"I got him," Daryl said the next day as Carol woke up, looking for her son.
"How long have you been up..has he been up?"
"Not long."
She smiled. "I think it's almost noon. I haven't slept like that since...since..."
They both knew what she meant.
"You can go outside if you want, get you some fresh air."
She looked at him closely. "It's okay. It's my job to look after him."
"I said I got him," he emphasized. He was trying to do something nice, and she resisted. He couldn't help but think that Carol didn't trust him alone with their kid. He didn't blame her. Maybe if he were in her shoes he'd feel the same way.
She looked at Jake then at Daryl and smiled. She kissed them both on the cheeks before grabbing a change of clothes- and a gun- and headed towards the creek to wash up.
This was kind of nice. Usually she had Maggie watch Jake while she washed up, but now she could afford to take a little more time. Alone in her thoughts, Carol was still aware that the walkers could be anywhere. They couldn't stay safe forever, but while they were here, it was as close to heaven as they could get.
She had no idea, honestly, how all of this would end. Would they all survive? Would she lose again? The thought was too much so she scrubbed herself as hard as she could, trying to wash away memories of the past. She knew that Daryl struggled with allowing himself to be happy- she understood that better than anyone, because she was like that too. She just didn't show that too much to him, he'd been through so much. But yes. She often questioned if it was too much to expect to be happy during this time, after her painful past.
After coming to no real conclusion, she dried off and dressed and slowly headed back to the barn. It had done her some good to be alone, even if she didn't notice it. But Daryl observed her changed mood. He summed it up to the sleep, but even he understood- probably more so than anyone else- the need for alone time.
"He's sleepin'," he told her as she sat down beside him. "Ain't you gonna check on him?"
"No. He was with you. He's fine."
They both looked at each other.
He half-smiled at the implications of her statement. She trusted him with her kid, and he was smart enough to realize how huge of a deal that was. He'd been fighting back thoughts, thoughts he wasn't sure he was ready for. But it was almost the year anniversary of Sophia's death, and he wanted to do something to help her deal with it. It was huge- the hugest decision he'd ever made in his life. But after observing and getting know Carol and raising a kid together, not to mention fighting off the walkers together, there was no longer any doubt in his mind what the right thing to do was.
He looked down at the floor when he asked her. "Wanna get married?" he managed to ask.
Carol was honestly shocked. The thought had never occurred to her, so just the fact that he'd been the one to bring it up was huge.
"I thought you said you weren't the marrying kind," she reminded him.
"Maybe I've changed."
She took his hand. "You have changed, but you know what? You're still Daryl Dixon. You're still the man I got to know at the camp forever ago. You're a good person. You don't have to do this. I know why you asked."
"Why did I?"
"Because you want me to get my mind off of Sophia," Carol smiled weakly.
"I wouldn't ask just for that. I don't want you to forget her. I just thought.."
"What did you think?"
"I just thought it would be the right thing to do."
Now she broke out into a full smile, the first one he'd seen come across her face in a long time. Every day was marred by the thought of the walkers out there, by the ghosts of Sophia and Merle. But now, in this step he was proposing, they both could go on with their lives, at least in the best way they could.
"Ministers are kind of hard to come by these days," she lamented.
"I thought Rick could...he's an officer of the law ain't he?"
She'd never thought about Rick. "You know what? That just might work. Thank you, Daryl."
He didn't say much back, but he did let her pull him close to her. She kissed him, and before he could kiss her back the baby started to cry.
Babies, marriage, walkers, guns and arrows. What a crazy world they were living in. As Daryl watched Carol pick up the baby to comfort him, he knew without a doubt there was no one that he'd rather have at his side in this crazy world than Carol.