Six months went by in the blink of an eye. Jamie and Daryl decided from the beginning to be there for Michael together and one hundred percent. They knew that being abandoned by his mother was going to affect the child and he would need to know he was loved by them.
Along with Merle, they broke through the fear and despair the little boy was in slowly. He knew his father loved and wanted him. He knew that Jamie and Merle loved him and were his people. It took a long time but finally the child overcame the horrible abandonment he had been through.
The first few months he cried and clung to Daryl, even sleeping with him which they still weren't able to break him of entirely even months later. There were still mornings where, Michael would somehow end up in bed with them when they woke up, even though he went to bed in his room. His room was right next door to Daryl's and across from Merle's. Some mornings he went to Merle, because they were tight, as Merle had taught him to say.
"We're bro's, and we're tight." They would both say and Jamie loved seeing this side of Merle, a man who surprised her from day one when he beat the shit out of Eric for hurting her.
Michael was Daryl's shadow before too long.
That was indirectly how they had to replace the sink in the bathroom. In the early days with Michael there Daryl and Jamie had been in the bathroom trying to get ten minutes alone. Merle and Michael were watching cartoons one Saturday morning and they both fell asleep on Daryl's bed.
Daryl took Jamie by the hand and into the bathroom where he locked the door and grinned at her. That grin that was just for her and made her heart light up every time.
"Finally." He said and he reached for her pulling her close and running his hands under her sleep shirt.
They hadn't had sex in three weeks, between her school and work schedule and caring for Michael.
"Shhhhh." She whispered as they pulled their pajamas off and he lifted her up onto the sink. It was an old pedestal sink and even though she was slight it didn't hold once they started moving.
He kissed her and pulled her closer to him wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Keep those legs open sweetheart, this is going to be a quickie." He said and then he was inside her and they both groaned louder than they intended to. Then they laughed softly because they could laugh all the time over anything.
"Sorry, I aint gonna last long Jame." He said. "Been a little while."
"Just shut up and fuck me already." She said smiling and he crushed his mouth down on hers kissing her with everything he had inside him.
She knew just how to get him going and in turn that got her right where she wanted to be.
He pounded into her until they were both sweating and dizzy with pleasure. They had just been coming down from the high and the sink gave way.
They collapsed into each other's arms laughing and soon Merle was banging on the door.
"What the fuck you two, you kidding me right now?" Merle cackled, but he was laughing. Mick, as Merle called him walked up behind him holding his teddy bear by the arm.
"Unk, are daddy and Jamie going to the bathroom together?"
"Yeah kid, couple of idiots."Merle said shaking his head. "You want waffles for breakfast?"
Mick nodded and followed Merle into the kitchen.
Merle called him Mick and that stuck. Before long Daryl and Jamie were calling him Mick too. Mick called Merle Unk, short for uncle Merle and he called Daryl daddy.
Daryl's heart still filled up with emotion every time he said it too. He never thought anyone would ever call him Daddy.
Two months after Lindsey dropped Mick off, Daryl went to court and got full custody of Michael and getting his name put on the birth certificate. The father had been listed as Philip Blake, and Daryl could only guess that at first Lindsey had tried to pass him off as Philip's son.
But he had blonde hair, he was a toe head, like Daryl and Philip had dark hair. He had given her an ultimatum and she did as he wanted. There was a paternity test done by the state so that Daryl could take responsibility for Michael and he was given full custody of his son.
They had him to regular pediatrician visits and he saw a counselor, which would probably continue throughout his life The counselor, a nice woman named Karen had told them things would pop up as Michael got older and that it was of the utmost importance to be consistent and loving.
Karen also met with Jamie and discussed her role as Daryl's girlfriend and the importance of staying if she was staying. If she wasn't, she needed to do it soon before the child got attached to another woman, only to be left again.
Jamie wasn't going anywhere and when she was with them she took care of Michael as if she was his mother. On Christmas Eve she had been giving him a bath and playing with the soap crayons they had gotten him.
Daryl was in the kitchen and he heard them laughing, he turned off the stove and walked down the hallway. He could hear them talking and he stopped just outside the door.
"Jamie, can I ask you something?' Mick's little voice came through the door and Daryl smiled.
"Sure, baby go ahead." Jamie answered and Daryl said another silent prayer of thanks for this woman in his life.
He could never have done this without her and Merle, but especially Jamie.
"Will you marry us? Daddy and me?'
Daryl stood outside the door watching Jamie hugging Michael after she helped him out of the tub and wrapped him in a big towel, maybe it was time to ask her.