And I'm back! Hope you guys enjoyed that last chapter, I'm afraid I'm moving a bit to fast, but I'm going to try and slow it down. Vallie will be out for a while anyway . I love reviews so leave lots! Thank you again for reading! (Also a warning, I hate Lori so I'm making her a bitch, sorry guys.)
Chapter Three: Lies of the Father
"Rick! Daryl! Shane! What's going on?"
The group turned to see Andrea and Lori rushing up to them, worry on their faces. "Who's the girl?" Lori asked, confused as to why Daryl was holding the little child.
"She's…"
"Just some kid we found in the woods," Daryl cut Rick off, earning him a strange, confused glance. "Ain't nuthin' to it. Girl at the house is 'er mom, 'parently. What's it to ya?" He growled, glaring at the two woman who never seemed to be able to keep their noses out of other people's business. No way was he letting them know he was soft. He loved his daughter, but there was no way he'd let them see him like this.
"Watch it Hick," Andrea hissed, pointing a finger at him. "It was just a question."
Rick held up his hands and sighed. "Calm down guys, her name is Annabelle. The woman upstairs, Vallie, said she was with someone before she passed out. We went to go see if it was a group of people or just one person. We found her holed up in some abandoned cabin in the woods." He said, trying to ease the tension around them. "Daryl's taking her up to her mom."
Lori looked at her husband in surprise then back at Daryl, then back at Rick. "You think that's a good idea?"
Daryl bristled and clenched his teeth. "What's that s'pose ta mean ya bitch?"
"Daryl, calm down," Shane warned, anger in his tone.
Rick raised an eyebrow at his wife and frowned. "I trust Daryl with her, you should too. We've been with him long enough to know that we can trust him. He's not a savage, Lori. There's no way he's going to hurt that little girl." He said, respecting Daryl's unspoken wishes about keeping her identity silent.
Lori scoffed and jabbed a finger at the man. "You think he's safe? He stumbled out of the woods last week with ears around his neck! EARS RICK!" She ignored the angered look Daryl gave her. "He's not mentally stable, not when he's been seeing his dead brother."
"He ain't dead!" Daryl yelled, waking the child in his arms.
"Daddy?"
They looked at the small girl who raised her head and rubbed her eye with her tiny fist. "Why ya yellin'?"
"Hush it, girlie. Just go back ta sleep." Daryl mumbled, not looking at the girl.
"See, he's not even nice to her, Rick." Lori stepped towards him and held her arms out, a sweet smile on her face. "Come on sweetie, let me take you up to your mommy. Get you away from this mean old man."
The child stared at her in sleepy confusion and Lori smiled, she'd always wanted a daughter.
"No," Annabelle said in a stern voice, much like her mothers. She wrapped her little arms around Daryl's neck and stuck her tongue out at the surprised Lori. "You yelled at my daddy, I don' like you."
Lori's eyes widened and she frowned, confused. "Sweetheart, he's not your daddy. Come here, I'll take you to your mom, she wants to see you I'm sure."
Daryl stepped back and glared at Lori, "Rick, you best control your woman 'for I take my knife ta 'er throat." Lori stepped back, fear and utter confusion in her eyes. Andrea opened her mouth to speak but Daryl simply shot her a glare. "Ya open ya fat mouth and I'll cut yer tongue out. Leave the kid alone. She's been alone for wa', two days?" Annabelle shrugged and he continued. "She was scared and prolly hungry. Leave 'er alone."
Annabelle giggled and stuck her tongue out at them, "Meanies."
There was a loud growl and Daryl raised an eyebrow down at his daughter. "Ya hungry, kid?" He laughed, surprising even Rick. "Let's get ya somethin' ta eat then take ya ta see ya ma."
As he turned to walk towards the house, Lori glared at Rick. "You're just going to let him threaten me like that? And let him take that girl? She's probably terrified, Rick!"
Rick sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Lori, you were a bit out of line. The girl obviously feels safe with Daryl. When we found her…" he paused, deciding on how much to actually tell her. "She ran right up to him, didn't even want to trust us, but when she saw him, she knew he'd protect her. Maybe it's because he look a lot stronger than us." He chuckled, shrugging. "Either way, she's Daryl's girl now. Leave her alone."
Lori looked at him in shock, her mouth hanging open. "Excuse me?"
But Rick didn't answer. He was too tired and too confused to deal with Lori today. He made his way back to the house, meeting Hershel in the kitchen. "How's she doing? Daryl get up there with the girl?"
Hershel nodded. "The girl was practically attached." He sighed and looked at Rick. "So we were right? She's Daryl's girl?" Rick nodded and the older man took a deep breath. "He's not going to like the looks he gets from the others when they find out. I'm assuming the girl is his daughter?"
"Her name is Annabelle," Rick mumbled, sitting on a chair at the island. "Pretty sure I almost saw Daryl cry when he saw her. Maybe I was just in too much shock and imagined it."
Hershel laughed but shrugged. "It is an odd thought that a guy like him has a family like that, but I'm no one to judge." He paused, staring at the water in his hand before sighing. "She wont wake up for a few days maybe, if she does wake up. She lost a lot of blood and it's hard to tell how she's doing with so little medical supplies. I was able to stop some of the pain, stitch her up, but I'm afraid that was the best I could do. Luckily I had some experience with gunshot wounds," he said grimly, sort of an apology to Rick about Carl though it seemed like so long ago.
"But she should be okay?"
He nodded, "She should be. I'll know more when she wakes up, but the bullet went clean through so she should be okay. I'm not going to promise anything though, especially not to Daryl."
"Yeah, you promise she'll be fine and she isn't… he'll flip his shit…"
Though he didn't like the language, Hershel agreed with Rick. Daryl could be cold hearted and seem like he didn't give a shit about anything, but he saw the look in the boy's eyes when he walked into that room and saw Vallie. He watched as Daryl went out everyday to look for little Sophia. He knew the hick had a soft spot, he knew he wasn't as soulless as he acted.
"Lori tried to take Annabelle from him." Hershel nearly spit out his drink and looked at Rick in surprise. "She didn't trust Daryl with a child, even after what happened with Sophia. I think she's just having a hard time, but she said he wasn't fit to watch a child."
"Does she know?"
Rick sighed and shook his head. "Daryl doesn't seem to want anyone to know yet. I think it's because if she dies, he can try to go back to normal without anyone batting an eye. If they know who the girl is and she dies, they'd expect a reaction that Daryl wouldn't be able to give." Rick stared at the stairs and shook his head. "They were obviously separated once before and you know how he is. If he lost her again, he'd probably just… go dark… he'd be empty, just like he is now. No one would think twice about it."
"But if she dies, and we knew who she was to him, he'd crack. They'd try to console him, try to apologize about everything…" Hershel nodded in agreement but Rick continued. "He only got mad about his brother, think about if she left him. He'd be more than angry…"
Hershel nodded. "Then we keep it between those who already know and those who have to. Until he's ready, we don't say anything."
