Chapter 14: Happy

"Nope."

"Daryl!"

"Nope. It's Saturday. Don't answer it."

"Daryl," Carol whined, reaching for her phone on his side of the bed, only to have him bump her arm out of the way again.

"It's Saturday. If Andrea wants you to work, tell her you're sick. Tell her…you're having the best sex of your life, and if you stop, the world might really end. Because it's that good."

"Daryl," Carol laughed. "Give me my phone, you jerk." Daryl sighed dramatically and reached for Carol's phone.

"Oh, hey, it's your mom. I can answer—"

"Oh, no you don't! Remember what happened the last time you did that?"

"Yeah. And it was worth it, too." He wiggled his eyebrows, and Carol grinned, leaning in to kiss him softly. And just when he let his guard down, she snatched the phone out of his hands, did a quick roll out of bed that would impress a ninja, and she bolted for the bathroom door with Daryl in hot pursuit.

"Hi, Mom." Daryl grabbed her around the middle, flipping her around and pressing her back against the bathroom door. It shut loudly behind her. "Huh? Oh, that. No, I'm just getting ready to take a shower. How are you? How's dad?"

Daryl pressed kisses to her neck, moving to his knees to bury his face against her stomach. She sighed heavily and lazily threaded her fingers through his hair as he playfully nibbled at her bellybutton.

"Oh, my new job? I love it. Mmmhmm." She bit her bottom lip to keep from squealing when Daryl's lips latched around a nipple. "Oh, Daryl's great. He's just…great. Yeah. Well, that's awfully short notice, but…ok. Ok, I'll talk to Daryl about it. Ok. I love you, too. Tell Dad hi. Ok. Bye, Mom." She ended the call and put her phone down on the shelf above the toilet. "You asshole!"

"How's Mom?" He stood then, pulling Carol close, moving his hand slowly down her back and over her ass.

"She's good. She wants us to come visit," Carol replied, as Daryl leaned in for a kiss. He froze.

"What?"

"She wants me to bring you—my studly boyfriend—to the place I grew up. She wants my dad to meet you. They're having an anniversary thing next month, and naturally they want me, their only child, the apple of their eyes, to be there."

"And…your dad? Is he…I mean…"

"My dad's great," Carol chuckled. "You have nothing to worry about so long as you don't openly grope me or bend me over the dinner table."

"Damn. There goes that plan," Daryl sighed, suckling at her neck. Carol laughed then, and she ran her fingers through his hair as he pressed her back against the door.

The past month had been amazing in more than one way. She'd settled into her new job at The Daily News. She'd started out with some small articles to show her new boss what she could do. Within two weeks, she was attending city council meetings and other things deemed newsworthy to Andrea Harrison. And more importantly, things with Daryl were going beautifully.

In the last month, they'd cleared out Daryl's room, moved some of his things into her room and had taken up sleeping there, because her room was bigger and had much more closet space. They'd go to work in the morning, come home for dinner at night, and they would spend the rest of the evening wrapped up in each other without a care in the world.

"When do we leave?" he asked, as Carol ducked out from his arms and made her way over to the toilet. She went to lift the toilet lid when Daryl started to turn and leave.

"Hey, where are you…Daryl!" She sat down to pee, and she smirked when Daryl stuck his hand back through the crack in the door with a thumbs up.

"I love you, but I don't think we're…there yet."

"You had your face between my legs this morning. You put your tongue inside of me. I think we're there." Daryl slowly slid back into the bathroom, and he cleared his throat, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back against the door.

"Guess one day we'll have a kid. I'll be in the room for that, so this ain't nothin'."

"Right, and…wait. What?" Carol glanced up at Daryl with wide eyes. "You think…about that stuff?"

"Sure, why not? Don't you?"

"I just…I didn't know you were thinking about those things," she said quietly, swiping a bit of tissue paper between her legs before tossing it into the toilet and flushing. She got up and washed her hands before turning to look at him again. "We haven't really talked about it. You want kids?"

"One or two," he suggested. "Don't need to have enough to get our own reality show." Carol laughed at that, and she crossed the room to duck out into the hall with him. They made their way to the bedroom, each of them dressing in their weekend best, him in his sweats, her in her yoga pants, a loose tee, and no bra. "What about you?"

"I've thought about it," she said with a chuckle. "Maybe two. Someday."

"Someday," he agreed. "I'd like to actually have money in the bank, and maybe even make some money off of my pictures. I'll be some hotshot, motorcycle-ridin' photographer, and you'll be the hottest reporter in Hollywood."

"We could run our own newspaper," she said with a grin, moving to hug him from behind. She kissed the back of his shoulder and rested her head there, reveling in the sound of his heart against her ear. "I could write the articles, you could do the pictures. A perfect match."

"I like your plan," Daryl agreed, turning and putting his hands on her waist.

"But none of it means anything without one thing," she said ominously, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What's that?"

"You have to have the Mason family seal of approval."

"You serious?"

"No," Carol laughed. "My dad's gonna love you, and even if he didn't, I do, and that's all that matters." Daryl swallowed and chuckled nervously, and Carol pinched his cheek. "I can't wait for you to meet him," she said with a happy smile.

"So, when do we leave?"

"Next Friday night. We can take a flight out after work, spend the weekend, come back Sunday night. Andrea might even give me Monday off. I can talk to her." She smiled brightly, and Daryl's grin widened. "What?"

"I like this. You ain't so stressed out. You're happy. You really like this job."

"I do. And Michonne loves her new job, too. But I miss Dale. I miss the old office. But Dale was right. I made the right choice." She nodded, and Daryl leaned down to kiss her. "I've made a lot of right choices lately."

"Good," Daryl chuckled. "Glad to hear it." He kissed her softly, slowly at first, and it wasn't long before things began to heat up. She gave his bottom lip a little nibble, and he pulled back, his gaze falling to her kiss-swollen mouth with a fire she knew all too well now. He reached for her hand, and he led her back to the bed.

"But…breakfast," Carol moaned with a pouty grin. "I'm starving."

"Yeah," he replied, tugging his shirt back over his head. "Me too."