "I don't know what happened."

"And here you were worrying that I'm going to have sex when you're the one jumping men at the door."

"I did not jump him, and it was one man, not men!"

"Uh-huh."

"Look, I'll have to talk to Shane about this, but how would you feel if Shane and I were to...date?"

"Honestly, Mom, I would feel very, very...relieved."

"Relieved?"

"It's been five years, Mom. You haven't been with anybody since Phillip's crazy ass, and honestly Shane is an improvement. I like him. He's a good guy, and he respects you." She smiled encouragingly at her. "I'm cool with it."

"Iris, I know you think—"

"Mom, don't. Just go downstairs and talk to him, but if you get to go out with him, I get to go out with Patrick this weekend."

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"Because he's older than you, he can take you literally anywhere in his car, and you never call to let me know where the hell you are."

"He's only a year older than me. And how is that fair? You can make out with Shane who you aren't even dating, but I can't even see my boyfriend?" It was like every single day that passed Mom got more and more iffy about her dating Patrick. It was really pissing Iris off.

"Iris, you're sixteen, and—"

"Yeah, I'm sixteen, but I'm also responsible and so is Patrick. All that we would do is hang out! We never get to see each other expect for in class, and he's going to be leaving soon for college," Iris shouted, all of her angry boiling over. "I never ask for anything, and yet I—"

"Well, you're asking to get grounded right now."

Tears burned in her eyes. "Why can't I just do something fun for once? All I do is study! I make good grades so I can get into a decent college and you don't have to pay anything!"

"I'm just trying to do what's right for you."

"God Mom, please! It's not like Patrick is going to take me to a rave where I'll get high and drunk and something horrible will happen to me! I'm not some file in your cabinet with tragedy littering the pages!" She was frustrated and tired of having this fight. "When are you going to start separating me from your work?"

"I don't confuse you with my work. I know you, Iris, and I'm just trying to protect you."

"No, you're trying to smother me."

"I have to speak with Shane, and you need to get into bed." She stuffed her keys into her pocket. "Have you eaten?"

"Och. Yeah, I have. I made you some meatballs. The ones Grandma showed me how to make. They're in the oven." She folded her arms.

"Iris, have you eaten?"

"Just get out of my room and talk to your boyfriend."

"Iris, I'm not joking. Tell me if you've eaten."

"Why? My answer won't matter. When you have your mind's made up, that's it."

"Go downstairs and eat, please."

She scoffed, but rose and headed downstairs. She ignored Shane who tried to greet her, and she pulled the meatballs out, not at all hungry. She put two on a plate and went to the dining room, not wanting to see her mom, and she picked at them with a fork.

"What was that?" Shane gestured to the dining room where Iris had fled to.

"She wanted to go out with this weekend with her boyfriend, and I said no."

"Good. We haven't caught that armed mugger yet. He's already put two people in the hospital."

"Yeah." Her eyes lingered on the door to the dining room.

"You didn't tell her that part, did you?"

"She doesn't need to know that. I can handle her being angry with me."

"Andrea, she's not a kid. You can't keep coddling her, Andrea. She can handle the truth. In less than two years, she won't have you there to protect her."

"I don't coddle her."

"You really do. It's not gonna do either of you any good."

She sighed. "I'll tell her when she's done eating." She moved her eyes from the door to his face. "We need to talk."

"That we do."

Iris could hear them going upstairs, and she was about to slip away to her room when her phone vibrated. She dug it out of her pocket and found a text from Patrick, feeling her lips pull back in a big smile. She texted him back but didn't mention what her mom said. He was the only person she could talk to honestly anymore, and he didn't judge her. That's why she loved him. She wanted to talk to her mom about things, but if she even mentioned Patrick, her mom's head exploded. Who was the child there?

She managed to eat one meatball, but her stomach was still in knots over the fight so she put the rest away and headed up to her room, texting Patrick good night, and she lifted her head to find her mom on her bed. She lost her smile and scoffed.

"What now?"

"You can't go out with Patrick this weekend."

"I know. You told me." It's like prison, only she wished she had a roommate.

"You can invite him over though."

Her face lit up. "Really? Like, for the whole day?"

"Until dinner." She nodded. "Unless his parents say he can stay for dinner."

"Oh my God, thank you!" She hugged her. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome." She smiled, ignoring the voice in the back of her head. She would deal with the consequences of coddling her daughter eventually. It was just that all she saw when she looked into the big blue eyes was her baby, not a teenager who was dating and preparing for college and life. She would have to make herself adjust. For both of their sakes'.

– – –

Sitting in the living, Carol looked over the photos in the album before, reliving all of the memories that were attached to each picture, trying to determine which best showed who Sophia was growing into. Her birthday was coming up in a few weeks, and Carol wanted to make a card to send to their family and friends, so she was looking over the past few years. They had taken so many pictures over the years, and they had changed so much as well. It was going to be hard picking only three. She would just have to trust her gut.

Her eyes fell onto the pages filled with pictures from the water fight. It was a ridiculously hot day, and the girls were miserable, even the dog hadn't moved out from in front of the fan. Carol had just finished up with one of women from the shelter, a lovely woman named Jessie. On the way home, she called Daryl and invited him over to help with a leaky pipe.

She set her things down on the kitchen counter and peered in on the girls. She sighed at the sight of them and then began to explain the pipe problem to Daryl, and he got to work. She kept trying to think of a way to get them off their butts. They'd been like this for two days, and summer had only just begun. She didn't want to see them like this the entire summer vacation. They would feel as miserable as they looked by the time it ended.

"Carol?" Daryl repeated, needing a wrench.

She heard Daryl call to her, and she bent down as he worked on the sink. "Yeah?"

He had already moved out from under the sink so he just grabbed what he needed. "Never mind. I got it."

"I'm sorry. I have a lot on my mind right now." She removed her blazer and folded it. "I'm going to go change. I'll be back in a minute."

"Yeah."

She gathered her things and climbed the stairs, the girls barely giving any indication they knew she was home, and she changed into jeans and a t-shirt. When she came back down, Honey wagged her tail at her and with a few smiles, she ran over and gave Carol a welcome home.

"So, how are you two?" Carol asked the girls, scratching behind Honey's ears.

"Hot," Iris replied. "Exhausted."

"What she said," Sophia murmured.

She shook her head and stepped into the kitchen, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. She lost herself in thought, her gaze the girls, and she was sorely tempted to take them to the pool just so they'd get some exercise. It'd cool them down, and they could have fun. The only downside would be the screaming children and the annoyed parents.

Daryl finished up and was about to speak but he noticed that Carol was somewhere else. He followed her gaze instead and saw two lumps in the forms of two thirteen year olds on the couch. "What's up with them?"

"They've been like that since I left." She wanted them to move, at this point even if it was to get something to drink. "I...wish I could get them to cheer up. Get them active. Stop watching reruns for half an hour."

"I got an idea." He pushed off the ground and rubbed his chin. "Just...get 'em to the backyard."

"Why?"

"You wanna see 'em move around?"

"Yeah..." She didn't sound sure.

"Get 'em to the backyard." He smirked at her and left through the front door.

"What the hell." She pushed off the wall and walked in front of the TV, both of them looking at her like they would say or do something if they had energy. "Girls, this is sad, and I can't watch this anymore. Go outside."

"What? It's like a million degrees outside!" Iris exclaimed. "Please, don't!"

"Go. Outside. Now." She nodded her heard toward the door.

"Mom, please don't make us go out there and drown in our sweat," Sophia begged. "It's too hot to breathe!"

"Too bad. This dog has become a lazy little slug because you two don't play with her, so go outside and get active or no cable."

"Aww, you suck," Iris groaned.

"Excuse me?" Carol arched a brow.

"I—Sorry. I'm sorry" She slipped off the couch and walked over to the door. "C'mon, Honey. Let's go out." Honey didn't move, and Iris gestured to her. "See, she doesn't want to go."

"You have till I count to five," Carol threatened.

"Mom—" Sophia began.

"One."

"She doesn't even want—" Iris started.

"Two," she said more sternly.

They both gave an exaggerated groan, Sophia pulled the door opened, and they went outside, Carol closing the door behind her, and the girls just stood there. She was about to tell them to play with something—anything—when they both screamed as water was splashed on them. Carol looked over and Daryl had the hose.

"What the heck, Daryl?" Sophia pushed hair out of her face.

"What? You looked faint. I was worried you'd faint of heat stroke."

"I just stepped out here!" she retorted. "And where did you even come from?"

"Work."

"You—are not funny." She was smiling through.

Iris had scanned the backyard while Sophia yelled at Daryl and saw the plastic pool Karen had left for them, and she grabbed a bucket, scooping in the sun-warmed water while Sophia tried to glare Daryl down. She waited until she was close enough and sloshed the water on him.

"Sophia, get the hose!"

"Carol, stop her!" Daryl shouted to her, pushing his hair back. "Shit, what the hell, kid? You boil that first?"

She grinned. "More where that came from."

Carol and Sophia reached the hose at the same time, Sophia eyed her mom, and Carol knew that if Sophia got the hose, she was going to soak everyone. She also knew there was no way she was going to get out of this dry. They both lunged for the hose, both grabbing it, and they fought for control while Daryl tried to get the bucket Iris had filled with more water, and they ended up squirting Iris in the back with the jet function, and she squealed.

Daryl laughed, and she tossed more on him, and he glared.

"Time the freak out!" Iris declared. "If we're going to do this, I demand a ten minute recess so I can prepare to douse both of you."

Daryl looked at Carol, and she nodded. "Sounds fair."

"Sophia, come with me." She smiled at Daryl. "Enjoy your hose." She went inside with Sophia.

"Where are we going?"

"When we lived here with you two, I hide some balloons in your room 'cause Mom was worried Honey might get a hold of them, eat them and they would get all wrapped up around her insides." Her mom really freaked her out with that, but still she smiled. "The things is I hid them so well I couldn't find them when we were packing, but the other week when we were helping your mom clean so she'd take us to get ice cream, I found them. I didn't take them with me."

"That's awesome."

"I'll get them filled with water, and you get those water gun things Ty brought."

"You're serious about this." Sophia stopped by the closet where the water guns were. Ty have given them to Iris and her as a gift to help beat the heat. He was the coolest uncle.

"Well, it's war now."

Outside Carol and Daryl waited for the girls to come back out, sitting on the back of his truck, and Carol stretched her legs, wondering what was taking so long. They weren't actually timing them, but she was pretty sure their time was running out. So was her time being dry. Oh well. It wasn't like she was wearing something elegant.

"So, a water fight?" Carol turned her to look at Daryl, smiling teasingly at him, amused that this was his idea.

"Yeah. I used to see kids on the block do it all the time."

"Used to see?" She tilted her head. "Didn't you ever join them?"

"No, my old man didn't let me."

"Why not?"

"He...just didn't." He hesitated. "Joe Dixon was a mean son of a bitch."

She nodded, seeing there was more to it than that, but she heard the door and chose that as an opportunity to change the subject. He looked uncomfortable. "Oh, that's them. You ready?"

"Yeah." He got down and helped her down, but he had done it in a way that they were really close when she had her feet on the ground. He didn't realize that being so close to her would be so intoxicating, and neither of them moved.

Until Iris yelled to them, "You can make out later, come on!"

Daryl felt the tips of his burning, and Carol just laughed it off, though she could feel the heat on her cheeks. They joined the girls and were instantly bombard with water balloons. Daryl struggled to grasp the hose, and he went for Sophia since she was dead set on going after him.

"Iris!" Sophia squealed. "Help!"

Iris grabbed a balloon and the water gun. "Hey, Dixon!" She chucked the balloon at him, and it hit him right in the face, and there was a special ingredient inside that water balloon. Glitter. She laughed loudly so delighted as Daryl Dixon, the man who always looked like there was bad smell in the air, was covered in not only water but pink glitter.

"What the hell?" he shouted. "That's cheatin'!"

"Oh, it's priceless!" She pulled out her phone and took pictures.

Daryl lifted the hose and doused her relentlessly, she backed up, and he chased her around the yard. She couldn't get him, and he was going to get revenge. That left Sophia and Carol standing there with nothing but water balloons and a bucket full of water. Carol walked over to her, and they watched Iris and Daryl attack each other with water. Sophia laughed and held onto the water balloons in her arms, and while she was distracted, Carol picked up the water gun by Sophia and began to spray her.

"Hey!" Sophia jumped back, dropping the balloons on their feet. "You cheater!"

"It's not my fault you let your guard down," Carol smirked.

Sophia glared, but her mom was right.

Daryl and Iris ran by, Iris blindly threw balloons at Daryl, and Carol and Sophia moved away from their little war. Iris had one last balloon, and Daryl had stopped for a second to let her try and get him again. She was panting, her hair down in her face, and she saw Sophia was just as wet as she was. She gripped the water balloon and hurled it, but it wasn't going in the direction Daryl was in—it was going for Carol. The last glitter-filled water balloon landed on Carol and soaked her t-shirt.

"Yes!" Iris cheered, and Sophia ran over and high-fived her.

Daryl looked at Carol and tried not to laugh, but he couldn't, and that made the girls laugh. She had a glob of pink glitter on her chest, and it wasn't just that. It was also the expression on her face and the fact that they knew she hated glitter.

"So much for teammates," Carol muttered, trying to wipe it off only to get it on her hands. "Ugh."

"I got it." Daryl turned the hose on the girls who stood there victoriously. Honey even sauntered over to them and ran through the water. "You're not supposed to enjoy it!"

"Well, it feels good and we nailed you both, so we are enjoying it!" Sophia beamed.

"I got more functions, wanna see if they're fun too?"

"Go!" Sophia pushed Iris toward the truck and they hide behind it.

Daryl snickered and made his way to Carol, taking her hands as she tried to remove the glitter, and he turned on the hose on, washing away the flakes.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

She glanced at the girls, who were sneaking back toward the house to fill up more water balloons, and she met his eyes. "Get ready for round two."

He smirked. "Already am."

"Glad to see you're not going soft on me already."

"I'd never go soft on you."

She smiled. "Good to know. Now, help me with these." She collected the water guns and bucket. They were going to win the next round, and while the girls had their glitter, they had mud. Lots and lots of mud. It was going to be a cold, muddy, wet war, but they were in too deep to stop now.

––

Later that night when the war was over and neither side had really won, they washed off the majority of the mud with the hose and ordered pizza. Andrea came to pick Iris up and wasn't too mad about the mud fight. She was glad that Iris had gotten outside and gotten to have fun while she was at work, and she thanked Daryl and Carol both. They left and Sophia headed upstairs for a shower, leaving Carol and Daryl to break down the pizzas boxes and put them in the trash.

"You have fun today?" Daryl asked.

"I did." She wiped her hands on her dirty jeans. "I think I needed that more than the girls. Thank you."

"Glad I could help."

She crossed her arms. "Could I ask you something?"

"...I guess." He picked at the mud under his nails, his eyes wanting to meet hers, but he couldn't.

"Your father...Joe...umm..." She tried to find the words. "What...happened to him? You said he was dead. How did he die?"

"Doesn't matter." He shrugged. "He's dead. That's all anybody needs to know."

"So I'm just an "anybody"." She nodded. "I have to get these clothes into the washer."

"Carol."

"It's fine. Good night, Daryl." She offered a small smile then returned to her house and locked up. Only it wasn't fine. They had been friends for how many years now and he still didn't trust her to know about his dad. She knew about Ella and Celia, but not Joe. He'd come close to telling her many times, but she just wasn't trustworthy enough. If they didn't have trust, how could they be friends?

Looking over the pictures that follow the water fight, Carol remembered when she and Daryl started to talk—actually talk, not just awkward greetings in the hall whenever they ran into each other—again. It had been months since that night, and it was the night of Sophia's Christmas program. She was in eighth grade, and they were all doing a song with bells of some sort then going to the cafeteria for cookies and coco. Andrea and Carol had invited only Amy—Ty and Karen were already there for Maddie's performance—and Daryl was leaning against the door, watching. Carol almost hadn't seen him, but of course she did see him. She had even used the zoom on her camera to make sure it was him. He had even gotten a little dressed up for tonight. Well as dressed up as Daryl could get. He looked really handsome.

When the performance was over and the parents had filed out of the gyms with the kids, he pulled her aside. They stepped outside and sat down on the bench by the playground. He was silent, and Carol wondered why he brought them out here if he wasn't going to talk. She wasn't going to baby him, and she didn't know what to say to him. She would rather be inside where it was warm and there were hot beverages and food.

"Wait," he whispered.

She met his eyes. "For what?"

"I wanted to tell Sophia she did a good job. I was...wonderin' if I could do that."

"Of course you can, Daryl. You can always talk to Sophia."

"Wasn't sure with the last time we ran into each other."

"You caught me on a bad day." She shuddered at the cool breeze. "Look, if my memory is correct then it's you who've been avoiding me."

"Yeah, I was," he admitted.

"Why? We're friends, Daryl. We talk things out, not ignore each other like we're in grade school."

"The whole time..." he dropped his head, unable to meet her eyes like the coward he felt he was, "I've been tryin'... tryin' find a way to get out, you know? I thought about all the ways it could go wrong, and I jumped on the first chance to get the hell out. I thought if I got out... Tsh, I dunno."

"Get out? Get out of what?" She shook her head in mild confusion. "Our—our friendship?"

"I ain't ever had a real friend before," he told her. "Not...not like you. And I fuck things up. They always go to shit, and I didn't want that happen between us. It's better...when I'm by myself. Or with Merle." His voice was practically nonexistent, and he couldn't look at her. He was such an asshole, and he hated himself for it. Shit, she would be smart to just leave him there. He wasn't worth anything, never was.

He heard her get up, she walked away, and he began to chew his bottom lip. He didn't move from that stop, but he was going to. He couldn't just sit in a kids' play ground. It was strange, and it was cold as balls out here. He lifted his head and was about to stand up when she came back, holding two small cups of something hot. He frowned.

She sat beside him, placing the cups on the table and she took one of his hands. She was...smiling at him. "You're freezing. Drink up."

"What—?"

"Hot chocolate—all the coffee was gone. Drink." She rubbed her hands over his. "Friends don't let friends get sick if they can help it."

"Carol, I just—"

"I get it, Daryl." She locked eyes with him. "I do. It's going to be a rough road for you, and I can tell it always has been, but you'll get through this. We'll get through this."

"We?"

"Yes, we." She searched his eyes. "You can't just pull away from me and Sophia after becoming someone important to us both. You don't get to do that. You are in our family, and I will not let her lose anybody else. You may pull away, and I won't be there to fix us—you'll have to do that yourself—but right now I'm here. Your friend. Your first and best friend."

"But what about Joe?"

"You'll tell me when you're ready." She sounded so confident. "And I won't push you to talk about him anymore." She gripped his hand tightly. "You're still cold. Let's go inside. Sophia wants to talk to you."

"Carol, wait."

"What?"

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How do you fix everything...just like that?" He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to apologize and explain, but he couldn't find the words. He didn't know how to say sorry that seemed sufficient. He'd been trying to find something to say since their fight. When you spend your entire life being silent in hopes that you won't be noticed... it's just hard to break out of that. He wanted to, for her, for himself. He didn't know where to begin, so he had to ask.

"I'm a mom. I can fix just about anything," she teased then said, "I love you, Daryl. I don't let the people I love go easily. Not anymore." She walked toward the door.

He smiled to himself, and he didn't follow her for a brief second. He had to work this out. He couldn't just pull away anymore. He couldn't just run away. He was too old for that, and it was about time he learned how to properly handle situations. He was long overdue.

––

Turning the page, Carol smiled at the sight of the girls in their white graduation gowns. It was a busy morning. Andrea had brought Iris over so she curl her hair while Carol did makeup that didn't make them look like they were 35. They had two stations prepared at six o'clock in the morning, everyone heavily drinking coffee, and then they took them to school. It was a wonder nobody crashed during the ceremony.

Iris looked lovely that day. She wore a lavender dress with high heels that she had to beg her mom to wear, her hair was curled and some pinned back with bobby pins. She was smiling so much, glad to be moving into high school and getting out of grade school. She graduated with honors. With Sophia's, Patrick's and Andrea's aid, she improved her history scores. She was so happy that day, and Andrea was glowing with pride. It was amazing.

Sophia was beautiful as well. She wore a white dress with the black floral patterns and the birthstone necklace Daryl had given her a few years before. She wasn't as smiley as Iris, because she was going to miss her teachers and some of her friends weren't going to the same high school. She didn't cry, but she found it a little bittersweet. She too graduated with honors, and even though she promised that she wouldn't, Iris cheered loudly when they awarded her the diploma, and Sophia got embarrassed. That and Daryl and Carol and Andrea had been cheering just as loud. They cheered for both of the girls, while Sophia wanted to duck her head at all the attention, Iris loved it.

They met their parents outside and they were hugged and pictured to death. Since it was still early, they decided to go out to eat later in the day, and Iris said she wanted to stay here for the rest of the day and just chill with some of other students until prom, which was right after school. Sophia wanted to go home, but she also wanted to hang out with Carl and Lizzie. They were helping the teachers set up, and she thought it'd be nice to hang out one last time. Lizzie was being home schooled, but she would see Carl again in high school. She just wished Grimes and Blake were closer to Peletier, but oh well. They couldn't share a homeroom forever. At least their classes might be the same, she hoped.

"Thanks for coming." Sophia hugged Daryl. "I'm was worried you wouldn't make it."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He released her. "I'm proud of you."

She grinned then turned to her mom. "Is he coming to dinner with us?"

Carol met his eyes. "Do you want to? We're probably going to do have a sleepover after, which you are welcome to come to."

"No thanks." He shook his head. "I'll come to dinner though."

"Be at the house by six then."

He nodded. "Have fun at prom."

"A bunch of goofballs in the cafeteria will be a blast," Sophia sarcastically replied.

He smiled. "I'll see y'all at six."

"Bye Daryl."

He went to his car, Iris and Sophia headed back inside after one final goodbye, and Andrea and Carol went home. They had taken the day off so they had to find something to do until seven, which was when prom ended.

"So, you and Daryl seem really close," Iris mentioned to Sophia while they played cards, Carl and Lizzie getting some snacks and drinks from the machine, and Sophia nodded. "Your mom and he are close too?"

"What do you want to know?" Sophia leaned back.

"Nothing, I just asking. Geez."

"You never "just ask". You always have an ulterior motive."

"Not this time."

Sophia pursed her lips together and ran her fingertip over the cards. "I...didn't see Shane."

Iris crossed her arms. "So?"

"I—I just thought he was coming is all." Sophia shrugged. "Did he have to work?"

"I dunno. He and Mom have been weird lately. Really weird." She shuffled her cards boredly. "I guess something came up with work. Someone probably was killed or kidnapped or he just didn't care enough to come."

"Iris, I doubt it's that."

"For all I know he's not even my dad, so I don't know why I'm upset." She met Sophia's eyes. "I don't know who the hell my dad is, but I thought it was him, and I thought...he'd like to see me—his kid—graduate. I know it's only eighth grade but still. It's a big step. I'm so stupid sometimes." She always wondered if the reason her mom and he were being weird was because Mom had told him that Iris was his. She didn't know if that happened, but she kind of really wished it had. She didn't want to push her mom, but she had to know. Maybe Mom was just waiting until she was older. If she only knew how much older!

"You're not stupid for wanting him there."

"I didn't need him to come, even if I wanted him there. I just... I feel bad because I was disappointed when I saw only Mom. I feel bad because what if she picked up on that and feels like she's not enough? It's not true. I just...had some insane idea that Shane would come."

"Insane, huh?"

Iris turned in her seat to the officer in the doorway with flowers. She slipped out of the desk and Sophia smiled a little, having spotted him about two seconds ago—luckily he had missed the dad stuff—and she met him by the door. "Shane, what are you doing here?"

"I had court, but I didn't want you to think I'd miss your graduation." He smiled at her. "Your mom called and left a dozen messages. I had it marked on my calendar, but she wanted to make sure I remembered." He held out the flowers that came with some Congrats Grad! balloons and a bear. "Tulips are your favorite, right?"

"Yeah." She accepted the vase and the bear with the balloons, smiling. "Thank you, Shane."

He hugged her. "Congrats, Iris. I'm proud of you."

"Hey, do you want me to take a picture?" Sophia asked, grabbing her phone from her purse. "I can."

"Yeah. I'd like one."

Iris nodded, Sophia took the picture, and Shane had to leave about two minutes after. He and Rick were supposed to get lunch soon, and Rick was in a bad mood, so he gave her a card, one more hug and left. They returned to the desks they had moved to get comfortable and Iris opened the card, impatient. He had written a quote inside and left a hundred dollar bill.

"And I'm paying for snacks," Carl mused, setting down two bottles of flavor water and three packs of peanut butter crackers down on the desk.

"It's a last minute gift." Iris tucked the car into her purse and accepted a water from Lizzie. "And you owe me a fortune from when you borrow money from me this entire year."

"True." He sat down by Sophia. "Is lemon okay? I like the strawberry."

"It's fine." She smiled and opened the water.

"So, if I'm guessing right I can assume Iris looked at our cards and I should reshuffle," Lizzie said, smirking at Iris.

"I did, and your hand sucks." She smirked back.

"Can we finish one game without cheating?" Carl bit into a cracker.

"With the two of us playing," Iris wagged a finger from her to him, "nah."

He laughed. "True, but let's try to do one honest game."

"I'll shuffle." Iris started to gather the cards when they all slapped her hands away. "What?"

"No, you don't get to touch the cards. I've seen you "drop" them too many times. No one is that much of a butterfingers." Carl narrowed his eyes at her. "And then there's you mysteriously winning."

"Maybe I'm just a better player than you." She couldn't keep a straight face, and Carl laughed with her.

"I'll shuffle." Lizzie collected the cards.

"Thanks, Liz." Sophia shook her head at her friends.

––

Carol ran her fingers over the two sets of buddy pictures that the girls took their freshmen and sophomore years of high school. They had a lot of friends their friendship year, but they were still each other's best friend. It showed in the pictures, and in the fact that they were almost always together. They were more like sisters these days.

"Is this everyone?" Iris asked.

"Yep." Sophia tucked hair behind her ears. "They're gonna position us, but at the last second, I'm gonna jump on your back, okay?"

"Ooh, rebellious."

"Shut up, just catch me." She lightly pushed her then saw Patrick and Carl enter. "Look, it's your man."

Iris blushed. "Shut up! Go over there!" She walked away when they approached, and she smiled at Enid, who knew about her crush, and just laughed.

"Did everybody bring money?" the teacher who helped with the yearbook asked, and they forked over the eight bucks. He positioned them, and true to her word, Sophia jumped on Iris' back before the picture was taken, and it added character to the picture. Enid and Carl had moved back-to-back and held finger guns, and Patrick and his friend Noah just looked embarrassed and disappointed. It was the best picture that year.

And the next year it was just the four of them. Enid was sick, and Noah had moved away, and that was the year of even worse crushes. And Shane had stopped by, and he knew from Andrea that Iris had a really bad crush on Patrick, so he pretended to arrest him in the picture, and Iris had her hands slapped to her face, and Carl and Sophia were laughing. They each had that one in their bedrooms. It was too perfect.

– – –

Carol paused in going through the albums and took out that buddy picture, deciding to use it for Sophia's sweet sixteen invitation, and she grabbed some tea from the kitchen, returning to her search. She had only been at this for a few hours. She wanted to have the card made in advance so she wouldn't forget about it. She just kept getting lost in the memories. There were so many good, happy, memorable times, both in the house and out of it. Sometimes she just had to take a breath and smile, because this was her life. It was a good life, and she couldn't stop smiling most days. It was...truly an amazing feeling.

She had somehow ran into a misplaced Christmas picture of Daryl, Sophia and herself. Daryl had come over to celebrate Christmas with them for the first time last year. He normally just stayed home and gave Sophia a gift card so she could buy herself something. That year Sophia begged that all she wanted for him to spend Christmas with them. He had spent Thanksgiving with them, and it was really great, so Sophia wanted him over for Christmas. He didn't know what all she meant, so he was in for a surprise when he arrived.

"Merry Christmas, Daryl." She hugged him and pulled him to the living room. "Mom'll be down in, like, five minutes. She has to fix herself up. Do you want some coffee?"

"Yeah, that'd be good."

"Be right back." She headed into the kitchen to get him and her mom some coffee.

"What do you mean, fix herself up?"

"Oh, you know, wash her face, changed out of her nightclothes, I guess." She carried the cups into the living room. "She doesn't want you to see her first thing in the morning."

Daryl thanked her for the coffee. He had thought about seeing Carol first thing in the morning, and he had never thought about her looking bad or being insecure. He didn't understand why she wanted to clean herself up for him. She looked beautiful all the time.

Sophia eyed him. "You okay there, Daryl? You look kinda feverish."

"Hmm?" She pointed to his cheeks. "I'm fine, just a little warm." He cleared his throat. "Oh, Merry Christmas."

She grinned then stood up. "Mom, hurry up!"

"I'm right here." She wore her baggy sweatpants and t-shirt, but Sophia could tell she had a bit of makeup on and possibly even perfume. She wasn't entirely sure though, because they had baked cookies all night long, so it could be linger cookie scent. Sophia's hair smelled like gingerbread, and Honey kept drooling on her, so she had to wash up. Her mom was too sleepy to wash up, so it could definitely be the cookie scent.

"Okay, since this is our first Christmas with Daryl, I saw he opens his gifts first."

Daryl nearly choked on his coffee. "W—what? Gifts?"

"Well, it is Christmas." Carol curled up on the couch. "And why would we invite you and not get you some gifts?"

"I—I didn't bring y'all nothin'."

"Good, because after the last gift I got, I don't need anymore." She smiled at him. "And don't feel bad. You're our guest, and you can't feel bad in this house. It's not allowed."

Sophia presented him with his first Christmas gift, and she watched excitedly while he opened it. They had gotten him some practical things: shirts, socks, a hairbrush. And there was one box that they were both dying for him to open. Iris had given them the idea, and Sophia had pressed and pressed until Carol caved. They hoped he liked it.

Daryl paused in opening the third gift. "Why am I the only one opening gifts?"

"Oh! Sorry." Sophia gave a box to her mom and a bone Honey, who had jumped on the couch in the space between Daryl and Carol, and for the first time ever, Daryl was jealous of the dog. Her head was on Carol's lap.

When all the of the gifts had been opened, Sophia collected the wrapping paper and tossed out what couldn't be used again, and Honey followed her around. Carol picked up the last box and sat down close to him.

"There's still more?" Daryl ran a hand through his hair.

"Just one." She set it on his lap. "I hope you like it."

He peeled back the white wrapping paper and revealed a small box. He opened the lid, reached inside and closed his hand around a circular object. He pulled it out and discovered it was a Christmas ornament. It was a glass ball with a tilted square inside that held four pictures of Ella. She was one-year-old in one of the picture then two and three and four in the other pictures. And when the sun caught the glass, a small rainbow reflected inside.

Sophia peered over the corner at them, not speaking, but neither was Daryl. She bit her lip and wondered if something was wrong. She motioned to her mom to talk to him, to explain, and Carol searched his face to try and get a reading on him. He was simply blank.

"Daryl?" She gulped. "Are you all right? Do you... not like it?" She began to explain when he didn't speak. "I thought that would you like to have a tiny bit of Ella on the holidays. One day... you might have another child, another family, and she can be apart of that. I thought—We thought you'd like it."

Still nothing.

"It doesn't have to be for if you have another child. It can just be a way to have her near during the holidays."

Daryl lowered it back into the box and set it on the coffee table, gently as if it were an active bomb; Carol and Sophia exchanged a worried look, and Daryl met her eyes. "Thank you, Carol, but I won't be starting a new family, and I don't celebrate holidays on my own."

"Dar—"

"I appreciate this, I do, but don't." He rose and stepped outside for some air.

"Well, that was scary." Sophia crossed her arms then met her mom's eyes. "Lemme talk to him."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Put some shoes on."

"Duh." She grabbed her rain boots and shoved her feet into them, stuffing her pajama bottoms inside before carefully stepping out to join him. She shivered at the cold and hobbled over to him. "Hey."

"It's too cold for you to be out here dressed like that," he murmured.

"I'm here to talk to you."

"About the ornament?"

"We didn't mean to anger you, or drudge up any bad memories." She studied him. "We just wanted to keep Ella with you, visually, on days like this. She can bring some light into your life when you're not celebrating at home. It's really beautiful in direct sunlight."

"Sophia, stop."

"Do you want to forget you ever had her?" she asked. "Or are you trying to keep all the pain inside and just... just let it walk all over you if you see one little picture of her?" He said nothing. "She was a beautiful little girl, and she looked very happy. I know that she wouldn't want you to let yourself suffer. No little girls wants her parent to be sad."

"It ain't that."

"Then what is it, Daryl?" She huffed. "You promised me once that you would be fine! Five years have passed, and you're still not fine!"

"I just hate Christmas."

"What? How do you hate Christmas? It's my favorite holiday after Halloween! How can you hate it?"

"'Cause when I woke up, I didn't have no presents under some decorated tree and cookies on the coffee table. Tsh, I had a son of a bitch father who had gotten shitfaced and beat the shit out of me. It was just another goddamn day."

She paled. "Oh, my God."

"That's why I don't celebrate it. That's why I don't want some Christmas ornament with my daughter's face on it! I hate this day, and I don't want Ella to have any part of it"! He lowered his voice a bit. "When she was alive...I did all of this for her. She's gone now, and I don't see the point."

"I am so sorry about your dad, Daryl. I—I don't know what to say, so I won't. I can't possibly make you forget that or feel...at peace with that so..." She trailed off and grew silent, tears rising in her eyes, and she lifted her chin. "So you did it for Ella? That's great, you must have loved her with your entire heart. Of course you did." She peeked at his face, "But you won't do it for us, will you?"

He was silent now.

"I know we aren't blood, and I don't mean to sound selfish or insensitive, really I don't. It's just... I know it's not like you're dating my mom, and you don't owe us anything, especially not all smiles and laughs on a holiday you dislike, but I think of you like you're my... like you're someone I can't picture not being in my life, and I love you. You're in this family. At least to us you're in this family, but I guess you don't feel the same." She began to wipe at her eyes. "I'm sorry we're not enough to take the pain of what he did away—I wish we were—and I'm sorry that—" her voice broke. She couldn't stop picturing what he'd told her. She had seen and heard her mom take so many beatings, and it upset her to this day, and now learning that Daryl suffered similarly at the hand of someone who was meant to take care of him and show him endless love...

He chewed on his bottom lip then finally met her eyes. "If I did all of this Christmas shit for anybody...it'd be for you and Carol."

She swallowed."Really?"

"Yeah. That...ornament just took me by surprise, stirred up a lot of shit in my head." He reached out and hugged her. "You're family to me too, Sophia." He rested his chin on the top of her head. "You and Carol both are real important to me."

She smiled, the tears in her eyes still from sadness, but she felt a lot better. "Merry Christmas, Daryl."

"So y'all tell me."

She laughed and snuffled, moving back out of his hug. "Thank you for trusting me with that. I'll keep your secret for as long as you want me to."

He barely nodded. "I appreciate that."

"Okay... now I'm freezing to death. I'll see you inside."

He chuckled as she scurried back into the warm house, and he sat down on a chair free of snow. He saw movement and Carol stood beside him. He started to explain it to her, but she stopped him. She said that he didn't need to, and she handed him a cup of hot chocolate.

"Thanks."

She smiled and simply said, "Merry Christmas, Daryl."

He met her eyes, and after all this years, after exchanging some of the strangest conversations and jokes, after being there for her through Bear and through Ed, after all of it, he had never realized until that moment why he was drawn her. He gazed at her, lost in admiring how the sun hit her face and lit up her sapphire blue eyes, how light seemed to accentuate her honey-colored skin and her perfectly messy silver hair, lost in the realization that he was completely, deeply, ardently in love with her. He knew that he felt something for her—a desire to be by her side, to keep her safe even though she could protect herself, to make her laugh and to see her gorgeous smile—but he had never felt that way about anybody, so he didn't know what it was until exactly right now. He assumed attraction, not something so...horrifying. The only people he'd ever loved in any way were gone or simply out of his life forever, but not her. He knew she would never be out of his life, and that's why what he felt was so terrifying.

What the hell did he do next?

– – –

Hearing the key in the lock, Carol closed the albums and picked them up, placing them back on the shelf. Iris and Sophia walked in, grabbing some snacks and saying hey on their way up Sophia's room to study for an upcoming history exam. Carol was very proud of them and of who they were becoming. They were intelligent and beautiful and had blossomed in high school. Sophia joined drama, and they both joined track. Honestly, it was just so they could spend more time with Carl and Patrick, who were also on the track team. They enjoyed it, and they were good at it, so that's all the mattered.

Often she felt like Iris was her daughter as well, and sometimes people got a little confused on her friendship with Andrea. It was the short hair, and Andrea's...masculine energy. The awkward part is when the guy proceeds to ask you on a date after assuming your best friend is your girlfriend. She shook her head and heard the cooing from the baby monitor. She scooped it up on the way and headed upstairs to check on the grumpy baby boy.