Chapter 4

Carol's eyes flew open, and she sat straight up in bed with her hand against her stomach. She groaned in pain, screwing her eyes shut as she gripped the bed sheet through what felt like an extremely painful cramp.

"Oh, God," she panted, kicking her legs over the side of the bed and flipping on the lamp on the table. Her heart was racing, and she bit back a sob as she stood up, checking the bed for any sign of blood. Nothing.

With a shaky hand, she grabbed for her cell phone and rushed to the bathroom, tugging down her underwear to find the slightest bit of spotting.

"No. No. Please." Trembling, she sat down on the toilet and cleaned herself up, thankful there was only just a hint of blood. She glanced at the phone. It was only ten thirty, and while she hated being that patient, she was also concerned and frightened.

She quickly found Dr. Greene's number and called, sitting there with trembling fingers as the phone rang in her ear.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Greene? I'm sorry to bother you. This is Carol Peletier."

"Yes, Carol. Is everything alright?"

"I'm…I'm not sure," she admitted. "I just woke up. I'm cramping pretty badly, and…and I'm spotting. I don't know if this is…I don't think it worked. I don't think the insemination took."

"Ok. Calm down. Calm down. This happens sometimes. Every woman is different. It's only been 48 hours since the procedure. This could just be ovulation. I want you to listen to me. Just relax. If you work tomorrow, call in. Just stay home and rest. Take it easy for a day or two. The important thing is to remain calm."

"What if it didn't work?"

"If it didn't work, we try again. Alright?" Carol closed her eyes and put her hand to her forehead. "Carol?"

"Alright," she said softly, voice trembling as she clung to the phone.

"Carol? Are you with anyone? Do you have anyone who can come stay with you?"

"I'm, um, I'm alone," Carol admitted. "My friend Michonne is next door. I could…"

"Do me a favor and call her. Have her come sit with you a while. Are you gonna be ok?"

"I'm…I'm ok. I'm sorry, Dr. Greene. I'm sorry to bother you."

"You're no bother, I assure you," he chuckled. "Trust me, I've gotten far worse phone calls in the middle of the night. I don't think you have anything to worry about. But I do want you to take it easy for a few days. Doctor's orders. Why don't you call Aaron and Eric?"

"I don't want to worry them," she murmured, placing her hand to her stomach.

"I'm certain they'd be worried about you," he offered.

"I'll be ok," Carol promised. She bit her lip and took a deep breath. "The cramping's stopping. I feel better."

"Are you sure?" he asked. She took a moment, sitting up straight, taking a deep breath and letting it out.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Ok. Thank you, Dr. Greene. I'll call you if I have any more problems."

"Yes, please do. And even if you don't, you can feel free to call."

"Thank you," she sighed. After a few more minutes of conversation, Carol ended the call and placed her hand against her stomach again. "Ok. Ok. This is fine. We're ok. This is…this is going to be fine." She pulled up her sleep shirt and looked at her bare belly. No changes. Nothing. She'd been pregnant before, so of course she knew there'd be no obvious signs this early. Still, she was hoping for a sign. Any sign. She needed good news. As much as she'd waivered back and forth the past couple of days about her choice, she knew for certain that she wanted this to work. She wanted to be pregnant. She wanted to do this for Aaron and Eric. And most of all, she wanted that reminder that life went on, life began anew, life found a way in this crazy world that had already hurt her beyond measure.

...

"Beer?" Aaron offered, as Daryl sat down on the front porch steps with a cigarette in his hand.

"No thanks. Can't stay." Daryl cleared his throat and pushed his hair back out of his eyes. "Gotta pick up Katie in a bit."

"Alright. So what's up?" Aaron asked. "He settled down onto the stoop with his friend and took a pull at his own beer since, hell, he didn't have any place to go tonight. Eric had already planned out a whole movie night, and he was currently mulling over the options in the den while Aaron sat with Daryl.

"Ran into Carol yesterday," Daryl said quietly, taking a puff on his cigarette. "What's her story?"

"Mmm, story?" Aaron asked, running his fingers through his thick curls, scratching at his scalp awkwardly, because he knew Carol's story really wasn't his to tell. "Well, she's twenty-five. I know this because I'm the one that organized her last birthday party, and Eric never would've let me live it down if he knew I forgot how old she was." Daryl smirked at that. "She's divorced. You know about Sophia."

"Yeah," Daryl said quietly. "She's still pretty broke up about it."

"Yeah, she's in a better place now. I honestly…I was so surprised that she wanted to do this for us. I feel guilty, but she says she wants to do this."

"She does. I can see it. Still, I think she's havin' a tougher time than she lets on. Think I upset her yesterday."

"What happened?"

"Dunno," Daryl shrugged, taking another pull on his cigarette. "We were just talkin', and she got real quiet and had to go. Just think she's havin' a hard time talkin' about her girl. And it probably didn't help that Katie was there, y'know?"

"She's been through hell," Aaron offered. "Scared the hell outta me after Sophia died. Thought we were gonna lose her, too." Aaron took another drink of his beer. "Look, it's not my story to tell." He narrowed his eyes at Daryl. "You like her."

"Didn't say that," Daryl murmured, bringing the cigarette to his lips and taking a final pull before flicking the last of it onto the sidewalk.

"Why don't you ask her to dinner?" Aaron offered.

"She don't know me."

"Well, that's the whole point of it. Get to know her. She's finally in a place where she's laughing and smiling again, and I'm honestly not sure she's been on one single date since her divorce. After Ed left, she focused on Sophia one hundred percent. She's not going to come out and ask somebody, but if somebody were to ask her…"

"Look, what makes you think I wanna take her out, anyway?" Daryl asked.

"Well, you're the one that drove all the way over here just to ask me about her. I think there's something there." Daryl scoffed at that, but Aaron smirked. "And it's been, what, six months since you and Jenny split?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, any prospects?" Aaron offered. "Look, I haven't heard you say you're going out or even mention another woman. And I know you're still interested in women. I mean, I'd be more than happy to introduce you to a few guys at work if I thought that was your thing."

"I got Katie," he said quietly.

"For how much longer? Merle will be home soon, and then what excuse are you gonna have?"

"Merle ain't gonna be around," Daryl replied quietly. "Look, I practically raised this girl since she was born. She ain't got no mama. Her daddy can't seem to keep himself outta trouble. I'm all she's got."

"And what do you have, Daryl?" Aaron asked. "You have a niece that takes up all of your time when you're not at work. And don't get me wrong, I'm glad she's got somebody like you to take care of her and make sure she's ok. But what about you. I saw how you looked at her when you came over yesterday. I mean, it was like every corny romance novel's first meet cute. I'm surprised the wind didn't start blowing your hair all around while the birds heralded your arrival with a serenade." At Daryl's scowl, Aaron grinned. "Ask her out. It'd do you both some good. Here. Give me your phone."

"Why? What for?"

"Just do it," Aaron insisted. Daryl sighed and dug his phone out of his pocket. Aaron made quick work of tapping through the screens to the contact menu. After a moment, he handed it back to Daryl, and Daryl stared down at it to see that Aaron had put Carol's number in his contact list. "Just ask her to dinner."

Daryl stared down at his phone, and Aaron sighed when he saw the frown crease his face.

"Oh, come on. This isn't seventh grade. You're both adults. Just give her a call. What's the worst she could say? No? Then at least you can stop thinking about it." Daryl scowled. "Hey, I've known you a long time, Daryl. Just take a chance, alright? You might like it."

"Babe, I can't find my copy of…oh, nevermind. Got it." Eric stepped out onto the porch with a stack of DVDs in his hand, and he smiled when Aaron and Daryl turned to greet him. His smile fell when he saw the serious look on both of their faces. "Oh hell, what did you do?"

"What?" Aaron asked.

"He's sulking. What did you say?" Eric asked, raising an eyebrow as Aaron and Daryl stood.

"Oh, I just suggested he invite a pretty lady to dinner. It's not like he has to marry her."

"Oh, a pretty lady? Do I know this pretty lady?" Eric asked.

"Carol," Aaron remarked with a chuckle.

"Carol? As in our mutual friend and possible mother of our child who just so happens to have been inseminated with his sperm?"

"The one and only," Aaron said with a nod. Eric pursed his lips for a moment before he let out a little laugh.

"Well, this could get complicated."

"See? Bad idea," Daryl replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Look, I gotta get to work."

"It's Sunday. You don't work on the weekends," Aaron pointed out, as Daryl made a beeline for his motorcycle.

"Well, I got things to do," he grumbled as the engine roared to life, and he took off down the road with the roar of the engine ripping through the air. Aaron and Eric looked at one another, and Aaron smiled, shaking his head.

"Did you just plant a seed?" Eric asked. "Because this could get really messy, really fast."

"You know, I don't think I did. She was already in his head when he got here. I think I may have just nudged him in the right direction."