Sophia sat on the back steps of the church alone. She sat and thought about all that was happening. All the changes. She knew she was happy. She knew her mom and Daryl who she fully embraced as her true dad were happy. But she could not help other thoughts, doubts from creeping in. Once they did, she started to feel some of the sadness and fear that was her former life start to creep in. She tried to force it down, but that just forced her to come up with more questions in her mind. She had been sitting there for quite a while when a voice came from behind her.
"You ok?" Carl said walking up behind her to sit down.
"Yeah. Just thinking."
"One of the best things I was ever told since the turn is not to over think things. If you do that, you will never stop worrying. So spill and get past it" he offered with a small smile.
"It's just that here I am. I used to be Sophia Peletier. Today I am about to be as officially adopted by Daryl as this world can get. Now I am going to be Sophia Dixon. I want to be a Dixon. I feel like I already am a Dixon. I am already Daryl's daughter legal or not. But like it or not, Ed had to be dead to make it happen. So am I wrong for being so incredibly happy that he is dead? So happy that I have a real dad now? He did such awful things, and he was never a dad to me. He was my abuser. He was my mom's abuser. That's it."
Carl thought a minute and said slowly "Sometimes dads do awful things. I think what matters is WHY they did them. Ed did awful things just to please himself. But in this world? If your dad does awful things to keep you alive? That means everything. Did I ever tell you about the claimers?
"Just to mention it was a bad situation. You never said details."
"Well, the claimers were like Ed. They took what they wanted and hurt people to get it. They wanted to hurt me like Ed hurt you. Then they were going to hurt Michonne. But my dad killed them before they could. He did more than kill them. He ripped one of their throats out with his teeth to save us. That is the kind of dad he is. He had to do awful things to keep us alive. I will never fault him for that."
"You shouldn't. But Daryl . . . . "
"He would do the same for you and your mom. That makes him good. That makes him a real dad. He would die for you, kill for you, and worse."
"Worse?"
"Trust me. In this world, what we have seen? There is worse."
She thought about that for several minutes before nodding. She was ready to do the same for him. Guess that made her a Dixon more than anything legal.
"Soph?" Daryl had come up behind them and was standing there looking at her with a smile.
"Yeah DD?"
"Deanna is ready to see the three of us if you are ready."
"Adoption time?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah. Unless you've changed your mind about it."
"Never. Let's go make me a Dixon."
Carl stayed on the steps watching as Sophia led Daryl back into the church in search of Deanna.