Chapter 21

"Come on. That's it. You can do it, sweetie!" Carol cooed, kneeling down in the freshly cut grass, as Sophia contemplated attempted to crawl. Sophia looked down at her hands in contemplation, babbling to herself as she glanced back up at her mother. She'd been so closely lately, getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth, looking like a silly little bunny trying to make up her mind.

Daryl crouched in the grass mirroring Carol, an amused gleam in his eye as he gave Sophia a pat on her diapered bottom.

"C'mon, Soph. Go to mama. She's a'waitin' for ya." Sophia grunted in frustration, beginning to rock on her knees, curling her fingers into the soft grass as she attempted to get her hands and knees working together. She let out another grunt, and her arms went lax. Sophia went face first into the ground, and Daryl chuckled to himself as Sophia rolled onto her back and stared up at the sky, a look crossing between upset and sadness crossing her features, before he swooped her up and gave her kisses on her chubby belly. She giggled then, and all was right with the world. "Good try, kiddo. Almost there."

"She's still a little young yet," Carol sighed, moving to sit beside Daryl in the grass. "Maybe another month, and she'll be there. Just has to get coordinated. Right, sweetie?" Sophia squealed, and Daryl passed her over to her mother. Carol smiled, snuggling her baby, gently nudging her cheek with her nose.

It had been just over a month since the attack, and Carol was doing better every day. Most of the bruising had faded away, save for around the wrists and a little bit on her face. It was just going to take some time, but every day, she said she felt a little bit better than the day before.

The house in town was a memory now. Daryl had wasted no time in looking for something else. They'd found a nice little house out in the country, about a mile or so from the Greene farm. The rent was a little high, but Daryl had cut a deal with the owner to work on a couple of his cars for free if they could knock the rent down a little bit until Carol could get back to work, and they'd have an extra income. The owner had obliged, and there was even an option to rent to buy, should they make that decision.

They had talked about it some, but they weren't ready to make any deals. Carol was itching to get back to work and feel a little more normal. Daryl wasn't quite ready to leave Carol alone at home, which was why he generally asked Maggie to bring Henry over for play dates, and he'd ask Carol to meet him for lunch in town just to get her away from the house. She knew what he was doing. His motives were transparent, and it made her love him all the more.

"I think I'm ready to go back," Carol said quietly, out of nowhere.

"What?"

"They held my job for me, and I think I'm ready to get back to it."

"You're sure?"

"Sure I'm sure," she said quietly. "I don't hurt anymore. The bruises are almost gone. I don't feel like people are pointing and staring anymore. My wrists? I can cover them with bracelets until my bruises finish fading."

"If that's what you want," he said quietly. "Might do you some good." He cleared his throat. "M'gonna call Rick. See if he can get someone to watch the bank, make sure…"

"Daryl," Carol murmured quietly, "Ed knows if he shows his face around here, he's getting arrested. He knows that."

"The man came into our house and nearly killed you. I don't think he cares what the hell he does, s'long as he hurts you. I ain't takin' any chances." Carol put her hand over his in the grass.

"I love you," she murmured. "I love that you want to keep me safe. But we can't spend the rest of our lives being afraid to leave the house without looking over our shoulders. We can't."

"You're not afraid?" Daryl asked, eyeing her, chewing his lip. "You been tryin' to reassure me this whole time. You been tryin' to make sure I'm ok, when you're the one that coulda died. You came to me that night, and you just broke down. You just…you were…and I didn't know how to help you, but…what's different this time?"

"You're asking me why I'm not a paranoid mess afraid of my own shadow?" she asked, furrowing her brows. "I hide things pretty easily sometimes. I'm terrified." Her voice choked in her throat. "I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and feel like I can't breathe. I feel like something's sitting on my chest. Sometimes I feel like when I open my eyes, he's going to be there with that look in his eyes, that look that he always had right before the beatings started. I have the most vivid nightmares that Sophia's crying, and I run to her room, and she's not in her crib, and I see taillights speeding off down the drive. His car. He has her."

"You don't talk to me," he said quietly.

"Talking about it…it's not…I know I'm safe with you. But he's still out there, which means he can come for me. Any time. But I'm…I can't let that fear take over. I can't let it win. If I spend the rest of my life thinking I'm going to come home to find Ed waiting for me, I'll go crazy. I can't live like that." Her hand trembled, and Daryl curled his fingers around hers. "I need to feel normal. I need to try to live like I don't have a time bomb ticking over my head." She bounced Sophia in her lap. "I want to be with you and raise my daughter. I want to have a job and come home at the end of the day and be with my family. I want to get ma…" She stopped, and he felt her freeze, but she glossed over it. "I want to be happy. I just want this. Us." She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "And if I can't have that? If I can't live my life without checking around every corner? He's won. He might as well have killed me." She looked away then, looking off toward the house. The house they'd made their own home. A peal of thunder rumbled in the distance, and Carol moved to stand, hoisting "Come on. We should go inside. Storm's coming."

...

Daryl was quiet all through dinner, and Carol knew why. She hadn't even said it, but she knew what it was and why things were awkward. She hated that she'd brought it up, even if it had slipped out. It wasn't the time to be thinking of things like that. Still, she hadn't been able to help herself.

"I'll check on Sophia," she said quietly, as the dim dining room flickered to lifted for a moment, as a bolt of lightning cast shadows against the walls. She stood then, briskly pushing the chair out of her way and starting toward the back of the house. He caught her hand in his, threading their fingers together. She sucked in a sharp breath, and he pulled her down gently. She landed in his lap and let out a little giggle despite her anxieties. She wrapped an arm around his neck, as his arms encircled her waist. "There you are. I was wondering where you went. You've been so quiet."

"Just thinkin'," he murmured, staring up into her eyes. "I love you."

"I know," she grinned. "I love you, too." He sighed softly, moving one hand up to cup her cheek, gently massaging the spot behind her ear before he threaded his fingers into her hair.

"Glad you came back t'me." He put a little pressure there, behind her neck, and she bent forward and brushed her lips against his. When she pulled back, a question on her lips went unasked, and she just stared at him. He never took his eyes off of her as he reached into the middle drawer of a small cabinet next to the table, his newest hiding place. He brought his hand out clasping the small box, and Carol sucked in a sharp breath. "Been holdin' on to this for goin' on six years now. Shoulda gave it to you a long time ago."

"Daryl…you don't have to…I mean, I was just talking earlier, and…"

"Well maybe you oughta stop talkin' right now," he said with a grin, causing her to bit her lip and smile through it. "Never stopped lovin' you, and I love ya more now than I ever thought I could. And I love Sophia. Learned a lot helpin' take care of her, and I wanna keep on takin' care of her." He saw the tears welling in Carol's eyes, and he leaned forward, kissing her softly. "I wanna make more Sophias with you, and I want to give ya everything ya never had before. I want ya to be my wife. And I want to be Sophia's daddy—"

"Daryl," she whispered, leaning her forehead against his, "you already are her daddy. And…and I want to marry you. I want to make more Sophias with you, and will you just hurry up and put this on my finger already?" Daryl chuckled then, as Carol laughed through the tears that began to fall. He picked the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger, watching her eyes light up in that moment.

They kissed again, and she wrapped her other arm around his neck, pulling herself closer to him, relishing the feel of being in his arms. When they broke apart, she giggled and extended her arm out to admire her ring.

"We're getting married," she said with a grin, eyes glistening with tears.

"Yep," he murmured, placing a kiss to her shoulder. "We're gettin' married."